Figures for violence against women in New Caledonia have increased due to the post-riots crisis, according to local NGO SOS Violences president Anne-Marie Mestre.

Mestre has told local news media that the recent upsurge was mainly due to the riots over independence that broke out on May 13, which resulted in a rising number of jobless people due to the destruction by arson and looting of more 600 businesses.

She stressed that all ethnic communities in New Caledonia were affected by domestic violence and that the trend existed even before the riots-triggered crisis.

New Caledonia’s domestic violence statistics are 2.5 times higher than in mainland France.

In 2023, 3012 cases were reported in the French Pacific territory, a staggering increase of some 91 percent compared to 2019, the French Auditor-General’s office reported in its latest survey published in April 2024.

New Caledonia’s curfew extended to December 2
Meanwhile, New Caledonia’s curfew introduced after the rioting remains in place until December 2, according to the latest advisory from the French High Commission.

The restrictions still include the curfew per se from midnight to 5am, and most notably the ban on transportation, possession and sale of firearms and ammunition.

Public meetings remain banned in the Greater Nouméa Area and will be maintained until December 20, when the ban will be re-assessed with a possible relaxation just before Christmas.

Although opening hours for the sale of alcohol have now returned to normal, the authorised quantity per person per day remains controlled — up to four litres of beer (under 10 percent alcohol), or two litres of wine (10 to 22 percent), or one litre of spirits (above 22 percent).

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

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New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters says “calm wise heads” are needed to sort out the crisis in New Caledonia.

A security force of more than 3000 personnel — more than half of them flown in from France — have returned to the capital Nouméa of the French territory to restore a sense of normalcy.

It comes after weeks of deadly unrest during which seven people were shot and killed, and others causing more than 200 million euros (NZ$353m) in damage.

But protests continue in the outskirts of Nouméa against the French government’s move to change New Caledonia’s electoral laws which pro-independent indigenous groups fear will dilute their political power.

Pacific Islands Forum chair Mark Brown wrote to the New Caledonia president to offer support, while Vanuatu’s climate minister Ralph Regenvanu blamed France for the crisis.

Speaking earlier this week as the final evacuation flight for New Zealand citizens and other nationals was about to depart from Nouméa, Peters would not be drawn on New Zealand’s position on Kanak aspirations for decolonisation.

“We think it’s wise for us to join with the Pacific Islands Forum, and have a statement we all agree to, rather than [New Zealand] … speaking out of turn,” Winston Peters said.

Long-term future
Peters said this was especially prudent given the views some members of the forum had been expressing in regard to New Caledonia’s long-term future.

“It’s not being reluctant to say something. But when you’re dealing with a major crisis of law and order and the destruction of property and businesses which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to fix up, we need to keep our mind on that,” he said.

“And then, when we’ve got that under control, look at the long-term pathway forward to a peaceful solution. In the end, you would expect there to be agreed self-determination.”

From May 21-28, seven New Zealand flights helped to evacuate 225 New Zealanders and 145 foreign nationals from New Caledonia.

Peters paid tribute to the hardworking teams behind the joint NZ Defence Force and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) operation which made the assistance possible.

Commercial flights into and out of New Caledonia remain closed until Sunday, June 2, and a nightly curfew is still in effect.

On Wednesday, New Caledonia’s public prosecutor confirmed three Nouméa municipal police officers were facing criminal charges after they were found to have engaged in acts of severe violence against a Kanak man they had just arrested.

The municipal police officers are not part or the French security forces that have been sent to restore law and order in New Caledonia, RNZ Pacific understands.

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

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Three Nouméa municipal policemen are now facing a prosecution after a disturbing video was posted in a Facebook neighbourhood watch group, allegedly implicating them in acts of severe violence against a Kanak man they had just arrested.

The municipal police officers are not part of the French security forces that have been sent to restore law and order, RNZ Pacific understands.

Initial investigations established that the violence took place on at 6th Kilometre, on the night of May 25-26, and that it “followed the arrest of several persons suspected of a theft attempt”, Nouméa Public Prosecutor Yves Dupas said in a statement yesterday.

The incident was captured in a brief video, later posted on social networks, being shared hundreds of times and going viral.

“It is the management of municipal police themselves who have signalled this to us”, Dupas said.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office said it had verified the authenticity of the short footage which depicted a “representative of the security forces striking a violent foot kick to the head of a person sitting on the ground after he was arrested”.

On the same video, the other two officers, all equipped with riot gear, are seen to be standing by, surrounding the victim.

Dupas said a formal inquiry was now underway against the three municipal police officers who were now facing charges of “violence from a person entrusted with public authority and failure to assist a person in peril”.

“This case will be treated with every expected severity, being related to presumed facts of illegitimate violence on the part of officers entrusted with a mission of administrative and judicial police”, the statement said.

It added that “this is the first case being treated for this type of act since the beginning of civil unrest in New Caledonia” and further stressed that law enforcement agencies deployed on the ground have displayed “professionalism” in the “difficult management of the law enforcement operations carried out”.

“The victim remains to be approached by investigators in order to undergo medical examination and assess his current health condition.”

The announcement was made as part of the French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc during his daily update on the situation.

“As a follow-up to the end of the state of emergency since Tuesday, 28 May, 2024, the ban on the platform TikTok has been lifted,” a statement said.

The ban was announced on May 15 in what was then described as an attempt to block contacts between rioting groups in the French Pacific territory.

It had since then been widely contested as a breach of human rights.

Doubts had also been expressed on how effective the measure could have been, with other platforms (such as Facebook, WhatsApp or Viber) remaining accessible and the fact that the ban on Tiktok could be easily dodged with VPN tools.

World Cup 1998 winner Karembeu ‘in mourning’
Earlier this week, former footballer and 1998 World Cup champion Christian Karembeu made a surprise revelation saying two members of his family had been shot dead during the riots.

Speaking to French radio Europe 1 on Monday, Karembeu said: “I have lost members of my family, that’s why I remained silent (until now), because I am in mourning.”

“Two members of my family have been shot with a bullet in the head. These are snipers. The word is strong but they have been assassinated and we hope investigations will be made on these murders”, the Kanak footballer said, adding the victims were his nephew and his niece.

Karembeu’s career involves 53 tests for the French national football team, one world cup victory (1998), playing for prestigious European clubs such as Nantes, Sampdoria, and Real Madrid (where he won two Champions League titles), Olympiakos, Servette, and Bastia.

He is now a strategic advisor and ambassador for Greek club Olympiakos.

Reacting to Karembeu’s announcements, Chief Prosecutor Dupas told public broadcaster NC la Première on Tuesday he believed Karembeu was referring to the two Kanak people who were killed earlier this month in Nouméa’s industrial zone of Ducos.

“I do not know what his family kinship relation is with those two victims who were assassinated in Ducos,” he said.

“But concerning these facts, an investigation is underway, it has gotten pretty far already, one (European) company manager has been arrested and remains in custody. The Justice is processing all the facts, crimes, committed.”

“We have, among the civilian victims, four persons of the Kanak community and it is a possibility that some of those could be related to Christian Karembeu”, he said.

Asked on a possibly higher number of fatalities, he stressed the death toll so far remained at seven.

“We have not received any other complaint regarding people shooting civilians”, he maintained, while encouraging members of the public who would be aware of other fatal incidents to come forward and contact his office.

“We arrived in our car, I saw the roadblock, I barely had time to reverse and go back and they started to shoot. About 10 times,” the unidentified witness said, showing two bullet holes on his car.

“I have lodged a complaint for murder attempt and now the investigation is ongoing,” he said.

Two other Kanaks said the following day, on May 16, while in the streets of their neighbourhood, they were shot at by balaclava-clad passengers of two driving by pick-up trucks.

“We started to run and that’s when we heard the first gunshots. My little brother managed to take shelter at a neighbour’s home, and I went on running with the 4WD behind me. When I arrived at my family’s home, I jumped into the garden and that’s when I heard a second gunshot”, he told La Première.

“We never thought this would happen to us”.

Dupas said another, wider investigation, was underway since May 17 in order to identify “those who are pulling the ropes and who led the “planning and committing of attacks that have hit New Caledonia”.

“This means anyone, whatever his/her level of implication, whether order-givers or just actors”.

Latest update
The state of emergency was lifted on Tuesday in New Caledonia following an announcement from French President Emmanuel Macron, who was in New Caledonia on a 17-hour visit last Thursday.

The end of the state of emergency was described by Macron as being part of the “commitments” he made while meeting representatives of New Caledonia’s pro-independence movement last week and to allow leaders to spread the message to people to lift roadblocks and barricades and “loosen the grip”.

However, a dusk-to-dawn (6pm to 6am) curfew remains in place, including a ban on public meetings, the sale of alcohol and the possession and transportation of firearms and ammunition, French High Commissioner Louis Le France said yesterday.

An estimated 3500 security forces (police, gendarmes and special riot squads) remain on the ground.

Taxis have announced they were now resuming service, but bus services remain closed because “too many roads remain impracticable”.

High Commissioner Le Franc said that since the unrest began on May 13, a total of 535 people had been arrested, 136 security forces (police and gendarmes) had been injured and the death toll remained at seven (including two gendarmes, four indigenous Kanaks and one person of European ascent).

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

National Capital District Metropolitan Police Superintendent Gideon Ikumu has ruled out a proposal to impose a curfew in the capital city Port Moresby in the wake of the recent spate of violence.

He said the situation was expected to return to normal after soldiers yesterday joined policemen on the city streets monitoring the crisis.

A fight started on Sunday evening following a dispute between scrutineers of the Moresby Northeast candidates inside the counting venue at the Sir John Guise stadium.

It spilled onto the main road where men armed with machetes attacked each other.

It continued yesterday morning.

Most business houses told their employees to stay at home yesterday for their own safety.

Vanimo-Green MP Belden Namah called for an immediate declaration of a State of Emergency in troubled zones throughout the country.

Namah calls for ‘state of emergency’
“I am now calling for immediate declaration of the State of Emergency and curfew in Port Moresby, Enga and all the trouble zones,” Namah said.

But Ikumu said a curfew was not necessary as security personnel were monitoring the situation.

He hoped everything would return to normal today.

He said police had rounded up 18 suspects since Sunday.

“Less than 10 [people were] injured. Most didn’t go to the hospital,” Ikumu said.

“No deaths. Police have to link those suspects to the incident.

“They are subject to further investigations.”

Police chief turned to military
Police Commissioner David Manning asked Defence Force Chief Major-General Mark Goina for assistance.

Caretaker Prime Minister James Marape yesterday said the National Capital District was no place for criminals.

Marape said that additional manpower from the Papua New Guinea Defence had been deployed to support the Royal Papua New Guinea constabulary to police the nation’s Capital District.

“If you do not like the results of the counting, take it to the court of disputed returns,” he said.

“And let the Electoral Commission do its job and complete the counting process, send your scrutineers in to witness, and all candidates and supporters stay away from counting sites,” he said.

Marape said that candidates who were contesting to become leaders should not try to take the law into their own hands.

Gynnie Kero is a reporter for The National in Papua New Guinea. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

French High Commissioner Patrice Faure in New Caledonia has declared an eight hour curfew for 15 days from tonight as health authorities reported 256 new cases yesterday in the covid delta variant outbreak.

The curfew will run from 9pm to 5am

Government spokesman Yannick Slamet and Health Director Dr Mabon de la Dass addressed last night’s media conference as the crisis entered its second week.

Dr De la Dass announced 256 new cases, taking the total to 821 cases since the outbreak began just over a week ago.

Seven patients were in intensive care and two people had died, one with other serious illnesses.

Eighty percent of the people hospitalised were unvaccinated.

Slamet said that local “tabac presse” shops — newsagencies — would be closed, but cigarettes and newspapers could be bought at supermarkets that remained open.

It was “inevitable” that the two-week lockdown declared last week would be extended.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fiji police have confirmed the arrest of former surgeon Dr Jone Hawea, a critic of the country’s covid pandemic response, from his Lautoka home during curfew hours.

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said Dr Hawea was taken in for police interrogation on allegations of allegedly sharing misinformation about covid-19.

“We confirm the arrest of Dr Hawea by our officers last [Tuesday] night,” Naisoro said.

“He is currently being questioned at the CID Headquarters in Suva.”

Dr Hawea was arrested in Lautoka and transported to Suva by police officers.

His lawyer, Aman Ravindra-Singh, condemned the arrest, saying he could not access his client because the arrest had been conducted during curfew hours.

Ravindra-Singh said he had been informed by his client at 3am yesterday morning that police had taken him straight to Suva.

‘Whisked out of homes’
“It is a serious concern that people get to be arrested in the middle of the night, to be whisked out of their homes amid these covid restrictions,” he said.

“What has happened to safety protocols?

“I am representing Mr Hawea and I have not been able to access him because all of these took place during curfew hours.

“He has been denied justice and his human rights.”

Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro had not yet commented on the concerns raised by Ravindra-Singh.

Several senior political figures and human rights advocates were detained by police last month for criticising the government’s strategy to address the pandemic and their rejection of the controversial iTaukei Land Act.

Fiji now has 18,916 active cases in isolation and the death toll is at 453, with 451 of them from the April outbreak.

Luke Rawalai is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fiji’s national curfew enforced by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) on Friday evening has been dubbed as thoughtless and the “height of stupidity”.

National Federation Party president Pio Tikoduadua said it showed the government’s “disconnect with reality”.

“When NDMO director announced the imposition of a curfew, she said it was with the concurrence of the Prime Minister,” said Tikoduadua.

The NDMO said a 49-year-old man had drowned and five people were missing, including a three-year-old boy from Lautoka.

Tikoduadua said: “Fiji has never, in 50 years, imposed a curfew before a cyclone because we have always relied on the good sense of our people to look after themselves and each other in natural disasters.

“After the weekend curfew announcement, there was panic buying and selling of goods while hundreds of farmers and market vendors rushed to sell their goods at a loss because their weekend business was destroyed.

“As far as we know, the curfew was not lawful because no legal steps were taken under the NDMO Act to support it and certainly government did not say they had taken any.”

Government ‘completely isolated’
Tikoduadua said the government failed to think strategically because it was completely isolated from the people.

“The people of Fiji are finding it increasingly hard to believe that this disorganised bunch of people, who just make it up as they go along, is really their government,” he said.

“They need to remember these events the next time they go to the polls.”

NDMO director Vasiti Soko apologised to the public over the change to nationwide curfew hours.

The curfew hours have reverted to the daily 11pm to 4am window after a shift in the projected path of TC Ana. On Friday, the hours had been changed by Soko in the Western Division to 12pm Saturday to 6am on Monday, February 1, 2020.

Curfew hours for the Central, Eastern and Northern Divisions, were to have begun from 4pm Saturday until 4am on Monday.

Soko said every decision made by the office was in consultation with the Fiji Meteorological Service and other stakeholders committed to ensure the safety of all citizens.

Apologies for the ‘inconvenience’
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused as the analysis we received yesterday [Friday] entitled that an announcement should be made and due to the revisions made today [yesterday] on the path of the cyclone, the Emergency Committee decided to revert the curfew hours,” she said.

She said there was no way to predict the path and nature of a cyclone and NDMO would continue to make decisions based on the current situation.

“As of when the weather calls for a decision, then it will be made, but as it is, we will continue to update the public about all the restrictions and movements.”

Luke Rawalai is a Fiji Times reporter.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Eighteen people were arrested in Fiji last night for breach of the covid pandemic curfew restrictions from 11pm yesterday to 4am.

Acting Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu said the Eastern division recorded seven reports, West recording six cases, South – four cases and one case in the Northern division.

“Of the seven reports recorded in the Eastern division – six arrests were made in the Nausori area while the seventh arrest was made in Nakasi,” Tudravu said.

READ MORE: Fiji’s covid-era budget and other reports by the Wansolwara team

“The Northern division’s lone case was made in Labasa involving a military officer who was intoxicated at the time of his arrest,” he said.

“The arrests made in the Southern division were reported in Nasinu and Valelevu, whereas the arrests made in the Western division were made in Lautoka, Rakiraki, Nadi and Sigatoka.”

The curfew was imposed in Fiji in response to the global pandemic but hours were relaxed a little from last month. Fiji has suffered only 27 cases with nine active and 18 people having recovered with no deaths.

Talebula Kate is a Fiji Times reporter.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Indra Singh in Suva

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says that if Fijians continue to disregard the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic directives from authorities, a nationwide 24-hour curfew could be imposed.

His comments come as Fiji yesterday recorded its two latest coronavirus cases, taking the total to seven.

Bainimarama said there was no “magic bullet” to overcome the deadly virus and following social-distancing instructions was the way to win the war against the disease.

READ MORE: Al Jazeera coronavirus live updates – Global infections tops 1 million

LISTEN: FBC audio of PM Bainimarama

“We’re closely watching the behavior of all Fijians, and if these habits aren’t changed on your own accord, we aren’t afraid to scale up our enforcement to contain COVID-19. We can achieve this one of two ways: By your willing cooperation, or by heavy-handed action. For every Fijian, this will be much easier if you follow our directives –– but if not, we will be forced to crack down with a nationwide 24-hour curfew.”

After announcing the lockdown for Suva, which came into effect this morning, and the changing of curfew times, the Prime Minister said people needed to be patient.

“The point is, food and essential goods will remain on the shelves of our shops and supermarkets. Do not run to the supermarkets and buy up goods this afternoon –– doing so will crowd these stores and put every shopper at-risk.”

He said the government was putting this into place to help Fiji fight against the  coronavirus.

The PM said that also from today, social gatherings would be banned entirely, everywhere in Fiji.

Indra Singh is news manager of FBC News.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Kalino Latu, editor of Kaniva News

An overnight curfew was in place in Tonga tonight as the kingdom awaited the full force of Cyclone Gita, which was threatening to become a devastating category five storm.

Tonga Police Commissioner Stephen Caldwell ordered a curfew in the central business district area of the capital Nuku’alofa between 9pm and 7am tomorrow.

The following roads set the perimetre for the CBD area – Tupoulahi Road to the east,
Mateialona Road to the south, Vaha’akolo Road to the west and Vuna Road to
the north.

READ MORE: TV One News’ Barbara Dreaver in the eye of the storm

“This is to further protect people and property, and we ask for public understanding and common sense to be used at this time.”

No one is allowed to enter the Nuku’alofa central business area apart from members of the Tropical Cyclone Gita Emergency Response Team.

Those who live within the CBD area were being urged to stay indoors, or get to an evacuation centre as soon as possible.

“We are urging people to seek refuge from this severe cyclone that could be the most powerful in the country’s history,” said Commissioner Caldwell.

Police patrols will be joined by Tonga’s Armed Forces for full coverage of Tongatapu to ensure community awareness, public safety and to evacuate as necessary.

Key safety messages to the public:

• Keep yourself and your family safe
• Keep off the road
• Stay at home if it’s safe
• Get to an Evacuation Centre as soon as possible with food and water
• Keep away from the Coastline
• Make sure you have water, food, candles, torches, medical kit if you have them
• Charge cell phones for emergency
• Keep indoors, and away from flying debris

Republished with permission from Kaniva News.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz