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| Kym Hamilton, National Iwi Chairs Forum, speaking at United Nations in July. Screenshot Censored News Maori Battle for Rights as Racism Spreads in New Zealand, Maori Tell United Nations |
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, July 26, 2024
GENEVA – The increased racism and white supremacy in New Zealand, and the government’s attempts to diminish Maori treaty rights, are causing a regression in Indigenous rights, Maori told the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
"In Aotearoa, New Zealand, we are currently experiencing radical regression of enhanced participation at a state level. The New Zealand government is proposing to repeal the foundations of our treaty that gave them the right of settlement," Kym Hamilton of the National Iwi Chairs Forum told the United Nations.
Hamilton said Maori ancestors signed this treaty to protect their sovereignty which was never ceded. The government's proposals would reduce Maori participation and decision-making on their tribal lands and waters, and undermine many of the obligations of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Hamilton told the U.N.
