The political rhetoric surrounding the Australian women and children seeking to return from Syria ignores this fundamental principle
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Human rights are not applicable only to some people. They apply to everyone. One of my first forays into the world of human rights was a university internship at a human rights organisation. We received a letter from a man whose name I recognised from a notorious murder case. He described ill treatment of other prisoners by prison guards. The prisoners he named were among Australia’s most notorious convicted serial killers.
I took the matter to my supervisor, who gave me my first fundamental lesson in human rights: protecting rights does not depend on whether a person is perceived as good or deserving. If a person’s rights are violated, their rights should be defended – even if they may have violated the rights of others.
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