The Australian Defence Force is working closely with the Fiji Government to address allegations of human rights abuse made against their newly-appointed Seventh Brigade Deputy Commander Colonel Penioni Naliva.
In a statement to this newspaper, the ADF confirmed they were aware of the allegations against Colonel Naliva.
“Defence is aware of reporting regarding Colonel Penioni (Ben) Naliva,” the ADF statement said.
“Australia is currently engaged with the Fijian Government on this matter.
“It would be inappropriate to comment further at this point.”
The ADF confirmed reciprocal personnel exchanges between the ADF and Pacific partners, including Fiji, were a key part of defence and security partnerships because they deepened and strengthened people-to-people links.
The force revealed that growing their military personnel exchanges, through embedding the Republic of Fiji Military Forces in the ADF, was in accordance with their commitments under the Vuvale Partnership.
“Defence was aware of allegations against Colonel Naliva.
“Defence received assurances from the Government of Fiji that Colonel Naliva passed all the required police and national security clearance checks prior to being appointed to the position. This is standard practice for all foreign embedded personnel within the ADF.”