10 Nov 2014

Fiji's UN delegation not a true representation

2:08 pm on 10 November 2014

Fiji's opposition leader says the high-powered government delegation that recently addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council would have carried more weight if it had included members of the opposition.

Fiji's delegation in Geneva

Fiji's delegation in Geneva Photo: Supplied

Fiji is undergoing its Universal Periodic Review by the Council, a peer review all UN countries go through.

The delegation which included the Minister of Justice Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, the Chief Justice, and the Chair of the Media Industry Development Authority, defended the country's human rights situation.

The opposition leader Ro Teimumu Kepa says the group should have included other people.

"It would have been a better reflection on their submissions in that it would have been more balanced because it's not just coming from them but it's also coming from the opposition side of the house."

Ro Teimumu Kepa hopes the government will act on recommendations brought up at the Council which include ratifying international human rights conventions.

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