The visit by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance is particularly significant given the primacy of race in Fiji’s political history.
The Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission has welcomed both the visit of the Special Rapporteur as well as his independent report.
Chair, Ashwin Raj, says the report of the Special rapporteur underscores the fundamental role of the Commission in providing the institutional framework for combating racism and discrimination.
Raj says this not only provides policy guidance to Government but also helps educating the public about human rights and freedoms as well as receiving and investigating complaints and providing assistance and guidance to victims of alleged acts of racism and discrimination.
He says the Commission fully concurs with the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur that the Commission must be strengthened to meet the requirements of the Paris Principles and regain its accreditation status with the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).
To this end, the Commission is working towards its accreditation under the guidance of the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) as well as the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) and will submit its application for accreditation this year.
