Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06SUVA557
2006-12-13 23:09:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Suva
Cable title:  

FIJI UPDATE 12/14: SMALL PROTEST, BIGGER PLANS?

Tags:  PREL MARR PHUM ASEC CASC FJ 
pdf how-to read a cable
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PP RUEHPB
DE RUEHSV #0557/01 3472309
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 132309Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY SUVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3546
INFO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 1450
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY PRIORITY 1041
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 1232
RUEHNZ/AMCONSUL AUCKLAND PRIORITY 0258
RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY PRIORITY 0663
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHHJJAA/JICPAC HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SUVA 000557 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2016
TAGS: PREL MARR PHUM ASEC CASC FJ
SUBJECT: FIJI UPDATE 12/14: SMALL PROTEST, BIGGER PLANS?
MEDIA INTIMIDATION; GCC POSTPONED?

REF: SUVA 556 (AND PREVIOUS)

Classified By: Amb. Dinger. Sec. 1.4 (B,D).

Summary
-------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SUVA 000557

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2016
TAGS: PREL MARR PHUM ASEC CASC FJ
SUBJECT: FIJI UPDATE 12/14: SMALL PROTEST, BIGGER PLANS?
MEDIA INTIMIDATION; GCC POSTPONED?

REF: SUVA 556 (AND PREVIOUS)

Classified By: Amb. Dinger. Sec. 1.4 (B,D).

Summary
--------------

1. (C) Reportedly, Qarase's SDL Party had plans for peaceful
protests following a coup. While SDL activism in the streets
hasn't been obvious yet, 20 NGO members quietly marched
through Suva streets at noon today. RFMF efforts to
discourage dissent continued. The Chair of the Great Council
of Chiefs said he may have to postpone next week's meeting,
since Bainimarama fired the chief bureaucratic organizer
yesterday. Tourism leaders report business is awful. They
would like travel advisories to scale back but acknowledge
governments are unlikely to do so in the short term. End
summary.

SDL plans for people power protest
--------------

2. (U) The RFMF has provided the media with copies of action
plans reportedly drawn up by PM Qarase's SDL Party prior to
the coup. The plans' aim was to prevent the Army from
exercising effective control, in part by encouraging peaceful
demonstrations advocating lawful government. The plans
propose a "people power" movement, with an effort to
"quarantine" away "opportunists like Iliesa Duvuloco and
other dubious nationalists." (Note: Duvuloco was one of
those Fijian nationalists who orchestrated public, at times
violent, demonstrations that fed into George Speight's coup
in 2000.) The plans emphasize not to use violence or
weapons, but to document any RFMF violence.

Twenty NGO members march in Suva
--------------

3. (U) About 20 members of Fiji NGOs made a noon march from
Suva's central Ratu Sukuna Park to the Holy Trinity Cathedral
to show support for peace, democracy, and the rule of law.
NGOs included the Fiji Women's Crisis Center, the Fiji
Women's Rights Movement, and the Young People's Concern
Network. Organizers said they could not get a permit to
march, so they were just spreading the word of peace through
the streets. The RFMF apparently was unaware that the march
would happen. RFMF contacts told our DATT today that the

military intends to dismantle check points outside of Suva
this weekend and in Suva next Wednesday.

More intimidation of media and activists
--------------

4. (U) The editor of the Fiji Post newspaper, Robert
Wolfgramm, an Aussie with Fiji roots, reported that an Army
Captain visited him today to request that the paper tone down
its reporting and be more careful in its selection of photos,
which, the Captain suggested, have portrayed the military too
harshly. Wolfgramm said on radio he does not intend to
comply, but he complimented the Captain for being polite. In
early evening, Fiji TV reported that the Army had taken
Wolfgramm into custody and was escorting him to his home to
pick up his passport and work permit. The editor in chief of
the Post, Masaki Koroi, is a close relative of PM Qarase's
wife. The Army reportedly has been searching for Koroi and
has threatened his neighbors. In late afternoon, Commodore
Bainimarama announced more firings of government-board
members and a few appointments. A notable departure from a
board is activist Imrana Jalal, whose police report alleging
a rape-threat phone call from the RFMF appeared in the Fiji
Post today.

Possible postponement of GCC meeting
--------------

5. (U) With yesterday's announcement by Commodore Bainimarama
that he has installed his brother, Ratu Meli Bainimarama, as
CEO of the Fijian Affairs Board (FAB),Great Council of
Chiefs (GCC) Chair Bokini suggested this morning that next
week's GCC meeting may have to be postponed. Bokini asked
the RFMF to re-instate the previous CEO. Bainimarama
rejected that this afternoon, and he said the meeting should
proceed as scheduled. Qarase said today that he very much
wants to attend the GCC meeting; however, he complained, the
Army has told Air Fiji not to let him board any of their
flights from Lau. Army troops sealed off the FAB and the
nearby National Lands Trust Board (NLTB) this morning,
reportedly to search for documents to back charges of Qarase
Government corruption.


SUVA 00000557 002 OF 002


Rabuka advocates: no coups
--------------

6. (U) Former PM Rabuka, who led Fiji's first two coups in
1987 and who was acquitted earlier this week on charges of
inciting mutiny against Bainimarama in 2000, told the media
today that "the age of coup culture is dead." Rabuka remains
of the belief that his 1987 coups were necessary in order to
establish the "foundation for modern Fiji," but he said he
does not believe the current coup was necessary. Rabuka
added, though, his view that PM Qarase and President Iloilo
were weak leaders, who should have addressed RFMF complaints
long ago.

Tourism Action Group does a door knock
--------------

7. (U) Leaders from Fiji's tourism establishment (hotels, Air
Pacific, the Fiji Tourist Bureau) visited the RFMF,
government offices, and embassies in Suva today, starting a
process of attempting to resuscitate their industry. In a
meeting with the Ambassador, the group described a marked
decline in current bookings and almost no forward bookings
for most resorts. They acknowledged that governments must
provide travel advice to citizens when a coup happens, but
they pleaded for pulling such advice back as soon as there is
a sense things have returned to normal. We explained our
role, and noted that we continue to evaluate the situation on
the ground. The group did not really expect reassurance,
given that Fiji has not returned to normal. We agreed to
keep in communication. A prominent Indo-Fijian businessman
told us today that pro-coup sentiment among Indians in Fiji's
West has already diminished because of job losses.

Comment
--------------

8. (C) Today's peaceful march by the twenty NGO activists is
the first street protest we are aware of since the coup.
Reportedly many in the civil service are not showing up for
work, making governance difficult. We keep hearing that
resentment against the RFMF is percolating within the ethnic
Fijian community, but there remains no obvious evidence on
the streets, which remain much more quiet than usual.
DINGER