Amnesty Int'l: Harassment of Gov't Critics in Fiji
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT
9th November
2009
AI Index: ASA 18/003/2009
The arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Fiji-born Australian academic Professor Brij Lal by the Fijian military on 4 November 2009 is the latest example of the ongoing crackdown against any criticism of the regime and peaceful opposition activities.
Professor Lal is among scores of others in the last
few months who have been targeted merely for speaking out
against government policies. The ongoing repression of any
peaceful dissent is unacceptable and the government should
immediately put an end to this practice.
Professor
Lal, who was on a research visit to Fiji, had commented to
overseas media on the consequences of the expulsion of
Australian and New Zealand diplomats by the military-led
regime in Fiji on 3 November.
Following his
statements, soldiers took Lal from his family home in Suva,
the capital, to the army camp in Nabua, four miles from Suva
city. A senior army officer interrogated him, kept him in a
dark cell for an hour, and verbally abused, spat at and
otherwise humiliated him. He was told that if he did not
leave the country within 24 hours, he would be taken back to
the army camp and killed.
Lal has since left Fiji and
arrived in Australia on 5 November.
Peceli Kinivuwai,
the national director of the Soqosoqo ni Duavata ni
Lewenivanua (SDL) Party and a regular critic of the
military-led government, was also detained and harassed at
the army camp in Suva for commenting to overseas media about
the expulsion of the diplomats. Kinivuwai was held overnight
and released on 5 November.
The actions of the
military in detaining and harassing Lal and Kinivuwai, is
indicative of the deteriorating human rights situation in
the country. In a report titled Paradise Lost, published in
September 2009, Amnesty International documents a catalogue
of human rights violations perpetrated by the Fijian
authorities since the abrogation of the constitution; the
sacking of the entire judiciary; and the enforcement of
martial law through the Public Emergency Regulations in
April 2009.
Background
Prime Minister Frank
Bainimarama expelled the Australian and New Zealand High
Commissioners from the country on 3 November, after accusing
their governments of interfering with the Fijian judiciary
by placing travel bans on judges who either have been
appointed or are about to be appointed by the regime.
Bainimarama had alleged that Australian authorities had
denied transit visas to Sri Lankan judges appointed to the
judiciary and warned the judges against joining the bench in
Fiji. The Australian authorities have rejected these
allegations and maintain that the Sri Lankan judges had
withdrawn their applications for transit through Australia
and chose to travel via a different route.
The Fijian
government had blamed New Zealand for interference with its
judiciary when it had allegedly denied a visa to High Court
Judge Anjala Wati and her daughter who were seeking urgent
medical attention in New Zealand in October. However, the
New Zealand immigration authorities allowed Justice Wati and
family members to travel to New Zealand on humanitarian
grounds on 26 October 2009.
The governments of
Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada and the
United States of America have imposed travel bans against
the members of the military led-regime in Fiji and their
families and those who have taken up appointments in
government departments, government controlled companies, and
the judiciary.
To read Paradise Lost: A Tale of
Ongoing Human Rights Violations, please see http://www.amnesty.org.nz/news/fiji-systematic-human-rights-violations-after-military-crackdowns
ENDS