Bureaucracy, in a formulation by the great German sociologist Max Weber, fanatically defends secrecy, and is bound to confect any explanation in doing so.  When it comes to swatting away scrutiny by United Nations human rights delegates, local officials can be relied upon to obfuscate, blur and lie about a Member State’s observance of conventions and fundamental norms.  In October 2022, and again in December 2025, UN bodies have been trying to piece together various troubling pieces of the Australian criminal justice system.  In a country lacking a bill of rights, administrators and officials have often shown themselves indifferent to their obligations in international law.

In 2022, the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) was blocked from accessing Queensland and New South Wales prisons.  Till that point, the Subcommittee had made over 80 visits to more than 60 countries.  Only on one other occasion was a visit terminated.  A press release from the Office of the UN High Commissioner from Human Rights (OCHR) noted that the SPT had “experienced difficulties in carrying out a full visit at other locations, and was not given all the relevant information and documentation it had requested.”  

The head of the four-member delegation, Aisha Shujune Muhammad, said at the time that Australia had clearly breached its obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).  The termination of the visit scheduled for October 16 to 27 was “deeply regrettable” but showed a profound ignorance on the part of prison and government officials about the SPT’s mandate. “The SPT is neither an oversight body, nor does it carry out investigations or inspections,” explained Muhammad. Its purpose was to furnish State Parties with confidential recommendations on how best to establish “effective safeguards against the risk of torture and ill-treatment in places of deprivation of liberty.”

The SPT Report on the........

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