Fiji's Opposition leader Ro Teimumu Kepa. Photo: RNZI / Sally Round
Fiji's opposition leader has called on the Fiji media to provide balanced and timely information to attain peace and justice.
In a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day, Ro Teimumu Kepa says leaving aside the government mouthpiece media, the other practitioners should keep asking the difficult questions.
She said the Fijian Media Association was silent on critical national issues of human rights abuses and she wonders how the increasing militarisation of Fiji could bring lasting stability.
Ro Teimumu said she found it ironic that UNESCO planned activities for World Press Freedom Day in Jakarta, seemingly oblivious to the atrocities committed by the Indonesian government against her kinfolk in Papua.
She said UNESCO and Indonesian media should be asked how they can remain silent in the face of what she calls the continuing mass genocide in their country.
Ro Teimumu said in Fiji those who swore to protect the citizenry are the same people who torture and murder young Fijian men to keep everybody subjugated.