Australia.

UN made no complaint about detention centres, says Downer
June 6 2002

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today a UN delegation had not told him of its reported concerns that Australia's detention of asylum seekers was a gross abuse of human rights.

The visiting United Nations delegation's head, Louis Joinet, made no direct assault on Australia's policy at all in a meeting last night, Mr Downer said.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Mr Joinet had privately told welfare groups he had not seen a more gross abuse of human rights in more than 40 inspections of mandatory detention centres around the world.

Mr Downer said he had a very friendly meeting with Mr Joinet for about half an hour.

"To be frank with you he just explained the position of the UN committee and what work they were doing," he told reporters.

"I explained to him the nature of our detention policy, that we were maintaining that policy, that it had been a successful policy, it was helping to stop the flow of illegal migrants to Australia.

"There wasn't an enormous amount more to the conversation than that because it was rather interrupted (by parliamentary division bells)."

Mr Downer said Mr Joinet was not judgmental because the group had yet to write its report.

"He didn't attack the detention centres at all in that sense, in the way it's described in the Sydney Morning Herald today.

"He may have said that to someone else, I have no idea."