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
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

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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

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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