• Australian Human Rights Commission

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29 October 2010Calling for an end to mandatory detention on Christmas Island, this report contains a summary of observations made by the Australian Human Rights Commission during its 2010 visit to the immigration detention facilities there.

This report contains a summary of observations made by the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) during its 2010 visit to the immigration detention facilities on Christmas Island.

Three Commission staff members visited Christmas Island from 28 May to 3 June 2010. The purpose of the visit was to monitor conditions in immigration detention against internationally accepted human rights standards. The activities undertaken during the visit are set out in Appendix 1. This report comments on conditions at the time of the Commission’s visit. The Commission is aware that there have been developments between the time of its visit and the publication of this report.

The Commission acknowledges the assistance provided by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) in organising and facilitating the visit, and the positive cooperation received from DIAC officers and detention service provider staff members during the visit. The Commission also thanks local representatives on Christmas Island for their willingness to spend time meeting with Commission staff.

The Commission provided a copy of this report to DIAC in advance of its publication, in order to provide DIAC with an opportunity to prepare a response. DIAC’s response is available on the Commission’s website at www.humanrights.gov.au/human_rights/immigration/
idc2010_christmas_island_response.html.