Foreword Kupu Whakataki The 15 March Christchurch mosque attacks were an unprecedented act of terror that sent seismic shocks throughout the country and around the world. They caused unimaginable pain and suffering to our Muslim communities, and drew attention to Islamophobia, racism, anti-Semitism and right-wing extremism in New Zealand. The attacks highlighted a complacency in New Zealand towards important human rights issues and sparked a strong desire by many New Zealanders to build a more inclusive and safe society. The world was moved by the national outpouring of aroha for our Muslim communities. After the attacks, the Commission provided support and expertise to the Government and its agencies, and civil society organisations. We strongly supported the Muslim community’s call for a coordinated, culturally sensitive and community-responsive process and alerted the Government to the need for a more coordinated and people-centred response by social support services to meet the immediate and longer-term needs of the Muslim community. We raised concerns with the Royal Commission of Inquiry about its process and encouraged greater engagement with the affected communities. We invited Kate Gilmore, the United Nations (UN) Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, to visit New Zealand. She was the first major UN official to travel to New Zealand after the attacks. Ms Gilmore’s visit provided an opportunity to discuss these issues with an international human rights expert and to learn from her insights into extremism, hate speech and multiculturalism. Her visit reflected the international attention on New Zealand’s response to the tragedy, as well as the human rights implications of the mosque shootings. The Christchurch attacks have reignited public debate about harmful speech and hate crime and how we balance the right to freedom of expression with the need to protect vulnerable people and communities. The attacks also cast light again on the absence of systematically collected data and information on racially and religiously motivated crimes in New Zealand. Without such data it is difficult to have an informed discussion about the prevalence of hate crimes, or to design effective measures to counter them. Annual Report 2019 5