Its author, medical officer who had worked at a Christmas Island detention center John-Paul Sanggaran, sent a written request to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to formally ratify OPCAT, according to The Guardian.
Rights groups criticize Canberra over inhumane conditions at offshore camps for asylum seekers settled as part of the government’s turn-away policy. The refugees, including children, are settled in nearby Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and Nauru in the South Pacific among other locations.
Last month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern over the detention conditions in Australia’s offshore processing centers and urged the government to reconsider its Operation Sovereign Borders.
Operation Sovereign Borders is Australia’s military-led border control operation launched in late 2013 by Turnbull’s predecessor, Tony Abbott. It includes a maritime dimension with Naval and Border Force ships patrolling the country’s territorial waters to prevent traffickers from smuggling asylum seekers into Australia.
Australia is the remaining major country that has signed but not ratified OPCAT.
