Sunday, December 4, 2016

Fiji -- island paradise?

The Guardian reports here on an Amnesty International report on the systematic use of torture by police and military personnel in Fiji. "Beating Justice: How Fiji's Security Forces Get Away with Torture," can be found here. At times impunity can be achieved simply by letting offenders out of jail early. From The Guardian's article:
Kate Schuetze, Amnesty International’s Pacific researcher, said that in Fiji “accountability for torture is the exception rather than the rule”. 
“This amounts to a climate of near impunity,” she said. “It is the result of the fact that torture is poorly defined in law, immunity is granted, there are few legal safeguards and there is no independent oversight.” 
The Amnesty report calls for independent oversight of Fiji’s security forces, the reform of the country’s legal framework and the bringing of officials responsible for torture to justice. 
“To rid Fiji of torture, the authorities should withdraw the armed forces from policing tasks and the military should not be above the law,” Schuetze said.

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