Fiji Military Commander Backs Transparency and End to Coup Immunity

The Republic of Fiji Military Forces is moving to replace traditional internal confidentiality with open military courts and civilian judges, a structural shift announced by RFMF Commander Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai. Under Chapter 10 of the Constitution Review Commission’s report on a proposed new Constitution, the armed forces face sweeping disciplinary reforms designed to dismantle historical privacy protections linked to military rank.

Opening Courtroom Doors to Public Oversight

Major General Kalouniwai stated that the institution’s previous regulations were old and that institutional secrecy is no longer viable in a modern security environment. According to the commander, introducing civilian judges and open proceedings aims to demonstrate fairness across all ranks.

We want to be very transparent with what we’re doing, looking at the way the world is moving, looking at the way things are happening today, Major General Kalouniwai said, as reported by The Fiji Times. Transparency is very important. As I said, the regulations we were following before was very old.

Historically, rank carried significant privacy protections during disciplinary inquiries, creating perception gaps regarding accountability for senior officers compared to enlisted personnel. The new guidelines intend to dismantle those barriers. They provided a lot of privacy, a lot of confidentiality when it came to rank, so with this one, we’re trying to open things up so that things could be a lot more transparent. So that the soldiers understand when officers are at fault, the commander explained.

Confronting Legal Risks and Coup Immunity

Beyond internal discipline, the Constitution Review Commission report proposes addressing absolute and unconditional immunity provisions currently established under Chapter 10 of the 2013 Constitution, which shields actions surrounding the 1987 and 2006 coups. Reporting from the Fiji Sun highlights that Major General Kalouniwai acknowledged that the RFMF itself recommended removing the immunity clause, despite exposing members to potential legal action.

We had put in our submission. I mean, we threw ourselves into the fire. We said we’ll put our legal parameters that were protecting us for so long, we’ll put that away, Major General Kalouniwai told the Fiji Sun. So, we’re taking a risk when we’re walking out now. There’s a legal risk now for us because if the Immunity Clause is taken away, then that includes members of the RFMF as well.

The commission has outlined three options regarding the immunity clause: outright repeal, asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its position, or retaining Chapter 10 while requiring beneficiaries to swear an Oath of Reconciliation and Allegiance renouncing past actions. Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has maintained that the Supreme Court’s August 2025 opinion preserving the immunity chapter as unamendable for stability must be respected.

Pathways for Truth and Reconciliation

In tandem with the proposed removal of immunity, the RFMF’s recommendations support establishing a Truth and Reconciliation mechanism based on United Nations principles. Major General Kalouniwai noted that the framework would give individuals involved in past political crises an avenue to step forward willingly and share their accounts.

What it does, it provides an avenue for those who are part of the coup to actually come up willingly. So, they can come up and provide their story, what happened, whatever they did and then that’s it. It’s all about truth-telling, he said to the Fiji Sun. He added that the process should grant courts or a commission powers to summon individuals who refuse to appear.

Minister for Defence Pio Tikoduadua noted that these extensive proposals must ultimately be debated and decided in Parliament. It’s an idea that has to go before Parliament. Many views have been uttered, of course, it’s wide and ranging across our society, Mr Tikoduadua told the Fiji Sun, emphasizing that consensus-building remains essential given the sensitivity of the matter.