Executive Summary Whatungarongaro te tangata, toitū te whenua As man disappears from sight, the land remains The history of the land at Ihumātao and the events currently unfolding regarding its development pose significant and unique challenges for human rights in Aotearoa New Zealand. The land was confiscated in the 1860s by the New Zealand Government and is of major cultural, spiritual and historical significance to mana whenua. As one of the first sites where Māori landed in Aotearoa, it is also of historical significance for all New Zealanders. These factors raise important human rights issues and challenges. Most specifically, they raise issues relevant to New Zealand’s human rights commitments under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (“the Declaration”). While much has been written to date on Ihumātao, the Human Rights Commission (“Commission”) has developed this report to provide a distinctive perspective on how New Zealand’s human rights commitments under the Declaration can provide, alongside Te Tiriti o Waitangi (“Te Tiriti”), a compelling and constructive framework within which the situation at Ihumātao can be considered. We do so under our statutory mandate as New Zealand’s national human rights institution and our statutory function to promote the human rights dimensions of Te Tiriti. The Declaration itself is an international human rights document of great significance. It reflects a global consensus on the rights of indigenous peoples and complements the international law obligations contained in the UN human rights treaties that New Zealand is a party to. The New Zealand Government has endorsed the Declaration and by doing so has made a commitment to uphold the rights contained in it. Indeed, to demonstrate this commitment the Government has recently commenced work on a plan to progress the Declaration in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Declaration also complements New Zealand’s constitutional obligations under Te Tiriti. For example, at the core of the Declaration is the right of indigenous 3