New Zealand's National Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Report ...

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4New Zealand Human Rights ConsultationAuckland, 13 August 2008Present: Peter Jenkins, Sensible Sentencing Trust; Parvez Akbar, Employers andManufacturers Association; Lesley Belcham, Outline New Zealand; Felicity Lamm, DanaeAnderson, Auckland University of Technology; Beverley Turner, Pacific Women’s Watch;Jesse Colquhoun, Auckland City Council; Cathy Parker, Genderbridge; Juanita Muslua,Shakti Asian Women’s Centre; Rodney Mapleston, Psychiatric Survivors; Penny Bright,Water Pressure Group; Richard Northey, Auckland District Council of Social Services;Rina Tagore, Manukau City Council; Janferie Bryce-Chapman, Age Concern North Shore;Rachael Le Mesinner, New Zealand AIDS Foundation; Farida Sultana, WAV; JoanMacdonald, WILPF; Shila Nair, Shakti Community Council; Crystal Shrestha, ShaktiCommunity Council; Philomena Lobo Shakti Women’s Safe House; Kate Waterworth,Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa; Bharat Jamnadas, Asia Down Under; DrRasalingam, Ethnic Voice; Antony Vallyon, UNANZ; Suzanne Mahon, Auckland InterfaithCouncil; Judi Clements, Mental Health Foundation; Thomas Hamilton, Genderbridge;Gidion McCusker Dixon, Human Rights Council.Apologies: Office of Advancement of Women for the Baha'i Community of New Zealand,the Children's Issues Centre, Literacy Aotearoa and the Council of Civil Liberties.Consultations were held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the HumanRights Commission in Auckland on Wednesday 13 th August 2008. Stakeholders met todiscuss New Zealand’s Universal Periodic Review and the mid-term review of the NewZealand Action Plan for Human Rights 2005-2010.The Director of the United Nations, Human Rights and Commonwealth Division of theMinistry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Joan Mosley, outlined the UPR process and howcivil society organisations can participate in New Zealand’s UPR examination. Sheadvised that their views would help inform New Zealand’s national UPR report and thatkey stakeholders, including NGOs and the Human Rights Commission, are able to maketheir own individual submissions direct to the Office for the High Commissioner for HumanRights in Geneva. Participants were advised to keep an eye on the website of the Officeof the High Commissioner for Human Rights (www.ohchr.org ) for the deadline forsubmission of their own reports, which could be in the next few months. In terms ofconsultation on the New Zealand’s draft national UPR report, participants were told thatthis would be subject to further Ministerial consideration.Chief Commissioner Rosslyn Noonan outlined the key issues identified in theCommission’s 2004 review of human rights in New Zealand and progress in achieving thepriority actions in the New Zealand Action Plan for Human Rights. She said that the initialassessment concluded that while some notable advances have been over the last fewyears, there were still some major human rights challenges that have to be addressed andareas where we can do better. New Zealand’s UPR examination represented a realopportunity to get some of these issues addressed.Those present then identified, challenges, progress over the last few years and priorityactions for the future. Challenges identified (in no particular order) included:• Recognising access to water as a human rights issue• An adequate standard of living for all New Zealanders• Independent audit of corruption and conduct of judiciary
• Child poverty, including challenging discrimination against children whose parentsare beneficiaries• Asylum seekers access to services including accredited interpreters and ending thepractice of imprisonment with convicted criminals• Improved enforcement of labour standards for health and safety• Establishing human rights standards for child labour• Ending child abuse• Elderly abuse and protection in institutional care• Domestic violence, including violence against people with experience of mentalillness• Lack of migrant women in leadership roles• Lack of culturally appropriate foster homes for the children of ethnic minorities• New Zealand’s position on the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples• Institutional racism and poverty• The Treaty of Waitangi formally incorporated into New Zealand’s constitutionalarrangements• Involuntary hospitalisation of mental health patients for excessive periods of timeand inadequate funding levels for community care• Rights of immigrants• Combating covert discrimination in employment recruitment• Improving the position of sexual minorities• Affirmative action for minorities• High imprisonment rates, especially for Maori, and lack of rehabilitation services• Exclusion of children from school and discrimination concerning disabled children’saccess to education services.• Improving the rights of children in the Family Court and in the Youth Justice system• Discrimination against migrants• Rural issues e.g. equal access to health services.• Cultural “rights” and practices versus human rights e.g. dowries and polygamyParticipants agreed that New Zealand’s human rights situation has improved in a numberof areas including:• Disabled persons rights including New Zealand Sign Language becoming an officiallanguage and New Zealand signing the Convention on the Rights of Persons withDisabilities);• The treatment of asylum seekers• Establishing minimum workplace health and safety standards• Establishing the Positive Ageing Strategy and monitoring results• The HRC Inquiry into Discrimination Experienced by Transgender People• Some progress in implementing the mental health blue print• Employers are more aware of human rights issues• Positive shift in some societal attitudes e.g. the Like Minds Like Mine campaign• Prostitution Law Reform Act; and Civil Union Act.It was noted that there was a need to access non-government progress to get a betterpicture on New Zealand’s human rights situationA number of priority actions were also identified including:• the differentiation in opportunities for children from different backgrounds• interpreting body for languages5
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