New Zealand: From Aramoana to Christchurch, the path linking two gun-loving killers
A year and eight months after the attack on the two mosques in
Christchurch
, in which 51 people were killed, the
New Zealand government
has acknowledged that mistakes were made before the attack by supremacist
Brenton Tarrant
.
Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern
presented on Tuesday a comprehensive 792-page report prepared by the Royal Commission of Inquiry, which examines the role of the country's security and intelligence agencies in the run-up to the March 15 shootings. 2019.
The first conclusion of the report is that there was an "inappropriate" approach to counterterrorism resources.
New Zealand's
security agencies
focused "almost exclusively" on the threat of Islamic terrorism prior to what happened in
Christchurch
.
"The
New Zealand
authorities
have focused their anti-terrorism resources almost exclusively on Muslim communities in
New Zealand,
" the report reads.
"The authorities appear to have been institutionally blind to terrorist threats from far-right and white nationalist actors and groups, and threats to Muslim communities in particular."
Ardern
has apologized to those affected by the failures, but noted that the commission "has not found" conclusions that these problems would have stopped the attack.
"Going forward, we must ensure a proper focus of resources on the range of threats facing
New Zealand
and enhance our security and intelligence," the prime minister said.
The report also publishes
44 recommendations
that the New Zealand government must follow to prevent future attacks.
Initial steps include the establishment of a ministry for ethnic communities, improvements to help police identify and handle hate crimes, toughen hate speech laws, and the creation of an early intervention program for individuals who display signs of radicalization.
On August 27, the perpetrator of the
Christchurch
massacre
, terrorist
Brenton Tarrant
, was sentenced to life in prison.
It was the first time in
New Zealand
history
that such a sentence had been imposed.
Tarran
t, 29, was tried in
Christchurch
High Court
on 51 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one count of terrorism.
Judge
Cameron Mander
noted that the crimes were so perverse that a life in prison could not compensate for them.
"Your actions were inhumane, you showed no mercy. You deliberately killed a three-year-old baby while clinging to his father's leg,"
Mander
said,
pointing at
Tarrant
.
"You are not only a murderer, but a terrorist. You tried to essentially attack the
New Zealand
way of life,
" continued the magistrate, who named all the terrorist's victims one by one, explaining the impact their deaths had on their families.
None of that elicited any reaction from Tarrant.
The sentence was handed down after three days in which 91 survivors of the attack and relatives of the victims gave their testimony in court, looking into the face of the
supremacist
author of the worst massacre on record in the Pacific country.
Now, the commission's report reveals that the police failed to enforce proper firearm licensing controls.
Furthermore, it was reported today that
Tarrant
had accidentally shot himself while cleaning a pistol months before the attack, and required hospital treatment for bullet fragments to the eye and leg.
At that time, there was no mandatory legislation on the reporting of gunshot wounds.
The head of the
New Zealand Security
Intelligence Service
(NZSIS),
Rebecca Kitteridge
, has acknowledged that "not enough attention had been paid to far-right supremacists" until 2018.
During the August trial, prosecutor
Barnaby Hawes
revealed that
Tarrant
had begun formulating his plan in September 2017 and that his goal was "to inflict as many deaths as possible."
Just that year, the terrorist first obtained a firearms license and began storing weapons and more than 7,000 rounds of ammunition.
He collected information on mosques in
New Zealand
, studying plans and locations, jotted down specific details about prayer times and important days in the Islamic calendar, even flew a drone over his main target, the Al Noor Mosque.
"He planned his attack down to the smallest detail, timing his entry into the mosques when the maximum number of worshipers would be present and anticipating the time needed to carry out the attacks," the court said.
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