Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the latest Amnesty International report on Fiji is biased, selective and does not reflect the true position in Fiji or the great strides that Fiji has made as a nation to deal with the issue of torture.
Sayed-Khaiyum says Fiji has ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture and the institutions and their leaders have made it clear that torture, assault and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees will not be tolerated.
He says the Prime Minister and the Police Commissioner are both on the public record having said that there is a policy of zero tolerance for torture and that policy is being enforced with vigour.
Sayed-Khaiyum says it is no secret that during more turbulent times in Fiji, we had a problem with certain individuals taking the law into their own hands but there has never been institutionalised torture in Fiji and the days in which these individuals behaved with impunity are over.
He says indeed, there has been no immunity in the Constitution or any other law in Fiji that applies to disciplined forces since 2014.
The Attorney General says in fact, the record shows that successful prosecutions have been mounted and the perpetrators sentenced to lengthy jail terms.
He says this is certainly the case in relation to the death in custody of Vilikesa Soko.
Sayed-Khaiyum says yet in its media release in which the Soko case is cited to support Amnesty’s case, no mention is made that members of the disciplined forces have been tried and convicted for his rape, sexual assault and also perverting the course of justice.
He says this is clear evidence of the selective nature of Amnesty’s claims.
Sayed-Khaiyum says not only has Fiji embraced a policy of zero tolerance for torture and signed the UN Convention but we are working hard with our development partners to raise standards in the Fijian Police and reduce the incidence of assault in custody.
He says Britain and the United Nations Development Program are working closely with the police on a pilot program that includes the video recording of police interviews and “First Hour” procedures in which detainees are informed of their rights and gain access to legal representation.
Sayed-Khaiyum says this program ‑ which is to be implemented throughout Fiji ‑ has been praised by UN officials and the Secretary General of the Geneva‑based Association for the Prevention of Torture, Mark Thomson.
He says yet it is not mentioned in Amnesty’s report at all.
The Attorney General says the report also puts forward a number of generalised claims regarding Fiji’s legal framework and processes that it fails to substantiate.
He says it is a great pity that instead of highlighting these important positive developments, Amnesty has chosen to be selective in its reporting and sensationalise the issue with its headline “A darker side of paradise”.
Sayed-Khaiyum says it is of deep concern that at no stage did Amnesty’s researcher contact the Fijian Director of Public Prosecutions, who could have provided clarity on a number of issues that were raised in the report and also outline the progress Fiji is making to dealing with complaints of alleged torture or abuse.
He says this suggests a predetermined agenda on the part of Amnesty International to ignore the full picture and put politics before principle and objectivity.
The new Amnesty International Report says that Fiji has seen an ingrained culture of torture take root among its security forces.
Although Fiji has had democratic elections in 2014, the report says that a decade after the 2006 coup, the military remains in control of key institutions, including the police.
The report, Beating Justice: How Fiji’s Security Forces Get Away with Torture give details how uniformed officials have inflicted severe beatings, rape and other sexual violence, attacks by police dogs, shootings and other forms of torture and ill‑treatment or punishment in violation of international law.
In an October 2016 speech, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said that the culture of “what we call the buturaki – the beating – is deeply ingrained in parts of the Fijian psyche”.
He also stressed that there is no state sanctioned beatings or torture.
The report talks about five cases where people were beaten to death, succumbing to injuries sustained while in custody.
Among the cases detailed in the report is that of Vilikesa Soko, a 30‑year‑old man and father of three, who was beaten, raped and killed in August 2014.
Vilikesa Soko was a suspect in a robbery. After his arrest, he was interrogated, tortured and hospitalized for serious injuries.
The report says that four days into his ordeal, Vilikesa Soko died of a blood clot in his lung, caused by multiple traumatic injuries, including to his rectum and penis, according to an autopsy report that was leaked online.
The Amnesty report says that in one case, five men accused of robbing a shop in Nadi had crushed chilies rubbed on their bodies, water poured in their ears, large rocks dropped on their backs and were beaten until they confessed.
The report calls on the Fijian authorities to ensure that there is independent oversight, the legal framework is reformed, and security officials responsible for torture are brought to justice.
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