Fiji’s Attorney-General Graham Leung has highlighted during a recent Parliamentary session that the country’s reporting obligations under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) conducted by the Human Rights Council in 2019 are outdated. This remark came in response to a query from Assistant Minister for iTaukei Affairs Ratu Isikeli Tuiwailevu regarding the status of the proposed Fiji Human Rights task force.
Leung provided a brief overview of the task force, which received Cabinet approval last month and was officially launched on August 30. He stated that the task force aims to engage with international human rights mechanisms, including UN treaty bodies, UPR processes, and various Human Rights Council procedures.
The task force will consist of representatives from multiple government agencies, including the Fiji Police Force, Fiji Corrections Service, the military, and the Fiji Bureau of Statistics. Among its responsibilities will be the organization and coordination of national reports to various international human rights bodies, covering initial and periodic reports, a common core document, midterm reports, and responses to inquiries from special rapporteurs.
Leung emphasized the pressing need for a robust system to ensure timely submission of required reports, citing specific overdue submissions to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and others, dating back to 2016 and 2017.
Following Fiji’s UPR review in November 2019, the country accepted 207 out of 242 recommendations put forth by 97 member states of the Human Rights Council. Leung noted that Fiji is a participant in nine key UN human rights treaties and several optional protocols, and has committed to adhering to their obligations under international law.
He reiterated that Fiji must periodically report to treaty bodies and engage in public examinations conducted in Geneva. Following these examinations, treaty bodies provide recommendations that Fiji is expected to implement and report back on.
Due to the accumulation of outdated reports, the United Nations has urged the establishment of a national mechanism for implementing treaty obligations, referred to as NMIRF. This mechanism is envisioned as a permanent government structure responsible for inter-ministerial coordination to ensure compliance with international human rights obligations.