Pacific Press Release – Pacific Media Watch, 6 November 2009

AUSTRALIAN ACADEMIC RETURNS AFTER FIJI EXPULSION

By Linda Mottram

SYDNEY (Australian Network News/Pacific Media Watch): Fiji-born Australian academic Brij Lal says he was subjected to intense verbal abuse while in detention in Suva, prior to being sent back to
Australia.

Professor Lal, from the Australian National University, arrived back in Australia on Thursday, after he was thrown out of Fiji in relation to public comments he made to the Australian media.

It comes after diplomatic relations between Australia and Fiji deteriorated, with Suva expelling both Australia’s and New Zealand’s high commissioners.

Australia and New Zealand have responded in kind. On his arrival in Sydney, Professor Lal said he was detained on Wednesday for three hours in custody and subjected to a very unpleasant interrogation but not any physical abuse.

“It is very difficult to distill that experience into words, but intense verbal abuse, foul language and explosive anger on the part of the officer who was interrogating me,” he said.

Professor Lal says he was told he was no longer welcome in Fji.

“I was told, in no uncertain terms that I had to leave the country within 24 hours voluntarily,” he said.

“They won’t deport me, but there was no place for me in Fiji at the moment.”

But Professor Lal said his ordeal was nothing compared to what Fijians experience.

“My personal agony and difficulties are nothing compared to what is endured by the people of Fiji on a regular basis.”

Professor Lal previously said he holds out hope he will eventually be allowed to return to Fiji.

“I hope that next year some time, when things settle down, when emotions have cooled, that I will be able to visit.

“I mean, I am a scholar, I have devoted 30 years of my life writing about Fiji.

“Right now I have a book project on the squatter settlement in Fiji, so I hope this is a temporary setback.”

UN questions
Meanwhile there are continuing questions about the role of Fiji’s soldiers in UN peacekeeping, which ensures a steady flow of UN income to Fiji’s military families.

Another ANU academic focused on Fiji, Dr Jon Fraenkel, has written that the situation is outrageous.

He also says that Fiji has designated Colonel Pita Driti to head the Fiji Guard Unit in Iraq.

Colonel Driti is described by Dr Fraenkel as “one of the military commanders most implicated in human rights abuses since the coup”.

He is also the subject of a long-running dispute with Malaysia which refused to accept him as Fji’s High Commissioner over his human rights record.

In a statement, the United Nations has told Radio Australia that it does not have confirmation about
Fiji’s intentions for Colonel Driti in Iraq and that it is seeking clarification from Suva.

It also notes that personnel alleged to have committed human rights abuses or other illegal activities will not be accepted to serve in UN peace operations.

Source: 6522 Pacific Media Watch
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