Before mosque attacks, New Zealand failed to record hate crimes for years
CHRISTCHURCH/ WELLINGTON: Weeks before a gunman killed 50 Muslims in Christchurch, a man had threatened to burn copies of the Koran outside New Zealand mosques, in what community leaders said was the latest in a long list of threatening behaviour against religious minorities.
Police said they warned a 38year- old man over the incident, which was unrelated to the Christchurch attack, but could not say if it was part of a pattern.
That’s because, unlike many Western countries including the United Kingdom and the United States, New Zealand’s government keeps no comprehensive record of hate crimes, failing to act on requests to do so from local and international agencies spanning more than a decade.
“For many years our view has consistently been that this needs to be prioritised and implemented urgently,” said Janet AndersonBidois, Chief Legal Adviser at the Human Rights Commission, the independent government agency tasked with protecting human rights.
“It is imperative that we have good data.”
A suspected white supremacist has been charged with murder over the Christchurch shootings and will appear in court again on April 5.
In the wake of New Zealand’s worst mass shooting, questions are being asked about what signs agencies missed and where resources should have been allocated to protect vulnerable communities.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ordered a Royal Commission, a powerful form of inquiry, into the attack. Anwar Ghani from the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, said anecdotal evidence suggested there had been a rise in anti-Muslim behaviour in recent years.
“When there is a hot spot in global events and when Muslims are involved, we do see the pulse of hate crime coming from certain members of the community,” he said.
Joris De Bres, New Zealand’s Race Relations Commissioner between 2002 and 2013, said he was alarmed at signs of an uptick in threats against Muslims when he took up the role soon after the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
De Bres said he repeatedly asked the government and police to create a central system for recording details about crimes motivated by hatred and racism. — Reuters