NEW ZEALAND ESTABLISHES A CENTER TO COMBAT VIOLENT EXTREMISM

Jacinda Ardern met with victims, and other members of the community, in Christchurch the day after the attack christchurch-mosque-attack.

Fri 03 June 2022:

New Zealand established the Center of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism on Friday, Anadolu Agency reported.

In a statement, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her government is implementing all recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the 2019 terrorist attack at mosques in Christchurch.

“We have ensured that the Centre of Excellence will go even further than the Commission’s recommendation to establish a programme to fund independent New Zealand-specific research on the causes of, and measures to prevent, violent extremism and terrorism,” Ardern said.

The government had formed a royal commission inquiry to find out whether there were any failings by government agencies in the Christchurch mosques attack.

The 792-page report, which took 18 months to complete, found flaws in the firearms licensing system as well as “inappropriate resource concentration” on the part of security agencies.

Changes to how firearms are regulated, the creation of a new national intelligence and security agency, and a suggestion for police to better identify and respond to hate crimes were among the recommendations.

Brenton Tarrant, an Australian white supremacist, killed 51 people and injured 40 more at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre on March 15, 2019.

He was sentenced to life in prison this August without the possibility of parole, in the first such ruling ever handed down in the island country.

“After the tragedy of 15 March it was clear to all New Zealanders that we had to do everything in our power to stop this ever happening again. I believe this Centre will help us to be a more resilient, inclusive and safer Aotearoa New Zealand,” said Ardern.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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