YAREN - The European Union says the Nauru Government must meet its international human rights obligations.

Five of the seven opposition MPs in the Nauru Parliament have been expelled for more than a year, officially for speaking to foreign media about the government’s actions.

Three of those MPs are now facing criminal charges in relation to a protest outside the parliament earlier this month.

There has been widespread criticism of the situation on Nauru, including from the New Zealand Government and the head of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Martin Chungong.

Now the EU Delegation in the Pacific says the recent restrictions to freedom of expression, access to the internet and social media, as well as the arrests of the MPs, are “disturbing developments”.

It is calling on the Nauru Government to abide by its international human rights obligations and to uphold freedom of information and freedom of speech.

New Zealand media is reporting on a “Wellington family” that has been forcibly separated from its father and husband as “concerns mount over democracy on the island of Nauru”.

TV One News said the Wellington-based Kun family have been forcibly separated from their Nauru opposition MP father, Roland Kun. When he boarded his plane to join them in New Zealand he was hauled off by Nauruan officials and had his passport cancelled.

“I was deemed a risk to the nation. And the other reason was there were criminal investigations with which I was directly linked,” Kun told One News in a telephone interview.

The criminal investigation relates to protests last week at Nauru’s parliament.

Kun is under investigation, having been suspended from parliament a year ago.

Justice Minister, David Adeang, confirmed Kun’s behaviour is being investigated and he said the threat posed by the opposition MPs was very real.

But not everyone agrees.

“It’s an attempt to try and stifle democracy in a way that is not good for the future of the country,” says Dr Steven Ratuva, a political sociologist and observer of Pacific affairs.

New Zealand gives $2 million a year towards Nauru’s justice system and recent media reports have Foreign Minister Murray McCully admitting he wants some “answers over recent events”.

McCully will be meeting with Nauru’s President Baron Waqa early next month.

“We are concerned to hear that there have been steps taken that might impinge on the liberties of individuals, and particularly elected representatives,” McCully said.

McCully said he will have what he called a “pretty direct conversation” with Waqa at a meeting of Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers.

“I’ll certainly take the opportunity in any informal discussions to raise these issues and to see if we can find a pathway forward.

“We need to take pretty seriously the reports that are coming out and we need to have some focused conversations about these developments.”

McCully says he will also again raise with Nauru its US$7000 journalist’s visa which he says has diminished scrutiny by the international media.

The Nauru government has insisted it is upholding law and order in the way it has dealt with the protest at parliament and said it was “looking after the best interests of its people”.

The government has announced it will release video footage of the recent protest at the parliament to prove it was justified in cracking down on what it calls a “violent riot”.

He says fireworks were set off in the crowd and a number of police officers were injured.

Adeang says the video footage will also show officers being attacked.

The Nauru Government has previously detailed that about 10 police were injured, with some needing hospital treatment, others with dehydration and headaches.

The Opposition MPs Sprent Dabwido, Mathew Batsuia and Squire Jeremiah are all facing charges over the protests.