Fiji – Asia Pacific Report

Fijian widow alleges husband was beaten in police raid, told to lie before his death

APR editor — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 04:45:06 +0000

By Kaya Selby of RNZ Pacific

The widow of a deceased Fijian farmer is claiming that her husband was beaten by police during a raid — and told to lie about it.

Ane Vakararawa’s husband, Iveri Tuimasi, died two weeks ago — yet another in a string of deaths this year where law enforcement is alleged to have played a role.

Police have acknowledged that there was a raid on the couple’s property on Beqa Island, and in a statement last week, said they would interview the officers involved.

Vakararawa has alleged that Tuimasi was severely beaten during the raid, suffering a blow to the head, and a liver rupture that required surgery. It is also alleged the officers — including a soldier — coerced Tuimasi into saying that he had sustained his injuries from a fall.

Sharing her story with RNZ Pacific, Vakararawa said that her husband asked her to get the word out before he died.

“One week prior, he somehow knew it, and he was telling me that if anything happens, I need to be strong,” Vakararawa said.

“He kept telling me, I need to post it, I need to post the things that the officers did to him.”

Another death
Three weeks ago, RNZ Pacific reported on the death of another Fijian, Sakiasi Ose Radravu, who had been raided in uptown Suva.

Radravu’s family said he had been beaten, tortured and sodomised by officers, which Amnesty International described as typical of Fijian authorities.

Less than a week before Radravu’s raid, Jone Vakarisi, widely reported by local media as a known drug peddler, was found dead in a military prison.

Tuimasi and Radravu both have sepsis listed as their primary cause of death. Both of their death certificates listed a variety of other factors, but both families insist that their loved ones were totally fine before their encounters with the police.

Tuimasi’s certificate noted that a liver abscess had caused the sepsis, as well as a cerebral edema, a dangerous buildup of fluid in the brain. It also noted a “history of abdominal severe blunt force trauma”.

Both the police and military have been asked for a response.

‘I knew my husband didn’t jump’
Vakararawa could not recall how many police officers were there — but she insisted that there was also at least one military officer.

She said they came to their home on March 27 at around 6am local time, on a tip that Tuimasi was growing marijuana on their farm, which was 30 minutes away.

“They didn’t show me any search warrant, they went inside, they started raiding our property from the living room, right to the kitchen, in our rooms and our compound. One of the officers said that he found some marijuana seedlings on our shelves.”

She said they left and boated around parts of the island were the family would grow cassava. They returned three hours later.

“My husband didn’t come back with them. One police officer asked me ‘did you know where your husband left earlier that night’ and I told him ‘no, why?’, and he said because he ran away.

“When they were talking, I heard one police officer say ‘when we catch him, we have to punish him.”

By 2pm, police officers had left and returned again, with Tuimasi in custody, clearly injured. Vakararawa was told Tuimasi had thrown a stone at one of them, and as they pursued him, he stumbled and fell off of a nearby cliff.

The officers took him to Navua Hospital, and Vakararawa visited the following morning.

‘He was in pain’
“When I went to the hospital… he wasn’t able to sit properly, we could see how much pain he was in,” Vakararawa told RNZ Pacific.

With the officers still there, Vakararawa asked her husband quietly whether the story was true.

“He looked, and I asked him: ‘did you jump’, not loudly, I just signalled to him … and he shook his head.”

“I knew that my husband didn’t jump, because we used to farm up the hill, but now we don’t farm anymore there.”

She said he had a boot mark on his chest, a dark bruise on the back of his head, and cuts on his hand.

‘He wouldn’t be able to tell the truth’
Tuimasi was transferred to CWM Hospital in Suva shortly after his arrival at Navua, where he had surgery.

“He slept for about a week, they put him on sleeping medications … so, when he was sleeping, I went and filed a report against the officers [on] March 30.

“He got discharged on May 10, and he was telling me to tell the officer in charge that he’s okay, he’s ready to for his statement to be taken. But the officer in charge, she just called once … she said that she was busy with other cases.”

Over the next month, Tuimasi rapidly lost weight and became weaker by the day. His death certificate would later note that he had “severe protein calorie malnutritions”.

He was in and out of hospital, with “multiple surgical interventions” and a “recent history of hospitalisation for septic shock due to septicaemia.” As he deteriorated, Vakararawa described him as “traumatised”.

“He was eating, he was drinking, but somehow he kept dropping his weight, he was shrinking.”

Two days before he died, Vakararawa made a long Facebook post sharing their story, at Tuimasi’s insistence. She noted that despite his best efforts to talk to the police, they never returned his calls. Tuimasi died on June 19, in the afternoon — it would be the following morning that Vakararawa heard from them.

‘Fell from a cliff’
“An officer called … she told me that in Navua, [Tuimasi] admitted that he fell from a cliff before they transferred him to CWM [in Suva].”

“I told her, ‘ma’am, you have to understand that when they brought my husband to the hospital, he was coming with the very people that assaulted him. They could have threatened him along the way to tell the doctor that he really fell.’ He wouldn’t be able to tell the truth.”

The Fiji Police Force said on June 23 that Tuimasi’s autopsy had been completed, and that Vakararawa’s complaints were with the CID.

“The next course of action is to interview all those involved in Mr Tuimasi’s arrest following a drug raid in Dakuni in Beqa.”

“Following the interview process, all statements, evidentiary documents and reports will be submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for independent legal review.”

This story was first published on

Fiji military defends national role in society after 9% budget cut

APR editor — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 04:16:25 +0000

RNZ Pacific

Fiji’s military has hit out against budget cuts it copped last Friday.

In a social media post, the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), which has gained influence in law enforcement over the last year, issued an apparent warning to detractors to recognise the role they play in Fijian society.

“The RFMF… genuinely respects the concerns raised in public commentary… that military spending should be reduced on the grounds that Fiji is not engaged in conventional warfare,” said RFMF commander Major-General Ro Jone Kalouniwai.

“But we ask those who hold this view to look again.”

In the 2026-2027 Budget, the RFMF lost around FJ$14.8 million (NZ$11.5 million) — a 9 percent cut — and is projected to lose another $1.1 million next year.

Fiji Sun reported that, for Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, the rationale behind the cut was Fiji’s decision to scale back overseas peacekeeping commitments.

But the three-part post, titled “What the RFMF means to Fiji – Beyond the Budget and into the grey zone”, outlined the military’s view of itself as essential in efforts against the drug trade and corruption — and its social value.

“The RFMF has never asked for recognition. But perhaps it is time we offer it anyway,” it read.

Govt revenue falling
“And in doing so, ask ourselves honestly what it would cost us not to have it.”

While announcing the budget, Finance Minister Esrom Immanuel revealed that government revenue was falling while expenditure was climbing.

The country’s budget deficit is more than FJ$200 million higher than last year, due in part to a lower tax take.

Immanuel said the government was shifting cash towards infrastructure projects and private sector development.

This story was first published on

Australian media ignores UN report on Israeli deliberate killing of children

Pacific Media Watch — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 00:35:55 +0000

By Stephanie Tran in Sydney

The devastating United Nations report this week into the deliberate targeting and murder of Palestinian children by Israel is not very newsworthy in Australia apparently.

On Tuesday, the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel released a harrowing report finding that Israel has deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children.

The 94-page report documented children being shot by snipers, targeted by drones, denied medical treatment, subjected to starvation and detained in conditions involving torture, sexual violence and severe abuse.

The commission concluded that the deliberate targeting of children was one of the key elements establishing genocidal intent.

These are extraordinary findings backed up by an in-depth investigation by a UN body, and one would think it would be of substantial public interest worthy of front-page headlines, but Australia’s mainstream media doesn’t seem to think so.

The ABC made somewhat of an effort by bringing on global affairs editor Laura Tingle to discuss the commission’s findings on its news programme. However, half of their article covering the report was dedicated to parroting Israel’s defence of the indefensible and was buried at the bottom of their website.

Guardian Australia was the only other mainstream Australian outlet to cover the UN report until yesterday. Again, it was buried, and the article has since been relegated to the bottom of its home page.

The Nine newspapers caught up two days late, with The Sydney Morning Herald framing it: “commissioned experts” (not simply the UN) had “accused” Israel … and repeated the “claim” of genocide. A significant portion of the article was dedicated to Israel’s denial of the report’s findings.

As for the rest of the media, Karl Stefanovic’s podcast interview with a right-wing racist grifter is apparently much more newsworthy.

Pacific Media Watch reports: Major New Zealand media outlets that covered the UN Commission of Inquiry report about the deliberate targeting of children included the public broadcaster Radio New Zealand (RNZ) and largest media website Stuff.

Also, leading advocacy groups in the country, such as Save the Children New Zealand, issued media releases urging global accountability in response to the report.

The Save The Children statement in New Zealand said the UN report must mark a turning point for the world to stop turning a blind eye to the suffering of Palestinian children and hold perpetrators to account.

Stephanie Tran is a journalist with a background in both law and journalism. She has worked at The Guardian and as a paralegal, where she assisted Crikey’s defence team in the high-profile defamation case brought by Lachlan Murdoch. Her reporting has been recognised nationally, earning her the 2021 Democracy’s Watchdogs Award for Student Investigative Reporting and a nomination for the 2021 Walkley Student Journalist of the Year Award. Republished from Michael West Media with permission.

Jale Moala: Why is the UN credible when Fiji agrees but not when it’s inconvenient?

Pacific Media Watch — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 07:40:15 +0000

COMMENTARY: By Jale Moala

It’s interesting how readily many people in Fiji embrace the work of the United Nations when it supports local programmes such as climate resilience, development, governance and social inclusion.

Yet when the UN publishes reports critical of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, some of the same voices suddenly dismiss it as corrupt, evil or “fake news”.

Recently the UN published a report that accuses Israel of deliberately targeting children in Gaza.

Facebook comments in response to the report have described the UN as the “enemy of Israel”, “a promoter of lies” and even an organisation that “stands for terrorists”.

The Fijian response raises an interesting question: Is the UN credible only when it says things we already agree with?

Or do we judge its credibility according to who its findings happen to criticise?

No institution is beyond criticism, including the UN. But it is worth remembering that it has maintained an office in Suva since Fiji’s independence, supporting everything from disaster recovery and climate resilience to governance, health and community development.

It seems odd to celebrate its work when it helps Fiji, yet dismiss it outright when its findings are politically or religiously inconvenient.

Jale Moala, one of Fiji’s most experienced and talented journalists, has been editor of The Fiji Times, Fiji Daily Post, Islands Business, Pacific Islands Monthly, night editor of The National daily newspaper in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and a senior journalist on several New Zealand news media. This commentary is republished from his Facebook page with permission.

Targeting of Gaza chidren Video: ABC News

Fiji will remain unstable while Indigenous people are economically sidelined, says ex-coup convict

APR editor — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 23:33:43 +0000

By Margot Staunton of RNZ Pacific

A former coup convict in Fiji claims the country will remain unstable while the Indigenous iTaukei are economically marginalised.

Josefa ‘Jo’ Nata, who spent 24 years in jail for treason, told the Fiji government’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission that “the lot of iTaukei has not improved a single bit [as a result of the coups], if anything their situation has regressed”.

“Indigenous [iTaukei] should never again be hoodwinked into supporting any coup supposedly carried out in their name, to raise their standard of living or correct supposed past injustices,” the 68-year-old said.

Fiji has been rocked by four coups since gaining independence in 1970. The first two, in May and September 1987, were led by then-military Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka, who is the current prime minister.

In 1999, Mahendra Chaudhry was sworn in as the country’s first Indo-Fijian prime minister. Nata, a former journalist, was a political adviser to the Fijian Association Party, a coalition partner in the Labour-led government.

Chaudhry’s election stoked racial tension in Fiji and a year later, the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) rebel Counter-Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) unit soldiers, led by businessman George Speight, staged an armed takeover.

Chaudhry and his government were held hostage for 56 days.

Coup public face
Nata became the public face of the coup on 14 May 2000, and although he told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in May that he was not involved in planning it, he admits he played a key role as a negotiator.

“Without realising it, I was getting myself involved. So much so that I was the one administering the oath of office at [swearing-in] before usurper-nominated President Ratu Jope Seniloli,” he told the Commission.

“My face was plastered on TV on every home around Fiji and around the world. The overseas parachute press had started to drop in. If I think back now, the whole charade was a burlesque of Pygmalion proportion.”

Nata told the commission that despite the negative press over the role of the CRW unit in the coup, its soldiers prevented even worse atrocities from occurring to the hostages — including the “last cannibal feast” and “planned assassinations of key people”.

He also claimed that the unit prevented Parliament House in the capital, Suva, from being torched to the ground once it was empty.

According to Nata, the CRW unit was abandoned by those who had allegedly orchestrated events from behind the scenes.

“The unit was left in the lurch carrying the baby. The masters did not show up,” he said.

Jo Nata’s journey from the dark, Islands Business, April 2024. Image: IB/USP Journalism

Branded as ‘mastermind’
Nata said that while the court later branded him as one of the masterminds of the coup, that honour belonged elsewhere.

Since his release from jail on 20 December 2023, he has campaigned against coups.

“No coup, in my view, can ever be justified … for those misadventures we know as coups were based on lies, visions of grandeur and opportunism,” Nata told the commission.

“I have been labelled an opportunist. I do not push back. I accept, worse, I was a hypocrite.”

“I was a traitor, as the court rightly described me. I betrayed my chief, the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, the government, the people I worked with and the profession that gave me wings,” he said.

“The reality of unlawful takeovers is that one group of people will suffer more than others. In 1987 and 2000, it was the Indians that suffered. 2006 gave Fijians our fair dessert,” he said.

Despite living together for more than 150 years, indigenous Fijians and Fijians of Indian heritage continued to live largely separate lives, Nata claimed.

Exceptional situations
Although he admitted that there were examples of strong inter-ethnic relations in certain towns and districts, such as the old capital Levuka, Savusavu, Labasa and Ba, he said these were exceptional situations.

Nata told the commission that politics was not the answer, and that Fiji needed intentional and deliberate collaboration at the community level to bridge the divide.

“There should be a willingness to come together. Our ethnic and collective identity and openness are not necessarily opposing poles. It could be the vehicle to bring us together,” he said.

Nata also warned against becoming trapped in the past, saying ignoring difficult truths would not pave the way for true reconciliation.

He urged all Fijians to confront unresolved issues together to build a brighter future.

“We should revisit, untangle, rebuild and move forward together,” he told the commission.

This story was first published on

A timeline of how the fuel crisis impacted on the Pacific

APR editor — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 02:09:43 +0000

ANALYSIS: By Kaya Selby of RNZ Pacific

During the fuel crisis, Pacific Island countries have scrambled to secure their own fuel supply, forcing them to lean on their wealthy neighbours and multilateral donors.

This triggered a region-wide economic slowdown and driven a managed, yet sharp, increase in fuel and electricity costs throughout the Pacific.

According to fuel price schedules released by Pacific governments regularly from February to June, Fiji has doubled the maximum price for diesel in urban centres in the main island, Viti Levu, such as Suva and Nadi.

Samoa has lifted its diesel ceiling by more than two thirds during that time, Tonga by more than 60 percent in Tongatapu.

And quite apart from asking for budgetary support, Pacific leaders, whenever they had the chance, appealed for help to build solar panels and other forms of renewable energy, in hopes of sidestepping a future calamity.

February
The war begins.

February 28
Iran begins its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after taking heavy fire from US and Israeli forces. In the coming days, several Pacific-flagged tankers are trapped, abandoned or damaged, and their crews injured or killed. The Palau-flagged Skylight is abandoned with two crew dead on March 1. The Marshalls-flagged MKD Vyom is abandoned with one death on the same day, and the Safesea Vishnu is set ablaze 10 days later, killing another.

March
It doesn’t take long before the public grows nervous over fuel and electricity price hikes. Pacific governments issue certain reassurances, but panic buying occurs in sporadic cases.

For Pacific Island countries, which are far away from the established oil refineries in Singapore and South Korea, it makes better economic sense to buy from bulk, rather than to have constant shipments. This means they have forward orders already secured.

So most retail prices are kept relatively stable as countries burn through their existing stocks. The import prices are going to go up, but the lag means they can bide their time.

Behind the scenes, governments are scrambling to secure supply from new sources — and to keep the public calm. It isn’t a question of if, but when.

March 15
Christopher Luxon touches down in Samoa. They discuss energy, but New Zealand isn’t committing to anything yet. They have their own crisis brewing. He’ll go to Tonga and say mostly the same thing.

March 23
The American Pacific and the free association states don’t have price ceilings, so their consumers are paying the market rate, plus the elevated travel costs. At a Mobil gas station in Saipan, petrol is US$6.619 per gallon, and diesel $8.789. In Tinian, diesel is $10.

April
Pacific Island countries begin to raise their fuel price ceilings. Vanuatu raises diesel by 64 percent, but won’t raise it further for the indefinite future. In PNG, the price is 73 percent higher, in Fiji it’s 35 percent, and in Tonga it’s 43.5 percent.

April 15
Tuvalu’s Energy Minister Simon Kofe appears on RNZ’s Morning Report and reveals that their fuel supply is “not assured” beyond June. Just days earlier, Tuvalu had declared a state of emergency, allowing the government to take extraordinary measures to cut back on power usage. They’re experiencing rolling blackouts. The country spends more than a quarter of their GDP on petroleum imports.

April 17
In the Marshall Islands, government departments are shutting down at 3pm. They’re using their universal basic income to help consumers and adding a subsidy to their state-owned power company.

Marshall Islands Finance Minister David Paul later reveals to RNZ Pacific that their singular supplier, ExxonMobil, is using force majure provisions in their supply contracts to balloon import prices.

May
Samoa and Solomon Islands both lift their diesel caps by 46 percent. Fiji and the Cook Islands climb as well. Fuel at the pump in Port Moresby is slashed by 42 percent after the government uses its windfall revenue from LNG exports, which have spiked dramatically in value, to subsidise consumer prices. Tonga cuts their electricity surcharge and reinvests more into welfare payments for pensioners. Pacific leaders are meeting.

May 6
Fiji’s Finance Minister defies an international travel ban for ministers to go to Uzbekistan for an Asian Development Bank AGM. He walks away with a US$200 million loan in his pocket.

Meanwhile, Australia hands Fiji A$30 million. Foreign Minister Penny Wong calls it a “targeted budget support” to support Fiji’s efforts to be a regional fuel hub.

At this point, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Southeast Asia, trying to get Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea to give them preference if they have to make tough decisions over their own stocks. Foreign Minister Penny Wong says they will keep the Pacific in mind, but they have to put themselves first.

New Zealand chips in NZ$8 million.

May 8
Pacific Islands Forum leaders officially invoke the Biketawa Declaration. It’s a framework for a regional crisis response, where leaders are compelled to come together, share their resources and expertise, and arrange some kind of plan together. It was last used during covid pandemic.

Jeremiah Manele jumps the gun and says they would, before any Pacific leaders, including Australia or New Zealand, could even consider it.

May 29
ADB Pacific Lead Emma Veve tells RNZ Pacific that help requests from Pacific Island governments have begun only recently. She calls this a credit to their resilience.

Help requests at this point have come from Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa and Nauru. Veve says they have freed up hundreds of millions in both loans and grants. Support for each country will range from $10 million to $100 million, depending on their size.

June
Peace appears on the horizon at the end of the month, but there’s no indication of it. By now Viti Levu’s diesel price ceiling has more than doubled since February. PNG’s fuel subsidy helps for a little while, but this month’s increase has exceeded last month’s decrease, and then some. Nauru and Niue, with their singular islands and tiny populations, have had to increase theirs, too.

June 5
Samoa triggers an “amber alert”, which indicates they have less than 30 days of fuel stocks left in country. They deny this is the case, and just call it a “precautionary measure.”

June 12
Fuel price caps rise in the Cook Islands — diesel in Rarotonga hits NZ$3.84 per litre, and LPG hits $5.06 per kilo. In Aitutaki: diesel is $6.24 per litre. In New Zealand, diesel prices only ever briefly passes $4 in some rural areas.

This story was first published on

Vanuatu’s Anna Naupa becomes first woman to lead MSG Secretariat

APR editor — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 06:12:03 +0000

RNZ Pacific

A Pacific politics expert and ni-Vanuatu woman has become the first woman to be appointed to lead the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat.

Anna Naupa, described by the Vanuatu government as “one of the nation’s finest minds”, is the new director-general of the sub-regional bloc, which is headquartered in Port Vila.

The MSG is made up of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Fiji and the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) of New Caledonia.

READ MORE: Other MSG reports

In a statement yesterday, Vanuatu’s Office of the Prime Minister said Naupa’s appointment was “a historic moment”.

“Since the MSG was founded in 1986 by the giants of Melanesia — Paias Wingti of Papua New Guinea, Father Walter Lini of Vanuatu, Ezekiel Alebua of Solomon Islands, and our brothers from the FLNKS [Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front] — Vanuatu has waited 40 years to lead this organisation.

“Today, that wait ends,” it said.

It said Naupa’s appointment sends a clear message to every young ni-Vanuatu girl to “aspire for the best, because the highest offices in our region are within your reach”.

Inspiring new generation
Naupa’s leadership will inspire a new generation to dream bigger and serve boldly, it added.

The Vanuatu government said it holds immense confidence in Naupa’s capabilities, leadership, and integrity, and commended the MSG and the selection team for a transparent process “that has delivered the right leader for this moment”.

Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat congratulated Naupa.

“We know the MSG was born from struggle — its heart has always been the political aspirations of the Kanak people and the big issues facing Melanesia,” the Office of the Prime Minister’s statement said.

“Over the years the organisation has grown, expanding its focus to trade, sports, culture, and other areas of common interest that bind our nations. Vanuatu believes the success of the MSG under Dr Naupa’s leadership will depend on never losing sight of that founding spirit — solidarity, justice, and self-determination for our peoples.

“Anna, you carry not just a title, but the hopes of a region. You carry Vanuatu’s pride, Melanesia’s trust, and the spirit of Father Walter Lini’s vision.”

Naupa replaces Papua New Guinea’s Leonard Louma, who was appointed in February 2022 and finished his term in late 2024.

Solomon Islander Ilan Kiloe, who is the political and security affairs programme manager, was acting in the role following Louma’s departure.

The MSG Secretariat has not made any official announcements on Naupa’s appointment.

This story was first published on

Calls to dismantle joint taskforce rejected by Fiji govt despite brutality allegations

APR editor — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 10:11:14 +0000

By Kaya Selby of RNZ Pacific

A human rights activist in Fiji is calling for the joint police-military taskforce on drugs to be disbanded, but the Fijian government says it does not support the call.

It comes as the military revealed more than 60 witnesses have been spoken to in an investigation into the death of Jone Vakarisi, The Fiji Times reported.

Police have classified Vakarisi’s death as murder after the Republic of Fiji Military Forces had initially claimed that the notorious figure known to law enforcement had died of pre-existing conditions.

READ MORE: Other Fiji police brutality reports

Exactly two months have passed since his death and so far no one has been charged, but the Policing Ministry released a statement over the weekend, saying that the investigation into Vakarisi’s alleged murder was nearing completion.

It is also over a week since another man from a suburb about 15 minutes from the capital Suva, Sakiasi Ose Radravu, passed away following what his family says was a raid.

The raid resulted in an alleged severe beating and torture by police and military officers, which the family alleges led to Radravu’s death weeks later, though police claim a post-mortem links the death to a pre-existing condition.

This raid took place around the same time as Vakarisi’s alleged murder in a military cell. The official Fiji police post-mortem report released on June 6 stated that Radravu’s death was linked to a pre-existing medical condition.

Investigation nearly complete
“The independent investigation into the death of Mr Jone Vakarisi is nearing completion, while investigations into the death of Mr Sakiasi Radravu remain ongoing. These investigations must be allowed to proceed thoroughly, independently, and without prejudice,” Fiji’s Ministry of Policing and Communications said in a statement on Saturday, June 13.

The ministry said the joint police-military operations were making a real difference in disrupting illicit drug networks.

“Government does not support calls to terminate the Joint Police-Military Operations. However, operational success can never excuse human rights violations. Joint operations must continue lawfully, professionally, and with full accountability.”

Four police officers have been placed on leave while eight others are being investigated.

Police also confirmed over the weekend the Radravu family’s allegation that a military officer had instigated the raid.

Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) chief executive Shamima Ali claims that the security forces may be responsible — this year alone — for two deaths and countless more injuries.

“This [is] a historic pattern that is being repeated, whether it’s the police [or] the military,” she told RNZ Pacific.

“We need to know who are the people doing the investigations — we actually call for an independent investigation,” Ali said.

‘Not hard to find out’
“Two people have died, and where and what seems to be quite clear, so it’s not that hard to find out who [the perpetrators] are.”

Last week, Amnesty International also called for the suspension of implicated officers and the dismantling of the joint taskforce.

Ali said as a result of increased military involvement, and a diminishing degree of police transparency, it has become harder to advocate and protect the most vulnerable.

“Even with us at the Crisis Centre, we are having so many difficulties in bringing to light cases of rape, wife assault … [due to] the lack of knowledge, the lack of transparency, and so on.

“If Fiji had a robust, well-trained police force — that is what they are there for — we would not need the military to interfere.”

But unlike in the past, Ali noted the role of social media, where both the Vakarisi and Radravu cases emerged in the public consciousness.

“People are talking a lot more, and people are becoming a lot more aware of when a young, particularly Fijian, is being taken into custody.”

This story was first published on

‘Sodomised’ and ‘tortured’ – family of Fijian man allegedly beaten by police speaks out

APR editor — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:30:15 +0000

By Kaya Selby of RNZ Pacific

Warning: This story contains detailed accounts of alleged police and military brutality, including torture and sexual assault.

The Fiji Police Force has acknowledged that 12 officers were present during a raid involving Kinoya resident Sakiasi Ose Radravu, who his family claims was severely beaten, resulting in his death.

His family alleges that on the night of April 23, the 32-year-old was “tortured” in his home by both police and military officers — and beaten within an inch of his life.

He died five days ago, on June 4, with police stating that the autopsy report shows the cause of his demise was “a pre-existing medical condition”.

A smartphone with an image of Sakiasi Ose Radravu is held up by his partner Patrica Baleturaga at their home in Kinoya. Image: Sophie Ralulu/The Fiji Times

However, Radravu’s aunt Elizabeth Kabuyawa told RNZ Pacific that they are seeking a second autopsy on the body, due to concerns about a possible cover-up.

RNZ Pacific has seen a copy of the death certificate, which lists the main cause of death as sepsis and complications from pneumonia.

“I think they’re [police] trying to masquerade it. They’re not even considering that there was an underlying issue that he’d had from these beatings,” Kabuyawa claimed.

“My nephew was sodomised, his head was stomped on, he was beaten almost to his death.”

Second recent death
This is the second recent death in Suva linked incidents where police and military are alleged to have played a part. Jone Vakarisi — described by local media as a drug lord involved in criminal networks — died in military custody on April 14.

It comes at a time when military officers are patrolling the streets bearing automatic weapons — ostensibly as part of a joint operation with police to crack down on drugs.

Police are also promoting a dob-in website where citizens can be their community’s “eyes and ears” and inform on others.

Kabuyawa said the family is of one mind in seeking answers from the authorities.

“Fiji is not a big place … we just want that faith and that confidence back into our [police] service. We’re hoping that this could be the last time that this type of brutality happens.”

The night
Radravu’s cousin Buna recalled being woken up at 3am on April 23 by a loud banging outside.

When her uncle opened the door, they found a military officer in uniform demanding to see Radravu, who Kabuyawa said they had accused of stealing a laptop.

But they had gone to the wrong house — Radravu and his girlfriend were a few doors down.

“Straight after, he had informed our uncle that there were some soldiers were already present opposite from where we are staying,” Buna said.

“So straight after they had left, my uncle and our cousin, they also went, they wanted to see what would actually happen. So when they went, they saw that they had already surrounded the place.”

They arrived to see the house surrounded by people banging on windows and walking in and out.

“We could hear that our cousin was actually screaming and yelling for his life, but that didn’t actually change any response from them.”

Buna said that Radravu’s girlfriend, who was in the room as he was being beaten, made out that some were in uniform, and some were not.

“[She] came crying home and came to inform the family of what had happened. After they had beaten him up, they had taken him up to the [police] station at Valelevu [a suburb 20 minutes out from the capital Suva].”

The family alleges that Radravu’s visit to the station had never been logged or recorded, and that police had never issued a warrant for a raid on his house.

While police have rejected the family’s version of events, they have now acknowledged that a raid did take place, and that 12 police officers were present.

A June 7 police statement described the conduct as “failure to adhere to processes and procedures”.

“The Fiji Police Force acknowledges that the lack of compliance to due processes continues to exacerbate complaints against police and service,” it said.

The aftermath
More than a month passed between that night and Radravu’s death. His family said he had suffered all of that time, often unable to sit or lie down without intense pain.

“My sister-in-law asked him, ‘Do you want to [go to the hospital], let’s go, let’s go,’ and he refused,” Kabuyawa said.

She described a small number of eventual hospital visits where X-rays came up with nothing, and Radravu was given Panadol [paracetamol].

“For the past couple of weeks, he had check ups, but also with the issues due to space [at the hospital] he checked himself out.”

On June 4, Radravu walked into Wanibokasi Hospital and collapsed. The hospital is about a 35 minute drive from the CBD in Suva.

Within an hour of his death, two police officers arrived at his mother’s house, trying to coax her into agreeing not to carry out a post-mortem on the body, Kabuyawa alleged.

“She refused. A couple days later … the police then started coming to the house … they came in three appearances in one day.”

Kabuyawa has accused the police of using this as an intimidation tactic.

“Out of the blue, a doctor called and stated there will be a post-mortem. When they appeared [at the hospital], there were five carloads of officers that were already there waiting.

“My family was not allowed entry into the room to be near his body.”

Aside from confirming Radravu’s identity, family members were ushered to a waiting area, watching police officers walk in and out of the examination room.

“Then the doctor, with such an arrogant tone, just advised the family without passing the paperwork that [Radravu] had passed away because he had tuberculosis and AIDS,” she claimed.

“My sister-in-law, who is a nurse, and had taken Sakiasi to the doctors a week and a bit ago, she advised him right then that ‘we did his blood work and that all came back clear’. Then the doctor ended up changing his findings, and said he died from pneumonia.”

From the death certificate seen by RNZ Pacific, it is not clear to the family whether complications from the beatings — which they claim went entirely untreated — were considered at all.

Out of frustration, Kabuyawa emailed Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu on Friday, June 5, copying reporters in the communication.

Tudravu replied: “If you want to raise your grievances then address your email to me — I will not action if I’m copied.”

“Please have some respect to the Office of the Police Commissioner.”

‘No official report filed’, police say
Days after Radravu’s death, police said they were conducting an investigation.

“It has been confirmed from the Valelevu Police Station records that Mr Radravu was taken in for questioning on the night of the 23rd of April 2026 in relation to a case of alleged burglary,” a statement noted.

“It has also been confirmed from his family that no official report of an alleged assault was lodged following his arrest.”

Kabuyawa said this was because Radravu feared retribution even to the point where he feared telling a doctor.

The police statement also noted the cause of death had been linked to “a pre-existing medical condition,” which the family has completely rejected.

Meanwhile, the Fiji Sun reported on Tuesday morning that “reliable sources” had told them there was no direct involvement from the joint taskforce operation itself — rather that the 12 police officers were acting alone.

Police Minister Ioane Naivalurua has called for a fair investigation.

“These are abnormal times here in Fiji, and we are addressing the issue head on, no excuses,” he was quoted as saying by local media.

Commissioner Tudravu told RNZ Pacific that they would not answer any questions on the matter until an “internal investigation” had been completed. He offered no timeframe.

The Fiji Military has not responded to RNZ Pacific’s requests for comment.

This story was first published on

Te Kuaka advocacy group calls for NZ transparent, independent ‘Pacific foreign policy’

APR editor — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 01:32:41 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

A New Zealand policy research and advocacy group released a detailed blueprint today for a fresh “independent” Te Tiriti and Pacific-based approach to foreign policy, and called for greater transparency in election year.

The current coalition government has “radically shifted New Zealand’s longstanding foreign policy traditions” — including by moving the country away from a principled defence of its independent values to “unquestioning support” for the actions of the Trump administration, said Te Kuaka spokesperson Dr Marco de Jong.

“New Zealand’s slide under this government towards a tightly aligned, militaristic foreign policy is not inevitable,” he added.

Te Kuaka’s foreign policy “alternative” brief. Image: te Kuaka

Te Kuaka — a group made up of academics such as Dr de Jong and Dr Arama Rata, and lawyers with expertise in international and constitutional law like Fuimaono Dylan Asafo and Gabriella Brayne — released a policy brief, “A Foreign Policy Alternative for the 2026 New Zealand Election”.

The group refers to the need to revitalise “an independent, Te Tiriti-based, Pacific-centred, internationalist foreign policy”.

Last year has witnessed “tumultuous developments in world affairs” such as Israel’s genocide in Gaza, US aggression in Venezuela, and US and Israel waging war on Iran.

Independent values
Te Kuaka’s policy brief says the current government “has radically shifted New Zealand’s longstanding foreign policy traditions”, including by moving NZ away from a principled defence of its independent values and interests towards total, unquestioning support for the actions of the Trump administration.

The brief calls for:

greater transparency around trade agreements;
a War Powers Act to ensure parliamentary authorisation for going to war,;
shifts in New Zealand’s approach to the Pacific towards non-militarisation;
NZ intervention in support of South Africa’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) genocide case against Israel; and
other changes.

“How New Zealand acts in the world has always mattered,” said Dr de Jong. “And we need our political parties speaking more openly about their plans on how to maintain and strengthen our independent foreign policy.”

The policy brief also calls for New Zealand to take more strident steps in relation to Indigenous self-determination in Kanaky New Caledonia and to support a human rights visit to West Papua.

The coalition government did not have a mandate for this “dramatic repositioning” in support of the Trump administration, Dr de Jong said.

Call for ‘greater clarity’
“Before the coming election we are calling for greater clarity from political parties about what the public can expect to see from them in relation to New Zealand’s position in the world.”

The policy brief notes that Te Tiriti o Waitangi has not been sufficiently honoured in foreign policy, and also proposes formalising requirements for Māori representation alongside official New Zealand delegations to international forums.

“We are in a rupturing world,” said Dr de Jong. “We need to ensure we’re not unthinkingly caught in the riptide of major powers’ priorities, and that instead we chart our own course, appropriate to our histories and our location in the Pacific.”

Te Kuaka has previously published reports on conflict prevention and peace mediation, New Zealand’s positioning on AUKUS, and civilian casualties and the NZ Defence Force.

Tsunami advisories issued in Pacific after 7.8 Philippines earthquake

APR editor — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 08:28:39 +0000

By RNZ Pacific reporters and Mark Rabago

The US Tsunami Warning Centre has issued advisories for parts of the Pacific following a massive earthquake off Mindanao in the Philippines.

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck at a depth of 63km truck off the coast of Sarangani province on Monday morning, rocking many parts of Mindanao and triggering a tsunami warning.

The tremor caused damage to infrastructure, and prompted evacuations and school class suspensions.

The US warning centre has tsunami waves forecast to be less than 0.3 meters above the tide level for the coasts of:

American Samoa
Chuuk FSM
Fiji
French Polynesia
Guam
Hawai’i
Kiribati
Kosrae (FSM)
Marshall islands
Nauru
New Caledonia
CNMI
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Pohnpei (FSM)
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Wallis Futuna
Yap

The US Tsunami Warning Centre says government agencies responsible for threatened coastal areas should take action to inform and instruct any coastal populations at risk in accordance with their own evaluation, procedures and the level of threat.

Stay out of water
A tsunami advisory remains in effect for the Marianas — the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Guam. Authorities are warning of hazardous ocean conditions and strong currents along coastlines.

The first tsunami-related sea level fluctuations could reach Guam from 12:45 pm local time, before spreading northward across the Northern Marianas, with estimated arrival times of 12:54pm in Rota, 1:02opm in Tinian and 1:04pm in Saipan.

Officials cautioned that actual arrival times may vary and that the first wave may not be the largest.

Forecast impacts include sea level changes of up to one foot above and below normal tide levels, minor flooding in some beach and harbour areas, and strong and unusual currents in harbours, bays and nearshore waters.

Hazardous conditions could persist for several hours or longer, the advisory said.

Authorities have urged residents and visitors to stay out of the water and away from beaches, harbours and shorelines until the advisory is lifted.

Continue monitoring
Emergency officials stressed that a full-scale evacuation had not been ordered and advised the public to continue monitoring official updates and instructions.

The advisory covers Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, including Saipan, Tinian and Rota.

Officials said they would continue monitoring the situation and issue additional bulletins as more information becomes available.

This story was first published on

Fijians for Palestine – an antidote to ‘Suva sycophancy’ over Israel

APR editor — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 07:43:48 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

A South Auckland-based cultural studio founded by Fijian artist-curator Vasemaca (FKA Ema) Tavola has hit back at a spate of pro-Israeli propaganda in her homeland with a bold new banner design championing “Fijians for Palestine”.

Tavola’s practice is aligned with the “politics of decolonisation and indigenous feminisms, motherhood, and histories of BIPOC art and activism in the Global South”.

Her Vunilagi Vou studio has posted this message in response to public reactions over Israel opening its first embassy in Oceania in Fiji last week in the face of protests in three cities — Suva, Auckland and Wellington:

Fijian artist-curator Vasemaca Tavola . . . “A free Palestine is inextricable from a free West Papua.” Image: Vunilagi Vou

“The inspiration struck and this new mini banner emerged. Born from the hideous task of monitoring the Facebook comment section from people boldly declaring mis-/disinformation, Zionist propaganda and outright hate speech in my own Fijian community, I wanted to perform a creative act that could neutralise the sadness of this moment.

“The French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) famously said, ‘the act of sewing is a process of emotional repair’ and the sentiment has been the lifeblood of this ongoing series of mini banners. They are affirmations and dreaming, spells sewn with stitches, commitment captured in layers, trims, fringe and ric-rac — love letters to the future.

“Inspired and dedicated to Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network and the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre protests that have been happening in Suva to boldly and publicly declare that people in Fiji stand with Palestine, and the acts of some and the sycophancy of our government does not represent all of Fiji and all Fijians, as hard as that is to process for some Facebook users.

“The words on this mini banner are a truth that cannot be denied in a post truth era; Fijians are not a monolith and while many are spouting mind-boggling disinformation and vitriol against Palestinians and our fellow non-Indigenous Fiji people, there are many, many Fijians who stand for and with Palestine and reject the re-authoring of factual history and the monetisation of rage on platforms like Facebook.

“The social practice of this space has become a complete perversion of humanity.

The banner: Kaiviti Solidarity (2026) Cotton dobby, cotton towelling, rayon, bullion fringe trim, ric-rac and cowrie shells on 10oz canvas, 600x450mm

Flags for Palestine . . . “Systemic violence, colonial extraction, Indigenous erasure and murderous genocide, should never ever be normalised.” Image: Vunilagi Vou

Fijian and Palestine flags — challenging hypocrisy
Vunilagi Vou also “reimagined” a publicity photo circulated of a photo of the Fijian and Israeli flags side by side with another image showing off the Palestinian flag.

“If the current Fiji government can make such a divisive and disturbing symbolic image using AI to announce the opening of an Israeli embassy in Suva, I’ll keep the prompts flowing and re-imagine this image.

“Fiji is a gloriously diverse, complex and resilient nation of people who are the living embodiment of a globally connected mix of cultures, histories and influences. We are not a monolith, and the current Fiji government’s relationship to Israel, engaged in the ongoing, intentional and systematic destruction of Palestinian people, is an embarrassment.

“We represent a range of views as Fiji people; many use the Christian Bible and its ideologies as a moral and ethical compass, and others who can see the hypocrisy of largely Indigenous people siding with the perpetrators of a genocide against Indigenous people.

“Trying to understand the geopolitical, historical, social, spiritual nature of South West Asia and North Africa, and our relationship with imperialism and the tools of colonisation, oil and capitalism, globalisation and climate collapse all feels like unravelling the world we know.

“So, Palestine, and our courage to learn and unlearn, critique why we know what we know, feels like a profound symbol and beacon for imagining a future that survives this current hellscape.

“A free Palestine is inextricable from a free West Papua. Systemic violence, colonial extraction, Indigenous erasure and murderous genocide, should never ever be normalised.”

Rabuka rules out military involvement with Israel in Mideast conflicts

Pacific Media Watch — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 07:26:54 +0000

By Jake Wise in Suva

Fiji will not be “militarily involved” in any of the conflicts currently involving the State of Israel, says the country’s prime minister.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka made this reassurance yesterday, saying Fiji’s relationship with Israel would remain focused on development co-operation and strengthening bilateral ties, not military engagement.

Israel’s new embassy in Fiji — the first opened in Oceania — was officially opened yesterday with protesters against the diplomatic mission just across the street in the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC).

“We don’t want Israel in our country,” declared Shamima Ali, chair of the Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights and an organiser of the Fijians For Palestine protest, reports Mai TV.

“There is no doubt it is a genocide in Gaza” banner at the Fiji protest. Image: FijiOne TV screenshot APR

Protesters in New Zealand also picketed the Fiji High Commission in Wellington and the Fiji Consulate in Auckland.

Rabuka said Fiji’s interest in the partnership was based on development opportunities and the long-standing relationship between the two countries.

“We are looking at our own development and they are capable of giving us the development we need,” he said.

Training opportunities
He said Fijians had benefited from training opportunities in Israel over the years, including young people currently undergoing training there.

“Right now we have some young people undergoing training in Israel.

“Our own president did some training in his career path with the Native Land Trust Board at the time in Israel.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mai TV Fiji (@maitvfiji)

Rabuka said Fiji’s engagement with Israel had also been shaped by its long history of peacekeeping in the Middle East.

He said many Fijians had experienced the hospitality of the people and State of Israel through Fiji’s involvement in peacekeeping operations in the region.

Rabuka said the government would not allow the relationship to “become militarised”, as this would contradict Fiji’s wider regional position, including the “Ocean of Peace” concept for the Pacific.

Israel’s Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa’ar also stated that Israel would not ask Fiji for military support, saying Israel was capable of “fighting its own wars”.

Republished from The Fiji Times with permission.

A protester in the picket at the Fiji Consulate in Auckland with a banner calling for sanctions on Fiji. Image: Asia Pacific Report

New Zealand protests against Israel
Pacific Media Watch reports that Rabuka staged two military coups in Fiji in 1987 and became known as the father of Fiji’s “coup culture” — four coups in two decades.

In New Zealand, protest pickets were organised by the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) with about 20 people in a picket at the Fijian Consulate in Auckland’s suburb of Mt Roskill, and a dozen stood in pouring rain at the Fiji High Commission in Wellington’s CBD.

The Auckland protest featured a striking tropical banner warning “PM Rabuka don’t vote for genocide” in reference to Fiji’s persistent record of voting in support of Israel and the US in defiance of the overwhelming global condemnation of the Zionist state’s genocidal actions with impunity.

Protesters against the Fijian “selling of apartheid and genocide” at the Fiji High Commission picket in Wellington. Image: PSNA

The Wellington protest featured scores of pairs of children’s shoes in recognition of killing more than 75,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children.

“High Commission staff complained to protesters about a Palestinian flag ‘invading’ high commission airspace over the brick fence at the front of the high commission,” said Don Carson, a PSNA organiser.

“Protesters got their message though with megaphones calling Fiji openly complicit with Israeli genocide in Gaza.

“They also left a collection of old shoes — throwing shoes is a gesture of contempt in the Arab World — in the rain outside the High Commission for the staff to have to clean up.”

Israel is on trial for genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a case brought by South Africa and supported by dozens of countries, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are wanted on arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Children’s symbolic shoes left at the Fiji High Commission in Wellington . . . protesting at the genocide with children making up the largest proportion of 75,000 Palestinians killed by the Israeli military. Image: PSNA

Palestine supporters stage pickets in 3 cities in Fiji, NZ protesting against new Israeli embassy

Pacific Media Watch — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 10:03:28 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

Pro-Palestine protesters in Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand staged pickets in three cities today in protest against Israel opening its first embassy in Oceania.

Before visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar formally opened the embassy in the Fji capital, about 30 protesters gathered at the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) — just across the street from the diplomatic mission — and 20 demonstrators picketed the Fiji consulate in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill calling for sanctions against Israel over its genocide in Gaza and invasion of Lebanon.

Other protesters picketed Fiji’s High Commission in the New Zealand capital of Wellington.

Fiji police “intervened” during the Suva protest organised by the NGO Coalition of Human Rights and the Fijians for Palestine groups, reports The Fiji Times.

The protestors were asked to stop chanting slogans, such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, and were criticised over their placards — such as “There is no doubt. It is a genocide in Gaza” and Palestinian flags.

The demonstration continued as a silent protest against the establishment of the Israeli diplomatic mission in Fiji, with protesters gathering to express their opposition to Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza.

Several reporters were at the picket scene in Suva as police spoke to FWCC coordinator Shamima Ali, who is chair NGO Coalition of Human Right, in what witnesses described as “harassment”.

Critical of Public Order Act
Fijivillage News reports Ali has criticised the use of Fiji’s Public Order Act against pro-Palestine protesters, claiming the legislation was again being used to restrict people’s rights to peaceful protest.

Ali said the government had acknowledged concerns surrounding the Public Order Act and its broad powers, but reforms had yet to be implemented.

She questioned the decision by police to intervene in what she described as a “peaceful demonstration”, saying protesters were exercising their democratic right to express opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Professor Vijay Naidu commented in a social media post: “Fiji police had 7 twin cabs, two large paddy wagons to intimidate and suppress peaceful protesters gathered on a private property [the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre].

“Strange that police often claim, ‘no transport’ for not attending to calls regarding crimes.”

Israel is on trial for genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a case brought by South Africa and supported by dozens of countries, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are wanted on arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

A Palestine flag and “no genocide” banner outside the Fiji consulate in Auckland’s Mt Roskill. Image: Asia Pacific Report

in New Zealand, the picket outside the Fiji consulate in Auckland was also peaceful and quiet apart from a short speech and many toots of support by passing motorists.

Several banners and many Palestinian flags dominated both sides of Stoddard Road outside the consulate in the Tulja Centre.

Banners declared “PM Rabuka stop voting for genocide”– in reference to the lead role that Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s Fiji has played a leading role in Pacific votes in support of an isolated Israel in the United Nations — and “Stop the genocide in Gaza: Sanction Israel now — boycott Israeli goods.”

The “PM Rabuka stop voting for genocide” banner at the Auckland protest. Image: Asia Pacific Report

An organiser, Barry Lee of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA), “Israel is regarded around the world as a war criminal, and there is ample evidence of their war crimes every day.

“Israel and the United States are the most warmongering states in the region. They have attacked all of their neighbours at least once, and they are currently killing people in Gaza, they have just stopped attacking Iran, and now they are attacking Lebanon as the United States is underwriting its supply of weapons to do so.”

PSNA spokesperson Rinad Tamimi said that while the rest of the world was distancing itself from Israel for its genocide in Gaza, illegal settlements on the West Bank and invasion of Lebanon, Fiji was deepening its ties with the Benjamin Netanyahu regime.

“It’s partly personal. Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is grateful for Israeli support for his coup in 1987, when the rest of the world were distancing themselves from the Rabuka led military junta,” Tamimi said in a statement.

The Fiji Consulate in Auckland . . . venue of today’s protest. Image: Asia Pacific Report

“But it’s mostly the result of intense diplomatic activity by Israel throughout the Pacific, its determined attempts to reverse the trend around the world to isolate Israel and its institutions.”

“Israel is working with US Christian Zionists to make the Pacific an Israeli pond, to deliver votes in the United Nations and embassies in Jerusalem.”

In the September 2024 landmark United Nations General Assembly resolution to order Israel out of the Palestinian Occupied Territory within 12 months, no fewer than seven Pacific countries, including Fiji, voted against, out of a world total of 14 votes against.

Since US President Donald Trump had defied the United Nations and opened a US embassy in Jerusalem in 2018 during his his first term in the White House, only a handful of countries had followed.

The “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” banner removed by police at the Fiji protest. Image: Fijians For Palestine

“Since then, only Kosovo, Honduras and Guatemala have joined the US. That is, except for the Pacific — Papua New Guinea and Fiji are now in Jerusalem and they are soon to be joined by Samoa,” Tamimi said.

“It’ll be Samoa’s only country post outside the Pacific. Is Israel paying for it?”

At a joint media conference in Suva with Rabuka before the formal opening of the Israeli mission in Suva, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar declared Fiji was a “true friend of Israel”, reports FBC News.

Sa’ar said the embassy would serve as a platform to turn diplomatic ties into practical partnerships, with a focus on sectors that directly supported Fiji’s development priorities.

He added that Israel was ready to share its expertise in water management, renewable energy, agriculture and technology — areas that he said were increasingly important for Pacific island nations facing climate and resource pressures.

A local family at the Palestine protest outside the Fiji Consulate in Auckland today. Image: Asia Pacific Report

Fiji police question protesters over picket against opening of Israel embassy

Pacific Media Watch — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 06:46:05 +0000

Fijivillage News

A protest led by the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre was held at their office today — located opposite FHL Tower where the new Embassy of Israel was due to be opened later in the day.

Police visited the centre and spoke to coordinator Shamima Ali.

The protest was taking place while similar pickets were being held at the Fiji consulate in Mt Roskill, Auckland, and High Commission in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand.

When Fijivillage News questioned police, they said they were at the scene and had advised those present that they could not conducting any protest in a public place.

Ali has criticised the use of the Public Order Act against pro-Palestine protesters, claiming the legislation was once again being used to restrict people’s rights to peaceful protest.

Ali said the government had acknowledged concerns surrounding the Public Order Act and its broad powers, but reforms had yet to be implemented.

She questioned the decision by police to intervene in what she described as a peaceful demonstration, saying protesters were exercising their democratic right to express opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza.

“Stop #Zionism poisoning the Pacific” rallies in #Fiji & #Aotearoa today protesting against #Israel opening its first embassy in Oceania on a controversial new #diplomacy bid to “win friends” for the rogue pariah nation. #asiapacificreport #embassyprotest https://t.co/cUmFowKvDl pic.twitter.com/uFwJP2paik

— David Robie (@DavidRobie) June 2, 2026

‘Threat to public safety’
Ali claimed police informed protesters that they were considered a “threat to public safety” under an assessment made by a police officer.

She challenged that assessment, saying the group consisted of men, women and children participating in a peaceful gathering.

She also criticised the deployment of police resources to monitor the protest, arguing that law enforcement attention should be directed towards more pressing public safety concerns.

Despite being instructed to stop chanting and remove “certain banners”, Ali said protesters intended to continue their demonstration.

She alleged that police specifically objected to banners carrying the slogan “from the river to the sea”, which has been used by pro-Palestinian groups around the world to support self-determination.

Ali also questioned the Fiji government’s position on Israel and claimed there had been insufficient public consultation on decisions relating to Fiji’s engagement with the Middle East country.

She maintained that the protest would continue peacefully and called for the Public Order Act to be reviewed or repealed.

Republished from Fijivillage News with permission.

Pro-Palestinian activists plan protest against ‘Israeli pond’ diplomacy push in Pacific

APR editor — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 05:00:24 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

Israel is working with US Christian Zionists to make the Pacific “an Israeli pond” to help deliver votes in the United Nations, warns the advocacy and protest movement Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA).

National spokesperson Rinad Tamimi said in a statement today that PSNA would picket the Fiji High Commission in Wellington and Consulate in Auckland tomorrow at 12.30pm in protest over Israel opening its first Pacific Islands Embassy in the Fiji capital Suva later on Tuesday.

Tamimi said PSNA was acting in solidarity with a call for support from the Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network (Fijians4Palestine) in Fiji.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar arrived in Fiji today and is scheduled to cut the ribbon to open the embassy at 5pm.

Tamimi said that while the rest of the world was “distancing itself from Israel for its genocide in Gaza, illegal settlements on the West Bank and invasion of Lebanon,” Fiji was “deepening its ties with the [Benjamin] Netanyahu regime”.

“But it’s mostly the result of intense diplomatic activity by Israel throughout the Pacific, its determined attempts to reverse the trend around the world to isolate Israel and its institutions.

‘Working with Christian Zionists’
“Israel is working with US Christian Zionists to make the Pacific an Israeli pond, to deliver votes in the United Nations and embassies in Jerusalem.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar (right) with Fijian national Fine Ditoka . . . due to open the Israeli embassy – first in the Pacific – in Suva on Tuesday. Image: The Fiji Times/FB

In the September 2024 landmark UN General Assembly resolution to order Israel out of the Palestinian Occupied Territory within 12 months, no fewer than seven Pacific countries, including Fiji, voted against, out of a world total of 14 votes against.

“It’s the same Pacific slant with embassies in illegally Occupied Jerusalem. The world would locate all their embassies in Tel Aviv because they didn’t recognise Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem.

“Then Trump opened a US embassy in Jerusalem in 2018.

“It’ll be Samoa’s only country post outside the Pacific. Is Israel paying for it?”

According to the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), Israel previously had an embassy in Fiji in the 1970s and 1980s. But this was closed in the 1990s due to budgetary cuts, and its role was replaced by non-resident ambassadors.

“Our affinity and affection to Israel actually predates our official establishment of ties over half a century ago and dates back to 1835 when Christian missionaries came to Fiji and taught the Bible,” said Fiji’s Ambassador to Israel Jesoni Vitusagavulu.

“We have a deep appreciation for Israel.”

NZ King’s Birthday Honours 2026: Pasifika people among those recognised

APR editor — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 03:25:18 +0000

By Tiana Haxton, RNZ Pacific

Twelve Pasifika people in New Zealand received awards in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours.

The New Zealand Royal Honours acknowledges people who have served their communities and recognises their achievements.

The honors system includes three Orders: The Order of New Zealand; The New Zealand Order of Merit; and The King’s Service Order.

Various other medals are also awarded: including the King’s Service Medal, the New Zealand Antarctic Medal, and New Zealand Distinguished Service Decoration.

A total of 178 recipients were congratulated across New Zealand on Monday — six percent were Pacific Islanders.

Olympian Beatrice Roini Liua Faumuinā was named a Companion of the Order of New Zealand for her services to sport and governance.

“It’s a real good reflection of all the work that’s happened in the last 20 years, transitioning from being an athlete into the governance world, and wanting to be able to contribute in spaces where you can make real impacts and transition for many people,” the former New Zealand Trade Commissioner and Consul-General in New York said.

Total surprise
For some of the newly inducted Members of the Order, the awards have come as a total surprise.

Tofa Robertina O’Halloran, who was named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM), was at a loss for words.

“I’m just flabbergasted, and I had never expected anything like this. It was just a surprise,” she said.

“My son called me and said, ‘Mum, look at your email’, and I said, ‘I’ll read it later’. He said, ‘Look at it now’. I don’t know, I’m just short of words to say to him.”

O’Halloran was acknowledged for services to education and the Niuean community.

As one of the first Niuean primary teachers in New Zealand and a volunteer Vagahau Niue (Niuean language) educator, she attributed her award to those that inspired her to follow this path.

“I can thank the old folks who encouraged us to maintain the language, that’s who I acknowledge first, because they’re the ones who kept us going.”

Testament to success
For the founder of Samoan fashion brand Mena Designs, the recognition feels like a testament to their success.

Talaleomalie Filomena Loheni (MNZM) taught herself to sew dresses for her family, she never expected to one day be the first Pacific business invited to showcase at the New Zealand Fashion Week.

“I did not expect anything, you know. I was so surprised when I got the email, oh my goodness … We knew the business was very successful, because we sell worldwide… I feel honoured, and I feel humbled, I feel proud to be recognised.”

Loheni has seen her brand become a household name in Oceania fashion, and has showcased globally in Fiji, Japan, Canada, and the United States of America.

Okesene Seanoa Faraimo was named MNZM for services to the community, Tokelau language and culture.

The long-time social worker has played a key role in the development of multiple Tokelau focused strategies, reports and programs, and has been a strong advocate for the revitalisation of Te Gagana Tokelau (the Tokelau language).

Faraimo said it is an honour to be acknowledged for his work.

‘Very humbled’
“When I was told that I am nominated for this award I thought of the many others doing great work supporting whanau and the community, so I am very humbled to receive this award.”

For Lemalu Freddie Ah Kuoi (MNZM), being honoured for services to rugby league and the community has made him reflect on his long career.

“What it does show to me is that God’s hand is on my life, he’s given us to act on and to use wisely while we’re here, and so it gives me great confidence, and knowing that yes, I’m on the right track. Thank you, Lord.”

At 18 years old, Ah Kuoi made his debut in the international rugby scene in 1975, before becoming the youngest Pasifika player to captain the New Zealand Kiwis at the age of 23.

Now he runs the ‘WAI – Who Am I’ course, helping mentor young offenders through physical training and life coaching.

He says his many achievements are thanks to the many hands that have helped along the way.

“The medal represents most of the fact of all the things in my life that I’ve done, and the people that were involved with it, because you know, you can’t do it on your own, you know, it’s something that’s usually required teamwork.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon congratulated the Honours recipients for their “outstanding efforts”.

“The achievements and service of every New Zealander honoured on this list have helped make our country a stronger, better place, and I would like to thank them for their contributions,” he said.

“Congratulations to all the King’s Birthday 2026 Honours recipients. New Zealand is incredibly proud of you and stands alongside each of you in celebration.”

The full list of Pasifika inductees/awardees

To be Companions of the said Order (CNZM)
Beatrice Roini Liua Faumuinā (ONZM) — for services to sport and governance

To be Members of the said Order (MNZM)
Freddie (Lemalu Freddie) Ah Kuoi for services to rugby league and the community

Okesene Seanoa Faraimo for services to the community, Tokelau language and culture

Fane Fusipongi Ketu’u, JP for services to Tongan language education

Inspector Neru Grant Leifi for services to the New Zealand Police and the community

Filomena Loheni – for services to Pacific fashion

Tofa Robertina O’Halloran for services to education and the Niuean community

Esitone (Leota Pauga Esitone) Pauga for services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Kathleen Tuai for services to the Pacific community

Vania Nive Hannah Wolfgramm for services to rugby

The King’s Service Medal (KSM)

Reverend Tapita Taia Ching for services to the Pacific community and education

Vaitoelau Kumitau for services to the Niuean community

This story was first published on

Pro-Palestine groups plan coordinated protests in Fiji and NZ over Israel’s first Pacific embassy

APR editor — Sat, 30 May 2026 11:13:44 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

Pro-Palestine activist groups plan to simultaneously protest against the opening of the first Pacific embassy by Israel with pickets in the Fiji capital Suva and the New Zealand cities of Auckland and Wellington next week.

Fijians for Palestine and the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) are planning these coordinated protests in opposition to Tel Aviv opening the embassy in Fiji on Tuesday.

Ironically, the Fiji picket will be just across the road at the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre in downtown Suva with Palestinian flags “flying in the face of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar”, according to organisers.

The opening is scheduled for 5pm on Tuesday and pickets will be happening at the same time at the Fiji Embassy in Wellington and also at the Fiji consulate in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill.

“The genocidal state of Israel is opening an embassy in Fiji’s capital, Suva,” said Fijians For Palestine in a social media post at the weekend. “Fiji cannot build its state on the graves of children. Fiji cannot develop on the blood of innocents. Free Palestine.”

The embassy launch in Suva follows Fiji controversially opening an embassy in Jerusalem last year in defiance of United Nations resolutions that have declared occupied East Jerusalem as part of the state of Palestine,

Fiji is regarded as a staunch supporter of Israel at the UN in the face the face of overwhelming resolutions against Israel.

Fiji move condemned
The Fiji role was condemned at a pro-Palestinian rally in Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau today.

PSNA’s Anna Lee (speaking) at an Auckland pro-Palestinian rally . . . responding to a call from Fiji activists. Image: Pacific Media Report

“PSNA is responding to a call from Fijians for Palestine, to protest against the opening in Fiji of the Pacific’s first Israeli embassy,” organiser Anna Lee told protesters.

“Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar is scheduled to cut the ribbon in Suva to open Genocide Israel’s brand-new embassy at 5pm next Tuesday.

“The embassy opening represents a major advance for Israel’s determined attempts to reverse the trend around the world to isolate Israel and its institutions.”

The Fiji solidarity rally planned for Tuesday. Image: Fijians For Palestine

The embassy move represents a major diplomatic advance for Israel’s determined attempts to reverse the trend around the world to isolate Israel and its institutions.

In the September 2024 landmark UN General Assembly vote to order Israel out of the illegally occupied Palestinian Territory within 12 months, no fewer than seven Pacific countries — including Fiji — voted against out of a world total of 14. In favour were 124 countries out of 193 member states.

In the UNGA vote the following September on recognition of Palestine, Fiji abstained. However, five other Pacific countries comprised half of the 10 votes against — again alongside the United States and Israel. In favour were an overwhelming 157 countries (81 percent).

Bid to ‘cajole votes’
“There is a clear, and thus far successful, attempt by Israel to use the US brand of Christian fundamentalism, to cajole votes and embassies out of the Pacific,” said PSNA’s Lee.

“The Pacific is our backyard. Our protests will show Zionist Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka that Palestine has many supporters.”

According to The Fiji Times, the new Israeli embassy will mark a “significant milestone in the growing relationship between the two countries and strengthening Israel’s diplomatic presence in the Pacific region”.

Global Sumud Flotilla Aotearoa activist Hāhona Ormsby speaking at the Auckland rally today . . . The torture ordeals of the GSF participants have been widely covered, so he says now is a good time to be proactive, with Palestine fresh on the lips. Image: Bruce King

“The embassy will provide Israel with a permanent diplomatic presence in the Blue Pacific, a region that has attracted increasing attention from global powers seeking influence through development assistance, climate initiatives, security partnerships and economic engagement,” the newspaper reported.

“The development follows Fiji’s opening of its embassy in Jerusalem last year, making it one of a small number of countries with an embassy in Israel’s capital.”

Israel later announced plans to establish a reciprocal diplomatic mission in Fiji in 2026, citing Fiji’s “consistent support for Israel in international forums, including the United Nations”.

The opening of the embassy is also being viewed as part of Israel’s broader effort to increase its engagement with Pacific Island nations amid growing geopolitical competition in the region.

“Zionism poisoning the Pacific” . . . the poster of the New Zealand rallies this Tuesday. Image: PSNA

Diplomatic, legal implications
Fiji’s decision to establish an embassy in Jerusalem last year drew criticism from Palestinian officials and local activist groups, who argued that the move carried diplomatic and legal implications because of the disputed status of the city.

Today’s Auckland rally also featured Global Sumud Flotilla humanitarian aid activists detained and tortured by the Israeli military last week, including Hāhona Ormsby and Mousa Taher, and speakers criticising New Zealand involvement alongside Israel in the RIMPAC 2026 military exercises due in Hawai’i next month.

Fijian protesters at a Suva demonstration against Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians and genocide in Gaza. Image: Fijians For Palestine/FB

Pacific nations shaping future of seabed mining rules, says ISA chief

APR editor — Tue, 26 May 2026 23:12:09 +0000

RNZ Pacific

The head of the United Nations body mandated to develop regulations for seabed mining in international waters says Pacific countries are playing a big role in shaping the regulations that will govern the future industry.

International Seabed Authority (ISA) Secretary-General Leticia Carvalho was in Fiji last week conducting training for Pacific Island nations on what it means to be a sponsoring state of a potential seabed mining company.

There is great interest from the likes of China and the US in polymetallic nodules found on the deep seabed in parts of the Pacific Ocean’s international waters.

READ MORE: Other seabed mining reports

These nodules are rich in minerals such as copper, cobalt and nickel. These metals are highly valued in modern tech — but it remains uncertain how damaging mining would be to the marine environment.

Carvalho told RNZ Pacific Waves the region was very important to the ISA process of developing rules for mining, given the strong country positions both for and against.

“Some of them are really close to the idea of mining in the deep sea outside of national jurisdiction. Others are very much attached to the environmental safeguards and cautious about this activity, therefore this region has a big role in shaping the regime.”

She said she respected the opposing views Pacific countries had on the potential future industry.

PIF representatives
In Fiji, she met with representatives of Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) member countries and civil society organisations.

She said these were sovereign positions and her role was not to judge but rather to facilitate dialogue.

“And that is why I am here for capacity building, training, bringing my team to support these countries to better understand how they can make decisions internally and how they can sit at the table with others to find consensus in the multilateral space.”

She also acknowledged there were some civil society complaints about exclusion from the training but she clarified that the list of participants was constructed based on the relevance of the subject matter.

“So this training was particularly formulated to get government officials more enlightened about the responsibilities and how to make deals with contractors and investors.”

Carvahlo said some representatives of civil society networks were present as observers but it was not possible to invite everyone.

Before she left Fiji, Carvahlo did meet with a group of civil society representatives. She said it was good for her to hear their concerns firsthand.

‘Still big gap’
“They still see a big gap in their participation and their voices to be heard in the decision making,” she said.

“It was very enlightening for me to see that there is still work to be done in this region to make that communities can really engage and shape and influence decision making.”

The ISA boss encouraged all Pacific Island countries, regardless of their stance on deep sea mining, to participate fully in the International Seabed Authority meetings to make use of this historic opportunity to develop the proper regulations for an industry before it actually begins.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Chambers backs Pacific police leaders confronting corruption challenges amid drug trade concerns

APR editor — Sat, 23 May 2026 01:37:52 +0000

By Kaya Selby, RNZ Pacific journalist

New Zealand Police Commissioner Richard Chambers says Pacific Island nations are addressing corruption among their police and customs officials.

Chambers has concluded a trip to Suva, Fiji, for the inaugural Pacific Transnational Crime Summit, which brought together Pacific police chiefs, ministers and prime ministers to discuss what is now a “destination market” for drugs and human trafficking.

He said there was a willingness among police chiefs, most of whom are dealing with corruption in their ranks, to discuss these issues with humility.

READ MORE: Other Fiji crime reports

“We appreciate that it’s pretty hard sometimes to turn down an offer of a large sum of money when the incomes that many police staff earn aren’t great,” Chambers said.

“New Zealand will support our Pacific neighbours when it comes to particular problems, and that’s not new; we’ve done that for many years.”

New Zealand Police have confirmed their involvement in a six-month investigation into 11 Fiji police officers who were allegedly involved with Auckland-based drug dealers.

The investigation followed a leak of more than 100 text screenshots depicting officers accepting bribes and tipping people off about impending raids.

No specifics
Chambers refused to provide any specifics about that case or any others in which New Zealand may be involved.

However, he said that he had “absolute trust” in the Fiji Police Force and its Commissioner, Rusiate Tudravu.

“He talks quite openly about the challenges that he’s encountered as the commissioner there, and what he’s doing to stamp it out,” Chambers said.

“I’ve been a police officer for 30 years, and over that time I’ve done a lot of work with Fiji … I’ve never experienced any issues myself.”

The Pacific is a strategic transit point for traffickers both in Southeast Asia and Central America. Referred to colloquially by officials and experts as the “narco highway”, product is funnelled through Pacific communities on its way to Australia and New Zealand, where street prices are among the highest in the world.

Chambers’ Australian counterpart Krissy Barrett called this her “nation’s shame”, making for a “moral responsibility” to act. Australia has previously committed AU$400 million to regional policing efforts.

Pacific watch
One action stemming from the summit is a new dob-in line for Pacific communities, calling on the public to “be the community’s eyes and ears.”

The online platform, dubbed Pacific Watch, “will allow the public to” safely and anonymously report suspicious behaviour, drug-related activities and other crimes threatening community safety,” as reported by the Fiji Sun. Its slogan will be: ” Recognise, Remember and Report.”

The website features links to every Pacific country’s police page, as well as a “report now” button that leads to a Microsoft Form. It prompts the user to offer the suspect’s name or nicknames, their appearance and features, occupations, transport and a specific address, on top of describing the activity.

“Phase two” will reportedly include the ability to upload photos and videos as evidence.

It comes after the AFP announced a new office in Bogota, Colombia, alongside Colombian, Mexican, US, Interpol and Pacific forces, with a focus on disrupting supply lines. It would serve as an intelligence source for Pacific officials at one of the key entrances and exits of the narco highway.

New Zealand will send a liaison officer there “before Christmas”, Chambers said.

Military presence
Chambers said military officials from across the world were crawling at the summit.

“[One] thing that has been a particular focus this week is the coordination that needs to occur across all maritime activity,” he said.

“So, besides the Australian Navy, here we have the French Navy, the Mexican Navy, the Colombian Navy.”

However, he said that the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), which has partnered with the Fiji Police for the country’s primary counter-drug taskforce, were absent.

Fiji police are currently investigating the death of known drug pusher Jone Vakarisi, who was beaten to death in a military prison. Military officers have also reportedly patrolled streets in Fijian drug hotspots without police present.

Tudravu has continuously maintained that his officers are in control of all counter-drug operations in the country.

It is unclear whether the Australian and Fiji police, who co-convened the summit, extended an invitation to the military.

RNZ Pacific has asked the Fiji Police and the RFMF for comment.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Pacific concerns about militarisation – and NZ’s role as part of it

APR editor — Fri, 22 May 2026 02:13:38 +0000

By Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific senior journalist

New Zealand’s government is increasingly eager to promote the buy-in of Pacific nations for closer Defence Force integration in the region, amid concerns about militarisation of the region.

The security environment has been shifting rapidly, and regional defence is becoming more complex, leaving Pacific Islanders wondering if their “Ocean of Peace” is slipping out of their grasp.

In recent months, the defence and police forces of Australia and New Zealand have been increasing cooperation with counterparts in Pacific countries — including Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu — in efforts to combat transnational crime, especially the illicit drug trade.

READ MORE: Other NZ defence policy reports

But as a number of Pacific Island countries weigh up signing major bilateral treaties or agreements with the likes of Australia, China and the United States, New Zealand has been steadily pushing Pacific regional defence cooperation on a number of fronts.

The communiqué from last October’s South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting (SPDMM) in Chile is instructive.

The SPDMM — which involves New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Fiji, France, Papua New Guinea and Tonga — notes the leadership role New Zealand has taken on better coordinating regional defence architecture.

New Zealand is contributing to the militarisation of the Pacific, says Pacific historian Marco de Jong. Image: RNZ Pacific

The member countries agreed to push for a defence advisor from their collective to be embedded in the secretariat of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), whose secretary-general Baron Waqa attended the Chile meeting and appeared to support closer integration.

While the advisor position is yet to be established, the SPDMM is surging ahead with a range of new regional defence initiatives, including developing the Pacific Response Group, under which defence personnel from Australia, Fiji, France, New Zealand and PNG work together to support coordinated humanitarian assistance and disaster relief responses across the Pacific.

Social licence
A briefing from the March joint meeting of the Defence and Foreign ministers of Australia and New Zealand, emphasised how they aim to promote “the sense of integration through Pacific defence forces’ and to “enhance the sense of Pacific forces meeting Pacific security needs”.

It also highlighted a keenness to “get more links between SPDMM and PIF so that these voices are heard directly by the region”.

“The briefings reveal New Zealand’s role in integrating and aligning Pacific defence forces alongside a considerable anxiety about regional social licence,” Pacific historian Marco de Jong said.

He said the language being used “speaks to a programme of influence and public relations, calibrated to downplay criticism that New Zealand is contributing to the militarisation of the Pacific”.

A representative with Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era, Maureen Penjueli, who is also a long time advocate for Indigenous rights in the region, said there had been a lack of consultation with the wider Pacific Islands region about the new defence tack.

“We’ve seen so much occupation by those in the defence interests area. For example, the Australian National Security College takes a very primary seat at the Pacific Islands Forum on security. We’ve got competing interests, which is the Fusion Centre that’s in Vanuatu,” Penjueli said.

“When you add more and more players to this regional architecture that already has enough players on defence and security, it complicates the governance structure in a way. Who does it respond to? Who is it answerable to?

“It does not go through the rigour of national consultations, consultations with civil society around some of these bigger significant shifts around defence and security.”

Maureen Penjueli at a US Institute of Peace panel discussion . . . “We were told that this is to ready the region in an anticipation, to contain China.” Image: FB/Pacific Network on Globalisation

Long-standing partner
New Zealand is a long-standing contributor to Pacific regional initiatives, and its Defence Force is well valued in the region, especially in responding to disasters, humanitarian needs, transnational crime and maritime security threats, and also including in training support.

New Zealand’s Defence Minister Chris Penk, who replaced Judith Collins in the role since March’s 2+2 Ministerial Meeting with Australia, said that New Zealand always sought to adapt its work with Pacific partners to their context, culture and operational needs.

He told RNZ Pacific that in order to support closer cooperation between Pacific militaries, members were also looking at a SPDMM Status of Forces Agreement.

“This would provide a common legal framework for personnel to deploy into each other’s countries more easily, strengthening our collective ability to respond to maritime security challenges as well as humanitarian and disaster relief events.”

Asked if New Zealand is contributing to militarisation of the Pacific Islands, Penk said Pacific partners had warmly welcomed the country’s continued presence and partnership in the region

“The New Zealand Defence Force contributes to regional responses where it is agreed that defence force personnel and assets should be involved, including humanitarian assistance, maritime domain awareness, fisheries patrols, and search and rescue operations.

“As a Pacific military, we are proud to work alongside our Pacific partners to help respond to the challenges facing our region.”

NZ Defence Minister Chris Penk . . . “This would provide a common legal framework for personnel to deploy into each other’s countries more easily.” Image: RNZ/Nathan McKinnon

‘Ocean of Peace’
Penjueli warned that militarisation of the region was escalating against the wishes of most Pacific Islands people.

Making things more complicated, she said, was the growing number of security treaties and agreements that Island countries were being drawn to.

She said they were no longer just about defence or security inter-operability, and often included development and economic dimensions, arrangements that “entangled” Pacific countries into wide ranging commitments beyond traditional military and security ties.

Penjueli worried that the interests of the Island countries themselves were more than ever being buried under broader geopolitical jostling.

“We were told that this is to ready the region in an anticipation, to contain China, and we’re told that this is about the drug trade and the drug war that’s taking place.

“Yet for the Pacific, climate change or the climate crisis, remains our significant issue around security. So, I think the agendas are very different.”

At their last leaders summit, PIF countries signed up to the Blue Pacific Ocean of Peace Declaration, formally committing the region to peace, sovereignty, and climate justice.

However, Penjueli said being a true ocean of peace required demilitarisation and de-escalation — something which she suggested was not the direction that the defence-oriented governments of the region were heading in.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Eleven Fiji police officers investigated for ties to Auckland drug trade links

APR editor — Tue, 19 May 2026 03:00:56 +0000

By Kaya Selby, RNZ Pacific journalist

A multinational police investigation implicating 11 Fiji police officers in collusion with drug traffickers has been handed over to prosecutors.

The Fiji police announced that the investigation, lasting nearly six months, now awaits advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on how to proceed.

On December 1 last year, a social media activist posted more than 100 screenshots of Viber messages between the officers and a member of an Auckland-based organised crime group.

READ MORE: Other Fiji crime reports

Police personnel depicted in the screenshots ranged from beat cops to Criminal Intelligence Division (CID) officers to the head of the Narcotics Bureau.

The texts purportedly showed the Narcotics Bureau chief and others demanding a hit be put out on an individual, providing tip-offs about possible locations and movements. They also depicted officers demanding payments, with details of drop zones and pickup arrangements.

Police said that each officer’s financial histories was investigated.

Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu told local media on 19 December 2025 that the Narcotics Bureau chief had been placed on leave.

NZ ‘assisted’ investigation
A statement confirmed that Australian and New Zealand authorities “assisted” in the investigation. Tudravu confirmed in a press conference that United States authorities were also involved.

New Zealand police said they were “in touch” from December onwards.

“Fiji Police is leading the investigation, and New Zealand Police has offered any support that Fiji Police may require,” they said.

On December 2, Tudravu announced the investigation, with the officers’ phones confiscated shortly after. Police confirmed the investigation concluded last week.

The US Embassy in Wellington, where an FBI office is set up, declined to comment.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji’s journalists celebrate belated World Press Freedom Day – but warn of threats

Pacific Media Watch — Fri, 15 May 2026 10:18:30 +0000

Fijian Media Association

Fiji’s media workers finally got to celebrate their World Press Freedom Day this week 11 days late — on Thursday, May 14.

The event was pushed back from its traditional May 3 global date — which fell on a Sunday this year — to accommodate a packed news cycle dominated by parliamentary sittings and the Coca-Cola Games.

The events across Suva and Savusavu highlighted both the grit of local journalists and the very real threats still hovering over the industry.

READ MORE: Other World Press Freedom Day reports

In the capital Suva, the day started before sunrise. At 5am journalists met at the Bowling Club for a morning walk down to My Suva Park and back, catching up over a networking breakfast.

Later that evening, the focus shifted to Gordon House at the British High Commissioner’s Residence for a reception backed by BBC Media Action, Women in Media Fiji, and the Fijian Media Association (FMA).

Permanent Secretary for Information Eseta Nadakuitavuki described reporters as “real warriors” who required courage and “a very thick skin”.

While she praised the media’s fearless role in holding the powerful accountable, she also pointed to modern digital threats. She warned that while AI brought innovation, the rise of fake news and deepfakes meant ethical journalism and rigorous fact-checking were more crucial than ever.

BBC Media Action mentorship
The night also carved out time to recognise seven local journalists who completed a BBC Media Action content production mentorship under seasoned journalist Elenoa Baselala.

Up North, a different kind of gathering took place at the Hot Springs Hotel in Savusavu. FMA general secretary Stanley Simpson joined journalists for a dinner supported by the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS).

The Savusavu event was an acknowledgment of the mental toll carried by reporters outside the capital who usually “survive on roti and bean between assignments”.

Remembering the heavy weight these journalists carry, it was highlighted that in 2017, Northern reporters had to cover two back-to-back tragedies involving children: a fatal house fire, followed just two days later by a father drowning his three kids and himself.

With no debrief rooms or on-call counselors in the North, these reporters — including Peceli, Shratika, Naca, Feroz, Sampras, Nitesh, and Josese — just had to file their heartbreaking stories and keep going.

There was plenty of reason to celebrate on a national level, as Fiji recently jumped 16 spots to 24th globally on the 2026 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index — a massive climb from 84th place in 2023.

However, the FMA made it clear that Fiji’s press freedom gains remained fragile.

Navigating complexities
The industry is still navigating the complexities of Fiji’s hard-drugs crisis and dealing with disquieting developments like journalists being summoned to testify in court. There is also ongoing friction with government officials; recently, Minister for Information Lynda Tabuya criticised the media in Parliament over “mal-information” regarding a broken lift at the CWM Hospital, subsequently calling for an end to “doorstop-style” interviews.

The FMA firmly defended the practice as a necessary tool for holding officials accountable in a democracy.

Despite the challenges, the media fraternity is already looking ahead to its next major gathering. In September, the focus will return to Fiji as it hosts the region for the Pacific Media Summit.

Republished from the Fijian Media Association FB page.

Fiji army commander admits military ‘at fault’ for custody death

APR editor — Tue, 12 May 2026 02:00:19 +0000

RNZ Pacific

Fiji’s military chief has made a public admission at a church service that the institution was “at fault” for the death of Jone Vakarisi while he was in military custody.

Local media reported that Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) commander Ro Jone Kalaouniwai, while addressing officers at a military family service, admitted “we are at fault” for Vakarisi’s death.

“We must be held accountable,” he was quoted as saying by local media outlets.

READ MORE: Other Fiji military reports

State broadcaster FBC reported that Kalouniwai described Vakarisi’s death as an “unintentional” and “regrettable” incident, while the two national dailies reported him saying no one imagined or knew it would end up the way it did.

Vakarisi, 37, was notorious for being at odds with law enforcement and had been linked to criminal networks. He died on April 16 after being detained by soldiers and taken to RFMF’s Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Suva to be questioned regarding “national security investigations”, which included allegations of trying to break in and access military assets.

Commander Kalouniwai initially attributed Vakarisi’s death to “pre-existing conditions”.

However, he was forced to issue a “correction” after the police announced they had classified Vakarisi’s death as murder.

Murder investigation
A murder investigation is currently ongoing, with no one charged, almost a month since Vakarisi’s death.

The Fiji police and military have launched joint security operations to take down criminal networks in the country. The operations have resulted in a heightened military visibility around the country.

The Fiji police and military have launched joint security operations to take down criminal networks in the country. Image: FB/Fiji Police Force

Kalouniwai said the security forces had made progress but “an unforeseen incident occurred at the camp”, the FBC report said. He urged military officers to adhere to the law.

RNZ Pacific contacted Fiji police last week seeking an update on the murder investigation.

In an email reply, Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu said he would not let media dictate police actions and advised RNZ Pacific to continue liaising with the police’s media liaison officer.

Over the weekend, graphic and distressing photos of Vakarisi’s body began circulating and being shared widely on social media.

Fiji’s Online Safety Commission said it was “deeply concerned” about the images being circulated.

“The images being shared are highly distressing, show the deceased in a vulnerable and exposed state, and have caused further pain and trauma to the grieving family members,” it said.

“We strongly urge members of the public to refrain from sharing, reposting, forwarding, or publishing such material across any social media platform, messaging publication, or online platform.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Call for Rotuman people to speak language or it could be ‘lost forever’

APR editor — Mon, 11 May 2026 02:53:40 +0000

By Luka Forman, RNZ journalist

A community leader from a tiny island says preserving her native tongue is more important than ever, as schools on the island itself have stopped teaching it.

Rotuma is an island about 650km north of Fiji and is a dependency of Fiji.

UNESCO lists Rotuman as definitely endangered and says there has been a sharp decline in fluent speakers.

Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group chair Rachel Mario, who also manages the NZ Rotuman Community Centre in Mt Roskill, said that made it even more important for the community here in New Zealand to keep learning and speaking it.

“If we don’t revive the language or don’t do enough about it, we’ll lose it forever, so it’s quite important that anyone with Rotuman blood out there adhere to that,” she said.

“If you don’t teach your kids and you don’t learn it, or you don’t speak it at home, it’s going to be lost forever.”

According to the 2023 census, 1323 Rotumans live in New Zealand, though Rachel Mario said the number could be higher depending on how the ethnicity question was framed.

‘Also empowering’
“It’s their identity, it’s their culture. It’ll also empower them once they know who they are.”

Rotuman Language Week started on Sunday, something Mario fought for two years to have recognised.

NZ Rotuman Community Centre manager Rachel Mario . . . “Our culture and language are totally different from Fijian.” Image: RNZ/Mabel Muller

“They kept saying no, because they think we’re Fijian and our culture is totally different. We speak different languages, we’re totally different from the Fijians.”

The Rotuman Community Centre will be running activities throughout the week, including a church service, a decolonisation symposium and a seniors day.

The Rotuman people are a distinct ethnic group, with their own Polynesian language culture and identity.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Today’s event – “Let’s Talk: Decolonisation and safeguarding our Rotuman language” — 6.30pm, NZ Rotuman Community Centre, 165 Stoddard Rd, Mt Roskill

The NZ Rotuman Community Centre’s 2026 Language Week programme, May 10-17.

Media programmes at USP, FNU join forces for World Press Freedom Day talanoa

Pacific Media Watch — Tue, 05 May 2026 22:49:49 +0000

Wansolwara News

The University of the South Pacific (USP) Journalism Programme has marked the 2026 World Press Freedom Day this year in partnership with the Fiji National University (FNU) School of Language, Communication and Literature.

A successful collaboration between two universities, the event highlighted a strong partnership focused on advancing journalism education in the Pacific.

A panel discussion was moderated by the head of USP Journalism, Associate Professor Shailendra Singh, on the theme “Exploring media’s role in divided societies: can media be both peacemaker and watchdog?”

The panelists were:
· Dorinda Mabon – media and communications student, Fiji National University
· Iva Nataro – editor, Fiji Sun
· Vahefonua Tupola – Journalism Students Association representative, USP
· Nilesh Lal – executive director, Dialogue Fiji
· Alifereti Sakiasi – journalist, The Fiji Times

The Assistant Minister for Multi-Ethnic Affairs, Culture, Heritage and Arts, Shalen Kumar, was chief guest while the Pacific Representative of the UN Human Rights Pacific, Heike Alefsen was keynote speaker.

The collaboration highlighted a shared commitment to tackling key challenges such as misinformation, digital disruption, and ethical reporting, while preparing the next generation of journalists.

Asia Pacific Report and Pacific Media Watch collaborate with the University of the South Pacific Journalism Programme.

Fiji’s media win in World Press Freedom Index overshadowed by threats and court summons

Pacific Media Watch — Tue, 05 May 2026 11:14:46 +0000

By Khalia Strong of PMN News

Fiji has shot up the world rankings for press freedom but the victory feels hollow as journalists across the Pacific face a wave of court battles, police raids, and vicious online abuse.

The 2026 World Press Freedom Index, released last Thursday by Reporters Without Borders, shows Fiji climbing to a record 24th in the world.

But the celebration is being cut short. In Sāmoa, the media has plummeted to its lowest ranking ever (59th), and in Fiji, despite the “freedom”, reporters are still being summoned to court and having their phones seized by police.

The Paris-based global watchdog warns journalism is at a 25-year low. From AI-generated “fake news’” on Facebook to politicians bullying reporters, the job of telling the truth in the Pacific has never been more dangerous.

Sāmoa falls to lowest ranking after election fallout
The biggest shock in the report is Sāmoa’s collapse. After a messy 2025 election cycle, the island nation — once the “gold standard” for Pacific media — has seen its ranking fall off a cliff.

It isn’t only about politics, it’s about safety. Women journalists are being targeted with threats for simply doing their jobs.

The World Press Freedom Index reports a 25-year low. Image: RSF/PMN News

Rula Sua Vaa, head editor of TV1 Sāmoa News, told the ABC she received threats against her and her family while covering the fallout between the Fa’atuatua i le Atua Sāmoa ua Tai (FAST) party and former Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa.

The UN Women Asia and the Pacific project reports that 45 percent of women in Pacific media now self-censor online just to avoid the abuse.

As the UN stated on social media: “Behind every silenced voice is a growing crisis of digital violence, weak accountability, and threats to press freedom,” it says in a social media post.

Kalafi Moala, president of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), said the biggest threat might actually be “free” money being offered by foreign powers.

He said Pacific journalists were operating under dual pressures of political control and digital disinformation.

“In small island states, where information ecosystems are fragile and resources are limited, the impact can be immediate and damaging, undermining public trust, fueling division, and threatening social cohesion,” he said in a statement.

Kalafi Moala’s full interview with PMN News.

Fiji gains overshadowed by legal scrutiny
Fiji’s rise to 24th is a big win following the repeal of the old, “draconian” 2010 Media Industry Development Act in 2023.

But the Fijian Media Association warns these gains are “tenuous”.

This year alone, senior reporters Lavenia Lativerata (Mai TV) and Jake Wise (The Fiji Times) were summoned to testify in court while Meri Radinibaravi, an investigative journalist, had her phone seized by police over a Facebook post earlier this week.

The Fijian Media Association at its AGM in March. Image: FMA FB/PMN News

Clayton Weimers, Reporters Without Borders North America executive director, said the global situation was critical.

“Journalists continue to be killed and jailed, but journalism itself is now threatened by economic headwinds, the criminalisation of reporting, and a hostile political climate. There is no freedom without press freedom,” he said in a social media post.

Across the region, the 2026 Index shows a Pacific moving in two directions.

While the laws are getting better in some countries, the digital and financial pressure on journalists is reaching a breaking point.

For Moala, the mission remains simple but difficult: “Tell the stories that’s right there in front of us… and somehow, we’ll get there.”

New Zealand was ranked 22nd, ahead of Australia at 33rd in the 2026 Index.

Press freedom at its lowest point in 25 years Video: RSF

Republished from PMN News with permission.

Fiji jumps, Samoa plunges in World Press Freedom Index

Pacific Media Watch — Mon, 04 May 2026 09:32:28 +0000

By Stefan Armbruster of Pasifika TV

Fiji has recorded a dramatic jump in its media freedom rating to be in the top 25 nations globally while Samoan government press restrictions have seen its rating plummet in the latest World Press Freedom Index.

Advocacy group Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) said globally it was the first time since the index was first compiled in 2001 that more than half of the world’s countries fell into the “difficult” or “very serious” press freedom categories.

The index released annually for World Press Freedom Day covers 180 countries but reports on only four of two dozen Pacific island nations and territories, including Tonga and the lowest ranked in the region Papua New Guinea.

Three years after Fiji repealed its draconian media laws, it has climbed into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media, recording a steep 15-point increase, the index’s second highest annual move globally after Syria.

Fiji has now risen from a low of 89 in 2023 to the 24th position in the 2026 index — which covers 2025 — reflecting the change in government after coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama lost power in the 2022 election.

Associate Professor Shailendra Singh, head of journalism at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, told Pasifika TV the ranking is a reflection of a freer media environment but there is no room for complacency.

“There is the growing tension between the media and the government, and the bolder the media becomes, the more they test the government tolerance for scrutiny and criticism,” he said, highlighting accusations of misinformation levelled at the media by Fiji’s Information Minister Lynda Tabuya last week.

‘Criticised doorstopping’
“She criticised the doorstopping by a Fijian journalist and stated that this type of practice should be banned.

“This is a reminder that the fight for media freedom never ends and there are always new challenges cropping up, we can never let our guard down and any ethical breaches on our part makes for a stronger case for greater controls on the media.”

Fiji’s improved ranking was in contrast to the global trend for erosion of media independence, which also saw Samoa lead the way down for other Pacific nations surveyed.

Samoa posted the largest fall in the Pacific, plunging 15 points to 59th place, and the second greatest decline globally after Niger.

An acrimonious relationship between Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt and local journalists, particularly the Samoa Observer newspaper which he has banned from government press conferences, has been a major factor.

Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) last November issued a statement of “deep concern” saying that it represents “a serious threat to media freedom, public access to information, and democratic accountability in Samoa and the wider Pacific region.”

La’aulialemalietoa rejected PINA’s position saying the government had “documented evidence of unprofessional reporting and breach of media ethical standards that led to this action”.

PINA president Kalafi Moala talking to Pasifika TV.

Samoan government ‘must improve’
PINA president Kalafi Moala told Pasifika TV the Samoan government must improve its approach.

“The Samoa Observer has for decades followed the tradition of holding power to account and they’ll be the first one in trouble if there’s an issue there,” he said.

Overall Moala said he sensed the political mood toward media freedom in the Pacific had shifted.

“Throughout the Pacific, the governments are trying to learn from the past and that freedom of the press goes in hand-in-hand with democracy,” he told Pasifika TV at the Media Council of PNG’s (MCPNG) annual summit in Port Moresby.

“These are not the governments of the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s, these are new governments with a whole new crop [of politicians] coming up and they’re far more aware of the fact they’ve got to be more democratic.”

Papua New Guinea is the lowest ranked Pacific island nation at 73rd place, but is up five points, and slowly climbing.

Its rating dropped 32 points in 2024 to 91st place after Prime Minister James Marape’s Government announced plans to tighten the media laws and proposed registering journalists.

Extensive lobbying efforts by the MCPNG has seen the government moderate its position.

‘Really proud’ of MCPNG
“I’m really, really proud of being part of the Media Council of Papua New Guinea,” said MCPNG secretary Belinda Kora.

“We realised that when we went to sit down with authorities responsible for communication and technology, and our prime minister, the lack of understanding they have of our roles, which led to a parliamentary inquiry and for the first time in the history of this country, the recommendations of that inquiry were actually adopted by the Parliament.

“So, when we’re sitting down with them, we’re making them aware and also educating them about why it is important to protect our rights.”

Tonga slipped five points to 51st position in the rankings but Moala, founder and editor of Talanoa ‘o Tonga and who was imprisoned in 1996 for contempt of parliament, said he could not fathom why.

“Right now, with a new government and new prime minister elected, I’m just absolutely amazed,” he said.

“We’ve never had a government like that for the last 20 years, he [Prime Minister Lord Fatafehi Fakafānua] is having regular press conferences every week, is open for interviews with media, he personally and his government actively want information to come out of every department.

“We’re going in a direction and moving at a speed in terms of media freedom I’ve never seen before.”

Pacific countries not ranked
Not ranked by RSF are Pacific island nations like Nauru, Kiribati and Tuvalu with little or no independent media, nor those with dynamic media environments like Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

None of the territories or colonies of France and the United States are separately monitored or mentioned in the report.

“It is very sad that they [RSF] only concentrate on these four nations because it’s probably convenient to them,” he said.

“The whole Pacific is much bigger than that and our concern at PINA is there’s no coverage of any Micronesian country or territory.

“You’ve got Palau, you’ve got issues in the Marshall Islands, the American territories like Guam and so on.”

Only Australia and New Zealand were specifically mentioned in RSF’s Asia-Pacific annual regional report, despite the very significant gain made by Fiji and fall by Samoa by international standards.

Reporters Sans Frontières did not respond to Pasifika TV questions on why it does not cover all of the Pacific along with the 180 other nations.

West Papua not mentioned
Its report for Indonesia also does not mention West Papua where some of its harshest media restrictions are imposed, including bans of foreign media and regular internet blackouts during times of conflict, and where local journalists face intimidation.

Press freedom in the Pacific’s main donor partners — Australia, China, New Zealand and United States — continues to fall despite their provision of journalism training in the region.

New Zealand remains the highest ranked Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) member country at 22nd place but has fallen six points since last year, while Australia continues its decline, falling a further four points to sit at 33rd place.

The United States also continued its downward slide, falling seven points to 64th position, which RSF said was due to “President Donald Trump’s systematic weaponisation of state institutions, including funding cuts to public broadcasters”.

In April 2024, the Trump administration cut funding to Radio Free Asia, and its BenarNews Pacific service, ending coverage of the region, though it has now resumed with an almost exclusive focus on China-related stories.

Other media initiatives impacted by the US cuts included Internews and OCCRP.

China at 178th sits third from the bottom of the index, just above North Korea and Eritrea.

Reporters Sans Frontières said “the government has dramatically expanded its repressive toolkit in recent years, including a raft of national security laws that are regularly invoked to imprison journalists”.

“With 121 media professionals currently behind bars, China is the world’s largest jailer of journalists.”

Republished from Pasifika TV. Stefan Armbruster is regional news development lead.

Fiji climbs to 24th in World Press Freedom Index, biggest gain in the Pacific

Pacific Media Watch — Sun, 03 May 2026 23:56:41 +0000

RNZ Pacific

Fiji has recorded the biggest improvement in the Pacific in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, rising to 24th out of 180 countries.

The index has been compiled and published by global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) since 2002.

Papua New Guinea moved up slightly on the index to 73rd.

But Samoa recorded the biggest drop in the region, falling to 59th — its lowest ranking.

Tonga also slipped this year to 51st, down from 46th in 2025.

New Zealand is ranked 22nd, ahead of Australia at 33rd.

Reporters Without Borders said for the first time in the Index’s history, more than half of the world’s countries now fall into the “difficult” or “very serious” categories for press freedom.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

FMA praises Fiji media workers for press freedom climb but warns it is ‘tenuous’

Pacific Media Watch — Sun, 03 May 2026 23:21:04 +0000

Fijian Media Association

Three years after the lifting of draconian media laws under which Fiji’s media industry operated, and even with significant improvements in the country’s media freedom rankings, the gains from the return of media freedom remain tenuous.

This World Press Freedom Day, the Fijian Media Association is heartened by the country’s remarkable progress on the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) media freedom index for 2026.

Fiji improved in ranking by 16 places, now standing at 24th globally, up from 40th last year and 84th in 2023.

The global picture revealed by the RSF World Press Freedom Index shows over half of the world’s countries now fall into the “difficult” or “very difficult” categories for press freedom, the lowest in the 25 years since the index was first published.

This achievement for Fiji should be attributed not only to the media workers continuing to uphold the values of independent journalism to keep communities informed, but to everybody in this country who recognise and defend the importance of a free media for a healthy democracy.

While it is a moment to be celebrated, we are acutely aware of the various threats to individual media workers and the wider industry that continue to overshadow media development in Fiji.

In recent months, there have been several separate developments that have the potential to influence and shape how the media works and serves the community.

Summonsing of journalists
The summonsing of journalists to testify in court cases has been a particularly pointed moment, and its ramifications of this judicial action on the industry and the sources it depends on is something the FMA is acutely aware of.

More recently, the statement by the Minister for Information Lynda Tabuya in Parliament regarding what she referred to as “mal-information” and “misinformation” by the reporting on the broken-down lift at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva.

“This was followed by a public call for an end to “doorstop-style” interviews by local media.

Such a method of newsgathering is well-established in healthy democracies as a necessary part of holding officials accountable.

These developments signal the kinds of pressures the media continues to be subjected to.

Apart from the systemic issues the media and the people who work in the industry continue to contend with, the growing problem of the hard-drugs crisis and its impacts are also being felt in professional and personal ways.

Layer of complexity
This adds a layer of complexity that journalists need to navigate, while continuing to uphold the values and ethics the industry aspires to.

As we commemorate World Press Freedom Day 2026, the Fijian Media Association reaffirms our commitment to advocating for press freedom and the protection of journalists’ rights in Fiji.

We call on all stakeholders, including government officials and civil society, to work collaboratively to ensure a safe and supportive environment for media practitioners, allowing them to report without fear or favour.

Let us continue to champion the cause of press freedom, not only in Fiji but around the world, recognising that a free press is essential to a healthy democracy.

This World Press Freedom Day statement was republished from the Fijian Media Association.

World Press Freedom Index 2026 Video: RSF

Political reforms drive Fiji’s big press freedom gains, says RSF

Pacific Media Watch — Sun, 03 May 2026 00:58:07 +0000

By Anish Chand in Suva

Fiji’s rise in the latest global press freedom rankings is being credited to improved media conditions following key political and legal reforms in recent years.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says the country’s jump to 24th place in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index reflects a shift in the media environment after years of restrictions.

“Pressure exerted on the media by civil and military authorities has eased since the election of Sitiveni Rabuka… in 2022,” the report stated.

READ MORE: RSF World Press Freedom Index 2026

RSF highlighted the repeal of the Media Industry Development Act (MIDA) in April 2023 as a major turning point.

“The repeal of the draconian and unpopular Media Industry Development Act… is an important step forward,” it said.

World Press Freedom Index 2026 Video: RSF

Fiji climbed from 40th place in 2025, with its overall score improving to 76.76 from 71.20, signalling progress across several indicators.

The report contrasted the current trajectory with the period from 2006 to 2022 under the previous government.

Restrictive laws
“Press freedom was directly affected by recurring attacks,” RSF said, noting that restrictive laws and enforcement created “a climate of fear and self-censorship”.

Legal provisions, including sedition laws, were frequently used against media organisations such as The Fiji Times, contributing to caution and restraint within the industry.

RSF also pointed to past economic pressures, including discriminatory advertising practices used to influence editorial positions.

“Authorities used discriminatory advertising practices to blackmail the media,” the report said.

While acknowledging the progress, RSF cautioned that challenges remained.

The report highlighted concerns over the financial sustainability of media organisations and safety issues affecting journalists, including findings that sexual harassment of women in the industry remains widespread.

Fragmented media landscape
It also noted Fiji’s diverse but fragmented media landscape, shaped by linguistic and cultural factors, with strong competition across print, television, radio and digital platforms.

Despite these challenges, RSF said the overall trend reflects a positive shift.

The report emphasised that continued reforms, protection of media independence and support for journalists will be key to sustaining the gains.

Fiji’s improved ranking signals growing confidence in the country’s media environment, but RSF warned that maintaining progress would require ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability and press freedom.

Republished from The Fiji Times with permission.

Girmitiya ancestry the inspiration behind Fiji writer’s debut novel

APR editor — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:49:03 +0000

By Christina Persico, RNZ Pacific bulletin editor

A woman whose great-grandparents — all eight of them — were Girmitiya labourers has put their stories into her debut novel.

The result is Banjara, a novel partly based on what she found, which is told through the eyes of two women more than 100 years apart.

Author, Shana Chandra told RNZ Nine to Noon she knew her grandparents were Girmitiya, but nothing of their origin stories.

READ MORE: Other Fiji literature reports

“I knew that they were part of this larger geopolitical movement under colonialism, but I didn’t have their personal stories,” she said.

“I didn’t know where they came from in India. I didn’t know what made them vulnerable to coercion. I didn’t even know their names. So really, writing the story was a way for me to write their origin story not only for me, but for them.”

Chandra said the former head of New Zealand’s Girmitiya Foundation told her that Indo-Fijians were prohibited from writing about indenture.

“It felt very important for me to write this origin story, because there was so much silence – I think, because there was so much shame over what happened.

‘Angry about the silence’
“And it was my way of saying to my ancestors, they no longer need to be silenced, and… thank you, in a way, because I used to be quite angry about the silence, but then I realized it was their gift to me, and their gift to all of us — they didn’t want us to be burdened with what they endured.”

Chandra said a lot of research went into the book, but historical records only tell so much.

“When I saw my great-grandmother’s immigration pass, she boarded the Hereford, which is actually the same boat that Avani, my character, boards in the book.

“She was only eight when she boarded, and she boarded the boat with her younger brother, her older sister and her father, and there was actually no record of her mother being on board. So because of the way indentureships were partitioned with men on one side and women and children on the other, I know that those women on board would have helped my great-grandmother and her siblings survive in a myriad of ways.

“One day, I just had this compulsion to wake up and say all of those women’s names because I knew that they would have helped them survive.”

There were shocking discoveries, too. One immigration pass was that of a 15-day-old baby who had died.

“And on the left-hand side, written in cursive writing by a colonial official, was that her mother had suffocated her. And though I know that could be true, there was something about that intuitively that just didn’t sit right in my body.”

Real oral histories
Chandra later came across a post from a site called Cutlass Magazine, featuring real oral histories.

“One about a woman who said that when her grandmother was indentured, the women on board had to hide the children because crew members would find them a nuisance and want to throw them overboard.

“And there was an actual story from an indentured man who kept on repeating the same story, how on his ship that had a particularly rough passage, the captain came, took a newborn baby and fed it to the sea as a sacrifice.

“Even just me writing the names of those women afterwards, just burst into tears… It was important to weave those other stories, those oral histories, into the book to show that other side of history.”

Chandra believes a lot of labourers were duped into signing the labour agreements, and many were promised a “paradisical island full of abundant opportunity”.

“But what they actually faced …was hard labour up to 14 hours a day or over six days a week. And a lot of them were subjected to brutal physical and sexual abuse.

“At one point, Fiji had the highest suicide rate in the world due to indenture.”

The ‘women’s gang’
Chandra said there was “amazing forms of resistance” from the women.

“There’s something known as the women’s gang.

“These women would form these gangs, and they would go to known abusers and use the only thing, only weapons they had, which was their bodies, and retaliate and beat their abusers. So my book really showcases that female solidarity.”

She said it was tough to navigate all the cultural practices and language of the time to be accurate. But what also became important was the “emotional truth”.

“That emotional honesty was almost just as important, because that’s what it’s really trying to capture, but I was lucky. When I was writing this novel, it did feel like something larger was guiding my hand. So I do partly dedicate this novel to my ancestors, who felt like they were conspiring with me from the heavens.

“I think what’s so amazing to me is that, and this is what I hoped the book would do — it would provide an emotional landscape for other Indo-Fijians to rebound off and to start talking about these stories.”

Shana Chandra will be appearing as part of the Auckland Writers’ Festival next month.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji PM Rabuka gives govt support for controversial waste-to-energy project

APR editor — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 22:45:09 +0000

RNZ Pacific

The Fiji Prime Minister has thrown his government’s support behind a controversial waste-to-energy project at Vuda Point in the country’s Western Division despite “a delay”.

The multi-million-dollar “Fiji Energy from Waste Project”, backed by Australian billionaire Ian Malouf and Fiji-born businessman Robert Cromb’s company The Next Generation (TNG) Fiji, has been making headlines across local and Australian media.

The proposed development in the Vuda-Saweni area between Nadi International Airport and Lautoka city has sparked a major backlash from concerned Fijians about its potential to damage the environment at the mainstream tourist hotspot.

READ MORE: Other Pacific waste reports

The project is reported to plan to burn up to 900,000 tonnes of waste a year, far exceeding Fiji’s local waste production, requiring the import of waste from across the South Pacific.

On Friday, Fiji’s Environment Ministry announced that the waste incinerator project has moved into the technical review stage.

The ministry also confirmed that it had received 875 written submissions during the public viewing period of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) review process, as well as, almost 9000 signatures — on and offline — opposing the project.

Environment Ministry Permanent Secretary Dr Sivendra Michael said no decision had been made to date.

“The decision can only be issued following the completion of the full technical and regulatory review.”

‘Remains committed’
However, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said his government “remains committed to progressing the project”, according to a report by the state broadcaster.

“There has been a delay in discussions,” Rabuka told a vernacular radio programme,” adding that “as a government, we support the project”.

“If you look at it, a waste-to-energy plant can help supply electricity to more communities, while allowing the government to redirect resources to areas that still need power,” he was quoted as saying by FBC News.

In a report on April 1, The Australian described the proposal as: “Three years after losing the battle to build a waste-to-energy incinerator in western Sydney, Australian Dial-a-Dump billionaire Ian Malouf is pushing to build one on Fiji’s prized west coast that would burn up to 700,000 tonnes of imported garbage.

“Mr Malouf said his proposal had the backing of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and his cabinet, and that ‘just a few selfish people don’t want it in their backyard’,” The Australian reported.

Rabuka’s Environment Minister Lynda Tabuya said at the time that the claims in The Australian report were “not accurate” and that cabinet had not approved the project, according to an FBC News report.

A ‘toxic’ project
Fiji’s Ambassador to the United Nations Filipo Tarakinikini, in a social media post on 20 April 20, described the project as “a toxic one”.

“If this project could not meet Australia’s environmental and health standards — and was rejected after seven years of scrutiny by one of the most sophisticated planning systems in the world — why should Fiji, with far less regulatory infrastructure, accept it?,” he wrote.

“Fiji must not become the Pacific’s ashtray,” he said.

The Environment Ministry said the public should “respect the process” and allow it “the space to complete its work in accordance with the law”.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Injured Fiji police officer in checkpoint incident ‘is my daughter’, says Tikoduadua

APR editor — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 00:33:55 +0000

By Anish Chand in Suva

Fiji Minister for Defence and Veterans Affairs Pio Tikoduadua has confirmed that a police officer seriously injured during a checkpoint incident in Laqere is his daughter.

In a statement, Tikoduadua said the incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday at a joint checkpoint involving the Fiji Police Force and the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.

“At approximately 3am, officers on duty encountered a vehicle that failed to stop. A pursuit followed through the Nakasi corridor and back toward Laqere,” he said.

READ MORE: Other Fiji security reports

“During the attempt to stop the vehicle, a police officer was struck and sustained serious injuries. She is currently receiving treatment at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital and remains in a serious but stable condition.”

Tikoduadua revealed the injured officer was on duty at the time of the incident.

“The officer is my daughter. She was on duty at the checkpoint at the time of the incident,” he said.

He confirmed that suspects have been arrested and that items believed to be illicit drugs were recovered from the vehicle, with investigations continuing.

Risk faced by officers
“This incident reflects the level of risk that officers face in responding to drug-related activity. Drugs are not only a policing issue — they present a national security concern. They are linked to organised activity and increase the likelihood of violence,” he said.

Tikoduadua stressed that joint operations between police and the military will continue to address such threats and maintain public safety.

“I am concerned as a father. I am also clear in my responsibilities as minister. The work being carried out by our officers must continue, and those responsible for this incident will be dealt with through the law,” he said.

He also called on the public to allow authorities to carry out their investigations without interference.

“I ask the public to allow the police to complete their investigations and to avoid speculation. My focus remains on her recovery and on supporting the officers who continue their duties.”

Republished from The Fiji Times with permission.

‘His life mattered’: Family of man who died in Fiji military custody says he begged for his life

APR editor — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 23:26:07 +0000

By Margot Staunton, RNZ Pacific senior journalist

Jone Vakarisi was heard screaming and begging before he was “brutalised to death” in Fiji military custody last week, according to his sister.

Melehola Tagaga told RNZ Pacific Waves that the well-known drug pusher was asked if he was planning a coup, before the military arrested him at home and took him to the Queen Elizabeth Barracks for questioning last Thursday.

The Fiji Police Force classified the 37-year-old’s death as murder following a high-level meeting in Suva involving the Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and security and military chiefs on Monday.

“An investigation is underway with the support of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander, as earlier stated, so it will be thoroughly conducted,” police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said.

Vakarasi had become somewhat notorious in the capital, linked to turf wars and engaging in violence with law enforcement in recent years.

Local media outlets have described him as a local “drug lord” who was “involved in criminal networks”.

Jone Vakarisi was linked to turf wars and engaging in violence with law enforcement in recent years. Image: RNZ Pacific

Fiji’s top military and police brass were on Bau Island farewelling the late President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau when news broke of his death last Friday.

His death certificate, dated April 18, lists asphyxia, aspiration of gastric contents, severe traumatic head injuries and blunt force trauma to both the head and chest as the causes of his death.

The Republic of Fiji Military (RFMF) commander Ro Jone Kalouniwai initially attributed the victim’s death to a “sudden and severe medical emergency” and “the presence of a pre-existing condition”.

However, he issued a second statement on Monday to correct the record, saying “the earlier description did not fully reflect the medical findings now available”.

Victim begged for his life
Melehola Tagaga claimed that people living close to the military barracks in Nabua, near Suva, told the family they heard Vakarisi “yelling and screaming” for hours before he died.

“My brother was saying “oi lei, au via bula”, meaning, “hey, I want to be alive,” and that is all they heard, all through the night,” she said.

Tagaga, 50, an entrepreneur in Sacramento, California, said his home was raided first by the police, then later by the military.

Both were looking for weapons and drugs, but nothing was found, then “disappointed” they questioned him about a possible coup.

“A family member that was there heard the term coup … they asked if he heard or had a plan or knew of someone that was plotting another coup. And he said he had nothing to do with it and he didn’t know anything about it,” Tagaga said.

She described the father of four as an “entrepreneur”, a “family man” but admitted he had previous “gang-related” convictions involving violence.

Jone Vakarisi with his children. Image: RNZ Pacific

“What do you expect from the kind of society that we live in in Fiji … people were becoming more territorial, so if you felt threatened, wouldn’t you do something to make sure your family and friends are safe? [from rival territories and authorities].”

She said the family were demanding justice and an independent, fully transparent investigation into the death, claiming the military and the police were “in cahoots” with each other.

“With the the wrongdoing, we want accountability, regardless of what the allegations are (against Vakarisi). We still don’t have a clear explanation of what happened to him,” she said.

“His life probably didn’t matter to them [the military] but it mattered to us … he had a past with the law but that didn’t give them the right to kill him. A person’s life in custody should be protected.”

Lawyer says death ‘extrajudicial’
Rajendra Chaudhry, a lawyer and the son of former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, told Pacific Waves the death was an extrajudicial killing.

“I find it highly alarming that there was an attempt to cover it up, which is clearly unacceptable … the commander ought to have known about that. So the [initial] statement that was released under his name was misleading to say the least,” Chaudhry said.

He said it was not a simple communication oversight, it was a serious coverup that was exposed only after the death certificate was made public.

“I am quite disgusted to see comments on social media supporting the military because Vakarisi was a drug peddler, the military must respect the rule of law. He should have been handed over to the police for questioning and processing,” Chaudhry said.

“They [the police] should take charge of the investigation and deal with it independently, they should not act in collaboration with the military because the military is being investigated, it doesn’t make sense.”

While he had confidence in Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu, he said the military “leans on” section 131 of the Constitution, which states that that the military is responsible for the overall security of the country.

“That provision is a licence to act extra-constitutionally and must be read together with emergency provisions, where the military is required to act in safeguarding Fiji in the national interest, it should not have a say in domestic or governance matters, which is the role of the police and the government of the day.”

A Fiji military spokesperson, Lieutenant-Colonel Dr Eroni Duaibe, said it would be inappropriate to comment while a police investigation was underway.

Jone Vakarisi (middle back) with his family. Image: RNZ Pacific

Human rights abuses
The Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights (NGOCHR) echoed Chaudhry’s views, adding that Fijians were too frightened to question what the military does.

NGOCHR chair Shamima Ali called for a transparent, independent investigation into the human rights abuses involved in the murder

Aman Ravindra-Singh, a Fiji human rights lawyer who is in exile in Australia, equated asphyxia with strangulation.

Ravindra-Singh fled from Fiji in 2022 to avoid jail for contempt of court following a series of Facebook posts critical of the then prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and the former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

“In my personal view, based on other similar deaths in custody matters that I have looked at in the past, these injuries are consistent with torture, where a person is brutally beaten repeatedly to the head and chest, resulting in death,” he said.

In an exclusive interview with Mai TV’s The Brunch talkshow, Vakarisi’s ex-wife Kuini Osbourne rejected claims that he was involved in illegal drug and gun-related activities, as widely reported in local media.

She said following Vakarisi’s post-mortem, the pathologist explained to her his cause of death.

“He choked on his [own] blood and fluid that came up and [the doctor] explained that it was like strangulation.”

The pathologist said due to the severe trauma to Vakarisi’s head and chest he had internal bleeding from broken ribs, “he choked when the blood and fluids came up. He couldn’t vomit it or spit it out,” she said.

Meanwhile, Fiji police declined to say what Vakarisi’s previous convictions were.

“We will respond on policing issues, matters arising out of jurisdictional matters, such as convictions, is not for us to comment on,” Naisoro said

“We will not be commenting on anything other than the investigation, so as not to jeopardise the process,” she said.

Vakarisi’s older sister Tagaga said both their father and uncles had served in the military.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji police confirm murder probe launched into death of man in military custody

APR editor — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 11:35:43 +0000

By Margot Staunton, RNZ Pacific senior journalist

The Fiji Police Force has launched a murder investigation following the death of wellknown drug pusher Jone Vakarisi, who died in military custody on Thursday.

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro told RNZ Pacific that “investigators are gathering intelligence to establish the facts and circumstances surrounding the victim’s death”.

“The heads of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) and the police are reconfirming their commitment towards conducting a thorough investigation, appealing once again to members of the public to allow the investigative process to run its course,” Naisoro said.

Meanwhile, the Suva High Court has closed criminal proceedings against Vakarisi, after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) made an application to stop proceedings.

Fijivillage.com reports that public prosecutors were appealing Vakarisi’s suspended sentence for having marijuana within the confines of a court in January 2023.

He was reportedly found with 15.2 grams of marijuana and sentenced to three months in jail, suspended for two years by the Suva Magistrates Court.

The appeal hearing was meant to be held on Monday.

Application granted
Chief Justice Salesi Temo granted the ODPP’s application after reviewing medical evidence.

The court requested a copy of the death certificate, which was released by the police’s Director of Criminal Investigations.

Conflicting reports emerged over the weekend regarding the death of Vakarisi, who was reportedly linked to major criminal networks.

Fiji drug peddler Jone Vakarisi at a court appearance in March 2026 . . . his death in military custody blamed on “a pre-existing condition”. Image: FB/The Fiji Times/RNZ Pacific

News of his death broke on Friday, while top military and police brass were gathered on Bau Island, farewelling the late President and Speaker of the House, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau.

The RFMF said in a statement on Saturday that the death was due to “a sudden and severe emergency” during questioning at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Nabua, approximately 10 minutes’ drive from Suva City.

RFMF commander Major-General Ro Jone Kalouniwai said the victim, in his late 30s, had “voluntarily presented” himself with three others to the RFMF headquarters “to assist with investigations.”

Kalouniwai attributed Vakarisi’s death to “a pre-existing condition”. However, Vakarisi’s family has disputed the military’s account, telling local media that he was “not a sickly person at all”.

Later statement
However, a later statement by General Kalouniwai corrected aspects of the initial military communication concerning the death of Vakarisi, saying that the RFMF acknowledged that the earlier description of the incident as a “medical emergency” did not fully reflect the medical findings now available, reports Fijivillage.com.

This followed the receipt of the post mortem report for Vakarisi.

The commander said the RFMF recognised the seriousness of these findings.

Queenie Osbourne, the mother of Vakarisi’s children, told The Fiji Times, that Vakarisi and others were taken from their home to the army barracks on Thursday night without any formal explanations.

A leaked death certificate, which first appeared on Fijian social media on Saturday, has now been verified by Fiji Police commissioner Rusiate Tudravu to be an official police document.

According to the document, the causes of Vakarisi’s death were listed as asphyxia, aspiration of gastric contents, severe traumatic head injuries, and blunt force trauma to both the head and chest.

“No one informed us of his death from the night he died. We found out when he was in the morgue,” Osbourne was quoted as saying by The Fiji Times.

Vakarisi’s family is calling for justice.

A high-level meeting took place in Suva involving the Prime Minister, security chiefs and military leaders before the police decided to issue a statement classifying Vakarisi’s death as murder.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji defends its isolated UN stance supporting Israel

APR editor — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 01:26:15 +0000

By Anish Chand in Suva

Fiji’s Ambassador to Israel, Jesoni Vitusagavulu, has defended his country’s voting record at the United Nations, saying it is guided by principle, not pressure.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Vitusagavulu said Fiji carefully assessed each resolution on its merits rather than aligning with majority positions.

“Fiji votes at the United Nations on principle. We’ve consistently been one of the few nations to stand up against one-sided, anti-Israel resolutions,” he said.

READ MORE: Fiji votes on Israel

“We don’t just follow the crowd; we evaluate every measure on its merits. For us, it’s about fairness and sovereign equality.”

He said Fiji’s approach reflected a broader commitment to balanced diplomacy.

“We believe that isolating Israel through lopsided resolutions is counterproductive to peace, and we choose instead to be a consistent voice for balanced dialogue,” Vitusagavulu said.

The ambassador stressed that Fiji maintained an “inclusive” foreign policy stance.

“We are ‘friends to all.’ Fiji is transparent about its values, so our partners know exactly where we stand.”

He added that supporting Israel did not equate to opposing other nations.

“Supporting Israel doesn’t mean we’re ‘against’ anyone else… It’s not a blanket endorsement of another country’s policies,” he said, referencing remarks by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.

Vitusagavulu said Fiji aimed to play a constructive role on the global stage.

“We believe that by keeping our doors open to everyone, Fiji can act as a moderate, honest voice for engagement in a very polarised world.”

Republished from The Fiji Times with permission.

Asia Pacific Report: The UN General Assembly continues to pass resolutions critical of Israel, including a March 2026 resolution demanding an end to occupation and a December 2025 vote (123-7) directing withdrawal from the West Bank, Gaza, and Golan Heights. Recent resolutions consistently emphasise the illegality of settlements, demand humanitarian access in Gaza, and act on International Court of Justice findings regarding the occupied territories.

Fiji military faces questions after death of Jone Vakarisi in custody

APR editor — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 23:27:45 +0000

RNZ Pacific

The Fiji military has found itself at the centre of a national firestorm following the death of a wellknown drug peddler, Jone Vakarisi, in army custody last Thursday.

Conflicting reports have emerged over the weekend regarding the death of Vakarisi, who was reportedly linked to major criminal networks.

News of his death broke while top military and police brass were gathered on Bau Islands, paying their final respects to the late President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau.

The Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) said in a statement on Saturday that Vakarisi’s death was due to “a sudden and severe emergency” during questioning at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Nabua, approximately 10 minutes’ drive from Suva City.

RFMF commander Ro Jone Kalouniwai said Vakarisi, in his late 30s, had “voluntarily presented” himself alongside three others to the RFMF headquarters “to assist with investigations”.

Kalouniwai pinned Vakarisi’s death to “a pre-existing condition”. However, Vakarisi’s family has disputed the military’s account, telling local media that he was “not a sickly person at all”.

Leaked death certificate
A leaked death certificate, which first appeared on Fiji social media on Saturday, has now been verified by Fiji Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu to be an official police document.

According to the document, the causes of Vakarisi’s death are listed as asphyxia, aspiration of gastric contents, severe traumatic head injuries, and blunt force trauma to both the head and chest.

“No one informed us of his death from the night he died. We found out when he was in the morgue,” Osbourne was quoted as saying by The Fiji Times.

Vakarisi’s family is calling for justice.

Commisioner Tudravu said heads of the RFMF and Fiji Folice Force “are both in consensus of letting the law take its course, through the conduct of the investigation which is currently underway”.

According to the RFMF statement, at least one military officer has already been placed in military custody for internal disciplinary investigations.

Fiji’s Human Rights Commission said it was “concerned” about the death in military custody and has called for “a prompt [and] independent investigation”.

Aman Ravindra-Singh, a Fiji human rights lawyer who is in exile in Australia, said that based on other similar deaths in custody matters that he has looked at in the past, the injuries listed in Vakarisi’s death certificate “are consistent with torture, where a person is brutally beaten repeatedly to the head and chest resulting in death”.

‘A matter of grave concern’ – minister
Fiji Defence Minister Pio Tikoduadua has described Vakarisi’s death as “a serious matter”.

Tikoduadua said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the circumstances of the case while police inquiries were ongoing.

“The proper process must be allowed to take its course, and all relevant facts must be established independently and professionally. Any loss of life in such circumstances is a matter of grave concern,” he said in a statement.

“I expect the full cooperation of all relevant authorities with the police investigation. Accountability, adherence to the rule of law, and respect for due process must remain paramount.

He also urged the public to allow the investigation to proceed without speculation or the spread of misinformation.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Pacific Forum responds to current global fuel and energy challenges

APR editor — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 01:01:04 +0000

The Pacific Islands Forum troika Leaders have agreed to activate the Biketawa Declaration, placing the region on a co-ordinated high alert framework to respond to the unfolding global energy security crisis.

The declaration was made by the leaders of the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Palau following discussions in Nadi, Fiji, on Friday in light of the looming energy crisis as a result of the illegal US-Israel war on Iran.

The meeting brought together the incoming Chair, President Surangel Whipps of Palau, and outgoing Chair, the Prime Minister of Tonga, Lord Fakafanua.

READ MORE: Other Biketawa Declaration security reports

On a social media post, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele noted that Solomon Islands continued to experience the impact of global fuel price volatility and highlighted the importance of practical regional solutions to support vulnerable Pacific economies.

Leaders noted that Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands had declared energy emergencies, while Solomon Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Vanuatu, the Cook Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia were implementing national mitigation measures.

Other Forum members remain on a regional watch phase, with ongoing monitoring by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware the Forum Troika has invoked the Biketawa Declaration to respond to the current global fuel and energy challenges.

A spokesperson for MFAT said they are supportive of regional efforts to respond to regional crises, including through the Biketawa Declaration.

They said they are working closely with Pacific Islands Forum partners to understand the fuel supply situation, and potential needs, across the region and how they could assist.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Man linked to gang activity dies after Fiji military detention, local media report

APR editor — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:51:57 +0000

RNZ Pacific

The Fiji Police Force has confirmed that a man who was taken in for questioning by the Republic of Fiji Military Forces in Suva has died in custody.

Fijian media are reporting that the man was a wellknown “drug lord” known to local authorities.

The man was among a group allegedly linked to gang activity who were taken in for questioning by the military on Thursday night, fijivillage.com reports.

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said an investigation into the incident was underway.

The incident comes amid ongoing joint operations between the police and the military.

This week, the Fijian military warned that individuals responsible for “any attempt to destabilise national security” and those who aid “individuals engaged in criminal activity” had been put on notice.

The death also comes as Fijians mourn the passing of the former President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, who has been accorded a state funeral today.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji military puts public ‘on notice’ citing national security threats

APR editor — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:25:56 +0000

RNZ Pacific

The Fiji military has warned that individuals responsible for “any attempt to destabilise national security” and those who aid “individuals engaged in criminal activity” have been “put on notice”.

It comes after the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) confirmed just last Friday that “unknown individuals” had made “unsuccessful” attempts to access its installations.

To allay public anxiety, the RFMF assured that “there is no threat to public safety arising from the incident”.

READ MORE: Other Fiji military security reports

However, in a statement on Monday night, the military said it had initiated joint security operations with the Fiji Police Force as “a deliberate and measured approach to recent unacceptable challenges to security, including threats to infrastructure and isolated acts of violence against civilians and officers in the line of duty”.

While pointing out its constitutional responsibility to “ensure the security, defence and wellbeing of Fiji and all Fijians”, the RFMF said it would not take these matters lightly.

“Therefore, we put on notice that any attempt to destabilise national security or endanger the wellbeing of citizens will be met with firm, lawful and proportionate action.”

According to the statement — authorised by the military commander — the enhanced security measures are expected to “continue for as long as necessary”.

RFMF Commander Ro Jone Kalouniwai . . . enhanced security measures are expected to “continue for as long as necessary”. Image: FB/Republic of Fiji Military Forces/RNZ Pacific

“Members of the public are reminded that providing shelter, assistance, or support to individuals engaged in criminal activity is an offence and directly undermines national security.”

The Fiji Military is encouraging the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities to the relevant authorities.

‘Alarming’ development – Labour Party
The Fiji Labour Party (FLP) has reacted to the developments by questioning the current state of national security in the country.

“As a party that has twice been the victim of military coups — in 1987 and 2000 — we understand only too well how fragile national security can become when well-organised elements with ill intent are allowed to operate,” it said in a statement on Sunday.

It said the unauthorised access to RFMF installations “is particularly alarming when set against the backdrop of rising drug-related activities and seizures across Fiji in recent times”.

“The emergence of sophisticated, well-coordinated criminal elements poses a direct threat to public safety and national stability,” the party said in a statement.

“Even though the RFMF has confirmed that no weapons, ammunition, or equipment were compromised, the very fact that such attempts were made sends a dangerous signal: our defence installations may not be as impenetrable as we have been led to believe.”

FLP is demanding clear answers and concrete action to strengthen safeguards across all military and strategic installations.

Meanwhile, Fijians are set to head to the polls later this year.

The general elections can be held anytime between August 7 (earliest) and 6 February 2027 (latest).

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Cyclone Vaianu: First impacts could be felt Saturday amid severe NZ warnings

APR editor — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:59:38 +0000

RNZ News

Severe weather warnings are set to come into place this weekend as Cyclone Vaianu bears down on New Zealand.

Coromandel and parts of the Bay of Plenty are expected to be the worst-affected, though no part of the North Island will escape unscathed, forecasters warn.

A state of emergency has been declared for Northland as at 5pm, for an initial period of seven days, as part of the regional response.

The first warnings will be in effect from late Saturday night in Northland, before Vaianu makes its way south.

Most of the rain and winds will hit on Sunday, reaching the upper South Island by early afternoon.

MetService meteorologist John Law told RNZ Checkpoint the first impacts of the system could be felt on Saturday morning with large swells for north-eastern areas.

“This is a multi-hazard area of low pressure that runs down. You can imagine that these strong winds rushing over the seas help to drive large swells across the open waters, and they run in from the northwest.

Swells up to 6, 8 metres
“And I think around those northern coasts, places like Northland and the Bay of Plenty, swell heights could be as much as six to eight metres.

“Now, adding to that, the wet weather coming down the rivers, the strong winds, the extra boost of that sea by the extra low pressure, those coastal eliminations, that risk does increase.”

Law also said it was “very unusual” to see the entire North Island under weather watches and warnings.

“Normally our watches and warnings, we try and keep them to as small an area as possible to kind of really focus in on those areas impacting.

“So the fact that the whole island has got these severe weather watches and warnings … it is an indication of the severity of the system coming through, not just in terms of the wet weather, but that wind, I think, is going to be one of the key features as we head through the weekend.

“As this system runs across us, we’ll find our winds changing direction… as they come in to start with we’re looking at northerly winds, but as the system sweeps down to the south, strong south or westerly winds behind it will also be another issue.

“So that change in direction, something else to keep in mind.”

Orange heavy rain warnings
Meanwhile, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty west of Whakatane including Rotorua, and Gisborne/Tairawhiti north of Tolaga Bay are all under an orange heavy rain warning from the early hours of Sunday morning.

Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell says it will be a potentially significant and damaging storm, and Earth Sciences NZ predicted more than 200mm of rain could fall in some places across the upper North Island.

An orange strong wind warning is in place for Northland from 11pm Saturday until Sunday afternoon. Auckland, Waikato, Waitomo, Taupo, Taumarunui, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua, Gisborne/Tairawhiti, Hawke’s Bay, Taihape, Taranaki and Wanganui are all also under orange warnings which come into place overnight Saturday.

Aucklanders have been warned the Harbour Bridge might close due to strong winds.

FIFA matches advanced
FIFA World Cup qualifying matches due to be played in Hamilton on Sunday have been brought forward to Saturday to avoid the worst of it.

Officials said the decision was made to ensure the safety of participants and fans attending the games.

The Oceania semi-finals between the Football Ferns and Fiji and Papua New Guinea (PNG) and American Samoa were originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Hamilton.

They will now be played Saturday, with PNG playing American Samoa at midday and New Zealand playing Fiji at 4pm.

RNZ is New Zealand’s statutory civil defence lifeline radio broadcaster. That means RNZ will provide vital information and updates as they come to hand on air and online during an emergency.
Find the radio frequency for your area here and get prepared here.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

‘We’re doing something about it’ – Fiji’s health minister defends HIV response

APR editor — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 01:12:47 +0000

By Margot Staunton, RNZ Pacific senior journalist

Fiji’s Health Minister Dr Ratu Antonio Lalabalavu has defended the government’s handling of the country’s HIV crisis.

HIV is surging in Fiji with at least 9000 people — or nearly one percent of the population — reported to be now infected.

There are concerns that the real figure could be significantly higher, with global health experts saying HIV is historically under-reported.

READ MORE: Other HIV in Fiji reports

The World Health Organisation (WHO) believes the country has been gripped by an “escalating HIV outbreak”.

The island nation declared an HIV outbreak in January last year, with the government calling it “a national crisis” and regional health experts warning that it could spread across the region.

Dr Lalabalavu told Pacific Waves that despite the rising tide of infection the government’s response to the crisis had been “responsible”.

“Look at the [HIV] trend and how it started, it goes way back to 2017, 2018. We are the government that recognised it and now we are doing something about it.”

Budget allocation
The government allocated FJ$10 million (US$4.4 million) in last year’s Budget towards initiatives designed to tackle the problem, he said.

“From last year there have been government initiatives put in place to ensure that we do try and get this under control.”

Fiji’s Health Minister Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu . . . “government initiatives have been put in place to ensure that we do try and get this under control.” Image: FB/Fiji Ministry of Health & Medical Services

Alarming stats
The Health Minister revealed some alarming HIV statistics in Parliament earlier this month.

“In 2025, Fiji recorded 2003 new diagnoses, up from 1583 in 2024, with the national rate diagnosis rising to 226 per 100,000, up from 13 per 100,000 in 2019 — a 17-fold increase,” he said.

“Men remain more affected, but the gap is narrowing, showing that infection is increasingly affecting women and families.”

On top of that, a new trend has emerged showing that the number of HIV-positive newborns is on the rise, according to the head of Fiji’s National HIV Outbreak and Cluster Response team, Dr Jason Mitchell.

Sixty babies were born with HIV last year, up from 31 cases in 2024 and more than 3 percent of women attending antenatal care in Fiji were testing positive for HIV, with the number slightly higher in the capital, Suva, Dr Mitchell said.

One baby is being diagnosed with HIV every week due to mother-to-child transmission, and one child is dying every month from advanced HIV disease.

Mother-to-child transmission
Mother-to-baby transmission is a growing concern, according to treatment support worker Dashika Balak.

“They (the mothers) test negatively initially but over the course of the pregnancy they acquire HIV,” Balak said.

“This is a new trend that we are seeing, because these women may not have risky behaviours but most of the partners are injecting drug users and in pregnancy people do have sex.”

Testing during pregnancy is now underway to reduce the risk of transmission to babies, she said.

Dr Lalabalavu has admitted that sexual promiscuity and drug use among youth in particular are huge contributing factors in the HIV epidemic.

Asked exactly how the government planned to address this, he said “a behavioural change programme” was needed to ensure that happens.

“It is part of the plan, you need good planning and a programme to ensure that is implemented across the board,” he said.

“It is not just something for the Ministry of Health, it’s for the various ministries, important stakeholders, the vanua, the church and the family in general.”

Fiji has been gripped by an “escalating HIV outbreak”. Image: FB/Fiji Ministry of Health & Medical Services

Conservative beliefs
Although there were plans to introduce a vital needle and syringe exchange programme, its rollout would take time, Dr Lalabalavu said.

“We will have to tread carefully in terms of how it is accepted within the community, and also we need to look into the legal aspect of it. So we are in the final stages of ensuring that the programme is endorsed.”

Cultural and religious beliefs played a part in the sensitivity around the issue in Fiji, he said.

“First of all, you need to create awareness that by doing this we are not advocating for drug use. That is the challenge and the narrative that we need the general public are aware of,” he said.

“Right now we are looking at avenues to ensure that we get the message to important stakeholders such as the community, the vanua, and religious-based organisations that are here.”

“We want to tap into their capabilities so they can, together with the ministry, pass this message along to their congregations and to the public at large,” he said.

Civil society organisations and interest groups took to the streets for a special march to commemorate World AIDS Day on 1 December 2025. Image: FB/Fiji Ministry of Health & Medical Services

Echoing this, Mitchell told Fiji’s state broadcaster that introducing the programme would not be easy, given the negative reactions in the past when condom use and family planning were phased in.

He said health officials were accused of promoting promiscuity among youth, when they were responding to public health needs.

However, he stressed that the needle and syringe programme was crucial to reducing HIV and Hepatitis C infections in the country.

Needle sharing is described as widespread in group settings, leading to infection clusters within families and communities.

The Health Minister said he expected that by the time the programme went public, it would be well accepted by the people.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

USP academic calls for better press freedom protections in face of Fiji’s declining media trust

Pacific Media Watch — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:46:59 +0000

By Cheerieann Wilson in Suva

Public trust in Fiji’s mainstream media has significantly declined, a journalism academic has told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, citing decades of political upheaval, censorship and institutional pressure.

At its third expert hearing in Suva, the commission heard from University of the South Pacific’s associate professor of journalism Shailendra Singh, who detailed how censorship, intimidation and political pressure had weakened the media landscape over decades.

Dr Singh, who is contributing to the commission’s media chapter, told the TRC that repeated disruptions — including the 1987, 2000 and 2006 coups — had lasting consequences on press freedom and public discourse.

READ MORE: Other Fiji media reports

Drawing on more than 30 years of experience, he outlined how newsrooms faced closures, financial strain and the loss of skilled journalists, contributing to declining editorial independence and professional standards.

He said journalists were often forced into difficult ethical positions, navigating threats and highly polarised environments, which led to self-censorship, and, at times, uncritical reporting aligned with dominant political narratives.

He described the 2000 and 2006 coups as defining moments for the industry.

The 2006 period, he noted, brought the most stringent controls, including the introduction of the Media Industry Development Act 2010, which entrenched censorship and self-censorship in newsrooms.

Steady decline in public confidence
The long-term impact, he said, had been a steady decline in public confidence.

Dr Singh told the commission that perceptions of bias and compliance had contributed to the erosion of trust, with some members of the public even supporting tighter media control.

At the same time, restrictions on traditional media created space for alternative platforms such as blogs, social media and diaspora outlets — opening new avenues for expression but also raising concerns around misinformation and accountability.

Despite the repeal of the MIDA legislation in 2023, Dr Singh said the sector continued to grapple with its legacy, including financial instability, skills shortages and the risk of renewed political interference.

He recommended stronger legal protections for press freedom, improved training to lift professional standards, greater media literacy and independent regulatory mechanisms.

Republished from The Fiji Times with permission.

Fiji’s former President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau dies at 84

APR editor — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 22:46:29 +0000

RNZ Pacific

Former Fijian President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau died on Thursday, aged 84.

Ratu Epeli, a chief and former Fiji military commander, served as president from 2009 to 2015.

He also served as Speaker of Parliament from 2019 to 2022.

Local media reported Ratu Epeli died at the Suva Private Hospital after being admitted earlier on Thursday evening.

READ MORE: Ratu Epeli Nailatikau is no longer with us

In Saturday’s frontpage story titled “Nailatikau is no longer with us”, The Fiji Times described the late president as “widely respected for his leadership and dedication to the people of Fiji”.

The Fiji Sun described him as a “respected chief, soldier, diplomat and statesman”.

A former opposition leader and high chief, Ro Teimumu Kepa, said Ratu Epeli’s death had left many people in shock.

“The flowing tributes on social media shows how his personality touched many lives that he came in contact with,” she wrote in a social media post.

The ‘people’s president’
Fiji’s former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum described Ratu Epeli as “the people’s president”.

“Ratu Epeli Nailatikau lived his life among his people, not above them. We see that in the countless stories coming in from across the country about his personal interactions with everyday people,” Sayed-Khaiyun said.

“He put his belief of the dignity of every Fijian into practice every day, including the day he promulgated our Fijian Constitution in 2013 which granted every citizen an equal voice in our democracy while concomitantly protecting everyone’s specific rights including the marginalised and the vulnerable.

“And as if God hadn’t given the man enough rare qualities — he had both a wonderful singing voice and the wits to know when to close out a long night in song and send us all home on a high note.”

The Fiji Labour Party said that as the great-great-grandson of Ratu Seru Cakobau — one of Fiji’s most significant figures — and the grandson of King George Tupou II of Tonga, “Ratu Epeli was undoubtedly a scion of royal lineage”.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji’s human rights watchdog raises concerns over new Israeli embassy plans

APR editor — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 01:21:29 +0000

RNZ Pacific

Fiji’s human rights watchdog has warned that the country’s pro-Israel foreign policy and diplomatic engagement works against its international obligations and could be enabling “genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity” in Gaza.

The Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission (FHRADC) released a statement on Tuesday in response to the Fiji government announcing plans to establish a resident embassy for Israel in Suva.

The FHRADC said that the announcement “raises important questions” and is calling on the government to uphold its human rights obligations “in all aspects” of its diplomacy.

READ MORE: Other Israeli-Fiji relations reports

As a state party to the Genocide Convention, Fiji is bound by international human rights law and international humanitarian law, the FHRADC said.

It added under the Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the country “is obligated to support international efforts to prevent genocide” and ensure those responsible for such crimes are held responsible.

“This includes ensuring that Fiji’s foreign policy and diplomatic relations do not assist, enable, or legitimise conduct by parties or states involved in serious violations of international law.”

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2024 said that claims are “plausible” that the rights of Palestinians in Gaza under the Genocide Convention are being “violated . . . by Israel’s large-scale military operation in Gaza” a position firmly rejected by Israel, which has maintained its actions are necessary for self defence against Hamas.

“The duty to prevent genocide is a jus cogens obligation, a non-derogable principle of international law,” FHRADC commissioner Alefina Vuki said.

Legal responsibility
She said according to international law every state had “the legal responsibility to intervene and prevent the intentional or deliberate destruction of a group of people”, suggesting Fiji had failed to do this.

“No government can ever justify or excuse its failure to carry out this responsibility. States must ensure diplomatic relations that uphold, rather than undermine the duty to prevent genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity,” she said.

Fiji opened its permanent diplomatic post in Jerusalem in September last year.

Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said at the time that the opening of Fiji’s embassy in Jerusalem “reflects our desire to build bridges — not walls — between nations, cultures, and peoples”.

Fiji’s UN AMbassador Filipo Tarakinikini presents his credentials as the new Fiji non-resident Ambassador to Israel to Israeli President Isaac Herzog in April 2025. Image: FB/Fiji Govt

Fiji is one of a handful of countries to open a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem rather than Tel Aviv, which is controversial.

Israel claims the entire city as its undivided capital, while Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

Diplomatic actions
According to FHRADC, the Fiji government has the “sovereign prerogative to determine bilateral relations”.

However, Vuki said Fiji must ensure that its “diplomatic actions do not violate international norms relating to occupation, self-determination, and the protection of civilian populations”.

“Any strengthening of bilateral relations must be carefully balanced against Fiji’s responsibilities as a member of the international community,” she said.

The FHRADC has offered to provide “independent and technical advice” to support the Fijian government with its foreign policy to keep it aligned to its international human rights commitments.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

From nuclear to climate crisis survivors: unfinished business in the Pacific

APR editor — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 22:35:16 +0000

COMMENTARY: By David Robie, author of Eyes of Fire

The legacy of nuclear testing in the Pacific is unfinished business. From the 1997 disappearance of journalist Jean-Pascal Couraud to the 2025 return of the Rainbow Warrior, these stories are part of a continuous struggle for justice.

In the Pacific, the “Atomic Age” and the climate crisis are not competing issues, they are the same fight for habitability and truth. To face our future, we must first address the lingering shadows of the past.

In “French” Polynesia, there are concerns about the mysterious fate of former anti-nuclear investigative journalist Jean-Pascal Couraud, known as “JPK” (his byline), who was editor of the now closed Les Nouvelles de Tahiti newspaper.

Early in 2015, a judge upheld prosecution against three men accused of a kidnapping that led his death in Tahiti in 1997.

More than a decade earlier, JK’s family lodged an allegation of murder with the police following claims that he had been assassinated by a (now disbanded) local presidential militia. An investigating commission had alleged that three men, Rere Puputauki, Tino Mara and Tutu Manate, had abducted JK and dumped his body at sea.

The Rainbow Warrior III arrives in Majuro on 11 March 2025 on the start of the six-week nuclear justice research voyage marking four decades since the evacuation of Rongelap. Printed on the T-shirts of the Marshall Islanders welcoming the Greenpeace flagship is an Eyes of Fire photo by the author of the late Rongelap Senator Jeton Anjain and Greenpeace International executive director Steve Sawyer, who was the campaign coordinator for the Rongelap mission. Image: © Bianca Vitale/Greenpeace/Eyes of Fire

Twenty two years later, the family are still waiting for justice, and fed up with France’s “investigation”. When the Rainbow Warrior bombing on 10 July 1985 is set against its broader political context in the Pacific, it can be seen that this event was much more than the dramatic, isolated episode against the Greenpeace flagship as portrayed by most New Zealand media.

An “Eyes of Fire” video project in 2015, which included more than 40 student journalists, also demonstrated the importance of a continuing interpretation of these events for the future of Aotearoa New Zealand and its citizens. The students looked back at the past, but were asking questions relevant to the present and future when they interrogated me and my Greenpeace colleagues involved in the Rongelap voyage.

My own baptism in French nuclear arrogance and perfidy was thanks to the late Swedish activist, researcher, and writer Bengt Danielsson, who was awarded the 1991 Right Livelihood Award for “exposing the tragic results… of French colonialism”. He and his wife Marie-Thérèse Danielsson wrote the classic and chilling books Moruroa, Mon Amour and Poisoned Reign.

In 2021, a French investigation team published a book and website that introduced new revelations about the nuclear testing programme and its health and environmental harm inflicted on Tahitians. The book, Toxique: Enquête sur les essais nucléaires français en Polynésie, by Sébastien Philippe and Tomas Statius, and the associated website Moruroa Files, were a forensic analysis of about 2,000 French government documents declassified in 2013.

The author, David Robie, with Marie-Thérèse and Bengt Danielsson in Tahiti Nui in 1985 while on assignment for Fiji’s Islands Business magazine. Image: © John Miller/Eyes of Fire

Consistently lied about the tests
According to former Auckland University of Technology scholar Ena Manuireva, who was born in Mangareva (an atoll near the French nuclear testing sites of Moruroa and Fangataufa), these publications confirmed what Tahitian people already knew: “That since 1966, the French government has consistently lied about and concealed the deadly consequences of their nuclear tests, which they now seem to acknowledge, to the health of the populations and their environment.”

Following the third test after French nuclear bombs began in the Pacific, on 7 September 1966, local Tahitian lawmaker John Teariki challenged then French president Charles de Gaulle by saying: “No government has ever had the honesty or the cynical frankness to admit that its nuclear tests might be dangerous. No government has ever hesitated to make other peoples — preferably small, defenseless ones — bear the burden.”

“May you, Mr President, take back your troops, your bombs, and your planes.”

De Gaulle ignored the advice. And it took another 30 years and 190 further tests before France stopped its ruthless nuclear pollution in the Pacific.

France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) was reported in early 2025 to have spent 90,000 euros in a big public relations campaign in a vain attempt to discredit the research in Toxique and the Moruroa Files, according to documents obtained by the investigative outlet Disclose.

The CEA published 5000 copies of its booklet, titled ‘Nuclear tests in French Polynesia: why, how and with what consequences’ and distributed them across Oceania.

The Rainbow Warrior bombing, with the death of photographer Fernando Pereira, was a terrible tragedy. But a greater tragedy remains in the horrendous legacy of Pacific nuclear testing for the people of Rongelap, the Marshall Islands and “French” Polynesia; associated military oppression in Kanaky New Caledonia; and lingering secrecy.

Nuclear powers have failed the Pacific
More than eight decades on, the “Pacific” nuclear powers have still failed to take full responsibility for the region and adequately compensate victims and survivors for the injustices of the past.

The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), Melanesian Spearhead Group, other pan-Pacific agencies, and the Australian and New Zealand governments still have much work ahead. New Zealand and the PIF states should have vigorously supported the lawsuits of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the International Court of Justice and the United States Federal Court last year. This was an opportunity lost.

New Zealand and the PIF states should now require full investigation of nuclear testing in French Polynesia and seek a more robust compensation programme than currently exists. New Zealand and the PIF states also need to take a less ambiguous position on decolonisation in the Pacific, give greater priority to that issue and seek a “re-energising” of the activities of the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation.

This is especially important in relation to “French” Polynesia, Kanaky New Caledonia and the end of the Bougainville transitional political autonomy period with a unilateral declaration of independence slated for 1 September 2027.

Decolonisation is also a critical issue that has a bearing on New Zealand’s relations with Indonesia, particularly over the six Melanesian provinces that make up the region known in the Pacific as “West Papua” and Indonesia’s growing politically motivated role in the region over climate change aid.

A massive new transmigration programme under current President Prabowo Subianto is taking place at the same time as Jakarta’s “ecocidal” deforestation regime intensifies in the Melanesian region with the destruction of millions of hectares of tropical rainforest.

“The wealth of West Papua — gas from Bintuni Bay, copper and gold from the Grasberg mine. Palm oil from Merauke — has been sucked out of our land for six decades, while our people are replaced with Javanese settlers loyal to Jakarta,” says a West Papuan leader, Benny Wenda.

The Grey Lynn Library nuclear justice talk poster for 24 March 2026. Image: Grey Lynn Library

Taking the lead
It is critically important that New Zealand and the PIF states take a lead from the Melanesian Spearhead Group — at least those states other than Fiji and Papua New Guinea, which have both been co-opted by Indonesian bribery through economic aid.

They should take a more pro-active stance on West Papuan human rights and socio-political development, with a view to encouraging a process of political self-determination and a new, more credible United Nations supervised vote replacing the 1968 “Act of No Choice”.

With regard to climate change issues, it is essential to address the lack of an officially recognised category for “climate refugee” under international law. It is also important to seek an international framework, convention, protocol and specific guidelines that can provide protection and assistance for people crossing international borders because of climate change.

The existing rights guaranteed refugees — specifically the right to international humanitarian assistance and the right of return — must be extended to “climate refugees” or climate migrants.

This issue should be acted on systematically and with a practical vision by the PIF with the Australian and New Zealand governments. Australia and New Zealand need to respond to Pacific Island States’ (PIS) concerns over climate change and global warming with a greater sense of urgency and resolve.

Regional and country specific climate change plans and policies are needed to deal with large numbers of Pacific refugees or climate-forced migrants, in the event of worsening climate-change scenarios in the future.

This is especially important for New Zealand, as a country with a significant Pacific population (442,632 — 8.9 percent, 2023 NZ Census) with island communities well integrated into the national infrastructure and as a country that is well placed to welcome more Pacific Islanders.

In April 2025, the New Zealand government announced plans to double defence spending as a share of GDP over the next eight years under its long-awaited Defence Capability Plan.

Trump-inspired global arms race
However, the priority appeared to be New Zealand joining a new Donald Trump-inspired global arms race while the country faced no threat, at the expense of the climate crisis, nuclear free and Pacific peace-making capacity that have forged the country’s global reputation.

Speculation was also rife about the possibility of New Zealand joining a second tier of the controversial AUKUS security pact between Australia, the UK and the US, which would raise geopolitical tensions with little benefit for the Pacific region.

As Marshall Islands Journal editor Giff Johnson has remarked, the people of Rongelap changed the course of history for Pacific nuclear justice by taking control of their destiny with the help of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior.

However, the relocation of the islanders four decades ago has revealed that the legacy of nuclear tests remains unfinished business.

“In the current global turbulence, New Zealand needs to reemphasise the principles and values which drove its nuclear-free legislation and its advocacy for a nuclear-free South Pacific and global nuclear disarmament,” says former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark.

“New Zealanders were clear — we did not want to be defended by nuclear weapons. We wanted our country to be a force for diplomacy and for dialogue, not for warmongering.”

“On the fateful last voyage,” reflects Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Dr Russel Norman, “the crew of the Rainbow Warrior, look at us in black and white through the lens of time, and lay down the wero — the challenge. They faced down a nuclear threat to the habitability of the Pacific.

“Do we have the courage and wits to face down the biodiversity and climate crises facing humanity, crises that threaten the habitability of planet Earth?’

To Ngāti Kura kaumatua Dover Samuels, the Rainbow Warrior was “probably the biggest battleship that ever traversed the oceans of the world. But she wasn’t armed with guns, she was armed with peace”.

An edited extract from the final chapter of New Zealand journalist Dr David Robie’s recent book Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior marking the 40th anniversary of the bombing. He sailed with the Greenpeace crew to Rongelap Atoll for the evacuation of the nuclear health-damaged community and remained on board for 11 weeks. This article was first published by Greenpeace Aotearoa.

David is speaking about the Rainbow Warrior and nuclear justice tomorrow, 24 March 2026, at Grey Lynn Library, 6-8pm, as part of EcoFest.

Fiji set to host Israel and UAE embassies in Suva to boost ties with Middle East

APR editor — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 01:21:04 +0000

RNZ Pacific

High-ranking Fiji government ministers have formally approved plans for the establishment of resident embassies for Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Suva.

The Fiji government has announced a double diplomatic expansion in a post-cabinet meeting statement on Wednesday.

Fiji and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1970. The government said Israel’s embassy in Suva “will further enhance bilateral cooperation” between the two nations.

In September last year, Fiji opened its embassy in Jerusalem. At the time, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said it “reflects our desire to build bridges — not walls — between nations, cultures, and peoples”.

The government statement said that since establishing diplomatic relations over five decades ago, Fiji and Israel had been cooperating in areas such as peacekeeping, agriculture, security, and development cooperation.

“Bilateral relations have continued to strengthen in recent years, including through agricultural cooperation with MASHAV — Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, and the opening of Fiji’s Embassy in Jerusalem in 2025,” the statement said.

The government said key areas that would benefit from the setting up of Israel’s embassy in Fiji included security, climate change, agriculture, and emerging technologies.

‘Significant milestone’
On the setting up of the UAE’s resident embassy, the government described it as “a significant milestone”.

Fiji and the UAE established diplomatic relations in 2010, with Fiji opening its mission in Abu Dhabi in 2012.

“The proposed mission will be the first diplomatic presence from the Gulf region in Fiji, with expected accreditation across the wider Oceania region,” the government said.

“The establishment of the UAE embassy will strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas such as renewable energy, climate resilience, trade and investment, education, and development assistance, while reinforcing Fiji’s role as a regional diplomatic hub in the Pacific.”

The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 in a war that has thrown the Middle East into turmoil.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Pacific governments warn against panic buying as war on Iran threatens fuel supply

APR editor — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 01:01:01 +0000

RNZ Pacific

Pacific Island governments are urging their citizens not to panic about the supply of fuels amid the conflict in the Middle East between Israel, the United States and Iran.

The conflict has resulted in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that carries around 20 percent of the world’s oil (20 million barrels a day), by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The IRGC has warned that any ship passing through the strait would be attacked, triggering a near-total halt in vessels attempting to pass through the waterway, causing a surge in oil prices.

However, according to Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the Strait of Hormuz is closed only to Iran’s “enemies and their allies”, the IRGC-aligned Tasnim News Agency reported.

US President Donald Trump has demanded that allies send naval vessels to the Middle East to help escort ships through the strait.

Pacific Islands nations get nearly all of their refined fuel from refineries in Singapore, South Korea and Japan. But roughly 80 percent of the crude oil used by these Asian refineries passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Fiji government said on Monday that fuel supplies in the country were sufficient to meet energy needs for the next few months.

“There is no need to indulge in ‘panic buying’ at the service station,” it said in a statement.

Leading shipping companies have suspended operations through the Strait of Hormuz amid escalating Middle East crisis. Map: OFI Magazine

Closely monitoring the war
It added that the government was closely monitoring the US-Israel war on Iran, and meeting with local suppliers who had already secured fuel supplies.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and his cabinet were meeting today “to firm-up on the plan of action for the long-term, if there is no resolution to the conflict in the near future”.

Tonga’s government has also called on Tongans not to queue at petrol stations.

“There is no immediate need for concern or panic buying of fuel,” the Tonga Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

“We are assured by the energy sector that there is sufficient fuel available for now.”

Samoa’s Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt said his government’s immediate priority was to ensure that the country had enough fuel supply to meet its needs.

“What is happening . . . we can’t control, but we are working to ensure we have enough fuel for the next one or two years because we do not know what’s going to happen next,” La’auli said during a joint press conference with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon yesterday.

Current stocks sufficient
Vanuatu’s government said it has engaged with Pacific Energy, Vanuatu’s primary fuel importer and supplier, to assess potential impacts on national fuel supply.

“Pacific Energy reports current stocks are sufficient to cover usual consumption, the company’s supply programme, based on a three-month rolling forecast, is secured, and no shortages are anticipated in the foreseeable future,” the Ministry of the Prime Minister in Vanuatu said in a statement.

In the Solomon Islands, the country’s central bank said that while the fuel prices at the petrol stations were currently stable, “the impact of the oil price shock is expected to be felt from April 2026 onwards”.

“Preliminary assessment indicates that sustained increases in global oil prices are likely to push up domestic fuel costs, thereby feeding into higher imported inflation and overall headline inflation,” the Central Bank of Solomon Islands said in a statement.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

US, Fiji intervene for Israel in South Africa’s Gaza genocide case at ICJ

APR editor — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 05:13:55 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

The United States and Fiji have filed separate declarations of intervention in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging the country is committing genocide in Gaza.

While the US explicitly rejects the allegation that Israel is committing genocide, Fiji raises issues about how the 1948 Genocide Convention should be interpreted.

The 34-page Fiji declaration was filed on March 12 and is signed by Ambassador Ilaitia Tamata, Fiji’s Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva, reports The Fiji Times.

In the declaration, Fiji said it was exercising its right under Article 63(2) of the ICJ Statute to intervene as a party to the Convention, arguing that the case raises important questions about how it should be interpreted.

The filing confirms that Fiji has appointed its Permanent Representative to Israel, Ambassador Filipo Tarakinikini, as agent for the proceedings.

The Fiji filing was made alongside separate interventions by Namibia and Hungary, according to a press release issued by the court on Friday, reports Middle East Eye.

All four states submitted declarations under Article 63 of the ICJ statute, which allows countries that are parties to a treaty under dispute to intervene in order to present their interpretation of that treaty.

Iceland, Netherlands also file
Earlier on Thursday, Iceland and the Netherlands also filed declarations under Article 63.

South Africa filed the case in December 2023, accusing Israel of breaching the Genocide Convention through its military campaign in Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks of October 7 that year.

Pretoria argues that Israel’s conduct — including mass killings, destruction of infrastructure and the imposition of conditions of life threatening the survival of Palestinians in Gaza — amounts to genocide.

Israel denies the accusation and claims its war is justified by considerations of self-defence.

The US submission on Thursday stands out among most interventions for directly defending Israel against the accusation brought by South Africa. Taking sides in a case is highly unconventional under Article 63 submissions.

“It’s very unusual for an intervening state (US) to use language like that,” explained Professor Gerhard Kemp, a scholar of international law.

“States normally stick to the legal issues, which can even be helpful for both sides. But terms like ‘false’ or ‘wrong’ don’t really move the needle,” he told Middle East Eye.

“They are probably aimed at a different audience.”

US argues genocide claim ‘false’
In its declaration, Washington argues that allegations that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza are “false” and urges the court to apply a strict legal threshold when determining genocidal intent.

It says, uncontroversially, that genocide can only be established where there is clear proof of specific intent to destroy a protected group.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza: Whatever happened to South Africa’s case at the ICJ?

That intent should only be inferred when it is the only reasonable explanation for the conduct in question, it says.

The submission argues that the ICJ must be fully convinced before determining an act is genocide, due to the exceptional gravity of the crime. It also says civilian casualties and destruction during armed conflict do not by themselves prove genocidal intent.

“The United States submits that the Court should maintain its standard for inferring intent. Lowering the standard risks broadening the application of the term ‘genocide’ such that it no longer carries its original weight and meaning, and invites attempts to misuse the Genocide Convention as a gateway for bringing extraneous disputes before the Court,” the US claimed.

Hungary and Fiji’s submissions similarly advance legal arguments that align closely with Israel’s position in the case.

Narrow interpretation
Hungary’s declaration calls for a narrow interpretation of genocide and emphasises that civilian casualties and destruction during armed conflict do not in themselves demonstrate genocidal intent.

Fiji’s intervention likewise urges the court to apply an extremely high evidentiary threshold for genocide, and cautions against relying heavily on reports by international organisations or non-governmental groups when assessing allegations.

By contrast, Namibia’s declaration focuses on a broader interpretation of the Genocide Convention and emphasises how genocidal intent may be inferred from patterns of conduct and cumulative evidence.

Namibia argues that acts such as the denial of humanitarian aid, repeated displacement and deprivation of basic necessities could fall within the Convention’s prohibition on deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of a protected group.

Its submission also stresses that genocide can be committed through omissions, including a refusal to allow or facilitate life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians under a state’s control.

Third-state interventions
The new filings add to a rapidly expanding list of states seeking to intervene in the proceedings.

Since April 2024, similar interventions have been submitted by Colombia, Libya, Mexico, Palestine, Spain, Turkey, Chile, the Maldives, Bolivia, Ireland, Cuba, Belize, Brazil, the Comoros, Belgium and Paraguay in support of the South African argument.

Palestine and Belize have also sought to intervene under Article 62 of the court’s statute, which allows states to apply to participate in proceedings if they believe they have a legal interest that could be affected by the court’s decision.

Under Article 63, intervening states do not become parties to the dispute. Instead, they are permitted to present their interpretation of the treaty at issue — in this case the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The interpretation adopted by the court in its eventual judgment will also be binding on those states.

The case has become one of the most closely watched disputes ever heard by the ICJ and has drawn an unusually large number of third-state interventions, which have reached 22.

The court has already ordered Israel in legally binding provisional measures to take steps to prevent acts that could violate the Genocide Convention and to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Israel ignores court orders
Israel has repeatedly ignored the orders.

A final ruling on whether Israel has breached the Convention is expected in 2028. But it could take longer, depending on the length of hearings and the two parties’ adherence to deadlines.

On Thursday, Israel was scheduled to submit its counter-memorial, or arguments in response to South Africa’s accusations, after several deadline extensions by the court.

The court has yet to announce that Israel has filed its evidence, however.

During its devastating onslaught, Israel has so far killed more than 74,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children. It has also destroyed most of the enclave’s homes, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure, rendering it largely uninhabitable for its 2.3 million civilians.

A UN commission of inquiry concluded last September that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza since 7 October 2023.

The UN report’s authors, including legal experts Navi Pillay and Chris Sidoti, told Middle East Eye that the report used evidence and a similar methodology in its analysis to that which will be used by the ICJ.