CANBERRA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (U.N.) Special Rapporteur on racism Mutuma Ruteere appealed Monday to the Australian government to maintain the legal articles on offensive discriminatory behavior.
At a press conference held at the end of his eight-day fact-collecting trip to Australia, Ruteere praised Australia's Racial Discrimination Act, especially Section 18C.
"Removing this provision would undermine the efforts taken by the various levels of government for an inclusive Australia and open the door to racist and xenophobic hate speech, which has been quite limited thanks to this provision," Ruteere was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.
Section 18C has caused long-time controversy in Australia with draft amendments already prepared but shelved in 2014 by then Prime Minister Tony Abbott to scrap the provisions that could limit freedom of speech.
"Section 18C sets the tone of an open, inclusive and multicultural Australia, which respects and values the diversity of its peoples and protects indigenous and migrants against bigots and extremists who have become more vocal in Australia and other parts of the world," Ruteere added.
The Kenyan rapporteur also warned of the increase in racist opinions and the connivance at discrimination among politicians and media reports in Australia.
"That's a threat not just for Australia but all open multicultural societies. This is something open democratic states need to be aware about and to take pre-emptive action against," Ruteere said.
The U.N. expert visited Australia as a follow-up upon the recommendations made in 2001 by the first U.N. Special Rapporteur on racism, Maurice Glele-Ahanhanzo.
In an online official press release on Nov. 23, Ruteere said that he looked forward to cooperation with Australian governments on "possible ways of ensuring the successful protection, promotion and fulfillment of the rights of the vulnerable groups."
A mission report based on the follow-up trip would be presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council in June 2017.
