Sunday, April 17, 2016

Attempted Suicide is crime in Nauru

Nauru a ”sovereign” country who’s only worth is to be an off-shore detention camp for asylum seekers and refugees that Australia does not want, fined an Iranian asylum seeker US$155 (£109) as a punishment for attempting suicide. Nauru’s justice system used a section of its Criminal Code dating back to 1899. A spokesperson for the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection told Reuters all refugees in Nauru were subject to that country's laws. Other existing offences under the code include witchcraft, sorcery, and fortune-telling.

The Prosecutor to impose a custodial sentence of between one and two months to deter other would-be offenders who resort to self-harm to avoid lawful actions against them or to get what they want. But the absurdity was that the Prosecutor sought to impose a custodial sentence of between one and two months to deter other would-be-offenders who resort to self-harm to avoid lawful actions against them or to get what they want. The refugee is already being held behind razor wire and has been for a lot longer than a month or two and his liberty is being curtailed.

Michael Dudley, the immediate past chair of Suicide Prevention Australia, described the act as “extraordinarily regressive” and “a step back to the middle ages. It breaches all contemporary standards for care of people who are self-harming and it basically flies in the face of the international movement to decriminalise suicide and self-harm.”

No comments: