Petitions 2016
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Please bring Nima and Ashkan to safety in Australia
All Out (in conjunction with the Human Rights Law Centre)
4 March 2016
Nima and Ashkan are a gay couple who come from Iran, where being gay can cost you your life. They sought asylum in Australia, but were sent to detention in Nauru, where being gay is also a crime. They've been attacked and beaten, just for being in love.
This kind of treatment is inhumane and unnecessary. Will you ask Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to get them to safety in Australia?
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‘Hon Peter Dutton, please provide me with a safe and secure future in Australia’
Cleo Patra, Caloundra, 13 February 2016
Several Buddies members have had the privilege of getting to know Cleo (Chanelle) and of assisting her in various small ways during the last few years that she’s been living in Caloundra.
Please read Cleo’s story below. It is raw and heartfelt and will in turn touch your heart. Sign her petition and forward it on throughout your networks. Let’s help her reach her goal of 100 signatures – and more!
ABOUT CLEO
Born in South Africa, Cleo contracted meningitis as a baby and due to lack of proper care was left with cerebral palsy. Her life has been one of tremendous struggle and setback, but throughout it all, her determination and strength of spirit have seen her reach an admirable degree of independence and personal achievement. She continues to study widely and to use and develop her writing talents. She is an amazingly gutsy and resourceful person who just never gives up!
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Video petition: Free the Children Nauru
Change.org, 2 February 2016
The teenagers and children doomed on the prison island of Nauru indefinitely, have made a video to ask the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to free them. In their video, they make a disturbing plea to the Australian children, teenagers and public for help. Please take the time to watch their video and bear witness to the horrors they have endured for years on Nauru. And please sign their petition!
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Don’t send them back
GetUp!, 1 February 2016
To Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton,
We ask that you do not send the 267 vulnerable men, women, and children currently in Australia back to Nauru or Manus Island. They will face a future of indefinite detention on tiny islands with no prospect of a decent life. They will be at serious risk of physical and sexual assault.
Please let them stay.
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UN Secretary General, please save Madaya from starvation
AVAAZ.org, January 2016
Many families in besieged Madaya are still facing starvation. If we raise one million voices pressuring UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to intervene and work with all sides to lift the siege, we can save thousands of families from starving to death. Please add your name to this petition. AVAAZ will take stories and photos from Madaya to the media, the UN, and key foreign ministries until the siege is permanently lifted.
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Reverse the decision to return 72 children to immigration detention on Nauru
Catherine English, Change.org, 18 January 2016
Detention of children, especially with conditions experienced on Nauru, is profoundly harmful to childhood health, well-being, and development. Infancy and childhood are the most vulnerable and formative times of a person's life. The lifelong psychological, emotional and physical trauma already experienced by these children in immigration detention will be intensified by their forceful return to Nauru immigration detention.
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Save Benham Satah – witness to murder on Manus
Diana Cousens, Change.org, 4 January 2016
Behnam Satah, a Kurdish Iranian, was the principal witness in the trial of those accused of murdering Reza Barati in February 2014 in the Manus Island detention centre. Since his testimony, he has been subjected to death threats from the Manus Island guards, who spend several hours each morning watching him through the window of his room in an attempt to intimidate him.
He has genuine fears for his safety and, in spite of promises from the PNG court, is not being protected. As a result of the constant intimidation, threats and other incidents, he has developed a serious heart condition for which he has received no appropriate treatment.
Please sign our petition to the Prime minister, asking that Behnam be brought immediately to Australia and settled in the community.
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Stop human rights abuses in detention – Ratify OPCAT
John-Paul Sanggaran, CommunityRun, 8 January 2016
Countries simply agreeing not to torture and to respect human rights doesn't work, especially for people that are in detention.
The OPCAT is a UN treaty that Australia has signed up to that would ensure national and international monitoring of people in these vulnerable situations. The transparency this creates acts as a deterrent to violating human rights in the first place. It is much harder to torture and abuse people when you are being watched.
The OPCAT has bipartisan support, but has not been put into effect. Australia has sat on it since 2009.
Help us help Australia act ethically and responsibly by putting in place measures to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
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