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Category: Pacific Voices

  • 2022 Pacific political upheavals eclipse Tongan volcano

    2022 PACIFIC REVIEW: By David Robie

    The Pacific year started with a ferocious eruption and global tsunami in Tonga, but by the year’s end several political upheavals had also shaken the region with a vengeance.

    A razor’s edge election in Fiji blew away a long entrenched authoritarian regime with a breath of fresh air for the Pacific, two bitterly fought polls in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu left their mark, and growing geopolitical rivalry with the US and Australia contesting China’s security encroachment in the Solomon Islands continues to spark convulsions for years to come.

    It was ironical that the two major political players in Fiji were both former coup leaders and ex-military chiefs — the 1987 double culprit Sitiveni Rabuka, a retired major-general who is credited with introducing the “coup culture” to Fiji, and Voreqe Bainimarama, a former rear admiral who staged the “coup to end all coups” in 2006.

    It had been clear for some time that the 68-year-old Bainimarama’s star was waning in spite of repressive and punitive measures that had been gradually tightened to shore up control since an unconvincing return to democracy in 2014.

    And pundits had been predicting that the 74-year-old Rabuka, a former prime minister in the 1990s, and his People’s Alliance-led coalition would win. However, after a week-long stand-off and uncertainty, Rabuka’s three-party coalition emerged victorious and Rabuka was elected PM by a single vote majority.

    Fiji Deputy PM Professor Biman Prasad (left) and Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka
    Fiji’s new guard leadership . . . Professor Biman Prasad (left), one of three deputy Prime Ministers, and Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka share a joke before the elections. Image: Jonacani Lalakobau/The Fiji Times

    In Samoa the previous year, the change had been possibly even more dramatic when a former deputy prime minister in the ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa, led her newly formed Fa’atuatua I le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party to power to become the country’s first woman prime minister.

    Overcoming a hung Parliament, Mata’afa ousted the incumbent Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, who had been prime minister for 23 years and his party had been in power for four decades. But he refused to leave office, creating a constitutional crisis.

    At one stage this desperate and humiliating cling to power by the incumbent looked set to be repeated in Fiji.

    Yet this remarkable changing of the guard in Fiji got little press in New Zealand newspapers. The New Zealand Herald, for example, buried what could could have been an ominous news agency report on the military callout in Fiji in the middle-of the-paper world news section.

    Buried news
    “Buried” news . . . a New Zealand Herald report about a last-ditched effort by the incumbent FijiFirst government to cling to power published on page A13 on 23 December 2022. Image: APR screenshot

    Fiji
    Although Bainimarama at first refused to concede defeat after being in power for 16 years, half of them as a military dictator, the kingmaker opposition party Sodelpa sided — twice — with the People’s Alliance (21 seats) and National Federation Party (5 seats) coalition.

    Sodelpa’s critical three seats gave the 29-seat coalition a slender cushion over the 26 seats of Bainimarama’s FijiFirst party which had failed to win a majority for the first time since 2014 in the expanded 55-seat Parliament.

    But in the secret ballot, one reneged giving Rabuka a razor’s edge single vote majority.

    The ousted Attorney-General and Justice Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum – popularly branded as the “Minister of Everything” with portfolios and extraordinary power in the hands of one man – is arguably the most hated person in Fiji.

    Sayed-Khaiyum’s cynical “divisive” misrepresentation of Rabuka and the alliance in his last desperate attempt to cling to power led to a complaint being filed with Fiji police, accusing him of “inciting communal antagonism”.

    He reportedly left Fiji for Australia on Boxing Day and the police issued a border alert for him while the Home Affairs Minister, Pio Tikoduadua, asked Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho, a former military brigadier-general to resign over allegations of bias and lack of confidence. He refused so the new government will have to use the formal legal steps to remove him.

    Just days earlier, Fiji lawyer Imrana Jalal, a human rights activist and a former Human Rights Commission member, had warned the people of Fiji in a social media post not to be tempted into “victimisation or targeted prosecutions” without genuine evidence as a result of independent investigations.

    “If we do otherwise, then we are no better than the corrupt regime [that has been] in power for the last 16 years,” she added.

    “We need to start off the right way or we are tainted from the beginning.”

    However, the change of government unleashed demonstrations of support for the new leadership and fuelled hope for more people-responsive policies, democracy and transparency.

    Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald, academic Dr Sanjay Ramesh commented in an incisive analysis of Fiji politics: “With … Rabuka back at the helm, there is hope that the indigenous iTaukei population’s concerns on land and resources, including rampant poverty and unemployment, in their community will be finally addressed.”

    He was also critical of the failure of the Mission Observer Group (MoG) under the co-chair of Australia to “see fundamental problems” with the electoral system and process which came close to derailing the alliance success.

    “While the MoG was enjoying Fijian hospitality, opposition candidates were being threatened, intimidated, and harassed by FFP [FijiFirst Party] thugs. The counting of the votes was marred by a ‘glitch’ on 14 December 2022 . . . leaving many opposition parties questioning the integrity of the vote counting process.”

    Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and his wife Sulueti Rabuka with their great grandson Dallas
    Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and his wife Sulueti Rabuka with their great grandson, three-year-old Dallas Ligamamada Ropate Newman Wye, in front of their home at Namadi Heights in Suva. Image: Sophie Ralulu/The Fiji Times

    Rabuka promised a “better and united Fiji” in his inaugural address to the nation via government social media platforms.

    “Our country is experiencing a great and joyful awakening,” he said. “It gladdens my heart to be a part of it. And I am reminded of the heavy responsibilities I now bear.”

    The coalition wasted no time in embarking on its initial 100-day programme and signalled the fresh new ‘open” approach by announcing that Professor Pal Ahluwalia, the Samoa-based vice-chancellor of the regional University of the South Pacific — deported unjustifiably by the Bainimarama government — and the widow of banned late leading Fiji academic Dr Brij Lal were both free to return.


    Paul Barker, director of the Institute of National Affairs, discussing why the 2022 PNG elections were so bad. Video: ABC News

    Papua New Guinea
    Earlier in the year, in August, Prime Minister James Marape was reelected as the country’s leader after what has been branded by many critics as the “worst ever” general election — it was marred by greater than ever violence, corruption and fraud.

    As the incumbent, Marape gained the vote of 97 MPs — mostly from his ruling Pangu Pati that achieved the second-best election result ever of a PNG political party — in the expanded 118-seat Parliament. With an emasculated opposition, nobody voted against him and his predecessor, Peter O’Neill, walked out of the assembly in disgust

    Papua New Guinea has a remarkable number of parties elected to Parliament — 23, not the most the assembly has had — and 17 of them backed Pangu’s Marape to continue as prime minister. Only two women were elected, including Governor Rufina Peter of Central Province.

    In an analysis after the dust had settled from the election, a team of commentators at the Australian National University’s Development Policy Centre concluded that the “electoral role was clearly out of date, there were bouts of violence, ballot boxes were stolen, and more than one key deadline was missed”.

    However, while acknowledging the shortcomings, the analysts said that the actual results should not be “neglected”. Stressing how the PNG electoral system favours incumbents — the last four prime ministers have been reelected — they argued for change to the “incumbency bias”.

    “If you can’t remove a PM through the electoral system, MPs will try all the harder to do so through a mid-term vote of no confidence,” they wrote.

    “How to change this isn’t clear (Marape in his inaugural speech mooted a change to a presidential system), but something needs to be done — as it does about the meagre political representation of women.”

    Julie King with Ralph Regenvanu
    Gloria Julia King, first woman in the Vanuatu Parliament for a decade, with Ralph Regenvanu returning from a funeral on Ifira island in Port Vila. Image: Ralph Regenvanu/Twitter

    Vanuatu
    In Vanuatu in November, a surprise snap election ended the Vanua’aku Pati’s Bob Loughman prime ministership. Parliament was dissolved on the eve of a no-confidence vote called by opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu.

    With no clear majority from any of the contesting parties, Loughman’s former deputy, lawyer and an ex-Attorney-General, Ishmael Kalsakau, leader of the Union of Moderate Parties, emerged as the compromise leader and was elected unopposed by the 52-seat Parliament.

    A feature was the voting for Gloria Julia King, the first woman MP to be elected to Vanuatu’s Parliament in a decade. She received a “rapturous applause” when she stepped up to take the first oath of office.

    RNZ Pacific staff journalist Lydia Lewis and Port Vila correspondent Hilaire Bule highlighted the huge challenges faced by polling officials and support staff in remote parts of Vanuatu, including the exploits of soldier Samuel Bani who “risked his life” wading through chest-high water carrying ballot boxes.

    Tongan volcano-tsunami disaster
    Tonga’s violent Hunga Ha’apai-Hunga Tonga volcano eruption on January 15 was the largest recorded globally since the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. It triggered tsunami waves of up to 15m, blanketed ash over 5 sq km — killing at least six people and injuring 19 — and sparked a massive multinational aid relief programme.

    The crisis was complicated because much of the communication with island residents was crippled for a long time.

    As Dale Dominey-Howes stressed in The Conversation, “in our modern, highly-connected world, more than 95 percent of global data transfer occurs along fibre-optic cables that criss-cross through the world’s oceans.

    “Breakage or interruption to this critical infrastructure can have catastrophic local, regional and even global consequences.”

    “This is exactly what has happened in Tonga following the volcano-tsunami disaster. But this isn’t the first time a natural disaster has cut off critical submarine cables, and it won’t be the last.”

    Covid-19 in Pacific
    While the impact of the global covid-19 pandemic receded in the Pacific during the year, new research from the University of the South Pacific provided insight into the impact on women working from home. While some women found the challenge enjoyable, others “felt isolated, had overwhelming mental challenges and some experienced domestic violence”.

    Rosalie Fatiaki, chair of USP’s staff union women’s wing, commented on the 14-nation research findings.

    “Women with young children had a lot to juggle, and those who rely on the internet for work had particular frustrations — some had to wait until after midnight to get a strong enough signal,” she said.

    Around 30 percent of respondents reported having developed covid-19 during the Work From Home periods, and 57 percent had lost a family member or close friend to covid-19 as well as co-morbidities.

    She also noted the impact of the “shadow pandemic” of domestic abuse. Only two USP’s 14 campuses in 12 Pacific countries avoided any covid-19 closures between 2020 and 2022.

    Pacific climate protest
    Pacific Islands activists protest in a demand for climate action and loss and damage reparations at COP27 in Egypt. Image: Dominika Zarzycka/AFP/RNZ Pacific

    COP27 climate progress
    The results for the Pacific at the COP27 climate action deliberations at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh were disappointing to say the least.

    For more than three decades since Vanuatu had suggested the idea, developing nations have fought to establish an international fund to pay for the “loss and damage” they suffer as a result of climate change. Thanks partly to Pacific persistence, a breakthrough finally came — after the conference was abruptly extended by a day to thrash things out.

    However, although this was clearly a historic moment, much of the critical details have yet to be finalised.

    Professor Steven Ratuva, director of Canterbury University’s Macmillan Brown Pacific Studies Centre, says the increased frequency of natural disasters and land erosion, and rising ocean temperatures, means referring to “climate change” is outdated. It should be called “climate crisis”.

    “Of course climate changes, it’s naturally induced seen through weather, but the situation now shows it’s not just changing, but we’re reaching a level of a crisis — the increasing number of category five cyclones, the droughts, the erosion, heating of the ocean, the coral reefs dying in the Pacific, and the impact on people’s lives,” he said.

    “All these things are happening at a very fast pace.”

    A Papuan protest
    A Papuan protest . . . “there is a human rights emergency in West Papua.” Image: Tempo

    Geopolitical rivalry and West Papua
    The year saw intensifying rivalry between China and the US over the Pacific with ongoing regional fears about perceived ambitions of a possible Chinese base in the Solomon Islands — denied by Honiara — but the competition has fuelled a stronger interest from Washington in the Pacific.

    The Biden administration released its Indo-Pacific Strategy in February, which broadly outlines policy priorities based on a “free and open” Pacific region. It cites China, covid-19 and climate change — “crisis”, rather — as core challenges for Washington.

    Infrastructure is expected to be a key area of rivalry in future. Contrasting strongly with China, US policy is likely to support “soft areas” in the Pacific, such as women’s empowerment, anti-corruption, promotion of media freedom, civil society engagement and development.

    The political and media scaremongering about China has prompted independent analysts such as the Development Policy Centre’s Terence Wood and Transform Aqorau to call for a “rethink” about Solomon Islands and Pacific security. Aqorau said Honiara’s leaked security agreement with China had “exacerbated existing unease” about China”.

    The Pacific Catalyst founding director also noted that the “increasing engagement” with China had been defended by Honiara as an attempt by the government to diversify its engagement on security, adding that “ it is unlikely that China will build a naval base in Solomon Islands”.

    However, the elephant in the room in geopolitical terms is really Indonesia and its brutal intransigency over its colonised Melanesian provinces — now expanded from two to three in a blatant militarist divide and rule ploy — and its refusal to constructively engage with Papuans or the Pacific over self-determination.

    “2022 was a difficult year for West Papua. We lost great fighters and leaders like Filep Karma, Jonah Wenda, and Jacob Prai. Sixty-one years since the fraudulent Act of No Choice, our people continue to suffer under Indonesian’s colonial occupation,” reflected exiled West Papuan leader Benny Wenda in a Christmas message.

    “Indonesia continues to kill West Papuans with impunity, as shown by the recent acquittal of the only suspect tried for the “Bloody Paniai’” massacre of 2014.

    “Every corner of our country is now scarred by Indonesian militarisation . . . We continue to demand that Indonesia withdraw their military from West Papua in order to allow civilians to peacefully return to their homes.”

  • ‘This is for you’ – 24 Pasifika New Year’s honours recipients in NZ

    By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist, and Jan Kohout, RNZ journalist

    Twenty four Pacific peoples have been recognised in the 2023 New Year’s honours.

    A former Premier of Niue, Young Vivian, leads the list of distinguished Pacific peoples in the list.

    Vivian has been made an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to Niue.

    Fiji-born Dr Api Talemaitoga, a familiar face to Pacific communities during the height of covid-19 in Aotearoa, has been acknowledged for his decades of service in the medical sector.

    The first Pacific priest ordained in Rome in 1990, Father Paulo Filoialii of Samoa, has been recognised for services to the Pacific community.

    Also on the honours list is Lisa Taouma, the producer and director of Coconet TV, the largest pool of Pacific content on screen in New Zealand.

    And the lead singer of the popular band Ardijah, Betty-Anne Monga, has been recognised for services to music.

    ‘Better things will come’: Niue’s Young Vivian
    Young Vivian started his career as a teacher in New Zealand.

    He went to a British school based on an English system. He failed English and was told to leave because enrolments were backed up.

    Betty-Anne Monga from Ardijah
    Betty-Anne Monga . . . lead singer of the popular band Ardijah. Image: Dan Cook/RNZ Pacific

    He said he “begged the education officer” to stay so he was sent to Northland College and was “very happy” there.

    Community members say he has been instrumental in fostering a love for Vagahau Niue, or Niue language, as a respected elder.

    Speaking to RNZ Pacific reporter Lydia Lewis in 2022, at the launch of the Niue language app in Auckland, Vivian said:

    “A language is a key to your culture and your tradition. It gives you that spiritual strength of who you are and you are able to face the world,” he said.

    “That’s very, very important to a small nation like Niue who has a population of only 2500 people, but here in Australia and New Zealand it’s 80,000.”

    Former Niue premier Young Vivian
    Former Niue premier Young Vivian says he is “proud” of the next generation of Vagahau Niue speakers at the Niue language app launch. Image: Lydia Lewis/RNZ Pacific

    When he went home to Niue, he was “dissatisfied”.

    “I want to be fully independent, but I could see signs that people were not acceptable to that so I gave up, only then we can be real Niueans,” Vivian said.

    His message to Pacific leaders is to believe in themselves.

    “They must depend on themselves and God, they have everything in their homes, they need guts, stickability and determination, small as they are, they can stand up to it.”

    He encourages the next generation to go back to basics.

    “You have to depend on literally what you’ve got,” he said.

    Dr Api Talemaitoga
    Dr Api Talemaitoga . . . “I have this knowledge about health and I find it a real pleasure to do it.” Image: Greg Bowker Visuals/RNZ Pacific

    ‘Profound privilege’: Dr Api
    Dr Api Talemaitoga has been acknowledged for his decades-long work in the medical sector.

    “I see it as a profound privilege, I have this knowledge about health and I find it a real pleasure to do it.”

    More than three decades in the job after graduating in 1986, he has a deep sense of pride for the next generation.

    “I was really fortunate to be given the opportunity to give the graduation address at the University of Otago for medical students,” he said.

    “To see the highest number of Pasifika medical students walk across the stage was really emotional.

    “I can happily retire now that I see this new generation of young people, enthusiastic, bright, diverse and they are the ones that will carry on the load in the future.”

    Dr Talemaitoga always has a smile on his face and an infectious laugh, he is incredibly hard to get hold of because he is always helping his patients.

    A young Dr Api sitting on the arm of sofa to the left of his paternal grandmother Timaleti Tausere in Suva. His parents Wapole and Makelesi Talematoga are on the left, his sister Laitipa Navara is sitting on his dad's lap and his brother Josateki Talemaitoga is in the middle next to his mum. At the back is his Dad's youngest brother Kaminieli and sitting on the ground at the front is cousin Timaleti.
    A young Dr Api sitting on the arm of sofa to the left of his paternal grandmother Timaleti Tausere in Suva. His parents, Wapole and Makelesi Talematoga, are on the left, his sister Laitipa Navara is sitting on his Dad’s lap and his brother Josateki Talemaitoga is in the middle next to his mum. At the back is his Dad’s youngest brother Kaminieli and sitting on the ground at the front is cousin Timaleti. Image: Dr Api Talemaitoga/RNZ Pacific

    When asked how he keeps his charisma day in day out, he said:

    “I am not superhuman, some days are just dreadful and you come home feeling really disillusioned and what’s the point of all of this when you see three or four people in a row heading for dialysis,” he said.

    “Then you have days where you make a difference to one person out of the 25 or 30 you see that day.

    “They feel really encouraged that you’ve been able for the first time to explain their condition to them … you can’t put it in words, it’s such an amazing feeling.”

    Father Paulo Sagato Filoialii and Pope John Paul II.
    Father Paulo Sagato Filoialii and Pope John Paul II. Image: Father Paulo Sagato Filoialii/RNZ Pacific

    ‘This is for you, not me’: Father Paulo
    The first Pacific Priest ordained in Rome in 1990 – Father Paulo Sagato Filoialii is dedicating his medal to the community he has served for decades, that has in turn backed him.

    “I want to offer this medal for the Pacific Island people, this is for you, not for me. This medal I will receive is for all of you and I thank you all for your prayers, for your love and your support, God bless you all,” he said.

    Father Paulo has contributed his time to the Catholic community in Christchurch and Ashburton.

    Upon Father Filoialii being ordained, the Samoan Mass was performed for the first time in the Vatican, resulting in Pope John Paul II decreeing that the Samoan Mass can now be performed anywhere in the world.

    ‘Proud’: The Coconet TV’s Lisa Taouma
    Pioneering Pasifika producer and director Lisa Taouma paved the way for Pacific peoples in media.

    She created the ground-breaking site The Coconet TV which is the largest pool of Pacific content on screen in Aotearoa.

    On top of that she made the Polyfest series, the long-standing Pacific youth series Fresh, five award-winning documentaries, the feature film Teine Sa and two short films.

    Taouma believes you are only as good as the people you bring through.

    “I’m proud of having brought Pacific stories to the fore around the world, I am proud of having brought Pacific people with me into that space, that is what I am most proud of,” She said.

    Taouma said it was awesome that more indigenous people were being recognised globally.

    While she is humbled to receive the honour, she admits not accepting it crossed her mind.

    “I felt quite conflicted at the start, you know there are problems with the idea of empire and how Pacific people have been treated under the history of the British Empire,” she said.

    “At the same time, it is really important to stand in this space as a Pacific woman and to have more Pacific people recognised by the Crown if you like.

    “This is a system that is hopefully more reflective of Aotearoa and where we stand now.”

    ‘I never looked back’: Sully Paea
    Niuean youth-worker Sully Paea has dedicated his life to working with youth, founding the East Tamaki Youth and Resource Centre between the late 1970s and 1986.

    Paea said he was lost. He battled alcoholism and pushed through a diagnosis of depression. He had a violent criminal career until he met his wife which changed him completely.

    He has dedicated his life to working with youth, founding the East Tamaki Youth and Resource Centre between the late 1970s and 1986.

    After 40 years serving the community, he has never looked back

    Nina has been nominated for her great services to Pacific Development with an Honorary Queen's service medal. She is posing with her grandchildren.
    Tafilau Nina Kirifi-Alai . . . “Seeing Pasifika communities graduating from university has been rewarding.” Image: Tafilau Nina Kirifi-Alai/RNZ Pacific

    ‘We’re getting there as people’: Tafilau Nina Kirifi-Alai
    Tafilau Nina Kirifi-Alai has been honoured for her great services to Pacific Development.

    Kirifi-Alai has been the Pacific manager of Otago University for more than 20 years.

    She has assisted scholarships of Pacific students and has led developments for the University of Otago to support Pacific tertiary institutions in the region.

    “Seeing Pasifika communities graduating from university has been rewarding,” she said.

    “To see all those colours in the garments and all those families and all that, was like oh yeah we are getting there, we’re getting there as a people. This is why we left our homes to seek greater opportunities, education wise and work wise, and I actually believe that education is the key.”

    ‘Knowing your culture, knowing your roots’: Rosanna Raymond
    Activism is what paved the road for multidisciplinary artist and curator Rosanna Raymond.

    Her work has taken her to China, Australia and Britain, where she has built an awareness of Pacific art and fashion.

    She draws on her strong cultural bond to artefacts that were taken from their original land and are now displayed in museums throughout the world.

    She made a huge written contribution by co-publishing Pasifika Styles: Artists inside the Museum in 2008 and was Honorary Research Associate at the Department of Anthropology and Institute of Archaeology at University College, London.

    She said moving forward whilst staying true to several of her roots was what led her to where she was today.

    The full list of Pasifika in the New Year’s Honours list are:

    To be Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
    The honourable Mititaiagimene Young Vivian, former Premier of Niue – For services to Niue.

    To be Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
    Nathan Edward Fa’avae – For services to adventure racing, outdoor education and the Pacific community

    David Rodney Fane – For services to the performing arts

    Dr Apisalome Sikaidoka Talemaitoga – For services to health and the Pacific community

    Lisa-Jane Taouma – For services to Pacific arts and the screen industry

    To be Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit:
    Father Paulo Sagato Filoialii – For services to the Pacific community

    Sefita ‘Alofi Hao’uli – For services to Tongan and Pacific communities

    Lakiloko Tepae Keakea – For services to Tuvaluan art

    Marilyn Rhonda Kohlhase – For services to Pacific arts and education

    Felorini Ruta McKenzie – For services to Pacific education

    Betty-Anne Maryrose Monga – For services to music

    Sullivan Luao Paea – For services to youth

    Rosanna Marie Raymond – For services to Pacific art

    The Queen’s Service Medal:
    Kinaua Bauriri Ewels – For services to the Kiribati community

    Galumalemana Fetaiaimauso Marion Galumalemana – For services to the Pacific community

    Hana Melania Halalele – For services to Pacific health

    Teurukura Tia Kekena – For services to the Cook Islands and Pacific communities

    Nanai Pati Muaau – For services to Pacific health

    Lomia Kaipati Semaia Naniseni – For services to the Tokelau community

    Ma’a Brian Sagala – For services to Pacific communities

    Mamaitaloa Sagapolutele – For services to education and the Pacific community

    Honorary:
    Tofilau Nina Kirifi-Alai – For services to education and the Pacific community

    Tuifa’asisina Kasileta Maria Lafaele – For services to Pacific health

    Nemai Divuluki Vucago – For services to Fijian and Pacific communities

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Fiji lawyer Imrana Jalal’s warning: ‘No victimisation or targeted prosecutions’

    By Timoci Vula in Suva

    Fiji lawyer and former human rights activist Imrana Jalal has offered a “warning” to her motherland that should people be investigated, prosecuted or dismissed, it must be done within the rule of law.

    In a social media posting on her Facebook page, Jalal wrote: “A WARNING to ourselves in Fiji — it’s very important that if people are going to be investigated, dismissed, prosecuted or asked to resign voluntarily (without coercion) whether in a State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) or otherwise; or a commission of inquiry be set up, example, to look at the judiciary, that this all be done within the rule of law.

    “There should be no victimisation or targeted prosecutions unless there is genuine evidence by independent investigators.

    “I speak with authority on this having been targeted by the former regime personally.

    “If we do otherwise, then we are no better than the corrupt regime [that has been] in power for the last 16 years.

    “We need to start off the right way or we are tainted from the beginning.”

    Jalal, a former Fiji human rights commissioner and previously a gender specialist with the Asia Development Bank, asked those calling for heads to roll to “be careful”.

    She is the first woman to be appointed as a special project facilitator of the ADB.

    ‘Give our fragile democracy a chance’
    “Be cautious. Refrain from this type of diatribe. No good will come of it. There can be no restoration to the rule of law like that,” she said.

    “Let the government slowly make its way. Give them a chance: step by step we can restore our fragile democracy.”

    Prominent Suva lawyer Graham Leung voiced similar sentiment, calling on Fijians to be patient and follow the law. He added that due process must be followed in dismissing or removing people from office.

    “Arbitrary and unlawful dismissals must be avoided at all costs. There are constitutional processes for removal for some posts,” Leung said on his Facebook social media page.

    “In some cases, there are legally binding contracts in place. Negotiations for early termination of contracts can take place by mutual agreement. These should be carried out professionally without malice or bad faith.

    “We would be no better than the last government if we did this. Due process will take time.

    “You cannot rectify and address 16 years of bad governance overnight. The change we all voted for will not happen at the press of a button.

    “I urge the people of Fiji celebrating the new government’s victory and the removal of the previous authoritarian government to be patient. We will get there eventually.

    “Let us not, in the excitement of the change, lose our sense of reason, fairness and logic.

    “I completely accept that those [who] have broken the law must be held personally accountable, whether in the courts or according to law.”

    Timoci Vula is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

  • Professor thrilled over USP return – Fiji to pay $90m university debt

    By Felix Chaudhary in Suva

    Exiled University of the South Pacific vice-chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia says he is thrilled at the prospect of returning to Fiji.

    Speaking to The Fiji Times from Los Angeles in the United States yesterday, he said Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka — when he was in opposition- made a commitment to pay Fiji’s outstanding debt of $90 million to USP and to allow him to return to Fiji.

    “Mr Rabuka said it, National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad said it, and the Social Democratic Liberal Party leader also said it,” Professor Ahluwalia said.

    “So it’s part of all three parties’ manifestos and part of their public statements, so we as a university are delighted that this amount that has been outstanding for so long will finally come to the university.

    “It’s excellent news, not just for the Fijian students but for the entire region because the region has been carrying Fijian students for quite a while and there will now be a chance for us to do a lot of things that we have deferred and not been able to do, particularly issues around maintenance.

    “It also means we can now aggressively look for quality academic staff.”

    Rabuka issued a statement on Boxing Day saying the prohibition order against Professor Ahluwalia had been lifted and he was welcome to travel to Fiji at any time.

    Professor Ahluwalia and his wife Sandra Price claimed that on Wednesday February 3, 2021, 15 people made up of immigration officials and police stormed into their USP home and forcefully removed them at about 11.30pm.

    They claimed they were driven the same night to Nadi International Airport and deported on the morning of Thursday, February 4, to Australia.

    The FijiFirst government on February 4, 2022 issued a statement that the Immigration Department had ordered Professor Aluwahlia and his partner Sandra Price to leave Fiji with immediate effect following alleged “continuous breaches” by both individuals of Section 13 of the Immigration Act.

    Government said under Section 13 of the Immigration Act 2003, no foreigner was permitted to conduct themselves in a manner prejudicial to the peace, defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health, security, or good government of Fiji.

    Fiji now ‘free country’
    RNZ Pacific reports that Finance Minister Professor Biman Prasad said all three parties in the coalition had promised this in their election campaigns and manifestos.

    The former FijiFirst government have withheld the payments since 2019 over a protracted battle with Professor Ahluwalia, now operating in exile out of Samoa.

    “They didn’t like a man who was doing the right thing who exposed corruption within the university,” Professor Prasad said.

    “And it has done you know, to some extent, terrible damage not only to the university, but also the unity in the whole region.”

    In July, the two unions representing staff at the university said the Fiji government owes the institution F$78.4 million and the debt has increased since then.

    “Well, I can’t tell you the timetable, but all I can say is…that the university will receive the appropriate funding, as well as the government will pay what is due as a result of the previous government withholding the grant to the university,” Professor Prasad said.

    His revelation comes after the government statement by Prime Minister Rabuka inviting Professor Ahluwalia to return to Fiji.

    Personal apology
    Rabuka said he wanted to apologise to Professor Ahluwalia in person upon his arrival for the way he had been treated by Fiji.

    The prime minister has also invited the widow of exiled Fijian academic, Professor Brij Lal, who passed away on Christmas Day last year to bring home his ashes for burial at Tabia near Labasa.

    Professor Prasad said they look forward to welcoming home more Fijians and expatriates exiled during Voreqe Bainimarama’s 16-year-reign.

    “Fiji is now a free country. We will welcome everyone who wants to come to Fiji. No one should fear about any kind of vindictiveness or harassment,” Professor Prasad said.

    “That is what we promised during our campaign, and that is what this government will deliver.”

    Felix Chaudhary is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with Fiji Times permission. This article is also republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

  • Benny Wenda: A West Papuan Christmas message

    CHRISTMAS MESSAGE: By Benny Wenda

    As 2022 draws to a close, I would like to thank everyone who has supported the West Papuan struggle this year. To our worldwide solidarity groups, including those within Indonesia, to Alex Sobel and the International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP), the International Lawyers for West Papua, to our friends in the Basque Country and Catalonia, the Pacific Conference of Churches, the government of Vanuatu and all our supporters in the Pacific: my deepest thanks.  

    The struggle for West Papuan liberation is a struggle for humanity, dignity, and fundamental rights. By supporting us, you are making history in the fight against modern day colonialism. 

    2022 was a difficult year for West Papua. We lost great fighters and leaders like Filep Karma, Jonah Wenda, and Jacob Prai. Sixty-one years since the fraudulent Act of No Choice, our people continue to suffer under Indonesian’s colonial occupation.

    Indonesia continues to kill West Papuans with impunity, as shown by the recent acquittal of the only suspect tried for the “Bloody Paniai’” massacre of 2014. 

    Every corner of our country is now scarred by Indonesian militarisation. This month, nearly 100 West Papuans on Yapen Island were displaced from their villages by a sudden wave of military operations. Along with tens of thousands of West Papuans displaced since 2019, they will be forced to spend Christmas in the forest, as refugees in their own lands.

    We continue to demand that Indonesia withdraw their military from West Papua in order to allow civilians to peacefully return to their homes.  

    At the same time, support for the ULMWP and for West Papuan independence has continued to grow. Our voice is being heard — nearly half the world’s nations have now urged Indonesia to facilitate a UN Human Rights visit to West Papua, including the member nations of the Pacific Islands Forum, the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States, the EU Commission, Netherlands and the UK.

    In July, we signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding with our Melanesian brothers and sisters in Kanaky, strengthening the bonds of friendship and solidarity that have always connected our two movements.

    In October, countries including Australia, Canada, and the US called for immediate investigation of rights abuses in West Papua at the UN, while the Marshall Islands called for West Papuan self-determination. Throughout the year, we have continued to build up our infrastructure on the ground.

    We are ready to reclaim the sovereignty that was stolen from us and govern our own affairs. 

    To all West Papuans, whether in exile, prison, in the bush or the refugee camps, I say your day will come. Though the road to freedom is long and hard, we are making incredible progress at all levels.

    One day soon we will celebrate Christmas in an independent West Papua. Until then, we must be strong and united in our struggle. As our national motto says, we are One People with One Soul. 

    To everyone around the world reading this message, I urge you to remain steadfast in your support for West Papua. Please pray for all West Papuans who cannot celebrate this Christmas, whether in Yapen Island, Nduga, Puncak Jaya, or elsewhere. Until we win our freedom, we need your solidarity.  

    On behalf of the ULMWP and the people of West Papua, thank you and Merry Christmas. 

    Benny Wenda
    Interim President
    ULMWP Provisional Government

    United Liberation Movement for West Papua solidarity workers in London, United Kingdom
    United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) solidarity workers in London, United Kingdom. Image: ULMWP

  • ‘Merry Christmas Fiji – free at last’ as Sodelpa confirms joining coalition

    By Timoci Vula in Suva

    “Merry Christmas Fiji!”

    This was the message to Fiji from kingmakers Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa) management board member and MP Tanya Waqanika after their meeting in Suva ended this evening.

    Asked whether her Christmas wishes meant good news for the people of Fiji, she responded: “Free at last.”

    Waqanika was one of the 26 management board members who participated in the secret ballot — which voted in favour of a coalition with the People’s Alliance and the National Federation Party, the second time in barely 72 hours that the board backed the coalition.

    This vote confirms the end of 16 years of domination of Fiji politics by 2006 coup leader Voreqe Bainimarama — half as the military leader and the rest as an elected FijiFirst party prime minister.

    It will usher in a new era with coalition rule and 1987 coup leader and former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka heading the government.

    A secret ballot held at the meeting at the Southern Cross Hotel resulted in 13 votes for the PAP-NFP coalition and 12 for the FijiFirst Party.

    ‘Anomalies’ forced new vote
    In Tuesday’s vote, the numbers were 16-14 in favour of the People’s Alliance-led coalition. However the validity of that vote was challenged over claimed “anomalies”.

    Party vice-president Anare Jale said the next step now was to work on a coalition agreement.

    Sodelpa vice-president Anare Jale
    Sodelpa vice-president Anare Jale speaks to news media in Suva tonight to announce their coalition with the People’s Alliance Party-NFP. Image: Timoci Vula/The Fiji Times

    He said that agreement would detail all the information and work that would be taking place today and during the holidays.

    “Hopefully, something will be concluded and signed on Wednesday next week,” Jale said at the press conference after the day-long Sodelpa meeting.

    Timoci Vula is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

  • The Fiji Times: Kingmakers and the big post-election reveal!

    EDITORIAL: By Fred Wesley, editor-in-chief of The Fiji Times

    It’s the big day today! We will get to know the make-up of our Parliament. The results saw FijiFirst leading the vote count — but failing to gain a majority (26 seats) — followed by the People’s Alliance (21), the National Federation Party (5) and the Social Democratic Liberal Party (3).

    Pundits were predicting Sodelpa could become ‘kingmakers” in the event of a tight finish, and based on them getting past the threshold!

    Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem has not announced the total voter turnout, but he said yesterday this figure would be known today.

    The Fiji Times
    THE FIJI TIMES

    The 353,247 figure he released on Election Day, he said, was from 1200 or so polling stations, not 1400. There can be no doubts about the interest now focused on the outcome.

    It had been a fiery tussle leading up to the elections on December 14.

    Campaigns inched out attacks that turned ugly at times, and some became personal. When it mattered, we were told of a low voter turnout. All that will now be cast aside as we await the final announcement.

    Will there be an outright winner?

    Or will there be a role for Sodelpa to play? Voters would be keenly following how the numbers add up.

    The atmosphere has been supercharged, highly emotional, and driving through divisions as party followers cling onto hope.

    There is great suspense and anxiety! It isn’t a pleasant scenario.

    The Supervisor of Elections has been highly visible, answering questions raised by party supporters and the local and international media.

    In the face of that sits the voter, each with emotional responses that are on a leash. There were questions raised by political parties following that glitch on the first night of counting.

    Press conferences were called by the parties highlighting their views on the turn of events. Social media has also been rife with claims and counter claims.

    In saying that, the race was tight! That sets the stage for the big announcement. For whatever it’s worth, the result will end speculation and may raise discussions on eventualities if things don’t end the way the leading party leaders want it to.

    The guessing game is on! Rumours were rife in the Capital City, and emotions were quite intense in many quarters. But we wait with bated breath for the big reveal!

    This editorial was published in The Sunday Times on 18 December 2022 and has been edited slightly in the light of developments. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Yamin Kogoya: While West Papuans face an ‘existential threat’ under Indonesia, PNG plans defence pact with Jakarta

    ANALYSIS: By Yamin Kogoya

    “We are part of them and they are part of us,” declared politician Augustine Rapa, founder and president of the PNG Liberal Democratic Party, on the 61st anniversary of the struggle for West Papuan independence earlier this month.

    Rapa’s statement of West Papua at Gerehu, Port Moresby, on December 1 was in response to Papua New Guinean police who arrived at the anniversary celebration and tried to prevent Papuans from the other side of the colonial border from commemorating this significant national day.

    According to Rapa, the issue of West Papua’s plight for liberation should be at the top of the agenda in PNG. Rapa also urged PNG’s Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko to take the plight of West Papuans to the United Nations.

    Frank Makanuey, a senior West Papuan representative, also appealed to the PNG government to alter its foreign policy and law so Papuans from the other side of the border could continue to freely express their opinions peacefully, akin to the opinions and rights inscribed in the UN Charter of Indigenous People.

    According to Makanuey, 7000 West Papuans living in PNG will continue to fight for their freedom for as long as they live, and when they die will pass on the torch of resistance to their children.

    On the day of the commemoration, Minister Tkatchenko appeared in a short video interview reiterating the same message as Rapa.

    “These West Papuans are part of our family; part of our members and are part of Papua New Guinea. They are not strangers,” the minister reminded the crowd.

    ‘Separated by imaginary lines’
    “We are separated only by imaginary lines, which is why I am here.”

    He added: “I did not come here to fight, to yell, to scream, to dictate, but to reach a common understanding — to respect the law of Papua New Guinea and the sovereignty of Indonesia.”


    Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko says PNG will “respect Indonesian sovereignty”. Video: EMTV Onlne

    The minister then explained how West Papuans in PNG should be accommodated under PNG’s immigration law through an appropriate route.

    A few days after this speech, the same minister attended bilateral meetings with countries and international organisations in the Pacific, including Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu along with the Director General of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), ahead of the Indonesia-Pacific Forum for Development (IPFD) in Bali on December 6.

    Following a ministerial meeting with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, Tkatchenko said: “As Papua New Guineans, we must support and respect Indonesia’s sovereignty.”

    Tkatchenko said Port Moresby would work with Indonesia to resolve any issues that arose with West Papuans living in the country.

    One of the most critical and concerning developments of this visit was the announcement of the defence cooperation agreement between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

    “We are moving forward in the process of signing a defence cooperation agreement between PNG and Indonesia. We will work harder and partner on a common goal to achieve security along both countries’ borders,” Tkatchenko said.

    Sllencing Melanesian leaders?
    In January 2022, there was a meeting in Jakarta at the office of the state intelligence agency. It was intended to silence all Melanesian leaders who supported West Papua’s independence and bring them under Jakarta’s sphere of influence, with an allocation of roughly 450 billion rupiahs (about A$42.5 million).

    A couple of months later, on March 30, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea led a large delegation to Indonesia for bilateral discussions.

    Forestry, Fisheries, Energy, Kumul companies, and the Investment Promotion Authority were among the key sectors represented in the delegation. Apparently, this 24 hour trip in an Air Niugini charter from Port Moresby to Jakarta cost K5 million kina (A$2 million).

    Considering such a large sum of money was spent on such a brief visit; this must have been a significant expedition with a considerable agenda.

    Visits of this kind are usually described with words such as, “trade and investment”, but the real purpose for spending so much money on such a brief trip before an election, are facts the public will never know.

    In this case, the “public” is ordinary Papuans on both sides of the border, that the foreign minister himself stated were separated by “imaginary lines”.

    It is those imaginary lines that have caused so much division, destruction, and dislocation of Papuans from both sides to become part of Western and Asian narratives of “civilising” primitive Papuans.

    Imaginary to real lines
    Could the proposed defence agreement remove these imaginary lines, or would it strengthen them to become real and solid lines that would further divide and eliminate Papuans from the border region?

    A "colonisation" map of Papua New Guinea and West Papua
    A “colonisation” map of Papua New Guinea and West Papua. Image: File

    Prime Minister Marape grew up in the interior Papuan Highlands region of Tari, of the proud Huli nation, which shares ancient kinship with other original nations such as Yali, Kimyal, Hubula, Dani and Lani on the West Papuan side of the border.

    As a custodian of this region, the Prime Minister may have witnessed some of the most devastating, unreported, humanitarian crises instigated by ruthless Indonesian military in this area, in the name of sovereignty and border protection.

    Why does his government in Port Moresby boast about signing a defence agreement in Jakarta? Is this a death wish agreement for Papuans — his people and ancestral land, specially on the border region?

    Which entity poses an existential threat to Papuans? Is it China, Australia, Indonesia, or the Papuans themselves?

    It has also been reported that a state visit by Indonesian President Joko Widodo will take place next year through an invitation from Prime Minister Marape.

    There is nothing unusual or uncommon about countries and nations making bilateral or multilateral agreements on any matter concerning their survival, no matter what their intentions may be. Especially when you share a direct border like Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, which has been stained by decades of protracted war waged against Papuans.

    Why now for defence pact?
    However, what is particularly interesting and concerning about the development between these two countries is, why now is the time to discuss a defence agreement after all these years?

    What are the objectives of this initiative? Is it to serve the imperial agenda of Beijing, the United States, Jakarta, or is it to safeguard and protect the island of New Guinea? What is the purpose of a defence agreement, who is protected and who from?

    Exactly like the past 500 years, when European vultures circled the island of New Guinea and sliced it up into pieces, new vultures are now encroaching upon us as the global hegemonic power structure shifts from West to East.

    Responding to these developments, James Marape warned that his country would not be caught up in a geopolitical standoff with the US, Australia, or China, saying the global powers should “keep your fights to yourselves”.

    But does the prime minister have a choice in this matter? Does he have the power to stop war if or when it breaks out in the Pacific like the past?

    Let‘s be honest and ask ourselves, when did Papuans from both sides of this imaginary line have the power to say no to all kinds of brutal, exploitative behaviour exhibited by foreign powers?

    From World War I to II, then to Pacific nuclear testing, and to foreign international bandits currently exploiting papua New Guinea’s natural resources?

    Brutality of Indonesia
    Since its independence, when has the PNG government been able to halt the brutality and onslaught of the Indonesians against their own people on the other side of these imaginary lines?

    Why does PNG’s foreign affairs minister sit in Jakarta negotiating a defence deal with an entity that threatens to annihilate West Papuans, after he himself conveyed a heartfelt message to them on December 1?

    Can both the prime minister and the foreign affairs minister avoid being caught in the middle of a looming war as the Pacific becomes yet another gift for strategic war space between the Imperial West and the Imperial East?

    Benny Wenda, an international icon for the liberation of West Papua, made the following statement on his Facebook page in response to the defence agreement: “Let’s not make this happen, please, our PNG brothers and sisters open your eyes! Can’t you see they’re trying to take over our ancestors Land.”

    While the PNG government gambles on West Papua’s fate with Jakarta, West Papuans are marginalised, chased, or hunted by establishing unlawful settler colonial administrative divisions across the heartland of New Guinea and direct military operations.

    As Wenda warned in his latest report, “mass displacements are occurring in every corner of West Papua”.

    Whatever the philosophical approach underlying Papua New Guinea’s foreign policies in relation to West Papua’s fate — realist or idealist, traditional or transcendental — what matters most to West Papuans is whether they will survive under Indonesian settler colonialism over the next 20 years.

    A reverse situation
    What if the situation is reversed, where Papuans in PNG were being slaughtered by Australian settler colonial rule, while the government of West Papua continues to sneak out across the border to Canberra to keep making agreements that threaten to annihilate PNG?

    Papuans face a serious existential threat under Indonesia settler colonial rule, and the PNG government must be very careful in its dealings with Jakarta. Every single visit and action taken by both Papua New Guinea and Indonesia will leave a permanent mark on the wounded soul of West Papua.

    The only question is will these actions destroy Papuans or rescue them?

    The government and people of Papua New Guinea must consider who their neighbours will be in 100 years from now. Will they be a majority of Muslim Indonesians or a majority of Christian West Papuans?

    It is a critical existential question that will determine the fate of the island, country, nation, as well as languages, culture and existence itself in its entirety.

    Will the government and the people of Papua New Guinea view West Papuans as their brothers and sisters and restructure their collective worldview in the spirit of Rapa’s words, “we are part of them, and they are part of us”, or will they continue to sign agreements and treaties with Jakarta and send their secret police and army to chase and threaten West Papuans seeking protection anywhere on New Guinea’s soil?

    West Papua is bleeding. The last thing West Papua needs is for the PNG government apparatus and forces to harass and chase them as they seek refuge under your roof.

    Papua New Guinea is not the enemy of West Papua; the enemy of PNG is not West Papua.

    The enemies are those who divide the island into pieces, exploit its resources and sign defence agreements to further solidify imaginary lines while leaving its original custodians of the land stranded on the streets and slums like beggars.

    Papuans have lived in this ancient and timeless land from Sorong to Samarai for thousands of years. The actions we take today will determine whether the descendants of these archaic autochthons will survive in the next thousands of years to come.

    Yamin Kogoya is a West Papuan academic who has a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University and who contributes to Asia Pacific Report. From the Lani tribe in the Papuan Highlands, he is currently living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Amnesty condemns mass arrests of West Papuans on Human Rights Day

    Amnesty International

    Amnesty International Indonesia and Amnesty International Australia have condemned the repression used against the people in West Papua when they were commemorating Human Rights Day yesterday — December 10, which marks the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    Indonesian authorities made 116 arrests and injured at least 17 people during multiple forced dispersals of rallies in the lead up to and during December 10 in four regencies across West Papua.

    “We are appalled to hear about these mass arrests. Many were arrested when the rally had not even started,” Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said.

    “This shows Indonesian authorities’ utter disregard of West Papuans’ right to peaceful assembly.

    “Criminalising them for simply peacefully exercising such right will only breed further resentment and distrust. That discriminatory treatment against them has to stop,” said Hamid.

    “People all over the globe commemorated Human Rights Day. The fact that West Papuan people could not enjoy the same right, shows that there is a human rights emergency in West Papua.”

    Amnesty International Australia national director Sam Klintworth said: “Australia needs to demand accountability from Indonesian authorities, especially as they are recipients of so much Australian aid.”

    23 arrested in Wamena
    On December 8, 23 people in Wamena were arrested for several hours when they were distributing leaflets for people to join the Human Rights Day rally.

    On December 10, forced dispersals and mass arrests took place in Wamena and Jayapura.

    In Jayapura, 56 people were arrested and at least 16 people were known to be injured during forced dispersals in multiple locations.

    In Wamena, 37 people were arrested and at least one person was injured when the multiple rallies were forcibly dispersed.

    Also on December 10, a rally in Sorong was forcibly dispersed, and the protest in Manokwari was blocked by police.

    Most of the protesters were members of the West Papua National Committee (Komite Nasional Papua Barat – KNPB), a peaceful grassroots organisation campaigning for the right to self-determination.

    Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Indonesia has ratified through Law No. 12/2005, explicitly guarantees the right of any person to hold opinions without interference.

    Freedom of peaceful assembly is also guaranteed under Article 21 of the ICCPR.

    Amnesty International does not take any position regarding political status within Indonesia, including calls for independence.

    However, the organisation believes that the right to freedom of expression includes the right to peacefully advocate for independence referenda, or other political positions.

  • Fiji elections: Rabuka – ‘What I’m doing now is a vision’

    By Ella Melake in Suva

    The People’s Alliance leader Sitiveni Rabuka in Fiji says he is ready to use all the experience and knowledge he has gained in his 74 years to lead the country to peace.

    Speaking to a packed audience during a rally at Nasinu Sangam School, Narere, Nasinu, on Thursday night, the former prime minister and first coup leader said he was contesting Wednesday’s 2022 general election for the sake of his great grandchildren.

    “What I’m doing now is not instinct, what I’m doing now is a vision,” he said.

    FIJI ELECTIONS 2022
    FIJI ELECTIONS 2022

    “I want to serve the country. I’d like to lead a nation of harmony where people live together in harmony because I’m thinking of my great grandchildren.

    “I want them to enjoy life in a country that has so many races, so many religions, so many faiths, but I want them to be happy in a multifarious, multireligious and multiracial society.

    “Come away from our race and religion and gender and all those compartmentalisations we build, we think of — we’re just human. We’re human beings. We want to enjoy life. We’re going to be here for only a short while.”

    Rabuka told those present that he was “74 but blessed”.

    ‘The scars of life’
    “I’ve played a lot of dangerous sports but I’m still here, I walk with a limp, go along like a boat that’s rocking in the ocean, but those are the scars we bear when we go through life.

    Today's Sunday Times front page 11122022
    Today’s Sunday Times front page . . . the Fiji general election is in three days. Image: APR screenshot

    “With all that comes experience. With all that comes knowledge, with all that comes wisdom and what’s the use then if you take all the experience and wisdom to the grave without contributing anything to the future generation.”

    He said the country was not where it should be and that Fiji had gone backwards.

    “We should be way ahead of where we are because we build upon the achievements and efforts of our past governments, that’s what growth is all about.

    “We just build on what the previous leaders have done.”

    • The Fiji general election is on December 14.

    Ella Melake is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • AUT VC Damon Salesa responds over 170 academic staff cuts

    Pacific Media Watch

    Yesterday RNZ’s Nine to Noon programme looked at the impact of redundancies at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) among academic staff — particularly on post-graduate students who are losing their supervisors.

    The university has announced that 170 academic positions are being cut, but there are concerns about whether the criteria by which staff were selected to lose their jobs was fair.

    Legal proceedings have been launched by the Tertiary Education Union (TEU), which says the university has truncated the processes for dismissal set out in the collective agreement.

    It argues staff were selected because they failed to meet teaching and research requirements they did not know they were subject to.

    Presenter Kathryn Ryan spoke to Professor Damon Salesa, who is vice-chancellor of AUT.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ covid inquiry must look at response to specific communities, Pasifika health leader says

    RNZ News

    A Pasifika health leader hopes the Royal Commission into the Covid-19 pandemic will look into the equity of the response and resource allocation.

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday announced a Royal Commission into the government’s covid-19 response which will be chaired by Professor Tony Blakely, an epidemiologist working at the University of Melbourne.

    He is joined by former National Party MP Hekia Parata, and the previous secretary to Treasury, John Whitehead, as commissioners.

    Pasifika Futures chief executive Debbie Sorensen said Pasifika people were essentially left to form their own response during the earlier stages of the pandemic.

    That was despite Pasifika people working a large proportion of jobs in MIQ facilities and at the airport and other front line locations, she said.

    Many affected Pacific families experienced a great deal of hardship, she said.

    It was important for the inquiry to look at the covid-19 response in regards to specific communities, she said.

    Slowness of response
    “We’re really clear that equity in the response and in the resource allocation is an important consideration.”

    One issue was the slowness of the government’s response to both Pacific and Māori communities during the height of the pandemic, she said.

    “Advice was provided to the government, you know cabinet papers provided advice on specific responses for our communities and that advice was ignored.”

    An important aspect of the inquiry should be reviewing how that advice was given to the government, its response to it and how the government’s sought more information, she said.

    The inquiry’s initial scope appeared to be very narrow, but it could be broadened as it went along, Sorensen said.

    “The impact on mental health and the ongoing economic burden for our communities is immense — you know we have a whole generation of young people who have not continued their education because they were required to go in to work.”

    Sorensen said often young people had to work because they were the only person in their family who had a job at that time due to covid-19.

    Mental health demand
    The pandemic also increased demand for mental health services which were already under pressure, she said.

    Anyone who was unwell unlikely to be able to get an appointment within six to eight months which was shameful, she said.

    Sorensen would have preferred the inquiry had been announced earlier, but it was an opportunity to better prepare for the future, she said.

    But Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority, chief medical officer Dr Rawiri McKree Jansen told Morning Report he had some concerns that the probe into the covid-19 response was coming too soon to gain a full picture.

    The pandemic was ongoing and starting the inquiry so early may obstruct a complete view of it, he said.

    “I understand that there’s people champing at the bit and [saying] we should’ve done it before but it’s very difficult to do that and adequately learn the lessons.”

    Understanding how to get a proper pandemic response was in everyone’s interest, but the pandemic was now still in its third wave, he said.

    About to begin
    Nevertheless, the inquiry was about to get underway and it could make a large contribution if it was done well, he said.

    “I’m sure there will be many Māori communities that want to have voice in the inquiry and you know contribute to a better understanding of how we can manage pandemics really well.

    “We’ve had pandemics before and they’ve been absolutely tragic. We’ve got this pandemic and the outcome for us is something like two to two-and-a-half times the rate of hospitalisations and deaths, so Māori communities are fundamentally very interested in bedding in the learnings that we’ve achieved in the pandemic.”

    Dr Jansen hoped the inquiry would provide enduring information about managing pandemics with a very clear focus on Māori and how to support the best outcomes for the Māori population.

    Inquiry’s goal next pandemic
    The head of the Royal Commission said the review needed to put New Zealand in better position to respond next time a pandemic hits.

    Professor Blakely said the breadth of experience and skills of the commissioners was welcome, and would help them to cover the wide scope of the Inquiry, ranging from the health response and legislative decisions, to the economic response.

    Reviewing the response to the pandemic was a big job, he said.

    “There’s already 75 reports done so far, I think about 1700 recommendations from those reports, New Zealand’s not the only country that’s been affected by this cause it’s a global epidemic, so there’s lots of other reports.”

    The inquiry panel would have to sit at the top of all that work that had already been done “and pull it altogether from the perspective of Aotearoa New Zealand and what would help best there.

    The inquiry needed to make New Zealand was prepared for a pandemic with good testing, good contact tracing and good tools that the Reserve Bank could use to support citizens in the time of a pandemic, Professor Blakely said.

    “Our job is to try and create a situation where those tools are as good as possible, there’s frameworks to use when you’ve entered another pandemic, which will occur at some stage we just don’t know when.”

    Professor Blakely said he was flying to New Zealand next week and would meet with Hekia Parata and John Whitehead to start thinking about the shape of the inquiry going forward.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

  • Domestic violence, isolation hit Pacific women during pandemic, says USP survey

    By Sri Krishnamurthi

    While some women at the University of the South Pacific’s 14 campuses found working from home enjoyable during the covid-19 pandemic, others felt isolated, had overwhelming mental challenges and some experienced domestic violence, a Pacific survey has found.

    Titled “University Women Remote Work Challenges”, the survey was funded by the Council of Pacific Education (COPE) and was supported by the Association of the University of the South Pacific staff (AUSPS)

    The research report, released last month, was conducted by Dr Hilary Smith (an honorary affiliate researcher at the Australian National University and Massey University) for the women’s wing of AUSPS.

    AUSPS women’s wing chair Rosalie Fatiaki
    AUSPS women’s wing chair Rosalie Fatiaki . . . “Women with young children had a lot to juggle, and those who rely on the internet for work had particular frustrations.” Image: AUSPS

    “This survey confirms that many of our university women had support from their family networks while on Work From Home, but others were left feeling very isolated,” said Rosalie Fatiaki, chair of the AUSPS women’s wing.

    “Women with young children had a lot to juggle, and those who rely on the internet for work had particular frustrations — some had to wait until after midnight to get a strong enough signal,” she said.

    Around 30 percent of respondents reported having developed covid-19 during the Work From Home periods, and 57 percent had lost a family member or close friend to covid-19 as well as co-morbidities.

    In the survey there was also evidence of the “shadow pandemic” of domestic abuse and although the reported levels were low, it was likely the real incidence was much higher, said Dr Smith.

    ‘Feelings of shame’
    “That was because of the feelings of shame (reporting domestic violence). In the Pacific Islands families and communities tend to be very close-knit groupings,” Dr Smith said.

    Only two of the 14 USP campuses in 12 Pacific countries avoided any covid-19 closures between 2020 and 2022 — the shortest closure was two days in Tokelau and the longest at the three Fijian campuses of Laucala, Lautoka and Labasa lasting 161 days.

    There had been no cases on the Tuvalu campus until the second quarter of this year.

    “For women who had older children they said they enjoyed the time with their families,” Dr Smith said.

    “And it was more difficult for those with young families,” she said.

    She stressed the importance of being careful with the survey in relation to domestic violence.

    “With this kind of survey, we had to be a little bit careful. We can’t say we got evidence of how much there is because it is a very tricky thing to survey and especially in this kind of survey,” Dr Smith said.

    ‘Sensitive issue’
    “And because it is a sensitive issue and people tend not to identify and it is something that people tend to be ashamed about pretty much.

    “The survey was totally confidential, and we set it up so no one would who the respondents were.

    “It was impossible to find out through the ANU programme we used.

    “But the fact people did give some evidence then I think that we know that it is actually quite significant, and we assumed that the prevalence was quite higher.”

    She said that she was not saying there were more incidents, but from media reports, particularly in Fiji, she had suspicions that it was higher than reported in the survey.

    “We were responding to the fact that there were other news reports in Fiji we referenced, and there has been the other report by the UN (United Nations) women about it,” she said.

    The report “Measuring the Shadow Pandemic – violence against women during Covid-19” was released by the UN in December 2021 and the Violence Against Women Rapid Gender Assessments (VAW RGA) were implemented in 13 countries spanning all regions — Albania, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nigeria, Paraguay, Thailand and Ukraine.

    There was general support of national statistical offices (NSOs) or national women’s groups and funding from the policy and Melinda Gates Foundation, which found an incidence of 40 percent of reported domestic violence.

    ‘There in Pacific”
    “So, we weren’t saying that it was more than in other countries, but we were saying it was there in the Pacific.

    “It could be more, or it could be less but because the evidence had been already highlighted in Fiji, we were just picking up on that.”

    AUSPS had specifically asked for it to be followed up because of “widespread murmuring” that domestic violence was occurring.

    “My colleagues at USP had indicated they wanted to follow it up because they had heard that it was an issue for some women,” Dr Smith said.

    In her recommendations she had suggested counselling for women and a safe space on campus, but she was unsure if it would be acted on.

    Limited counselling
    There was limited counselling available already and some had suggested that it should be done through religious denominations, she said.

    She said internationally people had struggled with mental health issues during the pandemic, so it was common to all communities.

    “There was a relatively high incidence in Fiji, and we reported the findings from the survey,” Dr Smith said.

    Among the recommendations for support during isolation was the setting up of a helpline and regular calls from senior personnel and support staff.

    She said even if this pandemic had passed there were other events like natural disasters, politics, and wars to be mindful of.

    “Human-made or nature-made or the prevalence of other pandemics, we are basically saying the university should be prepared,” Dr Smith said.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Pacific churches call for boycott of Indonesian products over Papua

    By Shayal Devi in Suva

    In solidarity with West Papua, the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) has called for a boycott of all Indonesian products and programmess by the Indonesian government.

    The Fiji-based PCC said this should be done until Indonesia facilitated a visit by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate alleged human rights abuses in West Papua, which included torture, extrajudicial killings, and systemic police and military violence.

    General secretary Reverend James Bhagwan said the call for a boycott came in response to the lack of political will by the Indonesian government to honour its commitment to the visit, which had been made four years ago.

    “Our Pacific church leaders are deeply concerned that the urge by our Pacific Island states through the Pacific Islands Forum has been ignored,” he said.

    “We are also concerned that Indonesia is using ‘cheque-book diplomacy’ to silence some Pacific states on this issue. Our only option in the face of this to apply our own financial pressure to this cause.

    “We know that the Pacific is a market for Indonesian products and we hope that this mobilisation of consumers will show that Pacific people stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers of Tanah Papua.”

    On Thursday, the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) held a flag-raising ceremony to mark 61 years since the Morning Star, the West Papuan national flag, was first raised.

    Women, girls suffered
    FWCC coordinator Shamima Ali said as part of the 16 Days of Activism campaign, FWCC remembered the people of West Papua, particularly women and girls, who suffered due to the increased militarisation of the province by the Indonesian government.

    “We also remember those women, girls, men and children who have died and those who are still suffering from state violence perpetrated on them and the violence and struggle within their own religious, cultural and societal settings,” she said.

    Ali said Pacific islanders should not be quiet about the issue.

    “Fiji has been too silent on the issue of West Papua and the ignorance needs to stop,” she said.

    “Keeping quiet is not the answer when our own people are suffering.”

    Shayal Devi is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Happy West Papua Day – and the brutal truth about where we are now

    COMMENTARY: By Yamin Kogoya

    On 30 June 2022, the Indonesian Parliament in Jakarta passed legislation to split West Papua into three more pieces.

    The Papuan people’s unifying name for their independence struggle — “West Papua” — is now being shattered by Jakarta’s draconian policies. Under this new legislation, the two existing provinces have been divided into five, which include South Papua, Central Papua, and Highland Papua.

    Indonesia’s Vice-President, Ma’ruf Amin said while addressing an audience at the Special Autonomy Law Change in Jayapura, Papua’s capital, on Tuesday, 29 November 2022, “right now, we are building Papua better”,  reported the Indonesian news agency Antara.

    “Changes to special autonomy are a natural thing and are in the process of the national policy cycle to make things even better,” continued the Vice-President.

    While Jakarta is busy tearing apart West Papua with these deceitful words, Papuans everywhere are called to raise the banned Morning Star flag today to commemorate West Papua’s 61st Independence Day on 1 December 1961, stolen by Jakarta in May 1963.

    The day is significant and historic because it was on 19 October 1961 that the first New Guinea Council, known as Nieuw Guinea Raad, named West Papua as the name of a new modern nation-state — the Papuan Independent State was founded.

    It was before Papua New Guinea (PNG) gained independence in 1975 from Australia.

    Papuans were subjected to all kinds of abuse and violations due to how this island of New Guinea was named and described in colonial literature.

    Foreign reinventions
    Foreign powers continue to dissect West Papua, renaming it, creating new identities, and reinventing new definitions by making it merely an outpost of foreign imperialism in the periphery where abundant food and minerals are extracted and stolen, without penalty or consequence.

    Papuans do not appear to give up their sacred ancestral land without a fight.

    The name “West Papua”, however, remains a burning flame in the hearts of all living beings who yearn for freedom and justice. The name was chosen 61 years ago because of this reason. This is the name of a newborn nation-state.

    After Indonesia invaded West Papua on May 1, 1963, the name West Papua was changed to Irian Jaya. West Papua had been called The Netherlands New Guinea up to the point of the first New Guinea Council in 1961.

    The year 2000 marked another significant period in the history of West Papua. The former Indonesian president, Abdurrahman Wahid — famously known as Gusdur — renamed it from Irian Jaya to Papua, a move that etched a special place in the hearts of Papuans for Gusdur.

    In 2003, not only did West Papua’s name change. But West Papua was split in half — Papua and West Papua. This fragmentation was achieved by Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of the first Indonesian president, Sukarno, the man responsible for 60 years of Papuan bloodshed.

    She violated a provision of the Special Autonomy Law 2001, which was based on the idea that Papua remain a single territory. As prescribed by law, any division would need to be approved by the Papuan provincial legislature and local Papuan cultural assembly.

    Tragic turning point
    They were institutions set up by Jakarta itself to safeguard Papuan people, language, and culture.

    One significant aspect of the first Special Autonomy Law was, any new policy introduced by the central government in relation to changing, adjusting, or creating a new identity of the region (West Papua) must be approved by the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP). But this has never happened to date.

    The year 2022 marks another tragic turning point in the fate of West Papua. West Papua is being divided again this year under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, in the same manner that Jakarta did 20 years ago.

    It is common for Jakarta elites to act inconsistently with their own laws when dealing with West Papua. Jakarta violated both the UN Charter and the New York Agreement, which they themselves agreed to and signed.

    For example, chapters 11 (XI), 12 (XII), and 13 (XIII) of the UN Charter governing decolonisation and Papua’s right to self-determination, as specified in the New York Agreement’s Articles 18 (XVII), 19 (XIX), 20 (XX), 21 (XXI), and 22 (XXII) have not been followed. The words, texts and practices all contradict each other — demonstrating possible psychological disturbance — traumatising Papuans by being administered by such a pathological entity.

    The disdain and demeaning behaviour shown by Indonesian governments towards Papuans in West Papua over the past 61 years are unforgivable and stained permanently in the soul of every living being in West Papua and New Guinea island.

    “Right now, we are building Papua better,” declared Indonesia’s Vice-President, a narcissistic utterance from the highest office of the country, and this illustrates Jakarta’s complete disconnect from West Papua.

    Random Morning Star flag-waiving images from West Papua Day 2022
    Morning Star flag-waving images from West Papua Independence Day 2022. Images: Papua Voulken

    What led to this tragic situation?
    West Papua has endured a lot for more than half a century, having been renamed and re-described numerous times by foreign invaders, from “IIha de papo” and “o’ Papuas” to “Isla de Oro”, or “Island of Gold”, to New Guinea, and New Guinea to Netherlands, English and German Papua and New Guinea. From this emerged Papua New Guinea, West Papua and Irian Jaya, and from Irian Jaya to Papua and West Papua.

    As a result of renaming and colonial descriptions of Papuans as unintelligent pygmies, cannibals, and pagan savages; people without value, different foreign colonial intruders were able to enter West Papua and exploit and treat the Papuan people and their land, in accordance with the myth they created based on these names.

    In addition to fostering a racist mindset, this depiction misrepresented reality as it was experienced and understood by Papuans over thousands of years.

    The Jakarta settler colonial government continues to engage with West Papua with these profoundly misconstrued ideas. Hence the total disregard for what Papuans want or feel regarding their fate is a result of colonial renaming and accounts.

    Now the eastern half remains under one name: Papua New Guinea. Jakarta’s settler colonial rulers just created five more settler provinces on the Western side of the island: South Papua Province, Central Papua Province, and Central Highlands Papua Province.

    All these new settler colonial provinces are in the heart of New Guinea. Looking at West Papua’s history, we see so many marks and bruises of abuse and torture on her sacred body. In the future, West Papua is likely to suffer yet another grim fate of more torture with such dishonest words from Indonesia’s Vice-President.

    Another sacred day
    Today, December 1, marks yet another sacred day where we hold West Papua in our hearts and rally to her defence as her enemy marches to cut her into pieces on the settler colonial’s bed of Procrustes.

    Let us remember and give glory to West Papua with the following words:

    West Papua is an ancient and original particle, an atom of light and hope. It is a story about survival, resistance, betrayal, destruction, genocide, and survival against the odds. It is the last frontier where humanity’s greatness and wickedness are tested, where tragedy, aspiration, and hope are revealed. Papua is an innocent sacrificial lamb, a peace broker among the planet’s monsters, but no one knows her story — hidden deep beneath the earth – supporting sacred treaties between savages and warlords. West Papua is the home of the last original magic, the magic of nature. West Papua is the home of our original ancestors, the archaic Autochthons, the spiritual ancestors of our dream-time spiritual warriors — the pioneers of nature — the first voyageur across dangerous seas and land — the first agriculturalist — the most authentic, the original — we are the past and we are the future. West Papua is the original dream that has yet to be realised — a dream in the process of restoration to its original glory.

    This is where West Papua is now. You cut me into pieces millions of times in millions of years, I will rebuild West Papua with these pieces a million times over again.

    Happy West Papua Independence Day!

    Yamin Kogoya is a West Papuan academic who has a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University and who contributes to Asia Pacific Report. From the Lani tribe in the Papuan Highlands, he is currently living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

  • Papua’s Customary Council forms team to probe activist Filep Karma’s death

    Tabloid Jubi in Jayapura

    The chair of the Papua Customary Council (DAP), Dominggus Surabut, says the council along with a coalition of civil organisations have formed an investigation team to examine Tuesday’s death of Papuan independence leader Filep Karma.

    “We have coordinated with various parties in the Papuan struggle, as well as with families and lawyers to conduct an independent investigation into the death of Papuan leader Filep Karma,” he told Jubi.

    “We think Karma died not because of an accident.”

    Surabut said Filep Karma’s death could not be minimised or based only on external examination and family statements.

    He said Filep Karma’s daughter Andrefina Karma spoke about her father’s death in a state of grief. The official version is that he died in a diving accident.

    “We need a more serious investigation to find out why and how he died. After that we will convey to the public who are still unsure of the cause of death of their leader,” he said.

    Chairman of the Papuan Customary Council Dominikus Surabut speaking to reporters
    Chair of the Papuan Customary Council Dominikus Surabut speaking to reporters in Jayapura. Image: Hengky Yeimo/Jubi

    An activist of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), Ogram Wanimbo, said the authorities must reveal to the public a complete chronology of Filep Karma’s death.

    Dissatisfied with post-mortem
    “We are very dissatisfied with the post-mortem results. We need an explanation of who went to the beach with him and what exactly happened,” he said.

    The spokesperson for the Papuan People’s Petition, Jefri Wenda, said the same.

    “We are asking for a more detailed explanation,” he said.

    “Filep Karma is the leader of the West Papuan nation from the Biak tribe. He was no ordinary person.

    “We ask that all parties respect his struggle.”

    Karma was buried at the Expo Public Cemetery in Jayapura city on Wednesday. The funeral of the Bloody Biak survivor was attended by thousands of mourners who came from Jayapura city, Jayapura regency and surrounding areas.

    Filep Karma left home to go diving on Sunday and was found dead at Base G Beach on Tuesday morning. He allegedly died from a diving accident.

    Thousands attend funeral
    Thousands of people attended Filep Karma’s funeral.

    Church leaders, traditional leaders, and activists escorted the body to his resting place. The funeral process was also closely guarded by the police.

    Filep Karma’s coffin was covered in a Morning Star independence flag.

    During the funeral procession, six Morning Star flags were raised. The Morning Star that covered the coffin was then handed over to the family.

    “Filep Karma taught us about everything. We leave the flag to the family as a symbol that the struggle continues to live,” said Eneko Pahabol, while handing the flag over to Karma’s children, Fina Karma, Audrin Karma and Since Karma.

    On behalf of the family, Since Karma said: “Thank you very much for your love. We are grateful to have Mr Filep. He taught us to be brave.

    “Filep Karma didn’t want us to live in fear. Let’s stay brave. He’s gone but his spirit hasn’t left. The spirit lives in us.”

    The Morning Star flag is banned by Indonesian authorities and raising it carries a jail sentence of up to 15 years.

    Republished with permission.

    Morning Star raised at the funeral of Filep Karma

  • COP27: Platform will boost Pacific presence at UN climate conference

    By Rachael Nath, RNZ Pacific journalist

    A platform has been dedicated to bolster the Pacific leadership at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties — COP27.

    Known as the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion, the Fono or council aims to faciliate talanoa, or conversation, and knowledge-sharing on issues important to the Pacific, especially advocacy for ambitious climate action and the need for financing.

    More than 70 side events will be hosted at the Pavilion, providing a platform for Pacific people to tell their stories.

    Another space, the Pacific Delegation Office, has been set up for hosting meetings with partners and strategising negotiation approaches.

    New Zealand Climate Change Ambassador Kay Harrison said the platforms were a key part of ensuring the Pacific’s voice was heard and considered.

    The two platforms are part of a Pacific partnership with New Zealand managed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

    Meanwhile, Tonga Meteorological Services Deputy Director Laitia Fifita said his department was attending the conference to share data on Tonga’s climate, which had seen the appearance of four devastating cyclones over the last decade.

    “Not only is our director attending this meeting but also the head of government, and the King and Queen are also attending.

    “So it’s a nationwide approach, taking relevant issues about the impacts of climate change on small island developing states including Tonga.”

    COP27 kicks off this weekend in Sham El Sheikh, Egypt, with an estimated 45,000 people expected to attend.

    However, climate experts are not holding their breath for major breakthroughs at the annual conference, with some concerns rich countries will be missing in action.

    Tuvalu's foreign minister Simon Kofe
    In one of the most iconic images relating to COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe spoke in knee-deep water to show rising seawater levels. Image: RNZ Pacific/EyePress News/EyePress/AFP/TVBC
    Climate activists and delegates stage a walk out in protest of the ongoing negotiations yesterday.
    Climate activists and delegates protesting at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021. Image: RNZ Pacific/AFP

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Papua activist’s daughter happy with post-mortem, but suspicions linger

    RNZ Pacific

    The daughter of West Papuan human rights advocate Filep Karma who died on Tuesday aged 63 has confirmed that he died in a diving accident.

    Andrefina Karma said she followed the external post-mortem process of Filep Karma’s body.

    The results showed that Filep Karma had died from drowning while diving.

    Andrefina Karma asked people not to protest over the death of her father.

    Human rights watch researcher Andreas Harsono told RNZ Pacific Waves Karma was a master diver and had dived regularly at the same beach.

    Harsono said Karma often encountered problems at sea.

    He said that on the day of his death he was with two relatives and they were swimming together. The relatives went home as Karma wanted to fish alone, which Harsono said was dangerous for a diver.

    Suspicions mount
    However, some Papuan activists want a full investigation into the death.

    West Papua National Committee (KNPB) activist Ogram Wanimbo, said the complete chronology of Filep Karma’s death must be revealed transparently to the public.

    Wanimbo said they were dissatisfied with the post-mortem results.

    “We need an explanation of who went to the beach with him and what exactly happened,” he said.

    Papuan People’s Petition spokesperson Jefri Wenda also asked for a more detailed explanation.

    The chairman of the Papua Customary Council, Dominikus Surabut, said his party also did not fully believe that Filep Karma’s death was purely an accident.

    “The family said it was a pure accident but until now, I don’t believe it. Let there be an investigation into it,” Surabut said.

    Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman said: “There were too many strange circumstances around his death and questioning police’s influence on the family. We are not accepting this as an accident.”

    Veronica Koman
    Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman . . .”too many strange circumstances around his death”. Image: ANU

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Vanuatu election officials risk lives, call for better poll infrastructure

    By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist

    A Vanuatu Mobile Force’s officer who risked his life wading through chest-high water carrying ballot boxes, is calling on the new government to fund new bridges and roads for residents of central Santo.

    Private Samuel Bani is part of the Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF), a group of volunteers in Vanuatu’s military who support the Vanuatu Police.

    He was one of hundreds making sure the 2022 election was possible by delivering ballot boxes to remote areas.

    Some were sent by helicopter, others by truck and in some cases the journey was made by foot.

    “The journey was so slippery — the road was flooded, there was no bridge, so we had to cross the river by foot. At some points the river reached my chest. It’s so dangerous while it’s raining,” Bani said.

    “The journey was so tough, the current is so strong. We nearly lost the ballot boxes because the tide was so strong, it’s so dangerous,” he said.

    Bani, an official based in Luganville, said his team risked their lives crossing the Jordan River to deliver boxes so people in remote villages could exercise their right to vote.

    The team of three picked the boxes up in Sanma Province.

    “We had to run four hours to reach the place, then we slept one night in a village then we walked seven to nine hours up the hill to reach Vunamele,” Bani said.

    “These people have their rights, we just get the boxes up so they have their rights,” he said.

    ‘We put our life on the line’
    With the swearing-in of the new government of Vanuatu looming this Friday, Private Bani is calling on leaders to learn from his experience and strengthen infrastructure in rural areas.

    “We put our life on the line,” he said.

    He wants elected representatives to make the journey he did to understand the hardship people go through just to have access to basic necessities like health care.

    “There’s pregnant women walking down and when someone is dead they have to get the coffin back down,” Bani said.

    Issues with infrastructure in parts of Santo is an ongoing issue, RNZ Pacific correspondent Hilaire Bule said.

    People have died crossing the Jordan River, he added.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  • Fiji academic warns over media ‘climate injustice’ in open access webinar

    By David Robie

    A Fiji-based academic challenged the Pacific region’s media and policymakers today over climate crisis coverage, asking whether the discriminatory style of reporting was a case of climate injustice.

    Associate Professor Shailendra Singh, head of the journalism programme at the University of the South Pacific, said climate press conferences and meetings were too focused on providing coverage of “privileged elite viewpoints”.

    “Elites have their say, but communities facing the brunt of climate change have their voices muted,” he told the Look at the Evidence: Climate Journalism and Open Science webinar panel exploring the role of journalism in raising climate awareness in the week-long Open Access Australasia virtual conference.

    Dr Singh, who is also on the editorial board of Pacific Journalism Review and was speaking for the recently formed Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN), threw open several questions to the participants about what appeared to be “discriminatory reporting”.

    “Is slanted media coverage marginalising grassroots voices? Is this a form of climate injustice?” he asked.

    “Are news media unknowingly perpetuating climate injustice?”

    He cited many of the hurdles impacting on the ability of Pacific news media to cover the climate crisis effectively, such as lack of resources in small media organisations and lack of reporting expertise.

    ‘Jack-of-all-trades’
    “We are unable to have specialist climate reporters as in some other countries; our journalists tend to be a jack-of-all-trades, and master of none,” he said.

    He did not mean this in a “disparaging manner”, saying “it’s just our reality” given limited resources.

    Key Pacific media handicaps included:

    • The smallness of Pacific media systems;
    • Limited revenue and small profit margins;
    • A high attrition rate among journalists (mostly due to uncompetitive salaries);
    • Pacific journalists “don’t have the luxury” of specialising in one area; and
    • No media economies of scale.

    “Our journalists don’t build sufficient knowledge in any one topic for consistent or in-depth reporting,” he said. “And this is more deeply felt in areas such as climate reporting.”

    He cited recent research on Pacific climate reporting by Samoan climate change journalist Lagipoiva Dr Cherelle Jackson, saying such Pacific media research was “scarce”.

    ‘Staying afloat in Paradise’
    A research fellow with the Reuters Institute and Oxford University, Dr Jackson carried out research on how media in her homeland and six other Pacific countries were covering climate change. The report was titled Staying Afloat in Paradise: Reporting Climate Change in the Pacific.

    Pacific journalists and editors “have a responsibility to inform readers on how climatic changes can affect them, she argued. But this did not translate into the pages of their newspapers.

    “Climate change is simply not as high a priority for Pacific newsrooms as issues such as health, education and politics which all take precedence over even general environment reporting,” Dr Jackson wrote.

    “For a region mainly classified by the United Nations as ‘least developed’ and ‘developing’ countries, it is apparent that there are more pressing issues than climate change.

    “But the fact that the islands of the Pacific are already at the bottom end of the scale in regards to wealth and infrastructure, and the fact that climate change is also threatening the mere existence of some islands, should make it a big story. But it isn’t.”

    Newsroom's Marc Daalder
    Newsroom’s Marc Daalder . . . “we need this [open access] to happen for climate reporting”. Image: Open Access Week 2022 screenshot APR

    The Open Access Australasia media panel today also included Newsroom’s Marc Daalder, The Conversation’s New Zealand science editor Veronica Meduna, and Guardian columnist Dr Jeff Sparrow of the University of Melbourne.

    Critical of paywalls
    Daalder spoke about how open access to scientific papers was vitally important for journalists who needed to read complete papers, not just abstracts. He was critical of the paywalls on many scientific research papers.

    Open access enabled journalists to do their job better and this was clearly shown during the covid-19 pandemic — “and we need this to happen for climate reporting”.

    Meduna said it took far too long for research, such as on climate change, to filter through into public debate. Open access helped to reduce that gap.

    She also said the success of The Conversation model showed that there was a growing demand for scientists communicating directly with the public with the help of journalists.

    Dr Sparrow called for a social movement for meaningful action on the climate crisis and more scientific literacy was needed to enable this.

    Highly critical of the “dysfunctional” academic publishing industry, he said open access would contribute to “radically accessible” science for the public.

    The panel was organised by Tuwhera digital and open access publishing team at Auckland University of Technology.

    Open Access Week 2022
    Open Access Week 2022 … the media climate webinar panel. Image: Open Access Week screenshot APR

  • ‘Forgotten’ Melanesians host their first cultural festival in Aotearoa

    By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific journalist

    About 23,000 Melanesians live in Aotearoa and yesterday they had their first very own festival showcasing their diverse cultures.

    Fijians make up the bulk of the population but there are also ni-Vanuatu, Solomon Islanders, Papua New Guineans, West Papuans and Kanaks from New Caledonia.

    The founder and director of the Melanesian Festival, Joana Monolagi, said after years of planning and lots of patience it was wonderful that the event had finally happened.

    New Zealand's first Melanesian Festival
    New Zealand’s first Melanesian Festival. Image: MFA2022 poster

    “From the people that I have spoken to through this planning they have come and voiced their feelings to me and their views are that it’s been a long time coming,” she said.

    “They’ve been praying and waiting for something to showcase Melanesia.”

    Ni-Vanuatu and Melanesian community advocate Leina Isno said the festival put a spotlight on cultures in the Pacific that “often go unnoticed” in New Zealand.

    “A part of the Pacific that is so under-recognised and under spoken about, especially in the culture of New Zealand. We deserve that recognition, we deserve to be talked about.”

    The festival included food stalls, arts and craft displays and cultural performances.

    Papuan students
    One of the groups that performed is the Papuan Student Association Oceania, led by AUT postgraduate communications student Laurens Ikinia.

    Ikinia said he was grateful to the event organisers who had worked tirelessly to give the Melanesian community a platform.

    “It’s incredible how they’ve put their commitment and their focus just to make this event happen,” he said.


    The West Papuan students performing at the festival yesterday.   Video: Nik Naidu/Whānau hub

    “It’s quite sad to say this year is gonna be the first year for the first celebration but you know on the other hand it’s a great acknowledgement for Melanesian communities who are living in Aotearoa.”

    Monolagi said she spent years working to get everything to fall into place and she was determined, now it had come to fruition, that this weekend’s festival would not be a one-off.

    She said it had all the potential of reaching the same level as other cultural events in New Zealand.

    “There’s room to move,” she said.

    “I think in this short time I’ve experienced the interest not just in Auckland but I recently came back from Wellington and they looked forward to coming up this weekend to celebrate with us.”

    The Melanesian Festival took place at the Waitemata Rugby Club Grounds in Henderson, Auckland.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  • After PNG’s mines run out – what then? An ominous warning

    By Andrew Anton Mako in Port Moresby

    “When we don’t have any of these copper and gold mines anymore, where are we headed?”

    This quote is by Jerry Garry, managing director of PNG’s Mineral Resources Authority (MRA).

    According to Garry, mineral resources from large mines (both current and pipeline) will be exhausted in 40 years. Oil and gas will also eventually run out.

    This should be a wake-up call for Papua New Guinea.

    First, it is just over a generation away.

    Second, PNG is overly and increasingly dependent on the mining industry for exports (80 percent of total export revenue) and economic growth.

    The resources sector was only about 10 percent of the economy at independence in 1975, but is about 25 per cent today.

    Third, despite a long history of mining in the country, socio-economic development is still lagging, as highlighted by poor performance in health, education, governance, and law and order.

    Indicators languishing
    The country’s human development indicators are languishing against compararable economies, and we are unlikely to achieve Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, or Vision 2050’s ambitious goals.

    Last, the country has made little progress over the years in diversifying and expanding the economic base to enable broad-based, inclusive and sustained economic growth and development.

    The government and its policymakers understand that the mining industry is capital-intensive and, given its enclave nature, has few linkages with the rest of the economy besides the jobs it creates and the contracts it provides to local landowners.

    The main contribution the industry makes should be the transfer of resource rents to the government through royalties, taxes and profits (where the government has an equity stake).

    But this is where the problems start.

    First, the contribution of the resource sector to government revenue has been underwhelming — less than 10 percent in recent years.

    Second, it is incumbent upon the government to deliberately and sustainably invest the resource rents in the rest of the economy, including through infrastructure development, strengthening of governance and institutions, as well as building human capital by investing in sectors such as health, education, water and sanitation.

    Billions lost to corruption
    “This has not happened consistently across the country, with billions of kina lost to corruption and mismanagement.

    Third, and underlying these two problems, PNG seems to be subject to the “resource curse”, which is when a country is unable to successfully translate proceeds of its abundant natural resources into gainful economic growth and development outcomes for its people.

    No one can dispute that PNG’s resource rents have not produced commensurate development outcomes for the country and the people.

    There is a large body of literature on PNG which attests to this situation.

    Understanding the problems is one thing, but what matters is addressing them. And given the ominous warning by the MRA, actions are needed fast, and now.

    Prime Minister James Marape has embarked on a process to increase the proceeds of natural resources to national stakeholders, though how successful he is remains to be seen.

    The more fundamental challenge facing the newly elected Marape-Rosso government is to diversify the country’s economic base and to promote the non-mining economy.

    Bold step needed
    The new government has taken the bold step of allocating new ministerial portfolios to coffee, oil palm and livestock.

    However, this is more a symbolic step than anything else.

    If we really want to encourage coffee growers, what is needed is better roads and security, neither of which a coffee minister can deliver.

    Deliberate and sustained policy interventions are needed to lift the country and the people out of the resource curse, and forge a development pathway that is ultimately driven by sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, forestry, tourism and manufacturing, including downstream processing of the country’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry products.

    To boost these sectors, the overvaluation of the exchange rate needs to be corrected.

    This will address the problem of forex rationing, which is hurting businesses, and in the long run will improve agricultural exports by fetching higher prices for farmers/exporters.

    This is important policy ammunition used to fight the Dutch disease associated with the resource curse.

    Diversification options
    Diversification would also include tapping into the country’s abundant renewable energy sources, such as hydro, geothermal and solar, to improve the reliability, affordability and coverage of electricity.

    Initiatives to build capacity within key government departments and agencies, such as the treasury, central bank, national planning, health, education and the MRA, will be important, as well as investment in research and academia to support public policy.

    Also needed are structural reforms to modernise and improve the efficiency of the country’s state-owned enterprises.

    This has been on the agenda of successive governments, but it requires commitment and sustained effort to ensure that the policies and reforms are implemented.

    There is only a handful of resource-rich countries in the world — including Botswana, Norway and Australia — that have fought off the resource curse and achieved broad-based economic growth.

    The citizens of these countries enjoy a higher level of living standards, because their governments made deliberate policy decisions to invest the proceeds of their mineral and oil resources to support other productive sectors such as agriculture and the services sector.

    Mid-course correction
    They have also strengthened their governance to support growth and development.

    What will we in PNG have to show for when our gold and copper as well as our oil and gas are exhausted?

    We need to make a significant mid-course correction to our country’s development pathway now, through deliberate and sustained policy actions.

    We must turn the proceeds of our country’s abundant natural resources to building the non-resource economy.

    The resulting broad-based economic growth would lift the living standards of the rural majority and the urban poor, and prepare us for when PNG’s minerals and petroleum run out.

    Andrew Anton Mako is an associate lecturer and project coordinator for the ANU-UPNG Partnership. He has worked as a research officer at the Development Policy Centre and as a research fellow at the PNG National Research Institute. This research was undertaken with the support of the ANU-UPNG Partnership, an initiative of the PNG-Australia Partnership, funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This article appeared first on Devpolicy Blog, from the Development Policy Centre at The Australian National University.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • David Robie: Pacific lessons in climate crisis journalism and combating disinformation

    Mediasia Iafor

    New Zealand journalist and academic David Robie has covered the Asia-Pacific region for international media for more than four decades.

    An advocate for media freedom in the Pacific region, he is the author of several books on South Pacific media and politics, including an account of the French bombing of the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour in 1985 — which took place while he was on the last voyage.

    In 1994 he founded the journal Pacific Journalism Review examining media issues and communication in the South Pacific, Asia-Pacific, Australia and New Zealand.

    The Mediasia “conversation” on Asia-Pacific issues in Kyoto, Japan. Image: Iafor screenshot APR

    He was also convenor of the Pacific Media Watch media freedom collective, which collaborates with Reporters Without Borders in Paris, France.

    Until he retired at Auckland University of Technology in 2020 as that university’s first professor in journalism and founder of the Pacific Media Centre, Dr Robie organised many student projects in the South Pacific such as the Bearing Witness climate action programme.

    He currently edits Asia Pacific Report and is one of the founders of the new Aotearoa New Zealand-based NGO Asia Pacific Media Network.

    In this interview conducted by Mediasia organising committee member Dr Nasya Bahfen of La Trobe University for this week’s 13th International Asian Conference on Media, Communication and Film that ended today in Kyoto, Japan, Professor Robie discusses a surge of disinformation and the challenges it posed for journalists in the region as they covered the covid-19 pandemic alongside a parallel “infodemic” of fake news and hoaxes.

    He also explores the global climate emergency and the disproportionate impact it is having on the Asia-Pacific.

    Paying a tribute to Pacific to the dedication and courage of Pacific journalists, he says with a chuckle: “All Pacific journalists are climate journalists — they live with it every day.”

    Challenges facing the Asia-Pacific media
    Challenges facing the Asia-Pacific media . . . La Trobe University’s Dr Nasya Bahfen and Asia Pacific Report’s Dr David Robie in conversation. Image: Iafor screenshot APR

  • Pacific climate stories need to be ‘heard and told’, says USP award winner

    By Akansha Narayan in Suva

    Award-winning University of the South Pacific student journalist Sera Tikotikoivatu-Sefeti says Pacific voices on the climate fight need to be amplified for big nations to notice and be accountable for their actions.

    The final-year student recently won the top prize in the tertiary level journalism students category at the 2022 Vision Pasifika Media Award with her two submissions on the environmental impacts of Tonga’s volcanic eruption on villagers of Moce Island in Fiji, and declining fish populations on the livelihoods of Fijian fishermen in Suva.

    Tikotikoivatu-Sefeti said she was “beyond humbled” to receive the award and expressed her gratitude to God for the opportunity to amplify Pacific voices on climate change.

    Originally from Dravuni village on beautiful Kadavu island, Tikotikoivatu-Sefeti said Pacific Island countries contributed the least towards climate change and global carbon emissions — but were the most affected.

    “We are known to have a close relationship to the land and sea. To have that severely affected by big world countries whose activities are a big cause of this is unacceptable,” said the student editor of Wansolwara, USP Journalism’s award-winning print and online publication.

    USP student journalist Sera Tikotikoivatu-Sefeti lines up a shot
    USP student journalist Sera Tikotikoivatu-Sefeti lines up a shot while covering the impact of Tonga’s volcanic eruption on the villagers of Moce Island in Lau, Fiji. Image: Wansolwara

    “I am passionate about environmental issues and human interest stories. I believe the Pacific stories should be ‘heard’ and ‘told’ from the Pacific Islanders’ perspective and words as it is a crisis they live by and survive every day.

    “In Fiji, there aren’t enough journalists covering stories of the environment and how it’s affecting the people. I understand it can be a resource constraint and financially limited area.

    Filling the gap
    “I want to fill that gap in the industry and be able to do something I’m passionate about because it’s incredibly important to tell our people’s story.”

    Tikotikoivatu-Sefeti dedicated her award to her family, USP Journalism students, staff, peers and indigenous women.

    “So many times, we limit ourselves to what others perceive us, and it will take you to step out of your comfort zone to be able to experience your full capabilities,” said Tikotikoivatu-Sefeti, who was also a recipient of the EJN story grant for indigenous reporting.

    She was recently one of the first recipients of the Native American Journalists Association and the Asian American Journalists Association (NAJA-AAJA) Pacific Islander Journalism Scholarship.

    The Pacific Regional Environmental Programme’s (SPREP) acting communications and outreach adviser, Nanette Woonton, reaffirmed that SPREP recognised the critical role of all media in disseminating public information, education and influencing behaviour for the better.

    “At the secretariat, we are excited to be able to offer the opportunity through these awards to honour and recognise the hard work by our media colleagues in protecting our people and the environment,” she said.

    Vision Pasifika Media Award
    The 2022 Vision Pasifika Media Award was facilitated through a collaboration between the SPREP, Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), Internews Earth Journalism Network (EJN), and the Pacific Environment Journalists Network (PEJN), with financial support from Aotearoa New Zealand.

    The award comprised five categories — television news, radio production, online content, print media, and tertiary-level journalism students.

    • Other category winners were: Fabian Randerath (television news), Jeremy Gwao (online content) and Moffat Mamu (print). Randerath was also named the overall winner for his story “Rising Tides – Precious Lives” on Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC).

    Akansha Narayan is a final-year student journalist at USP’s Laucala campus, Suva. USP and Wansolwara collaborate on Pacific stories, and for several years USP and the AUT’s Pacific Media Centre collaborated on a joint Bearing Witness climate journalism project.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • French Polynesian atolls still wary decades after nuclear tests

    RNZ Pacific

    The new French High Commissioner to French Polynesia has heard calls for support and compensation for atolls close to the test sites of France’s nuclear weapons tests.

    High Commissioner Eric Spitz has been on his first tour of the outer islands since arriving from France last month to discuss France’s efforts to overcome the test legacy in line with an undertaking of President Emmanuel Macron to “turn the page” over the tests.

    Spitz has been visiting Mangareva and Tureia, which are among the inhabited atolls closest to the former test sites of Moruroa and Fangataufa, used for more than 190 tests between 1966 and 1996.

    The High Commissioner is travelling with the project manager for the French prime minister on the consequences of nuclear tests, Michel Marquer, and the head physician of the monitoring Department of the Nuclear Test Centres of the General Defence Directorate, Dr Marie-Pascale Petit.

    The government delegation has been updating the atolls’ residents on the latest findings about residual radiation and the risks emanating from the test sites, weakened by dozens of underground detonations.

    Moruroa and the bomb
    For a half century, the French nuclear bomb tests and their consequences have cast a shadow over Tahiti. Image: Bruno Barrilo/Heinui Le Caill

    The mayor of Tureia, Tevahine Brander, said she would like to have support from France because some locals had given their lives for France while it was developing its nuclear deterrent.

    “Perhaps the French state has taken a big step today on the nuclear issue, but my people will always remain vigilant on this subject. Our elders have endured a lot of suffering,” she said.

    The mayor of Rikitea on Mangareva, Vai Gooding. also called for compensation, with locals telling the visitors of ongoing concerns.

    ‘Victims who have died’
    Jerry Gooding, who is with the anti-nuclear organisation Association 193, told Tahiti-infos that “in Rikitea, there are victims who have died, and their children have cancer too, although they were born after the nuclear tests.

    “This is why the association is asking for a transgenerational study into the genetic impact of the tests.

    “Macron went to ask forgiveness in Algeria but did not ask forgiveness from the Polynesians. He must come and apologise to the Polynesians,” he added.

    A resident, Benoit Urarii, said “everyone knows that Hiroshima was catastrophic, and everyone knew that it was dangerous for the population. General De Gaulle was aware and chose Moruroa because there were fewer people.

    “But it is close to us, so we are the first victims. The first test in 1966 was catastrophic for us Mangarevans. And we got infected. Nobody can deny that.

    “We were not asked for our opinion, and we knew exactly how dangerous nuclear tests were.”

    The medical expert Dr Petit said there was cancer before nuclear testing.

    ‘Cancer not only due to nuclear tests’
    “It will exist afterwards, and we all know that cancer is not only due to nuclear tests. Nobody is able to say that this is a cancer due to nuclear testing or not. We do not yet have a marker that will make the difference,” she said.

    Concern was also raised about a possible collapse of the test area on Moruroa atoll, but Dr Petit said movements were gradually diminishing, leaving a very low probability of a sliding of a sediment plate.

    She said whatever happened, the possible swells were likely to be weaker than what Tureia had already experienced.

    Doubt persists as residents point to the complex and expensive technology in use to monitor the area around Moruroa, which is still a military “no-go” zone.

    Until 2009, France claimed that its tests were clean and caused no harm, but in 2010, under the stewardship of Defence Minister Herve Morin, a compensation law was passed.

    Plans are afoot to build a memorial site in Pape’ete, but a resident in Tureia said it should be on his atoll.

    “The centre should be here, it’s more honest. But not a memorial for those who have taken advantage of all these years of nuclear testing to enrich themselves and stuff their bank accounts,” he said.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Wadan Narsey: Shameful silences over another unfolding tragedy in Fiji

    COMMENTARY: By Wadan Narsey

    There is a shameful public tragedy unfolding day by day as the Bainimarama government tries to stop a potential political candidate, lawyer and former journalist Richard Naidu, from getting into Parliament by trying to “criminalise” him over a trivial social media post.

    Richard Naidu is one of Fiji’s leading lawyers, for decades a fighter for democracy and rule of law, with a deep social conscience that drove him to frequently write articles in the media to enlighten Fiji on relevant issues of vital interest.

    Naidu’s alleged crime: a trivial post on his personal Twitter account that a legal judgment probably intended to say “injunction” rather than “injection” — an error that may have even been a typist’s error which the learned judge failed to pick up (as we all all do now and then).

    No big deal any sensible person or judge would have thought, or even slightly funny.

    But the malevolent forces running the Bainimarama government, suddenly pounced on Richard Naidu five months after that social media post, for allegedly “scandalising the judiciary”.

    The media speculation was that Naidu became a target when there were public indications that he might be a candidate for the opposition National Federation Party (NFP), and if elected would have made an excellent Attorney-General.

    But if he is convicted of this alleged “crime”, Richard Naidu would not be allowed to be a candidate in the 2022 elections, he might face a jail term and be deprived of legal practice. One can only imagine the dreadful trauma for his wife and family — all for a trivial throwaway line on Twitter, by a witty lawyer.

    The tragedy is not that the Attorney-General and Minister of All Things (Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum) is driving this legal persecution — which he is — just as he has been the driver of the Bainimarama government for more than 14 years.

    The real tragedy is the utter silence of the many bright people, once upon a time pro-democracy fighters with me, who have helped to bring Bainimarama to power and strengthened his government’s credibility nationally and internationally over the last 16 years.

    The unfolding tragedy is far more painful for me personally as most of these silent warriors for Bainimarama and Sayed-Khaiyum, were friends with whom I closely interacted more than a decade ago.

    Richard Naidu in "good governance"
    A recent Fiji Times article on “good governance” by Richard Naidu … enlightening Fiji on relevant issues of vital interest. Image: The Fiji Times screenshot APR

    The shameful silences
    At the head of the list of course has to be Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum himself, who shared a cell with me for our 1988 Sukuna Park protest against the Rabuka coup. My wife and I attended his first wedding function.

    Then there is Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum who was a good journalist friend who used to invite me to his family home for Eid. Riyaz has been driving the vicious Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) media campaign to tarnish Richard Naidu. Aiyaz and Riyaz are sons of Khaiyum Sr who welcomed me into the NFP parliamentary team in 1996.

    Wadan Narsey elected MP in 1996
    Wadan Narsey (second from left) being welcomed by friends after being elected National Federation Party’s MP for Suva Central Indian in 1996. (Syed Abdul Khaiyum is on the right). Image: Narsey On Fiji

    Then there are Nazhat Shameem and Shaista Shameem who were part of the Shameem family who used to welcome me and my wife to their mother’s home in Samabula.

    As a bright High Court judge, Nazhat took to the slippery slope when she irregularly chaired a committee that replaced Chief Justice Danial Fateaki with Tony Gates.

    We all remember that Gates tried to justify the 2006 coup alongside fellow High Court judges Davendra Pathik and John Byrnes, but failed when the 2009 Court of Appeal overturned their judgment.

    Nazhat Shameem is now a high flying international bureaucrat, President of the International Human Rights Council. But she has been totally silent on the abuse of human rights going on in Fiji, and currently to the mistreatment of her old legal colleague Richard Naidu.

    Shaista Shameem, a friend for decades until she justified the 2006 coup as a Fiji Human Rights Commissioner assisted by once radical unionist James Anthony. Despite that, I went to months of trouble to help her in making the legal case for pensioner (the late) David Burness against the Bainimarama government’s illegal reduction of his pension.

    Shaista Shameem is now professor of law and vice-chancellor at the University of Fiji. She is totally silent on the abuse of human rights in Fiji and that of Richard Naidu who is also a lawyer like her.

    Shaista has even appointed as professor of law Brigadier Aziz who saw at close quarters through his membership of the Evans Board of Inquiry into the 2000 coup and mutiny, the erosion of human right to life in the Republic of Fiji Military Force (RFMF).

    There is Dr Satyendra Prasad, a former USP colleague who was part of our group (including the Citizens Constitutional Forum) that battled for democracy and racial equality after the 1987 Rabuka coup. Dr Prasad has astonishingly resurfaced politically serving the Bainimarama cause in New York and Washington.

    Then there is Ashwin Raj (head of the Fiji Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission) who once upon a time was helped by Professor Biman Prasad and me to get a substantive post at USP.

    He has faithfully served the Bainimarama regime for years (including the vicious persecution of the late Ratu Timoci Vesikula for an alleged racist remark), but Raj could never be accused of defending the many persons in Fiji whose basic human rights have been attacked by the Bainimarama regime itself.

    Ashwin Raj is silent on this current attack on the basic human right of a Fiji citizen to point out on social media, a possible spelling mistake in a legal judgment.

    There is the shadowy RFMF Military Council which is the real power behind Voreqe Bainimarama, that Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has silently used. I have little doubt that many of these officers were in the post-2000 classes I taught at the RFMF Officer Training courses in Vatuwaqa.

    They would also have been in the early 2006 pre-election workshops at the RFMF camp in Nabua, attended by the top 400 RFMF officers, including Commander Voreqe Bainimarama who today is allegedly powerless to control his rampaging deputy.

    Wadan Narsey with Voreqe Bainimarama
    Wadan Narsey (right) with the late former NZ High Commissioner Michael Green (left), Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes and Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama – well before the 2006 Fiji coup. Image: Narsey On Fiji

    Then there is also Brigadier General Ioane Naivalarua who, as Commissioner of Police in 2010, invited me to give a two hour workshop to his top police officers on how to tackle escalating crime in Fiji and the costs to the police of the coups.

    It would seem that all my detailed explanations to the RFMF and police hierarchy of the terrible economic costs of the coups — and to them — clearly fell on deaf ears.

    Wadan Narsey lecturing to the Fiji troops
    Wadan Narsey lecturing to Fiji troops and Police Commissioner Brigadier Ioane Navalarua. Image: Narsey On Fiji

    Then there are the corporate giants of Fiji who have been financially backing the Bainimarama government’s FijiFirst Party for years. The donors’ lists released by the Supervisor of Elections through the Fiji Sun two years ago, showed conclusively that hundreds of thousands of dollars were donated over the period 2014 to 2018 by the owners, their wives, daughters, mothers and even employees of Tappoos, Vinod Patels, Punjas, RC Manubhais, CJ Patels, the Wella Pillays etc through the strong-arm fundraising by Sanjay Kaba and other collectors.

    These corporate giants, while occupying key positions on pubic enterprise boards in Fiji as never before, have never spoken out on their social responsibilities in Fiji such as the protection of human rights.

    Yet Richard Naidu is a principal lawyer of a top law firm in Fiji, Munro Leys, with a well-earned reputation for protecting lawful corporate rights in Fiji — including theirs.

    The silent Pontius Pilates
    Like modern day Pontius Pilates, the above silent protagonists for Bainimarama and Khaiyum seen to have washed their hands of the basic human rights of Fiji citizens which are being battered left right and centre by the Bainimarama government that they helped to install.

    As if all that matters to them are their profits and their personal careers and interests.

    But Fiji will not forget them and their complicit silences, nor their shared responsibility in the abuses of human rights taking place in Fiji.

    Sadly, Fiji people have not spoken out and taken to the streets when so many individuals have been unjustly persecuted after the 2006 military coup, like Russel Hunter, Hank Arts, Fred Wesley, Netani Rika, Anish Chand, Mereana Kitione, Kemueli Naiqama, Professor Pal Ahluwalia and so many others.

    Many, like Professor Biman Prasad and other critical opposition MPs face daily attacks by the FBC and Fiji Sun for their efforts to hold the Bainimarama government to account.

    And now they are after decent law-abiding lawyer Richard Naidu, all because he put up his hand to serve Fiji in Parliament at great financial cost to himself.

    As I have done before, I remind Fiji readers of the wonderful lines attributed to Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller who was originally anti-Communist, an early supporter of Hitler, and even thought by some to have had anti-Semitic views:

    First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Socialist.

    Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Trade Unionist.

    Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew.

    Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

    Pastor Niemöller, like Archbshop Chong (head of the Catholic Church in Fiji) currently, frequently spoke on the dangers to decent society of the apathy of the general public.

    I would urge the governments of Australia, NZ, US and Canada to keep a close watch on the progress of this legal case by the Bainimarama government and also of the names of the silent collaborators, who will one day no doubt want to settle in decent countries with respect for the rule of law, which they have helped to destroy in Fiji.

    Dr Wadan Narsey is a former professor of economics at The University of the South Pacific and a leading Fiji economist and statistician. This article is republished from the author’s blog Narsey On Fiji with his permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • When will enough be enough? Port Moresby’s struggle with ethnic war

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby

    Port Moresby’s “amazing city” tag in Papua New Guinea is fast losing its varnish and appeal — its veneer of a modern metropolis tarnished by an ethnic underbelly that relishes criminal activity, racial violence and a tendency to unleash aggressive violent behavior at any opportune time.

    Last weekend’s violence which left three people dead is the fifth such “amazing act” this year, says an exasperated Police Commissioner David Manning.

    The question, raised on social media, in homes, schools, offices, among local landowners, the Motu Koitabu, and discussed in pubs and boardrooms across the city, is: “When will enough be enough?’

    When will Port Moresby truly rise above its ethnic cleansing bloodbath rituals to become the modern Amazing City of cross cultures that it professes to be, and that every peace loving Papua New Guinean wants to enjoy?

    A drug deal gone wrong has sparked a deadly ethnic war between Eastern Highlands and Hela province people living in Port Moresby.

    Yesterday, the fight was violent around the Erima, Wildlife, 8 and 9 Mile settlement areas as pitched battles raged.

    NCD Governor Powes Parkop called for calm and for peace to return, adding it is against the law to carry offensive weapons in public.

    ‘Leave it to police’ call
    Commissioner Manning also called for calm and for the warring parties to lay down their arms and let police investigate the killings.

    As of last night, three men were dead and six wounded who were being treated at the Port Moresby General Hospital.

    Last night, Gordon, Erima, Wildlife, 8 and 9 Mile were tense with police patrols keeping a close watch on those areas.

    The ethnic clash, the fifth so far this year, is putting a huge dent on the National Capital Diustrict Commission’s (NCDC) effort to promote the capital city’s image as “Amazing Moresby”.

    On social media, angry residents have taken not so kindly to the fighting with many urging the government to clamp down on ethnic groups from the Highlands by returning all settlers back to their province of origin.

    The Vagrancy Act, which enables police to evict illegal settlers in the city, was thrown out at Independence, which has led to a growing settlement population in the city.

    But fed up Motu Koitabu landowners and angry residents want the city cleaned up.

    A call for martial law
    One commentator even called for martial law to be enacted and the city cleaned of all illegal settlers.

    The flare-up between men from the Eastern Highlands and Hela provinces has sent innocent women and children scattering for cover and refuge.

    It is alleged the death of a man from Eastern Highlands during a drug deal is said to have started the fight. The police, however, cannot say much, but could only confirm that an investigation has commenced on the issue.

    The roads around Erima and 9 Mile saw men and women running with offensive weapons.

    While police tried their best to make their presence felt during the chaos, they were outnumbered as scores of men continued to fight.

    Commissioner Manning said that any ethnic clashes at other major centres in the country were “unnecessary” and “unfortunate”.

    “It is concerning how people can employ their tribal tactics and think that they can clash with other groups in the cities and towns,” he said.

    These ethnic clashes are a result of a lack of appropriate policing interventions.

    Why have settlements grown?
    Furthermore, there are a lot of discussions on why we have allowed settlements to grow in the last two to three decades and whether those settlements contribute to these ethnic clashes, he added.

    Meanwhile, NCD Governor Parkop warned city residents carrying weapons who have gone unnoticed.

    Bows and arrows, machetes, iron bars, stones and other dangerous weapons were seen publicly yesterday at the Gordon bus stop and Erima with the ethnic clash still tense with police continuously patrolling the area.

    City Manager Ravu Frank said this kind of behaviour was illegal. Unfortunately, lives have been lost. City residents have to move around freely and not be in fear of their safety.

    The parties concerned must air their grievances to police.

    Commissioner Manning said ethnic clashes were no longer restricted to rural centres and it had greater impact on everyone’s lives and gave concern to a lot of people, especially government and police when it happened in the urban environment.

    In 2022 alone, five ethnic clashes have erupted between different groups — mostly from the Highlands region.

    Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Marshall Islands calls off talks after no US response on nuclear legacy plan

    By Giff Johnson, editor of the Marshall Islands Journal and RNZ Pacific correspondent

    On the eve of the US Pacific Islands Summit in Washington, a key ally in the region called off a scheduled negotiating session for a treaty Washington views as an essential hedge against China in the region.

    The Marshall Islands and the United States negotiators were scheduled for the third round of talks this weekend to renew some expiring provisions of a Compact of Free Association when leaders in Majuro called it off, saying the lack of response from Washington on the country’s US nuclear weapons testing legacy meant there was no reason to meet.

    Marshall Islands leaders have repeatedly said the continuing legacy of health, environmental and economic problems from 67 US nuclear tests from 1946-1958 must be satisfactorily addressed before they will agree to a new economic package with the US.

    Washington sees the Compact treaties with the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau, which stretch across an ocean area larger than the continental US, as key to countering the expansion of China in the region.

    “The unique security relationships established by the Compacts of Free Association have magnified the US power projection in the Indo-Pacific region, structured US defense planning and force posture, and contributed to essential defense capabilities,” said a new study released September 20 in Washington, DC by the United States Institute of Peace, “China’s Influence on the Freely Associated States of the Northern Pacific.”

    China’s naval expansion is increasing the value of the US relationship with the freely associated states (FAS).

    The freely associated states stretch across an ocean area in the north Pacific that is larger than the continental United States and are seen by Washington as a key strategic asset.
    The freely associated states stretch across an ocean area in the north Pacific that is larger than the continental United States and are seen by Washington as a key strategic asset. Image: United States Institute of Peace/RNZ

    China’s blue water ambitions
    China’s naval expansion is increasing the value of the US relationship with the freely associated states (FAS).

    “The value of the buffer created by US strategic denial over FAS territorial seas is poised to increase as China seeks to make good on its blue water navy ambitions and to deepen its security relationships with Pacific nations,” said the report whose primary authors were Admiral (Ret.) Philip Davidson, Brigadier-General (Ret.) and David Stilwell, former US Congressman from Guam Dr Robert Underwood.

    The Runit Dome was constructed on Marshall Islands Enewetak Atoll in 1979 to temporarily store radioactive waste produced from nuclear testing by the US military during the 1950s and 1960s.
    The Runit Dome was constructed on Marshall Islands Enewetak Atoll in 1979 to temporarily store radioactive waste produced from nuclear testing by the US military during the 1950s and 1960s. Image: RNZ

    “As Washington seeks to limit the scope of Beijing’s influence in the Indo-Pacific in concert with regional partners, the US-FAS relationship functions as a key vehicle for reinforcing regional norms and democratic values.”

    US and Marshall Islands negotiators have both said they hope for a speedy conclusion to the talks as the existing 20-year funding package expires on September 30, 2023. But the nuclear test legacy is the line in the sand for the Marshall Islands.

    “The entire Compact Negotiation Committee agreed — don’t go,” said Parliament Speaker Kenneth Kedi, who represents Rongelap Atoll, which was contaminated with nuclear test fallout by the 1954 Bravo hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll and other weapons tests.

    “It is not prudent to spend over $100,000 for our delegation to travel to Washington with no written response to our proposal. We are negotiating in good faith. We submitted our proposal in writing.” But he said on Friday, “there has been no answer or counter proposal from the US.”

    US and Marshall Islands officials had been aiming to sign a “memorandum of understanding” at the summit as an indication of progress in the discussions, but that now appears off the table.

    US Pacific summit
    Marshall Islands President David Kabua, who is currently in the US following a speech to the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday last week, is scheduled to participate in the White House-sponsored US Pacific Islands Summit on September 28-29.

    Kabua, while affirming in his speech at the UN that the Marshall Islands has a “strong partnership” with the US, added: “It is vital that the legacy and contemporary challenges of nuclear testing be better addressed” (during negotiations on the Compact of Free Association). “The exposure of our people and land has created impacts that have lasted – and will last – for generations.”

    The Marshall Islands submitted a proposed nuclear settlement agreement to US negotiators during the second round of talks in July. The US has not responded, Kedi and other negotiating committee members said Friday in Majuro.

    In response to questions about the postponement of the planned negotiating session, the State Department released a brief statement through its embassy in Majuro.

    “With respect to the Compact Negotiations, which are ongoing, both sides continue to work diligently towards an agreement,” the statement said. “Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations, Ambassador Joe Yun, is expected to meet with President Kabua while he is in Washington to continue to advance the discussions.”

    While the Marshall Islands decision to cancel its negotiating group’s attendance at a scheduled session in Washington is a blow to the Biden administration’s efforts to fast-track approval of the security and economic agreement for this strategic North Pacific area, island leaders continue to describe themselves as part of the “US family.”

    “The cancellation of the talks indicates the seriousness of this issue for the Marshall Islands,” said National Nuclear Commission Chairman Alson Kelen. “This is the best time for us to stand up for our rights.”

    ‘Fair and just’ nuclear settlement
    For decades, the Pacific Island Forum countries that will be represented at this week’s leader’s summit in Washington have stood behind the Marshall Islands in its quest for a fair and just nuclear settlement, said Kelen, who helped negotiators develop their plan submitted recently to the US government for addressing lingering problems of the 67 nuclear tests.

    “We live with the problem (from the nuclear tests),” said Kelen, a displaced Bikini Islander. “We know the big picture: bombs tested, people relocated from their islands, people exposed to nuclear fallout, and people studied. We can’t change that. What we can do now is work on the details for this today for the funding needed to mitigate the problems from the nuclear legacy.”

    Kedi said he was tired of US attempts to argue over legal issues from the original Compact of Free Association’s nuclear test settlement that was approved 40 years ago before the Marshall Islands was an independent nation.

    That agreement, which provided a now-exhausted $150 million nuclear compensation fund, was called “manifestly inadequate” by the country’s Nuclear Claims Tribunal, which over a two-decade period determined the value of claims to be over $3 billion.

    “Bottom line, the nuclear issue needs to be addressed,” Kedi said.

    “We need to come up with a dignified solution as family members. I’ve made it clear, once these key issues are addressed, we are ready to sign the Compact tomorrow.”

    President Kabua is scheduled to participate in the White House-sponsored US Pacific Islands Summit on September 28-29.

    Meanwhile, the members of his Compact negotiating team are in Majuro waiting for a response from the US government to their proposal to address the nuclear legacy.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Fiji Times: Valuing democracy amid shrinking global civic spaces

    EDITORIAL: By Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley

    Democracy! We may differ in how we understand and value democracy. But what is the essence of democracy?

    On this special day, when we are reminded about democracy, perhaps it is apt that we should hear out the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

    This day — September 15 — is listed by the United Nations as the International Day of Democracy.

    The Fiji Times
    THE FIJI TIMES

    Whatever your take is on this special day, whatever it means to you, and whether there is value in it, perhaps we need the space and time to understand it. Perhaps we may then place appropriate value on democracy, understand it, and appreciate what it stands for.

    The UN states this day “provides an opportunity to review the state of democracy in the world”.

    In his speech for the 15th anniversary of the day, Guterres said: “Yet across the world, democracy is backsliding. Civic space is shrinking.

    “Distrust and disinformation are growing. And polarisation is undermining democratic institutions.”

    Raising the alarm
    Now, he said, was the time to raise the alarm.

    He said it was time to reaffirm that democracy, development, and human rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. He said it was time to stand up for the democratic principles of equality, inclusion, and solidarity. He spoke about the media and its place in society.

    “This year, we focus on a cornerstone of democratic societies – free, independent, and pluralistic media,” he said.

    “Attempts to silence journalists are growing more brazen by the day – from verbal assault to online surveillance and legal harassment – especially against women journalists.

    “Media workers face censorship, detention, physical violence, and even killings – often with impunity.

    “Such dark paths inevitably lead to instability, injustice and worse.

    “Without a free press, democracy cannot survive. Without freedom of expression, there is no freedom.

    Joining forces for freedom
    “On Democracy Day and every day, let us join forces to secure freedom and protect the rights of all people, everywhere.”

    In the face of all that, we remind ourselves of our role as a newspaper company.

    We are sure about where we want to be, and the role we can play to move our beautiful country, Fiji, forward. We are comforted by the fact that thousands of people place great value on democracy and on information.

    We know we can be a forum where issues that are relevant to our multiracial mix of people can be raised, discussed and debated.

    We appreciate the fact that there must be value placed on the dissemination of information that is fair, credible and balanced.

    That would mean placing on a very high pedestal the importance of news that will inform, educate, and create awareness of issues pertinent to our various communities, and ultimately nurture or trigger important discussions, irrespective of where it is you sit on the political divide.

    Democracy! How important is it in the greater scheme of things? Do we understand it? How much value do we place on it? Today is a special day!

    This Fiji Times editorial under the title “Value on democracy” was published on 15 September 2022. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Papuan protesters warn Jakarta – ‘don’t criminalise’ Governor Enembe

    COMMENTARY: By Yamin Kogoya

    Papuan protesters from seven customary regions this week stormed the Mako Brimob police headquarters in Kota Raja, Jayapura, accusing the KPK and police of “criminalising” local Governor Lukas Enembe.

    The protest on Monday was organised in response to the Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK) Corruption Eradication Commission’s attempt to investigate corruption allegations against Governor Lukas Enembe.

    This time, Enembe is suspected of receiving gratification of Rp 1 miliar (NZ$112,000).

    These accusations are not the first time that the KPK has attempted to criminalise Lukas Enembe, the Governor of Papua. The KPK has tried this before.

    KPK had attempted to implicate the governor in their corruption scam in February 2017, but the attempt failed.

    On 2 February 2018, KPK attempted another attack against Governor Enembe at the Borobudur Hotel, Jakarta, but [this] failed miserably. Instead, two KPK members were arrested by the Metro Jaya Regional Police. The KPK announced a suspect without checking with the governor first.

    The representative of the Papuan people at the rally stated that KPK failed to follow the correct legal procedures in executing this investigation.

    KPK should avoid inflaming the Papuan conflict, as the Papuan people have so far followed Jakarta’s controversial decisions — decisions that are contrary to the wishes of the Papuan people, a representative stated at the rally.

    For instance, Jakarta’s insistence on the creation of new provinces from the existing two (Papua and West Papua) has been strongly rejected by most Papuans.

    Remained silent
    The spokespeople for the protesters warned KPK that they had remained silent because Governor Enembe was able to maintain a calm among the community. However, if the governor continues to be criminalised, Papuans from all seven customary regions will revolt.

    Papuan protesters hold banners in support of accused Governor Lukas Enembe
    Papuan protesters hold “save him” banners in support of accused Governor Lukas Enembe. Image: APR

    The KPK has named Governor Enembe as a suspect in the corruption of his personal funds.

    “This is ‘funny’,” protesters said. “One billion rupiahs [NZ$112,000] of his own money used for medical treatment were alleged to be corrupt. This is strange. We will raise that amount, from the streets and give it to KPK.

    “Remember that,” speakers said.

    Stefanus Roy Renning, the coordinator of Governor Enembe’s Legal Council Team, said the case the governor was accused of (1 billion Rupiah) is actually, the governor’s personal funds sent to his account for medical treatment in May 2020.

    Governor Lukas Enembe
    Governor Lukas Enembe … seen as a threat and an obstacle for other political parties seeking the position of number one in Papua. Image: West Papua Today

    Therefore, if you refer to this [KPK’s behaviour] as criminalisation, then yes, it is criminalisation.

    This is due to the fact that the suspect’s status was premature and not in line with the criminal code, and that the governor himself has not been questioned as a witness in the alleged case.

    Questioned as witness
    Renning said that for a suspect to be determined, there must be two pieces of evidence and he or she must be questioned as a witness.

    Benyamin Gurik, chair of the Indonesian Youth National Committee (KNPI), expressed apprehension about the allegations, saying it amounted to the criminalisation of Papuan public figures, which may contribute to conflict and division in the region.

    “Jakarta should reward him for all of the good things he’s done for the province and country, not criminalise him,” said Gurik.

    Supporters of Governor Lukas Enembe guard his home
    Supporters of Governor Lukas Enembe guard his home. Image: APN

    Otniel Deda, chair of the Tabi Indigenous group, urged the KPK to act more professionally.

    He suspects that the KPK’s actions were sponsored by “certain parties” intent on shattering the reputation of the Papuan leader.

    The governor himself has his own suspicions as to who is behind the corruption accusations against him.

    He suspects KPK and the police force are among the highest institutions in the country being used to serve political games that are being played behind his back.

    Purely a political move
    According to Dr Sofyan Yoman, president of the Fellowship of West Papuan Baptist Churches (PGBWP), the attempted criminalisation of Governor Enembe is a purely political move geared toward dictating the 2024 election outcome, not a matter of law.

    An angry group of Governor Lukas Enembe supporters performing a war dance
    An angry group of Governor Lukas Enembe supporters performing a war dance armed with traditional bows and arrows outside his home in an effort to thwart police plans. Image: APR

    Dr Yoman explained that other parties in Indonesia are uncomfortable and lack confidence in entering the Papua provincial political process in 2024.

    There have been those who have seen, observed, and felt that the existence of Lukas Enembe is a threat and an obstacle for other political parties seeking the position of number one in Papua.

    To break the stronghold of Governor Enembe, who is also the chair of the Democratic Party of the Papuan province, there is no other way than to use KPK to criminalise him.

    In a statement to Dr Yoman on Wednesday, Governor Enembe said:

    Mr Yoman, the matter is now clear. This is not a legal issue, but a political one. The Indonesian State Intelligence, known as Badan Intelligence Negara (BIN), and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, known as Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDIP), used KPK to criminalise me.

    Mr Yoman, you must write an article about the crime so that everyone is aware of it. State institutions are being used by political parties to promote their agenda.

    Account blocked
    Dr Yoman met the governor and his wife at Governor Enembe’s Koya residence, where he was informed of the following by Yulce W. Enembe:

    In the last three months, our account has been blocked without any notification to us as the account owner. We have no idea why it was blocked. We could not move. We can’t do anything about it. Our family has been criminalised without showing any evidence of what we did wrong. Now we’re just living this way because our credit numbers are blocked.

    The governor himself gave an account of how he used the Rp 1 billion:

    As my health was getting worse, we left for Jakarta at night in March 2019. We were in lockdown due to COVID-19 at the time. When I left, I saved 1 billion in my room. In May 2019, I called Tono (the governor’s housekeeper). I asked Tono to go to my room and take the money in the room worth 1 billion. I asked Tono to transfer it to my BCA account. That’s my money, not corruption money.

    “The KPK is just anybody,” the governor stated. “The KPK’s actions were purely political, not legal. KPK has become a medium for PDIP political parties. Considering that the Head of BIN, the Minister of Home Affairs, and the KPK descend from one institution — the police — these kinds of actions are not surprising to me.

    “I am being politically criminalised”, said the governor. “Part of a pattern of psychological and physical threats and intimidation I have faced for some time”

    “I am not a criminal or a thief,” the governor said.

    Singapore health travel
    The governor’s overseas travels for medical treatment in Singapore have been halted [barred] by the Directorate General of Immigration based on a prevention request from the KPK.

    This appears to be a punitive measure taken by the country’s highest office to further punish the governor, preventing him from receiving regular medical care in Singapore.

    Media outlets in Indonesia and Papua have been dominated by stories about the governor’s name linked to the word “corruption”, creating a space for hidden forces to assert their narratives to determine the fate of not only the governor, but West Papua, and Indonesia.

    West Papua is a region in which whoever controls the information distributed to the rest of the world, controls the narrative. It is a region where the Indonesian government and the Papuan people have fought for years over the flawed manner in which West Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in the 1960s.

    When news of a criminalised Papuan public figure such as Governor Enembe comes to the surface, it is often conveniently used as a means of demoralising popular Papuan leaders who are trusted and loved by their people.

    It has been proven again and again over the past decade that Jakarta would have to deal with the revolt of hundreds of thousands of Papuans if they sought to disturb or displace Governor Enembe.

    Ultimately, these kinds of nuanced incidents are often created and used to distract Papuans from focusing on the real issue. The issue of Papuan sovereignty is what matters most — the state of Papua, as Jakarta is forcing Papuans to surrender to Indonesian powers that seek to transform Papua and West Papua into Indonesia’s dream.

    Papuan dream turned nightmare
    Tragically, the Indonesian dream for West Papua have turned into nightmares for the people of Papua, recently claiming the lives of four Indigenous Papuans from the Mimika region, whose bodies were mutilated by Indonesian soldiers.

    In recent weeks, this tragic story has been featured in international headlines, something that Jakarta wishes to keep out of the global spotlight.

    The UN acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif raised West Papua in her statement during the 51st session of the Human Rights Council on Monday — the day that Governor Enembe was summoned to police in Kota Raja.

    Despite Jakarta’s attempts to spin news about West Papua as domestic Indonesian sovereignty issues, the West Papua story will persist as an unresolved international issue.

    Governor Enembe (known as Chief Nataka) his family, and many Papuan figures like them have fallen victim to this protracted war between two sovereign states — Papua and Indonesia.

    Some of the prominent figures in the past were not only caught in Jakarta’s traps but lost their lives too. In the period between 2020 and 2021, 16 Papuan leaders who served the Indonesian government are estimated to have died, ranging in their 40s through to their 60s.

    Papuans have lost the following leaders in 2021 alone:

    Klemen Tinal, Vice-Governor of Papua province under Governor Enembe, who died on May 21.

    Pieter Kalakmabin, Vice-Regent of the Star Mountain regency, died on October 28.

    Abock Busup, Regent of Yahukimo regency (age 44), was found dead in his hotel room in Jakarta on October 3.

    Demianus Ijie, a member of Indonesia’s House of Representatives, died on July 23.

    Alex Hesegem, who served as Vice-Governor of Papua from 2006-2011, died on June 20.

    Demas P. Mandacan, a 45-year-old Regent from the Manokwari regency, died on April 20.

    The Timika regency (home of the famous Freeport mine) lost a member of local Parliament Robby Omaleng, on April 22.

    In 2020, Papuans lost the following prominent figures: Herman Hasaribab; Letnan Jendral, a high-ranking Indigenous Papuan serving in the Indonesian Armed Forces, who died on December 14; Arkelaus Asso, a member of Parliament from Papua, died on October 15; another young Regent from Boven Digoel regency, Benediktus Tambonop (age 44), died on January 13; Habel Melkias Suwae, who served twice as Regent of Jayapura, the capital of Papua, died on September 3; Paskalis Kocu, Regent of Maybrat, died on August 25; on February 10, Sendius Wonda, the head of the Biro of the secretary of the Papua provincial government, died; on September 9, Demas Tokoro, a member of the Papuan People’s Assembly for the protection of Papuan customary rights, died; and on November 15, Yairus Gwijangge, the brave and courageous Regent of the Nduga regency (the area where most locals were displaced by the ongoing war between the West National Liberation Army and Indonesian security forces), died in Jakarta.

    These Indigenous Papuan leaders’ deaths cannot be determined, due to the fact that the institutions responsible for investigating these tragic deaths, such as the legal and justice systems and the police forces, are either perpetrators or accomplices in these tragedies themselves.

    Dwindling survival for Papuans
    This does not mean Jakarta is to blame for every single death, but its rule provides an overarching framework where the chances of Papuans surviving are dwindling.

    This is a modern-day settler colonial project being undertaken under the watchful eye of international community and institutions like the UN. This type of colonisation is considered the worst of all types by scholars.

    It is only their grieving families and the unknown forces behind their deaths that know what really happened to them.

    The region for the past 60 years has been a crime scene, yet hardly any of these crimes have been investigated and/or prosecuted.

    Given the threats, intimidation, and illness Governor Enembe has endured, it is indeed a miracle he has survived.

    A big part of that miracle can be attributed to his people, the Papuans who put their lives on the line to protect him whenever Jakarta has tried to harass him.

    This week, KPK tried to criminalise the governor and Papuans warned Jakarta – “don’t you try it”.

    Yamin Kogoya is a West Papuan academic who has a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University and who contributes to Asia Pacific Report. From the Lani tribe in the Papuan Highlands, he is currently living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.