The Free Papua Organisation (Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM) has sent an open letter to the United Nations leadership demanding that “decolonisation” of the former Dutch colony of West New Guinea, the Indonesian-administered region known across the Pacific as West Papua, be initiated under the direction of the UN Trusteeship Council.
The letter accuses the UN of being a “criminal accessory to the plundering of the ancestral lands” of the Papuans, a Melanesian people with affinity and close ties to many Pacific nations.
According to the OPM leader, chairman-commander Jeffrey Bomanak, West Papuans had been living with the expectation for six decades that the UN would “fulfill the obligations regarding the legal decolonisation of West Papua”.
OPM leader Jeffrey Bomanak . . . an open letter to the UN calling for the UN annexation of West Papua in 1962 to be reversed. Image: OPM
Alternatively, wrote Bomanak, there had been an expectation that there would be an explanation “to the International Commission of Jurists if there are any legal reasons why these obligations to West Papua cannot be fulfilled”.
The open letter was addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi and Trusteeship Council President Nathalie Estival-Broadhurst.
‘Guilty’ over annexation
“The United Nations is guilty of annexing West New Guinea on Sept 21, 1962, as a trust territory which had been concealed by the UN Secretariat from the Trusteeship Council.”
Indonesia has consistently rejected West Papuan demands for self-determination and independence, claiming that its right to sovereignty over the region stems from the so-called Act of Free Choice in 1969.
But many West Papuans groups and critics across the Pacific and internationally reject the legitimacy of this controversial vote when 1025 elders selected by the Indonesian military were coerced into voting “unanimously” in favour of Indonesian rule.
A sporadic armed struggle by the armed wing of OPM and peaceful lobbying for self-determination and independence by other groups, such as the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), have continued since then with persistent allegations of human rights violations with the conflict escalating in recent months.
“The UN is a criminal accessory to the plundering of our ancestral lands and to the armament exports from member nations to our murderers and assassins — the Indonesian government,” claimed Bomanak in his letter.
“West Papua is not a simple humanitarian dilemma. The real dilemma is the perpetual denial of West Papua’s right to freedom and sovereignty.”
Bomanak alleges that the six-decade struggle for independence has cost more than 500,000 lives.
West Papua case ‘unique’
In a supporting media release by Australian author and human rights advocate Jim Aubrey, he said that the open letter should be read “by anyone who supports international laws and governance and justice that are applied fairly to all people”.
“West Papua’s case for the UN to honour the process of decolonisation is a unique one,” he said.
“Former Secretary General U Thant concealed West Papua’s rights as a UN trust territory for political reasons that benefited the Republic of Indonesia and the American mining company Freeport-McMoRan.
“West Papua was invaded and recolonised by Indonesia. The mining giant Freeport-McMoRan signed their contract to build the Mt Grasberg mine with the mass murderer Suharto in 1967.
“The vote of self-determination in 1969 was, for Suharto and his commercial allies, already a foregone conclusion in 1967.”
Aubrey said that West Papuans were still being “jailed, tortured, raped, assassinated [and] bombed in one of the longest ongoing acts of genocide since the end of the Second World War”.
Western countries accused
He accused Australia, European Union, UK, USA as well as the UN of being “accessories to Indonesia’s illegal invasion and landgrab”.
About Australia’s alleged role, Aubrey said he had called for a Royal Commission to investigate but had not received a reply from Governor-General David Hurley or from Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.
PRESS RELEASE
OFFICIAL OPM Press Release 14 September 2023
OPM LEADER ACCUSES UN OF GIFTING WEST PAPUA TO INDONESIA & US MINER FREEPORT-MCMORAN – DEMANDS DECOLONIZATION
Jeffrey P Bomanak accuses United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, General Assembly President Csaba… pic.twitter.com/gggZl3wLyc
Fiji Parliament passes a motion to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission . . . seeking "closure and healing" for individuals who are still affected by Fiji's turbulent history. Image: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji FB/RNZ Pacific
Fiji’s Parliament has passed a motion for the coalition government to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission “to facilitate open and free engagement in truth telling” to resolve racial differences and concerns in the country.
While tabling the motion in the Parliament, Fiji’s Assistant Minister for Women Sashi Kiran said people were still hurting from “political upheavals” and “many unresolved issues” from the past.
Kiran said the commission would offer “closure and healing” to individuals who were still affected by Fiji’s turbulent history.
Assistant Women’s Minister Sashi Kiran . . . Fiji has been plagued by political turmoil for more than three decades with four coups. Image: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji FB/RNZ Pacific
In May, the Methodist Church of Fiji initiated a national prayer and reconciliation programme during the Girmit Day celebrations. Kiran said the participation of leaders and various faith groups at the event signalled that Fijians were ready for the healing process.
“Some may ask whether this is the time for it. Some may say we should focus on cost of living and on better public services and I understand [that],” she said.
‘Many unresolved issues’
“I know from many long years of personal engagement with our people a lot of people are hurting. There are many unresolved issues that need closure.
“Can we be a prosperous society if we live in fear and insecurity, if we do not trust our neighbours and carry wounded hearts.”
She said Fiji had been plagued by political turmoil for more than three decades with four coups.
“We are not looking deep inside ourselves to learn the lessons of the past. It is easier to look away from the painful events and perhaps pretend that they did not happen.
“But constant echoes of divide, narratives of the past remind us that there are deep rooted wounds in may hearts unable to heal.”
An emotional Rabuka said the commission would “remove the division between the two main communities that have co-existed since well before independence” in 1970.
He said the opposition did not have any reason to oppose the motion.
‘I am opening it up’
“I have, but I am opening it up. I would probably want to hide a long of things I know [but] none of you [MPs] has anything to hide so we should cooperate and work for this,” Rabuka said.
However, opposition MPs did not back the motion, saying a Truth and Reconciliation Commission would do more harm than good.
An emotional Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka . . . opposition should back the government over the commission. Image: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji FB/RNZ Pacific
Tackle ‘deep-rooted problems’ – Naupoto FijiFirst MP and former military commander Viliame Naupoto, in a teary intervention, said “the problem we have is the divide in our society”.
“The divide along racial lines, now there’s even a bigger divide along political lines. I think the big task we have is try and narrow the divide as much as we can and keep working on it,” Naupoto said.
“When we have the Truth and Reconciliation Commission you are opening wounds of the past. If it needs to be opened, it needs to be treated so that it can heal.”
Naupoto cautioned that political leaders needed to ensure they were not creating new wounds by opening wounds of the past.
“Equality that we strive for can be dealt with policies that unite us,” he said.
“When we see that most of the things that were put in place by the government of the past it means also that the 200,000 voters that voted for us are feeling bad . . . and so our divide widens now.
“I plead that if you want and work on that utopian dream of this country that is prosperous and peaceful and stable, we have to be tough and face the deep-rooted problems that we have.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Opposition FijiFirst MP Viliame Naupoto . . . equality can be achieved through policies. Image: Parliament of the Republic of Fiji FB/RNZ Pacific
Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders' summit participants and journalists attend the closing ceremony in Port Vila on August 26 . . . protests over attempted bribery and intimidation of RNZ Pacific journalist allegation. Image: MSG Facebook/IFJ
A Radio New Zealand Pacific journalist has alleged that an Indonesian official attempted to both bribe and intimidate him following an interview at the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) leaders’ summit in the Vanuatu capital of Port Vila last month.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliates, the Media Association Vanuatu (MAV) and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia, have condemned the attempted bribery and harassment of the journalist and urged the relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate the incident.
On August 23, RNZ Pacific journalist Kelvin Anthony reported that a representative of the Indonesian government, Ardi Nuswantoro, attempted to bribe him outside Port Vila’s Holiday Inn Resort after Anthony conducted an exclusive interview with Indonesia’s Australian ambassador, Dr Siswo Pramono.
According to Anthony, Nuswantoro had previously expressed the Indonesian government’s displeasure at RNZ’s coverage of ongoing independence efforts in West Papua, reported the IFJ in a statement.
The journalist had advised him of the outlet’s mandate to produce “balanced and fair” coverage and was invited to the hotel for the interview, where he questioned Dr Pramono on a broad range of pertinent topics, including West Papua.
Following the interview, Anthony was escorted from the hotel by at least three Indonesian officials. After repeatedly inquiring as to how the journalist was going to return to his accommodation, Nuswantoro then offered him a “gift” of an unknown amount of money, which Anthony refused.
Anthony reported that he felt harassed and intimidated in the days following, with Nuswantoro continuing to message, call, and follow him at the conference’s closing reception.
Interview not aired
RNZ chose not to air the interview with Dr Pramno due to the incident.
In response to the claims of bribery and intimidation sent to the Indonesian government by RNZ, Jakarta’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Asia Pacific and African Affairs director-general Abdul Kadir Jailani said, “bribery has never been our policy nor approach to journalists . . . we will surely look into it.”
RNZ Pacific journalist Kelvin Anthony . . . “harassed” while covering the Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders’ summit in Port Vila last month. Image: Kelvin Anthony/X
In a September 6 interview, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins reiterated his government’s commitment to press freedom, stating the importance of free and independent media.
Journalists and civil society in West Papua have faced increasing threats, restrictions and violence in recent years. Indonesian media has disproportionately reflected state narratives, with state intervention resulting in the censorship of independent outlets and effective barring of local or international journalists from Indonesian-administered Papua.
In February, renowned Jubi journalist Victor Mambor was subject to a bombing attack outside his Jayapura home.
MAV said: “The Media Association of Vanuatu (MAV) is concerned about an alleged bribery attempt by foreign officials at a Melanesian Spearhead Group regional meeting.
MAV president Lillyrose Welwel denounces such actions and urges MAV members to adhere to the Code of Ethics, as journalism is a public service. She encourages international journalists to contact the association when in the country, as any actions that do not reflect MAV’s values are not acceptable.”
AJI calls for ‘safety guarantee’
AJI said:“AJI Indonesia urges the Indonesian government to investigate the incident with transparency. This action must be followed by providing guarantees to any journalist to work safely in Papua and outside.
“The Indonesian government must also guarantee the protection of human rights in Papua, including for civilians, human rights defenders, and journalists.”
The IFJ said: “Government intervention in independent and critical reporting is highly concerning, and this incident is one in an alarming trend of intimidation against reporting on West Papua.
“The IFJ urges the Indonesian government to thoroughly investigate this incident of alleged bribery and harassment and act to ensure its commitment to press freedom is upheld.”
Pacific Media Watch condemnation Pacific Media Watch also condemned the incident, saying that it was part of a growing pattern of disturbing pressure on Pacific journalists covering West Papuan affairs.
“West Papua self-determination and human rights violations are highly sensitive issues in both Indonesia and the Pacific. Journalists are bearing the brunt of a concerted diplomatic push by Jakarta in the region to undermine Pacific-wide support for West Papuan rights. It is essential that the Vanuatu authorities investigate this incident robustly and transparently.”
According to a CNN Indonesia report on September 6, Indonesian authorities denied the attempted bribery and harassment allegation.
Jakarta’s “denial” reported by CNN Indonesia. Image: CNN Indonesia screenshot APR
Clarifications or not, PNG Prime Minister James Marape has left a lingering impression that Papua New Guinea’s foreign policy is for sale, especially when relating to both Indonesia and Israel. Image: Benny Wenda
By David Robie, editor of Café Pacific
Prime Minister James Marape has made two foreign policy gaffes in the space of a week that may come back to bite him as Papua New Guinea prepares for its 48th anniversary of independence this Saturday.
Critics have been stunned by the opening of a PNG embassy in Jerusalem in defiance of international law — when only three countries have done this other than the United States amid strong Palestinian condemnation — and days later a communique from his office appeared to have indicated he had turned his back on West Papuan self-determination aspirations.
Marape was reported to have told President Joko Widodo that PNG had no right to criticise Indonesia over human rights allegations in West Papua and reportedly admitted that he had “abstained” at the Port Vila meeting of the Melanesian Spearhead Group last month when it had been widely expected that a pro-independence movement would be admitted as full members.
The membership was denied and the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) remained as observers — as they have for almost a decade, disappointing supporters across the Pacific, while Indonesia remains an associate member.
Although Marape later denied that these were actually his views and he told PNG media that the statement had been “unauthorised”, his backtracking was less than convincing.
West Papua . . . backtracking by PNG Prime Minister James Marape. Image: PNG Post-Courier
In the case of Papua New Guinea’s diplomatic relations with Israel, they were given a major and surprising upgrade with the opening of the embassy on September 5 in a high-rise building opposite Malha Mall, Israel’s largest shopping mall.
Marape was quoted by the PNG Post-Courier as saying that the Israeli government would “bankroll” the first two years of the embassy’s operation.
Diplomatic rift with Palestine
This is bound to cause a serious diplomatic rift with Palestine with much of the world supporting resolutions backing the Palestinian cause, especially as Marape also pledged support for Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attending the inauguration ceremony.
Papua New Guinea has now joined Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo and the United States as the “pariah” countries willing to open embassies in West Jerusalem. Most countries maintain embassies instead in Tel Aviv, the country’s commercial centre.
Israel regards West Jerusalem as its capital and would like to see all diplomatic missions established there. However, 138 of the 193 United Nations member countries do not recognise this.
Palestine considers East Jerusalem as its capital for a future independent state in spite of the city being occupied by Israel since being captured in the 1967 Six Day War and having been annexed in a move never recognised internationally.
As Al Jazeera reports, Israel has defiantly continued to build illegal settlements in East Jerusalem and in the Occupied West Bank.
“Many nations choose not to open their embassies in Jerusalem, but we have made a conscious choice,” Marape admitted at the embassy opening.
“For us to call ourselves Christian, paying respect to God will not be complete without recognising that Jerusalem is the universal capital of the people and the nation of Israel,” Marape said.
Law as ‘Christian state’
According to PNG news media, Marape also plans to introduce a law declaring the country a “Christian state” and this has faced some flak back home.
In an editorial, the Post-Courier said Marape had officially opened the new embassy in Jerusalem in response to PNG church groups that had lobbied for a “firmer relationship” with Israel for so long.
“When PM Marape was in Israel,” lamented the Post-Courier, “news broke out that a Christian prayer warrior back home, ‘using the name of the Lord, started performing a prayer ritual and was describing and naming people in the village who she claimed had satanic powers and were killing and causing people to get sick, have bad luck and struggle in finding education, finding jobs and doing business’.
“Upon the prayer warrior’s words, a community in Bulolo, Morobe Province, went bonkers and tortured a 39-year-old mother to her death. She was suspected of possessing satanic powers and of being a witch.
“It is hard to accept that such a barbaric killing should occur in Morobe, the stronghold of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, which has quickly condemned the killing.”
The Post-Courier warned that the country would need to wait and see how Palestine would react over the embassy.
“Australia and Britain had to withdraw their plans to set up embassies in Jerusalem, when Palestine protested, describing the move as a ‘blatant violation of international law’.
Indonesian ‘soft-diplomacy’ in Pacific The establishment of the new embassy coincides with a high profile in recent months over the Indonesian government’s major boost in its diplomatic offensive in Oceania in an attempt to persuade Pacific countries to fall in line with Jakarta over West Papua.
Former Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Minister Wiranto – previously a former high-ranking Indonesian general with an unsavoury reputation — gained an additional budget of 60 million rupiah (US$4 million) to be used for diplomatic efforts in the South Pacific
“We are pursuing intense soft-diplomacy. I’m heading it up myself, going there, coordinating, and talking to them,” he told a working meeting with the House of Representatives (DPR) Budget Committee in September 2018.
“We’re proposing an additional budget of 60 billion rupiah.”
Wiranto was annoyed that seven out of 13 Pacific countries back independence for West Papua. He claimed at the time that this was because of “disinformation” in the Pacific and he wanted to change that.
In 2019, he was appointed to lead the nine-member Presidential Advisory Council but his Pacific strategy was followed through over the past six years.
“We’ve been forgetting, we’ve been negligent, that there are many countries [in the Pacific] which could potentially threaten our domination — Papua is part of our territory and it turns out that this is true,” said Wiranto at the time of the budget debate.
But for many critics in the region, it is the Indonesian government and its officials themselves that have been peddling disinformation and racism about Papua.
Atrocities in Timor-Leste
Wiranto has little credibility in the Pacific, or indeed globally over human rights.
According to Human Rights Watch: “The former general Wiranto was chief of Indonesia’s armed forces in 1999 when the Indonesian army and military-backed militias carried out numerous atrocities against East Timorese after they voted for independence.
“On February 24, 2003, the UN-sponsored East Timor Serious Crimes Unit filed an indictment for crimes against humanity against Wiranto and three other Indonesian generals, three colonels and the former governor of East Timor.
“The charges include[d] murder, arson, destruction of property and forced relocation.
“The charges against Wiranto are so serious that the United States has put Wiranto and others accused of crimes in East Timor on a visa watch list that could bar them from entering the country.”
Australian human rights author and West Papuan advocate Jim Aubrey condemned Wiranto’s “intense soft-diplomacy” comment.
“Yeah, right! Like the soft-diplomatic decapitation of Tarina Murib! Like the soft-diplomatic mutilation and dismemberment of the Timika Four villagers! Like Indonesian barbarity is non-existent!,” he told Asia Pacific Report.
“The non-existent things in Wiranto’s chosen words are truth and justice!”
Conflicting reports on West Papua
When the PNG government released conflicting reports on Papua New Guinea’s position over West Papua last weekend it caused confusion after Marape and Widodo had met in a sideline meeting in in Jakarta during the ASEAN summit.
According to RNZ Pacific, Marape had said about allegations of human rights violations in West Papua that PNG had no moral grounds to comment on human rights issues outside of its own jurisdiction because it had its “own challenges”.
He was also reported to have told President Widodo Marape that he had abstained from supporting the West Papuan bid to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group because the West Papuan United Liberation Movement (ULMWP) “does not meet the requirements of a fully-fledged sovereign nation”.
“Indonesia’s associate membership status also as a Melanesian country to the MSG suffices, which cancels out West Papua ULM’s bid,” Marape reportedly said referring to the ULMWP.
Reacting with shock to the report, a senior PNG politician described it to Asia Pacific Report as “a complete capitulation”.
“No PNG leader has ever gone to that extent,” the politician said, saying that he was seeking clarification.
The statements also caught the attention of the ULMWP which raised their concerns with the Post-Courier.
The original James Marape “no right” report published by RNZ Pacific last on September 8. Image: RN Pacific screenshot APR
In a revised statement, Marape said that in an effort to rectify any misinformation and alleviate concerns raised within Melanesian Solidarity Group (MSG) countries, West Papua, Indonesia, and the international community, he had addressed “the inaccuracies”.
“Papua New Guinea never abstained from West Papua matters at the MSG meeting, but rather, offered solutions that affirmed Indonesian sovereignty over her territories and at the same time supported the collective MSG position to back the Pacific Islands Forum Resolution of 2019 on United Nations to assess if there are human right abuses in West Papua and Papua provinces of Indonesia.”
He also relayed a message to President Widodo that the four MSG leaders of Melanesian countries – [Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon islands and Vanuatu] — had resolved to visit him at his convenience to discuss human rights.
But clarifications or not, Prime Minister Marape has left a lingering impression that Papua New Guinea’s foreign policy is for sale with chequebook diplomacy, especially when relating to both Indonesia and Israel.
Homeless Raymond Green and his worldly possessions . . . “All I own can be seen inside my small bag. Everything I had has been either stolen, lost or destroyed somewhere or somehow.” Image: PNG Post-Courier
By Theophiles Singh in Port Moresby
Living in the Papua New Guinea capital of Port Moresby without a house or a source of income is a death sentence, says Raymond Green.
He highlights the struggles of sleeping in the streets, begging for his daily bread and wandering around aimlessly — living a life of quiet desperation.
His advice: Don’t ever borrow money from someone if you don’t have the means to repay them.
According to Raymond Green, he learnt this lesson the hard way when he had to sell off everything under his name to repay his debt.
“I have absolutely nothing. No house, no wife, no money, no valuables and certainly no food in my stomach as we speak,” he told the PNG Post-Courier.
“My struggles cannot be explained by words.
“Every day I have to keep on moving to survive, begging for scraps of food here and there.
Harassment and bullying
“I enjoy the cold nights, but I just wish it could be more peaceful, as there are always people out there who find happiness in harassing and bullying me,” he says.
“I live in pain, agony and desperation. My past haunts me, and my regrets fill me with sorrow.
“Sometimes I wish life could give me a fresh start, but it sadly does not work that way.”
Green doesn’t mince his words when he expresses his daily struggles of being “homeless” and “poor”.
Something he explains that he could have avoided if he had taken the right path when he was younger.
“My daily living is a constant struggle for survival, and I sometimes feel like I am dead inside,” he says.
‘Ultimately have nothing’
“It’s true, being homeless is practically like being dead because you ultimately have nothing.
“All I own can be seen inside my small bag. Everything I had has been either stolen, lost or destroyed somewhere or somehow.”
He says he is waiting for a one off-payment from a certain office, by which he can then use the money for his retirement.
He says there is a high chance he may never receive this payment.
Raymond Green is one of the many who live under extreme poverty conditions, while continuously fighting to survive in Port Moresby.
Theophiles Singhis a PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.
The controversial photo of Milne Bay Governor Gordon Wesley (red shirt) and gang leader Eugene Pakailasi (blue shirt) . . . “Eugene had strange reasons for keeping the gang alive, some of which involve an agreement with some prominent public figures during previous elections.” Image: PNG Post-Courier
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby
“I will surrender if you guarantee I will not be killed,” says Eugene Pakailasi, who took over leadership of Papua New Guinea’s Milne Bay gang after Tommy Maeva Baker was killed in 2021.
He proclaimed this to Milne Bay Governor Gordon Wesley who met with the gang allegedly earlier this year in a daring secret meet-and-greet event in the Owen Stanley Range in Milne Bay Province.
The gang leader revealed his reasons for maintaining the gang and requesting police leniency.
Assistant Police Commissioner (Southern region) Clement Dalla in an interview with the PNG Post-Courier confirmed the above picture, saying that it had been taken earlier this year.
“We are aware of these pictures. The Governor has stated that Pakailasi wants to surrender,” Assistant Commissioner Dalla said.
“The Governor must reach out to police and we can work together to facilitate any surrender and work out a possible arrangement of a surrender programme.”
Police said Pakailasi was wanted for a string of robberies within the provincial capital of Alotau with his alleged involvement in various shootouts with police during Baker’s reign.
Elusive gang leader
So far, the gang leader remains elusive as police continue to make calls for the surrender of all members.
According to Governor Wesley, after being contacted by the gang to meet up, he went up to the mountains “alone” and found their camp base where they had a conversation.
“Eugene had strange reasons for keeping the gang alive, some of which involve an agreement with some prominent public figures during previous elections,” Governor Wesley said.
“Eugene said the gang’s agenda remains the same as when the former gang leader Baker was leading before his death.
“He said they were not paid for the work they did for the people in the public office and therefore still hold a grudge,” he added.
Eugene later asked the Governor to inform the police that he was not guilty of all the criminal allegations against him and that he would surrender to clear his name but was afraid of being shot dead.
“I told [the gang] that the only way I could help them was to have them surrender and work with the police in lowering the crime rate in the province,” Governor Wesley said.
Against killings in province
He reiterated that this rare occasion was followed by his efforts to have some of the gang members surrender and also said that he was against killings in the province — whether by the gang or by police.
Governor Wesley said that was the reason why he wanted to work with both the police and the gang to allow justice to be served peacefully.
The Governor claimed: “We have seen about 300 to 400 men and boys surrender their weapons in the past months since the surrender programme started.
“We have also seen about 200 deaths of young men and women who were suspected to be part of the gang in the province this year.
“I told Eugene and his gang that unless they want to be added onto the death toll, they must surrender to police.”
Governor Wesley said he would be sending an in-depth report to the provincial police commander of his conversation with the gang.
He would seek lenience from the Police Commissioner and the Prime Minister on the gang’s behalf to accommodate a peaceful surrender.
Melyne Baroiis a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.
PNG Prime Minister James Marape at the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) summit in Port Vila last month . . . PNG "offered solutions that affirmed Indonesian sovereignty over her territories." Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony
RNZ Pacific
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has backtracked on his comments that PNG had “no right to comment” on human rights abuses in West Papua and has offered a clarification to “clear misconceptions and apprehension”.
Last week, Marape met Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the sidelines of the 43rd ASEAN summit in Jakarta.
According to a statement released by Marape’s office, he revealed that he “abstained” from supporting the West Papuan bid to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group Leaders’ Summit held in Port Vila, Vanuatu, last month because the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) “does not meet the requirements of a fully-fledged sovereign nation”.
However, on Saturday, his office again released a statement, saying that the statement released two days earlier had been “released without consent” and that it “wrongfully” said that he had abstained on the West Papua issue.
“Papua New Guinea never abstained from West Papua matters at the MSG meeting,” he said.
He said PNG “offered solutions that affirmed Indonesian sovereignty over her territories”, adding that “at the same time [PNG] supported the collective MSG position to back the Pacific Islands Forum Resolution of 2019 on United Nations to assess if there are human right abuses in West Papua and Papua provinces of Indonesia.”
Marape said PNG stressed to President Widodo its respect for Indonesian sovereignty and their territorial rights.
Collective Melanesian, Pacific resolutions
“But on matters of human rights, I pointed out the collective Melanesian and Pacific resolutions for the United Nations to be allowed to ascertain [human rights] allegations.”
According to Marape the four MSG leaders have agreed to visit the Indonesian President “at his convenience to discuss this matter”.
The original James Marape “no right” report published by RNZ Pacific last Friday. Image: RN Pacific screenshot APR
“President Widodo responded that the MSG leaders are welcome to meet him and invited them to an October meeting subject on the availability of all leaders. He assured me that all is okay in the two Papuan provinces and invited other PNG leaders to visit these provinces.”
Since 30 June 2022, the region has been split into the following provinces – Papua (including the capital city of Jayapura), Central Papua, Highland Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua and West Papua.
Marape has also said that his deputy John Rosso was also expected to lead a delegation to West Papua to “look into matters in respect to human rights”.
Meanwhile, he believes the presence of Indonesia on MSG as an associate member and ULMWP as observer at the MSG “is sufficient for the moment”.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ and Asia Pacific Report.
Investigative journalist Nicky Hager displays his 2014 book Dirty Politics. Source: boingboing.net/Covert Action
Nicky Hager received a major national award in New Zealand after having written a book exposing a secret spy base in New Zealand and exposing other state crimes, as Murray Horton writes for Covert Action.
By Murray Horton in Christchurch
Julian Assange has, thus far, spent years in a British prison, awaiting extradition to the US, where he faces charges under the Espionage Act, for which he could be sentenced to 175 years in prison. His crime? Journalism.
On the other side of the world, the nation of New Zealand offers a startling contrast in its approach to Nicky Hager, the country’s most famous investigative journalist. New Zealand has an Honours List, announced twice yearly.
This is very much an occasion for the Establishment to pat itself on the back — for example, the June 2023 Honours List featured Jacinda Ardern, the immediate past Prime Minister, being declared a Dame (“for services to the State”) by her successors in government.
But that same list contained something very unusual, unprecedented in fact. An award was given to Nicky Hager, specifically for his investigative journalism. This has never happened before.
And frankly, considering the number of senior politicians and other powerful people that he has pissed off during his nearly 30-year career, it was not something that would have been predicted.
Exposed Waihopai
Secret Power: New Zealand’s Role in the International Spy Network (Nicky Hager, 1996).
Nicky is famous globally, not just in New Zealand. He cut his teeth on New Zealand’s successful anti-nuclear campaign of the 1970s and 1980s. He burst into global recognition with his remarkable first book, Secret Power (1996), which was a minutely detailed description of New Zealand’s top secret Waihopai electronic spy base and of the workings of the spy agency which runs it, the New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and of the Five Eyes spy network (US, UK, Canada, Australia and NZ), which provides the international framework for Waihopai and the GCSB.
Secret Power’s Introduction was written by David Lange who, as New Zealand’s Labour Prime Minister in the 1980s, had both steered the country to the nuclear-free status that it enjoys until today, and authorised the construction of the Waihopai spy base. Lange confessed that he learned more about Waihopai from Nicky’s book than he ever did when he was prime minister, and was supposedly in charge of the intelligence agencies.
David Lange with the 1985 Nuclear-Free NZ Bill. Source: stuff.co.nz/Covert Action
Secret Power was just the first of seven books (so far). Secrets and Lies (1999) was about the secret campaign of a former state-owned enterprise to win public support for the logging of native forests and to smear environmental groups.
Secrets and Lies: The Anatomy of An Anti-Environmental PR Campaign (Nicky Hager & Bob Burton, 1999).
Seeds of Distrust: The Story of a GE Cover-up (Nicky Hager,2002).
Seeds of Distrust (2002) was about lobbying and cover-ups concerning genetic modification (which remains banned in New Zealand). This was released just as the Labour Government called a snap election, and the appearance of Nicky’s book seriously pissed off Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Brought down right-wing Leader of Opposition
Two of Nicky’s books have lifted the lid on the cesspool of politics in New Zealand and each has had a major impact. The Hollow Men (2006) exposed the secret funding of the opposition National Party’s 2005 election campaign advertising by the obsessively secretive Exclusive Brethren Church. The resultant uproar led to the resignation of the National Party Leader.
Dirty Politics (2014), published in an election year, examined the links between senior figures in the National Party (by now back in government) and various unsavory right-wing attack trolls and bloggers. This created such a sensation that “dirty politics” entered the language to describe a particular modus operandi by behind-the-scenes political operators.
The Hollow Men: A Study in the Politics of Deception (Nicky Hager, 2006).
Dirty Politics: How Attack Politics is Poisoning New Zealand’s Political Environment (Nicky Hager, 2014).
Other People’s Wars: New Zealand in Afghanistan, Iraq and the War on Terror (Nicky Hager, 2011)
Unearthing truth about special forces
And two of Nicky’s books, Other People’s Wars (2011), and Hit & Run (2017), have focused on the activities of the New Zealand military in Afghanistan.
Hit & Run: The New Zealand SAS in Afghanistan and the Meaning of Honour (Nicky Hager & Jon Stephenson, 2017).
The most recent of those forensically examined the activities of the Special Air Service (SAS) in a retaliatory raid on two Afghan villages that led to civilian deaths. The National government declined calls for a commission of inquiry. But the new Labour government decided to hold one (a former prime minister was one Commissioner).
In 2020 it released a number of findings critical of the New Zealand Defence Force and made a number of recommendations, including the creation of an Independent Inspector-General of Defence. When releasing the report, the Attorney-General said: “Without the book, the findings of the report and its important recommendations would not have been possible. Given this, it is right to acknowledge, as does the report, that the book has performed a valuable public service.”
Cops and spies have had to apologise to him, pay damages
Nicky has never been charged with anything or been sued by anyone. But the state has gone after him — and lost every time. In June 2018, he accepted an apology and compensation for “substantial damages” from the New Zealand Police for raiding his home in 2014 as part of their investigation into the hacking that led to the Dirty Politics book. The police also acknowledged accessing his financial records as part of the apology settlement.
In 2019, the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) was ordered to formally apologise to Nicky for unlawfully obtaining and using two months of his phone records to try to find his military source(s) for Other People’s Wars. In 2022 the SIS was ordered to back up that apology with a payment of NZ$66,000 damages and costs, in return for Nicky settling the case out of court.
None of Nicky’s sources, ranging from spies to Special Forces soldiers to political insiders, has ever been outed. He has gone from being routinely branded a “conspiracy theorist” by very senior politicians and their media mouthpieces to being recognised as a vital part of a functioning democracy.
He is a truly independent journalist in the best Kiwi do-it-yourself tradition. He has never worked for any media outlet. His previous job was as a builder (he built his own Wellington hillside home).
And he is extremely popular. After his award was announced, he told TVNZ’s 1 News: “I couldn’t go out on the street or to the supermarket for maybe a year or two after [publishing Dirty Politics] without someone coming up to congratulate me. I was blown away.
“Walking the dog out and about, every single time, there would be at least one person who thanked me. So, I don’t feel deprived of good feedback from the public.”
“But he says he’s not planning on stepping back from his work any time soon. ‘I want to say this very clearly—this is not an end-of-career award for me. There are many big projects, good projects coming down the line.’
So, people in power should watch out? He just nods and smiles.”
Nicky Hager . . . “There are many big projects, good projects coming down the line.” Image: 1News/Covert Action
Standing on the shoulders of giants: Owen Wilkes
Nicky deserves all the kudos he has coming to him but he did not materialise out of thin air. He started off in the peace movement, working with New Zealand’s greatest peace researcher, Owen Wilkes (1940-2005).
They were an interesting mix of styles and tradecraft. Nicky’s specialty has been getting insiders and whistleblowers to spill the beans, along with an uncanny ability to research and find out things by first-hand observation (he took a mainstream TV reporter inside the Waihopai spy base and they were able to film right into the place because the spies did not close their curtains properly).
Owen had an astonishing ability to read thousands of eye-glazing pages of US government and military documents to extract the kernels of truth hidden within. Plus, he had a classic Kiwi DIY research approach. I can give you two examples from personal experience. He spent six years in Scandinavia in the 1970s and 1980s, working for two prestigious peace research institutes (and getting prosecuted under Norway and Sweden’s Official Secrets Acts for finding out too much of what they were up to).
I, and my then-partner, accompanied him on a research trip to northernmost mainland Norway, an area of NATO spy bases close to the Soviet Union. Owen parted company with us for a while and headed off on his own. It was only decades later that I learned that he had actually clandestinely entered the Soviet Union, fording an Arctic border river wearing his trademark shorts.
He lived to tell the tale, although God knows what would have happened if he had been caught, in the Cold War world of 1978.
Owen Wilkes at the protest barricades. Image: Peacemonger/Covert Action
The other example was in New Zealand, during the 1980s. He drove me to a GCSB spy base, straight up into the place in broad daylight. He was hardly inconspicuous: no driver’s license, shorts, bare feet. Oh, and he was wearing a red cap labeled “KGB Agent” that he had bought at a rummage sale.
Once we had parked, he invited me to join him in climbing the fence and pacing out the distance between aerials to assist his calculations. I can still remember the sunlight glinting off the binoculars as the spies watched us from the main building.
Long overdue recognition
Peacemonger:Owen Wilkes: International Peace Researcher (edited by May Bass and Mark Derby, 2022)
For a quarter of a century (from the late 1960s until the early 1990s) Owen was the global expert on US military and spy bases in New Zealand, Australia, and other countries, such as the Philippines and Japan. He has been dead nearly 20 years but he is now getting the recognition he deserves. In 2022, he was the subject of Peacemonger, a book of essays about him by writers from around the world.
I wrote the essay on him and the anti-bases campaign; Nicky wrote the essay on Owen’s tradecraft. And the mainstream media are getting on the band wagon.
In June 2023, New Zealand’s biggest chain of newspapers put him on the cover of its weekly lifestyle magazine, with a four-page spread inside that reads: Nicky Hager and Owen Wilkes, two of New Zealand’s greatest taonga [treasures]—gifted to the world.”
Murray Horton is organiser of the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) and an advocate of a range of progressive causes for the past four decades. He has also contrinbuted several articles to Café Pacific. He can be reached at: cafca@chch.planet.org.nz.
This article was first published by Covert Action Magazine and is republished by Café Pacific with the permission of both the author and Covert Action Institute. Donations to the magazine support investigative journalism. Contributions go directly to supporting the development, production, editing, and dissemination of the magazine.
Political leaders put on the spot over social housing at Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga . . . Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (Labour, from left), Marama Davidson (Green co-leader) and Nicola Willis (National deputy leader). Image: David Robie/APR
Opposition National Party deputy leader Nicola Willis was among three political leaders who made a surprising commitment at a debate last night to build 1000 state houses in Auckland each year.
Labour Party leader and caretaker prime minister Chris Hipkins and Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson also agreed to do so, with resounding “yes” responses to the direct question from co-convenors Sister Margaret Martin of the Sisters of Mercy Wiri and Nik Naidu of the Whānau Community Centre and Hub.
All three political leaders also pledged to have quarterly consultations with a new community alliance formed to address Auckland’s housing and homeless crisis and other social issues.
The “non-political partisan” public rally at the Lesieli Tonga Auditorium in Favona — which included about 1000 attendees representing 45 community and social issues groups — was hosted by the new alliance Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga.
Filipina lawyer and co-chair of the meeting Nina Santos, of the YWCA, declared: “If we don’t have a seat at the table, it’s because we’re on the menu.”
Later, in an interview with RNZ Morning Report today, Santos said: “It was so great to see [the launch of Te Ohu] after four years in the making”.
‘People power’
“It was so good to see our allies, our villages and our communities — our 45 organisations — show up last night to demonstrate people power
“Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga is a broad-based alliance, the first of its kind in Tāmaki Makauarau. The members include Māori groups, women’s groups, unions and faith-based organisations.
“They have all came together to address issues that the city is facing — housing is a basic human right.”
She chaired the evening with Father Henry Rogo from Fiji, of the Diocese of Polynesia in NZ.
Co-chairs Nina Santos and Father Henry Rogo of the Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga founding assembly last night . . . “If we don’t have a seat at the table, it’s because we’re on the menu.” Image: David Robie/APR
Speakers telling heart-rending stories included Dinah Timu, of E Tū union, about “decent work”, and Tayyaba Khan, Darwit Arshak and Eugene Velasco, who relating their experiences as migrants, former refugees and asylum seekers.
The crowd was also treated to performances by Burundian drummers, Colombian dancers and Te Whānau O Pātiki Kapahaka at Te Kura O Pātiki Rosebank School, all members of the new Te Ohu collective.
“Hipkins told the crowd of about 500 . . . that he grew up in a state house built by the Labour government in the 1950s. ‘And I’m very proud that we are building more state houses today than at any time since the 1950s,’ he said.
“’Labour has exceeded the 1000 commitment. We’ve built 12,000 social house units since 2017, and 7000 of them have been in Tāmaki Makaurau. But there is more work to be done.’
“He reminded the audience that the last National government had sold state houses, not built them.
“Davidson said that housing was ‘a human right and a core public good’. The Greens’ commitment was greater than that of the other parties: it wanted to build 35,000 more public houses in the next five years, and resource the construction sector and the government’s state housing provider Kāinga Ora to get it done.
“’We will also put a cap on rent increases and introduce a minimum income guarantee, to lift people out of poverty.’
“Willis told the audience there were 2468 people on the state house waiting list in Auckland when Labour took office in 2017, and now there are 8175.
“’Here’s the thing. If you don’t like the result you’re getting, you don’t keep doing the same thing. We don’t think social housing should just be provided by Kāinga Ora. We want the Salvation Army, and Habitat for Humanity and other community housing providers to be much more involved.’
“Members of that sector were at the meeting and one confirmed the community housing sector is already building a substantial proportion of new social housing.”
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has declared it will now base itself in the Pacific region after years of partial exile.
At a conference in Port Vila late last month — coinciding with the Melanesian Spearhead Group Leaders’ Summit — UK-based Benny Wenda stood down as interim president.
More than 50 representatives from West Papua and across the world attended the summit in Vanuatu. It was only the second summit since ULMWP was formed in 2014.
The movement has an office in Vanuatu, a representative to the EU and some senior officials based in West Papua.
Tabuni will now lead the ULMWP from within West Papua, thereby, it said, maintaining its presence and solidarity with the Papuan people on the ground.
“I am honoured to be appointed as the new ULMWP president and I will do everything I can to continue our legitimate struggle for independence, Tabuni told Jubi News.
Working ‘from within West Papua’
“We must do this from within West Papua as well as campaigning in the international community.
“I will remain in Papua with the people while continuing to fight for human rights and my own determination.”
New ULMWP president Menas Tabuni . . . he says he will be based in West Papua to continue the struggle with his people from the inside. Image: Ben Bohane
Octovianus Mote is the new vice-president, Markus Haluk its secretary, Benny Wenda its foreign affairs spokesperson, Buchtar Tabuni is chair of the Legislative Council and Apollos Sroyer as chair of the Judicial Council.
The ULMWP is the umbrella organisation representing the main pro-independence organisations in West Papua, including the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL), the Federal Republic of West Papua (NFRPB) and the West Papua National Parliament (PNWP).
“ULMWP also wants to clarify that there is no ‘interim government’ and ULMWP is a representative body for all Papuans,” Tabuni said.
The ULMWP, he said, continues to demand access for international media to be able to visit West Papua and report freely.
Indonesia ‘hiding’ its largest province
“Indonesia cannot call itself a democratic country if Indonesia continues to hide its largest province from the world,” Tabuni said.
ULMWP also expressed its “deepest gratitude” to the Vanuatu government for hosting the MSG Summit and the ULMWP group, and also to the people of Vanuatu for their continued support.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ and Asia Pacific Report.
The West Papua delegation flying the Morning Star flag at the opening of the 7th Melanesian Arts & Culture Festival in Port Vila in July. Image: Twitter.com/@MSG Secretariat/RNZ Pacific
