PM: 'No One Deserves Cruelty'

Whether someone is a misbehaving child or a convicted criminal they don’t deserve to be punished by cruel means.

This was the core message by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama at the High-Level Regional Seminar organised by the Fijian Government in collaboration with the Pacific Community’s (SPC’s) Regional Rights Resource team on the Ratification and Implementation on the UN Convention against Torture in the Pacific at the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa at Natadola, 32 kilometres from Sigatoka, yesterday.

Mr Bainimarama said human rights were afforded to everyone regardless of where they stood in society, which could not be taken away based on the situation.

“Your basic human rights stay with you, unwavering, at all times,” Mr Bainimarama said.

“We must see each other not as deserving of punishment, but instead as deserving a basic level of dignity and respect.”

He said the Fijian Constitution forbid torture in the Bill of Rights.

Meanwhile, Attorney-General said one of the critical areas in which solutions to reforms in the country could be looked at was the promotion of humane conditions for imprisonment.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said since 2007, Fiji had undergone extensive legal reform ensuring that our laws were in line with the international human rights standards.

He said Fiji’s implementation of UNCAT was focused on reforms in police interrogation procedures, what was referred to as the First Hour Procedure and custody reforms.

The seminar, which is supported by the UK Government in partnership with the Convention Against Torture Initiative (CTI) and the Universal Rights Group, concludes tomorrow.

Edited by Epineri Vula