Human Rights Commission
Media release
25 February, 2009

New Zealanders urged to make human rights goals clear to Government

For the next three weeks New Zealanders have a rare opportunity to shape the Government’s human rights priorities at a time when the economic crisis makes human rights more important than ever, Chief Human Rights Commissioner Rosslyn Noonan said today.

Ms Noonan urged the public to share their thoughts on New Zealand’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The review is a 20-page report on human rights that New Zealand as a member of the United Nations must make for consideration by the UN Human Rights Council.

“This is an opportunity for the public to have their say about what we tell the United Nations and the global community about human rights in New Zealand. The report will be heard in an international arena.

“It’s a way for us to assess what we are doing well and the challenges we still face in making human rights a reality for every New Zealander and to gauge our progress towards the realisation of human rights for every New Zealander.” she said.

The Government has identified six human rights priorities:
• improving the economic, social and cultural wellbeing of New Zealanders;
• reducing violence within families and its impact on women and children;
improving the opportunities and responsibilities of young New Zealanders through the education and youth justice systems;
• strengthening the rights of victims of crime;
• realising Māori potential and continuing the momentum on achieving fair, just and practical settlements of historical claims under the Treaty of Waitangi; and
• the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the New Zealand Disability Strategy.

The Human Rights Commission was asked to produce a report to the United Nations in November last year. The Commission singled out 13 specific actions that it wanted the Government to commit to over the next four years. They are:

• Government establish a comprehensive UPR and Treaty body reporting process that includes engagement with civil society, greater integration across public agencies and clearer accountability for coordinating and publicising reports and following up on their recommendations.
• Government should, as a priority, withdraw the remaining reservations to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• explicit commitment to the full and effective incorporation of ratified international human rights standards in domestic legislation, in policy development and in public sector professional development and training.
• a review of New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements to give greater effect to the Treaty of Waitangi and human rights protections.
• Government should engage with Mäori and the wider community to promote greater recognition and realisation of indigenous rights as set out in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Government support the Human Rights Commission to develop, in consultation with all interested parties, a further national plan of action, for the promotion and protection of human rights in New Zealand, for 2010 – 2015.
• in implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Government prioritise the rights to education and employment (establishing targets for participation in the public sector) and commit to fully accessible public transport by 2020.
• the Government commits to specific targets and timelines for reducing the high levels of imprisonment and the disproportionate number of Mäori in prison.
• the Government establishes targets for improving representation of women in senior management in the public service, and sets a minimum target of halving the gender pay gap by 2012 and eliminating it by 2020.
• that interventions to reduce violence should be actively monitored, adjusted and extended on the basis of robust empirical evidence; and that victims’ rights should be further strengthened, particularly in relation to participation in the criminal justice system and access to compensation.
• New Zealand adopt a national plan to combat poverty with targets and a timeline and with clear indicators to assess its impact particularly on children, marginalised groups and Mäori and Pacific people.
• the Government commit to fully realising the right to education for all students by removing remaining barriers to access, participation and achievement.
• the Government reviews immigration and counter-terrorism legislation to ensure it is fully compliant with human rights standards.
• the Government ensure that its foreign affairs and trade policies, as with its international development assistance policies, incorporate and promote international human rights standards and that it expand its support for the protection and promotion of human rights in the Asia-Pacific region.

The closing date for public submissions on the draft report is 5pm Tuesday 17 March 2009. The final report will be considered by the United Nations Human Rights Council on 7 May 2009.

The report and the submissions form on the MFAT website can be viewed here:
http://www.mfat.govt.nz/Media-and-publications/Features/915-NZ-draft-human-rights-report.php

Access the Commission’s report here:
http://www.hrc.co.nz/hrc_new/hrc/cms/files/documents/05-Dec-2008_15-12-35_2008_UPR_Report_2008_Web.pdf

ENDS