The status of human rights conditions in Fiji has been highlighted in a report by the US Government.
The 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices has been submitted by US Secretary of State John Kerry to the US Congress.
Fiji One News is seeking a response from the Fiji Human Rights and Anti – Discrimination Commission on the report.
The report documents the status of human rights conditions in 199 countries and territories around the world.
For Fiji, the report highlights leading human rights problems such as police and military abuse of persons in custody,
restrictions on freedoms of speech, assembly, and movement; and restrictions on trade union and collective bargaining rights as well as strict limitations on the ability of workers in certain sectors to strike.
According to the report, other human rights problems included prison conditions, alleged government corruption, violence and discrimination against women, sexual exploitation of children, and deep ethnic divisions.
The report states the government failed to prosecute or punish some security forces officials who committed abuses, but it prosecuted or punished most officials who committed abuses elsewhere in the government.
It went on to state Impunity was a problem.
These Human rights reports mandated by the US Congress, help inform U.S. foreign policy and congressional allocation of foreign aid and security sector assistance.
They also serve as a reference for other governments, international institutions, non-governmental organizations, legal professionals, human rights advocates, scholars, interested citizens, and journalists.