Fiji Interim Official Denies Threatening IBA

Fiji Interim Official Denies Threatening IBA

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – The International Bar Association claims that Fiji’s interim attorney general threatened the group of lawyers planning to conduct a review of Fiji’s justice system.

According to the IBA, Mr. Sayed-Khaiyum, Fiji’s interim-attorney-general sent a letter to the IBA on Monday which made clear that the interim government would not welcome the group and would take “appropriate steps” if IBA delegates came to Fiji.

Mr. Sayed-Khaiyum has denied the IBA’s claims, calling the organization ‘biased.”  In addition, the interim attorney general has accused the IBA of being condescending in its correspondence with the interim government.

But this would not be the first time Fiji’s interim government has barred the IBA from conducting a review of Fiji’s justice system.  Last February, a delegation of senior lawyers from Australia and Malaysia were turned away during a scheduled visit.

The London-based IBA represents nearly 30,000 attorneys around the world. The group had planned for senior Australian and Malaysian jurists to travel to Fiji in December to perform an in-country review of the justice system. Delegates would review the law since the interim government assumed control during a 2006 military coup of the federal government.

Last month, a High Court in Fiji legitimized the 2006 takeover. Fiji’s ousted prime minister, Laisenia Qarase, has challenged that judgment, calling it a “miscarriage of justice.” An appeal of that decision is scheduled to be heard in March 2009.

Mark Ellis, director of the IBA, says that the threatening letter reflects Fiji’s political instability:

“The threat made by the attorney-general against the delegation is unacceptable in a free and democratic society and reflects badly on the state of affairs in Fiji.”

Mr. Ellis says that the IBA will conduct their review, even if it means finding alternative methods.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Fiji interim AG denies claims he threatened IBA group – 26 November 2008

AFP – Fiji blocks International Bar Association visit – 26 November 2008

ABC News – Fiji bans International Bar Association members – 26 November 2008

The Age, Australia – Fiji’s A-G ‘threatening lawyers’ group’ – 26 November 2008

FijiLive – Interim AG Rejects IBA Suggestions – 26 November 2008

Malaysia Court Acquits Labor Activist Irene Fernandez


KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
– Irene Fernandez, the director of the human rights group Tenaganita, a prominent labor activist, was acquitted by a Malaysian court on Monday. “I’m so happy that finally truth and justice prevailed,” Fernandez told The Associated Press. “I should never have been charged in the first place.”

Irene Fernandez was arrested in 1996 for claiming that police tortured illegal immigrants in detention, but remained free on bail while fighting her case.  She was convicted and sentenced to one year in 2003 but appealed.  Fernandez’s 1995 report was compiled from interviews with more than 300 former detainees.  The report alleged that illegal immigrants died in Malaysian camps from malnutrition and torture. The government confirmed 98 detainees had died, but said they succumbed to diseases contracted in their homelands.

Irene Fernandez was convicted, and sentenced one year in prison in 2003, but she appealed.
Prosecutor Shamsul Sulaiman said the prosecution decided not to oppose the appeal because typed records from earlier court proceedings contained “systemic errors.”  The errors occurred when a court official typed up the judge’s handwritten notes, Shamsul said.

The appeal process, which did not start until April 1, 2008, has seen a series of postponements. The hearing was postponed until May 12 when it was discovered that 1,700 pages of the record, including witness statements, were missing.  The case was again postponed on August 5 when it was discovered a computer virus had wiped out some newly typed notes. In October, Fernandez’s defense lawyer said that he had received almost 9,000 pages of handwritten and typed notes, but that portions were “incomprehensible.”

“Irene Fernandez and her organization documented the government’s sadistic and humiliating treatment of migrants,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Human Rights Watch has also documented such treatment.”

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – Malaysian activist acquitted after 12 years of legal battles – 24 November 2008

AP – Malaysia labor activist acquitted after long fight – 24 November 2008

HRW – Malaysia: Drop Case Against Labor Activist – 21 November 2008

Recuters – Malaysia court acquits activist after marathon case – 24 November 2008

President Ortega Accused by International Community of Undemocratic Practices in Nicaraguan Elections

By Karla E General
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – President Daniel Ortega has been accused of ‘undermining democracy’ in the recent mayoral elections held in Nicaragua amid allegations of fraud after refusing to allow international and local observers at the election polls.

Ortega’s party, the Sandinistas, were awarded 105 of the 146 mayoral seats in the November 9 elections, earning 19 more seats in the national government with the Liberal Constitution Party taking 37 seats and other parties winning the remaining 4. Opposition leaders claim to have lost as many as 50 seats because of corruption, and have demanded a recount of the votes as retribution: “We demand the total revision of all the electoral ballots and the voting acts in the country, with the presence of credible national and international observers,” said Liberal party boss and convict Arnoldo Aleman.

Representatives in the United States have also voiced concerns about the electoral fraud allegations. Republican U.S. congressmen Frank Wolf and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen have sent letters to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an organization providing poor countries with funding, calling for the suspension of $175 million in aid “until it is adequately demonstrated that the Nicaraguan government is committed to demonstrating progress in ruling justly, investing in people and economic freedom.” European countries are also considering suspending aid to Nicaragua.

Ortega has stated that the proposed new elections and a voter recount is “illegal,” according to the Associated Press.

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – Sandinista Fervor Turns Sour for Former Comrades of Nicaragua’s President – 23 November 2008

The Wall Street Journal – Election Fraud in Nicaragua – 24 November 2008

Finding Dulcinea – Nicaraguan Elections Marred by Corruption Dispute and Violence – 25 November 2008

U.S. Court of Appeals to Hear Arguments for Release of Uighurs

By Gabrielle Meury
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, U.S. – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit was scheduled to hear arguments Monday from the Bush administration and lawyers for the detainees. The case comes as President-elect Barack Obama is pledging to quickly shut down the facility.

Last month U.S. District Judge Richard Urbina ordered the immediate release of 17 Uighurs, Turkic Muslims, into the United States because they were no longer considered enemy combatants. He criticized the Bush administration for a detention that “crossed the constitutional threshold into infinitum.” The Bush administration sued to block Urbina’s order, citing security concerns over weapons training the Uighurs received at camps in Afghanistan.  The administration claims that they cannot find another country to accept them. Solicitor General Gregory Garre wrote in court filings this past week, “This appeal raises questions of diplomatic relations and national security that are for the political branches, not the judiciary, to resolve.”

The same three-judge panel that agreed to temporarily halt the Uighurs’ release in late October will hear oral arguments on Monday. The one Democrat on the panel, Judge Judith W. Rogers, wrote a dissent arguing for the Uighurs’ immediate release. She believes that the government could point to no evidence of dangerousness. The U.N. is aligned with Judge Rogers, stating “It is our view that the United States is under international law obliged immediately to release the Uighur detainees of Guantanamo.”

The Bush administration maintains that detainees should stay at Guantanamo, as 20 percent of the 250 remaining prisoners fear torture or persecution if they return to their home countries.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press- Court to hear case of Uighurs held at Guantanamo– 24 November 2008

CBC- U.S. Appeal court to hear case of Chinese Muslims held at Guantanamo– 24 November 2008

Boston Globe- Court mulls early release of Uighurs from Gitmo– 24 November 2008

AFP Says Presence Still Needed in Solomon Islands

By Sarah E. Treptow

Impunity Watch Reporter, OceaniaSolomon  Islands

HONIARA, Solomon Islands– The Australian Federal Police (AFP), who led the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) in 2003, have warned that an international presence is still needed to keep the Solomon Islands secure.  RAMSI was set up after an outbreak of community violence in the Solomon Islands in 2003.

Assistant Commissioner Frank Prendergast told a parliamentary hearing, “The mission faces ongoing challenges.  While the achievements of RAMSI have been substantial, our work is far from over and our achievements do not represent at this stage an enduring state of rule of law.”  Mr. Prendergast said that while the mission has restored law and order to the Solomon Islands, the order would not be able to be maintained without RAMSI’s presence.

Mr. Prendergast continued, “As evident from the RAMSI People’s survey, public confidence in the institutions remains low and there exists collective fears of a return to inter-communal violence should RAMSI withdraw.”  He added, “More importantly, the underlying causes of the conflict remain and the economic outlook is likely to contribute to instability.”

The AFP plans to remain in the Solomon Islands for at least another five years, in which time they plan to develop the local police force and other public institutions.

For more information, please see:

Islands Business – Presence still needed: AFP – 24 November 2008

Australian Broadcasting Corporation – Presence still needed in Solomons: AFP – 21 November 2008