On February 15 this year, Canada launched the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State relations, a global initiative which aims to raise awareness and stop the practice of arbitrary detention. Brendan Nicholson speaks with Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, Senior Fellow in the Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa, about the effectiveness of the declaration in preventing arbitrary detention and whether more can be done through global cooperation

In December 2020, Senator Rex Patrick tabled a bill in Australian Parliament to ban the importation of goods produced by Uyghur forced labour into Australia. Kelsey Munro and James Leibold discuss Australia’s response to human rights abuses in Xinjiang so far, in contrast with international responses, and whether this Customs Amendment bill is an effective tool to address forced labour globally.

Dr John Coyne and Dr Teagan Westendorf discuss the strategies international police are using to combat organised crime across Southeast Asia. They discuss the impacts of the arrest of Tse Chi Lop on organised crime in the region, and policy options to counter this challenge, including the Magnitsky Act and top-down decapitation methods.

Mentioned in this episode:

Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations: https://www.international.gc.ca/news-nouvelles/arbitrary_detention-detention_arbitraire-declaration.aspx?lang=eng

Customs Amendment (Banning Goods Produced By Uyghur Forced Labour) Bill 2020: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=s1284

Guests:

Brendan Nicholson: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/brendan-nicholson

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston: https://www.ualberta.ca/china-institute/about/people/senior-fellows/margaret-mccuaig-johnston.html

Kelsey Munro: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/kelsey-munro

James Leibold: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/james-leibold

Dr John Coyne: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/john-coyne

Dr Teagan Westendorf: https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/teagan-westendorf

Background music: "19th Floor" by Bobby Richards - via the YouTube Audio Library.

Image: "Detention centre fencing" via WikiMedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Detention_Center_Fencing_(25087989584).jpg