Silence of the civilians – the case of the other Laisa

Those of you living in Fiji may have noticed that almost all of those detained and abused by soldiers have not spoken publicly again.

This dead silence from those subjected to arbitrary arrest for speaking their minds is probably evidence of the humiliation they are subjected to in military custody. (Witness Laisa Digitaki’s statement detailing what detainees can expect)

Another Laisa – veteran singer and Vude Queen, Laisa Vulakoro – had been very vocal in her views on the military’s night-time detentions of civilians. After he first comments were broadcast on Legend FM news in December in which she condemned the army’s tactics, the army paid her a visit.

The next day her comments about their late-night visit to her home were again broadcast. She sounded undaunted. But that was before she was hauled up to Queen Elizabeth Barracks and given a “military makeover”.

There were unconfirmed and unpublished reports (from good sources) that officers at QEB cut her hair as part of their abuse. She dropped off the radar after that. Vulakoro has not made any more comments.

A couple of weeks later, a letter appeared in the Fiji Times from a woman in New Zealand claiming she was a relative of Vulakoro’s. That letter appeared to confirm the reports that Vulakoro’s hair was cut. While the woman didn’t specify what the soldiers did to Vulakoro, she did name several high-ranking officers and said that as long as they lived, Vulakoro’s relatives would not forgive them for “what they did to Laisa”.