Another bombshell has put Fiji in the headlines in Australia for all the wrong reasons – torture allegations against RFMF Colonel Penioni (Ben) Naliva, who has just been appointed deputy commander of the Australian Army’s 7th Brigade.
The story below – the lead in Tuesday’s Australian newspaper – will rock the defence and political establishments in Suva and Canberra, which had been hoping that Ben Naliva’s appointment would herald a new era of defence cooperation between the two countries. Instead, Naliva – and the RFMF – find themselves embroiled in accusations that the former right-hand man to Frank Bainimarama during the coup of 2006 carried out acts of torture.
Has Australia been too eager to accommodate Ben Naliva as part of its strategy to keep the RFMF on side at a time of increasing concern about China’s influence in the Pacific? Or did the Aussies give him a senior position in their army to get him out of Fiji because he was regarded as one of the officers most loyal to Frank Bainimarama who could have led an intervention to remove the Coalition government?
Read on for a story that has been covered in some detail by Victor Lal at Fijileaks but that The Australian’s Stephen Rice takes a lot further. So much so that it is bound to shake the foundations of the Aussie-Fiji “Vuvale Partnership” simply because the spectre of a Fijian military officer accused of torture commanding Australian troops will be inconceivable to most Australians.
The embarrassment continues and its stain is not just on the Fijian Government. It splashes on the innocent people of Fiji too. One article covering two angles – one about torture and a subtle reminder the current government still hasn’t addressed the sex bomb story.
Naliva’s appointment will probably be quietly rescinded by the ADF.
Most of us understood that Fiji was under martial law during the period of the alleged abuse, so we went about our business peacefully and steered away from anything controversial. The military informed the public that we were under martial law. As a military officer (may have been a junior officer at that time), was he not expected to follow orders? Was it not the Military establishment and the Military Council who sent its soldiers out into the community?
The Military Council will not reprimand Naliva or any other military officer for their role in the years under martial law in Fiji. If it has not reprimanded Rabuka or Bainimarama, then it will not reprimand Naliva or any other soldiers involved in carrying out military orders from Dec 2006 to 2014 when we returned to Democracy. Rescinding this appointment will be a huge mistake and a loss for Fiji.
When Fiji returned to democracy post-2014, the same soldiers who played a role in the years of martial law, were very instrumental in building the country and also changing the image of the RFMF under the 2013 Constitution. For the first time, we witnessed a greater role in humanitarian response during natural disasters, and they played an active role in state-building as witnessed in the Trooping of the Colors where they portrayed their role as being the custodians of all ethnic groups in Fiji. For some of us who stood on the periphery watching the circus unfold, we started to appreciate the role of the military as a stabilizing force in a country where ethnocentrism plays a huge role in causing division and instability. What other counter-mechanism do we have to stabilize our country, if not for the military?
Naliva is a son of Fiji, and his role in one of the narratives is most unfortunate, while the other two claim that he was present during their detainment but did nothing. While human rights abuse in any form is unacceptable, we need to ask the most challenging question: what did these three civilians do to spark the interest of the Military Council which then gave the order for their detainment?
The most challenging question is:
WHAT DID THE MILITARY DO THAT LED TO BRAVE INDIVIDUALS TO STAND UP AND CALL THEM OUT???
Abuse is abuse. No law, martial or otherwise, can justify it.
Frank Bainimarama’s coup d’etat on December the 5th, 2006, effectively put Fiji at war with itself! I’m not sure which question you are referring to, because I don’t think I asked one! Many countries have abolished their Military, and prospered subsequently! As of today I’ve yet to see one effective arrest of any individual involved in the 2006 coup or Human Rights abuses, including murder. So I remain sceptical of the prospect of Law and Order in Fiji.
Well..well …well…what’s hidden in the bushes will be shouted from the rooftops. The sex scandal by the two Ministers…the torturer to command ADF troops …are not overnight revelations.
They’re practices built up over decades and now have been revealed to the world. We will eventually reap what we sow…that principle never fails.
The men who carried out the coups in Fiji carry immunity. They are basically above the law. The current PM of Fiji is one. He should not be even in the government. He should not stand in front of students or anyone and lecture them about good citizenship.
We live in a country where abuse is normalized, even in the Cabinet. There is little regard for law and morals. Look at how the case of Tabuya is dealt with. She posts daily on Facebook as if there is no investigation or disrepute on her reputation as a Minister. She is not stood down from her role while such a serious claim of sex scandal, drugs, misbehavior and abuse of tax payer funded trip is involved. She is a public servant of the Cabinet. But nothing is expected of her. Filth creates filth. This is our role model for our girls in Fiji.
Fiji and Fiji’s politicians will be stuck in this coup mindset forever. Nothing will ever change as the same crop of useless leaders rotate the fields. They aspire to nothing better in this Cabinet. Same old man with sick ideas lecturing the world.
I hope Amnesty International and other international and local human rights advocacy groups are reading this.No ordinary citizen should go through such level of brutality and especially as it is against human rights.
Both Fiji and Australian Defence Forces have a lot to answer for. Australians will surely stand him down asap as it brings their military and high level decision makers into disrepute.
After all that’s been said in the media and on the internet since 2006 about Frank Bainimaramaand his stooges, I cannot even fathom how this thug was given a posting in our Military in Australia. I wouldn’t be surprised if they make Frank’s son head of Security in Australia, if that’s the level of people they want to employ!
@ Farmer Joe
No one is disputing that Naliva and his fellow, privileged, FMF soldiers are sons of Fiji.
As civilians, we are also “proud daughters and sons of Fiji” and are NOT going anywhere except to stay and help build this godforsaken country largely ruined by military coups. Now if that isn’t patriotism, then what is?
Your question in your last sentence is not at all challenging, since whatever act or conduct of the detained civilians during the so-called ‘martial law’ does not in any way justify the torture and other inhumane acts of terror that were inflicted on them by the soldiers.
Fiji was not at war on any of these occasions and in any case, the Nuremberg Trials of 1946 has already put to rest the mistaken idea that soldiers can hide behind orders from their superiors in trying to justify acts of torture. The Nazi soldiers on trial did just that as they tried to pin the blame on Hitler, others on the SS, or simply pleaded ignorance, or even said that they felt powerless. But no excuse under the shiny bright sun on planet Earth will do. Each person (including soldiers) has a conscience to exercise, as that informs them what is right from wrong – this is so elementary.
I hear you though on the issue of ethnocentrism and ethnonationalists…. I do not believe however, that those who subscribe to this ideology (or any other fanatical idea that might arise the future), would pose such a threat that it cannot be dealt with adequately under a solid, sound and well-respected “Rule of Law” which sadly, has been compromised over and over again in this country, due to its military coups.