Aisea Taoka
Encyclopedia
Aisea Taoka is a Fiji
an civil servant and former police
officer, who currently serves as the Commissioner of Prisons, a position he has held since 1996. He had previously served for 31 years in the Police force.
Taoka hails from Ketei on the island of Totoya
, in the Lau
archipelago
. Under the pretext of taking him to see an eye surgeon
in Suva
, his father Rupeni Raga smuggled him out of his village in January, 1953, in order to educate him. (At that time, it was permitted to leave the village only for medical reasons). Living with relatives in Bagasau, he was educated at Suva Methodist Boys School and subsequently at Lelean Memorial School
, graduating in 1964. During this time, his immediate family moved to Suva. On leaving high school, Taoka enlisted in the police training school.
Home Affairs Minister Paul Manueli
appointed him to lead a Commission of Inquiry into an outbreak at Naboro prison in 1994. Two years later, he was appointed Prisons' Commissioner.
Taoka is a strong proponent of law and order
and is unsympathetic to criticisms of prison conditions. In his submission on 14 February 2006 to the parliamentary
committee studying the proposed Prisons and Corrections Bill, Taoka said that those in prison had never considered their victims' rights, so it was out of order for them to complain of their imprisonment conditions being a violation of their own rights. "These are the people who trample on the rights of law abiding citizens; their right to privacy, their right to ownership of property, their right to life ... these are the people who are charged with killing, and you want to read the human rights hand book to me," the Fiji Times
quoted him as saying. The condition of prisons was what the government could afford, he said.
His comments drew a sharp response from Shaista Shameem
, Director of the Fiji Human Rights Commission
, who was quoted in the Times on 16 February that prisoners were human beings who had the right to live with dignity.
Taoka has taken a different position on the question of compulsory AIDS
/HIV
tests for prison inmates, however, saying that it would be an affront to their dignity. Patient confidentiality was as applicable in prison as anywhere else, the Fiji Times quoted him as saying on 20 February 2006.
Taoka is married to Margaret and has children.
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
an civil servant and former police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
officer, who currently serves as the Commissioner of Prisons, a position he has held since 1996. He had previously served for 31 years in the Police force.
Taoka hails from Ketei on the island of Totoya
Totoya
Totoya is a volcanic island in the Moala subgroup of Fiji's Lau archipelago. It occupies an area of 28 square kilometers, making it the smallest of the Moalas. Its maximum altitude is 366 meters. The main economic activity is coconut farming....
, in the Lau
Lau Islands
The Lau Islands of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about one hundred islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited...
archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
. Under the pretext of taking him to see an eye surgeon
Eye surgery
Eye surgery, also known as orogolomistician surgery or ocular surgery, is surgery performed on the eye or its adnexa, typically by an ophthalmologist.-Preparation and precautions:...
in Suva
Suva
Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...
, his father Rupeni Raga smuggled him out of his village in January, 1953, in order to educate him. (At that time, it was permitted to leave the village only for medical reasons). Living with relatives in Bagasau, he was educated at Suva Methodist Boys School and subsequently at Lelean Memorial School
Lelean Memorial School
Lelean Memorial School is one of the largest co-ed schools in Fiji today. It was established in 1943 and is run by the Methodist Church of Fiji. It is co-located at the Davuilevu Methodist Compound with the and the Young People's Department, which runs training for Methodist catechists...
, graduating in 1964. During this time, his immediate family moved to Suva. On leaving high school, Taoka enlisted in the police training school.
Home Affairs Minister Paul Manueli
Paul Manueli
Colonel Paul Manueli is a former Commander of the Royal Fiji Military Forces, a former Fiji Cabinet minister, Senator and successful businessman.-Military career:...
appointed him to lead a Commission of Inquiry into an outbreak at Naboro prison in 1994. Two years later, he was appointed Prisons' Commissioner.
Taoka is a strong proponent of law and order
Law and order (politics)
In politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...
and is unsympathetic to criticisms of prison conditions. In his submission on 14 February 2006 to the parliamentary
House of Representatives (Fiji)
The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Fiji's Parliament. It is the more powerful of the two chambers; it alone has the power to initiate legislation...
committee studying the proposed Prisons and Corrections Bill, Taoka said that those in prison had never considered their victims' rights, so it was out of order for them to complain of their imprisonment conditions being a violation of their own rights. "These are the people who trample on the rights of law abiding citizens; their right to privacy, their right to ownership of property, their right to life ... these are the people who are charged with killing, and you want to read the human rights hand book to me," the Fiji Times
Fiji Times
The Fiji Times is a daily English-language newspaper published in Suva, Fiji. Established in Levuka on 4 September 1869, it is Fiji's oldest newspaper still operating....
quoted him as saying. The condition of prisons was what the government could afford, he said.
His comments drew a sharp response from Shaista Shameem
Shaista Shameem
Shaista Shameem, a Fijian lawyer of Pakistani and Indian descent, was director of the Fiji Human Rights Commission from 2002 to 2007, and its director and chairperson from 2007 to 2009...
, Director of the Fiji Human Rights Commission
Fiji Human Rights Commission
The Fiji Human Rights Commission was created by presidential decree in 2009, succeeding the entity of the same name established as an independent statutory body under the 1997 Constitution of the Republic of the Fiji Islands.- The 1997 Commission :...
, who was quoted in the Times on 16 February that prisoners were human beings who had the right to live with dignity.
Taoka has taken a different position on the question of compulsory AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
/HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
tests for prison inmates, however, saying that it would be an affront to their dignity. Patient confidentiality was as applicable in prison as anywhere else, the Fiji Times quoted him as saying on 20 February 2006.
Taoka is married to Margaret and has children.