Aboriginal Grandmothers present 'end genocide' demand to Senator Rachel Siewert, Senator for Western Australia. Member of the Australian Greens and Australian Greens Whip.
GRANDMOTHERS AGAINST REMOVALS 'END of GENOCIDE DEMAND
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
URGENT DEMAND
to Repeal sections 268.121 – 268.122 of the International Criminal Court (Consequential Amendments) Act 2002
as a remedy to the fact that Australia has NO effective law against Genocide
Australia has still not fully imported the Genocide Convention into domestic law. Parts of the Genocide Convention were imported into domestic law by way of the International Criminal Court (Consequential Amendments) Act 2002, but only the Attorney-General can begin a genocide case and if he/she refuses there is no right of appeal and no reasons need to be given. [268.121 – 268.122]. This is contrary to the intent of the long-standing Genocide Convention, which Australia was the third country to sign.
As soon has Australia has fully imported the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the impunity with which Aboriginal children are being kidnapped (aka 'removed') will cease because each officer carrying out these crimes will be personally accountable to the Genocide Convention.
International Criminal Court (Consequential Amendments) Act 2002,
268.121 Bringing proceedings under this Division
(1) Proceedings for an offence under this Division must not be commenced without the Attorney‑General’s written consent.
(2) An offence against this Division may only be prosecuted in the name of the Attorney‑General.
(3) However, a person may be arrested, charged, remanded in custody, or released on bail, in connection with an offence under this Division before the necessary consent has been given.
268.122 Attorney‑General’s decisions in relation to consents to be final
(1) Subject to any jurisdiction of the High Court under the Constitution, a decision by the Attorney‑General to give, or to refuse to give, a consent under section 268.121:
(a) is final; and
(b) must not be challenged, appealed against, reviewed, quashed or called in question; and
(c) is not subject to prohibition, mandamus, injunction, declaration or certiorari.
(2) The reference in subsection (1) to a decision includes a reference to the following:
(a) a decision to vary, suspend, cancel or revoke a consent that has been given;
(b) a decision to impose a condition or restriction in connection with the giving of, or a refusal to give, a consent or to remove a condition or restriction so imposed;
(c) a decision to do anything preparatory to the making of a decision to give, or to refuse to give, a consent or preparatory to the making of a decision referred to in paragraph (a) or (b), including a decision for the taking of evidence or the holding of an inquiry or investigation;
(d) a decision doing or refusing to do anything else in connection with a decision to give, or to refuse to give, a consent or a decision referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c);
(e) a failure or refusal to make a decision whether or not to give a consent or a decision referred to in a paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d).
Extract from the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide,
Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Article III: The following acts shall be punishable:
(a) Genocide;
(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;
(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
(d) Attempt to commit genocide;
(e) Complicity in genocide.
NB Since genocide is the worst crime in the world, the intent of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide was to ensure that a case against genocide could be started in any court of the world. With the restriction in Australia that only the Commonwealth Attorney-general can take a case, Australia is clearly in breach of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.
BACKGROUND:
New figures from the Productivity Commission show a huge spike in the number of Indigenous children being removed from their families by child protection agencies across Australia.
The figures are detailed in the latest Productivity Commission: Report on Government Service Delivery report, released on Thursday January 29.
The number of Indigenous children in "out of home care" increased by more than 1000 children between 30 June 2013 and 30 June 2014.
