NEWSLETTER Dalai Lama Inspires Packed House at Monash His Holiness The Dalai Lama addresses the Castan Centre at Robert Blackwood Hall as his entourage and an expert panel look on. By Marius Smith His speech was a serious statement elling nature of his schedule while in about his position on Tibet, an impas- Australia. His motorcade arrived at The visit of the Dalai Lama to Monash sioned plea to give Tibet its autonomy Monash direct from an event for thou- University in June of this year was a within the Chinese nation. sands of youth at the Rod Laver marvellous event, witnessed by 1600 Arena, having previously addressed After his speech, the event lightened excited onlookers who had snapped crowds in rural Victoria and around up tickets in just over a day when they up considerably as he joked onstage the nation. went on sale months earlier. with his aides, and interacted with a panel of journalists and academics as- After the event, as the audience slowly After six months of planning by the sembled to quiz him further on his made its way out, His Holiness said his Castan Centre and its co-host, the relations with China and hopes for the goodbyes backstage to a group that Australia Tibet Council, it was a relief future of Tibet. included Nellie Castan, wife of the late for all concerned that the day itself Ron Castan whom he had met many turned out to be such a wonderful His discussion roamed from his meet- event. His Holiness had chosen the ings with Mao Tse Tung, visits to Tai- years earlier and came to know well. Monash event to deviate from his usual wan and his time in India as a refugee. The Castan Centre was delighted when His Holiness decided to visit themes of religious observance to in- His Holiness was his usual quick-witted Monash and the memories of the day stead talk about conflict resolution, self and extraordinarily sprightly con- will remain with all of us for years to most particularly with China. sidering his advancing age and the gru- come. Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, October 2007 Castan Centre News Centre Creating a Comprehensive Human Rights Case Database The Castan Centre has recently begun viduals who claim that their human overseen by Castan Centre Director, work on creating a database of case rights have been breached by their Professor Sarah Joseph, who is being notes on every individual case heard by Government. In addition to the Hu- assisted by a phalanx of Castan Centre the United Nations treaty bodies. The man Rights Committee, which hears staff and In-House Interns. database will be operated by Oxford alleged breaches of the International University Press and will be the first Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, The database being compiled by OUP such resource on the internet. there are committees who deal with will also include case notes for other torture, women’s rights and discrimi- human rights bodies, such as the Euro- The treaty bodies are the UN commit- nation. At last count, there were over pean Court of Human Rights. tees which hear complaints from indi- 1200 cases in all. The project is being 2008 Global Internship Program Expands Again worked in the 1970s. In addition to these two positions, The centre assists the four other interns will travel to the poor and marginalized Castan Centre’s existing partner or- and the general commu- ganisations in New York (Human nity in East Jerusalem Rights First), Geneva (the Australian while actively working Delegation to the Human Rights to address the continu- Council), Kuala Lumpur (International ing humanitarian prob- Women’s Rights Action Watch - Asia lems in the area. Pacific) and the Hague (International Criminal Tribunal for the former The chosen intern will Yugoslavia). also stay at Tantur Insti- Tantur Ecumenical Institute, where the St Yves intern will tute of Ecumenical Stud- This year, for the first time, interns stay in Jerusalem. ies, which welcomes will have the opportunity to attend a scholars of all faiths. pre-departure cross cultural training course to prepare them for the diffi- For the first time this year, Monash The Cambodian internship will be with culties of working in alien places and in Law students will travel to Israel and the United Nations Assistance Mission workplaces with people from many Cambodia as part of the Castan Cen- to the Khmer Rouge Tribunals. The different countries. tre Global Internship Program. tribunals, which are a combination of international and national courts, will In addition to the travel funding that The position with Israel is at the St try members of the former Khmer interns receive from the Monash Law Yves Catholic Human Rights Centre, Rouge government who have been Student Travel Fund, students will also in Jerusalem. The centre is run by Bill accused of war crimes. Castan Centre receive a stipend from the Castan Docherty, a Monash University alumni Global Intern Bridi Rice (who interned Centre to help them cover some of who was inspired to set up the centre at the UN Human Rights Council in their living expenses. This assistance along the same lines as the Monash- Geneva) spent three months with the helps make the Program more accessi- Springvale Legal Service, where he mission earlier this year. ble to students. Besen Family Heads List of Castan Centre Donors The Castan Centre’s 2007 fundraising tional and career opportunities for “We are delighted with the support drive was capped off recently with a students through its undergraduate we have received from Daniel and generous donation from Daniel and and graduate teaching programs and its Danielle. It goes a long way towards Danielle Besen. Global Internship Program. ensuring that we can continue to pro- vide important opportunities to young Daniel, a Monash Law graduate, visited Castan Centre Deputy Director, Monash Law students”, said Melissa. the centre in June and was impressed Melissa Castan, said that “donations by its commitment to human rights. such as this one are vital to allow the “We hope that we will be able to con- He was particularly interested in the centre to continue funding its suite of tinue working with Daniel and Danielle centre’s attempts to increase educa- programs.” in the future”, she added. 2 Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, October 2007 Castan Centre News 2007 Conference Focuses on the Environment While the movie ‘An inconvenient truth’ paper, Martin will discuss the effect of the need for Australia to address the shot the issue of climate change into the global warming on different cultural issues of nuclear waste and its effect public limelight in 2006, the legal indus- and national groups. Adding to the on the environment before it can try has been grappling with the complex topic, Ms Rowena Cantley-Smith, from move forward in utilizing nuclear and controversial impact that climate the Monash law faculty, will discuss the power as an energy source. change will have on the law for a num- intersection of international environ- ber of years. mental law, human rights and their In a slight shift away from the confer- transcendence into the broader energy ence focus, human rights and the envi- The Castan Centre’s annual Human market. ronment, Mr Philip Lynch, Director, Rights: the Year in Review conference - Human Rights Law Resource Centre, Human Rights and the Environment - aims The crisis in Darfur has also gained will discuss the September 2007 High to explore the pressing implications of international attention on account of Court decision Vickie Roach v The Com- the intermingling of human rights and the vast human rights violations there. monwealth, in which the Court found a the environment and the impacts each While many lives have been lost to constitutionally entrenched right to has on the other. armed conflict, Professor John Lang- vote in the Australian Constitution. more of the Political Science Depart- This decision returned the right to Headlining this year’s conference, which ment at the University of Melbourne, vote to over 8,000 Australian prison- will be held on 30 November at the will discuss how the government- ers, of whom a quarter are Indigenous. Malthouse, is Martin Wagner, a Holding supported fighting is exacerbating the Redlich Distinguished Visiting Fellow, competition for scarce environmental This year’s annual conference offers a and managing attorney for Earthjustice’s resources in Darfur. unique blending of human rights and international program, which is dedi- environmental law along with an up- cated to finding international solutions As the world’s largest per capita date of some other current pressing to the impact of climate change. At greenhouse gas emitter, Australia’s human rights developments. As two EarthJustice, Martin works with interna- obligation to assisting in environmental of the worlds pressing issues, the influ- tional institutions to defend the environ- policy reform is pressing. Cam ence they have on one another im- ment from damage coming from unregu- Walker, Campaigns Co-ordinator for pacts on a wide variety of people and lated international trade as well as to Friends of the Earth, will discuss Aus- issues. The conference will explore promote and protect the human right to tralia’s responsibility as a wealthy this impact and we invite you to be a a healthy environment. To that end, he country and greenhouse gas emitter, part of the discussion it is assured to recently filed a petition with the Inter- to the global poor and set out actions raise. American Court of Justice on behalf of it should undertake in this area. This the Inuit people. The petition seeks to responsibility will increase as Australia Christie Weeramantry, former Vice Presi- identify Global Warming as a human continues to play a key role in the dent of the International Court of Justice, rights issue and was prepared with Sheila emerging nuclear energy sector as one and Emeritus Professor at Monash Uni- Watt-Cloutier, an Inuit woman who was of the world’s main suppliers and a versity, will be the conference rapporteur.