HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST VIEWS ON FIJI SITUATION;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SUVA 000029

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2017
TAGS: PREL MARR PHUM PINR ASEC CASC FJ
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST VIEWS ON FIJI SITUATION;
REQUESTS FOR USG HELP

REF: SUVA 023

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

Summary
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1. (C) A Fiji NGO leader, Angie Heffernan, says colleagues
are documenting many reports of military intimidation,
including sexual abuse. The NGOs are striving to ensure
nobody believes the people of Fiji have acquiesced in the
coup. The NGOs believe undercurrents of discontent are
bubbling within the ethnic-Fijian community, augmented by
Commodore Bainimarama's cabinet selections and policy
directions. NGOs hear of pressures building within the
military that might cause Bainimarama to give up his PM hat.
Heffernan urged foreign governments and the UN to continue
support for rule of law and democracy. She provided a
proposal for USG assistance, which we will forward once
details are in place. Heffernan urged efforts to remove the
RFMF from PKO duties and to solidify support for visa bans
(particularly by the ROK). She expressed frustration at
international HR NGOs and asked for help to orient their
attention toward Fiji's plight. End summary.

Intimidation of NGOs and activists
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2. (C) We spoke on Jan. 12 with Angie Heffernan, Director,
Pacific Centre for Public Integrity (PCPI). Heffernan has
been one of the most vocal critics of Commodore Bainimarama's
coup and the human-rights violations that have followed. She
said she has received numerous threats from RFMF sources but
has not personally been assaulted. She noted that she has an
NCO brother in the RFMF; but she credited PCPI's past
interactions with the RFMF, including working together in
opposition to Qarase's "reconciliation" bill, for building
bridges that so far have protected her. Heffernan was
critical, though, of RFMF senior officers Teleni and Driti
for their roles in abuse. Heffernan reported that during one
of her visits to the military's strategic HQ, Driti
threatened in passing: "I'm going to shoot you one of these
days." She was not at all certain he was joking.

NGOs role: keep the public from acquiescing
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3. (C) Heffernan reported that the political-activist NGO
community is intent to keep the people of Fiji and the
international community from accepting that "everyone has
acquiesced" in the coup. A UN-affiliated NGO is preparing a
fulsome list of reported abuses, including sexual abuse.
Heffernan would like the OHCHR office in Suva to take an
active role, but it has been reluctant to do so. NGOs see a
need for UN human rights monitors to be present in Fiji, and
Heffernan asked USG help to achieve that.

Situation remains unstable
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4. (C) Heffernan and her colleagues are convinced the
situation remains unstable. The inclusion of three Fiji
Labor Party stalwarts (Chaudhry, Bune, and Vayeshnoi) in
senior jobs in the interim cabinet and Bainimarama's seeming
backing of the FLP's political agenda have undoubtedly
stirred concerns in the "nationalist" Fijian community. The
NGOs perceive undercurrents of anger that have yet to play
out. Heffernan predicts the interim cabinet will split
asunder relatively soon. She has pointedly challenged
civilian interim ministers to press Bainimarama to call a
halt to RFMF human-rights abuses immediately. The NGOs do
not want to see an explosion, but they acknowledge one
remains possible.

Pressures within the RFMF camp?
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5. (C) The NGOs are hearing that Bainimarama may give up the
PM hat soon, reportedly in order to deal with pressures
building within the RFMF leadership. Some officers are
frustrated that the interim government line-up, including
Bainimarama's PM role, is "not what they had been promised."
Heffernan suggested one split is between "policy" people like
Bainimarama and Teleni and "the thugs" at the operational
headquarters like Driti.

Pressures on the Chairman, GCC
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6. (C) Heffernan noted a "360 degree turnaround" in the views
of Great Council of Chiefs Chairman Bokini, from opposing the
illegal coup to endorsing the interim administration this
week. The NGOs have been told a motivation was threats from
the RFMF related to an investigation into business practices
of the Tavua Provincial Council. Supposedly, evidence has
arisen that Bokini took as his own several boats purchased by
the Council for the broader Fijian community.

Foreign support hugely important: UN PKO; ROK visa ban
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7. (C) Heffernan stressed that continuing expressions of
support from foreign governments like Australia, New Zealand,
and the United States are hugely important to help keep
people in Fiji from acquiescing. We shared Washington's most
recent statement (State 2259). Heffernan had seen it and
expressed appreciation. She raised Fiji's participation in
UN PKO as a potentially powerful lever, saying PCPI and NGO
colleagues are attempting to raise the issue with the UN,
given new Secretary General Ban's encouraging public
reiteration of UN concern about Fiji. She noted that New
Zealand's Nationalist Party has endorsed bringing RFMF troops
back from PKO assignments, and she asked for USG support. We
noted the multiple U.S. equities involved in that issue and
did not give her hope. She noted that South Korea appears to
be the only destination from Fiji that has yet to impose visa
sanctions, and she urged the U.S. to seek Seoul's assistance.

Trouble engaging international HR NGOs; request for help
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8. (U) Heffernan complained that local NGO efforts, including
her own, to direct the attention of international
human-rights NGOs to post-coup abuses in Fiji seem not to
have resonated at all. Amnesty International's Australia
office has never returned calls. Human Rights Watch and
others have shown no interest yet. Heffernan asked if the
State Department could assist. We expressed surprise at the
lack of response and promised to flag that issue to DRL.

Possible request for PD funding; details to follow
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9. (U) Per e-mail exchanges with EAP/ANP and EAP/PD, we had
sought Heffernan's ideas for possible near-term PD funding to
help promote democratic values in Fiji. She provided a rough
proposal centered around utilizing commercial radio (the
primary media news source in rural areas) to undertake
democracy and rule of law education in the villages via a
talk-back format. She is to provide more detail and a
proposed budget ASAP.

Comment
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10. (C) Heffernan has been a brave defender of human-rights
values during the coup period, and at the moment she is one
of the few still willing to speak up. She says others will
rejoin the fray shortly, and we hope that is the case. Most
every plugged-in person we talk to believes anger is still
reverberating within the ethnic-Fijian community. Nobody,
though, seems confident of how that frustration will manifest
itself, if at all. We want to encourage stalwart NGOs to
keep advocating core "democracy" and "rule of law" values in
Fiji, so we intend to continue a dialogue and to seek out
ways in which modest amounts of USG funding might usefully
assist.
DINGER