THE PUBLIC Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and Australian Lawyers for Human
Rights have spoken out against what they consider to be a flagrant disregard for
the rights of freedom of speech demonstrated by Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander
Downer.
The groups condemned the Minister over the indefinite withdrawal
of an invitation to the Falun Gong to attend meetings of the Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade (DFAT) with human rights organisations in Australia. The invitation
was withdrawn when the Falun Gong expressed its intention to stage a protest in
conjunction with one such meeting.
Director of the PIAC, Robin Banks, said
the irony of the religious group being excluded from a meeting about human rights
obligations, for exercising their right to protest, could not be ignored.
"It’s
an extraordinary step to say ‘a public protest is fine, but don’t think you can
come to our meeting’," she said.
DFAT was acting within its rights,
as the host of the meeting, to renege on its invitation, but as part of the Government,
which is required to comply with Australian human rights standards, it had committed
a breach, Banks said.
"Freedom of speech is a vital element of democracy.
The Australian Constitution recognises freedom of political communication. The
Government should be acting to support and promote the exercise of this freedom,"
she said.
"Its failure to do so brings into question the strength
of this Government’s commitment to human rights and the democratic process itself."
A spokesman for DFAT said the decision had been made on the basis that
the protest was considered to be inconsistent with the cooperative nature of the
meeting. "We had invited them along to discuss their concerns with us and
the wider [non-governmental organisation] community."
Banks said it
was also a cause for concern that the community and media at large did not appear
to be "outraged" by the limitations being placed on the Falun Gong’s
freedom of speech – the group has also been banned from protesting outside the
Chinese embassy since 2002.
"It’s a concern, also, about what this
means for the rest of us," Banks said.
Copyright 2005 Reed
International Books Australia Pty Ltd.
Posting date: 13/Apr/2005
Original
article date: 11/Apr/2005
Category: Media Report
