Media release: Human Rights Commission…
Treating others with respect is at the heart of our values, which makes Aotearoa New Zealand such a special place to live. So Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission was alarmed to learn of a wall defaced with antisemitic graffiti overnight, near to the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand.
Accompanied by an image of the graffiti, a post on the Holocaust Centre’s Facebook page reads: “Found in the early hours of this morning, just a stone’s throw from the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand in Wellington, this vile antisemitic message – “I hated Jews before it was cool!”
Race Relations Commissioner, Dr. Melissa Derby, condemns this hateful and brazen act as “shocking, confronting, and an alarming normalisation of antisemitism that everyone in New Zealand must stand against.”
She adds that “we must not allow antisemitism, islamophobia, racism and other forms of hateful bigotry to flourish in our country.”
Hate speech and the Human Rights Act
In Aotearoa New Zealand sections 61 and 131 of the Human Rights Act 1993 (HRA) are generally referred to as the country’s hate speech laws.
Under Section 61 it is against the law to create racial disharmony by inciting hostility against, or bringing into contempt, any group of people on the grounds of colour, race or ethnic or national origins. Courts have ruled that the threshold to meet section 61 is very high. It applies to extremely racist speech that provokes extreme ill will or is likely to result in the targeted group being despised.
Under Section 131 it is a criminal offence to incite racial disharmony. It is the same as Section 61 except that the person accused must have acted with intention. Again, the bar for the speech to be an offence is set very high.
At the Commission we do not have the power to investigate complaints or decide if a law has been breached. However, we can offer information, dispute resolution services for complaints covered by the Act, and in some cases, bring about conversations to encourage understanding and peaceful relations between individuals and communities.
For more information about hate speech: Kōrero Whakamauāhara: Hate Speech: An overview of the current legal framework
More information on how to make a complaint HERE.
