Fiji military on parade in the Queen Elizabeth barracks: "Many of those watching hope it
can keep playing the old anthems - rather than the Last Post
for any more soldiers killed by their own."
Photo: Ben Bohane
"I THOUGHT the army was trained to kill, not murder," Anna Selesekino says quietly, taking a sip from her coffee mug. "Now all I want is justice and reconciliation. The young mother of four is still coming to terms with being a widow: one of eight widows left behind from a short but bloody mutiny within the Fijian military on 2 November 2000 that was put down after a day of gun battles. Five rebels and three "loyalists" were killed.
Her husband, Corporal Kalounivale was one of the rebels involved in the 19 May 2000 coup but appears to have had nothing to do with the November mutiny. "He was minding our children until 3.30pm on the day of the mutiny. It was only after he heard about it on the radio that he left the house to see what was going on. On the street he was picked up by the military police and taken to a police cell and then to Queen Elizabeth barracks. I got a phonecall at 1am to say he had been beaten to death."
Anna says the army has offered no explanation, no compensation, no pension or help with the burial arrangements, so she and some of the other widows have engaged a lawyer, Tevita Fa, to bring the issue to trial. "The police have now said they regard it as a murder case, but the army is relying on an immunity decree. I just hope the trial will bring the truth out. What am I going to tell our children?"
The unpalatable truth for the Fijian military - long admired for its =
discipline and commitments to United Nations and regional peacekeeping forces - is that it has divided loyalties. Whereas its rank and file largely supported the 1987 coup, the May 2000 coup has deeply divided it.
"In May 2000, elements within the military adopted an interventionist approach, some played both sides and others were neutral. The result was confusion and lack of resolve," Ratu Joni Madraiwiwa, a Fijian high chief and former High Court judge told a public forum at the University of the South Pacific. He said coup leader George Speight and his allies had miscalculated the support the military would provide.
The crux of the divide appears to be between the "professional" soldiers, typified by the present Commander, Commodore Bainimarama who believe the military should stay out of politics; and the "politicals" who want to ensure the supremacy of indigenous Fijian rights. Although Indians make up 45 percent of the population, the military is 98 percent indigenous, seen as the ultimate guarantee of indigenous control. But the "politicals" also want to have the Constitution amended so that only an indigenous Fijian can become Prime Minister or President and that there is greater control over the sensitive issue of land leases.
"It's hard to get a sense of how many soldiers support each faction because there are many sitting on the fence," says Dr Sitiveni Ratuva, a lecturer in sociology at the University of South Pacific who has studied the links between indigenous movements and the military. "But it is possible that at least 60 percent of the force could be regarded as 'politicals'." If true, this suggests that the current miltary command represents a potentially minority faction and will need to keep looking over its shoulder. The upcoming General Court Martial for up to 60 elite Fijian soldiers is adding to the tension surrounding the election.
"It's a tough situation because although many indiginous Fijians sympathise with the aims , if not the methods, of the coup, it has created real divisions in the society and the military. If the mutiny had succeeded, the government would have been dismissed and Speight and co would have been allowed to step in and run the country. But it would have been an extremist government which would have just established the conditions for another coup."
Dr Ratuva claims that while the army can feel somewhat justified in thinking it "saved the country" by crushing the mutiny, the brutal manner in which it was done and lack of any meaningful reconciliation since means that these divisions remain unhealed.
Complicating matters is that many rebel soldiers were themselves following orders and there is a growing belief that those orders had come from "the very top" of the military command. In confidential transcripts of an interview between an army investigation panel into the coup and Colonel Viliame Seruvakula, Commanding the 3rd Battalion, the frustrations of a loyalist ("professional") officer become apparent.
He claims that he immediately saw Speight and the rebels as "enemies of the State" and quickly mobilised his troops around the parliamentary compound to seal them off and prevent any weapons or supplies from reaching them. However, he was soon ordered by HQ to dismantle roadblocks he had established, while other officers thought to be sympathetic to the rebels were allowed to man entry and exits to the compound. Colonel Seruvakula has since left Fiji and is now a training instructor with the New Zealand army.
Some "political" soldiers have since moved into politics and are contesting seats in the election. The SAS trained leader of the now disbanded Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) unit responsible for the coup, Ilisoni Ligairi is running as an Independent despite his remaining in prison on an island off Suva. His fellow prisoner George Speight is standing in his home electorate as a candidate with the Conservative Alliance, which hopes to field 35 candidates in the 71 seats being contested.
One of the Conservative Alliance's key candidates is Colonel Metuisela Mua, former director of the Fijian Intelligence Service who is thought to have been a central player in the 2000 coup. He was interrogated and beaten afterwards by loyalist soldiers and relieved of his job. He then spent five months in prison.
Speaking at his modest home in the suburbs of Suva, Colonel Mua is a reserved and charming man who seems much more Establishment than Rebel. Yet he makes it clear he feels a responsibility to ensure that Fiji's 1997 Consitution is changed to guarantee the supremacy of indigenous rights.
While many argue that the 1997 Constitution already guarantees such rights, Colonel Mua and other nationalists want to see further amendments legislating that only an indigenous Fijian can become Prime Minister. He's also concerned that with so many parties contesting the election (19) that once again the indigenous vote will be split again, giving deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudry's Labour Party a good chance of returning to power. "It's democracy at its best but politics at its worst," he laughs.
Two weeks before the election, the Fijian military staged a large parade at Queen Elizabeth barracks. Commander Bainimarama addressed the troops and media, pledging that the General Court Martial trial would proceed and that the army would respect the outcome of the election, regardless of who wins.
"Everyone should excercise their right to vote and not be intimidated," he said, referring to anonymous leaflets in circulation warning of 'bloodshed' if Chaudry and his Labour party win office.
Some weeks ago Chaudry said that if he returned to power he would "purge" the army of any rebels within its ranks. In such a confrontational atmosphere, the fruits of reconciliation seem some way off yet and there is real apprehension about the election outcome.
As the army band trooped off the parade ground with all the pomp of a colonial era brass band in full swing, many of those watching hope it can keep playing the old anthems - rather than the Last Post for any more soldiers killed by their own.
Ben Bohane is an Australian photojournalist who has specialised in reporting on Melanesia for the past decade. EMAIL: bbohane@netspace.net.au
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