The Labor Government and the Coalition today refused to back a call from the Australian Greens to ensure the legal rights of Julian Assange are protected and that the Australian citizen is not extradited to the United States.

Greens communications spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam moved the motion in light of the pending decision on the WikiLeaks' editor's possible extradition to Sweden, and it was rejected by the Government and Opposition.

"If Mr Assange is sent to Sweden for questioning on alleged offences unrelated to the work of WikiLeaks, the Australian Government should ensure he is not then shuttled to the United States to face concocted political charges under the draconian, First World War-era Espionage Act, aimed at destroying the whistle-blowing website."

Senator Ludlam's motion also called on the government to ensure that the consular and legal rights of all Australian citizens overseas are fully protected.

"The US Government has been embarrassed by a number of revelations made public by WikiLeaks - including evidence of American soldiers in Iraq deliberately targeting civilians and journalists. Washington has successfully pressured companies including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Western Union to block donations to WikiLeaks to strangle the site - despite the donations funding perfectly legal activity. As editor-in-chief of the site, Mr Assange is clearly a target.

"The Australian Federal Police have investigated WikiLeaks and found Mr Assange has broken no Australian laws, and he has yet to be charged with an offence in Sweden or the USA. The Government owes him every effort to ensure his rights as a citizen of this country are protected."

Media Contact: Giovanni Torre - 0417 174 302

The Australian Greens say they are disappointed but not surprised that Labor and the Coalition united to vote down a motion about deteriorating human rights conditions in Tibet.

Australia and other Commonwealth Governments naively believed admission to the Commonwealth would support Rwanda's path to democracy, but human rights abuses have continued and worsened, President of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, Frank Habineza, and Australian Greens Leader, Bob Brown, warned today.

"The Commonwealth should take action or risk Rwanda becoming another Zimbabwe. Without swift action, the calls will become louder to suspend the Commonwealth's newest member," Senator Brown said.

"The entry of Rwanda into the Commonwealth in 2009 was allowed despite suspicions of political abuses being undertaken by the Government. A coalition of Greens in Commonwealth nations, including Senator Brown, warned against Rwanda being admitted without conditions being placed on its entry," Mr Habineza said.

"The 2010 Presidential elections saw the Kagame government becoming increasingly intolerant towards the central role that opposition parties and a free media have in robust democracies," Mr Habineza said.

Senator Brown and Mr Habineza call on the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to undertake the following steps in the next 12 months:

• Fund the provision of ballot box seals which are uniquely numbered or identifiable, to ensure security seals are a security feature for the next Chamber of Deputies election in Rwanda in 2013;
• Provide observers to oversee the registration of opposition political parties in the six month leading up to the next election, and advise if there have been irregularities in this process;
• Request the Government to re-open the investigation into the death of the Green Party Vice President, Andre Kagwa Rwisereka which occurred on 14 July 2010;
• Seek input from civil society organisations like Friends of Rwandan Greens; and,
• Pressure the Rwandan Government to release political prisoners and jailed journalists, and letting the independent media operate freely.

"Around the globe Green MPs will be watching to ensure the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group is taking active steps to improve democracy in Rwanda," Senator Brown said.

Concerns have already been expressed by Human Rights Watch, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Amnesty International and also the Commonwealth Observer Group that democracy in Rwanda is being undermined.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown today expressed his disappointment that the Gillard Government has no plans to send a monitoring vessel to the Southern Ocean.

"Minister Burke might as well direct his call for calm to the whales, for all the good that will come of it," Senator Brown said in Launceston.

"Government action should go way beyond legal action which will bring zero help to the whales this year."

"I join the New Zealand Greens in calling for the Australian and New Zealand governments to send patrol vessels to protect the whales from the Japanese onslaught."

"How typical of the Government to have a patrol vessel in Hobart for offshore oil and gas but not for whales," Senator Brown said.