THE Pacific Centre for Public Integrity has questioned the timing of the release of the Fiji Human Rights Commission report on the independence of the media in Fiji.
PCPI executive Angie Heffernan said it was not a coincidence that the report was released after the deportation of Russell Hunter, which was deliberately done to provide a public relations justification for the interim regime's actions against the media.
She said it defied logic that the very institution was mandated to protect human rights would endorse a report that recommended racism, discrimination and human rights violations.
She said the obvious collusion between the FHRC under Dr Shaista Shameem and the interim regime further reflected how politically compromised FHRC had become.
Ms Heffernan urged the President to wake up and, for the sake of human rights protection in Fiji, dismiss Dr Shameem from office, saying this latest travesty could not and must not go unnoticed by the President of Fiji.
"Where is the President if he cannot see what is happening before his very eyes?," she asked.
Ms Heffernan said the assault against Fiji's media was not based on facts, was full of assumptions and, worst of all, did not have verified sources willing to put their names to their claims.
She said it was obvious that the author of the report, Dr James Anthony, had no idea how the media functioned in Fiji, given his racist comments about "white owners".
She said the recommendations in the report, apart from being racist, if implemented, would be discriminatory and would breach the human rights of individuals being targeted by the report.
