BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
Government authorities do not take legal action in response to human rights violation contained in media reports in the country.
This was highlighted during a panel discussion at a Human Rights Defenders workshop last week, which also saw the establishment of a working group to set up Solomon Islands’ first Human Rights Defender Network.
Irwin Angiki, Island Sun Newspaper’s sub-editor and one of the panelists, shared that the Newspaper on average produces nearly 11,000 local stories every year – almost half of which directly report human rights violations or imply them.
When asked by a participant whether their stories containing elements of human rights violation receive action by government authorities, Mr Angiki said “the sad answer or fact to your question is no”.
He shares that government authorities have been flaunting their own channels of receiving complaints, which they adamantly stick to despite reading and being aware of human rights violation issues from the media.
Government authorities prioritise their reporting procedures above the incidents, which results in many human rights violation incidents in Solomon Islands ending up only being a media report – nothing else.
Renowned local women’s and environmental rights activist Afu Lia Billy also shared the same sentiment as one of the key panelists at the event.
“We work a lot against violence against women but the authorities like the police are not very supportive,” said Ms Afu.
Afu said that while there is already legislation in place like the Family Protection Act, work cannot happen without support and resources from the government.
“Legislation should have resources attached to it so work can be implemented and in addition, the government didn’t see Human rights as a priority,” she said.
She said there are some major challenges working in this space.
“When you ring the police to attend to a case, all they are saying is there is no transport.
“There should be an educated unit within the Police Unit regarding Human rights defenders and just for violence against women and also a vehicle to run and respond.
“Without resources, nothing will happen. I want the donors to step in where these shortfalls have come in,” she said.
The three-day workshop was run by the Pacific Human Rights Defenders Network in partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Swiss embassy in Canberra, which was held at the Heritage Park Hotel.
