Australia, Asylum Seekers and Crimes against Humanity?

Abstract

On 21 October 2014, independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie wrote to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (‘ICC’) to request the investigation and prosecution of the Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, and his 19 cabinet ministers. Wilkie alleges that the Australian government has inflicted crimes against humanity upon asylum seekers and refugees. Specifically, Wilkie alleges violations of Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the ICC1 through acts including: • imprisonment and other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;• deportation and other forcible transfer of population; and• other international acts causing great suffering, or serious injury to body and mental and physical health.Wilkie also claims that the government is violating provisions of the Refugee Convention, Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.This article evaluates the prospect of an ICC prosecution against Australia’s Prime Minister and Cabinet, and considers the meaning of Wilkie’s allegations in the context of international criminal law. We conclude that the ICC is unlikely to initiate the requested prosecution, but we acknowledge Wilkie’s initiative as a distinctive means of promoting public and international scrutiny of Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers.