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UN Security Council urges Fiji to restore democracy
Sydney Morning Herald - April 22, 2009
Jonathan Pearlman – Fiji's military regime has ignored condemnation by the United Nations Security Council and pressed on with efforts to shore up control by prohibiting challenges to the validity of the coup that brought it to power.
A decree issued by the regime has forbidden attempts to take legal action against the interim government over its exercise of power since a bloodless coup in 2006.
An earlier court challenge ruled the regime was unconstitutional, but the decision was ignored by the President, Josefa Iloilo – an ally of the regime – who responded by sacking the judiciary, dissolving the constitution and declaring a 30-day state of emergency.
The crackdown was denounced on Monday in New York by the UN Security Council, whose president demanded a restoration of democracy. "It is a step backwards," said the president, Claude Heller, of Mexico.
"[It] needs restoration of the democracy process that Fiji has been undertaking, in cooperation with regional and international partners as well as the United Nations."
Two UN human rights experts, Leandro Despouy and Frank La Rue, also condemned the regime and urged the military ruler, Frank Bainimarama, to reinstate the judiciary and remove the restrictions on the media. "It is crucial that the judiciary is immediately re-established," said Mr Despouy, a special rapporteur on judicial independence.
Some blogs reported that the regime had been shredding incriminating documents related to the coup, though several sources in Fiji believed the reports were dubious. One source said any such documents were likely to exist in multiple versions and would not be worth shredding. The regime's Permanent Secretary for Justice, Pio Tikoduadua, said the allegation was "a completely false and mischievous idea".
Australia has been leading efforts to suspend Fiji from the Commonwealth and the Pacific Islands Forum, which had set a May 1 deadline for the regime to announce an election date. The Government has urged China to reconsider its aid program for Fiji, which has set back efforts to isolate the regime.
A New Zealand lawyer, Christopher Pryde, rejected criticisms from his colleagues in NZ after agreeing to be reappointed as Solicitor-General of Fiji. Mr Pryde said he wanted to help the regime restore the rule of law.
Australian legal groups have called on Australian lawyers to reject any offers to work for the regime.
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