23 November 2012
NZ must protest latest executions in Afghanistan

The New Zealand Government should protest the recent use of the death penalty in Afghanistan, the Green Party said today.

14 prisoners have been executed in Afghanistan in the past two days. Executions have been rare since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. All the executions were signed off by President Hamid Karzai.

“Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman should seek formal assurances from Afghan authorities that no prisoners handed over by New Zealand’s Defence Forces will suffer the death penalty,” Green Party global affairs spokesperson Dr Kennedy Graham said today.

“New Zealand is a country greatly opposed to the death penalty.

“New Zealand soldiers should therefore not be placed in a position that they may be forced to hand over prisoners that could then face the death penalty.

“The resumption of the use of the death penalty by the Karzai regime is yet another reason why it is time to bring our soldiers back from Afghanistan now,” Dr Graham said.

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>