Australia and NZ pressure Nauru over alleged human rights abuses

By Jane Wardell SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia and New Zealand, Nauru's two biggest donors, ramped up pressure on the South Pacific island nation on Friday to abide by the rule of law after the arrest of two opposition MPs who had criticised the government for corruption and rights abuses. New Zealand, which provides $1.2 million a year to run Nauru's justice system, hinted it will reassess its aid. Australia, which has a A$2 billion ($1.5 billion) asylum seeker detention centre on the tiny island, made the issue a priority in talks with Nauru President Baron Waqa in Sydney. "I asked for assurances about the rule of law, the integrity of the judiciary system and the treatment of those detained or who have been charged, and I received those assurances," Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters. Bishop said she had not heard reports before her meeting with Waqa that the two lawmakers had been remanded in custody at a court hearing on Friday and another eight men detained. Nauru media has reported that the group, arrested over an anti-government protest outside Nauru's parliament last month, has been denied access to lawyers. Nauru is a speck in the Pacific about 4,500 km (2,800 miles) northeast of Australia with 10,000 citizens and has relied on foreign aid since the depletion of its rich phosphate mines in the 1980s. It has also been plagued by corruption allegations. New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said Waqa "vigorously disputed" some aspects of recent international media reporting on corruption and human rights abuses. Waqa has said the protesters, including former president Sprent Dabwido and MP Squire Jeremiah, had sparked a riot aimed at toppling the government. "On some of these issues we clearly disagree and on others the president has offered to supply further information," McCully said on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting in Sydney. "I have asked ministry officials to complete discussions regarding our current concerns prior to the next tranche of New Zealand funding to Nauru, which is currently scheduled for August this year," he said. Bishop said Australia did not see any consequences for Nauru's broader judicial system, including its detention centre, which is central to Canberra's hardline immigration policy. Meg Taylor, the secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, said the group could seek a mission to Nauru if its 15 members believed there had been serious breaches of democratic principle or human rights in Nauru.