3 days workshop for recruits

A three day human rights workshop facilitated by various stakeholders for the newly recruited Police officers is being held at the Fiji Police Academy in Nasova.

The three day workshop is jointly facilitated by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Fiji Women's Crisis Centre, Ministry of Women ,Children and Poverty Alleviation - Fiji, UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji, ILGA World and the Legal Aid Commission Fiji Opening the workshop was the Chief of Intelligence and Investigations Assistant Commissioner of Police Surend Sami who said, “.

During the next few days you will get to understand more about human rights and more importantly why protection of human rights are so important to the Government, the FPF as an organization entrusted with the protection of human rights and more so you as a defender of human rights in your capacity as a Police Officer”.

ACP Sami went on to say, “The people’s expectation is that their Police Force is a robust one, a force that keeps communities safe, maintains law and order, is professional and efficiently brings perpetrators of crimes to justice.

As police officers, we must exercise our authority, use our powers and effectively enforce the law.

In the exercise of such responsibilities, we must always remember to ACT within the ambits of the law.

The Regional Representative for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Ms. Heike Alefsen said, “.

Law enforcement officers must be the first line of defense for the protection and promotion of human rights in Fiji.

Police officers and law enforcement agencies that respect human rights reap benefits that advance the very objectives of law enforcement and contribute to building credible institutions that uphold professionalism, legality and non-discrimination”.

Ms Alefsen issued the following reminder to the 191 Police Recruits, “You the new recruits fulfil important functions every time you serve a victim of crime and every time you reach out to a member of an underrepresented and marginalized community.

Every time you do this you serve the people as a whole”.

The OHCHR has also committed to conducting similar training with the Fiji Police Force later this year.