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Press Release - August 6, 2001
Race Relations
Race Relations - 6 August 2001
The incoming Government has been urged to ratify the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
by participants at the Seminar on Reconstructing Race Relations held last
week. The Seminar was organised by the Fiji Human Rights Commission in
anticipation of the UN World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, which will take place in Durban, South
Africa later this month.In a set of resolutions and recommendations participants,
representing Government officials, the Police, the Army, NGOs, religious
organisations, the media and political parties, urged the incoming Government
to continue with the State's reporting obligations to United Nations Treaty
Bodies in view of the fact that many of these obligations had not been
fulfilled in recent years. The participants agreed to 30 resolutions.
They include:
* Requesting that Fiji review its reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) which Fiji had ratified in 1973
* Affirming rights contained in the Bill of Rights provisions in the 1997 Constitution, particularly the right to equality contained in section 38
* Affirming the importance of indigenous rights and the necessity of raising public awareness about these rights in relation to human rights, noting that these rights should not be used to foster prejudice, racial discrimination and injustice
* Requesting Fiji to ensure that the international standards relating to the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination are effectively implemented through legislation and administrative policies and practices
* Affirming the 1997 Constitution as a living document which forms the basis for partnership between all peoples and communities in Fiji
* Requesting the incoming Government to provide leadership in the process of reconstructing race relations, nation-building and developing multi-culturalism
* Requesting all political parties and other groups to recognise their responsibility to foster constructive race relations and to avoid statements and actions that might inflame conflict.
*Urging the incoming government to establish an appropriate mechanism to facilitate open and frank discussion on the events of 1987 and 2000 with a view to addressing the underlying concerns of all groups so that reconciliation can proceed
* Noting the importance of the provision of remedies by the State for the victims of racial discrimination, including reparation to individuals and institutions in different forms such as restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition.
* Urging the incoming Government to pass a Social Justice Act to provide for affirmative action for all groups or persons who are disadvantaged, all such affirmative action programmes to be adequately monitored.
* Urging the incoming Government to legislate to prohibit the public incitement of racism and racial hatred in accordance with section 30 of the Constitution
* Urging the incoming Government to review the ethnic and gender composition of the Public Service at all levels, including the Disciplined Services and educational institution with a view of eradicating disparities
* Affirming the essential role of women in Fiji in the process of conflict prevention, early intervention including dialogue, reconciliation and reconstructing race relations
* Recognising that any process of reconciliation should include young and old and representatives of all disadvantaged groups, including migrant Chinese workers.
* Urging the continued involvement of churches and religious groups in the process of encouraging mutual respect and tolerance
* Urging the incoming Government to ensure that there is provision for an integrated curriculum which will foster racial and social tolerance; promote good governance and respect for human rights; promote training of vernacular teachers and make provision for their employment in all schools; develop a language policy which respects all languages; and develop a human rights educational programme in consultation with the Fiji Human Rights Commission, the Military and the Police
* Urging the media organisations to strengthen their existing codes of conduct and organisational policies including for advertisements, prohibiting stereotyping and unfair discrimination, and to encourage the retention of vernacular newspapers even where these may not at first seem to be commercially viableParticipants at the Seminar also called on the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance to:
*Recognise the increasingly important role played by Human Rights Commissions in preventing and combating racism and related intolerance
* Recognise the necessity for governments to ensure that independent human rights institutions are adequately resourced* Acknowledge the important role played by NGOs in the fight for human rights and the elimination of racism and racial discrimination
* Recognise the increasing importance of improving race relations in the elimination of racism and related intolerance and call on the United Nations to provide assistance to States to promote better race relations* Recognise that promotion of indigenous rights is compatible with human rights
* Recognise the special condition of small island states in relation to resource limitation and assist them in fulfilling their international obligation in relation to human rights issues
* Identify appropriate follow up strategies to implement programmes that address and eliminate racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.The Director of the Commission, Dr Shaista Shameem said that the Fiji Human Rights Commission was fortunate in having such wide support for the Seminar on Reconstructing Race Relations.
All stakeholders in Fiji society were represented such as Government, the media, NGOs, church and religious bodies, the Disciplined Services, such as military, prisons and police, and tertiary institutions such as the University of the South Pacific and Fiji Institute of Technology (FIT). International observers such as regional organisations, the High Commissions and Amnesty International were there to observe the proceedings. Dr Shameem said that the resolutions would be sent to the World Conference Against Racism in South Africa as an example of the partnership established between different stakeholders in our society in the effort to combat racism and related intolerance in Fiji.