Impunity Watch: Oceania

BRIEF: UN Works with Fiji Security Forces to Ban Torture

SUVA, Fiji - The United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights is helping Fiji’s security forces ensure that detainees will not be tortured or ill-treated.

International law dictates that torture or ill-treatment of those arrested or detained is illegal. Matilda Bogner, a regional representative, said that Fiji already has a strong commitment to banning torture and ill treatment.

At the same time, Bogner says she has worked closely with Fiji Police and the Prison Authority to educate them not to take the law into their own hands, but to defer to the proper legal authority.

Bogner was also careful to point out that Fiji is not unique, and it is crucial that the UN work with other countries around the world to educate and eradicate torturous treatment of those who are arrested or detained. The UN hopes to work harmoniously together with local security forces to address these human rights issues. 

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International - UN works on torture ban in Fiji - 28 June 2009

French Polynesian Nuclear Test Veterans Denied Compensation

By Angela Marie Watkins
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PAPEETE, French Polynesia - French Polynesia’s Nuclear Workers’ Association, Moruroa E. Tatou, is dismayed that the Papeete labor court has thrown out compensation claim cases by eight former test site workers. This morning, the court found that under local law the complaints cannot be ruled on.

However, the court found that the Atomic Energy Commissariat had failed in its obligation as an employer to provide security and awarded 11,000 US dollars to each of the three children of a deceased local veteran.

French Polynesians who have had their claims for compensation for the effects of nuclear testing rejected say they won’t give up their bids for redress.

John Doom, of Moruroa E. Tatou, says eight people who took their cases to French Polynesia’s industrial relations tribunal were unsuccessful.

He says the three surviving workers have leukemia, and they and the five widows will consult with lawyers over how to continue with their bids.

“We will not give up anyhow, we will continue this fight and represent again the three who were not accepted, and these three have leukemia,” said Doom.

For more information, please see:

New Zealand International Radio - Former Moruroa workers fail in nuclear testing compensation bids - 26 June 2009

New Zealand International Radio - French Polynesian test veterans dismayed at Tahiti court decision - 26 June 2009

Radio Australia - French Polynesia rejects nuclear compensation - 26 June 2009

French Polynesian Court Rules For Nuclear Test Veteran

By Angela Marie Watkins
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PAPEETE, French Polynesia - French Polynesian court has ruled in favor of three children of a deceased nuclear weapons test veteran who sought compensation for the effects of the tests.

The court found that the Atomic Energy Commissariat had failed in its obligation as an employer to provide security and ordered that each claimant be paid 11,000 US dollars.

The Nuclear Workers’ Association Moruroa E. Tatou has expressed disappointment at the low compensation sum. However, today's decision coincided with the French parliament beginning debates on a landmark bill for compensating the victims of nuclear tests carried out in French Polynesia and Algeria over more than three decades.

About 150,000 civilian and military personnel took part in 210 nuclear tests carried out in the Sahara desert and the Pacific between 1960 and 1996, many of whom later developed serious health problems.

The government unveiled a bill on compensating the test victims in March, after decades of denying its responsibility for fear the admission would have weakened its nuclear program during the Cold War.

Under the bill, which is to be put to the vote on June 30, a nine-member committee of physicians, led by a magistrate, will examine individual claims for compensation.

Defense Minister Herve Morin told the lower-house National Assembly that the bill, thirteen years after the end of the tests in the Pacific, will allow France to serenely close a chapter of its history.

For more information, please see:

New Zealand International Radio - French Polynesian Court rules in favour of nuclear test veteran’s children - 25 June 2009

New Zealand International Radio - France begins debating nuclear compensation bill - 25 June 2009

Australian News - French debate nuclear test compo - 26 June 2009

Amnesty International Reports Torture and Abuse by Indonesian Police

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Amnesty International is reporting that Indonesian police regularly torture and abuse suspects held for questioning, in addition to taking bribes in the form of money and sex.

Amnesty International’s report entitled, "Unfinished Business: Police Accountability in Indonesia," found that the most marginalized people in Indonesian society receive the worst treatment.

The organization’s Asia Pacific deputy director, Donna Guest said that, "Amnesty International's report shows how widespread the culture of abuse is among the Indonesian police force." She added, "The police's primary role is to enforce the law and protect human rights, yet all too often many police officers behave as if they are above the law."

Rebecca Emery, deputy director for Amnesty International, says that some of these marginalized people are from the Papua region. Papuans have long reported abuse by Indonesian police, and have struggled to gain independence from Indonesia.

“Since the national Indonesian police separated from the military in 1999, it has undertaken significant reforms, even though these reforms have been undertaken, the actual practice with regards to policing haven’t reflected human rights improvements. There’re a lot of violations and abuses, which are still deeply rooted in Indonesian policing,” Ms. Emery said.

The most vulnerable groups include women, drug addicts, and sex workers.

Ms. Emery added that the Indonesian government must recognize these human rights violations and work to stop them.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International - Amnesty reports serious abuse by Indonesian police - 25 June 2009

BBC News - Indonesia police abuse 'ongoing' - 24 June 2009

AFP - Torture 'widespread' in Indonesia: Amnesty - 24 June 2009

Fiji's Prime Minister Announces Road Map To Democracy

By Angela Marie Watkins
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji - Fiji's prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, announced he will reveal Fiji’s road map to democracy within the next few days.

While speaking to villagers in Tailevu North on Monday, Bainimarama said a constitution review team would be appointed to look at a new constitution and electoral changes.

The speech is one of the first times Bainimarama has publicly spoken about Fiji's political future and although Bainimarama did not provide a timetable, or framework, it is the first signs of the country gaining a new political and social code since April, when the president annulled the country’s constitution and gave Bainimarama and his government a five-year mandate.

Bainimarama has said repeatedly one of the reasons for the military's takeover of Fiji was to end racial and social division and Bainimarama's speech primarily focused on how the new constitution would not tolerate politicians using racial discrimination as a tool to win votes. However, just last weekend, all police officers not on duty were required to attend a Christian crusade event. The country's ethnic make-up means its police force has members who are Hindu and Muslim, as well as Christian.

Also, as Bainimarama was speaking of a new constitution, his government extended to August the Public Emergency Rules that limit free media by placing government censors in newsrooms, extend police search and seizure powers, and force organizations to ask for permission to hold meetings.

For more information, please see:

Australia Network News - Fiji's multi-ethnic police join Christian crusade - 24 June 2009

New Zealand International Radio - New Fiji constitution to be drawn up soon - 24 June 2009

Fiji Sun - WE ARE ONE :PM - 24 June 2009

Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Limited - Censorship extended till August - 24 June 2009

 

West Papuan Dancers Highlight Indonesian Human Rights Violations

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

MANOKWARI, West Papua - A dance troop from West Papua performed at Stonehenge in Britain to draw attention to the human rights violations in the Papua region.

The British Council of Druids invited the Mambesak troupe and a West Papuan activist, Benny Wenda, to partake in the Summer Solstice celebrations. The celebration attracted a record breaking 36,500 people.

The Mambesak troupe consists of four semi-nude dancers, who according to the Times Online, danced through the night and ended with a performance at sunrise. The West Papuan dancers came to Britain to highlight what they believe is the Indonesian government’s history of persecuting people from the Papua region and denying them their independance.

Rollo Maughfling, head of the British Council of Druids Archdruid, spoke to the crowds at Stonehenge, informing them of Papua’s history of human rights violations and encouraging listeners to actively support West Papuan efforts in gaining independence from Indonesia.

Separatist protests and demonstrations for independence have long marked Papua’s history. Once a Dutch colony on New Guinea’s western end, Papua became Indonesia’s largest province in 1969. Violence erupted in 2003 after President Megawati Sukarnoputri separated Papua into three provinces: Central Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Tengah), Papua (or East Irian Jaya, Irian Jaya Timur), and West Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Barat).

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International - West Papuans push their cause at Stonehenge event-  22 June 2009

Radio New Zealand International - 11 Papuans jailed in Indonesia for separatist activities - 09 January 2009

Indonesian Government Delays Release of Five Detained Australians Till Next Week

By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A supporter of the five Australians being detained in Papua for the last nine months, says the Indonesian government is delaying their release until next week.

The “Merauke Five,” as the five Australian detainees have been called, were arrested last September after they were caught flying their small aircraft over Papua without the requisite visas or flight clearance.

The Five were expected to be released over the weekend, but their lawyers fear that the Indonesian government may raise “further hurdles” before granting their release.

“There was a belief that the Indonesian government might not sign off on the Supreme Court decision, that they might not allow them to leave but I think that was more a misunderstanding. That seems to have been cleared. The pilot, (William) Scott-Bloxham, has taken the plane up for a test run for about fifteen minutes yesterday and that was fine. The plane’s ready to go. They’re ready to go. They’re just nervous about something going wrong,” Mark Bousen, editor of Torres Strait News, said.

Bousen said, however, that despite the delay, the Indonesian government is eager to release the five Australians, and put the matter behind them.

“A lot of the paperwork has been cleared now. They’re just waiting on the odd bit now. It seems that everyone’s been very co-operative: the Indonesian officials, the Australian bureaucracy at long last seem to be very proactive - they are very keen to have this case resolved and there seems to be a sense of co-operation between the two governments to have the five home as soon as possible,” Bousen said.

Bousen expects that the Five will be released by Monday.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International - Supporters of five Australians in Papua fear hurdles will delay return home - 19 June 2009

Radio New Zealand International - Australians’ release from Papua delayed until next week - 19 June 2009

International Community Urged To Return Fiji To Democracy

By Angela Marie Watkins
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji - Australia and New Zealand on Thursday urged China and the rest of the international community to back efforts to return Fiji to democracy and renewed demands that the United Nations stop using Fijian troops for peacekeeping duties, more than two years after a military coup in the South Pacific nation.

Fiji has up to 2,000 troops on peacekeeping duties with U.N. security forces around the world, including Iraq, Lebanon and East Timor. The UN decided last year not to use Fijian peacekeepers for any new missions but it has continued to deploy those already engaged.

Fiji's military regime "has gained comfort and considerable amounts of cash from those ongoing peacekeeping activities," said New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Murray McCully.

McCully said the U.N.'s use of Fiji troops was "particularly unhelpful" to the international community, given former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's warning to Fiji in 2006 that its peacekeepers would be "sent home" if the 2006 coup led by Commodore Frank Bainimarama proceeded.

Since 2006, Bainimarama has suspended the constitution, detained opponents, delayed elections to 2014, suppressed freedom of speech, and required lawyers to get new licenses to practice under his administration.

The military regime has previously stated that Fiji's soldiers would continue with U.N. peacekeeping duties because the U.N. hadn't stopped peacekeeping participation by countries like Pakistan and Zimbabwe.

Fiji has also recently received support from China, who has extended its influence into the Pacific with various forms of aid, including money for infrastructure projects. Last month a new bridge was opened in Fiji, funded and built by China.

"We've been urging all members of the international community that, if they are having contact with Fiji, that they should certainly make the point that the international community wants to see Fiji return to democracy," said Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.

For more information, please see:

BBC - China support for Fiji questioned  - 19 June 2009

The Sydney Morning Herald - Aust/NZ FMs criticise UN over Fiji - 19 June 2009

Taiwan News - Australia, NZ want UN to stop using Fiji troops - 19 June 2009  

Freedom For "Merauke Five" Delayed

By Angela Marie Watkins
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Prosecutors are continuing to hinder the release of five Australians detained in Papua for the past nine months, even though Indonesia's Supreme Court has cleared them of wrongdoing, the group's lawyer says.

The so-called "Merauke Five" were arrested last September for flying their small aircraft into Papua without visas or flight clearance.

On Wednesday, Merauke District Court officials received from Jakarta the paperwork that will enable them to return the five Australians' passports and let the pilot, William Scott-Bloxam, fire up his twin-engined aircraft. However, the group’s lawyer, Mohammad Rifan, says he fears prosecutors may yet raise further hurdles.

"They still have not lifted the ban that prevents them leaving. They say they have to ask the attorney-general's office for guidance to do this," said Rifan. "But it seems like there is an effort from prosecutors to hinder the process."

Earlier, Scott-Bloxham had been given a three year jail term and each of his passengers two-year terms, but their convictions were overturned in March. However, before they could get out of Indonesia, they were banned from leaving while prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court.

Lawyer Efrem Fangohoy said he expected the bureaucratic process could still have them on the ground in Papua until the end of this week.

For more information, please see:

The Sydney Morning Herald - Australians delayed from leaving Papua - 17 June 2009

The Australian -  Australians detained in Indonesia closer to freedom - 17 June 2009

 New Zealand International Radio - "Merauke Five" could still be hindered from returning to Australia - 17 June 2009

Pacific Countries Discuss Women's Issues

By Angela Marie Watkins
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji - Among pleas for gender equality and maternity pay, a workshop on violence against women has sparked calls for legislation encompassing all abuse against women.

The Fiji Women’s Crisis Center hosted the Pacific Regional Meeting on Violence Against Women in Fiji last week with 60 attendees from 11 Pacific countries.

Edwina Kotoisuva, the Deputy Coordinator of the Center, said most organizations at the workshop are strengthening relations with their respective governments to pursue a reform in their laws.

“What we’re hoping to do is that countries look into having overarching violence against women legislation so it includes domestic violence, sexual assault and then can take into account emerging issues that have come through in the Pacific, such as trafficking, which is a cause for concern for some of our Pacific countries,” said Kotoisuva.

During the meeting, the Fiji Women's Crisis Center also argued for legislation recognizing that maternity leave and pay is a woman's right and should not be seen as a burden by employers.

Stephen Fisher, an advocate with the Chisholm Institute in Melbourne, spoke at the meeting and argued that a gender-imbalanced society will breed violence, but it can be eliminated when men listen more to women and help them with housework, raising children, cooking and cleaning.

Fisher also stated that he felt much progress was made at the meeting.

For more information, please see:

New Zealand International Radio - Regional conference hears plea for gender equality - 16 June 2009

New Zealand International Radio - Workshop calls for laws to halt abuse of women - 16 June 2009

Fiji Times - Maternity pay is a woman's right -16 June 2009