The Human Rights Foundation promotes and defends human rights in Aotearoa New Zealand and abroad, through research-based education and advocacy.
Margaret Bedggood Water is a limited natural resource and a public good fundamental for life and health. The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. CESCR General Comment 15 (2002) Last week, March 22nd, people celebrated World Water Day around the world. The day recognises that water, arguably more
Margaret Bedggood Monday this week, 8 March, was International Women’s Day, an important date in the human rights calendar. As women’s groups in Aotearoa New Zealand have long been active and well versed in deploying human rights arguments, I am taking this opportunity to write about the idea and importance of ‘equality’ in general and the
Margaret Bedggood Last week the Salvation Army published its annual State of the Nation report. It contains a mass of depressing social and economic topics and statistics. One stands out, yet again: the deplorable state of our benefit system. New Zealand had a proud record from the late 19th century of providing social security for the disadvantaged,
The Aotearoa New Zealand Human Rights Foundation invites you to a public seminar by Dame Silvia Cartwright, our Patron. Dame Silvia served as Governor General of New Zealand from 2001 to 2006 after an illustrious career at the forefront on New Zealand’s judicial system. In 2007, she was appointed as an international judge to the
The “Report of the Government Inquiry into Operation Burnham and related matters” (“the Report”) was released on Friday to the New Zealand public. The Human Rights Foundation has previously questioned and criticised the Operation Burnham Inquiry process which has largely operated in secret and failed to properly engage with lawyers for the families of the
Read more and sign on at ActionStation: We ask Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister Stuart Nash to resist an increased militarising of police in this country – stop the trial of and commit to not implementing the Armed Response Teams and the further arming of our police. Why is this important? Last week, Police
A man killed by a driver fleeing police left home before dawn to secure a park, then sleep in his car for two hours before starting work at Christchurch Hospital. Kenneth McCaul was driving his Hyundai Grandeur when he was T-boned at the intersection of Glandovey and Idris roads in Fendalton about 4am on Tuesday. The impact shunted his car into
Police Minister Stuart Nash told Stuff that arming police is “not his call”, because it was an “operational matter”. The Police Commissioner is responsible for decisions about whether to arm Police, which he did after the Christchurch racist terrorist attack. However, section 16 of the Policing Act 2008 states that the Police Commissioner is responsible to
Highly trained, armed police are a necessary tool in emergency situations, but roving teams eager to find work could be a recipe for disaster, writes investigator and former police officer Tim McKinnel for RNZ. Police announced yesterday they are to introduce a trial of Armed Response Teams (ARTs) in Auckland, Waikato and Christchurch, euphemistically describing their
An SAS commander says he informed the Defence Minister of possible civilian deaths during a raid in Afghanistan, again shifting responsibility for an alleged cover up. Defence Force top brass continues to stare down allegations of civilian deaths during a 2010 SAS-led raid, as the Operation Burnham inquiry restarts a public hearing this week. The hearing was upset last month after
