Three Australian appeals court judges have reserved their decision on whether an activist can prosecute Britain's King Charles III for alleged genocide of Australia's Indigenous people. The case, brought by Uncle Robbie Thorpe, 68, was heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Victoria state after two lower courts rejected his bid to launch a private prosecution against the monarch in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court.
Allegations of Genocide
Thorpe's case alleges that the king, who is also Australia's head of state, along with the Australian government and its institutions, perpetuates a genocide of Indigenous people by maintaining systemic disadvantages across multiple socioeconomic levels. This, he argues, makes Indigenous Australians the most underprivileged minority in the country. Official statistics show that Indigenous Australians, who account for 4% of the population, die younger, suffer worse health, and are more likely to be imprisoned and unemployed than other groups.
Thorpe told The Associated Press that if he exhausts his legal options in Australia, he would take the offense under the Genocide Convention to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. He criticized the Australian judiciary, stating, "It's clear that they're unwilling, unable, reluctant to deal with these international legal issues like genocide."
During the hearing, Thorpe told the judges that Indigenous people are dying because their disadvantage in Australia is compounding. "The Crown is responsible for all this mess," he said. "Australia's got away with genocide of Aboriginal people since they arrived here." The British colonized Australia in 1788, violently seizing Indigenous land without a treaty. Thorpe added, "They totally failed to prevent genocide. That's the crime here. They failed to prevent genocide knowingly and they failed to punish anyone for it."
Historical Context
The British punished Indigenous people for speaking their languages and practicing their cultures in an effort to Christianize and Westernize them. Generations of children were taken from Indigenous families under now-discredited assimilation policies. Thorpe appeared in court wearing a traditional possum-skin coat and carrying a feather from an Australian wedge-tailed eagle, an Indigenous totem. He requested to be addressed as Uncle Robbie or by his tribal name Djuran Bunjileenee, and Justice Karin Emerton, the presiding judge, referred to him as Uncle Robbie.
The king was identified in court documents as Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor. Thorpe is attempting to charge the king under Indigenous law that has existed for more than 65,000 years, state common law, and federal criminal law, according to court documents.
Legal Challenges
In dismissing Thorpe's appeal last year, a judge ruled that a magistrate was not allowed to consider Indigenous law and that genocide was not an offense under common law. The federal attorney-general would have to sign off on any genocide prosecution under federal law, the judge ruled. Following a two-hour hearing on Wednesday, Justice Emerton said the three judges would deliver their verdict at a later date. If Thorpe loses, his final option would be Australia's High Court before attempting to have the king prosecuted in The Hague.
