Thursday, 28 August 2025

International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance

Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (23:24): (1899) My adjournment matter is for the Attorney-General, and the action I am seeking is for her to advocate to the federal government to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. This Saturday, 30 August, is the United Nations International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. On this day victims are remembered, the suffering of their families is acknowledged and the international community is called upon to take action to end this brutal violation of human rights. The act involves state-sponsored actors, often the military or police, abducting and detaining those they perceive to be a threat to their power. The arrest or detention is denied by authorities, and families are given no information about their loved ones’ whereabouts, sometimes in perpetuity. It is considered one of the gravest violations of human rights. The state, which creates and enforces laws, deprives victims of the protection of those very laws. Not much could be more terrifying.

This annual day will be closely followed by the 30th anniversary of the abduction, forced disappearance and death of Mr Jaswant Singh Khalra. Khalra was a human rights advocate in Punjab who was investigating the abduction and illegal killing of tens of thousands of Sikhs, possibly over 25,000, by the state. Much of what he uncovered has since been confirmed by the Supreme Court of India and the National Human Rights Commission, India, yet decades on, thousands of families still have not had any acknowledgement of what happened to their loved ones, a trauma that is hard to imagine. On 6 September 1995 Khalra himself was then abducted from outside his house by Punjab police. It took a decade for the police involved to be held to account. Sikhs around the world, including here in Australia, will be commemorating Khalra’s pivotal role in exposing horrendous human rights violations against his fellow Sikhs, the legacy of which continues in their communities today.

Khalra’s story highlights the need to protect citizens against the abuse of power by states, which continues to occur in countries all around the world. Many members of multicultural communities in Australia, including refugees and asylum seekers, have direct experience of this crime against humanity, and the threat of it happening to them or their families is sometimes what has forced them to flee their home countries. Ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance ensures that Australia must adhere to its obligations to protect people from enforced disappearance and do more to hold international counterparts to account. Australia has so far rejected calls to ratify this convention, citing adequate alternative protection. I urge the Attorney-General to advocate to her federal counterpart to review their position and ratify this convention.