Human Rights Council – 26th Session
Clustered Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions and Special Rapporteur on internally displaced persons
Australian Statement
12 June 2014
Australia thanks the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions for his report.
Consistent with our commitment to a rules based international order, Australia urges all States to ensure that their use of weapons, including lethal autonomous robots and armed drones, is consistent with the law regulating the use of force between States, international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
Discussions on weapons systems however should be held within the forum of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), rather than the Human Rights Council. Australia opposes the Special Rapporteur recommendation for further HRC engagement on the use of remotely controlled aircraft or armed drones as this an arms control issue.
Australia thanks the Special Rapporteur on internally displaced persons for his report.
The massive scale of internal displacement around the world, with more than 33 million people forced to abandon their homes, is of significant concern to Australia.
Australia appreciates the Special Rapporteur’s efforts to engage with countries on internal displacement issues, to strengthen cooperation with regional and international organisations, and to mainstream the human rights of IDPs within the UN system.
Australia notes a number of areas in which the protection of IDPs could be further strengthened, including building effective frameworks and programs that address the issue of gender-based violence, and enhancing effective responses to support IDPs outside camp settings. We look forward to the Special Rapporteur’s advice on how we can collectively better address these and other IDP protection challenges.