A farmer has described what he says was a brutal ordeal at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Nabua, Suva last week, claiming he survived what he believed could have been a fatal military interrogation only through divine intervention.
Kelepi Komaisavou, one of five men allegedly taken by Republic of Fiji Military Forces personnel after a day of harvesting, disputes official accounts that the group surrendered voluntarily.
“We were still sorting out our harvest when the Army personnel came and threatened us to get in the car,” he said.
He claims that upon arrival at the barracks, the men were stripped and forced to crawl 200 metres along sealed road surfaces.
Mr Komaisavou described what he called a sustained episode of physical abuse during questioning over an alleged armoury break-in, an accusation he insists he knew nothing about.
“We were told to lie flush to the road and crawl, dragging our bodies against the road,” he said. “I prayed to the most High to save me. I am here today because of His grace.”
He further alleged that the abuse escalated when he asked for water, saying soldiers forced his head into a roadside pothole.
“I put my head in the pothole, and they stood on my head,” he said, adding he feared he would suffocate.
Mr Komaisavou also claimed he could hear other detainees screaming nearby during the incident.
“When they said, ‘this one too should be poured hot water,’ I knew Pei (Jone Vakarisi) and the rest were being poured hot water,” he alleged.
Authorities have not publicly responded in detail to the specific allegations.
Farmer recounts alleged brutal ordeal
THE Republic of Fiji Military Forces is facing serious allegations of human rights abuses following claims
that civilians were tortured at Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Nabua last week.
Local farmer Kelepi Komaisavou has come forward with disturbing accounts of what he says was a
violent and degrading ordeal, alleging soldiers used hot water as a method of intimidation during what he
describes as a baseless interrogation.
He claims he and others were taken into military custody after a day of farm work.
“We were still sorting out our harvest when the Army personnel came and threatened us to get in the car,”
Mr Komaisavou said.
What followed, he alleges, was a sustained episode of physical abuse inside the barracks.
He claims he was forced to crawl along hot tarmac for about 200 metres while being repeatedly assaulted.
“They made me crawl for about 200 metres, and they kept punching, stomping and kicking me,” he said.
According to Mr Komaisavou, the questioning centred on an alleged armoury break-in, but he
believes the accusations were unfounded and improvised during the interrogation.
“They kept adding stuff to their list to extend the duration of our torture,” he alleged.
He also questioned the basis of the allegations, saying: “Who in their right mind would ever want to
rob or trespass into an Army barrack?”
Mr Komaisavou further alleged that during the ordeal he was forced to drink from a pothole while a soldier stood on his neck.
“While I was going through all of that, I heard my brothers screaming for help and for mercy,” he said.
The allegations have raised fresh concerns and areexpected to intensify scrutiny of military conduct, as
authorities have yet to publicly respond in detail to the claims.
