Committee to Protect Journalists - Fiji

Fiji's journalists should not be censored

2011-12-06T17:20:17Z

December 6, 2011

Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama
4th floor Govt. Bldgs., New Wing
Suva, Fiji

By facsimile: 011-679-3305319

Dear Commodore Bainimarama:

Five years after the military coup that brought you to power in Fiji, we note with concern the letter to you by Human Rights Watch and other organizations that was issued Friday. We would like to underscore their points on press freedom restrictions in Fiji.

Fiji’s repressive media decree takes effect

2010-06-28T20:15:46Z

New York, June 28, 2010—A new Fijian media decree that formalizes repressive government control of the media could force the outspoken Fiji Times to close within three months, according to international news reports.

Fiji’s draft media decree threatens long-term restrictions

2010-04-07T19:24:41Z

New York, April 7, 2010—Fiji’s military regime should withdraw a draft decree that would regulate media ownership and news content, while authorizing the imposition of fines and prison terms for violations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Censorship continues to suppress Fiji's media

2009-05-13T18:44:42Z

New York, May 13, 2009--Fiji's military government, which has been questioning several local journalists in custody, should immediately rescind emergency regulations censoring the island nation's media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Fiji should halt censorship and media expulsions

2009-04-13T19:47:15Z

New York, April 13, 2009--Fiji's interim government must relax its reporting restrictions after the government declared a 30-day state of emergency on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Three foreign reporters have since been ordered to be deported and one local journalist detained, according to international news reports, and newspapers and broadcasts have been censored.

Attacks on the Press in 2008: Asia Developments

2009-02-10T05:49:00Z

Australian newspaper executive expelled from Fiji

2008-05-02T16:00:00Z

New York, May 2, 2008--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the deportation of the Australian manager of leading daily Fiji Times by the interim military government of Fiji today.

Fiji: Media refuse to bow to military censorship

2006-12-07T17:00:00Z

New York, December 7, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists today congratulated the media in Fiji for successfully resisting censorship attempts by the leaders of Tuesday’s military coup.

Executives from the daily Fiji Times newspaper, Fiji TV and two radio stations, Radio Fiji and FM 96, refused to comply with orders to stop critical reporting on the island’s precarious political situation. They also successfully demanded that soldiers stationed in newsrooms and outside media offices be removed. The media executives, along with the independent Fiji Media Council, rejected the new government’s demands at a meeting Wednesday with acting military commander, Capt. Esala Teleni, journalists told CPJ.

Attacks on the Press 2002: Asia Analysis

2003-03-31T17:10:45Z

The vicious murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan focused international attention on the dangers faced by journalists covering the U.S. "war on terror," yet most attacks on journalists in Asia happened far from the eyes of the international press. In countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines, reporters covering crime and political corruption were as vulnerable to attack as those reporting on violent insurgency. Seven journalists were killed in 2002 for their work in Asia.

Attacks on the Press 2002: Fiji

2003-03-31T17:07:15Z

Fiji's diverse and energetic media have remained strong despite ongoing political instability in the country. Tensions between indigenous Fijians and the ethnic Indian population dominate political and social life and are often played out in the media, which include several English- and Hindi-language newspapers, the partially privatized Fiji TV, and two major radio broadcasters that operate English-, Fijian-, and Hindi-language channels.

Attacks on the Press 2002: North Korea

2003-03-31T17:03:40Z

Shortly after U.S. president George W. Bush arrived in South Korea's capital, Seoul, in February 2002 for a state visit, the North Korean state news agency, KCNA, reported a miracle: that a cloud in the shape of a Kimjongilia, the flower named after the country's leader, Kim Jong Il, had appeared over North Korea. "Even the sky above the Mount Paektu area seemed to be decorated with beautiful flowers," KCNA said. The piece was a whimsical effort to trump news of Bush's visit to the other side of the divided Korean peninsula, according to The New York Times.

Attacks on the Press 2001: Asia Analysis

2002-03-26T17:11:55Z

Journalists across Asia faced extraordinary pressures in 2001. Risks included reporting on war and insurgency, covering crime and corruption, or simply expressing a dissenting view in an authoritarian state.

CPJ's two most striking indices of press freedom are the annual toll of journalists killed around the world and our list of journalists imprisoned at the end of the calendar year. Asian countries registered disproportionately high on both counts--with more journalists killed in Afghanistan than in any other country, and China once again the world's leading jailer of journalists. Nepal, shockingly, took second place on the imprisoned list, with 17 journalists detained as of December 31, 2001, due to a sweeping crackdown on the Maoist insurgency that had severe implications for the press.

Attacks on the Press 2001: Fiji

2002-03-26T17:07:45Z

Ongoing political turbulence continued to plague Fiji's media. Tensions between indigenous Fijians and those of Indian descent are often played out in the media, which is divided along ethnic and linguistic lines.

The year began with Court of Appeal hearings to determine the legality of prime minister Laisenia Qarase's interim government, which was installed with military backing in July 2000 after a failed coup by businessman George Speight tipped Fiji into chaos. The court was also charged with deciding whether Fiji's 1997 constitution, which the military suspended last year, remained in force.

Attacks on the Press 2000: Asia Analysis

2001-03-19T17:10:30Z

DESPITE PRESS FREEDOM ADVANCES ACROSS ASIA IN RECENT YEARS, totalitarian regimes in Burma, China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Laos maintained their stranglehold on the media. Even democratic Asian governments sometimes used authoritarian tactics to control the press, particularly when faced with internal conflict.

Sri Lanka, for instance, imposed harsh censorship regulations during the year in order to restrict reporting on the country's long-running civil war. And in countries with a vibrant independent press, including India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia, journalists were frequently subjected to physical assault and intimidation.

Attacks on the Press 2000: Fiji

2001-03-19T17:06:55Z

FIJI'S PRESS, AMONG THE FREEST AND MOST DIVERSE IN THE PACIFIC REGION, endured a tumultuous year, marked by a coup attempt that effectively dismantled the country's democratic foundations. While former prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry had been a harsh critic of the press during his brief tenure, journalists came under much greater pressure during the months of political uncertainty that followed his ouster.