Foundation sets up givealittle page for Afghan villagers – Human Rights Foundation of NZ
The Human Rights Foundation of Aotearoa New Zealand says the withdrawal of the villagers of Naik and Khak Khudday Dad from the Operation Burnham Inquiry is a sad indictment of the way the Inquiry has been conducted. The lawyers for the villages announced the withdrawal this morning and the Human Rights Foundation has decided to establish a givealittle page to support the villagers’ needs, including finding suitable housing (they have had to abandon their villages), for their health and for the education of their children
Chairperson Peter Hosking says the villagers have completely lost faith in the New Zealand authorities. The Inquiry, which has operated largely in secret, exhibited little understanding of their situation or their need to continue uninterrupted in their work, as well as the difficulties in communicating with the Inquiry especially over a long drawn-out period without any result. The final straw was a minute (statement) by the Inquiry in late April 2019 that it was not necessary for the Inquiry to hear the villagers’ direct accounts of what happened in view of the difficulties for the Inquiry of gathering their evidence first hand. The Inquiry has now reconsidered that issue, but this is obviously too little too late.
Peter Hosking says that it is not for next of kin and family of the villagers who died to beg for New Zealand justice and the right to be heard. NZ has human rights obligations to citizens harmed by our military during armed conflict. Their situation ought to have been at the heart of the Inquiry. However, the Inquiry’s convoluted and drawn out processes have exhausted the villagers. They have lost faith that NZ cares about what happened to them or is interested in ensuring that they receive justice, let alone reparations for the loss and damage they suffered.
The Human Rights Foundation says the givealittle page is to ensure that the villagers receive some assistance from New Zealanders, whatever the outcome of the government Inquiry.
Well done Nicky Hager, Jon Stephenson, and the Auckland lawyers
who did their best to get justice for the innocent people whose lives were smashed to bits up in the beautiful Hindu Kush. Of course we will contribute.
I will never forget getting “Hit & Run” on Thursday, finishing reading it and starting to reread it on Saturday shocked as hell, going online on Saturday night and seeing that PM Bill English was attending an Adele concert up in Auckland, and thinking, ‘How could he ?’.
I guess that Bill’s junior staffer had reported,’Nothing to see here, boss.’
Have more confidence than some, that Geoffrey Palmer will do a good job here.
I am not surprised that the villagers of Tirgiran have lost faith in the Operation Burnham inquiry. I am surprised that they ever believed that they might obtain justice from the Realm of New Zealand.
Like the 51 who died in the Al Noor massacre, those killed in Tirgiran were victims a state which remains unswervingly loyal to the Five Eyes alliance and its utterly ruthless, brutal, dishonest and manipulative campaign for global hegemony.
All decent-minded New Zealanders should now disown this regime which has been responsible for the murder of innocents on a mass scale. To fail to do so is to be complicit in gross and unforgivable wickedness.
The lawsuit should go ahead anyway, because the people of NZ should also be able to know what is being done in our name by our armed forces.
Another victory for injustice from NZ which is becoming the norm.