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Amnesty International has marked its 50th Anniversary by criticising the Vatican for the first time on its handling of child protection.
The 2011 report, “The State of the World’s Human Rights,” examines human rights in 157 countries, and Amnesty International criticises the Vatican for failing to honour its obligations under the United nations Charter on the Rights of the Child, to which it is a signatory.
The Amnesty report noted the “Increasing evidence of widespread child sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy over the past decades, and of the enduring failure of the Catholic Church to address these crimes properly, continued to emerge in various countries. Such failures included not removing alleged perpetrators from their posts pending proper investigations, not co-operating with judicial authorities to bring them to justice and not ensuring proper reparation to victims”.
The National Secular Society (NSS), whose Executive Director has been pursuing the Vatican at the United Nations Human Rights Council over its consistent failure to file reports as it is required to do under the terms of the Charter, congratulated Amnesty for drawing attention once more to this reluctance by the Vatican to face up to its responsibilities and admit its failures.
Keith Wood, Executive Director of NSS said: “That scandal is almost equalled by the failure, so far, of international bodies to bring the Vatican to account.”
In 2007 the Vatican broke off its alliance with Amnesty International after its pro-abortion about-turn and ceased giving donations to Amnesty. The President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, cardinal Renato Martino also urged Catholic donors to reconsider gifts to the organisation.
Martino said the Vatican’s decision was an “inevitable consequence” of Amnesty’s new policy and a betrayal of the original mission of the human rights organisation.
Australia and Asia-Pacific
The Vatican is not alone in being criticised by Amnesty. Australia has taken many backwards steps on human rights in the last year.
Mandatory detention, coupled with poor conditions in some detention facilities, continues to put a large number of asylum seekers at risk of mental illness and self harm, the reports says.
Amnesty’s Australian director, Claire Mallinson, says refugee policy continues to be dominated by short-term solutions.
“Australia should be showing real leadership on protecting and defending human rights in the region,” she said.
The report also criticises the government for failing to introduce a Human Rights Act.
But it does praise Australia for committing to a national plan to reduce voilence against women and children.
Of the wider Asia-Pacific region, Amnesty says too many governments still respond to critics with intimidation, imprisonment and even death.
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