well they've identified the vehicle involved in that stoning - a Toyota Liteace with registration number starting "FE".

4 men inolved in the stoning - one was the driver. it shouldn't be difficult to fit it together.

Driti is only undermining the credibility of the regime by doing something like that (if indeed he has). its not helping - and its only going to have the UN write it up as the intimidation of political opponents by the regime.

its obvious where this thing is going.

thats why those guys need to be caught - and caught quickly and dealt to - because the longer those boys remain free and the more that this thing goes on, the worse the regime looks in the eyes of the UN and the international community - this is not something that should be condoned. its the kind of thing that has led to Bashir in the Sudan getting implicated by the International Criminal Court - and if it goes on over here without being stopped it will put the regime in very bad light - and eventually lead to issues of breaching international laws and conventions.

one interesting thing though, none of the SDL people have been attacked. its odd. one would havethought that the SDL people starting with Qarase would have been the first targets of these people.

anyway when they catch upto those boys we will come to know the full story - they will love the red carpet treatment thats being prepared for them on their capture (that is if they are taken alive) - there's definitely a meet and greet team looking for them - doesn't need a rocket scientist to figure that out - brick bats, bouqets and all. if God forbid they are foreign special forces soldiers, we will have bloodshed of foreigners on the streets of Suva - these guys will be treated as enemies of the State and killed - that meet and greet team is not armed to shoot waterpistols, its armed to kill. to kill terrorists attacking innocent civilians and trying to destabalise the country.

tsk tsk tsk, its now going to go exactly where that "stone the cars gang" wants it to go (or probably never thought it would go) - directly at them - they should be ready to reap the whirlwind that they've sown. they are legitimate targets of the State security apparatus and it doesn't take a genius to realise that.

because from stones, it goes to firebombs and then guns and then anarchy. very short progression.

nothing good will come out of this, only dead guys who went around stoning cars trying to start an insurrection and now in death are designated as terrorists by the State - deemed legitimate kills. deemed necessary kills - necessary for the protection of the State.

not new to this country - the events of 2000 and 2001 are still fresh in living memory.

tsk tsk tsk.

gdev if the RFMf wanted to take out the SDL all it has to do is go up to their homes in 4 wheel drives pick them up and take them down to Naboro and throw them in cells - thats what happened to them in 2006 - its already been done to their people by the RFMF - who do you think was being kicked around in December 2006 ? Qarase was sworn at, told to get out and walk at Government House when he went to see the President.

his bodyguard and driver was beaten up in that same month. Ted Young was slapped around and sworn at - given black eyes. Kinivuai was taken up to the camp. Attar Singh has already been taken up to the camp - and made to do exercises.

all those things were correctly stopped a long time ago by the RFMF because they serve no purpose and are counterproductive and border on breaches of international law.

the RFMf doesn't have to go there and stone houses - if the nuts who were in charge in December 2006 had their way the RFMf would be going there in their trucks and picking these people up for more exercises at the camp.

why do you think Rabaka's guys have been charged and prosecuted and now found guilty ? because it is wrong.

its self evident. doesn't need a rocket scientist to figure it out.

but these guys who are engaging in these stonings are only working with a rope thats getting shorter - eventually that rope gets reeled in- with the fish hooked on and dead. thats where this thing is going to end for those boys - and noone is going to investigate why they died - because it will be treated a justified killing of terrorist elements - thats where its going. that file will be closed and deemed classified. thats where its going. its not something new.

all the justified killings from 2000 and 2001 have not seen any prosecutions - and they won't. those cases are deemed classified because those killings are done in the national interest - these men become dangerous to the state and the wellbeing of its civilians and they have to be "put down" i.e killed.

Fiji is a small country with diverse ethnicities and religions - something like this has huge implications for the wellbeing of the society. thats why it can't be allowed to carry on unchecked - and the only way to check that militancy is to cull its membership - culling means killing because jailing does not change ideologies that far gone - those guys plan, prepare for and implement those things - its deliberate organisation - and that makes them dangerous to the community and society at large - it shows intent and capacity.

this is the difference between a criminal and a terrorist.

they have the intent to cause havoc and attack innocent civilians for an agenda designed to destabalise the State and they have demonstrated that they have the capacity to do it by engaging in these actions - and in so doing have become a threat to the nation.

and thats why they have to be liquidated as enemies of the State, and not handled as criminals under the criminal law justice system.

thats the way it is - even in the UK where all these templates come from..

we may not like it - but this is an unfortunate side effect of the militancy which entered the politics of this country in 1987 - because with it came a new brand of millitancy - one that is technically proficient in the profession of arms (soldiers going rogue) and applying that knowledge to create disorder and anarchy in society - that tempo and rythem is not something that existed prior to 1987 - but its a phenomenon we now have to understand and address - the response to that level of militancy cannot be done within the confines of the normal civilian criminal justice system where the militancy has reached a stage where the miliutants brazenly engage in their actions - it needs to be stopped in its infancy - where thats not done because the State doesn't have the will to stop it, it will grow into something far worse.

its something thats now happened in Pakistan - the criminal justice system is no longer able to handle that growing anarchy - and the Pakistani authorities and millitary intelligence were responsible for breeding that anarchy - they fed it with arms, training, knowledge and propoganda - instead of putting it down, they gave it life - and its now grown into something which they themselves are now ending up having to fight - the very survival of their state is now at stake - and now they are regretting it.

here in Fiji we cannot allow that kind of apathy and indifference (or weakness) get a hold of the State's will power and by default give life to militancy, because our small diverse society cannot survive something like that - and thats the stark reality. its a choice between a peceful sustainable future and complete anarchy.

its not an authoritarian approach - its an approach based on common sense for a fragile ethnically diverse society such as ours.

either you have safe communities, or you have communities like they have in Afghanistan and Pakistan - living in fear and militancy.

the Mexicans have had a gutful already - its gone to the stage where they are now having to send the Mexican Army onto the streets to combat the drug gangs - and by the way where is the 4th Ammendment in Texas ? they are now calling for the national guard to fight the Mexican drug gangs on American soil - forget the US Constitution and all those human rights rules - they are calling for the State to put in the army to shoot it out with the drug gangs.

thats what happens when you allow that thing to birth itself and grow unchecked - you end up having to deal with it in a big and very expensive way years down the line - it doesn't grow overnight - it grows because its allowed to grow and nuture. the best way is to stop it before it grows - nip it in the bud in tandem with providing education and socio economic opportunities for advancement for ALL the people regardless of creed, colour or race - creating open transparent structures - removing corruption and allowing people to grow creatively and socio economically within that framework - allowing a liberal market economy to take root - thats the most efficient way - and its proven too - look at Singapore.

Driti is right - those soldiers are loyal. they were following orders when they ended up in that mess.

what Driti has not said however is the fact that the orders which led those loyal soldiers into that mess came from somewhere - Driti has carefully chosen his words - what he is saying is basically that these guys have been the "fall guys" for following orders given by officers higher up the chain.

the question now is how the Driti will handle the officers under his command who gave those orders - this opens up new issues of International Law and in particular it opens up questions about the role of officers within the RFMf structure in giving the orders which led to that.

during examination in chief and cross examination the soldiers kept saying they were receiving orders on the radio - they even named the officer who gave those orders to take Rabaka and Co to Black Rock.

the DPP has not taken that thing further to investigate WHICH officers were in charge of that unit and WHICH particular officer gave the order that led to the detention of Rabaka that led to the series of events culminating in his death.

this thing is going to be an International Criminal Court issue in the near future - its a live issue. there are loose ends in this case which will lead to some of the officers in charge of the Nadi Unit being taken up eventually to the ICC - these issues remain live - and the evidence thats come out in Court is going to be the thing that will tie it altogether.

twenty years from today some of these officers will be fronting up to the ICC - the way this thing is being handled is very sloppy. they are only opening themselves up to ICC complaints in the not too distant future - well after Fiji has gone back to democracy this thing will come back in the ICC. this is a mess.

there must be CLEAR rules of engagement - and CLEAR rules of how to detain arrested persons and WHAT to do under those circumstances. there should also be CLEAR RULES regarding the use of violence - the circumstances in which it is to be used, the requirements for its use and the extent of force to be used - and then there has to be a clear set of rules regarding engagement with militancy, how that is to be done and when it is to be done.

this Rabaka case leaves a lot of live issues - loose ends which will come back to mess up the officers who gave the orders leading to that Units actions. those boys have carried the can today - but this is not the end of that issue - down the line there will be some whiz kids coming long with a passion for human rights, maybe even lawyers who will dig this thing up in research and eventually decide to test it out as a case to the ICC.

an amnesty here isn't justiciable at the International Criminal Court.

its happened in other places - notably Chile.

not new.