Radio NZ International article reports that, Fiji Human Rights Commission(F.H.R.C) has dismissed the Eminent Person Group's(E.P.G) leaked report regarding the situation in Fiji.
F.H.R.C Director had also identified some irregularities with two members of the group, which undoubtedly compromised the integrity of the EPG and their report on Fiji.
Director Shameem highlighted the activities of an Australian member of ECG- General Peter Cosgrove, who was involved with the Norwegian vessel: Tampa and the affair with Afghan refugees-an episode demonstrating unethical behavior.
Australian Federal Court papers filed by Victoria Civil Liberties Inc. Vs Minister of Immigration & Multicultural affairs, outline the track record on the embarrasing series of events.
The court subsequently ruled against the Australian Government for illegally detaining the refugees, reported by WSWS article.
(Above Image: Afghan refugees from the sinking vessel OLONG, involved in [C.M.I] or Certain Maritime Incident)
Truth Overboard.com outlines the chronology of events.
(Above image: General Peter Cosgrove)
General Cosgrove's dangerous descent in the moral Netherlands, on the issue of Afghani refugees was the not the only controversy surrounding his vast resume. Apparently, the honorable General was also accused of misleading the Australian Senate Estimates on East Timor and Abu Gharib prison torture.
This is a micro excerpt of S.M.H article, questioning General Cosgrove about the involvement of Australia in Abu Gharib.
Persistent questioning by the media and the Opposition following the publication of the abuse photos at the end of April led Defence to conduct an inquiry – its first inquiry - into its state of knowledge of the abuses.
The results of that inquiry, which included a survey of 298 members of the Defence forces, were announced by the Chief of the Defence Force, General Cosgrove and the Secretary of Defence, Mr Ric Smith, on 28 May.
We were informed that “none of those surveyed were aware of abuse or serious mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners or detainees, of the nature of recent allegations, during their deployment” and “there were no reports about the abuse or serious mistreatment of prisoners or detainees of the nature of recent allegations made, either through the chain of command or informally.”
Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer's ad-nauseum harrangue on Fiji politics should be superimposed with Australia's own involvement with Abu Gharib scandal in Iraq covered in a 2004 article by SMH or the theft of East Timor oil covered by this article by ASAP.
This is the excerpt:
The tempest in the Timor Sea
Asia Times - April 24, 2004
Alan Boyd, Sydney --
Benefactor or bully?
Australia has been portrayed as both in its protracted standoff with tiny East Timor over US$30 billion worth of deep-sea oil and gas reserves. So uneven is the contest, between the richest and poorest nations on the southern rim of the Pacific, that Canberra was always going to come off worse in the public relations battle.
"It is, quite literally, a matter of life and death," Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri declared in one of the more excitable quotations to come from the latest negotiations, which ended inconclusively in Dili on Thursday. "Timor-Leste loses $1 million a day due to Australia's unlawful exploitation of resources in the disputed area. That is too many lost and wasted lives," he said.
Five years ago, Australia was hell-bent on saving those same lives when it intervened in the militia war between Indonesian special forces and Timorese guerrillas, using hard cash and military firepower to eventually secure independence for the eastern half of the island of Timor.
Latest developments on the issue from News.com is that, the East-Timor Parliament has agreed to a 50:50 division of royalities from the Sunrise oil fields, but delayed the debate on the oil field's permanent boundaries for 50 years.
Delayed negotiation also means delayed justice, a matter which undermines Australia's pillars of justice and fairplay in the region.
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