Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09SUVA107
2009-03-25 23:59:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Suva
Cable title:  

FIJI LEAHY REPORTING: CREDIBLE EVIDENCE OF GROSS

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM MARR FJ 
pdf how-to read a cable
P 252359Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY SUVA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1127
INFO AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 
AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 
AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON
C O N F I D E N T I A L SUVA 000107 


PLEASE PASS TO DRL, PM-HDP, EAP/RSP AND EAP/ANP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM MARR FJ
SUBJECT: FIJI LEAHY REPORTING: CREDIBLE EVIDENCE OF GROSS
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY RFMF AND POLICE PERSONNEL

REF: 08 SUVA 157

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Pruett. Reasons 1.5 (b)
and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SUVA 000107


PLEASE PASS TO DRL, PM-HDP, EAP/RSP AND EAP/ANP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM MARR FJ
SUBJECT: FIJI LEAHY REPORTING: CREDIBLE EVIDENCE OF GROSS
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY RFMF AND POLICE PERSONNEL

REF: 08 SUVA 157

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Pruett. Reasons 1.5 (b)
and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Embassy Suva submits the following credible
evidence of gross human rights violations by members of the
Republic of Fiji Military Forces and the Fiji Police. We
have listed the individuals by name and then included a
summary of the human rights abuses for which there is
credible evidence of involvement. All are Fiji nationals.
However, in most cases we lack other identifying information
such as dates of birth.

Christmas Eve 2006 Detention, Assaults and Abuse
--------------


2. (C) At midnight on Christmas Eve 2006, six pro-democracy
activists were forcibly removed from their homes and taken to
the RFMF headquarters at Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Suva.
According to independent statements by several of the
individuals, during the course of the night, RFMF personnel
subjected them to humiliating and degrading treatment,
including physical assault and verbal abuse. They were
beaten, punched, kicked, and made to crawl on all fours in
the rain. One woman was allegedly asked whether she was
pregnant and after she replied in the affirmative, a soldier
stood on her stomach. One man was allegedly asked who was
Fiji,s president, and upon answering (then-deposed) &Ratu
Iloilo,8 was repeatedly kicked by the soldiers. Another
woman said that RFMF soldiers blindfolded her, put an
unloaded gun to her temple and fired repeatedly. The group
was then forced to run in the rain from the military camp to
a location several miles away, where they were compelled to
remove anti-coup slogans from the walls of a house. Before
release, RFMF soldiers allegedly warned them that if they
spoke out again they would be taken back up to the military
camp and suffer worse treatment, as would their families.


3. (C) While much of the alleged abuse was perpetrated by
lower ranking and unknown RFMF soldiers, those detained
reported that the following high ranking RFMF personnel were
present, orchestrated and in some cases perpetrated the abuse:

(1) Tevita Ului Mara, Colonel, Chief of Staff, Land Force,
and Commanding Officer of the RFMF Third Infantry Regiment,
DOB: 25 May 1965
(2) Pita Driti, Colonel, Land Forces Commander, DOB: 29
October 1960
(3) Sitiveni Qiliho Tukaituraga, Colonel, DOB: 30 December,
1969

The Death of Sakiusa Rabaka Following Detention by the RFMF
--------------


4. (C) On January 24, 2007, RFMF and police personnel
detained four young men, including 19-year old Sakiusa
Rabaka, ostensibly for smoking marijuana. They took the men
to the Black Rock Military Base, near Nadi, and forced the
men to participate in severe exercises, which included
multiple beatings. Among many indignities, the soldiers
forced one man to perform oral sex on an unconscious
co-detainee. The four were dropped off at a police station
the following day, where they confessed to their crimes, and
then released. Rabaka died as a result of injuries sustained
during the assaults.


5. (C) The RFMF attempted to frustrate the criminal
investigation into this incident. The army refused to allow
the police to interview eight RFMF soldiers suspected of
involvement. The police then lost the file, necessitating
that much of the investigation be redone. The DPP ultimately
charged eight RFMF soldiers and one police officer with
murder, at which point the RFMF tried to send them abroad on
a UN peacekeeping mission. The attempt was nearly
successful, with only a last minute intervention resulting in
the accused being asked to de-board a UN chartered airplane
at the airport. Following trial, all nine were convicted of
manslaughter and assault occasioning actual bodily harm on
March 17, 2009 and sentenced to four years, imprisonment.


6. (C) The following RFMF soldiers based at the RFMF,s Black
Rock Base in Nadi in February 2007 were convicted:

(1) Taione Lua;
(2) Ulaiasi Radike;
(3) Etonia Nadura;
(4) Ratunaisa Toutou;
(5) Joeli Lesavua;
(6) Jona Nareki;
(7) Laisa Kurimavua
(8) Napolioni Naulia

Patrick Nayacalagilagi, a police officer at the Namaka Police
Station in February 2007, was also convicted.

The Death of Tevita Malasebe in Police Custody
--------------


7. (C) Tevita Malasebe was beaten to death at the Valelevu
Police Station on June 4, 2007, after being arrested on
suspicion of robbery. His bruised body was delivered to the
Suva mortuary the following morning. The police ultimately
charged seven persons with murder and an eighth policeman
with obstruction of justice. At trial, the pathologist
reported evidence of assault with wooden planks and torture
marks on the soles of the feet. The court ultimately
convicted detectives Lole Vulaca and Rusiate Korovusere of
murder. One person was convicted as accessory after the fact
for attempts to cover up the crime. The remaining members of
the Fiji Police Force were acquitted:

(1) Detective Lole Vulaca
(2) Detective Rusiate Korvusere


MCGANN