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Title: Federated States of Micronesia Human Rights Practices, 1995
Author: U.S. Department of State
Date: March 1996
FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA
The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is composed of 607 small
islands extending over a large area of the Central Pacific. Four
states--Chuuk (formerly Truk), Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap--comprise the
federation. The population is estimated at 106,000, mostly of
Micronesian origin. The four states were part of the Trust Territory of
the Pacific Islands and were administered by the United States from 1947
to 1986 pursuant to an agreement with the United Nations.
Political legitimacy rests on the popular will expressed by a majority
vote through elections in accordance with the Constitution. There are
three branches of government: a president as chief executive and head
of state, a unicameral legislature elected from the four constituent
states, and a judicial system that applies criminal and civil laws and
procedures closely paralleling those of the United States.
Under the Compact of Free Association, the United States is responsible
for defense. The FSM has no security forces of its own, aside from
local police and other law enforcement officers, all of whom are firmly
under the control of the civil authorities.
The economy depends heavily on transfer payments from the United States,
fishing, tourism, and subsistence agriculture.
The Government generally respects the human rights of its citizens.
However, traditional customs sustain a value system which distinguishes
between people on the basis of social status and sex. The continuing
breakdown of those customs, including the breakdown of the extended
family, has contributed to a number of human rights problems, including
violence against women and child neglect with abusers acting with
increasing impunity.
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 Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
There was no known incidence of torture or other cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment or punishment.
Prison conditions meet minimum international standards. There are no
local organizations concerning themselves solely with human rights, and
there have been no requests for visits from human rights monitors.
Accordingly, the question of visits by human rights monitors remains
undefined.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Legal procedures, for the most part patterned after U.S. law, provide
for due process, which is carefully observed. There is no governmental
use of exile for political purposes.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and it is
independent in practice.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by the President,
with the advice and consent of the Congress.
Public trial is provided for in the Bill of Rights, and trials are
conducted fairly. Juveniles may have closed hearings. Despite these
provisions, cultural resistance to litigation and incarceration as
methods of maintaining public order have allowed some to act with
impunity. Serious cases of sexual and other assault and even murder
have not gone to trial, and suspects are routinely released
indefinitely.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The law prohibits such arbitrary interference, and in practice there is
none.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for these rights, and the Government respects
them in practice. Each of the four state governments controls a radio
station broadcasting primarily in the local language. Local television
programming in some states shows videotaped and occasionally live
coverage of local sports and political and cultural events.
Subscription cable television, showing major U.S. programming, is
available in Chuuk and
Pohnpei. Religious groups operate private radio stations. The national
Government and the four states publish newsletters.
Academic freedom is respected.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Bill of Rights provides for freedom of peaceful assembly and
association, and the Government respects these in practice. During
political campaigns, citizens often question candidates at public
meetings. Formal associations are uncommon in Micronesia, but student
organizations exist.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Bill of Rights forbids establishment of a state religion and
governmental restrictions on freedom of religion. The Government
respects this freedom in practice; it is hospitable to diverse
religions, and missionaries of many faiths work within the nation.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation
The Constitution has specific provisions for freedom of movement within
the FSM. It is silent on foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation,
but in practice none of these is restricted.
There have been no refugees or asylumseekers in the FSM, and accordingly
no policy toward their treatment has been formulated.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Congress is elected by popular vote from each state; the Congress
then chooses the President and Vice President from among its four at-
large senators by majority vote. State governors, state legislators,
and municipal governments are all elected by direct popular vote.
Political campaigning is unrestricted, and, as there are no established
political parties, political support is generally courted from among
family and allied clan groupings.
Although there are no restrictions on the formation of political groups,
there have been no significant efforts to form political parties.
For cultural reasons in this male-dominated society, women have not
reached senior positions in government. The only female member of any
of the four state legislatures was defeated in the November elections in
Pohnpei.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
There were no known requests for investigations of alleged human rights
violations. While there are no official restrictions, there are no
local groups exclusively concerned with human rights. There are,
however, women's groups which concern themselves with rights for women
and children.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability,
Language, or Social Status
Although the Constitution provides explicit protection against
discrimination based on race, sex, language, or religion, there is
extensive societal discrimination, notably discrimination and violence
against women. Government enforcement of these constitutional
protections is weak.
Women
Violence against women usually stems from domestic conflict between
husband and wife, and wife beating under certain circumstances is still
condoned among more traditional elements of the population. The
incidence of alcohol abuse increasingly contributes to this problem.
While assault by a husband or other male relative on women and children
within the family is a criminal offense under law, most women are
reluctant to bring formal charges. When formal charges are brought by
women against men who assault them, the attitude of the authorities is
that such issues are best left to the extended family unit to resolve.
At the same time, the breakdown of the extended family increasingly
denies women even the traditional means of redress.
Women's roles within the family as wife, mother, homemaker, and
childrearer remain virtually unchanged from earlier times. There are no
cultural or institutional barriers to education for women. Statistics
supplied by the College of Micronesia-FSM as well as by high schools and
grade schools indicate that the percentage of female graduates at all
levels now exceeds that of males. The government-funded National
Women's Advisory Council as well as some local nongovernmental
organizations were active in regional and international preparations for
the Fourth World Conference on Women.
In some areas, the Government's expressed commitment to women's rights
lacks follow through. For example, the FSM acceded to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child in 1993 and subsequently established a national
advisory committee on children. That committee has taken no action to
draft the first implementing report due last June. Similarly, the
Government made no effort to finalize the government-drafted
legislation to provide counseling and other services to families and
neglected children and to submit it to the FSM Congress. When the
Government did ask the Congress to consider the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, there was no
serious debate, and the Congress rejected the Convention.
In 1992 women began to have organizational representation at the
national level with the formation of the National Women's Advisory
Council, made up of the National Women's Interest Officer (NWIO) and
representatives from each of the four states. The NWIO position was
funded in 1994, but the incumbent took only tentative steps to increase
women's awareness of their legal rights.
Children
Programs in health care and education are inadequate to meet the needs
of a sharply growing population in an environment in which the extended
family is breaking down.
While children's rights are generally respected, child neglect has
become increasingly common, a byproduct of the continuing breakdown of
the extended family. The Government has not recognized this as a
problem or taken steps to address it.
People with Disabilities
Neither laws nor regulations mandate accessibility to public buildings
and services for the disabled. FSM schools have established special
education classes to address problems encountered by those who exhibit
learning disabilities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The FSM prohibits non-Micronesians from purchasing land in the FSM, and
the national Congress grants citizenship to non-Micronesians only by
individual acts. For the most part, however, non-Micronesians share
fully in the social and cultural life of the FSM.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Under the Bill of Rights, citizens have the right to form or join
associations, and national government employees by law may form
associations to "present their views" to the Government. However, as
yet, neither associations nor trade unions have been formed in this
largely nonindustrial society.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
There is no law dealing specifically with trade unions or with the right
to collective bargaining. Wages are set by individual employers, the
largest of which are the national and state governments. The Government
is not a member of the International Labor Organization.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Constitution specifically prohibits involuntary servitude, and there
is no evidence of its practice.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
There is no law establishing a minimum age for employment of children.
While in practice there is no employment of children for wages, they
often assist their families in subsistence farming activities. The FSM
does have a compulsory education law which requires that all children
begin school at the age of 6. Children may leave school when they reach
the age of 14 or after completing the eighth grade, whichever comes
first.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The four state governments have established minimum hourly wages for
government, and in two cases private workers: $1.35 in Kosrae,
effective October 1992; $1.35 in Pohnpei, effective October 1991;
$0.80 in Yap, effective January 1980; $1.25 in Chuuk, effective October
1994 (paychecks to Chuuk government workers continue to be sporadic as a
result of Chuuk's debt crisis). Pohnpei and Yap apply the minimum wage
to both government and private workers. These minimum wage structures
and the wages customarily paid to unskilled workers are sufficient to
provide an acceptable standard of living under local conditions.
There are no laws regulating hours of work (although a 40-hour workweek
is standard practice) or prescribing standards of occupational safety
and health. A federal regulation requires that employers provide a safe
place of employment. The Department of Health has no enforcement
capability; working conditions vary in practice.
The FSM does not have any law for either the public or private sector
which would permit workers to remove themselves from dangerous work
situations without jeopardy to their continued employment.
(###)
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