By Kathryn Ryan
Impunity Watch Managing Editor

DAMASCUS, Syria – On Wednesday the Fijian military announced 45 UN peacekeepers who were captured in Syria’s Golan Heights in August will be released this week “without preconditions.” At a Wednesday morning news conference in Suva, Fiji’s military chief said the Fijian government had been told by U.N. headquarters in New York that the Nusra Front had agreed to release the peacekeepers later this week. However, the fate of the detained soldiers remains unclear.

This undated file image of the detained Fijian peacekeepers was attached to a statement released Aug. 30 on a militant website. the peacekeepers were captured by the al-Nusra Front on Aug. 28 (Photo courtesy of The Wall Street Journal)

The Peacekeepers were seized by rebels loyal to the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda-affiliated rebel group. The Fijian peacekeepers had been stationed in the Golan Heights between Syria and Israel where there had been heavy fighting since Syrian rebels captured a border crossing near the village of Quneitra last month. The al-Nusra Front had initially issued several demands as a precondition for the release of the Fijian soldiers, including dropping the group from the United Nation’s list of terrorist organizations. The group claimed the captured the UN peacekeepers because the United Nation’s was “ignoring the daily shedding of Muslims’ blood in Syria” and co-operating with government forces to “facilitate its movement to strike the vulnerable Muslims” in the demilitarized zone.

Shortly after Fiji’s military chief first announced that 45 peacekeepers would be released the government later tried to retract the comments, which had already been reported around the world. Fijian brigadier general Mosese Tikoitoga said three senior Fijian military officers would arrive in the Golan Heights soon to receive the peacekeepers once they were freed. The Fijian government also announced the news on social media.

Within hours of issuing the statement the messages had been deleted from the government’s social media pages and replaced with a vague statement: “All efforts to release the Fijian peacekeepers are continuing.” Fijian military officials also contacted local media outlets acting them to retract their earlier stories on the release of the Fijian Peacekeepers

Exactly what caused the Fijian government to back away from its initial statement was initially unclear. However, it is unlikely that the Fijian government was given the green light to issue any specific statement on the situation in Syria because the United Nations typically doesn’t comment on sensitive captive situations until they are resolved. Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said he had no information about the Fijian government’s statement. The al-Nusra, which typically communicates through its Twitter page, did not issue any statements on the situation on any of its social media pages.

For more information please see:

ABC News – Fiji May Have Jumped Gun on Fate of Its UN Troops – 10 September 2014

The Wall Street Journal – Fiji Says Syria Militants to Free Peacekeepers, Then Backs Off Comments – 10 September 2014

BBC News – Syria conflict: Fiji’s mixed messages over UN peacekeepers – 9 September 2014

The New York Times – Fiji Government Says Its Golan Heights Peacekeepers Will Be Released Soon – 9 September 2014

Author: Impunity Watch Archive