Statement at the 59th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Adoption of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report of Fiji
Delivered by Olimjon Bakhtaliev, CIVICUS
CIVICUS, Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO), Fiji Council Of Social Services (FCOSS) and Amnesty International welcomes Fiji’s engagement in the UPR process. During the previous cycle, Fiji received 17 recommendations on civic space issues and accepted nine.
In this cycle, we note that Fiji received 12 recommendations on civic space, which they have supported, including to safeguard the rights to freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association and repeal restrictive legislation, including the sedition provisions in the Crimes Act, and the amended Public Order Act that can be misused to restrict protests.
There were also recommendations to guarantee freedom of the press, promote a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders and conduct impartial, thorough and independent investigations into all cases of attacks, harassment and intimidation against civil society members, human rights defenders and journalists.
While the government that came to power in December 2022, has undertaken reforms including to repeal a restrictive media law, reverse travel bans on critics and strengthen the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission, it has yet to review or repeal sedition provisions and the Public Order Act. In recent years, the government has continued to use the Public Order Act to impose arbitrary restrictions on protests and block pro-Palestinian marches by students and civil society.
Mr President, we urge the government of Fiji to review or repeal all restrictive laws used to restrict the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and provide civil society members, human rights defenders and journalists with a safe and secure environment in which to carry out their work.
