Page 27 - Islands Business March 2024

Human Rights

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS BUILD

REGIONAL PROTECTION STRATEGY

Pacific human rights defenders are building a regional For instance, while Fiji’s government repealed a Media
protection strategy in the face of challenges ranging from Decree last year, it is yet to comply with international law
inadequate judicial systems to colonial-era laws and heavy- “prohibiting immunity for those responsible for serious human
handed law enforcement. rights violations, and is yet to repeal the highly restrictive
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human seditious provisions of the Crimes Act and the Public Order Act
Rights (OHCHR) Regional Representative, Heike Alefsen, notes that limits freedom of assembly, expression and association,”
that protection networks are key to the security of defenders said Karan.
and their ability to operate, particularly for women HRDs She said some Pacific Island countries and territories
(human rights defenders) in the Pacific, “given the specific continue to use “colonial-era laws and heavy-handed law
obstacles and threats they face, such as violence from enforcement to restrict rights leading to arbitrary arrests,
sorcery-related accusations, discriminatory customary laws detention and prosecution, which may affect human rights
and policies, restrictive legislation, gender-based violence, defenders, including journalists and trade unionists. Sedition
and sexualised online harassment and bullying.” and treason laws have been used to silence criticism and
She made this observation at a meeting of 45 regional HRDs dissent, restrict attempts to unionise, demonstrations and
in Port Vila, Vanuatu in February. They convened to address protests, political participation and to raid defenders’ homes
what their organising body, the Pacific and offices.”
Human Rights Defenders Network said HRDs across the Pacific regularly
is a critical need to adopt protection experienced harassment, violence,
mechanisms across the region. threats from their communities or
In 2021, OHCHR Pacific division’s the targets of their advocacy, and,
assessment of the human rights in some cases, arrests by the police,
defenders’ situation —with a focus Amnesty said in a 2019 policy brief
on women HRDs in Fiji, Kiribati, it issued to “highlight their critical
the Marshall Islands, Papua New work and draw attention to the
Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, immense challenges they face”
and Vanuatu—recommended the “Most countries in the Pacific
development of a regional protection do not have laws designed to
strategy for HRDs. protect the rights of human rights
“HRDs include civil society actors, A participant makes a point at the workshop in Port Vila, Vanuatu. defenders. Moreover, the work of
women’s advocates, children’s Photo: Supplied human rights defenders is not seen
activists, young people, members of as legitimate by some governments;
minorities and indigenous people, academics, and lawyers rather, it is perceived as threatening,” Amnesty said.
– anyone who effects change peacefully through their The Pacific also lacks national human rights institutions,
interactions,” said Releshni Karan, National Legal Adviser for which are needed to hold governments and other powerful
the Pacific at OHCHR. entities accountable, as the Pacific is “characterised by
Karan said the number of self-identified human rights governance systems in which the executive is dominant,” said
defenders has been growing in the Pacific, along with Karan. Only four exist - in Fiji and Samoa, Australia, and New
structures such as the Pacific HDRN, which now has more than Zealand. Tuvalu has passed the legislation for one, while the
100 members since being established in 2019. Supported by Cook Islands, Kiribati, PNG, and Vanuatu are considering the
the OHCHR, the Pacific HDRN has focal points in 10 different establishment of national protection mechanisms.
countries who flag human rights violations to a governing “States should review their legal frameworks to ensure
committee. that national legislation is in conformity with their national
These human rights concerns are as varied as summary commitments and international standards relating to the
executions, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, female right to public freedoms of assembly, association, expression,
genital mutilation, discrimination, employment issues, information and participation,” said Karan.
forced evictions, access to health care, and toxic waste and The efforts to build a regional protection strategy are
its impact on the environment. Their work is “vital for the also supported by the University of Queensland’s Asia Pacific
development and monitoring of democratic processes and Center on Prevention of Atrocity Crimes and will include
institutions, ending impunity. There are restrictive laws, workshops in several island countries.
discriminatory policies, and customary practices contrary to
international human rights standards in all countries of the - Reported by Kite Pareti
Pacific,” Karan emphasised.

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