UN Criticises NZ On Rights Of Iindigenous Peoples, Treatment Of Youth Offenders And Asylum-seekers

At long last New Zealand has had its arm twisted into signing the United Nation’s Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples without any caveats according to the Maori Party.

143 countries have already signed the declaration, New Zealand is one of the last remaining UN member states (NZ, Canada and USA) to reverse their opposition to the declaration.

The declaration is a non-binding text and sets out the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues.

Prime Minister, John Key, has already said the signing will have no practical effect, according to the New Zealand Herald:

“A United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous people that New Zealand signed up to overnight will have no practical effect, Prime Minister John Key said this morning.”

The leader of the opposition, Phil Goff, was quoted as saying he saw no reason for the government signing up to something they had no intention of fulfilling:

“Why would you sign up to something you never intended to act on and you don’t actually believe in… They are signing up to something they don’t believe in and never intend to implement. The Maori Party has been duped again.”

Mr Key said for a long time the Government had made it clear it wanted to affirm the declaration and there had been “no secret” about that

Dr Sharples, also a Maori Party co-leader, said after negotiation his party and the Government had come to a position they could both accept. He previously expressed concerns about the number of caveats the Government wanted to attach but today seemed happy with the final outcome and was pleased with the standing ovation his speech received at the UN…

…Mr Key said the idea of including Treaty into a written constitution was something the government was “a long way away” from considering.”

A month ago the UN Human Rights Committee finished their consideration and published their 5th NZ Rights Report.

The committee expressed its concerns about possible breaches of the rights of Maori people, expressed its alarm that the country’s age for criminal responsibility was 10 and that a militarization of juvenile offenders wasn’t a great way for a country to treat its youth!

From a UN press release:

“Several experts took exception to the New Zealand delegation’s claim that consideration of the Waitangi Treaty of 1840 was built into the country’s law-making process, underlining that the Treaty’s translations – and, thus, its very meaning — remained unsettled, even contentious. To that end, Hellen Keller, expert from Switzerland, stressed that a “consultation process” regarding land and water rights legislation was not the same as seriously integrating the views and concerns of the Maori in the decision-making process.

A few experts expressed concern that the age of criminal responsibility — which was set at 10 for murder and manslaughter — was quite low. Saying “this was a knife that cuts both ways”, Rajsoomer Lallah, expert from Mauritius, suggested that if — as the delegation indicated — there were so few young offenders, the age could be raised. While he understood its consideration of the seriousness of the offence compelled New Zealand to set the age at 10, he believed the maturity of the person should be the primary factor in making such a determination.

On a related note, he expressed concern over reports from non-governmental organizations in New Zealand that there was a “militarization” of juvenile offenders, suggesting this was not a “salutary” way for a country to treat its youth.”

The report then went on to criticise New Zealand’s treatment of asylum seekers, the victims of human trafficking and prostitution.

We have the impression that New Zealand was backed into a corner by the committee’s report, released on 18 March 2010. Within a month NZ had signed on the dotted line (in secret) and announced its acquiescence

It remains to be seen if Key will be challenged by both the Maori Party and the UN on his assertion that his government has no intention of implementing the agreement, which was made without any of the caveats the government had tried to introduce. If that’s the case the UN must continue to pressure New Zealand into living up to it’s claims that it is a country with a strong commitment to human rights, by insisting on hard evidence not weasel words.


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Debbie Kohner Survey On Racial Abuse In Nelson & Tasman

A survey by Debbie Kohner has revealed that more than 90% of all non-Europeans in Nelson and Tasman area have suffered racial abuse of one form or another, from abuse directed at children as young as five to frequent comments from passing cars. It's a shocking statistic. I don't believe that this problem is confined to one region, racism is endemic in NZ and seems to stem from xenophobia in many places. I'd also like to see the figures for how many people of European origin have experienced racial abuse (often from other 'Europeans') because we do hear news reports about accent rage as in the cases of Irish man Robbie O'brien, and the 6 English and Dutch tourists beaten and stabbed in Cashel Mall and anti American vitriol.

Debbie Kohner is a solicitor from Northern Ireland and no stranger to the issues of conflict and racism which she studied whilst in Belfast, there the consequences of irrational and stupid prejudices are all too well known about. She's also the granddaughter of Jewish refugees who fled the Sudetenland during the second world war and so seems superbly equipped as an outsider to define and examine racism in New Zealand with an expert eye.

Her survey included such simple questions as "Have you ever been treated badly because of how you look, the way you speak or where you come from?" Read more here: Racial abuse high in Nelson

See also
Indian students subjected to racial abuse in New Zealand
Racial discrimination in the work place

Racial Discrimination in the Workplace: Complaints to the Human Rights Commission

The recent news reports of student nurse Linda Tang taking UNITEC to the HRC shows that not much has changed in New Zealand since the HRC issued a media release in March of 2007, the text of which is reproduced in parenthesis below.

Indigenous people as well as migrants were discriminated against and the issue of foreign accents was just as much of a problem then as it is now.

Complaints about racial discrimination in the workplace remain of concern

Complaints about racial discrimination in employment made up almost one third of the 190 race related complaints dealt with by the Human Rights Commission last year. The figures have been published in the Commission's annual review of race relations released today.

Workplace complaints made up 20 per cent of race related complaints in 2005 up from 16 per cent in 2004. In one case a Russian teacher of English was refused a job on the grounds that she lacked local experience. A number of overseas trained doctors complained about the difficulty of obtaining New Zealand registration.

The number of complaints about racial harassment continues to grow. In 2006 they constituted 24 per cent of race related complaints compared to 19 per cent in 2005 and 15 per cent in 2004. One case of harassment involved a religious minister who mimicked a recent migrant's accent during an incident involving a parking space.

Accommodation continues to be an area where discrimination persists. In one case a Korean landlord said he would only accept Korean tenants. In another a landlord agreed to rent a property over the phone but rescinded the offer when he discovered the person was Maori.

There were few complaints about comments made in the media. The Press Council considered only one complaint based on race, the BSA considered two complaints. No complaint was upheld.

In all the Human Rights Commission received 491 race related complaints last year. Of these 301 were resolved in the early stages, many by the provision of information and advice from the Commission.

New Zealand Scores Second Worse in World for Bullying in Schools

Source Stuff.co.nz
December 2008

NZ Schools Lead World in bullying

"Three-quarters of primary school children have been bullied in the past month, ranking New Zealand 34th of 35 countries in a major international study.

More evidence of an endemic bullying culture comes as teachers call for law changes to single out the most troublesome students and as the Ministry of Education plans a Behaviour Summit for early next year.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) showed only Tunisia had fewer Year 5 students reporting no instances of bullying over the past month.

Pupils were asked how often the following happened in their school in the past month:

Something of mine was stolen.

I was hit or hurt by other student(s) (for example, shoving, hitting, kicking).

I was made to do things I didn't want to do by other students.

I was made fun of or called names.

I was left out of activities by other students.

In New Zealand, 33 per cent of children answered yes to three or more of the questions -- far worse than the international average 18%.

A further 42% of pupils said they had suffered one or two of the bullying incidents in the past month.

Only Tunisia rated worse for bullying -- there, 23% of students reported no bullying.

Auckland paediatrician and former Children's Commissioner Ian Hassall said the high rates of bullying reflected a "punitive culture".

"It's not just children who are bullied; adults bully as well," Hassall said. "We do have a punitive society that rather believes in punishing people and threatening them, so it's not surprising that children pick up on this and go punishing one another."

Inquiries into school bullying by the Children's Commissioner and the Human Rights Commission are under way.

Briefing papers to the new Education Minister, Anne Tolley, reveal plans for a Behaviour Summit to be held in March next year.

The papers state that the Ministry of Education is already dealing with 4500 children aged five to 14 who have "the most severe behavioural needs".

"In March 2009, the ministry is planning to bring together the education sector and other stakeholders in a Behaviour Summit to consider the evidence on effective behaviour management and commit to a plan of action," the papers state.

A spokeswoman for Tolley said the conference plan was at a "very embryonic stage".

Only last week a 10 year old boy tried to jump from a school roof after suffering abuse at Ascot
Community school following burns he sustained in a fire 2 years previously.

In March 2008 Toran Henry, 17 died after a fight at Takapuna grammar school where he mother said he was bullied by both students and staff

New Zealand's Culture of Brutality

Peter Duune has said

"anti-bullying, and "character education" programmes were needed in primary and intermediate schools.

"The culture of brutality that we have tolerated for too long has to stop,"

Update:
Shortly after this post was made the Human Rights Commission released a report in which it identified significant human rights issues in relation to violence in New Zealand Schools.

"The report (also) focuses on how well the principles of human rights and natural justice are reflected in school policies and practices managing peer-to-peer violence in schools.

Chief Commissioner Rosslyn Noonan said, "We found that parents and children can be re-victimised when they are not accorded the right to be heard."

Schools require clear guidelines stating that parents should be informed if their child is bullied, abused or attacked at school. There was little or no information or guidance from government agencies on how to deal with bullying between peers. These left schools with no clear steer about when or how to involve the police or Child, Youth and Family.

Ms Noonan said, "There is insufficient focus on the terrible impact violence on children and young people has on the victims’ right to education."

A human rights approach to bullying highlights the need to protect the rights of the most vulnerable and to treat violence between students at school as seriously as we would violence involving adults or incidents outside school.

Ms Noonan said, "Recognising and respecting the rights of the victims in no way undermines the rights to education and natural justice of those students accused of violence, abuse or serious bullying.

"It will, however, produce fairer, more durable outcomes and safer schools."

The Commission receives a persistent and concerning level of complaints about school bullying, 31 in 2008 and 15 in 2007.

Ms Noonan said that the cases that have come to the Commission have demonstrated the importance of making human rights and responsibilities explicit in education law and the visible foundation for every school.

She said, "It is time every child and young person has the opportunity to learn, practice and experience the human rights that are at the heart of New Zealand society."

The Commission has worked alongside the Office of the Children’s Commissioner on the issue of violence in schools. The Office of the Children’s Commissioner releases its investigation into school bullying today.

Ms Noonan said, "We have been working closely with the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and government agencies on this issue and we will continue to do so in order that the necessary changes happen to ensure children and young people are safe when they attend school."