The Australian Human Rights Commission reports that the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Citizenship breached the human rights of Ahmed El Masri under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), in a report tabled in federal Parliament.

Commission President, Cathy Branson, found in the report that there had been two separate breaches of article 9(1) of the ICCPR which prohibits arbitrary and unlawful detention.

"Administrative failures resulted in the unnecessary and arbitrary detention of a man with a mental illness," Ms Branson said.

The first breach occurred in 2005 when the Department failed to conduct a timely and thorough review of the ongoing legality of Mr El Masri's detention in light of a (then) recent decision by the Full Federal Court. This failure had led to Mr El Masri being arbitrarily detained for 90 days.

The report identified the second breach had occurred in 2006 when Mr El Masri was again taken into detention - this time for seven hours.

Ms Branson also found the prolonged placement of Mr El Masri in solitary confinement for 77 days breached Mr El Masri's right to be treated humanely in detention under article 10(1) of the ICCPR.

29 October, 2009