Australian Human Rights Commission accused of mistreating pro-Palestine staff
Former staff members at the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) have accused the rights group of mistreating them over their pro-Palestine views.
Speaking in the Australian Senate on Wednesday, under parliamentary privilege, Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi read parts of four resignation letters from staff at the AHRC.
Among those she cited were human rights lawyer Sara Saleh, a Palestinian who said the AHRC had leaked information about her resignation to a right-wing news outlet.
"Sara Saleh’s resignation letter spoke of how her identity was viewed as a risk by senior management, and how a right-wing hit piece on her was circulated," Faruqi said.
According to the Guardian Australia, the article was circulated to AHRC staff as part of its daily round-up of mentions of the commission in the media.
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Saleh said the sharing of the letter to staff of a "defamatory" news piece was "egregious, detrimental to my reputation and hurtful.
"This also sent a message to staff of colour that the commission is willing and capable of circulating vitriolic commentary about them in the future," she added.
Another staff member quoted by Faruqi, Hiero Badge, said there was "internal suppression of pro-Palestinian perspectives and voices" at the AHRC.
'I was informally reprimanded for summarising a UN press release on the situation of women and girls in Gaza'
– Hiero Badge
"In one instance, I was informally cautioned by a senior official for using the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ on my personal social media," said Badge's letter.
"Similarly, I was informally reprimanded for summarising a UN press release on the situation of women and girls in Gaza."
A spokesperson for the AHRC told Guardian Australia that they were "committed to continuously improving our workplace culture and to making our workplace safe, respectful and inclusive for all our staff".
Since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza in October there has been a public outcry from pro-Palestine campaigners over what they say is "censorship" across Australia's institutions.
On 15 July, documents released under a freedom of information request revealed that the State Library of Victoria was actively surveilling the social media activity of four writers and poets - Omar Sakr, Jinghua Qian, Alison Evans and Ariel Slamet Ries - specifically around Palestine.
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