LGBTI organisation faces obstacles to register

Association

The Fijian authorities continue to delay the registration of LGBTI organisation Rainbow Pride. Currently forced to register as a company limited by guarantee, Rainbow Pride is seeking to be formally recognised as a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) or Civil Society Organisation (CSO) under the Charitable Trust Act. By continuing to delay and obfuscate, the authorities are undermining the legitimate free association rights of the LGBTI community in Fiji.

Peaceful Assembly 

In May, Fiji's main opposition party the Social Democratic Liberal Party highlighted in parliament that the right to freedom of peaceful assembly - in the form of industrial action including strikes, protests or marches - is undermined by the Reform of the Sugar Cane Industry Bill. Section 7 of the Bill states that cane growers can be restricted from taking industrial action in order to improve their conditions, however the Bill provides that the government can only limit industrial actions that are not peaceful. They party further alleges that, although the constitution of Fiji guarantees the right to form an association in article 18 (and article 20 (2) provides for the right to join a trade union), limitations of these rights provided for in article 20(5) run contrary to acceptable limitations in an open democratic society.