By Ryan L. Maness
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji — The Fiji military council is reported to be once again calling for the ouster of Fiji’s interim finance minister Mahendra Chaudhry, but no official comment has been released by either the military or the interim government concerning the reasoning.  The speculation rose to the point where rumors were circulated among Fiji’s political circles that Chaudhry had been sacked.  Interim prime minister Frank Bainimarama, however, was clear that the finance minister had not been asked to resign.  Read more...

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PAPEETE, Tahiti –  Despite political elections in March, a junior French oversea territories minister is attributing political instability in French Polynesia to the “quarrels and personal ambitions among local leaders” reports Radio New Zealand International.

Jego Yves, the junior French oversea territories minister, says that for the political system to change reforms must start with politicians in Papeete. According to Yves, the key politicians in the capital city are responsible for destabilizing the political system largely because they force local mayors into making deals.  Read more...

By Ryan L. Maness
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

SYDNEY, Australia – Fiji’s Interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has been consistent in the past months in his view that social and political reforms were needed before any democratic elections can take place.  This view was directly challenged this week as the Pacific Island Forum concluded talks with Fiji’s leaders and Stephen Smith, Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, said that there is no justification for any delay in Fiji’s people going to the polls next March.  Read more...

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga — The number two people’s representative in Tonga, who was charged with crimes relating to the November 2006 riots, has been cleared of those charges.

Tonga’s April elections had been the first since 2006, when the pro-democracy movement turned violent, causing the death of eight and destroying Tonga’s capital city, Nuku’alofa. The riots erupted after the Legislative Assembly of Tonga adjourned for the year without employing promised reforms. Five of the six newly elected candidates faced criminal charges for their alleged involvement in the riots.  Read more...

By Ryan L. Maness
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — After declaring that it would maintain its travel ban against all members of Fiji’s interim government and their families, the government of New Zealand has granted an exception for the daughters of a Fiji naval officer so that they can visit their seriously ill brother.  Osea Namatalevu, son of Keveli Namatalevu of the Fiji Navy, is a New Zealand based rugby player who is studying in New Zealand and how is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant to treat his Hodgkins Lymphoma.  Read more...