On 21 July 2011, the UN Human Rights Committee formally adopted its 34th General Comment, replacing General Comment 10 (1983) on the right to freedom of expression.

The Committee called the right to freedom of expression, as protected by article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (‘ICCPR’), ‘one of the most challenged and sensitive topics in international human rights law.’

Australia faced a hard sell to defend its human rights record when it appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on 8 June 2011.

Australia’s delegation delivered its formal response to 145 recommendations made as part of the UN’s Universal Periodic Review (‘UPR’) process, which reviews the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States.

Australia faced close scrutiny when it explained why it has rejected key recommendations from the international community to review its policies relating to the treatment of asylum seekers, the disadvantage and discrimination experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the lack of a Human Rights Act or Charter.

On 6 July 2011, the Foreign Minister announced a comprehensive new strategy for Australia’s aid and development program. The strategy was developed in response to the report of a major independent review of the effectiveness and efficiency of Australia’s program.

Launching the strategy, Minister Rudd outlined that ‘the fundamental purpose of Australian aid is to help people overcome poverty. This also serves Australia’s national interests by promoting stability and prosperity both in our region and beyond. We focus our effort in areas where Australia can make a difference and where our resources can most effectively and efficiently be deployed.’

The Australian government, as part of its commitment to develop a National Human Rights Action Plan (see DUAO 36(1)), has released a draft Baseline Study which attempts to identify key areas of need to inform the Action Plan.

According to the Attorney-General’s department, ‘[t]he Baseline Study is the first step in developing an Action Plan. It is not intended to cover every issue, but rather to provide a meaningful snapshot to guide the development of an Action Plan.’

In a landmark development, the UN Human Rights Council has, by consensus, adopted an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to provide better access to remedies for violations of children’s rights.

The Optional Protocol establishes a communications procedure which empowers the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to receive complaints from individuals or groups of individuals alleging a violation of rights under the Convention and its other optional protocols relating to the sale of children, child prostitution, child pornography and the involvement of children in armed conflict.

The new Optional Protocol will now be transmitted to the UN General Assembly for adoption in December 2011, following which it will be opened for states to sign and ratify.