New head of Crown abuse response put NZ’s false case to UN

The bureaucrat appointed to head the agency responding to victims of state abuse presented a report to the UN in 2015 that failed to acknowledge the torture that occurred at the adolescent unit at Lake Alice hospital.

On Tuesday the Government announced the appointment of Rajesh Chhana as chief executive of the Crown Response Unit, the agency that will respond to victims of state abuse. 

However, in his role as deputy secretary of policy at the Ministry of Justice, Chhana introduced New Zealand’s report to the UN’s Committee Against Torture in 2015.  

The Sixth Periodic Report was presented as part of New Zealand’s obligations in complying with the UN’s Convention Against Torture. The report was written in 2013 and the 2015 meeting was the final stage of the UN’s review. 

His involvement in the Crown’s positioning back then, and presenting it to the UN, has already drawn attention of some survivors, who are questioning if he was adequately vetted by the Government before being appointed to this sensitive new role.

The current Government’s Attorney-General Judith Collins made an appearance at the UN in 2014 to represent New Zealand as it gave a presentation about its compliance with all of the UN Conventions it is a signatory to. Collins was questioned by a delegate from Iran about torture and denied New Zealand committed state torture.

However, the UN found in 2019 that New Zealand was in breach of the Convention Against Torture because it had failed to properly investigate credible allegations of torture at Lake Alice. The Royal Commission on Abuse in Care has also found that the abuse met the UN’s definition of torture, partly based on an admission by current Solicitor-General Una Jagose. And when the Royal Commission’s final report was tabled in July, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon acknowledged and apologised for the torture that Lake Alice victims had suffered.

Chhana’s presentation to the UN in 2015 came during a period where Crown agencies were trying to avoid acknowledging that what happened at Lake Alice was torture, even though it was in possession of overwhelming evidence that it was.

The UN Human Rights commissioner’s office issued a statement summarising the NZ presentation, which noted Chhana’s role. “Introducing the report, Rajesh Chhana, Deputy Secretary of Policy, Ministry of Justice of New Zealand, said New Zealand was a relatively young democratic country in the South Pacific with a rich ethnic diversity. New Zealand prided itself on the promotion of human rights and equal treatment for all citizens, and its human rights approach focused on respect for every person with a pragmatic approach.”

It also noted: “The delegation was asked whether anybody had been prosecuted for the crime of torture during the reporting period and responded there had been no prosecutions.

“The use of Tasers by the police, historic abuse claims, including the Lake Alice case, and the use of private prisons, such as the Mount Eden Correction Facility, were also raised.”

The Royal Commission said in its report on Lake Alice that: “In its concluding remarks on the sixth report in 2015, the committee (against torture) said New Zealand had ‘failed to investigate or hold any individual accountable for the nearly 200 allegations of torture and ill- treatment against minors at Lake Alice Hospital.

The New Zealand delegation, which included Chhana and representatives from Crown Law, reiterated its previous position that the allegations had been investigated. However, the UN Committee Against Torture was not convinced and eventually found New Zealand in breach of the convention in 2019.

Chhana’s role is to head the agency responding to state abuse victims. In announcing his appointment, Deputy Public Service Commissioner Rebecca Kitteridge said the Crown Response Office had been established to support the implementation of the Government’s response to the recommendations from the Royal Commission.

The commission was established in 2018 to investigate the abuse and neglect experienced by children, young people and vulnerable adults in New Zealand’s state and faith-based care systems. 

Kitteridge said: “Mr Chhana is an exceptional leader with a proven track record across the justice, social, and national security sectors.”

The Crown Response Unit was previously chaired by Iona Holsted, outgoing secretary for the Ministry of Education. However, the Royal Commission unearthed comments by Holsted made when she was deputy chief executive of Ministry of Social Development, where she questioned the credibility of victims’ allegations and the honesty of their lawyer Sonja Cooper.

Holsted was singled out for criticism in the Royal Commission’s report on redress. It mentioned that “some officials suggested lawyers were drumming up false or exaggerated claims”.

The report went on to say that “the Ministry of Social Development’s deputy chief executive of the time, Iona Holsted, even reported concerns in a memorandum that lawyer Sonja Cooper was behaving unethically, and speculated that she might have influenced claimants’ memories when gathering evidence, and ‘may deliberately target periods of time when records are poorest’ in the claims she made on behalf of her clients. We find these suggestions entirely unfounded. The ministry’s current deputy chief executive, Simon MacPherson, said the language in the memorandum was ‘inappropriate and regrettable’. However, the memorandum was not an isolated piece of correspondence.”

Kitteridge said Chhana brought strong leadership and a depth of understanding on navigating challenging policy issues, including family and sexual violence, and reforms in the criminal justice and national security sectors.

“This is a critical role within the public service and Mr Chhana’s experience leading change in some of New Zealand’s most complex and sensitive policy areas will be invaluable as the Government moves forward with this vital work,” said Kitteridge.

Chhana was a legal adviser at the Ministry of Justice from 1996 to 1999. This was a period when civil litigation by victims of Lake Alice was in full swing and allegations of abuse of children in other state institutions was beginning to emerge. The Ministry of Justice is the Crown agency responsible for communicating with the United Nations and upholding New Zealand’s obligations under international law.

Chhana has been appointed to lead the Crown Response Unit for two years from October 30.