The Office of the Ombudsman was established in 1990 by virtue of law to investigate complaints about decisions,1 actions or inaction of government agencies2 in matters of administration. The good governance core function of the Office promotes transparency, accountability, integrity and fairness in public administration.
Based on the findings3 of investigations, the Ombudsman makes recommendations to the government agencies where appropriate to either cancel or vary decisions, rectify omissions, amend law or practices upon which action/inaction was based. The Ombudsman cannot compel the government agencies to implement his recommendations but may report the situation to the Parliament should they fail to do so.
The Samoan Parliament repealed the Office’s founding law in 20134 and replaced it with the Ombudsman (Komesina o Sulufaiga) Act 2013. This new Act re-establishes the original good governance function and mandates of the Office with two additional core functions:
1. Promotion and protection of human rights; and
2. Investigation of complaints concerning officers of a disciplined force.
The law includes new provisions on Special Investigation Unit (SIU) that provides the Ombudsman the mandate to function, when necessary, as independent mechanism to investigate and to determine complaints about a police officer, prison officer or officer of a prescribed disciplined force. The purpose of this function is to ensure that complaints against personnel of the disciplined forces are properly investigated and to enhance public confidence in the operations of the agencies exercising the coercive powers of the State. The Office is still growing, with some way to go yet, into this very important new role.
The SIU cannot investigate a matter that is being investigated by a Law Enforcement Force under its own Act unless the Ombudsman has reasons to believe that:
National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) of Samoa
The Act gives the Office wide-ranging duties and powers to promote and advocate for the protection of human rights in Samoa, qualifying it as a national human rights institution (NHRI). In discharging this duty, the Office carries out the following activities among others:
Human Rights Advisory Council
An Advisory Council was established following the establishment of the NHRI in 2013. It consists of a body of individuals who are knowledgeable in various areas relating to human rights. They include representatives of groups and organizations of persons with disabilities (PWDs), persons with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity (Fa’afafine and Fa’atama), youth, women, church and community leaders and others. It was established to assist the NHRI in raising awareness on human rights issues in Samoa and to provide feedback on human rights initiatives and work.
Activities
• State of Human Rights Report
Since its establishment, the NHRI has submitted three State of Human Rights Reports (SHRR) covering the period from its inception up to June 2017. The first report (2015) was the first ever attempt at a comprehensive appraisal of human rights in Samoa, the actualities, the issues and the attitudes. The report highlighted the solid foundation for advances in human rights provided for Samoa by the international human rights instruments and conventions, the Constitution of Samoa (1960) and the faa-Samoa or the indigenous cultural practices of the Samoan people. The first SHRR report draws attention also to the pressing human rights issues faced by Samoa’s most vulnerable populations including women and children. The report was informed by discussions in rural consultations carried out in traditional village settings. Participants in these consultations comprised of 47 percent male and 53 percent female.
The second SHRR submitted to Parliament in June 2016 focused on the rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs). The village consultations had 45 percent male and 55 percent female participants. The report covers many aspects of the protection and promotion of the rights of PWDs and points to the most critical issues. The report, tabled in Parliament in September 2016, formed part of the push for the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which was done in December of the same year.
In June 2017, the NHRI submitted its third SHRR to Parliament on the issues of: (a) Climate Change affecting human rights in Samoa, and (b) Family Violence. With regards to Climate Change, the report looked at the impact of climate change on the full enjoyment of fundamental human rights particularly the rights to life, health, food, water and sanitation, housing, self-determination, meaningful participation, and the right to take part in or participate in cultural practices. The NHRI believes that these rights are extra-territorial, and that nations are bound by treaty and customary law to protect the human rights of people around the world from the effects of climate change.
The 2017 SHRR provided the Parliament with an overview of NHRI National Inquiry into family violence that began in January 2017. The results of the inquiry were reported to the Parliament in June 2018.
• ‘A’ status
In January 2016, the NHRI submitted its application to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) for accreditation as a “Paris Principles” compliant institution. It was graded as “A Status” NHRI in May 2016. Samoa is the first small island state in the region to be awarded “A status” enabling its NHRI to engage with various human rights bodies and to participate in its own right in the proceedings of the United Nations Human Rights Council and its subsidiary bodies.
• Communication and Awareness:
a. Friendly School
The NHRI implemented its Friendly School Program in 2016 as a direct result of the discoveries of the first SHRR in 2015. An important revelation was confusion among children of their rights and misunderstanding/misinterpretation of the rights of the child by adults. The program aims firstly to increase awareness and understanding of human rights in schools as a first step towards dispelling misconceptions surrounding children’s rights. It hopes that increased knowledge on human rights would foster better understanding and instill positive attitudes and respect for the rights of the child and their application. The program has covered eight schools including private and public primary and secondary schools.
The program extended to the establishment of partnership between the NHRI and the National University of Samoa’s Faculty of Education. The partnership targets pre-service and in-service teachers and aims to foster and deepen their understanding of human rights and to better equip them as teachers to generate awareness and appreciation for human rights.
b. Law Enforcement Training
Since 2016, the Office has engaged the Ministry of Police (MOP) and the Samoa Prison Services in ongoing programs such as the Basic Human Rights Trainings for Law Enforcement and Outpost Refresher programs on human rights. The NHRI works closely also with the Community Engagement Unit of Police on community awareness programs conducted for villages.
c. National Inquiry into Family Violence
An important function of the NHRI is to inquire into widespread, systemic or entrenched situations or practices that violate human rights. This can take the form of a “National Public Inquiry” which enables the employment of a broad human rights approach and the examination of a large and complex situation where the general public is invited to participate.
Consultations undertaken in 2014 for the first SHRR, and information obtained in preparing ordinary news reports, showed convincingly that violence was the most urgent systemic and widespread violation of human rights among the Samoan population. The NHRI decided to organize an Inquiry in the form of a “national dialogue” on all aspects of the worsening family violence situation in Samoa. The objective was to understand the gravity of the problem and to formulate a strategy and activities in which the people of Samoa could help under the leadership of their national government to combat violence in the Samoan family. The exercise called for extensive public consultations because remedial activities would need to rely heavily on the effective utilization of traditional institutions.
Family violence for purposes of the Inquiry was taken to mean any form of violence a person in a Samoan family setting (small or extended communal unit) experiences from another family member in the form of emotional/physiological, physical and sexual abuse, among others. It includes in addition “any other controlling or abusive behaviour where such conduct harms or may cause imminent harm to the safety, health or wellbeing of a person” as defined in Section 2 of the Family Safety Act 2013.
A report on the Inquiry was submitted to theParliament at the end of June 2018. The report set out the evidence received, analysis of the situation, and recommendations addressed to government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), other relevant stakeholders and institutions that exercise power and influence within the community.
A significant educational and awareness-raising component intended to flow from the Inquiry will be rolled out very shortly following submission of the Inquiry report to Parliament.
Working in Collaboration with Key Stakeholders
Networking and partnership plays an important role in the work of the NHRI. It seeks to ensure that its stakeholders which include government ministries, NGOs, and development partners are consulted and given the opportunity to participate in its work. The NHRI is still in its early stages and looks forward to exploring more avenues and opportunities to promote the protection of human rights in Samoa. The NHRI is committed to implementing its three core functions as they are bound by law to do so.
For further information, please contact: Office of the Ombudsman, Central Bank Building L5, Apia, Samoa; ph: + (685)25394/23318; fax: + (685)2186; e-mail: info[a]ombudsman.gov.ws; www.ombudsman.gov.ws; Facebook: facebook.com/NHRIOmbudsmanSAMOA .