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Amnesty International Report 2006 - Fiji

Legislation supposed to reconcile groups involved in and affected by the May 2000 coup instead provoked further political schisms. A landmark High Court ruling upheld the right to privacy and equality for lesbian and gay people under the Constitution. Legislative reforms were proposed to improve prison services and provide protection against domestic violence.

Reconciliation and Unity Commission

Political power struggles continued among the civilian and military elites. The government proposed legislation to establish a Reconciliation and Unity Commission with the power to recommend amnesty for "politically motivated" crimes committed in connection with the May 2000 coup and to grant compensation to those affected by such crimes. The proposed legislation promoted impunity for human rights violations and acts of treason, and was opposed by the military, the political opposition, and many areas of civil society on this basis. In late 2005 a parliamentary committee recommended that the amnesty proposal be amended to reflect constitutional principles.

Coup trials

Trials of individuals charged with offences relating to the May 2000 coup continued. Sentences passed during 2005 ranged from four months' to two years' imprisonment, with the two-year sentence suspended. A number of those convicted, including former government senators, were given community-based punishments or released early on health grounds. Former government minister Ratu Lalabalavu was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment in April, served most of the sentence out of prison, and was then appointed Minister of Transport. There was at least one report that state witnesses in coup-related trials received threats.

In August the Court of Appeal ordered the retrial of 20 soldiers convicted of participating in a November 2000 mutiny because their trial had not been fair. Their retrial by court martial was delayed, in part by failures to deliver all the accused to the courtroom and by the President's temporary removal of the presiding judge advocate appointed by the military. No progress was made in investigating the beating to death of four mutineers by soldiers suppressing the November mutiny.

Landmark ruling on discrimination

In April, two men were sentenced to two years' imprisonment for homosexual acts. In August the High Court overturned their conviction. It also declared provisions in the penal code discriminatory and unconstitutional in violating guarantees on privacy and equality to the extent that they penalized consensual sexual acts between males. The state appealed against the ruling.

The Methodist Church held a rally in June against same-sex marriages, but two further applications for large-scale marches were refused on the grounds that they could encourage hate crimes.

Violence against women

There was a 70 per cent increase in reported rapes and attempted rapes since 2004, police said in November. Where convictions were obtained for rape, prison terms of up to 20 years were imposed.

In a report in November 2005 the Fiji Law Reform Commission recommended a comprehensive overhaul of civil and criminal law responses to domestic violence. It proposed improving prosecutions, strengthening protection and services for victims, and adopting a national strategy to combat domestic violence.

Law reform

Reform of the Prison Act was also among recommendations made by the Fiji Law Reform Commission, which proposed a draft Corrections Bill to bring prison services into line with international human rights standards.

Topics: Reconciliation, Coup d'etat, Violence against women, Ethnic discrimination,