| The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released prior to January 20, 2001. Please see www.state.gov for material released since President George W. Bush took office on that date. This site is not updated so external links may no longer function. Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein. |
TITLE: VAUATU HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE: FEBRUARY 1995
VANUATU
Vanuatu, a small South Pacific island nation which became
independent in 1980, has a parliamentary form of government
with a 46-member Parliament, including a Prime Minister, and a
President. The latter's powers are largely ceremonial, except
when acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
Political legitimacy is based on majority rule.
The civilian authorities control the small police and
paramilitary mobile forces.
Because the Vanuatu economy is dependent on international
trade, it is vulnerable to shifts in world market prices.
Growth in tourism and Vanuatu's offshore banking center were
expected again to lead other sectors of the economy in 1994.
Restrictions on freedom of speech and press, together with the
treatment of women, remain the major human rights problems.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reports of political or other extrajudicial
killings.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
Constitutional provisions against torture and cruel, inhuman,
or degrading treatment are observed in practice and enforced by
the courts. The law provides that prisoners shall have
recourse to the Ombudsman, a constitutional position filled for
the first time in July. Laws and regulations governing the
office are still to be defined.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
There were no reports of arbitrary arrests. Arrest is by
warrant. The constitutional provision that suspects must be
informed of the charges and given a speedy hearing before a
judge is observed in practice. There is no exile.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The courts uphold constitutional provisions for a fair public
trial, presumption of innocence until guilt is proven,
prohibition against double jeopardy, the right of judicial
determination of the validity of arrest or detention, and
appeal to the Supreme Court. The courts are free of military
or executive interference.
There were no political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
There were no reports of arbitrary interference with privacy,
family, home, or correspondence.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
Although the Constitution provides for freedom of speech and
press, the Government does not fully respect this in practice
and frequently uses its control over access to the media to
prevent opposition viewpoints from reaching the general
public. In 1993 the Government threatened to revoke the
editor's work permit and the publication license of Vanuascope,
an independent newspaper, because it defied a government ban on
covering the statements of an opposition political party. With
the demise of Vanuascope early in 1994 due to financial losses,
the Government controls all of the nation's domestic media. In
December the Prime Minister's Office instructed the
government-run Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation
to submit stories on political events for approval, ostensibly
to ensure their accuracy.
A Pacific regional news agency (PACNEWS) was permitted to move
its headquarters to Vanuatu in January 1994 and has continued
to enjoy freedom to transmit its stories throughout the region,
even when they include criticism of political leaders in the
country. Correspondents for international media are also
allowed to report from Vanuatu without interference; they write
largely for external audiences. Even so, the Government
continues to manipulate the media to its advantage. The
political opposition and trade unionists often encounter
difficulty in getting press statements broadcast and published
in state-controlled media. The national court tends either to
uphold the Government's ban on access to media or to refuse to
hear such cases.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Permits must be obtained to hold public demonstrations and
rallies. In response to a general strike (see Section 6.a.),
the Government in February obtained a court order prohibiting
picketing on government property.
The Government did not restrict the forming of political
parties or other groups.
c. Freedom of Religion
The law provides for freedom of religion and the Government
generally respected it in practice. Missionaries of various
Christian denominations work without restrictions.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
All citizens are free to travel internally and externally and
to return from abroad without restrictions. In the wake of an
extended strike (see Section 6.a.), the Government stopped an
athlete from leaving the country to compete in regional
championships.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Citizens have the right freely to change the Government through
periodic multiparty elections. The Constitution provides for
parliamentary elections every 4 years. The Government is a
coalition of Prime Minister Maxime Carlot Korman's Francophone
Union of Moderate Parties and the Deputy Prime Minister's
People's Democratic Party, which broke from the Anglophone
National United Party in midyear. In opposition are the
Vanua'aku Party, National United Party, and three others.
Outside observers generally consider campaigns and voting to be
fair, although government restrictions and pressure on the
media inhibit the ability of opposition parties to publicize
their views (see Section 2.a.).
There were reports of government discrimination in the
provision of services to persons and communities suspected of
or known to be supporting opposition political candidates. The
Government has also been charged with politically biased
employment practices (see Section 6.a.).
In Vanuatu's traditional society, males are dominant and women
are frequently limited to customary family roles. These
traditional attitudes have hampered those women who have sought
to take more active roles in economic and political life.
There is only one female member of Parliament.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
There are no restrictions on the formation of local
nongovernmental human rights organizations (NGO's). Vanuatu's
first such NGO, Human Rights Forum, was founded in late 1994.
An NGO to promote and protect the rights of women, The Women's
Center (formerly Committee on Violence Against Women), provides
counseling and conducts workshops to improve the status of
women.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
Women
While women have equal rights under the law, they are only
slowly emerging from a traditional culture characterized by
male dominance, a general reluctance to educate women, and a
widespread belief that women should devote themselves primarily
to childbearing. There are no women serving as leaders in
Vanuatu's municipal or village councils, churches, or chambers
of commerce. Members of the National Council of Women (NCW)
view village chiefs as a primary obstacle to the attainment of
social, political, and economic rights by women.
While no accurate data are available, violence against women,
particularly wife beating, is reportedly common and on the
rise. However, very few cases of wife beating are brought to
the attention of the authorities, and even fewer are
prosecuted. Usually the women involved drop the cases before
trial. In villages, where custom is strong, women who have
been beaten, abused, or raped frequently suffer greater
punishment than their abusers. The police are reluctant to
intervene in what are considered purely domestic matters.
Although there are no specific laws against spouse beating, the
courts have at times dealt severely with such cases, using
common-law assault as a basis for imposing punishment. At a
conference on violence sponsored by the Women's Center, a
senior government minister said that traditional village
societies had dealt effectively with women's issues for
thousands of years and cautioned against "inappropriate"
Western notions of equality. The Government has refused the
Center's application to establish a women's refuge, ostensibly
because of fears that it would encourage the breakup of
families.
The majority of women enter into marriage through "bride-price
payment". On those islands where the custom of paying "bride
price" is observed, the woman is regarded as the property of
the husband and may be dealt with as he chooses. In some
areas, women are still forced to marry men chosen for them.
Children
Children are protected within the traditional extended-family
system, in accordance with the family's financial resources and
access to services. Members of the extended family,
particularly paternal uncles, play an active role in a child's
development. As a result, virtually no children are homeless
or abandoned. Though cases of child abuse are sometimes
reported, there is no pattern of societal abuse. The
Government has made education a priority, but access is limited
and school attendance not compulsory.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Most of the population is made up of Melanesians. Small
minorities of Chinese, Fijians, Vietnamese, Tongans, and
Europeans are generally concentrated in two towns and on a few
plantations; they experience some discrimination with regard to
land ownership. Although there have been allegations of
corrupt practices by a member of the Government, there is no
evidence to suggest a pattern of ethnic discrimination in the
provision of basic services.
People with Disabilities
There is no known governmental or national policy on the
disabled, and no legislation mandates access for the disabled.
Their protection and care is left to the traditional extended
family and to voluntary nongovernmental organizations.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The law provides workers with the right to organize unions.
Unions may not affiliate with international labor federations
without government permission.
There are 5 trade unions, with a combined membership of more
than 4,000, in the private and public sectors. The high
percentage of the population still engaged in subsistence
agriculture and fishing deters extensive union activity. The
unions are grouped under an umbrella organization, the Vanuatu
National Council of Trade Unions (VCTU), a member of the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. The trade
unions are independent of the Government.
Strikes are generally uncommon, due in part to high rates of
unemployment. The union movement declared the country's first
general strike in February in support of the long-running
public servants' strike begun in November 1993 over wages. The
Vanuatu Teachers Union (VTU) and private sector Vanuatu
National Union of Labor (NUL) joined the Vanuatu Public
Servants Union (VPSA) in a 24-hour strike in February. During
the general strike, there were reports of isolated violence,
some allegedly instigated by a government minister.
Approximately 50 strikers were arrested, and 4 were convicted
of contempt of court for defying a court order against
picketing on government property. They were sentenced to 6
months' imprisonment, later suspended. Private sector
employers fired at least 20 private sector strikers as a result
of the general strike. The Government also suspended about 170
teachers who had joined the strike, although approximately 90
percent have been reinstated. In March the Chief Justice
restrained the VCTU and three of its leaders from claiming or
alleging to have legal authority to represent their members in
relation to the strike. In June the Government formally
dismissed two VTU leaders from their teaching positions for
advising members to join the February general strike.
The long-running public servants' strike affected postal,
health, and agricultural sectors badly. In January the
Government dismissed all daily rate workers and suspended all
strikers, approximately 1,200, and reportedly prohibited
state-owned media from airing union views. At the end of
February, the Supreme Court ruled that the VPSA had not
complied with its own rules when it undertook strike action,
and it declared the strike illegal, without addressing the
legality of the Government's subsequent suspensions. (Public
service rules require a hearing before dismissal. No strikers
were granted such a hearing.) The Government formally
dismissed all strikers in March. Of the approximately 400
full-time public servants dismissed, 100 reportedly applied for
reinstatement. Only 15 have been rehired, with loss of
seniority and rank, amid credible allegations that the
Government's decisions were politically influenced. In a test
case, the court ruled in November that the Public Service
Commission should conduct a hearing on the dismissal of a
medical doctor. At year's end, the hearing had not yet been
held. Public services are gradually returning to normal, but
some offices are still understaffed. The law prohibits
retribution if the strike is legal. In the case of private
sector employees, violations would be referred to the Labor
Department for conciliation and arbitration. In the public
sector, violations would be handled by the Public Service
Commission.
In the wake of the strike, in February the Government
reportedly stopped a local athlete from leaving the country to
compete in championship games in New Zealand because he had
participated in strike action. The Government also reportedly
canceled previously approved overseas scholarships for public
servants involved in the strike.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
Unions exercise the right to organize and bargain
collectively. Labor unions negotiate wages and conditions
directly with management. If the two sides cannot agree, the
matter is referred to a three-member arbitration board
appointed by the Minister of Home Affairs. The board consists
of one representative from organized labor, one from
management, and the senior magistrate of the magistrate's
court. While a dispute is before the board, labor may not
strike and management may not dismiss union employees. Unions
and management, however, generally reach agreement on wages
without having to refer the matter to arbitration. Complaints
of antiunion discrimination are referred to the Commissioner of
Labor. While the law does not require union recognition, once
a union is recognized, it does prohibit antiunion
discrimination. In the private sector, violations are referred
to the Labor Department for conciliation and arbitration; in
the public sector, to the Public Service Commission. There are
no known instances of such complaints.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and there have
been no reports that either is practiced.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The law prohibits children under 12 years of age from working
outside of family-owned agriculture, where many children assist
their parents. Employment of children from 12 to 18 years of
age is restricted by occupational category and conditions of
labor for example, restrictions on employment in the shipping
industry and nighttime employment. The Labor Department
effectively enforces these laws. The high level of
unemployment discourages the use of child labor.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
Vanuatu has a legislated minimum wage, effectively enforced by
the Labor Department. Minimum wage rates were last raised in
November 1991 to $107 monthly for urban workers and $93 monthly
for rural workers (13,200 and 11,440 Vatu, respectively).
Agricultural workers' minimum wages are tied to market prices
for copra and cocoa. Most workers are not in the wage economy
and are thus outside the scope of the minimum wage laws. For
those covered by them, the wages provide an adequate standard
of living within the local context.
Various laws regulate the rights to sick leave, annual
vacations, and other conditions of employment, including a
44-hour maximum workweek, with at least one 24-hour rest
period. Vanuatu's Employment Act, enforced by the Labor
Department, includes provisions for safety standards. However,
the 1987 safety and health legislation is inadequate to protect
workers engaged in logging, agriculture, construction, and
manufacturing, and the single inspector attached to the Labor
Department is hard pressed to enforce the Act fully. Workers
do have the right to remove themselves from dangerous work
situations.
(###)
[end of document]
Return
to 1994 Human Rights Practices report home page.
Return to DOSFAN
home page.
This is an official U.S. Government source
for information on the WWW. Inclusion of non-U.S. Government links
does not imply endorsement of contents.