The Fiji Human Rights and Anti‑Discrimination Commission has submitted its 2016, 2017 and 2018 Annual Reports to the President Jioji Konrote and a copy to Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.
Director Ashwin Raj says the Annual Reports document the renaissance of a national human rights commission that lost its accredited status a decade ago. He says the reports include steps taken in the last three years towards the protection, promotion and preservation of human rights according to the constitution, conducting independent investigations, holding institutions and individuals including the state and private actors within the state to account, exhausting remedies available under the law in the event of an infraction of rights including the ability to institute legal proceedings, and making policy recommendations on existing and proposed laws.
Raj says this is integral in not only ensuring that the Commission is able to dispense with it’s mandate but has also set the Commission on a path towards compliance with the Paris Principles and becoming a fully accredited national human rights institution.
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