We have delivered the biggest human right of all for the people of Fiji - PM

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said the Government has delivered the biggest human right of all - the right to equality and justice for every citizen.

While addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva late last night, Bainimarama said that there had been a fundamental improvement in the human rights of all Fijians arising out of the 2013 Constitution, which he said gives Fijians unprecedented protection.

Bainimarama said the rights of the Fijian people are now entrenched in a way that never occurred under any of the three previous constitutions that governed our country since we gained independence from Britain 45 years ago.

The Prime Minister said for the first time, Fiji has a Constitution that creates a secular state, establishes common and equal citizenry, reaffirms civil and political rights and also guarantees the Fijian people an unprecedented array of social and economic rights.

He said this includes the right to education, the right to adequate health care, adequate food and water, housing, sanitation, economic participation, a just minimum wage, social security and specific rights for people with disabilities and children.

The Prime Minister highlighted aspects of the Constitution that specifically ban torture or any other form of cruelty and said that in addition to this, Fiji will soon formally ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture or UNCAT.

Bainimarama said this is currently with the relevant parliamentary committee for scrutiny.

He also pointed out that the Republic of Fiji Military Forces and the Fiji Police have both publicly committed themselves to the implementation of the UN Convention Against Torture.

He also called on the global community to consider the merits of what Fiji has achieved given decades of political instability and racial discord before 2006, which, he said, had torn the nation apart.   

The Prime Minister also said in his address in Geneva that in a world riven by inequality, injustice and division, Fiji can hold its head high for what the country has accomplished in such a short period of time, especially after decades of injustice and dysfunction.