Sitiveni Rabuka and Mahnedra Chaudhry embrace at the reconciliation church service on 14 May 2023. Photo: Fiji Government
A former Fijian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry has slammed Sitiveni Rabuka's government for "begging" from rich neighbours to fund the new Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
Chaudhry questions how the Commission can remain impartial when it is being financed by the European Union (EU), Australia and New Zealand.
"As such, they are likely to wield considerable behind the scenes influence on the outcome of the process," Chaudhry said.
"It's a real shame that we are always begging our richer neighbours and other development partners to pay for matters that should be our responsibility."
"The process is more likely to be an academic exercise and not a search for the truth behind the events leading to the coups and the mayhem that followed," he said.
Chaudhry, who was held hostage and knocked unconscious during George Speight's 2000 coup, says reconciliation is not possible without justice.
"The people, particularly the victims of the three coups and their families, are entitled to know the truth and to receive justice where due," he said.
Prime Minister Rabuka has said he will "come clean" about the 1987 coups and reveal the names of those behind the two racist coups he orchestrated.
The TRC chairperson Dr Marcus Brand told a news conference in Suva the purpose of the Commission was not to lay blame but to help Fijians move on from past trauma.
The inquiry is also expected to encourage truth-telling about Speight's 2000 putsch and Frank Bainimarama's 2006 military coup.
Dr Brand has said the TRC will operate independently and work with stakeholders, civil society, media and the people.
"Ultimately, it aims to serve the people of Fiji to come to terms with your own history with difficult periods, especially connected with the political turmoil around the coups that have happened, the disruptions to the democratic process."
The five members of the TRC were sworn in on Thursday last week by President Naiqama Lalabalavu.
The chairperson is an Austrian Human Rights activist with international exposure.
The four locals on the panel are: former Chief Magistrate Sekove Naqiolevu, gender consultant Ana Laqeretabua, former journalist Rachna Nath and retired Fiji Airways pilot Rajendra Dass.
The Commission expects to take three months to prepare an operational plan and will conduct an inquiry for 18 months.
'No transparency' - human rights groups
Meanwhile, the NGO Coalition on Human Rights (NGOCHR) has also expressed its concerns about the Commission.
It said the TRC may already be compromising its integrity and independence due to the lack of transparency in appointing the commissioners.
"The manner of the process of appointing TR Commissioners seems to underscore the government's total lack of consideration for transparency and process as they continue to appoint whoever they please onto or into important roles and positions", the group said in a statement.
"We see that there is no transparency in the appointment process.
The NGOCHR said that despite the caliber of Fiji nationals both locally and overseas, the government chose to appoint the EU's nomination, "an expatriate with little to no lived experience in Fiji to not only be part of the Commission but lead as its chair."
"This practice itself is neo-colonial and compromises the integrity of the process. Decolonisation should be a key component of the process, not further perpetuating colonialism."
