Fiji urged to restore constitution 

A New York-based human rights group urged Fiji's interim government to reinstate the constitution and restore judges unlawfully removed from office.

Human Rights Watch also called for an immediate end to "the harassment and arbitrary detention of journalists, writers, lawyers, human rights defenders, and political opponents" in Fiji.

Fiji was plunged into fresh crisis last month after the president reappointed Commodore Frank Bainimarama as interim prime minister, two days after a court ruled the military leader's 2006 coup and subsequent government was illegal.

Last week the Pacific Islands Forum suspended Fiji from the 16-nation grouping, after its military leader failed to meet a deadline to announce elections and extended emergency laws.

Human Rights Watch said it had sent a letter to President Ratu Josefa Iloilo calling for the restoration of constitutional law.

"President Iloilo and Commodore Bainimarama have run roughshod over basic freedoms of speech, association, and assembly," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

"After over two years of military rule, Fiji Islanders now face even more restrictions, instead of progress toward restoring democratic rule," he said.

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