Sydney: Fiji's military regime is using beatings, arbitrary arrests, censorship and intimidation to rule the South Pacific country by fear, Amnesty International alleged Tuesday.
The global rights watchdog also cited China for going against an international trend of imposing sanctions on Fiji to punish those responsible for a 2006 coup, and urged Beijing
to use its new influence to protect human rights there.
Military-installed Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama did not immediately respond to the Amnesty report, the latest international condemnation of the military chief's seizure of
power and refusal to restore democracy.
London-based Amnesty said Bainimarama's regime has committed multiple human rights violations since April when the constitution was shelved in response to a court ruling
that his takeover was unlawful and emergency regulations known as PER put in place.
"The abrogation of the constitution, the promulgation of the PER, the dismissal of the judiciary, subsequent political arrests and intimidation of activists have led to a climate of
fear and desperation amongst human rights defenders, lawyers, the NGO community and society as a whole," the Amnesty report says.
Beatings, the arbitrary arrest of journalists, activists, lawyers and church leaders, and the strict censorship of news outlets were among abuses being committed in Fiji, the report
said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, September 08, 2009, 15:00