Maori children are being denied their basic human rights, Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres said. The Maori Affairs Select Committee is holding an inquiry into the wellbeing of Maori children. Mr de Bres this morning told the committee Maori children had basic rights to be free from discrimination, for their language and culture to Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Human rights’
Pacific cultural beliefs can infringe human rights – UN official
Friday, July 13th, 2012A United Nations official says Pacific nations need to make sure cultural beliefs are not infringing human rights. The UN Special Rapporteur for Cultural Rights, Farida Shaheed, is in the Pacific to attend the first ever Pacific Cultural Rights Symposium in the Solomon Islands. Ms Shaheed says the Pacific is not a region she is Read more
Human Rights Commission opposes asylum seekers law changes
Friday, June 29th, 2012The Human Rights Commission are opposing a proposed new law making it mandatory to detain asylum seekers as a way to deter “mass arrivals” and people-smugglers, saying it’s discriminatory. New Zealand’s race relations commissioner Joris de Bres told MPs that detaining asylum seekers under the Immigration Amendment Bill would unfairly prosecute them and breach their Read more
What will Sky City do next – ban the wearing of crosses?
Friday, June 22nd, 2012
We can take pride in the fact that New Zealand is a democratic society and our freedom is guaranteed. So what was Sky City thinking of when it threatened to dismiss an employee for having a small pocket sized Bible on her at work? “If the reading of her bible took place in those times Read more
Where do NZ politicians stand on polygamy?
Friday, June 1st, 2012
Two government studies released by Canada’s Justice Department in 2006 recommended the decriminalisation of polygamy, with one arguing that the move was justified by the need to attract more skilled Muslim immigrants. Family First NZ is calling for the National, Labour and Green parties to state where they stand on the issue of redefining marriage Read more
Human Rights Channel comes to YouTube
Tuesday, May 29th, 2012
As well as being a portal for cute and entertaining videos, on Friday 25 May YouTube launched a Human Rights Channel, a place for serious human rights stories to be told. Joining forces with WITNESS, a global leader in the use of video for human rights, and Storyful, a social news-gathering operation, YouTube is keen to Read more
Rosa Oliver 91, Human Rights Campaigner – RIP
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012
Human rights campaigner and pacifist Rosa Oliver, 91, died in Blenheim last Wednesday. Miss Oliver was active in the anti-nuclear movement, advocated for homosexual rights and protested against the Waihopai spy base in the Waihopai Valley, Mr Wood said. She corresponded with people in prison, including two men on death row in the United States, Read more
What Pope Benedict got wrong in Cuba
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
When Pope Benedict XVI travelled to Cuba two weeks ago, he was acting within a long tradition. Popes, after all, are not only spiritual leaders, they are representatives of the oldest continuous absolute monarchy in the world, which traces back to the Apostle Peter two millennia ago: The Holy See has been engaging in diplomacy Read more
Benedict XVI and the lament of the hawks
Tuesday, April 10th, 2012
Three decades ago, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger rose to fame as the architect of the Vatican’s crackdown on liberation theology in Latin America, which he saw as a dangerous baptism of Marxist class struggle. That stance made Ratzinger a hero to anti-communist stalwarts everywhere, the perfect intellectual complement to John Paul II’s muscular challenge to the Read more
Benedict asks that Cuba recognise Good Friday as holiday
Friday, March 30th, 2012
At a 40 minute personal meeting between Cuban president Raul Castro and Pope Benedict, the Holy Father asked for Cuba to recognise Good Friday as a holiday. Noting that John Paul II asked a similar request of Fidel Castro about Christmas and it was restored as a national holiday, Vatican Spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi SJ said, Read more
- What happended to Cuba's mystery protester?
- Pope's homilies and addresses in Cuba (Full texts)
- Fidel meets Pope: No reform on Cuban agenda
- Pope, Castro meet as official squashes reform hopes
- Pope urges greater openings in vast Cuban Mass
- Pope Benedict to meet Fidel Castro in Cuba: As it happened
- Pope Benedict in Cuba: PIctures
- Pope Benedict XVI invokes Rev. Felix Varela — candidate for sainthood — during Havana homily