*EPF120 02/26/01
Excerpt: State Department Human Rights Report on Fiji 2000
(Government's human rights record deteriorated; now poor) (920)
The U.S. Department of State released the 25th edition of its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices February 26.
The full report is available online at:
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/eap/
Following is an excerpt featuring the text of the opening narrative of the report on Fiji for the year 2000:
(begin excerpt)
FIJI
Until May 19, the country was governed by a democratically elected Government; however, on that date, following a protest march against Indo-Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry's Government, armed indigenous Fijian supremacists led by George Speight, with the support of a number of rebel soldiers and hundreds of civilians, seized Parliament and took Chaudhry hostage along with several Members of Parliament. On May 29, President Ratu Mara was ousted in a nonviolent coup led by the military forces. Military commander Frank Bainimarama appointed himself Head of State, attempted to abrogate the Constitution, declared martial law, and began to rule by decree. After the May 19 takeover of Parliament, violent incidents occurred in many parts of the country. Roads were barricaded, public and private property was seized by rebel sympathizers, troops on Vanua Levu mutinied, Indo-Fijian settlements were terrorized by Ethnic Fijians, and Indo-Fijian businesses were looted and burned. In July a military-backed civilian interim administration was installed after lengthy negotiations between the military regime and the rebels, and a meeting of the ethnic Fijian Great Council of Chiefs. In late July, the military-backed civilian interim administration arrested the rebel leadership, charged the leaders with treason, and began to assert control over the country. A Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) was endorsed by the Great Council of Chiefs in September and was asked to draft a new constitution. However, the CRC suspended its work in December following a High Court ruling that the CRC had no legal standing. In November the High Court ruled that the 1997 Constitution remained in force. The interim administration appealed this decision and requested a stay of the High Court's ruling. The Court of Appeal denied the request. The full Court of Appeal is scheduled to hear the appeal in February 2001.
The 1997 Constitution was designed to promote greater political stability. Ethnicity remains a dominant factor in Fijian life and affects the country's politics, economy, and society. The population is a multiracial, multicultural mix, with indigenous Fijians comprising 51 percent, Indo-Fijians (descendents of immigrants from the Indian subcontinent) approximately 42 percent, and Asians, Caucasians, and other Pacific Islanders making up the rest of the population of more than 775,000 persons. The ethnic division is illustrated by the contrast between the private and public sectors; Indo-Fijian families largely control most private businesses, while indigenous Fijians largely head the government ministries and the military forces. Prior to the May takeover of Parliament, the judiciary was independent; however, with the purported abrogation of the Constitution and other events, including the abolition of the Supreme Court, the status of the judiciary is uncertain.
Until the military coup in late May, the Fiji Military Forces (FMF), a small professional force, came under the authority of the Ministry for Home Affairs, as did the police. The Fiji Intelligence Service was dissolved by the Cabinet in 1999, but its functions were absorbed by the Police Special Branch and by a new analytical unit that was established in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Police and military forces committed human rights abuses.
Sugar and tourism are the mainstays of the economy, accounting for more than half of foreign exchange earnings. Investment is depressed due to continuing concerns over the resolution of land lease issues and political upheaval. Economic growth of approximately 7 percent was achieved in 1999 due to record numbers of tourists and a large sugar crop following 2 years of droughts and floods. However, the economy has suffered significantly as a result of the political turmoil. Targeted sanctions were imposed on the country by a number of states, and the key garment, sugar, and tourism sectors were affected adversely. Tourism remained depressed at year's end. The gross domestic product (GDP) has declined by an estimated 10 percent since 1999. Skilled workers and professionals have departed the country in large numbers. Health and education services in particular were affected.
The Government's human rights record deteriorated during the year and is generally poor. With the ouster of a democratically elected Government, the purported abrogation of the Constitution in May, and the installation of a military-backed civilian interim administration in July, citizens lost the right peacefully to change their government. The Constitution contains provisions that reduce previous factors that abridged the right of citizens to change their government. However, it also maintained a partially ethnically based electoral system. A major human rights problem remains ethnically based discrimination. A number of government policies, including hiring practices, education policies, and land tenure preferences continue to provide protection for indigenous Fijian interests. Other human rights problems include several political and extrajudicial killings; occasional police and military abuse of detainees and suspects; informal and formal constraints on the freedom of speech and the press and self-censorship; restrictions on freedom of assembly and movement; violence and discrimination against women; instances of abuse of children; racial discrimination and violence; reports of forced labor; and trafficking in persons.
Ethnically motivated societal violence led to abuses, including looting and destruction of property.
Rebel forces committed abuses, including killings and beatings.
(end excerpt)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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