Flying high . . . the Morning Star ensign -- banned in Indonesia -- flying alongside the Vanuatu national flag in Port Vila. Image: Joe Collins/AWPA
By Hilaire Bule in Port Vila
Benny Wenda, the interim president of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), has welcomed the Melanesian Spearhead Group’s confirmation that its application for full membership would be discussed at the 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit in Port Vila — but warned it would be a test.
Wenda conveyed the anticipation of the West Papua people, including those in exile, who await their potential admission as an MSG member.
Reflecting on the unity of various West Papuan groups, including the West Papua Council of Churches, Wenda said that 25 representatives were currently in Port Vila to celebrate the MSG leaders’ decision if it granted West Papua full membership.
Despite previous attempts during past leaders’ summits, Wenda expressed confidence that this time their application would be accepted, reflecting their aspiration for a rightful place within the Melanesian family.
“Our dream, our desire — by blood and race — entitles us to be a member,” he said.
“Today in West Papua, seven regional executives support our cause. Our people support it. Intimidation and harassment from Indonesia is happening right now.
“We aren’t seeking independence, just full membership. In Indonesia, there is no hope, and now it is time for the leaders to make the right decision,” Wenda said.
Membership pursuit
Acknowledging their long-standing lobbying efforts, Wenda noted that their pursuit for membership has been ongoing.
He referenced the 2013 MSG Leaders Summit in Noumea, New Caledonia, where leaders voiced support for their self-determination, recognising the unity among the West Papuan people.
In 2014, Vanuatu hosted a meeting to gather all West Papua factions at the Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs nakamal.
Indonesian aid for Vanuatu . . . a controversial topic that was front page news in the Vanuatu Daily Post today. Image: Joe Collins/AWPA
“In 2014, we gathered all factions in West Papua for the ULMWP, Wenda said.
“In 2015, during the MSG Leaders’ Summit in Solomon Islands, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare advocated for full MSG membership for West Papua, but we were granted observer status instead,” Wenda said.
“We are now pushing for full membership because we’ve met the criteria, making it time for the leaders to agree.
“This is the moment the entire world, all Melanesians, are watching. It’s a test for the leaders to see if they will stand up for West Papua in the eyes of the world.”
Atrocities committed
He commented on their vulnerable position due to the atrocities committed against them by Indonesia, which had resulted in their minority status.
ULMWP leader Benny Wenda . . . “Our dream, our desire — by blood and race — entitles us to be a member.” Image: RNZ screenshot APR
Presently, ULMWP holds observer status within the MSG, while Indonesia is an associate member.
The MSG consists of member countries Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the pro-independence Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) of Kanaky New Caledonia.
The three visiting MSG Prime Ministers — Sitiveni Rabuka from Fiji, James Marape from Papua New Guinea and Manasseh Sogavare from Solomon Islands– are already in Port Vila.
The FLNKS is represented by its former president, Victor Tutugoro.
The 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit, chaired by Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau of Vanuatu, opened with a ceremonial welcome by chiefs at Saralana yesterday.
The official remarks were followed by the unveiling of carvings at the MSG Secretariat, the Leaders’ Retreat at Warwick Le Lagon, and a plenary session.
Hilaire Bule is a Vanuatu Daily Post journalist. Republished with permission.
Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders have signed off on two declaration for the first time. The first on climate and and the second one of security in North Efate a while ago. A presser will be held in Port Vila. West Papua issue likely to be referred to Pacific Islands Forum. pic.twitter.com/IJuzBnbjmE
A Japanese critic of the Fukushima wastewater discharge . . . The since-treated water was used to cool multiple nuclear reactors which were devastated by a tsunami in 2011, following an earthquake. Image: Global News screenshot APR
By Lydia Lewis
Japan’s release of more than one million tonnes of treated Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the Pacific is officially underway.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings has confirmed that the disposal started at 1pm local time today.
“This is a big step and punctuating moment in the process of decommissioning,” TEPCO spokesperson Junichi Matsumoto told news media.
“We will have 30 years or so [to release the water], we will ensure safety and quality.
“We will accomplish this discharge, we have to buckle down ourselves and we have to do it with an intense attitude,” he said.
TEPCO said it was an important step towards decommissioning the destroyed Fukushima power plant after it was hit by a tsunami 12 years ago.
“Per day 460 tonnes is the amount of discharge. So if there are no troubles in about 17 days, 7800 cubic metres of water will be successfully discharged,” Matsumoto said.
Assurances given
Assurances were given in TEPCO’s latest media briefing that if unsafe levels of tritium were detected, the operation would stop until the water has been re-treated through its ALPS processing system and was safe.
Daily monitoring has begun and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is also independently monitoring the process on site.
“So, after a sea water pump is operated regarding the vertical shaft, the monitoring will become in service,” Junichi Matsumoto said.
The treated water is being discharged “continuously”, he added.
Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna . . . “We’ve done our best to get Japan not to commence the discharge.” Image: RNZ/Samuel Rillstone
Holding Japan ‘fully accountable’ Pacific leaders are committed to holding Japan accountable should anything go wrong, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna said.
“We’ve done our best to get Japan not to commence the discharge, until there is full agreement that it’s verifiably safe to do so. But Japan has taken a sovereign decision.
“And you know that point is now past. What we need to focus on now is to hold Japan to account,” he said.
SHAME JAPAN!
NO FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR WASTE WATER IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN!
YOU CREATED THE PROBLEM, SOLVE IT PROPERLY ON YOUR OWN TERRITORY.
— Pacific Feminist Community of Practice (@pacfemcop) August 15, 2023
Puna said Japan had made a guarantee that it would comply with international standards and the Pacific would be watching keenly to make sure it stayed that way.
“Since the announcement of the discharge in April 2021, our leaders have been busy engaging with Japan,” Puna said.
“The statements are very clear. Their collective statements expressing our concerns given our nuclear legacy issues and that position has never changed.”
Pacific leaders are to discuss the issue face-to-face in Rarotonga in November at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting.
Lydia Lewis is an RNZ Pacific journalist. This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ and Asia Pacific Report.
Women protesters daubed in the colours of the Morning Star flag of West Papuan independence - banned by Indonesia -- defy the security forces to stage a rally yesterday in support of full West Papuan membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group meeting this week in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Image: Jubi/Theo Kelen
Upon this big boat rests prayers, hopes, longings, struggles, dreams, and ideals with a profound sense of justice, peace, and dignity.
According to Reverend Dr Yoman, the ULMWP is a symbol of unity among the Papuan people. It is a representation of their collective desires and relentless pursuit of justice.
Reverend Dr Socratez Yoman . . . a Papuan public figure, leader, academic, church leader, prolific writer, and media commentator. Image: Yamin Kogoya/APR
Therefore, West Papuans living in the Land of West Papua, including those living abroad, all pray, hope, and support ULMWP. It is the responsibility of the nation of West Papua and its people to safeguard, maintain, care for, and protect ULMWP as their common home.
Because ULMWP provides a collective shelter for many tears, blood droplets, bones, and the suffering of West Papua.
Reverend Dr Yoman says in his message to me that I have translated that the ULMWP carries the spirits of our ancestors, fallen heroes, and comrades. The ULMWP is the home of their spirits, and he wrote some of their names as follows:
Johan Ariks
Lodewijk Mandacan
Barens Mandacan
Ferry Awom
Permenas Awom
Aser Demotekay
Bernandus Tanggahma
Seth Jafet Rumkorem
Jacob Prai
Herman Womsiwor
Markus Kaisiepo
Eliezer Bonay
Nicolaas Jouwe
F. Torrey,
Nicolass Tanggahma
Dick Kereway
Melky Solossa
Samuel Asmuruf
Mapia Mote
James Nyaro
Lambert Wakur
S.B. Hindom,
Louis Wajoi
Tadius Yogi
Martin Tabu
Arnold Clemens Ap
Eduard Mofu
Willem Onde
Moses Weror
Clemens Runaweri
Andy Ayamiseba
John Octo Ondowame
Thomas Wapay Wanggai
Wim Zonggonauw
Yawan Wayeni
Kelly Kwalik
Justin Morip
Beatrix Watofa
Agus Alue Alua
Frans Wospakrik
Theodorus Hiyo Eluay
Aristotle Masoka
Tom Beanal
Neles Tebay
Mako Tabuni
Leoni Tanggahma
Samuel Filep Karma
Prisila Jakadewa
Babarina Ikari
Vonny Jakadewa
Mery Yarona and Reny Jakadewa (the courageous female spirits who raised the Morning Star flag at the Governor’s Office on August 4, 1980).
Also, the spirit of Josephin Gewab/Rumawak, the tailor who created the Morning Star flag.
In honour of these fallen Papuan heroes and leaders, Reverend Yoman says:
“It is you, the young generation, who carry forward the baton left by the names and spirits of these fighters, as well as the hundreds and thousands of others who have not been named.
“If there is someone who fights and opposes the political platform of the ULMWP, that individual is questionable and is damaging the big house and the big boat, which contains the tears, blood, bones, and suffering of the People and Nation of Papua as well as the spirits of our ancestors and leaders.
“The eyes and faces of the LORD, the spirits of our ancestors, and the spirits of our leaders who have passed on always guard, protect, and nurture the honest, humble, and respectful members of the ULMWP.”
By this message, he urges the ULMWP to never forget these names and stand bravely with courage on their shoulders.
Indonesian delegation walks out of MSG leaders summit before West Papuan leader Benny Wenda’s speech. pic.twitter.com/qW0YMxnrVk
Reverend Yoman’s letter: a brief comment Indigenous people view life as a system of interconnected relationships between beings, spirits, deities, humans, animals, plants, and the celestial heavens.
Their holistic cosmology is held together by this interconnectedness — a sacred passageway to multidimensional realities. Although Indigenous cosmologies differ, most, if not all, subscribe to the tenet of interconnectedness.
Having a strong connection to one’s ancestors’ roots is an integral part of being Indigenous.
During times of need, rituals, and grief, ancestral and fallen heroes are mentioned and invoked. A specific ancestor’s name may be mentioned in response to a specific situation, such as grief, conflict, sacred ceremonies, or rituals.
This helps to connect modern generations to the ancestral spirits, providing a source of strength and guidance while honouring the legacy of those who have gone before.
Those who adhere to original cultural values understand why Reverend Dr Yoman mentioned some of these Papuans.
In the chronicle of Papuans’ liberation story, these names are mentioned.
There were some who suffered martyrdom, some who became traitors, who died of old age, and others who died from disease. However, they all have stories connected to West Papua’s Liberation.
Mentioning these names is intended to invoke a specific energy within the consciousness of West Papua’s independence leaders. Inviting the new generation of fighters to take up the cause of their fallen comrades.
It is important to encourage Papuans to see the greater picture of a nation’s liberation struggle — which spans generations. Calling on them to revive their minds, spirits, and bodies through the spirit of fallen Papuans and the spirit of Divine during times of turmoil.
Who is Rev Dr Yoman and why did he mention these names? Most people are familiar with Reverend Dr Yoman. He is everywhere — on television, on the news, known in churches, involved in human rights activism, mentioned in public speeches, appears in seminars, and lectures and so on.
He is well known, or at least heard of, by the Papuan and Indonesian communities, as well as the broader community.
Reverend Dr Socratez Sofyan Yoman is a public figure, leader, academic, church leader, prolific writer, and media commentator. He is a descendant of the Lani people of Papua.
He is one of the seeds of the civilisation project launched by Christian missionaries in the Highlands between the 1930s and 1960s. His life has been shaped by four significant events in his homeland — the teachings of his elders, the arrival of Christianity, Indonesian invasions, and the resistance of the Papuans.
He rose to become an exceptionally accomplished thinker, speaker, writer, and critic of injustice, oppression, and upholds humanity’s values as taught by the Judeo-Christian worldview within these collusions of worlds.
Growing up among Lani village elders taught him many sacred teachings of the original ways — centred around Wone’s teachings. This is one of the most important aspects of his story.
Wone is the cornerstone of life for the Lani people. Wone is the principle of life and the foundation for analysing, interpreting, evaluating, debating, understanding, and exchanging life.
As with many other Lani, Papuan, Melanesian, and Indigenous leaders, Wone is the reason for his birth, survival, and leadership. He has thus a deep sense of duty and responsibility to serve and fight for his people, as well as other marginalised and oppressed members of society.
Reverend Dr Yoman stands firmly in his beliefs in the face of grief, tragedies, and death in his ancestral homeland. His commitment is unwavering, as he continually strives to stand up for and protect the rights of those who are most vulnerable and in need of a voice.
Wone has inspired him to lead a life of purpose and integrity, making him a pillar of strength and an example to others. In a dying forest, he becomes the voice of the falling leaves.
Among his greatest contributions to West Papua, Indonesia, and the world, will be his writings. Generations to come will remember his research and writings regarding history and the fate of his people.
West Papua will be high on the agenda at the Melanesian Spearhead Group Leaders’ Summit in Vanuatu this week.
West Papua’s United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) is also present in Vanuatu. Other factions have arrived and are on their way to witness MSG’s decision on West Papua’s fate as well as their own leaders’ summit.
A feeling of anxiety pervades Reverend Dr Yoman as he prays — prompting him to write this letter as he recognises the many challenges ULMWP faces and warns them that they cannot afford even the slightest misstep.
This is the time inspiring Papuans and the ULWMP leadership must remember their fallen comrades, heroes and ancestors.
Yamin Kogoya is a West Papuan academic who has a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University and who contributes to Asia Pacific Report. From the Lani tribe in the Papuan Highlands, he is currently living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Conflict-sensitive reporting . . . it can be seen as the national media’s contribution to social cohesion and nation-building in Fiji. Image: Wansolwara/USP
By Shailendra Bahadur Singh in Suva
Conflict and insufficient social cohesion are the biggest challenges in Fiji, and all and any efforts to mitigate and address this situation are laudable.
The research literature posits that while news media can exacerbate social and political conflicts through their reporting styles and focus, they also have the potential to alleviate tense situations by adopting conducive, conflict resolution methodologies.
The Conflict-Sensitive Reporting Manual for Fijian Journalists includes guidelines to approach and report conflicts in a responsible manner by, among other things, conducting the requisite research, and avoiding unnecessarily inflammatory tones.
Dialogue Fiji is the most active civil society in the “social cohesion” space and besides this manual, it published the proceedings of its first symposium on social cohesion in 2017 entitled Ethnic Relations in Fiji: Threats and Opportunities.
The book, which I co-edited with Dialogue Fiji executive director Nilesh Lal, not only highlighted the challenges of social cohesion in Fiji, but also the reservoir of goodwill in our communities, despite everything that we have been through together.
More than 50 years after independence we are still struggling with social cohesion, not the least because it is a complex problem given our context, with no overnight solutions.
The problem requires commitment from every sector of our nation, the news media being no exception.
National media’s contribution
In this regard, conflict-sensitive reporting can be seen as the national media’s contribution to social cohesion and nation-building.
To understand how conflict-sensitive reporting can contribute positively, we first need to look at the media-conflict dynamic, that is, how media conventionally report conflicts.
According to critics, most violent conflicts are “rooted in resource or land disputes, but fought with strong references to ethnic, cultural, and religious identities”.
The news media tend to focus on the manifestations of conflict, such as the tensions, violence, and damage, rather than the root causes, or possible solutions to any disputes. This lopsided approach risks feeding prejudices and fueling misconceptions.
Conflict-sensitive reporting, on the other hand, takes a nuanced approach to the coverage of conflicts, in that it does not regard conflict as run-of-the mill, daily news reporting round, but something that needs extra care and attention.
Conflict-sensitive reporting is an informed and considered approach, based on a commitment to understanding the roots of a conflict and reporting in an in-depth and circumspect manner.
The idea is to not only “do no harm” but report stories with the aim of facilitating solutions to conflict.
Fair and balanced?
It should be pointed that conflict-sensitive reporting is an idea that is not fully accepted in the news media fraternity, which has traditionally espoused reporting the “facts” in a fair and balanced manner. But what is “fair”, “balanced” and “objective” is in itself heavily debated in the news media sector.
Journalists and camera people at a Suva media conference . . . USP open to researching and experimenting with new and innovative concepts like conflict-sensitive reporting. Image: The Fiji Times
As a university journalism programme, we at the University of the South Pacific are open to researching and experimenting with new and innovative concepts like conflict-sensitive reporting.
The framework has been designed for developing countries with multiethnic communities at greater risk of conflict, than societies with greater ethnic homogeneity.
Such countries are highly susceptible to movement towards civil conflict and/or repressive rule. If this sounds familiar, it is because “civil conflict and repressive rule” have been very much part of our existence in Fiji.
Fiji, mired in ethnic tensions and political differences culminating in four coups fits the description of “fragile” or “vulnerable” societies”.
Media have described Fiji’s coups as “short-lived”, “clean-up-campaign” or “coup-to-end all coups.”
This terminology is regrettable because it grossly underestimates the lingering, sustained, pervasive and long-term damage of our coup culture.
Infrastructure deficit
For example, research published by professors Biman Prasad and Paresh Narayan in 2008 indicates a 20-year infrastructure deficit of $3.4 billion partly due to instability.
Likewise, Professor Wadan Narsey in his 2013 article estimates that by 2011, Fiji had lost $1700 million because of the 2006 coup alone.
This included $400 million in government revenue, which could have been used in education, health, infrastructure and public debt repayments.
Because of just a few deaths due to the four coups in Fiji, media often describe these upheavals as “bloodless coups”.
However, in social and economic terms, the coups caused a bloodbath.
The expression “death by a thousand cuts” comes to mind. We do not feel the pain immediately because after the initial shock, there are smaller aftershocks that we feel and absorb over the course of years and decades.
In time, these repeated blows add up to inflict deeper wounds that are more difficult to heal, but we adjust to the pain, normalise it, and learn to live with our situation, especially the poor and disadvantaged, who face the brunt of it.
Low life expectancy
In Fiji these wounds are manifest in the lack of services, dilapidated infrastructure, low life expectancy, lack of opportunities, low employment and high crime, brain drain, and so forth.
Fiji gives meaning to renowned author Paul Collier’s words: “Wars and coups are not tea parties: they are development in reverse”.
Some of the key underlying causes of our lack of progress are the lack of social cohesion and national unity, which equal unrealised potential.
Since the 1980s there has been idle talk of turning Fiji into a Singapore, and more recently, political chatter about Fiji surpassing Australia and New Zealand
In my opinion, this is a pipe dream unless and until we get social cohesion right, learn to resolve our differences without guns, and move together as a united force.
This requires leadership and vision from the government, support and selflessness from citizens and professionalism and responsibility from the news media, with regards to taking it on themselves to understand the national context, and tailor their coverage accordingly
West Papuans in Morning Star colours prepare for yesterday's rally in Wamena in the Papuan Highlands in support of the ULMWP application for full Papuan membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. Image: @BazokaLogo
By Kelvin Anthony in Port Vila
The leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Benny Wenda, has expressed confidence that the leaders’ meeting in Vanuatu will grant the ULMWP full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
Wenda is in Port Vila for the 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit, the first full in-person MSG Leaders’ Summit since 2018.
“I’m really confident,” he said, adding “the whole world is watching and this is a test for the leaders to see whether they will save West Papua.”
MSG chair and Vanuatu Prime Minister Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau has confirmed the ULMWP’s application to become a full member will be a top priority for the leaders.
Wenda told RNZ Pacific the West Papua liberation movement has been lobbying to be part of the MSG’s agenda for more than a decade, without success. The movement currently has observer status within the MSG.
However, he believes this year they are finally getting their chance.
Wenda said all branches of the ULMWP were in Port Vila, including the West Papua Council of Churches and tribal chiefs, and “we are looking forward to becoming a full member”.
“That’s our dream, our desire. By blood, and by race, we’re entitled to become a full member,” he said.
Indonesia, an MSG associate member, is also present, with the largest delegation of all countries in attendance at the meeting.
ULMWP leader Benny Wenda (left) with the ULMWP interim prime minister Reverend Edison Waromi at the 22nd Melanesian Spearhead Group Leaders’ Summit in Port Vila yesterday. Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony
RNZ Pacific has been in contact with an Indonesian official for an interview in Port Vila.
Benny Wenda said they were not asking for independence, but to become a full member of MSG.
“We’ve been killed, we’ve been tortured, we’ve been imprisoned [by Indonesian security forces],” he said.
Members of the Indonesian delegation at the Melanesian Leaders’ Summit pre-meeting of the Foreign Ministers in Port Vila this week. Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony
‘No hope’ in Indonesia “So, it’s live with Indonesia for 60 years and there is no hope. We’re not safe. That’s why it is time for the [Melanesian Leaders’ Summit] to make a right decision.”
Wenda said it was “unusual” for Indonesia to bring “up to 15 people” as part of its delegation.
Melanesian leaders, he said, were capable of dealing with their regional issues on their own.
“Why are [Indonesia] here — [what] are they scared about,” he asked.
“When we become full members we are ready to engage [with Indonesia] and find a solution, that is our aim. This is a part of a peaceful solution.”
West Papuan rallies in support of membership
Meanwhile, an ULMWP statement reports that thousands of POapuans held peaceful rallies throughout the territory of West Papua yesterday in support of the ULMWP application for full MSG membership.
“This action was held in order to support the full membership agenda of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG),” the statement said.
The rallies were held simultaneously in all the seven regions of the West Papua government.
In the Lapago Region, thousands of Papuans took to the streets of Wamena City and gathered at the Sinapuk-Wamena field to deliver a statement.
“The masses came down wearing various traditional clothes and dyed their bodies with the Morning Star flag pattern and the five permanent member flags of the MSG.
“They also carried and waved a number of flags from the Melanesian member countries — Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, PNG and Kanaky (FLNKS), including the flag MSG flag.”
Support rallies also took place in the Lapago region in several districts such as Puncak Jaya, Tolikara, Gunung Bintang and Lani Jaya regencies.
Kelvin Anthony is an RNZ Pacific journalist in Port Vila. This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ and Asia Pacific Report.
A big gathering of West Papuans in support of full West Papuan membership of the MSG took place peacefully this afternoon in the capital Jayapura, but organisers reported that the Indonesian police continued to blockade rallies and prevent them being carried out. Image: @BazokaLogo
By Kelvin Anthony in Port Vila
The Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat’s Director-General, Leonard Louma, says the Pacific region continues to be the centre of geopolitical interests by global superpowers.
The 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit is taking place in Port Vila this week– the first full in-person meeting since the covid pandemic.
The prime ministers of Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and the president of the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) of New Caledonia are confirmed to attend the leaders’ session on Wednesday.
Louma said the battle for influence “impels the region to take sides, but it does not protect Melanesia and the region”.
“There are some who would like us to believe that taking sides in that geopolitical posturing is in our best interest. May I hasten to add, I tend to defer — it is not in our best interest to take sides,” Louma said.
Vanuatu’s Deputy Prime Minister Matai Seremaiah (left) and MSG Director-General Leonard Louma at the opening of the 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Port Vila yesterday. Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony
The director-general also took aim at MSG member countries for not moving with “urgency” on issues that have been on the Leaders’ Summit agenda.
“Certain decisions also made by leaders and the foreign ministers of past continue to languish on the shelf and there seems to be no real sign of a desire to implement.”
Free trade Louma said the MSG Free Trade Agreement had “somehow been tethered to other training and commercial arrangements”.
“Our enthusiasm to cooperate appears to have waned. We need to rejuvenate this enthusiasm and appetite for industrial cooperation that once was the hallmark of MSG,” he said.
Vanuatu’s Foreign Minister Matai Seremaiah has urged Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea to sign up to the trade agreement which has already been signed by Fiji and Solomon Islands.
Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau told RNZ Pacific he shared the concerns of his deputy on the issue of the free trade agreement.
“Vanuatu must adhere quickly. If you look at the theme of the meeting it’s about being relevant and being relevant means that we’ve got got to participate as a core group so that we can advance all our interests together,” he said.
Leonard Louma said the MSG needed to make concessions where it was needed in the interests of MSG cohesion.
“The nuclear testing issue in the Pacific could not have proceeded the way we had proceeded without MSG taking a strong position on it.”
The Melanesian Spearhead Group flags . . . will the Morning Star flag of West Papua be added? Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony
Declarations On Monday, MSG Secretariat officials said there were up to 10 issues on the agenda, including West Papua.
In his opening statement at the Foreign Minister’s session on Monday, Seremaiah said there were two key draft declarations that would be put for the leaders’ consideration.
The first one would be on climate action and “urging polluters not to discharge the treated water in the Pacific Ocean,” he said.
“Until and unless the treated water is incontrovertibly proven to be safe to do so and seriously consider other options.”
The second was a declaration on a MSG region of peace and neutrality, adding that “this declaration is aimed at advancing the implementation of the MSG security initiatives to address national security needs in the MSG region, through the Pacific way, talanoa or tok stori and binded by shared values and adherence to Melanesian vuvale, cultures and traditions”.
The MSG Pre-Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting has concluded with recommendations to be submitted to this weeks’ 22nd MSG Leader’s Summit. It was chaired by Hon. Matai Seremiah, MP, Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation & External Trade. pic.twitter.com/Xe87w27BtW
West Papua
This year’s agenda also includes the issue of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) application to become a full member of the sub-regional body.
The movement is present at the meeting, as well as a big delegation from Indonesia, represented by its Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs.
However, neither Seremaiah nor Louma made any mention of West Papua in their opening statements.
West Papua observers and advocates at the meeting say the MSG is like a “custom haus or nakamal” for the Melanesian people.
They say Vanuatu has the opportunity to make this more than a “normal MSG” if it can be the country that gets the MSG Leaders’ Summit to agree to make the ULMWP a full member.
The West Papua delegation as observers at the 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit pre-meeting in Port Vila yesterday. Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony
Kelvin Anthony is an RNZ Pacific journalist in Port Vila.This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ and Asia Pacific Report.
Today's front page of the PNG National newspaper covering the Engan tribal fighting. Image: National screenshot APR
By Cretilda Alokaka in Port Moresby
Six hired gunmen in Enga were shot dead by men from the Ambulin tribe on Friday in what Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has described as “jungle justice”.
Police alleged that on Friday around 5am, the six men sneaked into Ambulin tribal territory to ambush them but were caught. The Ambulins surrounded them in a culvert and shot five men.
Security force members intervened and rescued the sixth man, but he died later in hospital.
The bodies of three of the shot gunmen being dragged out on the road with their legs tied. Image: The National, PNG
Police said the gunmen were from the Silin and Kaekin tribes.
Provincial police commander Acting Superintendent George Kakas said one was from Sirunki in Laiagam, one was from Kompiam and four from Wapenamanda.
“According to the Ambulin tribe, these six men were hired to go into their territory and ambush them,” he said.
“They [Ambulins] said the killing of the six men was a warning to other tribes, especially from Kompiam, Laiagam or Wapenamanda not to get involved in their tribal warfare.”
Bodies dragged
Commander Kakas said the bodies of the five men were dragged out of the culvert and had their hands and legs tied to the back of a vehicle.
“Their bodies were then thrown on the road as a message to other tribes sending gunmen not to get involved in another tribe’s warfare.”
He said investigations were underway, with 70 policemen being deployed at the site.
Meanwhile, Commander Kakas warned businessmen, educated elites and other people funding activities to hire gunmen, buy guns and bullets to stop the practice.
He said that operational plans were being drawn up to focus on the “manipulators” of the bloodshed “while we are increasing the number of security force personnel deployed to hotspots to minimise killings and property damage”.
“Through their respective commanders, security force personnel have been instructed to use all means necessary to detain gunmen and to use lethal force when warranted,” he said.
Police Commissioner David Manning has advised Prime Minister Marape and Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili of additional measures being taken to strengthen security in Enga.
Engan hot spots
He said Assistant Commissioner, Operations, Samson Kua would lead the operation.
“It is important that ramping up personnel in hot spots in Enga does not undermine security presence in other areas,” Commissioner Manning said.
“As such, I have appointed Assistant Commissioner Anthony Wagambie Jr to focus on enhancing security operations to support the reopening of the Porgera mine, while force strength in areas such as Hela and the Southern Highlands will be maintained.”
Commissioner Manning said the approach being taken in Enga was “a break from the colonial methods of the past”.
“While we bring the full weight of the state to bear on those who perpetrate these heinous acts, we must be honest and acknowledge that security forces cannot arrest or kill our way out of tribal fighting in Enga.
“We have to deal with the cause of these conflicts at the root and stop this senseless violence where it starts.”
Cretilda Alokaka is a reporter with PNG’s National newspaper. Republished with permission.
Educationalist, diplomat, politician and activist Dr Meraia Taufa Vakatale . . . an inspiration to thousands in the Pacific, particularly young women in politics and anti-nuclear activists. Image: Image: Vakatale family/DevPolicy
By Asenaca Uluiviti and Sadhana Sen
Fiji recently lost Dr Meraia Taufa Vakatale, a monumental woman leader who broke many glass ceilings with her numerous firsts. As an educationalist, diplomat and politician, she profoundly impacted on the lives of tens of thousands in Fiji and the Pacific region, particularly young women in politics and anti-nuclear activists.
Dr Vakatale was Fiji’s first woman deputy prime minister, the first woman to be elected as a cabinet minister, the first female to be appointed as a deputy high commissioner, and the first Fijian woman principal of a secondary school in Fiji.
Dr Vakatale was also a fervent anti-nuclear activist. In 1995 she took a costly stand against her party and the then Sitiveni Rabuka government on renewed French nuclear testing on Moruroa Atoll in “French” Polynesia.
Joining a protest march against French testing led to her losing her cabinet position in the Rabuka-led government, in which she served as a member of the Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT) party.
She held the portfolio of Education, Science and Technology in two stints — from 1993 to 1995 and then, after being reinstated, from 1997 to 1999. In 1997, she was appointed Deputy Prime Minister.
In 2000, she resigned as President of the SVT party over the 2000 coup fallout.
She was a woman ahead of her time. Dedicated to her principles, she “paid it forward” to Pasifika generations by her fight to keep the Pacific a nuclear-free zone.
Idealism inspired thousands Dr Taufa Vakatale’s spirited and unwavering determination, her activism, idealism and her principles inspired thousands of women and youth to fearlessly pursue their dreams.
The name Taufa Vakatale was first linked to the renowned all-girls Adi Cakobau School when she became a pioneer student there in 1948, aged 10 years. She was also the first female student at the all-male Queen Victoria School.
She completed her 6th form year at Suva Grammar School, where she became the first Fijian female to pass the NZ University Entrance. She entered the University of Auckland and in 1963 was the first Fijian woman to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree, privately funding her studies from her wages as a teacher in Fiji.
Taufa Vakatale went on to further studies in the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1971. On return to Fiji, she became the first Fijian woman president of the Fiji YWCA and principal of her old school, the Adi Cakobau School.
The YWCA in Fiji was the driving force of the anti-nuclear protest movement in the early 1970s, while she was president.
In her time as an educator, Dr Vakatale disciplined fairly, understood her students, and entrusted them with positive goals for their future, instructing them to “leave the world better than we found it”.
She was respected and honoured. Her feats helped ease the students’ own steps, to bring to life the Adi Cakobau School motto.
Towering moral stature
Of petite and elegant frame, in moral stature Dr Vakatale towered above many. In diplomacy she served as Fiji’s Deputy High Commissioner to the UK in 1980, while single-handedly raising her daughter to become a lawyer.
The University of St Andrews in Scotland awarded her an Honorary Doctorate of Letters for her contribution to the cause of Pacific women, while Fiji bestowed her with the Order of Fiji in 1996.
The extraordinary Dr Meraia Taufa Vakatale died on 24 June 2023, aged 84. She leaves behind her only daughter Alanieta Vakatale, three granddaughters, and many more following in her footsteps to leave this world a better place.
Thirty eight years on from the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and the adoption of the Pacific nuclear-free zone treaty, the Rarotonga Treaty, and with the imminent release of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant radioactive waste into the Pacific ocean, the leadership and sacrifices of Dr Vakatale must be hailed, and her life celebrated.
Asenaca Uluiviti is a community legal officer in Auckland. She has worked as a state solicitor in Fiji and at its diplomatic mission in the UN, and has served as chairperson of Fiji YMCA, and on the NZ board of Greenpeace. She went to the Adi Cakobau School. Sadhana Sen is regional communications adviser at the Development Policy Centre. Republished from the DevPolicy blog through a Creative Commons licence.
Peace researcher and archaeologist Owen Wilkes in his self-built house at Punakaiki, West Coast . . . The SIS admits to holding a six-volume file on him but will not release it. Image: Diane Hooper/Peacemonger
New Zealand’s globally renowned peace researcher Owen Wilkes has been dead since 2005, but he is still very much in the news. Throughout his decades of peace research, both in NZ and overseas, Owen was the subject of intense interest by spy agencies, none more so than the NZ Security Intelligence Service (SIS).
Watchdog has been reporting this slow-moving saga for decades. He features throughout the SIS file on CAFCA (“SIS Spied On CAFCA For A Quarter Of A Century“, Murray Horton, Watchdog 120, May 2009).
CAFCA tried to get the SIS Personal File on Owen. The SIS released a tiny smidgen of it. And that was the end of it as far as CAFCA was concerned. To get that, we had to work with Owen’s younger brother, his only surviving blood relative, as he was (and is) the only person with legal standing to request access to Owen’s file.
Despite Owen having retired from his peace work many years before he died, the SIS still won’t release his full file to family or researchers, only the odd sliver of it. The SIS admits to holding six volumes on Owen. Among the reasons given for continuing to withhold it is that releasing it “would be likely to prejudice the security or defence of New Zealand or the international relations of the Government of New Zealand”.
Maire Leadbeater, the veteran and indefatigable activist and historian, took up the cudgel. She secured some more of Owen’s SIS file, also with the vital cooperation of Owen’s brother. Reading those documents led me, in 2019, to straight away ring Owen’s ex-wife, Joan Hazlehurst (the exact 1976 date of their legal separation is recorded in the file) to inform her that she is listed in it as “Relative Of Interest” (i.e. wife) and was therefore likely to be the subject of her own SIS file. I urged Joan to apply for it.
She didn’t do so until 2023, when she asked the SIS for what it has on file about her. And she duly received a small amount of material, in May 2023, which she promptly copied to me. The accompanying letter to her (15/5/23) from SIS Director Andrew Hampton says that she was never the subject of an SIS Personal File. Any material it held on her was in Owen’s file.
There is one paragraph in Hampton’s letter that cannot pass without challenge, in fact it is breathtaking.
“As a high-profile peace activist during a period when the USSR sought to use the legitimate peace movement to further its own geopolitical objectives, Owen Wilkes came to NZSIS attention (as did you, purely by association). Mr Wilkes was never, however, considered to be a threat to security.”
Which begs the question: If “Mr Wilkes was never considered to be a threat to security”, why did the SIS spy on him for decades (and on people close to him, such as his then wife)? Why does the SIS still refuse to release the bulk of its file on him?
Still lying about the NZ Peace Movement Then there is the not so subtle smear of the “legitimate peace movement” being used by the former USSR to “further its own geopolitical objectives”. That was an outrageous lie then and even more so in a letter written in May 2023. What is Director Hampton implying here?
For example, is the suggestion that those who successfully campaigned for NZ to become nuclear free (something that is so much part of the cultural furniture that it is used in beer commercials) were puppets of the Kremlin? The SIS needs to explain why it spied on someone for decades who was “never considered a threat to security”. And release his full file forthwith.
And the SIS needs to apologise to the peace movement (not just the “legitimate” one. Was there an illegitimate one?) for still spouting tired old Cold War libels.
I’m not going to detail any of what is about Owen in this latest release. It’s from so long ago (Owen and Joan were married from 1964-76) and is frankly trivial. Although I was amused to see him describe his occupation on one international travel document as “subsistence farmer”.
SIS Director Hampton wrote to Joan: “We consider it is appropriate to explain why the NZSIS holds historical information about you from 1966 through to 1990. Briefly, you came to the attention of the NZSIS because of your membership of the NZ-China Friendship Society (NZCFS) and your marriage to Owen Wilkes”.
“During the Cold War the various communist parties were deemed subversive and also their influence in front and friendship organisations, and mainstream protest movements. The NZCFS was among such friendship organisations until 1984, when the Society was assessed as no longer being of security interest” (letter, 15/5/23, ibid.).
The SIS devoted a lot of time trying to track Joan’s international travels during the 24 years it was spying on her.
Joan Hazlehurst (or Wilkes, as she was back then) took part in CAFCA’s two foundational activities. In 1974 she and Owen were among the Kiwis — I was another — who took part in the Long March, a bus trip right across Aussie, from Sydney to the US Navy’s nuclear submarine communications base at North West Cape, the westernmost point of mainland Australia.
And in 1975 she and Owen were among the two busloads of people (including Aussies) who comprised the South Island Resistance Ride, which was inspired by the Long March. Out of this arose CAFCINZ, which morphed into CAFCA in the 1980s.
Owen was one of our founders. Joan was one of those who typed the very first versions of what was to become Watchdog onto stencils for printing on a Gestetner.
Rediscovered As for Owen, dead since 2005, he is turning out to be having a year in 2023.
Peacemonger . . . the first full-length account of peace researcher Owen Wilkes’ life and work. Image: Raekaihau Press
It’s well worth reading. And it was a major coup getting it into such a publication, not to mention downright odd. Owen would have loved the irony of him gracing the cover of a magazine devoted to fashion, music, food and “wellness”.
The fashionistas would have been non-plussed to open their usual read, only to find the cover photo was of some real old school bearded dude in shorts and bare feet sitting in a hut. (I only have one fashion story of Owen. After high school I swore never to wear shorts again. Decades later I told Owen I’d changed my mind. He replied: “I was always a trendsetter”. But I never went as far as the leather ones he favoured).
Murray Horton is a political activist, advocate and researcher. He is organiser of the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (Cafca) and editor of Watchdog, and he has been an advocate of a range of progressive causes for the past five decades. Horton occasionally contributes articles for Asia Pacific Report and this article is republished from Watchdog 163.
Dr Samantha Power giving a media conference after her speech at USP in Fiji . . . "We do want you to have a choice. It’s not a choice that we will make for you." Image: Kalinga Seneviratne/IDN
The last USAID office in the region was closed over 25 years ago.
The haste with which the US re-established these offices with its Administrator, Dr Samantha Power — a former Harvard professor, flying from the US to officiate in the ceremonies in Suva and in Port Moresby in PNG on August 15 has also got some sceptics in the region questioning its motives.
Addressing Pacific youth at a ceremony at the University of the South Pacific, also attended by the Pacific Island Forum’s Secretary-General Henry Puna — a former prime minister of Cook Islands — Power said USAID was setting up an office in the Pacific to help them to directly “listen, learn, and better understand” the challenges that Pacific Island countries were facing.
“Our new mission here in Fiji and our office in Papua New Guinea — are not going to come in and impose our ideas or our solutions for the shared challenges that we face” she told an audience of students and academics from the region.
USP is one of only two regional universities in the world largely funded by regional countries. She described the two missions as “reinvigorated (US) commitment to the Pacific Islands”.
At a number of times during her 20-minute speech, Power emphasised that USAID only gave grants and they did not give loans.
“As we increase our investments here in the Pacific, I want to be very clear — and this is subject to some misunderstanding — so please, I hope I am very clear,” she said.
Not forcing nations
“The United States is not forcing nations to choose between partnering with the United States and partnering with other nations to meet their development goals.
“That said, we do want you to have a choice. It’s not a choice that we will make for you, but we want you to have options.
“We want Pacific Island nations to have more options to work with partners whose values and vision for the future align with your own.”
Although Dr Power did not mention China in her speech, this could be interpreted as a reference to the Chinese presence in the Pacific and the “rules-based order” the US and its allies claim to promote in the region.
She immediately added to the above comments by pointing out that USAID only gives grants.
“We are very interested in economic independence, and independence of choice and not saddling future generations with attachments and debts that will later have to be paid,” she said.
“And we will engage with you openly, transparently, with respect for individual dignity and the benefits of inclusive governance, the benefits of being held accountable by your citizens, and we will join you in seeking to combat corrupt dealings that can enrich elites often at the expense of everyday citizens.”
Training farmers in new techniques
Another area where they would allocate funding would be training farmers in new techniques to grapple with changing weather patterns and encroaching salt water.
She also announced the launch of a new initiative, a Blue Carbon Assessment, to quantify the true value of the marine carbon sinks across the Blue Pacific continent.
Referring to Dr Power’s comments about reinvigorating the US’s commitment to the region, Maureen Penjueli, coordinator of the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), told IDN that this was a way to frame the US as a partner of choice by allowing the islanders to determine what is a priority in terms of their development.
“The US is not the only development partner that is suggesting this,” she added, “Australia’s recent Development Policy attempts to frame themselves is no different.”
Referring to US ally Australia’s aid policies, she pointed out that for decades there has been accusation of tied aid, “boomerang aid” by many of our development partners — or how aid is an extension of foreign policy and therefore it is by its nature extractive — an iron fist in a velvet glove”.
“But its other implication is to subtly suggest that the US and its allies’ goals are unlike what China does, which is to ‘extract concessions’ through this relationship either through ensuring that Chinese companies get the contracts, Chinese labour is recruited (as well as) many other forms of accusation of Chinese engagement in the region,” Penjueli said.
During an interaction with the local media after her speech, a local television reporter told Dr Power that critics had been quick to say that the US was ramping up support in the greater Indo-Pacific region because it believed that American dominance was at risk.
“How do you respond to such an observation? And why should Pacific leaders choose US diplomatic support over Chinese support?”, the reporter asked.
“Lots of experience around the world is the recognition that governance and human rights, and economic development go hand in hand,” Dr Power replied.
“You can have economic development without human rights, but it’s almost impossible to have inclusive economic development that reaches broad segments of the population.
“So, we really believe that a development model that values transparency, that ensures that private sector investment is conducted in a manner that benefits broad swaths of the population rather than like a couple of government officials who take a bribe or pay a bribe.”
Grants at a time of a different model Dr Power also added that USAID gave grants at a time when others were pushing a very different model, “which is much more about concentrating both political and economic power, which tends to stifle the voices of citizens to hold their leaders accountable, allows officials to do what they believe is right, but without checks and balances”.
USAID is representing the reopening of the two offices as a follow up to President Biden’s meeting with the Pacific leaders in Washington DC last year.
Its Manila-based deputy assistant director of USAID, Betty Chung, has told Radio New Zealand that currently there are just two staffers in Fiji but by the end of the year, they hope to have eight to 10 there, building up to about 30.
Also the USAID budget for the Pacific has tripled in the past three years.
In a joint press conference in Port Moresby, PNG Prime Minister James Marape has welcomed USAID’s renewed commitments to the region and said that Power’s presence completes what is President Biden’s 3D strategy — diplomacy, defence, and development — in the focus to revamp the US presence in PNG and the Pacific.
He also referred to recent defence agreements signed with the US but said that it should not be a one-way relationship on how they relate to the US. He asked Power and UNAID to assist PNG in preserving their forest resources.
Pacific people need to watch
Pointing out that PNG is home to one-third of the world’s forests and 67 percent of global biodiversity, Marape said that he had asked Dr Power to take the message back to the US and particularly to Congress “who sometimes offer resistance to support to emerging nations” — to help PNG to preserve its forest resources to offset the US “huge carbon footprint”.
Referring to Dr Power’s undertaking that she came to the Pacific to listen, Penjueli said that people in the Pacific needed to watch how USAID could translate this listening exercise into grant-making and in which areas and how they do it.
“For Pacific Island governments, I do believe that they are in a better place, this gives them more options to consider if they (foreign donors) support their own development needs particularly in the current context of a climate emergency, post-pandemic debt stress economies and an ongoing Ukraine war.”
Dr Kalinga Seneviratne is a Sri Lanka-born journalist, broadcaster and international communications specialist. He is currently a consultant to the journalism programme at the University of the South Pacific. He is also the former head of research at the Asian Media Information and Communication Center (AMIC) in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific editor of InDepth News (IDN), the flagship agency of the non-profit International Press Syndicate. This article is republished under content sharing agreement between Asia Pacific Report and IDN.
Dr Samantha Power (pink in the centre with garland) with University of the South Pacific students at the Laucala campus in Suva, Fiji. Image: Kalinga Seneviratne/IDN
