Fiji sedition lawyer lives in fear after "torture"

Transcript

A Fiji lawyer says members of the security forces tortured two people close to him last month because of his involvement in sedition cases which are currently before the courts.    

Aman Ravindra-Singh is representing dozens of people who've been brought before the courts on sedition charges.

Mr Singh says he and his staff are very fearful after three attacks, two which happened within hours of each other two weeks ago.   

Mr Singh told Sally Round his law clerk was out late in Nadi two weeks ago when he was grabbed from behind and bundled into a car by four men.

AMAN RAVINDRA-SINGH: So he was thrown in, a newspaper was shoved in his mouth, his mouth was taped, he could not speak and his hands were very tightly tied behind him and then this vehicle went on the road and all this happened on the road in Nadi in a place called Martintar, and then for the next 15 to 20 minutes the vehicle kept going until they came to an isolated spot somewhere in the bush. My employee was tortured for the next two hours.

SALLY ROUND: In what way was he tortured?

AR-S: He was kicked, they attempted ... or in fact they injected him with some sort of liquid, on his left hand. He was asked for my whereabouts and it continued to centre around that. He was threatened, literally continuously threatened for the next two hours but the violence ... apart from the needle, he was being pricked with a needle. What they also did was they hit him in the face, his ears were stretched, pulled from side to side, they stomped on him, they kicked him on his thighs and his calves and apart from that he was beaten with a certain hard, possibly wood rod. He was beaten on the back. All this happened over a period of two hours. This is the third incident where someone close to me has been attacked. The first incident I did not come out publicly but I think enough is enough and it's time that I speak out and expose what members of the security forces under the direction obviously of the government of the day are doing to us and what we are encountering simply based on the fact that we are exposing breaches and violations of human rights.

SR: How do you know that it's the security forces. Presumably these men were not in uniform?

AR-S: Yes they were not in uniform, their faces were covered but there are certain characteristics. In all of these attacks these men had military boots on. They were well-trained, they were very fit. Apart from that the way they spoke, apart from that it was the questions and also certain things such as 'why is he against the government' and 'you tell him that we're looking for him and this is going to happen to him.' I'm only openly stating that it is members of the security forces, the military and the police, based on evidence that we have and based on hours of talks that I've had with these two people.

SR: What you have described goes against what the government has said that it's doing in forums like the UN to combat brutality.

AR-S: It's absolute nonsense what the Fiji government says out there in support of human rights and it is absolutely a farce that the Fiji government receives praise from the United Nations and from the European Union because we are on the ground here and we are the ones putting up with the violation and breaches of human rights and I'm personally experiencing this on the ground and in fact I have been voicing my concerns for the past few months as things have escalated. A few weeks ago I contacted the UN Human Rights Office here in Suva and asked them that I needed assistance and if at least if they could send one person to come and observe certain things which were happening in Lautoka City and I was informed that they lacked the resources and they could not send a person. As far as I'm concerned Fiji citizens are tortured on a daily basis in Fiji. Anyone who has the ability to come and walk with me will see basically what I'm talking about.

SR: That's quite a sweeping statement to make. What do you mean on a daily basis?

AR-S: In police stations around the country Fiji citizens are slapped, punched, kicked, intimidated, threatened, co-erced into giving confessions, sometimes not fed. There are a litany of cases.

SR: You know this because you represent these clients?

AR-S: Yes that's exactly how I'm privy to all this information.

SR: These latest cases, going back to them, what do you feel was the aim of that? Was it to get at you and stop you representing these people in the sedition cases?

AR-S: I think that would be the objective of these attacks and, as I mentioned, in the last couple of months things have escalated.

SR: Are you going to go forward with representing them? Is it making you want to stop?

AR-S: No, no, not at all. I am not stepping sideways, or stepping backwards. Absolutely not. In fact I'm more convinced that I'm on the right path and I will continue and if anything my resolve is further strengthened.

SR: And what about you yourself, have you been threatened in any way? Do you sense any threats at all as you go about your daily life?

AR-S: In the last week, I have been on a daily basis warned that my days are numbered.

SR: Through phone calls?

AR-S: Yes again phone calls and emails and at the same time third parties have come out and said 'look we have certain people who are in the security forces, you need to watch your back and you need to be very careful, your office is under surveillance and ..'

SR: Who are the third parties?

AR-S: Just third parties who are basically privy to certain information. We've had strange visits to my office while I've been away so there is a high level of fear in my office right now and I'm very concerned and I'm very worried.