New Zealand’s government should confront Indonesia over its alleged human rights violations in West Papua, human rights activists and West Papua independence activists in Aotearoa say. The UN Human Rights Council has reported the human rights situation in West Papua has deteriorated, citing reports of torture and mass displacement. “We know the violence that West Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Human rights’
Jesuits in Nicaragua – expelled
Monday, August 28th, 2023
Jesuits in Nicaragua have been expelled from the country. Nicaragua’s government declared Pope Francis’s Society of Jesus (Jesuit) order illegal on Wednesday. All the Jesuits’ property and assets were confiscated. The government claims that’s because the Jesuits had failed to comply with tax laws. On Wednesday, the San Salvador-based Jesuit Province of Central America which Read more
What does respect life really mean?
Thursday, August 24th, 2023
Before backing a law banning abortion in Texas altogether, Gov. Greg Abbott propelled a 2021 measure banning abortion after a heartbeat has been detected, saying he “would protect the life of every child with a heartbeat.” He happens to be Catholic. So why did Abbott put razor wire and a floating barrier in the Rio Read more
Church groups say restrictions on gatherings breach of human rights
Thursday, August 10th, 2023Religious groups who say restrictions on gatherings during Covid-19 breached their right to worship are continuing their legal battle against the Government. Free To Be Church Trust, on behalf of several religious groups, say restrictions under the red traffic light setting during the pandemic, and the Government’s failure to review them sooner, was a breach Read more
Human rights abuses – ‘guilty’ landlords
Monday, July 31st, 2023
Some New Zealand landlords are so neglectful, the properties they let contravene basic human rights. They’re damp, squalid, cold, neglected and expensive. Yet in many, rents keep going up. While rent hikes can reflect the costs landlords face, there are standards that must be maintained, according to Wellington Property Investors Association president Peter Ambrose. Passing Read more
Human Rights Commission gives NZ mixed report card on indigenous rights at United Nations
Thursday, July 27th, 2023The Human Rights Commission has filed a mixed report card to the United Nations on New Zealand’s commitment to indigenous rights. Addressing a UN expert group in Geneva the commission’s Kaitahutahu Rangatahi, Waimihia Maniapoto-Love said there have been periods of good progress towards tino rangatiratanga alongside periods of inactivity. The Government, the National Iwi Chairs Read more
Do priests have a right to privacy?
Thursday, April 20th, 2023
The Washington Post detailed last March how a group of Catholic conservatives in the United States spent millions of dollars de-anonymizing mountains of data to identify priests who were using phone apps that facilitate sexual hook-ups, like Grindr and Tinder. The most public of the targets was Msgr Jeffrey Burrill, who was general secretary for Read more
NZ omitted from Oceania Catholic climate crisis conference
Monday, November 21st, 2022
The New Zealand Catholic Church is not on the expert speaking list at an Oceania Catholic climate crisis meeting. A world first, the conference is driven by the Australian Catholic University with support from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. New Zealanders, however, are still invited to register and listen in over Zoom. Read more
Papuan solidarity group criticises NZ for ‘weak’ concern over Indonesian human rights abuses
Monday, November 21st, 2022The solidarity group West Papua Action Aotearoa has criticised New Zealand for not “being stronger” over growing global concern about Indonesian human rights violations in West Papua, and contrasted this with Vanuatu’s leadership. The group was reacting to the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review into Indonesia report in Geneva last week. “Eight countries Read more
Four days in Bahrain – papal visit highlights
Monday, November 7th, 2022
The Pope’s 39th Apostolic Journey was to Bahrain last week. It was his first visit to Bahrain and second to the Gulf. He was aiming to further solidify his outreach to the Muslim community and to offer support to Bahrain’s small Christian minority. Pope Francis and the King Francis’s first official engagement was a courtesy Read more