The United Nations Committee Against Torture has called
out various failings in New Zealand’s justice system,
including the very low age of criminal responsibility, the
shocking use of spit hoods against children, and the
disproportionate harm to Māori in places of
detention.
The Committee has scrutinised Aotearoa New
Zealand as part of its regular review process for States
that have ratified the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment.
“This Convention is
designed to protect everyone, including people in prison and
youth justice facilities, from the harm of torture, cruelty
and degrading treatment. At the heart, this is about
ensuring that all people are treated with dignity, which is
a core
tenant of human rights,” said Lisa Woods, Campaigns
Director for Amnesty International Aotearoa New
Zealand.
“To our dismay, we are seeing a clear pattern
of human rights issues across New Zealand’s justice
system, and we welcome the scrutiny of the Committee against
Torture in holding the New Zealand Government to account for
these failings.
Stamp out spit hoods
The
Committee were unequivocal in their assessment that the use
of spit hoods against children is unacceptable. In their
written recommendations to the New Zealand Government, the
Committee has called for the explicit prohibition of force,
“including physical restraints and the use of pepper spray
and spit hoods”, against children. More broadly, the
Committee has advised that “the State party should…take
all necessary measures to end the use of spit hoods in all
circumstances”.
Last week, Chief Ombudsman Peter
Boshier also called on the New Zealand Government to end the
use of spit hoods on young people, and Amnesty International
Aotearoa New Zealand has joined
this call.
“Spit hoods can pose a serious health
risk to young people, many of whom may have already
experienced unspeakable trauma in their early lives. We
acknowledge the numerous challenges facing staff in places
of detention, but the Government must find alternative
solutions to keep staff safe,” said Woods.
Raise the
age of criminal responsibility
The Committee was firm
in its assessment that the New Zealand Government must bring
its youth justice system fully into line with the Convention
against Torture. First among the recommendations to achieve
this was the call to raise the minimum age of criminal
responsibility, in accordance with international
standards.
The current minimum age of criminal
responsibility in Aotearoa New Zealand is 10 years old. This
was set over 50 years ago in 1961. In 1993, the New Zealand
Government ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child, which lays out clear recommendations for the
country’s youth justice system. In 2019, the UN encouraged
all States to increase their minimum age of criminal
responsibility to at least 14 years old.
“We want to
live in a world where all children are safe and supported.
New Zealand’s current age of criminal responsibility flies
in the face of children’s rights and ignores the evidence
that punitive approaches don’t work to reduce youth
re-offending,” said Woods.
Amnesty International
Aotearoa New Zealand has launched
a petition urging the Government to raise the age of
criminal responsibility to at least 14 years old.
“We
need an approach that looks after people who have been
harmed by youth offending, and also addresses the upstream
factors that have led to his harm. Raising the age of
criminal responsibility is just one of many steps that the
Government must take to create a fairer justice system for
all,” said Woods.
Transformational change
needed
The Committee emphasised their concern that
Māori, particularly women and young people, continue to be
disproportionately affected by incarceration. In their
written recommendations to the New Zealand Government, the
Committee notes that “the delegation acknowledged that a
transformational change is required to reverse this trend
and that, in order to achieve that change, the State party
needs to implement comprehensive measures that include,
inter alia, legislative and policy reforms.”
Led by
People Against Prisons Aotearoa, and together with many
others from civil society, Amnesty International Aotearoa
New Zealand has signed an open
letter seeking a commitment from justice sector leaders
to implement all 12 of the recommendations made in the 2019
Turuki! Turuki! report. The report was produced by Te Uepū
Hāpai i te Ora – the Safe and Effective Justice advisory
group, which was established by the Ministry of Justice in
2018. This report acknowledges transformative change is
needed and provides a pathway forward.
“The failure of
Government to uphold He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti, the
immeasurable violence and harm caused throughout our
colonial history, racism and the discriminatory practices
that still prevail today are all central to the issues in
the criminal justice system,” said Woods.
“While we
work to reduce harm in the current system, our overarching
goal is to support the transformation of this system into
one that fully and properly recognises the tino
rangatiratanga of Māori that Te Tiriti and He Whakaputanga
uphold.”
Background
States that have ratified
the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment are required to undergo regular
reviews by the Committee of independent international
experts to assess how they are implementing the Convention.
Aotearoa New Zealand ratified the Convention on 10 December
1989 and was last
reviewed in 2015.
Together with the justice
advocacy group JustSpeak, Amnesty International Aotearoa New
Zealand made a joint
submission to the UN Committee against Torture ahead of
this latest review, which was conducted over two days (18
and 19 July 2023). The Committee’s concluding observations
and recommendations
to the New Zealand Government were published on Friday
28 July. These recommendations highlight various areas of
concern, including domestic violence, counterterrorism, the
detention of people seeking asylum, and the country’s
justice system. The latter included concerns
about:
- the use of spit hoods and pepper spray,
including in confined spaces - excessive use of
various means of physical or chemical
restraint - access to a lawyer
- the use of
prolonged solitary confinement - the denial of
adequate time out of cell - the disproportionate
incarceration rates of Māori - insufficient mental
health services - the lack of meaningful activities
for people in prisons - understaffing in places of
detention, and several other
issues.
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