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A ceasefire is expected on the battlefields of Wapenamanda in Papua New Guinea’s Enga Province that has claimed hundreds of lives and caused massive destruction to properties in three constituencies.
According to lead peace negotiator and Enga Provincial Administrator Sandis Tsaka, a ceasefire agreement is anticipated to be signed this week among three parties to solve the crisis.
These parties are the state and two warring tribal leaders to make way for the peace process to start.
The leaders of both warring factions are currently involved in intense negotiations with the State Conflict Resolution team led by key negotiator and Chief Magistrate Mark Pupaka in Port Moresby.
The state negotiating team comprises Deputy Police Commissioner (Operations) Dr Philip Mitna; Assistant Commissioner of Police Julius Tasion; newly appointed Enga provincial police commander Chief Superintendent Fred Yakasa; Enga Provincial Administrator Sandis Tsaka and Chief Magistrate Pupaka.
The government negotiators are meeting and having discussions separately with each faction.
According to the state team, the roundtable conference was brought to Port Moresby because a ceasefire agreement and subsequently a Preventive Order issued in September last year failed.
Guerrilla-style warfare
The preventive order did not work when the tribal factions took up arms in guerrilla-style warfare.
The conference will ensure that both parties, including the allies of 25 tribes from Tsaka valley, Aiyale valley and Middle Lai constituencies, agree to an amicable resolution in consultations with neighbouring tribes.
The Yopo tribe’s leader Roy Opone Andoi of Tsaka valley apologised in a public statement to the state for damaging government properties and for the lives lost in the three-year tribal conflict.
The Yopo tribal alliance leader Roy Andoi (centre) accompanied by tribal leaders presenting their position paper to the state team in Port Moresby yesterday. Image: PNG Post-Courier
Andoi said it was regrettable to see a “trivial” tribal conflict that started with his Yopo tribe and neighbouring Palinau tribe in Tsaka valley escalate to “unimaginable proportions”, displacing more than 40,000 people.
“I want to apologise to the state, rival tribes and neighbouring communities and the country for all the damage, including negative images portrayed through the media during the course of the conflict,” he said.
Andoi said he would like to take the opportunity to thank the government for appointing the state team, comprising Police Commissioner David Manning, Tsaka and Pupaka, to conduct roundtable discussions towards restoring peace and normalcy.
He said the government’s intervention came in following the latest casualties, including a massacre of more than 50 men from the Palinau allies by Yopo allies during an intensified battle on February 28 near Birip and Hela Opone Technical College on the border of Wapenamanda and Wabag districts.
Andoi said that with the help of the state team, he was hoping for a better outcome to bring back normalcy in the district and the province.
Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.
Papua New Guinea police in Eastern Highlands are investigating a bomb threat that was sent via an email to the Goroka courthouse yesterday morning.
Goroka police station commander Chief Inspector Timothy Pomoso confirmed the incident and threat.
According to information received by the PNG Post-Courier, the email from someone by the name of “Adams Jailer” stated in the email that a “bomb will detonate at Goroka Court house today”.
The email also said: “I am innocent, justice not served.”
The threat added: “You don’t believe me, try mock me and see”.
The email was signed off as “Kumul” — a bird of paradise in Tok Pisin.
Chief Inspector Pomoso said: “Someone sent a threatening email that there’s a bomb planted at the Goroka courthouse.”
“Police were deployed including our local task force and criminal investigation division units to clear the courthouse area by first removing everyone out.
“We are investigating,” he added.
More than a month ago, a bomb threat was also sent to another organisation which was attended to by police in Port Moresby.
The emailed bomb threat. Image: PNG Post-Courier
A senior police officer said that a new trend of sending threats electronically was now occurring in Papua New Guinea.
Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.
Papua New Guinea’s rising voice as opposition candidate for prime minister, East Sepik Governor Allan Bird, has pushed back after addressing recent death threats.
Bird told RNZ Pacific he has declined police protection and is opting to use his own security after his nomination as opposition candidate for prime minister resulted in alleged threats to his personal safety.
“I was informed about 10 days ago of the threats against my life. I’ve heard a few more threats are in fact active,” he said.
“So I thought, probably the best way to declare it would be to put it out in the public domain.”
He said three senior government ministers informed him about the death threats and were no longer contacting him, due to concerns his phone was “being monitored”.
Bird was confident in his security to keep him safe and said whoever was behind the threats had picked on the wrong person.
“My people served with the allied forces in the Second World War. So my grandfather did that. He was uneducated. So picking on me is not a smart thing to do.”
RNZ Pacific has contacted the PNG police for comment after Bird accused authorities of illegally monitoring his phone and looking for dirt to charge and arrest him.
“I have nothing to hide. So, apparently, they haven’t found any dirt.”
PNG riots aftermath “I do understand that they’re trying to connect me as one of the masterminds behind the Black Wednesday day events in Port Moresby.”
He said it would be “almost impossible because I was out of the country prior to that happening. And then I understand they’re looking now at all my travel allowances, so they’re looking at that to see what they can find.”
Regarding the threats, he said: “I’m not too stressed. These are some of the things you expect in PNG, otherwise you wouldn’t be in PNG.”
Bird said he did not trust the country’s police and declined their offer for protection, opting to use his own personal security instead.
“If things get pretty bad in the capital, I will just go back home. But for now, I’m just keeping a low profile, not really moving around, just restricting movements.”
He addressed sceptics who criticised him for attempting to boost his profile to become PNG’s next prime minister.
Bird said he had accepted the nomination as candidate out of “respect to his colleagues.”
‘Asked by my caucus’
“I didn’t put my hand up. I was asked by my caucus.”
He said, the country needed change, even if it was at the expense of his safety.
“Who wants to run around with security guards all the time?
“Whoever gets into the hot seat, whether it’s me or someone else, in all seriousness and honesty will soon to have to deal with these problems, the problems that are begging for solutions, and these are personal criticisms of Prime Minister Marape.”
He said supporters of the nation’s current leader James Marape lacked proper education and said it was “like a cult following”.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
A disturbing video has surfaced of a female, alleged to be a rape victim, attempting to jump out of the Kuri Dom Lecture Building at the University of Papua New Guinea.
UPNG Students Representative Council (SRC) president Joel Rimbu has dispelled this allegation, saying that the female was not a student — she was an outsider visiting her boyfriend, who is alleged to be a staff member.
An argument broke out during their rendezvous where the frustrated female attempted to jump out of the building, while students filmed.
Rimbu said he was at the location assessing the situation with Uniforce Security of UPNG.
“She was later dropped of at the nearest bus stop to go home,” he said.
“She refused to take the matter to the police.”
Speaking about the safety of female students on campus, the SRC female vice-president, Ni Yumei Paul, immediately raised the incident with the Campus Risk Group (UniForce) and they were assured that the group would investigate and report back next week.
As women and children seek hope of a future without tribal fighting, the cycle of killing continues in Papua New Guinea’s remote Highlands.
Tribal warfare dating back generations is being said to show no signs of easing and considered a complicated issue due to PNG’s complex colonial history.
Following the recent massacre of more than 70 people, community leaders in Wabag held mediation talks in an effort to draw up a permanent solution on Tuesday, with formal peace negotiations set down for yesterday between the warring factions.
A woman, who walked 20 hours on foot with seven children to flee the violence in the remote highlands, was at the meeting and told RNZ Pacific she wants the fighting to stop so she can return home.
In 2019, the then police minister said killings of more than two dozen women and children “changed everything”.
But a tribesman, who has asked to remain anonymous, told RNZ Pacific the only thing that had changed was it was easier to get guns.
Multiple sources have told RNZ Pacific the government appears to be powerless in such remote areas, saying police and security forces are sent in by the government when conflict breaks out, there is a temporary pause to the fighting, then the forces leave, and the fighting starts again.
More than 70 people died in the recent tribal fighting in the PNG Highlands. Many Engans have lamented that the traditional rules of war have been ignored as children have not been spared. Image: RNZ Pacific
There are also concerns about a lack of political will at the national level to enforce the law using police and military due to tribal and political allegiances of local MPs, as recommendations made decades ago by former PNG Defence Force commander Major-General Jerry Singirok are yet to be fully implemented.
While the government, police and community groups look at peaceful solutions, mercenaries are collecting munitions for the next retaliatory fight, multiple sources on the ground, including a mercenary, told us.
Killing pays After “Bloody Sunday”, which left dozens dead in revenge killings, the men with guns were out of bullets.
Tribal fighting in Papua New Gunea’s Enga Province reached boiling point on February 18, fuelled by a long-standing feud between different clans, which resulted in a mass massacre.
The tribesman who spoke to RNZ Pacific said they did not want to fight anymore but believed there was no other option when someone from the “enemy” turned up on their land wanting to burn down their village.
“Prime Minister [James Marape] — we want development in our villages,” he said, speaking from a remote area in the Highlands after his village was burnt to the ground.
There is no employment, no infrastructure, no support, he said, adding that those were the things that would keep people busy and away from engaging in tribal conflict.
At the moment killing people paid, he said.
Hela, Southern Highlands, Enga, West Sepik and Western Province were the provinces most affected by PNG’s February 2018 earthquake. Image: RNZ Pacific/Koroi Hawkins
‘Hundreds of lives lost’ “Businessmen, leaders and educated elites are supplying guns, bullets and financing the engagement of gunmen,” Wapenamanda Open MP Miki Kaeok said.
The MP is worried about the influence of money and guns, saying they have taken over people’s lives especially with the increase in engagement of local mercenaries and availability of military issued firearms.
“Hundreds of lives have been lost. Properties worth millions of kina have been ransacked and destroyed. I don’t want this to continue. It must stop now,” Kaeok pleaded.
Meanwhile, men in the Highlands are paid anything between K3000 (NZ$1300) to K10,000 (NZ$4,400) to kill, the tribesman claimed during the interview.
Then, he called over one of the men involved in that fight, an alleged killer, to join the video interview.
“Um this is the hire man,” he introduced him. “If they put K2000 (NZ$880) for him and say go burn down this village — he goes in groups — they clear the village, they give him money and he goes to his village . . . ”
The “hire man”, standing slouched over holding a machete, looked at the camera and claimed 64 people were killed on one side and eight on another pushing the total death toll to more than 70.
Wabag police told RNZ Pacific on Tuesday that 63 bodies had been recovered so far.
“A lot of people died,” an inspector from Wabag told RNZ Pacific.
The killings have not stopped there; a video has been circulating on social media platforms of what appears to be a young boy pleading for his life before he was killed.
The video, seen by RNZ Pacific, shows the child being hit by a machete until he falls to the ground.
The man who allegedly carried out the brutality was introduced to RNZ Pacific by the tribesman via video chat.
“They recognise that this person was an enemy,” the tribesman — translating for the killer, who was standing in a line with other men holding machetes — told RNZ Pacific.
“This small guy (referring to the dead child) came out of the bush to save his life. But he ended up in the hands of enemies.
“And then they chopped him with a bush knife and he was dead.”
“In revenge, he killed that small boy” because the killer’s three family members were killed about five months ago.
Asked whether they were saddened that children have died in the violence, the killer said: “No one can spare their lives because he was included in the fight and he’s coming as a warrior in order to kill people,” our source translated.
Killing people — “that’s the only way”, they said.
Exporting guns The source explained military guns are a fairly recent addition to tribal fighting.
He said that while fighting had been going on most of his life, military style weapons had only been in the mix for the last decade or so.
He said getting a gun was relatively easy and all they had to do was wait in the bush for five days near the border with Indonesia.
“We are using high-powered rifle guns that we are getting exported from West Papuans.”
He added the change from tribe-on-tribe to clan-to-clan fighting has exacerbated the issue, with a larger number of people involved in any one incident.
Mediation underway A Wapenamanda community leader in Enga Province Aquila Kunza said mediation was underway between the warring factions in the remote Highlands to prevent further violence.
“The policemen are facilitating and meditating the peace mediation and they are listening,” Kunza said.
Revenge killings had been ongoing for years and there was no sign of gunmen stopping anytime soon, Kunza said.
“This fight has lasted about four years now and I know it will continue. It occurs intermittently, it comes and goes,” he said.
“When there’s somebody around (such as the military), they go into hiding, when the army is gone because the government cannot support them anymore, the fighting erupts again.”
Kunza has been housing women and children who fled the violence and after years of violence and watching police come and go, he is calling for a community-led approach.
At a large community gathering in Wabag the main town of Enga on Tuesday people voiced their concerns.
“The government must be prepared to give money to every family [impacted] and assist them to resettle back to their villages to make new gardens to build new houses,” Kunza said.
He said formal peace negotiations are taking place today as residents from across the Enga Province are travelling to Wabag today for peace talks between the warring factions.
‘Value life’ Many Engans have lamented that the traditional rules of war have been ignored as children have not been spared in the conflict and societal norms that governed their society have been broken.
A woman who was kidnapped last year in Hela in the Bosavi region — a different area to where the recent massacre took place — and held for ransom said PNG was on the verge of being a failed state.
“I’ve gone through this,” Cathy Alex told RNZ Pacific.
“People told us who gave them their guns in Hela, people told us who supplied them munitions. People told us the solutions. People told us why tribal fights started, why violence is happening,” Alex shared.
She said they managed to find out that killers got paid K2000 (NZ$880) for killing one person, that was in 2017.
“For a property that’s worth K200/300,000 [up to NZ$130,000] that’s destroyed, the full amount goes to the person who caused the tribal fight,” she said.
“How can you not value the life of a person?”
Prime Minister James Marape says he was “deeply moved” and “very, very angry” about the massacre. Image: Screengrab/Loop PNG
Government help With retaliations continuing the “hire man” who claims to have killed more than 20 people from warring tribes, said he is staring down death.
“He would have to die on his land because…when they come they will fight…we have to shoot in order to protect my village,” the tribesman explained.
“He said he’s not scared about it. He is not afraid of dying. He got a gun in order to shoot, they shoot him, and that’s finished.”
“He’s really worried about his village not to burn down.”
The tribesman said that without government committing financial support for infrastructure, jobs and community initiatives the fighting will continue.
He also wants to see a drastic change in police numbers and a more permanent military presence on the ground.
“We don’t have a proper government to protect us from enemies in order to protect ourselves, our houses . . . and to protect assets we have to buy guns in order to protect them.”
Parliament urged to act Last week, the PNG Parliament discussed the issue of gun violence.
East Sepik Governor Allan Bird, who is on the opposition benches, has called on the government “to respond”.
He said the “terrorists in the upper Highlands” needed their guns to be stripped from them.
“We are a government for goodness sake — let’s act like one,” Bird said.
Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso agreed with Bird’s sentiments and acknowledged that the situation was serious.
He called on the whole of Parliament to unite to fix the issue together.
RNZ Pacific has contacted the PM Marape’s office for comment with no response yet.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Despite changing his citizenship to the Pacific state of Vanuatu, a Chinese man wanted for various economic crimes was arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport last week as he was about to board a flight for Singapore.
In a statement yesterday, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said Liu Jiangtao, 42, had presented himself for departure clearance at the immigration counter when the officer processing him saw that his name was on the bureau’s list of aliens with outstanding watchlist orders.
Records showed that Liu is one of 11 Chinese fugitives wanted for fraud, infringement of credit card management, capital embezzlement, money laundering and counterfeiting a registered trademark.
Bureau of Immigration prosecutors have filed deportation cases against the 11 fugitives.
Evelyn Macairanis a reporter of The Philippine Star.
Prime Minister James Marape has commended Papua New Guinea’s police, defence force and the local community for their quick action in the release of an Australian pilot and two local workers who were kidnapped in the Highlands yesterday.
The pilot of Hevilift and two locals were at Hela’s Mt Sisa on routine work at a Digicel tower yesterday when they were kidnapped by an armed group in the area.
However, due to quick action by the police, defence and locals in the area, the three were released safely a few hours after their kidnapping.
Marape, also the Tari-Pori MP in Hela, said lawlessness had “destroyed” the country.
“This country does not have any place for lawbreakers. You can hide and run now but you cannot hide forever,” he said.
“The more you hide and run, you will put yourself and your family at risk just like others who are in prison or dead because of their crimes.”
Special force ‘armed to teeth’
Marape said PNG would not tolerate lawbreakers.
“The special police force unit we are building will be armed to the teeth to deal with any crime anywhere, any place,” he said.
“Just as we did in the first kidnapping and this second attempt, we will not tolerate such crimes in our country.”
Police Commissioner David Manning said in a statement the Australian pilot of a Hevilift helicopter and two Papua New Guinean subcontractors were released without harm following “a rapid deployment of security force elements”.
Manning said security forces were mobilised and deployed in the area in large numbers through yesterday afternoon, and through local leaders the abductors had been warned that lethal force would be employed in order to free the captives.
He said the helicopter had since been flown to Hides with the pilot and sub-contractors on board.
Manning said security forces had entered the “direct apprehension” phase of the operation in which the abductors were being tracked so they could face justice.
“If these criminals resist or show any hostility towards police, other security personnel or any member of the public, their fates will be sealed,” he said.
‘Enough of domestic terrorists’
“Our country has had enough of these domestic terrorists who are undermining the safety and security of our communities, and they have no place walking free.
“These criminals will be caught or they will be killed in the process,” Manning said.
The pilot and technicians had been taken captive at a remote site in the vicinity of Mt Sisa, Tari.
It is understood the issue motivated the group was acting in connection with a compensation claim, and demands were being communicated by the group.
“I congratulate security forces personnel who worked together with local leaders and axillary police to bring this situation to a successful and swift conclusion,” Manning added.
Rebecca Kuku is a journalist with The National. Republished with permission from The National and PNG Post-Courier (front page screenshot).
A kidnapped Australian pilot of a Hevilift helicopter and two Papua New Guinean subcontractors have been released in without harm following a rapid deployment of security forces.
Security forces were mobilised and deployed in the Mt Sisa, a remote area near the border of Hela and Southern Highlands, in large numbers this afternoon in response to the hostage-for-ransom ttack.
The kidnappers were warned through local leaders that the security forces would use lethal force to free the captives.
This latest daring attack for ransom took place a year on from the infamous kidnap and ransom demand at Mt Bosavi.
Tribal warriors from Mt Sisa, just north of Mt Bosavi, took control of a Hevilift helicopter and its expatriate crew at 9am yesterday morning.
The kidnappers demanded a substantial amount of money for the release of the Australian pilot and his crew.
In a statement tonight, Police Commissioner David Manning said the helicopter had been flown to Hides in the Southern Highlands with the pilot and sub-contractors onboard.
Security forces tracking kidnappers
Security forces were now tracking the kidnappers so they would face justice.
“If these criminals resist or show any hostility towards police, other security personnel or any member of the public, their fates will be sealed,” he said.
The unidentified helicopter pilot and two contract workers taken captive . . . freed after their ordeal. Image: PNG Post-Courier
“Our country has had enough of these domestic terrorists who are undermining the safety and security of our communities, and they have no place walking free.
“These criminals will be caught, or they will be killed in the process.
The pilot and technicians had been taken captive at a remote site in the vicinity of Mt Sisa, Tari.
It was understood the issue motivating the group was over a compensation claim, and demands were being communicated by the group.
Released safely
The pilot with the two workers and the helicopter were released safely after the kidnappers heard that members of the PNG Defence Force and men from Mobile Squad 07,SMG HQ, and Mobile Squad 20 had been deployed in the Mt Sisa area.
“We have learned a lot from previous situations of a similar nature in this area, and landowners, leaders and village auxiliary police from the local area worked together with police command to resolve the situation,” Commissioner Manning said.
“I congratulate security forces personnel who worked together with local leaders and auxillary police to bring this situation to a successful and swift conclusion.
“As information comes to hand on the hunt for the abductors this will be released for public distribution,” the commissioner’s statement added.
Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.
Women’s rights advocates in Papua New Guinea are calling for peace and for the men in Parliament to act against the violence in the country.
The call comes following tribal fighting in Enga Province ended in a mass massacre at the weekend, which has so far claimed more than 60 lives.
Dorothy Tekwie, founder of Papua New Guinea Women in Politics, said she was heartbroken for the women who’ve have lost their children in the brutal killings.
“Any woman would be emotional…and I am also calling on women throughout Papua New Guinea to stand up. Enough is enough of violence of all forms.
“We are asking for accountability from our members of Parliament. It doesn’t matter whether they are in government or in opposition. This is a national crisis.”
Tekwie said the government needed to return the peace in the Highlands so infrastructure, housing, health and education development could begin.
On Wednesday, the government addressed a motion to take action on tribal conflicts and violence, specifically in Enga province.
Mothers mourning
Another advocate Esmie Sinapa said as gunmen planned their next attack in the Highlands, mothers were mourning the deaths of their children.
Sinapa said violence had been escalating across the nation for some years.
“Imagine 60 mothers, wailing, weeping for their sons. As mothers of this country, women of this country, we are very concerned,” she said.
Papua New Guinea Women in Politics founder Dorothy Tekwie . . . the government needs to return the peace in the Highlands. Image: RNZ Pacific/Scott Waide
Cathy Alex, who was kidnapped last year in the Bosavi region and held for ransom, said PNG was on the verge of being a “failed state”.
As a woman who herself had experienced similar violence, Alex said the government must act.
“I don’t know what kind of country we call ourselves,” she said.
“This is a country . . . that if we look at indicators that shows a failed state. We are already it.
‘Individuals stand up’
“What’s holding this country together is individuals like these individuals who stand up for their communities and hold peace.
“What happened [in Enga] is completely unprecendented,” she added.
Tekwie said PNG women want affirmative action taken by government to deal with some of these issues.
“Starting with early education for one. We are mothers and are finding it so hard to get our kids into school,” she said.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Women’s advocate Esmie Sinapa . . . “Imagine 60 mothers, wailing, weeping for their sons.” Image: RNZ Pacific/Scott Waide
Papua New Guinea’s former opposition leader Belden Namah says Prime Minister James Marape never answered in detail the questions he asked in Parliament this week about the Enga massacre
Namah, the Vanimo Green MP, said he was dissatisfied with the response Marape presented in Parliament yesterday as the death toll from the Wapenamanda killings rose to about 70.
“He never answered any one of my questions,” he said angrily.
“I would have expected him to say, yes, we are putting together a special force from the police and the military to go in there and go after the warlords, go after the murderers.”
“We have funding allocated separately for that. We have the capacity, the policemen and women have enough uniforms, three sets of uniforms, they have allowance, these are the sort of preparedness I was looking for the PM to tell me when I was talking about combat readiness.
“We are sending the same old people, the soldiers and the police and they are fraternising with the tribal fighters, with the lot of people on the ground and not effecting any arrests.
“In fact, they are standing around with the warriors carrying their guns, soldiers and police carrying their guns, where are we heading?” he asked.
‘I wanted PM to go hard’
“I wanted the Prime Minister to come to the floor of Parliament and say my government is going to do this and do that, and go hard on these people.
“The death toll has gone up to 70, it’s not a small number, it’s hit news media everywhere in the world.
“It is not about this 70 only, it started in his electorate, in his province and I would have expected that he would put in place counter measures for this.
“He has not. Police have their own intelligence officers, military have their own intelligence, [and] the government has its own.
“They should be out there penetrating the tribal villages collecting information and then send in special forces — that’s what I mean by having the government ready to counter these kinds of activities.
“And if the force was in readiness, they would have put [it] forward.”
Namah said Marape’s response yesterday demonstrated that the government was not interested in sorting out the security issues in the Highlands-affected areas.
Police chief on notice
Prime Minister Marape told Parliament that Police Commissioner Davd Manning had been put on notice to ensure the country was secured.
Marape addressed the pressing issues of lawlessness raised during a parliamentary session this week, singling out that a plan to incorporate all suggestions by MPs –– including the Enga massacre and others.
Gorethy Kenneth is a senior Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.
Some people are literally making a killing in Enga.
Yes, they really are.
Hired gunmen are getting rich by the day and picking up women and girls as payments as well, leaving deaths and destruction in their wake in what is apparently becoming a booming industry.
The news is disturbing, to say the least, for a province that has got so much going at the moment.
As the illegal industry takes root by the day, we do not see this deadly business which is already stretching the limits of tolerance and the resources of the law and justice sector, ending soon.
Police Commissioner David Manning promised more manpower will be deployed into the province to assist those on the ground to curb the tribal fighting.
At the same time, he is asking for help from the provincial leaders to get down to their communities to stop the fighting and killing.
Grabbed world attention
The recent massacre in Wapenamanda has grabbed world attention again and this time the Australian government, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese describing the event as “very disturbing”, promising more technical aid to PNG to address this madness.
Tribal fighting has always been a curse in Enga for years. What started as bow and arrow affairs in the past have now gone high-tech with the deployment of drones, Google maps and high-powered guns, resulting in the high number of deaths
Genocide is the word to describe what is happening.
Horror . . . the bodies of tribesmen killed in Wapenamanda piled up alongside the Highlands Highway. Image: PNG Post-Courier
Powerful tribes are eliminating the weak, and leaving the disciplinary forces helplessly watching by the roadsides as the massacre continues to go.
There is no concern for the lives killed, the injuries or the plight of the hundreds of mothers and children caught up in this mayhem.
In the words of Provincial Police Commander, Superintendent George Kakas, businessmen, educated elites and well-to-do people fund these activities, hire gunmen and purchase firearms and ammunitions.
We would like to add politicians to the list because we suspect that they procured the weapons and left them with their supporters during the elections and these guns are now coming out.
How could they sleep peacefully?
How could these people find the peace to sleep peacefully in the night when their money, the technology, the guns and bullets they supplied are killing in big numbers and the murderers are uploading images of the dead bodies online for the world to see?
Prime Minister James Marape recently promised new legislation to curb domestic terrorism and we wait to see whether this law will ever get passed by Parliament.
This law is needed now to make the facilitators and the killers account for their actions.
In the interim, the government must declare a State of Emergency in Enga to deploy the full force of the law into the fighting zones to deal with the perpetrators.
They are known to the police, the leaders and even the Prime Minister.
What is stopping the police from arresting these culprits? Are they above the law? Are they protected species, vested with the power to end lives of other people in this manner?
Entire tribes wiped out
What are we waiting for?
To see entire tribes wiped out from the face of Enga before we move in to collect the bodies, take the women and children to care centres and keep watching from the roadsides.
Enough is enough. Declare the SOE in Enga. Enact the domestic terrorism legislation. Arrest those that facilitate and kill.
So much is going for Enga today and if nothing is done to end this ugly disease, Enga is doomed.
This PNG Post-Courier editorial was originally published under the title “Genocide in Enga” on 21 February 2014. Republished with permission.
Papua New Guinea’s image on the international stage took a battering yesterday when graphic images of dead bodies piled upon each other and displayed on roadsides in the restive Enga province went viral on social and mainstream media in the country and abroad.
More than 50 men were killed when two tribal enemies engaged in a brutal gun battle on Sunday morning from about 4am until 5pm in the afternoon at Birip 7mile village along the Highlands Highway between Wapenamanda and Wabag districts.
Local police said the ongoing guerilla warfare between the Saa Walep, Ambulyn tribes and their allies with Kaekin, Palinau and Sikin tribes have claimed hundreds of lives, devastation of land and properties and displacement of more than 20,000 people.
Graphic images and news of the killings spread swiftly through Australia and other parts of the region yesterday morning.
Police said very high-powered weapons, including military grade guns, were used in the killings, and that many more bodies were yet to be recovered.
While the massacre took place on Sunday morning, by 1pm yesterday, Police Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr said there were “46 hired gunman dead! 3 locals only!” and that
“This trend of hired gunmen is a build up of more then 15 plus years!”
Police Commissioner David Manning said: “The multiple deaths that occurred from a tribal clash in the vicinity of Wapenamanda, Enga Province, was a disgraceful act of barbarity.”
‘We label this domestic terrorism’
Prime Minister James Marape said: “We label this as almost domestic terrorism — you [are] terrorising the society, you disturb against a community, that’s terrorism.”
“As Prime Minister, I am deeply moved and I am very, very concerned, I am very, very angry, in between these many words that you could express in as far as communities not responding to the rule of law.”
He went on to say: “I just want to appeal to our people in Enga, especially the tribal warriors, there is no prize to be engaged in tribal fights.
“We have great concern for what is happening in Enga Province, to lose one life, let alone many lives does not evade our consciousness and our concern.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also responded to media queries, saying he was very concerned about the fresh spate of violence in Enga, a province that had seen considerable Australian and other investments.
Graphic news and images of the slaughter, which police said included women and
children, were shared widely on social and mainstream media all of Sunday evening and yesterday.
Senior policeman Samson Kua, who is in charge of the western end of the Highlands region, said high powered firearms such as self-loading rifles (SLR), M4 machine guns, AR 15, M16s, pump action shot guns and other weapons were used in the killings.
‘Hang their heads in shame’
“All leaders based outside of Wabag who are related to the conflicting tribes must now hang their heads in shame and assist police on the ground in Enga to stop the tribal fight once and for all,” Kua told the Post-Courier.
“There has been enough destruction to properties and establishment. Now it has claimed many lives.”
Kua said policemen could not go between the warring tribes when high-powered firearms are being used.
“[Sunday’s] mass killings nearly claimed the lives of some policemen and soldiers as well.
“In any tribal fights when there is massive use of high-powered firearms, there is no winner to the fight. Common sense must apply here, anyone who takes part know the outcome when he is involved. Let’s all try and work together to stop the tribal conflict.”
East Sepik Governor Allan Bird, who is the opposition’s candidate for prime minister in an impending vote of no-confidence on the government, was stinging in his criticism of the government’s lack of response and quick action.
“We regret the senseless violence that has resulted in families losing fathers, brothers and sons. We also regret the collateral damage that these situations cause with women and children being assaulted and abused,” he said.
‘Deplorable death tally’
“It is deplorable that the death tally of senseless violence continues to increase under their watch.
“We need results, not rhetoric. The country is experiencing serious law and order issues — it’s a war zone in some parts of the country.
“We need our law enforcement agencies to be ready, prepared, and willing to tackle these situations.
“The country needs strong action now. The government needs to restore law and order for our rural people urgently.”
But Marape defended his government saying: “Police have been looking into what has been happening in Enga, in terms of contact tracing, finding out who is responsible, I want to relate to our youths who are holding guns out there, people outside who are sponsoring, will not be there to answer to you.”
Gorethy Kenneth is a senior PNG Post-Courier article. Republished with permission.
Aquila Kunza, who lives in Wapenamanda, told RNZ Pacific the situation was “disheartening.
“They are below 10-years-old [the people staying with him],” Kunza said.
“Some of them are pregnant mothers, they fled for their lives. [Those who are] 10-years above, they fight.”
Kunza said boys as young as 10 have been left traumatised from fighting on the battlefield.
Veteran PNG journalist and RNZ Pacific correspondent, Scott Waide, said it “is one of the worst instances of killings” that he has seen in the past decade.
In 2022, there was a massacre on Kiriwina Island, northeast of capital Port Moresby with a death toll of more than 20 — violence that was triggered by a feud after a death at a football match a few weeks earlier.
The incident in Enga province highlands this week has been fuelled by a long standing feud between different clans — Sikin and Kaikin tribes and the Ambulin tribe, according to national public broadcaster NBC.
The clans were aided by guns from the black market, Waide explained.
According to his sources on the ground, the weapons used were not homemade, but rather military grade, including “Israeli-made Galil, US-made M16s”.
“There’s a huge black market attached to this tribal fighting that’s happening,” he said.
“One assault rifle costs upwards of K30,000 [about NZ$13,000]. So it’s a very complex web of people who benefit from this tribal fighting as well.”
‘Businessmen and educated elites supplying guns’ Acting Enga provincial police commander Inspector Patrick Peka has condemned the actions of leaders and “educated elites” from both warring factions for supplying guns and ammunition, and hiring “tribal warlords” and “gunmen” from other districts to come and fight as their incentives are lucrative.
An MP in an electoral district within Enga province, Wapenamanda Open, has called for a state of emergency (in Enga) in an effort to curb lawlessness.
In a statement, Miki Kaeok, who is a Pangu Pati member of Marape’s government, appealed to Enga governor Sir Peter Ipatas and all MPs from the province to rally behind his call.
Kaeok said the tribal fighting had turned into a “guerilla type of warfare” with parties from all parts of the province directly involved.
“Businessmen leaders and educated elites are supplying guns, bullets and financing the engagement of gunmen,” he said.
“They must be identified and their business accounts thoroughly checked to substantiate their direct involvement.”
‘People have given up’ There are 18 or so tribes scattered around mountains and rivers fighting in the highlands.
In a nearby town, Wapenamanda it is almost business as usual, Kunza said.
He said elders had stopped at nothing to try and ease tensions.
“We have tried every means [to stop this]. Churches have taken a collective stand to try stop them. Elders sat the men with guns down and told them to stop and listen. They were told they will be supported and relocated,” he said.
However, their attempts to convince the men did not work, who defied all advice “to our surprise and disappointment”, Kunza said, before violence escalated again.
“People have given up, people are exhausted” from the ongoing tribal fighting.
“Please all men and put down your guns” for the sake of the women and children, he is pleading with the fighters.
Tribal politics Peka said a lot of the people killed in this violent incident were hired from other parts of the province to kill.
“Most dead bodies identified are men believed to be from Laiagam, Kandep and Wabag plus other parts of the province,” Peka said.
Waide said it was not a secret that people have offered their services as “mercenaries” in tribal fighting.
“It’s a sad situation and unfortunate turn of events and it’s escalating by the year,” Waide said.
He said it was always difficult to understand the reasons behind the ongoing violence without understanding the cultural context and tribal politics.
Meanwhile, the Pacific Islands Forum said it stood ready to support PNG after some of the worst tribal fighting the country has ever seen.
In a statement, Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna expressed his sincerest sympathies to the government and people of the country.
Puna urged all parties involved to seek peaceful resolutions to this conflict.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Today’s PNG Post-Courier front page – armed tribesmen have been killed in a brutal gun battle in Enga. Image: PNG Post-Courier
These were not locals but hired guns from neighbouring districts and provinces who had been brought in to fight in a tribal fight.
Assistant Commissioner of Police-Western End Samson Kua has condemned the killings.
The call from security personnel is now for all leaders of Enga to put aside political differences and assist security personnel to promptly address the tribal fighting.
Information received is that security personnel were nearly shot as well as they tried to stop the fight.
The recovery of bodies continues.
A ghastly sight
In another report, the Post-Courier described it as a ghastly sight as a picture of bodies piled high on top each other on a police vehicle was shared on online platforms.
The bodies belonged to men who fought in a fight between two tribes in Wapenamanda.
The grassland of Wapenamanda was their battlefield as they fought with guns, knives, and other homemade weapons.
Police called for more support.
Police recovering bodies at the site of the Wapenamanda massacre in Enga province. Image: PNG Post-Courier
The dead bodies were of the Sikin and Kaekin tribesmen and were retrieved by policemen supported by the PNG Defence Force.
The men were killed yesterday at Akom/7 mile during heavy gun fire.
The situation is said to be still tense, but the highway was clear for the travelling public.
Police told the Post-Courier they had retrieved some 64 bodies from the roadside, grasslands and hills of Wapenamanda by Monday morning.
Rival factions used “high-powered guns”, such as AK47 and M4 rifles in the battles, the newspaper reported.
The death toll was expected to rise.
Republished with permission from the PNG Post-Courier.
A grisly scene as PNG police recover bodies at the site of the brutal gun battle. Image: PNG Post-Courier
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki began his address to the week-long “historic” International Court of Justice hearings into the status of the people and state of Palestine in the Hague saying it was an “honour and great responsibility”.
“I stand before you as 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza — half of them children — are besieged and bombed, killed and maimed, starved and displaced,” he told the court.
“As more than 3.5 million Palestinians in West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are subjected to colonisation of their territory and the racist violence that enables it,” he added.
“As 1.7 million Palestinians in Israel are treated as second-class citizens . . . in their ancestral land,” he said, reports Al Jazeera.
“As seven million Palestine refugees continue to be denied the right to return to their land and homes.”
An unprecedented 52 countries and three international organisations are scheduled to give evidence.
Five maps of ‘destruction’
The foreign minister showed five maps to the court which he said demonstrated the ongoing “destruction of the Palestinian people”.
The first map showed historic Palestine — the territory he said over which the Palestinian people should have been able to exercise their right to self-determination.
A second map showed the 1947 UN Partition Map, which ignored the will of Palestinians, said al-Maliki.
The third map shows three-fourths of historic Palestine becoming Israel over 1948-1967.
“From the first day of its occupation Israel started colonising and annexing the land with the aim of making its occupation of irreversible,” he said.
The fifth map was one presented by Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly which he described as portraying “the new Middle East”.
Al-Maliki added: “There is no Palestine at all on this map, only Israel comprised of all the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.”
End ‘brutal’ occupation
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has issued a statement saying Israel must end its “brutal” occupation of Palestine — including Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem — “to stop fuelling apartheid and systematic human rights violations”.
Agnes Callamard, the rights group’s secretary-general, said Israel’s occupation of Palestine had been characterised “by widespread and systematic human rights violations against Palestinians”.
“The occupation has also enabled and entrenched Israel’s system of apartheid imposed on Palestinians,” Callamard added, noting that the occupation had over the years “evolved into a perpetual occupation in flagrant violation of international law”.
“Israel’s occupation of Palestine is the longest and one of the most deadly military occupations in the world,” she said.
“For decades it has been characterised by widespread and systematic human rights violations against Palestinians. The occupation has also enabled and entrenched Israel’s system of apartheid imposed on Palestinians.”
‘Join South Africa’ plea to Luxon
In New Zealand, a full page advertisement in news media presented an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon urging the NZ government join the South African case against Israel under the Genocide Convention.
Sponsored by the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA), the letter in The Post declared that it agreed with the government that a military occupation into Rafah “would be ‘catastrophic’ with appalling humanitarian consequences”.
It urged the NZ government to join South Africa’s urgent request to the ICJ to “end Israel’s attacks on Rafah”.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.
The toll of four months of war in Gaza on journalism is “nothing short of horrifying” — Palestinian journalists killed, wounded, and prevented from working without any possibility of safe refuge, reports the Paris-based global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
RSF has strongly condemned the “eradication of journalism and the right to information” in Gaza by the Israeli army, and has called on states and international organisations to increase pressure on Israel to “immediately cease this carnage”.
In 124 days of conflict, at least 84 journalists have been killed in Gaza, including at least 20 in the course of their journalistic work or in connection with it, according to RSF statistics.
Journalists are being decimated as the days of this interminable war go by, through incessant Israeli strikes from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, the watchdog said.
Journalists who had survived these four months were “living a daily hell” — in inhumane conditions, they suffered shortages of all kinds, particularly of equipment, as well as regular media blackouts, RSF said.
“In four months of conflict, Palestinian journalism has been decimated by Israeli armed forces with complete impunity, with a staggering death toll of more than 84 journalists killed — at least 20 in the line of duty,” said RSF’s Middle East desk in their statement.
“After filing two complaints with the International Criminal Court and making repeated appeals to States and international organisations, RSF is once again urging the UN Security Council to immediately enforce Resolution 2222 (2015) on the protection of journalists.
Journalists trapped in Rafah Journalists in Gaza have no way out or any place of safe refuge. Forced to flee to the south of the enclave since October 7, the vast majority have taken refuge in Rafah, where the crossing point with Egypt is still closed and where an invasion of the city could lead to a new bloodbath.
Rafah was described by Israel as a “security zone” at the start of the conflict. Despite RSF’s calls for the Rafah gate to be opened, the Israeli authorities continue to prevent Gazan journalists from leaving and to block access to the enclave for foreign journalists.
As Gaza killings rise, so does the toll on Palestinian journalists. Video: Al Jazeera
A chilling toll According to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS), about 50 local and international media outlets in Gaza have been totally or partially destroyed by the Israeli army since October 7, in addition to the appalling death toll.
RSF filed two complaints with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 31 October and 22 December 2023 in connection with the killings of journalists and the destruction of media outlets.
In the aftermath of the killings of independent videographer Moustafa Thuraya and Al Jazeera journalist Hamza Dahdouh on January 7, RSF obtained a decision from the ICC prosecutor to include crimes against journalists in its investigation into the situation in Palestine.
Two days later, RSF called on the UN Security Council to urgently address Israel’s violations of Resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists.
The struggle of journalists in the field Against this terrifying backdrop, Palestinian reporters in Gaza are showing untold courage in continuing to report on the war.
Most have lost loved ones. Forced to move, they live in tents, with no electricity and very little food or water.
Wounded journalists have very limited access to medical care. In partnership with Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), RSF has been providing grants to Gazan journalists since the start of the war to support their reporting work.
Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.
A man visits the spot where Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli snipers on 11 May 2022 while covering an Israeli raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank. Image: AJ/RSF
Al Jazeera rejects Israeli forces’ attempt to justify crimes against journalists
Al Jazeera Media Network has rejected the Israeli occupation forces’ attempt to justify the killing and targeting of journalists.
In a statement this week, the network has condemned the accusations against its journalists and recalled Israel’s “long record of lies and fabrication of evidence through which it seeks to hide its heinous crimes”.
“At a time when its correspondents and field crews are making great sacrifices to cover what is happening in Gaza, Al Jazeera’s employment policies stipulate that employees are not to engage in any political affiliations that may affect their professionalism, and to adhere to the controls and directives contained in the Network’s code of ethics and code of conduct.
“Al Jazeera ensures that all its journalists and correspondents adhere to the editorial standards.
“The network recalls the systematic targeting of Al Jazeera by the Israeli authorities, which includes:
the bombing of its office in Gaza twice,
the assassination of its correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh,
the killing of colleagues Samer Abu Daqa and Hamza Al-Dahdouh,
the deliberate targeting of a number of Al Jazeera journalists and their family members, and
the arrest and intimidation of its correspondents in the field.
“Given Israel’s unprecedented campaign against journalists, Al Jazeera urges media outlets worldwide to exercise the utmost caution and responsibility when headlining Israel’s justifications for its crimes against journalists in Gaza.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has joined with the leaders of Australia and Canada to express grave concern about Israel’s planned ground offensive into the southern Gazan city of Rafah.
It’s the strongest statement from New Zealand yet as the number of people killed in the conflict continues to climb.
Israel’s attacks on Gaza have killed at least 28,663 Palestinians and wounded 68,395 since October 7.
The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas-led attacks stands at 1,139.
The disproportionate violence here is beyond appeals from “friends”.
Pictured is Winston gland handling the Israeli Ambassador earlier this week.
NZ Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters (right) meets with Israel’s Ambassador to New Zealand Ran Yaakoby on Monday . . . the war on Gaza conflict was among key subjects discussed. Image: MFAT via X(Twitter)
Petty protest belittles NZ mana
New Zealand’s petty attempts to protest Israel’s ethnic cleansing war crime has belittled our mana and our moral high ground.
We are refusing to do what is required to against this appalling level of violence, and because we are cowards, this coalition government shames us all.
According to Newshub: “Rafah, usually a city of 250,000, now has an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering there, but Israel is planning a ground offensive.
“So they must flee — back to bombed out buildings — with ruins now perhaps safer.”
The quoted joint statement by New Zealand, Canada and Australia said:
“A military operation into Rafah would be ‘catastrophic’ and ‘devastating’.
“We urge the Israeli government not to go down this path. There is simply nowhere else for civilians to go.
“There is growing international consensus. Israel must listen to its friends and it must listen to the international community.”
“Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas.”
Republished from The Daily Blog with permission.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.
The Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea, Sir Gibbs Salika, has called on the National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop to enforce the Summary Offences Act.
Sir Gibbs made this strong plea at the opening of 2024 legal year yesterday.
“Lawlessness in the city is escalating immensely because the laws of the country are not being enforced. This should be a wake-up call for the NCD Governor Mr Parkop to fix this issue at hand,” said Sir Gibbs.
“The rioting on January,10, 2024, was repeated by the same group of people a few days ago and many other issues arise in the city and throughout the country, which is becoming a threat to the rule of law.
“This shows our adherence to the rule of law, which is by far weak and not working well.
“Relevant authorities should enforce the National Capital District Commissions Act to control the chewing of betelnut and its spittle all over the city, which shows lawlessness; it is disgusting.
‘Law must be enforced’
“The NCDC Act must be enforced along with the Summary Offences Act to penalise the citizens who are violating the rule of law.”
The constabulary was also urged to uphold and adhere to the rule of law in making sure citizens were helped without fear or favour from the police force.
Sir Gibbs expounded on the duty of the judicial arm of the government and explained that the judiciary was there to interpret the laws in a timely and partial manner.
He encouraged the police force to also perform their duty to execute the laws that were passed down by the government in order for the society to function.
Republished with permission from the PNG Post-Courier.
Former Fiji prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum are due to appear in court today on a charge related to abuse of office, as is a former health minister Dr Neil Prakash Sharma.
Fiji state broadcaster FBC reported the trio were interviewed by CID officers yesterday for allegedly failing to comply with statutory requirements for tenders.
All three were kept in custody at the Totogo Police Station overnight.
Bainimarama and Sayed-Khaiyum are each accused of recklessly abusing their position by granting a waiver of tender process without lawful justification.
Sayed-Khaiyum is also charged with obstructing the course of justice.
In October, according to local media reports, Magistrate Seini Puamau said the state had failed to establish a compelling case.
“According to their charge sheet, it was alleged that Bainimarama sometime in July 2020 as the Prime Minister directed the Police Commissioner to stop the investigation into a police complaint, in the abuse of the authority of his office, which was an arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of the University of the South Pacific which is the complainant,” fijivillage.com reported last year.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.
Former Fiji prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum are due to appear in court today on a charge related to abuse of office, as is a former health minister Dr Neil Prakash Sharma.
Fiji state broadcaster FBC reported the trio were interviewed by CID officers yesterday for allegedly failing to comply with statutory requirements for tenders.
All three were kept in custody at the Totogo Police Station overnight.
Bainimarama and Sayed-Khaiyum are each accused of recklessly abusing their position by granting a waiver of tender process without lawful justification.
Sayed-Khaiyum is also charged with obstructing the course of justice.
In October, according to local media reports, Magistrate Seini Puamau said the state had failed to establish a compelling case.
“According to their charge sheet, it was alleged that Bainimarama sometime in July 2020 as the Prime Minister directed the Police Commissioner to stop the investigation into a police complaint, in the abuse of the authority of his office, which was an arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of the University of the South Pacific which is the complainant,” fijivillage.com reported last year.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) “stands by” one of its senior officers, who is taking on a role with the Australian Army, despite the officer being accused of committing human rights abuses.
The Australian first reported that Colonel Penioni (Ben) Naliva had been appointed as deputy commander of the Australian Army’s 7th Brigade, making him second in command of about 3500 Australian troops.
However, the right-hand man to former Fiji coup leader and prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama, according to the newspaper, is alleged to have been involved in the violent beatings of two Fijian politicians in 2006.
“In another case, the UN Special Rapporteur named then-major Naliva, in a report to the Human Rights Council, as being involved in the savage beating of a Suva businessman that left him unable to walk,” according to The Australian’s frontpage report published today.
“In a third case, a prominent youth activist says Naliva was present when he was detained and tortured in 2006, and did nothing to stop it.”
Rejected accusations
But RFMF Military Assistant to Chief of Defence Lieutenant-Colonel Eroni Duaibe has rejected the accusations labelled against Colonel Naliva.
He told RNZ Pacific most of the allegations had “come about through social media platforms” posted by “disgruntled individuals”.
“There has not been any formal reports that have been lodged with Fiji police in regards to this,” Lieutenant-Colonel Duaibe said.
“We stand by Colonel Naliva and his appointment with the Australian defence.”
According to The Australian, following inquiries about the accusations, “[Australian] Defence is understood to be working with the Fijian government to determine ‘appropriate next steps’”.
“Defence is aware of reporting regarding Colonel Penioni Naliva. Defence takes any allegations of wrongdoing seriously,” it reported.
“Colonel Naliva has not been charged over any of the allegations and The Australian is not suggesting they are true, only that they have been made and are now the subject of inquiry by the Australian government.”
Committed on defence
RNZ Pacific has contact the Australian Defence, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Fijian Human Rights and Anti Discrimination Commission for comment.
Australia has committed to grow its defence and security cooperation with Fiji — under the Vuvale Partnership agreement signed last October, with increasing co-deployments.
The appointment comes after Colonel Naliva graduated from the Australian War College last year.
Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie has also called on the Australian government to explain who appointed Colonel Naliva to the role when he is facing such allegations.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Those spooked by the presence of a senior Central Intelligence Agency official in Fiji this week have nothing to fear.
At least, this was the view of Acting Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica as he hinted at the possibility of using the CIA’s “global knowledge and expertise” in the fight against drugs.
He said he met the CIA’s Deputy Director David Cohen on Tuesday in Suva to discuss areas of mutual interest.
Fiji’s Acting Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica . . . “Expertise will keep the border safe.” Image: Jonacani Lalakobau/The Fiji Times
They exchanged ideas on how both countries could benefit from each other.
“I’ve met him as the Acting Prime Minister, so it was a broad conversation around the international environment and the fact that we are becoming more and more of a transit point for drugs,” Kamikamica said.
There is a possibility of Fiji working with the CIA in its fight against drugs, said Kamikamica.
The CIA is the US government’s foreign intelligence service that gathers national security information from around the world.
‘Think about their expertise’
In response to questions from The Fiji Times, Kamikamica did not specify the nature of his discussions with Cohen.
“However, think about the security apparatus the Central Intelligence Agency has,” he said.
“The global knowledge and expertise they have.”
Asked why he discussed these areas of mutual interest when they fell under the ambit of the US State Department, Kamikamica said he also met other officials of the US government
“I also met the deputy Secretary of State and Ambassador at Large for cybersecurity separately in my office,” he said.
The developments of the past few days also gave Kamikamica an opportunity to allay potential public fear and disquiet over Cohen’s visit.
In response to concerns raised on social media over the presence of the CIA’s second in command, Kamikamica urged Fijians against what he described as “idle speculation”.
‘We have stable government’
“There is no need to be concerned,” he said. “We have a very stable government, we have a Prime Minister who is in total control of the Coalition.
“We are tracking well as a government,” said Kamikamica, adding that the important thing for the country was focusing on “how we work together to rebuild Fiji rather than getting preoccupied with idle speculation”.
“Expertise will keep the border safe, [so we ate] just looking at ways to collaborate.”
On the essence of their discussions on national issues, Kamikamica said “we didn’t really touch on that, more around just having an opportunity to collaborate”.
“When we have expertise like them at our doorstep, it is a very positive development and just to allow, not only Fiji, but the region to benefit.”
Nacanieli Tuilevukais a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.
Spies usually work in secrecy and behind the scene- and when the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency @CIA shows up in Suva, why not splash his full picture on the front page of @fijitimes#Fiji#FijiNewspic.twitter.com/u9HZAt6fPK
Cook islands Deputy Prime Minister Robert Tapaitau, former National Environment Service (NES) director Nga Puna, and his wife and former Secretary of Infrastructure Cook Islands (ICI), Diane Charlie-Puna, have been found guilty of “all or most offences” following a judgment given by Chief Justice Patrick Keane.
In his ruling Chief Justice Keane said: “In my decision, issued [Wednesday, Cook Islands time], which this minute accompanies, I have found each defendant guilty of all or most of the offences with which they are charged, and have convicted them of those offences.”
The trio were accused of taking public funds amounting to CI$70,000 between April 2019 and March 2021.
Prime Minister Mark Brown’s office confirmed he had been briefed on the matter [on Wednesday] afternoon, shortly before the 100-page judgment was obtained by Cook Islands News.
In a written statement, Brown’s office said the Prime Minister had been briefed “a short time ago” by the Solicitor-General on the decision released by Chief Justice Keane on Wednesday, relating to the trio.
“The government acknowledges the court’s decision and will take time to study the 100-page plus document, before commenting further.”
Tapaitau faced three charges of using a document to obtain pecuniary advantage and one charge of conspiracy to defraud.
‘Guilty of all offences’
Chief Justice Keane ruled: “Mr Tapaitau is guilty of all offences with which he is charged; and I convict him accordingly.”
Charlie-Puna faced seven charges of using a document to obtain pecuniary advantage and a charge of conspiracy to defraud to which she entered a guilty plea on 1 June 2023.
In his ruling, Chief Justice Keane said: “Mrs Puna is guilty of all offences with which she is charged, including those to which she has pleaded guilty, except those on which she has been discharged and charges 5,13; and I convict her accordingly.”
Charlie-Puna entered guilty pleas to conspiracy and theft charges in June 2023.
Nga Puna faced 22 charges of using a document to obtain pecuniary advantage, one of conspiracy to defraud, one of uttering a forged document and five charges of forgery.
Chief Justice Keane ruled: “Mr Puna is guilty of all offences with which he is charged, except charges 14, 25; and I convict him accordingly.”
They are due to be sentenced in March.
Pre-sentence report “Each defendant is now to be sentenced on the basis of a pre-sentence report; and I direct accordingly. I should appreciate those reports being given high priority,” CJ Keane said.
“To ensure, if feasible, that sentences are imposed within the March session, which I will be conducting, on 21 March perhaps, I direct primary submissions be filed and served without reference to the pre-sentence reports.”
The Crown was given until February 21 to file and serve submissions while the defence had until seven days before the sentence date allocated.
In his judgement statement, Chief Justice Keane said that in the Cook Islands, government departments, and state agencies, entrusted with public money, money appropriated by Parliament and project aid money, were subject to clear statutory principles, standards and controls.
“Public money is the property of the Crown; and heads of government departments, and state agencies, are charged by statute with ensuring that those public entities have sound financial management systems and internal controls.”
The Public Expenditure Review Committee and the Audit Office were charged by statute with safeguarding public money, and the integrity of all public accounts, including those of government departments and state agencies.
“Within each government department, and state agency, accounts and records must be faithfully and properly kept, revenue must be properly assessed and collected, expenditure must be valid and correctly authorised, revenue, expenses, assets and liabilities must be properly recorded and accounted for, and financial and operating information must be reliable.”
Gave evidence, denial
All three defendants elected to give evidence and denied any offence.
Each said, with one exception, that any benefit they received in the ways charged lay within their entitlement; or that, if it did not, they had acted honestly in that belief and without any intent to defraud.
The primary issue on each of the charges, therefore, was not principally the documentary context, which was largely uncontested, Chief Justice Keane said in his judgement.
“The issue is whether the Crown, on the evidence called, is able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants did act dishonestly and with intent to defraud.”
In discharging charges five and 13 against Diane Puna, charge five alleged she fraudulently used, or procured the use of, an Infrastructure Cook Islands cheque to pay for a week’s Auckland accommodation for her family and herself, during her father’s funeral.
“There is, and can be, no issue that this ICI cheque was capable of, and did, confer on Mrs Puna a pecuniary advantage. It met the cost of her first seven days accommodation in Auckland, independently of her father’s house, while she was attending his funeral.”
Charge 13 alleged that fraudulently using, or procuring the use of, a cheque on 7 April 2020, $400 cash, to pay for a lunch for workers at her Rarotonga home address.
In the case against Nga Puna, he was not convicted on charges 14 and 25.
Two NES cheques
Charge 14 alleged Puna fraudulently used, or procured the use of, two NES cheques to benefit himself, together with a related deposit to his account on 29 August 2019.
There was a lack of evidence underpinning the inference that Puna did fraudulently misuse for his own benefit the cash proceeds of the two NES cheques, issued for a retreat, and thus the cheques themselves.
On charge 25, the Punas were jointly charged with fraudulently using, or procuring the use of, a cheque on 7 April 2020, $400 cash, to pay for a lunch for workers at their Rarotonga home address.
“This payment by cheque may well, I accept, have been a misuse of public money. But the house belonged to the government, and the work needed to be done. The payment was a gesture, after the event, to NES and ICI staff during the lockdown,” CJ Keane said.
The final submissions were heard in the high-profile corruption case late last year with CJ Keane indicating at the time that he would make a decision in the new year.
The guilty verdicts come more than two years after the trio were charged with various dishonesty offences.
In November 2023, CJ Keane released a ruling through the High Court of the Cook Islands, making an order that all theft charges be substituted with fraudulent document dealing charges.
Pleas remained the same
While the original charges were vacated, the pleas from the three defendants remained the same to the new charges.
Tapaitau was reinstated as Deputy Prime Minister for the second time early in November 2023 month after suspension amid the charges.
Tapaitau was the minister responsible for Infrastructure Cook Islands and National Environment Service when the offences took place. He was not responsible for those two ministries due to conflicts with the pending court decisions. The Penrhyn MP resumed his duties as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister responsible for Transport, Marine Resources, Energy and Outer Island Projects.
The trio faced a four-week Judge alone trial in July before it was confirmed final submissions in the trial had been pushed back, after CJ Keane sought clarification on legal issues, specifically whether the offending the Crown alleged, ought to be charged as theft, or as fraudulent use of a document.
This report was first published by Cook Islands News and is republished with permission.
Cook islands Deputy Prime Minister Robert Tapaitau, former National Environment Service (NES) director Nga Puna, and his wife and former Secretary of Infrastructure Cook Islands (ICI), Diane Charlie-Puna, have been found guilty of “all or most offences” following a judgment given by Chief Justice Patrick Keane.
In his ruling Chief Justice Keane said: “In my decision, issued [Wednesday, Cook Islands time], which this minute accompanies, I have found each defendant guilty of all or most of the offences with which they are charged, and have convicted them of those offences.”
The trio were accused of taking public funds amounting to CI$70,000 between April 2019 and March 2021.
Prime Minister Mark Brown’s office confirmed he had been briefed on the matter [on Wednesday] afternoon, shortly before the 100-page judgment was obtained by Cook Islands News.
In a written statement, Brown’s office said the Prime Minister had been briefed “a short time ago” by the Solicitor-General on the decision released by Chief Justice Keane on Wednesday, relating to the trio.
“The government acknowledges the court’s decision and will take time to study the 100-page plus document, before commenting further.”
Tapaitau faced three charges of using a document to obtain pecuniary advantage and one charge of conspiracy to defraud.
‘Guilty of all offences’
Chief Justice Keane ruled: “Mr Tapaitau is guilty of all offences with which he is charged; and I convict him accordingly.”
Charlie-Puna faced seven charges of using a document to obtain pecuniary advantage and a charge of conspiracy to defraud to which she entered a guilty plea on 1 June 2023.
In his ruling, Chief Justice Keane said: “Mrs Puna is guilty of all offences with which she is charged, including those to which she has pleaded guilty, except those on which she has been discharged and charges 5,13; and I convict her accordingly.”
Charlie-Puna entered guilty pleas to conspiracy and theft charges in June 2023.
Nga Puna faced 22 charges of using a document to obtain pecuniary advantage, one of conspiracy to defraud, one of uttering a forged document and five charges of forgery.
Chief Justice Keane ruled: “Mr Puna is guilty of all offences with which he is charged, except charges 14, 25; and I convict him accordingly.”
They are due to be sentenced in March.
Pre-sentence report “Each defendant is now to be sentenced on the basis of a pre-sentence report; and I direct accordingly. I should appreciate those reports being given high priority,” CJ Keane said.
“To ensure, if feasible, that sentences are imposed within the March session, which I will be conducting, on 21 March perhaps, I direct primary submissions be filed and served without reference to the pre-sentence reports.”
The Crown was given until February 21 to file and serve submissions while the defence had until seven days before the sentence date allocated.
In his judgement statement, Chief Justice Keane said that in the Cook Islands, government departments, and state agencies, entrusted with public money, money appropriated by Parliament and project aid money, were subject to clear statutory principles, standards and controls.
“Public money is the property of the Crown; and heads of government departments, and state agencies, are charged by statute with ensuring that those public entities have sound financial management systems and internal controls.”
The Public Expenditure Review Committee and the Audit Office were charged by statute with safeguarding public money, and the integrity of all public accounts, including those of government departments and state agencies.
“Within each government department, and state agency, accounts and records must be faithfully and properly kept, revenue must be properly assessed and collected, expenditure must be valid and correctly authorised, revenue, expenses, assets and liabilities must be properly recorded and accounted for, and financial and operating information must be reliable.”
Gave evidence, denial
All three defendants elected to give evidence and denied any offence.
Each said, with one exception, that any benefit they received in the ways charged lay within their entitlement; or that, if it did not, they had acted honestly in that belief and without any intent to defraud.
The primary issue on each of the charges, therefore, was not principally the documentary context, which was largely uncontested, Chief Justice Keane said in his judgement.
“The issue is whether the Crown, on the evidence called, is able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants did act dishonestly and with intent to defraud.”
In discharging charges five and 13 against Diane Puna, charge five alleged she fraudulently used, or procured the use of, an Infrastructure Cook Islands cheque to pay for a week’s Auckland accommodation for her family and herself, during her father’s funeral.
“There is, and can be, no issue that this ICI cheque was capable of, and did, confer on Mrs Puna a pecuniary advantage. It met the cost of her first seven days accommodation in Auckland, independently of her father’s house, while she was attending his funeral.”
Charge 13 alleged that fraudulently using, or procuring the use of, a cheque on 7 April 2020, $400 cash, to pay for a lunch for workers at her Rarotonga home address.
In the case against Nga Puna, he was not convicted on charges 14 and 25.
Two NES cheques
Charge 14 alleged Puna fraudulently used, or procured the use of, two NES cheques to benefit himself, together with a related deposit to his account on 29 August 2019.
There was a lack of evidence underpinning the inference that Puna did fraudulently misuse for his own benefit the cash proceeds of the two NES cheques, issued for a retreat, and thus the cheques themselves.
On charge 25, the Punas were jointly charged with fraudulently using, or procuring the use of, a cheque on 7 April 2020, $400 cash, to pay for a lunch for workers at their Rarotonga home address.
“This payment by cheque may well, I accept, have been a misuse of public money. But the house belonged to the government, and the work needed to be done. The payment was a gesture, after the event, to NES and ICI staff during the lockdown,” CJ Keane said.
The final submissions were heard in the high-profile corruption case late last year with CJ Keane indicating at the time that he would make a decision in the new year.
The guilty verdicts come more than two years after the trio were charged with various dishonesty offences.
In November 2023, CJ Keane released a ruling through the High Court of the Cook Islands, making an order that all theft charges be substituted with fraudulent document dealing charges.
Pleas remained the same
While the original charges were vacated, the pleas from the three defendants remained the same to the new charges.
Tapaitau was reinstated as Deputy Prime Minister for the second time early in November 2023 month after suspension amid the charges.
Tapaitau was the minister responsible for Infrastructure Cook Islands and National Environment Service when the offences took place. He was not responsible for those two ministries due to conflicts with the pending court decisions. The Penrhyn MP resumed his duties as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister responsible for Transport, Marine Resources, Energy and Outer Island Projects.
The trio faced a four-week Judge alone trial in July before it was confirmed final submissions in the trial had been pushed back, after CJ Keane sought clarification on legal issues, specifically whether the offending the Crown alleged, ought to be charged as theft, or as fraudulent use of a document.
This report was first published by Cook Islands News and is republished with permission.
New Zealand’s commitment to the rule of law means it must also go beyond the UN court’s genocide case findings on Gaza, writes the University of Auckland’s Treasa Dunworth.
ANALYSIS:By Treasa Dunworth
As Newsroom has reported, 15 aid agencies have joined forces to call on the Aotearoa New Zealand government to do more to encourage an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, in the wake of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision.
Those 15 agencies are joining an international and increasingly loud chorus of calls for an immediate ceasefire.
I would go further, and remind the government that whatever it thinks of last month’s ICJ ruling, New Zealand has a number of international legal obligations to inform its response to Israel’s military attack on Gaza.
As most international commentary has highlighted, even fixated on, the ICJ did not order a ceasefire as South Africa requested. But the fact that it didn’t is a manifestation of how constrained the court was.
Despite its lofty title, the ICJ (sometimes referred to as the “World Court”) isn’t a “world” court in any meaningful sense of the word. It only has jurisdiction to consider issues in cases where countries have explicitly agreed to the court’s authority over them.
In this current litigation, the court was able to consider the case only on the basis that both South Africa and Israel are States Parties to the Genocide Convention. That meant South Africa had to frame its application through a “genocide lens”, and that the court had no power to go beyond the obligations arising out of that treaty. This jurisdictional conundrum partly explains why the court did not order a ceasefire — it didn’t have the authority to do so.
It also partly explains why the court could not order Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages. Hamas was not a party to the proceedings (the court can only hear proceedings on disputes between states), and despite the claim by Israel in its oral pleadings, the hostage taking by Hamas and their subsequent mistreatment and killing didn’t “plausibly”, according to the court, meet the threshold of genocide.
But the court did order Israel to take all measures in its power to prevent genocide, and ordered Israel to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions faced by Palestinians in Gaza.
Orders fall within ‘genocide jurisdiction’
These orders fall within the “genocide jurisdiction” because the treaty defines genocide as not only direct killing, but also “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part”.
An immediate ceasefire would go a long way toward Israel complying with these orders so the calls for a ceasefire are well made, despite the court not having the power to order one.
What is New Zealand’s role in all this? What are the moral and legal responsibilities it has and should fulfil?
In its decision, the court (re)confirmed that all states parties to the Genocide Convention have a “common interest” in ensuring the prevention, suppression, and punishment of genocide. That includes New Zealand, which has a legal obligation to do what it can to ensure that Israel complies with the court’s orders.
This is not a question of New Zealand’s choice of foreign policy, but a legal obligation.
The second relevant international obligation for New Zealand arises from international humanitarian law (IHL) — the body of law which governs the conduct of war, and which includes prohibitions against the direct targeting of civilians, causing superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering, the taking of hostages, the use of “human shields” and engaging in indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
These rules don’t just apply to the parties directly involved in any given conflict — in this instance, Israel and Hamas. The relevant treaties stipulate all states have a shared responsibility “to ensure respect” for these rules. That responsibility exists independently of the lack of ICJ jurisdiction to consider these matters.
Must act in good faith
There is a third legal obligation for New Zealand in the wake of these orders. Although decisions of the court are only binding as between the parties to a case (here South Africa and Israel), as a member of the United Nations, New Zealand has a legal obligation to act in good faith towards the court, being one of the organs of the UN and its principal legal body.
This obligation aligns with New Zealand’s self-professed commitment to the international rule of law.
Thus, regardless of political preferences and whether the current government agrees or disagrees with the court’s findings, the findings have been made and New Zealand ought not undermine the court or the international rule of law.
Governments of all political persuasions repeatedly pronounce that a small nation such as ours depends on the international rule of law and a rules-based international order.
Now is the time for New Zealand to step up and defend that order, even if it feels uncomfortable, even if it annoys some of our “friends” (such as the US). We are legally obliged to step up and speak out.
Dr Treasa Dunworth is an associate professor, Faculty of Law, at the University of Auckland. First published by Newsroom and republished by Asia Pacific Report with the author’s permission.
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