Amnesty International is urging the Federal Government to immediately end discriminatory practices in the Northern Territory, after a visiting UN expert declared the intervention into Indigenous communities incompatible with Australia’s international human rights obligations.

At the Australian Government’s invitation, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of Indigenous people, Professor James Anaya, carried out a 12-day visit to Australia to investigate and report on the challenges faced by Indigenous people in this country.

Professor Anaya found that while measures by the Government to address the extreme disadvantage faced by Indigenous peoples and issues of safety for children and women are required, measures currently in place in the Northern Territory discriminate, infringe on the right to self-determination, and stigmatise already stigmatised communities.

“We share the UN’s concern that the way the Northern Territory Emergency Response in Indigenous communities has been implemented does not fulfill Australia’s international human rights obligations,” said Amnesty International’s Indigenous Rights Campaigner, Rodney Dillon. “It’s the Government’s responsibility to provide health care and education to all its citizens. Stigmatising Aboriginal people further will not help Aboriginal children’s health and education outcomes or improve safety in communities.”

“Reinstating the Racial Discrimination Act and ending discriminatory measures in the Northern Territory, including the blanket approach to welfare quarantining for Indigenous people in certain communities, must be a top priority for the Federal Government.”

“Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory have expressed to Amnesty International their growing sense of exclusion and voicelessness. We welcome Professor Anaya’s focus on the importance of active, meaningful participation by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in decisions that affect their lives.”

Amnesty International hopes the new National Representative Body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people announced yesterday will assist in this regard.

The organisation also welcomes the UN’s highlighting of the central importance of the right to land for Indigenous people. Amnesty International believes that homelands must be recognised and funded as a viable option for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.

“Australia does not have a great record of engaging and responding constructively when it comes to genuine international concerns regarding our human rights record. Let’s hope this time it’s different,” said Rodney Dillon.