A civil society organisation has labelled as preposterous and a betrayal of a child’s rights the notion of reintroducing corporal punishment in Fiji.
Dialogue Fiji executive director Nilesh Lal said such a view disregarded not only the law, but the country’s moral and international obligations.
“Under the human rights framework, the State has a clear obligation to respect and protect the rights of the child, and that includes protection from violence in all its forms,” Mr Lal said.
He said the argument of bringing back corporal punishment was not only flawed but dangerous.
“We’ve moved away from torture and physical punishment. It is preposterous that anyone in 2025 would dare to call for a return to that dark chapter of our past.”
Mr Lal told a human rights workshop in Labasa that the calls for corporal punishment reveal a deeper societal failure to invest in constructive solutions.
“Even in the criminal justice system, judges no longer have corporal punishment as a sanction.”
He said Fiji risked international embarrassment if it backtracked on decades of progress.
“Most progressive human rights organisations in this country and globally would be appalled by such a suggestion, especially in the 21st century.
“We are not going back to that. We cannot.”
Corporal punishment was formally banned in Fiji schools in 2003 following pressure from local and international child rights organisations.
