Security Council, UN rights experts urge restoration ofSoon as the UN Security Council issued their non-binding statement on Fiji, some segments in the Australian media, namely ABC were quick to pounce on the statement and wove in the story line, some unverified reports of shredding of legal documents and the article speculates at best that, the UN Security Council statement, was solely based on this shredding allegation, attributed to a posting on Intelligentsiya blog.
constitutional law in Fiji
20 April 2009 – The Security Council and two human rights experts today joined Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other United Nations figures in voicing deep concern over the abrogation of Fiji’s constitution, the sacking of its judiciary and the imposition of press restrictions.
The South Pacific archipelago’s unelected executive fired the judges, set a longer time frame for parliamentary election and declared a public emergency on 10 April, following a court ruling that declared the interim leadership unconstitutional.
“It is a step backwards and needs restoration of the democracy process that Fiji has been undertaking, in cooperation with regional and international partners as well as the United Nations,” Ambassador Claude Heller of Mexico, which holds the April presidency of the Security Council, told the press this afternoon.
Supporting Mr. Ban’s approach to the matter, members of the Council expressed hope that Fiji will resume “steadfast” progress towards democracy and that fair elections will be held at the soonest possible time.
The island chain has suffered prolonged internal tensions between its indigenous Fijian and Indo-Fijian communities, and had four coups since 1987. Commodore Josaia V. Bainimarama, who serves as Prime Minister, came to power in a coup in December 2006, sparking criticism from the UN at the time.
Also today, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro Despouy, and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, strongly condemned the suspension of rights in Fiji.
They urged Fiji’s authorities to restore the rule of law by immediately reinstating the judiciary and ending the restrictions placed on the rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
“The respect of the independence of the judiciary and freedom of expression are fundamental pillars of the rule of law and democracy,” said the joint statement of the two experts, who report to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council in an independent and unpaid capacity.
“Judges play a fundamental role in protecting human rights during states of emergency. It is crucial that the judiciary is immediately re-established,” said Mr. Despouy, maintaining that such states of emergency must be strictly limited.
He added that there have been deportations of foreign journalists and arbitrary arrests of others, with yet others summoned by the Ministry of information and warned to restrict the content of their reporting. “Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council as well as other neutral international observers should be allowed to visit the country in order to ensure the respect of the human rights
of the population.”
He has requested on several occasions that the Interim Government of Fiji allow him to undertake an official visit to the country, with no response as yet.
The excerpt of ABC web article:
UN calls for democratic process in Fiji
By ABC correspondent Kerri Ritchie and wires
The United Nations Security Council has renewed calls for Fiji to restore democracy.
The demand coincides with reports that the military regime has begun shredding legal documents that relate to court action against the interim government.Fiji was plunged into a political crisis when its president reappointed military chief Frank Bainimarama as interim prime minister less than two days after a court ruled his government illegal. The Security Council says the repeal of the constitution and the delay of elections until 2014 is both undemocratic and a step backwards.
After the Security Council met, the current chairman, Mexico's Ambassador Claude Heller, said Fiji should let the people decide at the ballot box. "The members of the
Security Council are deeply concerned about the situation in Fiji, where
undemocratic decisions were made, including the abrogation of the constitution,"
he said. "The members of the Security Council hopes that fair elections will
be held at the soonest possible time."- ABC/Reuters
Kerie Ritchie continues her misreporting on another ABC audio article, by a dynamic imbalance of interviews, from the usual talking heads. It is rather disingenuous for ABC to interview persons largely sourced from the same political segment, without any dissenting opinions.
This type of stove piping reporting by certain media outlets, resulted in the WMD excuse being propagated and parroted by oblivious journalists. It appears that the Australian media are guilty of the same offence.
MP3 podcast of Ritchie's interview. The excerpt of Ritchie's interview:
Fiji military shreds legal documents
AM - Tuesday, 21 April , 2009 08:24:00
Reporter:
Kerri Ritchie
TONY EASTLEY: There are reports out of Fiji this morning that the military regime has ordered that documents dating back as far as the 2006 military coup, be shredded.Fiji remains under emergency rule, with the interim government continuing its censorship of local journalists.The allegations that documents have been shredded have surfaced on Fiji blog sites.
New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie reports.
KERRI RITCHIE: The heading on the Intelligentsiya blogsite reads 'Shredding
away justice from our courts'. Bloggers claim the military's lawyer, Major Ana
Rokomokoti, has been shredding documents. The lawyer was yesterday appointed
Fiji's chief registrar.The bloggers say the documents date back to 2006, when
the interim government took over after staging a military coup.Dorsami Naidu is
the President of Fiji's Law Society.
DORSAMI NAIDU: Like you, I hear it on the blog site.
KERRI RITCHIE: Mr Naidu has to be very careful what he says. He was arrested and kept overnight in a prison cell last week for speaking to the media.
DORSAMI NAIDU: That's what I've heard as well, that any action is pending against the interim Government, the military regime, files concerning those cases have been shredded. It's very childish and I cannot understand the reasons behind it.
KERRI RITCHIE: Australian QC Francis Douglas was one of the Court of Appeal
judges who ruled Fiji's interim government was illegal.He was sacked by Fiji's
President the next day, along with all the other members of the judiciary.This
is the first he's heard about documents being shredded.
FRANCIS DOUGLAS: It couldn't be effective in any event. I mean, the judgement at first instance is on the internet and, whilst I don't think the judgement of a Court of Appeal has yet received a number on the Osterley web (phoenetic), it is readily available in various places. I think one could obtain it from the Fiji Times, at least for a period of time, and it's also been posted on the New South Wales Bar Association's website.
KERRI RITCHIE: Eight magistrates and a chief magistrate were sworn in yesterday by Fiji's President Ratu Josefa Iloilo.No chief justice has been named and so far there haven't been any appointments to the high or supreme courts.Dorsami Naidu says yesterday was a very sad day for Fiji's justice system.
DORSAMI NAIDU: You know, they should think 10 times before they decide to
take up positions under this military regime.
KERRI RITCHIE: The United Nations Security Council says it's deeply concerned about the situation in Fiji.Claude Heller is the president of the UN Security Council.
CLAUDE HELLER: It is a step backwards. The members of the Security Council
express hopes that Fiji will make a steadfast advancement towards democracy and
that fair elections will be held at the soonest possible time.
KERRI RITCHIE: Dorsami Naidu has the same hopes.
DORSAMI NAIDU: People are scared to speak out.
KERRI RITCHIE: Are you taking a big risk by speaking out to me?
DORSAMI NAIDU: When they hear my voice over the radio, it is a risk.
TONY EASTLEY: The Fiji Law Society president, Dorsami Naidu, ending that report by our New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie.
What was a relative stark omission from the Trans-Tasman media was the coverage of the UN Global Conference on Racism, currently being held in Geneva. Apparently, the conference got off to a shaky start amid the walk out of several diplomats due to comments of Iran's President on Israel. The US boycotted the conference because it could not agree to the language of the joint communique by the Conference of Racism, that was severely critical of Israel.
Perhaps the UN Security Council statement on Fiji, may not reflect the total consensus of the UN, judging from the Geneva walkout. This walkout in Geneva also a reminder of the political horse trading within the institution, by some member nations who will send smaller nations to the 'Head master's office' vis a vis Fiji; yet turn a blind eye to more egregious crimes against humanity.
The excerpt of the Irish Times article:
Irish diplomats join walkout at UN racism conference
MARY FITZGERALD, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
IRISH DIPLOMATS were among those to stage a walkout at a UN conference on racism in Geneva yesterday, in protest at a speech made by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during which he denounced Israel as “the most cruel and racist regime”.
Daithí Ó Ceallaigh, Ireland’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, and three other Irish officials, left the conference chamber along with other EU delegates after Mr Ahmadinejad “crossed the line” in his tirade against Israel, according to diplomatic sources.
Several protesters, some wearing multi-coloured wigs and red clown noses, had been removed by security guards after they shouted “Shame! Shame!” and “Racist! Racist!” as the Iranian president prepared to give his address. Mr Ahmadinejad, in a rambling speech which was applauded by some delegates, railed against Israel, saying it had been established following the second World War “under the pretext of Jewish suffering”.
Speaking through a translator, the Iranian leader continued: “They sent migrants from Europe, the United States and other parts of the world in order to establish a totally racist government in the occupied Palestine . . . In compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine.” EU delegates had made “contingency plans” before Mr Ahmadinejad’s speech because of fears he might “overstep the mark”, one European diplomat said.
“As soon as he started to address the question of the Jewish people and Israel, we had no reason to stay in the room,” explained French ambassador Jean-Baptiste Mattei. French president Nicolas Sarkozy later described Mr Ahmadinejad’s speech as “an intolerable call to racist hatred”.British ambassador Peter Gooderham condemned what he said were “offensive and inflammatory” comments. “Such outrageous anti-Semitic remarks should have no place in a UN anti-racism forum,” he added.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon accused Mr Ahmadinejad of using his speech on the first day of the conference “to accuse, divide and even incite”, contradicting the very purpose of the meeting. The Iranian president’s remarks make it “significantly more difficult to build constructive solutions to the very real problem of racism”, Mr Ban, who sat directly behind Mr Ahmadinejad during his speech, added.
Last night the Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU presidency, announced it was withdrawing from the conference in a national capacity. UN high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay, however, said the best response to what she described as “objectionable” political grandstanding was to “reply and correct, not to withdraw and boycott” the conference.
“The overall atmosphere was quite sour. One now has to ask if today’s events have the potential to unravel the whole thing,” a diplomatic source said last night. “We will have a better idea tomorrow.”
Even before yesterday’s opening speeches, the conference, held to review progress on the implementation of commitments made at the 2001 World Conference against Racism in Durban, had been overshadowed by controversy.Several countries, including the US, Germany, Canada and Australia, decided to
boycott the week-long event because of concerns that Muslim states would use it
as a platform for denunciations of Israel and calls for “defamation” of religion
to be defined as racism.
Some diplomats feared a repeat of the bitter wrangling that marred the Durban gathering, which saw delegates clash over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the issue of slavery reparations. The US and Israel walked out of the Durban conference following attempts – which later proved unsuccessful – by some participants to equate Zionism with racism.
Meanwhile, Israel yesterday recalled its ambassador to Switzerland in protest at a meeting Swiss president Hans-Rudolf Merz held with Mr Ahmadinejadon Sunday during which Mr Merz pressed the case of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, who has been jailed in Tehran.
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