Home Blog Page 961

IFJ praises ‘historic milestone’ with new information law in Vanuatu

December 7, 2016

Freedomofinformation-Vanuatu-TIVanuatu-680wide — ]]>

AsiaPacificReport.nz

People from Utanlangi Village are informed about the Right to Information Act, Nguna Island, Vanuatu. Image: Transparency International Vanuatu (TIV)

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has joined its affiliate, the Media Association blong Vanuatu (MAV), in commending the recent passing of a Right to Information (RTI) Act in Vanuatu.

On 24 November 2016, the Vanuatu Parliament unanimously passed an Act tabled by Prime Minister Charlot Salwai on the right to information.

The Act will provide for the guarantee of the right to information of all persons in Vanuatu.

The MAV described the RTI as “a ‘home-grown’ RTI – a major development and achievement not only for Vanuatu’s growing media industry but for the Vanuatu government also”.

In a statement, MAV said: “MAV understands that it takes many years for some countries in the world to have RTI. However, MAV is so grateful that the government can acknowledge the very important benefit of RTI and to provide all the necessary support for it.”

“This newly passed legislation will enable the people of Vanuatu access to government information, except information that is classified as ‘state secret’.

“It will also help government officers to keep records of government information… that [will] empower people to make decisions in the future so they can actively participate and contribute effectively to the development of the nation.”

In the lead up to the drafting of the Act, nationwide community consultations were conducted by Transparency International Vanuatu (TIV) to inform citizens of the Act and how it would impact on society as a law. TIV spent a year hosting public forums about the RTI policy in communities and schools throughout the islands of Vanautu, encouraging people to ask their MPs to vote for the Act.

The IFJ said: “The passing of the RTI Act in Vanuatu is a significant milestone in this country’s history. Public access to information is crucial for democracy. Enshrined in law, this will ensure that the Vanuatuan media will be able to report more accurately and responsibly on government activities, and that the public will be better equipped to engage in democratic processes.”

International Federation of Journalists

]]>

Why the ‘treason’ arrests in Indonesia are a worry for Asia-Pacific

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 7, 2016

Jakarta_Ahok_rally_Rappler-680wide — ]]>

AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Abdul Qowi Bastian

Sri Bintang Pamungkas was arrested in his home in Cibubur, in the outskirts of Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, on early Friday morning, December 2.

The civil society leader of People Power Indonesia 2016 – a group that aims to repeal the constitution before it is amended – was supposed to join the rally against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama later that day.

Ahok, an ethnic Chinese-Christian politician, a double minority in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, is accused by conservative Muslim groups of committing blasphemy.

Pamungkas and 9 others were accused of attempting to impeach the current government led by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

Among them are high profile individuals including rock musician Ahmad Dhani; human rights activist Ratna Sarumpaet; retired two-star Army general Kivlan Zein; and Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, sister of former president Megawati. They were arrested on treason charges under Article 107 of the penal code (KUHP).

[embedded content]

The mobile phone video of the arrest Sri Bintang Pamungkas, filmed by his wife.

In a short video circulating on social media, Pamungkas was enjoying his cup of morning coffee on his porch when police officers handed him the warrant.

“Honey, I’m being arrested,” Pamungkas said to his wife who recorded the video on her mobile phone.

“Why?” his wife, Ernalia, was heard saying from behind the camera.

“They have the power to. Of course they can,” Pamungkas replied.

Pamungkas and People Power originally planned to occupy the parliament building, asking the council to revoke Jokowi’s presidency for, according to him, the former Jakarta governor’s inadequacy to follow the “people’s mandate”.

Seven people were released later that day because the police did not have sufficient evidence. Pamungkas in still in detention, along with two others who are still behind bars for allegedly insulting the President on social media, and violating the Internet Transaction Law.

Racial undertones
The December 2 rally was the third in a series of protests demanding Ahok to step down from his post as governor, for his remarks that allegedly insulted Islam.

The controversy started in September 2016 when he accused his opponents of fooling the electorate by misusing a Quranic verse, to sway voters to not vote for him in the upcoming gubernatorial election.

He has apologised for the remarks but is still being prosecuted for blasphemy.

Ahok is now a suspect and faces his first trial hearing next Tuesday. If proven guilty he could be jailed for up to 5 years.

But the issue has since spiraled to include other aspects. Critics have since accused the President —who was inaugurated two years ago— of being inadequate to manage the country. Ahok became governor after Jokowi won the presidential election in 2014. As Jokowi’s deputy governor at the time, Ahok assumed the position.

Ahok himself is an outlier in the Indonesian political landscape. He was the former regent of Belitung Timur, a small region in Sumatera island, and was also a member of parliament before running as Jokowi’s deputy – but has always been considered as the “outsider” who came to the capital.

‘Crush the Chinese’
During the 200,000-people-strong rally on 2 December, some posters read, “Jail Ahok” and “Crush the Chinese”.

The race card used against Ahok is not new within Indonesia’s politics. It is deeply rooted in the New Order regime under former general Soeharto’s authoritarian regime. President Soeharto —who ruled Indonesia for more than 3 decades— banned expressions of Chinese culture and politically segregated the Chinese, because of suspected ties to communism.

Rally organisers and protestors used the Islam card which is an appealing pull for Indonesian Muslim voters.

One of Ahok’s opponents in next year’s elections, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, is the son of former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who led the country from 2004-2014.

Conservative Islamist groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) —one of the main rally organizers— have on social media openly supported Yudhoyono’s gubernatorial candidacy.

Shrinking civic spaces
Social media users in Indonesia are divided on the arrests. Some applaud the police force for attempting to prevent an impeachment attempt, while others see it as a violation of human rights.

“There seems to be no clear grounds for the arrest of these people,” said Benny Agus Prima, Human Rights Defender Programme Associate at the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA).

Prima stressed that the government must protect its people’s rights to express their freedom of expression.

“The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are constitutional rights and guaranteed by international human rights law,” he said. “Exercising those rights is a foundation of democratic society.”

The freedom to associate and to assemble, to express written and and oral opinions in Indonesia, are regulated under Article 28 of the 1945 constitution.

If proven guilty, those arrested could be jailed for 15 years up to a life sentence.

Prima regretted the detention of the individuals, which he said was a sign of the shrinking civic space, not only in the country but also in the region as well.

Case4Space
Civic space is where people can freely exercise their basic civil rights, such as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association. This kind of problem is not unique to Indonesia.

During the 3-day conference entitled “Youth at the heart of the 2030 Agenda: The Case4Space” held in Bangkok, Thailand, panelists shared how there are 3.2 billion people living in countries where civic space is under threat.

“We’re seeing a trend of shrinking civic space in Asia Pacific with recent examples of the criminalization of activists,” Prima said, citing an example of Maria Chin Abdullah of Malaysia.

Abdullah is the leader of the Malaysian pro-democracy alliance Bersih, who was detained in November 2016 for organizing a mass rally calling on Prime Minister Najib Razak to resign over a corruption scandal.

But in the end, according to Prima, what Pamungkas and his peers did was still in accordance to the law. “They demanded the parliament to review Widodo’s presidency, not bearing arms asking [him] to step down,” Prima said.

The arrests, he said, should not have taken place in the first place as it would take Indonesia —a country who adopted democracy 16 years ago— back to autocratic state.

Rozinul Aqli, an Indonesian student at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, also voiced his disapproval in Twitter, saying, “[Widodo] is increasingly becoming more comfortable in borrowing a page from Soeharto’s playbook”.

“Ideally, there should be clear violent acts for something to deserve the label of treason,” Rozinul said in an email to Rappler.

“In practice, however, this article [Article 107 of the penal code] has been used to criminalize many activists that were not, strictly speaking, threatening national security,” he said.

Freedom of expression at risk
Prima further said this case would set a bad precedent for human rights defenders.

“What I fear the most is, this criminalisation will restrict human rights defenders’ freedom of expression,” he said.

Although he also noted that the people who were arrested should respect Ahok’s freedom expression as well.

“When we’re talking about freedom of expression, we should respect others’ freedom to express their thoughts as well,” Prima said. “We can’t force those who, let’s say, commit human rights violations by also violating others’ human rights.”

Rozinul added that rubber articles, such as Article 107 of the penal code, are problematic as they deprive citizens the right to legal certainty.

“If some of us are alarmed by this development, it is because we know that using rubber articles to silence dissents was one of the cornerstones of the New Order regime,” he said.

Abdul Qowi Bastian is a staff editor for Rappler based in Bangkok.

]]>

‘Beaten and left in cell screaming in pain’ – Amnesty alleges Fiji torture

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 6, 2016

Beating-Justice-Fiji-Times-680wide — ]]>

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Nimilote Baleloa during an interview with the Fiji Times at his home in Namadi, Suva, this week. Image: Atu Rasea/Fiji Times

By Tevita Vuibau in Suva

It has been more than eight years since Nimilote Baleiloa saw the body of his late son Josefa Baleiloa in hospital.

Beaten and bruised, Josefa was laid up in a hospital bed, unconscious and unable to eat.

Josefa’s case was one of 11 featured in an Amnesty International (AI) report released this week titled Beating Justice: How Fiji’s Security Forces Get Away With Torture.

The report focuses on human rights violations perpetrated by Fijian defence forces on suspected criminals and escapees in their custody.

The report alleges Josefa was assaulted in Suva by a police and prison officers.

After the beating, his father claims Josefa was taken to the Nabua Police Station and left in the cell, calling for assistance and screaming in pain from the wounds he sustained.

He said when Josefa was finally taken to hospital, it was too late.

No arrests
He succumbed to his injuries several weeks later and no arrests were ever made in relation to his case.

When The Fiji Times visited Nimilote, he spoke of grief and guilt. Grief that he still carries at the loss of his son and guilt that he was unable to get justice.

He said eight years on, his soul was still not at rest.

Baleiloa said he could have fought harder, but did not have the money to pay lawyers to handle the case. He said it was not easy to live with the knowledge that he would not have justice done.

Baleiloa said he would not give up the fight.

Questions sent to the Fiji Police Force yesterday on the report remained unanswered

Under the 2013 Constitution, “absolute and unconditional immunity has been irrevocably granted to police officers from any criminal prosecution and from any civil or other liability in any court, tribunal or commission, in any proceedings including any legal, military, disciplinary or professional proceedings and from any order or judgment of any court, tribunal or commission, as a result of any direct or indirect participation, appointment or involvement in the government from December 5, 2006, to the date of the first sitting of the first Parliament elected after the commencement of the Constitution.”

‘Sharing a vision’
Fiji Times editor in chief Fred Wesley said today in an editorial that the release of the Beating Justice report “is going to attract a lot of interest”.

“The non-governmental organisation which is focused on human rights believes Fiji has failed to criminalise torture in line with its obligations in the 2013 Constitution and the Crimes Decree.”

Released at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva yesterday, the Amnesty International report highlights cases of interest, action taken, and made recommendations. It talks of investigations and prosecution.

“The report reiterated the global movement’s commitment to a world where human rights are enjoyed by all,” wrote Wesley.

“It talks about sharing a vision where every person can enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.

“In its executive summary it suggests the ‘Fiji government has candidly acknowledged that ‘there have been a series of allegations pertaining to police brutality and the torture of detained persons. Such incidents have occurred for as long as the police force has been in existence’.”

The report said suspected criminals and escaped prisoners were most at risk of human rights violations in custody, and there was little sympathy for them when reports of torture emerged, Wesley wrote.

Security forces brutality
“Brutality by the security forces, [the report] suggested, resulted in at least five deaths since 2006 and other severe injuries, including one person having a leg amputated.

“It spoke about concerns raised by lawyers and witnesses, touched on the ‘close’ ties between the police and the military, and referred to ethno-political conflict and military coups.

“It claimed [that] despite accepting several Universal Periodic Review recommendations to stamp out abuses, violence (both actual and threatened) in Fiji, remains serious and widespread, and confessions, it claimed, were often obtained under duress.

“It suggested steps Fiji must take to effectively prevent torture and ill-treatment. The report, while damning, has not gone uncontested.

“The Attorney-General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, labelled it as ‘biased and selective’.”

Sayed-Khaiyum expressed concern that Amnesty’s researchers did not contact the Fijian Director of Public Prosecutions, “who could have provided clarity on a number of issues that were raised in the report and also outlined the progress Fiji was making to dealing with complaints of alleged torture or abuse”.

Tevita Vuibau is a Fiji Times reporter.

]]>

Fiji deports US citizen for ‘swearing at president’

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 6, 2016

President-KONROTE-Fiji-govt-680wide — ]]>

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fiji President Jioji Konrote … target of an “obscenity”. Image: Fiji govt

By Talebula Kate in Suva

A United States national has been deported after swearing at the President of Fiji, Jioji Konrote, last week, it was reported today.

Director of Immigration Nemani Vuniwaqa confirmed this in a government statement saying Karen Seaton, a citizen of the United States, was deported from Fiji after she breached the terms of her residency permit by yelling an obscenity at the President on November 30, 2016.

“This unprovoked use of the ‘f word’ directed towards Fiji’s Head of State cannot be tolerated and Karen Seaton was subsequently detained and escorted onto a plane bound for the US,” Vuniwaqa said.

“Karen Seaton’s appearance before a parliamentary committee had no bearing whatsoever on the circumstances of her deportation,” he said.

Talebula Kate is a Fiji Times reporter.

]]>

Former National leader slams Key as achieving ‘nothing of significance’

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 6, 2016

john-key-bainimarama-fiji-ftimes-680wide — ]]>

AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key (left) with his Fijian counterpart Voreqe Bainimarama in Suva last June. He said then he wanted to “reset” ties with Fiji. Image: Fiji Times

Former National Party leader Don Brash has condemned the man who ousted him for the party’s leadership, saying on New Zealand national radio John Key – who resigned in a surprise announcement yesterday – has achieved “almost nothing of major significance” in his eight years as prime minister.

Brash named Judith Collins as his personal preference to become the country’s next leader, saying Bill English, another former party leader, is the only person suitable to be finance minister.

English is preferred by Key and was named in his resignation announcement.

Brash was deposed as National leader by Key in 2006, after bringing the party to the cusp of victory at the 2005 election.

Speaking on Radio New Zealand’s Morning Report, Brash said Key had “actually left many big challenges undealt with” upon his resignation, including the country’s housing crisis.

“He’s tinkered with the housing issue, and we now have some of the most unaffordable houses in the developed world.

He had also failed to narrow the gap between New Zealand and Australia’s income levels, while not living up to the “one nation for all” credo against so-called special treatment for Māori.

“One of the things that the next National Party leader faces is a real challenge from NZ First which is saying the things which National used to say.”

Asked to give Key a score out of 10, Brash told Morning Report: “Five, because I mean, he hasn’t been disruptive, indeed he’s done almost nothing of major significance in the eight years.”

‘Poisoned chalice’
Writing for Television New Zealand, political commentator John Armstrong warned that the leadership role may be a ‘poisoned chalice’ for Key’s successor.

“In his passage from state house to Premier House, John Key has been the talking and walking embodiment of what the old welfare state sought to create,” he writes.

“The bountiful cradle-to-grave help handed to the poor was not just about equality. It was also about equity.

“That was the notion that everyone could become Prime Minister given the opportunity, no matter how humble their family background or financial circumstances.

“It was the function of the state to provide the means – be it free education or whatever – to enable individuals to break through the ceiling imposed by poverty and exploit their full potential in whatever career they chose to follow.”

Key grabbed that opportunity with both hands, writes Armstrong.

“The welfare state head been created with the purpose of being a safety net for those who had lost their jobs in the private or state sector, such as those who were thrown on the employment scrap heap in the wake of Labour’s adoption of free-market policies in the 1980s.

‘Market whizz kids’
“It was most definitely not intended to be a recruiting agency for money market whizz Kids like Mr Key who were the real beneficiaries when it came to making fast money out of the financial bubble that such ‘Rogernomics’ policies were responsible for artificially inflating.”

However, Key had learned the lesson from what happened to his predecessor as prime minister, Labour’s Helen Clark.

“Voters ultimately turn against a prime minister and do so with an ever greater and meaner vengeance the longer that person has been in the job.”

The surprise resignation has thrown New Zealand into an era of uncertainty with a general election due next year although National are ahead by more than 20 points in opinion polls.

The ruling National Party will choose a new prime minister and party leader next Monday.

]]>

Fiji parliamentary justice committee in heated debate over news media decree

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 5, 2016

Semesa-Karavaki-SODELPA-PMW-680wide — ]]>

AsiaPacificReport.nz

SODELPA’s Semesa Karavaki … dumped as standing committee deputy chair over challenge about Fiji’s media decree. Image: SODELPA

By Matilda Simmons in Suva

Two prominent Fiji lawyers and members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights had a go at each other for almost 10 minutes during a submission hearing last week.

The quarrel between Opposition member of the committee Semesa Karavaki and committee chair Ashneel Sudhakar resulted in Karavaki being removed from the post of deputy chair of the committee.

The post is often held by Opposition members. The Opposition office said Karavaki would still be part of the standing committee as an ordinary member.

The committee was hearing submissions on the draft Information Bill from human rights advocate Peter Waqavonovono on Friday when Sudhakar and Karavaki trailed off into a debate of their own.

Waqavonovono had asked the committee to consider integrating the role of the media into the Information Bill and repeal the Media Industry Development Decree and other existing media legislation.

“One of the reasons I personally believe is it [Media Decree] contains extreme measures that have no place in a democracy that we’re trying to build for this country Fiji,” Waqavonovono said.

“The severe penalties imposed on journalists (can) impede the free flow of information and news. I believe that current legislation actually criminalises journalism and that’s my personal view.”

‘Roundabout way’
Karavaki then asked Waqavonovono whether the Media Decree could restrict a person from publishing the information accessed under the Information Bill. Sudhakar intervened and disallowed the question saying it was a “roundabout way of looking at the Media Decree”.

“Why disallow that question?” asked Karavaki. “I’m asking a question here and I have a right to the answer.”

Sudhakar replied the Media Decree was not being reviewed by them.

“We are not looking at MIDA [Media Industry Development Authority]. The Information Bill has not a single reference to the development decree. It is designed for mostly public to extract information held by government officers,” Sudhakar said.

“You’re asking a question on a Bill that is not even considered by this committee. You should know better.

“I do know better than you,” retorted Karavaki. “You are a small child!

“I will reprimand you for this, Sir,” said Sudhakar.

“This is totally out of order. You’re trying to ask that question just to get an answer that is not even looked at by this committee.

“What is wrong with that? What are you scared of?” asked Karavaki.

“I’m scared of your insanity. You are asking a question that has no reference to journalists in the Information Bill,” said Sudhakar.

Matilda Simmons is a Fiji Times reporter.

]]>

Vanuatu agrees to pay Vt18 million fine to avoid fisheries blacklisting

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 5, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Vanuatu-flagged Chinese fishing boat lands Port Vila in hot water with the Cook Islands. Image: Vanuatu Daily Post File

Compiled by Jane Usher in Port Vila

Vanuatu has reached an agreement to pay a substantial fine to the Cooks Islands, after Rarotonga reported a Vanuatu-flagged fishing boat for possible blacklisting in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) Vessel List.

Director of Fisheries, Kalo Pakoa, has confirmed that the flagged vessel, a Chinese-flagged long liner ESSEN 108 entered into Cook Islands’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in December 2015.

The matter was not reported in time and it was mid-2016 when Vanuatu got a report from the Cook Islands, and kickstarted negotiations for a settlement.

“We have managed to get the ship owner or the operator to commit to a fine to pay the Cook Islands,” Director Pakoa told Vanuatu Nightly News’ Kizzy Kalsakau.

“The fine is based on Vanuatu laws and is around $US180,000, which is almost equivalent to Vt18 million.

“We have received this money and we are working with the Ministry of Fisheries in the Cook Islands to settle the fine before they can proceed to remove our vessel from the potential listing under illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing,” Pakoa said.

“We are now waiting for the Department of Finance to sort out the internal financial matters, so that we can transfer the funds to the Cook Islands.”

Once settled, Vanuatu will not be blacklisted.

“We are in the process of settling the matter, so it rules out any possibility of blacklisting,” the director assured.

Strict measures
The director said Vanuatu had very strict measures about its flagged vessels.

“We are trying to sort this out before the Commission convenes in Nadi, Fiji, next week,” he added.

“Our officials are now in Fiji and we are waiting for the Department of Finance to complete the process so we can transmit the money to Cook Islands.”

The WCPFC meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.

Referring to the WCPFC Technical and Compliance Committee’s report on November 17, Islands Business magazine stated that the Cook Islands would be willing to withdraw the nominated listing as both countries are already in talks to resolve the matter.

Director Pakoa has confirmed Vanuatu will be attending the WCPFC meeting, represented by the Director General of Foreign Affairs and two officers from the Department of Fisheries.

The Department of Fisheries has continued to progress in its effort to effectively deter and eliminate IUU fishing activities, by its national flag fishing fleet of around 136 fishing vessels.

Less than six months ago, Vanuatu was the recipient of a certificate of recognition by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for its commitment to fighting illegal fishing worldwide.

Jane Usher is a Vanuatu Daily Post reporter.

]]>

Indigenous West Papuans send solidarity to Standing Rock

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 5, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

A previous activist video on West Papua Independence Day. Video: Free West Papua

Indigenous groups from around Oceania have sent their support to the ongoing struggle in North Dakota in the United States.

While protesters at Standing Rock and West Papua may seem worlds apart, they share a common bond from an indigenous struggle against a larger oppressor, says West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda in a letter of solidarity and friendship.

“On behalf of the people of West Papua we offer solidarity to our indigenous brothers and sisters as we intimately understand the complicated struggles they are facing,” said Wenda via his website.

While last Thursday marked “West Papuan Independence Day,” the indigenous Melanesian people in West Papua are still subject to neo-colonial rule by Indonesia and have been struggling for independence for more than five decades.

West Papuans raising the banned Morning Star flag in defiance of Indonesian authorities in Yahukimo in the Highlands last Thursday. Image: Benny Wenda

Wenda said his independence movement was drawing parallels and inspiration from the ongoing protests in North Dakota and was “alarmed that their people, lands, and traditional ways of life have become threatened to the point of extinction.”

“As we witness militarised law enforcement agencies commit acts of violence against peaceful water protectors in the US, it reminds us of our own mistreatment at the hands of those intending to overpower and silence our voices,” he said.

Wenda, who is currently living in exile in the United Kingdom, added that “the urgent situation at Standing Rock reminds us to advocate for the right of every Indigenous person to protect their culture and religion, tribal systems and natural resources”.

Celebration hashtags
Around the world, supporters joined the celebration of West Papuan Independence Day through the hashtags #GlobalFlagRaising and #LetWestPapuaVote.

Because of a widespread media blackout by Indonesia, the independence movement gains little international coverage, but has increasingly taken to social media to raise awareness.

Wenda and Melbourne producer Airileke Ingram also released the track Sorong Samarai to coincide with the day.

On 1 December 1961, Melanesian West Papuan first raised their Morning Star flag, but were then annexed by Indonesia in 1969 in a controversial referendum after previously winning their independence from Dutch colonialism in 1963 and then being invaded by Indonesian paratroops.

In ongoing oppression, about 500,000 Melanesians are thought to have been killed by Indonesian authorities and face restrictions of movement and assembly, with many protesters being held as political prisoners.

Indigenous groups in Australia and New Zealand have also expressed their support for West Papua and Standing Rock.

A number of New Zealanders from the Māori community have started posting versions of their traditional haka war dance to social media as a show of solidarity to the North American protesters.

“When one group of relations is being hurt, abused, being bullied, being ripped off, we all feel that – especially us as Māori – we are very much a leader to the indigenous people,” Te Hamura Nikora told Radio New Zealand.

Nikora, a New Zealand media personality, helped to create the Facebook page “Haka With Standing Rock”.

]]>

Carry on Fidel Castro’s global legacy, says Cuban ambassador

By David Robie -

December 4, 2016

Report by David Robie. This article was first published on Café Pacific

[embedded content]
Cuban ambassador to New Zealand Mario Alzugaray during his passionate tribute to Fidel Castro
at Auckland Trades Hall tonight. Video clip: Café Pacific

By David Robie

CUBAN revolutionary leader Fidel Castro’s contribution to global social justice and dignity, and to developing nations worldwide – including the Pacific, was praised in New Zealand tonight.

Activists, politicians, academics, journalists, teachers, trade unionists and community workers were among about 100 people gathered at the Auckland Trades Hall to hear Cuban Ambassador Mario Alzugaray and other speakers give tributes to Castro’s life.

Alzugaray challenged the audience to continue Castro’s half century of struggle for a better society: “The best way to remember Fidel is to carry on his legacy and keep it alive.”

Fidel Castro … an internationalist since the beginning of the Cuban revolution. Image: David Robie/Al Jazeera

The ambassador said Castro had social justice at the core of his ideals and action.

“He was an internationalist since the very beginning,” Alzugaray said. “He was involved in every movement connected to the anti-imperialist struggle in Latin America.”

Before and after the Moncada garrison attack in 1953, Castro had recognised the importance of launching an appeal to the Cuban people.

Revolutionary spark
The Moncada garrison in Santiago de Cuba was named after General Guillermón Moncada, a hero during the war of independence against the Spanish. The attack by a small group led by Castro failed but this is regarded as the spark that fired the Cuban Revolution which eventually overthrew the brutal dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista six years later.

Fidel Castro … an internationalist since the beginning of the Cuban revolution. Image: David Robie/Al Jazeera

Castro died, aged 90, on November 25 and his funeral will be in Santiago tomorrow after the four-day cortege around the country.

“Fidel was the first one to effectively and successfully unite Cubans around the revolution,” Ambassador Alzugaray said.

The envoy praised Castro’s social policies in Cuba, such as agrarian reform, education and health.

“Fidel’s determination and involvement in international affairs made him possibly the most important leader to look after and represent the interests of developing nations,” Alzugaray said.

“His influence is huge and although CNN and other media organisations are trying to focus on the reaction of Cuban-American extremists in Miami, there are millions of people mourning the death of Fidel.”

Media ‘bias’
Alzugaray was critical of the “bias” of many news media in New Zealand and other Western countries.

“I was asked if Fidel was divisive. We live in a divisive world,” Alzugaray said. “Greed and personal interest are driving society in many parts of the world.

“It is completely biased to raise this opinion and to be silent about the United States embargo and permanent hostility towards Cuba.”

Alzugaray said people had to decide whether they were on the side of the poor, starving, or the rich and powerful.

Fundamental rights needed to come before a narrow Western concept of human rights.

“What Western powers and oligarchs can’t forgive is the huge impact of Fidel’s personality and, more importantly, his ideas, in international politics.

“Most of us will have people supporting or expressing their dissent. You just have to decide which side you’re joining.

Fidel Castro’s ashes are travelling to Santiago where they will be interred tomorrow.
Image: David Robie / Al Jazeera

Issues of humanity
“Fidel was very much involved in every important international issue affecting humanity.

“Environment, international financial order, independence and liberation movements, peace and global disarmament as well as human development as a comprehensive concept are some of the issues.

“He understood you can’t be poor, starving, homeless or lacking the fundamental right of proper access to public health and considered being part of an effective democracy.

“Fidel never took a rest. He was until the end very much involved in food security issues.”

Other speakers included Unite Union director Mike Treen, of the Cuban Friendship Society, organisers of the celebration, who said Castro had played a central role as a leader of the Cuban revolution for more than 50 years.

“In that time Cuba has literally saved the lives of millions of people through their medical aid programme,” he said.

“They have helped liberate southern Africa from apartheid and colonialism. They have ended illiteracy in their own country and repeated the practice across the globe.

“They have helped create the possibility for other countries in Latin America and the world to join them on the march to national independence and social justice.”

Treen also praised Castro’s support for independence movements in the Pacific, such as in Vanuatu and Kanaky/New Caledonia, and health care in Timor-Leste and across the region.

]]>

Carry on Fidel Castro’s global legacy, urges Cuban ambassador

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 4, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Cuban ambassador to New Zealand Mario Alzugaray making an impassioned tribute to Fidel Castro at Auckland Trades Hall tonight. Image: David Robie/PMC

By David Robie

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro’s contribution to global social justice and dignity, and to developing nations worldwide – including the Pacific, was praised in New Zealand tonight.

Alzugaray challenged the audience to continue Castro’s half century of struggle for a better society: “The best way to remember Fidel is to carry on his legacy and keep it alive.”

Fidel Castro … an internationalist since the beginning of the Cuban revolution. Image: David Robie/Al Jazeera

The ambassador said Castro had social justice at the core of his ideals and action.

“He was an internationalist since the very beginning,” Alzugaray said.

“He was involved in every movement connected to the anti-imperialist struggle in Latin America.”

Before and after the Moncada garrison attack in 1953, Castro had recognised the importance of launching an appeal to the Cuban people.

Revolutionary spark
The Moncada garrison in Santiago de Cuba was named after General Guillermón Moncada, a hero during the war of independence against the Spanish.

The attack by a small group led by Castro failed but this is regarded as the spark that fired the Cuban Revolution, which eventually overthrew the brutal dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista six years later.

Castro died, aged 90, on November 25 and his funeral will be in Santiago tomorrow after the four-day cortege around the country.

“Fidel was the first one to effectively and successfully unite Cubans around the revolution,” Ambassador Alzugaray said.

The envoy praised Castro’s social policies in Cuba, such as agrarian reform, education and health.

“Fidel’s determination and involvement in international affairs made him possibly the most important leader to look after and represent the interests of developing nations,” Alzugaray said.

Fidel Castro’s ashes are travelling to Santiago where they will be interred tomorrow. Image: David Robie/ Al Jazeera

Media ‘bias’
Alzugaray was critical of the “bias” of many news media in New Zealand and other Western countries.

“I was asked if Fidel was divisive. We live in a divisive world,” Alzugaray said.

“Greed and personal interest are driving society in many parts of the world.

“It is completely biased to raise this opinion and to be silent about the United States embargo and permanent hostility towards Cuba.”

Alzugaray said people had to decide whether they were on the side of the poor, starving, or the rich and powerful. Fundamental rights needed to come before a narrow Western concept of human rights.

“What Western powers and oligarchs can’t forgive is the huge impact of Fidel’s personality and, more importantly, his ideas, in international politics.

“Most of us will have people supporting or expressing their dissent. You just have to decide which side you’re joining.

Issues of humanity
“Fidel was very much involved in every important international issue affecting humanity.

“Environment, international financial order, independence and liberation movements, peace and global disarmament as well as human development as a comprehensive concept are some of the issues.

“He understood you can’t be poor, starving, homeless or lacking the fundamental right of proper access to public health and considered being part of an effective democracy.”

“Fidel never took a rest. He was until the end very much involved in food security issues.”

“In that time Cuba has literally saved the lives of millions of people through their medical aid programme,” he said.

“They have helped liberate southern Africa from apartheid and colonialism. They have ended illiteracy in their own country and repeated the practice across the globe.

“They have helped create the possibility for other countries in Latin America and the world to join them on the march to national independence and social justice.”

Treen also praised Castro’s support for independence movements in the Pacific, such as in Vanuatu and Kanaky/New Caledonia, and health care in Timor-Leste and across the region.

Fidel Castro’s ashes begin journey across Cuba

Fidel Castro’s anti-colonialist legacy

Video clip of ambassador’s speech

Sope praises Castro over Vanuatu

]]>

‘Rize of Morning Star’ boosts global ‘free Papua’ movement with new video

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 3, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

The new video Sorong Samara. Video: The Rize Of The Morning Star

While Indonesian authorities tried to brutally suppress West papua “independence day” rallies across the republic this week, the creative empowerment group Rize of the Morning Star (ROTMS) has been campaigning with passion, determination and focus.

A new video, Sorong Samarai, from the group is rapidly raising global awareness for the Free West Papua Movement, with self determination through non-violence a core focus.

Filmed on location from the tip of West Papua (Sorong) to the tip of Papua New Guinea (Samarai), producers Airiliki say the programme features from from the highlands to the islands, and the bush to the city streets.

“Sorong Samarai….One People, One Soul, One Destiny. A celebration of Papuan Identity, fighting for a free West Papua.”

Using music as a key unifier and amplifier of energy and action, ROTMS has successfully organised some of the largest scale international Free West Papua solidarity actions so far.

According to the ROTMS website, the group “engages in a broad cross section of activity including mobilising, training and resourcing community, fund raising, concerts, partnerships, publicity, promotion and educating predominantly through the arts and entertainment industry”.

Activating a collective of musicians, filmmakers, journalists, publicists, activists, companies, brands and the wider community, ROTMS inspires and empowers individuals and communities to uphold equal rights for human beings, hold persecutors accountable and to play an integral role in the global momentum for a Free West Papua.

Papua Merdeka!

Let the light shine into the darkness, for the dawning of a new day comes, with the Rize Of The Morning Star!

]]>

Indonesian police seize public buses for 328 arrested at ‘free Papua’ demo

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 3, 2016

West-Papuan-police-fire-water-canon-at-protesters-Dec12016-680wide — ]]>

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Indionesian police fie water cannon on Papuan demonstrators in Jakarta yesterday. Image: SuaraPapua.com

By Yudhistira Amran Saleh in Jakarta

Hundreds of Papuan demonstrators from the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) demanding independence for West Papua have been arrested and taken to the Metro Jaya regional police headquarters in Jakarta.

The transport of the activists had to be done in stages because the Indonesian police did not have enough vehicles to accommodate all of them. Some public buses were seized to take the activists away.

“The number of demonstrators was 328 people. The first load was 127 people, the second 201 people,” said Central Jakarta District police chief Senior Commissioner Hendro Pandowo at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta.

The first load of demonstrators were transported using police cars and trucks. Meanwhile, the rest were taken by Metro Mini public buses.

Police officers escorting the December 1 “independence day” protesters were also transported by Metro Mini buses that had by chance passed by.

“There weren’t enough vehicles. So we used Metro Mini [buses],” said Pandowo.

According to Pandowo, the student protest was illegal because they did not have a permit to demonstrate. They also attempted to break through a police barricade in order to march to the nearby State Palace.

Teargas fired
The police then fired teargas to disperse the demonstrators who ran in the direction of Jl. MH Thamrin in the direction of Sudirman.

The demonstrators managed to cause a traffic jam between Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin. The situation is now calm but the weather cloudy.

Earlier, Arnold Belau reported for Suara Papua from Jayapura that Indonesian colonial police had arrested 221 people in three different cities at December 1 “independence” rallies with 203 people arrested in Jakarta, four in Sentani, West Papua and 14 people in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta.

In Jakarta, a peaceful demonstration commemorating the anniversary of the birth of the Nation of West Papua which was led by the Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-West Papua) and the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) ended with brutal arrests by the Metro Jaya regional police.

Papuan protesters demanding independence. The headbands with the West Papuan flag are banned by the Indonesian authorities. Image: Maubere

Before being arrested, the protesters from the AMP and FRI-West Papua said they were “roughed up” and protest materials seized.

“We hadn’t even reached the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle [in Central Jakarta] when we were blocked by security personnel. They (the security personnel) tore the Morning Star head bands off our heads, our command line was cut.

“Then we were sprayed with water from a water cannon. After this we were taken in four trucks to the Metro Jaya police headquarters,” one of the protesters Roberta Muyapa told Suara Papua.

He said that after being taken to the Metro Jaya police headquarters the protesters were left to “dry out” in an open area for around four hours.

All 203 of them, he said, were arrested by fully equipped Indonesian colonial police along with hundreds of officers from the Metro Jaya regional police and Mobile Brigade paramilitary police.

Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Pendemo Asal Papua Diangkut ke Polda dengan Mobil Polisi dan Metro Mini.

Demos and arrests expose core West Papuan grievances

Participants of West Papua rally arrested

Indonesian police accuse protesters of ‘treason’

West Papua flag-raising at PMC

]]>

West Papua supporters gather at PMC for Morning Star flag event

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 1, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

A West Papua video marking the global Morning Star flag-raising event today.

About 20 academics, librarians, journalists and Pacific issues activists gathered at the Pacific Media Centre at noon today for a Morning Star flag-raising ceremony as part of global actions for West Papuan freedom.

Kevin McBride of Pax Christi and the Asia Pacific Human Rights Coalition (APHRC) spoke of the important human rights concerns for West Papua and how “we’re all part of the oppression” with New Zealand’s complicity with Indonesian policies.

PMC’s Dr David Robie talked of the “vision of hope” with mounting solidarity and support in Pacific Island nations, especially the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

But he criticised the “collaboration” of Fiji and Papua New Guinea governments with Jakarta and highlighted the emerging stand in support of self-determination being taken by an Indonesian human rights group, Front Rakyat Indonesia untuk West Papua.

Del Abcede praised the turnout and spoke of another “creative” flag-raising ceremony being planned by Māori and Pacific women from the Oceania Interrupted collective at Mangere Bridge later today.

Oceania Interrupted was formed on 1 December 2013 in response to the need to raise awareness about Indonesian colonisation and human rights abuses being committed against the indigenous people of West Papua.

Kevin McBride of Pax Christi and Luqman Hayes of AUT Library’s digital journal Tuwhera project at the West Papua flag-raising today. West Papuans risk a 15-year jail sentence for raising this outlawed national flag. Image: Del Abcede/PMC Supporters of West Papuan self-determination at the Morning Star flag-raising at the Pacific Media Centre today. Image: Del Abcede/PMC Supporters of West Papuan self-determination at the flag-raising ceremony today. Image: Del Abcede/PMC “Free West Papua” message at the Pacific Media Centre today. Image: Del Abcede/PMC Supporters of a “Free West Papua” at the flag-raising ceremony today. Image: Luqman Hayes/AUT

]]>

The $100bn gold mine and the West Papuans who say they are counting the cost

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 1, 2016

grasberg-mine-pollution-susan-schulman-apr-680wide — ]]>

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Grasberg mine in the Indonesian region has been a source of untold wealth for its owners, but, writes Susan Schulman, local communities say it has brought poverty and oppression

In 1936, Dutch geologist Jean Jacques Dozy climbed the world’s highest island peak: the forbidding Mount Carstensz, a snow-covered silver crag on what was then known as Dutch New Guinea. During the 4800m ascent, Dozy noticed an unusual rock outcrop veined with green streaks. Samples he brought back confirmed exceptionally rich gold and copper deposits.

Today, these remote, sharp-edged mountains are part of West Papua, Indonesia, and home to the Grasberg mine, one of the biggest gold mines – and third largest copper mine – in the world.

Majority-owned by the American mining firm Freeport McMoRan, Grasberg is now Indonesia’s biggest taxpayer, with reserves worth an estimated $100bn (£80bn).

But a recent fact-finding mission (by the Brisbane Archdiocese’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission) described a “slow-motion genocide” (pdf) taking place in West Papua, warning that its indigenous population is at risk of becoming “an anthropological museum exhibit of a bygone culture”.

Since the Suharto dictatorship annexed the region in a 1969 UN referendum largely seen as a fixed land grab, an estimated 500,000 West Papuans have been killed in their fight for self-rule.

Decades of military and police oppression, kidnapping and torture have created a long-standing culture of fear.

Local and foreign journalists are routinely banned, detained, beaten and forced to face trial on trumped-up charges. Undercover police regularly trail indigenous religious, social and political leaders.

And children still in primary school have been jailed for taking part in demonstrations calling for independence from Indonesia.

“There is no justice in this country,” whispered one indigenous villager on condition of anonymity, looking over his shoulder fearfully. “It is an island without law.”

****

Dozy had not set out to find gold in 1936; his goal was to scale the region’s highest glacial peak. But his discovery sparked the interest of Freeport Sulphur – later to become Freeport Minerals Company and then, through a 1981 merger with the McMoRan Oil and Gas Company, Freeport McMoRan – whose board of directors included the well-connected Godfrey Rockefeller (serving from 1931 until the early 1980s) and Henry Kissinger (1988-1995).

Today, indigenous tribes such as the Kamoro and the Amungme claim their communities have been racked with poverty, disease, oppression and environmental degradation since the mine began operations in 1973.

Chief of the Kamoro people, Hironimus Urmani, in Tipuka, close to the Grasberg mine. Image: Susan Schulman/The Guardian

“We are a coastal people, and we depend on the environment,” says the Kamoro’s chief, Hironimus Urmani, in Tipuka, a lowland village down-river from the Grasberg mine.

“Nature is a blessing from God, and we are known by the three Ss: sago [trees], sampan [canoes] and sungai [rivers]. But life is very difficult now.”

Urmani motions to the river opposite, languishing green and motionless. He claims that tailing sediment from the mine has raised the riverbed, suffocating the fish, oysters and shrimp on which the Kamoro diet and economy are traditionally based. A 2012 report from Earthworks and MiningWatch Canada (pdf) asserts that mine waste from Grasberg has “buried over 166 sq km of formerly productive forest and wetlands, and fish have largely disappeared”.

‘We need to earn money’
Although most Kamoro still try to eke out a living fishing and foraging for food, they struggle to find paid work, says Urmani. “We need to earn money. But now we face major competition from non-Papuan migrants.”

Locals fear that the government’s controversial transmigration programme, which resettles Indonesians from high-density islands such as Java to low-population areas, is wiping out their population completely. Indigenous Melanesian Christians – they comprised 96 percent of the population in 1971 (pdf) – now make up a 48 percent minority, with numbers expected to fall to 29 percent by 2020 if migration rates continue.

Clashes between the indigenous Christians – and migrant Indonesian Muslims – have also resulted in riots, fires and injuries.

“Land has been taken away, directly by Freeport … and indirectly, as the Indonesian settlers have appropriated it,” says Dr Agus Sumule, professor of agricultural socio-economics at the University of Papua.

“The stresses [on indigenous people] are intense,” says Sumule. “They have been very negatively impacted.”

The Indonesian government signed over to Freeport the right to extract mineral wealth from the Grasberg site in West Papua in 1967. A 2002 report (pdf) from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) details that land agreements were not negotiated with the Amungme until 1974, a year after the mine opened, and with the Kamoro in 1997.

The compensation paid for Kamoro and Amungme land has been mainly in the form of communal benefits, such as the building of homes, schools and places of worship. The IIED report notes, “Perceptions of land rights and historic compensation claims are a continuing source of dissatisfaction and conflict in the mining area.”

Recent census data shows Papua’s GDP per capita at $3510, compared to the Indonesian average of $2452. Yet Papua has the highest poverty rate in the country, nearly three times the national average. It also has the highest infant, child and maternal mortality rates in Indonesia, as well as the worst health indicators, and the poorest literacy rates.

Scale of destitution
The scale of destitution is best observed from the highland Amungme village of Banti, just 20 miles down from the Grasberg mine.

The river Aikwa, near Banti, is turned thick and silver with the tailings from the mine. Here, artisanal miners pan the tailings for gold. Image: Susan Schulman/The Guardian

Estimates from Earthworks suggest that Freeport dumps as much as 200,000 tonnes of mine waste, known as tailings, directly into the Aikwa delta system every day. The practice has devastated the environment, according to Earthworks and locals, turning thousands of hectares of verdant forest and mangroves into wasteland and rendering turgid the once-crystal waters of the highlands.

The tailings from the Grasberg mine are so rich with ore that Papuans walk for as long as a week to get here. Crowding the length of the river and the delta wasteland, thousands of unlicensed panners shore up small sections to slow the river’s flow and dig into the thick sediment on the side.

Although some of these panners are located within Freeport’s official mining operations, they are not evicted or controlled in any way, they said. Instead, they claim they sell their findings to the police and military who work as security on the mine. (An anonymous Freeport source also confirmed this).

One of the panners, Martine Wandango, 25, bends over her pail of water as she filters out rocks and searches for ore. “You can only survive with money, and you can only find money from gold,” says Martine, who followed her husband to the delta 15 years ago by walking 60 miles over the mountains from their remote highland village.

The Aikwa river, which used to provide the Kamoro people with the staples of their existence. Image: Susan Schulman/The Guardian

“I work really hard as I want to give my children better lives, so they can go to school. But it isn’t enough, so she helps me here mining,” says Martine of her daughter, nine, who swings a gold pan in her hands. “On a good day, I can get three grammes, which I sell either to the police or [to buyers] in Timika.”

A tiny village when Freeport arrived here 40 years ago, Timika is now a boom town dotted with bars, brothels, gold-processing shops and various military personnel. Under Indonesian law, Freeport is a designated “strategic industry”, which mandates that external security for the mine, its access roads and its pipelines all be provided exclusively by Indonesia’s security forces.

Freeport never implicated
Freeport has never been implicated in any human rights abuses allegedly committed by the Indonesian military in Papua.

Freeport McMoRan, based in Phoenix, Arizona, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The company’s website defends its method of disposal of tailings at Grasberg, managed by PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), an affiliate company: “PTFI’s controlled riverine tailings management system, which has been approved by the Indonesian government, uses the unnavigable river system in the mountainous highlands near our mine to transport tailings to an engineered area in the lowlands where the tailings and other sediments are managed in a deposition area.”

A 2009 report by the company says it utilises levees to contain tailings in the deposition area, and that the tailings management programme costs Freeport McMoRan $15.5m (£12.7m) each year. According to the report, company monitoring of aquatic life in the rivers found that fish and shrimp were suitable for consumption, as regulated by Indonesian food standards, while water quality samples met Indonesian and US Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards for dissolved metals. In a 2011 BBC report (pdf) on alleged pollution in the area surrounding Grasberg, the company says that the tailings management method was chosen because studies showed the environmental impact caused by its waste material was reversible.

Elsewhere on its website, the company says: “We are committed to respecting human rights. Our human rights policy requires us (and our contractors) to conduct business in a manner consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to align our human rights due diligence practices with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UN Guiding Principles).”

The company also emphasises its work with indigenous people in West Papua. A 2015 Freeport McRoRan report on working towards sustainable development said: “PTFI has engaged with indigenous Papuan tribes for decades, including through numerous formal agreements to promote workforce skills training, health, education and basic infrastructure development … In 2015, PTFI continued to evaluate the effectiveness of alternate options for Kamoro community members whose estuary transport routes are impacted by sedimentation associated with the controlled riverine tailings management system. Provision of smaller sized boats, in addition to 50 passenger vessels, for route flexibility as well as additional local economic development programmes were identified as additional mitigation measures during the year.”

Back in the area surrounding the Grasberg mine, many Papuans, struggling for work, find themselves pulled into the bar and sex industries that cater to the miners, particularly around the highland village of Banti. Here brothels and bars line up side by side, allegedly with help from the Indonesian military, who are said to supply sex workers and alcohol, according to a Freeport source who wished to remain anonymous.

Inside a brothel complex in Timika, West Papua. HIV rates in the region are of ‘epidemic’ proportions, according to the UN, 15 times higher than anywhere else in Indonesia. Image: Susan Schulman/The Guardian

Newfound promiscuity
Indigenous chiefs have watched as a newfound promiscuity has brought sexually transmitted infections that have ravaged their communities. “Traditional Papuan culture forbids free sex, but alcohol makes our communities vulnerable,” says the Amungme chief, Martin Mangal. “And brothels make it easy to contract HIV.”

HIV rates in West Papua are of “epidemic” proportions, according to the UN, 15 times higher than anywhere else in Indonesia. Driven almost entirely by unsafe sex, HIV is also far more prevalent among indigenous Papuans. Yet the existence of only one hospital – built by Freeport – means that most people, particularly those in remote highland villages, don’t get the help they need.

Late last year, the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, claimed he was willing to work towards a “better Papua”: “I want to listen to the people’s voices.”

However, human rights violations have actually increased since Widodo took power, according to Indonesia’s Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras), which has logged 1,200 incidents of harassment, beatings, torture and killings of Papuans by Indonesian security forces since his election in 2014.

The Indonesian government did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The country’s military has consistently denied any wrongdoing in Papua.

Despite everything, there have been small glimmers of hope. This summer, Dutch human rights law firm Prakken D’Oliveira submitted a formal legal complaint against Indonesia to the UN Human Rights Council, accusing the government of “long-term, widespread and systematic human rights violations” and the “complete denial of the right to self-determination of the people of West-Papua”.

Later this year, West Papua is expected to be granted full membership of the Melanesian Spearhood Group, an important sub-regional coalition of countries including Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

The Brisbane commission, which warned of the risk of genocide, is calling on Indonesia to allow Papua, once and for all, the right to self-determination.

Yet some fear the opportunity for change in Papua is long gone.

“Is healing even possible?” asked Professor Agus Sumule, shaking his head. “It could be too late.”

Susan Schulman is an award-winning video/photojournalist. She moved from her native New York to London in 1990. During the past 10 years she has chronicled many of the world’s forgotten tragedies, from the horrors of childbirth in Sierra Leone and child soldiers in Sudan to the wretched plight of gold miners in the Amazon basin. This article was first published in The Guardian and has been republished here with the permission of both the author and The Guardian. Go to The Guardian for full images and resource links.

How mining and militarisation led to an HIV epidemic in Papua

]]>

Across the Ditch: NZ In the Grip of a New Seismic Phase + Blackcaps in Australia

By Selwyn Manning -

December 1, 2016

Across the Ditch: Australian radio FiveAA.com.au’s Peter Godfrey and EveningReport.nz’s Selwyn Manning deliver their weekly bulletin Across the Ditch – This week, some geologists suggest New Zealand has entered into a new and very active seismic phase not experienced in over two generations. Also: New Zealand Cricket’s Blackcaps are in Australia preparing for the Chappell-Hadleigh ODI series against Australia. The fist test kicks off on December 4, December 6, and December 9.

First up: Weather, currency, headlines roundup.

ITEM ONE – A New Seismic Phase

New Zealand is in the grip of a significant seismic phase – this week thermal activity in Lake Rotorua (in the central North Island) caused a geyser to appear in the lake shooting boiling water, steam, and mud 30 metres into the air. The newly formed geyser has continued to be active through this week.

Meanwhile, people isolated in Kaikoura have been able to reunite with their children this week. The children were mostly evacuated in the day after the 7.8 M quake two weeks ago.

And on Wednesday, drone footage revealed how the quake has caused a huge new canyon inland of Kaikoura.

ITEM TWO – Sport

New Zealand beat Pakistan winning both tests in a two test series. And the Black Caps are now in Australia preparing for the Chappell-Hadleigh One Day Series. They are in test form, but we shall see whether they can pull off a One Dayer win or two against you guys on your own turf.

Across the Ditch broadcasts live weekly on Australia’s FiveAA.com.au and webcasts on EveningReport.nz, LiveNews.co.nz, and ForeignAffairs.co.nz.

]]>

Duterte threatens to kill rights activists if drug problem worsens

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 1, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

President Duterte says his accusers should be blamed if “war on drugs” fails. Image: Philippine Daily Inquirer

By Marlon Ramos in Manila

Human rights advocates, beware. You might just be next in “The Punisher’s” crosshairs.

President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to kill human rights activists critical of his take-no-prisoner tactic against illegal drugs, which has claimed the lives of some 5000 people allegedly involved in the narcotics trade.

In a speech in Malacañang on Monday night, Duterte said those accusing him of ordering the summary executions of drug personalities should be blamed if the country’s drug problem worsened.

“The human rights (defenders) said I ordered the killings. I told them, ‘OK. Let’s stop. We’ll let them (drug users) multiply so that when it’s harvest time, more people will die,” the President said at the inaugural switch-on of a coal-fired power plant.

“I will include you because you are the reason why their numbers swell,” he said in Filipino.

Duterte had been openly giving out grim warnings to drug users and pushers, but had also been consistent in denying insinuations that his words were veiled sanctions for extrajudicial killings.

He infamously earned the moniker “The Punisher” for advocating the vigilante murders of petty criminals when he was still the mayor of Davao City for 23 years.

‘Stage 2 cancer’
As in all his previous speaking engagements, the President reiterated the magnitude of the country’s drug problem, likening it to a “stage 2 cancer”.

“If the human rights (community) could not understand what I’m saying, if you’re that stupid, then I cannot do anything for you,” he said.

He lambasted the United States and the European Union yet again for raising their concern over his threats to kill suspected drug personalities.

“When was it a crime to say, ‘I will kill you’ in protecting my country? When did saying, ‘if you harm my country and my children, I will kill you’ become a crime?’ My God!” he said.

Duterte also mocked the European lawyers, saying “their brain is just like a pea.”

“Don’t believe in European lawyers. They are stupid, believe me. Listen to Filipino (lawyers),” he said.

‘Validated list’
Duterte then showed his audience a 25cm thick pile of documents, which contained the “validated list” of about 5000 public officials allegedly behind the illegal drug trade.

The Chief Executive said most of those benefitting from the illicit business were village officials who were earning “easy money”.

“(That’s why) I acceded to an election this year for the barangay captains. We would have lost to the money of the drug industry,” he said.

Duterte said he also showed the documents to former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during their one-on-one meeting.

The President has blamed Arroyo and his predecessor, former President Benigno Aquino III, for allowing the drug trade to proliferate during their incumbency.

“I am not trying to scare you,” he said as he presented the so-called “narco-list.”

“This is the drug industry of the Philippines. These are all the names,” he continued. “I showed this to (former) President Arroyo. I said, ‘Ma’am, we are in a bind. I really do not know how to (handle this). I surrender. I cannot do this.’”

Even if he wanted to kill all those on the list, Duterte said he “would not have the time and resources to do it.”

He said “narco-politics” was already existing in the Philippines “given the so many thousands of policemen and mayors involved” in the sale and distribution of illicit substances.

Marlon Ramos is a reporter on the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

]]>

West Papua human rights violations ‘worse’ says new civil group

By Pacific Media Centre -

December 1, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

West Papuans have been standing alone in their struggle for independence since Indonesia started colonisation in 1963, says a statement by a new civil society group supporting West Papuan self-determination on the eve of Morning Star flag-raising day.

“The human rights condition is getting worse, land grabbing is rampant, and there have been more than 4700 unlawful arrests of West Papuans in 2016 alone,” the statement said.

“We, Indonesian people united under ‘Front Rakyat Indonesia untuk West Papua‘ (Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua), will declare our support for West Papuans seeking their right to self-determination.”

The Fri West Papua logo.

Australian author Jason MacLeod, who wrote the recent book Merdeka and the Morning Star about civil resistance, describes this new development as the “most remarkable press release” he has seen emerging from the Indonesian solidarity movement for some years.

“This new grouping has been slowly building for some time. Now they express their unqualified support for West Papuans to determine their own future, even if that means separating from Indonesia,” MacLeod says.

“So clear. So brave. There is every chance the state will come down hard on these folks. And still they are prepared for that.

“They demonstrate some of the best of Indonesia.”

On the front’s website, the following statement has been published in Bahasa.

Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua Declaration – November 29, 2016

Greetings of National Liberation of West Papua!

Amolongo, Nimo, Koyao, Koha, Kinaonak, Nare, Yepmum, Dormum, Tabea Mufa, Walak, Foi Moi, Wainambe, Nayaklak

Wa…wa…wa…wa…wa…wa..wa..wa..wa..wa!

“Independence is truly the right of all nations and thus colonialism in the world must be abolished since it contravenes the sense of humanity and justice.”

Thus says the Preamble of the Indonesian Constitution of 1945. In reality, however, West Papua shows the opposite. The West Papuan people have experienced colonialisation of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

Although the Indonesian people were subjects to the Dutch colonialisation, the Japanese fascism and the white supremacy, the memory of the past oppression is not able to turn the government of Indonesia to be more humane. Manipulation of history, discrimination, torture, imprisonment, and extermination — all have been done systematically for more than 50 years.

What is happening in Papua?
The majority of Indonesians believe that West Papua is Indonesia. It is not true! West Papua is not Indonesia. There is no happiness for the West Papuans as long as they become part of Indonesia. It is not possible for the West Papuans to live normally if manipulation and deceit of history persist, racial discrimination has been entrenched in every aspect of lives, genocide continues in a systematic way, and extortion of natural wealth destroys the livelihood and the culture of West Papuans.

1. Manipulation and deceit of history
On 27 December 1949 when the Netherlands transferred the sovereignty to Indonesia, West Papua was a non-governing territory as the United Nations and the Netherlands, which was then the colonial administrator, recognised.

The West Papuans declared its independence on 1 December 1961. It was then the West Papuans established its national parliament of New Guinea. The Government of Soekarno, however, did not recognise the declaration and claimed it as a puppet nation by the Dutch hands. Therefore, Soekarno launched its annexation over West Papua through Trikora (three peoples’ commands) program.

In 1963, when Indonesia took over the administration of West Papua, the territory remained under the status of a non-self-governing colony, which was entitled to exercise their right to self-determination under international law. Under the 1962 New York Agreement, Indonesia recognised this situation and thus confirmed the fact that Indonesia had no legal right over Papua. Indonesia’s presence in West Papua was a colonial administration that could continue only if the West Papuans had opted for integration in accordance with international standards.

The only exercise of the right to self-determination for West Papuans through PEPERA in 1969 was invalid. It was invalid because only 1022 individuals (4 individuals did not take part) were involved in the plebiscite, which was less than 0.2 percent of the Papuan population. Moreover, they had been put under pressure in order to express their consent to integrate with Indonesia.

Since the annexation was invalid, West Papua never became legitimate part of Indonesia. It remains a non-self-governing territory under a colonial administration of Indonesia.

2. Racial discrimination
The West Papuan people have experienced racial discrimination inside and outside Papua such as the Papuan students in Manado and recently in the Papuan students’ dormitory in Kamasan, Yogyakarta. They also experience racial discrimination in workplace, government and business sectors.

The racist attitude towards the West Papuans was already expressed by Ali Moertopo in 1966 long before the PEPERA. “Indonesia doesn’t need Papuans. Indonesia only needs the land and natural resources of Papua. If Papuans want to be independent, go ahead to find a new island somewhere in the Pacific or ask the Americans to give them a space in the moon for them to live.”

When a senior Indonesian official makes a racist statement, such a statement will be implemented by its lower level officials. This is what happened to Obby Kogoya, a Papuan student who was studying in Yogyakarta, when the Indonesian police stomped him on his head while calling him ‘ape’.

3. Slow motion genocide
For more than 53 years, more than 500,000 Papuans have been executed. It started during the Trikora and continues with eradication of the Fery Awom’s movement in 1967.
In the highlands of Agimuga, the Indonesian army shot at the Papuans randomly and dropped bombs in 1977 since the people raised the Morning Star flag. The location was then blocked and isolated from any contacts with outsider that caused starvation to the people. Thousands of people died of starvation.

Similarly, extrajudicial killings continued in Enarotali, Obano, Moanemani, Wamena, Waropko and Mindiptana that caused some 10,000 refugees crossed the border to Papua New Guinea between 1977-1978 until early the 1980s.

Artist and activist Arnold C. Ap who promoted the Papuan culture was arrested in 1984 by Kopasandha. His body was found in the bush nearby Jayapura.

Papua was declared under martial law in 1978 that lasted until 5 October 1998. The status caused systematic killings and forced migration of West Papuans to Papua New Guinea.

Following the 2nd Papua Congress in 2000, the killing of Papuan leaders by the Indonesian state apparatus continued. Theys Eluay, for instance, was kidnapped and his body was thrown in the bush nearby Jayapura. Kelly Kwalik was assassinated in Timika even though he was unarmed. Petrus Ayamiseba was killed in Timika during the strike of Freeport workers in 2011. Mako Tabuni, the leader of KNPB, was shot dead by the Indonesian police after being framed to leave the KNPB secretariat. Robert Jitmau who criticised Jokowi for not meeting his promise in building a market for the Papuan women in Jayapura was run over by car until he died. The killing is being disguised in hit and run accidents and suicides.

The result of slow-motion genocide is reduction of the population of the indigenous Papuans to 48.7 percent of the total West Papuan population.

4. Arbitrary arrests, torture and imprisonment
During the period of 2016, more than 4000 Papuans were arbitrarily arrested. In 1998, Dr Thomas Wanggai, the founder of the Papua Independence of the 14 Stars died in the Cipinang prison. Dozens of Papuan political prisoners were jailed in dire conditions. Filep Karma, who was jailed for more than a dozen years, testified, “I was hit, tortured and stripped naked”.

The Indonesian state authorities also commit torture and rape against the Papuans. Before a victim was killed, like Yawan Wayeni, his stomach was slit so that intestines were burst out. The leader of KNPB Sorong was killed and his body was wrapped into a gunny sack and thrown to the sea. A number of academic research have revealed that more than 431 cases of torture were committed by members of the Indonesian military and police.

5. Extortion of natural wealth
From the economy point of view, the extortion of natural wealth of Papua is enormous. For instance the forest of Wasior has been exploited illegally by the military and a number of logging companies so that the customary land of the locals has been confiscated. The complaint of the locals were met with shootings by the police that killed six people. The Wasior tragedy occurred during April-October 2001.

It also covers Freeport Indonesia whose the largest shares are under the possession of the US based Freeport McMoran since the 1960s. The gold and copper mine has contributed through their tax payment between USD 700-800 millions per year and even USD 1 billion. Let alone various ethnic groups of Papua who lost their land due to the MIFEE projects, such as Mahuze clan in Merauke.

West Papua is a nation
In the course of history of 1961, 1963, 1969 and post PEPERA’s oppression, we have to acknowledge: first, the presence of Indonesia in Papua is illegal; second, colonisation has been going in the last 50 years; third, West Papua is a nation.

A nation is constituted by a stable community which shares common languages, territory, livelihood, psychological change and is manifested in a common culture.

Deceit and manipulation of history, discrimination, imprisonment, extermination and genocide as well as lip service of the Special Autonomy will not deter the struggle and commitment to independence of the West Papuans. On the contrary, the West Papuans are united and their political strength are represented in the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).

The experience of oppression and struggle that has been manifested in the form of ULMWP demonstrate that West Papua is a nation.

It is hypocrisy if we or the Government of Indonesia are committed to support the liberation of Palestine but remain silent to the ongoing colonisation inside the territory of Indonesia. Therefore, there is no other reason to argue that West Papua is part of Indonesia both international law and political argument.

Why it is important to be in solidarity with West Papua?
First, the world will become a better and more beautiful place if every nation does not live under colonisation and could cooperate in democratic, fair and equal ways.

Second, what we see in West Papua is a systematic and inhumane oppression. When we talk about humanity but let colonisation continue in Papua, we are actually promoting inhumanity.

Third, our solidarity with the West Papuans to determine their own fate is part of democratisation of the Indonesian people who struggle for the consciousness of civilised humanity of the people and nation of Indonesia.

Fourth, our solidarity with the West Papuans to determine their own fate is part of the fight against imperialism and international corporations that support colonisation of Indonesia over West Papua.

Fifth, our solidarity is part of the fight against racism towards anyone, including the West Papua nation.

Sixth, there is no other way to end the practise of colonisation and militarism in West Papua than supporting the right to self-determination.

Seventh, there is no other way to end slow motion genocide in West Papua than supporting the right to self-determination.

What should be promoted?
Taking into account of the reality of West Papua, we believe that the ways to liberate West Papua are as follows:

1. To support the West Papua nation to exercise their right to self-determination through a referendum. The participation to referendum will be decided by the West Papuans through their political representatives, United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP).

2. To support the membership of ULMWP in the Melanesian Spearhead Group, Pacific Island Forum and struggle for a membership status to the United Nations.

3. As an inseparable condition, to withdraw organic and non-organic military from West Papua so that referendum can be held in a peaceful, fair and free from repression.

4. Freedom of information, expression, association and opinions of the West Papuans have to be guaranteed.

5. We oppose any imperialist intervention during the democratic struggle of West Papua.

6. We call on the international community to build solidarity with the struggle for the right to self-determination of West Papua.

7. We encourage the Indonesian people who live in West Papua to support the struggle of West Papuans in exercising their right to self-determination.

8. We oppose the racial politics endorsed by the Indonesian state and the Indonesian military and police in a systematic way against the West Papuans.

9. Free education, expansion of schools and universities, free health services, and cheap and mass transportation have to be provided for the West Papuans.

Finally, let us, the people of Indonesia, West Papua and the world, unite to end the manipulation of history and suffering in West Papua.

Long live West Papua nations!

Long live West Papuan people!

Jakarta, 29 November 2016

Surya Anta
Spokesperson of FRI-West Papua

The Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (Front Rakyat Indonesia for West Papua – FRI-West Papua) is made up of the People’s Liberation Party (PPR), the Indonesian People’s Center of Struggle (PPRI), the Student Struggle Center for National Liberation (Pembebasan), the Indonesian Cultural Society Union (SeBUMI), the Socialist Study Circle (LSS) and the Solidarity Net Association. Their website.

]]>

Vanuatu motion of no confidence fails to make full hearing

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 30, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Prime Minister Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas … no confidence vote founders. Image: Loop Vanuatu

OPINION: By Bob Makin in Port Vila

The agenda item concerning the motion of no confidence in Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas failed to obtain a full hearing this afternoon in Parliament.

Everyone was there, a further 8 withdrew their signatures, but the Speaker ruled the matter could be taken no further when all there seemed to be was bickering from the supporters of the motion.

We the public were not given a single reason to reduce our confidence in the leader of the government, nor was our trust in him diminished. But the Opposition wasted an hour of everyone’s time trying to get a chance to bring him down.

The motion was trashed. The second extraordinary sitting was closed.

Jane Joshua commented earlier today in the Vanuatu Daily Post:

It is ironic that the PM Salwai is facing the first motion of no trust in his leadership in Parliament today, 24 hours after Vanuatu celebrated Unity Day.

The nation pays a high price each time the government changes.

In 2015, reliable sources told the Daily Post that government changes always resulted in over Vt9 million payout for the former ministers, first, second and third political advisers, supervisors, drivers, cleaners and other political appointees.

Nine months ago, 46 of the 52 MPs elected PM Salwai unopposed.

The first cracks in the Unity for Change coalition became obvious last month when now ousted Leader of Government Business and Graon mo Jastis Pati (GJP), MP William Tasso told the Daily Post that all government backbenchers will not vote for any government bill, unless the Ministerial Budget Committee (MBC) reconsidered the Vt10 million rejected budget for each area council.

Among other issues, including allegations of different party stances on income tax, purported intentions to reshuffle certain political parties and a probe to locate certain missing funds the extent of the discontent was revealed when the Opposition Bloc, which usually commands 14 MPs surprisingly, deposited a motion.

This report is compiled from files by the Vanuatu Daily Digest and Vanuatu Daily Post.

]]>

Keith Rankin’s Chart for this Month: Immigration by Gender from 1979 to 2016

By Keith Rankin -

November 30, 2016

Economic analysis by Keith Rankin.

From 1979 to 1999, male and female net immigration were roughly on par; 11,000 males and 21,000 females over those 21 years. (Gross immigration was of course much more; these low net figures reflect high levels of emigration from New Zealand.)

[caption id="attachment_13652" align="aligncenter" width="957"]

Feminisation of New Zealand?[/caption]

From 2000 to 2016 – 17 years inclusive – there was a net inflow of 34,000 males and 157,000 females. Females prevailed every year except 2001, 2004, 2008, and 2015. While an important driving factor for the net data this century is less male emigration, other figures show that gross passenger movements of females exceeded males by 13,000 in 2016. In all other years from 1979, gross passenger movements favoured males by at least 86,000. In 2011, male passenger movements exceeded female passenger movements by 316,000.

I am surmising that large numbers of returning male New Zealand citizens are bringing foreign-born partners with them. And I suspect that many more females than males who initially came as students are gaining New Zealand residency, and staying on in New Zealand. This probably reflects the high success rates in education in New Zealand of female international students. (We might note here that recent net passenger movements of Chinese residents show a substantial excess of females – both arriving and departing – reflecting patterns that were established for Japanese and Korean residents from the mid‑1990s.)

It’s also interesting to note the high birth rate in New Zealand compared to many other countries. One of the most important contributions to new New Zealand demography is the numbers of children born in New Zealand to foreign‑born mothers. These children – authentic Kiwis – are certainly changing the face of non‑indigenous New Zealand.

]]>

Corazon Miller: How my well-chosen ‘magic’ words in Filipino won over Duterte

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 30, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

OPINION: By Corazon Miller of The New Zealand Herald

Today I’ve decided to out myself – as the journalist whose marital status was questioned by the President of the Philippines.

Initially I was reluctant to be identified as the “female reporter” in the story, who asked Rodrigo Duterte if he’d like to return to New Zealand, only to receive a question in return; “pag niyaya mo ako (if you invite me)… are you married?”

New Zealand Herald reporter Corazon Miller … exclusive interview with Philippines president. Image: NZH

I was even more reluctant to put my byline to the piece, fearful of the inevitable backlash from members of the Filipino community who are firmly in the Duterte camp, accusing the Herald of using the “father” of their nation as a piece of “click-bait”.

But given the, as far as I know, non-existent pool of Filipino reporters in the mainstream media, and the fact that all who know me knew it was me, I figured it was time to stop hiding and just front up.

Cue in the token half-Filipino reporter, yet to divulge her real thoughts on his presidency, to try to sway him into a one-on-one interview.

After a six-hour stand-off, where I tried to sweet-talk staffers into convincing him to speak to me largely on the basis of my race and Filipino-speaking abilities, the photographer and I were pretty close to throwing in the towel and calling it a day – especially given there were no other reporters in sight.

Stuck it out
Fortunately I stuck it out.

Not, as has been touted, to “ambush” him with ruthless journalistic intent in grabbing my “scoop”.

I was simply intrigued to meet the man whose crude banter and hardline stance on crime has managed to win over more than 16.5 million Filipinos – while much of the Western world decries his alleged lengthy record of human rights abuses.

Was he the villain I imagined him to be? Or was he truly the “father” of my mother’s homeland.

My preference would have been a proper sit-down to give him the chance to win me over, but alas getting in among the fans proved to be my only chance.

Initially his protective staffers foiled my attempts, getting security to gently brush my large microphone away.

But, just when I thought it was all over – I momentarily put my recording gear to the side and instead extended a polite hand out as I said the magic words: “Excuse me, po, Filipino ako, pwede mo ba ako kausapin? Journalist po ako sa New Zealand Herald, mayroon lang kami gusto itanong. [Excuse me, sir, I’m Filipino. I am a journalist with the New Zealand Herald, there are a few things we’d like to ask.”]

Shock factor?
I don’t know if it was the shock factor of seeing a tall, seemingly “white” girl speak fluent Filipino that stopped him in his tracks; if it was the Filipino fans, I’d been chatting to during the hours of waiting telling the guards I was one of “them”; or something else entirely.

Whatever it was, Duterte graciously stopped, shook my hand and allowed me to do my job.

My brain, still not quite believing he’d actually paused to answer my questions, also failed to switch back into English – I continued to fire questions at him in Tagalog, as he responded in English.

Perhaps it was the nerves, or Duterte’s accent, but I didn’t actually hear the question about my marital status at first – though I did nervously note at one point that everyone seemed to be laughing.

In fact it wasn’t till I got back to the office and replayed the interview that I realised what had unfolded – laughter among colleagues ensued and the quip became a talking point that was central to the final piece.

And while I understand the outrage in certain camps, personally I find it sits rather low on the list of Duterte’s alleged offences; his pledge to fill Manila Bay with 100,000 dead drug dealers, telling Obama to go to hell and burying former dictator Ferdinand Marcos in Manila’s Heroes Cemetery.

Beyond this, such quips are almost normative in the Filipino culture. My mother’s friends, my family and even complete strangers, men and women, will frequently comment on my height, my weight, my hair and yes – even my marital status (or lack-thereof).

However, I’ve learnt to have a tough skin and can take the jokes for what they are.
What concerns me more about Duterte, no matter his “good intentions”, is his cleaning methods.

The Kiwi in me, who was born and raised in this country, cannot conceive that allowing police, security forces and civilians to take the law into their own hands and kill alleged drug pushers is the right way to fix the country.

Yet, the other part of me, who has seen the weight of the problem that the nation and its people faces, understands the Filipinos’ desperation – for something that can bring about change and put an end to the decades of corruption that has plagued the country and created an increasingly large divide between the rich and the poor.

As jovial and as likeable he seems in person, in particular to his numerous fans keen to grab a selfie with him (or grab a kiss), Duterte represents the man not afraid to take the bull by the horns and crush it.

But only time will tell if the iron fist is truly the way to rule – I can only hope that beneath that tough exterior there is a man who actually has his country and his people’s best interests at heart – I’m not yet convinced.

New Zealand Herald reporter Corazon Miller is a journalist graduate of Auckland University of Technology and a fluent speaker of Tagalog. This article was originally published by The New Zealand Herald and is republished on Asia Pacific Report with permission. It follows Miller’s earlier interview with President Duterte.

Reporter wins over Duterte with some well-chosen words in Filipino + video

Duterte’s message to NZ: ‘How I wish I could have settled here’

New Zealand Herald editorial: Memo Minister – Duterte doesn’t quite cut it

]]>

Sope praises Fidel Castro over Cuban backing for Vanuatu independence

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 30, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Former Vanuatu Prime Minister and the country’s first Roving Ambassador, Barak Sope, has expressed his personal tribute to the late Fidel Castro of Cuba who died late last week.

Speaking from his home on Ifira in a telephone interview with the Daily Post, Barak Sope, who was one of the young political activists for Vanuatu independence during the New Hebrides colonial era, related how Cuba was the first country in the world to support political freedom from the two colonial powers, Britain and France.

“In 1977, [founding prime minister] Father Walter Lini and I were present during a UN Committee of 24 on Decolonisation in New York.

“This was the first time that the Vanuatu cry for political independence was heard by the UN Committee.

“It was through the Cuban President Fidel Castro at the time that Cuba became the first country in the world to sponsor the then New Hebrides application to the UN 24 Committee in 1977.

“So, Father Walter Lini, who was the president of the Vanua’aku Party, and I made a trip to New York to be present during the UN Committee of 24 on Decolonization to listen to the debate for our freedom,” Sope recalled.

“It was timely too, because Cuba did not only sponsor Vanuatu’s application to the UN Committee, but it so happened that at the time Cuba chaired the committee, and so we knew with hope that our political freedom was eminent, with the Cuban Ambassador appointed by President Fidel Castro to chair the UN Committee,” he said.

Two roles
Sope said it was through the two roles that Cuba played at the time that the UN Committee of 24 on Decolonisation shepherded Vanuatu’s application through.

Sope said other countries that supported the then New Hebrides in its initial stages for political freedom through the UN were Algeria and Tanzania.

“After Independence in 1980, I was appointed by Vanuatu’s first Prime Minister, Father Walter Lini, as Vanuatu’s first Roving Ambassador and Secretary for Foreign Affairs, because Foreign Affairs at the time was under the Prime Minister’s portfolio.

“In August 1981, Prime Minister Father Walter Lini appointed me as a Special Envoy to travel to Havana, Cuba, to deliver Vanuatu’s Special Message of ‘thank you and appreciation’ to President Castro, and at the same time formalised diplomatic relations with Cuba that saw Vanuatu flag raised in Havana.

“I could not travel through the US at the time, so I had to make a long trip via UK and Canada and then to Havana, Cuba where I was accorded a high level welcome personally by President Castro in his Presidential Palace.

“I extended to him on behalf of the government and the people of Vanuatu, deep appreciation for the support that President Fidel Castro and his country paving the way from Havana to the corridors of the United Nations and finally to the Committee of 24 on Decolonisation that released our colonised country and people from Britain and France to become the independent state and the new Republic of Vanuatu,” Sope said.

“Port Vila tied diplomatic relations with Havana in August 1981 before becoming a full member of the United Nations (UN) in September of 1981 – the same year, but we recognised Cuba first because without Cuba and President Fidel Castro, it may have taken longer or never for this country to become an independent state from Britain and France,” Sope recalled.

Independent state
“In 1977, Father Walter Lini and I attended the UN Decolonisation Committee in informal clothing but in 1981 we attended the UN General Assembly for the first time after independence where Father Walter Lini as the first Vanuatu Prime Minister addressed the UN General Assembly for the first time as an independent state and as the UN welcomed Vanuatu as its full member.

“Today, I am sad to say that Vanuatu has lost its first political pillar of our political freedom, the late President Fidel Castro.

“Personally, and of course the country has lost a man that stood up for the right of the political freedom of our nation and people in international forum and the United Nations. We truly miss him,” Sope said.

The former Cuban President Fidel Castro handed over his responsibilities in 2006 to his brother Raul.

He died at the age of 90 last Friday.

Relations with Cuba were enhanced further when the country provided scholarships for ni-Vanuatu to attend medical school to become doctors.

Godwin Ligo is a senior journalist on the Vanuatu Daily Post. This article has been republished with permission.

]]>

Obituary: John Miller, a passionate advocate for Philippines justice

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 30, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

OBITUARY: By Murray Horton

John Miller (1929-2016) died in Christchurch in November, aged 87. John and Leonida (Leony) have been members of the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa (PSNA) since 1994 (PSNA hasn’t published a newsletter since 2009, so we count anyone who was a member in 2009 as being a current member).

As Jim Consedine explained in his obituary for the Catholic Worker publication The Common Good, John Miller visited the Philippines in 1983, when it was being ground under the heel of the Marcos martial law dictatorship.

He married Leony, returned to New Zealand, and their daughter Cory was named after Cory Aquino, who became President when the world famous People Power movement swept the Marcos regime out of power and out of the country in 1986.

John remained passionately interested in the Philippines for the rest of his life and he always attended Christchurch public meetings addressed by Filipino speakers that PSNA toured through NZ on a regular basis.

The photo of John that accompanies this obituary was on his funeral programme. He was wearing a “Free All Political Prisoners” T shirt and it bore the names of the major human rights group Karapatan, and of SELDA, the group representing the victims and families of the Marcos martial law dictatorship.

I suspect he probably got it during PSNA’s 2004 NZ speaking tour by Marie Hilao-Enriquez, a leader of both Karapatan and SELDA and herself a martial law detainee.

Political prisoners
Unfortunately, neither political prisoners nor the vile Marcos family are consigned to the past in today’s Philippines.

They are both very much front and centre under the new President, Rodrigo Duterte.

The shirtless young Filipino has names written on his back – victims of the Marcos dictatorship. Image: Becky Horton

This other photo was taken just last weekend by my wife Becky, who is currently in Manila on her annual Christmas visit to her family. It was taken at a rally to protest against this month’s burial of Ferdinand Marcos (who has been dead since 1989) in the National Heroes Cemetery in Manila.

The shirtless young man (a stranger to Becky, who took the photo) has names written on his back. They are of victims of the Marcos martial law dictatorship.

The top one says “Liliosa” – Liliosa Hilao, who was the most high profile female murder victim of that regime (in the early 1970s).

Liliosa was Becky’s maternal aunt and Marie Hilao-Enriquez’s sister. This stuff is still very current in the Philippines – it has never been resolved.

Anti-Bases Campaign
I also knew John in another capacity. Although he was never a member of the Anti-Bases Campaign, he came on ABC’s Waihopai spy base protests more than once.

He came with the Christchurch Catholic Worker contingent. ABC, although an avowedly secular group, has had a long and productive working relationship with Catholic Worker.

Three of its North Island members – Adrian Leason, Peter Murnane and Sam Land – were the famous Domebusters, who deflated one of the spy base’s domes in 2008 and were acquitted of all charges by a jury.

They are the stars of the excellent current documentary The 5th Eye. (If you haven’t seen it yet, join us at the upcoming Waihopai spy base protest. We’re showing it in Blenheim on January 28).

John was already an old man when he came on the Waihopai protests but he burned with youthful passion whenever he spoke there and even more so when he recited one of his own poems (Jim Consedine, who co-presided at John’s ecumenical funeral, jokingly said: “John had 400,000 poems”).

His whole demeanour and tone of voice changed when he launched forth – he became an orator, with a declamatory tone.

To mention John without mentioning religion is like mentioning Christchurch without mentioning earthquakes. It was central to his being.

Evangelical enthusiasm
His funeral was a Catholic/Methodist joint production (definitely a first for Becky and me and, I suspect, for a lot of the others attending). In her eulogy, Cory said she asked him once: “Dad, what do you do for fun? Dad replied “I go to church”.

“But what do you for fun, Dad?” Dad replied: “I pray”. At that point, Cory said, she gave up.

John was a passionate Christian pacifist and a man with great evangelical enthusiasm.

He was a neighbour of ours, living in the next street, and would regularly turn up unannounced (his record was five times in one day) to tell me about something he’d just read in the radical Christian press or to generally share the Good News.

As a friend said: “John doesn’t do small talk”. He regularly tried, and failed, to get me along to one of the various churches he regularly attended. (I’m a long lapsed Anglican and Presbyterian, married to a long lapsed Catholic).

At times he could be a bloody nuisance (it is not an easy road being an unapologetically public religious practitioner in a heavily secular society), but his motives and commitment to peace and a truly radical Christianity could never be doubted.

I’ve met plenty of other Biblebashers, too many of them on my own doorstep, but John was one with a difference, he was a progressive Biblebasher, albeit one with a striking resemblance to an Old Testament prophet.

He and I were on the same side.

Rest in peace, you zealot for peace. My deepest condolences to Leony and Cory (whom I’ve known since she was a child).

Murray Horton is a social justice campaigner, organiser of the Anti-Bases Coalition (ABC) and Campaign Against Foreign Control (CAFCA), and a stalwart of the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa.

]]>

Scorsese’s Silence and the Catholic connection to the atomic bomb

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 29, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Gwyn McClelland in Melbourne

Today, Martin Scorsese’s Silence will have its premiere at the Vatican, where it will be screened to hundreds of Roman Catholic priests.

The famed director’s first foray into East Asia links to familiar themes of Catholic guilt and redemption, as he portrays the brutal 17th century persecution of Jesuit missionaries and their converts in Japan.

Scorsese’s film, which will open here in January, is an adaptation of Japanese author Shusaku Endo’s 1966 novel Silence. It tells the story of two Portuguese Jesuit priests (Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield) who travel to Japan at a time when Christianity was banned to find their mentor (Liam Neeson) and support the local converts.

The pair are imprisoned and tortured.

The characters of the priests Cristóvão Ferreira and Sebastian Rodrigues were based on Portuguese and Italian Jesuits found in the historical record.

Endo’s novel (沈黙）describes the hostile environment that leads to the missionary priests’ relinquishment of faith. They were forced to place their feet on fumi-e （踏み絵) – religious images – to demonstrate that they had given up all faith.

Rodrigues (played by Garfield in the film), believes he hears Jesus’ voice telling him to apostatise by stepping on the fumi-e.

‘Hidden Christianity’
The remaining Christians went underground. The persecution continued until the ban against Christians was removed in 1873. But the indigenous Japanese who returned to Catholicism in the 1870s after 250 years of “hidden Christianity” remembered their long period of “betrayal”.

Most descendants of the native Christians lived in Nagasaki during World War II. On the 9 August 1945, when the United States dropped the A-bomb on Urakami, a northern suburb of Nagasaki, 8500 of the 12000-strong Catholic Christian community were among the dead.

The bomb was meant to target Nagasaki city, but because the Americans were low on fuel and clouds opened above the northern suburbs, the eventual Ground Zero happened in Urakami.

Its cathedral – the biggest Catholic church in Asia at the time – was only 500m from Ground Zero.

Nagasaki Catholics remember the A-bomb in particular ways, as I show in my research on memory in Nagasaki. My work has involved interviewing nine Catholic survivors of the atomic bombing, as well as three other non-Catholic survivors, and members of the Urakami community.

The Catholic interviewees explained that their grandparents had been exiled to other regions of Japan in the 1860s and 1870s due to their return to Catholicism after 250 years of “hidden Christianity”.

One interviewee, Matsuo Sachiko, explained that her grandmother was a double survivor, having first survived the Christian exile (referred to as the 4th exile) imposed by the government in 1867-73 and then later, the 1945 atomic bombing. She says:

Bombing survivors
“Yes… my grandmother was one of the Urakami Fourth Exile survivors and at that time there were still some of those survivors who were alive… these people still believed, everyone was able to stick at it and get through… Within their testimony, they didn’t talk about their pain.”

Orphaned Ozaki Tōmei adopted a new name after the bombing, as a novice at a Polish monastery in Nagasaki. Normally Japanese monks would adopt the name of a Western saint, but he selected a Japanese saint, Ozaki Tōmei, who is a child martyr of 1597 from Nagasaki.

Ozaki remembered his mother telling him that the 26 martyrs of 1597 were marched directly past his childhood home in the middle of winter on the way to their execution.

The child martyr Ozaki had been separated from his mother and was marched to Nagasaki from Kyoto. Along the way, he was able to write a letter to his mother, in which he reflected on the “transience of the world”.

My informant Ozaki linked his own experience to this boy of 1597, writing:

“The experience of the atomic bombing was exactly like that. Everything in the world is breakable and vanishes. As far as the atom bomb went, there was nothing to be known of reality which was not destroyed.

“Koware-iku sonzai ni tayotte wa naranai. We cannot depend on a life so fragile. Nonetheless, after that, staring at reality, what I saw was the indestructible God’s existence.

“The Lord God who holds all created things, the source of love and life is the God I know. This is also the source of faith.”

Tragic loss
Despite the destruction around him and the tragic loss of his mother, Ozaki, orphaned monk and survivor of the atomic bombing, held on to the faith of his ancestors.

His resilience might be considered one fruit of the missionaries whose ambivalent lives are depicted by Scorsese in Silence. Ozaki turned 88 this year and continues to write prolifically on his blog.

Silence was originally controversial among Christians in Japan for the perceived faithlessness of its priest protagonists. Nevertheless, Scorsese’s film version – which has taken 27 years to make – is eagerly awaited in Nagasaki, where the descendants of the hidden Christians still continue to be a practising community of faith.

The 26 Martyrs’ Museum, just down the road from the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, frequently posts updates on the progress and making of the movie on its blog.

Meanwhile, another interviewee, Matsuzono (a pseudonym) told me:

“Soon Martin Scorsese will release the movie, so the things we locals talk about will spread around the world…”

Gwyn McLelland is an oral historian and associate, Japanese history, Monash University. He is currently completing his PhD dissertation at Monash University on the basis of oral history interviews conducted amongst Catholic survivors of the atomic bombing. He was the beneficiary of a Japan Study Grant from the National Library of Australia in 2015. This article was first published by The Conversation and is republished under a Creative Commons licence.

]]>

West Papua’s Morning Star flag raising at PMC on December 1

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 29, 2016

Pacific Media Centre

Image: akrockefeller.com

Event date and time: Thursday, December 1, 2016 – 12:00 – 12:30

WEST PAPUA INDEPENDENCE DAY 1 December 2016 Please join us in solidarity at the memorial flag-raising at 12 noon on Thursday, 1 December, in the Pacific Media Centre, Level 10, in the Sir Paul Reeves Building, Auckland University of Technology, Wellesley Street. Organised by Asia-Pacific Human Rights Coalition (APHRC) and Pax Christi In association with the Pacific Media Centre Contact: Del Abcede 021 02376917 Kevin McBride 021681686

Attachment	Size
West Papua Independence Day 2016.pdf	237.77 KB

]]>

West Papuan solidarity events planned to mark Morning Star flag day

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 29, 2016

papuan-protest-jakartapost-680wide — ]]>

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papuans holding a self-determination rally last week in Sentani, Papua, demanding that the government conducts an independence referendum for the province. Image: KNPB/Jakarta Post

By Anne Noonan

It is now 55 years since the Morning Star flag was flown officially in West Papua for the first time on the 1 December 1961.

The West Papuan people continue to raise their flag as an act of celebration but also in protest against the injustices they suffer under Indonesian rule. They can face up to 15 years jail for doing so.

Jakarta is becoming increasingly concerned at the internationalisation of the issue of West Papua which is why the security forces have been cracking down on peacefully rallies organised by civil society organisations in West Papua.

The most recent crackdown was on the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) as they celebrated their eighth anniversary last week – 106 people were arrested in Sorong.

However, thousands of West Papuans have been arrested at rallies throughout the past year in West Papua. Although the majority of activists were eventually released, during the arrests activists were regularly beaten and in some cases faced torture.

In Sorong, police ordered a Papuan praying congregation to disperse, accusing them of separatism.

There has been a huge groundswell of support around the world and in the Asia-Pacific region on the issue of West Papua.

This support includes civil society organisations, churches and governments.

UN session support
Seven Pacific leaders raised the issue of West Papua at the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.

The Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu all raised concerns about the human rights situation in West Papua.

From the Solomon Islands, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said in a statement:

“The Solomon Islands is gravely concerned about the human rights violations against Melanesians in West Papua.

“Human rights violations in West Papua and the pursuit for self-determination of West Papua are two sides of the same coin.

“Many reports on human rights violations in West Papua emphasize the inherent corroboration between the right to self-determination that results in direct violations of human rights by Indonesia in its attempts to smother any form of opposition.”

Recently a new “Pacific Coalition on West Papua” was formed. The initial membership comprises the Solomon Islands government, Vanuatu government, Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) and the United Liberation Movement of West Papua and the Pacific Islands Alliance of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO).

Two new members are Tuvalu and Nauru.

Flag-raising ceremonies planned in Auckland on Thursday include:

Police order praying congregation to disperse

]]>

Indonesia proposes ‘ASEAN-Pacific axis’ alternative to TPP and Chinese initiative

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 28, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

One of the many rallies in the United States against TPP. Image: Occupy

By Haeril Halim

Indonesia has proposed the setting up of a new trade bloc that could counterbalance the dominance of the United States and China.

The US dominated the APEC forum in Lima, Peru, last week with its lucrative Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), championed by outgoing US President Barack Obama, which comprises 12 of the 21 APEC members, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

However, the future of the TPP, a US initiative to contain the dominance of China in APEC, is uncertain under president-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to shore up the US domestic economy and to review the trade agreement once he is sworn-in as president on January 20.

With the fate of the TPP uncertain under a Trump presidency, China has stepped up its effort to prop up the Beijing-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which excludes the Americas and includes Australia, India and more than a dozen other countries.

The RCEP is now seen as perhaps the only path to broader free trade areas of which APEC aspires.

Given its strategic position as a member of both ASEAN and APEC, Indonesia has called on APEC members to consider forming a free trade bloc between ASEAN and the Pacific Alliance countries if Trump decides to kill off the TPP.

Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, who attended the Second Informal Dialogue with the Pacific Alliance session on the sidelines of the APEC summit last week, said Indonesia had officially tabled the proposal and urged countries in the two groups to consider.

Pacific option
“If the TPP is voided, then ASEAN and Pacific Alliance members should establish a trade cooperation, which could be better than the TPP. It is the right moment to think about such an alternative,” Jusuf told reporters in Lima.

Jusuf said although many APEC members expected Trump not to follow through on his campaign promises over ending the TPP, the countries were still prepared with alternatives should the US, the initiator of the TPP, withdraw its commitment.

In addition to the Pacific Alliance meeting, Jusuf attended APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) with 21 leaders of APEC countries, including top international leaders like Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaux, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During the APEC summit, Indonesia joined Brunei, China and New Zealand in a group to discuss the theme of “Growing Global Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises [MSMEs] and Promoting Sustainable Development”.

“The results from this discussion will be drafted as an official statement; all issues discussed during the meeting were related to the economy and business sectors. The main takeaway from the forum was that we agreed to establish connectivity between domestic and international businesses,” Jusuf said.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi pledged to open its economy further as leaders of Asia-Pacific countries sought new free-trade options following Trump’s promise to scrap and void the TPP.

As Obama is winding down his administration, he has now stopped trying to win congressional approval for the TPP deal, which was signed by 12 countries in the Americas and Asia Pacific, excluding China.

Without US approval, the current agreement cannot be implemented.

“China will not shut its doors to the outside world but instead open more doors,” Xi said in a keynote address at APEC.

“We?re going to […] make sure the fruits of development are shared,” Xi said.

]]>

Editors seek rethink on NZ media merger plan rejection over plurality

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 27, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Commerce Commission’s draft decision rejected NZME-Fairfax merger proposal. Image: Radio NZ

Pacific Media Watch in Auckland

Thirty-three of New Zealand’s most senior editors have urged the Commerce Commission to rethink its plan to reject the proposed NZME-Fairfax merger, reports the New Zealand Herald.

They are at loggerheads with a group of 11 former editors who say the Commerce Commission got it right.

The current editors, all in senior roles at both companies, say the commission has “misinterpreted the state of New Zealand journalism” and believe a merger is the best option to sustain quality journalism.

They say that editorial independence would not be lost under a merger – it is “at the core of what we do”.

The editors have also addressed concerns that plurality of voice would be lost.

“Ensuring that a diversity of views, perspectives, experiences and issues are covered is an editor’s most fundamental task. It is our privilege and responsibility, not the job of shareholders,” their open letter said, published in full in the Weekend Herald.

The editors say rejecting a merger will not solve the real issue: the stability and sustainability of the business that funds journalism.

“We believe – no, we know – that the rapid dismantling of local newsrooms and journalism at scale in this country is inevitable if this merger does not proceed.”

Opposed go ahead
On Friday, a group of 11 former daily and Sunday newspaper editors said they backed the commission’s preliminary view that a merger should not go ahead.

“Though we acknowledge that such a merger is seen by some of us as a pragmatic response to the singular challenges that newspapers face, we all accept that the destruction of great mastheads and all that they have stood for at the heart of our communities since New Zealand settlement cannot possibly enhance content – it can only diminish it,” said the former editors, including Radio NZ media commentator Dr Gavin Ellis, Tim Pankhurst, Suzanne Carty and Suzanne Chetwin.

“Newspapers – across their print and digital sites – have been subject to waves of redundancies that have seen experienced staff culled, a severe loss of institutional knowledge and a pandering to the lowest common denominator…

“At the same time television has all but abandoned current affairs and our public discourse is increasingly glib.”

The open letter of current editors

]]>

How mining and militarisation led to an HIV epidemic in Indonesia’s Papua

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 26, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Susan Schulman in Kambele, Papua, reporting for IRIN

Martina Wanago was sick. In fact, she was sure she would die. She had contracted HIV, which has reached epidemic proportions here in Indonesia’s remote and restive province of Papua. And like many of those infected, she didn’t know what was wrong with her.

“All I could do was just wait for God to call me,” Wanago said, closing her eyes as firelight flickered on her face in a traditional roundhouse in Kambele, a remote artisanal mining village deep in cloud-shrouded mountains.

But it was here, in this unlikely spot, that she found salvation. Or rather, she found treatment – at the Waa Waa Hospital in the nearby community of Banti.

The hospital was built by Freeport McMoRan, one of the world’s largest mining companies, based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is one of very few positive developments that the industry has brought to indigenous Papuans.

In fact, Papua’s resource wealth is intimately connected to its tortuous past half-century, which has included a foiled attempt at independence followed by an armed rebellion in which Indonesian security forces have killed tens of thousands of indigenous people.

A more recent consequence of mining and militarisation is that – along with an underfunded healthcare system – they have contributed to an HIV epidemic in Papua.

This is an extract from a special report by London-based independent journalist Susan Schulman for IRIN : The inside story on emergencies. Read the full article at IRIN.

]]>

West Papuan documentary screened in UK cinemas

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 26, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Two screenings of the award-winning documentary The Road to Home, which follows the life of West Papuan independence leader and lawyer Benny Wenda and his peaceful struggle to liberate his people from colonial rule, have been held in United Kingdom cinemas.

The first screening was held on October 30 at the Deptford Cinema, London, a community cinema with a longstanding following.

People were inspired at learning about the forgotten struggle in West Papua and were eager to learn how they could help.

Another screening of the film was held last week at St Margaret’s House in Bethnal Green.

The event brought together scores of people, including from the UK’s Pacific Islands community who were inspired to learn of the West Papuan struggle firsthand after watching the film.

A Q and A session followed with Benny Wenda afterwards.

West Papuan band The Lani Singers also played West Papuan songs of freedom and a Free West Papua stall was held.

Copies of The Road To Home can be ordered through the Free West Papua website here and copies of the award-winning West Papua documentary Forgotten Bird of Paradise (by the same filmmaker) can also be ordered here.

]]>

Solomon Islands decision to rearm police sparks heated debate

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 25, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Solomon Islands police during weapons training. Image: Wansolwara News

By Lowen Sei

The Solomon Islands police force is facing one of its biggest tests of legitimacy since the withdrawal of the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) peace-keeping force.

As part of RAMSI’s mission to reduce ethnic violence in the Solomon Islands, guns were confiscated and destroyed across the country.

However, with new reported incidents of gun violence, the Solomon Islands government has taken a decision to rearm the police force.

This has caused mixed reactions from the public, and has generated debate whether this was the right decision.

In June, Prime Minister Manaseh Soqavare opened the new RSIPF National Response Department Building at Rove Police Headquarters containing the armoury. This was the first step in the limited rearmament process of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.

The facility will house pistols, shotguns, rifles and ammunitions to be used by three police operational units – the RSIP Police Response Team, Close Personal Protection Team and Internal Airport Police.

Many welcomed the government’s decision, saying that it was the right time to rearm the police force; however, some were still wary of the armoury’s opening – people who were mainly victims of the ethnic tensions.

Police criticised
In February, Nathan Ratu Nukufetau, a community elder from Vanikoro Island, Temotu province, criticised the police about the use of guns to make arrests on the island.

This was in relation to a land dispute incident over logging operations on Vanikoro Island in which several homes were destroyed.

He said that the police actions on the use of guns for the arrest were unprofessional and uncalled for.

“Police are professionals in their job and had been trained when to use excessive force and when not to use it,” he said.

“The incident of the use of guns certainly lost the trust and confidence of the community over the police.”

In his keynote address during the opening of the armoury, the prime minister assured the citizens of the country that there was no need to fear the police.

“I want to make it clear that the personnel who will be bearing arms have gone through a series of specialised and rigorous training, which requires them to use the arms only when the situation becomes critically necessary.

“These officers have trained and are disciplined to use these firearms for protection and for the sake of maintaining law and order in very critical situations, and only as a last resort,” he said.

Accountability rules
He also reiterated that RAMSI had also been heavily engaged with the RSIPF in finalising sets of accountability and governance rules and systems to ensure the arms are used responsibly.

“Let me assure the people of Solomon Islands, that these weapons are police weapons that are used by police forces worldwide.

“That the cabinet will only make a decision on the carriage and use when it is absolutely satisfied with necessary training, storage infrastructure, control systems and governance arrangements are in place.”

Dr Gordon Nanau, a senior Solomon Islands academic at USP, believes that there are two sides two this issue – people are critical about this move, and that the police should be modernised.

He said the debate on police rearmament was due to the past experience that Solomon Islanders had during the ethnic tensions.

“As we all know, during that time guns that were owned by the government were given and taken into the wrong hands,” he said.

People wary
“I think some people are quite wary about the how during the past, the government was not able to fully control the arms, and how it ended up in the hands of the two warring militant parties, because the purpose of arms is to protect the citizens, but in this case arms were used against the people.”

But he also said the police force in the Solomon Islands were also becoming more helpless due to the recent reports of criminals using firearms, which also endangered their lives when carrying out operations and arrests.

He said the proper checks and regulations must be strictly monitored. This would help develop trust in the police force by the public, and this was because a lot of people in the country were still questioning the professionalism of police officers.

Lowen Sei is a reporter with Wansolwara News at the University of the South Pacific, Fiji.

]]>

Duterte’s message to NZ: ‘How I wish I could have settled here’

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 24, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte meets admirers in spite of his widely condemned human rights record at the Langham hotel in Auckland. Image: Greg Bowker/New Zealand Herald

Exclusive interview by Corazon Miller of The New Zealand Herald

The controversial president of the Philippines, known as “The Punisher” says he wished he could have settled in New Zealand, following his brief stopover in Auckland.

In an extraordinary interview with the Herald – his first and only in New Zealand – Rodrigo Duterte twice accidentally referred to the country as Australia, countered the long-held view former president Ferdinand Marcos was a dictator and asked a reporter if she was married.

While leaving the Langham Hotel in the central city on his way to the airport for a flight home later in the evening, he stopped to take selfies with fans who had gathered and spoke to the Herald.

“I’d like to urge the Filipinos to be just like New Zealanders, well-behaved and following the law,” he said.

“How I wish I could have settled here.”

Duterte, who was in Auckland on his way home from Peru where he’d been attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, also expressed a desire to work more closely with New Zealand.

“I’d like to extend my warm wishes to all Filipinos and of course to all the Australians who are hosting us here.

‘Thank you Australia’
“Firstly I’d like to thank the Australian government…sorry the New Zealand government and the people and the citizens for hosting us in manner that befits brother Asian.

“We have excellent relations between NZ, and of course Australia, and so we would like to maintain that bond in the coming years,” he said.

“We have a great friendship and we should nurture it.”

When asked by a reporter if he’d return to New Zealand, Duterte quipped; “pag niyaya mo ako [if you invite me] … are you married?”

In the short interview, he went on to counter the long-held view former president Ferdinand Marcos was a dictator and appeared to justify violence against the people.

“There was no deliberate really to kill, except for those who took arms to the Government and that would be the rebels within the military and of course the Communist party of the Philippines.”

Duterte this month has copped criticism for allowing the former dictator to be buried in the Heroes’ Cemetery – a place normally reserved for military personnel, former presidents and national heroes.

Marcos ‘hero’ burial ‘just’
The current president said it wasn’t for him to decide whether Marcos was a hero or a dictator – but said his burial was just.

“You know it’s the law, the law says you are entitled to be buried in the Cemetery of Heroes, if you are a soldier and more than that if you are a former president.”

Marcos was president from 1965 to 1986, and ruled as a dictator under martial law from 1972 until 1981.

In 1986, Marcos was eventually overthrown by the people’s revolution, that saw millions take to the streets, and oust him in favour of Corazon Aquino.

He was criticised and accused by many Filipinos and members of the international community for a number of human rights abuses, including torturing, abducting and killing thousands of his opponents.

However, the Marcos family has in the years since been a part of the Filipino political scene and supported Duterte’s bid for the presidency.

Duterte, who took office on June 30, promised to wage his own war – this one against drugs in his country.

‘The Punisher’
His promise to kill more than 100,000 drug users and fill Manila Bay with their bodies, and his urging citizens and police to conduct extrajudicial killings, has earned him the nickname of “The Punisher”.

The bodies of dealers and addicts have since been turning up in cities across the Philippines.

Police statistics show a surge in the number of drug suspects shot dead by security forces, but vigilantes appear to have killed significantly more.

Nevertheless, when questioned by the Herald, Duterte remained staunch in the face of international criticism and reiterated his commitment to “neutralise” all drug-lords in his country.

“It will not stop until the last drug pusher is out of the streets and the last drug lord neutralised … it will remain to be a war and I am committed to it.”

Video feed from The New Zealand Herald

NZ ‘should have barred Duterte’

]]>

NZ should have barred ‘tough guy’ Duterte visit, says Human Rights Foundation

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 23, 2016

apr-rodrigo-Duterte-fistpump-anu-680wide — ]]>

AsiaPacificReport.nz

President Rodrigo Duterte … “engaging character” but extrajudicial killings off the agenda. Image: ANU/AsiaPacifiic

The chairman of the Human Rights Foundation says New Zealand has standards for granting visas, and he does not think the president of the Philippines would meet them, reports Newztalk ZB.

President Rodrigo Duterte was in Auckland this week to refuel his plane on his way back from the APEC meeting in Peru. He met with New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully last night for an hour.

Foundation spokesman Peter Hosking told Newstalk ZB’s Larry Williams he was not sure if McCully would have tackled President Duterte on his human rights record, or on APEC, the foundation’s website reports.

“It certainly wasn’t on any agenda that I know of. Perhaps there were some leaders who had a private word with him, but I’m not particularly confident about that either.”

‘Quiet charming’
After last night’s meeting, Murray McCully described President Duterte as “a tough guy but he was warm, courteous and actually quite charming”, the foundation website says.

“He’s a very engaging character and it’s not difficult to discuss sensitive issues with him. He is very happy to engage on those issues.”

McCully would not confirm whether they talked about the extrajudicial killings Duterte has encouraged although he said it was wide-ranging discussion and included the South China Seas, the foundation website says.

“We talked about everything,” McCully said. “I don’t want to talk publicly about what was a private discussion but we discussed the full range of issues.

“He doesn’t beat around the bush. He has got quite firm views and he expresses them, and very colourfully.”

McCully said his meeting was a courtesy call because president was in the country on his return from APEC and it was “the appropriate thing to do to have someone from the government call on him and welcome him and make sure that he is being looked after here.”

Human Rights Foundation spokesman Peter Hosking talks to Newztalk ZB’s Larry Williams

]]>

Media coverage of war atrocities opens debate on INFOCORE research

By David Robie -

November 23, 2016

Report by David Robie. This article was first published on Café Pacific

[embedded content]
Media is going through a “tremendous transformation as a result of the ever-changing, global media landscape”. Video: Euronews

By Elena Cavalione of Euronews

IN A world torn apart by conflicts old and new, the issue of the media’s role seems to have growing importance.

Media coverage of atrocities committed during wars is opening up debate on the power images have to influence public opinion and political decisions.

INFOCORE is an international research study funded by the 7th European Framework Programme of the European Commission. It brings together experts from the Social Sciences to investigate the media’s role in violent conflicts in three regions: the Middle East, the Balkans and Central Africa.

Romy Frohlich from Ludwig Maaximilians University in Munich explains that journalism is under a state of tremendous transformation as a result of the ever-changing, global media landscape.

“What we see so far”, she says, “is that this change in journalism does affect or had an effect on the power balance within the shaping of public discourse, for example the relation between journalism and political actors or journalism and propaganda and public relations.”

Reporting in the Middle East
In Israel, the press enjoy very good standards of freedom, which is unique in the Middle East.

However, Palestinian and foreign journalists face military censorship and frequent abuses by both the Israeli army and Hamas in Gaza.

Since 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has had a grip over the communications portfolio. This gives him control over the entire media sector. He blocked a bill aimed at reforming a new broadcasting authority, fearing the new body would be critical of the government.

INFOCORE kits at the media conference at the
Brussels Press Club. Image: David Robie

Digital media can guarantee more government transparency and even help change the military’s attitude towards journalists. But Professor Gadi Wolfsfed of theInterdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, says it can also undermine certain sensitive types of negotiations like peace deals.

“The positive of the fact that every citizen’s walking around with a camera”, he explains, “means that, for example, if police or soldiers are beating someone or killing them it could very well be caught on tape and uploaded onto YouTube.

“This changes the whole dynamic of the ability of the authorities to abuse people on the other side.

“However, we must be aware that there are some secrets that governments need to keep. And of course the negotiations in Oslo, that’s why it is called the Oslo peace process, were kept secret. Today it is not sure that it would be possible.

“In other words there wouldn’t have been secret negotiations because eventually something would have leaked out.”

According to the INFOCORE study, as one would expect, the Israeli and Palestinian press are extremely polarised. Hebrew language media tell their audiences one version of the facts, while the Arab media support the opposite narrative.

Meanwhile, the situation in Syria is more complex. Each side in the multifaceted civil war has set up their own media outlet.

It is almost impossible for Syrian citizens to access reliable, independent information and journalists can barely get into the country let alone report effectively on the conflict.

In this context social media have become essential for monitoring what is happening on the ground and sharing information, as Annabelle Van Den Berghe outlined: “The first sign of something going on is often on social media, is often on twitter, is often on Facebook, and it is also often on WhatsApp – she points out – I am on WhatsApp with several people inside Syria: reporters but also just civilians who are living there and updating me on the situation.

“Because WhatsApp is a bit safer than Facebook to communicate they often use that to let me know what’s happening, what is going on”.

Journalism in the Balkans
In the Balkans, foreign media played a key role in supporting the NATO interventions in Kosovo in 1999 and in Macedonia (FYROM) in 2001.

Their role was a controversial one. As with the case of the 11-week-campaign of NATO airstrikes in Kosovo in 1999, which claimed to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Albanian population from the Serbian government, and the intervention in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in 2001, when Alliance troops entered the country with a mandate to disarm the Albanian rebels.

Today, the press in Kosovo face considerable financial challenges and structural problems. According to the INFOCORE study, one of the consequences of this is that journalists are not receiving appropriate training.

Abit Hoxcha, researcher at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich told Euronews: “Journalists don’t really have proper training to report and sensitive reporting.

“Also we are dealing with a generation that has experienced war, so there is a lot of baggage attached to reporting and one of the problems we see on a daily basis in our research is that journalists carry a dose of patriotism and identity and a sense of belonging into their daily reporting.”

Kosovo is a potential candidate for EU membership. However, the European Commission report in 2016 expressed worries about the increase in attacks on journalists and the lack of transparency regarding media ownership.

In Macedonia (FYROM) press freedom is severely threatened. The INFOCORE study found that politically-controlled media are fomenting tensions between Macedonians and the Albanian minority.

Dr Snezana Trpevska, from the Institute of Communication Studies in Skopje illustrated the results of the study:

“The inter-ethnic tension in the country does not emerge only as a result of the friction between the communities themselves but also they are created from the politically manipulated media,” she says.

“So they are created from above. The discourses of conflict, of violence, of hate speech are coming from the politicians themselves who control and misuse the media to provoke tensions in order to divert the public attention from the other controversial and important issues in the society.”

People then stop relying on traditional media and go in search of alternative sources of information.

Freedom of the press in the African Great Lakes region
Ethnic conflicts, political instability and starvation typify the realities of the Great Lakes region in Africa.

In Burundi a crisis erupted in May 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term. More than 400 protesters were killed and 6 independent media outlets were shut down.

Currently about 80 journalists are in exile, mostly in Rwanda, and local press is controlled by the government.

Marie Soleil Frere, vice-rector at Université Libre de Bruxelles, says the situation used to be very different.

“The situation in Burundi used to be different because most of these independent registrations that were closed in May 2015 were radios that were established with the support of the international community and they were established with the aim of contributing to peace building, reconciliation, so there was a real pluralism inside of those media they would employ Hutu and Tutsi journalists and they would devote a lot of broadcasting time to programs about peace building and reconciliation.”

In the Democratic Republic of Congo independent media struggle with journalists often being threatened, attacked or arrested.

Recently, international media have also been targeted. In November 2016 Radio France International’s frequencies were suspended.

A new law making foreign media enter into partnerships with local firms was enforced.

Ernest Sagaga, from the International Federation of Journalists, believes the law aims to bring money and false credibility to the government: “They are now targeting international media broadcasters because of course they come with great credibility,” Sagaga said.

“These countries whatever they do – both Burundi and DRC- they need money to run the economies and they want to come back to their funders including the EU for the kind of assistance they get. So, there is a dichotomy if you like: on one hand they don’t want people to know what is going on in the country and on the other hand they want help or support allegedly for running the affairs of their countries.”

Neutrality, trustworthiness and independence are cornerstones to delivering reliable news reports. But according to INFOCORE’s findings, journalism could go beyond the simple reporting of facts in conflict zones.

“We can find three main kinds of journalist”, says Rosa Berganza from University Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid. “The responsible one who promotes peace and who is looking for solutions, the peacemaker journalist who specifically proposes solutions, and the watchdog role that is played by several journalists in order to account for all the violations of human rights that can be committed in different countries.”

INFOCORE media and conflict project

Pacific Media Centre’s Professor David Robie at the stakeholders’ network meeting at the Brussels Press Club.
Image: INFOCORE

]]>

New Ireland chiefs welcome Kauona reconciliation

By Pacific Media Centre -

November 23, 2016

AsiaPacificReport.nz

Former Bougainville Revolutionary Army commander Sam Kauona … reconciliation praised and condemned. Image: PNG Mine Watch

The combined New Ireland chiefs in Papua New Guinea led by chief Demas Kavavu and political leaders including former National Alliance strongman, Pedi Anis, have welcomed the invitation for reconciliation from the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) commander, Sam Kauona, and his people of the Central Bougainville region with the former Prime Minister and now Governor of New Ireland, Sir Julius Chan.

But the move has been strongly criticised by the Bougainville Freedom Movement.

The chiefs rallied behind the Governor, Sir Julius, to support what they term as a courageous step for peace from the BRA Commander with the authority and authenticity being the first to meet with Sir Julius within three days of him assuming the Prime Ministership of Papua New Guinea in 1994 in Honiara during the height of the Bougainville conflict.

The late Bishop Gregory Singkai was with Sir Julius that made possible the face to face human dialogue between Sir Julius and Kauona, whom Sir Julius described as courteous and very respectful in the face of great adversity.

Kauona in a news release in The National newspaper last Thursday broke his long silence as a prominent figure in the 16 year-long Bougainville conflict and declared his political allegiance to the People’s Progress Party and its founder Sir Julius.

He cited his involvement in brokering peace talks that culminated in the moving reconciliation ceremony in Kavieng between the late President Joseph Kabui on behalf of the people of Bougainville and Sir Julius on behalf of New Ireland.

Kauona said Sir Julius showed the way to address issues and although he participated in reconciliations in Buka and Kavieng he and the PPP should reconcile with the people of Central Bougainville because it was the nerve center of the conflict.

New Ireland held Peace and Reconciliation consultation with President Joseph Kabui and was the only Province that sent an official government delegation to attend Kabui’s funeral and later reciprocated with the second Peace and Reconciliation with the Acting President, James Tanis, in Buka.

Responding to Kauona’s press release, Governor Sir Julius said from his home in Huris that he had kept close and friendly ties with the people of Bougainville through their President John Momis.

He was very encouraged by Kauona’s comments and awaited the opportunity to strengthen friendship with him and people of Central Bougainville.

“I have no qualms, no grudges, no ill-will against anyone in Bougainville as we are partly one heritage, one genesis and I thank Kauona for his straight talk and welcome him to visit and strengthen ties with New Ireland,” said Sir Julius.

“We need to eradicate all misunderstanding to hand a peaceful solid baton to the young generation for our two Provinces,” he said.

The Bougainville Freedom Movement said in a statement:

“Considering that Sir Julius Chan says he has no regrets over his handling of the Sandline mercenary affair, to kill, maim and murder the people of Bougainville, it is very difficult to understand why the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) Commander, Sam Kauona has declared his political allegiance to the People’s Progress Party and its founder Sir Julius Chan.

“The power of the people in Papua New Guinea (PNG), prompted Jerry Singirok, the General of the PNG Defence Forces to stop the hired killers of Sandline mercenaries by taking them hostage in 1997. This is what stopped the war on Bougainville and allowed peace to prevail.

“It also led to the downfall of Sir Julius Chan and his government.

“This year in March 2016, Sir Julius Chan released his autobiography and still says that if he had been allowed to continue with the Sandline mercenary operation to put down the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) and the people of Bougainville in 1997, he would have been able to bring the island of Bougainville under control.

“So now in November 2016, it seems Sir Julius Chan has the General Commander of the BRA under control, like a wish come true.”

]]>

1...960961962...1,028 Page 961 of 1,028

ER LIVE

PODCAST: State of Israel Goes Rogue – Attacks UN Peacekeepers

LIVE@12:45pm – State of Israel Goes Rogue – Attacks UN Peacekeepers

PODCAST – The Murky World of Israel’s Booby-Trapped Pagers and Walkie-Talkies

LIVE@12:45pm – A New Arms Race: Deterrence and De-Escalation Are They...

- Advertisement -
Behind the Shroud – juxtaposing the frailty of intelligence and tradecraft
Video Player
00:00
00:00
01:29:27
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
Morality of Argument – sustaining a state of being nuclear free
Video Player
00:00
00:00
01:39:22
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
Climate Change: Tokelau Still Afloat on the High Seas
Video Player
00:00
00:00
28:28
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
Recent Popular Posts
After a chaotic 6 months, South Koreans will elect a new president – and hope for bold leadership
By The Conversation - 5 months ago
ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for May 31, 2025
By Evening Report - 5 months ago
Google’s SynthID is the latest tool for catching AI-made content. What is AI ‘watermarking’ and does it work?
By The Conversation - 5 months ago
Gluten intolerance and coeliac disease can both cause nausea, bloating and pain. What’s the difference?
By The Conversation - 5 months ago
‘There are too many unpleasant things in life without creating more’: why Impressionism is the world’s favourite art movement
By The Conversation - 5 months ago

Pacific Media Centre

Abstract

MIL PODCASTSBookmark | Follow | Subscribe Foreign policy + Intel + Security Subscribe | Follow | Bookmarkand join Buchanan & Manning LIVE Thursdays @ midday MIL Public Webcast Service

MIL PODCASTS
Bookmark | Follow | Subscribe

Foreign policy + Intel + Security

Subscribe | Follow | Bookmark
and join Buchanan & Manning LIVE Thursdays @ midday

MIL Public Webcast Service