Commonwealth unable to address human rights issues: Ex-judge
October 28th, 2011 - 7:18 pm ICT by IANSPerth, Oct 28 (IANS) The Commonwealth is facing several serious human rights issues and as an institution is unable to address it adequately, said a retired Australian judge.
Michael Kirby delivered a public lecture on human rights that was jointly organised by The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and the University of Western Australia.
He spoke Thursday, a day ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) here.
Kirby, who served as a high court judge for 13 years and has twice been acting chief justice of Australia, said the Commonwealth is “facing several serious human rights issues and is unable, as an institution, to react adequately”.
He said it was interesting to see all 54 Commonwealth countries meeting together but he cautioned that “ceremony is not enough in this life where there is a lot of grief and suffering”.
Kirby, however, refrained from giving any specific examples of the human rights violations that he was referring to.
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Tags: 13 years, chief justice, commonwealth countries, commonwealth heads, court judge, grief, heads of government, human rights initiative, human rights issues, human rights violations, judge michael, michael kirby, perth, public lecture, university of western australia