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March 22nd, 2017

22/3/2017

12 Comments

 

Get off your "gnomic chair" and investigate death of CRW soldiers following the 2000 mutiny - Wadan Narsey to Aswin Raj

[Author’s note: I publish this Letter to the Editor and to FHRADC and MIDA to ensure that the public gets to read this, whether the newspapers in Fiji publish or not. Further, with any number of persons being prosecuted, convicted and jailed, for all kinds of alleged crimes in the last few years (some still going on) it is important for the Fiji public to have a better  understanding  of the nature of the prosecuting arms of the Bainimarama Government and the institutions and persons who are paid by taxpayers to safeguard their basic human rights. This article is also directed to elicit the extent of commitment of some political parties and leaders (like SODELPA) to human rights and justice for all.]

22 March 2017
Letters to the Editor
Fiji Times and Fiji Sun,
Director Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission (Ashwin Raj)
FHRADC Commission Members (Justice Mohammed Ajmeer, Faiz Khan, Selina Lee Wah)
Director of Public Prosecutions (Mr Christopher Pryde)
​
Dear Sir
​
It is encouraging to see that Mr. Ashwin Raj the Director of FHRADC (and Chairman of MIDA) is proactive in wishing to right the wrongs of some of the “institutionalized racism” of the past, an objective which I share.
By this Letter to the Editor, I request Ashwin Raj and the Commissioners of the FHRADC, and the Director of Public Prosecutions,  to inform the Fiji public whether they are investigating the denial of the most important human right of all- the right to life-  of the following five CRW soldiers who died under questioning, while they were in the custody of the RFMF following the mutiny in 2000: Selesitino Kalounivale, Jone Davui, Epeneri Bainimoli, Lagani Rokowaqa and Iowane Waseroma.

Raj, the Commissioners of the FHRADC and the DPP, might wish to
​
1. Interview the senior military officer (Viliame Seruvakula) who was apparently responsible for arresting these five soldiers and handed them into police custody at the Nabua Police Station;
2. interview the senior military officer (Jone Baledrokadroka) who was apparently responsible for signing them out of police custody and into military custody, taking them to the Stanley Brown Naval Base where the RFMF Commander (Bainimarama) was then located;
3. interview the senior army officer who ordered them to be taken to Nabua army barracks and be questioned in order to find out who were the instigators of the 2000 mutiny;
4. interview the soldiers who physically interrogated the five CRW soldiers and eventually delivered the bodies to the CWM Hospital;
5. read the very clear judgement of resident magistrate Ajmal Gulab Khan in the Workman’s Compensation Act case brought by Mrs Kalounivale, explaining the chain of events that led to the death of Kalounivale;
6. read the autopsy report by Australian pathologist Professor Stephen Cordner;
7. interview Father Akauola who tended to the tortured soldiers in their dying moments;
8. read (if they can find it) the Police Investigation Report into the torture and death of the five soldiers;
9. interview former FRMF officer Kaci Solomone who headed the court martial of the CRW soldiers accused in the mutiny and also Judge Advocate Graeme Leong;
10. interview the CRW soldiers involved in the mutiny and those (including some current SODELPA leaders and some former RFMF officers) who were named by Captain Shane Stevens (the leader of the mutiny) as  being instigators or supporters of the mutiny;
11. interview former Police Commissioner (Andrew Hughes) who stated in an ABC interview that the Fiji Police were close to laying charges against several individuals associated with these deaths.
12. interview the  UN which is not only an avowed global defender of basic human rights but who are currently employing some former RFMF and police officers who are alluded to in Questions 1, 2, 10 and 11 above.
13. interview the Fiji Law Society and UN as to their august views on amnesty provisions in the 2013 Fiji Constitution and their applicability to the five deaths referred to above.
As Chairman of the FHRADC (Justice Ajmeer) will no doubt appreciate, these five CRW soldiers were presumed innocent until proven guilty by the Fiji courts (some undoubtedly were innocent).
Only Ashwin Raj and the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission can provide closure to the still grieving families of the five CRW soldiers who were killed in  military custody in 2000 without trial, judge or jury.
Raj and the FHRADC can reassure the Fiji public that they are ready to defend the human rights of everyone in Fiji, whether they are powerful (like Madam Nazhat Shameem) or weak, like these forgotten deceased CRW soldiers.
In case Raj might feel inclined to label this letter also as “vitriolic diatribe” from “self-selected moral entrepreneurs and armchair critics” (The Fiji Times, March 18, 2017) I remind him of a well-known saying is supported by all world religions: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”.
Current SODELPA and Bainimarama Government (Fiji First Party) leaders  might also wish to explain to the Fiji public why none of them are demanding a Commission of Inquiry into the 2000 coup and the 2000 mutiny, which resulted in the above gross injustices, shoved under the carpet for the last seventeen years.
I cc this Letter to Editor also to Mr. Ashwin Raj as Chairman of MIDA in the faint hope that he will encourage the two newspapers to publish this letter as an indication that he will not be influenced by any conflict of interest in his two important positions as Chairman of MIDA and CEO of FHRADC.
Yours sincerely
Professor Wadan Narsey
12 Comments
Russell Hunter
22/3/2017 10:30:55 am

Never mind died under questioning Wadan. These men - at least two of whom were definitely innocent - were beaten to death. I saw the chilling post mortem photos that made the cause of death very, very obvious. And, yes, their commander was very much a "person of interest" in the ensuing police investigation - as Victor Lal and I have reported. What happened to their human rights?

Reply
Ashique
22/3/2017 12:17:09 pm

Death of crw soldiers is a blessing for Fiji. Simple logic-do the crime, pay the prize. Most of crw soldier wife's and daughters are roaming the streets. It good for ppl like me who get to fuck a variety of ex-military goons relatives for a couple of bucks. They have been well trained in the art of satisfying lusty men. Thanks to crw soldiers early death, we get to enjoy fruits of their labour.

Reply
Chiku
22/3/2017 04:44:45 pm

Wadan is asking Raj and the rest of the Bainimarama regime apparatchik to commit political suicide by pursuing this investigation into the flagrant violation of human rights following the 2000 mutiny.
It won't happen.
Raj and company know which side their bread is buttered...

Reply
Rajend Naidu
22/3/2017 11:17:52 pm

Remember what the Brazilian educator, philosopher and leading advocate of critical pedagogy Paulo Freire said in his public lecture at USP in 1974 : People in positions of power do not commit suicide...

Reply
paula raqeukai
22/3/2017 11:37:30 pm

"Totoka vakaoti dina" Dr Narsey!....literally meaning a "factual analysis" of Ashwin Raj bullshit and regime SUCKER!.....does not worth a cent to reply.....a racist sucker of the regime!

Reply
Welcome Home
23/3/2017 04:32:26 am

"And all that mighty heart is lying still". "Sick and depraved". First a quote from the English poet William Wordsworth about Westminster Bridge in London, scene of the terrorist attack yesterday on the Mother of Parliaments. The second a description of it by UK Prime Minister Theresa May. No, no, Ashique, there will NEVER be an accommodation with terrorism! Not in our lifetime, not in Fiji nor in any other far corner of the world. No quarter must be given to barbarism! Nor acquiescence in the subjection, slavery of innocent women -widows, grandmothers, mothers, children, the elderly and frail to continue unaddressed. The Hidden Horror is revealed for view in this post. It is a suppurating sore still waiting to be lanced.

Reply
splashViti
23/3/2017 06:41:16 am

Phew! @ Ashwin Raj's Human Rights Commission non-submission of accounts for audit for 8 long years... Thieving Privileged Class?

From NFP @ facebook:

"A PEEK AT THE AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORT OF 2015.
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION YET TO SUBMIT ACCOUNTS FROM 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Despite the brash dramatics of the Attorney General yesterday,intended to cover up being caught out on delayed Auditor General reports for 2015, the reports were finally tabled in the House today.

We will post up links to the online versions of the report once the Parliament Secretariat gets this digitised.

In the meantime, this audit query in Volume 2 related to the non-audits for eight (8) years of the #Fiji Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Commission .

The Commission has not submitted accounts since 2008 leaving us a little baffled as to how it was possible for the Director, Ashwin Raj, to be so effusive in defending Ambassador Nazhat Shameem at the Geneva Mission, while his own accountability to taxpayers were sorely wanting as highlighted in the Auditor General's report for 2015."
---

Reply
Chiku
23/3/2017 10:19:28 am

As a member of the new " privileged caste " in Fiji ( the coup installed rulers and their cronies ) Ashwin Raj does not need to worry about such minor matters as audits and democratic accountability.
What's important is that he is under the patronage of his political masters which makes him " untouchable ".
Now you can see why he comes out so swiftly to defend the ruling mob which include Madam Nazhat Shameem.

Reply
Rajend Naidu
23/3/2017 10:40:15 pm

Editor,
State Terrorism
Ukraine accused Russia of " state terrorism " after Denis Voronenkov, former Russian lawmaker ( MP ) and key witness in a treason case against former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich was shot dead in broad daylight in Kiev ( Reuters 23/3 ).
Voronenkov fled to Ukraine last year after a fraud case was instigated against him. Voronenkov was a critic of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko said Voronenkov's killing " is an act of state terrorism on the part of Russia, which Voronenkov was forced to leave for political reasons ".
Russia called the allegation " absurd ".
Is it?
Political killings sponsored by the state/rogue rulers happens, doesn't it?
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
splashViti
24/3/2017 09:40:44 am

Agree Chiku, though I wonder how long will these coup abettors last - appeasing the gross appetite of the crocodile hoping it will eat them last as I absolutely doubt that the abettors have the guts or the self-respect to simply walk away.

Reply
Rajend Naidu
24/3/2017 07:58:50 pm

Editor,
Never Late To Round Up Ruthless Rulers and their Henchmen
We read in ' Chile sentences 33 over Pinochet-era disappearances '
(BBC 23/3 ) that the High Court in Chile has sentenced 33 former intelligence agents for the disappearance of five political activists in 1987.
The court said the 5 had been abducted and killed and their bodies thrown from a helicopter into the sea. The 5 are believed to be the last people kidnapped under the authoritarian military rule of General Augusto Pinochet from 1973 to 1990.
Gen.Pinochet came to power in a military coup in 1973 when he overthrew the socialist government of President Salvadore Allende.
Outside Chile, he is remembered as a ruthless dictator whose military regime tortured and killed thousands of opponents and drove many into exile. ( read the book Missing for details ).
Gen. Pinochet stepped down from power in 1990, two years after he lost a referendum on whether he should remain in power.
The People of Chile said no to the Dictator.
That's what we must do every time a dictator raises his ugly head.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Reply
Welcome Home
26/3/2017 05:21:29 pm

Is this failure to investigate egregious human rights violations a case of : "I am the President NOT you!"? The Rules of War under the Geneva Conventions require a certain Code of Conduct. Were we indeed in a State of War in 2000? If so, what specific kind of war? Wars of the Roses? An American-style civil war or something indubitably else? It is high time we knew! For it felt like war each and every day and those who came in to gauge it did not disagree.

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