Human Rights Defenders Arrested
Suva, Fiji Tuesday, December 26, 2006

SOLDIERS took in six pro-democracy activists for questioning around midnight on Sunday in what has been described as a "cowardly and deplorable behaviour".

The six, Fiji Women's Rights Movement executive director Virisila Buadromo and her partner Arshad Daud, businesswoman Laisa Digitaki, businessman Imraz Iqbal, youth activists, Jackie Koroi and Pita Waqavonovono were rounded up and taken in separate incidents to the army barracks in Nabua.

A reliable source said some of them were later forced to walk from the barracks in Nabua to the pro-democracy shrine in Lami in heavy downpour in the early hours of Monday morning.

The group had been actively voicing their concerns over the military takeover and were earlier warned by the military to shut up.

A human rights group labelled the military's action as "terror intimidation tactics" that were no different to those used by the Nazi Gestapo and Idi Amin on innocent and vulnerable civilians.

The source, who preferred anonymity, said the military rounded up the first group at about 9pm on Saturday and at 12.20am, all the six activists were at the military camp.

The Fiji Times' attempts to contact the activists on their mobile phones were unsuccessful while some have been reported to have left the capital for the west yesterday morning.

The Fiji Times also could not contact the military late yesterday. Military spokesman Major Neumi Leweni and senior military officers' mobile phones have been switched off from the morning and attempts to obtain comments on the issue were unsuccessful. When officers from the Pacific Centre for Public Integrity called some of the senior military officers to ask them if they were aware of the activists being rounded up, the senior officers said they were not aware of anything nor did they know who had ordered for it to be conducted.

The source said it was after 1am on Monday morning when the group was told to walk from the military camp to the shrine at Lami followed by two private vehicles filled with soldiers.

"They were walking in the rain and they looked tired and were all wet but they could not do anything because they were being followed by these two vehicles.

"Viri and her partner Arshad left the group at Reservoir Road after they were told they could go while the rest of them proceeded to the shrine in Lami, the soldiers destroyed whatever was outside and sprayed Merry Christmas over the banners," the source said.

The source said the activists were shaken and were still trying to get to terms with what was done to them in the camp.

The Pacific Centre for Public Integrity, which supports the pro-democracy shrine at Lami, condemned the military, saying the action demonstrated cowardly and deplorable behaviour.

A statement where centre leaders refused to be named said detaining the six late at night when they could not contact anyone for help was cowardly.

In the statement, the centre said the military forcibly and illegally took the activists to the barracks for interrogation in separate incidents.

"Those taken on Saturday night included Fiji Women's Rights Movement executive director Virisila Buadromo, Imraz Iqbal and Laisa Digitaki, Ms Buadromo's partner Arshad and Pita Waqavonovono.

The NGO challenged the military to publicly explain why the individuals who spoke peacefully for democracy and in defence of others rights have been physically and emotionally threatened, abused and terrorised".

It called on Commodore Bainimarama to halt the prosecution of pro-democracy supporters.

The centre called on Amnesty International and Human Rights watch to visit Fiji and investigate the abuses.

In another incident, Sugar Cane Growers Council chief executive Jagannath Sami said he was not intimidated by instructions from the military not to make any comment against it.

Mr Sami was taken to the army camp at Lautoka on Saturday. An officer and soldier came and asked him to go to the camp.

"I agreed and went on my own and in my transport," he said.

Mr Sami said the officer told him not to comment against the military. He said the only comment he made was about the proposal of the GCC.

The Pacific Centre for Public Integrity maintains the bill of rights in the 1997 Constitution is in force despite Commodore Bainimarama's assertion that some sections had been suspended.

He warned that any military officer found to have authorised and sanctioned such deplorable human rights violation would face the full brunt of the law.

"Chapter 4 of the Bill of Rights protects against unlawful arrest or detention, cruel or degrading treatment, unreasonable searches and seizures and guarantees freedom of expression," it stated.

Centre executive director Angie Heffernan said they were monitoring, investigating and documenting human rights abuses and violations, especially those perpetuated by the military and this would be used as evidence before national and if necessary international courts.

She said the centre appealed to Commodore Bainimarama to half then prosecution of peaceful pro democracy supporters.

So far, there had been more than 20 senior government officials and civilians holding senior positions that have been taken up to the military barracks to be questioned and interrogated on information," she said.

Last Friday, Commodore Bainimarama said the military would resist any attempts to destabilise it or thwart it's clean up campaign.

Speaking on a Fijian radio station talk back show, he named individuals that they were monitoring because they were inciting civil unrest.

He warned members of the public and non government activists that included Fiji Womens Rights Movement executive director Virisila Buadromo, Human right activists Patricia Jalal, journalist Imraz Iqbal and businesswoman Laisa Digitaki to stop saying things that would incite unrest in the country.

Mr Bainimarama said these individuals blamed the military for a fire in Lami last week and he stated it was not the doing of the military.

He said that these individuals should shut their mouth or else the military would shut it for them and they should not forget the death that had occurred at the military camp on November 2.

He further warned the general public that if there were a civil disobedience, the military would look into it seriously.

Commodore Bainimarama said Ms Buadromo and Ms Jalal had placed his mobile number and e mail address in the newspaper for everyone to use and it was causing a lot of problems for him.

He said on Wednesday night, he was informed of the outcome of the Great Council of Chiefs meeting and that the chiefs were told that since the military did not want to be part of the meeting, the chiefs were reminded that this was their land and their people.

He warned the general public not to be misled by their chiefs because some of them had their own political agenda and gain on such circumstances.

Commdore Bainimarama said the military would not tolerate any individual or group that would want to destabilise and be a hindrance to their clean up campaign.

Ms Buadromo said the warning by Mr Bainimarama was really scary and this was done on a national radio station.

"Why us, we do not have any guns? We are only using words and we have not broken any laws,'' she said.

"We have our freedom of speech and freedom of expression and we are not saying anything that is violent or insulting because we are just giving them the facts. If they call us in we are willing to go to the camp," she said.

She said it must always be remembered that the truth would always prevail at the end of the day.