Military regime in Solomon Islands restricting CS

The independence of the judiciary has once again come under the limelight in Fiji with sacking of 5 magistrates by the military regime on or about 19 July 2010. Carrying out their functions under bondage of the Military, the judiciary offers citizens the last refuge of hope for asserting their infringed rights. Since forcefully taking power in 2006, the military regime has been notorious for interfering with the judiciary at will. Over the past 15 months, the Military has sacked a total of 45 judicial officers: 30 magistrates and 15 judges. The recent sackings were allegedly on the ground that the magistrates have rejected prosecutions instituted by the regime. The sackings bear every hallmark of a regime the actions of which erodes and threatens the independence of the country’s judicial system. The actions by the military have already caught international attention with concerns being raised by the UN Human Rights Councils in Geneva. That is not the end to the issue, as 17 states have already called on the regime to invite the UN Rapporteur on Independence of the Judiciary. Furthermore, In the course of April to June 2010, the military regime in Fiji developed a new decree aimed at replacing censorship and human rights restrictions in the country. The Media Industry Development Decree 2010, which was promulgated on 28 June, introduced sweeping and drastic changes to various aspects of freedom of the media. According to PFF, the decree replaces censorship with something far more obvious and dangerous for media freedom. The sweeping changes introduced under the new Decree includes registration of all media outlets, state power to search and seize media equipment and documents, heavy fines, and imprisonment of journalists that fail to divulge sources of information that have implications of national interest. Ironic amongst the changes is the requirement for all media outlets to be at least 90% owned.