The UN Committee against Torture is making 13 recommendations to improve human rights in New Zealand.
In a report the committee welcomes new measures now in New Zealand law but expresses many concerns, including about the over-representation of Maori in prisons and the use of solitary confinement for mental health patients.
It is also concerned about the lack of funding and autonomy for the independent Police conduct authority, violence against women and children and the failure to incorporate human rights into legislation.
Maori make up about 15% of the general population and about half the prison population.
Government officials told the committee the government’s youth crime action plan, launched in 2013, aims to tackle crime recidivism rates in young people, with a key focus on outcomes for Maori.
Courts are being held on marae (Maori meeting grounds) and Maori-centred rehabilitation is being established in prisons.
[For more of this story go to http://www.theguardian.com/wor...ights-in-new-zealand]
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