By Sarah C. LaBelle
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

HONIARA, Solomon Islands – Earlier this month, nine high-level government ministers in the Solomon Islands defected to the opposition, creating an opening for the opposition to call for a no confidence motion against Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.  Both sides maintain that they have the numbers to rule, causing a political stand off, and rumours are still flying over alleged defections from both sides.  (For more on the initial events, please see the Impunity Watch report here.)

This week, the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation that four MPs defected from Opposition for the government, but those MPs deny that this is the case.  Gordon Lilo, one of the nine initial defectors, criticised SIBC’s report, telling Radio New Zealand International, “Those claims are just frivolous because the bodies are still with us; physically, they’re still with us, and it’s just unbelievable for people to think that people like Steve Abana could ever move, Edward Huni’ehu could ever move,  Stanley Sofu would move.  They’re just trying to create uncertainty, it’s only propaganda.”  Abana, Huni’ehu, and Sofu were among the four recently reported to have defected to the government.

Opposition leader Fred Fono has accused Sogavare and Attorney General Julian Moti of abusing the court process based on Moti’s declared intent to file a case with the High Court yesterday afternoon, seeking a clarification of the constitutional issues surrounding the political turmoil.  A spokesman for the High Court confirmed that the Court received Moti’s paperwork, and that while a date has not been set for the hearing, the Court is treating it as an urgent case.

Fono has also called on Sogavare to fill the five open ministerial portfolios for Public Service, Aviation, Peace and Reconciliation, Home Affairs, and Education.  Fono says that if Sogavare truly has the numbers to rule, it would not be a problem to fill those positions.  However, he suspects that Sogavare is leading the nation with “a minority and lying to the whole nation that he still has the numbers,” according to the Solomon Star.  The opposition alleges that they have 26 of the 48 MPs, and therefore the majority.

Governor General Sir Nathaniel Waena has set December 13th as the date for parliament to convene.  He rejected both the opposition’s request for December 3rd and the government’s request for December 31st.  Waena feels that he is now constitutionally obligated to resolve the political impasse by convening parliament, and he believes that Moti’s court motion will interfere with his constitutional responsibilities.

Interestingly, the opposition group has not decided who will be Prime Minister if they succeed in ousting Sogavare, telling the Solomon Star that the important thing right now is to remove Sogavare from office.

For more information, please see:

Solomon Star – Waena tells PM to call parliament – 26 November 2007

Solomon Star – We’re going to court over date, says PM – 26 November 2007

Solomon Star – PM, Moti accused of abusing courts – 26 November 2007

Solomon Star – Opposition group says removing Sogavare comes first – 26 November 2007

Solomon Star – Opposition refutes report – 27 November 2007

Solomon Star – Fono tells PM to fill up vacant portfolios – 27 November 2007

Solomon Star – Government moves to block parliament sitting – 27 November 2007

Solomon Times – Opposition Members Deny Switching to Govt – 27 November 2007

Radio New Zealand International – More claims and counterclaims of MPs swapping sides as Solomons political crisis continues – 27 November 2007

Radio New Zealand International – Solomon Islands opposition MP grouping insists it has support – 27 November 2007

Islands Business – Government moves to block parliament sitting – 27 November 2007

Islands Business – MPs told to put budget first – 27 November 2007

YAREN, Nauru – The newly elected Rudd government in Australia has said that Australia’s offshore immigration detention centre in Nauru will be closed, though no timeframe has been released.  Rudd says that the reason for this secrecy is due to the contractual relationships between Australia and Nauru.  He further stated that his government would use a new facility on Christmas Island instead, which is within the Australian commonwealth and has an 800-bed capacity.

Human rights activist Susan Metcalfe agrees with the decision to close the facility, but is concerned about the economic impact the closure will have on Nauru.  She told Radio New Zealand International, “I feel quite concerned for Nauru, there is quite a dependency on the camps and to pull them out very quickly will hurt the country, I believe.  I hope that the Labor party will handle that transition very carefully.  They need to have a lot of discussions with the Nauruan government and the aid package that they give, I hope, will be substantial.”

Rudd also did not commit Australia to taking the 72 Sri Lankans who were granted refugee status in September but remain in detention in the Nauru facility.  (For background on this story, please see the Impunity Watch reportshere and here.)  The coalition government is currently looking for other countries willing to take the refugees, but the refugees themselves have asked that the incoming Rudd government make a resettlement decision quickly.

For more information, please see:

The Age – Rudd has no timeframe for Nauru closure – 21 November 2007

Islands Business – Refugee group expects new Australian govt to close Nauru centre – 26 November 2007

Islands Business – Detainees make appeal to Rudd – 27 November 2007

Radio New Zealand International – Human rights activist says Nauru will need compensation from Canberra when camp closes – 27 November 2007

SUVA, Fiji — Ballu Khan is suing the interim government of Fiji for $26 million for his maltreatment at the hands of police officials.  Khan, who was detained following an alleged assassination attempt against interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama, is still in hospital healing from the fractured skull and cheekbone that he received while in police custody.  The suit, filed by Peter Williams QC, alleges that the Fijian military police are guilty of assault, battery and wrongful imprisonment.

The suit alleges that Khan did not resist arrest, but that he was still severely beaten and military police officials were indifferent to whether Khan lived or died.  Williams says that this treatment is tantamount to torture.

Solicitor-General Christopher Pryde has called this request for compensation “extraordinary and outrageous”.  He has said that the government of Fiji will vigorously defend itself from this lawsuit.  The interim PM has commented that he believes that the New Zealand businessman is faking his injuries.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International —  New Zealand businessman injured by Fiji police, seeks millions for maltreatment — 22 November 2007

Radio New Zealand International — Ballu Khan suing Fiji interim government alleging assault and battery, and wrongful imprisonment — 22 November 2007

Radio New Zealand International — Lawyer says Fiji military’s treatment of suspect tantamount to torture — 22 November 2007

Fiji Times Online — Ballu sues State for $40m — 22 November 2007

YAREN, Nauru – Nauru’s Finance and Foreign Minister David Adeang has been accused by a group of MPs of associating with businessmen in Thailand who are selling and distributing Nauruan passports.  The group also alleges that he received gifts, travel funding, and other benefits in conjunction with this venture, which he failed to declare under Nauru’s public accountability laws.

Adeang dismissed these claims, saying that the MPs are playing for control of the government and that the accusations are false.  He further stated that the businessmen in question had become Nauruan citizens when former president Rene Harris had been running his own passport scheme.  Adeang dubbed the allegations “spurious” and criticized the group for not building a case to prove the allegations.

The breakaway MPs are moving for a no confidence motion against Nauru president Ludwig Scotty if he does not deal with the issue, and are pressuring him to reconvene parliament to deal with the misconduct allegations against Adeang.

For more information, please see:

Islands Business – President may face no confidence vote over Adeang – 12 November 2007

Radio New Zealand International – Rebel MPs in Nauru claim to be building support for no confidence vote – 22 November 2007

Radio New Zealand International – Nauru’s Adeang dismisses claims that Asian colleagues involved in passport sales – 22 November 2007

Islands Business – Rebel MPs claim to be building support for no confidence vote– 22 November 2007

By Ryan L. Maness
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji — Justice Coventry, of the Fiji High Court, has dismissed contempt charges brought by interim Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum against the former vice president of the Fiji Law Society, Tupou Draunidalo.  In addition to dismissing the case, Coventry ordered that the AG pay court costs of $20,000.

The charges were based upon Draunidalo’s statement on 14 May; that, “The confidence of lawyers in the judicial system, let alone the public, is shattered.” On 15 June, the AG sought leave to apply for an Order of Committal against Draunidalo. After Draunidalo submitted eight affidavits in support of her position, lawyers from the AG’s office filed papers to discontinue the proceeding.  The issue was officially dismissed on 14 November.

In his ruling, Coventry noted that, while several prominent legal professionals had spoken in support of Ms. Draunidalo, the only affidavit in support of the Khaiyum’s claim was a broadcast transcript of the original statement. Coventry also noted that when the AG was pressed to explain why he had filed for the proceeding, “he could do no more than state that the proceedings had been brought in the public interest and, with virtually no change in the circumstances, were being withdrawn in the public interest.”  Coventry finished by saying that the AG had acted “irresponsibly” for bringing this proceeding against a woman who was utilizing her freedom of expression.

Seeing no clear reason why this charge could have been lodged, the Justice speculated that ulterior motives may have been involved.

The Solicitor-General, Christopher Pryde, counsel for the Attorney-General, informed the court of his intention to seek an appeal of the ordered costs.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International — Fiji AG castigated by High Court judge in ruling — 20 November 2007

Fiji Times — Judge roasts interim A-G — 21 November 2007

Fiji Times — Interim A-G ordered to pay $20,000 — 20 November 2007

Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Limited — Attorney-General order to pay $20,000— 20 November 2007

FijiVilliage.com — AG’s actions irresponsible – judge — 20 November 2007