Acting Prime Minister and Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has criticised an Amnesty International report on Fiji.

Sayed-Khaiyum says the report on torture is biased, selective and does not reflect the true position in Fiji or the strides towards dealing with the issue of torture.

Sayed-Khaiyum says Fiji has ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture and local institutions and their leaders have made it clear that torture, assault and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees will not be tolerated.

He adds the Prime Minister and the Police Commissioner are both on the public record has having said that there is a policy of zero tolerance for torture which is being enforced with vigor.

Sayed-Khaiyum adds it’s no secret that during more turbulent times they had a problem with certain individuals taking the law into their own hands – but there has never been institutionalized torture and the days in which these individuals behaved with impunity are over.

In fact, the record shows that successful prosecutions have been mounted and the perpetrators sentenced to lengthy jail terms.

The minister says it’s concerning that at no stage did Amnesty’s researcher contact the Director of Public Prosecutions, who could have provided clarity on a number of issues that were raised in the report.