NZ must not extradite people to be tortured

The Green Party wants to know how the Government can be completely sure a New Zealander being extradited to China will not be tortured or face the death penalty when the New Zealander faces murder charges.

John Key has told reporters in the Philippines that a New Zealander facing charges in China could be extradited if the death penalty was ruled out. However, he did not provide any details as to how this assurance would be enforced.

“John Key’s recent behaviour shows he doesn’t have a high regard for human rights so he might be ignoring the fact that the UN experts from the Committee Against Torture criticised China on the length of detention and the torture of prisoners,” said Green Party human rights spokesperson Marama Davidson.

“How can John Key be sure that a person being extradited to China will not be tortured or even face the death penalty when the UN raised concerns about this just a few hours ago?

“Given China’s extensive and continued failure on human rights, we need more than just their word.

“Ruling out the death penalty is not enough, you can’t send anyone back who is going to be tortured or might not receive a fair trial.

“In fact, New Zealand would be breaching its international obligations if we sent people to China knowing there is a high risk of torture.

“The National Government’s weakness on human rights is ongoing. They must not cave in just to protect a trade relationship like they are doing with Saudi Arabia,” said Ms Davidson.

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