Vinaka Fiji for May 1st 2007

Vinaka to everyone that stuck to the courage of their convictions yesterday May 1st in our act of non-violent civil disobedience. We know of many many people both from the private and the public sectors who stayed at home yesterday and out of respect to them we are not going to pinpoint their places of work or the gestapo units will be upon them singling them out.

As fellow Bloggers Intelligensia put it today:

"The Journey has just begun…

Pat yourself on the back if you stayed at May 1st because the reality is no one else will. Rest easy however in the solace that by doing what you did, we as a collective critical mass pushed the tempo with the Junta by their very reactions.

That is PEOPLE POWER folks.

Yes we knew that we wouldn’t change the state of our democracy in a day, but we will get there!

The journey has just begun but already we have shown that we will continue to be a thorn in the side of this Junta and all of their elements even without a parliament or an opposition."

The 1st of May Protest DID rankle the Public Service Commission to a state of hysteria because dear "apolitical" (NOT) Taina came out in full voice on radio WARNING people that the gestapo will be onto them. And our protests DID ALSO RANKLE the Gestapo Boys. Their mouthpiece Leweninoni stated on Australian radio that the IG is still hunting for us . Listen here . Why Lewenisky - what are you afraid of ? The pen?

There was also talk of a PSC 'CIRCULAR' - can we please see this circular Taina, and what was printed on it, as no one we know in government has seen it ? Perhaps the peasantry were deemed too lowly to see this Decree ?

The PSC is now telling their workers what to think ? Workers have their own minds and thoughts and are ENTITLED to them. What is this -- a Mao-ist Red Book Communist State already !? Hmmmm - maybe.

And hot off the press we find out today that the Interim Government have stopped internet access to civil servants so that they can't visit the blog sites. There must be a new Decree stomping on freedom of information somewhere. Please if anyone finds it can you send it to me? Nevermind, there are many ways to skin the manupusi.

As the employer of the largest work-force in the country, the PSC should be ensuring the rights of workers are intact and that under the various domestic and international industrial relations laws, surely workers are entitled to stay at home for a day under the various provisions provided for within them.

It was also absolutely appalling that the PSC chose to threaten its core human resource capital in this manner and is a very clear sign that the military government is not adhering to commitment number 2 under the Rule of Law stipulation made to the EU on 18 April.

Commitment number 2 states: "That the Interim Government upholds the 1997 Constitution, and guarantees the normal and independent functioning of Constitutional institutions such as the Fiji Human Rights Commission, Public Service Commission, Constitutional Offices Commission. The substantial independence and functioning of the Great Council of Chiefs will be preserved."

The sage blogger FijianBlack says :

"Workers within the civil service should not be afraid of victimization as the Fiji Public Servants Association is the primary body that should be defending violations of labour laws of their members by the PSC".

That the military government is promising one thing in Brussels yet allows the directives of threats, is not a good thing.

It reeks of dishonesty and ACP countries currently in Fiji are warned to note such displays of "leadership" '

NostraBubu's Predictions for the Future in Fiji

SEEMING NICE BUT BREAKING PROMISES:

Although the current Military Dickstatorship are doing their best to "seem nice" while they prostitute themselves bowing to the demands of the EU's paisa, they will soon leave behind any attempt to hide what it really is. This will now be an all-out, unmasked, dictatorship, followed by any number of new "Institutional" Acts and Decrees -- which are really tools of repression. Already they are breaking promises made to the EU as an example .

I cannot see that Bainimarama will ever hand over power, as he is insidiously dismantling the institutions of state - the Parliament, the independent judiciary and now the GCC and his administration is accountable to no one.

On an earlier blog I said the following : The army is basically lazy, and because they are 'busy' being the government of the day , we will start seeing more and more conspiracy theories come out as "Conspiracy" is easier to 'prove' and it is most likely that the army-influenced police force will increasingly turn to conspiracy charges in order to convict people or try to turn public opinion against that person. Major Aaaaahnada accuses the bloggers of "conspiring to incite". More propoganda from the horned mouthpiece.

Leweninoni misses the point of nonviolent resistance for our use of this method of non-cooperation or civil disobedience, is a means to awaken a sense of moral shame in this Military Dicktatorship. As Martin Luther King said, "Our battle is against the force of evil and not the individual. Tension has been created between justice and injustice, between the forces of light and the forces of darkness." And our individual May 1st victories are not merely for the nation but a victory for justice and the forces of light.

MISINFORMATION, CONSPIRACY, PROPOGANDA & DECREES :

You have and will continue to see a plethora of "conspiracy " theories come through . We already see this in the heaps and heaps of committees and subcommittees to "review" this board and "restructure" that , all under the guise of finding some conspiracy of corruption or wrongdoing. Misinformation is then spewed out to the public about the "righteousness" of these bodies followed by the obligatory news of "mismanaged" affairs of the organisation.

All of these "inquisitions" are led by people who are polically appointed and who are directed to head their enquiries on a skewed agenda. According to my score-card - all they can come up with at the other end is nothing but curry-up-tion. And they will arbitarily chop and change boards and committees where and whenever they feel like it and set up their own people in it - see this article for just one of the many many examples.

As the Fiji Times asked in its editorial on May 1st, 2007 :

WHERE IS THE PROOF ? :

" It is now almost five months since it executed the coup, saying the nation needed to be cleaned up and good governance practised.

So far we have not been given any evidence of corrupt practices. In fact all we have seen, from the appointments being made to boards, statutory bodies and the civil service, are examples of corruption and nepotism which it has set out to eradicate. There is nothing at all good about that kind of governance.

It almost seems like a clique working at the top level with close friends and families being given top jobs and key positions. Saying it is one thing, doing it is another. "

The most amazing conspiracy theory came out a few months ago - and quite frankly the mind just boggled - Qarase for treason ? Helen Clark from New Zealand said " it was "extraordinary" that a government which had installed itself by military coup – "which in my view is a seditious and treasonable act in itself" – was accusing a democratically-elected prime minister of asking for support. She has said it all. This conspiracy theory died a quick death when the military lawyers realised they weren't going to get anywhere with it fast.

There are many other examples - there was 'conspiracy to incite' spun out for Laisa and her freedom fighters, Richard and his comments, and the various others that were taken up to camp. The next major "conspiracy" was when the IG they accused the GCC of conspiring to NOT recognise the IG. Once they "proved" that this body "weren't going to take the country forward", what did the Dicktatorship do ? The acted on their illegal Decrees and "dissolved" this body only to appoint their own team in which they will place their puppets !

So I predict you will see these sorts of powers coming into Decrees soon under the name of President's "Mandate" :

* The puppet president will be able to dissolve Cabinet any time
* The puppet president can intervene in any local government or statutory body via the IG illegal Ministers
* The puppet president can revoke all civil rights via the IG
* The president can fire or retire anyone, anywhere via the IG
* The right for Habeas Corpus will be revoked in "political crimes"
* Massive Censorship

And you will hear more and more of this phrase : "Conspiracy to Incite" listen here on this May 1st news item

ARRESTS and CONSPIRACY TO INCITE :

The next series of arrests will be because of the "Conspiracy to incite civil unrest" - and this will come just before the strikes scheduled for later this month where they will arrest and charge union leaders so the mass unions are without their
leaders and supposedly without direction.

Lets hope our union members are made of sterner stuff to see their protests out.

Conspiracy - in case you are wondering what this means, I explain : The concept of 'Conspiracy' is usually deemed a politically dangerous legal weapon as a conspiracy is a joining together of people with a common purpose, under a tacit or implied (read non-existent) agreement to do harm. In this context most political groups could be said to be conspiracies. The fact the police/army are resorting to conspiracy charges shows that they cannot prove that a substantive offence has taken place; which in itself ought to start alarm bells ringing.

In the legal sense, the army see the Freedom Blogging movement as a whole as one big 'conspiracy', and so virtually anyone connected with talking or exchanging views on the internet could be prosecuted for participation (we are already in the words of the army "being hunted down" - warai na herd animal !

A connects to B, B connects to C and so A and C are in the same conspiracy, even though they never met. The legal notion of 'conspiracy' might be applied to any political group which the state takes a dislike to - such as the SDL party.

The best defence against this is for people to exercise their capacity to speak freely more and more; not for the movement to be silenced but to develop and strengthen its own, multiple-path methods of communication. Experience shows that we cannot rely on the mainstream media to report what is happening . A stronger, more effective movement, with increasing political momentum for change, is the only real answer.

Frank says he doesn't want the Freedom Bloggers "inciting unnecessary fear and anxiety". I can't see that reporting what the Bloggers hear as it happens is deliberately provocative. Insulting your opponents, calling them names ("Bakola, Ulukau!") may not be pleasant. Needling and making fun of them may sting the feelings, for example, jokes about the army circling the internet . But we should understand 'incitement' narrowly to mean calls to irrational violent action. I think the likes of Leweni who are calling for us to "watch out" might be more guilty of this.

Causing offence should not be confused with incitement. To this some will argue that surely we should be aware that those who take offence will respond in very agitated ways. If the agitation is foreseeable, then it is incitement. This is a very poor argument.

It makes the definition of incitement entirely dependent on how violent the other party can work himself up to be. The more violent his response, they more he is likely to get his way and the freedom of the speaker curbed. In the final analysis, such a position effectively rewards violence. Hardly a good way to build a peaceful society.

This is related to the problem with the phrase, "expressing an opinion responsibly". It seems to suggest that if free expression causes offence and possible backlash then that freedom must be curtailed in the name of "responsibility". This is foggy headed thinking.

What is the meaning of freedom, if that freedom cannot in practical terms be exercised due to various forms of censorship? It is the same as having freehold title to land you are never allowed to take possession of ?

REPRESSION TECHNIQUES , PARANOIA :

Back to Predictions for our Future in Fiji - An elaborate repressive apparatus has been formed by the Dicktatorship to stop people like the bloggers and anyone who makes any criticism of it , and to pay for doing so. The Dicktatorship will use mental and physical torture freely this has happened as we all know, and is continuing to happen . The occasional murder perhaps (already happened - Rabaka & Verebasaqa, Selestino and others), and no accountability.


Judiciary is effectively gagged where the Judge and the Lawyers have to go to the camp gates with caps in hand begging to have permission to have their clients come to court .

Propoganda that flows from this illegal IG is part of this apparatus and we as citizens must be aware that the paranoia this propoganda serves amongst us can disempower us by sowing fear and confusion. There is a real fine line between being paranoid and being vigilant, and we must try to be vigilant. It is often disconcerting when conversing with family members or friends and you don't know if somewhere somebody is listening and is going to "pot" you in for a comment that they are free to distort and twist any which way they want.

The culture of telling on your neighbour is being actively encouraged with the army assuming the role of judge and jury daily - this dose of "power" being experienced by junior soldiers is VERY dangerous. People - DO WE WANT TO LIVE LIKE THIS ?

How can we not be suspicious of the closed door meetings that require heavy taxpayer expenditures on “security” to protect our leaders from ourselves?

Whats the latest count of bodyguards for Voreqe and bodyguards for the bodyguards ? How ridiculous !!!! And it is our taxpayer dollars that are funding this hypocrisy !

Do we pose a danger to the State ?
Or does it pose a danger to us?

There is a palpable decline in respect for authority serendipitously (for those in power) and this has correlated with an increase in these activities encouraged by this junta.

More of us citizens will be rounded up, taken to barracks, questioned and bashed or tortured. Methods of repressive torture will be creative. Drugs will be used or planted on victims (the excuse given for Rabaka's death was drugs) , psychological torture techniques will be used (have been used on Laisa and her freedom fighters) , children will be kidnapped (Andrew Hughes claimed his family were going to be kidnapped and held hostage) torturers will kick the bellies of women and they will not care whether they are pregnant or not (see Laisa's story)

Documents will be prepared now by this Dicktatorship and released years later claiming they "had nothing to do with current allegations" , and data will only be released on a need to aaaah know aaaaah basis.

People accused of "conspiring" will be arrested and tortured. Common citizens will be commonly abused, accused of belonging to "terrorist" organizations and of conspiring against National Security. The IG will justify the CONTINUATION of "a state of emergency" because of these people - us the country's citizens !!!! Who has the gun again ?????

The mere fact that the IG is afraid of us means that the human spirit can never be put down. History teaches us that - For those
Christian god-fearing soldiers out there - remember Christ died for us so our spirit can be free !

Even people who may spontaneously go to the police to clarify their situations must watch out. The government will employ a large network of spies, and people will be encouraged to report "suspicious" activity.

CENSORSHIP :

Newspapers and TV will only be allowed to report the perceived successes of the government and the "spin" stories that will be churned out of HQ - stories like

a) Tourism is increasing
b) Reserve Bank Happy with growth
c) Business invests Millions into Fiji .

Mai yaso !!! A few brave people like this man will come out against these lies and tell how Fiji really is.

MORE DECREES, STRIKES, POVERTY, VIOLENCE , ABUSE OF OFFICE :

New Decrees will be passed, one that sends into exile political prisoners (several major politicians of the post-dictatorship period will be kept under house arrest - Qarase is one already under house-arrest) and another one that permits imprisonment on suspicion only without court processes. Thousands of us will be repressed.

More spin stories will come out about how the country appears to be growing, but that will be due to unlimited borrowing which will increase the country's foreign debt so considerably that even today nobody will know how to deal with it.

Public money will be used willy-nilly (already predicted) and (currently waiting)

Left-leaning members of the the Churches, most related to Liberation Theology, will become outspoken critics of the regime (Rev Yabaki- how are you ?)

Crime will grow as people become poorer and hungrier (already happening: see this news item today).


Fiji will become unsafe . Economic dependence will grow, and so will the country's vulnerability to foreign crisis and more sanctions ). Furthermore, inequality in the economic arena will grow.

Worker unrest will grow.

Strikes will be attempted (already coming true) with horrible repression

STRESS, CORRUPTION, DEPRESSION and AMNESTY

Corruption will be rife during the Dicktatorship - see Fiji Times article above. This Dicktatorship will become the cradle of many of our worst politicians. Not to mention the countless human-right violations.

People will die from stress and depression , people will commit "suicide" with bruises on their own backs. People will "drown" in rivers. Journalists are stressed and will continue to be (already confirmed)

The Army will grant itself Amnesty (already happened) . Unfortunately this will come at a high price, as court battles will be fought over this and many of tyrants of this era will be allowed to roam freely until it is sorted.

And there is a PS - IF we EVER get back to majority rule where our democratic processes are once again in our lives, what's to guarantee that another coup will never happen again?

Unless we the Citizens say NO to this coup culture NOW, there are no guarantees - we will ALWAYS FOREVER MORE be having ku's.

Coups are not a solution for anything. It is time Fiji down-sized its army.

And if you did get to the end of this blog - congratulations, you can bang your head here.