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- A group of Torres Strait Islanders have decided to lodge a complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Committee against the Australian government, alleging climate inaction. The Torres Strait Islands are a group of small islands which lie in Torres Strait. Torres Strait is the waterway separating northern continental Australia’s Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea.
- The complainants have alleged that the Australian government has violated article 27- the right to culture; article 17- the right to be free from arbitrary interference with privacy, family and home; and article 6- the right to life of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
- According to the complaint, these rights have been violated by Australia’s insufficient greenhouse gas mitigation targets and plans, and by its failure to fund adequate coastal defence and resilience measures on the islands, such as seawalls.
- Torres Strait Islanders have demanded a commitment from the Australian government to reduce emissions by at least 65% below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions before 2050. They have also demanded a phase out of thermal coal, both for domestic electricity generation and export markets.
- Further, the islanders have demanded the government to commit at least $20m for emergency measures such as seawalls, as requested by local authorities. They have also demanded a sustained investment in long-term adaptation measures to ensure the islands can continue to be inhabited.
- The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a United Nations body of 18 experts established by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The committee monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
- The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is an international human rights treaty adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 1966. It is one of the two treaties that give legal force to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the other being the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ICESCR).
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