Committee against Torture considers the report of New Zealand

22 April 2014

The Committee against Torture today concluded its consideration of the sixth periodic report of New Zealand on its implementation of the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Introducing the report, Rajesh Chhana, Deputy Secretary of Policy, Ministry of Justice of New Zealand, said New Zealand was a relatively young democratic country in the South Pacific with a rich ethnic diversity. New Zealand prided itself on the promotion of human rights and equal treatment for all citizens, and its human rights approach focused on respect for every person with a pragmatic approach. The United Nations Sub-Committee on the Prevention of Torture visited New Zealand in 2013 and inspected 35 places of detention where it found no consistent allegations of torture or physical ill-treatment. New Zealand was successfully meeting its crime-reduction targets and since June 2011 had reduced overall crime rate by 18 per cent, violent crime by 11 per cent and youth crime by 38 per cent. The biggest challenge was the over-representation of Māori in the criminal justice system, both as offenders and victims. Good progress had been made in settling historic abuse claims, improving care for victims of domestic and sexual violence, and preventing trafficking in persons.

During the dialogue, Committee Experts raised a number of issues, including the over-representation of Māori persons in the criminal justice system, the New Zealand prison system and specific issues such as double-bunking, segregation and private prisons, and the provision of health services in custodial environments. Immigration practices and procedures applied to mass arrivals of asylum seekers and refugees were widely discussed. The delegation was asked whether anybody had been prosecuted for the crime of torture during the reporting period and responded that there had been no prosecutions. Experts also asked about measures to tackle trafficking in persons, provisions of the evidence act and extradition cases. The use of Tasers by the police, historic abuse claims, including the Lake Alice case, and the use of private prisons, such as the Mount Eden Correction Facility, were also raised.

Claudio Grossman, Committee Chairperson, in concluding remarks, thanked the delegation for the constructive dialogue and its thorough answers, noting that the Committee would issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the sixth periodic report of New Zealand at the end of the session.

The delegation of New Zealand included representatives of the Ministry of Justice, Department of Corrections, Crown Law Department and the Permanent Mission of New Zealand to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Committee will reconvene in public on Thursday, 23 April at 10 a.m. to consider the second periodic report of Romania (CAT/C/ROU/2).

Report

The sixth periodic report of New Zealand can be read here: CAT/C/NZL/6.

Presentation of the Report

RAJESH CHHANA, Deputy Secretary of Policy, Ministry of Justice of New Zealand, said New Zealand was a relatively young democratic country in the South Pacific with a rich ethnic diversity. Over four and a half million New Zealanders belonged to Māori, Pacific, European, Asian and many other ethnic groups. New Zealand prided itself on the promotion of human rights and equal treatment for all citizens, and its human rights approach focused on respect for every person with a pragmatic approach. New Zealand was appointed to the United Nations Security Council in late 2014, which placed it at the heart of international peace and security decision-making until 31 December 2016. New Zealand was successfully meeting its crime-reduction targets set in the Better Public Services Programme, and since June 2011 the overall crime rate had been reduced by 18 per cent, violent crime had been reduced by 11 per cent and youth crime had been reduced by 38 per cent.

One of the biggest challenges was the over-representation of Māori in the criminal justice system, both as offenders and victims. Though Māori made up only 15 per cent of the population they constituted half of the prison population. In response several targeted programmes had been developed, such as the Youth Crime Action Plan which sought sustainable exits from the youth justice system and had significantly reduced youth offending rates. Reconnecting young at-risk Māori youth with their cultures and families was an important element in reducing the likelihood of future reoffending, and efforts taken included courts held at traditional Māori meeting places, the establishment of Māori-centred rehabilitation prison units, and provisions for family members and representatives of Māori tribes to address a court at the time of sentencing. Regarding historic abuse claims Mr. Chhana noted that by the end of 2014, 575 of the claims lodged with the Ministry of Social Development, 449 of the claims lodged with health agencies and 28 of the claims made against the educational sector had been resolved.

Improving care for victims of family violence, which included physical, sexual and psychological abuse, and ensuring that all of their needs were met was a key priority and although the crime rate in New Zealand was at its lowest since 1978 the Government understood that more could be done to help the victims of family violence. The latest initiatives included a home-safety service to help victims leave a violent relationship, the establishment of a Chief Victims Advisor to support victims through the justice system, and improvements to the court system in general and a review of family violence legislation. The 2014 Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill amended the trafficking offence to ensure it covered domestic trafficking and New Zealand brought its first trafficking charges in August 2014, charging the defendants with arranging by deception the entry of 18 Indian nationals into New Zealand. The accused now faced the criminal justice system.

The practice of seclusion for persons with intellectual disabilities in mental health facilities was only used when necessary, never for the purposes of discipline, coercion or staff convenience. Since stricter guidelines were introduced in 2009 the number of persons in seclusion had decreased by 29 per cent and the total number of hours spent in seclusion had dropped by 50 per cent. Mr. Chhana spoke about the visit of the United Nations Sub-Committee on the Prevention of Torture in 2013 to inspect 35 places of detention, where it found no consistent allegations of torture or physical ill-treatment. He also noted the constructive visit of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2014 and its positive remarks regarding New Zealand’s legal framework. The Government looked forward to receiving the Working Group’s final report and recommendations. Finally, Mr. Chhana thanked the non-governmental organizations and human rights defenders who had submitted shadow reports to the Committee for their ongoing role in the conversation.

Questions by Committee Experts

An Expert paid tribute to the significant efforts of New Zealand to improve human rights worldwide, especially through United Nations bodies, and wished it every success in that endeavour. It was unusual and interesting to note that New Zealand was presenting its sixth periodic report, said an Expert, noting the long-standing contributions New Zealand had made to the Committee. She also commended the State party on the good disaggregated data and statistics included in the report.

The Committee noticed with satisfaction that during its Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council New Zealand had accepted the recommendation made by Viet Nam on the harmonization of domestic and international human rights stipulations, said an Expert. In connection to that the Committee requested information on how many complaints had been received regarding abuse, torture and excessive use of force by public persons and how many people had been prosecuted for such crimes during the reporting period.

The disproportionate numbers of Maori persons in prison in New Zealand was raised by an Expert, who commended the approach taken by the Government, particularly with regard to young persons, and asked about the possibility of expanding it more widely.

The delegation was asked for more information on efforts to support women prisoners by an Expert who noted that only six per cent of incarcerated persons in New Zealand were women but 58 per cent of those women were of Māori origin, which was a very large over-representation.

The treatment of asylum seekers coming to New Zealand was raised by an Expert who said that many were fleeing from torture and other forms of persecution. He asked how New Zealand identified the victims of torture among them, which was very important not only because it would have a bearing on their asylum case but also in regard to their treatment. Were asylum seekers who alleged they were victims of torture referred to a specialized medical examination, he asked.

Regarding the detention of asylum seekers and undocumented migrants, the delegation was asked what rights they had, including to habeas corpus. The Committee was concerned about the security-risk assessment carried out on individuals, asking how New Zealand made sure that the risk of torture upon the return of an asylum seeker was thoroughly assessed.

The delegation was asked about New Zealand’s collaboration with the Government of Australia in dealing with so-called ‘mass-arrival groups’ of illegal immigrants. How did New Zealand ensure that innocent persons were not detained for months? An Expert noted that New Zealand had agreed to resettle a small group of immigrants every year in an agreement with Australia and asked for more information about that agreement.

Did the Government carry out extradition on the basis of diplomatic assurances, asked another Expert, as the Committee was very concerned that extradition could lead to torture or death. She asked how many extraditions had been carried out during the reporting period.

The report included a great deal of information on measures taken to reduce and eradicate the problem of overcrowding in prisons, noted an Expert, commending New Zealand on its commitment to the ‘Tokyo Rules’. He asked if the State party had any update on its efforts in that regard. The report stated that there had been an increase in the use of ‘double-bunking’ due to the closure of several old prisons, and further stated that there were no plans to eliminate the use of ‘double-bunking’. The Expert asked why not, and whether any prisoners had complained about it.

The abandonment of the death penalty by New Zealand was commendable, said an Expert. He noted that firearms were rarely used by law enforcement personnel who instead relied on Tasers. He appreciated the comprehensive statistics provided by the Government on the use of Tasers but said there had been complaints from civil society organizations that Tasers were over-used and had injured victims, and reports that Tasers were disproportionately used on young and Māori persons.

To what extent did the privatization of prisons help New Zealand to meet its obligations under the Convention, asked an Expert. He referred to Mount Eden Prison which was the only privately-run place of detention in New Zealand and which reportedly had the highest levels of violence, both between detainees and towards them. The delegation was asked to give more information about the management of the prison and what it was doing in response to those allegations.

The problem of violence against women appeared to prevail, said an Expert, and although the increase in the conviction rate was commendable the Committee was informed that only one in ten cases were reported and only one third of those were actually prosecuted. The Committee recommended that a comprehensive action plan to tackle violence against women be put in place, which included definitions of domestic and sexual violence, in consultation with civil society organizations.

Civil society organizations had reported that New Zealand had no strategy to tackle sexual violence, had never run a national awareness-raising campaign on the subject, that general services to help victims were widely unavailable and that crisis services were only available to 70 per cent of the country, said an Expert, asking the delegation to comment.

The report stated that child abuse continued to increase and the level of cases in New Zealand was apparently much higher than in comparable countries. The State party had described several measures it was taking to combat child abuse but it appeared that two crucial preventative measures – outreach to schools and outreach to families – were managed by non-Government actors or private initiatives. The Expert asked about the procedures followed by those non-Government actors for suspected cases of violence or other abuse against children.

The new Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Bill had amended the offence of trafficking in persons to remove the transnational element of the offence in order to ensure that it covered domestic cases of trafficking. Did that mean that the transnational element of the offence had been extended to cover the national element of the offence, asked an Expert.

Concerning trafficking in persons, an Expert said he was pleased to hear of the first prosecutions in August 2014, resulting in 14 cases going to court. He asked about other measures to tackle the problem and how New Zealand saw trafficking in persons in relation to crimes of sexual violence.

An Expert raised the use of seclusion in mental health facilities for persons with intellectual disabilities. He noted the information provided in the report and in the presentation today, and asked if the figures that 14 per cent of mental health patients were subjected to seclusion on average three and a half times during their committal were satisfactory or if efforts to reduce those figures further were ongoing. He also asked what was the average duration of seclusion in mental health institutions.

A Committee Expert welcomed the delegation to Geneva and congratulated it on becoming a member of the Security Council, and on its forthcoming Presidency of the Council in July this year and again for another month in 2016. The Expert asked about the training of law enforcement personnel on the Convention, noting that the report explained such training was given to all custodial staff but did not specify if they included prison doctors.

In the context of the rights of persons in custody, an Expert asked about the right of a suspect or detained person to see an independent doctor and whether the police could decide not to grant such a request. He also asked about the independence of prison doctors in general and about the right to inform relatives of an arrest. The delegation was asked about the impact of recent legislative amendments concerning detainees, such as on the right to vote, which the Committee saw as steps backwards rather than forwards in terms of implementing the provisions of the Convention.

New Zealand was commended for introducing the recording of interviews in the law enforcement system, which went a long way to prohibiting torture. The Expert asked for more information about ‘specialist’ interview processes for suspects accused of serious crimes, as referred to in the report.

With regard to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, an Expert said while the national preventative mechanism was commendable it appeared to suffer from insufficient resources, both financial and human. The oversight mechanism was crucial, especially for the monitoring of persons with psycho-social disabilities being cared for in institutions, he commented. He also asked about allegations of abuse highlighted by the Ombudsman.

Response of the Delegation

There had been no prosecution for an act of torture brought under the Crimes of Torture Act, said a delegate. As to whether there had been any redress or compensation under the Act, the delegate said a conviction was a pre-requisite and as there had been no prosecutions there had been no awards of compensation under the Act. During the period from January 2009 to the present day, there had been no civil claims brought against the New Zealand Government or the New Zealand Police which had resulted in any award of damages or out-of-court settlement in respect of an allegation of torture as defined in the Convention against Torture.

Since the sixth periodic report was submitted there had been 11 additional legal complaints made to the High Court by eight prisoners. All 11 complaints fell under ‘ill and inhumane treatment while in prison’ and claimed a breach of Section 23(5) of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 that ‘everyone deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the person’.

As of 22 April 2015 the prison population of New Zealand was 8,795 and the number of cells shared by two or more prisoners was 1,405. The total capacity remained at 10,280 giving an occupancy rate of 85 per cent. To meet the future forecast demand a new prison facility in South Auckland would open this year and provide a further 960 beds. That would enable the Department for Corrections to close down three old prisons with 600 beds which fell short of the standards of decency and access to rehabilitative services that New Zealand aspired to.

The use of double-bunking was an integral part of the prison accommodation mix and was not an emergency response to overcrowding, clarified a delegate. It was largely used only in the most modern prisons and in cells that were suitable for double occupancy. Prisoners were carefully selected for sharing through as assessment risk tool. Prisoners were reassessed at regular individuals and retained the right to have their complaints heard and responded to. Shared cells were proven to have no detrimental effect on the safe, secure and humane containment of prisoners, in fact research conducted in 2010 showed that while a majority of prisoners preferred a single cell 39 per cent had stated they preferred to serve their sentence in a double-bunk cell.

The New Zealand Police did not routinely carry firearms and they were used to the minimum extent possible, said a delegate. In that environment Tasers were an important tactical option to ensure the safety and security of the public and police officers. Every Taser was equipped with a camera which recorded any show or discharge of a Taser. The use of Tasers was closely monitored by the Police and bi-annual reports were published on the Police website. In total, from 1 January to 30 June 2014, a Taser was shown in only 0.7 per cent of apprehensions and only discharged in 0.09 per cent of apprehensions. Of all the situations where a Taser was shown, 51 per cent of people were Māori and 13 per cent were Pacific Island peoples.

Responding to questions about historical cases of abuse, a delegate spoke in detail about the Lake Alice case, informing the Committee that all 185 claims received from Lake Alice victims had been settled at a total cost of $ 10.8 million. There were currently no remaining claims to be considered by the Crown. Furthermore the Ministry of Health had settled 119 claims relating to the treatment of individuals in State-run psychiatric facilities prior to 1993 totalling $ 684,000. The Ministry of Education dealt with allegations of abuse or neglect at residential special schools under the Department of Education before 1989, and had settled 28 claims to date totalling $ 332,500 while another 14 claims were pending. The Ministry of Social Development had to date settled 575 of the approximate 1,680 claims related to State social care that had been filed, and remained committed to closing all historic claims by 31 December 2020. The Government acknowledged the delay in concluding outstanding claims regarding historic abuses cases and was considering a new strategy to address the claims. In addition to compensation, victims who participated in the Confidential Listening and Assistance Service had been provided with access to counselling services and advocacy support, it was noted.

The police was constantly working to maintain high levels of public trust and confidence, so that communities and victims felt encouraged to report domestic violence and sexual violence to the police, said a delegate. Other initiatives included the provision of better support to victims through the court process to encourage them to pursue their claims and the ‘It’s Not Ok’ campaign focusing on family violence, which had led to a greater increase in reporting. Additionally, the maximum penalty for breaching a protection order was increased from two to three years imprisonment to emphasize the seriousness of the offence.

Regarding immigration and mass arrivals, a delegate said New Zealand resettled 750 refugees annually under its Refugee Quota Programme. Those individuals spent the first six weeks in New Zealand at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre where they participated in a reception programme to support their resettlement. The Government had announced that, if requested to, it would take 150 refugees from Australia but at this time no formal arrangement had been entered into between the New Zealand and Australian Governments regarding that announcement. The delegate noted that there was no legislative basis which would enable New Zealand to use offshore processing centres. The 2009 Immigration Act provided for a different procedure than of the security risk certificates which were part of the 1987 Immigration Act, said the delegate, but it remained the case that a person could be deported by order of the Governor-General if the Minister of Immigration certified that the person was a security risk.

The mass arrival provisions were enacted in 2013 and there had been no need for them to be used to date, said a delegate. The powers to detain for an initial period of six months and an extension of one month were subject to judicial control. A judge had to be convinced that detention was necessary, and affected persons had to be legally represented, he noted. New Zealand respected the rule of law and its laws applied equally to all of those in its jurisdiction – in the case of asylum seekers and refugees, declined claims could be appealed to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal, the Committee was informed. Detained asylum seekers had the right to make a claim for habeas corpus and they had the right to legal representation and legal aid.

The over-representation of Māori and Pasifika persons in the criminal justice system was an ongoing concern for the New Zealand Government and the reasons for it were complex and multiple, said a delegate. He described the significant progress made to improve the responsiveness of the criminal justice system to Māori and Pasifika persons. The Government aimed to reduce overall crime by 15 per cent by 2017 with a particular focus on violence and reoffending rates, particularly among Māori and Pasifika youth. To address the over-representation, there were a number of programmes and initiatives, including a youth crime action plan, a focus on early intervention and education, restorative justice services which had a strong alignment with Māori values and culture, and respecting Māori and Pacific Youth Courts which encouraged meaningful involvement from Māori and Pacific communities, and Māori and Pacific Focus Units in prison, which also drew on their respective traditions and cultures.

The Government knew, from its own research, that when allowances were made for social and family factors, and when social and economic disadvantages were taken into account, Māori ethnicity alone receded as an explanation for their overrepresentation in the criminal justice system. Those life circumstances most often associated with offending were, for many reasons, more prevalent in Māori families and communities. Those factors and interventions also explained the reasons behind the over-representation of Māori women in the criminal justice system, the delegate added, noting that the Department of Corrections ran a number of interventions targeted specifically at Māori prisoners, such as the ‘Whare Oranga Ake’ programme, meaning ‘house of healing or renaissance’.

Concerning the provision of health services, including mental health services in custodial environment, a delegate said all prisoners had a health check – including mental health – on arrival at a place of detention. Additional funding had been made available to meet the needs of patients in the Auckland Mason Clinic and the South Auckland Prison. Doctors contracted to attend people in police cells when medical attention was needed were independent from the police, and were usually listed on a roster.

Responding to the question about privately-run prisons and their relation to increases in rates of serious assault, a delegate said New Zealand currently had one privately managed prison, and a second would open in South Auckland in May 2015. Contract-managed prisons had to comply with the same domestic laws and international standards as publicly-managed prisons and had to meet the same obligations. They were subject to oversight by monitors appointed by the Department of Corrections. The Mount Eden Correction Facility did not stand out to have a particularly high ratio of prisoner-staff assault when compared to other prisons of an equivalent size, said a delegate.

The safety and well-being of transgender and intersex persons in the prison system and the risks of mixing such prisoners with the general prison population were of concern to the authorities, who believed that a case-by-case approach was the best way. Prisoners had the right to request to be placed in a prison in line with their gender identity.

The segregation of prisoners was avoided unless absolutely necessary or in response to a request from the prisoner, said a delegate. Under the Corrections Act a prisoner could be segregated for the purpose of assessing or ensuring mental health, and if segregated had to be visited by a health professional daily to assess for the risk of self-harm. A very small number of prisoners were held in management units due to a high risk of escape.

Answering questions about measures to tackle domestic or family violence and sexual violence, a delegate noted that in December 2014 the Government established a ministerial group on family violence and sexual violence which was led jointly by the Ministers of Justice and Social Development. The Ministers had commissioned a range of actions, including an analysis of agency responsibilities and programmes. A draft five-year national sexual violence prevention strategy and programme of action was being developed. Victims of sexual violence had access to a range of services, delivered by both Government and non-governmental organizations, which included medical forensic examinations, telephone and face-to-face counselling, family support and specialist therapies and other treatment. An interim sum of $ 10.4 million had been earmarked in the 2014 to 2015 budget to fund such services for two years.

Responding to questions about the Evidence Act of 2006, particularly Section 29 which required judges to exclude statements unless they were satisfied they had not been influenced by oppression, a delegate said oppression was defined as oppressive, violent, inhuman or degrading conduct towards, or treatment of, the defendant or another person or a threat of conduct or treatment of that kind.

New Zealand took the issue of trafficking in persons very seriously. Measures taken included the 2009 Plan of Action, policies focusing on high-risk industries, the Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill, and regional efforts such as the Bali Process on People Smuggling, in which New Zealand played a leading role. The Government accepted that there was a relationship between sexual violence and trafficking and had identified the sex and hospitality industries as high-risk areas which required close monitoring, alongside the horticulture, viticulture, dairy and sex industries, and foreign charter vessels. Brothels and commercial sex premises were regulated to ensure sex workers were protected under the Prostitution Reform Act, and although the sexual exploitation of migrant women and children accounted for a significant portion of trafficking globally the issue was relatively small in New Zealand, said the delegate.

Answering questions about extradition processes, the Committee was assured that there had been no death penalty case extraditions in the reporting period. A delegate explained the process for appeals about extradition processes. She also confirmed that there had been no extradition cases in New Zealand that have been overturned on the basis of a risk of torture in the requesting country.

Clarifying the difference between interrogation and interviewing, a delegate said both were forms of questioning of a suspect. Interrogation was a form of questioning within the corrections system. Interrogation concerned the New Zealand Police’s best practice for the interviewing of suspects generally. The two intersected where an offence was committed in a prison, considered as prisoner misconduct. One of the purposes of interviews or questioning was to seek a confession from a guilty party, she noted.

New Zealand had implemented the Convention into domestic law primarily through the Crimes of Torture Act of 1989, which included a definition of torture that was materially the same as the definition in the Convention. The Act was modified in 2007 to give effect to New Zealand’s obligations under the Optional Protocol. The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act was also relevant, said the delegate, noting the Committee’s concern that the Act had the status of an ordinary law and responding that New Zealand did not have a written constitution and there was no concept of supreme law in its legal system.

Concerning reservations, a delegate said that under its reservation to Article 14 of the Convention New Zealand had reserved the right to only award compensation to victims of torture at the discretion of the Attorney-General. Since that reservation was entered, the Bill of Rights Act was enacted by Parliament, and the courts held that compensation may be awarded for breaches of that Act. The New Zealand Government had no plans to remove the reservation at this stage but may reconsider in future. New Zealand did not plan to withdraw its reservation to Article 32(2) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child because its existing legislation provided age thresholds for entry into work in general and for safe work, and it reserved the right not to apply Article 37(c) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in circumstances where the shortage of suitable detention facilities made the mixing of juveniles and adults unavoidable. The delegate added that New Zealand was a small country and some remote facilities did not have the capacity to deal with separate categories of detainees.

The mandates and operations of the various national preventative mechanisms which were coordinated by the Human Rights Commission were described in detail. Regarding the Inspector of Service Penal Establishments in particular, a delegate said it was responsible for monitoring the Defence Force Service Custody and Service Corrective Establishments, which consisted of one facility containing three cells, and it was not unknown for all cells to be unoccupied. The Office of the Children’s Commissioner and the Office of the Ombudsmen were jointly responsible for youth detention facilities. The Independent Police Conduct Authority was independent from the Government and the Police, and always investigated the most serious complaints it received.

Human rights training on the Convention was provided for the judiciary, law enforcement officials, corrections officers and medical professionals working in the corrections systems. All new custodial staff received an initial training course which reinforced a practical understanding of basic human rights in the work of custodial staff. The Government did not provide training to the judiciary in order to guarantee its independence and impartiality, but such training was undertaken by the Institute of Judicial Studies. The New Zealand Police did not provide specific training about the Convention but it did provide training about the Bill of Rights Act.

The Istanbul Protocol on investigating and documenting cases of torture was well understood in New Zealand and had been incorporated into relevant operational manuals where required, a delegate noted.

Follow-Up Questions from the Experts

Experts thanked the delegation for their mostly exhaustive replies, but asked a few follow-up questions on issues, including the 11 complaints made by eight prisoners about inhumane treatment in prison, about the use of seclusion for detained persons with mental disabilities, plans to improve the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre, and the priorities within the next national action plan for human rights. There was a small detention facility at Wellington Airport where the Committee understood people were not held for longer than three hours, but that women, men and juveniles were not able to be separated there, noted an Expert.

Response from the Delegation

Responding to follow-up questions, the delegation said the second Action Plan of the Human Rights Commission was due to be finalized in mid-2015 and would be based on recommendations received during New Zealand’s second Universal Periodic Review which would include goals such as reducing domestic violence cases and overrepresentation of Māori in prison. The 11 complaints were not for alleged cases of torture, they were all regarding allegations of mistreatment, clarified a delegate. He noted that the Committee had been provided with a spreadsheet showing the number of assaults in prisons by category.

The Government gave permission for the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre to be rebuilt in May 2013 and the rebuild would occur in two stages to allow operations to continue during construction. The decision to rebuild it represented New Zealand’s strong commitment to resettle refugees.

The total number of hours spent in seclusion in mental health facilities had decreased by 50 per cent and the Ministry of Health was preparing new guidance emphasizing a human rights approach and a continued reduction of restrictive practices such as seclusion and restraint.

Concluding Remarks

CLAUDIO GROSSMAN, Chairperson of the Committee, thanked the delegation for the constructive dialogue and its thorough answers, noting that the Committee would issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the sixth periodic report of New Zealand at the end of the session.

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