Military Cover Up?

You know you're hitting the right nerves when the Military shuts down one of the talk servers that have been quite "popular" recently by advising the hosts that it's for the "best interest of the people of Fiji".

I had the spare time to visit that site a bit the last couple of weeks and it was a hive of discussions with varying topics, from those interested in providing constructive solutions to getting Fiji out of this rut, to those who simply want to vent both for and against the coup. Understandably, there was slurring and some vulgarity in it, but there were more well presented points and arguments - both for and against - then slurring. Of course, the support for the coup was always coming up short as there was no logical humane defense for the violation of human rights in this country since the illegal military take over.

The bottom line is : The military have shut down an avenue for free speech both for those who support this coup and those who don't. This avenue was no threat whatsoever to the people, and allowed for anonymous free speech - something that has become a precious commodity in these troubled times.
The military no longer allow people to freedom to speak out against the atrocities that they've committed, the violation of people's freedom, twisting the law with their jargon to suit their purposes.

I've made this point before, and will continue to reiterate it until something is done about it that meets the standards if not exceeds those adhered to by our previous governments !!

Their actions raise a lot of questions as to why they're so interested in shutting down free speech for the public? Is it the topic of discussion?
What are they really scared of? - that people will eventually start putting two and two together and raise their voices as one ? How dare they assume that we the people of this county are as gullible as they are ??? How dare they assume that you and I would fall for such blatant arrogance and mistake it for quality leadership!

Well that's not really why i'm writing this article. Lets get back on track here.

In light of the two recent killings at the hands of the military - Nimilote Verebasaga and Sakiusa Rabaka - the investigations have taken a NEW turn in Fiji's crime investigatin history. Well not so new as this article will explain.

To my limited knowledge in all Police investigations into murders the Police force take the lead in the investigations and question everyone involved to set up their case file. When they have completed this, the file is then passed onto the Judiciary or AG's office for the legal process to continue in court.
In these two particular murder cases however - the military have told the police that they will do their 'own internal investigations into the matter and they will give the names of any soldier they identify to be investigated by the police'. Lets stop and catch our breath for a while.

It appears that the RFMF will carry out their own internal investigations into the alleged murders, and then allow the Police to question only those they identify ?!

• Is this whole intervention legal?!
• How credible are these military investigations?
• Aren't the military personnel also subjected to the SAME laws and regulations as normal citizens of Fiji? Even under an Emergency Decree?
• Where does it say in the constitution that the military has the legal mandate to inject itself
  
• into a murder investigation in such a manner?

[here's an update of the investigation status]

And the questions continue, but sadly the fact is THE ARMY CAN DO WHAT THEY WANT AND GET AWAY WITH IT!
They are after all supported by their commander who just so happens to be the Interim Prime Minister. The continued silence of the Interim Government has given the army free reign in dealing with civilians because even the "politicians" in the Interim Government (junta) know they themselves risk their positions if they were to be so bold as to speak out against the military. Why do you think no one has brought up the issue of deaths at military hands - instead they try to divert our attention with their propaganda machinery to other matters that pale in comparison to deaths at military hands!

Your silence does the same!

So the Military have bent the rules to suit themselves, and as this article will show, it's NOT THE FIRST TIME!!

The same situation occured when the Police were investigating the deaths of the CRW soldiers that died in 2000. The RFMF forced themselves into the investigations and placed themselves as the liason between the Police and those involved in the deaths of the 4 CRW soldiers. To this day NO ONE HAS BEEN CHARGED for those crimes!!! [read this TIME article for details]

What justice do you see happening for the families of the two civilians murdered at the hands of the military soldiers in early 2007?!

March 15th TV 1 news showed army spokesperson Leweni stating that the military will not rush into investigating the death of Sakiusa Rabaka.
Leweni was shown on Fiji's National TV stating: "Just because someone says that an investigation has to be taken, (doesn't mean) we have to jump".

WHAT!!!

The arrogance of the man is typical of the RFMF attitude now that they can get away with anything! They've gotten away with murder since 2000 and have removed the people who were going to charge them. Who's going to stop them now?

They hide behind their version of "law and order" and use their "Emergency Decree" as an excuse for intimidating the public into silence, singing the same propaganda tune of "taking into consideration as to what is in the best interest and good for the people of Fiji."
(fiji live article)

Are we going to continue our daily lives pretending this is not happening around us? Are we going to continue to ignore what's going on around us?

How much longer will you condone these atrocities through your silence?

How much longer will you be sticking your head in the sand?

"Remember that all through history there have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seemed invincible. But in the end they always fall...always."
- Mahatma Ghandi

The Coup: Behind the Scenes

There's an interesting article that i'd like to share with you, from the TIME magazine written by Rory Callinan, dated Sunday December 10th, 2006. I've taken the liberty of including this article for your perusal.

This will give you an insight into the character of the self proclaimed anit-corruption advocate.

_______________________________________________

For months before he appointed himself President and put Fiji's elected leaders under house arrest, military commander Frank Bainimarama had been threatening to stage a coup unless Laisenia Qarase's government abandoned plans to pardon those behind the abortive coup and mutiny of 2000. But some in Fiji say Bainimarama, who during the mutiny narrowly escaped assassination by rebel troops, has another motive: ending a police probe into the killings of four soldiers from the mutinous special-forces unit.

"It's cold-blooded murder," says Ana Kalounivale, "and that's what Bainimarama is running away from." The 37-year-old widow says Bainimarama must bear some responsibility for the bashing deaths of her husband and three other special-forces soldiers. If he did not order or know about the killings at the time, she believes, then he failed to properly investigate them afterward. "Now we don't know if we will ever have justice," says the mother of four.

The commander has repeatedly denied any responsibility for the deaths of Selesitano Kalounivale, Jone Davui, Epineri Bainimoli and Lagani Rokowaqa. "I never gave any orders to kill," he said in 2003. However, in the weeks before the coup Bainimarama was under increasing pressure over the murders. Police probes and court actions by victims' families and surviving soldiers could have seen him suspended, forced to give evidence about the killings, and potentially facing charges and a six-figure compensation claim against the Fiji Military Force.

During the mutiny by members of the elite Counter-Revolutionary Warfare unit, three loyalist soldiers were shot and—in an experience which some officers say has haunted him ever since—Bainimarama was hunted by armed rebels through a jungle-choked valley behind Suva's Queen Elizabeth Barracks. After the barracks were retaken, loyalists rounded up CRW soldiers regardless of whether they had taken part in the mutiny. Selesitino and the other soldiers allegedly fell victim to a violent paroxysm of revenge.

Among Bainimarama's increasingly peremptory demands to the Qarase government were the shutting down of the police investigation into the murders and the removal of Fiji's Police Commissioner, Andrew Hughes. The day after the coup, Dec. 7, Bainimarama sacked Hughes, who had already left the country after death threats to his family, and appointed Army intelligence chief Jim Koroi as acting Police Commissioner. Next day his soldiers took in for questioning six former CRW soldiers, alleging that they could foment civil unrest.

In the past year, Bainimarama and the military had been fighting four separate legal actions. Three were lodged by former CRW soldiers who survived beatings in 2000. The fourth was a compensation claim by Ana Kalounivale, who successfully sued the Commander and the government for worker's compensation over her husband's death but has yet to receive any money.

In a hearing last April, the court was told that after he was first picked up, Selesitino had a 30-minute meeting with Bainimarama and was then taken to the local police station on the Commander's orders. He was later taken from the station by four or five soldiers. Acquaintances of his told the court they were working in a building next door to the police station when soldiers arrived with Selesitino. They said they heard him crying out for help as he was driven away in a military vehicle. According to the judgment of Magistrate Ajmal Gulab Khan, "He was on the floor of the van and bystanders could hear swearing, hitting with rifle butts and kicking at the back of the tray." Around midnight, his hideously injured body was delivered to the morgue.

Magistrate Khan found that "the assaulting soldiers may have exceeded in the scope of their duty by assaulting the deceased, but they acted as soldiers of FMF and were responsible for their actions in the general scope of their duties." He awarded Ana Kalounivale $24,000, but she says the military is appealing the judgment.

The FMF has never explained where the soldiers took Selesitino or why he was singled out. But documents lodged in support of civil lawsuits by the three CRW soldiers who survived beatings give a chilling insight into what might have happened. The soldiers "seized me at gunpoint and handcuffed my hands behind my back," said Sergeant Viliame Lotawa of the night he was taken from the police station. "I was punched, kicked and beaten with blunt objects such as rifle butts and iron rods. I was beaten all the way to [Queen Elizabeth Barracks]." Lotawa says his attackers included a former Fijian rugby international, Sergeant Jack Komaitai. Komaitai told Time last week there was no truth to the allegation. Another survivor, Metuisela Railumu, told the court he was taken by soldiers to a shooting range and "beaten with wood and iron rods all over my body." The case of the third survivor, Barbados Mills, is due to go to trial early in 2007.

All three suits include Bainimarama as a defendant, charging that as military commander he was responsible for the actions of his troops. Police have interviewed 12 soldiers about the bashings, but the military has reportedly insisted that a senior officer attend all interviews; in at least one case, the officer prematurely terminated the interview. When Time put Lotawa's allegations to Bainimarama's spokesman, Major Neumi Leweni, he said, "Who told you that?" He has since refused to speak to the magazine.

Police have told Time the military conducted its own investigation, under the supervision of then officer Jack Koroi, Bainimarama's hand-picked new acting Police Commissioner. None of the alleged perpetrators named by Lotawa and his fellow survivors has faced any military trial or disciplinary hearing. Police are unhappy about Koroi's appointment. Says one officer, who asked to remain anonymous: "Koroi knows what to look for in the files. He's a former Criminal Investigations Department officer and he was the point of contact up at the barracks for people wanting to interview soldiers in the past." Contacted by Time last week, Koroi said of the police investigation, "[The suspects in the bashings] have all been questioned but they have decided to stay mute. There is a lot of difficulties with this. I have to see the file before I comment." Since leaving Fiji, sacked Police Commissioner Hughes, an Australian, has said one reason for the coup was self-preservation on Bainimarama's part. "He's been resistant to the investigation into the murder of the Counter-Revolutionary Warfare soldiers in 2000," Hughes told ABC News. "We believe he has some questions to answer in that regard himself." Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer shares Hughes' view. "I think, in particular, Commodore Bainimarama is deeply concerned about investigations by the police into the Fiji military itself," he told ABC Radio.

A senior Fiji police officer tells Time he and his colleagues have new evidence suggesting some of the "top [military] brass ordered the actions." Now, he says, they are bracing for the day when soldiers march in and remove their files. But "We've got copies," he says. "We won't give up." Ana Kalounivale may get justice yet.