Fiji is the latest regional country to announce it is sending security forces to Solomon Islands where major unrest rocked the capital.

Days of rioting in Honiara by mobs who torched buildings and looted shops prompted the government to call for outside help.

In what’s shaping up as a Pacific regional response, Fiji yesterday deployed 50 soldiers to help keep the peace in Honiara, with 120 more troops on standby.

They follow last week’s deployment of more than 100 Australian defence force and police personnel, as well as 37 Papua New Guinea police and correctional service forces.

Canberra has been playing a co-ordinating role with the other Pacific nations. New Zealand is also part of the conversation, although its role appears minimal at this stage.

Signs from both Australia and PNG indicate that, provisionally, their forces are expected to be in Solomon Islands no longer than a month.

The Fiji military unit is deploying as part of a reinforcement platoon embedded with the Australian contingent in Honiara.

120 troops on standby
According to the Fiji government, another 120 Fijian troops are on standby if required.

Over three days last week, many buildings were torched in Honiara’s east, particularly its Chinatown area — leaving at least three people dead.

The unrest had spiralled from a protest against Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare last Wednesday.

By the weekend, law and order was largely restored in Honiara due to the reinforcement of local police capabilities due to the peacekeepers from Australia and Papua New Guinea.

On Monday, the Solomons Parliament met briefly — amid tight security — to pass two motions. One was for the routine extension of the State of Public Emergency in place since the start of the covid-19 pandemic.

The other was to authorise expenditure for the massive loss and damage caused by the riots — estimated at US$28 million.

Despite the resignation of four government MPs last week, and calls for him to stand down to restore control in the country, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare still commands a clear majority in the House.

‘Melting pot of the country’
The MP for Central Guadalcanal, Peter Shanel Agovaka, who is also Communications and Aviation Minister, said each time a group of people from outer provinces who were unhappy with the government, they tended to come to Honiara and destroy local business houses.

“I think people from other provinces should respect that as hosts of this capital we allow people of all provinces, and all denominations and all races, to come here.

“This is the melting pot of the country, and to see it in ruins like this is really very sad.”

According to Shanel, a lot of households had been affected.

“Eighty to 90 percent of Chinatown is burnt down. This is really sad, because these are innocent people,” he said.

“The way to remove a prime minister is through the parliamentary process. It’s not through the burning of businesses or private properties and looting them.”

Capital’s schools close
All schools in the Solomon Islands capital have been ordered to close early as a result of the widespread destruction caused by last week’s unrest in Honiara.

Education Secretary Dr Franco Rodie said the decision was reached after consultation with the heads of various schools and taking into consideration parents concerns for the safety of their children.

Dr Rodie said thankfully most major exit examinations had already been conducted and in class assessments will have to be taken into consideration for everyone else.

State of emergency
Forty-one out of 49 members of Parliament on Monday yesterday voted in favour of the four-month-extension, as proclaimed by the Governer-General, Sir David Vunagi.

Opposition leader Matthew Wale asked for clarification on the covid status of emergency personnel from Australia and Papua New Guinea brought in because of last week’s riots.

Health Minister Culwick Togamana said all foreign security personnel were double vaxxed and tested negative for covid-19 upon departure and again on arrival in the country.

Togamana also expressed disappointment in the poor uptake of vaccines with less than 20 percent of the population fully vaccinated.

Clean-up underway
The clean-up in Honiara is underway and church and community groups are turning up to clear the wreckage from last week’s rioting.

However, the riots have created a shortage of food and RNZ Pacific correspondent Elisabeth Osifelo said there had been long queues for the shops that were open, as well as for petrol and at ATMs while banks remain closed.

“The prices have sllightly gone up with rice and so it just depends on where the shop is,” she explained.

“I found out towards the eastern parts of Honiara because I think the shops are very limited that the prices have gone up and varying on different items as well.”

Solomon Islands police have confirmed the identity of the three bodies recovered from a building burnt in Chinatown during the violence — an adult and two children.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

PNG’s Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey (left) … in the middle of a furore between two senior journalists, Gorethy Kenneth and Freddy Mou, and Police Minister Bryan Kramer over media ethics. Image: Kramer Report

By Pacific Media Watch

PAPUA New Guinea’s Police Minister Bryan Kramer has published an extraordinary attack on two leading journalists over their reporting of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, accusing them of “misrepresenting” a financial update this week and suggesting they ought to be sacked.

He claimed in an Easter weekend posting on his Kramer Report – a Facebook publication dedicated to being the “inside story through in-depth investigative reporting and critical analysis” with more than 124,000 followers – that Loop PNG political and business editor Freddy Mou and senior PNG Post-Courier journalist Gorethy Kenneth “can’t be trusted”.

“Both journalists have close ties to the former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill. Both have also been accused of publishing biased and misleading reports,” Kramer alleged.

The commentary was headlined: “Who got it wrong? PNG Loop or the Treasurer?”

Kramer accused Mou of misrepresenting a one-on-one interview with Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey in alleging that the bulk of the 23 million kina (almost NZ$11 million) released by the government for Covid-19 operations was being used to hire cars and media consultants.
According to Kramer, the Treasurer said the reporter had contacted him to get his response to a claim by Opposition Leader Belden Namah that the government’s recent announcement of a K5.6 billion stimulus package was illegal and that it needed to recall Parliament to pass a supplementary budget to give effect to any additional spending.

Loop PNG stands by ‘key facts’
Loop PNG responded with an online editorial today saying that it stood by the “key facts of the story published on 9 April 2020 about the K23 million of taxpayer funds earmarked by the National Government for the Covid-19 response.”

It added: “Any misunderstanding, though regrettable, was not deliberate or intentional, and Loop PNG rejects all assertions to the contrary.

“Loop PNG also rejects any attempts to interfere with its editorial independence, which is a cornerstone of Papua New Guinean democracy.”

The April 9 Loop PNG report.

“Loop PNG has a proud history of journalistic integrity and independence which it strives to uphold in every story. This is consistent with the fundamental role of the media in our democracy, which is to hold the government of the day to full account without fear or favour. Loop PNG will continue to play that important role throughout the state of emergency and beyond.”
The online news website added that it welcomed the detailed breakup of how the funds had been spent so far, which the Police Minister had posted on social media.
Amid hundreds of comments in response to the online furore, a leading independent media commentator and training consultant, Bob Howarth, a former publisher and general manager of the PNG Post-Courier, described it as a “disturbing situation” when the Police Minister “makes serious ethical allegations against two senior journalists”.

“[A] case for adjudication by an effective media council rather than a court of law?” he asked.

Kramer Report

In his detailed online posting on Kramer Report, the minister said: “Though the Treasurer raises some concerns about some of the priorities in the spending, nowhere in the interview does the Treasurer say there are allegations that the ‘bulk’ of the 23 million kina released by the government for Covid-19 operations, was being used to hire cars and media consultants.

“Nor did he say the Prime Minister has been notified, [n]or that there was a call for a proper audit before the government releases the balance.

“It begs the question: What action would a reputable media company take against a journalist who caused significant damage to its reputation?

“If it were me being misrepresented in the media, I would take immediate action against the journalist and media company.”

Minister Kramer made a reputation for transparency and use of online media communication when an opposition MP for Madang. Since being part of the government led by Prime Minister James Marape, he has enhanced his reputation for straight talking and making information available on the internet.

Among responses online, one writer said: “Please enact laws to deal with journalists who publish or reports false and misleading information to the public. Kramer you’re in the government now so push for new policies or amendment of the act to cover these. Let the law deal with those liers once and for all rather than we argue amongst ourselves and the liars ride away freely.”

Another said: “This is not their [journalists’] first time to report such [biased] information. They are misleading the 8 million plus population of this country. Those culprits need to be investigated and prosecuted by the law of this country.

“If you don’t do it now, then when are you going to do it? We need to see them facing the law of this sovereign nation.”

This article was first published on Café Pacific.

]]> https://eveningreport.nz/2018/10/13/paga-hill-iconic-human-rights-documentary-banned-from-png-festival/ Sat, 13 Oct 2018 04:16:21 +0000 https://eveningreport.nz/2018/10/13/paga-hill-iconic-human-rights-documentary-banned-from-png-festival/ ]]> Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. –

Activist lawyer Jose Moses as he appears in a Frontline Insight item about the Paga Hill struggle for justice in Papua New Guinea. Video: Reuters Foundation

By Pacific Media Watch

An internationally acclaimed investigative documentary about Paga Hill community’s fight for justice from the illegal eviction and demolition of their homes in Papua New Guinea’s capital of Port Moresby has been banned from screening today at the PNG Human Rights Festival.

“The ban highlights the lingering limits on free speech in our country and the continued attempts to censor our story of resistance against gross human rights violations,” claimed Paga Hill community leader and lawyer Joe Moses, the main character in The Opposition film who had to seek exile in the United Kingdom after fighting for his community’s rights.

“This censorship comes as a deep disappointment for my community who have suffered greatly over the past six years.”

The Opposition tells the David-and-Goliath battles of a community evicted, displaced, abandoned – their homes completely demolished at the hands of two Australian-run companies, Curtain Brothers and Paga Hill Development Company, and the PNG state.

What was once home to 3000 people of up to four generations, Paga Hill is now part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit “AELM Precinct” which will take place this November.

The PNG Human Rights Film Festival. Image: Programme screenshot

Moses said: “We appreciate the PNG Human Rights Film Festival for choosing to screen The Opposition film at their Madang and Port Moresby screenings.

“It is shameful that our government continues to limit free speech and put such pressure on our country’s only annual arts and human rights event. How does this make us look to the world leaders who will be coming here for the APEC meeting in November?”

‘Speak up today’
Under the theme “Tokautnau long senisim tumora” (Speak up today to change tomorrow) the mission of the PNG Human Rights Film Festival includes: “We are all born free and equal in dignity and rights”.

The international and local human rights films screened “promote increased respect, protection and fulfillment of human rights in Papua New Guinea”.

Paga Hill youth leader Allan Mogerema, who also features in the film said: “The right to freedom of speech and freedom of press is provided for under Section 46 of the PNG Constitution. By banning our story, the PNG government is in breach of our Constitution and our rights as Papua New Guinean citizens.”

The Opposition trailer.

As a human rights defender, Mogerema has been invited to the 2018 Annual Human Rights and People’s Diplomacy Training Programme for Human Rights Defenders from the Asia-Pacific Region and Indigenous Australia organised by the Diplomacy Training Programme (DTP) and the Judicial System Monitoring Programme (JSMP) to share his story of the illegal land grab, eviction and demolition of his community.

“The film has already been screened in settlements across PNG and at the Human Rights Film Festival’s Madang screenings. No matter how hard they try to censor us, our story continues to live, and our fight for justice continues to thrive,” added Mogerema.

“No matter how long it takes, our community will get justice.”

Dame Carol Kidu is also featured in The Opposition film. Initially an advocate for the Paga Hill community, Dame Carol turned her back on them by setting up a consultancy to be hired by the Paga Hill Development Corporation, on a contract of $178,000 for three months’ work.

In 2017, she launched a legal action in the Supreme Court of NSW to censor the film. In June that year, the court ruled against Dame Carol’s application.

• ‘I was scared for my life’: Paga Hill activist seeks asylum in the UK 

• Port Moresby settlers evicted to make way for Australian-backed development abandoned 

• ‘The battle of Paga Hill’ – controversial PNG doco finally on NZ screens

• PNG Human Rights Film Festival on Facebook

#Justice4Paga

Frontline Insight: The Paga Hill struggle. Video: Reuters Foundation

This article was first published on Café Pacific.]]>

]]> https://eveningreport.nz/2018/06/20/former-military-chief-warns-png-soldiers-could-be-outgunned-in-mendi-strife/ Wed, 20 Jun 2018 11:16:36 +0000 https://eveningreport.nz/2018/06/20/former-military-chief-warns-png-soldiers-could-be-outgunned-in-mendi-strife/ ]]> Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. –

Deadly MAG 58 Model 60-20 machine guns mounted on a cabin-top truck in the Southern Highlands. Image: PNGAttitude

From Asia Pacific Report

A former Papua New Guinea military commander has warned that he is “concerned, if not frightened” that the PNG Defence Force may be deploying police and soldiers in the troubled Southern Highlands province facing a deadly weapon.

Ex-Brigadier-General Jerry Singirok , a former commander of the PNGDF who arrested mercenaries deployed by the Sir Julius Chan government for the Bougainville war in the so-called Sandline crisis in 1997, has made his views known in independent media.

In an item published by PNG Attitude and EMTV journalist Scott Waide’s blog, Singirok described Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s government response to last week’s Mendi riots as a “premature state of emergency” and a “cheap, reckless and knee-jerk option”.

His comments have come at a time when the nation has been shocked by the display of high powered assault weapons by protesters since last week’s Mendi rioting.

It is clear that the government’s guns amnesty last year did little to encourage people to surrender their weapons, reports Loop PNG.

Defence Minister Solan Mirisim said that talks of weapons surrender or disposal would be part of discussions as leaders continued to discuss solutions to the Southern Highlands unrest.

Deadly weapon
Jerry Singirok wrote about his fears of how police and soldiers may be pitted against the MAG 58 Model 60-20 machine gun which he described as one of the most robust, deadly and effective weapons of its type ever manufactured.

The MAG 58 Model 60-20 machine gun … “robust, deadly and effective”. Image: My Land, My Country blog

He added:

“It is an air cooled, piston and gas operated weapon manufactured in the US and Belgium that uses a 7.62mm NATO belt-fed round and can effectively engage targets from 200-800 meters and – in open country – up a kilometre.

“In 1996, after trials, the PNG Defence Force under my command purchased them.

“Then, a few years ago, some went missing. I have recently seen photographs of them on social media.

“They have been installed on cabin-top trucks in the Southern Highlands province.

Ready for the fight
“I am very concerned, if not frightened, that the PNG government is deploying police and soldiers to the Southern Highlands who are likely to come face to face with the MAG 58.

“A premature state of emergency in the face of this combat power appears to be a cheap, reckless and a knee-jerk option by the government.

A machine gun mounted on a pick-up truck in the Southern Highlands. Image: This Land, My Country blog

“In 1989, the then PNG government reacted to a security situation on Bougainville similar to Mendi today which brought PNG to its knees for ten years.

“A solid province was depleted of it minerals for that period and denied a generation of the blessings they would have brought.

“This seems to be yet another irresponsible decision along a similar path.

“How can the government sustain the PNGDF at a prolonged high level and intense military operation if it has not invested in air mobility and cannot buy the most basic uniforms, boots, field gear, ammunition, rations, fuel and so on.

“The country is stuck and doomed.”

•     More Mendi riot stories

Cafe Pacific video

This article was first published on Café Pacific.]]>

]]> https://eveningreport.nz/2018/03/12/harsh-response-lessons-abound-in-wake-of-pngs-invisible-quake/ Mon, 12 Mar 2018 03:15:24 +0000 https://eveningreport.nz/2018/03/12/harsh-response-lessons-abound-in-wake-of-pngs-invisible-quake/ ]]> Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific.Timu village from the top showing the site where 11 people were buried by landslips during the earthquake on 26 February 2018. Four of the bodies have been recovered, seven are still buried, including five children. Image: Sylvester Gawi/Graun Blong Mi- My Land By David Robie Tomorrow Papua New Guinea is marking two weeks since the devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake that devastatedThis article was first published on Café Pacific.]]>

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