Inquiry into Australia's efforts to advocate for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty
August 21, 2024, Statements
Executive Summary:
The submitting organisations thank the Human Rights Subcommittee (the Subcommittee) of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (the Committee) for undertaking this inquiry into Australia’s efforts to advocate for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty, and for the opportunity to make a submission.
Australia’s stance on the death penalty has progressively consolidated over time as an abolitionist state.1 Since the previous inquiry on this topic was held across 2015-16, the Australian Government has worked towards realising the commitment that ‘Australia will be a leader in efforts to end use of the death penalty worldwide,’ which was made in June 2018 in Australia’s Strategy for Abolition of the Death Penalty (the 2018 Strategy).2
Australia should rightly be proud of the 2018 Strategy and our efforts to realise its intent. Geographically located in a region where a significant number of states retain the death penalty, our leadership on this issue matters and we should use ‘all the avenues available to us’ to pursue the universal abolition of the death penalty.3 Crucially, the 2018 Strategy has always had bipartisan support from both major political parties, meaning it has endured through changes in government.
This submission reviews the Australian Government’s progress against the recommendations of the previous inquiry and highlights opportunities for improvement to ensure Australia’s consistency as an abolitionist nation and leader in global efforts to end capital punishment.
Having formalised Australia’s opposition to the death penalty in a strong policy document that has been operational for over six years, the commitment to preventing this brutal punishment needs to be reflected in the actions of all levels of government, including in the rules that determine how they act.
Issues that were raised at the time of the previous inquiry remain problematic, such as concerns about extradition requests and that authorities, including the Australian Federal Police, may be assisting authorities in retentionist countries in a manner that contributes to prosecutions resulting in the death penalty. This is something we believe must change and that we have persistently raised in our advocacy to the Australian Government.
Through our work assisting people here in Australia to help family or friends facing the death penalty overseas, we know that many face the same challenges of identifying local lawyers with expertise in such cases, securing timely funding to pay legal costs and determining if and how they can help a loved one who is detained and may never come home.
We urge the Subcommittee to take the opportunity afforded by this inquiry to make recommendations that will properly address these issues.
