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WCCC PRESS RELEASE
Women and Children Crisis Centre Tonga
September 22 2010
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Principles behind the Human Rights Democracy Movement in question
NUKULOFA, TONGA: The Clerk of the House of Parliament Dr. Viliami Uasike Latu has been charged with assaulting his wife. Latu is also a prominent candidate for the Human Rights and Democracy Movement in Tonga's historic democratic elections scheduled for November 25.
The Director of the Tonga Women and Children Crisis Centre (WCCC), 'Ofakilevuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki says that "it's a disgrace to see a movement that prides itself in promoting human rights failing to undertake a thorough human rights check-list on its list of supported
candidates – it's a complete and utter humiliation on the face of human rights."
The Tonga Ministry of Police (MOP) has a No Drop Policy for all cases of assault – which means that once a charge has been reported, it cannot be removed. The MOP Policy is an indication of the no tolerance policy they have towards domestic violence and sexual assault.
Violence Against Women (VAW) and girls is a widespread and systematic violation of fundamental human rights violations and an enduring form of gender based discrimination.
The WCCC calls for the immediate removal of this candidate from the list based on the fact that Tonga has made several commitments to the elimination of violence against women nationally, regionally and internationally.
In its report to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva in 2008, Tonga proudly reported its progress in eliminating VAW in Tonga, where as part of its final recommendations Tonga supported and acknowledged the recommendation to continue pursuing its efforts to curb violence against women.
"We have for example seen major progress with the Tonga Police who are currently drafting their Domestic Violence Policy and who continue to promote zero tolerance to violence against women and children. Then there is the work of NGOs such as the WCCC whose day-today commitment is to eliminating Violence Against Women in the provision of direct
and immediate support services to victims and survivors of violence.
If the Human Rights and Democracy Movement want people to respect one of the very core principles of human rights which is stipulated under Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to a life of liberty and security of person - then they must themselves show it" said Guttenbeil-Likiliki.
Notably the 17 candidates recently announced by the Human Rights and Democracy Movement were all male. "At the core of achieving a higher quality of human rights for all is treating men and women as equals. To have 17 candidates, and not one of them as women, goes against the very principle of human rights and against the very principle of democracy.
The Human Rights Democracy Movement better think quick about their choices - the status quo is not acceptable. We need our parliamentarians to be of good character, and we need women to be equally represented in Parliament. And in the worst case scenario – such as this one, where there is not even one female candidate – the Human Rights and Democracy Movement is obliged to make it clear how the needs of women will be incorporated. It is not acceptable to ignore the needs and rights of Tongan women " said Guttenbeil-Likiliki.
"There is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for violence against women and the WCCC does not condone any candidate who has and is still physically, emotionally or sexually abusing his wife or any other women and will make this our priority in raising alerts during this political campaign - and we make no apology for it!"
ENDS
For more details please contact Ofa (676) 22 240 /
wccrisiscentre@gmail.com / www.wccc.tbu.to
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WCCC PRESS RELEASE
Women and Children Crisis Centre Tonga
September 22 2010
---
Principles behind the Human Rights Democracy Movement in question
NUKULOFA, TONGA: The Clerk of the House of Parliament Dr. Viliami Uasike Latu has been charged with assaulting his wife. Latu is also a prominent candidate for the Human Rights and Democracy Movement in Tonga's historic democratic elections scheduled for November 25.
The Director of the Tonga Women and Children Crisis Centre (WCCC), 'Ofakilevuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki says that "it's a disgrace to see a movement that prides itself in promoting human rights failing to undertake a thorough human rights check-list on its list of supported
candidates – it's a complete and utter humiliation on the face of human rights."
The Tonga Ministry of Police (MOP) has a No Drop Policy for all cases of assault – which means that once a charge has been reported, it cannot be removed. The MOP Policy is an indication of the no tolerance policy they have towards domestic violence and sexual assault.
Violence Against Women (VAW) and girls is a widespread and systematic violation of fundamental human rights violations and an enduring form of gender based discrimination.
The WCCC calls for the immediate removal of this candidate from the list based on the fact that Tonga has made several commitments to the elimination of violence against women nationally, regionally and internationally.
In its report to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva in 2008, Tonga proudly reported its progress in eliminating VAW in Tonga, where as part of its final recommendations Tonga supported and acknowledged the recommendation to continue pursuing its efforts to curb violence against women.
"We have for example seen major progress with the Tonga Police who are currently drafting their Domestic Violence Policy and who continue to promote zero tolerance to violence against women and children. Then there is the work of NGOs such as the WCCC whose day-today commitment is to eliminating Violence Against Women in the provision of direct
and immediate support services to victims and survivors of violence.
If the Human Rights and Democracy Movement want people to respect one of the very core principles of human rights which is stipulated under Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to a life of liberty and security of person - then they must themselves show it" said Guttenbeil-Likiliki.
Notably the 17 candidates recently announced by the Human Rights and Democracy Movement were all male. "At the core of achieving a higher quality of human rights for all is treating men and women as equals. To have 17 candidates, and not one of them as women, goes against the very principle of human rights and against the very principle of democracy.
The Human Rights Democracy Movement better think quick about their choices - the status quo is not acceptable. We need our parliamentarians to be of good character, and we need women to be equally represented in Parliament. And in the worst case scenario – such as this one, where there is not even one female candidate – the Human Rights and Democracy Movement is obliged to make it clear how the needs of women will be incorporated. It is not acceptable to ignore the needs and rights of Tongan women " said Guttenbeil-Likiliki.
"There is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for violence against women and the WCCC does not condone any candidate who has and is still physically, emotionally or sexually abusing his wife or any other women and will make this our priority in raising alerts during this political campaign - and we make no apology for it!"
ENDS
For more details please contact Ofa (676) 22 240 /
wccrisiscentre@gmail.com / www.wccc.tbu.to
You are receiving this post as a valuable member of the "Pacific Island Journos Online" group, or because someone on the network shared it. That's OK. We believe in Pacific diversity and debate on the issues that unite and divide us as a media industry.
DISCLAIMER: Did a post from the Pacificmedia (PIJO) group please or offend you? Please be warned. This is an unmoderated list. Responsbility for all content and language used in posts rests with the individual contributing it. This means anyone reading a message from the Pacific Islands Journalists Online discussion group should clearly understand whatever they have received, directly or otherwise, should not be understood as a position or endorsement by the online network.
Member only EMAIL: pacificmedia@googlegroups.com
WEBlink: http://groups.google.co.nz/group/pacificmedia?hl=en
LEAVING us? Send an email to pacificmedia-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
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aotearoa, new zealand
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