ANXIOUS FIJI MAINTAINS SURFACE CALM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SUVA 000152 SIPDIS PASS TO EAP/ANP AND INR/EAP E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM FJ SUBJECT: ANXIOUS FIJI MAINTAINS SURFACE CALM ¶1. (C) Summary: Two weeks after the abrogation of its constitution, life largely continues as normal in Fiji. Beneath the surface, many Fijians remain fearful and angry over the recent events. Some Embassy contacts warn of civil unrest in the upcoming months, but most discount the likelihood. The de facto government,s campaign of intimidation against the press and human rights groups continues with censors in newsrooms and implied threats of arrest for dissenters. No one has yet been charged with an offense under the Public Emergency Regulation (PER),although two journalists and the Fiji Law Society president have been detained. The de facto government has found it difficult to re-establish the upper courts of Fiji,s judiciary due to the reluctance of lawyers to accept senior judicial positions. Local leaders of opposition political parties, diplomatic missions, the business community, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academia overwhelmingly support continued U.S. engagement as one of the few remaining avenues for influencing Bainimarama and his cohorts. End summary. FIJI REMAINS CALM ON THE SURFACE -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) Two weeks after the abrogation of Fiji,s constitution, day-to-day life continues much as it did before the issuance of the Public Emergency Regulation. People go to work, children go to school, public service continues without interruption, restaurants and the movie theater are open, sporting activities are well attended, and resorts welcome tourists, albeit in somewhat fewer numbers than before Abrogation. What few police or military checkpoints exist are not new, and no incidents have occurred to suggest a breakdown of public order. An American visitor to Fiji commented that he would not have known anything unusual was occurring had he not been told. Some Embassy contacts insist, however, that beneath this semblance of calm, many Fijians are scared and angry. TROUBLE ON THE HORIZON? -------------- ¶3. (C) In separate meetings with Embassy officers, retired army colonel and former Ambassador to China Jeremaia Waqanisau and SDL Party Director Peceli Kinivuwai gave worrisome predictions of future unrest. They said that it takes time to organize in Fiji, but we should expect to see some action over the next few months. Waqanisau informed us �00A;that a think tank associated with the Methodist church is compiling derogatory information on what the de facto government has been doing and plans to disseminate it to the provinces next month He predicted that this information would spark civil unrest among ethnic Fijians that could become violent. Kinivuwai warned that something would happen and indicated it could be as early as mid-May. He would not say exactly what was being planned. He did claim it would be peaceful, but massive. Waqanisau suggested that Land Forces Commander Pita Driti might rise up and overthrow Bainimarama, adding that Driti had sent a civilian emissary to him to discuss possible actions and immunity. However, Kinivuwai said it was more likely that someone outside the military would lead the counter-coup, possibly a retired Colonel. (OR JUST MORE OF THE SAME? -------------- ¶4. (C) Most Embassy contacts in the business community, academia, media, and NGOs discount the idea that there will be any civil unrest. They say Fijians are too respectful of authority, too intimidated or just too complacent. For example, one of the most influential traditional chiefs in the country, Ro Tememu Kepa of Rewa, Paramount Chief of the Burebusanga Confederacy, which covers a third of Fiji, called on Charge Pruett April 24 to discuss issues important to Rewa in the context of recent events. A former minister in the deposed Qarase government and an outspoken critic of Bainimarama,s interim government, Ro Tememu said she wanted no part in any street demonstrations, should they occur. She said she had heard talk a &big bang8 would come, but to her relief Fiji has not experienced even a &little bang.8 She welcomes Fiji,s national Methodist convention in August as a positive event that might help to distract the disaffected. Asked about the rumors in Para 3, Ro Temumu replied that she hoped the Methodist Church would refrain from taking a political role. (Comment: Ro Temumu,s statements seem to confirm similar statements by Qarase to Congressman SUVA 00000152 002 OF 003 Faleomavaega on April 19, in which the deposed prime minister favored a return to dialogue rather than resort to street protests. End comment.) Ro Temumu observed that Fijians are anxious because, unlike transparent democracies, dictatorial regimes are capricious and unpredictable. LOCAL PRESS INTIMIDATED -------------- ¶5. (C) The media remains functioning but muted under the Public Emergency Regulation forbidding media criticism of the presidentially-appointed regime. Fiji TV has shortened its 6:00 p.m. nationally televised news from one hour to 30 minutes. Censors from the Ministry of Information,s civil service are posted in all major newsrooms. While it is clear that many of these bureaucrats detest their assignments, in these dismal economic times, they do what is asked to protect their jobs. The press is cooperating begrudgingly and is effectively providing self-censorship, but it remains uncertain over just what may be printed and what is impermissible. Even environmental articles get a three-times-over scrutiny. Fiji TV has suspended &Close Up,8 the weekly interview broadcast of subjects discussing salient issues. The Fiji Media Council is hopeful that media restrictions will ease with the lifting of the PER May 10. (Comment: Embassy expects the de facto government to extend media restrictions beyond the PER deadline. Even if current sanctions are lifted at the 30-day mark, Post expects vigorous self-censorship by the press to continue. End comment). Many citizens turn to the Internet and a variety of active blogs for information, many of which contain both accurate and inaccurate comments and articles. Government censors remain in Internet cafes, which have had their opening hours restricted to business hours. HUMAN RIGHTS A CONTINUING CONCERN -------------- ¶6. (C) Human rights organizations in Fiji are intimidated by the de facto government, which they feel is hindering their efforts to document human rights abuses. The Fiji Women,s Rights Movement office was broken into 11 days before Abrogation by unknown intruders who took only a digital recorder containing interviews with victims of alleged human rights abuses. A fire bombing attack on the house next door occurred during the same period. Consequently, the organization feels vulnerable and now claims to focus more of its energies on improving security rather than continuing its work. The organization,s executive director Virisila Buadromo said there are reported incidents of police beating suspects in the open because they now feel that the PER gives them the authority to act with impunity. (Comment: Embassy has no information to confirm these allegations and believes that the police are mostly just following the orders of the military. End comment.) ¶7. (C) Police have detained some members of the local press and of organizations that have spoken out against the abrogation. Fiji police aggressively questioned a young U.S. citizen journalistic researcher for over an hour on April 17. The U.S. citizen, who was in Fiji to research a story on Fiji Water, went to a local Internet shop to read and respond to emails. A government censor intercepted her emails and misinterpreted a response to a colleague at Rolling Stone magazine. The censor assumed the U.S. citizen to be a journalist in Fiji in order to conduct surreptitious political reporting. The censor summoned the Fiji police, who took the U.S. citizen to the nearby central police station for interrogation. Embassy officers met with the U.S. citizen following her release from the police. She returned safely to the United States on April 20 without further incident. On April 24, police picked up a U.S.-Fiji dual national and detained him under suspicion of distributing material unfavorable to the regime until his release April 24. ¶8. (SBU) Fiji,s Human Rights Commission was abolished with the Constitution and has not been reinstated. Other constitutional offices that have not been reinstated include the Ombudsman and the Director of Public Prosecutions. With the abrogation of the Constitution, laws are now made by degree signed by the president and approved by the cabinet. The abrogation of the Constitution and the absence of the High Court leaves no avenue for constitutional redress or hearing petitions for habeas corpus. While the lower court now has nine magistrates (compared to 20 before the SUVA 00000152 003.3 OF 003 abrogation),the Chief Justice and judges for the High, Appeal and Supreme Court have yet to be appointed. Fiji,s law society president says that those who accept judicial appointment now would be committing treason. However some eminent lawyers disagree, saying that Fiji,s people deserve competent people in the judiciary. U.S. ENGAGEMENT ENCOURAGED -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Local leaders of opposition political parties, diplomatic missions, the business community, nongovernmental organizations and academia continually ask Embassy officers to work in support of continued U.S. engagement with the de facto government. With access to the regime by these organizations and by historic regional partners Australia and New Zealand effectively cut or closed off, the United States remains the one major power in the region that can still speak with and possibly influence Bainimarama and his confidants. Newly-arrived British High Commissioner Malcolm &Mac8 MacLachlan, during an April 23 call on Charge, indicated his government intends to pursue a similar policy of calibrated engagement with the de facto government, even though he fully expects the Commonwealth to drop Fiji,s membership. PRUETT