By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Foreign Affairs Ministers from New Zealand and Australia met yesterday to express their disapproval of Fiji’s interim prime minister, who announced he will not be attending the Pacific Forum meeting next week.

Murray McCully, NZ Foreign Affairs Minister, says that Fiji’s interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, was the primary focus of his meeting with Stephen Smith, Foreign Affairs Minister to Australia.

The Pacific Islands Forum has representatives from sixteen independent and self-governing states. The Forum was created to promote peace, harmony, security and economic prosperity within the Pacific nations. Fiji was one of seven founding members.

On Tuesday, Bainimarama said he will not attend next week’s Forum meeting in Papua New Guinea even though Forum leaders will likely discuss Fiji’s suspension from the group. Forum members have been dissatisfied ever since Bainimarama announced he will not make good on promises to hold democratic elections in 2009. In the Forum’s 30 years of existence, no member state has ever been suspended.

McCully and Smith say the interim prime minister should attend the meeting if only to explain the delay in restoring democracy to the Fijian people.

For more information, please see:
International Herald Tribune – NZ: Fiji may face more sanctions over no elections – 20 January 2009

Radio New Zealand International – NZ’s Foreign Affairs Minister disappointed Fiji’s interim PM will not be at meeting – 22 January 2009

The Sydney Morning Herald – Fiji’s coup leader defends summit stance – 22 January 2009

By Sarah E. Treptow
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji– Fiji’s Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, has written to the Chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum and Premier of Niue, Toke Talagi, dismissing Mr. Talagi’s statements to Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat about Fiji’s political situation as ill-informed.

Mr. Talagi said that the region’s leaders must be careful when accepting Bainimarama’s election promises.  Bainimarama told the leaders in 2007 that Fiji will hold elections next year but has since said this will not happen.  Mr. Talagi said, “That’s part of the problem that I have as a chair of the Forum at the present time – the fact that if he’s not able to hold to his word then we’ve got to be extremely careful in determining when he promises to do things into the future whether he’s going to hold to that word as well.”

Bainimarama replied that Mr. Talagi has never been to Fiji to assess the realities on the ground not communicated with him in any substantial way about the political situation.  He says that the people of Fiji will decide their political destiny and future.  He also reiterated that Fiji will not return to parliamentary representation by March this year.

The attacks on Niue’s Premier come a week ahead of a special Forum leaders meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to discuss Fiji’s political situation and its refusal to hold elections as promised.  Commodore Bainimarama is looking forward to meeting Mr. Talagi at the meeting.

For more information, please see:

Radio New Zealand International – Forum chair Talagi criticized by Fiji regime over post-coup stance – 19 January 2009

Islands Business – People will decide political destiny: Bainimarama – 19 January 2009

Fiji Times Online – Fiji must win leaders’ trust: Talagi – 09 January 2009

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SAIPAN, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands – The United States has charged CNMI Lieutenant Governor, Timothy Villagomez, with allegedly accepting bribes as part of a plan to cheat the government out of thousands of dollars.

Lieutenant Governor Villagomez is charged along with two co-defendants, James and Joaquina Santos. The Santoses allegedly offered Mr. Villagomez $15,000 in exchange for the government purchase of a cleaning chemical called Rydlyme.

The couple’s plan was reportedly to cheat the government by facilitating needless business deals like the purchase of Rydlyme for the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation.

Meanwhile, the CUC executive director, Anthony Guerrero, is currently charged with wire fraud, conspiracy, and theft of federal funds.

Unlike Guerrero, who entered a guilty plea agreement, the Santos have pled not guilty.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – New bribery charge against Lieutenant Governor in CNMI – 18 January 2009

Pacific Daily News – New Charges in CNMI Case – 16 January 2009

By Sarah E. Treptow
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia – If Australia has its way Fiji will face the real possibility of being suspended from the Pacific Islands Forum.  The decision will need to be endorsed by the leaders of 15 Forum Island Countries when they meet in a special session in Port Moresby at the end of the month.  The suspension will be a consequence of “failure to meet the faithful and unconditional undertaking the interim Fijian Prime Minister made to his colleague leaders.”

Stephen Smith, Australian foreign affairs minister, stressed Commodore Frank Bainimarama’s inactions at a media briefing, “He made it clear to the Foreign Ministers Ministerial Contact Group, of which I am a member, when he went to Fiji in the middle of December last year, that he wasn’t proposing to hold an election on timetable.”  Mr. Smith continued, “Consequences have to flow as a result of the failure of the Interim Prime Minister to meet the faithful and unconditional undertaking that he gave to his colleague leaders.”

When asked whether the current emergency situation in Fiji brought on by severe floods and a possible prolonged cyclone weather would affect commitments for national elections, Mr. Smith said, “I don’t think Commodore Bainimarama had the floods in mind when he gave a faithful and unconditional undertaking in October 2007 that he’d hold an election by the end of March this year.”  The floods and cyclones in Fiji have been described as the worst natural disaster in 50 years or more.

Economist Satish Chand, a leading Pacific expert at the Australian National University who grew up in Fiji, believes the disaster will make Fiij’s suspension less likely, “Such natural disasters can be catalysts bringing people together, bringing them to their senses, and I hope this will happen now, bringing together Fiji, Australia and New Zealand, though this requires Bainimarama to take the first step.”

Despite strained relations with Fiji, both Australia and New Zealand have committed humanitarian assistance through the Fiji Red Cross.  Mr. Smith said, “Can I also indicate that we are of course very concerned for the welfare of those in Fiji who’ve been adversely affected by the torrential rain and floods in Fiji.”

For more information, please see:
The Australian – Fiji rides a tide of sympathy – 17 January 2009

Islands Business – Fiji suspension still on – 15 January 2009

Solomon Times – Fiji Faces Suspension from Forum – 15 December 2008

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga – Tongan officials have spoken out against discussing Fiji’s possible suspension from the Pacifc Islands Forum when the Forum gathers in two weeks.

In December, leaders from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu met to discuss the political situation in Fiji. The Pacific Island Forum Ministers Contact Group expressed their dissatisfaction with Fiji’s efforts to uphold its promise to restore democracy.

The last Forum meeting focused on whether to suspend Fiji as punishment for its lack of commitment to holding democratic elections by 2009. Tongan leaders in support of Fiji’s interim government are now asking the Forum to remove any discussion of suspension from the meeting’s agenda in two weeks.

The Forum secretariat has not commented on whether the next meeting will include talks of Fiji’s suspension.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Forum should rule out talk of Fiji suspension, says Tonga – 14 January 2009

Matangi Tonga Online – Tonga not in favour of suspending Fiji from Forum – 14 January 2009