A United Nations torture monitoring agency has cancelled a visit to Australia because two states won’t give them free access to detention centres. The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) had been due to visit in October but suspended it after New South Wales and Queensland refused entry to some facilities.

It has now said not enough progress has been made to allow full access. The Australian government has expressed disappointment at the cancellation. The SPT, which is made up of independent human rights experts, was supposed to check Australia’s adherence to a protocol aimed at preventing torture and degrading treatment. The country’s involvement in this was approved by the federal government in 2017 and allows SPT members to visit prisons, police stations and other detention centres unannounced. But SPT Chairperson Suzanne Jabbour has said that despite Australia’s co-operation, there was no alternative but to “terminate the visit as the issue of unrestricted access to all places of deprivation of liberty in two states has not yet been resolved”. The SPT added that it “could not ascertain that it would be able to resume its visit in a reasonable timeframe”.(BBC)…[+]