Lombok treaty committee hears first submissions
The first hearings into the Lombok treaty, Australia’s security pact with Indonesia that is awaiting parliamentary approval, took place in Canberra today. Amongst other things, the treaty calls for both countries to explicitly respect each other’s territorial integrity and is aimed at allaying Indonesian concerns that Australia may be supporting a separatist movement in West Papua. Along side the department of foreign affair’s submission was one from Civil Liberties Australia. CEO of the group Bill Rowlings called for a special clause in the treaty to ensure that any sharing of information on drug traffickers would be premised on the basis that any Australian’s convicted of crimes would not face the death penalty. But the group also called for any treaty with Indonesia to be contingent on Australia being able to send human rights monitor’s to West Papua, which is largely closed to independent observers and journalists. He outlined his submission to The Wire.