FIJI PNG-ING NZ HIGH COMMISSIONER; MORE HUMAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SUVA 000313

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR PHUM ASEC FJ
SUBJECT: FIJI PNG-ING NZ HIGH COMMISSIONER; MORE HUMAN
RIGHTS ISSUES; PUBLIC EXPRESSIONS OF DISSENT; PIF AND EU
UPDATES; A MILITARY RE-SHUFFLE IN THE WORKS; UNHAPPY
ATMOSPHERE IN SUVA

REF: SUVA 291

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

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

1. (C) Fiji's interim Cabinet has declared the New Zealand
High Commissioner persona non grata. New Zealand is
attempting to reverse that. The GNZ has continually been
outspoken against Commodore Bainimarama's interim government
(IG),but the High Commissioner has been relatively low-key
publicly. The formal removal of the IG's state of emergency
on May 31 has not ended reports of human-rights violations.
Several prominent Fijians have spoken publicly against the IG
in recent days, including former Vice President Madraiwiwi.
The Pacific Island Forum (PIF) technical working group issued
its elections report, confirming that new elections can take
place by early 2009, or earlier. The IG says it will study
the findings. We predict the response will be delaying
tactics. The EU continues to monitor developments in the
lead-up to a report to Brussels in early July that, if
positive, would allow some sugar assistance to flow.
Bainimarama appears to be re-shuffling senior military
leadership. A rumor is floating, yet again, of an RFMF
counter-coup. Past rumors did not pan out. We comment that
Bainimarama and his IG remain nervous about security. Suva
remains calm, though sullen undercurrents continue to flow
through the ethnic-Fijian communities. End summary.

Interim Gov't PNGs NZ High Commissioner...maybe
-------------- --

2. (C) Fiji MFA PermSec Ross Ligairi informed New Zealand
High Commissioner Michael Green last Thursday that the
interim government (IG) cabinet has ordered him PNGed. No
detailed explanation accompanied the dipnote, but Ligairi had
suggested to Green a couple of days earlier that PM PermSec
Parmesh Chand has been really irritated with Green. NZ
Foreign Minister Peters phoned interim Foreign Minister
Nailatikau to stress that PNGing is a very serious step that
will bring serious consequences. Peters urged the interim
government (IG) to rethink. Nailatikau reportedly seemed
surprised that New Zealand would vehemently object. He said
he would consult with Commodore Bainimarama over the weekend
and phone back. As of Monday, that call had not arrived,
though New Zealand was hearing that a special IG Cabinet
session might take place. Green is lying low, pending
developments.


3. (C) To date, the media have not carried the story, though
the New Zealand High Commission has indications rumors are
circulating in Suva. Green and his wife spent the weekend
organizing their household, and Green is drafting end-of-tour
EERs today, just in case. He does take some heart from the
U.S. Embassy street-closure scenario of April, when
Bainimarama, despite having made public proclamations, in the
end reversed course and went on with life. Green was
nonplused about why he has been targeted, since his recent
public pronouncements have been rather benign. He and his
Australian colleague have made the Pacific Island Forum (PIF)
working group process on Fiji difficult by asking tough
questions in private meetings, forcing PermSec Chand into
uncomfortable explanations. We speculate that another reason
for the IG to target the Kiwis could be the GNZ continuing
drive to have the UN remove Fiji from peacekeeping
operations. Green's own speculation is that perhaps the IG
felt New Zealand is seen as the "little guy," more easily
targeted than more powerful irritants like Australia and the
U.S.

Human rights concerns continue
--------------

4. (C) Despite the IG's lifting of its "state of emergency"
decree May 31, human-rights worries continue. On the evening
of June 4, a group of plain-clothes Fiji police took a
criminal suspect from his Suva-area home and reportedly beat
him to death. An initial police investigation indicated
"murder." Interim Police Commissioner Tikotikoca said the
culprits would be treated like any other criminals. On the
evening of June 5 RFMF soldiers reportedly took a group of
Tailevu Province (north of Suva) villagers into custody and
abused them for many hours, reportedly because they were
alleged to be cultivators of marijuana. The villagers

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weren't returned to their homes until June 7. The June 8
Fiji Sun newspaper ran a front-page story. On Saturday, June
9, soldiers showed up at the Sun's office looking for the
author of the story, who was not working that day. The Sun's
editor judges, rightly, that RFMF efforts to intimidate the
media are continuing.

Eminent persons speak out in Hong Kong
--------------

5. (U) Last week at the annual LawAsia conference in Hong
Kong, prominent Suva lawyer Graham Leung delivered a speech
very critical of the IG's policies, including manipulation of
the judiciary and violations of human rights. Chief Justice
of the Fiji Court of Appeals, Gordon Ward, also attended the
conference though he reportedly had sent LawAsia a letter
resigning his membership over the decision by LawAsia's
President Mah Weng Kwai, a Malaysian lawyer, to accept the
position of Chairman of the IG's Fiji Islands Commission
Against Corruption (FICAC). Mah later reversed course and
rejected the position. Interim Attorney General Sayed-Khayum
rushed to Hong Kong in a seemingly failed attempt to make the
IG's case. Sayed-Khayum attacked both Leung and Ward in the
media and demanded that Ward resign as Appellate CJ
immediately. Ward has already made clear he will step down
when his current term expires in July, since he could not
accept an extension from a government he believes is
illegitimate.

Ex-VP Madraiwiwi stirs the pot publicly
--------------

6. (U) Also last week, former Vice President Ratu Joni
Madraiwiwi gave a speech to an Australian National University
workshop, elegantly and incisively laying out the hypocrisy
of the IG's efforts to claim legitimacy. Madraiwiwi
described the IG as "delusional." He predicted
ethnic-Fijians, who are "sullen," won't explode into violence
against ethnic-Indians; but he worried aloud that the IG is
so alienating many ethnic Fijians that, long-term, they will
strongly endorse politicians who espouse anti-minority
policies. Since the demographics indicate ethnic-Fijians
will increasingly dominate future elections, Madraiwiwi is
worried.

PIF Working Group/EU efforts continue
--------------

7. (C) The PIF technical working group's announcement last
week that the Fiji election can certainly take place by March
2009, and can take place as early as November 2008 if donors
help Fiji's Bureau of Statistics churn out census data
rapidly (see reftel),was welcomed by the EU and others,
including ourselves. The technical team judged that the
census and redistricting of electoral boundaries are
essential for a useful new election, but it clearly concluded
those steps, plus voter education, are quickly doable. The
IG's initial reaction was to study the findings. Our guess
is the study will primarily be to figure out how to slow
things down. An announcement by the Statistics Office that
the census has been delayed to September from May or June
because of late-arriving IG funding, illustrates this. The
technical team was aware of the census delay and factored
that into its calculation of the time line; however, the IG
undoubtedly will attempt more such delays in coming weeks and
months. Our EU colleagues in Suva tell us they and Brussels
are continuing to scrutinize IG sincerity in the lead-up to a
progress report in July that, if favorable, will free up some
EU sugar funding. We hear the initial funding could be F$8
million (US$5 million),though even that relatively small sum
would not flow in a gusher but would be measured out as
developments justify.

Military moves
--------------

8. (C) Commodore Bainimarama is shuffling senior RFMF
leadership. The move of Deputy Commander Captain (N) Teleni
to Commissioner of Police is one element. Teleni has no
policing background, and his appointment will further the
demoralizatiion of the police force. Suva DATT heard from
within the RFMF last week that Land Forces Commander Col.
Driti would move up to be Deputy Commander, with Driti's
current Chief of Staff LtCol. Mason Smith becoming Land
Forces Commander. A media report today says Driti has
instead begun pre-departure orientation at MFA to become High

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Commissioner to Malaysia, and Smith is preparing to take a
position at the Fiji mission to the UN in New York. Who
actually gets shuffled to where will be interesting to
observe. LtCol Tevita Mara, now Commander, 3rd Infantry
Regiment, could move up. Mara and Driti have been the RFMF
senior officers most visibly involved in post-coup
human-rights violations. Rumors are floating in Suva, yet
again, that RFMF officers are preparing a counter-coup
against Bainimarama. The past rumors did not become reality,
but we will remain watchful.

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

9. (C) The IG Cabinet decision to PNG the NZ High
Commissioner strikes us as wildly excessive. It causes us to
wonder more than ever about the rationality of the
Bainimarama team's judgment. Bainimarama suggested publicly,
while recently announcing an IG effort to establish a
national committee to build a brighter future, that Fiji is
at a "critical crossroads." He said security could
deteriorate rapidly if people and foreign donors don't pitch
in to help the IG clean up Fiji, re-start the economy, and
bring about a corruption-free, multi-ethnic future. The
atmosphere in Suva remains calm, but with uncomfortable
undercurrents, particularly within Fijian communities. As
reported previously, PM Qarase and colleagues, particularly
former Education Minister Ro Tememu Kepa, a high chief,
continue to speak publicly against the IG, painting it as
"anti-Fijian." Madraiwiwi's remarks in Australia also stir
the pot, though, as noted, his own prediction is that
ethnic-Fijians will seek revenge in the long-term, not the
short. Madraiwiwi may well be right, but it appears the RFMF
leadership remains nervous.
DINGER