Reports into Auckland Women’s 1. Netherlands: Still no Safety: Venezuelans Denied Protection in Correctional Facility detailed serious human Curaçao (Index: EUR 35/4724/2021), 11 October rights concerns. In February, a District Court 2. “Netherlands: Dutch childcare benefit scandal an urgent wake-up Judge found the practice of requiring call to ban racist algorithms”, 25 October prisoners to lie down on the floor in order to 3. “Netherlands: Court allows racial profiling”, 22 September receive meals was “excessive, degrading and fundamentally inhumane”. The judge also NEW ZEALAND found the use of pepper spray against a woman alone in her cell, unarmed and faced by six officers in full body armour, to be New Zealand excessive use of force. Following this case, Head of state: Elizabeth II, represented by Cynthia Kiro the Minister of Corrections issued an official (replaced Patricia Lee Reddy in October) public apology in March and ordered a Head of government: Jacinda Ardern programme of work, largely focused on Criminal detention facilities continued to be women’s prisons. used to detain people seeking asylum. In October, a report by the Office of the Official investigations highlighted ongoing Inspectorate into women in prisons stated, concerns about conditions in detention and among other concerns, that “generally, prison facilities. Following evidence of women’s prisons are not therapeutic human rights violations in a women's environments conducive to rehabilitation and prison, the government issued an apology reintegration”. and ordered improvements. Reviews of childcare and protection services continued. CHILDREN’S RIGHTS In April, the Waitangi Tribunal reported on the REFUGEES’ AND MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS significant disparity between the number of Asylum seekers continued to be detained Māori and non-Māori children being taken solely on immigration grounds. Research into state care, and that these disparities revealed that asylum seekers experienced a were a direct consequences of Crown number of human rights violations while intrusion. The Tribunal recommended that 1 detained. In July, the government “the Crown steps back from further intrusion announced an independent review into the into what was reserved to Māori under Te practice of detaining asylum seekers in Tiriti [o Waitangi] / the Treaty [of Waitangi], criminal detention facilities solely on and allow Māori to reclaim their space”. immigration grounds. In June, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner released reports raising DETAINEES’ RIGHTS serious concerns about the safety and well- Prisoners at a high security facility at being of children in the Epuni childcare and Waikeria Prison held a protest which ended protection residence. in January. The detention conditions in this prison had caused concern for many years. 1. Aotearoa New Zealand: Please Take Me to a Safe Place: The In May, the Chief Ombudsman announced Imprisonment of Asylum Seekers in Aotearoa New Zealand (Index: ASA an investigation into the Department of 32/4113/2021), 18 May Corrections’ response to repeated calls for reform to improve conditions for detainees. In June, the Office of the Ombudsman published inspection reports of Christchurch Men’s Prison and Whanganui Prison highlighting the “undignified and barren conditions of prisons”. Amnesty International Report 2021/22 271