EMILY BAILEY: The Maori activist says New Zealand should establish Maori reserves with separate laws.

The lawyer for Tame Iti, one of the 'Urewera Four' says the Independent Police Conduct Authority report into the 2007 police Urewera raids offers scope for multiple potential compensation claims.

The authority's report, released yesterday, criticised many aspects of the police actions, labelleing them "unlawful, unjustified and unreasonable".

Those who were ''effectively kidnapped'' by police yet had nothing to do with the events sparking the raids could make claims including under the Bill of Rights, Russell Fairbrother told Radio New Zealand.

People whose homes were searched could also claim for breaches of the Bill of Rights.

Those who were arrested could likely claim on a case-by-case basis, he said.

Because Iti, his own client, was convicted for firearms offences, some roads for compensation were blocked, but there was scope in other areas.



He believed Iti was going to go for compensation.

'INDIGENOUS RESERVATIONS'

Meanwhile, one of the people convicted after the raids was calling for "indigenous reservations" to be established in New Zealand.

Parihaka's Emily Bailey, her partner Urs Signer, Tame Iti and Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara were found guilty of firearms charges in March last year following Operation Eight, the Urewera raids in 2007.

"If countries like Canada and the United States can cope with separate indigenous reservations and entire states with separate laws inside one country, then why can't we?" she said.

"Why do we have to hear ironic calls of apartheid and separatism? One rule for all doesn't mean equality, it means authoritarianism and separatism between the rich and powerful and the poor.

"I don't believe that's what New Zealanders want. True equality comes through diversity, respect, trust and justice."

Bailey said she was surprised by the IPCA report, which found some of the police actions were "unlawful, unjustified and unreasonable".

"Which is a rarity from that institution, which rarely criticises unlawful or immoral acts of the New Zealand police force."

However, she was disappointed the report continued to back up the claims of "reasonable" and "justifiable" actions in relation to those arrested who were deemed "a threat to public safety".

"The report further frustrates us who have had our names smeared by the state and media for something we did not do, nor plan to do."

She said none of the group were convicted of criminal group activity and the convictions for unlawful possession of firearms came from "tainted" evidence.

"The whole thing has been eight years of over-reaction by racist, paranoid people in power who cannot comprehend the idea of self-governance and mana motuhake but are more than willing to illegally obtain snippets of conversations from loads of different people and create a terrible scary story, complete with illegally obtained images of scary-looking but harmless activities on private land.

"The lives of the children and whanau terrorised by the police raids in 2007 and the years of court proceedings and suspicion can never be taken away by some insincere apology too full of excuses and too late."

Signer did not want to make any further comment.