CathNews New Zealand

Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands have fared poorly in the Amnesty International report on human rights for 2010.

The report claims

• Thousands of people in the Pacific are being denied social and economic opportunity
• Human rights defenders have been threatened, imprisoned and tortured, and gender based violence is still a major issue in the region.
• A report published by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community said that 68 percent of women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 had experienced physical and or sexual violence by their partners or family members.
• In Fiji,  the interim government’s continued crackdown on its critics, and its repressive Public Emergency Regulations, which have just been extended until June.
• The Papua New Guinea government has done little to address violence against women and sorcery-related killings.

Source

• Radio New Zealand International
• Image: Magznetwork

Additional reading

• Weak human rights infrastructure, discrimination and violence against women, and restricted access to water and sanitation
• Report exposes struggle against opression and corruption
• Amnesty Report on the Pacific

News category: Asia Pacific.