Related issues outside the scope of the Review
16.
The Commission notes that the 2013 and 2014 legislative reforms to intelligence and
security law have avoided the issue of countering radicalism, nor has the use of
ethnic or racial profiling in surveillance operations been directly addressed. The
Commission considers that both civic education initiatives and community
development approaches that avoid stigmatisation of particular communities are
essential components of any security framework. These activities should have the
ongoing resource and support required for them to flourish13. These measures are
also an important component of Pillar 1 of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism
Strategy, which calls upon States to14:
“promote a culture of peace, justice and human development, ethnic, national and
religious tolerance and respect for all religions, religious values, beliefs or cultures by
establishing and encouraging, as appropriate, education and public awareness
programmes involving all sectors of society.”
17.
The Commission also notes the ongoing challenge posed by the exponential growth
in the collection and use of personal data by private sector entities. The ISR Panel
has noted that the public is as equally, if not more, concerned about the use of
personal data by private companies as they are in respect of Government agencies15.
The ISR Panel goes on to express its concern that mass data collection and
surveillance by private sector organisations are “largely overlooked in discussions of
transparency”16. While this concern falls outside the scope of this Review, the
Commission considers that the Review’s findings may have the potential to model
best practice approaches that are of application across the public and private
sectors.
Summary of the Commission’s recommendations
18.
The Commission has focused its submission at high-level issues arising from the
Review rather than statutory detail. A summary of the Commission’s positions on the
various amendments to intelligence and security legislation that have taken place
since 2013 can be found in the annexure to this submission.
19.
The Commission has accordingly formulated the following recommendations for the
Reviewers to consider:
13
Speech by David Rutherford, Chief Commissioner, Protecting the balance: trust, confidence, privacy and intelligence, NZIP
Annual Conference, 15 July 2015, https://www.hrc.co.nz/news/protecting-balance-trust-confidence-privacy-andintelligence/
14
United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, A/RES/60/288, 2006, Pillar 1, para 3
15
A Democratic License to Operate p 35, para 2.24
16
ibid p 44, para 2.53
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Human Rights Commission submission to the Human Rights Committee in relation to New Zealand’s 6th periodic review under the ICCPR