By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Fiji’s ousted Government has appealed a High Court decision validating the military coup of the government in 2006.

Today, Fiji Court of Appeal Judge Justice Ian Lloyd said that the parties’ attorneys will gather on Thursday to discuss substantive matters of the case. Among the parties’ lawyers are Former Attorney General, Qoriniasi Bale, and Suva lawyer, Tevita Fa. Both Bale and Fa are representing the ousted Prime Minister and leader of the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua Party (SDL), Laisenia Qarase.

In 2006, the Interim Prime Minister led a military takeover of Fiji’s Federal Government. In October, the High Court in Fiji ruled that the 2006 coup was legitimate. Mr. Qarase has challenged that decision, calling it a “miscarriage of justice.”

Justice Gates, who delivered the judgment validating the coup, has said that, “No one has suggested His Excellence failed to act honestly, impartially, neutrally and what he gauged was in the best interest of the nation; that is, of all of the inhabitants of Fiji, it is not for this court to inquire into the details of his act at that moment on whether one action would have been better done in another way but it is certainly open to conclude his intention were to unify the people of Fiji.”

The appeal is scheduled to be heard in March 2009.

For more information, please see:
FijiLive – 2006 coup appeal set for March 09 – 18 November 2008

Radio New Zealand International – Fiji coup case appeal to be heard in March – 19 November 2008

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Fiji’s interim government has received a stay on a court injunction which will allow the National Council for Building a Better Fiji to continue revising the People’s Charter. This decision follows a High Court order which had effectively stopped the interim government from resuming any Charter-related work.

Dispute over the drafting of the People’s Charter stems from the 2006 coup of Fiji’s Federal Government. Since that time, the ousted SDL Party has expressed growing concerns that the interim government will not make good on its promise to restore democracy. Interim Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, has yet to relinquish power or hold democratic elections. Last month, a three judge court validated the 2006 coup, giving legitimacy to the interim government.

Amidst this friction, the SDL Party supported Judge Justice Filimone Jitoko’s previous decision to stop the drafting of the People’s Charter. SDL Party leader and ousted Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase, brought this matter to court because of the potentially dangerous consequences of amending Fiji’s 1997 Constitution.

In its previous decision, the court asserted that the interim government was to stop “promulgating any law, decree order or doing or recommending anything whatsoever to alter or amend the 1997 Constitution or anything whatsoever, including changes to the electoral system that are contrary to or inconsistent with current provisions of the Constitution until the final determination of this matter.”

Although no High Court judges were available to review the matter, Fiji’s interim Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, was able to get a stay on the decision from the Court of Appeal. According to Fiji law, a single member judge from the Court of Appeal may grant a stay in matters of urgency.

Court of Appeal Justice Byrne granted the stay on the grounds that section 15 of the State Proceedings Act indicates that an injunction cannot be granted against a State.

As a result, the interim government has resumed work on the People’s Charter.

But SDL Party lawyer, Niko Nawaikula, says that the interim government has responded to the court order too hastily. “As a lawyer and a professional I would have expected them to read this judgment and digest it before taking further action,”Nawaikula said.

The matter is scheduled to go before the Court of Appeal on November 20th.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Ousted Fiji PM gets court order to stop charter process – 14 November 2008

Radio New Zealand International – Fiji’s interim government gets court injunction to continue charter process – 15 November 2008

Fiji Times – Lawyer disappointed with stay on order – 15 November 2008

By Sarah E. Treptow
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga – Clive Edwards, a pro-democracy MP in Tonga, says there is no justification for the continuation of the state of emergency into its third year.  The state of emergency was put into place after riots in Nuku’alofa in November of 2006.

Mr. Edwards thinks the state of emergency should be lifted as soon as possible, “The law is nonsense because it says you bring it in to quell and stop or prevent a riot or restore peace and you’ve got to do that within one month.  Once that’s done you’ve got no justification for the emergency laws but here in this case we’re going on for three years and that’s how much respect they have for the people of this country.”  Mr. Edwards is a former minister of police and says that as recently as two weeks ago soldiers beat up five people who were meeting in a private household.

He suspects the government is trying to provoke a reaction to justify the continuation of the state of emergency.

For more information, please see:

Radio New Zealand International – Tonga MP says extension of state of emergency into a third year cannot be justified – 17 November 2008

Pacific Islands News Association – Tonga pro-democracy MP says ongoing state of emergency regulations cannot be justified – 17 November 2008

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Today, the Fiji High Court dismissed all charges against a businessman who was accused last year of plotting to kill Fiji’s interim prime minister.

Last November, Mr. Ballu Khan, a businessman from New Zealand, was viciously beaten by police and subsequently hospitalized. He was then arrested on suspicion of conspiring to assassinate Fiji’s interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, as well as two other cabinet members. Mr. Khan was kept in custody for 60 days without appearing before a judge.

After suffering the beating, Mr. Khan was unable to walk, and he underwent two operations to remove blood clots.

“I probably came very close to either being paralyzed or killed. The most dangerous injury I had was at the base of my skull, and the doctors thought I had a basal skull fracture,” Mr. Khan told New Zealand Herald reporters.

Mr. Khan’s lawyer, Peter Williams QC, says that Mr. Khan has been granted a permanent stay as a result of the police and military’s unlawful treatment.

Today, Justice Andrew Bruce of Fiji’s High Court, held that Mr. Khan was unlawfully detained after police failed to both charge him with an offense in a reasonable period of time, and to provide him with access to an attorney. These failures, Justice Bruce says, are a denial of Mr. Khan’s fundamental human rights.

“. . .Mr Khan’s rights were violated on a sufficiently egregious basis that to countenance such behavior would indeed bring the system of justice under law in Fiji into disrepute if it was simply left to pass,” Justice Bruce said.

Justice Bruce admitted that granting a stay is unusual, but was necessary in this case because Mr. Khan’s fundamental right to personal liberty was violated.

Justice Bruce added, “Personal liberty is a basic human right. While it is invidious to rank human rights, personal liberty must, on any view, be in the upper ranks of human rights. The right to confidential legal advice is, on any view, fundamental to the maintenance of the rule of law and must rank in the same level as rights to access to justice and the courts.”

The High Court’s decision to uphold Mr. Khan’s human rights comes at a pivotal time in Fiji’s political landscape. In 2006, Bainimarama led a bloodless coup of Fiji’s Federal Government. Since that time, he has promised to restore democracy to Fiji but has yet to relinquish power or hold elections. Last month, a three judge court validated the 2006 coup, giving legitimacy to the interim government.

Mr. Khan told reporters today that he hopes to go home to New Zealand as soon as possible.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Fiji court drops charges against NZ man Khan – 12 November 2008

Fiji Times – Ballu Walks – 13 November 2008

Radio New Zealand International – Ballu Khan’s lawyer says compensation will be sought – 13 November 2008

New Zealand Herald – NZ businessman held in Fiji to claim damages – 13 November 2008