A report published on the Guardian said the amendments made on the juvenile crime laws in Queensland in Australia has roused concerned groups to plead for the United Nations to intervene.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services in Queensland and the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) are calling for the UN to stop the overhaul of the crime laws for juvenile delinquents. The overhaul will see that the new law, which will have repeat youth offenders thrown to adult jails as a last resort when they still have remaining jail time left once they turn 17 and that their names and juvenile criminal histories will be published, according to attorney general Jarrod Bleijie. The Youth Justice Act will also see the introduction of a new offense wherein guilty juveniles will be sentenced to a one-year sentence if they breach bail.
According to the Guardian, the amendments will be introduced to the Queensland's parliament next week. Aside from the the two social welfare groups, the Queensland Law Society (QLS) has labelled the new amendments as punitive. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services and HRLC has called the UN to investigate and make the necessary action to halt the passing of the new amendments to the youth crime law.
The groups' letter to the UN pointed to the statistics by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which said that young people in detention in Queensland are made up of 60% Indigenous people. HRLC director Ben Schokman said the amendments to the Youth Justice Act will violate several human rights obligations in Australia.
"Children don't belong in prison. Locking children up should only be done in the most exceptional circumstances and as a measure of absolute last resort. These reforms turn that principle on its head and will result in prison being the norm, rather than the exception," Schokman said.
