Julian McMahon at an appeal by Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in Indonesia. He has been made a companion of the Order of Australia. Photograph: Ed Wray/Getty Images

The abolitionist lawyer Julian McMahon and the refugee advocate Paris Aristotle have been recognised in this years Queens birthday honours list.

Julian McMahon, a Melbourne barrister, has been appointed a companion of the Order of Australia for his dedication to defending human rights, in particular advocating for defendants facing the death penalty.

The president of Reprieve Australia since 2015, McMahon has worked pro bono for death-row defendants including: Van Tuong Nguyen, hanged in Singapore in 2005; George Forbes, wrongly accused, then exonerated of murder in Sudan in 2007; and the Bali Nine members Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who were executed by firing squad in Indonesia in 2015.

His work has raised public awareness globally of the death penalty, as more and more countries abolish capital punishment.

In the wake of Chan and Sukumarans executions, McMahon said the killing of Australian citizens overseas for non-violent drug offences had solidified public opposition in Australia to capital punishment.

I think its been a developing idea basically since the execution of Van Nguyen, which many people rightly thought was an appalling outcome, McMahon told Fairfax Media.

The public consciousness was awakened to the reality of executions, which hadnt really featured in public life for a long time. It was on a slow burn until the lead-up to the executions of Chan and Sukumaran. Their case led to such intense analysis, discussion and political input, it is now beyond dispute that we simply understand as a nation the death penalty is unacceptable.

McMahon, the Victorian Australian of the Year in 2016, has been cited in the Queens birthday honours for eminent service to the law and the legal profession, through pro bono representation of defendants in capital punishment cases overseas, as an advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, and to human rights and social justice reform.

Aristotle has made an officer of the Order of Australia. He founded the Victoria Foundation of Survivors of Torture in 1987 and has been its chief executive since then. He was a member of the prime ministers expert panel on asylum seekers in 2012.

Aristotles citation as the 2017 Victorian Australian of the Year reads: A tireless advocate for refugees and asylum seekers, Paris Aristotle has made an enormous contribution by helping countless people rebuild their lives in Australia after surviving torture and trauma in their countries of origin.

Aristotle has worked with state and federal governments of all political affiliations over decades as well as with the United Nations high commissioner for refugees.

In an address in March, he said the issue of forced displacement will be one of the great challenges of the 21st century for Australia, the region and the world:

Protecting people fleeing war, conflict and persecution is both a moral and legal obligation for a country like ours. Every person should know that they have a right to protection under the refugee convention every refugee should be confident that as a part of that they will be properly cared for and every persecutor should fear that they will be brought to justice.

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Julian McMahon and Paris Aristotle honoured for defence of human rights - The Guardian