New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully was scathing of the assistance the U.N. was providing the regime which has stripped citizens of rights and shut down freedom of speech.
The Green Party weighed in today, saying the U.N.’s approach was “unconscionable.”
The military, led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama, has run Fiji since staging a coup in 2006.
McCully said the U.N.’s continued use of Fijian peacekeepers played into the hands of the interim regime.
“They sustain the interim regime both in terms of credibility and in terms of cash. “It’s very regrettable that the U.N. continues to do that and, in light of current circumstances, I’ll be r
Green Party foreign affairs spokesman Keith Locke said there were about 282 Fijian troops being used in peacekeeping missions now — fairly steady on pre-coup figures of 269.
“The U.N. is helping fund Fiji’s military rulers by continuing to recruit Fijian military personnel for peacekeeping missions,” Locke said. “It is unconscionable that the U.N. is still signing up Fijians peacekeepers more than two years after Commodore Bainimarama took power.”
Most of the Fijian troops were serving with the United Nations in Iraq.
“It is deeply ironic that Fiji is involved in rebuilding Iraq. Fiji’s military is more about destroying democracy than restoring it.”
He called on New Zealand to pressure other nations such as the United States and the Britain on the issue.
Many former Fijian soldiers work for United Kingdom and U.S. private security firms with lucrative contracts in Iraq, Locke said.
There were also, he noted, more than 2000 Fijians serving with the British Army, according to a written question in the House of Lords, asked on Feb. 9.
New Zealand and Australia already have trade and travel sanctions in place against Fiji, which is set to become even more isolated.
The 16-nation Pacific Island Forum had given it until May 1 to set a date for a democratic election or be suspended and the Commonwealth is likely to suspend it.
