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Legal body welcomes investigation into 1980s hate crime
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights has welcomed the announcement that there will be an investigation into the murder of a man in the late-80s, who was killed in what is believed to have been a targeted hate crime case.
Emma Musgrave
The government earlier this week announced a $1 million reward for information leading to the conviction of any person connected to the murder of Scott Johnson.
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Mr Johnson was killed in December 1988 in Sydney’s North Head, which the ALHR noted is believed to have been a gay-hate murder.
“We commend the decision to bring about a fresh investigation and incentivise witnesses with a larger reward in the case of Scott Johnson. Many years have passed since Johnson’s death and his family deserves justice,” said ALHR’s LGBTI subcommittee co-chair Nicholas Stewart.
“It is well documented that the LGBTI community was, and remains, vulnerable to violence. The hate inflicted on the community between 1970 and 2010 was particularly bad as LGBTI Australians became more prominent through activism, decriminalisation and the advent of the AIDS epidemic. It is alleged that many killings were not properly investigated, or were not investigated at all.
“ALHR welcomes the approach of the NSW Police Force to the Scott Johnson case and look forward to working with the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry to ensure that Australia lives up to its international legal obligations to LGBTI individuals and that this dark chapter in the history of NSW is not forgotten.”
Mr Stewart added that the legal body will be providing evidence and information to the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Institutional Responses to Gay and Transgender Hate Crimes, and encourages other state and territories to follow suit.
“ALHR calls on other state and territory parliaments to follow NSW’s lead and commission inquiries into institutional responses to LGBTI hate crimes between 1970 and 2010,” Mr Stewart said.
“The spate of gay and transgender killings during this period is unlikely to have been unique to the state of NSW, and there are many families awaiting justice.”
