Two

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

mutinies Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...

took place in connection with the civilian

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

that occurred in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

in 2000, the first while the rebellion instigated by

George Speight George Speight (born 1957) is a Fijian businessman and politician who was the leader of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état, in which he and rebel soldiers from Fiji's Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit seized the Fijian Parliament and held Prime Ministe ...

was in progress, and the second four months after it had ended.

The Sukunaivalu Barracks mutiny (7 July 2000)

On 7 July 2000, rebel soldiers supporting George Speight overran the Sukunaivalu Barracks in

Labasa Labasa (pronounced ) is a town in Fiji with a population of 27,949 at the most recent census held in 2007. Labasa is located in Macuata Province, in the north-eastern part of the island of Vanua Levu, and is the largest town on the island. Th ...

, the largest town on the northern island of

Vanua Levu Vanua Levu (pronounced ), formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of and a population of 135,961 . Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically ...

The Queen Elizabeth Barracks mutiny (2 November 2000)

The second mutiny, which took place on 2 November 2000 at

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

's Queen Elizabeth Barracks, was led by Captain Shane Stevens. It left three soldiers dead. In the aftermath of the failed attempt to depose the

Military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

Commander,

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore, a ...

Frank Bainimarama Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama (Fijian: ʃoˈsɛia βoˈreŋɡe mbɛiniˈmarama born 27 April 1954) is a Fijian politician and former naval officer who served as the prime minister of Fiji from 2007 until 2022. A member of the FijiFirst ...

, four of the rebels were tortured and killed by loyal soldiers.

Court Martial

On 16 August 2005, the

Fiji Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal of Fiji is one of three courts that were established by Chapter 9 of the 1997 Constitution, the others being the High Court and the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal was a new institution established when the 1997 Constitut ...

delivered a landmark ruling, ordering a retrial of 20 soldiers from the

Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit The Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit or CRWU was the common name for the First Meridian Squadron, the unit's formal name, which had been disbanded in 2000. It was the only special forces group of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, and was the ...

(CRW) who had been convicted in a

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

of participating in the 2000 coup and in a subsequent mutiny in November 2000, and sentenced to prison terms of between three and six years.

References

Bibliography

* Trnka, S. (2011). State of Suffering: Political Violence and Community Survival in Fiji. United States: Cornell University Press., * Pretes, M. (2008). Coup: Reflections on the Political Crisis in Fiji. United States: ANU E Press., *Baba, T., Nabobo-Baba, U., Field, M. (2005). Speight of Violence: Inside Fiji's 2000 Coup. Australia: Pandanus Books.,

External links

The Hindu - 14 November 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutinies of the 2000 Fijian coup d'etat 2000 Fijian coup d'état Mutinies Events that led to courts-martial