SDL to Discuss Chaundhry Tax Evasion; Rewa Chief Says He Will Not Bow to Pressure; No Big Deal to Remove Constitution, Says Bainimarama

By Ryan L. Maness
Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji — Ousted Fiji Prime Minister Lasenia Qarase has confirmed that he and the SDL party will be discussing the tax evasion allegations against Interim Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry.  Qarase said that while he was pleased that the FICAC proved that any case could be investigated, he still wanted to a full, complete investigation of the matter.  The matter seemed to have been swept under the rug, Qarase said.

Chaundhry responded by calling on Qarase to stop making personal attacks against him and to join Fiji’s way forward by lending his support to the People’s Charter.  He also said that if the SDL party supports the People’s Charter then there will no further talk of excluding the SDL party from the next election.

Fijivillage also reports that ousted Opposition Leader Mick Beddoes said that Chaundhry has referred to Qarase as a part of the problem in Fiji.  This despite the fact that, according to Beddoes, there is no evidence that Qarase has done anything wrong.

For more information, please see:
Fiji Village — Where Is The Evidence? — 04 June 2008

Fiji Village — SDL to ‘Discuss’ Chaundhry Tax Evasion — 03 June 2008

Radio New Zealand International — Fiji’s ousted Prime Minister says his party wants Chaundhry brought to justice — 02 June 2008

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SUVA, Fiji — Rewa chief Ro Filipe, of the Rewa Provincial Council, said that he has rejected pressure from the interim government to accept the People’s Charter and the GCC task team report.  Interim PM Bainimarama said that the interim government would sack Provincial Council members who did not express their support of the charter.  Bainimarama also said that Ro Filipe could be the first one to go.

Despite this, the Rewa chief said that his position was researched and discussed before the decision was taken and that pressure from the government would not change that stance.

As of this writing, there are no reports of Ro Filipe has been sacked.

For more information, please see:
Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Limited — Sacking won’t change stance: Rewa Chief — 03 June 2008

Radio New Zealand International — Rewa Provincial Council in Fiji will not change its stance on Charter — 03 June 2008

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PORT VILA, Vanuatu — Following the Melanesian Spearhead Group Leaders Summit, Fiji’s interim Prime Minister agreed to conduct an interview with the Fiji Times.  During that interview, Bainimarama reemphasized his desire to hold elections, but that Fiji’s way forward required unanimous support of the People’s Charter.  If groups, specifically SDL party, obstruct the process then they will be barred from contesting the election.  When the Fiji Times interviewer asked if abrogating the constitution was an option for effectuating this end, Bainimarama replied, “Yes, that’s one way. To abrogate the Constitution is no big deal if we have to find a way forward for Fiji.”

During the interview, Bainimarama also defended the coup of 2006 and the military government.  He insisted that the military’s acted for the best intentions of the people of Fiji, but  because the military was responsible for the coup observers assume that they are “power grabbers.”  “Because we’re the military and the military all over the world, as soon as you overturn the elected government, you’re seen as being out to grab power.”

He also said that the purpose of the 2006 coup was to change how Fiji was governed and now that the government is in power the ousted PM Qarase and the SDL party need to come to terms with Fiji’s new direction.  “The charter is the only way forward,” Bainimarama said.   “So if we want to have elections, the way forward for us is to have elections without the SDL. The military can find 50 ways to get rid of them.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International — Fiji regime leader says removing constitution no big deal — 02 May 2008

Fiji Times — Charter, the way out for Fiji — 02 May 2008

HRW Calls on Egypt to Investigate Deportation of Sudanese Refugees

NEW YORK CITY, United States – Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Egypt to investigate the forced deportation of 30 Sudanese men and boys; 11 were granted refugee status by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.  One of the deportees is a 17 year old boy who was provisionally approved for resettlement in Canada.  Forced return to a country where an individual has a well-founded fear of persecution constitutes a breach under international refugee law.

Relatives of the deportees state that on April 19, Egyptian authorities deported 30 Sudanese men and boys to southern Sudan.  According to Egyptian authorities, these individuals were deported because it was suspected that they were a part of a Sudanese gang involved in a fight in early February.  However, family members of some of the deported told HRW that they were neither members of a gang nor present during the fighting.

Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said “Egyptian authorities need to conduct a credible and transparent investigation to determine whether their forced return amounts to serious abuse and ensure such violations never happen again.”

For more information, please see:

Sudan Tribune – Egypt Deports Southern Sudanese Refugees to Juba – 1 June 2008

AHN – Egypt Deports Sudanese Refugees, HWR Condemns Actions – 31 May 2008

HRW – Egypt: Investigate Forcible Return of Refugees to Sudan – 30 May 2008

Iranian Women’s Rights Activist Gets 1-Year Jail Sentence; Civilian and US deaths in Iraq drop in May; Suicide Bomber Kills 10 in Iraq

By Ben Turner
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TEHRAN, Iran – A young activist and lawyer in Iran became the first man sentenced for participating in a campaign to change laws that discriminate against women.  Amir Yaghoub Ali, 21, was convicted of acting against national security and sentenced to a year in prison for his role in the “Change for Equality” campaign, launched by Iranian women activists in September 2006.

Ali was detained last July while collecting signatures for the campaign in a park in northern Tehran and spent 29 days in Evin prison before being freed on $20,000 bail.

“Changing discriminatory laws will benefit Iranians and will create a fairer social environment,” Ali said. “Our call for change is considered by the ruling Islamic establishment as crossing the red lines. Authorities don’t want to allow any changes in laws in support of women rights. That’s why they seek to suppress such demands.”

Iran has refused to ratify the UN convention on women’s rights and the country’s senior clerics in Qom, Iran’s main center of Islamic learning, have rejected the convention, calling it un-Islamic.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press – Iranian Women’s Rights Activists Sentenced – 2 June 2008

Reuters – Iran Jails Man Campaigning for Women’s Rights-Lawyer – 2 June 2008

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BAGHDAD, Iraq – US military deaths in Iraq have fallen to the lowest monthly total since the invasion five years ago.  19 American service members died in Iraq in May, compared to 52 from April.  14 were killed in action and one solider died of wounds inflicted in combat.  Four of the deaths were non-combat related, the US military said.

Accounts for how many Iraqi civilians were killed in May vary, but most estimates put the number at approximately 530, about half of the number as were killed in March and April.

The US military claims that the troop surge was a key factor in limiting the amount of casualties in May.  The ceasefire in early May that stopped the fighting in Sadr City also explains the death reduction.

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg News – U.S. Deaths in Iraq in May Were Lowest Since 2003 – 2 June 2008

San Jose Mercury News – U.S. Deaths Hit 5-Year Low in Iraq – 2 June 2008

BBC – US Iraq Deaths ‘At Four Year Low’ – 1 June 2008

L.A. Times – In Iraq, Month Ends With Lowest U.S. Death Toll Yet – 1 June 2008

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ANBAR, Iraq – A suicide bomber killed 10 people at a police checkpoint in western Iraq on May 28 including Iraqi police Lieutenant Colonel Khaleel Abarhim.  The attacker approached the checkpoint in the town of Hit in the Anbar province and detonated an explosives belt he was wearing.  Hit’s administrator, Hikmat Jubeir, said that twelve other people were also wounded.

Iraqi security forces arrested 49 suspects in a sweep following the attacks and detained them on suspicions of links to the bombing.

The suicide bombing came as the Iraqi authorities reported a near 50 percent drop in violence across the embattled nation last month. The US military too said it recorded the lowest monthly toll in May with 19 soldiers killed.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Iraqi Troops Arrest 49 After Deadly Bombing – 2 June 2008

Associated Press – Suicide Bomber Kills 10 In Iraq – 31 May 2008

BBC – Iraqi Checkpoint ‘Hit By Bomber’ – 31 May 2008

Media Needs Regulation, Bainimarama says; Amnesty International Reports Human Rights Abuses in Fiji; Electoral Commissioner Says Fiji Elections Will Go Forward

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

SUVA, Fiji — The interim Prime Minister said today that the media needs to be regulated in order to ensure that the reporting is pro-Fiji.  Bainimarama followed this statement to say that he did not want the media to report with bias or be pro-government, only pro-Fiji.

“We don’t want to gag the media, we don’t want to stop media freedom,” Bainimarama said, but that it is “common knowledge” that the media has been trying to undermine the government.  This, he said, was why he wants someone from the outside to check up on the publishers and editors of Fiji’s media, rather than allowing them to regulate themselves.

Foreign Minister Ratu Epeli Nailatikau made a similar statement, saying that the interim government does not intend to gag the media, but that the interim government wants fair and balanced reporting.

Fiji Media Council chairman Daryl Tarte was wary of these statements.  “If the Government steps in to regulate the media, it would be a sad day for Fiji,” said Mr Tarte.

For more information, please see:

Pacific Magazine — News Media Must Be Regulated, Bainimarama Says — 01 June 2008

Fiji Times — Media must be pro-Fiji, says PM — 01 June 2008

Pacific Magazine– Fiji Foreign Minister: No Gag on Media — 31 May 2008

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LONDON, UK — Amnesty International, in its annual report of top human rights abusers around the world, has listed Fiji among the 150 other nations on its list.  According to the report, the state of human rights in Fiji have deteriorated since the coup in December 2006.  The report was particularly critical of the interim government’s intimidation of the media, its stance towards the judiciary, the complicity of the human rights commission and the military’s record of pursuit and detention of bloggers critical of the coup.

The interim government was quick to criticize the report.  Interim Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has said that the report damages Amnesty International’s international credibility by releasing a “outdated” report.  According to the interim AG, the report was short on specific allegations of human rights abuses, specifically he decried claims that the media or the judiciary are under attack because the media is free to express itself and the courts have freely expressed themselves.

Fiji Human Rights Commission chairwoman Dr Shaista Shamee, who herself was targeted by Amnesty’s report, has also called it outdated and inaccurate.  She also thought that it was ridiculous for the report to suggest that world leaders should apologize for any human rights abuses in their country.

For more information, please see:

Radio New Zealand International — Fiji human rights chairs says calls for apology for human rights abuses a publicity stunt — 30 May 2008

Australian Broadcasting Corporation — Amnesty tells Fiji to stop threatening media — 30 May 2008

Fiji Times — FHRC tells Amnesty International to get facts right — 30 May 2008

Fiji Times — Amnesty International undermines its credibility — 29 May 2008

Radio New Zealand International — Fiji and PNG criticised in Amnesty report — 29 May 2008

International Herald Tribune — Amnesty International: Fiji human rights on downward spiral since military coup — 29 May 2008

FijiVillage — Amnesty International reports highlight serious concerns — 29 May 2008

Fiji Times — Amnesty information out of date: Shameem — 29 May 2008

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SUVA, Fiji — Fiji Election Chairman Mohammed Sahu-Khan has told Fiji Live that nothing will stop the Electoral Commission from carrying out its duties and holding an election.  This statement comes after several days of hard rhetoric from interim PM Frank Bainiamarama who has been adamant upon the fact that the 2009 election timetable will not be possible unless the People’s Charter is passed.  The Fiji Times reports that Sahu-Khan said that it is important for Fiji to have a free and fair election.

Despite the chairman’s commitment to the electoral process in Fiji, he believes that reforms are needed before elections should be held.  Specifically, the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation reports that Sahu-Khan believes that the voting system needs to be seriously looked at, despite the fact that any such changes would require a change to the Fijian Constitution.

In order to impress upon the people the need for free and fair elections in Fiji, Sahu-Khan is holding meetings with civil servants to provide a forum to allow them to discuss their comments and criticisms of the current system.

For more information, please see:
Fiji Times — Election work goes ahead — 28 May 2008

Fiji Times — Commission continues with poll preparations — 27 May 2008

Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Limited — Electoral reform needed: Sahu Khan — 27 May 2008

Radio New Zealand International — Fiji’s Electoral Commission says elections will take place — 27 May 2008

Amnesty international Annual Report on China; India Police Stop March by Tibetan Exiles; Myanmar forcing Cyclone Victims Out of Shelters

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – In an annual report on human rights worldwide, Amnesty International urged China to “live up to the human rights promises it made around the Olympic.”  The report criticized China for shipping weapons to Sudan in defiance of a U.N. arms embargo and traded with abusive governments like Myanmar and Zimbabwe. “The Chinese government has too often pursued resources to fuel its growing economy at the expense of human rights, seeking relationships with oil- or mineral-rich countries such as Sudan, Myanmar and Zimbabwe”, Amnesty said.

The report also criticized China’s expansion of the “re-education through labor” program, which allows the government to arrest people and sentence them to a manual labor without trial.  Moreover, the organization condemned the crackdown on Tibetan protests. The Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile says more than 200 people have been killed since the protests erupted on March 10.  “Freedom of religion, expression and association for Tibetans continues to be severely restricted”, Amnesty said, “and peaceful expression of support for the Dalai Lama is harshly punished”.

China has rejected previous such reports. It says its human rights record has improved in recent years.

For more information, please see:

AP- Amnesty International condemns US, China in report – 28 May 2008

Bloomberg – Amnesty Accuses U.S., China, Russia of Rights Abuses – 28 May 2008

CNN – China, Russia, U.S. focus of human rights report – 28 May 2008