Fiji - Universal Periodic Review

UPR, November 6, 2019
Recommendations by Canada

Overview

According to UPR info, a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) that tracks the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, in the first two cycles of the UPR, Fiji received 287 recommendations, of which 252 were accepted (an acceptance rate of 88%). Canada’s previous recommendations to Fiji related to judicial independence, freedom of expression, and the ratification of key human rights covenants.

Fiji is a democratic country with human rights protections enshrined in chapter two of its constitution, in the form of a Bill of Rights. It also has an active Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission, which serves to protect and strengthen human rights and promote a culture of human rights in Fiji.

Fiji has ratified seven of the nine principal human rights conventions and covenants, having recently become a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 2018. Fiji has not ratified the UNCRC Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

Fiji has made progress in advancing women’s rights since the previous Universal Periodic Review. Fiji has risen in the Global Gender Gap Index. Fiji has adopted a National Gender Policy directing all ministries and sectors to share the responsibility for achieving gender equality. Fiji has also created a Women’s Plan of Action and a strategy for engaging men and boys.

Significant work remains to remove all forms of gender inequality and gender discrimination in Fiji, as well as to prevent the exploitation of both women and children and the suppression of workers’ rights to freedom of association. Social and economic gender disparities remain significant, especially among LGBTI persons. Gender-based violence in Fiji is widespread. Almost two-thirds of women report having experienced physical and/or sexual abuse by their husband or partner. A significant percentage of women (16%) also reported having been sexually abused before the age of 15, while prosecution of perpetrators remains low.

In 2017, Fiji acceded to the Palermo Protocol on Trafficking in Persons. Further action is necessary in Fiji to prevent the exploitation and trafficking of children, however. Gaps persist in Fiji’s legal framework to adequately protect children from the worst forms of child labour and exploitation. Fiji remains a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.

Since the passage of the 2016 Employment Relations (Amendment) Act, all workers have the right to form unions and strike. However, laws continue to restrict union members from engaging in political activities and prohibit them from holding office. Workers can be denied their rights to freedom of association and assembly by the police through the denial of protest permits and can be subject to harassment and detention. Issues relating to minimum wage, labour law reforms, and the right to strike continue to limit rights and freedom of association.

Recommendations

Canada thanks Fiji for its presentation and commends its ratification in August 2018 of the ICCPR and the ICESCR.

Canada recommends that Fiji:

1. Prevent women and girls from suffering discrimination, harassment and domestic and sexual violence, by allocating sufficient resources towards training for law enforcement and the judiciary in addressing cases related to violence against women and to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
2. Take urgent steps to eliminate commercial sexual exploitation of children by ratifying the UNCRC Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, activating the Inter-Agency Working Group on People Trafficking, and ensuring that the Inter-Agency Trafficking Task Force meets regularly and facilitates the implementation of the National Plan of Action to Eliminate Trafficking in Persons and Child Trafficking.
3. Promote freedom of association and workers’ rights to better defend their interest and views, including through lawful permits to peacefully demonstrate, without fear of harassment or detention.

Canada is concerned about reported levels of gender-based violence and urges the Government of Fiji to engage men and boys in efforts to challenge negative social norms, attitudes and behaviours that underlie and perpetuate violence as well as to promote respectful relationships based on gender equality.