58 S e cti o n One – General The right to religion and belief is dealt with in a separate right to freedom from racial discrimination and the rights chapter. Many of the members of the growing religious of all people to practise their own culture, religion and communities in New Zealand are of non-European and language. non-Mäori origin and there is thus an overlap between religion and ethnicity in some instances. Muslims encountered negative attitudes and stereotypes following the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York because of a degree of association in the public mind between Islam and terrorism, and Sikhs also experienced abuse. There have been issues of reasonable accommodation in education, at work and in the community because of the wearing of religious attire and requirements for religious observance, particularly affecting Muslims and Sikhs. Because of the pervasive and destructive impact of racism and racial discrimination, a specific Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was adopted by the United Nations in 1965. This convention defines racial discrimination as: Any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, Many other chapters of the status report refer to race on an equal footing, of human rights and relations issues. These include the chapters on human fundamental freedoms in the political, rights and the Treaty of Waitangi, the rights of migrants, economic, social, cultural or any other field and the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers. Other of public life. chapters have race-related dimensions. These include the chapters on the right to freedom of expression; the rights of women, children and young people, and people with disabilities; the right to justice; and the rights to work, The convention requires governments to eliminate racially discriminatory policies, prohibit racial discrimination and encourage intercultural communication. It commits governments to declare unlawful the dissemination of health and an adequate standard of living. This chapter ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, incitement to of the report does not, therefore, dwell on those topics in racial discrimination and acts of racial violence, and to detail. Rather, it focusses primarily on racial discrimina- prohibit organisations that incite racial hatred. It declares tion, cultural diversity and harmonious relations between all people, without distinction as to race, colour, national diverse peoples. or ethnic origin, to be equal before the law and in the enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and it provides for special measures to be instituted International context Ki ngä kaupapa ä taiao to achieve equality.2 Governments are required to provide The two key international treaties on the human rights and to adopt measures to combat prejudice and promote of all people are the International Covenant on Civil and understanding and tolerance. Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICECSR). Both protection and remedies against racial discrimination requires that “in those states in which ethnic, religious or these and subsequent human rights treaties, such as the linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the shall not be denied the right, in community with other Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers members of his or her group, to enjoy his or her own and Members of their Families and the Convention on culture, to profess and practise his or her religion, or to the Rights of People with Disabilities, explicitly affirm the use his or her own language”. 2 Treating groups who have been discriminated against in the past the same as those who have not been can perpetuate existing inequalities. As a result, to ensure genuine equality, at times it will be necessary to treat individuals or groups differently. Special measures should therefore not be seen as discrimination but rather as a way of realising equality for everyone. The Commission has published guidance on special measures. Human Rights Commission (2010) Guidelines on Measures to Ensure Equality (Auckland, HRC), accessible online at http:// www.hrc.co.nz/hrc_new/hrc/cms/files/documents/03-Mar-2010_16-12-18_Special_Measures_Feb_10.pdf.