This week, the government announced proudly that it was improving relations with Fiji. Unfortunately, this improvement comes at a time when the illegal military regime is increasing its crackdown on its critics. In the past week, the Fijian regime has:
- Extended emergency rule and media censorship for another 30 days;
- Initiated a baseless prosecution of a prominent human rights lawyer for opposing the regime;
- Sacked magistrates who ruled against the regime's prosecution;
- Started a purge at the Suva City Council, targeting those suspected of opposing the regime;
- Banned all religious conferences by the Fiji Methodist Church until 2014, on the basis that they are "spies" working against the military;
- Deported Dr Padma Lal, solely because she is married to a critic of the regime;
- Used food as a weapon to silence dissent, by cutting the pensions of regime critics
