The Human Rights Foundation promotes and defends human rights in Aotearoa New Zealand and abroad, through research-based education and advocacy.
The police watchdog says a police officer who drove more than 80kmh over the speed limit in pursuit of a fleeing driver should have been charged. In a statement, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) said a criminal investigation should have been undertaken, as the officer could have been convicted for dangerous driving. The IPCA oversaw a police investigation
The United Nations Secretary General has given a nod to indigenous rangatahi in their fight for climate justice. Yesterday morning, rangatahi Māori activists made their way to Auckland Museum’s event centre for an unusual meeting. Te Ara Whatu, Aotearoa’s first indigenous youth delegation to the United Nations, joined climate minister James Shaw and other climate activists in
Previously classified documents released by the inquiry into Operation Burnham show the NZDF thought civilians may have been killed in the days following an attack in Afghanistan. Twenty-two documents, 14 directly relating to Operation Burnham, have been uploaded to the Inquiry website. It comes ahead of a public hearing on 22 May into allegations that six
Nicky Hager, whose book Hit & Run sparked an inquiry into New Zealand Defence Force actions in Afghanistan, will make two presentations at the second public phase of an inquiry into what happened. The Operation Burnham Inquiry is investigating allegations that six civilians were killed in Afghanistan during a New Zealand-led raid in 2010, and
The High Court has refused to allow lawyers representing Afghanistan villagers to seek further information from the government inquiry into Operation Burnham. The inquiry is investigating allegations that New Zealand soldiers killed six Afghanistan civilians during a military operation in 2010 and the military then covered up what happened. Those allegations were the subject of
Afghanistan villagers, who claim to have lost relatives in a military operation involving New Zealand soldiers, need to be front and centre of an inquiry into the incident, a lawyer says. Operation Burnham is investigating allegations that New Zealand soldiers killed six Afghan civilians during a military operation in 2010 and the military then covered up
Lawyers for the Afghan villagers caught up in Operation Burnham have failed in the first High Court challenge of the secretive inquiry. An attempt to reveal details of who was being nterviewed behind closed doors was denied by Justice Rebecca Ellis on Tuesday. In the Wellington High Court on Monday, lawyers for the villagers argued detail was essential
On 22 March 2019, we wrote to the Attorney General, Hon David Parker, calling for transparency in the inquiry into the racist terrorist attacks on Christchurch mosques: The Human Rights Foundation considers that for an inquiry into “what all relevant agencies knew or could or should have known … and whether they could have been in
The $7 million Operation Burnham inquiry is facing another hurdle as lawyers for the Afghan villagers ask for details of witnesses to be disclosed. The controversial inquiry, which is inspecting claims made in the book Hit & Run that SAS soldiers killed six civilians in the 2010 operation, has been heard mostly behind closed doors. Lawyers for the
On its current timetable, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the mosque attacks (to be headed by Justice William Young) will begin its work next month, and is due to report back by December 10 at the latest – which would be apt, given that date is International Human Rights Day. Inevitably, there will be
