HUMAN RIGHTS IN NEW ZEALAND 20 1 0 We recognise the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family. What are human rights? Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Preamble (edited) Declaration). The Declaration is based on the Charter of Human rights, as presently conceived, have their origin in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the the United Nations. 2 The preamble to the charter reads: Introduction Tïmatatanga We the peoples of the United Nations When the Commission undertook its review of human human person, in the equal rights of men and rights in New Zealand in 2004, it recorded New Zealand’s engagement in the development of the international human rights standards and ratification of the six major determined…to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the women and of nations large and small… The charter includes the following goals: human rights treaties. Since then, a further convention, …to achieve international co-operation the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons in solving international problems of an with Disabilities (CRPD), has been added to the inter- economic, social, cultural or humanitarian national human rights framework, together with the character, and in promoting and encouraging Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT). A new process for examining states’ performances under the international framework, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), has been introduced, and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) has been adopted by the United Nations General respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion… Universal Declaration of Human Rights The declaration drew on earlier initiatives, such as those of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). 3 It marks Assembly. the beginning of the transformation of human rights There is also greater recognition of corporate responsi- from moral or philosophical imperatives into rights that bility and the role that multinationals, in particular, play are legally recognised internationally and, increasingly, in the protection and promotion of human rights, and across nations. The UN General Assembly proclaimed the there have been some significant shifts in how national declaration as sovereignty is viewed. It is no longer conceived of as ...a common standard of achievement for all entirely unfettered – a state’s treatment of its citizens has peoples and all nations. 4 become the subject of legitimate inquiry, and increasingly justifiable intervention by the international community. 1 The declaration clarifies that individuals also have responsibilities. Article 29, for example, states: Despite these advances, however, the relationship ...everyone has duties to the community in between international human rights standards and what which the free and full development of his happens in practice is still not well understood. This personality is possible. chapter provides an introduction to the international human rights framework and New Zealand’s response to it in the 21st century. This translates into the duty of individuals to: • respect, promote and protect human rights 1 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2008), The New Zealand Handbook on International Human Rights (3rd ed) (Wellington: MFAT), p 16 2 The charter was unanimously adopted on 25 June and signed on 26 June 1945. Poland was not represented at the conference. The United Nations officially became an institution with the ratification of the charter on 24 October 1945. 3 The ILO, which was founded in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles, was transformed into a specialised agency of the United Nations under an agreement with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1946. 4 UN General Assembly (1948), Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Preamble. New member of the human family Elsie Alexander, 5 weeks old, greets a new day. 13