CAT/C/CR/32/4
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(b)
The cooperation undertaken with the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees and the willingness to comply with its guidelines and
recommendations;
(c)
That the Mangere Accommodation Centre can be considered to be more of an
open centre than a detention centre;
(d)
The Police Detention Legal Assistance Scheme, which provides for initial free
legal advice to be obtained by persons in police custody;
(e)
Legislative and administrative developments that enhance compliance with the
Convention, in particular the 2000 Protocol between the Department of Corrections and the
Ombudsman’s Office, the 1998 amendment to the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act,
and the 2000 International Crimes and International Criminal Court Act;
(f)
Measures taken to improve the effectiveness and strengthen the independence of
the Police Complaints Authority;
(g)
The efforts undertaken to promote a positive relationship between the police and
Maori;
(h)
Facilities;
The efforts undertaken to establish new Child, Youth and Family Residential
(i)
The ongoing elaboration of a national plan of action on human rights by the
Human Rights Commission;
(j)
The declared intent to withdraw reservations to the Convention against Torture
and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and to ratify the Optional Protocol to the former
Convention.
C. Subjects of concern
5.
The Committee expresses concern about:
(a)
The fact that the immigration legislation does not include the non-refoulement
obligation provided for in article 3 of the Convention;
(b)
The significant decrease in the proportion of asylum-seekers who are immediately
released without restriction into the community upon arrival and the detention of several
asylum-seekers in remand prisons, who are not separated from other detainees;
(c)
The process of issuing a security-risk certificate under the Immigration Act,
which could lead to a breach of article 3 of the Convention as the authorities may remove or
deport a person deemed to constitute a threat to national security, without having to give detailed
reasons or to disclose classified information to the person concerned; possibilities of effective
appeal are limited; and the fact that the Minister of Immigration has to decide within three
working days whether to remove or deport the person concerned;