HUMAN RIGHTS IN NEW ZEALAND 20 1 0 withdrawn in 2003. The reservation against the recruit- New Zealand’s regional commitments ment or service of women in armed combat or situations New Zealand has a particular interest and involvement of violence was withdrawn in relation to New Zealand in in the promotion and protection of human rights in 2008, although it remains in place for Niue and Tokelau. the Pacific. 30 The promotion and protection of human New Zealand has also been a strong supporter of the ILO rights are considered to be at the core of stability in the and has ratified the following six of the eight major or region. While there has been some progress in addressing ‘fundamental’ ILO conventions: human rights issues in the Pacific, the protection has been • Convention 29 on Forced Labour (1938) • Convention 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (2003) • Convention 100 on Equal Remuneration (1983) • Convention 105 on the Abolition of Forced Labour (1957) • Convention 111 on Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) (1983) • Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (1999). Although New Zealand complies substantially with Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise and Convention 138 on the described as “fragile” and efforts to promote human rights as “variable”. 31 The Pacific has not developed a regional human rights instrument. Ratification of human rights instruments is low, with a correspondingly low level of engagement with the treaty bodies. Most of the Pacific states are party to UNCROC and CEDAW. Some are party to the ICCPR, ICESCR and CERD. None, however, is party to the CAT or the Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and their Families (CRMW). Among the reasons given for non-ratification are the demands of the reporting requirements, the conflict between customary practices and human rights, and the limited resources, capability and capacity of the Pacific States generally. 32 Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, 28 it has Until 2007, Fiji had an accredited NHRI. As a result of ratified neither and in its UPR report indicated that events following the coup in 2006, there is now no accre- it has no intention of doing so. In August 2006, the dited NHRI in the Pacific, other than those of Australia Government stated that no further decisions have been and New Zealand. made concerning Convention 87, but it was continuing to monitor both national and international developments, including ILO jurisprudence, with a view to future ratification. With regard to Convention 138, a proposal is currently being prepared describing possible reforms that might ensure compliance of New Zealand law, practice and policy with the Convention. 29 The Asia Pacific Forum, the Office of the UNHCHR, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) (as the region’s intergovernmental organisation) and the New Zealand Commission have all played a major role in promoting and protecting human rights in the region. In 2007, PIF and the Commission published the first in a series of human rights publications aimed at intensifying regional New Zealand has also not ratified ILO Convention 169 on co-operation as a basis for dialogue among countries Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries. of the PIF. 28 See the ‘Right to Work’ chapter for further information on this issue. 29 ILO Committee on Legal Issues and International Labour Standards: GB.300/LILS/7 (2007), accessible online at www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/ public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_084298.pdf 30 Pacific encompasses the 14 members of the Pacific Islands Forum: Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. 31 Liddicoat J (2007), Pacific Human Rights Issues Series 1: National Human rights institutions – pathways for Pacific States (Suva and Wellington: Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and New Zealand Human Rights Commission), p 14 32 Baird N (2009), ‘The Universal Periodic Review as a legacy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: potential Pacific impact’, in Alley R (ed), Celebrating human rights: sixty years of the Universal Declaration (Wellington: Human Rights Commission), p 54. See also Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2008), p 67 21