Human Rights Commission
Media Advisory
20 December 2006

Paper seeks feedback on Pacific human rights

The Human Rights Commission has worked with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat to research a paper examining human rights mechanisms in a range of Pacific Island states.

“While there is a broad infrastructure for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Pacific, the region faces significant human rights issues”, Commissioner Joy Liddicoat said.

These include:

- freedom from discrimination,

- protection and equal treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS,

- violence against women and children,

- the right to health,

- environmental degradation and associated climate change concerns,

- the rights of those detained,

- incidents related to tribal or land disputes.

Joy Liddicoat and EEO Commissioner Judy McGregor conducted consultation visits to Samoa, Tuvalu and Niue this year.

Ms Liddicoat said, “We found the desire to make progress was coupled with caution about limited resources and the need for each state to give their own expression to international standards of human rights institutions”.

Now the focus is on the next steps. Dialogue about national human rights institutions in the Pacific needs to draw on and acknowledge the culture, language and traditions of the Pacific region.

To read the paper, click here

ENDS

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