The global civil society alliance Civicus has called on eight Pacific governments to do more to respect civic freedoms and strengthen institutions to protect these rights.

It is especially concerned over the threats to press freedom, the use of laws to criminalise online expression, and failure to establish national human rights institutions or ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

But it also says that the Pacific status is generally positive.

Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Solomon Islands have been singled out for criticism over press freedom concerns, but the brief published by the Civicus Monitor also examines the civic spce in Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga and Vanuatu.

“There have been incidents of harassment, intimidation and dismissal of journalists in retaliation for their work,” the report said.

“Cases of censorship have also been reported, along with denial of access, exclusion of journalists from government events and refusal of visas to foreign journalists.”

The Civicus report focuses on respect for and limitations to the freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly, which are fundamental to the exercise of civic rights.

Freedoms guaranteed
“These freedoms are guaranteed in the national constitutions of all eight countries as well as in the ICCPR.

“In several countries — including Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, PNG and Samoa — the absence of freedom of information laws makes it extremely difficult for journalists and the public to access official information,” the report said.

Countries such as Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, continued to enforce criminal defamation laws, creating a “chilling environment for the media, human rights defenders and anyone seeking to express themselves or criticise governments”.

In recent years, Fiji, PNG and Samoa had also used cybercrime laws to criminalise online expression.

“Governments in the Pacific must do more to protect press freedom and ensure that journalists can work freely and without fear of retribution for expressing critical opinions or covering topics the government may find sensitive,” said Josef Benedict, Civicus Asia Pacific researcher.

“They must also pass freedom of information legislation and remove criminal defamation provisions in law so that they are not used to criminalise expression both off and online.”

Civicus is concerned that at least four countries – Kiribati, Nauru, Solomon Islands and Tonga – have yet to ratify the ICCPR, which imposes obligations on states to respect and protect civic freedoms.

Lacking human rights bodies
Also, four countries — Kiribati, Nauru, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu — lack national human rights institutions (NHRI).

Fiji was criticised over restricting the right to peaceful assembly over protests about genocide and human rights violations in Palestine and West Papua.

In May 2024, “a truckload of police officers, including two patrol cars, turned up at a protest at the premises of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre against human rights violations in Gaza and West Papua, in an apparent effort to intimidate protesters”.

Gatherings and vigils had been organised regularly each Thursday.

In PNG and Tonga, the Office of the Ombudsman plays monitor and responds to human rights issues, but calls remain for establishing an independent body in line with the Paris Principles, which set international standards for national human rights institutions.

“It is time all Pacific countries ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and ensure its laws are consistent with it,” said Benedict.

“Governments must also to establish national human rights institutions to ensure effective monitoring and reporting on human rights issues. This will also allow for better accountability for violations of civic freedoms.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) has appealed to Indonesian police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to stop his officers intimidating Aremania (Arema Football Club fans) and witnesses in the Kanjuruhan football stadium tragedy in which 131 people died.

They are also asking Prabowo to order the police professionalism and security affairs division (Propam) to question police officers accused of doing this, because intimidation and obstruction are criminal acts.

“We believe that this situation is very dangerous so the Indonesian police chief (Kapolri) must order his officers to stop acts of intimidation and twisting the facts,” said YLBHI general chairperson Muhammad Isnur in a press release last week.

The YLBHI, the Malang Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) and the Surabaya LBH in East Java, suspect that there have been several attempts at intimidation. This suspicion is based on the complaints that have come in and monitoring by the media.

First, there was a trader who became afraid after meeting with a journalist from a television station because earlier, another trader had been picked up by security personnel after talking to a journalist.

Security personnel also illegally arrested and questioned a witness with the initials K after they uploaded a video of the Kanjuruhan tragedy unfolding. K was then found by a family of a victim at the Malang district police.

Banners with the message “Fully investigate the Kanjuruhan tragedy on October 1, 2022”, which were put up on almost all of Malang’s main streets, were taken down by unknown individuals.

There has been a narrative blaming the victims, in this case the Arema supporters at the league match on Saturday October 1.

The police claim that these supporters could not accept defeat of their team and were drinking alcohol.

“Yet the fact is that the Aremania who took to the field only wanted to meet with the players to encourage them. And before the match, all of them were closely guarded so it would have been impossible for alcohol to be brought into the stadium as is being said in the narrative,” said Isnur.

The YLBHI is also asking the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) to be proactive in picking up and protecting witnesses without waiting for a report first, due to the growing number and danger of threats.

Isnur is also asking the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) and the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) to continue to investigate in accordance with their respective levels of authority based on prevailing legislation.

“It’s not enough for the government just to form a TGIPF [Independent Joint Fact Finding Team], but must also ensure that this team does work independently, transparently and accountably. Aside from this, it must guarantee access for the Komnas HAM, Komnas Perempuan and the KPAI to evidence related to the incident,” he said.

Translated by James Balowski for Indoleft News. The original title of the Komnas article was YLBHI Minta Kapolri Hentikan Aparatnya yang Intimidasi Aremania dan Saksi Kanjuruhan.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz