running a money laundering scheme. Local human rights defenders linked the trial to her work exposing corruption. On 30 April, Marina Poghosyan reported that a fake Facebook profile had been created under her name and used to send sexually explicit photos and videos to her contacts to smear her reputation. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION The parliamentary and Yerevan city council elections, in April and May respectively, and the preceding electoral campaigns were accompanied by isolated incidents of violence against journalists and others attempting to expose violations of the electoral process. On 2 April, two journalists were attacked in Yerevan’s Kond neighbourhood while investigating allegations of vote-buying at the local Republican Party’s campaign office. Supporters of the Party took away one reporter’s video equipment as she was filming people leaving the campaign office. An investigation into the incident was ongoing at the end of the year. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS The CERD Committee raised concerns over the absence of data on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by minority groups, refugees and asylumseekers. It also raised concern over the lack of information available on small minority ethnic groups – such as the Lom (also known as Bosha) and the Molokans – and requested that the authorities collect data on economic and social indicators disaggregated by ethnicity, nationality and country of origin. Amnesty International Report 2017/18 AUSTRALIA Australia Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Peter Cosgrove Head of government: Malcolm Turnbull The justice system continued to fail Indigenous people, particularly children, with high rates of incarceration, reports of abuse and deaths in custody. Australia maintained hardline policies by confining people seeking asylum in offshore processing centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, and turning back those attempting to reach Australia by boat. In October, Australia was elected to the UN Human Rights Council, attracting calls for improvement of its human rights record, including cutting all ties to the Myanmar military. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS Indigenous children were 25 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous children. Leaked footage exposed abuses of children in prison in the Northern Territory, including tear gassing, restraints, choking and solitary confinement. In response, a Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory was established and reported on 17 November. An independent review of youth detention centres in Queensland released in April found abuses including solitary confinement, use of dogs to intimidate, missing CCTV footage, and children at risk of self-harm being sedated and hogtied. Further alleged abuses emerged in Victoria, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia. Indigenous adults were 15 times more likely to be jailed than non-Indigenous adults. At least eight Indigenous people died in police custody. The government did not adopt a national plan to ensure Australia meets its obligations 79