Mr Paulo Flores is today’s guest poster on Blak and Black. Paulo is a European trained and qualified Psychologist, Lawyer, Mediator and Human Rights Activist. He is currently working in…
First, democracy implies processes of communication through which individuals come to know as individuals what they want or think is right. Individuals should be the owners of their beliefs and…
On 16 May 2008, the United Nations Committee against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment issued its Concluding Observations on Australia. They included 27 recommendations concerning…
Detachment 88's major facility at the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Co-operation was established in 2004 with almost $40 million of Australian funding. According to its website, most of the…
The attached video shows very clearly what I mean by torture of West Papuan by Detachment 88. What this video shows is a clear violation of international law. Detachment 88…
When I started Blak and Black, on the advice of my good friend the Rev. Pat, my purpose was to bring to the attention of as wide an audience as…
Australia Day 2011, a mere 223 years after the English invasion and occupation of Aboriginal Australia, an invasion in which white ‘Christian’ males brought with them all of the then,…
The AFP in its submission to: THE SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE AND TRADE INQUIRY INTO AUSTRALIA'S INVOLVEMENT IN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS, March 2007 made the following statement: The…
They say that Christmas comes but once a year, but we all know that isn’t true. If you’re a public servant or an Australian Federal Police Officer it seemingly comes every day.…
I was recently discussing the genteel art of bullying with a former associate, Paulo Flores, who is a psychologist and mediator and Watershedd, a recent contributor to Blak and Black.…
Some observations on the realities of being and Aborigine in 21stcentury Australia by an observer who isn’t. One of my piano teachers was the sole child of Polish Holocaust survivors.…
I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by…
The following article written by Ednal Palmer appeared in the Solomon Star on Saturday 15th January, 2011. While the article is ostensibly about the tenure of the outgoing Taiwanese (ROC)…
While strolling along the foreshore of Botany Bay today I spotted a Kingfisher. In Classical Greek mythology "Halcyon" is associated with the Kingfisher. There was an ancient belief that the…
The Commonwealth and each of the States and Territories of Australia have an obligation to act as a model litigant in claims and litigation. This obligation is enshrined in legislation…
On 5th January in an article titled: Closer checks urged after bridge collapse the Canberra Times ACT Assembly reporter Noel Towell reported that: The ACT Government has been told to…
As promised, I’m handing over the commentary on blakandblack.com to some people who have helped me collect statements for my proposed application to the United Nations. Mick 'volunteered' to be…
Over the next few weeks I will be putting up posts written by those who have assisted me in collecting statements or who have introduced me to the victims of…
On New Year’s Eve I received a phone call from a representative of the Greens advising me that I would need to provide more evidence if I wanted an enquiry…
The following statement was issued by Julian Moti QC in New Delhi, India in August 2006 in response to a media inquiry from Chris Merritt (Legal Affairs Editor of The Australian). At the…