{"id":5664,"date":"2021-04-28T14:04:55","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T01:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=5664"},"modified":"2021-04-28T14:04:55","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T01:04:55","slug":"when-village-bylaws-contradict-the-rule-of-law-and-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=5664","title":{"rendered":"When Village Bylaws Contradict the Rule of Law and\u00a0Human Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Village

Exercising village authority.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

By Lagi Keresoma<\/p>\n

APIA, SAMOA \u2013 28 APRIL 2021:<\/strong> In 1992, Samoa signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights making her one of the first countries in the Pacific to embrace the concept.<\/p>\n

Despite being a signatory of the Declaration for years, the concept remains and perceived by many village councils and chiefs as a \u201cwestern idea\u201d where individuals\u2019 human rights are curtailed in the interests of the village council and the chiefs in control.<\/p>\n

This was clearly evident in the 9 April 2021 general election.<\/p>\n

Whilst the Office of the Electoral Commissioner (OEC) issued public promotions urging voters to exercise their human rights through voting for a candidate of their choice, what happened before and after the election relayed quite the opposite.<\/p>\n

Voters banned for exercising their rights<\/strong>
\nBefore the April 2021 general election, candidates and their committees\u00a0tried to influence voters which prompted the Electoral Commissioner to call on candidates to let the people decide for themselves.<\/p>\n

Several villages removed the billboards promoting some candidates in the villages saying the installation was not approved by the village council.<\/p>\n

After the general election, some village councils dished out penalties and banned certain individuals and their families for \u201cvoting against the village decision to support a particular candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n

A village in the Salega district fined a family $10,000 tal\u0101 for a post on social media that supported one of the political parties. Failing to pay resulted in them been banished from the village.<\/p>\n

One of the banned families is Tapua\u012b Etuale, a candidate for the Tautua Samoa party who was banned a day after the general election.<\/p>\n

The reason was the social media comments he posted.<\/p>\n

Another village in Upolu also banned a woman for voting for the opposition political party and the woman has lodged a legal complaint.<\/p>\n

United Nations Tradition and Cultural Initiative<\/strong>
\nThese incidents have prompted Lualua Namulauulu Tatu, a United Nations Tradition and Cultural representative to remind the Alii ma Faipule<\/em> of the rule of law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe village bylaws and policies should be in accordance with the Government policies and there should not be any contradiction,\u201d said Lualua.<\/p>\n

\"Lualua

Lualua Namulauulu Tatu,\u00a0 Asaga village Mayor and United Nations Tradition and Cultural representative.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

He said if the rule of law recognizes the importance of human rights, so should the village and district bylaws, and if such matters reach the Court, then the rule of law will prevail\u00a0over the village bylaws.<\/p>\n

\u201cHuman rights is a fundamental right and whilst some people may say it\u2019s not accepted in our customs and traditions, it is however a God given right,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n

Spotlight Initiative <\/strong>
\nLualua is one of the longest serving village mayors of Asaga village in Savai\u2019i and is one of the speakers and facilitators of the Spotlight Initiative\/National Community Conversation Against Prevention Framework on Violence Against Women\u00a0workshop in progress for 5 days at the Taumeasina resort.<\/p>\n

When \u00a0the UN Resident Coordinator Ms. Simona Marinescu was asked how she sees the conflict between village bylaws and the rule of law, she said the Government needs to hear from civil societies where the gaps are, and this is not just on human rights but on all incidences of violence happening in Samoa..<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do not need to agree but to continue discussion and dialoguing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe realised the Government has acknowledge gradually the fact that the civil society no longer have open conversation as used to be, to talk to institutions publicly and we found this conclusion quite interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marinescu believes the Government needs to hear the voices of the civil societies in identifying where the gaps are\u00a0because they are the ears and voice of the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment needs to know what the needs are because if that does not happen, then something needs to change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Spotlight

The UN Resident Coordinator Ms. Simona Marinescu opening the Spotlight Initiative\/National Community Conversation Against Prevention Framework on Violence Against Women.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Civil society needs to continue open discussion
\n<\/strong>Ms. Marinescu said whilst villages have their own bylaws and make collective decisions, they need to know that what governs the villages, is what should support a better life for everyone.<\/p>\n

She said the Human Rights Shadow Report which is discussed by many civil societies with changes they want to happen, is almost completed.<\/p>\n

\u201cViolence still very much present in Samoa and the root causes are much deeper and there are various causes even at this time of COVID,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

This initiative framework aims to fulfil relationships in families and communities, and the main objective of the initiative is for people to enjoy their lives, care for their children in peace and respect for everyone\u2019s right in the families, said Ms. Marinescu.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can change behaviour in the community through policies and law, unfortunately policies and laws cannot reach everybody, so we realize the important role of the civil society organisations as the eyes and ears of the community to ensure what needs to be corrected are corrected,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lagi Keresoma APIA, SAMOA \u2013 28 APRIL 2021: In 1992, Samoa signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights making her one of the first countries in the Pacific to embrace the concept. Despite being a signatory of the Declaration for years, the concept remains and perceived by many village councils and chiefs as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[177,185],"tags":[256,257,258],"class_list":["post-5664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-local","tag-spotlight-initiative","tag-un","tag-violence-against-women"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Village Bylaws Contradict the Rule of Law and\u00a0Human Rights - Talamua Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=5664\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Village Bylaws Contradict the Rule of Law and\u00a0Human Rights - Talamua Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lagi Keresoma APIA, SAMOA \u2013 28 APRIL 2021: In 1992, Samoa signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights making her one of the first countries in the Pacific to embrace the concept. 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