Office of the Ombudsman, Samoa‘s National Human Rights Institution Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child – September 2015 10. The traditional fa’amatai system (village councils) is central to the organisation of Samoan society. The authority of village councils has played a vital role in maintaining and preserving peace, harmony, security and stability through customary law and traditions, especially in the rural areas where the majority of Samoans reside. The Government relies heavily on this system for the maintenance of law and order throughout Samoa. 11. Human rights are underpinned by the core values of universality, interdependence and indivisibility, equality and non-discrimination.2 Similarly, the Fa’asamoa holds core values that guide social interaction such as respect, dignity, love, protection, and service. The NHRI believes that international human rights principles and the core values of fa’asamoa mutually reinforce each other. 12. When drafting the Constitution, Samoa‘s forefathers understood the relationship between fa’asamoa and human rights when it incorporated fundamental human rights into the Constitution.3 Yet, some Samoan‘s view human rights as a foreign concept that does not have a place in Samoa. There is a misconception that human rights and fa’asamoa conflict rather than mutually reinforce each other. The reason for this seems to stem from the Samoan translation of ‗human rights‘. Some Samoans imply from the Samoan translation that ‗human rights‘ means that individuals have the freedom to do anything they want without any limitations. 13. The Survey conducted by the NHRI, which formed the baseline data for the SHRR, found that a large majority of participants (76%) claimed to know what human rights are. Of the 76 % who claimed they had knowledge of human rights, 69 % claimed that human rights and fa’asamoa conflict with each other. The perceived conflict between fa’asamoa and international human rights principles is central to understanding human rights issues in Samoa, including children‘s rights issues. Its resolution will undoubtedly also have a bearing on early success in progressing human rights in Samoa. 14. This perceived conflict has significant ramifications for the protection of children‘s rights in Samoa. Village and church leader consultations with the NHRI indicated widespread misconceptions about the implications of human rights for Samoa‘s children. From these consultations, there appears to be 2 Universal Declaration of Human Rights UN General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December 1948, 217A(III), available at http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3712c.html [accessed 26 August 2015]: 3 The Constitution of the Independent State of Samoa 1960 (came into force 1 January 1962); see the right to life (Article 5); right to personal liberty (Article 6); right to freedom of inhuman treatment (Article 7); right from forced labour (Article 8), the right to a fair trial (Article 9); right to freedom of religion (Article 11,12) rights regarding freedom of speech, assembly, association, movement and residence (Article 13) and freedom from discriminatory legislation ( Article 15). These rights correspond directly with rights enshrined in the UDHR, see the right to life (Article 3), freedom from inhumane treatment (Article 5), the right to a fair trial (Article 10), freedom of thought and religion (Article 18), rights regarding speech, assembly, association, movement and residence (Articles 20 and 13, respectively), and freedom from discriminatory legislation (Article 7). 6