Nikki Haley saw the biggest bounce of any Republican candidate following the recent debate, and now that people are starting to take her seriously, questions about her massive, sudden wealth are being asked – and Haley isn’t going to like what we find out. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party […]
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This content originally appeared on The Grayzone and was authored by The Grayzone.
America’s Lawyer E66: Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell is suffering from a serious health problem, but his aides – and even the Capitol Physician – are refusing to acknowledge that there’s a problem. Crime has become so bad in parts of California that a city councilman was recently robbed while he was talking to reporters about […]
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Get a behind-the-scenes look at the investigation in an Instagram Live conversation on September 12. Follow us at @propublica for updates.
Here are eight takeaways from ProPublica’s report on the Navy’s littoral combat ship program, which has cost taxpayers billions but failed to deliver on its promise.
1. Navy officials vastly underestimated the costs to build the ship in estimates provided to Congress. The original price tag more than doubled.
Contractors were supposed to build the ships fast, in large numbers and at an original cost of $220 million each — cheap for a Navy vessel. The ships were based in part on designs for commercial car or passenger ferries. As the Navy began to apply tougher standards, costs soared.
2. The ships were supposed to be equipped with interchangeable weapons systems to allow them to fight, hunt submarines and detect mines. The Navy failed to make this happen.
Former officers said that the Navy’s haste to deliver the ships took precedence over the vessels’ combat abilities. After spending hundreds of millions, the Navy abandoned its plan to outfit the ships to find and destroy submarines; the system to hunt undersea mines is still under development. Without functioning weapons systems, one former officer said, the ship was only a “box floating in the ocean.” In response to questions, the Navy acknowledged the LCS was not suitable for fighting peer competitors such as China. The LCS “does not provide the lethality or survivability needed in a high-end fight.”
3. Scores of sailors and officers spent more time trying to fix the ships than sailing them.
Because the crews were so small, only the most elite officers and sailors were meant to sail the ships. But breakdowns meant that the ships often spent more time in port than at sea. Some sailors sought mental health assistance because of the challenges. The LCS program became known as a place where naval careers went to die. Over time, the Navy increased crew sizes on the LCS.
4. The Navy relied so heavily on contractors for maintenance and repair that sailors and officers were unable to fix their own ships.
Sailors and officers were not allowed to touch certain pieces of equipment because of complicated arrangements with Navy contractors. Cumbersome negotiations meant it could sometimes take weeks to get contractors on board. “An average week would consist of 90 to 100 hours in port doing, honestly, nothing,” one former officer said of his time. The Navy has recently increased the amount of maintenance performed by sailors.
5. A string of high-profile breakdowns at sea beginning in late 2015 laid bare the limits of the ships and their crews.
In late 2015, the USS Milwaukee broke down en route to its home port, the equivalent of a brand new car stalling on its way out of the dealership. In January 2016, the USS Fort Worth broke down when a crew of exhausted sailors failed to execute a routine procedure, costing the Navy millions in repairs. Months later, the USS Freedom saw its engine destroyed by a seawater leak. Then the USS Coronado had trouble with its water jets, followed by the USS Montgomery, which collided with a tugboat, then cracked its hull after striking a lock in the Panama Canal. Each incident added fresh embarrassment to a program meant to propel the Navy into a more technologically advanced future.
6. Top Navy commanders pressured subordinates to sail even when the crews and ships were not fully prepared to go to sea.
On the Freedom, sailors and officers understood that they had a “no fail mission” with “‘no appetite’ to remain in port.” Even though one engine was contaminated, the ship’s commander took it to sea. Afterward, the ship needed repairs that took two years to complete and cost millions. On the Fort Worth, one sailor complained that there was “no break, no reprieve, just increasing daily tasking.”
7. One Navy secretary and his allies in Congress fought to build more of the ships even as they broke down at sea and their weapons systems failed. The Navy wound up with more ships than it wanted, at an estimated lifetime cost of $100 billion.
Time and again, senior officers voiced their concerns about the ineffectiveness of the ships, yet members of Congress, the Pentagon and Navy leaders advocated for them anyway. In some cases, officers assigned to review the ships’ performance saw their careers derailed after sharing their unvarnished, critical findings.
Former Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the Navy took the breakdowns seriously, “but it did not seem, from what we were looking at, that it was a systemic problem.”
8. Lawmakers with shipyards in their districts played a key role in expanding the program and protecting it from scrutiny.
When the Navy decided to issue contracts to build 20 littoral combat ships in two states in 2010, it encountered stiff resistance from the then-ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain, a Republican. But Sen. Richard Shelby, a Republican representing Alabama, where some of the ships were being built, slipped in an amendment that would allow the Navy to do so in a last-minute budget bill. “He made sure it happened,” a Shelby spokesman said at the time. Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, who was initially skeptical of the ships, supported the proposal. He said the plan to build 10 vessels at a shipyard in neighboring Wisconsin would provide “a major boost for the region’s economy.” Even after the Navy finally determined that it only needed 32 of the ships, Congress managed to fund three more.
Kristen Berg, Mollie Simon and Joshua Kaplan contributed research.
This post was originally published on Articles and Investigations – ProPublica.
The families of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks have written a letter to President Biden, urging him to make good on his promise to release information to the public about Saudi Arabia’s role in the attacks. These people want closure, and the only way to get that is for the government to finally […]
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This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.
An Australian advocacy group in support of West Papuan self-determination has criticised the Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders for failing to grant West Papua full membership in the organisation at last week’s summit in Port Vila.
While praising Vanuatu Minister for Climate Change Adaptation Ralph Regenvanu for his public stance in support of the West Papuans, Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) spokesperson Joe Collins said that “every West Papuan and their supporters also feel let down by the MSG leaders”.
Collins, who was in Port Vila for the coinciding second West Papuan leaders summit, said in a statement: ”Over the last few months in West Papua, the grassroots have taken to the streets calling on the MSG to grant full membership to the ULMWP (United Liberation Movement for West Papua) at the MSG.
“Many were arrested, beaten, tortured and jailed as they rallied peaceful in calling on the MSG to support them.
“It is tragic that the MSG did not respond to their call. Do the MSG leaders not read the reports of the ongoing human rights abuses in West Papua?”
Collins cited a video and human rights report about attacks on villages around Kiwirok in West Papua and the aftermath exposing Indonesian military brutality as recent examples.
“Surely with all the aid flowing to the Pacific countries it’s not simply a case of ‘follow the Money?’, Collins said.
Humanitarian aid
He referred to an article in the Vanuatu Daily Post which reported: “A top Vanuatu government official allegedly travelled to Jakarta to negotiate a reported VT300 million to fund the VIP Lounge of Port Vila International Airport and fund humanitarian aid.
“The ground breaking ceremony happened recently.”
Collins said that when the Indonesian delegation walked out of the MSG summit as ULMWP leader Benny Wenda prepared to speak, “it was not only an insult to West Papua but to the MSG leaders as well.”
“The leaders should have granted full membership to the ULMWP [in response to] that outrageous act alone,” Collins added.
“If the MSG leaders failed West Papua, the people of the Pacific, and Vanuatu in particular, do not.
“Just spending a few days in Port Vila, one can see the support for West Papua everywhere. The West Papuan flag flying free, and stickers, in taxis and on walls.”
The West Papuan representatives at their own summit also “showed a determined people committed to their freedom”.
The West Papuan summit was addressed by Regenvanu and a former Vanuatu prime minister, Barak Sope.
By Anish Chand in Lautoka
The biggest danger to Fiji’s security and stability remains the possibility of another coup “when the circumstances are right”, warns a leading Fiji academic.
University of Canterbury’s Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies director Professor Steven Ratuva said this while speaking at the recent National Federation Party’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Rakiraki.
“Elections don’t solve problems — in fact in the case of Fiji, coups start after an election,” he said.
“So elections is a means to achieving towards something. In the last few weeks we have heard rumours about coups.
“What is this thing about rumours and coups in Fiji?
“It has developed a particular consciousness where it has been seen as a potential alternative to political change.
“In the case of Fiji, because of that consciousness that is built in us, which has been there and has been deep, that whenever there is an election, people just start feeling the consciousness of the potential for a coup to happen.
“How can we talk about the consciousness of coups and the way we see coups as something that we still see, it’s there, lurking around.
“The effects may linger and when the circumstances are right, they might come out again and that is one of the biggest dangers in terms of Fiji’s security and stability in the country.”
Anish Chand is a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.
By Theophiles Singh in Port Moresby
Police Commissioner David Manning has warned Papua New Guinea’s security force staff and partners not to let their guard down as hostilities remain simmering in the Highlands with a risk of violent confrontations.
He said that a stronger approach was needed by the security forces against troublemakers, and increased engagement between stakeholders was yielding results.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations Phillip Mitna has announced that more than 200 security personnel will be deployed with two armoured vehicles to curb a recent spike of killings and tribal fighting in Enga province.
The deployment will consist of more than 120 PNG Defence Force soldiers who are already on the ground, with an additional two Mobile Squad units who are on standby to be deployed soon.
Deputy Commissioner Mitna also announced that the Police Commissioner had given the green light to establish a Special Police Unit, similar to the Airborne Tactical Unit (ATU), which would be dedicated solely towards dealing with domestic terrorism in the country.
“The commissioner has announced the formation of the Kumul 23 Police tactical unit, but further details will be revealed later on,” he said.
“They will report directly to the Commissioner of Police.
Rapid deployment unit
“This will be a rapid deployment unit, tasked to respond to violent crimes like domestic terrorism and domestic threats,” he said.
“The unit will be spearheaded by the Police but we will have support from the Defence Force as well. “We hope to increase its numbers as high as 1000 personnel.”
He said multiple search warrants had also been issued to apprehend several hired gunmen and their accomplices.
This included sponsors and connections who were supplying arms and funding tribal warfare in the province.
“Search warrants have been issued, some have been executed and some are yet to be executed.
“We are taking a proactive and reactive approach to the situation,” he said.
“We have information on several leaders ‘in general’ being involved and are currently working on issuing search warrants.
Pending approval
“Some of these warrants are pending approval from the court magistrates.”
Deputy Commissioner Mitna said the police would not stop until these instigators of violence faced justice.
He explained that drastic measures had been taken to promptly and safely ensure law and order was returned to normal as the Lagaip Open byelection was approaching.
The priority areas include Wapenamanda, Lagaip and Porgera.
“As part of our proactive strategy, we will be deploying Engan-based senior Police officers from NCD back to the province so that they can talk to their own people,” Deputy Commissioner Mitna said.
But this approach needed the support of the wider community, including business houses, church groups and community leaders who would provide additional support to settle the situation.
Intel officers
“Our reactive approach will include our intel officers, who will move on the ground to conduct investigations into identifying those involved to arrest and prosecute them,” he said.
He said the public was advised not to believe everything that had been spread on social media because most of what was shared online was false and inaccurate.
“We have both Wapenamanda and Pogera contained, but we have isolated cases of particularly several hired gunmen being killed,” Deputy Commissioner Mitna said.
“Other than that, we are stepping up operations and the entire area is currently under our microscope,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Mitna said that rival factions were using “hit and run” and “guerrilla type” warfare, obstructing police from identifying and arresting perpetrators.
Theophiles Singh is a PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.
POLITICAL BYTES: By Ian Powell
There is a reported apparent rift within cabinet between Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Defence Minister Andrew Little over Aotearoa New Zealand’s position in the widening conflict between the United States and China.
While at its core it is over relative economic power, the conflict is manifested by China’s increased presence in the Pacific Ocean, including military, and over Taiwan. Both countries have long Pacific coastlines.
However, the United States has a far greater and longstanding economic and military presence (including nuclear weapons in South Korea) in the Pacific.
Despite this disparity, the focus is on China as being the threat. Minister Mahuta supports continuing the longstanding more independent position of successive Labour and National-led governments.
This goes back to the adoption of the nuclear-free policy and consequential ending of New Zealand’s military alliance with the United States in the mid-1980s.
On the other hand, Minister Little’s public utterances veer towards a gradual shift away from this independent position and towards a stronger military alignment with the United States.
This is not a conflict between socialist and capitalist countries. For various reasons I struggle with the suggestion that China is a socialist nation in spite of the fact that it (and others) say it is and that it is governed by a party calling itself communist. But that is a debate for another occasion.
Core and peripheral countries
This conflict is often seen as between the two strongest global economic powers. However, it is not as simple as that.
Whereas the United States is an imperialist country, China is not. I have discussed this previously in Political Bytes (31 January 2022): Behind the ‘war’ against China.
In coming to this conclusion I drew upon work by Minqi Li, professor of economics at the University of Utah, who focussed on whether China is an imperialist country or not.
He is not soft on China, acknowledging that it ” . . . has developed an exploitative relationship with South Asia, Africa, and other raw material exporters”.
But his concern is to make an objective assessment of China’s global economic power. He does this by distinguishing between core, semi-periphery, and periphery countries:
“The ‘core countries’ specialise in quasi-monopolistic, high-profit production processes. This leaves ‘peripheral countries’ to specialise in highly competitive, low-profit production processes.”
This results in an “…unequal exchange and concentration of world wealth in the core.”
Minqi Li describes China’s economy as:
“. . . the world’s largest when measured by purchasing power parity. Its rapid expansion is reshapes the global geopolitical map leading western mainstream media to begin defining China as a new imperialist power.”
Consequently he concludes that China is placed as a semi-peripheral county which predominately takes “. . . surplus value from developed economies and giving it to developing economies.”
In my January 2022 blog, I concluded that:
“Where does this leave the ‘core countries’, predominately in North America and Europe? They don’t want to wind back capitalism in China. They want to constrain it to ensure that while it continues to be an attractive market for them, China does not destablise them by progressing to a ‘core country’.”
Why the widening conflict now?
Nevertheless, while neither socialist nor imperialist, China does see the state playing a much greater role in the country’s economy, including increasing its international influence. This may well explain at least some of its success.
So why the widening conflict now? Why did it not occur between the late 1970s, when China opened up to market forces, and in the 1990s and 2000s as its world economic power increased? Marxist economist and blogger Michael Roberts has provided an interesting insight: The ‘New Washington Consensus’.
Roberts describes what became known as the “Washington Consensus” in the 1990s. It was a set of economic policy prescriptions considered to constitute the “standard” reform package promoted for economically struggling developing countries.
The name is because these prescriptions were developed by Washington DC-based institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the United States Treasury.
The prescriptions were based on so-called free market policies such as trade and finance liberalisation and privatisation of state assets. They also entailed fiscal and monetary policies intended to minimise fiscal deficits and public spending.
But now, with the rise of China as a rival economic global power globally and the failure of the neoliberal economic model to deliver economic growth and reduce inequality among nations and within nations, the world has changed.
What World Bank data reveals
Roberts draws upon World Bank data to highlight the striking nature of this global change. He uses a “Shares in World Economy” table based on percentages of gross domestic production from 1980 to 2020.
Whereas the United States was largely unchanged (25.2 percent to 24.7 percent), over the same 40 years, China leapt from 1.7 percent to 17.3 percent. China’s growth is extraordinary. But the data also provides further insights.
Economic blocs are also compared. The G7 countries declined from 62.5 percent to 47.2 percent while the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also fell — from 78 percent to 61.7 percent.
Interestingly while experiencing a minor decline, the United States increased its share within these two blocs — from 40.3 percent to 52.3 percent in G7 and from 32.3 percent to 40 percent in OECD. This suggests that while both the G7 and OECD have seen their economic power decline, the power of the United States has increased within the blocs.
Roberts use of this data also makes another pertinent observation. Rather than a bloc there is a grouping of “developing nations” which includes China. Over the 40 year period its percentage increased from 21.5 percent to 36.4 percent.
But when China is excluded from the data there is a small decline from 19.9 percent to 19.1 percent. In other words, the sizeable percentage of growth of developing countries is solely due to China, the other developing countries have had a small fall.
In this context Roberts describes a “New Washington Consensus” aimed at sustaining the “. . . hegemony of US capital and its junior allies with a new approach”.
In his words:
“But what is this new consensus? Free trade and capital flows and no government intervention is to be replaced with an ‘industrial strategy’ where governments intervene to subsidise and tax capitalist companies so that national objectives are met.
“There will be more trade and capital controls, more public investment and more taxation of the rich. Underneath these themes is that, in 2020s and beyond, it will be every nation for itself — no global pacts, but regional and bilateral agreements; no free movement, but nationally controlled capital and labour.
“And around that, new military alliances to impose this new consensus.”
Understanding BRICS
This is the context that makes the widening hostility of the United States towards China highly relevant. There is now an emerging potential counterweight of “developing countries” to the United States’ overlapping hegemons of G7 and the OECD.
This is BRICS. Each letter is from the first in the names of its current (and founding) members — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Around 40 countries have expressed interest in joining this new trade bloc.
These countries broadly correspond with the semi-periphery countries of Minqi Li and the developing countries of Roberts. Predominantly they are from Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Central and South America.
Geoffrey Miller of the Democracy Project has recently published (August 21) an interesting column discussing whether New Zealand should develop a relationship with BRICS: Should New Zealand build bridges with BRICS?
Journalist Julian Borger, writing for The Guardian (August 22), highlights the significant commonalities and differences of the BRICS nations at its recent trade summit: Critical BRICS trade summit in South Africa.
Al Jazeera (August 24)has updated the trade summit with the decision to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to join BRICS next January: The significance of BRICS adding six new members .
Which way New Zealand?
This is the context in which the apparent rift between Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Defence Minister Andrew Little should be seen.
It is to be hoped that that whatever government comes into office after October’s election, it does not allow the widening conflict between the United States and China to water down Aotearoa’s independent position.
The dynamics of the G7/OECD and BRICS relationship are ongoing and uncertainty characterises how they might play out. It may mean a gradual changing of domination or equalisation of economic power.
After all, the longstanding British Empire was replaced by a different kind of United States empire. It is also possible that the existing United States hegemony continues albeit weakened.
Regardless, it is important politically and economically for New Zealand to have trading relations with both G7 and developing countries (including the expanding BRICS).
Ian Powell is a progressive health, labour market and political “no-frills” forensic commentator in New Zealand. A former senior doctors union leader for more than 30 years, he blogs at Second Opinion and Political Bytes, where this article was first published. Republished with the author’s permission.
Five Papua New Guinean prisoners have been shot dead in Buiebi, Imbongu, Southern Highlands, after taking a pastor and duty warder hostage yesterday.
And while the guards were trying to figure out a way to rescue the hostages, a further 10 prisoners in Barawagi Prison, Chimbu, also escaped.
Correctional Services Commissioner Stephen Pokanis confirmed both breakouts saying they were trying to put together information about the incidents.
At Buiebi, between noon and 1pm “about 49 prisoners made a run for the main gate and took with them a pastor and duty warder as hostages,” said Commissioner Pokanis.
“Forty four managed to escape while five were shot dead.
“The prisoners held a pastor and duty warder and escaped through the main gate.”
Commissioner Pokanis said: “Police and the PNG Defence Force are working together with the Correctional Services officers to look for the escapees.
Second lunchtime escape
“I can also confirm that the second escape of 10 men at Barawagi Correctional Institution was at lunch time too. Seven were recaptured while 3 were still on the run,” he added.
These are the third and fourth prisoner breakouts in PNG this year after earlier breakouts in West New Britain and Western Highlands.
On April 23, at Lakiemata prison in West New Britain, about 16 prisoners were shot dead with investigations still ongoing.
At Baisu, Western Highlands, 27 prisoners are still on the run with two caught.
“We will ensure these prisoners are caught and brought back to the prisons,” Commissioner Pokanis said.
Republished with permission.
This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.
As President Joe Biden announces major reforms to how the military prosecutes sexual assault, the U.S. Navy is still shrouding those court proceedings in secrecy and fighting a ProPublica lawsuit to make such cases public. Last month, Biden issued an executive order that finalized a mandate from Congress to drastically change who had authority over sexual assault and murder cases in the military.
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
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As President Joe Biden announces major reforms to how the military prosecutes sexual assault, the U.S. Navy is still shrouding those court proceedings in secrecy and fighting a ProPublica lawsuit to make such cases public.
Last month, Biden issued an executive order that finalized a mandate from Congress to drastically change who had authority over sexual assault and murder cases in the military. The order strips military commanders of the power to press charges or drop a case. Instead, a special military prosecutor will make the decision.
The administration, calling it the most significant change to the military’s justice system in more than 70 years, said that in part the changes would “better protect victims and promote fairness before, during and after court-martial proceedings.”
Yet, the Navy’s policy is to withhold court records from the public throughout most, if not all, of those proceedings, preventing independent scrutiny into how sexual assault cases are prosecuted. What happens in the crucial period before a court-martial is never made public by the Navy. The public doesn’t even know if a sailor or Marine has been charged with a crime unless the case goes to trial. The Navy provides no notice of when the service is holding an Article 32 hearing, which determines if there’s enough evidence for trial. And the related pretrial records are concealed permanently.
That critical preliminary stage of a case is precisely what prompted the change to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. In the prior system, a service member’s commander had the discretion to decide whether claims of assault deserved legal action. As reports of sexual assault in the military grew, a bipartisan group of lawmakers criticized the military’s low prosecution rate, placing the blame squarely on commanders. Advocates said commanders were too willing to dismiss allegations.
Under the Navy’s records policy, the public won’t be able to discern if the new special prosecutors are handling cases any differently.
ProPublica sued the Navy last year for refusing to release court records in a high-profile arson case. In 2020, the USS Bonhomme Richard, a $1 billion amphibious assault ship, burned for more than four days and was destroyed. A ProPublica investigation showed the Navy prosecuted a sailor with scant evidence and ignored a judge’s recommendation to drop the case.
Seaman Recruit Ryan Mays was found not guilty at his court-martial. ProPublica’s lawsuit was successful in getting the Navy to release hundreds of pages of court-martial documents in the Mays case.
The ongoing lawsuit in the Mays case is currently challenging the Navy’s overall policy to keep most records and pretrial hearings secret. Congress has repeatedly made clear that the armed services must comply with the principle of public access to courts “and provide greater transparency, but the Navy has refused to do so,” ProPublica’s lawsuit states.
The Navy said it is in the process of updating its records rules and has asked the court to partially dismiss ProPublica’s lawsuit. ProPublica opposed that motion in July.
However, the new rules will be based on Pentagon guidance released this year, which endorsed most of the Navy’s current policies. In January, Caroline Krass, general counsel for the Defense Department, issued guidance to officials from the six military branches about a 2016 law that required transparency.
The guidance tells the services they do not have to make any records public until after a trial ends. It gives the military the discretion to suppress key trial information, such as transcripts and exhibits. And in cases where the defendant is found not guilty, the military services will be allowed to keep the entire record secret permanently, preventing any review of how those cases are handled.
ProPublica’s lawsuit challenges the legality of the guidance.
“Congress mandated transparency from our military to make certain that crimes like sexual assault don’t fester in secrecy as they have for years. But the Navy rejected this law,” Sarah Matthews, ProPublica’s deputy general counsel, said. “It keeps even heinous criminal accusations under wraps except in the rarest of circumstances, something that the law, and the First Amendment, cannot tolerate.”
Since the Pentagon guidance has been released, ProPublica has requested court documents from the Navy in 70 active sexual assault cases, including ones involving rape and sexual assault of a child, as well as three homicides. ProPublica also requested records for active sexual assault cases not listed on the public docket but received none. The Navy told ProPublica in March the requests were being considered in light of the new guidance. Little seems to have changed.
Of the sexual assault cases, ProPublica has received limited records from just 14 — and only after they were closed. The Navy released limited records in two of the homicide cases. The Navy will not release court transcripts, exhibits or any pretrial records. In federal and state courts, those records are almost always public except in narrow circumstances.
Throughout the lawsuit, and as recently as April, the Navy has cited the federal Privacy Act as a reason the service can’t release court records to ProPublica. Yet, in 2021, the Pentagon issued a public notice saying that due to Congress’ mandate for transparency, the Privacy Act did not prevent the disclosure of military court records.
This led the staff of the Military Justice Review Panel, an independent body created by Congress, to conclude in a research paper that the rules are “inconsistent with the disclosure requirements of the law.”
The court has not yet ruled on the Navy’s motion to dismiss ProPublica’s suit. The service said its new rules will be issued by Sept. 14.
This post was originally published on Articles and Investigations – ProPublica.
PNG Post-Courier
Papua New Guineans engaged in tribal fights will face life imprisonment once Parliament has its way with the amendment of the Tribal Fights Act in October.
And the PNG government is looking at amending laws to also give police additional powers and immunity under special operations to protect the lives of policemen and women.
The “restlessness” in Enga over the last couple of days has been labelled as “domestic terrorism”, which the security forces will be addressing under the special police unit and force that has been instructed to be set up.
Prime Minister James Marape enroute to Wabag, Enga Province and then onto Port Vila, Vanuatu, fpor the Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders’ summit yesterday said the October Parliament Session would deal with amending the Tribal Fights Act to stop these “horrific fights” throughout the country.
Under he PNG Constitution there is an Inter-group Fighting Act 1977 with a purpose to discourage fighting between groups of Papua New Guineans by providing for:
Severe penalties
The Tribal Fights Act, now under a policy directive to be enacted, will be severe and is expected to deal specifically with life imprisonment among other punishments.
“Next October when we go to Parliament, we will be amending the Tribal Fights Act,” Marape said.
“Those who start tribal fights will be receiving life imprisonment, not just for Enga but right across the country.
“We don’t want people to get engaged in tribal fights, those who cause tribal fights we will give them life imprisonment and that is the policy direction my government has given with the necessary legal change happening and being drafted as we speak.
“For now, police have been instructed to look into stepping up their operations.”
Police Commissioner David Manning had put in place an operational order and re-structure to enable the military and police to cooperate — “we try to get a specific command, a high-ranking police officer,” Marape said.
“I will be stepping into Wabag today and will address our people out there . . . and will be appealing to the people out there.
It was not the entire Enga Province involved, it was about four tribal fights based on police intelligence.
“We know who the ring leaders of the tribal fights are,” Marape said.
“In respect to restlessness in our country we are labelling this restlessness as domestic terrorism and so a special police unit being organised will go in full power to specific hotspot areas.”
Republished with permission.
A chilling new report by a German-based human rights watchdog has exposed indiscriminate attacks by Indonesian security forces on indigenous West Papuan villages, highlighting an urgent need for international action.
The 49-page report, “Destroy Them First . . . Discuss Human Rights Later”, is an investigation of the Indonesian forces in the remote Kiwirok area in Pegungan Bintang Regency in the Papuan highlands.
Satellite imagery and on the ground analysis by researchers shows the destruction of eight villages in 2021 and 2022 — Mangoldogi, Pelebib, Kiwi, Oknanggul, Delmatahu, Spamikma, Delpem and Lolim.
A total of 206 buildings, including residential homes, churches and public building buildings have been destroyed in the raids, forcing more than 2000 Ngalum villagers to seek refuge as internally displaced people (IDPs) in the surrounding forest in destitute circumstances.
In a statement, the Human Rights Monitor said the report — released today — provided a “meticulous and scientific analysis” of the Indonesian forces’ attacks on the villages.
“This report sheds light on the gravity and extent of violations in the Kiwirok region and measures them against international law,” the statement added.
Eliot Higgins, director at Bellingcat, a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group specialising in fact-checking and open-source intelligence, said: “This in-depth report provides evidence of security force raids carried out in the Kiwirok District, impacting on both indigenous villages and public properties.
‘Harrowing picture’
“It paints a harrowing picture of more than 2000 villagers displaced and forced to live in subhuman conditions, without access to food, healthcare services, or education.
“The main findings of this report include instances of violence deliberately perpetrated
against indigenous Papuan civilians by security forces, leading to loss of life and forced
displacement which meet the Rome Statute definition of crimes against humanity.”
The report says that the armed conflict in West Papua has become “significantly aggravated since December 2018, as TPNPB [West Papua National Liberation Army] members killed at least 19 road workers in the Nduga Regency.
“That incident marks the re-escalation of the armed conflict in West Papua. The conflict statistics show a continuous increase in violence over the past three years, reaching a new peak in 2022. The number of civilian fatalities related to the conflict rose from 28 in 2021 to 43 in 2022,” added the report.
Usman Hamid, Amnesty International’s Indonesia director said: “Impunity for violence by the security forces is a major concern from both a human rights and a conflict perspective.
“This report provides the necessary information for the National Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM, to take up the case.
“Without accountability for the perpetrators, the chances of a lasting solution to the conflict in Papua are slim,” he added.
‘Hidden crisis’
Peter Prove, director for international affairs at the World Council of Churches, said:
“The World Council of Churches has been monitoring the conflict in West Papua — and its
humanitarian, human rights and environmental impacts — for many years.
“But it remains a hidden crisis, largely forgotten by the international community — a situation that suits the Indonesian government very well. This report helps shine a small but telling beam of light on one specific part of the conflict, but from which a larger picture can be extrapolated.
“Indonesia — which is currently campaigning for election to the UN Human Rights Council — must provide more access and transparency on the situation in the region, and the
international community must respond appropriately to the increasing gravity of the crisis.”
Disturbing revelations in this new Human Rights Monitor report on the bombing of indigenous villages in Kiwirok, West Papua. The world must stand united against such atrocities. Read the full report here: https://t.co/5ySOZt7T2R
#HumanRights #CrimesAgainstHumanity pic.twitter.com/QxIWmPK4C8
— Human Rights Monitor (@hurimonitor) August 16, 2023
In light of the findings, Human Rights Monitor has called on the international community,
governments, and relevant stakeholders to:
Human Rights Monitor is an independent, international non-profit project promoting
human rights through documentation and advocacy. HRM is based in the European Union
and active since 2022.
Focused on West Papua, HRM states: “We document violations; research institutional, social and political contexts that affect rights protection and peace; and share the conclusions of evidence-based monitoring work.”
This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.
Papua New Guinea police officers have been issued with a Commissioner’s Circular on the approved use of force in the execution of their duties to protect lives from domestic terrorist and other criminal activities.
With the escalation of violence in the Highlands and other parts of PNG, Police Commissioner David Manning said officers must be clear on the extent of their powers.
And criminals needed to be warned of likely outcomes if they used weapons.
“Today, I issued a Commissioner’s Circular on the use of force against criminals to reinforce the lawful authority of police personnel,” he said.
“This is not a circular issue I issue lightly, but it is necessary and done so with the full support of the government in order to quell violence, particularly in the Highlands region.
“I have directed RPNGC personnel to be prepared to deploy lethal force where this is required and reasonable commanders are instructed to incorporate this directive into respective operational orders,” Manning said.
He said as part of this, RPNGC members were reminded when using force and lethal force to act in good faith and sound judgment in accordance with PNG’s laws.
Commissioner Manning said reports of criminals armed with weapons terrorising people — particularly in Enga Province — would not be tolerated.
“Police and PNGDF personnel are responding to criminal elements that commit violent acts on law-abiding and vulnerable communities.”
The Commissioner’s Circular issued today provides clear direction as to when and how lethal force is applied.
In simple terms, if a person was brandishing a gun, an explosive device, or other weapons, — such as a bush knife or catapult — force would be escalated to protect the public and police.
Domestic terrorists and other criminals had now been given more than fair warning, and they could expect no tolerance by security forces responding to crimes.
Last week, two gang leaders in East New Britain felt the full force of the law when they confronted police with firearms. Both gang leaders were killed and their associates arrested.
Republished with permission.
At least 20 people were wounded when police used batons, water cannon and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who joined rallies in Indonesia’s West Papua region on the 61st anniversary of an agreement that made the territory part of Indonesia, news agencies report.
The US-brokered 1962 New York Agreement allowed Indonesia to annex the Christian-majority region after the end of Dutch colonial rule, according to a report in the UCA News.
Riot police attacked peaceful demonstrators in three locations near the provincial capital Jayapura yesterday, alleged Emmanuel Gobay, a Catholic and an official of the Papua Legal Aid Institute.
The demonstrators called on the international community to review the agreement and take action to end ongoing violence and repression in the region, said the report.
“In fact, they only held peaceful demonstrations,” said Gobay, who joined one of the rallies.
He stated that more than 20 people were beaten, with one of them later being treated in hospital.
“One person was seriously injured and was immediately transported to the hospital for treatment,” he said.
Listening to speeches
Videos and photos obtained by UCA News showed police attacked with water canons and fired tear gas while people were listening to speeches from leaders of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), the protest organiser.
Gobay said that although the authorities viewed the KNPB as a “separatist — pro-independence — group “they should have the right to express their opinion” as guaranteed in the nation’s constitution.
“Moreover, they submitted an official letter notifying police about the programme beforehand,” he added.
He condemned the use of water cannon and tear gas on demonstrators.
These should only be for anarchic demonstrations — “not peaceful demonstrations,” he said.
Gobay alleged that police committed criminal offences by torturing and beating protesters, and called on the Papuan police chief to immediately prosecute the perpetrators so that there was a deterrent effect, said the UCA News report.
Father Bernard Baru from the Jayapura Diocese’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission said that this repressive action was a repetition of the discriminatory treatment of Papuans by the state.
Brutal police action ‘normal’
“In Papua, police actions like this are considered normal. This only deepens discrimination against Papuans,” he said.
Police officials were not available for comment.
KNPB spokesman Ones Sahuniap issued a statement to condemn the police brutality and claimed those who were beaten suffered serious head injuries and bled profusely.
Suhuniap said the police used rattan and batons to beat and break up the demonstration.
The KNPB simultaneously held demonstrations in Papua and in other parts of Indonesia, asking the United Nations to review the 1962 New York Agreement.
During the rallies, KNPB leaders called the New York Agreement “a violation of human rights of Papuans” sponsored by Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United States and the United Nations.
Not party to agreement
As per the agreement, later added to the agenda of UN General Assembly, the Netherlands agreed to transfer the control of West Papua New Guinea to Indonesia, pending an UN-administered referendum.
The Papuans were not party to the agreement and it paved the way for the 1969 Act of Free Choice, an independence referendum favoring Indonesian rule in Papua whuch was largely regarded as a sham.
Indonesia’s annexation of Papua and use to force to crush dissent sparked an armed pto-indeoendence movement.
Thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced due to the conflict in the easternmost region in the past decades.
Junta troops killed four civilians in a raid on a village in Sagaing region’s Myinmu township, residents told RFA Tuesday.
More than 40 soldiers took part in Monday’s raid on Ywar Thar Lay, burning down three of the village’s 50 homes.
A resident, who didn’t want to be named for security reasons, told RFA a 30-year old man and three men in their 40s were shot dead by the troops.
“They had crossed the Ayeyarwady river to escape the fighting,” the local said.
“Four displaced people were killed and two were injured when the junta troops in Myinmu township raided Ywar Thar Lay village where those people were staying.”
Locals said the column has now left the village but junta raids continue on the other side of the river in Mandalay region.
On August 5, troops killed a 60-year-old man in Yae Lel Thaung, sending villagers fleeing across the Ayeyarwady, thinking it was safer in Myinmu township.
The junta hasn’t released a statement on the fighting.
RFA called the junta spokesperson for Sagaing region, Saw Naing and the spokesperson for Mandalay region, Thein Htay, but they did not answer.
Nearly 4,000 civilians have been killed by the junta since it seized power in a February 2021 coup according to independent monitoring group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.
ANALYSIS: By Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato
The release of the threat assessment by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) this week is the final piece in a defence and security puzzle that marks a genuine shift towards more open and public discussion of these crucial policy areas.
Together with July’s strategic foreign policy assessment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the national security strategy released last week, it rounds out the picture of New Zealand’s place in a fast-evolving geopolitical landscape.
From increased strategic competition between countries, to declining social trust within them, as well as rapid technological change, the overall message is clear: business as usual is no longer an option.
By releasing the strategy documents in this way, the government and its various agencies clearly hope to win public consent and support — ultimately, the greatest asset any country possesses to defend itself.
NZSIS’s first unclassified threat assessment targets competition, public trust, technology https://t.co/5wetaOL1oA
— RNZ News (@rnz_news) August 10, 2023
Low threat of violent extremism
If there is good news in the SIS assessment, it is that the threat of violent extremism is still considered “low”. That means no change since the threat level was reassessed last year, with a terror attack considered “possible” rather than “probable”.
It is a welcome development since the threat level was lifted to “high” in the
immediate aftermath of the Christchurch terror attack in 2019.
This was lowered to “medium” about a month later — where it sat in September 2021, when another extremist attacked people with a knife in an Auckland mall, seriously
wounding five.
The threat level stayed there during the escalating social tension resulting from the government’s covid response. This saw New Zealand’s first conviction for sabotage and increasing threats to politicians, with the SIS and police intervening in at least one case to mitigate the risk.
After protesters were cleared from the grounds of Parliament in early 2022, it was
still feared an act of extremism by a small minority was likely.
These risks now seem to be receding. And while the threat assessment notes that the online world can provide havens for extremism, the vast majority of those expressing vitriolic rhetoric are deemed unlikely to carry through with violence in the real world.
Changing patterns of extremism
Assessments like this are not a crystal ball; threats can emerge quickly and be near-invisible before they do. But right now, at least publicly, the SIS is not aware of any specific or credible attack planning.
Many extremists still fit well-defined categories. There are the politically motivated, potentially violent, anti-authority conspiracy theorists, of which there is a “small number”.
And there are those motivated by identity (with white supremacist extremism the dominant strand) or faith (such as support for Islamic State, a decreasing and “very small number”).
However, the SIS describes a noticeable increase in individuals who don’t fit within those traditional boundaries, but who hold mixed, unstable or unclear ideologies they may tailor to fit some other violent or extremist impulse.
Espionage and cyber-security risks
There also seems to be a revival of the espionage and spying cultures last seen during the Cold War. There is already the first military case of espionage before the courts, and the SIS is aware of individuals on the margins of government being cultivated and offered financial and other incentives to provide sensitive information.
The SIS says espionage operations by foreign intelligence agencies against New Zealand, both at home and abroad, are persistent, opportunistic and increasingly wide ranging.
While the government remains the main target, corporations, research institutions and state contractors are now all potential sources of sensitive information. Because non-governmental agencies are often not prepared for such threats, they pose a significant security risk.
Cybersecurity remains a particular concern, although the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) recorded 350 incidents in 2021-22, which was a decline from 404 incidents recorded in the previous 12-month period.
On the other hand, a growing proportion of cyber incidents affecting major New Zealand institutions can be linked to state-sponsored actors. Of the 350 reported major incidents, 118 were connected to foreign states (34 percent of the total, up from 28 percent the previous year).
NZSIS’s first unclassified threat assessment targets competition, public trust, technology https://t.co/5wetaOL1oA
— RNZ News (@rnz_news) August 10, 2023
Russia, Iran and China
Although the SIS recorded that only a “small number” of foreign states engaged in deceptive, corruptive or coercive attempts to exert political or social influence, the potential for harm is “significant”.
Some of the most insidious examples concern harassment of ethnic communities within New Zealand who speak out against the actions of a foreign government.
The SIS identifies Russia, Iran and China as the three offenders. Iran was recorded as reporting on Iranian communities and dissident groups in New Zealand. In addition, the assessment says:
Most notable is the continued targeting of New Zealand’s diverse ethnic Chinese communities. We see these activities carried out by groups and individuals linked to the intelligence arm of the People’s Republic of China.
Overall, the threat assessment makes for welcome – if at times unsettling – reading. Having such conversations in the open, rather than in whispers behind closed doors, demystifies aspects of national security.
Most importantly, it gives greater credibility to those state agencies that must increase their transparency in order to build public trust and support for their unique roles within a working democracy.
Dr Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
MPs confront Iran’s Ambassador to New Zealand over protest crackdowns https://t.co/Mtqr5OLetS
— RNZ News (@rnz_news) August 3, 2023
By Kelvin Anthony, RNZ Pacific lead digital and social media journalist
News media in Indonesia act as “government loudspeakers” by advancing a one-sided narrative regarding the conflict in West Papua, a new study reveals.
The human rights abuses against indigenous Papuans, who have been under military occupation of the Indonesian armed forces since 1962-63 and their struggle for independence from Jakarta, remains a sticking point for the Indonesian government in the region.
However, the Indonesian national media provides an unfair coverage on the plight of the West Papuans by only amplifying the state’s narrative, according to research published in Pacific Journalism Review.
The paper, which looks at how six dominant news media organisations in Indonesia report on the Free West Papua movement, found that they “tend to be only a ‘loudspeaker’ for the government” by using mainly statements issued by state officials when reporting about West Papua.
The findings come from in-depth interviews that were conducted between 2021 and 2022 with six informants and journalists who have a history of writing on West Papua in the last five years.
Additionally, the research analysed over 270 news items relating to West Papua issues that appeared in the six Indonesian online media — Okezone, Detik, Kompas.com, Tribunnews, CNN Indonesia and Tirto — in the week after the Indonesian government formally labelled the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) as a terrorist group in April 2021.
“The Indonesian media does not use a balanced frame, for example, in terms of explaining why and how acts of violence are chosen on the path to fight for West Papuan independence,” the author of the research from Universitas Padjadjaran, Justito Adipresto, writes.
‘Prolonging human rights violations’
Non-state actors have acknowledged that “labelling West Papuan separatist groups as terrorist will not only not solve the problem, but that it also has the potential to prolong the human rights violations that have been taking place in West Papua,” Adipresto says.
While some point to the economic disparities as a starting point to the West Papua conflict, the research shows that the media fall significantly short of providing a nuanced coverage by ignoring the “haunting track record of violence and militarism, ethnicity and racism” in their reports.
“The imbalance of representation that occurs in relation to reporting on West Papua cannot be separated from Indonesia’s treatment of ethnic groups and the region of West Papua,” Adipresto says.
He says the government’s labelling of the Free West Papua movement has “severe implications for the current and future situation and conflict in West Papua”.
“Media in Indonesia is under the shadow of the state,” he said adding that reporting on West Papua lacks “explanation and sufficient context”.
He said Indonesian media were “very concerned about the readers clicks”, and therefore on the quantity of reports rather than the quality.
“The concentration of reporters in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, also leads to reporting from reporters not located in or never having visited West Papua, potentially reducing empathy and understanding of human rights or economic aspects in their reporting.
‘Quality, ethics of journalists are an issue’
“The quality and ethics of journalists are an issue in reporting on West Papua, considering that journalists do not tend to cover the issue of labelling a ‘terrorist’ comprehensively.”
The research shows Indonesian media place greater importance on comments from government officials, often ignoring or not providing space for other voices, in particular the West Papuan community.
“It is necessary to develop a more systematic and consolidated strategy for the national media to cover West Papua better,” the author concludes.
The full paper, titled “Government loudspeakers: How Indonesian media amplifies the state’s narrative towards the Free West Papua movement”, can be found at Pacific Journalism Review, published by the Asia Pacific Media Network. This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The leader of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) has called for the establishment of a “United Indigenous Nations” for global justice and an end to Indonesia’s ‘malignant’ colonisation of West Papua.
Today — August 9 — is the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, as declared at the inaugural UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva in 1982.
OPM chairman and commander Jeffrey Bomanak said such a new global indigenous body would “not repeat the failure of the United Nations in denying any people their freedom”.
“The integrity of indigenous peoples is not for sale,” he said in a stinging statement to mark the international day.
He offered an “independent” West Papua as host for the proposed United Indigenous Nations to lead international governance with an international forum representing — for the first time — the principled values and ideals of indigenous and First Nations peoples who were the “true guardians of our ancestral motherlands”.
He criticised the UN’s lack of action over decolonisation for indigenous peoples, blaming the body for allowing the “predatory destruction of the world caused by the economic multinational imperialists and their unsustainable greed”.
Citing the UN website for indigenous peoples, he highlighted the statement:
“Centuries-old marginalisation and other varying vulnerabilities are some of the reasons why indigenous peoples do not have the same possibilities of access to education, health system, or digital communications.”
And also:
“Violations of the rights of the world’s indigenous peoples have become a persistent problem, sometimes because of a historical burden from their colonisation backgrounds and others because of the contrast with a constantly changing society.”
Bomanak said that while these two quotes read well, they were “misrepresentative of the truth that has been West Papua’s tragic experience with the United Nations”.
‘Disingenuous manipulation’
“The facts are that the UN has prevented West Papua’s right to decolonisation through a disingenuous manipulation of the Cold War events of the 1960s,” he said.
“Indonesia’s invasion and illegal annexation of West Papua remains a malignancy in principle and diplomacy only matched by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But with different diplomatic outcomes applied by the UN Secretariat.
“The UN Secretariat acts with incredulous diplomatic effrontery to allegations of collusion and complicity with a host of other predatory nations, all eager to plunder West Papua’s natural resources — the world’s greatest El Dorado.”
He singled out Australia, China, France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States for criticism.
Indigenous people knew the story of West Papua from their own experience with the same predatory nations and the “same prejudicial and corrupt geopolitics” that characterised the UN, Bomanak said.
“G20 conquerors and colonisers have never put down their swords and guns. They have never stopped conquering and colonising, either by military invasion or economic imperialism.
“They will never understand the indigenous perception of ancestral custodianship of our lands.
“The defence forces and militia groups of G20 nations still murder us in our beds and our beds are burning.”
Conflict of interest
The UN could not stop “global melting” because it was a conflict of interest with the “G20
business-as-usual paradigm of economic exploitation” fueling expansion economies.
“They will not stop until all our ancestral lands are one infertile wasteland. The UN is unable to resolve this self-defeating dynamic,” Bomanak said.
“The UN should be a democratic, progressive and 100 percent accountable institution. This is not West Papua’s experience.
“Six decades ago, the UN should have fulfilled the decolonisation of West Papua for the commencement of our nation-state sovereignty. Instead, we were sold to the highest bidders — Indonesia and the American mining company Freeport McMoRan.”
The problem with international diplomacy was that the UN was “beholden to the G20’s vested interests” and its formal meeting place in New York, Bomanak claimed.
“Why remain inside the belly of the beast?” he asked other indigenous peoples.
“Upon liberation of our ancestral motherland, and upon the agreement of the new government of West Papua, I would like to offer all colonised tribes and nations of the conquering empires — all indigenous peoples — the opportunity to manage our international affairs with absolute justice and accountability.
“International relations with indigenous governance for indigenous people. We will build the United Indigenous Nations in West Papua.”
Papua New Guinea police have arrested three men and seized a stockpile of unlicensed firearms, ammunition, explosives and other illegal items in a raid in Western Highlands province last week.
The arrests identified a further seven men who were alleged to be part of a blackmarket network who move the illegal items from Western Highlands into the upper Highlands provinces. They were also arrested.
About 800 rounds of ammunition, firearms, explosives and other illegal items were confiscated from the trio, including a Winchester shotgun, shotgun belts, sniper scopes, a Glock pistol and a hand grenade.
Deputy Commissioner of Police-Operations Dr Philip Mitna confirmed that a security operation had been carried out.
“Illegal firearms and drug trade is an ongoing issue in the highlands,” he said.
Firearms and live ammunition are smuggled into many border provinces linked by the Okuk Highway.
“A security team in Hela had made surveillance on firearms and ammunition. They visited Hagen (travelling in from Tari) and engaged with Hagen police, who organised raids and executed two search warrants on July 30, 2023, and effected several arrests,” Deputy Commissioner Mitna said.
Regular arms supply
According to information received by the Post-Courier newspaper, there is a regular ammunition and firearms supply arriving from illegal dealers in the Highlands eastern end and this is supplied to the western end, which includes Hela, Enga and Southern Highlands.
“With the continued tribal fights in Hela and Enga provinces and other criminal activities involving firearms, the intelligence had confirmed most of the ammunition was being bought from Jiwaka and Mt Hagen dealers,” Deputy Commissioner Mitna said.
“So far, the number of people being detained has increased to 10, and we anticipate more arrests. Among those arrested included a prominent businessman and security firm owner in Mt Hagen.”
According to the findings and assessment by security personnel, the Western Highlands share has built up to 80 percent of illegal ammunition and has been supplying other provinces.
The team tracked persons of interest from Tari to Mt Hagen and sought assistance, leading to several search warrants being executed by police with support from the PNG Defence Force Reconnaissance Unit.
The arrests of the 10 men came as the operations were executed in two-week intervals and continued last month.
The arrest of a local man in Hides started an investigation into the proliferation and movement of firearms and ammunition within the Highlands region.
Allegedly involved in kidnappings
The man who was picked up in Hides was allegedly involved in the recent series of kidnappings and ransom and incidents in Mt Bosavi, Southern Highlands, and parts of Western Province.
The arrest of the man in Hides and nine more in Mt Hagen led to the uncovering of a large stash of unlicensed firearms and varieties of live ammunition, including a hand grenade as well as several other illegal items at a home in Newtown, Mt Hagen.
According to reports, the intelligence gathered led to the arrest of the main suspect who was apprehended in Mt Hagen. He is alleged to be the main supplier and distributor of unlicensed weapons and ammunition in the tribal fighting zones in the Highlands region as well as other parts of PNG.
On Tuesday, August 1, 2023, the main suspect was formally cautioned and formally charged with 10 counts under the newly Amended Firearms Act 2022 and two counts under the Explosive Act (chapter 308) respectively.
The charges are:
The other nine men were still being interviewed and were being processed.
Police investigations were continuing.
Republished with permission.
The Paradise Bombed documentary about West Papua by Kristo Langker.
A new documentary and human rights report have documented savage attacks in 2021 by Indonesian security forces on a remote West Papuan village close to the Papua New Guinea border as part of an ongoing crackdown against growing calls for independence.
The documentary, Paradise Bombed, and the research report made public yesterday allege that six Papuan villagers were killed in the initial attacks, a further seven were killed later when fleeing to safety, and 284 people were recorded by witnesses to have died from starvation in the months since then.
The researchers also allege that the security forces used bombs and rockets fired by helicopters and drones in the Indonesian attacks.
An estimated 2000 people were forced to flee into the forest and have remained in bush camps ever since, fearful of returning to their homes.
“From 10 October 2021, there have been ongoing attacks on the Ngalum Kupel
community by the Indonesian National Armed Forces,” said the researchers, documentary filmmaker Kristo Langker, and Matthew Jamieson of the PNG Trust.
“The continued aggravated attacks by Indonesian military forces and apparent complicity of Indonesian authorities have profoundly impacted on the community [until] July 2023.
“The Ngalum Kupel people have evidence that the Indonesian National Armed
Forces are targeting the whole of the Ngalum Kupel community with modified Krusik
mortars and Thales FZ 68 rockets.”
Targeted villages
The military aerial attacks were reported to have targeted a series of villages which
are adjacent north and northwest of Kiwirok, the regional and administrative centre.
This includes the Kiwi Mission station.
Four community members of the Nek-speaking Ngalum Kupel ethnic tribe were eyewitnesses to the airborne rocket and bombing attacks on their villages around Kiwirok.
“They described a drone dropping bombs together with four or five helicopters firing rockets at houses, food gardens, pigs and chickens,” the report said.
The witnesses named the dead victims and the displaced survivors.
“The witnesses collected shrapnel and bombs from the initial series of attacks,
bringing this evidence to Tumolbil in PNG,” the report said.
“The shrapnel and bombs collected indicate that Thales FZ 68 rockets and modified Krusik mortars were used as the munitions in the military aerial attacks. The witness accounts detail the Indonesian military forces using a drone/UAV armed with modified Krusik mortars, Thales rocket FZ 68 weapon systems and military attack helicopters against an Indigenous community.”
The report authors concluded that the Indonesia National Armed Forces — which were
understood to be equipped with Airbus Fennec attack helicopters and Thales
rockets systems — were “likely responsible for the helicopter components of the attacks.”
Wenda praises researchers
United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) president Benny Wenda has praised the researcher and documentary maker in a statement yesterday:
“These courageous filmmakers, Kristo Langker and friendlyjordies, have shown how bombs made in Serbia, France, and China were used to massacre my people. What happened in Kiwirok is happening across West Papua.
“We are murdered, tortured, and raped, and then our land is stolen for resource extraction and corporate profit when we flee.
“My heart was crying as I watched this documentary, as I was reminded of the Indonesian attack on my village in 1977. My early life was like the Kiwirok children shown in the film: my village was bombed, my family killed and brutalised, and we were forced to live in the bush for five years.
“The difference is that in 1977 no one was there with a camera to interview me — no one knows what happened to my mum, my aunt, my grandfather. But now we have video proof, and no one can deny the evidence of their own eyes.
“Aside from the number of Kiwirok people killed by Indonesian troops — ranging between 21 and 72 — witnesses from the village say that hundreds have died of starvation while living in the bush, where they lack food, water, and adequate medical supplies.
“Villagers attempting to return to Kiwirok have been attacked by Indonesian soldiers – shot at close range, with sniper rifles, and tortured. The names of Kiwirok residents are now added to the 60,000 — 100,000 who have been forcibly displaced by Indonesian militarisation since 2018.
“The international community knows this is a grave humanitarian crisis, and yet still refuses to act. Why?
“I want to alert all our diplomatic groups, the International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP), the International Lawyers for West Papua (ILWP), and all West Papuan solidarity activists around the world. You must ask your governments to address this, to stop selling arms to Indonesia.
“I also want to thank Kristo Langker and friendlyjordies for making this important documentary, and to Matthew Jamieson for producing the report on the attack. You have borne witness to the hidden genocide of my people.
When we are finally independent, your names will be written in our history.”
There has been no immediate response by Indonesian authorities.
We look at the growing crisis in Niger, where the country’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, was overthrown last week by his own presidential guard. One of the coup’s leaders, Brigadier General Moussa Salaou Barmou, was trained by the U.S., making the Nigerien coup the 11th in West Africa since 2008 to involve U.S.-trained military officers. The U.S. has approximately 1,000…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Oscar-caliber movies are flatlining at the box office, making us wonder why American citizens are no longer interested in thought-provoking films. And, the United States has dropped an average of 46 bombs per day around the globe in the last 20 years. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software […]
The post Hollywood’s Oscar Bait Movies Flatline At Theaters & Report Reveals INSANE US Bombing Statistics appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.
This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.
Echoing calls from nearly two dozen advocacy groups, 11 U.S. senators on Friday urged the Biden administration to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid from Egypt “absent improvements on human rights” in a nation where thousands of dissidents are imprisoned and almost all forms of political opposition have been crushed. The senators — who include 10 Democrats and independent…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva
“The people of Fiji don’t deserve to go through another coup.”
This was the view shared by Fiji Navy commander Captain Humphrey Tawake while speaking to The Fiji Times during the Fiji Navy Day celebrations at Stanley Brown Naval Base in Walu Bay, Suva, this week.
“Fiji, as a nation doesn’t need another coup,” said Tawake, who is also deputy RFMF commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF).
“The RFMF commander has made his stance and we will abide by that.
“We will abide by the rule of law, there will be no more coups.
“We will respect the democratic process that has taken place and we must be mindful that we all have a role to play.”
Captain Tawake said at the event on Thursday that people or institutions should stop using the RFMF for their personal or political agenda.
‘Steadfast’ over rule of law
“RFMF is a professional institution and we stand steadfast to the rule of law and democracy.
“I stand by the RFMF commander, and I want to reiterate that again.”
RFMF commander Major-General Ro Jone Kalouniwai said last week he had made it clear during the Commander’s Parade earlier this month that the constitutional process must be followed.
He said they would continue to abide by the rule of law and order and continue to respect the decision of the people for voting in this particular government — the ruling coalition of Sitiveni Rabuka, who is both a former coup leader and prime minister.
Meanwhile, he said Thursday’s event was about commemorating 48 years of existence and the institution’s humble beginning in 1975.
Arieta Vakasukawaqa is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.
This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.
By Christina Persico, RNZ Pacific
An international relations professor says that if New Zealand joins AUKUS it could impact on its relations with Pacific countries.
AUKUS is a security agreement between Australia, the UK and the US, which will see Australia supplied with nuclear-powered submarines.
That has raised concern in the Pacific, which is under the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Rarotonga.
The topic has come up while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited New Zealand.
The visit came after he visited Tonga.
Robert Patman, professor of international relations at the University of Otago, said New Zealand’s views on non-nuclear security are shared by the majority of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members and also the Pacific Island states.
“Even if New Zealand joined AUKUS in a non-nuclear fashion, technically, it may be seen through the eyes of others as diluting our commitment to that norm,” Professor Patman said.
Sharing defence information
Professor Patman explained that “pillar 1” of AUKUS is about providing nuclear-powered submarines to Australia over two or three decades, and “pillar 2” is to do with sharing information on defence technologies.
“We haven’t closed the door on it, but it’s a considerable risk from New Zealand’s point of view, because a lot of our credibility is having an independent foreign policy.”
Asked about New Zealand’s potential membership in AUKUS, Blinken said work on pillar 2 was ongoing.
“The door is very much open for New Zealand and other partners to engage as they see appropriate,” he said.
“New Zealand is a deeply trusted partner, obviously a Five Eyes member.
“We’ve long worked together on the most important national security issues.”
New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said the government was exploring pillar 2 of the deal.
Not committed
But she said New Zealand had not committed to anything.
Mahuta said New Zealand had been clear it would not compromise its nuclear-free position, and that was acknowledged by AUKUS members.
Patman said that statement was reassurance for Pacific Island states.
“[New Zealand is] party to the Treaty of Rarotonga,” he said.
“We have to weigh up whether the benefits of being in pillar 2 outweigh possible external perception that we’re eroding our commitment, to being party to an arrangement which is facilitating the transfer of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.”
He said New Zealand had also been in talks with NATO about getting access to cutting-edge technology, so it was not dependent on AUKUS for that.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.
