A/HRC/17/2 urged Australia to prevent further attacks and abuse. Over 90 per cent of asylum seekers who arrived in Australia were found to have genuine protection claims. It noted the slow processing of asylum claims, while asylum seekers lived in appalling conditions in immigration detention centres, where five suicides had been reported. It was also concerned at the suspension of the processing of asylum claims for Afghans and Sri Lankan nationals, and urged Australia to end it. 483. The Human Rights Law Centre, on behalf of a coalition of non-governmental organizations, including the National Association of Community Legal Centres and the Kingsford Legal Centre, while welcoming Australia’s acceptance of the majority of recommendations, regretted that its response in some areas did not accurately reflect law, policy or practice. It noted the lack of jurisdiction to independently investigate policerelated deaths in Australia, and that mandatory, indefinite, arbitrary immigration detention was a fact in law and in practice. It regretted the fact that Australia’s response did not meet the need for legal and institutional reform to redress persistent and significant issues, and recommended that Australia should incorporate international human rights into domestic law through a comprehensive human rights act, strengthen laws to address systemic discrimination, implement the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations, and legislate that asylum seekers are detained only where strictly necessary and as a last resort, and have equal access to and protection under the law. 484. Amnesty International regretted the fact that Australia had rejected recommendations to introduce a human rights act and to allow same-sex marriages. It was concerned that the Racial Discrimination Act had been only partially reinstated and provided no retrospective rights in the Northern Territory. It criticized the handling of riots at an immigration detention centre on Christmas Island, including the use of force, and the pursuit of a bilateral agreement to exchange asylum seekers arriving by boat. Despite Australia’s contention that mandatory detention was based on unauthorized arrival, Amnesty International noted that, in reality, all undocumented arrivals by boat were asylum seekers and faced indefinite detention, and that 1,048 children were detained in immigration facilities. 485. Save the Children urged Australia to establish a national children’s commissioner who could represent and act on behalf of all children, including those in immigration detention; to immediately release all children and their families into the community; to repeal the mandatory detention provisions of the Migration Act 1958; and to enact legislation to ensure that no children are held in low-security facilities. It also requested Australia to prohibit the use of corporal punishment within the family and in all schools and alternative care settings. 486. Franciscans International, Edmund Rice International and the Marist International Solidarity Foundation recommended a fundamental rethink of the Northern Territory Emergency Response to involve all affected indigenous people through consultation and active participation. It requested Australia to lift the moratorium on processing asylum claims by Afghans. Regarding the proposed bilateral agreement for the processing of asylum seekers and resettling refugees, it asked that both countries ensure compliance with international human rights standards, prevent the demonization of asylum seekers in the political debate, and cease trivializing human rights issues with expressions such as “border control”. It also urged Australia to reconsider the impact of carbon emissions on the rights of peoples of low-lying islands. 4. Concluding remarks of the State under review 487. The delegation thanked States and observers and the non-governmental community for their comments, which had been duly noted. GE.12-13630 157