Govt misleading on human rights: Amnesty

SYDNEY,June 08 (AAP)-Amnesty International has accused the federal government of being deliberately misleading in its response to a major United Nations review of Australia's human rights record.
The government on Wednesday officially presented to the UN Human Rights Council its response to Australia's first so-called Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
All of the UN's 192 member countries are required to undergo a UPR, which aims to probe every aspect of a country's human rights record, every four years.
About 50 countries participated in Australia's review and made 145 recommendations, urging better treatment of asylum seekers, Aborigines and same-sex couples.
The government said it has accepted in whole or part almost 90 per cent of the recommendations.
But Amnesty said the government's response does not match the reality experienced by vulnerable people like asylum seekers.
For example, the government said it accepts asylum seekers should only be detained for the shortest time necessary but some are held for years while their status is finalised.
And the government's claim that the Racial Discrimination Act has been reinstated is "playing around the issue".
The law was suspended to allow for the Northern Territory intervention and has only partially been reinstated, Amnesty said.
"There is a gap between the government's claim to be doing the right thing and its actions," Amnesty's Claire Mallinson said.
The Australian Human Rights Commission said it was disappointed recommendations relating to immigration detention were rejected.