Magdalene lobby group criticises Coalition inaction

Published: Tuesday, May 29, 2012

THE GOVERNMENT has failed to implement a key recommendation by the UN Committee Against Torture to set up an inquiry into the "inhuman and degrading" treatment of thousands of women and girls in the Magdalene laundries during the last century, a lobby group for the women has said.

The Justice for Magdalenes group submitted its NGO follow-up report in Geneva yesterday, one year after the UN committee recommended the State "institute prompt, independent and thorough investigations into all complaints of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment that were allegedly committed in the Magdalene laundries".

In appropriate cases, the committee said, the State should "prosecute and punish the perpetrators with penalties commensurate with the gravity of the offences committed, and ensure all victims obtain redress and have an enforceable right to compensation, including the means for as full a rehabilitation as possible".

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