7. KEITH LOCKE (Green) Link to this
to the Minister of Immigration
To what extent, if any, did the police threat assessment of Ahmed Zaoui, an assessment criticised as “not well considered nor well constructed” in a 9 January 2007 report by Judge Ian Borrin of the Police Complaints Authority, contribute to the Minister’s decision to rely on a security risk certificate applying to Algerian refugee Ahmed Zaoui?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Minister of Immigration) Link to this
I was, of course, not privy to the briefing to the former Minister of Immigration by the Director of Security before the Minister’s decision to rely upon the security risk certificate. However, I am advised that the police play no role in the statutory briefing process. In accordance with section 114E(3) of the Immigration Act 1987, the contents of that briefing must remain confidential.
Was it because the Minister in some way relied on the flawed police threat assessment against Mr Zaoui, which falsely claimed that he was a senior member of the terrorist GIA group, that the Minister’s department actually supported Mr Zaoui spending 10 months in solitary confinement in Pāremoremo prison?
In what way would the presence in New Zealand of Leila Zaoui and her four children prejudice the current review of the security risk certificate, and why is the Minister so heartless in not allowing the family to be reunited, at least while the very long-drawn-out review of Mr Zaoui’s status is completed and the Minister makes a decision?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
It is important that because there is a chance that the substantive decision in respect of Mr Zaoui will later come to my desk, I do not now pre-empt the substance of that decision. Therefore, I must live with the possibility of the perception of heartlessness in order to ensure that that decision is not prejudiced.
Madam SPEAKERI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. My question specifically asked in what way the presence of Leila Zaoui and her children would prejudice the Minister’s decision. He did not answer how it would prejudice the decision he talked about when giving his answer.
Peter BrownWill the Minister confirm that when a security risk certificate is issued against a suspected terrorist, he has no choice but to rely on that advice, and that he has no influence over Ahmed Zaoui’s fate until the decision regarding the security risk certificate is reached by the SIS—unlike Mr Zaoui, who does have a choice: he can seek assistance with documentation, get on a plane, and go tomorrow?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
I would not characterise the obligations on this Minister in the way that the member has just done.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. That is a most unsatisfactory answer. I asked the Minister a specific question about the procedure and the limitations controlling the procedure. I think the Minister should give this House an answer. [ Interruption]
How much incompetence and bungling from various State agencies, particularly the police and the SIS, will it take in this long-drawn-out affair of 4 years, going on 5 years, before the Minister lifts the security risk certificate against Mr Zaoui; has the Minister given any consideration to the fact that the inspector-general’s term expires in June—that is, before the hearing is even due to begin—and has he any contingency planning about what to do in that circumstance?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
Although I have no ministerial responsibility for the term of the inspector-general, I have stated publicly, previously, that I share the concern of many New Zealanders that this process should be expedited as quickly as possible.
I seek leave to table a copy of the Police Complaints Authority report dated 9 January 2007, which is very critical of the police’s role—
I seek leave to table an Amnesty International statement of 24 April 2006 explaining the secret detention and torture that goes on in Algeria today, which makes it impossible for Mr Zaoui to return there.
Gerry BrownleeI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. We seek to be more specific about these things. Mr Locke has just asked whether he can table a document outlining secret torture. Well, if it is such a secret, how come he has a document on it?
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. The document here, which I think Mr Brownlee could read as it is easily available, talks about detainees in secret detention and about being tortured—secret detention and torture, I tell Mr Brownlee.
I tried to table that document because there was a reference made by a member to Mr Zaoui being able to go home. I now seek leave to table, from the New Zealand Herald of 9 February, a statement where Mr Zaoui hotly disputes Mr Peter Brown’s assertion, and says that he has no passport to enable him to return home.