Rodney Harrison: Winston's weapons of mass hysteria

Surprise, surprise: slap bang in the lead-up to the general election and almost four years after 9/11, Winston Peters has declared his own little war on terrorism.

Where the Bush Administration used Saddam Hussein's non-existent weapons of mass destruction to justify attacking an entire country, Mr Peters has developed his very own weapons of mass hysteria, designed to tap into our collective insecurities and latent xenophobia, using claims of lurking "terrorists and suspect minions of dangerous regimes".

Why, this long after 9/11, when most Western countries are coming to realise that they overreacted shamefully to that tragedy by punitively targeting immigrants and, in particular, Muslim communities, does Mr Peters seek to single out those who have fled oppressive regimes, many if not most of them (as Mr Peters admits) lawfully and openly living here?

There can be only one answer: cynical pursuit of electoral advantage. In a campaign such as Mr Peters now seeks to wage, the often tragic personal histories of individuals, existing family ties in New Zealand, the anguish, insecurity and distress caused to those named, and our domestic and international legal obligations do not matter one jot.

Following prescribed or departmental procedures, or allowing the proper authorities to do so, and knowing all about an individual before moving to denounce them likewise do not matter a jot - not when there are political points to be scored by labelling people as corrupt, paedophiles or terrorists.

And, of course, if it does emerge that entry has been granted to some apparent undesirable, according to Mr Peters this cannot possibly be an isolated case. Obviously it is all part of one gigantic, conspiratorial threat, from which Mr Peters and his party will undoubtedly save us, if elected.

Thus if a former Cabinet minister of Saddam's regime is discovered living in New Zealand, quite plainly that must (somehow) be the fault of my client, the Algerian political refugee Ahmed Zaoui.

It matters nothing to Mr Peters that those he seeks to link together and to tar with the same brush of terrorist or undesirable are from entirely different countries and backgrounds, have never met and, indeed, have never heard of one another before they arrived in this country. For surely it is obvious that there is a pattern to all this, and New Zealand is in grave danger of being infiltrated and overrun.

Some give Mr Peters grudging respect for the political skills he demonstrates in identifying so-called hot-button issues, with perfect timing, election after election.

But his tactics, seen in a historical context, are despicable and cowardly, despicable because it is clear he does not care whose careers or lives he wrecks, damages and (in the case of potential refugees who might be at serious personal risk if deported from New Zealand) endangers.

They are cowardly because he invariably chooses to launch his attacks on individuals under the legal protection of parliamentary privilege and without first seeking to obtain the side of the story of the individual whom he is denouncing.

Over the years the number of serious casualties of Mr Peters' unfounded attacks on individuals has been high: loyal and competent heads of Government departments, business people and professionals. Now, of course, he has in his sights asylum-seekers and other immigrants or visitors - the perfect target because these days neither the Government nor any individual politician or party will dare consistently to stand up for them.

But what does it matter if loyal and competent civil servants are labelled corrupt and their careers destroyed, people engaged in lawful business ventures are labelled paedophiles, and legitimate asylum-seekers and refugees are labelled terrorists, if by the making of such accusations Mr Peters can get publicity, embarrass the Government and gain votes?

Mr Peters says his political party supports, and presumably will campaign for, legislation "to ensure that Zaoui and others of his ilk [are] on the next plane out".

This is not the place to defend Ahmed Zaoui from Mr Peters' smear campaign, with its numerous distortions of both the truth and the public record. From a human rights perspective what concerns me about these proposals to legislate a next-plane-out "solution" is their intellectual dishonesty.

As a lawyer Mr Peters knows that legislation he claims to want to see in place cannot be enacted. It would place New Zealand in breach of our obligations at international law, most significantly under the Refugee Convention and the Convention Against Torture.

Like all other members of the civilised international community, New Zealand has no absolute right to expel or deport individuals, whether they arrive here lawfully or unlawfully, without affording them due process of law.

Where appropriate, this includes determining whether they are entitled to remain as genuine refugees, or because they face death or torture if summarily deported, or on compassionate grounds.

What Mr Peters is really saying is that this country should summarily expel, without a fair hearing and without proper consideration of their basic human rights, anyone about whom he sees fit to raise a hue and cry from the safety and privilege of his own personal place of refuge, Parliament.

It needs to be more widely understood that these measures Mr Peters proposes cannot be introduced into our law without breaching our international obligations and seriously damaging our reputation as a country that honours human rights.

What he is trying to do is play on New Zealanders' post-9/11 fears and prejudices so as to turn us against our long-standing traditions of fairness and tolerance and respect for the rights of individuals.

Mr Peters, in his Perspectives article, sought to portray New Zealand as "a naive little country with a 'soft touch' reputation".

I hope that New Zealanders will not be a soft touch for Mr Peters' scaremongering, nor so naive as to fail to see the cynical opportunism at play in his pronouncements.

* Dr Rodney Harrison, QC, is an Auckland barrister and senior counsel for Ahmed Zaoui.