In a submission to Australia’s upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR), MALS has assessed the Australian Government’s performance regarding its responsibility to uphold and protect our civil and political rights and the right to protest. A mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the UPR is a comprehensive peer review of UN member states’…
MALS understands that many people feel that the Chief Health Officer (CHO) directives such as mask-wearing, movement restrictions, business closures, and the current Stage 4 evening curfew represent unfair and unjustified infringements of their rights. For many people, these restrictions may be the first time they have experienced significant limitations upon their freedoms. For others, these restrictions may compound feelings of already being targeted by police. We understand that many people in Victoria are fearful and have concerns that these limitations on our basic freedoms might represent a growing authoritarianism. The use of the charge of ‘incitement’ against people organising or proposing any protest events as well as house raids and confiscations needs to be broadly condemned no matter where we stand.
