Operation Eight report: Rights "trampled"

A police roadblock in the Ruatoki Valley during the anti-terrorism raids.

The Human Rights Commission has released a report on police actions during Operation Eight, concluding innocent people were exposed to unnecessary trauma and had their human rights negatively impacted.

Operation Eight was the police name for the 2007 Urewera raids.

"The Commission received 31 complaints about police actions covering a range of concerns including being stopped at the roadblock at Ruatoki and photographed without consent, the negative implications of using the Terrorism Suppression Act, and the impact on children confined for several hours, some without food.

"Our report focuses on the innocent people affected by the operation. These people had done nothing wrong and did not break any laws but had their basic rights trampled. The report does not deal with those people arrested or charged.

"The report also concludes that no comprehensive assessment of the impact on innocent people was carried out; and insufficient support was provided to innocent people.

"It's very clear more should have been done in the immediate aftermath to support innocent people. We make five recommendations to help ensure negative impacts are minimised in the future.

"On the positive side, much progress has been made since 2007. We're pleased to see Police have made changes to their processes and policies to ensure this doesn't happen again. For example, we welcome the completion of a review of police policy for dealing with children and vulnerable people when executing search warrants.

"It is also worth nothing that new search and surveillance legislation has been introduced since Operation Eight that addresses much of the behaviour complained about.

"The Commission's report follows the conclusion of related court cases and the release of the IPCA report earlier this year. We considered it inappropriate to release our analysis before the completion of these two matters.

"Over recent months the Commission has been consulting with both police and Tuhoe leadership and we understand that substantial progress has been made in repairing the relationship. My hope is that this report will help further that endeavour," said chief commissioner David Rutherford.