One of the main components of New Caledonia’s pro-independence FLNKS umbrella, the Union Calédonienne (UC), says it has now suspended all discussions with two pro-French parties until further notice.
These are the Rassemblement and Les Loyalistes.
Public broadcaster NC la 1ère has reported the bone of contention is a series of recent comments made by pro-French politicians from those parties after a UC-organised demonstration in downtown Nouméa turned violent.
This happened during French Home Affairs and Overseas Minister Gérald Darmanin’s visit to New Caledonia.
During those clashes between protesters and French security forces, at least five gendarmes were hurt, one suffering a head trauma after being hit by an iron bar.
The protests were motivated by UC’s opposition to French government plans to amend the French Constitution and modify the rules of eligibility for voters at New Caledonia’s local elections.
Support for the UC and FLNKS is primarily from indigenous Kanaks who make up 41 percent of the population of 271,000, according to the 2019 census.
Lawsuit to ban activist group
Leaders from both pro-French parties filed a court case and called for the UC-reactivated group (CCAT — Cellule de coordination des actions de terrain — field action coordination cell), which organised the protest, to be officially dissolved.
In a statement, UC expressed “regret” at the violence during those clashes, but also accused those politicians of showing disrespect to the pro-independence camp.
Over the past two years, Darmanin has been repeatedly calling on all of New Caledonia’s political parties to hold talks together in an inclusive and bipartisan way and come up with a visionary agreement that would lay the foundations for a new political future.
The previous autonomy Nouméa Accord, signed in 1998, is now deemed to have reached the end of its 25-year lifespan.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The Israeli army has raided dozens of homes in the West Bank and detained 20 Palestinians, including two women — journalist Bushra al-Taweel and activist Sumood Muteer.
Quoting witness accounts, Quds News Network reported that al-Taweel was beaten up by an officer who insulted her before she was arrested.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said 57 journalists have been detained since October 7, with 38 of them still in jail. The organisation added that 22 of them were detained without charge.
Since October 7, at least 424 Palestinians, including 113 minors, three women and 12 prisoners in Israeli custody, have been killed in the West Bank alone.
At least 7450 Palestinians have been detained since the start of the war in Gaza.
Female Palestinian journalist and ex-prisoner Bushra Tawil was arrested by Israeli occupation soldiers last night during a raid into the city of Al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank.
According to eyewitnesses, Al-Tawil was subjected to a brutal attack by soldiers during a field… pic.twitter.com/59aRvQLrgA
The Israeli army targeted a group of journalists including AlJazeera’s crew, a colleague from another agency was killed and two of our colleagues at Aljazeera were injured, along with several others.
An Israeli tank crew fired shells at a clearly marked group of journalists near the border, killing one Reuters reporter and wounding six others, including two Al Jazeera reporters and an Agence France-Presse reporter.
An analysis by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), commissioned by Reuters, has found that the journalists were also targeted with machineguns, likely fired by the same Israeli forces.
“It is considered a likely scenario that a Merkava tank, after firing two tank rounds, also used its machine gun against the location of the journalists,” TNO’s report said.
“The latter cannot be concluded with certainty as the direction and exact distance of [the machinegun] fire could not be established.”
AFP global news director Phil Chetwynd, reacting to the finding, said: “If reports of sustained machine gun fire are confirmed, this would add more weight to the theory this was a targeted and deliberate attack.”
The Israeli army has raided dozens of homes in the West Bank and detained 20 Palestinians, including two women — journalist Bushra al-Taweel and activist Sumood Muteer.
Quoting witness accounts, Quds News Network reported that al-Taweel was beaten up by an officer who insulted her before she was arrested.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said 57 journalists have been detained since October 7, with 38 of them still in jail. The organisation added that 22 of them were detained without charge.
Since October 7, at least 424 Palestinians, including 113 minors, three women and 12 prisoners in Israeli custody, have been killed in the West Bank alone.
At least 7450 Palestinians have been detained since the start of the war in Gaza.
Female Palestinian journalist and ex-prisoner Bushra Tawil was arrested by Israeli occupation soldiers last night during a raid into the city of Al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank.
According to eyewitnesses, Al-Tawil was subjected to a brutal attack by soldiers during a field… pic.twitter.com/59aRvQLrgA
The Israeli army targeted a group of journalists including AlJazeera’s crew, a colleague from another agency was killed and two of our colleagues at Aljazeera were injured, along with several others.
An Israeli tank crew fired shells at a clearly marked group of journalists near the border, killing one Reuters reporter and wounding six others, including two Al Jazeera reporters and an Agence France-Presse reporter.
An analysis by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), commissioned by Reuters, has found that the journalists were also targeted with machineguns, likely fired by the same Israeli forces.
“It is considered a likely scenario that a Merkava tank, after firing two tank rounds, also used its machine gun against the location of the journalists,” TNO’s report said.
“The latter cannot be concluded with certainty as the direction and exact distance of [the machinegun] fire could not be established.”
AFP global news director Phil Chetwynd, reacting to the finding, said: “If reports of sustained machine gun fire are confirmed, this would add more weight to the theory this was a targeted and deliberate attack.”
Army commander Major-General Jone Kalouniwai has highlighted the need for the Republic of Fiji Military Forces to “redeem itself” as an institution and embark on a process of transformation, reconciliation, and restoration.
Speaking at the Force Church Service for the RFMF at Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Major-General Kalouniwai said the 1987, 2000, and 2006 political upheavals were mentioned as key moments in Fiji’s history where the RFMF played a significant role in coups.
He said yesterday marked a significant event as the institution embarked on a journey of reconciliation and restoration.
Major-General Kalouniwai emphasised the importance of acknowledging past wrongs and seeking reconciliation with those who had been affected by the actions of the RFMF.
He urged members of the RFMF to reach out to those who had been wronged and amend things in order to set things right.
The army commander said the call for reconciliation and restoration came at a crucial time for the RFMF as it sought to move forward from its troubled past and build a more positive and inclusive future.
The RFMF said Major-General Kalouniwai’s words served as a reminder of the responsibility that the RFMF had to the people of Fiji and the importance of seeking forgiveness and reconciliation in order to heal the wounds of the past.
Symbolic gesture
The Force Church Service at Queen Elizabeth Barracks was a symbolic gesture of the RFMF’s commitment to reconciliation and restoration.
The army said it was hoped that this event would mark the beginning of a new chapter for the RFMF, one that was characterised by transparency, accountability, and a commitment to upholding the values of democracy and respect for human rights.
It also said that as the RFMF embarked on this journey of reconciliation and restoration, it was important for all members of the institution to reflect on their actions and strive to make amends for past wrongs.
They said by acknowledging the mistakes of the past and seeking forgiveness, the RFMF could begin rebuilding trust with the people of Fiji and move towards a more peaceful and prosperous future.
Vijay Narayanis news director of Fijivillage News. Republished with permission.
Interview by Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist
The man being touted by the opposition as the next leader of Papua New Guinea says the first thing his administration would do is put more focus on law and order.
East Sepik governor Allan Bird is being put forward as the opposition’s candidate for prime minister with a vote on a motion of no confidence likely in the last week of May.
Bird is realistic about his chances but he said it is important to have such a vote.
“I think the first thing we would do is just restructure the Budget and put more focus on things like law and order, bring that right to the top and deal with it quickly,” he said.
He spoke about what he aspires to do if he gets the chance.
Don Wiseman: Mr Bird, you had been delegated to look at the violence following the 2022 election, and it is clear that resolving this will be a huge problem.
AB: Not necessarily. It’s currently confined to the upper Highlands part of the country, but it is filtering down to Port Moresby and other places. I guess the reluctance to deal with the violence is that I’d say 90 percent of that violence stems from the aftermath of the elections.
From our own findings, we know that many leaders in that part of the world that run for elections actually use these warlords to help them get elected. And obviously, they’ve got like four years of downtime between elections, and this is how they spend their spare time. So, it’s hardly surprising.
I think our military and our police have the capability to deal with these criminal warlords and put them down. How shall I say it – with extreme prejudice. But you get a lot of interference in the command of the police and the Defence Force. I suspect that changes the operational orders once they get too close to dealing with these terrorists.
DW: Police have been given the power to use lethal force, but a lot of commentators would say the problems have more to do with the the lack of money, the lack of opportunity, the lack of education.
AB: The lack of education, opportunity, and things like that will play a small part. But again, as I said, I come from a province where we don’t have warlords running around heavily armed to the teeth. I mean, you have got to remember an AR-15, or a 4M, or anything like that. These things on the black market cost around 60,000 to 70,000 kina (NZ$20,000-25,000).
The ordinary Papua New Guinean cannot afford one of those things and guns are banned in public use — they’ve been banned for like 30 years. So how do these weapons get in? Just buying a bullet to operate one of these things is hard enough. So you got to ask yourself the question: how are illiterate people with perhaps no opportunity, able to come into possession of such weapons.
DW: The esteemed military leader Jerry Singarok compiled, at the request of the government about 15 years ago, a substantial report on what to do about the gun problem. But next to nothing of that has ever been implemented. Would you go back to something like that?
AB: Absolutely. I have a lot of respect for Major-General Singarok. I know him personally as well. We have had these discussions on occasions. You’ve got smart, capable people who have done a lot of work in areas such as this, and we just simply put them on the backburner and let them collect dust.
DW: The opposition hopes to have its notice for a motion of no confidence in the Marape government in Parliament on 28 or 29 May, when Parliament resumes. It was adjourned two weeks ago when the opposition tried to present their motion, with the government claiming it was laden with fake names, something the opposition has strenuously denied. Do you have the numbers?
AB: Obviously we’re talking with people inside the government because that’s where the numbers are. Hence, we’ve been encouraged to go ahead with the vote of no confidence. The chance of maybe being Prime Minister per se, is probably like 5 percent. So it could be someone else.
I say that because in Papua New Guinea, it’s really difficult for someone with my background and my sort of discipline and level of honesty to become prime minister. It’s happened a couple of times in the past, but it’s very rare.
DW: You’re too honest?
AB: I’m too honest. Yes.
DW: We’ve looked at the law and audit issue. What else needs fixing fast?
Well, we’ve got a youth bulge. We’ve got a huge population problem. We’ve got to start looking at practical ways in terms of how we can quickly expand opportunities to use your word. Whatever we’ve been doing for the last 10 years has not worked. We’ve got to try something new.
My proposal is actually really keeping with international management best practice. You go to any organisation this is what they do. I think New Zealand does it as well, and Australia does, which is you’ve got to push more funds and responsibilities closer to the coalface and that’s the provinces.
If I could do one thing that would change the trajectory of this country, it’s actually to push more resources away from the centralised government. We actually have a centralised system of government right now.
The Prime Minister [Marape] has so much control to the point where it’s up to him to authorise the building of a road in a particular place worth, say, 5 million kina. The national government is the federal government, if you like, is looking after projects that are as low as say, 2 to 3 million New Zealand dollars in value all the way up to projects that are $500 million in value.
So the question is: there’s got to be better separation of powers, better separation of responsibilities and, of course, clearly demarcated roles and responsibilities. Right now, we’re all competing for the same space. It’s highly inefficient with duplicating a lot of things and there’s a lot of wastage of resources. The way to do that is to decentralise.
DW: What concerns do you have about MPs having direct control over significant amounts of these funds that are meant to go to their electorates? Should they?
AB: Well, I don’t think any of us should have access to direct funding in that regard. However, this is the prevailing political culture that we live in. So again, coming back to my idea about ensuring that we get better funding at the sub-national levels is to strengthen the operational capability of the public servants there, so that once they start to perform, then hopefully over time, there’ll be less of a need to directly give funds to members of parliament because the system itself will start functioning.
We’ve killed the system over the last 20 or 30 years and so now the system is overly dependent on one individual which is wrong.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
By Alex Bainbridge, Peter Boyle, Isaac Nellist, Jacob Andrewartha, Jordan Ellis, Alex Salmon, Stephen W Enciso and Khaled Ghannam of Green Left
Thousands marched for Palestine across Australia at the weekend in the wake of Israel’s massacre of more than 100 starving Palestinians who were trying to get flour from an aid truck southwest of Gaza City.
Israel’s siege on Gaza has stopped Palestinians from accessing food, medical supplies and other crucial aid. A United Nations report found that more than 90 percent of the population, more than 2 million people, are facing starvation and malnutrition.
This is made worse by the cutting of funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) by Western governments, the main organisation providing aid to Gaza, after Israel alleged that 12 of its 30,000 staff were involved in the October 7 incursion.
“Our government has suspended funding to UNRWA when instead it should be restoring it and increasing it,” Greens senator Larissa Waters told the Meanjin/Brisbane rally on March 3, reported Alex Bainbridge.
Waters said that Foreign Minister Penny Wong was right to condemn Israel’s attack on food vans but that she was “not bowled over by the strength of response because Senator Wong has said she’s going to get her department to have a little word to the Israeli ambassador”.
“That’s all she’s going to do after we saw desperate parents getting slaughtered [while getting] food for their children.”
‘Solidarity with Palestinian women’
The rally had a “Solidarity with Palestinian women” theme in recognition of International Women’s Day on March 8.
Call on global Jewish community to rise up against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Video: Green Left
Protesters held a minute’s silence in recognition of United States Air Force serviceperson Aaron Bushnell who self-immolated on February 25 in protest against the US government’s participation in genocide.
Israel has begun its bombardment offensive against Rafah, the small city in southern Gaza where 1.4 million people are sheltering. More than 30,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7.
A YouGov survey found that more than 80 percent of Australians support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, showing the Palestine solidarity movement has cut through the establishment media pro-Israel messaging.
Edie Shepherd, from the Tzedek Collective, an anti-Zionist Jewish group told thousands at the rally in Gadigal/Sydney on March 3 that the global Jewish community must “rise up against the dominant Zionist frameworks that wield hate, power militarism to carry out atrocities against Palestinians”, reported Peter Boyle.
“The greatest shame is that our survival of genocide has been weaponised to commit genocide against Palestinians now.”
Nasser Mashni, president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), told the March 3 rally in Garramilla/Darwin that “Israelis and Zionists want to kill Palestinians”, reported Stephen W Enciso.
Israel’s massacre of starving Palestinians has been dubbed the “flour massacre”. Image: Alex Bainbridge/Green Left
‘They want decolonisation’
“Palestinians do not want to kill Israels. Indigenous folk do not want to kill their colonisers. They just want to be acknowledged. They want [a] treaty. They want their rights. They want restitution. They want racism to stop and decolonisation to start,” he said.
Kulumbirigin Danggalaba Tiwi woman Mililma May drew links between the colonial violence faced by Indigenous people in Australia and Palestine.
She pointed to the coronial inquest into the killing of Kumanjayi Walker by former constable Zachary Rolfe, in which Rolfe gave evidence about widespread racism in the Northern Territory Police Force.
“We are witnessing in plain evidence the racism and the deep horror that exists in the NT police, as across the colony,” May said.
“We live in the same states and under the same violence as Palestine. It just manifests itself in different ways.”
Kites flying for Gaza
A kite-flying for Gaza event was organised by Pilbara for Palestine in Karratha, Western Australia on March 3.
Children made and flew kites decorated with Palestinian flags, watermelons and “Free Palestine” in solidarity with the children on Gaza.
Organiser Chris Jenkins told Green Left that the action “demonstrated once again that support for Palestine exists from the CBD to the bush”.
The community also raised money for UNRWA.
In Muloobinba/Newcastle a “Hands off Rafah” rally and kite-flying event was held on March 2 at Nobby’s Beach, reported Khaled Ghannam.
Former Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon, who visited Palestine in June last year, said the Israeli occupation impacts on everything Palestinians do.
“One of the common things that people we interviewed said was, ‘please take our voice to the world’,” she said.
“We are part of a massive global movement, millions of people are on the move around the world in so many countries, with a similar message to us:
Ceasefire now,
Restore UNRWA funding, and
End the occupation.”
She said the UN had called on Australia and other countries to stop arming Israel.
More and more states are joining a major lawsuit to hold the makers of Insulin liable for price gouging American consumers for decades. Plus, a new book on its way in mid-March called, “Suspicious Activity,” that highlights the relationship between banks and terrorist organizations. That book is authored by Mike Papantonio, along with attorney Chris Paulos, who served as […]
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) should act urgently to establish an international protection force to safeguard Palestinian civilians and ensure the unobstructed delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza as a last-ditch attempt to prevent imminent, says DAWN.
If the UNSC is blocked by a US veto or fails to reach consensus, the UN General Assembly should reconvene the 10th session of “Uniting for Peace” and authorise such a force itself.
Recent airdrops of aid, now with the participation of the US Air Force, are “inadequate to meet the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza”, says DAWN (Democracy for the Arab World Now).
It signals the availability of international military forces to help stabilise the situation.
“We urgently need the UNSC to authorise an international protection force to ensure the safe and effective delivery of food to starving Palestinian men, women, and children, just as it has done in other situations of catastrophic conflicts,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of DAWN.
“Tragically, without such intervention, it has become clear that Israel will continue to deliberately block such aid, which is the sole cause of the starvation and imminent famine in Gaza.”
On February 29, at least 117 Palestinians were killed, and more than 750 others were wounded after Israeli troops opened fire on civilians gathered at a convoy of food trucks southwest of Gaza City, highlighting both the desperation of the starving civilian population and their inability to safely access humanitarian aid.
Aid delivery halted
International humanitarian organisations have halted all aid delivery to northern Gaza for nearly two weeks due to the lack of security, which is a direct result of actions and policies of the Israeli military, including targeting Palestinian police forces attempting to secure aid delivery.
The Biden administration reportedly warned Israel last week that as a direct result of its actions, “Gaza is turning into Mogadishu”.
The same day, the UN Security Council met in an emergency session called by Algeria on what is now being described as the “flour massacre,” but members failed to agree on a statement about the deaths and injuries of civilians seeking aid.
At a meeting of the UNSC last week under the auspices of UNSC Resolution 2417, UN agencies warned that at least 576,000 people in Gaza were facing famine-like conditions.
The UN World Food Programme noted that there would be an “inevitable famine” in the besieged Palestinian enclave, amid increasing reports of children dying of starvation as Israel continued to hinder aid delivery to the population.
Gaza was seeing “the worst level of child malnutrition anywhere in the world,” Carl Skau, deputy head of the World Food Programme, told the UN Security Council last week, with one child in every six under the age of two acutely malnourished.
“Civilians and aid groups have described food shortages so dire that people were turning to leaves and bird food and other types of animal feed for sustenance.”
A new World Bank report has found that Gaza’s total economic output had shriveled by more than 80 percent in the last quarter of 2023, 80 to 96 percent of Gaza’s agricultural infrastructure had been damaged or destroyed, and about 80 percent of Gazans had lost their jobs.
Since the start of the war in Gaza on October 9, Israel’s retaliatory bombardment and ground offensive has killed more than 30,000, more than 10,000 of them children, and wounded more than 70,000 people.
“The whole world is watching in horror as Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians, not only impeding the delivery of aid but actually firing and killing people desperately trying to obtain a few sacks of flour,” said Whitson.
“If the international community doesn’t have the guts to hold Israel accountable for its atrocities and end this grotesque, genocidal assault on Palestinian civilians, the very least it can do is establish a UN protection force to ensure the safe delivery of aid.”
By the ABC’s Fiji reporter Lice Movono and Pacific Local Journalism Network’s Nick Sas in Suva
Some described it as a case of looking back to go forward.
This past week in Fiji — a place where politics, race, the army and tradition mix together in an often potent stew — the Great Council of Chiefs, a organisation banished for almost two decades, came together to re-establish its place in modern Fiji.
It came on the same week a regional body of traditional leaders, including a Māori king and princess, Samoan king and Fiji’s chiefs, met on Fiji’s sacred island of Bau to discuss ways of becoming more entrenched in politics and the big decisions affecting the region.
Ceremony played a big part at this week’s events in Fiji, as traditional leaders spoke about ways to integrate into modern society. Image: Godsville Productions/ABC
For some commentators, it reflects a new Fiji and a more mature Pacific region: something that should be encouraged to meld together aspects of traditional life into modern society.
Yet for others, it brings back memories of a time of fear and division.
“The Great Council of Chiefs has committed a lot of mistakes in the past, including being used by some as a leverage for ethnonationalism and racial hatred,” political sociologist Professor Steven Ratuva told the ABC.
“It needs to rise above that and must function and be seen as a unifying, reconciliatory and peace-building body.”
Fiji’s highest chiefly political body, the Great Council of Chiefs has reconvened for the first time in 16 years.
‘Times have changed’ The Great Council of Chiefs (GCC), known as Bose Levu Vakaturaga in Fijian, dates back to colonial times. Established in 1876, the council was used as an advisory body for the British colonial rulers.
After Fiji’s independence in 1970, the GCC became entrenched in the constitution, with chiefs acting as a significant part of Fiji’s Senate. During the next three decades it had periods of waxing and waning influence, with its independence and political interference often under the spotlight.
Most notably, as an organisation to promote and represent indigenous Fijians (the iTaukei), it was accused by some of sidelining Fiji’s substantial Indo-Fijian population — which makes up about 35 per cent of Fiji — and in turn stoking racial tension.
Former Fiji prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama (right) seized power in a coup in 2006 and suspended the Great Council of Chiefs the following year, abolishing it completely in 2012. He was defeated in last year’s general election. Current Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka (right) staged the first two coups in 1987 and reinstated the GCC this year. Image: Vanguard/IDN
But after winning the December 2022 election, and in turn removing Bainimarama’s 16-year grip on power, Fiji’s new prime minster Sitiveni Rabuka, himself a former coup leader, re-established the GCC.
Rabuka last week told the 54 chiefs of the GCC — of which only three are women — that “peace must be its cornerstone”.
“While the body is intrinsically linked to the governance and well-being of the iTaukei [traditional Fijians], it carries a profound obligation to embrace and advocate for every member of our diverse society,” Rabuka said.
Ratu Viliame Seruvakula, a military commander under the former Fijian government who worked with the United Nations for almost two decades, was last week elected as the GCC’s new chairperson.
Ratu Viliame Seruvakula is the new chair of the Great Council of Chiefs . . . “people have become more aware in looking [for] something to help guide them forward.” Image: ABC News/Lice Movono)He said his main goal was to modernise the organisation and protect it from political interference.
“Times have changed,” Seruvakula said.
“It’s quite obvious that for the last 15 years, people have become more aware in looking [for] something to help guide them forward.”
And in a move that has drawn parallels to Australia’s failed Indigenous Voice to Parliament, he wants the GCC to be a “statutory body with its own machinery and own mechanism.”
“I think this is heading in the right direction [to] really go forward and move iTaukei forward.” he said.
The ‘politics of prestige’ About 60 percent of Fiji is indigenous, with the iTaukei population, particularly in regional areas of Fiji, dealing with emended issues of systemic poverty, drugs, crime, unemployment and domestic violence.
Some in Fiji think the re-establishment of the GCC will help address these issues.
Traditional dress on the sacred island of Bau. Image: Godsville Productions/ABC News
Yet, for Professor Steven Ratuva, political sociologist and director of the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies at the University of Canterbury, it is not an easy fix.
“The question of how the GCC will serve the interests of the iTaukei needs serious discussion,” he said.
“Simply using the old style of chiefly protocol, politics of prestige and struggle for power have not worked in addressing the worsening situation — in fact, these contributed to some of the problems youths today are now facing.”
And, he said, the racial issue must be addressed.
“How will it protect other ethnic groups? This has to be made very clear to ensure that the anxiety and worries are addressed amicably and trans-ethnic trust is established.”
The professor in comparative politics at Victoria University of Wellington, Jon Fraenkel, agreed.
“It has played a questionable role [in Fiji] in the past,” he said. “But I think [overall] that the restoration of the GCC is a positive move.”
The GCC will meet later this year to establish its goals and timeline.
GCC leaders will also be part of a Pacific Traditional Leaders Forum to be held in Hawai’i in June, a new body established last week on Bau Island — which met before the GCC meeting — to promote the input of traditional leaders in decision-making.
Professor Fraenkel said that at this early stage it was difficult to know whether it was part of a concerted trend across the region for traditional leaders to have more say.
“Again, to have greater links between government and community leadership is a positive thing,” he said.
“It’s the case in many countries in the Pacific that the village level or the local level, chiefs can still be extremely important.
“But I don’t think that linking traditional leaders up with their people is going to be done in Hawai’i, it’s going to be done back home, in the community.”
Republished with permission from ABC Pacific News.
New Zealand news media came under fire at today’s Palestine solidarity rally in Auckland calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war in Gaza with speakers condemning what they said was pro-Israeli “bias” and “propaganda”.
About 500 protesters waved Palestinian flags and many placards declaring “If you’re not heartbroken and furious, you’re not paying attention – stop the genocide”, “Killing kids is not self-defence” and “Western ‘civility, democracy, humanity, morality’ – bitch, where?”.
They gave Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s government a grilling for the “weak” response to Israel atrocities.
Many speakers were angry over the massacre of starving Palestinians when Israeli military forces opened fire on a crowd seeking aid in the central Gaza City area on Thursday with latest Gaza Health Ministry reports indicating that at least 115 Gazans had been killed with 760 wounded.
The UN Human Rights office called for a swift and independent probe into the food aid shootings, saying “at least 14 “similar attacks had occurred since mid-January.
The Biden administration has announced a plan with Jordan to airdrop aid into Gaza but former USAID director Dave Harden has criticised the move as “ineffectual” for the huge humanitarian need of Gaza.
Airdrops ‘symbol of failure’
“Airdrops are a symbol of massive failure,” he told Al Jazeera.
The bodies of three more Palestinians killed in the food aid slaughter were recovered.
Responses to the Gaza food aid massacre . . . “If you’re not hearbroken and furious, you’re not paying attention.” Image: David Robie/APR
The New Zealand media were condemned for relying on “flawed” media coverage and journalists embedded with the Israeli military.
“The New Zealand media ‘scalps’ information to create public perceptions rather than informing the public of the facts so that we can come to the conclusion that what Israel is doing in Gaza is genocide,” Neil Scott, secretary of the Palestine Solidarity Network (PSNA), told the crowd.
PSNA’s Neil Scott addressing the Palestine solidarity crowd today. Video: APR
“What Israel is doing in Palestine is apartheid, what Israel is doing in Palestine is occupation – each of those three, plus way more, are crimes against humanity.
“And what is the New Zealand media doing and saying about this?”
“Nothing,” shouted many in the crowd.
“Nada,” continued Scott.
‘Puppies are cute’
“Puppies? Puppies are cute. We’ll get those on TV.
“Genocide. Apartheid. Occupation. Crimes against humanity. Don’t give us news.”
Television New Zealand’s 1News headquarters in Auckland . . . target of a protest yesterday and condemnation today over its Gaza war coverage. Image: APR
Scott led a deputation of protesters to the headquarters of Television New Zealand yesterday, citing many examples of misinformation of lack of fair and “truthful” coverage.
But management declined to speak to the protesters and the 1News team failed to cover the protest over TVNZ’s coverage of the war on Gaza.
Criticisms have been mounting worldwide against Western news media coverage, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States, the staunchest supporters of Israel and the source of most of NZ’s global news services, including the Middle East.
CNN ‘climate of hostility’
Yesterday, the investigative website Intercept reported how CNN media staff, including the celebrated international news anchor Christiane Amanpour, had confronted network executives over what they claimed as stories about the war on Gaza being changed and a “climate of hostility” towards Arab journalists.
According to a leaked internal recording, Amanpour told management that the CNN policy was causing “real distress” over “changing copy” and ”double standards”.
Meanwhile, one of some 50 protests across New Zealand today – in Christchurch – was disrupted by a group of counter-demonstrators supporting Israel who performed a haka at the Bridge of Remembrance.
The group from the Freedoms and Rights Coalition – linked to the Destiny Church – waved Israeli flags and chanted “go back to Israel”. The pro-Palestinian supporters yelled “shame on them” and carried on with their regular weekly march to Cathedral Square.
Negotiations for the release of New Zealand pilot Phillip Mark Mehrtens, who has been held captive by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) for more than a year, has been hindered by customary issues and “interference of other parties”, say the Indonesian police.
Senior Commander Faizal Ramadhani, head of the Cartenz Peace Operation, made this statement following a visit from New Zealand’s Police Attaché for Indonesia, Paul Borrel, at the operation’s command post in Timika, Mimika Regency, Central Papua Province, last Tuesday.
Mehrtens has been held by the pro-independence group since he was seized on February 7 last year.
The armed group led by Egianus Kogoya seized Mehrtens after he landed his aircraft at Paro Airport and the militant group also set fire to the plane.
The senior commander told local journalists he had conveyed this information to Borrel.
“The negotiation process is still ongoing, led by the Acting Regent of Nduga, Edison Gwijangge,” said Senior Commander Faizal.
“However, the negotiation process is hindered by various factors, including the interference of other parties and customary issues.”
The commander was not specific about the “other parties”, but it is believed that he may be referring to some calls from pro-independence groups for an intervention by the United Nations.
Negotiations ongoing
The chief of Nduga Police, Adjutant Senior Commmander VJ Parapaga, said that efforts to free the Air Susi pilot were still ongoing. He said the Nduga District Coordinating Forum (Forkopimda) was committed to resolving this case through a “family approach”.
NZ Police Attaché to Indonesia, Paul Borrel (left) during a visit to the Cartenz Peace Operation Main Command Post in Timika, Mimika Regency, Central Papua Province, last Tuesday. Image: Cartenz Peace Operation/Jubi
“We bring food supplies and open dialogue regarding the release of the pilot,” said Parapaga when contacted by phone on Tuesday. He said efforts to release Phillip Mehrtens remained a top priority.
A low resolution image of New Zealand hostage pilot Philip Mehrtens . . . medication delivered to him, say police. TPNPB-OPM video screenshot APR
New Zealand’s Police Attaché Borrel commended the efforts made by the Cartenz Peace Operation Task Force, saying he hoped Mehrtens would be released safely soon.
“We express our condolences for the loss of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police members during the pilot’s liberation operation,” Borrel said.
“We hope that the Cartenz Peace Operation can resolve the case as soon as possible.”
The armed group led by Egianus Kogoya seized Mehrtens after he landed his aircraft at Paro Airport and the militant group also set fire to the plane.
Inspector-General Fakhiri said the police always provided assistance to anyone who could deliver logistical needs or requests made by Mehrtens.
He added that the security forces were ready to help if the New Zealand pilot fell ill or needed medicine, shoes or food.
“We hope that he continues to receive logistical support so that he remains adequately supplied with food. This may also include other necessities for his well-being, including medication,” said the inspector-general.
‘Free Papua’ issue
Inspector-General Fakhiri said it had been hoped to reach an agreement in November and January.
But he said there were other parties “deliberately obstructing and hindering” the negotiations, resulting in stalled operation.
“From our perspective, they are exploiting the issue of the abduction of the Susi Air pilot as a Free Papua issue,” he said.
The inspector-general said he hoped that the New Zealand government would trust Indonesia to work towards the release of Mehrtens.
“There is a third party that always tries to approach the New Zealand government to use the hostage issue to bring in a third party. We hope that [this request] will not be entertained,” he said.
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.
WASHINGTON — U.S. semiconductor firms must strengthen oversight of their foreign partners and work more closely with the government and investigative groups, a group of experts told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, saying the outsourcing of production overseas has made tracking chip sales more difficult, enabling sanctions evasion by Russia and other adversaries.
U.S. semiconductor firms largely produce their chips in China and other Asian countries from where they are further distributed around the world, making it difficult to ascertain who exactly is buying their products, the experts told the committee at a hearing in Washington on February 27.
The United States and the European Union imposed sweeping technology sanctions on Russia to weaken its ability to wage war following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia’s military industrial complex is heavily reliant on Western technology, including semiconductors, for the production of sophisticated weapons.
“Western companies design chips made by specialized plants in other countries, and they sell them by the millions, with little visibility over the supply chain of their products beyond one or two layers of distribution,” Damien Spleeters, deputy director of operations at Conflict Armament Research, told senators.
He added that, if manufacturers required point-of-sale data from distributors, it would vastly improve their ability to trace the path of semiconductors recovered from Russian weapons and thereby identify sanctions-busting supply networks.
The banned Western chips are said to be flowing to Russia via networks in China, Turkey, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.
Spleeters said he discovered a Chinese company diverting millions of dollars of components to sanctioned Russian companies by working with U.S. companies whose chips were found in Russian weapons.
That company was sanctioned earlier this month by the United States.
‘It’s Going To Be Whack-A-Mole’
The committee is scrutinizing several U.S. chip firms whose products have turned up in Russian weapons, Senator Richard Blumenthal (Democrat-Connecticut) said, adding “these companies know or should know where their components are going.”
Spleeters threw cold water on the idea that Russia is acquiring chips from household appliances such as washing machines or from major online retail websites.
“We have seen no evidence of chips being ripped off and then repurposed for this,” he said.
“It makes little sense that Russia would buy a $500 washing machine for a $1 part that they could obtain more easily,” Spleeters added.
In his opening statement, Senator Ron Johnson (Republican-Wisconsin) said he doubted whether any of the solutions proposed by the experts would work, noting that Russia was ramping up weapons production despite sweeping sanctions.
“You plug one hole, another hole is gonna be opening up, it’s gonna be whack-a-mole. So it’s a reality we have to face,” said Johnson.
Johnson also expressed concern that sanctions would hurt Western nations and companies.
“My guess is they’re just going to get more and more sophisticated evading the sanctions and finding components, or potentially finding other suppliers…like Huawei,” Johnson said.
Huawei is a leading Chinese technology company that produces chips among other products.
James Byrne, the founder and director of the open-source intelligence and analysis group at the Royal United Services Institute, said that officials and companies should not give up trying to track the chips just because it is difficult.
‘Shocking’ Dependency On Western Technology
He said that the West has leverage because Russia is so dependent on Western technology for its arms industry.
“Modern weapons platforms cannot work without these things. They are the brains of almost all modern weapons platforms,” Byrne said.
“These semiconductors vary in sophistication and importance, but it is fair to say that without them Russia … would not have been able to sustain their war effort,” he said.
Byrne said the depth of the dependency on Western technology — which goes beyond semiconductors to include carbon fiber, polymers, lenses, and cameras — was “really quite shocking” considering the Kremlin’s rhetoric about import substitution and independence.
Elina Ribakova, a Russia expert and economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said an analysis of 2,800 components taken from Russian weapons collected in Ukraine showed that 95 percent came from countries allied with Ukraine, with the vast majority coming from the United States. The sample, however, may not be representative of the actual distribution of component origin.
Ribakova warned that Russia has been accelerating imports of semiconductor machine components in case the United States imposes such export controls on China.
China can legally buy advanced Western components for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and use them to manufacture and sell advanced semiconductors to Russia, Senator Margaret Hassan (Democrat-New Hampshire) said.
Ribakova said the manufacturing components would potentially allow Russia to “insulate themselves for somewhat longer.”
Ribakova said technology companies are hesitant to beef up their compliance divisions because it can be costly. She recommended that the United States toughen punishment for noncompliance as the effects would be felt beyond helping Ukraine.
“It is also about the credibility of our whole system of economic statecraft. Malign actors worldwide are watching whether they will be credible or it’s just words that were put on paper,” she said.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has designated the political wing of Hamas as a “terrorist” entity.
New Zealand designated the military wing of Hamas as a terrorist entity in 2010.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the government unequivocally condemned the “brutal” terrorist attacks by Hamas in October, and the move had been taken after he received official advice.
“What happened on 7 October reinforces we can no longer distinguish between the military and political wings of Hamas,” Peters said.
“The organisation as a whole bears responsibility for these horrific terrorist attacks.”
The designation means any assets of the terrorist entity in New Zealand are frozen. It also makes participation in or supporting Hamas’ activities, or recruiting for it a criminal offence.
However, Peters made clear the designation would not affect the provision of humanitarian support to Palestinians, and would not stop New Zealand providing aid to benefit civilians in Gaza.
‘Gravely concerned’
“Nor does it stop us providing consular support to New Zealand citizens or permanent residents in the conflict zone,” he said.
“We remain gravely concerned about the impact of this conflict on civilians and will continue to call for an end to the violence and an urgent resumption of the Middle East Peace Process.
“A lasting solution to the conflict will only be achieved by peaceful means.”
The coalition government has also banned several extremist Israeli settlers from travelling to New Zealand.
Peters said those banned had committed violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.
It was not clear how many settlers have been banned and who exactly they are.
There has been a significant increase in extremist violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers against Palestinian populations in recent months, Peters said.
He acknowledged the official advice provided to him had been commissioned by then Prime Minister Chris Hipkins in October.
A day later, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon issued a joint statement with his Australian and Canadian counterparts calling for the same thing.
It included a call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the release of hostages, condemned Hamas for its terror attacks on Israel, and said Israel must protect Palestinian civilians.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The New Zealand government is shortly to announce whether it will designate Hamas a “terrorist” group in response to the October 7 attack on Israel in which Hamas was involved.
The US and most of the Western world calls Hamas “terrorists” but so far New Zealand has only designated the armed wing of Hamas as a terrorist group.
More importantly, the United Nations — along with most of the rest of the world — has not taken this step and neither should New Zealand.
It is for Palestinians to decide which groups they support in their struggle for self-determination but it’s important here to respond to the incessant, hysterical lies told about Hamas by Israel and the pro-Israel lobby around the world.
There are probably more lies spoken about Hamas than any other organisation in the world.
One of these is the lie that the Hamas Charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews worldwide. (For example, this was claimed in an opinion piece in The Post newspaper recently by Israeli diplomat and former ambassador to the United Kingdom Daniel Taub — in response to which the newspaper declined to print any letters)
The truth is that in the latest Hamas charter from 2017, the organisation says
“Hamas reiterates that its conflict is with the Zionist project and not with the Jews based on their religion.”
“Hamas is not fighting against the Jews because they are Jews, but against the Zionists who are occupying Palestine.”
“Hamas rejects the persecution of people or the undermining of their rights on nationalist, religious or sectarian ground.”
Hamas accepts Israel with 1967 borders
In fact, their new charter goes further and Hamas accepts the state of Israel based on 1967 borders — precisely the same policy as the New Zealand government along with the US, the UK and most of the world!
It is clear to everyone that war crimes were committed in the October 7 attack on Israel.
Killing civilians and taking civilian hostages are war crimes under the Fourth Geneva Convention and should be condemned.
These crimes should be investigated by the International Criminal Court as were crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Those investigations resulted in arrest warrants issued against Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The same process should be followed for the October 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s genocidal response. For example, arrest warrants should be issued by the ICC against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and at least half his cabinet for war crimes and crimes against humanity — including the crimes of genocide and apartheid.
As things stand there were eight Palestinian resistance groups involved in the October 7 attack on Israel and we simply do not know yet which groups and leaders were responsible for war crimes.
Palestinian resistance groups have the right under international law to take up arms to fight against their colonial occupiers just as the African National Congress (ANC) had the right to take up arms to fight for freedom in apartheid South Africa.
Aotearoa New Zealand must respect this right and not pander to the deep-seated racism and cheap political sloganeering of the pro-Israel lobby.
A knee-jerk reaction from New Zealand to designate Hamas a terrorist group would be a further step backwards from an independent foreign policy.
John Minto is national chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA).
Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7 came after Israeli settlers had stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and after a record number of Palestinians had been killed by Israel at that point in 2023.
The besieged Gaza Strip . . . Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7 came after Israeli settlers had stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and after a record number of Palestinians had been killed by Israel at that point in 2023. Image: Al Jazeera
The head of the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), Bulent Yildirim, has announced that the organisation will head a naval fleet to Gaza to break Israel’s siege of the bombarded Palestinian enclave.
Speaking at a huge public rally in Istanbul last week, Yildirim said: “The time for talking is over. We will go down to the sea, we will reach Gaza, and we will break the siege.”
Yildirim participated in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in 2010. The boat he was on was boarded by Israeli troops and nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed at the time.
Turkish NGO plans to send naval fleet toward Gaza to break siege. Video: Middle East Eye
He is hopeful that this new fleet will be successful in breaking the siege as part of Istael’s genocidal war against Palestinians and helping bring some relief to many Gazans who are starving.
“We hope to include Kiwis on the upcoming flotillas to break the siege of Gaza,” said Roger Fowler, a founder and facilitator of Kia Ora Gaza, who was at the planning meeting in Istanbul.
He appealed for donations to this mission through Kia Ora Gaza.
In September 2016, Kia Ora Gaza facilitated Green MP Marama Davidson in joining the Women’s Boat to Gaza peace flotilla, and in 2018 veteran human rights campaigner and union leader Mike Treen represented New Zealand.
The recent Freedom Flotilla Coalition meeting in Istanbul to plan the humanitarian voyage to Gaza. Kia Ora Gaza’s Roger Fowler of Aotearoa New Zealand is on the left. Image: Kia Ora Gaza
Jordan airdrops aid to Gaza
Meanwhile, the Royal Jordanian Air Force has carried out airdrops of aid off the coast of the Gaza Strip — the biggest airdrop operation so far to deliver much-needed aid to millions of Palestinians amid restrictions by Israeli authorities on aid entering the territory by road.
The aid was dropped at 11 sites along the Gaza coast from its northern edge to the south for civilians to collect, and one French Air Force plane was also involved.
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.
An Australian-based West Papua advocacy group has condemned the arrest and “humiliation” of two teenagers by Indonesian security forces last week.
The head of Cartenz 2024 Peace Operations, Kombes Faizal Ramadhani, said in a statement on Friday that the 15-year-olds had been arrested after a clash with the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) in Kali Brasa on Thursday, February 22.
During the shootout, a TPNPB member named as Otniel Giban (alias Bolong Giban) had been killed.
The Sydney-based Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) today condemned the arrest of the teenagers, only identified by the Indonesian authorities by their initials MH and BGE and who were initially seized as “suspects” but later described as “witnesses”.
Faizal said that the teenagers had been arrested because they were suspected of being members of the TPNPB group and that they were currently being detained at the Damai Cartenz military post.
However, the TPNPB declared that the two teenagers were not members of the TPNPB and were ordinary civilians.
The teenagers were arrested when they were crossing the Brasa River in the Yahukimo Regency.
Aircraft shot at
The clash between security forces and the TNPB occurred while the Cartenz Peacekeeping Operation-2024 searched for those responsible for shooting at an aircraft in Yahukimo in which a military member had been wounded.
Meanwhile, also in Jakarta last Friday the Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Richard Marles, met with Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto — who is poised to win this month’s Indonesian presidential election.
Marles stressed at a media conference at the Defence Ministry that Australia did not support the Free Papua Movement, saying the country “fully recognise[d] Indonesia’s territorial sovereignty”.
“We do not endorse any independence movement,” he told a media conference.
However, in Sydney AWPA’s Joe Collins said in a statement: “I was at first surprised that West Papua even got a mention at the meeting as usually Australia tries to ignore the issue but even our Defence Minister can hardly ignore a media question on it.”
Subianto: “Thank you very much. I don’t think there is any need for questions. Questions?”
Journalist: “Thank you very much Mr Deputy Prime Minister. Regarding the huge amount of [the] Australian defence budget, how should the Indonesian people see it? Is it going to be a trap or an opportunity for our national interest?
“And my second question is what is Australia’s standpoint regarding the separatist [pro-independence] movement in Papua because there are some voices from Australia concern[ed] about human rights violations?”
Marles: “Thank you for the question. Let me do the second issue first. We, Australia utterly recognise the territorial sovereignty of Indonesia, full stop. And there is no support for any independence movements.
“We support the territorial sovereignty of Indonesia. And that includes those provinces being part of Indonesia. No ifs, no buts. And I want to be very clear about that.”
Collins said there was no shortage of comments during the delegation’s visit to Indonesian around how important the relationship was.
“West Papua will remain the elephant in the room in the Australia-Indonesian relationship,” Collins said. “We can expect many hiccups in the relationship over West Papua in the coming years “.
While telling today’s Palestine solidarity rally in Auckland about creative “good news” humanitarian aid plans to help Palestinians amid the War on Gaza, New Zealand Kia Ora Gaza advocate and organiser Roger Fowler also condemned Israel’s genocidal conduct. He was interviewed by Anadolu News Agency after a Freedom Flotilla Coalition planning meeting in Istanbul with his views this week republished here.
By Faruk Hanedar in Istanbul
“Women, children, and families have no food. They are trying to drink water from puddles. People are eating grass.”
— Kia Ora Gaza advocate Roger Fowler
New Zealand activist Roger Fowler has condemned the Israeli regime’s actions in the Gaza Strip, saying “this is definitely genocide”.
“The Israeli regime has not hidden its intention to destroy or displace the Palestinian people, especially those in Gaza, from the beginning,” he said.
“They are committing a terrible act — killing tens of thousands of people, injuring more, and destroying a large part of this beautiful country.”
The death toll from the Israeli War on Gaza topped 29,000 this week – mostly women and children – and there were reports of deaths from starvation.
Fowler demanded action to halt the attacks and expressed hope about the potential effect of the international Freedom Flotilla — a grassroots organisation working to end the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza.
He noted large-scale protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza and emphasised efforts to pressure governments, including through weekly protests in New Zealand to unequivocally condemn Israel’s actions as unacceptable.
A Palestinian mother and family hug the dead body of their child who died in an Israeli attack in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on 18 February 2024. Image: Kia Ora Gaza
Long-standing mistreatment
He stressed that the “tragedy” had extended beyond recent months, highlighting the long-standing mistreatment endured by Palestinians — particularly those in Gaza — for the last 75 years.
Fowler pointed out the dire situation that Gazans faced — confined to a small territory with restricted access to essential resources including food, medicine, construction materials and necessities.
He noted his three previous trips to Gaza with land convoys, where he demonstrated solidarity and observed the dire circumstances faced by the population.
“Boycott is a very effective action,” said Fowler, underlining the significance of boycotts, isolation and sanctions, while stressing the necessity of enhancing and globalising initiatives to end the blockade.
“I believe that boycotting has a great impact on pressuring not only major companies to withdraw from Israel and end their support, but also on making the Israeli government and our own governments understand that they need to stop what they are doing.”
Fowler also criticised the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) “genocide decision” for being ineffective due to the arrogance of those governing Israel.
South Africa brought a genocide case against Israel to the ICJ in December and asked for emergency measures to end Palestinian bloodshed in Gaza, where nearly 30,000 people have been killed since October 7.
Anadolu journalist Faruk Hanedar talks with Kia Ora Gaza organiser Roger Fowler (left) after the recent Freedom Flotilla Coalition planning meeting in Istanbul. Image: Kia Ora Gaza/Anadolu
World Court fell short
The World Court ordered Israel last month to take “all measures within its power” to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza but fell short of ordering a ceasefire.
It also ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective” measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip.
Fowler said all nations must persistently advocate and exert pressure for adherence to decisions by the UN court.
Fowler acknowledged efforts by UN personnel but he has concerns about their limited resources in Gaza, citing the only avenue for change is for people to pressure authorities to stop the genocide and ensure Israel is held accountable.
“It’s definitely tragic and heartbreaking. Women, children, and families have no food. They are trying to drink water from puddles. People are eating grass. This is a very desperate situation. No one is talking about the children. Thousands of people are under the rubble, including small babies and children,” he said.
Roger Fowler is a Mangere East community advocate, political activist for social justice in many issues, and an organiser of Kia Ora Gaza. This article was first published by Anadolu Agency and is republished with permission.
“Gaza is starving to death” . . . a banner in today’s Palestine solidarity rally in Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau. Image: David Robie/Asia Pacific Report“Blood on your hands” . . . a protest banner condemning Israel and the US during a demonstration outside the US consulate in Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau today. Image: David Robie/Asia Pacific Report
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.
So much of the Israeli propaganda which is driving the massive assault on the Palestinians of Gaza has been unravelling quickly but this is not being reported to the public in Western countries such as New Zealand.
Political analyst Marwan Bishara analyses the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine. Video: Al Jazeera
But despite the initial claims being widely reported by New Zealand media, we are not aware of any corrections, apologies or reporting of the truth to New Zealanders.
The New Zealand media has been as complicit as most of the media across the Western world in amplifying Israeli lies and racist propaganda while sidelining Palestinian viewpoints.
Protests this weekend
The protests this week continue to demand that our government:
Condemn the Israeli slaughter and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians;
No attack on Rafah;
Reinstate funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians;
Call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza;
Withdraw from the war on Yemen; and
Close the Israeli Embassy
“See no genocide” . . . a graphic condemning the US stance over Palestine and the ongoing support for the genocidal war on Gaza. Image: Visualising Palestine (cc)
Details of protest events across the country are on the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa Facebook event page.
John Minto is national chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA).Republished with permission from The Daily Blog.
US blocks ceasefire again
Asia Pacific Report: The United States this week vetoed another United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Israel’s war on Gaza, blocking a demand for an immediate ceasefire.
This was the third US veto against humanitarian ceasefire resolutions in the UNSC over the war in Gaza. The United Kingdom abstained, but all other 13 countries — including the three other permanent members China, France and Russia — voted for it.
In introducing the resolution on Tuesday, Amar Bendjama, Algeria’s ambassador to the UN, said:
“This resolution is a stance for truth and humanity, standing against the advocates for murder and hatred. Voting against it implies an endorsement of the brutal violence and collective punishment inflicted upon them [the Palestinians].”
Lusaka, February 22, 2024—Zimbabwean authorities must end the intimidation and surveillance of journalists working for The NewsHawks online newspaper and ensure they can report safely about the military, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday.
The NewsHawks, a privately owned investigative online newspaper, announced on Tuesday that it had halted further reporting on its February 12 story that three army generals were dismissed following allegations of corruption, citing fears for the safety of its journalists, according to newsreports and The NewsHawks’ managing editor Dumisani Muleya, who spoke with CPJ.
The NewsHawks said in a statement that reporters had been removed from the story with immediate effect, it would not publish follow-ups, and stories would be pulled out of Tuesday’s latest edition.
“Zimbabwean authorities must guarantee the safety of journalists and take action against state officials whose threats and intimidation have forced The NewsHawks staff to censor their reporting on allegations of military corruption,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa program in New York.
“Zimbabwe’s defense force should not be above press scrutiny, particularly when senior military officers are implicated in allegations of public sector corruption involving taxpayers’ funds. They must be barred from spying on journalists to uncover the identity of their confidential sources.”
Following publication of the article, The NewsHawks’ news editor and reporters were threatened and intimidated, including through physical surveillance and call monitoring to identify their sources, Muleya said, declining to provide further details for publication.
“There was pressure from all over…so we had to make a decision to stop following this story up. There’s no point in endangering the lives of reporters in pursuit of a story,” Muleya told CPJ.
In a February 16 statement that The NewsHawks published on social media, a spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) confirmed that three general officers were under investigation. It also noted “with great concern attempts by The NewsHawks and other media outlets to peddle falsehoods.”
On Tuesday, presidential spokesperson George Charamba told the Zimbabwean press to exercise “care and sensitivity” when reporting on “security structures,” localmedia reported.
“The ZDF has got its own internal processes to investigate any allegation against any of its members and it is always prudent for the media to follow, rather than seek to lead such a process. Leading through advocacy muddies the water and may invite some responses, which may not be that palatable,” Charamba was quoted as saying by Zimbabwean outlets.
Also on Tuesday, The NewsHawks said in a statement: “We are not being silenced, but forced to make some strategic decisions or choices to secure the safety of our reporters. Self-censorship and silence are not an option in investigative journalism, yet necessary if only to ensure journalists’ safety and wellbeing, at least for the time being.”
CPJ’s texts and emails to Charamba and ZDF spokesperson Colonel Alphios Makotore requesting comment on the case did not receive any replies.
The NewsHawks’ journalist Bernard Mpofu was also threatened and forced to go into hiding in 2021 after publishing several articles, including an exclusive about an emergency landing of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s helicopter, the outlet reported.
Myanmar’s junta is offering freedom of movement to Rohingya Muslims restricted to camps for the displaced in Rakhine state as part of a bid to entice them into military service amid the nationwide rollout of a conscription law, according to sources in the region.
The enactment of the People’s Military Service Law on Feb. 10 has sent draft-eligible civilians fleeing from Myanmar’s cities, saying they would rather leave the country or join anti-junta forces in remote border areas than fight for the military, which seized power in a 2021 coup d’etat.
Myanmar’s military is desperate for new recruits after suffering devastating losses on the battlefield to the ethnic Arakan Army, or AA, in Rakhine state. Since November, when the AA ended a ceasefire that had been in place since the coup, the military has surrendered Pauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Myay Pon and Taung Pyo townships in the state, as well as Paletwa township in neighboring Chin state.
But rights campaigners say the junta is drafting Rohingya into military service to stoke ethnic tensions in Rakhine state, while legal experts say the drive is unlawful, given that Myanmar has refused to recognize the Rohingya as one of the country’s ethnic groups and denied them citizenship for decades.
Some 1 million ethnic Rohingya refugees have been living in Bangladesh since 2017, when they were driven out of Myanmar by a military clearance operation. Another 630,000 living within the country are designated stateless by the United Nations, including those who languish in camps for internally displaced persons, or IDPs, and are restricted from moving freely in Rakhine state.
Residents of the Kyauk Ta Lone IDP camp in Rakhine’s Kyaukphyu township told RFA Burmese that junta forces, including the township administration officer and the operations commander of the military’s Light Infantry Battalion 542, took a census of the camp’s Muslims for the purpose of military service on Monday.
Junta personnel compiled a list of more than 160 people deemed eligible for conscription and informed them they would have to take part in a two-week military training program, according to one camp resident who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
“The township administration officer came … and told us that Muslims must also serve in the military, but we refused to follow his order,” the resident said. “Then, the military operations commander arrived here along with his soldiers, and forced us to do so under the military service law. They collected the names of more than 160 people.”
Freedom of movement
Some 1,500 Rohingyas from around 300 families have been living at Kyauk Ta Lone since ethnic violence forced them to flee their homes in Kyaukphyu 12 years ago.
Since taking the census on Monday, junta officers have repeatedly visited the camp, trying to persuade Rohingya residents to serve in the military with an offer of free movement within Kyaukphyu township, said another camp resident.
“They won’t guarantee us citizenship,” he said. “But if we serve in the military, we will be allowed to go freely in Kyaukphyu.”
Other camp residents told RFA they “would rather die” than serve in the military, and suggested the recruitment drive was part of a bid by the military to create a rift between them and ethnic Rakhines – the predominant minority in Rakhine state and the ethnicity of the AA.
No date was given for when the training program would begin, they said. After receiving training, the recruits would be assigned to a security detail along with junta troops guarding routes in and out of Kyaukphyu, and dispatched to the battlefield “if necessary.”
Rohingya IDPs are afraid to serve in the military, but are unable to flee the camp because it is surrounded by junta troops, residents added.
Other recruitment efforts
The military service census at the Kyauk Ta Lone IDP camp came as Rohingyas in the Rakhine capital Sittwe, the Rakhine townships of Buthidaung and Maungdaw, and other parts of Kyaukphyu reported that junta troops have been arresting and collecting data from members of their ethnic group as part of a bid to force them into military training.
On Monday and Tuesday evening, military personnel arrested around 100 Rohingyas of eligible service age from the Buthidaung villages of Nga/Kyin Tauk, Tat Chaung, Pu Zun Chaung and Kyauk Hpyu Taung, said a resident who also declined to be named.
“People doing business in the village were arrested. Village elders were also arrested,” said the resident, who is also a Rohingya. “At least one young person from every house was arrested and taken to the army. The parents of those who were arrested are quite worried now.”
Junta troops said that the AA had established camps near the Rohingya villages and residents would have to undergo military training to defend the area, he added. They said the residents would be equipped with weapons and returned to their villages after the training was complete.
Rohingyas in Sittwe and Maungdaw, where an AA offensive is now underway, also reported junta census efforts and pressure to join military training. They said that larger villages are expected to provide 100 people for training, while smaller ones should send 50 residents.
Law does not apply
A lawyer who is representing Rohingyas in several legal cases told RFA that the People’s Military Service Law “does not apply” to members of the ethnic group because they do not have citizenship status in Myanmar.
He added that the junta’s attempt to recruit Rohingyas is part of a bid to drive a wedge between them and the people of Myanmar, many of whom oppose the military regime.
Nay San Lwin, an activist on the Rohingya issue, said that the junta hopes to divert attention from its losses to the AA in Rakhine state by igniting tensions between ethnic Rakhines and Rohingyas.
“If the Rohingyas are forced into their army, there could be a lot of problems between the Rakhines and the Rohingyas,” he said. “That’s what they want. Once that happens, they’ll drop all support for the Rohingyas as usual. But the main reason is to use the Rohingyas as human shields.”
Nay San Lwin noted that as successive governments in Myanmar have denied the Rohingya citizenship, there should be no pressure to force them to serve in the military.
The junta has released no information on efforts to recruit Rohingyas in Rakhine state and attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Information Minister Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun and Rakhine State Attorney General Hla Thein, who is the junta’s spokesman in the region, went unanswered Thursday.
The AA issued a statement on Wednesday calling on ethnic Rakhines to take refuge from junta oppression – which it said includes unlawful arrests, extortion, forced military recruitment, and extrajudicial killings – in AA-controlled territory, instead of fleeing to other areas of the country.
Conscription eligibility
According to Myanmar’s compulsory military service law, men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 face up to five years in prison if they refuse to serve for two years, while highly skilled professionals aged 18-45 must also serve, but up to five years. More than 13 million of the country’s 54 million people are eligible for service.
Conscription is slated to be implemented at the end of April 2024, with a goal of recruiting up to 60,000 service members each year, in batches of around 5,000 people.
Translated by Aung Naing and Kalyar Lwin. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.
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.
Former Fiji prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama says the country’s intervention at the International Court of Justice over Israel’s occupation of Palestine betrays Fiji’s legacy as peacekeepers.
Fifty countries and three international organisations are calling for self-determination and an end to the Israeli military occupation which has lasted more than half a century.
Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka (left) condemned by former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama over Fiji’s stance on military occupation of Palestine . . . “with what credibility will we support the independence of territories like New Caledonia and French Polynesia?” Image: Vanguard/IDN
Bainimarama said Fiji’s stance “insults the intelligence of every Fijian”.
The former prime minister and military commander said that that position undid Fiji’s long-standing commitment to neutrality, peacekeeping, and the principles of self-determination and decolonisation.
“The coalition government’s claim that the occupation of foreign territory by Israel is legal — an argument not even advanced by Israel itself — reveals a disturbing truth that Fiji’s voice to the world is hostage to a demented few who are hellbent on destroying our national reputation,” he said in a statement today.
‘Contradicts our stance on independence’
“This action contradicts our firm stance on the rights to independence and statehood, rights we have championed for our Pacific brothers and for all colonial peoples.
He said Fiji has stood with Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati, and others in their pursuit of independence.
“We must ask ourselves: with what credibility will we support the independence of territories like New Caledonia and French Polynesia? We must not be selective in our support for statehood and independence.
“Our actions today will define our legacy and our ability to lead in the Pacific and beyond.
“The world should know that the vast majority of Fijians stand on the side of peace. That is our national character and that is the spirit in which we offer our service on the frontlines of conflict zones around the world.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
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.
European Union foreign ministers in Brussels provided strong public backing to the exiled widow of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, vowing additional sanctions against Moscow to hold it responsible for the death of her husband in a remote Arctic prison.
“The EU will spare no efforts to hold Russia’s political leadership and authorities to account, in close coordination with our partners; and impose further costs for their actions, including through sanctions,” the EU’s top diplomats said in a joint statement following their meeting with Yulia Navalnaya on February 19.
Navalnaya, who has become a vocal Kremlin critic in her own right over recent years, vowed to “continue our fight for our country” as she traveled to Brussels to seek backing from the 27-member bloc, whose leaders have expressed outrage over Navalny’s death in custody last week and Russian authorities’ refusal to allow his mother and lawyers to see his body.
“Three days ago, Vladimir Putin killed my husband, Aleksei Navalny,” Yulia Navalnaya said in a two-minute video post on X, formerly Twitter.
Navalnaya, who along with their two children lives abroad, was already in Munich for a major international security conference when reports emerged on February 16 that Navalny had died at a harsh Arctic prison known as Polar Wolf, where he was serving a 19-year sentence for alleged extremism that Navalny and Kremlin critics say was heaped atop other convictions to punish him for his anti-corruption and political activities.
“I will continue the work of Aleksei Navalny,” Navalnaya said. “Continue to fight for our country. And I invite you to stand beside me.”
She called for supporters to battle the Kremlin with “more fury than ever before” and said she longed to live in “a free Russia.”
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell emerged from that meeting expressing “the EU’s deepest condolences” and confidence that Russian President “Vladimir Putin & his regime will be held accountable for the death of [Aleksei Navalny].”
“As [Navalnaya] said, Putin is not Russia. Russia is not Putin,” Borrell said, adding that the bloc’s support is assured “to Russia’s civil society & independent media.”
An ally of Navalny, Ivan Zhdanov, said in a post on Telegram that an investigator had stated that tests on Navalny’s body will take 14 days to complete.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis insisted earlier that the EU must “at least” sharpen sanctions against Russia following Navalny’s death.
The EU has already passed 12 rounds of Russian sanctions and is working on a 13th with the two-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaching later this week, with member Germany pressing for more.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had said Berlin would propose new sanctions on Moscow at the meeting with Navalnaya, but the outcome remained unclear.
The German Foreign Office said it was summoning the Russian ambassador over Navalny’s death to “condemn this in the strongest possible terms and expressly call for the release of all those imprisoned in Russia for political reasons.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s office called separately for clarification on the circumstances and for Russian authorities to release Navalny’s body to the family.
The Kremlin — which for years avoided mention of Navalny by name — broke its official silence on February 19 by saying an investigation was ongoing and would be carried out according to Russian law. It said the question of when his body would be handed over was not for the Kremlin to decide.
It called Western outcry over the February 16 announcement of Navalny’s death “absolutely unacceptable.”
The Latvia-based Novaya Gazeta Europe said on February 18 that police were securing a local morgue in the Siberian city of Salekhard as speculation swirled around the location of the 47-year-old Navalny’s body and whether it showed signs of abuse.
Navalny is the latest on a significant list of Putin foes who have ended up dead under suspicious circumstances abroad or at home, where the Kremlin has clamped down ruthlessly on dissent and free speech since the Ukraine invasion began.
Political analyst Yekaterina Shulman told Current Time that Navalny “possessed incomparable moral capital” in Russia but also well beyond its borders.
“He possessed fame — all Russian and worldwide,” Shulman said. “He had moral authority [and] he had a long political biography. These are all things that cannot be handed down to anyone and cannot be acquired quickly.”
She cited Navalny’s crucial credibility and “political capital” built up through years of investigations of corruption, campaigning for elections, and organizing politically.
“Perhaps this apparent political assassination will become a rallying point not for the opposition — the opposition is people who run for office to acquire mandates [and] we are not in that situation — but for the anti-war community…inside Russia,” Shulman said.
Navalny’s family and close associates have confirmed his death in prison and have demanded his body be handed over, but authorities have refused to release it pending an investigation.
Mediazona and Novaya.gazeta Europe said Navalny’s body was being held at the district morgue in Salekhard, although officials reportedly told Navalny’s mother otherwise after she traveled to the remote prison on February 17 and was denied access.
A former spokeswoman for Navalny, Kira Yarmysh, claimed Navalny’s mother had been turned away again early on February 19.
Yarmysh tweeted that Russia’s federal Investigative Committee had told his mother and lawyers that “the investigation into Navalny’s death had been extended. How much longer she will go is unknown. The cause of death is still ‘undetermined.’”
“They lie, stall for time, and don’t even hide it,” she added.
The OVD-Info human rights group website showed more than 57,000 signatories demanding that the Investigative Committee return Navalny’s body to his family.
WATCH: Court documents examined by RFE/RL reveal that medical care was repeatedly denied to inmates at the prison where Aleksei Navalny was held. In one case, this resulted in the death of an inmate. The revelation comes amid questions over how Navalny died and as his body has still not been handed over to his family.
The group noted that a procedural review process could allow authorities to keep the body for at least 30 days, or longer if a criminal case was opened.
Since the announcement of his death on February 16, Russian police have cordoned off memorial sites where people were laying flowers and candles to honor Navalny, and dispersed and arrested more than 430 suspected violators in dozens of locations.
Closely watched by police, mourners on February 19 continued to leave flowers at tributes in Moscow to honor Navalny. Initial reports suggested police in the capital did not intervene in the latest actions.
The Western response has been to condemn Putin and his administration, with U.S. President Joe Biden saying there is “no doubt” that Putin is to blame for Navalny’s death.
The British and U.S. ambassadors laid tributes over the weekend at the Solovetsky Stone, a monument to repression that has emerged as a site to honor Navalny.
U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy said she was honoring “Navalny and other victims of political repression in Russia,” adding, “His strength is an inspiring example. We honor his memory.”
The French ambassador also visited one of the memorials.
A Fiji human rights advocacy coalition has condemned Fiji’s “profoundly troubling” stance as being one of only two countries supporting continued illegal occupation by Israel of the Palestinian territories.
The Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights (NGOCHR) said the occupation had been widely recognised by the international community — including the United Nations — as a “violation of international law” and an impediment to peace and self-determination of the Palestinian people”.
It called on Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s coalition government to withdraw support for Israel and back a “just and lasting peace in Palestine” in its oral submissions before the International Court of Justice hearings in The Hague next Monday.
Fiji is the only country apart, from the United States, backing Israel after its genocidal war against the Palestinians over the past four months. Fifty countries and three international organisations are supporting Palestine.
“By supporting the Israeli occupation, the Fijian government not only isolates itself from the international community but also from the very principles of justice and human dignity it purports to uphold,” said NGOCHR chair Shamima Ali.
“Such a position undermines Fiji’s reputation and casts a shadow over its commitment to the values enshrined in international law.
“The decision to support the genocidal, violent occupation raises serious questions about the processes and considerations behind Fiji’s foreign policy choices. It is imperative that the Fijian government demonstrates accountability and transparency in its decision-making.”
Transparency demanded The coalition demanded that Prime Minister Rabuka, a former military officer who led Fiji’s first two military coups in 1987 and who is also Foreign Minister, publicly reveals who had drafted the submissions on Fiji and why the country was taking such a position.
In a statement, the coalition said that NGOCHR “and our allies, as staunch advocates for human rights and justice, expresses its profound dismay and unequivocal condemnation of the Fijian government’s decision to submit a written statement in support of the Israeli genocidal occupation of Palestine, including East Jerusalem.”
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearings this week on Israel’s continued occupation of the Palestinian Territories. This case is separate from the South African case before the ICJ accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Image: Al Jazeera/Creative Commons
“This submission, made to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the context of hearings on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territor[ies], places Fiji alongside the United States as one of the only two countries endorsing such a stance.”
In September 2023, said the statement, the Israeli occupation, which had been enduring and marked by efforts to annex Palestinian land both legally and in practice, had been unequivocally deemed unlawful by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel.
In October 2023, the commission concluded that the permanence of the occupation and Israel’s annexation measures rendered it unlawful — a stance echoed by leading human rights organisations worldwide, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Fiji supporters protesting in solidarity with Palestine. Image: NGOCHR
“The global consensus on this matter, formed by UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 and the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and a host of international human rights NGOs, underscores the severity of the occupation’s impact on the Palestinian people,” Ali’s statement said.
“These reports detail egregious violations of human rights and international law, painting a stark picture of the suffering endured by countless individuals under the occupation.
Serious questions raised
“The decision to support the genocidal, violent occupation raises serious questions about the processes and considerations behind Fiji’s foreign policy choices.
“It is imperative that the Fijian government demonstrates accountability and transparency in its decision-making.
“The public has a right to understand how such positions, which significantly impact [on] Fiji’s standing on the global stage and its moral compass, are determined. We call upon the government to disclose the rationale and any consultations or analyses that led to this stance.
“This call for clarity is not just about ensuring governmental transparency; it’s about reaffirming Fiji’s dedication to principles that respect human dignity and international law.
“Without this openness, the trust between the Fijian people and their government risks being eroded, especially on matters of international significance that reflect on the entire nation.”
The coalition called on the Fiji government to reconsider its position and to align its international engagements with the “principles of human dignity, justice, and respect for international law”.
‘Advocate for justice, rights’
“We urge the Fijian government to demonstrate its commitment to human rights and justice by advocating for the rights of all people, including the Palestinian people, to live in peace, security, and dignity.
“We stand in solidarity with those advocating for peaceful resolution of conflicts and upholding human rights worldwide. The NGOCHR will continue to monitor this situation closely and support Fiji in adopting a foreign policy that reflects the values of its people and the principles of international law.”
The Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights represents the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC), Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM), Citizens Constitutional Forum (CCF), femLINKPacific, Social Empowerment and Education Programme (SEEP) and DIVA for Equality Fiji (DIVA).
The Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) is also an observer (PANG).
