AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND AND JUSTSPEAK
JOINT PRESS RELEASE
Thursday 20 June 2024
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative has released its latest data on the state of human rights in Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world. Criminal justice advocacy group JustSpeak
and human rights movement Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand are raising alarm bells about the social justice
issues highlighted in this year’s data.
"According to the latest data, Māori are among those most at risk of human rights violations for nearly all the rights
measured, including the rights to health, housing, food and education. This has obvious implications for the criminal
justice system, where tangata whenua are also at greatest risk of arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment. Policies such as
the re-introduction of the Three Strikes law and army-styled boot camps for youth offenders fly in the face of
established evidence of what an effective criminal justice system should look like," says Charles Harvey, JustSpeak
Board member and spokesperson.
"Most New Zealanders want to live in a society that gives everyone what they need while caring for each other and the
planet. The Government needs to address all signs of social inequality to make this vision a reality. Together, this
year’s data highlight an urgent need for our government to uphold its obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the UN
Declaration on Indigenous Rights, and to address the root causes of inequity within our society," says Harvey.
Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand’s Campaigns Director Lisa Woods says the organisation is seeing an ongoing
pattern of serious human rights issues being raised by international experts each year in the HRMI data.
"This year’s data suggests that freedom from torture and ill-treatment is still on a downwards trajectory here in
Aotearoa. This should be a major concern for the Government, because violating these human rights can cause enormous
harm to individuals, whānau and communities," says Woods.
Last year, Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand and JustSpeak made a joint submission to the UN Committee Against
Torture, which monitors the commitments made by States like Aotearoa, which have ratified the UN Convention Against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The submission highlighted various concerns for
human rights in New Zealand’s prisons, including the denial of adequate time out of cell, access to a lawyer, and the
use of restraint, separation and isolation for people in prison. A 2023 report by the Office of the Inspectorate found
that many people in prison are likely to have been subjected to solitary confinement, and that an unknown number may
have experienced a violation of human rights standards which could amount to torture or ill-treatment.
When asked to provide more context about who was especially vulnerable to torture and ill-treatment by government agents
in 2023, expert respondents to the HRMI survey noted that "institutional racism is prevalent throughout Aotearoa New
Zealand, especially towards Indigenous people and people of particular ethnicities."
Together with a range of social justice experts and organisations, JustSpeak and Amnesty International Aotearoa New
Zealand are calling for transformational across the prison system and in wider society.
"Clearly the Government needs to work with Māori to design a justice system that fully upholds Te Tiriti o Waitangi and
protects the fundamental human rights of all those in the system," says Harvey.
"There is a wealth of evidence showing that people across the motu are experiencing threats to their rights to everyday
necessities like food and decent housing. As well as transforming the criminal justice system, action is needed now to
address the social issues which sweep so many people in this system in the first place," Woods says.