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Victories for human rights highlight Australia’s tarnished reputation
On February 13, 26-year-old Sudanese refugee, Aziz Muhamat, won a prestigious international human rights prize, the Martin Ennals Award, in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Elaine Pearson
- Brisbane Times
Winners are selected because of their deep commitment to human rights, often working under threat of detention, torture, or worse.
Last month, a Kurdish refugee from Iran, Behrouz Boochani, won Australia’s richest literary prize, the Victorian Prize for Literature.
Both men achieved this recognition despite Australian government efforts to hide them away on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea since 2013.
Muhamat and Boochani, who…