Two
military mutinies took place in connection with the civilian
coup d'état that rocked
Fiji in
2000, the first while the rebellion instigated by
George Speight was in progress, and the second four months after it had ended.
The Sukunaivalu Barracks mutiny (7 July 2000)
On
7 July 2000, rebel soldiers supporting George Speight overran the
Sukunaivalu Barracks in
Labasa, the largest town on the northern island of
Vanua Levu. Besides seizing the barracks, these soldiers harassed ordinary
Indo-Fijian citizens of Labasa, kidnapping bus commuters, ransacking homes, and seizing crops. Indo-Fijian women were also raped.
Deposed
Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, an Indo-Fijian, condenmed a number of businessmen, also Indo-Fijians, as "traitors to their people" for having financed and fed the mutineers in a rebellion ostensibly aimed at promoting nationalistic
indigenous Fijian political interests. Chaudhry has made these allegations in court papers, as well as on
his party's website.
The Queen Elizabeth Barracks mutiny (2 November 2000)
The second mutiny, which took place on
2 November 2000 at
Suva's
Queen Elizabeth Barracks, was led by Captain
Shane Stevens. It left four dead. In the aftermath of the failed attempt to depose the
Military Commander,
Commodore Frank Bainimarama, four of the rebels were beaten to death by loyal soldiers. A total of 42 soldiers from the
Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit were subsequently convicted of involvement in the mutiny.
Rabuka accused
Accusations were leveled against former
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who had himself instigated
two military coups in
1987. In an interview with the
Fiji Times on
12 November 2000, Commodore Bainimarama charged that while the revolt was in progress, Rabuka had visited the barracks with his army uniform in the car, ready to take over command of the army. He also allegedly started issuing orders to soldiers, telling them to obey his orders. ''"Rabuka's words to one of my colonels at the height of the shootings raised my suspicions,"'' Bainimarama said. ''"He said the Colonel should listen to his instructions. He also criticised my leadership."'' Bainimarama accused Rabuka of leading soldiers astray by using "confusing" and "deceiving" words.
Bainimarama also accused Rabuka of having "politicized" the
Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) unit, which he had founded as a bodyguard in 1987, to favour both the mutiny and the earlier
takeover of parliament in May. Members of the CRW were involved in both the May coup and the November mutiny.
Bainimarama's version was supported by Lieutenant Colonel
Viliame Seruvakula, who led the counteroffensive to put down the mutiny. On
13 November 2000, he said that rebels interrogated by the military had implicated Rabuka. He accused Rabuka of trying to take civilians into the barracks to act as human shields for the mutineers, and stated that Rabuka's intention was to "''claim military leadership and ultimately overthrow the Government of the day."''
Rabuka, a retired officer, denied supporting the mutiny, but refused to comment on an accusation from Bainimarama that he had called a meeting of senior officers loyal to him to depose Bainimarama. Despite his continued protests of innocence, the allegations continued to dog Rabuka, and thwarted his intended appointment as Fiji's
Ambassador to the
United States. On
14 May 2005,
Commissioner of Police Andrew Hughes said the police were close to making a decision on whether to formally charge a number of unnamed individuals, one of whom the
New Zealand Herald believed to be Rabuka.
Tarakinikini investigated
On
5 November 2000,
Foreign Minister Phil Goff of
New Zealand publicly accused
Lieutenant Colonel Filipo Tarakinikini, who had served as the Military's principal spokesman during the main events of the coup, of complicity in the mutiny of
2 November. According to Goff, the rebels' plan was to depose Commodore Bainimarama in favour of Tarakinikini. The next day, Tarakinikini angrily denied the charges, and said that in the light of the Military's decision to investigate, he was reconsidering his career with the Army.
Shortly after the allegation were made, Tarakinikini left Fiji for
New York to take up a post as a security adviser at the
United Nations, a post he continues to hold as of November
2005. His resignation from the Army, handed to
President Ratu Josefa Iloilo in
2002, was rejected by the President at the request of Commodore Bainimarama, who has continued in his efforts to have Tarakinikini deported to face a
court martial for his alleged role in the mutiny and in the coup itself.
Tarakinikini is fighting the President's refusal of his resignation in the courts. The trial was supposed to begin on
12 September, but was postponed because Tarakinikini's lawyer,
Samuela Matawalu, was recovering from a minor
stroke. On
30 November,
High Court Justice
Gerald Winter scheduled a hearing for
22 February 2006 and ordered Matawalu to file submissions by
16 January, and the President's Office to reply by
17 February.
Takiveikata convicted
Stevens later testified that
Ratu Inoke Takiveikata, the
Qaranivalu, a senior chief of
Naitasiri Province and a
Senator and former
Cabinet Minister, had visited the barracks during the mutiny to offer moral and practical support, which included supplying the mutineers with
cellphones. On
23 November, Takiveikata was convicted and sentenced to
life imprisonment for his role in the mutiny.
Court Martial
★ ''See main article:
Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit Court Martial, Fiji''
On
16 August 2005, the
Fiji Court of Appeal delivered a landmark ruling, ordering a retrial of 20 soldiers from the
Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit (CRW) who had been convicted in a
court martial of participating in the
2000 coup and in a subsequent in November
2000, and sentenced to prison terms of between three and six years. Various legal technicalities have resulted in several adjournments in the court martial retrial since the naming of the court martial panel, under Judge Advocate
Graeme Leung, on
5 October.
External links
★
The Hindu - 14 November 2000
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