Clearly an allegation against a senior Fijian military officer of trying to sodomise someone with a rifle barrel isn’t enough in these challenging times to raise the ire of politicians and the media. Have we all become so inured to outrage that we are now incapable of being shocked by anything? Because how else to explain the almost total silence that has accompanied the revelation that Australia has put an RFMF officer accused of torture, Colonel Penioni (Ben) Naliva, in charge of 3,500 “true blue” Aussie troops as Deputy Commander of the 7th Brigade of the Australian Defence Force.
The Australian newspaper splashed the torture allegations on its front page at the weekend (see previous posting) but its story has had virtually no traction at all – ignored by the rest of the Australian media including the national broadcaster, the ABC. Unsurprisingly, there has also been nothing in the mainstream media in Fiji, which far from being “free”, conspires with those who rule us to keep the Fijian people in ignorance of a great many things they should know.
Far from inspiring confidence, the lifting of the previous government’s media laws has eroded public confidence in the local media even more and, among other things, is driving Fijian readers to Fijileaks and Grubsheet. Since we got kicked off Facebook recently for our “intimate” images of the Great Temptress, 155,000 readers have so far visited us here at the Grubsheet website.
To its credit, The Australian isn’t giving up, following up its weekend exposé with a second story this morning carrying the headline “The scandalous claims our defence force wants to ignore”. It details the allegations of torture against Ben Naliva by Sam Speight – the former MP and elder brother of George – who as The Australian tells it, struggles to talk about the precise details of the ordeal he faced because they are so shocking. What is it about some Fijians and inserting objects into other people’s anuses? You could be forgiven for thinking it is something of a national pastime. RIP Vilikesa Soko. And Aseri Radrodro allegedly did it too.
Evidently, it isn’t just the Australian media that has greeted The Australian’s revelations with a big yawn. There’s also been a “no comment” from the Australian opposition about Ben Naliva’s appointment, which suggests, among other things, that both the Labour government and the Coalition agree that the ability to shove a rifle up someone’s rear end is a talent the Australian army needs.
So why the silence? Two reasons, apparently.
1/ As The Australian tells it, the Fijian and Australian governments have evidently decided that of all the current officers in the RFMF, Ben Naliva was the most likely – because of his close relationship with Frank Bainimarama – to lead a coup to remove the Coalition government. The theory goes that dangling a plum job in the Australian military in front of him with a big salary would be enough of an incentive for Ben not to be tempted to try it on.
2/ For the political and defence establishment in Canberra – and politicians on both sides of the political divide – allegations of torture on the part of the Fijian military are old news. “Maaate. All that was a long time ago. Show me someone in the RFMF who wasn’t a human rights abuser. And besides, whatever happened back then, we need these blokes on our side to keep the Chinese out”.
Qori. Now read on.
Quite right Graham, we’ve become a country of cowards, even though in this instance I agree, in fact both Speights needed something shoved up their rear ends at the time for carrying on as they did.
The Country is feeling the effects of the coups now. National pride is at an all time low, the country is literally littered with rubbish, all with an economy that thrives on remittances. Let’s send them all overseas to pick fruit and play ball and bring in replacements from the sub continent. Let’s do it all over again.
While we would never support violence or torture, we would never support a person who was circulating DVDs calling for an uprising of the Itaukei community after the Bainimarama coup. Certainly not after his brother caused so much havoc in Suva in May 2000 with people looting and burning. While I do empathize with Speight, those of us who were the direct victims of the May 2000 coup in which his brother played the main role have had to deal with our trauma privately without any coverage by international media. We go about our lives privately and we’ve watched those who were instrumental in removing the 1999 Government, causing havoc in the community, looting, burning, and holding our loved ones as political hostages for 56 days, get appointed to high positions in the current Government. So Speight should get over his pain and move on. We’ve all had to deal with the scars in our own way. Life will carry on regardless.
What is with the members of Fiji’s so-called “disciplined” forces and their propensity to probe other men anally? It’s a common practice emerging both among army and police torturers.