Fiji: the disease is spreading

Earlier in the year, the Fijian military beat two mean to death while "questioning" them. Nimilote Verebasaga, a suspected thief, was beaten to death while being questioned at the Queen Elizabeth barracks in January, while Sakiusa Rabaka died a month after being brutally beaten while being questioned about drug dealing. The military has successfully impeded the investigations, and no-one has been held to account for the killings. And now, the disease seems to be spreading: the police have beaten a suspect to death:

Tevita Malasebe, 30, was taken away by from his Nasinu home by a group of police officers late on Monday night, according to the Fiji Times.

His family was told he was being taken away to a police station for "minor matters" and he was led away in handcuffs, the newspaper said.

Malsebe's mother Anisa Nakuila travelled to the station about an hour later but was told her son had not arrived.

The next day family members were asked to go to a local hospital, where they were told Malasebe was dead.

Nakuila says she saw her son's body in the morgue and he was badly bruised from the neck down.

This is what happens when you have a government of lawless thugs who regard themselves as being above the law: it spreads down from the top.

It goes without sayign that I think this should be thoroughly investigated, the the officers responsible prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Fortunately, the Fijian police are at least making the right noises about it.