Since the onset of its genocide, Israel has persistently pushed a narrative that the famine devastating Gaza is not of its own making, but the result of “Hamas looting aid”.

This claim, repeated across mainstream media and parroted by officials, has been used to deflect responsibility for what many human rights experts have called a deliberate starvation campaign.

Even after Israel fully banned the entry of food, water, fuel, and medicine on March 2, Tel Aviv continued to maintain that Hamas looting, not Israeli policy, was to blame for the humanitarian catastrophe.

But that narrative has now been discredited by Israel’s internal reporting. Last week, the Israeli military admitted internally that out of 110 looting incidents they documented, none were carried out by Hamas.

Instead, the looting was done by “armed gangs, organised clans” and, to a lesser extent, starved civilians.

Those very gangs and clans are backed by Israel; they enjoy full Israeli army protection and operate in areas Israel deems “extermination zones”, where any Palestinian trying to enter would be killed or kidnapped on the spot.

The gangs had vanished during the two-month ceasefire but conveniently re-emerged as soon as Israel was pressured into allowing a limited trickle of aid to enter. The timing is no coincidence; Israeli policy has deliberately weaponised anarchy to preserve the conditions for starvation.

This pushed even the UAE to strongly condemn Israel after the army forced an Emirati aid convoy to drive through a “red zone” where Israel-backed gangs looted 23 out of 24 trucks.

So why does Israel continue to cling to a demonstrably false narrative while openly engineering a looting crisis through its proxies? Because the myth of “Hamas looting” serves a critical strategic purpose: to whitewash and legitimise a new plan that institutionalises starvation for blackmail, ethnic cleansing, collective punishment, and mass internment through a shell Israeli organisation.

This is coupled with another alarming tactic of recruiting warlords, drug dealers, and criminals to create a puppet “anti-terror” force.

Israel’s looting myth
The “looting” talking point is devoid of any logic, as Hamas would be able to do very little with thousands of tons of looted aid.

Israel and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee both claim Hamas uses the looted aid to buy new weaponry. But where would they buy such weapons from when Gaza is fully sealed off by Israel, and Rafah — the city of smuggling tunnels — is under full Israeli control?

Israel claims Hamas sells looted aid on the black market. But, again, what would they do with the money? Virtually nothing is allowed into Gaza except a trickle of food.

Israel also claims Hamas uses looted aid to recruit new militants, but Hamas doesn’t operate this way. The group depends on utmost secrecy and discipline in its operations.

Each new member passes through a long process of vetting, training, and tests to minimise the risk of infiltration. It would compromise Hamas to recruit people openly, whose only attachment to the group is bread rather than ideological commitment.

Perhaps most damning is that Israel has never captured a single instance of Hamas looting aid, despite subjecting Gaza to the most meticulous surveillance on earth. Israeli predator drones cover every inch of the enclave every minute of the day, yet there is nothing to show for Israel’s claims.

Hamas is also aware that hijacking and looting aid trucks could lead to Israel bombing the vehicles and diverting them from their predetermined route.

The Israeli army has done this on countless occasions when it fired at or bombed humanitarian convoys under the pretext that Hamas policemen came near the trucks. Ironically, those law enforcement officials were actually trying to prevent looting when they were targeted.

Israel’s allies reject the narrative
Israel’s strongest supporters have refuted the “Hamas looting” claim. President Joe Biden’s humanitarian envoy, David Satterfield, admitted in February of last year that “no Israeli official has . . . come to the administration with specific evidence of diversion or theft of assistance delivered by the UN”.

Satterfield reiterated last Tuesday that Israel has never privately alleged or offered evidence of Hamas stealing aid from the UN and INGO channels. Israel’s ambassador to the EU, Haim Regev, said in mid-October 2023 that “there’s no evidence EU aid went to Hamas”.

Cindy McCain, World Food Programme’s chief and widow of one of the most pro-Israeli GOP senators, forcefully rejected Israel’s narrative on Sunday, saying that looting “doesn’t have anything to do with Hamas . . .  it has simply to do with the fact these people are starving to death”.

The Washington Post, meanwhile, reported last week that “Israel has never presented evidence publicly or privately to humanitarian organisations or Western government officials to back up claims that Hamas had systematically stolen aid brought into Gaza”.

An internal memo jointly drafted by UN agencies and 20 INGOs in April, and viewed by The New Arab, stated that “there is no evidence of large-scale aid diversion”.

Gangs and scarcity are responsible for looting
While Israel failed to show any evidence of Hamas stealing aid, the only documented organised systematic looting happening in Gaza right now is by Israeli-backed criminal gangs who enjoy full protection from the Israeli army, according to the Washington Post, Financial Times, Ha’aretz, and the UN.

A UN memo said these gangs established a “military complex” in the heart of Rafah after Israel fully depopulated the city. Humanitarian officials say the looting often happens right in front of Israeli troops and tanks, less than 100m away, who take no action until the local police arrive, with Israeli troops then opening fire at them.

Israel not only provides protection and backing to these criminal gangs but has created the perfect conditions for looting to thrive through scarcity and a collapsing state of law and order.

Currently, a single bag of wheat flour sells for about 1,500 NIS ($425), which makes it profitable for gangs to loot and sell on the market. These astronomical prices are driven by scarcity after Israel banned all food from entering Gaza for nearly 80 days, then allowed less than 20 percent of what Gaza needs on a normal day for basic survival after intense international pressure.

During the ceasefire, however, when Israel was allowing 600 trucks to enter per day, prices went back to normal and looting disappeared because it was no longer profitable due to the abundance of food, and because the police were able to resume their work.

Manufactured crisis to advance genocide
The engineered looting crisis has long served as a convenient excuse to cover up the deliberate weaponisation of starvation against Gaza’s entire population, allowing Israel to distract from its restrictions on the entry of aid and the spread of famine by saying Hamas is to blame for stealing aid.

But now, this manufactured crisis is serving a second objective: to justify a dystopian ‘aid plan’ Israel is implementing in Gaza that has been condemned and boycotted by every UN agency and humanitarian organisation working in the enclave, as well as donor countries.

A joint UN-INGO memo warned that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation would facilitate the use of aid for forcible expulsion, by telling Gazans the only way they can receive food is by moving south to Rafah on Egypt’s border.

GHF, which Israeli opposition leaders said was an Israeli shell funded by Mossad, began its operations last Tuesday after being rocked by two scandals in one day.

GHF’s CEO had resigned on Sunday in protest of the organisation violating the principles of humanitarianism, while the organisation shut down its registered headquarters in Switzerland as soon as Swiss authorities launched an investigation.

Images coming out of the GHF’s militarised aid distribution site were immediately likened to concentration camps, where hundreds of emaciated Gazans were crowded into metal cages like cattle under the boiling sun, surrounded by armed US mercenaries, Israeli troops, and sand dunes.

Alarmingly, people who received aid noted the presence of Arabic speakers in addition to American mercenaries. Last week, the Israel-backed Islamic State-linked gang leader Yasser Abu Shabab emerged in Rafah again after a long disappearance.

Abu Shabab, a drug dealer and wanted criminal previously arrested multiple times by the local police, was the primary suspect in the systematic looting of aid under Israeli protection. This time, however, he emerged in a brand new uniform and military gear and started a Facebook page promoting himself in English and Arabic to mark a new “anti-terror” force operating in Israel-controlled Rafah.

Additional pictures viewed by The New Arab showed multiple armed men dressed in the same uniform as Abu Shabab armed with M-16s standing in front of a humanitarian convoy.

The unravelling of Israel’s “Hamas looting” narrative lays bare a chilling truth: starvation in Gaza is not collateral damage — it is a calculated weapon in a broader campaign of collective punishment and displacement.

By cultivating chaos, empowering criminal gangs, and then manipulating the humanitarian crisis they manufactured, Israel seeks to maintain extreme restrictions on aid, while externalising blame and avoiding accountability.

It is the machinery of genocide disguised in bureaucratic language and carried out under the watchful eyes of the world.

Muhammad Shehada is a Palestinian writer and analyst from Gaza and the European Union affairs manager at Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. The article was first published by The New Arab. On X at: @muhammadshehad2

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

“We want grants and not concessional loans,” is the crisp message from Papua New Guinea businesses directly affected by the Black Wednesday looting four months ago.

The businesses, which lost millions after the January 10 rioting and looting, say they need grants as part of the government’s Restock and Rebuild assistance — and not more loans.

This is the message delivered by the PNG Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday after news that the national government has so far given K7 million (NZ$3.2 million) in funding to several affected companies to pay staff salaries.

President Ian Tarutia said the business coalition representing impacted businesses would be meeting with the Chief Secretary and his inter-agency team this week to find out when the assistance will be given.

Their message at this crucial meeting will be the same — no loans!

“The real impact assistance that is truly beneficial is rebuilding and restocking,” Tarutia said.

“We will meet with the chief secretary hopefully this week to get an update on this component of the government’s relief assistance to affected businesses.

Concessional rate loans
Tarutia explained that an initial National Executive Council decision was to provide loans at concessional rates and managed through the National Development Bank.

“Business Coalition’s response was grants and not loans are the preferred assistance. Meeting with the Chief Secretary this week hopefully can resolve this.”

He also indicated that in the initial impact by businesses compiled in late January, the estimated cost for rebuild and restock covering loss of property, cost of clean up, loss of goods was K774 million.

“This was for 64 businesses mainly in Port Moresby but a few in Goroka, Rabaul, Kundiawa and Kavieng,” he said.

“Out of this K774 million, an amount of K273 million was submitted as needed immediately.

“Business Coalition met last Saturday morning. Business houses are looking forward to meeting Chief Secretary Pomaleu and his inter-agency team this week to find out when the assistance for rebuilding destroyed properties and restocking looted inventory will be given.”

Tarutia acknowledged that so far, the government had paid out approximately K7 million in wage support for businesses which includes eight businesses including CPL.

Businesses acknowledge the wage support to date and are appreciative on behalf of their affected staff.

Dale Luma is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Academic Andrew Anton Mako says the Papua New Guinea’s systemic dysfunction was plain to see in the rioting and looting throughout the country’s main cities two weeks ago.

That rioting was sparked by a protest by police after unannounced deductions from their wages.

It led to a riot causing the deaths of more than 20 people, widespread looting and hundreds of millions of dollars damage to businesses.

The government, which declared a two-week long state of emergency, put the wage deductions down to a glitch in the system.

Mako, who is a visiting lecturer and project coordinator for the ANU-UPNG Partnership with the Australian National University’s Development Policy Centre, said that the rioting would not have happened if the system was working properly.

“That information could have been transmitted through the system so that not only the police officers, but other public servants would have been assured that there was a glitch in the system, and then they would return the money in the next pay,” he said.

Symptom of major problems
“I think that information could have been made available to the officers quickly and the protests should not have happened.”

He said it was not an isolated event but a symptom of major problems facing the country.

“The government and the policymakers really need to take a comprehensive approach in addressing that,” Mako said.

He said that in the administration there were entire areas where little development or reform had happened in a generation.

The last attempt to look at the government machinery was more than 20 years, under Sir Mekere Morauta, but since then “there hasn’t been any sort of reforms to improve governance, improve public safety, efficiency, and all that.”

Mako believes if the work of Sir Mekere had been continued the country would not be facing the problems it is at the moment.

What reforms are needed
Mako said the government needs to know it faces major issues that cannot be resolved quickly — they will need to think in terms of years before reforms can be bedded in.

“It’s not going to be easy, they have to really work on it for a number of years. They will have to come up with a reform agenda work on it for the next four or five years.”

Up to now, Mako said, politicians have just dealt with the symptoms, rather than addressing the underlying issues, such as unemployment.

He sees the high crime rate as being closely linked to the lack of work opportunities, along with high inflation and the failure of wages to keep pace.

“The focus has to be on the sectors that create jobs. So over the last few years, over the last decade or so, a lot of focus has really been on the resources sector, the mineral, petroleum and gas sector.

“Those sectors are really called enclave sectors and they have really limited linkage with the broader sectors of the economy,” Mako said.

“So the mineral sectors do not create a lot of jobs. A lot of the jobs [there] are done by either machines or highly skilled workers. So it is the sectors like agriculture, like fisheries, like tourism, forestry, those are the sectors really, really create jobs.”

Mako added the government should be focussing on investing in, and developing policies, in these traditional sectors, enabling many of the unemployed, especially the young, to find work.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

East Sepik Governor Allan Bird says Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape must take responsibility for the Port Moresby riots two weeks ago.

The National reports Governor Bird saying the police cannot be punished for the looting and burning, the government is totally responsible for what happened.

“You can’t just pass the buck, we’ve got to take responsibility for that,” said Bird, a government MP.

He said the rioting — dubbed Black Wednesday — was a stain on PNG’s history, a stain on all members of Parliament, and a stain on all of decisionmakers, who for many years had failed to deal with the underlying issues in the country.

Governor Bird said the lack of employment and increases in living costs had contributed to the buildup of frustrations that led to the riots in which lives were lost, women raped, and businesses destroyed.

Last week, Morobe Governor Luther Wenge said a change in leadership would restore confidence in government, and called for Marape to put his leadership of the Pangu Party on the table.

Wenge said he was not going anywhere, that he was a Pangu Pati member, but a change in leadership was necessary.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Prime Minister James Marape said efforts would be made to mobilise people aged 16 to 30, who were not in work or education.

Some of the blame for the rioting and looting has been put on out-of-work youth.

The PNG Post-Courier quotes him saying the responsibility for doing this will be passed to provincial and district administrations, which will be expected to make use of the money from the intervention funds they receive.

“I want to appeal to every young Papua New Guinean child out there, I’m your father. As Prime Minister, I’m your father, listen to this.

‘Talk to your church’
“Go to your church somewhere, in your community, neighbourhood and you and tell them, I’m not in a class this year, or I have graduated in a college or university and have no employment,” Marape said.

“The entire 97 districts throughout the country will be asked to mobilise the youth.”

The prime minister urged the youth to make contact with their respective district education advisors and community development advisers, including district development authority chief executive officers.

He said the churches would link the youth to these district governments.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

National Capital District commander Assistant Commissioner Anthony Wagambie Jr has been suspended for 21 days.

Wagambie’s suspension comes after an internal investigation by the PNG police Internal Affairs Directorate.

Acting Police Commissioner Donald Yamasombi approved the suspension to “facilitate a thorough and impartial investigation”, The National newspaper reported.

“He [Wagambie] will have the opportunity to provide further information to investigators as is required during this [disciplinary] process,” he said.

“This is the first of potentially several more suspensions with the way in which some police personnel conducted themselves during the mayhem.”

The violence broke out in Port Moresby last week on Black Wednesday — January 10 — with shops and businesses set alight after public servants, including police and army personnel, went on strike over a payroll issue.

As many as 22 people died in the violence, which prompted the government to issue a state of emergency.

Last week the PNG Police Commissioner David Manning was suspended alongside the secretaries of Finance, Treasury and the Department of Personnel Management.

When announcing these suspensions last Friday, Prime Minister James Marape said: “it’s not good enough that operating agencies do not get to work properly that has caused us this stress”.

RNZ Pacific’s PNG correspondent Scott Waide said there was strong public support for Wagambie online.

Major supermarket retailers went into panic mode yesterday and shut their doors early after corruption fighting no nonsense top cop Anthony Wagambie Jnr was sidelined by Acting Police Commissioner Donald Yamasombi.

Click here to read more: ( https://t.co/SGuaq56UQJ )

— PostCourierlive (@postcourierlive) January 17, 2024

Social media shutdown, warns minister
Meanwhile, PNG’s Telecommunications Minister Timothy Masiu has announced that the government could shut down social media if people misused it during the state of emergency.

Masiu, a former journalist, said there was significant evidence people had spread false information on social media sites leading to the destruction of properties in Port Moresby and around the country.

The Port Courier reports him saying people who engaged in such bogus activity would lose their social media accounts and could face arrest and charges for fomenting violence.

Masiu said discussions on social media that incited violence, destruction, that spread false information or confidential government information, would be closely monitored.

He said national security, public emergency and public safety was critical for a secure nation and a “happy and safe country”.

The government has already revealed the state of emergency rules allow draconian measures such as searches of private homes, property, vehicles and phones by government agents.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Last year, the Papua New Guinea government moved in a subtle way into the Fourth Estate.

It tried to — and is still trying to — find a way to curtail and restrict your access to mainstream and social media by trying to gag media organisations.

Obviously, this was an attack on media freedom. We were not going to take it sitting down.

We met the government head-on to protect our country’s media freedoms, and to ensure the public — that’s you — are well informed on what is happening in our country.

Today, we report on a government endeavor, which we consider extremely dangerous and an affront to the intelligence of Papua New Guineans, which we also believe is impinging our constitutional freedoms.

The government, in introducing a State of Emergency, has gone to a dangerous level of invoking section 70 of the NICTA Act.

Section 70, according to our Prime Minister, gives absolute rights to government agents including police, soldiers and undercover agents, to enter any home and check private house and property.

Section 70 also gives these agents all the power to search your phone. This is in our view draconian and extreme.

What will become of democracy? Is this a test run for what is yet to come?

We will support any move to impose restrictions that will save lives and protect properties and ensure peace and good order.

But we do not promote laws that will instill fear, limit freedom and impinge on the rights of the common people.

No to draconian governance, no to dictatorial leadership.

While we support the State of Emergency as a deterrent to further violence, looting and acts of terror against businesses and citizens, we consider the power to search without a warrant as a direct attack on the freedoms guaranteed by the constitution to our people.

This Section 70 of the National Information and Communication Technology (NICTA) Act 2009 seems to be the same section used by government in its recent attempt to curtail the media.

While this action seems to have been sparked by the Black Wednesday looting in Port Moresby on December 10, one cannot rule out the perplexity of the first sitting of Parliament on February 13 where a Vote of No Confidence in the government is looming.

The NICTA Act allows the government to require operator licensees, such as telecommunication companies, to provide ICT services, restrict or delay certain communications, disclose the content of specified communications to the Minister, and coordinate with other government organisations if necessary.

The activation of Section 70 is likely to agitate citizens regarding privacy rights and the protection of personal information.

However, the government contends that these measures are necessary to address public emergencies and ensure public safety.

The government has yet to come clear on how this section 70 will be enforced and carried out.

Will the police and army use section 70 to conduct raids on suspected homes, communities, and people?

Will there be search warrants for these phone searches, home searches, bag searches?

What is the recourse for the public if they are caught in the crossfire of section 70?

The Prime Minister and his Minister for Internal Security must explain this clearly.

This editorial was published by the PNG Post-Courier on 16 January 2024.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The political fallout from the deadly riots in Papua New Guinea continues, including calls for a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister James Marape.

Seven MPs in Marape’s government have resigned following last week’s riots in Port Moresby and Lae — dubbed “Black Wednesday” — and the current death toll has reached 22

Belden Namah, representative for Vanimo-Green, is the latest government MP to resign.

Namah is a senior MP and a former captain in the PNG Defence Force. He was involved in removing Sandline mercenaries in 1997 after similar rioting and looting. As such, his resignation is a significant blow to the Marape regime.

Last Friday, Morobe Governor Luther Wenge called for an emergency sitting of Parliament to address urgent issues including a vote of no confidence.

Marape still has the majority and may announce a possible reshuffle in the coming days.

It is expected that there will be ministries that will be reworked so that the main base of power will still be contained.

Normalcy has returned on the ground the only tension is within political circles where people were preparing for a vote of no confidence or calling for a vote of no confidence.

Property returned
After several days of intense rioting in Port Moresby, Lae and other regions of Papua New Guinea the current death toll has reached 22.

However, it is suspected that the actual death toll, as order is restored, will be higher.

Acting Police Commissioner Donald Yamasombi asked people to return stolen property.

Yamasombi told looters to leave stolen items outside their homes for the military and police to pick up, on Saturday and Sunday.

His request was met with reasonable compliance.

A couple in Lae were arrested for abusing police over social media. The couple were “made an example of” for supporting the looters.

Videos of looter protests
There were also videos of looters expressing their dissatisfaction and telling the government why they were looting.

There is a feeling that something needs to happen. There are underlying frustrations among the population like the lack of opportunity for young people and the youth problems not dealt with.

The public’s frustrations are mirrored by PNG police, concerning their poor housing, work and pay conditions. Officers are expected to go into tribal fighting zones without body armour for protection.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Gerehu, the sprawling suburban township to the north of Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby, is now a “ghost town” for shoppers.

All major shops in the central business district in the city’s biggest suburb — Papindo, Gmart, Total Energy service station, Desh Besh Motors, Pharmacy, Supermarket and the bakery which serve a population of more than 50,000 — was set on fire by looters on last week’s “Black Wednesday” riot.

There is nothing left of the shops but debris and charred remains of buildings.

Many residents have expressed remorse that there is nothing left.

“Gerehu is now a ghost town,” said one emotional resident.

“We have nothing here anymore and the shops we grew up with are gone.

“Gone just like that at the blink of an eye.

‘I grew up here’
“I grew up here, this is my home.

“Oh my heart breaks.”

The busiest bus stop in the city was empty with no vendors in sight.

The main market was left with only a few food items and vendors.

One could guess mothers were chased out of the market as well while doing their usual marketing.

Only the thin smoke coming out from the walls and outside of the sheds was noticeable when the PNG Post-Courier visited the area at the weekend.

The Government has evoked a law that now gives government agents absolute rights to search your homes, vehicles and mobile phones during the State of Emergency.

Click the link to read more: ( https://t.co/5Ykkzwo0Rz )

— PostCourierlive (@postcourierlive) January 15, 2024

Gerehu General Hospital security supervisor Topo Dambe said the burning of buildings affected their area where they had received several casualties and the hospital was busy throughout the day.

“But when they set fire to the shops, the hospital staff and the lives of the people and properties were at risk and we were left to protect them and the hospital,” Dambe said.

“We had to close the gates allowing only emergencies.”

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Rogue police officers have been alleged to be part of last Wednesday’s uprising of opportunists leading to looting and ransacking of more than 20 shops and loss of businesses in the capital of Port Moresby.

Prime Minister James Marape said last week’s “Black Wednesday” unrest had led the government to consider the Vagrancy Act and complete the national Census.

Marape said the 14-day State of Emergency orders included “no movement of large crowds”.

“There is no curfew and limited movement of large crowds will be stopped,” he said.

“Police will be supported by the PNG Defence Force and they will be allowed to stop anyone and check them.

“We are taking a soft approach to the SOE for the next 14 days,” Marape added.

Meanwhile, Brian Bell Group chair Ian Clough has made an impassioned plea to the government for assistance to rebuild its business because the company’s losses suffered in the Black Wednesday plunder were not covered by insurance, reports Claudia Tally.

He said that all businesses which suffered the “indignity of huge losses” through theft, arson and looting were not covered by insurance companies.

Brian Bell suffered losses of 50 million kina (NZ$21.5 million) million) after its warehouse in Port Moresby’s Gerehu Stage 6 was completely emptied by looters during the citywide plunder of businesses on January 10.

An emotional Clough said all businesses were not covered by insurance for civil unrest. This situation needed to be treated as a “natural disaster” where the government
must step in to assist.

Gorethy Kenneth, Miriam Zarriga and Claudia Tally are PNG Post-Courier reporters. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Port Moresby is in a state of emergency for 14 days with at least 16 people confirmed dead following violent unrest on Wednesday.

The violence broke out with shops and businesses being set alight after public servants went on strike over what has been described as a payroll error.

Prime Minister James Marape announced at a late night news conference on Thursday that more than 1000 defence force personnel WEre ready to step in whereever necessary.

Amnesty International Pacific researcher Kate Schuetze told RNZ Pacific firearms was often never an appropriate way to respond to protests.

“They have declared a state of emergency under the constitution which gives extraordinary powers to the authorities like the police and the military,” Schuetze said.

“What we really want to do is just remind them that protesters have human rights, that people in the streets have rights as well and ultimately, they have to work in a way to use the least lethal force possible and uphold the right to life.”

Members of the disciplined forces were among those protesting after their fortnightly pay checks were reduced by up to 300 kina (US$80).

Schuetze said the deductions for some officers amounted to half their pay packet.

“The deductions we’re talking about here are not an insignificant amount … understandably they were concerned.

“There’s questions around how much the government knew prior to the strike around this pay area and why they didn’t take steps to address it sooner.”

Schuetze said inflation was a concern for people.

“A lot of people are doing it tough in Papua New Guinea and I think it could be a sign of rising resentment and dissatisfaction with the leadership of the government, as well as livelihood factors that people feel are not being addressed.”

Marape is under increasing political pressure to step down, with six members of his coalition government resigning in the aftermath of the deadly violence.

Among them, Chauve MP James Nomane and Hiri-Koiari MP Kieth Iduhu made their resignations public via social media and blamed blamed Marape for the riots.

Schuetze said there needed to be “prompt, impartial and independent investigation” into what happened, including the causes of the riots.

“Likely there will be several colliding factors which cause this to happen.

“Any government, if this happens on their watch, if it happened in Australia, in New Zealand, we would expect there to be a full independent public inquiry.”

She said there tended to be an absence of appropriate police response to address the violent acts once they had occurred in Papua New Guinea.

“Obviously, the fact that people have died in the course of these riots is a really strong indicator that there may be human rights violations by the state.”

Schuetze said there were lots of videos uploaded to social media that showed police actively encouraging and participating in the chaos.

“If the police themselves were involved in acts of violence, there is a responsibility of the state to hold them accountable as well, as much as any other person engaged in active violence.”

‘Dysfunctional government’
Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International PNG (TIPNG) said the frustration among police, and other public servants over tax calculations, was just the tip of the iceberg of a dysfunctional government system.

It is calling on the PNG government to engage immediately in genuine open dialogue with the police representatives to address their legitimate grievances.

The organisation’s board chair Peter Aitsi said this must be done quickly through transparent and open communication in order to resolve this crisis.

Aitsi said the public service and police were institutions of the state, and if truly independent and free of political control, should play a critical role as a check and balance to the executive government.

Open for business
Meanwhile, PNG’s largest retail and wholesale organisation — the CPL Group — has re-opened for business.

In a statement on Friday, the company said its Stop & Shop outlet at Waigani Central, Town, Boroko, Airways was now open.

The City Pharmacy chain in Waigani Drive, Boroko and Vision city are also open for trading.

However, the group says those outlets in areas which “suffered devastatingly” remained closed.

It is also warned people not to use stolen pharmaceutical products, including baby formulas, off the counter and prescription medicines.

It is urging the public not to buy these products as they may be damaged and tampered with and wrong doses could be administered.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fires from the 24-hour spate of looting, rioting and mayhem in Papua New Guinea’s Port Moresby — the worst ever social unrest in the city — have all but subsided into skeletal remains of ash and buildings in National Capital District (NCD).

The smoke has cleared with six members of Parliament resigning from the Pangu Pati-led government, 10 people are dead in in Lae and NCD, 46 are wounded and hospitalised, and multiple people are suffering non-threatening injuries.

The government responded by declaring a State of Emergency in NCD and suspending Police Commissioner David Manning and secretaries of the Department of Finance Sam Penias, Treasury Andrew Oeka, Personnel Management Taies Sansan for 14 days.

The Post-Courier understands there was disagreement on the suspension and that the SOE was not the way forward. However, National Executive Council decided on going ahead with the SOE and suspension.

According to details released by Prime Minister James Marape, cabinet deliberated yesterdy afternoon and in a decision invoking Section 226 of the Constitution a a 14-day SOE was declared in Port Moresby only.

“14 days is the limit of the SOE, any longer period would require Parliament approval,” Marape said.

Meanwhile, according to the details released by Marape, Deputy Commissioner of Police-Special Operations Donald Yamasombi is now acting Police Commissioner and Controller of the country.

“Secretaries for Treasury, Finance and Personnel Management who are suspended for 14 days, their respective deputies are now acting.”

Prime Minister Marape reiterated his claim that riots in Port Moresby had been organised, but declined to say they were political, instead saying his government would only be removed on floor of Parliament.

He said that Chief Secretary and others would undertake an investigation of what happened in Port Moresby.

In other coverage of the crisis by the weekend edition of the Post-Courier, Claudia Tally reports:

Few shops open
Port Moresby was in confusion yesterday following the aftermath of the worst ever civil disorder as reality sets in leaving people with no shops open to buy food and essentials from.

While the PNG Defence Force and members of the police patrolled the city’s streets in an attempt to restore normalcy many genuine city residents were queued at the only three service stations open to refuel their vehicles in anticipation of the weekend.

A-Mart supermarket at Manu Auto Port was the only shop open within the vicinity of Taurama and Boroko suburbs where angry shoppers crowded around the shop begging for entry which was heavily guarded by PNG Defence Force soldiers.

On Wednesday, more than 20 shops were looted and 8 others burnt leaving the streets of Port Moresby covered in papers and plastics from the items that were looted by hundreds of people who took advantage of the city polices strike over their salaries.

A mother of four who wished to be anonymous was worried where she would buy food for her children over the next couple of weeks as all the shops, she knows have been either looted, burnt or are closed for security reasons.

“I went to a shop at Hanuabada and waited for three hours for it to open to buy my children’s food but unfortunately, it was not open so I came back,” she said.

‘How are we going to survive’
“If these issues are not resolved, how are we going to survive.

“These shops are our gardens. They are where we get our food from.”

Meanwhile, many tucker boxes and canteens in the city were open today and their prices have sky rocketed only hours after Wednesday’s wild rampage.

For example, at Konedobu a 1kg packet of rice now costs K10 (NZ $4.50) — double the price prior to the looting.

Following the disorder, many clinics were also closed to the public over safety concerns.

Miriam Zarriga, Gorethy Kenneth and Claudia Tally are PNG Post-Courier reporters. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A political crisis is starting to brew in Papua New Guinea as calls are made for Prime Minster James Marape to step down in the wake of deadly riots in parts of the country.

Violence broke out with shops and businesses being set alight late yesterday, after public servants, including police and army personnel, went on strike over a pay roll issue.

At least 10 people have been confirmed dead — eight in Port Moresby and two others in the northern city of Lae. [Al Jazeera reports 15 dead while ABC Pacific says 16 have been killed].

On Thursday morning, Marape appealed to citizens not to take to the streets and “do anything and everything they feel”.

“Ill-discipline in the police force will not be tolerated, ill-discipline in the defence will not be tolerated, you can have one moment in the sunlight but this moment won’t last forever,” he said at a news conference on Thursday.

There has been widespread anger over Marape’s handling of the dispute as the violence and looting continues.

Police and defence personnel are trying to restore order, with 180 additional police flying into Port Moresby today.

‘Complete breakdown’
Six MPs have resigned from Papua New Guinea’s government. They are Sir Puka Temu, David Arore, James Donald, Maso Hewabi, Keith Iduhu and James Nomane.

Chauve MP James Nomane and Hiri-Koiari MP Kieth Iduhu made their resignations public via social media.

Both blamed Marape for the riots in Port Moresby, and which are now spreading to other parts of the country.

Nomane and Iduhu are members of Marape’s ruling Pangu Pati, and have called on him to resign.

“Today, I have tendered my resignation from the Marape-Rosso government due to my lack in confidence in the Prime Minister’s leadership,” said Iduhu in a Facebook post.

“I join the call of my colleague MPs in asking for the Prime Minister’s resignation based on the complete breakdown of our societal values and welfare,” he added.

Iduhu went on to accuse Marape of failing to address the grievances raised by Papua New Guinea’s police and military.

Core issue
“The core issue surrounding the grievances raised by the disciplinary forces was completely avoidable had it not been for bureaucratic negligence, and ensuing events even after the government was made aware of the situation displayed a lack of care for the potential for the situation to spiral of control,” he said.

Nomane’s statement of resignation was much harsher. He steps down from a senior role as PNG’s Vice Minister of National Planning.

He accused Marape of failing to run the country.

Violent riots in PNG leave 16 people dead, as PM declares state of emergency for 14 days https://t.co/AzxcX2MUXP

— The Pacific Newsroom (@newsroom_the) January 11, 2024

“I, now on this 11th day of January 2024, resign from the Marape-led government. I have no confidence in the prime minister,” Nomane said.

James Nomane, MP for Chuave District. Photo: Papua New Guinea Parliament

“Do the honourable thing and resign as the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. Resign for being indecisive and weak … resign for the country slipping into a Banana Republic, and for this crisis happening under your watch.

“What happened in Port Moresby yesterday was absolutely unacceptable . . . and warrants the immediate resignation of James Marape as the prime minister.

“The time has come for James Marape to stop pretending and step aside as the prime minister to put the nation’s interest ahead of his own . . .  This facade must stop.”

RNZ has approached the prime minister for comment.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

At least 10 people are dead and dozens injured after 24 hours of looting in Papua New Guinea, during which several buildings were torched.

Chaos broke out in Port Moresby as looters and opportunists took advantage of a protest by the country’s police and military.

People have been ordered to leave the streets of the capital after Wednesday’s violent riots, and have been warned authorities will use “live rounds”.

Looting has spread to at least four other towns, including Kavieng, reports the PNG Post-Courier.

Footage and images circulating on social media show crowds of people leaving shops with looted goods — everything from merchandise to soft drinks to freezers — as the National Capital District (NCD) descended into chaos overnight.

The national daily newspaper PNG Post-Courier labelled the events the “Darkest day in our city” and NCD Governor Powes Parkop appealed to the looters to stop.

Port Moresby General Hospital say eight people have been killed, and another two have been confirmed dead by police central command in Lae, the country’s second biggest city.

‘My heart goes out’
“The cost of the ensuing looting and destruction is substantial, and my heart goes out to all the businesses in the city that have been affected,” Parkop said according reports.

Unverified videos have also emerged of bodies of several men allegedly shot dead who were involved in the unrest on Wednesday and children and women wailing around them in Port Moresby.

RNZ Pacific is trying to verify the footage.

Police and the PNG Defence Force reinforcements have been called from outside the capital to restore order.

Emergency service providers have been working overnight attending to high numbers of people injured in the violence at various locations.

“The ambulance service has received a large number of emergencies calls in the National Capital District relating to shooting incidents and persons injured in an explosion,” St. John Ambulance Service said on their Facebook page.

“The ambulance operations centre are prioritising high-priority emergencies only at this point.”

Stretched to limit
The Papua New Guinea Fire Service has had its resources stretched to its limits as it struggled to contain fires in multiple locations.

The Port Moresby General Hospital had to close overnight while a smaller hospital at the Gerehu suburb, evacuated its patients as a nearby shop was set on fire.

Large businesses suffered big losses in just a few hours.

The City Pharmacy Limited (CPL) group, which owns one of the biggest supermarket and pharmacy chains in Port Moresby, had most its shops raided and burned overnight.

Looters also stole electronic appliances from warehouses and shops owned by the Brian Bell group of companies.

Police Commissioner David Manning called on all people in Port Moresby that to clear the streets and go home.

Mobile squad called in
Last night, additional police from the Highlands Mobile Group (HMG) were flown in from from Lae to help restore order.

The government also issued a call out for the military to assist police.

The events began on Wednesday morning local time, after about 200 police and the military personnel gathered at the Ungai Oval to protest over pay deductions from their wages.

They wanted answers from authorities about the “tax” in their most recent pay period, but a government minister who addressed them could not convince them why the deductions had been made.

The tax office said the issue caused by a “glitch” in the accounting system.

What triggered the chaos
In the last fortnight pay cycle, several service members saw a reduction in their pay, ranging from $100 PNG kina to $350 PNG kina (US$26-US$80).

It was not clear whether it was due to a tax, or a glitch in the system.

Many of them were told later, through a statement from the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC), and the prime minister’s office that there was a glitch in the payrolls system.

That triggered a gathering of about 200 policemen and women, military personnel and correctional services personnel in Port Moresby. They demanded an answer from the government, saying a “glitch” wasn’t a satisfactory answer.

They then moved from Unagi Oval to Parliament house, opened the gates of Parliament, and the Police Minister Peter Siamali Jr tried to address them. The security personnel then withdrew their services, and the city descended into chaos overnight.

Initially it was sporadic looting in various suburbs of Port Moresby. In the Gerehu suburb one shop was burned, and a few kilometres down to Waigani there was a shop that was burnt, and over the next three to four hours it became worse and several more shops were looted because there was no police presence there.

Policemen were there, but nothing could be done to the looters, so it has degenerated to a point where there is widespread looting.

The Finance Department and prime minister have tried to explain the so-called “glitch”, saying it was being fixed, but that has not gone down well with the service members.

The Northern Mobile Group, a mobile squad unit from out of Port Moresby which looks after one part of the region, has been flown into Port Moresby, and is expected to restore order.

The military has been called out to assist police.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Shops have been set on fire or looted in parts of Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby as unrest broke out during a police and military strike.

The protest over unexplained pay deductions to salaries of police, military, and correctional services has triggered sporadic looting in Port Moresby.

About 200 Papua New Guinea police and military personnel abandoned work for a day to protest.

At 10am (local time) yesterday, police and military personnel gathered at Port Moresby’s Unagi Oval in protest over what they say are hefty “tax” deductions in the most recent pay period.

According to service members, the deductions over the last fortnight range between US$26 and US$80 (K100 and K300).

The police union demanded answers from the government at the gathering and by 11am, a large group proceeded to Parliament where they demanded answers from the Prime minister and members of the cabinet.

The deductions come as Papua New Guineans experienced a noticeable rise in the cost of goods and services in the last three months.

Working to resolve issue
The Internal Revenue Commissioner released a statement saying that the government was working as quickly as possible to resolve the issue.

Prime Minister James Marape released a statement calling for calm while stating that the deductions were caused by a glitch in the government payroll system.

An earlier RNZ Pacific report said that Assistant Police Commissioner Anthony Wagambie addressed the protesters at Unagi Oval.

“Frustrations boiled over so they got into their vehicles and stormed Parliament . . . they opened the gates and went into Parliament,” reported Scott Waide.

“There was no real resistance to stop them . . . it was a rowdy crowd, the defence minister had attempted to speak to them outside of Parliament before they walked in.”

Police Association president Lowa Tambua demanded an answer about why there had been deductions.

‘Immediate answer’ demand
“We want an immediate answer from the Minister of Police and the Prime Minister,” Tambua said.

“We we’re all caught by surprise . . . come and address my members as to why this has happened.

“Don’t hide between the Parliament House . . . come over here and address our police men and women.”

IRC commissioner-general Sam Koim said “there has been no tax increase” to their salaries.

In a short statement, Koim said: “There was a technical glitch on the Alesco payroll configurations and hence the deductions.”

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz