FIJI UPDATE 3/7/2007: HUMAN RIGHTS PROSPECTS;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SUVA 000150 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2017 TAGS: PREL MARR PHUM ASEC IN FJ SUBJECT: FIJI UPDATE 3/7/2007: HUMAN RIGHTS PROSPECTS; HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT CONTROVERSY; ELECTION ROAD MAP EXTENDED; INTERIM GOV'T THANKS INDIA FOR SUPPORT REF: SUVA 130 Classified By: Amb. Dinger. Sec. 1.4 (B,D). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Interim PM Bainimarama announced the military will stop human rights abuses immediately. Unfortunately, reports of abuses continue, including possibly a third death. Bainimarama will headline Fiji's commemoration of Women's Day, with an altered theme to downplay concerns about "impunity" for violators of women's rights. The U.S. Human Rights Report for Fiji is receiving media play. Fiji Human Rights Commission Director Shameem issued a statement proposing that the report is in contempt of court for commenting on the illegality of the coup. Shameem suggested the Ambassador abused diplomatic immunity in releasing the report. Bainimarama has lengthened the election road map to ¶2011. He remains very sensitive to criticism from New Zealand. Interim Foreign Minister Nailatikau has been in New Delhi to express deep gratitude for India's "understanding and assistance." Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Secretary General Urwin is concerned that a number of Pacific leaders are being "reticent" about the Eminent Persons Group Report on Fiji. End summary. Bainimarama: no more RFMF abuses -------------- ¶2. (U) Commodore Bainimarama announced March 7 that the RFMF is responsive to public views on abuse of human rights and will "do its utmost" to ensure people can live normal lives. He said the RFMF does not "condone violence or the use of force." Henceforth, the military will only engage in "manning checkpoints, community work, and public relations." Bainimarama encouraged people to report any abuses to the police and the Human Rights Commission. He said the visible presence of troops on the streets will be reviewed at the end of March. But documentation of abuses continues -------------- ¶3. (U) Meanwhile, reports are circulating that a young man died at a hospital in Labasa in Fiji's North a couple weeks ago as a result of a military beating. The RFMF spokesman has flatly denied the allegation. The police investigation into the death of a young man in Nadi two weeks ago from a brain hemorrhage after a military beating in January was stymied when RFMF officers blocked access to five implicated �00A;soldiers. Senior RFMF leadership said on March 7 that the five soldiers will now be made available. The police investigation into the death in RFMF custody of a Tailevu man in early January lingers even though the military perpetrators have been known to the police ever since the incident. Hindus, Muslims, another journalist, too -------------- ¶4. (C) When we provided human-rights activist Shamima Ali her "Woman of Courage" award, she said reports continue to flow in of military abuses, seemingly intended to suppress dissent more than to combat crime. While many of the abuses have been aimed at the ethnic-Fijian community, Ali noted that Hindi taxi drivers and Muslim youths have also felt the heat and have suffered humiliation directed at their religious beliefs. Ali said five Muslim youths were taken to an RFMF training ground near Suva, right next to a farm, and were forced to wallow in a pig sty. Soldiers have repeatedly taken the publisher of the Fiji Post newspaper to the army camp for interrogation in recent weeks, with one stay lasting several days. Land Forces Commander Driti's explanation was the publisher's "continued stubbornness." Driti said the RFMF will continue to warn people who make defamatory comments about the military. Fiji change of theme for Women's Day -------------- ¶5. (C) We are circulating the Shamima Ali award story and photo for Thursday media attention. Our op-ed piece on International Women's Day is to run in the Fiji Times, by far Fiji's largest circulation newspaper. Ali expressed disgust that Commodore Bainimarama will headline the interim government's Women's Day celebration in downtown Suva. Ali noted that the Women's Affairs Ministry has changed the theme SUVA 00000150 002 OF 003 from the rest of the world's expression of concern about "impunity" for violators of women's rights to a less controversial advocacy of "girl child" opportunities. Human Rights Report gets instant media play; Shaista Shameem accuses U.S. of "contempt of court" -------------- -------------- ¶6. (U) The 2006 Human Rights Report on Fiji received quick attention on the FijiLive website, FM96 radio, and PACNEWS. Radio Australia did an interview with the Ambassador. Other media with later deadlines will play the story as well, given the report's description of a dramatic decline in human-rights protections following the December coup. Fiji Human Rights Commission (FHRC) Director Shaista Shameem issued a press statement charging Embassy Suva with contempt of court for "producing the report without waiting for the court to determine the issue of legality of the December 5 events" (the coup). She suggested that the U.S. Ambassador's diplomatic immunity is subject to limits and should "not be abused." She added that "the U.S. Government commenting on human rights in Fiji is like the proverbial pot calling the kettle black." She drew examples from China's human rights report last year on the U.S., recalled FHRC criticism of the death penalty in Texas, and referred to the U.S. and Somalia as the only nations not yet to ratify key international conventions protecting women and children from abuse and exploitation. Election road map lengthens to 2011 -------------- ¶7. (C) In interviews with Time Magazine and Radio New Zealand, Bainimarama said he has received advice that setting up new electoral boundaries after a census will take 18 months rather than 6 months, so the road map has been revised to set a tentative date for new elections in 2011, rather than 2010. (We spoke with the head of Fiji's Electoral Boundaries Commission, who said that, indeed, he figures boundary setting will take 18 months, since, once census data is in, the Commission must laboriously figure out an arrangement for 25 open seats that shows roughly equal population totals and roughly equivalent ethnic balances for each district. Once a tentative plan is ready, the public must have two months to offer comments/objections. Then a final plan must be in place at least two months before the election. When we suggested that modern computer programs could dramatically condense the time frame, the retiree Commissioner clearly was contemplating a different era.) Bainimarama remains unhappy with New Zealand -------------- ¶8. (U) The Commodore has hit out yet again at New Zealand PM Clark, accusing her of backing the "racist" Qarase Government and "getting personal" in verbal attacks. Bainimarama suggested his motive in the coup was to remove racism from Fiji politics, something New Zealand should welcome. He indicated that the constant criticism is painful and is hindering the achievement of noble goals. Bainimarama asked Indo-Fijians living in New Zealand to vote against Clark in the next election. FM Peters publicly reminded Bainimarama that New Zealand's firm response to any coup was foreshadowed in writing in late November. Gratitude for India's understanding and support -------------- -- ¶9. (C) Interim Foreign Minister Nailatikau has been in New Delhi, on his way home from Brussels. He said the stop was to express "deep gratitude to the India Government and its people for their understanding and assistance toward Fiji at this difficult time." He met with India's Minister of Tourism and Culture, Shrimati Ambika Soni, and with the Minister of External Affairs, Shri Pranab Mukherjee. Nailatikau reportedly requested assistance for the judiciary, defense training, electoral reform, and economic cooperation, and "received a positive response from the Ministry of External Affairs." Uncertainty about PIF Ministerial re Fiji -------------- ¶10. (C) Greg Urwin, SecGen of the Pacific Islands Forum, and his staff are sensing "reticence" within the region about the Fiji situation in the lead-up to the PIF Foreign Ministers meeting next week in Vanuatu. The delay between the Eminent Persons Group report and the ministerial has provided interim SUVA 00000150 003 OF 003 Foreign Minister Nailatikau opportunity to lobby Pacific colleagues, apparently with some success. In particular, Nailatikau's deep family connections to Tonga have helped bring PM Sevele into Fiji's corner. A number of other island leaders don't want to make waves. Urwin predicted, "the meeting will be controversial." Comment -------------- ¶11. (C) Commodore Bainimarama's public avowal that RFMF abuses will cease immediately and his strident complaint about New Zealand leaders' criticisms suggest international condemnation of human rights abuses is at the least an irritant. If the RFMF actually does rein in its abusers, it will be a significant step. Given Bainimarama's continuing nervousness about domestic enemies who want to reverse the coup, we will remain skeptical about the degree and pace of a kinder, gentler approach in the immediate future. We note that the interim Attorney General already publicly announced the RFMF's withdrawal from day-to-day law enforcement many weeks ago, with no noticeable effect on ground reality. ¶12. (C) Interim Minister Nailatikau's visit to New Delhi accents the strong sense here that India has tilted toward Bainimarama, unlike other major international players. The reality that many Indo-Fijians have been enthusiastic about Bainimarama's "clean up" and "anti-racism" rhetoric and the Commodore's inclusion of Indo-Fijian Chaudhry as Finance Minister help explain India's attitude. There is a real danger, though, that India's and the Indo-Fijians' approach is encouraging ethnic-Fijians to start looking at this most recent coup (which was intra-ethnic-Fijian in concept) in racial terms. That could bode ill for the long-term interests of Indians in Fiji. DINGER