An opposition politician in Fiji has accused the Government of demeaning the indigenous community and ignoring other issues to further its agenda for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The leader of the National Federation Party, Biman Prasad's comments come after a speech by Fiji's Ambassador to Geneva, Nazhat Shameem, about the country's 2013 constitution.
In that speech, she said that until the Bainimarama government's constitution, the i-Taukei community's protections was a form of institutionalised racism that created a privileged caste.
Professor Prasad said Ambassador Shameem's comments were demeaning to the indigenous community, and ignores a number of human rights issues the 2013 constitution had created.
"The 2013 constitution has limitations in the bill of rights and there are a lot of complaints with respect to how police have dealt with people dying in custody and the rest of it."
"But more importantly, the 2013 constitution preserves all the decrees that the military government promulgated," Professor Prasad.
