Fiji: Rights abuses worry women

June 18, 2007 - (The Fiji Times Online) WOMEN and children cannot be expected to make contributions towards the restoration of parliamentary democracy in an environment where people are fearful because of the continued abuse of human rights, says the National Council of Women.

The council made the comment in a letter to the interim Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama last week with its views on the proposed proposed People's Charter for Change and Progress.

Council vice president Asela Naisara said the council could not present a submission in time because it had to consult its affiliates before it could table a response to the office .

She said a few issues were raised by some core members last week and these were that the process being taken by the interim Government did not take into account the processes and findings of the UNDP Peace, Stability and Development Analysis report.

"While this report certainly lacks a comprehensive gender analysis, it could be the guiding platform for your consideration and the ultimate establishment of a presidential Commission of Inquiry for Truth, Resolution and Justice," she said.

"We believe priority should be given to development of the Commission of Inquiry framework incorporating issues relating to security sector reform, addressing the root causes of Fiji's conflicts and putting in place early warning indicators for future conflict prevention."

Ms Naisara said the council felt that to enable women to be equal and active participants in the consultation process, their participation should begin from the local and community levels and this process should be done in a gender friendly manner.

"So while we note that government officials will be undertaking local consultations in the Fijian and Hindustani languages, we have experienced too often that such processes only tend to exacerbate gender biases and urge that the representation of women at these consultation is encouraged."
Ms Naisara said another issue raised was that the ousted government was excluded from the process of returning the country to democracy.

She said the organisation was not aligned to any political party but felt that all parties to a conflict should be involved in this process.

She said the council believed that because of the country's limited resources, the interim administration should concentrate on returning the country to parliamentary democracy and everyone should work together to hold a free and fair elections in line with the interim Government's commitment at national and international levels respectively.

"We further submit that there is not only the need for a population census but the availability of gender disaggregated data to ensure the application of gender analysis in the planning, implementation as well as monitoring and evaluation of development programs.

"The development of voter education programs should be undertaken in consultation with civil society groups that have expertise and experience in such programs.

"This will ensure accounting for recent research on the Fiji electoral system that has highlighted the need for reform, especially to enable greater participation/representation by women and other marginalised groups, in particular youths (who cannot vote until 21); this will assist in strengthening political parties to be more inclusive of women and youth issues as well as effectively train women candidates."

Ms Naisara said women were gravely concerned by the ongoing human rights abuses perpetrated by the military and police.

From: http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=64803