AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PRESS RELEASE

17 October 2014

NEW ZEALAND: Use UN Security Council role to overcome inaction and injustice

Amnesty International welcomes New Zealand winning a seat on the UN Security Council and is calling on New Zealand to use the role to ensure the body lives up to its role of safeguarding global peace and security.

The human rights organisation welcomes the role as an important opportunity for New Zealand to play a greater role in international bodies but is calling on the Government to use its position to overcome inaction and injustice.

“New Zealand now has a remarkable opportunity on the global stage to take a leadership role in addressing human rights violations,” said Grant Bayldon, Executive Director at Amnesty International New Zealand.

“The level of inaction we have seen by the UN Security Council on too many occasions has been woeful.”

“For example, that the UN Security Council consistently failed to act on the crisis in Syria, due to the crippling veto power of the five permanent members, is shameful and must be addressed.”

Amnesty International is urging New Zealand to use its new role to address this inaction on the Council and ensure the personal interests of voting countries do not trump action on grave human rights violations.

“Unfortunately Syria is not an isolated case - five years ago tens of thousands of civilians were killed during the brutal final days of the civil war in Sri Lanka. The Security Council did nothing and justice remains elusive,” said Grant Bayldon.

Serving for two years starting in January 2015, New Zealand’s temporary seat joins newly elected representatives from Angola, Malaysia, Spain and Venezuela in playing a greater role in global security issues.

New Zealand takes on its new role at a critical time for world affairs and Amnesty International is hopeful that New Zealand’s elevation to the UN Security Council will not be the extent of the country’s human rights advocacy. New Zealand has a vital role to address grave human rights violations consistently both within the Asia-Pacific region and internationally.

“New Zealand must now live up to its promise of being an independent and principled voice,” said Grant Bayldon.

Amnesty International is strongly calling on the New Zealand government not to waste this opportunity and to use their time on the Security Council to:

• Stop the crippling use of the veto by permanent members to block Council action aimed at preventing or ending genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes;

• Ensure that situations of crisis are dealt with in accordance with international human rights standards to ensure effective civilian protection;

• Demonstrate strong support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) by working towards a consistent approach to referrals from the Council to the ICC;

• Take concrete, measurable steps to ensure effective implementation of the Council resolution on women, peace and security, including by calling for women’s genuine and effective participation, and by supporting women human rights defenders and women-led organisations.

• Ensure respect for international human rights standards in issues of peace and security in the Pacific

-ENDS-

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