Agenda Item 6: Universal periodic review

Consideration of the Universal Periodic Review outcome of - New Zealand A/HRC/41/4, A/HRC/41/4/Add.1

Statement by: International-Lawyers.Org and Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ)

4 July 2019

Mr vice President,

Jointly with the Geneva International Centre for Justice, We welcome the decision of New Zealand to accept one hundred and sixty out of the one hundred and ninety-six UPR’s recommendations.

We encourage New Zealand to continue its efforts in improving its legislations regarding the rights of minorities, to ensure no part of society is discriminated against, that hate speeches and hate crimes are duly investigated upon and perpetrators are brought to justice, in order to reach for peace.

We would like to take this opportunity to commend the attitude of the Prime Minister after the terrorist attack against two Mosques at Christchurch on 19 March 2019, who responded by bringing communities together. We call on all States to follow this positive example.

This is an important step towards the creation of a more inclusive society for migrants and monitories and it is critical to go on working towards this path while anti-Islam and anti-migrants’ attitudes rise worldwide.

We further commend the ratification of core human rights conventions by New Zealand and call for continued ratifications as recommended during the UPR.

We appreciate the development of a National Plan of Action for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, which is an effective step towards the implementation of UPR recommendations.

I thank you Mr vice President.

Justice, Human rights, Geneva, geneva4justice, GICJ, Geneva International Centre For Justice