The Standing Committee on Human Rights is faced with a dilemma about the Registration of Sex Offenders Bill of 2018.

As the committee continues to receive submissions, they are now trying to balance on how to protect the rights of offenders and at the same time not suppress the rights of the victims.

Committee Chair Alvick Maharaj highlighted this while revealing some of the challenges they face to the Office of the High Commissioner for the United Nations Human Rights in the Pacific.

“How do we actually balance that we are actually trying to protect the rights of the offender over here without suppressing the rights of the victim or we are actually giving the rights to the victim and suppressing the rights of the offender, so that’s the dilemma of the committee at this point in time.”

Maharaj says this issue came to light when a case was highlighted to the committee in Labasa where an offender has served his sentence for two years and then comes back to stay in the same village with the victim.

He says the committee will seek more consultations as to how a balancing act can be found to ensure the protection of the rights of the offender as well as that of the victim.