The youth wing of Fiji’s Social Democratic Liberal Party (Soldelpa) are against any move by its board to form a coalition with the ruling FijiFirst post-election.
“We are not in any hurry, we understand the importance of this, but we’re not going to rush. We are going to do this properly but with urgency,” he said.
RNZ Pacific has seen a copy of the letter in which the Sodelpa Youth Council expressed their “distaste” to the party’s main decision-making board for “agreeing to consider” Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s FijiFirst as a potential partner.
“We beg the executives to consider wisely and inclusively on the party’s move,” the letter states.
“The people are our source of strength and therefore their voice is what we shall recognise,” it adds.
It further states that although the party has differences with People’s Alliance leader Sitiveni Rabuka “he may be the only option we can take to work with” to put an end to “16 years of dictatorial leadership” under Bainimarama.
The youth arm believes the Sodelpa management’s decision to consider proposals from FijiFirst shows the “desperation and compromised approach” the party is willing to take to form a government.
Sodelpa’s management board — which is made up of over 40 members from 28 constituencies — is expected to meet today to make a decision.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
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 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.
The Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa) has emerged as the kingmaker in Fiji’s contentious 2022 general election and its leader Viliame Gavoka is in no rush to punch his golden ticket.
After a nightmare leadup to the election, with infighting resulting in a massive split in the party, many punters had all but written Sodelpa off ahead of last week’s polls.
The major opposition political party in the last Parliament, Sodelpa is now a shadow of its former self, just scraping through the electoral system’s 5 percent threshold by the skin of its teeth.
Its three Parliamentary seats are the lowest number of any party in the new Parliament and its leadership will be all too aware that the kingmaker position it now finds itself in — courted by parties on all sides — is probably the most leverage it will have for the coming four-year-term.
Speaking to media in the capital Suva yesterday, Gavoka said the party had 14 days to consider its options.
“We are not in any hurry, we understand the importance of this but we’re not gonna rush. We are going to do this properly but with urgency,” he said.
Gavoka said they were speaking to all parties but he was keeping his distance from the process.
“I am not part of the negotiating team. We set the parameters for negotiations, and we have redefined what is non-negotiable and what is negotiable and that is handed over to the negotiating team to talk to both parties,” he said.
“All those policies were collectively framed by the management board.”
So, what are Sodelpa’s non-negotiables? Given that Sodelpa’s campaign slogan was “Time for change”, Gavoka is going to have to come up with something better than “we will make the best decision for Fiji” to convince his hardcore followers to swallow the pill of a partnership with FijiFirst.
Gavoka has provided assurance to Sodelpa’s supporters that whatever coalition it agrees to, its iTaukei policies will prevail:
Reestablishment of the Great Council of Chiefs;
Education policy — free tertiary and forgiveness of the student loan (TELS); and
Set up an embassy in Jerusalem. “Fiji being a very Christian country, we want our presence in the Holy Land.”
When Gavoka was pressed by media on his close family ties to FijiFirst’s general secretary – his son-in-law, Aiyaz-Sayed Khaiyum, his response appeared non-committal.
“You know, we’ve been political rivals in Parliament for eight years and that’s pretty clear. In the form of Parliament, there’s no family but outside Parliament you’re family.”
On the other hand, there is lingering distrust between Sodelpa and its former leader Sitiveni Rabuka, whose new People’s Alliance Party has emerged the runner-up in its election debut with 21 parliamentary seats, just behind FijiFirst’s 26.
Rabuka believes a partnership with Sodelpa is the best fit.
‘Natural for us’
“I think it’s natural for us to forge a coalition because when we look at our manifestos and policies, and vision statements, etc. they are in harmony and all of them individually and collectively are diametrically opposed to the FijiFirst policy reforms,” Rabuka said.
No agreement has yet been signed by either but talks are underway.
“We’ve taken it as far as they gave us the opportunity for yesterday, we provided our team to talk with the team, and the result of that has not come back to us,” said Rabuka.
Rabuka has confirmed that he has not spoken directly to the Sodelpa leader.
“I’m in the process of doing so.”
Gavoka, however has said he would rather not.
“You don’t want to insert yourself into the negotiations. Our people are negotiating with their people. The two leaders are best to stay apart. That’s the way I’d like to do it,” said Gavoka.
The other potential coalition partner should Sodelpa go with Rabuka over Bainimarama is the National Federation Party, led by Professor Biman Prasad.
‘A reasonable man’
Sodelpa and NFP have spent the past two parliamentary terms in the opposition.
“I’ve had a talk with the Sodelpa team, and also met the leader Bill.
“Bill and I have worked together before and he has always been a reasonable man,” Professor Prasad said.
“I think he understands the enormity of why people have voted us from the opposition and voted for a new government. And I’m sure he understands it, we understand it, and Mr Rabuka understands it and I think it looks very positive.”
The Sodelpa management board will be meeting today to consider both coalition proposals.
Meanwhile, despite RNZ Pacific attempts to get comments from FijiFirst it has not received a response.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Final results of the Fiji general election showing just the four parties that met the 5 percent threshold. Image: Fijivillage
A possible coalition between the Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa) and the ruling FijiFirst Party — which has lost its 16-year majority in Fiji’s Parliament in this week’s general election — or the opposition People’s Alliance Party and National Federation Party partnership is still a work in progress.
Sodelpa leader Viliame Gavoka clarified this at a press conference today saying the party would need to “understand the gravity” of what was required.
He said the party would make its decision with “due process” in accordance with good practice and with approval by the management board.
Gavoka said the party had non-negotiable issues and other issues that it could negotiate on.
“We are pretty much an iTaukei party,” he said.
“Our base is the indigenous people of this country and their issues are always paramount with us and that is very much part of those issues that we will not negotiate on.”
Decision over next few days FijiVillage reports that Gavoka says there was no truth in comments being circulated that he had said that he would not be able to work with People’s Alliance leader Sitiveni Rabuka.
He also said that thoughts of the family of the founders of the party such as the late Laisenia Qarase would be considered before the Sodelpa management board decided on the options.
Gavoka said that a decision over the coalition government would be made over the next few days — before the 14-day deadline.
The make-up of the new 55 seat Parliament will be FijiFirst with 26 seats, the People’s Alliance Party with 21 seats, the National Federation Party with 5 seats and the Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa) with 3 seats.
In order to be able to form government 28 seats are needed.
The PAP — led by 1987 coup leader and former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka — and the National Federation Party, led by Professor Biman Prasad, formed a pre-election partnership.
But Sodelpa made no such pre-election promises.
Gavoka also has close family ties to incumbent Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s right-hand man and the Attorney-General Aiyaz-Sayed Khaiyum.
Talebula Kateis a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.
Former opposition Sodelpa member Mick Beddoes has appealed to the party’s management board to end the 16-year rule of Voreqe Bainimarama’s FijiFirst government.
In an open letter on his official Facebook page to Sodelpa vice-president Ro Teimumu Kepa, president Ratu Manoa Roragaca, leader Viliame Gavoka and the management board today, Beddoes said: “After many years of inner turmoil, you have the entire country holding their breath to hear your decision, which will either deliver to our people a Christmas gift unlike any we have had for the past 16 years or you will knowingly condemn us all to another four more years of undeserved vindictive, bullying, corrupt, self serving, self enriching and uncaring governance.”
He added that the decision to stay with the people was a “no brainer” to avoid a “hung” parliament.
The official results indicated that FijiFirst had lost its majority with just 26 members of the expanded 55-seat Parliament — the same combined number as the opposition coalition of the People’s Alliance led by former 1987 coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka (21 members) and the National Federation Party (5 seats).
Former leading member of the opposition Sodelpa Mick Beddoes . . . “Please give our people the Christmas gift they all deserve.” Image: The Fiji Times
Soldelpa – the only other party of nine contesting the general elections to get across the 5 percent threshold — hold the balance of power with three seats.
“While the decision to stay with the greater interest of all our people, is a ‘no brainer’ I do appreciate the need for the party to take into account the interests and aspirations of its membership,” Beddoes said.
“However, in doing so it has to be weighed against the greater interest of our nation given we have all witnessed in broad daylight and experienced over the past 16 years the greed and self enrichment by the narrow interests of the favored few and as the voting thus far has very clearly indicated por people want change and we as opposition political leaders are ‘obliged to deliver this’ as this is what we promised.”
‘Theft’ of the Fijian name
“Need I remind you that this is the very same government who raided your home at night and took you in for interrogation because you offered to host the Methodist Church Conference, this is the same government who from 2007 to 2013 imposed more than 17 derogatory decrees against your own people, which among other things included the ‘theft’ of the name Fijian from your people by a stroke of a pen, and they banned the right of educated iTaukei students from attending and supporting their respective provincial councils.
FIJI ELECTIONS 2022
“They have excluded your own people from chair positions and board appointments by a margin of 80 percent from all government entities under the guise of ‘merit based’ appointments.
“When they had the opportunity to remove all these oppressive and discriminatory decrees at the time they drafted and imposed their 2013 constitution prior to the 2014 elections, they did not and it remains the law against your people today and they built in provision into the constitution that makes amendments to the constitution near impossible.
“This government’s policies and deliberate discrimination against your own people has resulted your people accounting for 75 percent of our 208,256 absolute poorest citizens, which means more than 156,192 of your own people live in absolute poverty despite owning 89 percent of all the land and you want to even ‘consider’ talking to them?”
Beddoes said Ro Teimumu led Soldelpa in the first opposition challenge that resulted in their first national platform from which to speak out and he was part of the team then.
“In that first effort in 2014, Sodelpa and its opposition colleagues received 202,650 votes to FijiFirst’s 293,714, we were 91,064 short. In our second effort in 2018, we increased our support level to 227,094 vs FijiFirst’s 227,241 and reduced their advantage to just 147 votes.
“Today while we are all still trying to figure out where all the extra votes came from the latest vote tally show we are at this time 58,635 votes ahead and you, Marama, are once again in a position with Bill and your management board to complete the mission we all started back in 2007 and remove the cruel, vindictive, bullying, arrogant, disrespectful and uncaring government that FijiFirst is.
“I beg you Marama, Ratu Manoa and you Bill and your management board, please do not waiver from our initial promise of change and finish the mission we started 15 years ago and end our 16 years of suffering and please give our people the Christmas gift they all deserve.”
Final results of the Fiji general election today showing just the four parties that met the 5 percent threshold. Image: Fijivillage
Sodelpa in negotiations with both sides SBS News reports that Sodelpa is in negotiations with both the FijiFirst government and People’s Alliance over which it will support with its balance of power.
Bainimarama’s FijiFirst party is the largest single party with 42.5 per cent of the vote while People’s Alliance and the NFP — which have already said they would join forces — sit at 36 and nine percent respectively.
Sodelpa holds just over five percent of the vote.
Sodelpa general secretary Lenaitasi Duru said today it would enter a second round of negotiations with both parties.
Talebula Kateis a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.
People’s Alliance leader Sitiveni Rabuka says he has evidence his party is ahead in the 2022 polls, contrary to the official results posted by the Fijian Elections Office.
At a media conference yesterday, he called on the people of Fiji to remain calm and said he would write to President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere, the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai and the Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem to express his dissatisfaction.
“We have discovered that we still have the majority — working on the results that were published in the pink copies of provisional results as per the polling booths,” Rabuka said.
“Those were collected, they were photographed, they were relayed to us and we have a count of those.
“And from all counts that we have, we have enough evidence to support our claim in a court.”
Rabuka said the shift in results after a glitch in the FEO results app had not been satisfactorily explained by Saneem.
“After the glitch last night [Wednesday], before we were actually ahead in the count; when the system came back on there was a big change and not in our favour.
Right to redress
“It is only natural for us, for the people to expect the so-called ‘offended parties’ to have the right to redress.
“The redress I mean — that we will convey our feelings to the Supervisor of Elections to say that we are not satisfied with the outcome after the break.
“The constitutional officer that has the overall responsibility according to the Constitution is the commander RFMF and we will also be communicating with him.”
Rabuka said other constitutional offices they had written to also included the President’s office.
Meri Radinibaraviis a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.
The vote concluded that the decolonisation process under the terms of the 1998 Noumea Accord, but — after the rejection of independence in thde third and final vote — the Accord requires all parties to discuss a way forward.
The pro-independence parties refuse to recognise the last referendum result and seek talks with Paris next year to secure a timetable to attain independence.
Talks on a new statute are yet to be launched, but speaking in the French National Assembly, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin ruled out any further voting on the issue for five years.
Two weeks ago, Darmanin ruled out a replacement independence referendum, saying there would be “no rematch”.
However, he conceded that the French constitution gave New Caledonia the right to self-determination.
While in New Caledonia he also said it was up to the French state to reach out to those in New Caledonia who had voted against the territory staying with France.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
“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. 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?
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.
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.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is pleased that a Sydney magistrate jailed protester Deanna “Violet” Coco on Friday. But he is out of step with international and Australian human rights and climate change groups and activists, who have quickly mobilised to show solidarity.
On Monday, protests were held in Sydney, Canberra and Perth calling for the release of Coco who blocked one lane of the Sydney Harbour Bridge for half an hour during a morning peak hour in April.
She climbed onto the roof of a truck holding a flare to draw attention to the global climate emergency and Australia’s lack of preparedness for bushfires. Three other members of the group Fireproof Australia, who have not been jailed, held a banner and glued themselves to the road.
“Free Coco” protesters at Sydney’s Downing Centre. Image: Zebedee Parkes/City Hub
Coco pleaded guilty to seven charges, including disrupting vehicles, possessing a flare distress signal in a public place and failing to comply with police direction.
Magistrate Allison Hawkins sentenced Coco to 15 months in prison, with a non-parole period of eight months and fined her $2500. Her lawyer Mark Davis has lodged an appeal which will be heard on March 2, 2023.
Unusually for a non-violent offender, Hawkins refused bail pending an appeal against the sentence. Davis, who will again apply for bail in the District Court next week, said refusal of bail pending appeal was “outrageous”.
Climate change protester sentenced to jail over Sydney Harbour Bridge protest. Video: News 24
‘People shouldn’t be jailed for peaceful protest’ In Sydney, about 100 protesters gathered outside NSW Parliament House and then marched to the Downing Centre. The crowd included members of climate action groups Extinction Rebellion, Knitting Nannas and Fireproof Australia but also others who, while they might not conduct a similar protest themselves, believe in the right of others to do so.
One of the protest organisers, Knitting Nanna Marie Flood, was unable to attend due to illness. Her message called for the release of Coco and an end to the criminalisation and intimidation of climate activists.
It was read by another Knitting Nanna, Eurydice Aroney:
“Nannas have been on Sydney streets protesting about gas and coal mines for about 8 years now. Over that time we’ve had lots of interactions with the Sydney Events police, and not a lot of trouble.
“You could say we are known to the police. We were amused and surprised at the recent climate emergency rally at town hall, when one of the police said to some Nannas that he thought we’d fallen in with the wrong crowd!
“Looks like we better clear some things up.”
Knitting Nannas protesters Helen and Dom at a previous protest. Image: Environmental Defenders Office/City Hub
“We ARE the crowd who knows that climate action is urgent and it starts with stopping new gas and coal. We know the importance of public protests to bringing about social and political change.
“We will stand up against any move to take away the democratic right to protest. What is happening to Violet Coco is a direct result of the actions of the NSW government with the support of the ALP opposition.”
The message ended with a call to all climate activists: “Now is the time to BE THE CROWD — we can’t afford to fall for attempts to divide the climate movement. We all want to save the climate, and to do that we need to protect democracy.”
The Knitting Nannas have launched a challenge to the validity of the protest laws through the Environmental Defenders’ Office.
Snap rally at NSW Parliament and a march to the courts at the Downing Centre where climate activist Violet Coco was sentenced to 15 months in prison last week.
We demand repeal of the draconian anti-protest laws, an end to new fossil fuel projects and serious climate action now! pic.twitter.com/F1Yxs8L0DG
One of those attending the protest was Josh Pallas, president of NSW Council for Civil Liberties. Civil Liberties has been defending the right to protest in NSW for more than half a century.
In a media release, he said: “Peaceful protest should never result in jail time. It’s outrageous that the state wastes its resources seeking jail time and housing peaceful protesters in custody at the expense of taxpayers.
“Protesters from Fireproof Australia and other groups have engaged in peaceful protest in support of stronger action on climate change, a proposition that is widely supported by many Australians across the political divide and now finding themselves ending up in prison.
“Peaceful protest sometimes involves inconvenience to the public. But inconvenience is not a sufficient reason to prohibit it. It’s immoral and unjust.”
Deputy Lord Mayor and Greens Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore told the crowd that they had the support of the City of Sydney which recently passed a unanimous motion calling for the repeal of the NSW government’s draconian anti-protest laws.
“If you are a group of businesses in the City of Sydney and you want to close the street for a street party, this state government will give you $50,000. If you are a non-violent protester who cares about climate change and you are blocking one lane of traffic for 25 minutes, they will give you two years [in jail].
“We know these laws are designed to intimidate you… Thank you for being the front line in the fight. you are the ones to put your bodies on the line to protest about issues we all care about, ” she said.
Amnesty International support for democracy
Amnesty International spokesperson Veronica Koman emphasised how important it was to see the defence of democratic rights from a regional perspective. She said that Amnesty was concerned that severe repression of pro-independence activists in West Papua was spreading across to other parts of Indonesia.
She fears the same pattern of increasing repression taking hold in NSW.
Human Rights Watch researcher Sophie McNeil, who has won many awards for her journalism, was another person who was quick to respond.
“Outrageous. Climate activist who blocked traffic on Sydney Harbour Bridge jailed for at least eight months” she tweeted on Friday.
Since then she has followed the issue closely, criticising the ABC for failing to quote a human rights source in its coverage of the court case and speaking at a protest in Perth on Monday.
Today she posted this tweet with a short campaigning #FreeVioletCoco video that has already attracted nearly 13,000 views:
Authorities in #Australia are disproportionately punishing climate activists in violation of their basic rights to peaceful protest
Violet Coco has been sentenced to 15 months in prison
‘If you’re reading this, you’ll know I am in prison’
In jailing Coco, Magistrate Hawkins went out of her way to diminish and delegitimise her protest. She described it as a “childish stunt’ that let an “entire city suffer” through her “selfish emotional action”.
Coco has been involved with climate change protests for more than four years and has been arrested in several other protests. On one occasion, she set light to an empty pram outside Parliament House.
Rather than fight on technicalities, she chosen to plead guilty, knowing that if the magistrate was hostile, she could be taken into custody at the end of Friday’s hearing.
Several steps ahead of her critics, she made a video and wrote a long piece to be published if she went to prison.
The piece begins: ”If you are reading this, then I have been sentenced to prison for peaceful environmental protest. I do not want to break the law. But when regular political procedure has proven incapable of enacting justice, it falls to ordinary people taking a stand to bring about change.”
She describes how her understanding of the facts of climate science and the inadequacy of the current response led her to decide to give up her studies and devote herself to actions that would draw attention to the climate emergency.
“Liberal political philosopher John Rawls asserted that a healthy democracy must have room for this kind of action. Especially in the face of such a threat as billions of lives lost and possibly the collapse of our liveable planet.
“But make no mistake — I do not want to be protesting. Protest work is not fun — it’s stressful, resource-intensive, scary and the police are violent. They refuse to feed me, refused to give me toilet paper and have threatened me with sexual violence.
Jailed Australian climate protester Deanna “Violet” Coco . . . “Protest work is not fun — it’s stressful, resource-intensive, scary and the police are violent.” Image: APR screenshot
“I spent three days in the remand centre, which is a disgusting place full of sad people. I do not enjoy breaking the law. I wish that there was another way to address this issue with the gravitas that it deserves.”
She describes how she has already been forced to comply with onerous bail conditions:
“I was under 24 hour curfew conditions for 20 days in a small apartment with no garden. After 20 days effectively under house arrest, my curfew hours changed — at first I could leave the house for only 5 hours a day for the following 58 days, then 6 hours a day under house arrest for the following 68 days.
“This totalled 2017 hours imprisoned in my home for non-violent political engagement in the prevention of many deaths. Cumulatively, that is 84 days or 12 weeks of my freedom.”
Premier Perrottet says he does not object to protest so long as it does not interfere with “our way of life”.
If it does, individuals should have the “book thrown at them.”
His “way of life” is one in which commuters are never held up in traffic by a protest while endlessly sitting in traffic because of governments’ poor transport planning.
A way of life in which it is fine for governments to take years to house people whose lives are destroyed by fires and floods induced by climate change, to allow people to risk death from heat because they cannot afford air conditioners, open more coal and gas operations that will increase carbon emissions and turn a blind eye to millions of climate refugees in the Asia Pacific region.
It involves only protesting when you have permission and in tightly policed zones where passers-by ignore you.
Labor still backs anti-protest laws
Leader of the Opposition Chris Minns also says he has no regrets for supporting the laws which he says were necessary to stop multiple protests.
But laws don’t target multiple actions, they target individuals. He has not raised his voice to condemn police harassment of individual activists even before they protest and bail conditions that breach democratic rights to freedom of assembly.
There was no visible Labor presence at Sydney’s rally.
Perrottet and Minns may be making right wing shock jocks happy but they are out of line with international principles of human rights.
They also fail to acknowledge that many of Australia’s most famous protest movements around land rights, apartheid, Green Bans, womens’ rights, prison reform and environment often involved actions that would have led to arrest under current anti-protest laws.
They display an ignorance of traditions of civil disobedience. As UNSW Professor Luke Macnamara told SBS News: “[V]isibility and disruption have long been the hallmarks of effective protest.”
He believes disruption and protest need to go hand in hand in order to result in tangible change.
“There’s an inherent contradiction in governments telling protesters what are acceptable, passive, non-disruptive means of engaging in protests, when the evidence may well be that those methods have been attempted and have proven to be ineffective,” he said.
“It’s not realistic on the one hand to support the so-called ‘right to protest’, and on the other hand, expect the protest has no disruptive effects. The two go together.”
Wendy Bacon was previously a professor of journalism at the University of Technology Sydney and is an editorial board member of Pacific Journalism Review. She joined the protest. This article was first published by City Hub and is republished with the author’s permission.
Activists have protested at Indonesia’s Ternate Police headquarters in North Maluku demanding that the security forces release eight people arrested while commemorating West Papua Independence Day on December 1.
December 1 marked 61 years since the first raising of West Papua’s symbol of independence, the Morning Star flag.
Tabloid Jubi reports Anton Trisno of the Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) saying the demonstration where the group was arrested was a peaceful one.
“We expressed our aspirations peacefully. Some ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers infiltrated the crowd to disperse the protesters. This is a violation to our freedom of speech,” he said.
Trisno asked the police to immediately release eight of his colleagues.
“We urge the Ternate police chief to immediately release the eight activists who are still detained. We demand the police release them unconditionally,” he said.
Different tactic
Meanwhile, an activist group has reported a different tactic used by the security forces, which it says is concerning.
“The Papuan People’s Petition Action (PRP) in commemoration of the 61st anniversary of the ‘West Papua Declaration of Independence’ received escort and security unlike usual actions from the Indonesian Security (colonial military),” a statement said.
“Apart from vehicles such as patrol cars, dalmas, combat tactical vehicles, sniffer dogs, intelligence/bin, bais, and tear gas launchers or other weapons.
“There is also security in the form of hidden security, such as a [sniper] placed on the balcony of Ramayana Mall and Hotel Sahit Mariat which are near the location or point of action.
“This certainly shows that there is something planned to actually push back and close the democratic space for the people and resistance movements in the Land of Papua, especially in the city of Sorong.”
In Port Vila, Vanuatu’s Minister of Climate Change and a long-time supporter of the West Papua people, Ralph Regenvanu, attended the West Papua flag-raising day.
In line with Vanuatu’s stand in support of West Papua freedom, the Morning Star flag was raised to fly alongside the Vanuatu flag outside the West Papua International Office.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
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 Deviis a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.
The French flag and the Kanak independence ensign . . . flown together since 2011. Image: 123rf/RNZ Pacific
The territorial government of New Caledonia debated the introduction of an official regional flag in 2008, as required by the Nouméa Accord.
In July 2010, the New Caledonian Congress voted in favour of flying both flags together.
The move was controversial with an anti-independence group calling it unrepresentative of the population.
The New Caledonian delegation to the Pacific Games used the combined flags for the first time in 2011.
Thus, the debate over a permanent flag is ongoing amid hopes it can promote a “common destiny” for ethnic Kanaks and ethnic French residents in New Caledonia.
According to electoral law, French political parties are not allowed to use the tricolour in their material in order to not convey the notion that they represent the state.
In the 2021 referendum campaign, the pro-independence parties were able to use the Kanak flag which prompted the anti-independence camp to counter with a demand to be allowed to use the French flag.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
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.
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.
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.
Today marks 1 December 1961 when the West Papuan national flag, the Morning Star was first raised and the date has been honoured across the world ever since. The flag was raised by West Papuan legislators who had been promised independence by then-colonial ruler, the Netherlands, but this hope was dashed by Indonesian annexation in 1969. Today marks the 61st anniversary of that first flag-raising. West Papuans raising the flag risk prison sentences of up to 15 years. The following article from Tabloid Jubi newspaper in the Papuan capital Jayapura is part of a five-part series exposing the cruel and inhumane treatment of flag-raisers by Indonesian authorities.
Seven West Papuan makar — “treason” — convicts who were found guilty of raising the Morning Star flag were released on September 27 this year after completing their prison term of 10 months.
Until today, Papua activist and treason convict Melvin Yobe still does not know the result of his medical check-up at Dian Harapan Hospital earlier this year on February 16.
Maksimus Simon Petrus You also doesn’t know what punishment was given to the prison guard who brutally beat him.
Even more disturbing, however, is the fate of Zode Hilapok. He was unable to stand trial as his health continued to deteriorate due to tuberculosis. Zode Hilapok died while undergoing treatment at Yowari Regional General Hospital in Jayapura Regency on October 22.
Since detaining Zode Hilapok on December 2, 2021, law enforcement officials at all levels failed to provide adequate health services for his recovery and he was never put on trial.
Melvin Yobe and his friends when they were released from Abepura Prison on 27 September 2022. Image: Theo Kelen/Tabloid Jubi
Violating human rights A law faculty lecturer at Cenderawasih University, Melkias Hetharia, says treason charges against Papuan activists violated human rights — namely the right to freedom of speech and expression. He argues the treason law enforced against Melvin Yobe and his seven friends was enacted by the Dutch colonial government to punish coups and revolutions and was based on the experience of the Russian revolution.
Hetharia told Jubi that the enforcement of the Dutch East Indies’ Criminal Code did not consider the social, cultural and philosophical aspects of the Indonesian nation.
“The formation of treason articles in the Criminal Code did not consider aspects of human rights, therefore it is oppressive and injures a sense of justice,” Hetharia said.
He said the term “treason” as regulated in articles 104, 106, 107, 108 and 110 of the Criminal Code had been interpreted very broadly and was not in line with the meaning of aanslag as intended in Dutch, which means “attack”. An attack in that sense was using full force in an attempt to seize power.
“If the term treason in the articles is interpreted not as aanslag or attack, then the articles on treason are indeed contrary to human rights guaranteed and protected in the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia,” he said.
In fact, Melvin Yobe, Zode Hilapok, and their six friends are not the only Papuan activists who peacefully protested but have been charged with treason.
An infographic of Papuan activists who were charged with treason at the Jayapura District Court, Central Jakarta District Court, and Balikpapan District Court during 2013-2022. Graphic: Leon/Tabloid Jubi
From 2013 to 2022, at least 44 Papuan activists have been charged with treason. Among them — from Jayapura District Court data — from 2013 to 2022 there were 31 people, while in Balikpapan District Court in 2020 seven people and in the Central Jakarta Court in 2019 six people.
Treason ‘structural criminalisation’ Emanuel Gobay, director of the Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH Papua), who is also the legal counsel for Melvin Yobe and his friends, believes the treason charges against Papuan activists are part of a systematic and structural criminalisation.
“The majority of those accused of treason are human rights activists and political activists,” Gobay told Jubi.
Gobay said the Morning Star flag was a cultural symbol of the Papuan people. According to Gobay, these cultural symbols are guaranteed under Papua Special Autonomy Law No, 21/2001.
Gobay said the raising of the Morning Star by Melvin Yobe and other Papuan activists was part of the demand for the government to resolve Papua’s political problems.
“They are asking the state to immediately implement the Special Autonomy Law,” said Gobay.
On that basis, Gobay considered the use of the treason article against Papuan activists as a form of criminalisation. He also emphasised that the raising of the Morning Star flag did not automatically make Papua independent from Indonesia, therefore the element of treason was not fulfilled.
Apart from the controversy on the use of treason legal articles for Papuan activists, the discriminative treatment received by prisoners of treason cases is also inappropriate, argues Gobay.
Prisoners treated badly
Gobay, who often provides legal assistance to Papuan activists suspected or charged with treason, said his clients were often treated badly.
Zode Hilapok’s health condition was the worst of all, said Gobay. During his detention in Abepura Prison, Hilapok’s health condition deteriorated and he lost weight rapidly.
Gobay said Abepura Prison was not suitable for detainees with a history of tuberculosis, such as Melvin Yobe and Zode Hilapok.
“After we surveyed and compared the condition of the prison with the guidelines on handling tuberculosis patients, the prison is not suitable for accommodating prisoners with tuberculosis,” he said.
Minister of Health Regulation No. 67/2016 on Tuberculosis Patient Treatment Guideline states that the treatment centre for tuberculosis patients must be open and have good air circulation and sunlight.
Gobay said the regulation also stipulated that local health offices and hospitals provide special units to treat tuberculosis patients.
“We hope that judges, prosecutors, and hospitals can implement the regulation,” he said.
This report is supported by Transparency International Indonesia (TII), The European Union and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in the Anticorruption Residency programme “Reporting Legal Journalism”. It is the final article in a five-part series in Tabloid Jubi and is republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission.
The solidarity group West Papua Action Aotearoa has criticised New Zealand for not “being stronger” over growing global concern about Indonesian human rights violations in West Papua, and contrasted this with Vanuatu’s leadership.
“Eight countries raised issues about human rights in West Papua and it is good to see our government among them,” said Catherine Delahunty, spokesperson for West Papua Action Aotearoa, in a statement.
New Zealand called for Indonesia to uphold, respect and promote human rights obligations in West Papua, but did not call for Indonesia to immediately allow the visit of the UN Commissioner for Human Rights.
Of the eight countries raising the issues only Vanuatu and the Marshall Islands made direct statements calling for the visit and Australia “made a better statement” than New Zealand, calling for Indonesia to “ensure access, including by credible, independent observers”.
“In the light of recent events including the concerns around the death of Filep Karma and the attacks on demonstrators in West Papua by the state, just calling for human rights to be upheld is clearly not enough,” said Delahunty.
“We need our government to speak out strongly in all UN Forums in support of the UN Commissioner of Human Rights proposed visit to West Papua.
“The Pacific Island Forum (PIF) has supported this call and our Foreign Minister has told our group that she supports it. However the UNHR review was an opportunity missed.
“Our foreign policy position should support the position of Vanuatu whose clear, sustained challenge to the violent colonisation of West Papua by Indonesia is admirable.
“Human rights will never be upheld when a regime occupies a country against the will of the people, and other Pacific countries need to demand better, starting with greater transparency over human rights violations, opening the borders to the UN High Commissioner and all international journalists.”
The Pacific nation of Tuvalu is planning to create a version of itself in the metaverse, as a response to the existential threat of rising sea levels.
Tuvalu’s Minister for Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs, Simon Kofe, made the announcement via a chilling digital address to leaders at COP27.
He said the plan, which accounts for the “worst case scenario”, involves creating a digital twin of Tuvalu in the metaverse in order to replicate its beautiful islands and preserve its rich culture:
The tragedy of this outcome cannot be overstated […] Tuvalu could be the first country in the world to exist solely in cyberspace – but if global warming continues unchecked, it won’t be the last.
Tuvalu’s “digital twin” message. Video: Reuters
The idea is that the metaverse might allow Tuvalu to “fully function as a sovereign state” as its people are forced to live somewhere else.
There are two stories here. One is of a small island nation in the Pacific facing an existential threat and looking to preserve its nationhood through technology.
The other is that by far the preferred future for Tuvalu would be to avoid the worst effects of climate change and preserve itself as a terrestrial nation. In which case, this may be its way of getting the world’s attention.
Tuvalu will be one of the first nations to go under as sea levels rise. It faces an existential threat. Image: Mick Tsikas/AAP/The Conversation
What is a metaverse nation? The metaverse represents a burgeoning future in which augmented and virtual reality become part of everyday living. There are many visions of what the metaverse might look like, with the most well-known coming from Meta (previously Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
What most of these visions have in common is the idea that the metaverse is about interoperable and immersive 3D worlds. A persistent avatar moves from one virtual world to another, as easily as moving from one room to another in the physical world.
The aim is to obscure the human ability to distinguish between the real and the virtual, for better or for worse.
Kofe implies three aspects of Tuvalu’s nationhood could be recreated in the metaverse:
territory — the recreation of the natural beauty of Tuvalu, which could be interacted with in different ways
culture — the ability for Tuvaluan people to interact with one another in ways that preserve their shared language, norms and customs, wherever they may be
sovereignty — if there were to be a loss of terrestrial land over which the government of Tuvalu has sovereignty (a tragedy beyond imagining, but which they have begun to imagine) then could they have sovereignty over virtual land instead?
Could it be done? In the case that Tuvalu’s proposal is, in fact, a literal one and not just symbolic of the dangers of climate change, what might it look like?
Technologically, it’s already easy enough to create beautiful, immersive and richly rendered recreations of Tuvalu’s territory. Moreover, thousands of different online communities and 3D worlds (such as Second Life) demonstrate it’s possible to have entirely virtual interactive spaces that can maintain their own culture.
The idea of combining these technological capabilities with features of governance for a “digital twin” of Tuvalu is feasible.
There have been prior experiments of governments taking location-based functions and creating virtual analogues of them.
For example, Estonia’s e-residency is an online-only form of residency non-Estonians can obtain to access services such as company registration. Another example is countries setting up virtual embassies on the online platform Second Life.
Yet there are significant technological and social challenges in bringing together and digitising the elements that define an entire nation.
Tuvalu has only about 12,000 citizens, but having even this many people interact in real time in an immersive virtual world is a technical challenge. There are issues of bandwidth, computing power, and the fact that many users have an aversion to headsets or suffer nausea.
Nobody has yet demonstrated that nation-states can be successfully translated to the virtual world. Even if they could be, others argue the digital world makes nation-states redundant.
Tuvalu’s proposal to create its digital twin in the metaverse is a message in a bottle — a desperate response to a tragic situation. Yet there is a coded message here too, for others who might consider retreat to the virtual as a response to loss from climate change.
The metaverse is no refuge The metaverse is built on the physical infrastructure of servers, data centres, network routers, devices and head-mounted displays. All of this tech has a hidden carbon footprint and requires physical maintenance and energy. Research published in Nature predicts the internet will consume about 20 percent of the world’s electricity by 2025.
The idea of the metaverse nation as a response to climate change is exactly the kind of thinking that got us here. The language that gets adopted around new technologies — such as “cloud computing”, “virtual reality” and “metaverse” — comes across as both clean and green.
So where does that leave Tuvalu? Kofe is well aware the metaverse is not an answer to Tuvalu’s problems. He explicitly states we need to focus on reducing the impacts of climate change through initiatives such as a fossil-fuel non-proliferation treaty.
His video about Tuvalu moving to the metaverse is hugely successful as a provocation. It got worldwide press — just like his moving plea during COP26 while standing knee-deep in rising water.
Yet Kofe suggests:
Without a global conscience and a global commitment to our shared wellbeing we may find the rest of the world joining us online as their lands disappear.
It is dangerous to believe, even implicitly, that moving to the metaverse is a viable response to climate change. The metaverse can certainly assist in keeping heritage and culture alive as a virtual museum and digital community. But it seems unlikely to work as an ersatz nation-state.
And, either way, it certainly won’t work without all of the land, infrastructure and energy that keeps the internet functioning.
It would be far better for us to direct international attention towards Tuvalu’s other initiatives described in the same report:
The project’s first initiative promotes diplomacy based on Tuvaluan values of olaga fakafenua (communal living systems), kaitasi (shared responsibility) and fale-pili (being a good neighbour), in the hope that these values will motivate other nations to understand their shared responsibility to address climate change and sea level rise to achieve global wellbeing.
The message in a bottle being sent out by Tuvalu is not really about the possibilities of metaverse nations at all. The message is clear: to support communal living systems, to take shared responsibility and to be a good neighbour.
The first of these can’t translate into the virtual world. The second requires us to consume less, and the third requires us to care.
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.
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.
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.
“On the ground, there is a sense of disquiet and distrust of the organisers’ motivations for the hui, as some Muslim participants directly connected to the Christchurch tragedy were not invited.”
— Khairiah A. Rahman
The two-day Aotearoa New Zealand government He Whenua Taurikura Hui on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism this week saw participation of state agencies, NGOs, civil rights groups and minority representations from across the country.
Yet media reportage of deeply concerning issues that have marginalised and targeted minorities was severely limited on the grounds of media’s potential “inability to protect sensitive information”.
Lest we forget, the purpose of the Hui is a direct outcome of the Royal Commission recommendations following the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks.
The first hui last year had a media panel where Islamophobia in New Zealand and global media was addressed, and local legacy media reiterated their pact to report from a responsible perspective.
A year later, it would be good to hear what local media have done to ask the hard questions — where are we now in terms of healing for the Muslim communities? What is the situation with crime against Muslims across the country? What projects are ongoing to build social cohesion for a peaceful Aotearoa?
This year, the organisers decided to have the Hui address “all-of-society approaches” to countering violent extremism. This means removing the focus on issues faced by Muslims and extending this to concerns of other minorities subjected to abuse and hate-motivated attacks.
While Muslim participants embraced sharing the space with disenfranchised communities, many reflected that this should not detract from a follow-up to issues discussed at the last hui.
A media panel should address the role of media in representing the voiceless communities. In addition to media following up on Islamophobia, how has media represented minority groups based on their ethnicity, faith or sexual orientation? How can media play a direct role in truth-telling that would inspire social cohesion?
A participant of the LGBTQ+ community shared how bisexual members were threatened on social media as a result of local and international media’s reportage of the Amber Heard misogyny case in the US and the negative representation of bisexual people.
As a social conduit for communal voices and public opinion, the media have a significant role in countering terrorism and violent extremism and should not be excluded from the difficult conversations. Legacy, ethnic and diversity media must be included in all future hui, regardless of topics.
Confidential information can be struck from the record if necessary, but often this is hardly shared in a public forum.
There is little point having a Hui where critical national issues of safety and security are discussed across affected communities, if they are just noise in an echo chamber for those affected while people that care outside of this room are unaware.
Six takeaways from the Hui Discussions centred on what community groups have been doing on the ground and what the larger society and government must do to counter radicalisation and terrorism.
Victims’ families call for a Unity Week
Hamimah Ahmat, widow of Zekeriya Tuyan who was killed in the terror attack, and who is chair of the Sakinah Trust, called on the government to observe an official Unity Week for the country to remember the 51 lives lost in Christchurch.
“More than funds — we need to make sure that the nation ring fences their time for reflection and their commitment to that [social cohesion].”
Sakinah Trust, formed by women relatives of the victims, organised Unity Week where Cantabrians participated in social activities and shared social media messages on “unity” to commemorate the lives lost and build a sense of togetherness across diverse communities.
This bonding exercise connected more than 310,000 New Zealanders and initiated 25,000 social media engagements. Hamimah emphasised the importance of this as during the pandemic Chinese migrants had suffered racism and hate rhetoric.
“We need a National Unity Week not just because of March 15 but because it is an essential element for our existence and the survival of our next generation — a generation who feels they belong and are empowered to advocate for each other,” she said.
“And this is how you honour all those beautiful souls and beautiful lives that we have lost through racism, extremism and everything that is evil.”
2. Issues and disappointment
Members of the IWCNZ (Islamic Council of Women in New Zealand) and other ethnic minority groups have repeatedly shared their disappointment that some speakers appeared to equate the terrorist mass murder in the two Christchurch mosques to the LynnMall attack in Auckland. Yet, the difference is stark.
One terrorist was killed and the other was apprehended unharmed. One had a history of trauma and mental instability, and police knew of this but failed to intervene.
The other was a white supremacist radical who had easy access to a semi-automatic weapon. While both could have been prevented, the LynnMall violent extremism was within the authority’s immediate control.
Aliya Danzeisen, a founding member of Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ), said it was offensive that there was an inappropriate focus on the Muslim community in discourse on the LynnMall attack as there was failed deradicalization by the government corrections department.
“We find it offensive as a community because it was a failed government action, not getting in front, again, that someone was shot and killed and seven people were stabbed.”
Danzeisen also reported that despite sitting in the corrections forum for community, she was unaware of any change since the Royal Commission in terms of addressing radicalisation.
On the ground, there is a sense of disquiet and distrust of the organisers’ motivations for the hui, as some Muslim participants directly connected to the Christchurch tragedy were not invited.
Murray Stirling, treasurer of An Noor Mosque, and Anthony Green, a spokesperson for the Christchurch victims, were present at last year’s Hui but did not receive invitations this year.
3. Academic input from Te Tiriti perspectives
The opening of the conference was led by research from a Te Tiriti perspective. The Muslim community had called for a Te Tiriti involvement in the Hui to acknowledge the first marginalised people of the land.
One shared feature of all the discussions related to colonialism. Tina Ngata, environmental, indigenous and human rights activist, called out those in power who passively protect and maintain colonial privilege, allowing extreme and racist ideas to persist.
Ngata cited racialised myth-making in media and schools, state-sanctioned police violence, hyper-surveillance and the incarceration of non-white people.
She argued that a critical mass of harmful ideas was growing and that it is the “responsibility of accountable power to engage humbly in discussion; not just about participants as victims or solution-bearers but also about structural power as part of the problem”.
The Hui . . . Bill Hamilton from the Iwi Chairs forum paid tribute to the work of the late Moana Jackson in the area of Te Tiriti, reminding people that Te Tiriti belonged to everyone. Image: Khairiah A. Rahman/APR
Bill Hamilton from the Iwi Chairs forum paid tribute to the work of the late Moana Jackson in the area of Te Tiriti, reminding people that Te Tiriti belonged to everyone.
Hamilton recounted that despite Te Tiriti’s promise of protection and non-discrimination, Māori suffered terrorist acts.
“We had invasions at Parihaka . . . our leaders were demonised . . . our grandparents were beaten as small kids by the state for speaking their language [Māori].”
Hamilton reflected on the values of rangatiratanga and said that perhaps, instead of forming a relationship with “the crown”, Māori was better off forming relationships with minority communities based on shared values.
He explained that rangatiratanga is a right to self-determination; the right to maintain and strengthen institutions and representations. It is a right enjoyed by everyone.
Hamilton called for a state apology and acknowledgement of the terrorism inflicted on whānau in Aotearoa. He proposed a revitalisation of rangatiratanga, the removal of inequalities and discrimination, and the strengthening of relationships.
Rawiri Taonui, an independent researcher, presented a Te Tiriti framework for national security.
There was a marked difference between the Crown’s sovereign view of the Te Tiriti relationship with Māori and Māori’s view of an equal and reciprocal Te Tiriti relationship with the Crown.
Taonui highlighted that while Te Tiriti was identified as important for social cohesion in the Royal Commission Report, Te Tiriti was absent in the 15 recommendations for social cohesion.
He explained the tendency in policy documents to separate Māori from new cultural communities.
“That is a very unhelpful disconnect because if we are trying to improve social cohesion, one of the things we need to do is bring Māori and many of our new cultural communities together. Because we share similar histories — colonisation, racism, violence.”
Taonui proposed a “whole of New Zealand approach” towards countering terrorism, emphasising social cohesion to prevent extremism as “we all belong here”.
4. On countering radicalism
In a panel session on “Responding to the changing threat environment in Aotearoa”, Paul Spoonley, co-director of He Whenua Taurikura National Centre of Research Excellence, said that he was confused about how communities should be engaged as “often the affected communities are not the ones that provided the activists or the extremists. How do we reach out to those communities who might often be Pākehā?
“By the time we get to know about these groups, they have progressed down quite a long path towards radicalisation.
“So if we are going to provide tools to communities, we must understand that the context in which people get recruited are often very intimate; we are talking about whānau and peer groups. We are talking about micro settings.”
Sara Salman, from Victoria University in Wellington, spoke on radicalism and the thought processes and emotional attraction to notoriety and camaraderie that encourage destructive behaviours.
For radicals, there is a feeling of deprivation, “a resentment and hostility towards changes in the social world”, whether these are women in the workspace, migrants in society, or co-governance in the political system.
In the context of March 15, the radical is typically a white supremacist male. Such males join extremist groups because they feel a sense of loss and are motivated by power and social status.
According to Salman, there is now a real threat to our governance and democracy by radical groups through subtle ways like entering into politics.
“Radical individuals who ascribe to supremacy ideas are engaging in disruptions that are considered legitimate by entering into local politics to disrupt governance.”
Salman warned that although the government might prefer disengagement, which is intervention before a person commits violence, deradicalisation is critical as it aims to change destructive thinking.
Research showed that children as young as 11 have been recruited and influenced by radical ideas. Without being repressive, the government needs to deradicalise vulnerable groups.
5. Vulnerable communities and post-colonial Te Tiriti human rights
Several speakers on the “countering messages of hate” panel discussed horrific stories of physical, verbal and sexual attacks based on their identities including, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation.
Many spoke about the lack of fair representations in media and professional roles and one participant emphasised that members of a group are diverse and not defined by stereotypes.
In an earlier session, chair of the Rainbow New Zealand Charitable Trust, called on society, including the ethnic and religious communities, to find ways of helping this group feel supported and loved in their communities.
Lexie Matheson, representing the trans community, spoke on the importance of being included in discussions about her people. She echoed my point at last year’s media panel about fair representations: “Nothing about us, without us”.
In the closing session, Paul Hunt, chair of the Human Rights Commission argued that the wide spectrum of human rights is normative as it defined the ethical and legal codes for conduct of states and constituted humanity’s response to countering terrorism.
Hunt offered a post-colonial human rights perspective and called for a process of truth-telling and peaceful reconciliation which respects the universal declaration of human rights and Te Tiriti.
“My point is in today’s Aotearoa, violent extremism includes racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia and white supremacy. And it is dangerous for all communities and for all of us.
“And if we are to address with integrity today’s violence, racism and white supremacy, we have to acknowledge yesterday’s violence, racism and white supremacy which was part of the social fabric of the imperial project in Aotearoa.”
6. What the Hui got right and wrong
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s presence and participation on the final day was timely, inspired confidence and implied a seriousness to address issues. Ardern covered developments that impact on national security, from technology, covid-19 and the war in Ukraine to climate change.
She addressed the radicalisation prevention framework and announced its release at year end, with an approved budget funding for $3.8 million to counter terrorism and violent extremism.
The Hui must have cost a pretty penny. Participants appreciated the food and comfort of the venue, but was there really a need for illustrators to capture the meetings on noticeboards?
The Hui . . . Participants appreciated the food and comfort of the venue, but was there really a need for illustrators to capture the meetings on noticeboards? Image: Khairiah A Rahman/APR
If the organisers meant to enthuse participants with the novelties of artwork, stylish pens, and a supportive environment of aroha and healing, they have done a decent job.
But repeated feedback from Muslim representatives on the lack of action by government departments must be taken seriously and addressed promptly. All the good intentions without action achieve nothing.
Until those directly involved in the horrendous Christchurch massacres witness concrete sustainable actions that can support social cohesion, counter radicalism and violent extremism, the great expenses and show of love at this Hui would be wasted.
Khairiah A Rahman was a speaker at the media panel at the He Whenua Taurikura Hui in 2021. She is a senior lecturer at AUT’s School of Communication Studies, a member of FIANZ Think Tank, secretary of media education for Asian Congress of Media and Communication (ACMC), secretary of the Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN), assistant editor of Pacific Journalism Review and a member of AUT’s Diversity Caucus.
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.
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 protesting at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021. Image: RNZ Pacific/AFP
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
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.”
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.
Human rights campaigner Filep Karma, the most famous West Papuan former political prisoner, was found dead early today on a beach in the Melanesian region’s capital Jayapura.
His death has shocked Papuans and the grassroots activist communities in Indonesia and around the Pacific.
“It is true that a body was found by a resident on the beach at Bse G, suspected to be Filep Karma, but to be sure, the police are still waiting for confirmation from his family,” North Jayapura police chief Police Adjunct Commissioner Yahya Rumra told Antara News.
The head of the Papuan Human Rights Commission, Frist Ramandey, confirmed Karma’s body had been found on the beach, reports CNN Indonesia.
However, he said his group was still investigating the circumstances of Karma’s death.
“He was a father figure for West Papuans and respected by many Indonesian people. He was gentle, loving, courageous, and full of wisdom,” said human rights lawyer Veronica Koman in a tweet.
“Grassroots are shaken.”
‘I’m crushed beyond words’
In a later tweet, she added: “We first met when I visited him in prison. We would spend days and days together when he visited Jakarta or I visited Jayapura.
“He laid the foundation of how I, as an Indonesian, view West Papua. He called me ‘child’ and I called him ‘father’.
“I’m crushed beyond words.”
The Indonesian police investigation site at the Jayapura beach where Filep Karma’s body was found today. Image: Tabloid Jubi
Filep Karma, 67, led the raising of the Morning Star flag of independence — banned by Indonesian authorities — in Biak in 1998 and was eventually imprisoned.
He was released two years later.
In 2004, he again carried out a similar act and was accused of “treason”.
On that occasion he was jailed for 15 years but released in 2015.
Filep Karma, the most famous West Papuan ex political prisoner, was found dead on a beach in Jayapura this morning.
He was a father figure for West Papuans and respected by many Indonesian people. He was gentle, loving, courageous, and full of wisdom.
“Sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for the act of simply raising a flag . . . his release on 19 November 2015 was widely celebrated among Papuan civil society.”
The son of a prominent local politician, originally from Biak island, Karma studied political science in Java before working as a civil servant in Papua.
Indonesian police investigators at the beach scene in Jayapura where the body of Filep Karma was recovered today. Video: Jack Caryota
Watch how fully armed paramilitary police officers approached this unarmed brave West Papuan man carrying the banned Morning Star flag. “Respect us! This is our father!” referring to the passing of Leader Filep Karma.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne says her meeting with New Caledonia’s anti-independence leaders in Paris marks the beginning of discussions on the future status of New Caledonia.
The meeting was called as the decolonisation process under the 1998 Noumea Accord had concluded with rejection of full sovereignty in last December’s third referendum on independence from France.
All key parties were invited to chart the next step, but the pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) — who reject the third referendum as they did not participate because of the covid-19 pandemic — stayed away from the gathering, labelled the Convention of Partners.
In September, the Overseas Minister Jean-Francois Carenco said the FLNKS would be at the Paris talks.
French Overseas Minister Jean-Francois Carenco . . . said the FLNKS would take part in the Paris talks. Image: RNZ Pacific/AFP
In comments after the meeting, Borne said she was delighted with the spirit of responsibility and consensus of the exchanges, describing them as “faithful to the tradition of the agreements of 1988 and 1998”.
She said as a transition period begins, the delegates noted the need to base their reflections on the lessons of experience.
Borne said they agreed to launch an audit of the decolonisation to assess the support given to New Caledonia by the French state since 1988 with regard to the international law.
Broaden the discussions
She said it was agreed to broaden the scope of the discussions beyond the institutional questions, by also addressing the vital subjects for the future of New Caledonians.
These include equal opportunities and social cohesion, economic development and employment, energy sovereignty and ecological transition as well as common values and reconciliation.
Borne said working groups would be organised in Noumea by the High Commissioner in November.
The work is expected to be concluded in mid-2023, with her adding that it would only succeed if all political forces contributed to it.
Last year, Paris announced plans for a new referendum in June on a new statute, but the project has been deferred in the face of the pro-independence parties’ refusal to engage in the process outlined by France.
To progress negotiations, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin will travel to New Caledonia in November together with Carenco, who in September was the first French minister to visit Noumea since the formation of the Borne government in June.
Got ‘best they could’
One of New Caledonia’s members of the French National Assembly, Nicolas Metzdorf, said they got the best they could in the absence of the pro-independence politicians.
He said with a timetable and a working method, he hoped they would come back to the discussion table.
Metzdorf said if they wanted to add working groups of their own, they had every opportunity to do so.
None of the parties making up the FLNKS attended the talks in France because in part they refuse to recognise the vote as the legitimate outcome of the decolonisation process.
The FLNKS has signalled that its discussions with Paris will have to centre on ways to complete the territory’s decolonisation.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Amhat said she did not stoop to the level of such hatred but found herself feeling bitterly disappointed.
“It was broad daylight and in a university area. That is just one of the recent incidents that has happened to me but I know of plenty of others too which is very discouraging.”
New Zealand’s annual gathering on countering terrorism and violent extremism, He Whenua Taurikura Hui 2022, got underway in Auckland today.
Members of the Māori, Pasifika, Jewish, Muslim, rainbow, and many more communities will unite at the Cordis Hotel for the two-day hui.
Conversations crucial
Amhat said conversations were crucial to prevent another mass murder.
Zekeriya Tuyan was the 51st victim of the 15 March 2019 terror attack, passing away 48 days after being shot in the chest.
He was survived by his beloved wife and two sons.
“The boys were very young, we lost a great friend, husband and father.”
Amhat said her husband treated her like a queen and she was still getting used to opening doors for herself as Tuyan always insisted on doing this for her.
“Simple things like that, he put me on a pedestal.”
Amhat is the chair of the Sakinah Community Trust, a kaupapa created by the daughters, wives and sisters of March 15 victims.
Strength and well-being
“It involves promotion of strength and well-being in the community.”
Among the many initiatives the group is involved with is Unity Week, which runs from March 15-22.
“It is about galvanising our allies, and touching the hearts of those sitting on the fence.”
The week acknowledges the affected communities which Amhat said were not just the people who were directly impacted by the events.
“It’s also the people who pulled up their sleeves and got together even though they were grieving as well and in shock, they made time to help the families and make sure the community continued to function.”
Amhat said the Muslim community could not sit back and wait for tolerance to come to them.
“People find it hard to approach us, just recently my driving instructor told me, ‘I didn’t know how to react to a Muslim woman,’ and I just had to tell him to smile, we are human beings.”
She said education was key to dispelling fears and myths.
‘Sharing our space together’
“We invite them to share our space together. Cut through our skin and we bleed red blood.”
While we were moving forward as a nation, things could be faster and more effective, Amhat said.
She cited recent incidents in Aotearoa including the Dunedin student who had her hijab ripped off, New Zealand soldiers linked to white supremacist groups and school board nominees spouting hateful ideology.
Amhat said anti-Chinese racism was also prevalent during the pandemic.
“It was as if people had forgotten about March 15 and racism actually increased towards the Chinese and everyone else who looked Chinese to those discriminatory people.”
Formalities at the hui began by acknowledging the survivors of the 2019 terrorist attack in Christchurch.
The morning then focussed on the consequences of colonialism and near two centuries of Pākehā dominance in Aotearoa.
He Whenua Taurikura Hui 2022 . . . “a good cause in keeping Aotearoa safe and free from violence and hate rhetoric based on identity, including faith and ethnicity.” Image: Khairiah A. Rahman screenshot APR/FB
‘Colonial entitlement’ still rife Auckland University professor of indigenous studies Tracey McIntosh opened panel discussions looking at why the country needed to face deep but necessary discomfort over the impact colonisation had for Māori.
This included relocation, confiscation and invasion.
“Of all the times I hear government agencies say Te Tiriti, if there is one word that seems to avoid their tongue, that’s the word colonialism,” McIntosh said.
Those impacts included dishonouring the Treaty with impunity, mass incarceration, immigration policies and racialised myth making, she said.
“The forces that brought us here today are no less than pure, distilled, colonial entitlement.”
There was a responsibility of powers to humbly engage with the issue of racism, McIntosh said.
“You have centrist power mongers who passively protect and maintain colonial privilege while presenting themselves as benign allies.”
Independent body
Māori deserved an independent body to monitor threats, she said.
“While extremists get the most attention, because they are the loudest and most violent, they hold less structural power.”
Both the Crown and government agencies had a lot of work to do, McIntosh said.
“Taking on a Māori name and logo but not sharing power is not equality.”
New Zealand had seen the rise of groups that represented hate and hostility through online emboldenment, she said.
The 2019 terror attack disturbed New Zealand’s complacency, McIntosh said.
Another prominent Māori leader said his people continued to endure terrorism at the hands of the state.
Enduring terror acts
Bill Hamilton of the National Iwi Chairs Forum spoke of the terror acts his people had endured such as invasion and abduction.
“Our children were taken and continue to be taken by the likes of Oranga Tamariki, and those are violent terrorist acts on our people.”
Aotearoa still had very subtle and sneaky forms of racism today, he said.
Hamilton said what was supposed to guarantee protection, equality and a mutually beneficial relationship — Te Tiriti o Waitangi — had instead seen the demonisation of Māori leaders, beatings for use of te reo, and widespread invasion.
“Our grandparents were beaten as kids for speaking their language.”
The state needed to apologise for the terror inflicted on the Māori people, he said.
Hamilton believed there had been a residual effect across society where people viewed Māori as less than equal.
He Whenua Taurikura Hui 2022 continues tomorrow with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern scheduled to speak about 9am at Cordis Hotel.
The topic will be diversity in democracy, creating safe spaces online and countering messages of hate.
Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN) is represented at the hui by Auckland University of Technology communications academic and Pacific Journalism Review assistant editor Khairiah A Rahman.
The previously undecided UNI faction also said it would be absent after the FLNKS had already said it would not send an official delegation to Paris.
Last December, more than 96 percent voted against full sovereignty for New Caledonia in the last of three referendums on independence from France held under the 1998 Noumea Accord.
However, the pro-independence groups boycotted that vote after unsuccessfully seeking a postponement due to the impact that the covid-19 pandemic had had on the indigenous Kanak population.
Turnout of the eligible voters was less than 44 percent.
The Accord stipulates that in the case of three “no” votes, the political partners would meet to examine the situation – which had now arisen.
The Accord, which provided for a gradual and irreversible transfer of power from France to New Caledonia, expired amid controversy as the pro-independence side refused to recognise the vote as the legitimate outcome of the decolonisation process.
Right to self-determination
The territory has been on the UN Decolonisation list since 1986, based on the Kanak people’s internationally recognised right to self-determination.
The pro-independence parties abstained from voting after Paris refused to postpone the referendum to this year over concern triggered by the pandemic’s impact on the indigenous Kanak population.
A legal challenge in France’s highest administrative court — filed by the Kanak customary Senate — was rejected, with the court ruling in June that the impact of the pandemic was not a reason to consider the referendum invalid.
Discussions on New Caledonia’s future status were put on hold for the better part of the first half of this year because of campaigning for first the French presidential and then the parliamentary elections.
Two ministers in the new French government formed in June promised to visit New Caledonia but abandoned their plans, making last month’s arrival of the new junior Overseas Minister Jean-Francois Carenco in Noumea the first visit of a minister of the new administration.
French Overseas Minister Jean-François Carenco . . . initiated the October talks in Paris. Image: RNZ Pacific/FB
Tasked with re-establishing dialogue among the key parties, Carenco concluded days of talks with a cross-section of leaders with an announcement that the key leaders would meet in Paris in October.
Following his trip, the plan was for both pro- and anti-independence leaders to meet the Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin for separate bilateral talks on Thursday, followed by a broader meeting on Friday, chaired by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
Wider representation
The gathering under her leadership — dubbed Convention of Partners — is expected to include representatives of sectors of society outside the political leaders that made up the signatories to the Noumea Accord.
The UNI faction of the FLNKS explained its absence this week by saying it failed to get a reply from Carenco about details of the planned talks.
The anti-independence parties, however, will attend the talks, as will the ethnic Wallisian party and kingmaker in New Caledonia’s Congress, the Pacific Awakening party.
A leading anti-independence politician and president of New Caledonia’s Southern Province, Sonia Backes, said she would quit her position in the French government if it failed to open up New Caledonia’s electoral rolls.
President of New Caledonia’s Southern Province Sonia Backes . . . threatened to resign her Paris citizenship post if the electoral rolls are not opened. Image: RNZ Pacific/FB
Backes was made Secretary of Citizenship within the French Interior Ministry when Borne reshuffled her government in July.
Under the Noumea Accord, which is enshrined in the French constitution, voting rights in provincial elections are restricted to indigenous people and residents living in New Caledonia since the 1990s.
The anti-independence camp said restricted electoral rolls could no longer be justified after last December’s vote.
Threat to resign
Backes said she would resign from the Paris job if the government did not change the rolls or went against what New Caledonians had voted for — a reference to the electorate’s rejection of full sovereignty in three referendums.
Pro-independence leaders, however, insist that the rolls must not be touched, fearing a change would “bury the indigenous Kanaks as a minority”.
More than 40,000 French residents lack full voting rights in New Caledonia, being allowed to vote in French national elections only.
The anti-independence side insists the opening of the electoral roll has to be integral to a new statute for a New Caledonia within France.
Last year, Paris announced plans for a new referendum in June on a new statute, but the project was deferred in the face of the pro-independence parties’ refusal to engage in the process outlined by France.
Comprehensive talks on the referendums’ aftermath will have to wait until the pro-independence signatories to the Noumea Accord agree to negotiate.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama says Bougainville’s future as an independent sovereign nation is inevitable and nothing can change the resolve of the government and people from achieving sovereignty.
And he warned in the Autonomous Bougainville Parliament that no foreign government or foreign leader would dictate to Bougainville the outcome of the Bougainville peace process.
He said it was an outcome that would be negotiated with the government of PNG through the legal framework that guided this process.
In his address to the ABG Parliament, An irate Toroama responded to the Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles whose remarks on Bougainville’s political future were addressing the members of the House of Representatives.
“From the outset, let me say it once more within this Honourable House that Bougainville’s future as an independent sovereign nation is inevitable,” the president said.
“There is nothing that can change the resolve of our government and our people from achieving sovereignty as an independent nation.
“I would like to comment on the statement by the Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles whose remarks on Bougainville’s political future has finally made Australia’s position very clear.
Australia ‘bargained neutrality’
“Australia has bargained their neutrality in the Bougainville peace process for the sake of geopolitical manoeuvering and maintaining control of the Pacific region from their perceived threat of Chinese influence in the region.
“Deputy Prime Minister Marles claims Australia is being neutral in the Bougainville peace process.
“However, his remarks pledging Australia’s support to the government of Papua New Guinea just as we are preparing for the ratification contradicts his statement.
“The pledge can be viewed as a calculated move to intimidate Bougainville and pre-empt the outcome of the ratification by the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea.
“As a witness and signatory to the Bougainville Peace Agreement, the Australian Government should maintain its neutrality instead of pre-empting the outcome of our political future.”
Direct intervention
In principle, this pre-emptive act in itself was a direct intervention by the Australian government on the internal affairs of Papua New Guinea.
“It is an action that will directly influence the National Government.”
This had given rise to questions on Australia’s continued involvement in the peace process and their presence on Bougainville.
“As President of Bougainville, I am not in a position to comment nor speculate on the foreign policy of foreign governments who have diplomatic relations with Papua New Guinea.
“Though we do not have foreign affairs powers, countries dealing with Bougainville must understand that our political arrangements are not the same as the other provincial governments of Papua New Guinea.”
Gorethy Kennethis a PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.
The results of Vanuatu’s snap election have been released, but it is not clear who has come out on top.
The official results have revealed a fractured Parliament with seven being the highest number of MPs won by a single party.
The caretaker prime minister and leader of Vanua’aku Pati, Bob Loughman, has secured seven seats and former opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu’s Graon mo Jastis Party has four seats.
A commentator on Vanuatu politics, Dr Tess Newton Cain, said both sides now needed to rely on independents and minor parties to form a majority.
Leading up to the release of the official results on Sunday, two coalition groups had formed.
Ralph Regenvanu’s coalition claims to have 31 out of 52 seats.
However, some candidates are appearing on the roster for both coalitions and things will not become clear until Parliament is called to swear-in the MPs.
Woman elected
It has been confirmed that a woman has been elected for the first time in more than a decade.
Gloria Julia Kings of the Union of Moderate Parties has been elected in Efate Rural alongside two colleagues. She was the fourth of five elected candidates with 1618 votes.
The election was triggered when Vanuatu’s Supreme Court dismissed a constitutional application in September challenging the dissolution of Parliament.
The 27 opposition MPs had challenged the legality of the dissolution, given a motion of no confidence had been filed against Loughman as prime minister.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Louis Kotra Uregei, an emblematic and radical figure in the independence struggle in New Caledonia, has died aged 71, announced the Union of Kanak and Exploited Workers (USTKE) in a statement.
Nicknamed LKU or “Loulou”, this representative of New Caledonian militancy died on Thursday night after a long illness.
Originally from the small island of Tiga, in the Loyalty archipelago, Louis Kotra Uregei founded USTKE, the very first independence union, in 1981.
Three years later, the USTKE participated in the creation of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS).
In 1988, the day after the hostage-taking in Ouvéa, which killed 21 people, Uregei had been part of the independence delegation sent to Paris to negotiate with the French State and signed the Matignon-Oudinot agreements.
While the USTKE became the second largest trade union force in New Caledonia, Uregei, known for his outspokenness and his radical methods, gradually moved away from the FLNKS and approached anti-globalisation circles.
‘Man of conviction’
In 2007, he founded the Labour Party, in the presence of José Bové, of which he would be the representative at the congress, from 2009 to 2019.
The independence party and member of the FLNKS Caledonian Union paid tribute on Friday to “an independentist leader, who did not mince his words . . . and who knew how to remind today’s generation of leaders where and how it had to be fought to be heard on the national and international stage”.
The French High Commissioner in New Caledonia, Patrice Faure, hailed the memory of “a committed activist and a man of conviction”.
Progressives need to build support for the right of the peoples of the Pacific to self-determination, free from interference, including from our own government, argues Sam Wainwright.
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.
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 . . . La Trobe University’s Dr Nasya Bahfen and Asia Pacific Report’s Dr David Robie in conversation. Image: Iafor screenshot APR
