UN to investigate New Zealand Government over conduct of the Oct 15 raids

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights while Countering Terrorism has agreed that there are grounds to investigate the New Zealand Government over its conduct during the October 15 raids. This is the first time that a complaint from a group against a nation-state has been accepted by the Rapporteur. The complaint was lodged by lawyers acting on behalf of the Tuhoe nation and some of the accused in the case. It is based on some 14 specific instances of breaches of human rights.

The New Zealand government has now been issued a list of questions by the United Nations and it is required to provide a response to these within six months. The complaint was submitted pursuant to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The grounds of the complaint are acute breaches of rights to privacy, freedom from discrimination and personal liberty, for which there is no available domestic remedy. The violations arise from conduct of the police, elected politicians and media, and pertain to what has been termed, albeit without objective or legal foundation, an ‘anti-terrorism’ operation. Depending on the response of the Government, or the lack thereof, the Rapporteur may make a ruling on the complaint or decide to investigate further, possibly visiting Aotearoa New Zealand in order to interview victims of the raids, arrestees, lawyers and naturally, members of the police and Government.

There is no domestic mechanism capable of inquiry into the collective rights of self determination and culture held by the Tuhoe Nation. A civil action may be pursued on behalf of individuals who were affected, but even if this succeeds at considerable cost and delay it cannot address the collective and systemic harm caused to the affected communities and the Tuhoe nation. Attempts to secure recourse through the Waitangi Tribunal for a violation of te Tiriti o Waitangi would likewise be ineffective as the Tribunal only has powers to make recommendations on such matters to the government, and has failed to report on the earlier claim by the Tuhoe nation that was concluded several years ago.

The New Zealand Government likes to extol its human rights record to the world. Meanwhile, it conveniently ignores the condemnation of various UN bodies when they don’t suit the Government’s fairy tale of amicable race relations. In 2006, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People visited Aotearoa New Zealand to investigate breaches of human rights as a result of the Foreshore and Seabed Act. Following the investigation, the Rapporteur issued a report detailing the violations of human rights which the New Zealand Government has roundly ignored.

Needless to say, people around the world are not blind to the New Zealand Government’s double-speak when it come to Maori. Statements from around the world, including the Canadian Postal Worker’s Union and the Zapatista Liberation Army indicate that support for the right of Maori to self-determination will not be denied.

Related

http://www.october15thsolidarity.info

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10487294