Amnesty International has again slammed Fiji's human rights record and called on its government to play fair and respect human rights in the crucial period running up to the September elections.
The human rights watchdog has released a report entitled Fiji Play Fair which documents torture, workers' rights violations and concerns about a lack of government accountability.
Amnesty New Zealand's Chief Executive, Grant Bayldon, says the report calls on the Fiji regime to stop restrictions on freedoms and recommends the new government commit to a full agenda to protect human rights after the elections.
"Some of the findings in the report are that there exists still a climate of self-censorship in Fiji. We're not seeing a lot of arrests under the really draconian laws that are still in place in Fiji, the decrees, but a lot of the reason for that is that people are self-censoring."
Mr Bayldon says free speech and a free press are most needed during times of great change like during the election period.
