Human Rights Workhop

A training to enhance the Fiji Police Force’s capabilities to investigate and report on alleged human rights abuses and violations by Police Officers got underway at the Tanoa Plaza Hotel in Suva this morning.

The two day human rights training is led by the UN Human Rights Pacific and supported by UN Women Pacific Fiji Women's Crisis Centre UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji and the Ministry of Women ,Children and Poverty Alleviation - Fiji Committee of National Action Plan on the Elimination of Violence against Women.

During the 34th Session of the Universal Periodic Review of Fiji held in Geneva in 2019, the Commissioner of Police Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho informed the session of the organization’s commitment of establishing a dedicated FPF Human Rights Cell to independently investigate and report on complaints against Police officers on the breach of human rights.

The two day training is an outcome of the commitment made in Geneva in 2019.

“The Fiji Police Force is committed to upholding fundamental human rights in line with international laws and best practices.

We remain committed to strengthening the management, reporting, investigation and prosecution of breaches of human rights by Police Officers”.

“While the global pandemic had somewhat impacted our ability to work on the recommendations outlined during the 3rd Cycle of UPR of Fiji, I can assure our partners that it did not diminish the sense of urgency from our end”.

The Commissioner of Police said since 2019, the organization by working with its law and justice stakeholders has adopted in-house measures, polices, and directives to address human rights abuse.

The Regional Representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for the Pacific Ms Heike Alefsen said, “At the United Nations we believe that continuous structural and institutional reforms of any police service are necessary and should be supported with capacity building, structural legislative changes with other types of policy changes situated in much broader context not just within the Fiji Police but in the overall environment of law policy and societal changes” Ms Alefsen went on to say, “The people of Fiji must see the Fiji Police Force and its law enforcement officers as the first line of defense against human rights violations.

Every time a police officer reaches out to help a victim, every time they serve a community and every time an officer scrupulously observes the rules on the use of force, is the time when the Fiji Police Force is at the forefront of this important task of human rights protection and promotion”.

The objective of the training is to ensure a broader understanding of professionalism and use of human rights mechanisms in investigations, provide a broader understanding of the key obligations under international human rights law, consult senior police officers and Human Rights Cell on the National Action Plan on Eliminating Violence against women and girls and to introduce the Terms of Reference of the Human Rights Cell with the senior management and ensure its operationalization within the Fiji Police Force.

The training ends tomorrow.