Australia condemned over human rights record

Suspected asylum seekers arrive at Christmas Island after being intercepted by the Australian Navy. Photo / Getty Images

Australia has been grilled over its human rights record this week, appearing in the hot seat before the UN Human Rights Council for a performance review on Monday.

The review kicked off on the same day as news of riots at Christmas Island, with detainees lighting fires and smashing in walls.

It is understood the unrest began after upset refugees asked officials what happened to refugee Fazel Chegeni, whose body was found on Sunday following his escape from the detention centre.

Australia has earlier hit headlines this year for its offshore detention centres, turning back boats full of asylum seekers and indigenous rights, AP reported.

And human rights groups say the Christmas Island situation is just the latest in a series of human rights issues in Australia.

Amnesty International New Zealand said the timing of the Universal Periodic Review on Monday was fitting.

"Australia has an appalling track record for its policies around asylum seekers, and current news reports on the incidents at the detention centre on Christmas Island are not only deeply concerning, but are a prime example of why New Zealand can no longer stay silent on Australia's refugee and asylum seeker policies," spokeswoman Meg de Ronde said.

An incident in May saw Australian officials turn around a boat with asylum seekers apparently attempting to get to New Zealand, she said.

The director of Human Rights Watch in Australia, Elaine Pearson, told SBS the nation's human rights record since 2011 would not be easy to defend.

"Clearly there's been serious backsliding in terms of the rights of asylum seekers and refugees," she said.

"In particular, the return of offshore processing, the fact that asylum seekers have been turned back to countries like Sri Lanka and Vietnam, countries with very questionable human-rights records."

Save the Children director of policy and public affairs Mat Tinkler said it was "worrying to see Australia going backwards on so many aspects of human rights".

"At a time when more than 60 million people worldwide have been forced to flee their homes from conflict, persecution and mass human rights violations, Australia should be offering practical, regional solutions to support people who seek asylum instead of instituting harsh and punitive measures."

While Human Rights Law Centre's director of advocacy and litigation Anna Brown said Australia was facing a "grilling".

"There's no doubt that Australia's relationship with the UN has taken some blows recently - we had a PM who said Australians were sick of being lectured to by the UN, we've had a UN investigator forced to cancel a visit to Australia due to a lack of cooperation from the Government - so we really need to make the most of this opportunity to repair the damage," she said.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in June that the response of Australia to migrant arrivals had "set a poor benchmark for its neighbours", AAP reported.

Mandatory immigration detention breached international human rights obligations and "had led to suicides, self-harming and deep trauma", the UN High Commissioner for Refugees also said.

The Australian government said, since 2011, it had implemented "strong border management policies" to prevent further loss of life at sea, stemmed the flow of illegal maritime arrivals and eliminated people smuggling, AAP reported.

• The UN's Universal Periodic Review is a mechanism used to monitor human rights in countries every four years. It is taking place in Switzerland from November 2-13.