Fiji brutality video sparks NZ protests
Recent revelation of police brutality in Fiji led to a series of protests last week in New Zealand.
Protests were held in Auckland and Wellington after an online video two weeks ago showed what are believed to be members of the Fijian police force beating an escaped prisoner as he lay in the back of a vehicle after being captured.
Embarrassed Fijian authorities later admitted the incident and have promised a full investigation.
Last Friday’s twin protests were the culmination of activism by a mixture of groups and sparked by the recent exposure of violence against prisoners by Fijian security personnel, organisers said.
The Wellington protest was organised by blogger and activist Sai Lealea who led the speakers outside the Fiji High Commission.
Groups represented included the NZ Council of Trade Unions, the Green Party and Amnesty International, who have all condemned the Fijian regime.
Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation.
The NZCTU has been campaigning strongly for recognition of workers’ rights and labour standards in Fiji and demanded that the Prime Minister
Frank Bainimarama’s regime recognise human rights at work.
The Green Party has also insisted that the New Zealand government should use its influence in the region to put pressure on the Fijian government.
Fijians training with Taliban?
Meanwhile, Fiji police have launched an urgent investigation into a report that two or three Fiji citizens are training with the Taliban in Pakistan.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported recently that Pakistan remained a major destination for radicalised Muslims bent on a life of jihad, despite hundreds of US drone strikes, the death of Osama bin Laden and the fracturing of Al-Qaeda.
The report said foreign fighter numbers were increasing with potentially 2000-3500 foreign fighters in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border areas from about 30 different countries.
“A few months ago, we even welcomed some (two or three) people from Fiji for the first time,” the Taliban member told AFP, reported by the Stuff website in New Zealand.
“There are more nationalities because they face the same problems.
“They tell us that they feel left aside by capitalism and discriminated by unfair laws, like the Swiss one on minarets or the French one on hijabs.”
The military head of Fiji’s police, Ioane Naivalurua, told radio Fiji police were seeking more information on the report.
Naivalurua said police were ‘’using their network abroad to help the investigation’’.
Fiji is home to 53,000 Muslims, mainly of Indian origin. Most Fiji Muslims are of the orthodox Sunni branch with a small number of Ahmadiyya Muslims.
The majority of New Zealand’s 36,000 Muslims are from Fiji.
Recent revelation of police brutality in Fiji led to a series of protests last week in New Zealand.
Protests were held in Auckland and Wellington after an online video two weeks ago showed what are believed to be members of the Fijian police force beating an escaped prisoner as he lay in the back...
Recent revelation of police brutality in Fiji led to a series of protests last week in New Zealand.
Protests were held in Auckland and Wellington after an online video two weeks ago showed what are believed to be members of the Fijian police force beating an escaped prisoner as he lay in the back of a vehicle after being captured.
Embarrassed Fijian authorities later admitted the incident and have promised a full investigation.
Last Friday’s twin protests were the culmination of activism by a mixture of groups and sparked by the recent exposure of violence against prisoners by Fijian security personnel, organisers said.
The Wellington protest was organised by blogger and activist Sai Lealea who led the speakers outside the Fiji High Commission.
Groups represented included the NZ Council of Trade Unions, the Green Party and Amnesty International, who have all condemned the Fijian regime.
Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation.
The NZCTU has been campaigning strongly for recognition of workers’ rights and labour standards in Fiji and demanded that the Prime Minister
Frank Bainimarama’s regime recognise human rights at work.
The Green Party has also insisted that the New Zealand government should use its influence in the region to put pressure on the Fijian government.
Fijians training with Taliban?
Meanwhile, Fiji police have launched an urgent investigation into a report that two or three Fiji citizens are training with the Taliban in Pakistan.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported recently that Pakistan remained a major destination for radicalised Muslims bent on a life of jihad, despite hundreds of US drone strikes, the death of Osama bin Laden and the fracturing of Al-Qaeda.
The report said foreign fighter numbers were increasing with potentially 2000-3500 foreign fighters in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border areas from about 30 different countries.
“A few months ago, we even welcomed some (two or three) people from Fiji for the first time,” the Taliban member told AFP, reported by the Stuff website in New Zealand.
“There are more nationalities because they face the same problems.
“They tell us that they feel left aside by capitalism and discriminated by unfair laws, like the Swiss one on minarets or the French one on hijabs.”
The military head of Fiji’s police, Ioane Naivalurua, told radio Fiji police were seeking more information on the report.
Naivalurua said police were ‘’using their network abroad to help the investigation’’.
Fiji is home to 53,000 Muslims, mainly of Indian origin. Most Fiji Muslims are of the orthodox Sunni branch with a small number of Ahmadiyya Muslims.
The majority of New Zealand’s 36,000 Muslims are from Fiji.
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