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AI welcomes Brisbane Court of Appeal decision

16 June 2008, 03:58PM

Amnesty International welcomes the decision by the Brisbane Court of Appeal to allow the appeal and increase the sentences of nine males who pleaded guilty to raping a ten year-old Aboriginal girl in the community of Aurukun in Cape York, QLD in 2006.

In December 2007, six boys were sentenced to 12-month probation orders, with no convictions recorded, while three men aged 17, 18 and 25 at the time of the offence were given suspended sentences.

The Queensland Crown Prosecutor Steve Carted described perpetrators as 'naughty' and the act as a "childish experiment" to which the victim willingly consented. In her sentencing statement, Judge Sarah Bradley stated that the girl was "not forced" and "probably agreed to have sex" with the offenders.

Amnesty International expressed outrage at the failure of the Australian legal system to ensure justice and adequate protection for the victim.

Amnesty International then welcomed the Queensland Attorney General's intervention for the case to be appealed, and the review of 75 similar cases over the past two years.

The case was highlighted in the section on Australia in Amnesty International's recently published annual report detailing the state of the world's human rights and demonstrates the urgent need for reform of the judicial system to better protect girls' right to live free from violence.

More must be done to address the endemic levels of violence against Indigenous children and women and urgently address Indigenous social disadvantage.

Amnesty International Australia calls on the Australian Government to;

  • Ensure the girl is given full and immediate access to appropriate services and adequate protection.
  • Ensure that the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Children currently being developed includes a specific national plan to eliminate violence against Indigenous women and children. That plan should include a culturally appropriate prevention strategy, the provision of culturally appropriate services to survivors of abuse, address barriers to prosecution and investigate effective, culturally appropriate sentencing options and perpetrator programs.
  • Ensure prosecutors, judges and other personnel are adequately trained in dealing with issues of sexual violence, with appropriate indigenous representation included in this process.
  • Consider the implementation of specialist sexual assault courts, in which child survivors are provided with an advocate.
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