COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF NEW ZEALAND'S REPORTS

CERD
61st session
15 August 2002
Morning


Government Is Taking Measures to Improve
the Conditions of Maori, Delegation Says



The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded its consideration of the consolidated twelfth to fourteenth periodic reports of New Zealand on how that country was implementing the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Several Committee Experts, including Patrick Thornberry, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of New Zealand, said they appreciated the efforts exerted by New Zealand in the promotion and protection of human rights. They said that the dialogue with the delegation was constructive.
In his concluding statement, Mr. Thornberry was of the view that biculturalism was a modern way of constructing a society. He said that the participation of Maori in all fields was encouraging; the actions taken to revive the Maori language were also of interest; and New Zealand had taken tremendous measures in strengthening human rights.
In response to questions by the Experts, the members of the New Zealand delegation said that the number of Maori offenders was higher in the correctional system because of offenses attributed to poverty, marginalization, alcohol addiction or lack of vocational education. The Government had taken measures to improve the situation by improving housing conditions and facilitating health services.
Concerning disparities between Maori and non-Maori, the delegation said that the Government had responded by improving the economic and social conditions of Maori in order to reduce the disparities existing in the society. The officials were aware of the situation and they were endeavouring to increase efforts to ameliorate the conditions of Maori in all fields.
The Committee will issue its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of New Zealand at the end of its three-week session on 23 August.
New Zealand, as one of the 162 States parties to the International Convention, must present periodic reports to the Committee for its consideration. A five-member New Zealand delegation, led by Ambassador Tim Caughley, Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the United Nations Office at Geneva, was on hand during two meetings to present the report and answer questions raised by Committee Experts.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will take up the fourteenth to seventeenth periodic reports of Hungary (CERD/C/431/Add.1).

New Zealand's Response
In response to the questions raised by Committee Experts, the members of the delegation said that New Zealand welcomed the interest taken in the efforts made to sustain and strengthen racial harmony in the society. In the course of its earlier presentations to the Committee over time, New Zealand believed the efforts to develop a picture of that society had been reasonably successful. The key elements of the founding society document of New Zealand was the Treaty of Waitangi, which might be viewed as the living roots of a bicultural society: biculturalism flowing from the partnership between Maori and the Crown was the cornerstone of the society.
The basic structure within which the New Zealand society operated was one of open participatory democracy, the delegation said. The Government was not in a position to predict the future for any specific group within New Zealand society in detail, but policy makers did pay specific attention to demographic trends in the development of economic, social and other policies. New Zealand remained committed to the values and principles set down in international human rights standards, and to opposing discrimination based on colour, religion, race or ethnic or national origin. Those would be upheld regardless of the status of any individual.
With regard to the situation of changing ethnic status, the delegation said that in the core document and associated table, responses coded into the "Asian" category were those responses from individuals identifying with ethnic groups such as Chinese, Indian, Japanese, as well as South-East Asian ethnic groups. Similarly, the "Pacific peoples" category included responses from individuals identifying with ethnic groups originating in the Pacific, including, for example, Fijians, Solomon Islanders or Hawaiians, among others. In 2001, a much higher percentage of children under five years of age belonged to more than one ethnic group than the national population.
Asked if the Maori language was used as an official language, the delegation said that its use was so far limited; however, now there was a tendency to develop the language and already it was used officially. The Government had taken measures to ensure that the Maori language could continue to be used in all areas. Further research was needed to fully revive the Maori language and deter its regression. The number of people studying the language had increased in recent years. Participation in Maori Universities had significantly increased to 11,281 in 2001.
The Government had taken further actions to train teachers in other languages, including those of refugees, the delegation said. School structures had been built to host students speaking other languages. Books in Arabic, Amharic and Somali had been developed to assist parents and students of Arab, Ethiopian and Somali origins.
With regard to the number of Maori speaking the language, the delegation said that the number of people speaking Maori had increased in the last several years. Education in Maori was provided from pre-school up to university. Additional efforts were also made to accommodate Maori in developing their knowledge using their own language.
Following the 11 September events, the Government had changed its policy with regard to refugee status claimants, the delegation said. So far, 29 people had been detained at the remand centre while 160 were at the open detention centres for the purpose of identity verifications. Many of the claimants did not have documents identifying them. Non-governmental organizations provided accommodation for the claimants whose identities were not established. Many of the asylum-seekers came from a number of countries, and the majority were from India, Iran, Iraq and Nigeria.
The rights of asylum-seekers were protected by various legal provisions and by the intervention of a judge, the delegation said. A judicial review was available to the claimants by higher courts in the event the request for asylum was rejected.
Female genital mutilation was an offence under the crimes act, the delegation said. Legislative provisions had been enacted explicitly prohibiting the practice of female genital mutilation; and under the crime acts, the offence was punishable by up to seven years imprisonment. In addition, assistance was provided for victims of such offences, beside the preventive and protective measures put in place.
Asked why the number of Maori offenders was higher in the correctional system, the delegation said that it was the result of poverty, marginalization, alcohol addiction or lack of vocational education. The Government had taken measures to improve the situation by improving housing conditions and facilitating the health services for Maori.
Concerning disparities between Maori and non-Maori, the delegation said that the Government had responded by improving the economic and social conditions of Maori in order to reduce the disparities existing in the society. The officials were aware of the situation and they were endeavouring to increase efforts in bettering Maori conditions in all fields.
Responding to questions on racial incitements, particularly the white supremacy neo-Nazi group, the delegation said that any racial disharmony was an offence under the criminal act. Individuals found guilty of such acts were fined from $2,000 up to $7,000.
The delegation said that in order to prevent any form of discrimination in employment by minorities, the Government had put in place the Equal Opportunity Trust to oversee any discrimination in public or private sectors. Discrimination in employment on the grounds of martial status, religion, age or disability was prohibited.
Asked about the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the delegation said the Government had taken measures to disseminate the documents through the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
An Expert paid tribute to the efforts made by the New Zealand delegation in responding to most of the questions raised by Committee Experts. The answers were focused only on the Maori situation, but other minorities should also have been given greater consideration. With regard to the apology, the Expert appreciated the Government for its words concerning the past practices that affected the indigenous people.
Another Expert said the report gave a complete picture of the situation in New Zealand; and the dialogue was constructive. The measures taken by the Government to apologize for past mistakes and to respond to the historic grievances of Maori were most appreciated; and the empowering of those people was also another aspect of compensation. It was also a timely step by the Government to campaign against attitudes depicting Afghans and other Muslims as terrorists.

Concluding Statement
PATRICK THORNBERRY, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of New Zealand, said that biculturalism was a modern way of constructing a society. He said that the participation of Maori in all fields was encouraging. The actions taken to revive the Maori language were also of interest. New Zealand had taken tremendous measures in strengthening human rights.
He said that the Committee had received detailed information from New Zealand concerning measures taken following the 11 September events, including the situation of those who were detained upon their arrival at the border.



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