21 Jul 2014

Amnesty irked by Fiji 'impunity'

4:33 am on 21 July 2014

Amnesty International has called on the international community to speak out against the apparent impunity for those committing serious human rights abuses in Fiji.

Fiji police says they have closed the case of last year's video which shows Fiji security personnel beating a handcuffed man with batons and metal bars, and another man being set upon by a dog as the animal's handler urges it on.

The incident prompted the New Zealand parliament to unanimously pass a motion condemning the beating and torture while the European Union said it was deeply disturbed by the video.

Amnesty's Grant Bayldon says while there is broad support for Fiji's move to return to democracy, there is more to it than just holding elections.

"For those to be truly democratic we need to see the rule of law, we need to see that security forces are held accountable as well as all the other human rights issues that are still ongoing in Fiji around the media and the courts and even around the right to gather peacefully."

Grant Bayldon of Amnesty International New Zealand