Sky TV has agreed to fully acquire TV3 owner Discovery New Zealand for $1.

Discovery NZ is a part of US media giant Warner Bros Discovery, and operates channel Three and online streaming platform ThreeNow.

NZX-listed Sky said the deal would be completed on a cash-free, debt-free basis, with completion expected on August 1.

• READ MORE: Other TV3 reports

Sky expected the deal to deliver revenue diversification and uplift of around $95 million a year.

Sky expected Discovery NZ’s operations to deliver sustainable underlying earnings growth of at least $10 million from the 2028 financial year.

Sky chief executive Sophie Moloney said it was a compelling opportunity for the company, with net integration costs of about $6.5 million.

“This is a compelling opportunity for Sky that directly supports our ambition to be Aotearoa New Zealand’s most engaging and essential media company,” she said.

Confidential advance notice
Sky said it gave the Commerce Commission confidential advance notice of the transaction, and the commission did not intend to consider the acquisition further.

Warner Bros Discovery Australia and NZ managing director Michael Brooks said it was a “fantastic outcome” for both companies.

“The continued challenges faced by the New Zealand media industry are well documented, and over the past 12 months, the Discovery NZ team has worked to deliver a new, more sustainable business model following a significant restructure in 2024,” Brooks said.

“While this business is not commercially viable as a standalone asset in WBD’s New Zealand portfolio, we see the value Three and ThreeNow can bring to Sky’s existing offering of complementary assets.”

Sky said on completion, Discovery NZ’s balance sheet would be clear of some long-term obligations, including property leases and content commitments, and would include assets such as the ThreeNow platform.

Sky said irrespective of the transaction, the company was confident of achieving its 30 cents a share dividend target for 2026.

‘Massive change’ for NZ media – ThreeNews to continue
Founder of The Spinoff and media commentator Duncan Greive said the deal would give Sky more reach and was a “massive change” in New Zealand’s media landscape.

He noted Sky’s existing free-to-air presence via Sky Open (formerly Prime), but said acquiring Three gave it the second-most popular audience outlet on TV.

“Because of the inertia of how people use television, Three is just a much more accessible channel and one that’s been around longer,” Greive said.

“To have basically the second-most popular channel in the country as part of their stable just means they’ve got a lot more ad inventory, much bigger audiences.”

It also gave Sky another outlet for their content, and would allow it to compete further against TVNZ, both linear and online, Greive said.

He said there may be a question mark around the long-term future of Three’s news service, which was produced by Stuff.

No reference to ThreeNews
Sky made no reference to ThreeNews in its announcement. However, Stuff confirmed ThreeNews would continue for now.

“Stuff’s delivery of ThreeNews is part of the deal but there are also now lots of new opportunities ahead that we are excited to explore together,” Stuff owner Sinead Boucher said in a statement.

On the deal itself, Boucher said she was “delighted” to see Three back in New Zealand ownership under Sky.

“And who doesn’t love a $1 deal!” Boucher said, referring to her own $1 deal to buy Stuff from Australia’s Nine Entertainment in 2020.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

"Of course, Holtec is not only proceeding at its own risk, but is putting the Great Lakes State, and the entire Great Lakes Basin, at existential risk, of a Chornobyl- or Fukushima-level radioactive catastrophe," said Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

“It appears that Holtec could well already be rushing ahead with the sleeving of dangerously degraded steam generator tubes, even though our legal challenge against the adequacy of that proposed band-aid fix is still underway at the NRC licensing board,” said Wally Taylor, an attorney based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa representing the coalition.

“If Holtec is indeed already sleeving damaged steam generator tubes, this means the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board proceedings have been turned into a farce by NRC Staff’s complicity in the regulatory violations,” said Terry Lodge, an attorney based in Toledo, Ohio representing the coalition. “Holtec decides what to do, and when, while NRC maintains the mere illusion of regulation, and with a wink and nod, allows Holtec to proceed, in secret, despite our coalition’s official legal intervention opposing these dangerous shortcuts on safety,” Lodge added.

“Did NRC wait to publish the Palisades restart inspection report late on a Friday night, while we were busy meeting an entirely related deadline, hoping we would have less chance of noticing it?” asked Taylor.

Gundersen has previously testified in written declarations that the already degraded steam generators, in need of replacement for two decades, were made significantly worse by Holtec’s “rookie error” of neglecting to implement critical safety maintenance — wet layup — from 2022 to 2024, allowing corrosive chemical attack both inside and outside the exceedingly thin-walled steam generator tubes. Gundersen has also warned that a cascading failure of steam generator tubes could result in a reactor core meltdown, and catastrophic release of hazardous radioactivity into the environment.

Ironically, the coalition’s legal counsel were, at that very moment late Friday night, rebutting attacks on the coalition’s petition to intervene and request for hearings, regarding Holtec’s License Amendment Request (LAR) to the NRC, for permission to merely sleeve dangerously degraded steam generator tubes, rather than replace the steam generators in their entirety. The coalition had petitioned to intervene and requested a hearing on June 16, 2025. NRC Staff and Holtec then filed Answers, challenging the coalition’s petition and request. The coalition had until 11:59pm Eastern Time on Friday, July 18 to file its Reply to the Answers. The coalition met the deadline, defending its concerns regarding potentially dangerous operations to commence, potentially in the very near future, from using questionable repairs on its old, degraded steam generators, if NRC approves Holtec’s scheme.

The environmental coalition legally intervening against Holtec’s unprecedented, unneeded, exorbitantly expensive for the public, and extremely high risk for health, safety, and the environment, Palisades restart scheme includes: Beyond Nuclear, Don’t Waste Michigan, Michigan Safe Energy Future, Nuclear Energy Information Service of Chicago, and Three Mile Island Alert of Pennsylvania.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.

The Fiji government looks set to pay around NZ$1.5 million in damages to the disgraced former head of the country’s anti-corruption agency FICAC.

The state is offering Barbara Malimali an out-of-court settlement after her lawyer lodged a judicial review of her sacking in the High Court in Suva.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka suspended Malimali from her role on May 29, following a damning Commission of Inquiry into her appointment.

• READ MORE: Other FICAC reports

Malimali was described as “universally corrupt” by Justice David Ashton-Lewis, the commissioner of the nine-week investigation, which involved 35 witnesses.

“She was a pawn in the hands of devious members of government, who wanted any allegations against them or other government members thrown out,” Ashton-Lewis told RNZ Pacific Waves earlier this month.

Tanya Waqanika, who acts for Malimali, told RNZ Pacific that her client was seeking a “substantial” payout for damages and unpaid dues.

Waqanika met lawyers from the Attorney-General’s Office in the capital, Suva, on Tuesday after earlier negotiations failed.

Expected to hear in writing
She declined to say exactly what was discussed, but said she expected to hear back in writing from the other party the same day.

A High Court judge has given the government until 3pm on Friday to reach a settlement, otherwise he will rule on the application on Monday.

“We’ll see what they come up with, that’s the beauty of negotiations, but NZ$1.5 million would be a good amount to play with after your career has been ruined,” Waqanika said.

“[Malimali’s] career spans over 27 years, but it is now down the drain thanks to Ashton-Lewis and the damage the inquiry report has done.”

She said Malimali also wanted a public apology, as she was being defamed every day in social media.

“I don’t expect we’ll get one out of Ashton-Lewis,” she said.

Adjournment sought
During a hearing in the High Court on Monday, lawyers for the state sought an adjournment to discuss a settlement with Waqanika.

However, she opposed this, saying that the government’s legal team had vast resources and they should have been prepared for the hearing.

Malimali filed a case against President Naiqama Lalabalavu, Rabuka and the Attorney-General on June 13 on the grounds that her suspension was unconstitutional.

Waqanika said the President suspended her on the advice of the Prime Minister instead of consulting the Judicial Services Commission.

Government lawyers approached Waqanika offering a compensation deal the same day she lodged a judicial review in the High Court.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

The Fiji government looks set to pay around NZ$1.5 million in damages to the disgraced former head of the country’s anti-corruption agency FICAC.

The state is offering Barbara Malimali an out-of-court settlement after her lawyer lodged a judicial review of her sacking in the High Court in Suva.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka suspended Malimali from her role on May 29, following a damning Commission of Inquiry into her appointment.

• READ MORE: Other FICAC reports

Malimali was described as “universally corrupt” by Justice David Ashton-Lewis, the commissioner of the nine-week investigation, which involved 35 witnesses.

“She was a pawn in the hands of devious members of government, who wanted any allegations against them or other government members thrown out,” Ashton-Lewis told RNZ Pacific Waves earlier this month.

Tanya Waqanika, who acts for Malimali, told RNZ Pacific that her client was seeking a “substantial” payout for damages and unpaid dues.

Waqanika met lawyers from the Attorney-General’s Office in the capital, Suva, on Tuesday after earlier negotiations failed.

Expected to hear in writing
She declined to say exactly what was discussed, but said she expected to hear back in writing from the other party the same day.

A High Court judge has given the government until 3pm on Friday to reach a settlement, otherwise he will rule on the application on Monday.

“We’ll see what they come up with, that’s the beauty of negotiations, but NZ$1.5 million would be a good amount to play with after your career has been ruined,” Waqanika said.

“[Malimali’s] career spans over 27 years, but it is now down the drain thanks to Ashton-Lewis and the damage the inquiry report has done.”

She said Malimali also wanted a public apology, as she was being defamed every day in social media.

“I don’t expect we’ll get one out of Ashton-Lewis,” she said.

Adjournment sought
During a hearing in the High Court on Monday, lawyers for the state sought an adjournment to discuss a settlement with Waqanika.

However, she opposed this, saying that the government’s legal team had vast resources and they should have been prepared for the hearing.

Malimali filed a case against President Naiqama Lalabalavu, Rabuka and the Attorney-General on June 13 on the grounds that her suspension was unconstitutional.

Waqanika said the President suspended her on the advice of the Prime Minister instead of consulting the Judicial Services Commission.

Government lawyers approached Waqanika offering a compensation deal the same day she lodged a judicial review in the High Court.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

“This is a major blow for press freedom in the United States: A network news outlet has just caved to groundless threats from the president over its coverage,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg in New York. “This signals that the current administration–as well as any future administrations–can interfere with, or influence, editorial decisions.” 

In a lawsuit filed last year, Trump accused CBS, whose parent company is Paramount Global, of deceptively editing a ’60 Minutes’ interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris to interfere with the election. Paramount Global will pay the settlement amount, including legal fees, to Trump’s future presidential library, according to news reports.

Last month, CPJ wrote to the chair of Paramount Global, Shari Redstone, warning her that a settlement would signal that political figures can pressure news organizations into altering or censoring editorial decisions.

The FCC is investigating a merger deal between CBS parent company Paramount and Skydance, a deal that could have been endangered by the possibility of litigation from Trump. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) earlier this year re-opened a news distortion investigation into CBS.

CPJ’s request to Paramount Global for comment on the settlement’s editorial implications did not receive an immediate reply.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The Democratic primary for the seat representing part of metro Atlanta on the Georgia Public Service Commission appears to be headed to a runoff. In the other competitive race in this week’s PSC primaries, Republican incumbent Tim Echols won his party’s primary in district two in east Georgia.

The commission oversees utilities, including Georgia Power, the state’s largest electric provider and a subsidiary of one of the largest utilities in the country. The PSC commissioners have final say over Georgia Power’s plans and rates – meaning they make decisions that affect millions of Georgia households’ finances, as well as how the state responds to climate change. 

State utility commissioners across the country have a substantial impact on climate action because they oversee electric utilities and have final say over how those utilities generate energy — one of the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions. 

In states like Georgia, where monopoly utilities dominate, the power of commissioners is magnified.

This year’s election came with more scrutiny than usual because it was the first election in five years and in that time Georgia Power bills to the consumer have increased repeatedly with the current commission’s approval. It was also the only statewide race on Georgia’s ballot this year. 

Two of the five seats on the commission are on the ballot this year.

No Democrat got 50 percent of the vote in the crowded race for the party’s nomination in district three, the one representing metro Atlanta.

Top vote-getters Peter Hubbard, an energy advocate, and Keisha Sean Waites, a former state lawmaker, will compete in a runoff election scheduled for July 15. 

The winner will face Republican incumbent Fitz Johnson in November, who was unopposed in the primary.

In district two, located in east Georgia,  Echols defeated challenger Lee Muns in the Republican primary. In the general election, he’ll face Democrat Alicia Johnson, a community advocate with a background in nonprofit work, who had no opposition in the primary.

This race is the first PSC election in Georgia in years, after a voting rights lawsuit delayed two election cycles. 

Three commissioners – Echols, Fitz Johnson and Tricia Pridemore – continue to vote on critical decisions about Georgia Power’s rates and energy plans despite not facing voters as originally scheduled. Pridemore will be up for reelection next year.

The PSC has signed off as Georgia Power bills have gone up six times in the past few years. 

Next week, commissioners will consider a proposed freeze on raising rates further, though the plan carves out the potential for a bill increase next year to cover damage from Hurricane Helene. 

The commission is also currently considering Georgia Power’s long-term energy plan as the utility looks to pause plans to close coal-fired power plants, make upgrades to nuclear and hydropower facilities, build more solar farms and upgrade energy infrastructure.  

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline In Georgia, a runoff looms for Democrats after primary results for public utility commission seat on Jun 18, 2025.

This content originally appeared on Grist and was authored by Emily Jones.

Fiji police have commenced investigations into a Commission of Inquiry report on the appointment of the country’s now sacked head of the anti-corruption office.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka stood down Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) commissioner Barbara Malimali last month after a months-long inquiry was completed.

Malimali was appointed as FICAC chief in September last year despite being under investigation by the anti-corruption office.

• READ MORE: Why Fiji’s new anti-corruption commissioner was arrested on her first day in the job
• Fiji govt sticks with new anti-corruption chief after astonishing turn of events
• Other FICAC reports

Opposition figures at the time slammed it as “unbelievable” but the government backed her appointment.

The 648-page inquiry report, prepared by the Commissioner of Inquiry and Supreme Court Judge David Ashton-Lewis, has rocked Rabuka’s coalition government in recent weeks, with one political expert calling it a “full-blown crisis”.

The report, which has now been leaked online, includes allegations not only against Malimali, but senior government officials and lawyers, including the nation’s highest judicial officer and the head of the Law Society.

Local media are reporting that the inquiry found a “systematic failure of integrity” across Fiji’s governance and justice systems.

They report that the inquiry states the appointment process for Malimali was “legally invalid” and “ethically reprehensible”.

Investigations started
Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu confirmed via a statement on Wednesday that investigations into the Commission of Inquiry Report findings commenced after the police received a formal letter of referral from President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalau.

“A formal letter of referral was sent to the Fiji Police Force and the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption, to investigate the Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry and persons of interests, and where warranted, prosecution,” he said.

Tudravu said he had met with the FICAC acting Commissioner Lavi Rokoika, alongside senior Fiji police officers “to discuss the specific areas of investigation to be undertaken by our respective institutions, to avoid duplication, and ensure efficiency of the investigation process”.

He has given his assurance for a thorough independent investigation by the team of senior investigators from the Criminal Investigations Department.

“A Commission of Inquiry report into the appointment of Barbara Malimali as head of the Fiji Independent Commission against Corruption has cost the country’s Attorney-General Graham Leung his job, embroiled Fiji’s Law Society in an acrimonious feud and exacerbated tensions in the governing coalition,” Victoria University of Wellington’s political science professor John Fraenkel wrote for the DevpolicyBlog on Tuesday.

Among the accused
“The country’s Chief Justice Salesi Temo is allegedly among those accused by the COI (though, at the time of writing, the report has not been publicly released).

“Worryingly, given Fiji’s history of coups in 1987, 2000 and 2006, military chief Jone Kalouniwai has visited the Prime Minister’s office reminding the nation of his constitutionally-bequeathed responsibility for the ‘wellbeing of Fiji and its people’.”

According to Fraenkel, the inquiry controversy comes at a critical juncture, with the Supreme Court due to rule on the legal status of the country’s 2013 Constitution in August and with Fiji drawing closer to the next election, scheduled for 2026 or, at the very latest, February 2027.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Misión Milagro is despised by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Washington has imposed sanctions on officials in countries using this and other Cuban medical missions. Supposedly aimed at stopping the “trafficking” of medical staff, the real intent is to destroy services that have proved immensely popular for their free, high-quality treatment, often in remote areas with few health facilities. The US falsely demonizes Cuba’s aid as “forced labor,” which is also a source of income for the besieged country.

Successes of Rubio’s “enemies of humanity”

Rubio’s attack on medical brigades is only the most recent example of the hybrid warfare conducted by successive US administrations against Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Already designated as “strategic threats” to US security, according to Rubio, these countries are now also labelled “enemies of humanity.” In reality, all three countries have made major advances in human development, albeit constrained (most heavily in Cuba’s case) by Washington’s attacks.

Cuba’s medical brigades derive from its community-based health system, whose success is recognized in medical journals and affords Cubans a three-year greater life expectancy than people in the US. Health services in Venezuela and Nicaragua have learnt from this model. For example, Nicaragua’s 180 casas maternas, assisting women in the late stages of pregnancy, have drastically reduced maternal deaths.

Venezuela leads Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in building affordable housing; its Great Housing Mission, launched in 2011, handed over its five millionth home a year ago. Nicaragua is building more than 7,000 “social interest” homes annually.

Cuba, sadly, has an ongoing housing crisis, primarily caused by the US embargo, which has produced a severe shortage of building materials. One-third of homes are unfit, while its 13,500 annual building program inevitably falls short.

However, Cuba invested in its education system during the most prosperous years of the revolution, when it benefited from the international solidarity of the Soviet Union. Cuba’s schools serve the most remote communities, and attendance is close to 100%. ELAM, its medical school for internationals, has trained an astonishing 31,180 doctors from 122 countries.

Venezuela invested heavily in education as a means of empowering the populace, building thousands of new schools in underserved barrios and rural areas. By 2005, illiteracy was eradicated using Cuban-developed methods. By 2008, four out of five young adults were enrolled in higher education, the highest rate in the region.

All three countries guarantee free education at all levels, including university. Nicaragua, for example, has created new technical colleges training some 46,000 students.

Cuba and Nicaragua are two of LAC’s safest countries. A common factor is that their police forces were completely reformed, post-revolution, and they have been able to limit drug trafficking and keep at bay the violent gangs that bedevil other countries.

The Venezuelan revolution inherited chronically high crime levels, but in recent years has achieved a significant decrease in homicides, which has been publicized not only by Caracas but by the US president. However, Trump deceitfully claims Venezuela has achieved this by deliberately exporting its criminals to the US.

In terms of national security, Nicaragua and Venezuela have among the lowest military spending levels in the LAC region; Cuba, subject to constant US threat, is among the highest. Nevertheless, its spending of around $130 million annually pales in comparison with that of over a trillion by the US.

Socially conscious foreign policy

Perhaps most challenging to the US has been the independent foreign policy and the championing of regional integration by the three countries striving for socialism.

Back in 2004, Venezuela and Cuba successfully founded ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America), scuttling Washington’s neoliberal free trade FTAA initiative. Venezuela followed with PetroCaribe, supplying oil to Caribbean nations on favorable terms. The founding of CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) in 2010, again spearheaded by Venezuela, provides an alternative to the US-dominated OAS (Organization of American States) as a region-wide political forum, which explicitly excludes the US and Canada.

The three leftist states have also been international leaders in support of Palestine. Cuba was the first country in the LAC region to formally sever diplomatic relations with Israel in 1973. Nicaragua severed relations in 1982. These were temporarily reinstated by the neoliberal government in 1993, only to be again severed in 2010 after the Sandinistas returned to power. Venezuela severed relations with the Zionist state in 2009. Also in 2009, fellow ALBA nation Bolivia severed relations with Israel. These were temporarily reinstated in 2019 by the Áňez coup regime but again severed by the current Bolivian President, Luis Arce, in 2023. Last year, Nicaragua filed a case against Germany at the International Court of Justice over its military and political support of the genocide by Israel.

Human rights weaponized

Washington disregards the achievements in these three countries that former Trump functionary John Bolton called the “troika of tyranny,” instead weaponizing “human rights” to characterize them as authoritarian dictatorships. This is hypocritical in two senses.

One is that their human rights records, by any standards, are no worse than those of many other countries in the region, and in most respects, they are better than those of the US itself.

The other is that the US has been the primary cause of tightened security in these countries. The alleged limits on political expression are a response to constant interference – military interventions, coup efforts, and assassination attempts. Biden, for instance, upped the bounty on the head of Venezuela’s president to $25 million.

Washington leads the chorus of complaints when a demonstration in Cuba is suppressed or a political party in Venezuela or Nicaragua is banned. The US tries to act as if it were an impartial observer, rather than – as is invariably the case – the funder or supporter of whatever opposition group is being “victimized.”

Washington’s concern about “human rights” is a charade, which disappears if the government in question is a US client state, e.g., El Salvador.

If countries pose a “strategic threat” to US interests, it is because of their record in improving the most important human rights, which, according to the United Nations, are “the right to life, food, education, work, health, and liberty.” In respect of these wider rights, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua show that huge progress can be made by progressive, revolutionary governments that have rejected the neoliberalism pursued in LAC countries favored by Washington.

Sanctions on Venezuela have led to the deaths of over 100,000 Venezuelans by 2020. The blockade of Cuba, costing the country $13.8 million daily, is so destructive that nearly one in ten Cubans has left the country in the last three years. Nicaragua is losing $500 million in development funding annually because the US is blocking loans from the World Bank and other institutions.

It could hardly be more obvious that Washington’s aim is to destroy each country’s social achievements and impoverish their people so that those who do not die, fall sick, or migrate eventually will rise up against their governments. And then the likes of Rubio make inane statements such as offering “unwavering support and solidarity for the Cuban people.”

Washington’s endgame

What do successive US administrations and the opposition groups that they support actually want to achieve in the targeted countries?

Over 30 years ago, prominent Cuban exiles were calling for “a sudden, dramatic and, if necessary, convulsive shift to free-wheeling capitalism.” Twenty years ago, the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, established by President George Bush, outlined a broad neoliberal vision for the country. A trawl of recent statements by exile groups reveals many vague demands for “democracy,” “transparent institutions,” “support for youth,” and so on, with some limited, specific proposals such as “restitution of property rights” (for Cubans in Miami looking to cash in on potentially valuable property their families abandoned 60 years ago).

The Nicaraguan opposition is profoundly divided between the left and the right, with the right seeking to exclude the left from power, while the marginal “left” opposition has never garnered significant political support (the Sandinistas successfully mobilized the progressive vote in elections). The UNAMOS party, some of whose members were formerly Sandinista officials in the 1980s, offers a program focused on restructuring the government with only vague objectives for social development.

The far-right opposition in Venezuela, led by Washington’s darling Maria Corina Machado, promises a bloodbath with no amnesty for the Chavistas. Machado’s surrogate, Edmundo González Urrutia, ran for the presidency in 2024 on a platform calling for extreme neoliberal privatization of education, health care, housing, food assistance, and the national oil agency.

Regardless of the expressed aims of opposition groups, the likely outcome if one or more of the three governments were to lose power is evident. The coup attempt in Nicaragua in 2018 was a foretaste: murders of police and of Sandinista sympathizers, uncontrolled availability of firearms, empowerment of local criminals, importing violent gang members from El Salvador, destruction of public buildings, and much more.

The kind of anarchic chaos that exists in Haiti is a very possible outcome, possibly leading to a repressive, authoritarian regime – but Washington-friendly – like that in Bukele’s El Salvador.

The often-overlooked accomplishments of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have been made despite enduring aggressive US interventions. Washington continues to hypocritically weaponize human rights, using hybrid warfare to erode these achievements and justify regime change as a democratic project.

This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by John Perry and Roger D. Harris.

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with the North Dakota Monitor. Sign up for Dispatches to get our stories in your inbox every week.

Ever since North Dakota voters created an ethics watchdog agency seven years ago, dubious lawmakers have pushed back against giving it power to actually keep an eye on state officials.

That was true in the session that just ended, as legislators shut down many requests from the Ethics Commission, keeping the agency on a modest budget and rebuffing measures that would have given it more latitude in its investigations.

The offices of the governor and attorney general also argued during the session that the state constitution does not permit the commission to create or impose penalties for ethics-related violations.

“I was hopeful that the tide was turning,” said Rep. Karla Rose Hanson, a Democrat from Fargo and member of the Appropriations Committee, which worked on the commission’s budget. “But my general perspective is that the legislative body as a whole, specifically the majority party, is very hostile to the Ethics Commission and their work.”

North Dakotans, fed up with what they saw as ethical lapses by public officials, voted in 2018 to amend the state constitution and create the Ethics Commission. The amendment set rules for public officials and empowered the commission to both create more rules and investigate alleged violations related to corruption, elections, lobbying and transparency.

North Dakota was one of the last states to establish an ethics agency and since then, the commission has struggled to fulfill its mission, the North Dakota Monitor and ProPublica reported this year. The amendment left some ambiguity about the commission’s role and whether it can enforce ethics laws, leading to ongoing disagreements about how it operates.

State leaders’ actions this year further hamstrung the agency at a time when public officials across the country have been working, in various ways, to reverse or rein in policies created through citizen-led ballot initiatives, including those related to abortion and employee benefits.

Danielle Caputo of the national nonprofit Campaign Legal Center said several state governments have worked to undermine ethics initiatives in particular. North Dakota leaders’ assertions this year that the ethics agency cannot punish officials for wrongdoing is another example of that, she said.

“We have seen what appears to be a concerted effort in those states to overturn ballot initiatives or to twist their language in a way that’s most beneficial to those who want less enforcement,” said Caputo, whose organization has studied the issue. She said North Dakota is “one of the more egregious examples of that that I’ve seen.”

In an email to the North Dakota Monitor and ProPublica, the governor’s office called Caputo’s take a “gross mischaracterization” and said the governor does not oppose the Ethics Commission. In a separate email, Chief Deputy Attorney General Claire Ness called the notion that the attorney general’s office is undermining the intent of voters “unimaginable.”

As government officials debate the commission’s authority, North Dakotans have reported more concerns about ethics violations to the agency this year than in any other. The commission as of late May had received 72 complaints this year. There were 41 complaints filed in all of 2024.

By the end of last month, the commission had 63 pending complaints, some of which date back to 2022. The agency — which has three full-time staff members and five commissioners who receive a small stipend to oversee the work — has yet to disclose whether it has substantiated a complaint. (State law requires that the commission keep complaints confidential until the end of the process, so little is known about the nature of the filings.)

The Ethics Commission supported legislation this session that it said would have overhauled its process to speed up investigations and allow it to close cases sooner.

Under the measure, sponsored by eight Republicans and two Democrats, the commission would have been able to settle and dismiss complaints at any time instead of at only certain stages in the complaint process. It also would have been allowed to investigate alleged ethics violations without someone filing an official complaint. The agency currently cannot investigate some North Dakotans’ tips because they must be submitted as formal complaints, which some complainants are uncomfortable doing, agency staff have said.

Staff from the offices of Gov. Kelly Armstrong and Attorney General Drew Wrigley, both Republicans, testified against the bill because they said it would have given the commission too much power.

Faced with strong opposition from state leaders and their own reluctance to give the agency more authority, the House voted overwhelmingly to reject the legislation. Most of the House sponsors voted against it.

Rep. Austen Schauer, a West Fargo Republican who chaired the committee that worked on the legislation, acknowledged tension between the Ethics Commission and the legislature and oppositional testimony from the executive branch.

“The bill was basically DOA, and we just had to move on,” Schauer said.

Lawmakers instead settled on tweaks to the existing process; one requires the commission to develop time management standards and another allows it to informally settle ethics complaints with the accused. Those settlements would only be made public if all parties to the agreement consent.

“There’s people that for years have been sitting with this complaint over their head, which is absolutely unfair,” said Rep. Mike Nathe, a Bismarck Republican who has criticized the commission and proposed some of the changes. He also said he thinks the commission’s caseload includes fake complaints submitted by North Dakotans who want to “weaponize” the system against their political opponents. (Because state law requires that the commission keep complaints confidential, this claim cannot be verified.)

Rebecca Binstock, the Ethics Commission’s executive director, said the agency will look for ways to work around the hurdles that continue to slow down the investigation process. “The Commission must now consider how to fix the process absent legislation,” Binstock wrote in an email.

The legislature also approved a measure that protects its members from prosecution for voting on something that would provide them with a financial benefit as long as they disclose their conflicts.

Lawmakers, some of whom said they want to keep the commission small out of consideration to taxpayers, also turned down the agency’s request for $250,000 over the next two years for a fourth staff member who would conduct training and education for the public. That would have allowed current employees to spend more time investigating complaints, agency staff said.

“I don’t recall a discussion with the public being, ‘We’re gonna have a multimillion-dollar branch of government,’” Rep. Scott Louser, a Minot Republican, said during a legislative hearing in April.

State leaders also argued the legislature is the only entity that can create penalties for ethics violations and delegate enforcement of those penalties to state agencies. The commission can only punish officials for wrongdoing if the legislature gives it that authority, they said.

Chris Joseph, the governor’s general counsel, testified this year that if the commission were given the power to both create and enforce penalties, it would be “defining, executing and interpreting its own rules” without oversight from other parts of state government.

The commission, however, says its enforcement authority is implicit in the constitutional amendment. That interpretation could soon be tested. Binstock indicated in an email that commission staff members have wrapped up investigating several cases and are waiting on commissioners to take action, which could include imposing penalties.

Ellen Chaffee, part of a group called the Badass Grandmas that organized the ballot initiative and drafted the amendment, said voters intended for the Ethics Commission to impose punishments for wrongdoing.

“The people who worked on the amendment had understood that the only way to have unbiased follow-up on any violations of ethics rules was for the Ethics Commission to have that responsibility,” she said.

Mike Nowatzki, the governor’s spokesperson, said if the amendment does not reflect what the advocates wanted, “they can always seek to clarify it with another constitutional amendment.”

This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by by Mary Steurer and Jacob Orledge, North Dakota Monitor.

The statement urges the government to publicly disclose the legal basis for the actions against these websites and ensure access to effective legal remedies to challenge blocking decisions before an independent judiciary, in line with constitutional and international standards. The statement also asks for a comprehensive review of the 2023 Cybercrime Law through a transparent and participatory process involving civil society organizations, media actors, and legal experts.

The organizations affirm that protecting press freedom and media pluralism is not incompatible with the rule of law; but is a prerequisite for it.

Read the full letter in English and العربية here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“The Jordanian Media Commission’s decision to block 12 media websites is deeply alarming,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “These recent measures reflect a troubling trend for press freedom in Jordan. We urge the authorities to uphold the essential role of independent journalism in informing the public and supporting transparency.”

Media reports named eight of the banned independent and privately owned “foreign” sites: London-based Middle East Eye, Tunis-based Meem Magazine, the independent regional Raseef22, regional Arabi21, Istanbul-based Arabi Post, Rassd News Network, the satellite channel Al-Shoub TV, and Voice of Jordan, which said that its site had been blocked “to conceal the truth from Jordanians.”

Following the May 14 ban, disruption to the sites varied according to the internet service provider, CPJ found at the time of publication.

Middle East Eye, reported on May 8 that Jordan’s armed forces had “profited” by up to $400,000 per Gaza aid airdrop by receiving direct payment of fees for the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, the sole conduit for aid passing through Jordan.

On May 9, Middle East Eye said Jordanian authorities had “strongly rejected” its report and charity had accused it of attempting to “tarnish Jordan’s image.” By May 12, most readers in Jordan could not access the news site, it said.

The 2023 cybercrimes law, has facilitated the detention of writers for social media posts, most recently political analyst Ahmed Abu Ghanimeh, who was held between May 8 and 11. The media have also been banned from reporting on the Muslim Brotherhood party after was outlawed in April.

Jordanian Media Commission chairperson Bashir Al Momani told CPJ via messaging app that the sites had been banned for “deliberately broadcasting false, misleading, and incorrect news” and that “Jordanian institutions were denied the right to respond.”

He said the image of Jordan’s institutions had been “distorted for malicious political motives, most notably the Hashemite Charity Organization,” and none of the outlets had accredited correspondents in Jordan. Al Momani did not confirm which sites had been banned or which reports led to their censure. 

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

World Press Freedom Day is not just a celebration of the vital role journalism plays — it is also a moment to reflect on the pressures facing the profession and Pacific governments’ responsibility to protect it.

This was one of the key messages delivered by two guest speakers at The University of the South Pacific (USP) Journalism’s 2025 World Press Freedom Day celebrations this week, the UN Human Rights Adviser for the Pacific, Heike Alefsen, and Fiji Media Association’s general secretary, Stanley Simpson.

In her address to journalism students and other attendees on Monday, chief guest Alefsen emphasised that press freedom is a fundamental pillar of democracy, a human right, and essential for sustainable development and the rule of law.

• READ MORE: PNG’s Gorethy Kenneth: 23 years of fearless journalism and unwavering truth
• Fiji media’s Stan Simpson blasts ‘hypocrites’ in social media clash over press freedom
• Samoa down in RSF media freedom world ranking due to ‘authoritarian pressure’
• Indonesian postcard image ‘dangerous’ but Fiji a rising star in RSF press freedom index
• Fiji media welcomes credible news services, but not ‘pop-up propagandists’, says Simpson
• PINA on World Press Freedom Day – facing new and complex AI challenges
• Rabuka salutes Fiji media but warns against taking freedom for granted
• NZ fares well in latest RSF press freedom index as authoritarian regimes stifle Asia-Pacific media
• RSF 2025 World Press Freedom rankings
• RSF World Press Freedom Index 2025: economic fragility a leading threat to press freedom

“Media freedom is a prerequisite for inclusive, rights-respecting societies,” Alefsen said, warning of rising threats such as censorship, harassment, and surveillance of journalists — especially with the spread of AI tools used to manipulate information and monitor media workers.

AI and human rights
She stressed that AI must serve human rights — not undermine them — and that it must be used transparently, accountably, and in accordance with international human rights law.

“Some political actors exploit AI to spread disinformation and manipulate narratives for personal or political gain,” she said.

She added that these risks were compounded by the fact that a handful of powerful corporations and individuals now controlled much of the AI infrastructure and influenced the global media environment — able to amplify preferred messages or suppress dissenting voices.

“Innovation cannot come at the expense of press freedom, privacy, or journalist safety,” she said.

Regarding Fiji, Alefsen praised the 2023 repeal of the Media Industry Development Act (MIDA) as a “critical turning point,” noting its positive impact on Fiji’s ranking in the RSF World Press Freedom Index.

However, she emphasised that legal reforms must continue, especially regarding sedition laws, and she highlighted ongoing challenges across the Pacific, including financial precarity, political pressure, and threats to women journalists.

According to Alefsen, the media landscape in the Pacific was evolving for the better in some countries but concerns remained. She highlighted the working conditions of most journalists in the region, where financial insecurity, political interference, and lack of institutional support were prevalent.

“Independent journalism ensures transparency, combats disinformation, amplifies marginalised voices, and enables people to make informed decisions about their lives and governance. In too many countries around the world, journalists face censorship, detention, and in some cases, death — simply for doing their jobs,” she said.

Strengthening media independence and sustainability
Keynote speaker Stanley Simpson, echoed these concerns, adding that “the era where the Fiji media could survive out of sheer will and guts is over.”

“Now, it’s about technology, sustainability, and mental health support,” he said.

Speaking on the theme, Strengthening Media Independence and Sustainability, Simpson emphasised the need for the media to remain independent, noting that journalists are often expected to make greater sacrifices than professionals in other industries.

“Independence — while difficult and challenging — is a must in the media industry for it to maintain credibility. We must be able to think, speak, write, and report freely on any matter or anyone,” Simpson said.

According to Simpson, there was a misconception in Fiji that being independent meant avoiding relationships or contacts.

“There is a need to build your networks — to access and get information from a wide variety of sources. In fact, strengthening media independence means being able to talk to everyone and hear all sides. Gather all views and present them in a fair, balanced and accurate manner.”

He argued that media could only be sustainable if it was independent — and that independence was only possible if sustainability was achieved. Simpson recalled the events of the 2006 political upheaval, which he said contributed to the decline of media freedom and the collapse of some media organisations in Fiji.

“Today, as we mark World Press Freedom Day, we gather at this great institution to reflect on a simple yet profound truth: media can only be truly sustainable if it is genuinely free.

“We need democratic, political, and governance structures in place, along with a culture of responsible free speech — believed in and practised by our leaders and the people of Fiji,” he said.

The new media landscape
Simpson also spoke about the evolving media landscape, noting the rise of social media influencers and AI generated content. He urged journalists to verify sources and ensure fairness, balance and accuracy — something most social media platforms were not bound by.

While some influencers have been accused of being clickbait-driven, Simpson acknowledged their role. “I think they are important new voices in our democracy and changing landscape,” he said.

He criticised AI-generated news platforms that republished content without editorial oversight, warning that they further eroded public trust in the media.

“Sites are popping up overnight claiming to be news platforms, but their content is just AI-regurgitated media releases,” he said. “This puts the entire credibility of journalism at risk.”

Fiji media challenges
Simpson outlined several challenges facing the Fiji media, including financial constraints, journalist mental health, lack of investment in equipment, low salaries, and staff retention. He emphasised the importance of building strong democratic and governance structures and fostering a culture that respects and values free speech.

“Many fail to appreciate the full scale of the damage to the media industry landscape from the last 16 years. If there had not been a change in government, I believe there would have been no Mai TV, Fiji TV, or a few other local media organisations today. We would not have survived another four years,” he said.

According to Simpson, some media organisations in Fiji were only one or two months away from shutting down.

“We barely survived the last 16 years, while many media organisations in places like New Zealand — TV3’s NewsHub — have already closed down. The era where the Fiji media would survive out of sheer will and guts is over. We need to be more adaptive and respond quickly to changing realities — digital, social media, and artificial intelligence,” he said.

Young journalists respond
During a panel discussion, second-year USP journalism student Vahefonua Tupola of Tonga highlighted the connection between the media and ethical journalism, sharing a personal experience to illustrate his point.

He said that while journalists should enjoy media freedom, they must also apply professional ethics, especially in challenging situations.

Tupola noted that the insights shared by the speakers and fellow students had a profound impact on his perspective.

Another panelist, third-year student and Journalism Students Association president Riya Bhagwan, addressed the intersection of artificial intelligence and journalism.

She said that in this era of rapid technological advancement, responsibility was more critical than ever — with the rise of AI, social media, and a constant stream of information.

“It’s no longer just professional journalists reporting the news — we also have citizen journalism, where members of the public create and share content that can significantly influence public opinion.

“With this shift, responsible journalism becomes essential. Journalists must uphold professional standards, especially in terms of accuracy and credibility,” she said.

The third panelist, second-year student Maniesse Ikuinen-Perman from the Federated States of Micronesia, acknowledged the challenges facing media organisations and journalists in the Pacific.

She shared that young and aspiring journalists like herself were only now beginning to understand the scope of difficulties journalists face in Fiji and across the region.

Maniesse emphasised the importance of not just studying journalism but also putting it into practice after graduation, particularly when returning to work in media organisations in their home countries.

The panel discussion, featuring journalism students responding to keynote addresses, was moderated by USP Journalism head of programme Dr Shailendra Singh.

Dr Singh concluded by noting that while Fiji had made significant progress with the repeal of the Media Industry Development Act (MIDA), global experience demonstrated that media freedom must never be taken for granted.

He stressed that maintaining media freedom was an ongoing struggle and always a work in progress.

“As far as media organisations are concerned, there is always a new challenge on the horizon,” he said, pointing to the complications brought about by digital disruption and, more recently, artificial intelligence.

• Fiji rose four places to 40th (out of 180 nations) in the RSF 2025 World Press Freedom Index to make the country the Oceania media freedom leader outside of Australia (29) and New Zealand (16).

Niko Ratumaimuri is a second-year journalism student at The University of the South Pacific’s Laucala Campus. This article was first published by the student online news site Wansolwara and is republished in collaboration with Asia Pacific Report.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Wansolwara.

“The disappearance of Miguel Ángel Anaya not only underscores the terrifying dangers Mexican reporters continue to face on a daily basis, but is also a stark reminder that the Mexican government continues to allow journalists to be attacked with impunity,” said CPJ’s Mexico Representative Jan-Albert Hootsen. “Mexican authorities must do everything in their power to locate Anaya, return him safely to his family, and ascertain whether his disappearance was related to his work as a reporter.”

Anaya was last seen on April 13 in Pánuco, a town in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, but was not reported missing until April 18. The disappearance was confirmed on April 19 by the Veracruz State Commission for Attention to and Protection of Journalists (CEAPP), an autonomous agency of the state government.

Pánuco Online, a news page on Facebook with more than 25,000 followers, covers a wide range of topics, including local politics and crime and violence in the region.

On February 28, Anaya had received threats from unknown individuals at his residence, according to a video published on the Facebook page. According to the video, three men visited his residence in Pánuco saying they had “a message from the mayor,” apparently referring to Pánuco Mayor Óscar Guzmán. Anaya then called the police, and the men, who have not been identified, left the scene when a patrol car approached the residence.

Anaya commented in the video that the threat may have been related to his coverage of a protest two days prior of inhabitants of Pánuco demanding the closure of a local garbage dump.

CPJ was unable to find contact information for Anaya’s family. Several calls to the Pánuco mayor’s office and local police department went unanswered.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

In recent weeks, Bougainville has taken the initiative, boldly stating that it expects to be independent by 1 September 2027.

It also expects the PNG Parliament to quickly ratify the 2019 referendum, in which an overwhelming majority of Bougainvilleans supported independence.

In a third move, it established a Constitution Commission and included it within the region’s autonomous Parliament.

• READ MORE: Other Bougainville reports

To learn more, RNZ Pacific spoke with Australian National University academic Dr Thiago Oppermann, who has spent many years in both Bougainville and PNG.

Don Wiseman: We’ve had five-and-a-half years since the Bougainville referendum, but very suddenly in the last couple of months, it would seem that Bougainville is picking up pace and trying to really make some progress with this march towards independence, as they see it.

Are they overplaying their hand?

Dr Thiago Oppermann: I do not believe that they are overplaying their hand. I think that the impression that is apparent of a sudden flurry of activity, arises partly because for the first two years after the referendum, there was a very slow pace.

One of the shortcomings of the Bougainville Peace Agreement (BPA) was that it did not set out a very clear post-referendum path. That part of the process was not as well designed as the parts leading to the referendum, and that left a great deal of uncertainty as to how to structure negotiations, how things should be conducted, and quite substantial differences in the views of the Papua New Guinean government and the ABG (Autonomous Bougainville Government), as to how the referendum result would be processed further.

For instance, how it would it need to be tabled in Parliament, what kind of vote would be required for it, would a negotiation between the parties lead to an agreement that then is presented to the Parliament, and how would that negotiation work? All these areas, they were not prescriptive in the BPA.

That led to a period of a good two years in which there was very slow process and then attempts to get some some movement. I would say that in that period, the views of the Bougainvilleans and the Papua New Guineans became quite entrenched in quite different camps, and something I think would have to give eventually.

Why the Bougainvilleans have moved towards this point now, I think that it bears pointing out that there has been a long process that has been unfolding, for more than two years now, of beginning the organic process of developing a Bougainvillean constitutional process with this constitutional development committees across the island doing a lot of work, and that has now borne fruit, is how I would describe it.

It happens at a point where the process has been unblocked by the appointment of Sir Jerry Mataparae, which I think sets a new vigour into the process. It looks now like it’s heading towards some form of outcome. And that being the case, the Bougainvilleans have made their position quite clear.

DW: Well, Bougainville, in fact, is saying it will be independent by 1st September 2027. How likely do you think that is?

TO: I think there’s a question that comes before that. When Bougainville says that they will be independent by such a date, what we need to first consider is that the process of mediation is still unfolding.

I think that the first thing to consider is, what would that independence look like, and what scope is there within the mediation for finding some compromise that still suits Papua New Guinea. I think that there’s a much greater range of outcomes than people realise within this sort of umbrella of independence, the Bougainvilleans themselves, have moved to a position of understanding independence in much more nuanced terms than previously.

You might imagine that in the aftermath of this fairly brutal and bitter civil conflict, the idea of independence at that time was quite a radical cut towards “full bruk loose” as they say.

But the reality is that for many post colonial and new states since World War Two, there are many different kinds of independence and the degree to which there remains a kind of attachment with or relationship with the so called parent colonial country is variable, I should add.

I do not want to digress too much, but this concept of the parent colonial country is something that I heard quite a lot of when I was studying the referendum itself. Many people would say that the relationship that they had to Papua New Guinea was not one of enmity or of like running away, it was more a question of there being a parent and Bougainville having now grown up to the point where the child, Bougainville, is ready to go off and set up its own house.

Many people thought of it in those terms. Now I think that in concrete terms that can be articulated in many different ways when we think about international law and the status of different sovereign nations around the world.

DW: If we can just look at some of the possibilities in terms of the way in which this independence might be interpreted. My understanding is, for Bougainville it’s vital that they have a degree of sovereignty that will allow them to join organisations like the United Nations, but they’re not necessarily looking to be fully independent of PNG.

TO: Yes, I think that there would be like a process underway in Bougainville for understanding what that would look like.

There are certainly people who would have a view that is still more firmly towards full independence. And there will be others who understand some type of free association arrangements or something that still retains a closer relationship with Papua New Guinea.

I do not think many people have illusions that Bougainville could, for instance, suddenly break loose of the very deep economic connections it has with Papua New Guinea, not only those of government funding, but the commercial connections which are very, very deep. So suddenly making that disappear is not something people believe it’s possible.

But there are many other options that are on the table. I think what Bougainville is doing by having the announcement of the Independence Day is setting for Papua New Guinea saying, like, “here is the terms of the debate that we are prepared to consider”. But within that there is still a great deal of giving and taking.

DW: Now within the parliament in PNG, I think Bougainville has felt for some time that there hasn’t been a great deal of understanding of what Bougainville has been through, or what it is Bougainville is trying to achieve. There’s a very different lineup of MPs to what they were at the turn of the century when the Bougainville Peace Agreement was finalised. So what are they thinking, the MPs from other parts of the country? Are they going to be supportive, or are they just thinking about the impact on their own patch?

TO: I am not entirely sure what the MPs think, and they are a very diverse bunch of people. The sort of concern I think that many have, certainly more senior ones, is that they do not want to be the people in charge when this large chunk of the country secedes.

I think that is something that is important, and we do not want to be patronising the Papua New Guineans, who have a great deal of national pride, and it is not an event of celebration to see what is going on.

For many, it is quite a tragic chain of events. I am not entirely sure what the bulk of MPs believes about this. We have conducted some research, which is non randomised, but it is quite large scale, probing attitudes towards Bougainvillean independence in 2022, around the time of the election.

What we found, which is quite surprising, is that while, of course, Bougainville has the highest support for independence of any place in Papua New Guinea, there are substantial numbers of people outside Bougainville that are sympathetic to Bougainvillean independence or sympathetic towards implementing the referendum.

I think that would be the wording, I would choose, quite large numbers of people. So, as well as, many people who are very much undecided on the issues. From a Papua New Guinean perspective, the views are much more subtle than you might think are the case. By comparison, if you did a survey in Madrid of how many people support Catalan independence, you would not see figures similar to the ones that we find for Papua New Guinea.

DW: Bougainville is due to go to elections later this year. The ABG has stated that it wants this matter sorted, I think, at the time that the election writs are issued sometime in June. Will it be able to do this do you think?

TO: It’s always difficult to predict anything, especially the future. That goes double in Papua New Guinea and Bougainville. I think the reality is that the nature of negotiations here and in Bougainville, there’s a great deal of personal connections and toing and froing that will be taking place.

It is very hard to fit that onto a clear timeline. I would describe that as perhaps aspirational, but it would be, it would be good. Whether this is, you know, a question of electoral politics within Bougainville, I think there would be, like, a more or less unanimous view in Bougainville that this needs to move forward as soon as possible. But I don’t know that a timeline is realistic.

The concerns that I would have about this, Don, would be not just about sort of questions of capacity and what happens in the negotiations in Bougainville, but we also need to think about what is happening in Papua New Guinea, and this goes for the entire process.

But here, in this case, PNG has its hands full with many other issues as well. There is a set of like LLG [Local Level Government] elections about to happen, so there are a great deal of things for the government to attend to. I wonder how viable it is to come up with a solution in a short time, but they are certainly capable of surprising everybody.

DW: The Prime Minister, James Marape, has said on a number of occasions that Bougainville is not economically ready or it hasn’t got the security situation under control. And my understanding is that when this was raised at the last meeting, there was quite a lot of giggling going on, because people were comparing what’s happened in Bougainville with what’s happening around the rest of the country, including in Southern Highlands, the province of Mr Marape.

TO: I think you know for me when I think about this, because I have worked with Bougainvilleans for a long time, and have worked with Papua New Guineans for a long time as well. The sense that I have is really one of quite sadness and a great missed opportunity.

Because if we wind the clock back to 1975, Bougainville declared independence, trying to pre-empt [the establishment of] Papua New Guinea. And that set in train a set of events that drastically reformed the Papua New Guinean political Constitution. Many of the sort of characteristic institutions we see now in Papua New Guinea, such as provinces, came about partly because of that.

That crisis, that first independence crisis, the first secession crisis, was resolved through deep changes to Papua New Guinea and to Bougainville, in which the country was able to grow and move forward.

What we see now, though, is this sort of view that Bougainville problems must all be solved in Bougainville, but in fact, many of the problems that are said to be Bougainville problems are Papua New Guinea problems, and that would include issues such as the economic difficulties that Bougainville finds itself in.

I mean, there are many ironies with this kind of criticism that Bougainville is not economically viable. One of them being that when Papua New Guinea became independent, it was largely dependent on Bougainville at that time. So Bougainvilleans are aware of this, and don’t really welcome that kind of idea.

But I think that more deeply there were some really important lessons I believe that could have been learned from the peace process that might have been very useful in other areas of Papua New Guinea, and because Bougainville has been kind of seen as this place apart, virtually as a foreign nation, those lessons have not, unfortunately, filtered back to Papua New Guinea in a way that might have been very helpful for everybody.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. The transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

The statement said the European Commission “should issue targeted recommendations to mitigate risks to media freedom and pluralism, ensuring a comprehensive and transparent approach to protecting journalism and journalists across the EU.”

Read the full statement here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

“Wherever Palestinians have control is barbaric.” These were the words from New Zealand’s Chief Human Rights Commissioner Stephen Rainbow.

During a meeting with Philippa Yasbek from Jewish Voices for Peace, Dr Rainbow allegedly told her that information from the NZ Security Intelligence Services (NZSIS) threat assessment asserted that Muslims were the biggest threat to the Jewish community. More so than white supremacists.

But the NZSIS has not identified Muslims as the greatest threat to national security.

• READ MORE:  Stoush breaks out between NZ Human Rights Commissioner and Jewish leader at Parliament
• Baptist Church condemns ‘appalling’ Israeli Palm Sunday attack on hospital
• New chief Human Rights Commissioner Stephen Rainbow’s pro-Israel Facebook posts, ‘transphobia’ accusations
• Other articles by Katrina Mitchell-Kouttab at Asia Pacific Report

In the 2023 threat environment report, NZSIS stated that it: “Does not single out any community as a threat to our country, and to do so would be a misinterpretation of the analysis.

“White Identity-Motivated Violent Extremism (W-IMVE) continues to be the dominant IMVE ideology in New Zealand. Young people becoming involved in W-IMVE is a growing trend.”

Religiously motivated violent extremism (RMVE) did not come from the Muslim community, as Dr Rainbow has also misrepresented.

The more recent 2024 NZSIS report stated: “White identity-motivated violent extremism (W-IMVE) remains the dominant IMVE ideology in New Zealand. Terrorist attack-related material and propaganda, including the Christchurch terrorist’s manifesto and livestream footage, continue to be shared among IMVE adherents in New Zealand and abroad.”

To implicate Muslims as being the greatest threat may highlight Dr Rainbow’s own biases, racist beliefs, and political agenda. These false narratives, that have recently been strongly pushed by the US and Israel, undermine social cohesion and lead to a rise in Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism.

It is also deeply troubling that he has framed Muslim and Arab communities as potential sources of violent extremism while failing to acknowledge the very real and documented threats they have faced in Aotearoa.

The Christchurch Mosque attacks — the most horrific act of mass violence in New Zealand’s modern history — were perpetrated not by Muslims, but against them, by an individual radicalised by white supremacist ideology.

Since that tragedy, there have been multiple threats made against mosques, Arab New Zealanders, and Palestinian communities, many of which have received insufficient public attention or institutional response.

For a Human Rights Commissioner to overlook this context and effectively invert the victim-aggressor dynamic is not only factually inaccurate, but it also risks reinforcing harmful stereotypes and undermining the safety and dignity of communities who are already vulnerable.

Such narratives are inconsistent with the Human Rights Commission’s mandate to protect all people in New Zealand from discrimination and hate.

The dehumanisation of Muslims and Palestinians
As part of Israel’s propaganda, anti-Muslim and Palestinian tropes are used to justify violence against Palestinians by framing us as barbaric, aggressive, and as a threat. We are dehumanised in order to normalise the harm they inflict on our communities which includes genocide, land theft, ethnic cleansing, apartheid policies, dispossession, and occupation.

In October 2023, Dan Gillerman, a former Israeli Ambassador to the UN, described Palestinians as “horrible, inhuman animals” and was perplexed with the growing global concern for us.

That same month Yoav Gallant, then Israeli Defence Minister, referred to Palestinians as “human animals” when he announced Israel’s illegal and horrific siege on Gaza that included blocking water, food, medicine, and shelter to an entire population, the majority of which are children.

In making his own remarks about the Muslim community being a “threat” in New Zealand as a collective group, and labelling Palestinians being “barbaric”, Dr Stephen Rainbow has shattered the credibility of the Human Rights Commission. He has made it very clear that he is not impartial nor is he representing and protecting all communities.

Instead, Dr Rainbow is exacerbating divisions within society. This is a worrying trend that we are witnessing around the world; the de-humanising of groups to serve political agendas, retain power, or seek public support for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Dr Rainbow’s appointment also points a spotlight onto this government’s commitment to neutrality and inclusiveness in its human rights policies. Allowing a high-ranking official to make discriminatory remarks undermines New Zealand’s commitment to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

A high-ranking official should not be allowed to engage in Islamic and Palestinian racist rhetoric without consequence. The public should be questioning the morals, principles, and inclusivity of those currently in power. Our trust is being eroded.

Dr Stephen Rainbow’s comments can also be seen as a breach of human rights principles, as he is supposed to uphold equality and non-discrimination. Yet his beliefs seem to be peppered with racism, often falsely based on religion, ethnicity, and race.

Foreign influence in New Zealand
This incident also shines accountability and concerns for foreign influence and propaganda seeping into New Zealand. The Israel Institute of New Zealand (IINZ) has published articles that some perceive as dehumanising toward Palestinians.

In one article written by Dr Rainbow titled “With every chant Israel’s case grows stronger”, he says:

“The Left has found a new underdog to replace the Jews — the Palestinians — in spite of the fact that the treatment of gay people, women, and political opponents wherever Palestinians have control is barbaric.”

By publicising these comments, The Israel Institute of New Zealand signalled its support of these offensive and racist serotypes. Such statements risk reinforcing a narrative that portrays Palestinians as inherently violent, uncivilised, and unworthy of basic rights and dignity.

This kind of rhetoric contributes to what many describe as anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism, and it warrants public scrutiny, especially when shared by organisations involved in shaping public discourse.

Importantly, the NZSIS 2024 threat report stated that “Inflammatory and violent language online can target anyone, although most appears directed towards those from already marginalised minority communities, or those affected by globally significant conflicts or events, such as the Israel-Gaza conflict.”

Other statements and reposts published online by the IINZ on their X account include:

“Muslims are getting killed, is Israel involved? No. How many casualties? Under 100,00, who cares? Why is this even on the news? Over 100,000. Oh, that’s too bad, what’s for dinner?” (12 February 2024)

“Fact. Gaza isn’t ‘ancestral Palestinian land’. We’ve been here long before them, and we’ll still be here long after the latest propaganda campaign.” (12 February 2024)

Palestinian society was also described as being “a violent, terror-supporting, Jew-hating society with genocidal aspirations.” (16 February 2025)

The “estimate of Hamas casualties, the civilian-to-combat death ratio could be as low as 1:1. This could be historically low for urban warfare.” (21 February 2025)

“There has never been a country called Palestine.” (25 February 2025)

Even showing a picture of Gaza before Israel’s bombing campaign with a caption saying, “Open air prison”. Next to it a picture of a completely destroyed Gaza with a caption that says “Victory.” (23 February 2025)

“Palestinian society in Gaza is in my eyes little more than a death loving cult of murderers and criminals of the lowest kind.” (28 February 2025)

Anti-Palestinian bias and racism
Portraying Muslims and Palestinians as a threat and extremist reflects both Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian bias and potential racism. These statements risk dehumanising Palestinians and are typical of the settler colonial narrative used to erase indigenous populations by denying our history, identity and legal claim.

The IINZ has published content that many see as mocking the deaths of Palestinian Muslims and Christians, which is not only ethically questionable but can be seen as a complete lack of empathy.

And posting the horrific images of a completely destroyed Gaza, appears to revel in the suffering of others and contradicts basic ethical norms, such as decency and compassion.

There also appears to be a common theme among pro-Israeli organisations, not just the IINZ, that cast negative connotations on our national symbols including our Palestinian flag and keffiyeh.

In an article on the IINZ webpage, titled “A justified war”, they write “chorus of protesters wearing keffiyehs, waving their Palestinian and terrorist flags, and shouting about Israel’s alleged war crimes.”

It seemingly places the Palestinian flag — an internationally recognised national symbol– alongside so-called “terrorist flags,” suggesting an equivalence between Palestinian identity and terrorism. Many view this language as dehumanising and inflammatory, erasing the legitimate national and cultural characteristics of Palestinians and feeding into harmful stereotypes.

The Palestinian flag represents a people, their identity, and national aspirations.

There is nothing wrong with our keffiyeh, it is part of our national dress. The negative connotations of Palestinian cultural symbols have to stop, including vilifying other MPs or supporters who wear it in solidarity.

This is happening all too often in New Zealand and must be called out and addressed. Our keffiyeh is not just a scarf — it is a symbol of our Palestinian identity, our resistance, and our rich, historic and deeply rooted cultural heritage.

Pro-Israeli groups attack it because they aim to delegitimise Palestinian identity and resistance by associating it with violence, terrorism, or extremism.

In 2024, ISESCO and UNESCO both recognised the keffiyeh as an essential part of their Intangible Cultural Heritage lists as a way of safeguarding Palestinian cultural heritage and reinforcing its historical and symbolic importance.

As a safeguarded cultural artifact, much like indigenous dress and other traditional attire, attempts to ban or demonize it are acts of cultural erasure and need to be called out as such and dealt with accordingly.

In the same IINZ article titled “A Justified War”, the authors present arguments that appear to defend Israel’s military actions in Gaza, including the targeting of civilians.

Many within the community (most of us have been affected), including survivors and those with direct ties to the region, have found the article deeply distressing and feel that it lacks compassion for the victims of the ongoing violence, and the framing and tone of the piece have raised serious ethical concerns, especially as some statements are factually incorrect.

The New Zealand Palestinian communities affected by this unimaginable genocide are suffering. Our family members are being killed and are at threat daily from Israel’s aggression and illegal war.

Unfortunately, much rhetoric from this organisation aligns with Israeli state narratives and includes statements that some view as racist or immoral, warranting further scrutiny from the government.

There is growing public concern over the association of Human Rights Commissioner Dr Stephen Rainbow with the IINZ, which promotes itself as a research and advocacy body.

A Human Rights Commissioner requires neutrality and a commitment to protecting all communities from discrimination; aligning with Israel and publishing harmful rhetoric may lead to bias in policy decisions and discrimination.

It is also important to remember that we are not a monolithic group. Christian Palestinians exist (I am one) as well as Muslim and historically Jewish Palestinians. Christian communities have lived in Palestine for two thousand years.

This is also not a religious conflict, as many pro-Israeli groups wish the world to believe, and it is not complex. It is one of colonialism, dispossession, and human rights. A history that New Zealand is all too familiar with.

The need for accountability
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith’s inaction and disrespectful response, claiming that a staunchly pro-Israeli supporter can be impartial and will be “very careful” from now on, hints that he may also support some forms of racism, in this case against Muslims and Palestinians.

You cannot address only some groups who are discriminated against but then ignore others, or accept excuses for racist, intolerable actions or statements. This is not justice.

This is the application of selective principles, enforced and underpinned by political agendas, foreign influence, and racism. Does Goldsmith understand that justice is as much about human rights, fairness and accountability as it is about laws?

Without accountability, there is no justice at all, or perhaps he too is confused or uncertain about his role, as much as Dr Rainbow seems oblivious to his?

There needs to be accountability for Goldsmith. Why has he not removed Dr Rainbow from office and acted appropriately? If Dr Rainbow had said that Jews were the biggest threat to Muslims or that Israelis were the biggest threat to Palestinians, would this government and Goldsmith have sat back and said, “he didn’t mean it, it was a mistake, and he has apologised”?

Questions New Zealanders should be asking are, what kind of Human Rights Commissioner speaks of entire peoples this way? What kind of minister, like Paul Goldsmith, looks at that and does very little?

What kind of Government claims to champion justice, while turning a blind eye to genocide? This is betraying the very idea of human rights itself.

Although we are a small country here in New Zealand, we have remained strong by upholding and standing by our principles. We said no to apartheid in South Africa. We said no to nuclear weapons in the Pacific. We said no to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

And we must now say no to dehumanisation — anywhere. Are we a nation that upholds justice or do we sit on the sidelines while the darkest times in modern history envelopes us all?

The attacks against Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims must stop. We have already faced horrific acts of violence against us here in New Zealand and currently in Palestine. We need support and humanity, not dehumanisation, demonisation and cruelty. This is not what New Zealand is about, we must do better together.

There needs to be a formal enquiry and policy review to see if structural biases exist in New Zealand’s Human Rights institutions. This should also be done across some government bodies, including the Ministry of Education and Immigration NZ, to determine if there has been discrimination or inequality in the handling of humanitarian visas and how the Education Ministry has handled the complaints of anti-Palestinian discrimination at schools.

Communities have particular concern at how the curriculum in many schools deals with the creation of the state of Israel but is silent on Palestinian history.

Public figures should be held to a higher standard, with consequences for spreading racially charged rhetoric.

The Human Rights Commission needs to rebuild trust in our multicultural New Zealand society. The only way this can be done is through fair and just measures that include enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, true inclusivity and action when there is an absence of these.

We are living in a moment where silence is complicity. Where apathy is betrayal.

This is a test of whether New Zealand, Minister Goldsmith and this government truly uphold human rights for all, or only for some.

Katrina Mitchell-Kouttab is a New Zealand Palestinian advocate and writer.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

A stoush between the Chief Human Rights Commissioner and a Jewish community leader has flared up following a showdown at Parliament.

Appearing before a parliamentary select committee today, Dr Stephen Rainbow was asked about his recent apology for incorrect comments he made about Muslims earlier this year.

“If my language has been injudicious . . .  then I have apologised for that,” he told MPs.

• READ MORE: Sh’ma Koleinu – Alternative Jewish Voices (NZ): When you think of the Jewish community, assume diversity
• Jewish groups call for for resignation of Dr Rainbow
• Racism and Islamophobia at the Office of the Human Rights Commission — Report
• Chief Human Rights Commissioner apologises to Muslim community

“I’ve apologised publicly. I’ve apologised privately. I’ve met with FIANZ [The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand] to hear their concerns and to apologise to them, both in person and publicly, and I hold to that apology.”

The apology relates to a meeting he had with Jewish community leader Philippa Yasbek, from the anti-Zionist Jewish groups Alternative Jewish Voices and Dayenu, in February.

Yasbek said Rainbow claimed during the meeting that the Security Intelligence Services (SIS) threat assessment found Muslims posed a greater threat to the Jewish community in New Zealand than white supremacists.

In fact, the report states “white identity-motivated violent extremism [W-IMVE] remains the dominant identity-motivated violent extremism ideology in New Zealand”.

Rainbow changed his position
Rainbow told the committee he had since changed his position after receiving new information.

He said was disappointed he had “allowed [his] words to create a perception there was a prejudice there” and he would do everything in his power to repair his relationship with the Muslim community.

“Please be assured that I take this as a learning, and I will be far more measured with my comments in future.”

But Rainbow disputed another of Yasbek’s assertions that he had also raised the supposed antisemitism of Afghan refugees in West Auckland.

“It’s going to be really unhelpful if I get into a he-said-she-said, but I did not say the comments that were attributed to me about that. I do not believe that,” Rainbow said.

“I emphatically deny that I said that.”

‘It definitely stuck in my mind’ – Jewish community leader
Yasbek, who called for Rainbow’s resignation yesterday, was watching the select committee hearing from the back of the room.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Yasbek said she was certain Rainbow had made the comments about Afghan refugees.

“It was particularly memorable because it was so specific and he said that he was concerned about the risk of anti-semitism in the community of Afghan refugees in West Auckland.

“It’s very specific. It’s not a sort of detail that one is likely to make up, and it definitely stuck in my mind.”

Yasbek said the race relations commissioner and two Human Rights Commission staff members were also in the room and should be interviewed to corroborate what happened.

“There were multiple witnesses. I am concerned that he has impugned my integrity in that way which is why there should be an independent investigation of this matter.”

Raised reported comments
Speaking to RNZ later, FIANZ chairman Abdur Razzaq said he raised the commissioner’s reported comments about Afghan refugees when he met with Rainbow several weeks ago.

“I raised it at the meeting with him and he did not correct me. At my meeting there were other members of the Human Rights Commission. He did not say he didn’t [say that].”

Razzaq said it was up to the justice minister as to whether or not Rainbow was fit for the role.

“When you hear statements like this, like ‘greatest threat’, he has forgotten it was precisely this kind of Islamophobic sentiment which gave rise to the terrorist of March 15, rise to the right-wing extremist terrorists to take action and they justify it with these kinds of statements.”

“[The commissioner] calls himself an academic, a student of history. Where is his lessons learned on this aspect? To pick a Muslim community by name… he has to really genuinely look at himself as to what he is doing and what he is saying.”

Minister backs Rainbow: ‘Doing his best’
Speaking at Parliament following the hearing, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said he backed Rainbow and believed the commissioner would learn from the experience.

“The new commissioner is doing his best. By his own admission he didn’t express himself well. He has apologised and he will be learning from that experience, and it is my expectation that he will be very careful in the way that he communicates in the future.”

Goldsmith said he stood by his appointment of Rainbow, despite the independent panel tasked with leading the process taking a different view.

“There’s a range of opinions on that. The advice that I had originally from the group was a real focus on legal skills, and I thought actually equally important was the ability to communicate ideas effectively.”

Speaking in Christchurch on Thursday afternoon, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Rainbow had got it “totally wrong” and it was appropriate he had apologised.

“He completely and quite wrongfully mischaracterised a New Zealand SIS report talking about threats to the Jewish community and he was wrong about that.

“He has subsequently apologised about that but equally Minister Goldsmith has or is talking to him about those comments as well.”

‘Not elabiorating further’
RNZ approached the Human Rights Commission on Thursday afternoon for a response to Yasbek doubling down on her recollection Rainbow had talked about the supposed antisemitism of Afghan refugees in West Auckland.

“The Chief Commissioner will not be elaborating further about what was said in the meeting,” a spokesperson said.

“He’s happy to discuss the matter privately with the people involved,” a spokesperson said.

“Dr Rainbow acknowledges that what was said caused harm and offence and what matters most is the impact on communities. That is why he has apologised unreservedly and stands by his apology.”

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

In 2024, the European Commission announced the European Democracy Shield, an EU-led initiative designed to reinforce democracy by addressing foreign interference, disinformation, and other threats to democratic processes.

The letter provided recommendations for strengthening the media, noting that: “a robust media sector working in the public interest is one of the strongest guarantees against the harmful effects of disinformation and polarisation.” 

Read the full letter.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

Pacific delegates have been left “shocked” by the omission of sexual and reproductive health rights from the key declaration of the 69th UN Commission on the Status of Women meeting in New York.

This year CSW69 will review and assess the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration, the UN’s blueprint for gender equality and rights for women and girls.

The meeting’s political declaration adopted on Tuesday reaffirmed the UN member states’ commitment to the rights, equality and empowerment of all women and girls.

• READ MORE: Other women’s rights reports

It was the product of a month of closed-door negotiations during which a small number of countries, reportedly including the U.S. and Russia, were accused of diluting the declaration’s final text.

The Beijing Declaration three decades ago mentioned reproductive rights 50 times, unlike this year’s eight-page political declaration.

“It is shocking. Thirty years after Beijing, not one mention of sexual and reproductive health and rights,” Pacific delegate and women’s advocate Noelene Nabulivou from Fiji told BenarNews.

“The core of gender justice and human rights lies in the ability to make substantive decisions over one’s body, health and sexual decision making.

“We knew that in 1995, we know it now, we will not let anyone take SRHR away, we are not going back.”

Common sentiment
It is a common sentiment among the about 100 Pacific participants at the largest annual gathering on women’s rights that attracts thousands of delegates from around the world.

“This is a major omission, especially given the current conditions in several (Pacific) states and the wider pushback and regression on women’s human rights,” Fiji-based DIVA for Equality representative Viva Tatawaqa told BenarNews from New YorK.

Tatawaqa said that SRHR was included in the second version of the political declaration but was later removed due to “lack of consensus” and “trade-offs in language.”

“We will not let everyone ignore this omission, whatever reason was given for the trade-off,” she said.

The Pacific Community’s latest survey of SRHR in the region reported progress had been made but significant challenges remain.

It highlighted an urgent need to address extreme rates of gender-based violence, low contraceptive use (below 50% in the region), lack of confidentiality in health services and hyperendemic levels of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which all fall under the SRHR banner.

Ten Pacific Island countries submitted detailed Beijing+30 National Reports to CSW69.

Anti-abortion alliance
Opposition to SRHR has come from 39 countries through their membership of the anti-abortion Geneva Consensus Declaration, an alliance founded in 2020. Their ranks include this year’s CSW69 chair Saudi Arabia, Russia, Hungary, Egypt, Kenya, Indonesia and the U.S. under both Trump administrations, along with predominantly African and Middle East countries.

“During negotiations, certain states including the USA and Argentina, attempted to challenge even the most basic and accepted terms around gender and gender equality,” Amnesty said in a statement after the declaration.

“The text comes amid mounting threats to sexual and reproductive rights, including increased efforts, led by conservative groups, to roll back on access to contraception, abortion, comprehensive sexuality education, and gender-affirming care across the world,” adding the termination of USAID had compounded the situation.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) confirmed in February that the US, the UN’s biggest donor, had cut US$377 million in funding for reproductive and sexual health programmes and warned of “devastating impacts.”

Since coming to office, President Donald Trump has also reinstated the Global Gag Rule, prohibiting foreign recipients of U.S. aid from providing or discussing abortions.

In his opening address to the CSW69, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a dire warning on progress on gender equality across the world.

‘Poison of patriachy’
“The poison of patriarchy is back, and it is back with a vengeance, slamming the brakes on action, tearing up progress, and mutating into new and dangerous forms,” he said, without singling out any countries or individuals.

“The masters of misogyny are gaining strength,” Guterres said, denouncing the “bile” women faced online.

He warned at the current rate it would take 137 years to lift all women out of poverty, calling on all nations to commit to the “promise of Beijing”.

The CSW was established days after the inaugural UN meetings in 1946, with a focus on prioritising women’s political, economic and social rights.

CSW was instrumental in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Beijing Declaration.

One of the declaration’s stated goals is to “enhance women’s sexual and reproductive health and education”, the absence of which would have “a profound impact on women and men.”

The 1995 Beijing Platform for Action identified 12 key areas needing urgent attention — including poverty, education, health, violence — and laid out pathways to achieve change, while noting it would take substantial resources and financing.

This year’s political declaration came just days after International Women’s Day, when UN Pacific released a joint statement singled out rises in adolescent birth rates and child marriage, exacerbating challenges related to health, education, and long-term well-being of women in the region.

Gender-based violence
It also identified the region has among the highest levels of gender-based violence and lowest rates of women’s political representation in the world.

A comparison of CSW59 in 2015 and the CSW69 political declaration reveal that many of the same challenges, language, and concerns persist.

Guterres in his address offered “antidote is action” to address the immense gaps.

Pacific Women Mediators Network coordinator Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls told BenarNews much of that action in the Pacific had been led by women.

“The inclusion of climate justice and the women, peace, and security agenda in the Beijing+30 Action Plan is a reminder of the intersectional and intergenerational work that has continued,” she said.

“This work has been forged through women-led networks and coalitions like the Pacific Women Mediators Network and the Pacific Island Feminist Alliance for Climate Justice, which align with the Blue Pacific Strategy and the Revitalised Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration.”

Republished from BenarNews with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

ANALYSIS: By Peter Davis

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

ANALYSIS: By Peter Davis

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

ANALYSIS: By Peter Davis

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

The agency recently launched investigations into public broadcasting for allegedly airing advertising and threatening to investigate the northern California radio station KCBS after it reported on planned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. FCC investigations can result in fines and license revocations, undermining the ability of news organizations to operate freely and without fear of government retaliation.

The signatories underscored that a free press requires the FCC to uphold journalistic independence with impartiality and without political bias, and urged Carr to commit to:

• requiring clear evidence of wrongdoing before launching investigations;

• reaffirming the FCC’s commitment to protecting, not pressuring, editorial independence;

• ensuring that any oversight actions are based on clear, objective criteria, not speculative political considerations; and

• maintaining a clear boundary between government regulation and newsroom decisions.

Read the letter here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

A series of violent incidents and confrontations over the weekend in New Caledonia’s capital Nouméa and its surroundings, causing clashes with law enforcement agencies and several injuries.

On Saturday night, in a bar and night-club in downtown Nouméa, a “Ladies Night” event dedicated to International Women’s Day degenerated into an all-out brawl, involving mostly young customers.

The event was scheduled to end at 2am, but bar owners decided to close at 1am, prompting violent reactions from the young patrons, who started to throw glasses at the DJ, then ransacked the bar.

• READ MORE: Other Kanaky New Caledonia reports

The incident was recorded and later broadcast on social networks.

“We should have closed at 2am, but shortly after midnight, we felt the pressure was mounting and most of the people were already quite inebriated”, the 1881 establishment owner told local media.

“So we decided to close earlier to avoid people getting more drunk. We stopped the music, that’s when they started to throw glasses to the bar”.

Public brawl outside
Outside, in a parking lot, an estimated “300 to 400 hundred” customers began a public brawl.

Law enforcement units were called and later described themselves as finding “a dangerous situation” — confronted with “hostile” individuals, and having to resort to teargas and stun-balls.

The French High Commission reported during a press conference yesterday that seven people had been injured, including one gendarme and a police officer, in the face of people throwing “bottles, stones and even concrete blocks”.

The situation came back under control at around 2:30 am, officials said.

The High Commission said that at this stage no one had been arrested, but an investigation was underway that could lead to the bar and night club being closed down.

“This is a serious incident . . .  but we are not back to the insurrection situation last year”, the French High Commission’s chief-of-staff, Anaïs Aït Mansour, told reporters.

She said a meeting had been called with all of Nouméa’s bar and nightclub owners and managers.

After months of prohibition on the sale of alcoholic beverages, following the violent unrest that started in May 2024, the restrictions were finally lifted only a few weeks ago.

A re-introduction of the restrictive measure was now “under consideration”, Aït Mansour said.

The incident has also prompted political reactions as parties were preparing for the return of French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls in less than two weeks to try to bring political talks to another level on New Caledonia’s political future.

Politicians warned not to amalgamate
The incidents, widely condemned by the pro-France political groups, were also labelled as “unacceptable” by the major pro-independence Union Calédonienne (UC)-FLNKS party.

In a media statement, UC said these “acts of vandalism and violence committed by inebriated youths” had “nothing to do with the political claims from 13 May 2024, or with the Kanak people’s struggle”.

However, the pro-independence party warned against any attempt to “turn these youths into scapegoats for all of our society’s harms”.

UC said this behaviour could be explained by “a profound ill-being” among “a certain part” of the young Kanak population who felt disenfranchised.

Violent clashes on highway
The weekend was also marred by another violent confrontation with law enforcement services on the territorial road RT1 between the capital Nouméa and the La Tontouta International Airport where motorists were targeted by people throwing stones at them.

The incidents took place early Sunday morning near the Saint-Laurent village, in an area usually referred to as Col de La Pirogue, close to the small town of Païta.

The Gendarmerie Commander, General Nicolas Matthéos, said those actions were from a group of up to 30 individuals under the influence of alcohol.

He said his services were now attempting to talk to traditional chiefs in the area so they could persuade those responsible for these “very aggressive” acts to surrender and be “brought to justice”.

He said four gendarmes had been slightly injured after being hit by stones.

“We had to use stun grenades and during those operations we had to stop all traffic on the RT1″,” he said.

Traffic was interrupted for almost one hour and a squadron of gendarmes remained in place to secure the area.

A judicial inquiry is also underway.

Sandalwood oil factory goes up in flames
Also at the weekend, a sandalwood oil factory went up in flames late on Sunday evening on the island of Maré in the Loyalty Islands group.

Local firemen could not stop the destruction of the small factory’ production and refinery unit.

Another investigation is now underway from Nouméa-based gendarmerie investigators to determine the cause of the fire and whether it was accidental or criminal.

The locally-managed unit was created in 2010.

It is believed to be the world’s third largest producer of high-quality sandalwood essential oil, with international perfume and cosmetics clients such as Dior, Guerlain and Chanel.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

A series of violent incidents and confrontations over the weekend in New Caledonia’s capital Nouméa and its surroundings, causing clashes with law enforcement agencies and several injuries.

On Saturday night, in a bar and night-club in downtown Nouméa, a “Ladies Night” event dedicated to International Women’s Day degenerated into an all-out brawl, involving mostly young customers.

The event was scheduled to end at 2am, but bar owners decided to close at 1am, prompting violent reactions from the young patrons, who started to throw glasses at the DJ, then ransacked the bar.

• READ MORE: Other Kanaky New Caledonia reports

The incident was recorded and later broadcast on social networks.

“We should have closed at 2am, but shortly after midnight, we felt the pressure was mounting and most of the people were already quite inebriated”, the 1881 establishment owner told local media.

“So we decided to close earlier to avoid people getting more drunk. We stopped the music, that’s when they started to throw glasses to the bar”.

Public brawl outside
Outside, in a parking lot, an estimated “300 to 400 hundred” customers began a public brawl.

Law enforcement units were called and later described themselves as finding “a dangerous situation” — confronted with “hostile” individuals, and having to resort to teargas and stun-balls.

The French High Commission reported during a press conference yesterday that seven people had been injured, including one gendarme and a police officer, in the face of people throwing “bottles, stones and even concrete blocks”.

The situation came back under control at around 2:30 am, officials said.

The High Commission said that at this stage no one had been arrested, but an investigation was underway that could lead to the bar and night club being closed down.

“This is a serious incident . . .  but we are not back to the insurrection situation last year”, the French High Commission’s chief-of-staff, Anaïs Aït Mansour, told reporters.

She said a meeting had been called with all of Nouméa’s bar and nightclub owners and managers.

After months of prohibition on the sale of alcoholic beverages, following the violent unrest that started in May 2024, the restrictions were finally lifted only a few weeks ago.

A re-introduction of the restrictive measure was now “under consideration”, Aït Mansour said.

The incident has also prompted political reactions as parties were preparing for the return of French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls in less than two weeks to try to bring political talks to another level on New Caledonia’s political future.

Politicians warned not to amalgamate
The incidents, widely condemned by the pro-France political groups, were also labelled as “unacceptable” by the major pro-independence Union Calédonienne (UC)-FLNKS party.

In a media statement, UC said these “acts of vandalism and violence committed by inebriated youths” had “nothing to do with the political claims from 13 May 2024, or with the Kanak people’s struggle”.

However, the pro-independence party warned against any attempt to “turn these youths into scapegoats for all of our society’s harms”.

UC said this behaviour could be explained by “a profound ill-being” among “a certain part” of the young Kanak population who felt disenfranchised.

Violent clashes on highway
The weekend was also marred by another violent confrontation with law enforcement services on the territorial road RT1 between the capital Nouméa and the La Tontouta International Airport where motorists were targeted by people throwing stones at them.

The incidents took place early Sunday morning near the Saint-Laurent village, in an area usually referred to as Col de La Pirogue, close to the small town of Païta.

The Gendarmerie Commander, General Nicolas Matthéos, said those actions were from a group of up to 30 individuals under the influence of alcohol.

He said his services were now attempting to talk to traditional chiefs in the area so they could persuade those responsible for these “very aggressive” acts to surrender and be “brought to justice”.

He said four gendarmes had been slightly injured after being hit by stones.

“We had to use stun grenades and during those operations we had to stop all traffic on the RT1″,” he said.

Traffic was interrupted for almost one hour and a squadron of gendarmes remained in place to secure the area.

A judicial inquiry is also underway.

Sandalwood oil factory goes up in flames
Also at the weekend, a sandalwood oil factory went up in flames late on Sunday evening on the island of Maré in the Loyalty Islands group.

Local firemen could not stop the destruction of the small factory’ production and refinery unit.

Another investigation is now underway from Nouméa-based gendarmerie investigators to determine the cause of the fire and whether it was accidental or criminal.

The locally-managed unit was created in 2010.

It is believed to be the world’s third largest producer of high-quality sandalwood essential oil, with international perfume and cosmetics clients such as Dior, Guerlain and Chanel.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

The White House barred an AP reporter from covering two official events at the White House following AP’s issuing of widely used style guidelines saying that Trump’s order changing the name to Gulf of America only carried authority in the U.S. and that as a global news agency it would continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico by its 400-year-old name “while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.” 

Although there was nothing inaccurate or illegal in AP’s actions, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt – in explaining the decision to ban AP – said on Wednesday that the executive was tackling “lies.”

“Retaliating against AP – one of the world’s leading providers of fact-based news – for its content undermines the U.S. president’s stated commitment to free speech and prevents its audience in the U.S. and abroad from getting the news,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “These actions follow a pattern of smearing and penalizing the press from the current administration and are unacceptable.”

Other specific areas of concern include: 

Retaliatory lawsuits: Despite his inauguration-day executive order stating his commitment to the First Amendment and freedom of speech, Trump has been involved in at least 29 defamation and media-related lawsuits since announcing his presidential candidacy in 2015, according to Axios. These types of lawsuits often involve lengthy and expensive litigation that can cripple an organization’s budget. CPJ’s research shows that these types of lawsuits from public figures can embolden local authorities to follow suit, and lead to self-censorship by news outlets. 

Punitive action by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC): CPJ is also concerned about the potential misuse of the Federal Communications Commission’s powers to grant and rescind licenses for local broadcasting. In the past several weeks, the FCC has opened investigations into stations including NPR and PBS. The regulatory body is also investigating the northern California radio station KCBS for informing listeners about where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be conducting raids. These types of punitive actions undermine news organizations’ ability to do their work effectively. 

Suspension of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funding: The freezing of USAID money – the legality of which is currently being challenged in the courts – is likely to have significant repercussions for a free press globally. CPJ is concerned about the sudden withdrawal of funding for a wide range of independent news organizations worldwide who cannot operate without external funding because of restrictions they face from non-democratic actors.

Targeted attacks against journalists and news organizations: CPJ is concerned about personal attacks on journalists directed by senior leaders of the current administration, including the president, against individual journalists and warns that this is likely to increase the likelihood of both online and physical attacks against members of the press. It is also worrying to see senior administration figures use derogatory language against Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/ Radio Free Liberty and others, which provide a critical defense against propaganda disseminated by non-democratic governments worldwide. As the U.S. seeks to pursue Trump’s stated goal of “hope, prosperity, safety, and peace,” the administration would be well served to accept, foster, and protect a pluralistic and free press as guaranteed under the First Amendment.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Arlene Getz/CPJ Editorial Director.

The European Commission is seeking to strengthen its partnership with India, at a time when the government has been systematically weakening the country’s independent institutions and escalating a crackdown on press freedom.

The letter makes recommendations and urges European Union officials to “be clear that progress on bilateral relations will be linked to concrete and measurable progress on these pressing issues.”

Read the full letter here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Vanuatu’s Parliament is starting to take shape according to preliminary election results.

As of Saturday, the Leaders Party was on track to becoming the largest in Parliament with 11 MPs.

Vanua’aku Party is next with seven, and United Moderates and Reunification Movement for Change are tied on six seats each.

• READ MORE: Vanuatu one month on: aftershocks, a no-go zone and anxiety
• Other Vanuatu election reports

Iauko Group had five and Graon Mo Jastis, four.

Coalition talks, already underway, are set to be complicated because in the last Parliament at least two parties had MPs split across both the government and opposition benches.

Ballot boxes from all around the country have been transported back to Port Vila where the Vanuatu Electoral Commission is conducting the official count.

Many Port Vila voters spoken to by RNZ Pacific said they wanted leaders who would act quickly to rebuild the quake-stricken city.

Others said they were sick of political instability.

Last week’s snap election was triggered by a premature dissolution of Parliament last year — the second consecutive time President Nike Vurobaravu has acted on a council of ministers’ request to dissolve the House in the face of a leadership challenge.

Counting the latest election Vanuatu will have had five prime ministers in five years.

Last June, a referendum agreed to two changes to the country’s constitution aimed at helping to settle the troubled political arena.

Ni-Vanuatu voters in New Caledonia
Meanwhile, New Caledonia’s diaspora also voted in Vanuatu’s snap poll to renew the 52-seat Parliament.

The only polling station, set up in the capital Nouméa near the Vanuatu Consulate-General, counted as part as the Vanuatu capital Port Vila’s constituency.

It was open to voters last Thursday from 7:30am to 8pm.

For New Caledonia, the estimated number of ni-Vanuatu registered voters is about 1600.

Bus shuttles were also organised for ni-Vanuatu voters residing in the Greater Nouméa area (Mont-Dore, Dumbéa and Païta).

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

More than 180,000 registered voters are expected to cast their votes today with polls now open in Vanuatu.

It is remarkable the snap election is even able to happen with Friday marking one month since the 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the capital Port Vila.

According to the government, 14 people died as a result of the quake, more than 210 were injured and thousands displaced.

• READ MORE: Vanuatu election: Preparation almost complete for snap ballot
• Other Vanuatu election reports

Despite all of this Principal Electoral Officer Guilain Malessas said they worked around the clock to deliver the election within the two-month timeframe stipulated by the constitution.

The voter turnout at the last election was less than 50 percent but Malessas is optimistic participation today will be high.

He urged voters to go and exercise their democratic right.

“This country — we own it, it’s ours. If we just sit and complain that, this, that and the other thing aren’t good but then don’t contribute to making decisions then we will never change,” Malessas said.

Not everybody convinced
But not everybody is convinced that proceeding with the election was the right decision.

The president of the Port Vila Council of Women, Jane Iatika, said many families were still grieving, traumatised and struggling to put food on the table.

“If they were thinking about the people they would have [postponed] the election and dealt with the disaster first,” she said.

“Like right now if a mother goes and lines up to vote in the election — when they come back home what are they going to eat?”

This is the second consecutive time Vanuatu’s Parliament has been dissolved in the face of political instability.

And the country has had four prime ministerial changes in as many years.

The chairman of the Seaside Tongoa community, Paul Fred Tariliu,. said people were starting to lose faith in leadership, not just in Parliament but at the community level as well.

Urging candidates to ‘be humble’
He said they had been urging their candidates to be humble and concede defeat if they found themselves short of the numbers needed to rule.

“Instead of just going [into Parliament] for a short time [then] finding out they don’t have the numbers and dissolving Parliament,” Tariliu said.

“We are wasting money.

“When we continue with this kind of attitude people lose their trust in us [community] leaders and our national leaders.”

The official results of the last election in 2022 show a low voter turnout of just over 44 percent with the lowest participation in the country, just 34 percent, registered here in the capital Port Vila.

Conducting the election itself is a complicated logistical exercise with 352 polling stations spread out over the 12,000-sq km archipelago manned by 1700 polling officials and an additional one in Nouméa for citizens residing in New Caledonia.

Proxy voting is also being facilitated for workers overseas.

360 police for security
Deputy Police Commissioner Operations Kalo Willie Ben said more than 360 police officers had been deployed to provide security for the election process.

He said there were no active security threats for the election, but he said they were prepared to deploy more resources to any part of the country should the need arise.

“My advice [to the public] is that we conduct ourselves peacefully and raise any issues through the election dispute process,” Kalo Willie Ben said.

The head of the government Recovery Unit, Peter Korisa, said according to their initial estimates it would cost just over US$230 million to fully rebuild the capital after the earthquake.

Korisa said they were getting backlash for the indefinite closure of the CBD but continued to work diligently to ensure that, whatever government comes to power this month, it would be presented with a clear recovery plan.

“We still have a bit of funding but there is a greater challenge because we need to have a government in place so that we can trigger the bigger funding,” Korisa said.

Polling stations close at 4:30pm local time.

Unofficial check count
Principal electoral officer Malessas said an unofficial count would be conducted at all polling station venues before ballot boxes were transported back to the capital Port Vila for the official tally.

According to parliamentary standing orders, the first sitting of the new Parliament must be called within 21 days of the official election results being declared.

A spokesperson for the caretaker government has confirmed to RNZ Pacific that constitutional amendments aimed at curbing political instability would apply after the snap election.

The most immediate impact of these amendments will be that all independent MPs, and MPs who are the only member of their party or custom movement, must affiliate themselves with a larger political party for the full term of Parliament.

They also lock MPs into political parties with any defection or removal from a party resulting in the MP concerned losing their seat in Parliament.

However, the amendments do not prohibit entire parties from crossing the floor to either side so long as they do it as a united group.

It remains to be seen how effective the amendments will be in curbing instability.

The only real certainty provided by the constitution after this snap election is that the option to dissolve Parliament will not be available for the next 12 months.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

The electoral commission in Vanuatu is trying its best to clear up some confusion with the voting process for tomorrow’s snap election.

Principal Electoral Officer Guilain Malessas said this is due to the tight turnaround to deliver this election after Parliament was dissolved last year.

The Vanuatu Electoral Office has confirmed that 52 seats, across 18 constituencies, will be contested by 217 candidates, seven of whom are women.

• READ MORE: Other Vanuatu election reports

But Malessas said against all odds, preparations were almost complete.

The final ballot boxes are being deployed to the farthest polling stations in the country and final checks are being carried out.

He said the premature dissolution of parliament last year forced them to have to deliver an election a year early, and within a two-month timeframe, as required in the constitution.

“The final challenge that remains is for us to make sure all the ballot boxes that we have deployed have reached all the polling stations safely,” he said.

“Also, there is the challenge of a new ballot structure which we have not had enough awareness on.”

He said they had not had enough time to conduct community awareness about the new system, and there was also new electoral legislation, which was passed in preparation for 2026 — the original date for the next election.

“With the new ballot structure you just have a single page with all the candidates and their symbols on it and you just have to tick the one you want,” Malessas said.

“We have not had enough awareness.

“We have used all existing social media platforms but lots of people in rural areas do not have access to these things.”

Extra training
Malessas said they had had extra training for polling station officials to help voters on Thursday, and had printed lots of informational material to be posted up at polling stations.

He said election candidates had also been conducting awareness during their political campaigns.

With the December 17 earthquake forcing the relocation of many polling stations, they were also anticipating people turning up with national ID cards at the wrong polling stations.

To manage this, they plan to verify that the person is a resident of the constituency and that their ID card was issued before the close of voter registrations for this election on 3 December 2024.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with the North Dakota Monitor. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.

Fed-up North Dakotans, led by a group of women calling themselves the BadAss Grandmas, voted to amend the constitution and establish a state Ethics Commission six years ago. Their goal was to investigate and stop unethical conduct by public officials.

But the watchdog agency has achieved less than the advocates had hoped, undermined in large part by the legislature the commission is charged with overseeing, an investigation by the North Dakota Monitor and ProPublica has found.

The commission has not substantiated any of the 81 complaints it has received. It has dismissed 47, most because it lacked the authority to investigate them. Thirty complaints are pending, some for more than a year. Numerous tips don’t get investigated because the agency can’t proceed without a formal complaint, and complainants have said they fear retaliation if they file one, the commission’s executive director said.

“I certainly was hoping for something more rapid,” said Carol Sawicki, one of the North Dakota residents who sponsored the ballot initiative that created the commission. Creating an ethical culture in government is “going to take time,” said Sawicki, who is also treasurer of the state’s League of Women Voters branch. “Much more time than I wanted it to.”

North Dakota was one of the last states in the country to form an ethics oversight agency. The 2018 amendment set some ethical rules for public officials and empowered the commission to both create more rules and investigate alleged violations related to corruption, elections, lobbying and transparency.

But the amendment also gave the legislature a role to play, directing it “to provide adequate funds” for the commission. The amendment did not spell out how the commission would operate, and amid that ambiguity, lawmakers took it upon themselves to pass laws governing the commission’s operations and investigations.

The legislature has consistently given the agency less money than initial estimates suggested it would need, leading to belt-tightening and at times a scramble for supplemental funding at the end of the budget cycle. The legislature also has restricted the type of complaints the body can investigate and limited the commission’s attempts to oversee lawmakers — familiar tactics to impede ethics commissions across the country, according to the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit that has studied the issue.

As a new legislative session begins this week in Bismarck, the Ethics Commission and its allies will ask lawmakers to approve the largest package of ethics-related legislation in recent history, including bills that could hasten investigations and allow the commission to investigate alleged wrongdoing without someone filing an official complaint. But already, lawmakers have pushed back.

Ethics reform advocates say a vigorous commission is crucial in a state where politics and the energy industry are intertwined. A North Dakota Monitor and ProPublica investigation last year detailed how Gov. Kelly Armstrong, who has extensive ties to the oil and gas industry, could face significant conflicts of interest as chair of two state bodies that regulate the industry. Armstrong said in an interview last year that he doesn’t believe his ties will present a conflict of interest, but rather that his experience will benefit the state.

The commission’s slow start is illustrated by its handling of two complaints filed in May against state Rep. Emily O’Brien. One alleges that she pushed for legislation on behalf of her employer; another accuses her of introducing and voting on bills in which she had a financial interest.

O’Brien, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment, is the chief operating officer of the Bioscience Association of North Dakota, which has received more than $1 million in state grants funded by bills O’Brien supported. One of the bills, introduced by O’Brien, created a sales tax exemption for the bioscience industry her employer represents.

It took about seven months for the commission to complete its initial review and move the process forward — which it ultimately did on Dec. 23 after scrutiny about its lack of progress, including questions from the North Dakota Monitor and ProPublica sent to the commission three days earlier. As the process idled, O’Brien won a contested Republican primary by just 11 votes and was reelected in November to represent District 42 in Grand Forks.

The allegations against O’Brien were made public by a conservative activist, Dustin Gawrylow, who runs the North Dakota Watchdog Network. (State law requires that the commission keep complaints confidential, but citizens who file complaints can share their allegations publicly.)

The agency has made progress in some areas: It has put in place multiple ethics rules regulating gifting and conflicts of interest, expanded its public education efforts, and tried to improve transparency by requiring lobbyists to provide notice of any events they hold for lawmakers.

But Rebecca Binstock, the Ethics Commission’s executive director, has acknowledged that the investigations can get “drawn out.” “With limited staff and resources, as well as an unclear process to compel testimony and production of documents, careful review of complaints takes time,” Binstock wrote in response to questions.

That’s why the agency is asking the legislature to agree to changes and more staff.

“We’ve talked about it with legislative leadership about how we can improve this process,” said Binstock. “The hope is we can change that process to make it better, make it more efficient.”

It took a group of retired women to force the state legislature to enact ethics reform in North Dakota.

The bipartisan group, which became known as the BadAss Grandmas, began meeting for coffee in Bismarck in 2016. The leaders included Ellen Chaffee, a retired university president and onetime Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, and Dina Butcher, a Republican who served as deputy agriculture commissioner in the 1980s.

The duo didn’t like what they saw in their home state: landowners being railroaded by officials perceived to be in league with the oil industry; legislators taking meals, trips and gifts from lobbyists; and more. They put together a “Bad Acts List” and decided to take action.

“It seemed like there was just no conscience left,” Butcher said. “I just thought it was getting to be so pervasive and obvious in some of the quid pro quo.”

State legislators have resisted ethics oversight for decades. When an anti-corruption ballot measure passed in 1954, legislators fought it all the way up to the state Supreme Court, which struck it down 14 years later. Legislators also voted against bills that would have created an ethics commission or equivalent entity in 2011, 2013 and 2015.

“Some legislators would say we don’t need it because we don’t make any mistakes or we don’t do bad things. Well, my experience has been that that is not the case,” said Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, a lawmaker who first proposed an ethics commission decades ago. “There are things that happen that should not be happening.”

The BadAss Grandmas realized that the people could do what the legislature wouldn’t. North Dakota is one of 18 states that allow citizens to propose and vote on amendments to the state constitution. So the group mounted a campaign to add Article XIV, establishing an ethics commission to “support open, ethical, and accountable government.” One of their main goals was to limit the oil and gas industry’s power in the state. They sent text messages, posted on social media, and visited small towns to urge voters to “stand against corruption” and get special-interest money out of politics.

A coalition of business groups and some legislators opposed the measure on free speech and other grounds, but it nonetheless passed in November 2018 with 53% of the vote.

When the legislature met two months later, it allocated a little more than half the funding proposed in a bill by Mathern, the only legislator who sponsored the ballot measure. Mathern’s suggested budget was less than that of the agency that oversees the state judiciary, which he cited in a committee hearing as a starting point for the appropriation. The legislation approved by lawmakers also restricted the way the Ethics Commission could function; because commission members had not yet been appointed, they had no input on these decisions.

In that bill, lawmakers prohibited the commission from investigating anonymous complaints, despite the constitutional requirement for a confidential hotline for whistleblowers. They set rules that dictated the commission’s investigative process, prohibiting it from launching a full investigation until it attempts to mediate a complaint. So far only two cases have been resolved during this stage of the process; in the O’Brien case, the commission offered mediation last month, but Gawrylow rejected it, saying he wanted to get “to the bottom of the issue on behalf of the public and taxpayers” and establish clearer guidelines for all lawmakers.

“There were places where they did not follow the intent of the constitution, nor even try to,” said Kathleen Tweeten, a member of the BadAss Grandmas, about those 2019 legislative moves. “They actually tried to subvert it.”

Rich Wardner, the Senate majority leader at the time and co-sponsor of the bill that set parameters for the commission, said lawmakers were concerned the commission would be weaponized and their goal was to ensure a “fair” process.

To that end, the legislature also required the body to keep complaints confidential — and not subject to disclosure through public records requests — unless they are substantiated, which has not yet happened. Confidentiality is common, though not universal, for ethics commissions. Montana has a public docket of pending complaints against public officials on its website. Nevada maintains an online database of determination letters it issues at the end of every investigation.

Secrecy is also a departure from existing North Dakota law for internal investigations by public entities. In most cases, those records are publicly available once the investigation is completed or 75 days from the date of the complaint, whichever is sooner, regardless of whether the alleged misconduct is substantiated.

“I would like to see more transparency in the cases they’re working on,” said Cathy Bliss, a member of the League of Women Voters who regularly attends Ethics Commission meetings. “The citizens of the state need to know what their representatives are doing.”

Some legislators would say we don’t need it because we don’t make any mistakes or we don’t do bad things. Well, my experience has been that that is not the case.

In addition to rules around the functioning of the body, lawmakers set up a procedure to remove commission board members, who are appointed by a bipartisan consensus of the governor and the Senate majority and minority leaders. All three elected officials are subject to oversight by the commission, and the rules put in place allow a vote by two of them to remove a board member. Chaffee, one of the BadAss Grandmas, called that provision “horrifying.”

The legislature continued to limit the commission’s powers in subsequent years. In 2021, lawmakers declined to give the Ethics Commission authority to issue subpoenas, which it had requested. In 2023, lawmakers rejected a request from the commission that would have allowed it to investigate executive branch employees. Neither provision was included in the amendment creating the commission, and proposals to add both were defeated in legislative committees.

During those years, the commission operated with a small staff, and at one point the legislature approved just one employee; there are now three. For its part, the commission has asked for relatively small budgets in order to appear fiscally responsible, according to Binstock and legislative testimony by her predecessor, and the legislature has consistently given it less than requested.

The legislature’s actions curtailing the Ethics Commission have led Chaffee to rethink how her group wrote the initial ballot initiative. She said that at the time they believed they had to back away from provisions that might anger legislators.

“In retrospect,” she said, “I wish we had been bolder.”

In 2024, at least 38 complaints were filed with the commission — more than any prior year, records show. Because state law requires that the commission keep complaints confidential, there is very little insight into how the agency handles its investigations.

But new reporting by the North Dakota Monitor and ProPublica reveals how constraints have dulled the commission’s ability to take action on some complaints it has received.

One significant issue is that the commission lacks the authority to investigate certain government officials, such as employees of the executive branch. Because of that, the commission was forced to dismiss a 2023 complaint by a local ambulance board against an employee of the state auditor’s office.

In that case, voters in the Killdeer area, in western North Dakota, were preparing to vote on a proposed property tax increase that would have benefited the ambulance service. Just days before the vote, the complaint alleged, the employee in the auditor’s office violated ethics laws by sharing confidential information that portrayed the ambulance service negatively.

State Auditor Josh Gallion said in an interview that he doesn’t think the information was confidential. But the ambulance board disagreed. “It was, we felt, very inappropriate” to share the information, said Tracey Dolezal, president of the ambulance board.

The information became public just days before the vote on the referendum, which failed. The Ethics Commission said it could not comment because it is prohibited from acknowledging or discussing specific complaints.

Another factor holding back the commission’s work is that it is not allowed to investigate any allegations of criminal conduct; when a potential criminal violation comes up, it must stop its work on all parts of the complaint and instead refer it to law enforcement. Of the 11 complaints the agency referred to prosecutors, three stem from a single situation related to potential campaign misconduct in the June primary; in that case, a county prosecutor declined to press charges and returned the matter to the commission. But the commission was forced to dismiss the case: While it has authorized drafting rules around civil penalties for campaign misconduct, it has not enacted any.

It’s all in the lap of the Ethics Commission and the people that run it and that have had five years to figure out their way through things.

Some and possibly all of the other eight complaints referred for criminal review are related to Rep. Jason Dockter, who was then convicted of a misdemeanor last year for voting on bills in which he had a financial interest. (The content of those complaints is confidential. However, Tyler Axness, a radio commentator on KFGO and former Democratic state lawmaker, filed one of the complaints and said he expected that more of them relate to Dockter because he had encouraged listeners to do the same.)

Dockter, a Bismarck Republican, is still in office. More than six months after Dockter’s conviction, and more than two years after the complaints were filed, the commission has not completed its own investigation, which could result in a financial penalty. Dockter testified at trial that he believed he had not broken any rules or laws.

Some have asserted that any shortcomings are the fault of the commission itself, which Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, accused of “wandering kind of aimlessly through this process.”

“It’s all in the lap of the Ethics Commission and the people that run it and that have had five years to figure out their way through things,” Nathe said in an interview. “Believe me, that’s not the legislature’s fault.”

In one case that dragged on, for example, a public official asked the commission to weigh in on a potential conflict of interest.

In that case, the state’s pension board was suing the legislature over a radical overhaul of the state employee pension. But some of the board members of the Public Employees Retirement System are lawmakers appointed by legislative leaders. Mona Tedford Rindy, who was then the chair of the Public Employees Retirement System, had asked the commission whether those legislators on the pension board had a conflict of interest and should recuse themselves from voting on whether to continue the lawsuit.

Commission staff did draft an advisory opinion, concluding that the legislators had a disqualifying conflict of interest in that situation. But before they could issue the opinion, the commission chair at the time, Paul Richard, disagreed with the attorneys’ analysis and directed them to research the matter further. The commission ultimately concluded it should not issue guidance when the requestor was asking about someone else’s actions rather than their own.

“I wish we could have had the opinion of the Ethics Commission on our situation,” Tedford Rindy said in an interview. “I was amazed that people didn’t see this as a conflict.”

As the new legislative session starts this week, the Ethics Commission will again ask lawmakers to pass reforms intended to reduce the backlog of cases and increase the agency’s authority.

One bill, being developed in consultation with the secretary of state, would enact new financial disclosure requirements for elected and appointed government officials, including making those disclosures annually instead of only when candidates are running for office. North Dakota is one of five states that do not already require annual disclosures.

Other measures would guarantee whistleblower protections for people who file complaints with the Ethics Commission and change how the agency investigates alleged violations of ethics rules and laws. The commission is asking for authority to request subpoenas by the district court, to initiate an investigation without a formal complaint and to have more flexibility in how it conducts investigations.

Binstock, who has received bipartisan praise since she was hired shortly before the 2023 legislative session, hopes that the proposed changes will encourage more people to come forward with concerns.

The commission also plans to ask for a two-year budget of $1.8 million, an increase from $1.13 million. The funds would be used in part to hire an additional employee to focus on education and outreach, and to purchase a case management system. The commission’s current budget is one of the smallest for any ethics commission in comparably sized states.

“We understand this is a significant request,” Dave Anderson, chair of the Ethics Commission, said of the request for a fourth employee.

Legislators contacted for this article said they couldn’t commit to a position on the budget or most proposed reforms until they see draft bills. But the Senate’s vote last month against conflict-of-interest rules supported by the Ethics Commission signaled potential opposition to reform.

One legislator, Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, summed up his position bluntly: “They should stay in their lane and stay out of trying to tell the legislature how to do their business.”

This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by by Jacob Orledge, North Dakota Monitor.

Twenty New Caledonian children who suffered the shock of Port Vila’s 7.3 magnitude earthquake have been repatriated from Vanuatu on board a French military CASA aircraft.

The special operation was conducted on Thursday, as part of relief operations conducted by the Nouméa-based French Armed Forces in New Caledonia in response to the destructive quake that shook the Vanuatu capital, where several buildings have collapsed.

The group of children, from northern New Caledonia (Népoui, Koné, Pouembout, and Poia), are aged between 8 and 14.

• READ MORE: Vanuatu snap election pushed back after earthquake
• Vanuatu earthquake: Last repatriation from Port Vila, water in short supply
• Other Vanuatu earthquake reports

They were visiting Vanuatu as part of a holiday camp organised by their sports association.

They were supervised by four adults.

One of them, Melissa Rangassamy, told local Radio Rythme Bleu upon arrival in Nouméa that the group was having a picnic on a Port Vila beach when the ground started to shake violently.

“Children were falling to the ground, everyone was falling all around, it was panic. We told the children not to move. At the time, they were in shock.

“We gathered them all, put them on the buses, and went straight up to a higher place,” she said.

“It’s so good to come back home.”

More evacuation flights
The French High Commission in New Caledonia said a special psychological assistance unit was available to anyone who should need help.

More flights to evacuate French nationals would be carried out of Port Vila to New Caledonia, French Ambassador to Vanuatu Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer said.

Vanuatu hosts a significant French community, estimated at more than 3300 French citizens, including from New Caledonia.

New Caledonia is also home to a strong ni-Vanuatu community of about 5000.

One French national confirmed among fatalities
A Vanuatu-born French citizen has been confirmed dead.

He was found under the rubble of one of the hardest-hit buildings in central Port Vila.

He has been identified as Vincent Goiset, who belongs to a long-established, affluent Vanuatu family of Vietnamese origin.

The total death toll from the December 17 earthquake stood at 15 on Friday, but was still likely to rise.

France, Australia and New Zealand: 100 percent ‘FRANZ’
Both Australia and New Zealand, through their armed forces, have deployed relief — including urban search and rescue teams — in a bid to find survivors under the collapsed buildings.

The two countries are part of a tripartite set-up called “FRANZ” (France, Australia, New Zealand).

Signed in 1992, the agreement enforces a policy of systematic coordination between the three armed forces when they operate to bring assistance to Pacific island countries affected by a natural disaster.

As part of the FRANZ set-up, the French contribution included an initial reconnaissance flight from its Nouméa-based Falcon-200 jet (known as the Gardian) at daybreak on Wednesday, mostly to assess the Bauerfield airport.

Port Vila is only 500km away from Nouméa.

Later that day, a French PUMA helicopter transported emergency relief and personnel (including experts in buildings structural assessment, telecom and essential supplies such as water and electricity) to Port Vila to further assess the situation.

The small military CASA aircraft also operated a number of rotations between Nouméa and Port Vila, bringing more relief supplies (including food rations, water, and IT equipment) and returning with evacuees.

The French High Commission also said if needed, a Nouméa-based surveillance frigate Vendémiaire and the overseas assistance vessel d’Entrecasteaux were placed on stand-by mode “ready to set sail from Nouméa to Vanuatu within 72 and 96 hours, respectively”.

Embassies ‘flattened’
Following the Tuesday quake, four embassies in Port Vila (New Zealand, United Kingdom, the United States and France), all under the same roof, had been temporarily relocated to their respective chiefs of mission.

Their offices, once located in a three-storey building, collapsed and were “flattened”, the French ambassador said.

Vanuatu’s caretaker Prime Minister Charlot Salwaï has announced a state of emergency at least until Christmas and the Vanuatu snap election has been postponed from January 14 to 16.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

A number of Kiwis have been successfully evacuated from Vanuatu after a devastating earthquake shook the Pacific island nation earlier this week.

The death toll was still unclear, though at least 14 people were killed according to an earlier statement from the Vanuatu government.

The 7.3 magnitude quake struck on Tuesday, and more than 200 people were injured.

• READ MORE: Vanuatu quake: Rescue teams continue Port Vila hunt for survivors
• ‘They’re struggling’: The 3300 Ni-Vanuatu in New Zealand
• Immediate response still the focus in Vanuatu, but move to rebuild coming, High Commissioner says
• Stranded workers desperate to get home to their families in quake-stricken Vanuatu

Searchers were racing against time to find survivors in the rubble, Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver reported for 1News Breakfast from Port Vila.

She also said that aftershocks continued to shake the country, making search efforts more difficult.

“Our team has integrated with the Australians, that is to make the most of this very small window that they have now to find survivors,” she said.

“Time is not on their side, so they’ve really got to make the most of it.

“It’s a very volatile situation still, we’ve been speaking to some very distressed people trying to get home.”

Volunteers and rescue teams arrive at Ifira, a small island off Port Vila, after the #earthquake that hit #Vanuatu. The area is obstructed by large rocks resulting from #landslides. The death toll rose to 14, with dozens injured.#extremeweather#nature#climate pic.twitter.com/ZBapgvDM6p

— Genesis Watchman Report (@ReportWatchman) December 18, 2024

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) said late last night that a flight carrying 93 passengers, almost all Kiwis and their families, had left Port Vila at about 7.45pm New Zealand time.

“A small number of foreign nationals are also being assisted on this flight,” the NZDF said.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed the flight’s arrival overnight.

He wrote on X at about 5.30am today: “We are pleased to have evacuated 93 people from Port Vila on a @NZDefenceForce flight overnight.

“The passengers were mostly New Zealanders and their families, but also included around 12 foreign nationals from Samoa, the United Kingdom, Singapore, France and Finland.

“Our consular team continues to assist New Zealanders affected by the earthquake in Vanuatu.”

Any Kiwis still in Vanuatu were urged to call MFAT on +64 99 20 20 20.

“New Zealand’s efforts to aid Vanuatu with its earthquake response, through the provision of personnel and relief supplies, continues,” Peters said.

Australian couple describe earthquake ‘mayhem’

Australian couple Susie Nailon and her partner Tony Ferreira told 1News about the “mayhem” of being inside the Billabong shop when the quake hit.

“It sort of started to rumble a little bit and I looked up in the ceiling and saw the ceiling start to come down on the fluorescent light. But it wasn’t just a shake, it no longer shook left or right, the whole ground started to wave,” said Ferreira.

“The whole roof had caved down . . .  It just felt like a deck of cards. [It came] straight down, flattened everything.

“And the force of it just pushed all the windows, plastered glass straight out in the road from all that weight,” he said.

He said there were about six or seven others in the shop with them at the time, and said the couple only made it out by “literally seconds”.

“If my rack had been a couple more metres in, then there’s no chance. It was that quick. There was no warning,” he said.

Nailon said the aftershocks had been really triggering, and as soon as she felt something she was “straight out the door”.

“No one has a chance if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said.

Kiwi helping out in Vanuatu

New Zealander Jason Horan, who lives in Port Vila, told 1News it was “just chaos” in the aftermath of the quake.

“There [were] people lying on the ground everywhere, buildings falling down, so it was pretty scary,” he said.

He said he watched the road move “like a wave”.

Since the quake, Horan said he had been helping others simply because he wanted to.

“I’ve been running everybody around, just trying to supply everybody with food and water. So I go around to every hotel and resort making sure they know who to talk to and stuff like that.”

He said he wanted to do his part in “making sure people are okay”.

“All the locals are pulling together though . . .  they’re resilient, so it’s really good.”

“Our team has integrated with the Australians, that is to make the most of this very small window that they have now to find survivors.

“Time is not on their side, so they’ve really got to make the most of it,” she said.

“It’s a very volatile situation still, we’ve been speaking to some very distressed people trying to get home.”

NZ High Commissioner on quake and what comes next

New Zealand High Commissioner to Vanuatu Nicci Simmonds said the commission was in the top storey of a three-storey concrete building.

“I was at my desk at the time [of the quake], so that’s about as far away from the entry/exit as you can get,” she said.

“So you follow your schoolgirl training and you just get under the table, holding on while it jumped around a lot. A lot of noise.”

She said there was dust everywhere when the shaking stopped. She tried to check on a colleague.

“Very close to her desk, the building had completely separated. There was a three-storey drop.”

Everyone managed to get out of the building, Simmonds said. Initially, communications were the biggest challenge, she added.

“Now, it’s making sure that reliable safe drinking water, power, and basic infrastructure is up and running.”

Simmonds said the impact was “highly localised”, based on aerial surveillance.

“It’s a significant, major event in Port Vila, but it doesn’t appear that there have been villages buried by landslides elsewhere, so that’s been an enormous relief.”

She said the response was “the kind of job that surges, and peaks, and changes”.

Republished from 1News with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Vanuatu is now in a state of emergency with at least 14 confirmed deaths following a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck the capital Port Vila yesterday, followed by
a 6.1 quake and other after shocks today.

According to the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) in Vanuatu, more than 200 people were injured, with the numbers expected to rise.

The NDMO also reported that 10 buildings were damaged, included a building that housed the embassies of the United States and the United Kingdom, and the New Zealand High Commission.

• READ MORE: Vanuatu quake: Death toll rises – 14 dead, hundreds hurt in 7.3 disaster
• Buildings ‘pancaked’ in Vanuatu as 7.3 magnitude quake strikes off capital Port Vila
• Powerful 7.3 magnitude quake strikes Vanuatu – serious damage in Vila
• Violent’ earthquake strikes Vanuatu — at least one reported dead
• RNZ live news: Vanuatu earthquake updates
• ABC: Why earthquakes are more common in places such as Vanuatu

The Joint Police Operation Centre is assisting with search and rescue operations, including the planned deployment of medical teams equipped with heavy machinery. Efforts to restore power and water supplies are also ongoing, the NDMO added.

Meanwhile, Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said in a statement that his country stood ready to help in any way it could.

“I extend my sincere condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones, and I wish those injured a quick recovery,” said Rabuka.

Although Port Vila airport remained closed to commercial flights, aerial assessments were underway.

The Head of Delegation for the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) Pacific, Katie Greenwood, shared in a post on X that their Emergency Operations Centre was now active, with staff and volunteers working tirelessly to assist those affected by the earthquake.

The University of the South Pacific (USP) has also expressed its sympathies to Vanuatu.

In an advisory, USP stated that its Emalus Campus would remain closed, following advice from the Campus DISMAC Committee. The closure would enable essential teams to assess and repair damage while national authorities address public infrastructure concerns.

Rescue operation continue in Port Vila, Vanuatu (it is 3:45am)
3 people have been pulled out of rubble alive, with one of them in serious condition.
All the staff from American Embassy is safe. #earthquake #sismo #Vanuatu #terremoto pic.twitter.com/oDVUjvJYci

— Disasters Daily (@DisastersAndI) December 17, 2024

Personnel from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Pacific are on the ground in Vanuatu and are collaborating with the government, civil society organisations, and development partners to support immediate response efforts.

UNICEF, in a social media update, said it has already dispatched first aid kits and Interagency Emergency Health Kits (IEHK) to health facilities. It added that prepositioned supplies, including WASH, child protection, health, ECD, nutrition, and education kits, along with tents and first aid kits, are ready for distribution to reach at least 3000 people.

The UNICEF Vanuatu field office, comprising 19 staff and consultants, was working with local authorities and partners to assess the extent of the damage and determine response needs.

Published in partnership with the University of the South Pacific Journalism Programme’s Wansolwara News.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

The death toll from Vanuatu’s 7.3 earthquake is expected to rise because concrete buildings have collapsed with people inside in the capital Port Vila.

International Federation of Red Cross Pacific head of delegation Katie Greenwood posted on X that the Vanuatu government was reporting 14 confirmed fatalities and 200 people were treated for injuries at the main hospital in Port Vila.

Rescue efforts to retrieve people trapped by fallen buildings and rubble have continued overnight.

• READ MORE: Buildings ‘pancaked’ in Vanuatu as 7.3 magnitude quake strikes off capital Port Vila
• Powerful 7.3 magnitude quake strikes Vanuatu – serious damage in Vila
• Violent’ earthquake strikes Vanuatu — at least one reported dead
• RNZ live news: Vanuatu earthquake updates
• ABC: Why earthquakes are more common in places such as Vanuatu

Vanuatu Government is reporting 14 confirmed fatalities and 200 treated for injuries at main hospital in Port Vila. Local humanitarian network activated and @vanuaturedcross leads the Shelter response with Government and support from @ifrc

— Katie Greenwood (@KatiegIFRC) December 17, 2024

In a press conference, caretaker Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai said a State of Emergency and curfew were in place in the worst affected areas.

“Urgently request international assistance,” he said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated 116,000 people had been affected by the quake and earlier said there were six unconfirmed deaths.

Vanuatu has been experiencing aftershocks following Tuesday’s quake, the ABC reports.

The New Zealand High Commission was among buildings that have been damaged.

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

• Follow RNZ News live blog for updates

Rescue operation continue in Port Vila, Vanuatu (it is 3:45am)
3 people have been pulled out of rubble alive, with one of them in serious condition.
All the staff from American Embassy is safe. #earthquake #sismo #Vanuatu #terremoto pic.twitter.com/oDVUjvJYci

— Disasters Daily (@DisastersAndI) December 17, 2024

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

The signatories voiced their concerns about how the proposed law could be used to silence government critics if passed by the parliament, along with its predictable effects on rights and freedoms in Turkey. They asked the European Commission to “publicly call on Turkey to fully withdraw the bill,” “prioritize freedom of expression in EU-Turkey relations,” and “raise this matter at high-level dialogues with Turkey,” while supporting the civil society.

Read the full letter here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

The post #9. Controversial Acquitted-Conduct Sentencing Challenged by US Commission appeared first on Project Censored.

This content originally appeared on Project Censored and was authored by Kate Horgan.

Survivors of abuse in care arrived at Parliament today to hear the formal apology from the state which oversaw and inflicted harm on children.

Public sector leaders from Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry of Health, New Zealand Police, and Ministry of Education also apologised, as did the public service commissioner and the solicitor-general, at an event preceding Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s national apology in the House.

By the afternoon, many survivors were still trying to absorb what had been said and what it meant, with some saying it was a “PR stunt,” some calling the speeches “hollow” and others not willing to believe the words until they saw action.

• READ MORE: ‘You deserved so much better’ – PM Luxon apologises to survivors of abuse in care
• NZ Speaker reverses journalist bar from abuse apology at Parliament
• Sorry means you don’t do it again — Aaron Smale
  
• Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in state care – state response

Abuse in state care — survivor reactions.   Video: RNZ

During his apology, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said many survivors did not want to engage with the current compensation process — but more than 3500 were — and he signalled there would be an extra $32 million funnelled into that system “while we work on the new redress system”.

Opposition leader Chris Hipkins said he formally joined with the government in its apology, saying the day was a significant step forward.

“Today is a hugely important day for all of you, to finally hear what the Crown has failed to give you for all of these years, an apology.”

Ken Clearwater, a long-time advocate for survivors, was at the event, saying he heard some great words but it was about “what action needs to go with it”.

“Everyone’s saying the right things, but if you look at the policies and stuff we have at the moment, that’s not helping our children.”

He believed National, leader of the coalition government, was going to have to change a lot of their policies.

“So we’re apologising for what happened in the past, but the policies are still in place that are making it no different than when we were in the past.

‘Hollow words .. . dangerous’
“To have hollow words at this stage would be, would be pretty dangerous.”

He said there had to be a belief the government would look into things, “but there’s got to be a survivor voice”.

He mentioned Tu Chapman, a survivor who spoke at the event, who pointed out only having five minutes to speak as a survivor at an apology for survivors.

“So once again, the survivor voice is not forefront, and I think that that’s what they’re going to have to look at, is how they get more more of the survivor voice in whatever policies they look at.”

Another survivor, Reihana Tahau, who had been in state care in the 1980s, agreed, saying he found it ironic there was an apology on one hand while the government goes through the process of appealing Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act.

For him, he said, “that’s the opposite, that’s counterintuitive” because 7AA was helping to stop bringing children into care.

“I can’t understand why they would appeal something that is actually working.

‘Mistrust, systematic trauma’
“And for me, my mistrust and systematic trauma, I can’t help but feeling that they’re not genuine in that, because if they were genuine, they wouldn’t be taking a thing which would potentially set up another generation for trauma.”

He acknowledged the apology was a step in the right direction, but “it still feels like a PR thing”.

“I do find it hard to trust people that read off a paper, because I talk from my heart.”

He said the speech from the prime minister was “part of his job” and he did not know how “authentic that is”.

Another survivor, Nicky, also said it was a “PR stunt”, and would not provide closure.

“This is a PR stunt for the prime minister to look good.”

Ardern thanked
She acknowledged Dame Jacinda Ardern for initiating the apology.

“We’d like to thank her for starting it, but they’ve sat on things, you know, for a quarter of a century we’ve been battling.

“We’re old, we’re broken but we’re still fighting.”

She called specifically for Salvation Army orphanages to be investigated and for their charitable status to be investigated.

“The government paid them to abuse me. We want that money.

“Where did that money go? It didn’t go in our care, it didn’t go in our food, and they worked us like child labour, just like Gloriavale [a small and isolated Christian community located on the West Coast of the South Island].”

Survivors in the room muttered or called out during the speeches, reacting — but saved their strongest reaction for Solicitor-General Una Jagose.

Boos, cries of ‘shame’
As she rose to speak, she was met with boos, and cries of “shame” and “disgrace”. One woman stood and turned her back. Another shouted: “You wanted us dead.”

Another survivor, who listened quietly and intently throughout the proceedings with tears streaming at times, said he wanted to hear what the public sector leaders had to say.

He said what Jagose said needed to be said.

“I’m disappointed, because I’m a lawyer, I’m disappointed that she was howled down and I couldn’t hear all that she said.”

He said he thought Jagose would be used by the government as a scapegoat.

“Us lawyers have to speak for the people we represent, whether they’re good or bad.

“And we shouldn’t be hung drawn and quartered because we’ve been instructed to say something or do something or fight something.”

Clearwater said he could not believe she was there.

‘Nobody wanted her there’
“By the noise there, nobody wanted her there, and so that was a bad choice on the government’s part.”

Tu Chapman spoke on behalf of survivors at the event, and did not think the chief executives should have been at the event apologising.

“It’s like putting the cart before the horse so to speak.”

Chapman was angry the prime minister left before hearing some speeches, saying it was “tokenistic”.

“I think he should have been there to listen to us, so that he could actually, authentically and genuinely apologise to us in the House this afternoon or early this morning.

“And it might have been a little bit more meaningful, because quite right now, it just feels tokenistic.”

Another survivor said the speeches today were “very empty, hollow”.

‘Carbon copy’ speech
He said the prime minister’s speech seemed to be a “carbon copy” of when he had been there for the tabling of the report.

In regards to the solicitor-general, he acknowledged “she was able to take what was getting handed to her and listen to it”.

“She actually took it on and then spoke when she could.”

He said the others seemed to want to get over with the speech fast, “that’s not how you do apologies”.

“You take what’s coming, surely they knew there was going to be some heckling going on.”

His message to the prime minister was not to wait, “take action now”.

Survivors representing mothers and adopted children said they felt they had been missed out of the equation.

More about abuse victims
One acknowledged today was more about abuse victims, but there could be a separate apology for mothers and their children that were “taken from them unlawfully and unwilling”.

“We would like the history of losing our children told in this country.

“I’ve flown from Australia for this and for the few words that were said, I really thought it was pretty poor.”

They want a full inquiry into what happened and an apology.

Another said in regards to the apologies, there were “some people who probably needed a brandy after getting up and speaking and apologising for the departments they worked for”.

“There was one in particular who shouldn’t have been there at all, who shouldn’t represent anybody, let alone the Crown.”

Healing process
Piiata Tiakitai Turi-Heenan said today was needed as part of the healing process for survivors, “this is a start”.

She also did not think the speeches were authentic.

“The words that were authentic came from the survivors themselves.”

She said if the government was looking for answers, they will come from “sitting down with the survivors and sorting everything out with them, rather than around a table with people who have had no experience of surviving”.

On the disruption of the speeches, she said “those were emotions”.

“The focus was on silencing those emotions, but that’s exactly why we are where we are today, because they were silenced in the first place.

“You have permission to not be silent anymore.”

Heart ‘on sleeve’
Another survivor said his heart was “on his sleeve at the moment”.

He had been speaking to various MPs after the event who assured him there was support across the House to make changes.

“I believe they’re sincere, but I’m still, I’m still thinking that I might get let down, but I’m hoping I’m wrong. I’m hoping that it does go ahead.

“Where to for me from here is that I’m gonna keep on doing what I do, until further notice, until I know for a fact, well, this is real.”

Chapman added the journey was only just beginning again for the survivor community.

“Another mechanism for us now is to actually encourage our survivor community to be more intentional about their engagement with the Crown, with ministers, and hold them to account.”

The new redress scheme
The minister in charge of the government response, Erica Stanford, told RNZ Checkpoint the current redress system was not perfect but the announced $32 million of funding to increase capacity and get through claims faster would help.

While some survivors queried why redress could not be addressed sooner, Stanford said nobody expected the government would be able to “turn on a dime” and deliver something straight away.

“We will have something up and running next year,” Stanford said, but she could not commit to an exact date.

Outbursts from survivors during the apology had been expected, Stanford said, due to the amount of “raw emotion” in the room.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

An investigative journalist who was barred from attending New Zealand’s national apology to survivors of abuse in care has now been granted accreditation.

Parliament’s Speaker has now granted temporary Press Gallery accreditation to journalist Aaron Smale for tomorrow’s apology for abuse in care. He must, however, be accompanied by a Newsroom reporter at all times.

It follows a significant backlash from survivors and advocates to the initial decision.

• READ MORE:  Speaker lifts ban on Newsroom journalist ahead of Crown apology
• Sorry means you don’t do it again — Aaron Smale
  
• Royal Commission of Inquiry into abuse in state care – state response

Smale has covered abuse in care, and the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the abuse, for eight years. His work has appeared in multiple publications and websites, including Newsroom, Newshub, The Listener, The Spinoff and RNZ.

Last week, speaker Gerry Brownlee declined an application from Newsroom for Smale to report on the apology.

Parliament’s Press Gallery had asked for an explanation, as a refusal was quite rare, especially when a reporter met the gallery’s criteria for accreditation.

It was told the application was declined, with the Speaker citing Smale’s conduct on a prior occasion.

This afternoon, the Press Gallery wrote to the Speaker, requesting a more fulsome explanation.

Speaker’s about-turn
In an about-turn, the Speaker approved the application.

The initial decision to decline Smale’s application was met with backlash by survivor groups and advocates, as well as politicians and Newsroom itself.

At a media conference at Parliament in July, Smale and the Prime Minister had an exchange over the government’s law and order policies, and whether the Prime Minister would acknowledge the link between abuse and gang membership.

According to Newsroom, Smale had also attended a media event at a youth justice facility in Palmerston North, and pressed Children’s Minister Karen Chhour over whether it had been appropriate to associate the memory of the Māori Battalion with the new youth justice programme.

“The Beehive was in touch with us to say they believed he had been too forceful and too rude, in their view, in those two occasions,” Newsroom’s co-editor Tim Murphy told RNZ’s Nine to Noon programme.

Murphy said that Smale had conceded he had pushed the children’s minister “a bit far”.

“But the one in Parliament, he was asking specific questions and kept asking them of the Prime Minister and I think that became irritating to the Prime Minister,” Murphy said.

‘Most informed’ of journalists
Describing Smale as “the most informed, possibly, probably of all New Zealand journalists” on the issue of abuse in state care institutions, Murphy said political discomfort should not be a reason to exclude Smale, and the ban should not stand.

“He should be there, and he should be asking questions, because he’ll know more than virtually everybody else who could be,” he said.

Murphy said Smale’s intention for his coverage of the apology itself was to write an observational piece through the eyes of survivors, and he was not intending to “get into a grilling.”

The Royal Commission Forum, an advisory group to the commission, said denying Smale accreditation was “profoundly concerning” and a damaging decision in the lead-up to the apology.

The Green Party said it was alarmed by the move, and said it set a dangerous precedent.

“As a society that values the role of the Fourth Estate, we should value the work of journalists like Aaron, because it helps us take a critical look at where we have gone wrong and how we may move forward,” said the Green Party’s media and communications spokesperson Hūhana Lyndon.

“Barring a leading journalist from an important event like this speaks to this government’s lack of accountability. It is something we might expect in Putin’s Russia, not 21st century Aotearoa New Zealand.”

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

France has been criticised for the “alarming” death toll in New Caledonia during recent protests and its “cold shower” approach to decolonisation by experts of the UN Human Rights Committee.

The UN committee met this week in Geneva for France’s five-yearly human rights review with a focus on its Pacific territory, after peaceful protests over electoral changes turned violent leaving 13 people dead since May.

French delegates at the hearing defended the country’s actions and rejected the jurisdiction of the UN decolonisation process, saying the country “no longer has any international obligations”.

• READ MORE: PM defends Fiji’s UN ‘ambush’ vote – challenged by human rights advocate
• Rabuka’s message to free Kanaky movement: ‘Don’t slap the hand that feeds you’
• ‘We’ll be talking about the future of negotiations’, says Rabuka on New Caledonia mission
• Other Kanaky New Caledonia reports
• Other CHOGM reports

A delayed fact-finding mission of Pacific Islands Forum leaders is due to arrive in New Caledonia this weekend to assess the situation on behalf of the region’s peak regional inter-governmental body.

Almost 7000 security personnel with armoured vehicles have been deployed from France to New Caledonia to quell further unrest.

“The means used and the intensity of their response and the gravity of the violence reported, as well as the amount of dead and wounded, are particularly alarming,” said committee member Jose Santo Pais, assistant Prosecutor-General of the Portuguese Constitutional Court.

“There have been numerous allegations regarding an excessive use of force and that would have led to numerous deaths among the Kanak people and law enforcement,” the committee’s vice-chair said on Wednesday.

Months of protests
Violence erupted after months of protests over a unilateral attempt by President Emmanuel Macron to “unfreeze” the territory’s electoral roll. Indigenous Kanaks feared the move would dilute their voting power and any chance of success at another independence referendum.

Eleven Kanaks and two French police have died. The committee heard 169 people were wounded and 2658 arrested in the past five months.

New Caledonia’s economy is in ruins with hundreds of businesses destroyed, tens-of-thousands left jobless and the local government seeking 4 billion euros (US$4.33 billion) in recovery funds from France.

France’s reputation has been left battered as an out-of-touch colonial power since the deadly violence erupted.

Santos Pais questioned France’s commitment to the UN Declaration on Indigenous People and the “sufficient dialogue” required under the Nouméa Accord, a peace agreement signed in 1998 to politically empower Kanak people, that enabled the decolonisation process.

“It would seem that current violence in the territory is linked to the lack of progress in decolonisation,” said Santos Pais.

Last week, the new French Prime Minister announced controversial electoral changes that sparked the protests had been abandoned. Local elections, due to be held this year, will now take place at the end of 2025.

Pacific mission
Tomorrow, Tonga’s prime minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni will lead a Pacific “observational” mission to New Caledonia of fellow leaders from Cook Islands, Fiji and Solomon Islands Minister for Foreign Affairs, together known as the “Troika-Plus”.

The PIF leaders’ three-day visit to the capital Nouméa will see them meet with local political parties, youth and community groups, private sector and public service providers.

“Our thoughts have always been with the people of New Caledonia since the unrest earlier this year, and we continue to offer our support,” Sovaleni said in a statement on Friday.

The UN committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts that regularly reviews compliance by 173 member states with their human rights obligations and is separate from the Human Rights Council, a political body composed of states.

Serbian committee member Tijana Surlan asked France for an update on investigations into injuries and fatalities “related to alleged excessive use of force” in New Caledonia. She asked if police firearms use would be reviewed “to strike a better balance with the principles of absolute necessity and strict proportionality.”

France’s delegation responded saying it was “committed to renewing dialogue” in New Caledonia and to striking a balance between the right to demonstrate and protecting people and property with the “principle of proportionality.”

Alleged intimidation by French authorities of at least five journalists covering the unrest in New Caledonia was highlighted by committee member Kobauyah Tchamdja Kapatcha from Togo. France responded saying it guarantees freedom of the press.

France rejects ‘obligations’
The French delegation led by Ambassador for Human Rights Isabelle Rome added it “no longer administers a non-self-governing territory.”

France “no longer has any international obligations in this regard linked to its membership in the United Nations”, she told the committee on Thursday.

New Caledonia voted by modest majorities to remain part of France in referendums held in 2018 and 2020 under a UN-mandated decolonisation process. Three referendums were part of the Nouméa Accord to increase Kanaks’ political power following deadly violence in the 1980s.

A contentious final referendum in 2021 was overwhelmingly in favor of continuing with the status quo. Supporters of independence rejected its legitimacy due to a very low turnout — it was boycotted by Kanak political parties — and because it was held during a serious phase of the covid-19 pandemic, which restricted campaigning.

“France, through the referendum of September [2021], has therefore completed the process of decolonisation of its former colonies,” ambassador Rome said. She added that New Caledonia was one of the most advanced examples of the French government recognising indigenous rights, with a shared governance framework.

Another of its Pacific territories — French Polynesia — was re-inscribed on the UN decolonisation list in 2013 but France refuses to recognise its jurisdiction.

No change in policy
After a decade, France began attending General Assembly Decolonisation Committee meetings in 2023 to “promote dialogue” and that it was not a “change in [policy] direction”, Rome said.

“There is no process between the French state and the Polynesian territory that reserves a role for the United Nations,” she added.

Santos Pais responded saying, “what a cold shower”.

“The General Assembly will certainly have a completely different view from the one that was presented to us,” he said.

Earlier this month pro-independence French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson told the UN Decolonisation Committee’s annual meeting in New York that “after a decade of silence” France must be “guided” to participate in “dialogue.”

The Human Rights Committee is due to meet again next month to adopt its findings on France.

Copyright ©2015-2024, BenarNews. Republished with the permission of BenarNews.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

“It is outrageous that President Adama Barrow praised his country’s press freedom record at the UN General Assembly on the day journalists Musa Sekou Sheriff and Momodou Justice Darboe were detained and later charged with ‘false news’ over their reporting on his chosen successor and exit plan ahead of the 2026 presidential election,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa Program, in New York. “The charges must be dropped immediately, and the Gambia’s false news law must be repealed to ensure that journalism is not criminalized as it was under former dictator Yahya Jammeh.”

Authorities arrested Sheriff and Darboe at police headquarters on September 26 in the capital city of Banjul when they arrived for questioning a day after they received a letter from the president’s lawyer threatening a civil defamation lawsuit  . The letter, reviewed by CPJ, demanded that the newspaper apologize and retract an article alleging the president was working on an exit plan and had chosen a successor for the 2026 presidential election. 

Darboe was detained and charged with false publication and broadcasting, released September 28 on 25,000 dalasi (US$357) bail. Sheriff was released then detained again on September 30, charged with false publication and broadcasting before being released on bail with a bond of 50,000 dalasi (US$714).  

If convicted, the journalists face up to a year in prison and a fine of not less than 50,000 Dalasi (US$714) and not exceeding 250,000 Dalasi (US$3,597).

Barrow’s lawyer, Ida Drameh, national police spokesperson Modou Musa Sisawo, and Justice Minister and Attorney-General Dawda A. Jallow did not return requests for comment sent via WhatsApp.

Barrow’s press director Amie Bojang-Sissoho acknowledged CPJ’s request for comment but had yet to reply at the time of publication.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

A month before the anniversary of the death of photojournalist Issam Abdallah — killed by an Israeli strike while reporting in southern Lebanon — Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and 10 organisations have sent a letter to the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel.

The letter supports a request made by Abdallah’s family in July for an investigation into the crime, reports RSF.

According to the findings of Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agencies, and the NGOs Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the shooting that killed Abdallah and injured journalists from AFP, Reuters, and Al Jazeera on 13 October 2023 originated from an Israeli tank.

• READ MORE: RSF video investigation into the death of Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah in Lebanon: the journalists’ vehicle was explicitly targeted
• Palestine: Impunity persists two years after the Israeli army’s murder of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

A sixth  investigation, conducted by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), found that “an Israeli tank killed Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah in Lebanon last year by firing two 120 mm rounds at a group of ‘clearly identifiable journalists’ in violation of international law,” according to Reuters.

Based on these findings, RSF and 10 human rights organisations sent a letter to the United Nations this week urging it to conduct an official investigation into the attack.

The letter, dated September 13, was specifically sent to the UN’s Commission of Inquiry charged with investigating possible international crimes and violations of international human rights law committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories since 7 October 2023.

With this letter, RSF and the co-signatories express their support for a similar request for an investigation into the circumstances of Abdallah’s murder, made by the reporter’s family last June which remains unanswered at the time of this writing.

Rare Israeli responses
Rarely does Israel respond on investigations over journalists killed in Palestine, including Gaza, and Lebanon.

Two years after the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank on 11 May 2022, and a year after Israel’s official apology acknowledging its responsibility, justice has yet to be delivered for the charismatic Al Jazeera journalist.

At least 134 journalists and media workers have been killed since Israeli’s war on Gaza began.

Jonathan Dagher, team leader of RSF’s Middle East bureau, wrote about tbe Abdallah case:

“Issam Abdallah a été tué par l’armée israélienne, caméra à la main, vêtu de son gilet siglé ‘PRESS’ et de son casque.

“Dans le contexte de la violence croissante contre les journalistes dans la région, ce crime bien documenté dans de nombreuses enquêtes ne doit pas rester impuni.

“La justice pour Issam ouvre une voie solide vers la justice pour tous les reporters.

>“Nous exhortons la Commission à se saisir de cette affaire et à nous aider à mener les auteurs de cette attaque odieuse contre des journalistes courageux et professionnels à rendre des comptes.”

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

Ahead of the one-year anniversary of Abdallah’s killing, CPJ joined a September 11 letter urging the commission to conduct its own inquiry into Israel’s October 13 attack. The organizations also called for the commission to investigate accusations of war crimes against journalists as part of its inquiry into possible war crimes committed since the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7, and to recognize the “alarming numbers” of journalists killed in the war and the media’s crucial role in documenting conflict.  

The letter also asked the commission to publicly identify the military unit involved in the attack on the journalists and send formal requests for information to the governments of Israel, Lebanon, and the United States, given that one of the survivors of the attack, Dylan Collins, is a U.S. citizen.

You can read the full letter here.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Fiji government is backing the appointment of the country’s new anti-corruption chief who was under investigation by the office she now heads, which has left Fijians asking questions.

Barbara Malimali — who was also the Electoral Commission chairperson — was revealed as the new Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) commissioner last Wednesday.

Malimali’s appointment, confirmed by the nation’s president on the advice of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) — who report to the Attorney-General — has been slammed as “unbelievable” by one opposition MP, while the opposition leader in Parliament has said it raises “numerous questions . . . that need answers”.

• READ MORE: Fiji anti-corruption commissioner detained a day after being appointed, on orders of her deputy

The announcement was causing a stir due to it being unclear if she held the Electoral Commission chairperson role at the time of her appointment — raising concerns about conflict of interest.

But the issue became more critical when Malimali was taken for questioning by FICAC officers on her first day in the job as its boss, sanctioned by the anti-corruption agency’s acting deputy commissioner Francis Puleiwai.

However, the saga became even more bizarre when the government’s chief legal officer and minister responsible for the anti-corruption office, Attorney-General Graham Leung, criticised Puleiwai for not updating him for detaining Malimali.

In a statement, Leung said Puleiwai — who resigned later on the same day Malimali was detained, stating that she would “not be able to work in that institution when we know that a suspect is there” — was “legally obliged” to advise him of the activities of FICAC.

“This matter is particularly sensitive since Ms Puleiwai was herself an applicant for the position of commissioner. She was unsuccessful,” Leung said in a statement.

“As acting deputy commissioner, Ms Puleiwai has no role in the appointment of the commissioner. If Ms Pulewai has a problem with the appointment then, like every other public official or citizen, she has the right of access to the courts,” said.

He said Malimali still “has the responsibilities and powers of Commissioner” despite the investigation and was “entitled to the presumption of innocence”.

“I am concerned with a worrying trend in this country of maligning people based on rumours and innuendo,” he said.

“Trial and conviction by whispers are wrong and must stop. They run against the very grain of decency and fairness, which is the foundation of a society ruled by law. This is not who we are.”

In his statement, Leung defended Malimali’s appointment, saying all five members of the Electoral Commission had written to the Judicial Services Commission “expressing full confidence in the integrity of Malimali and explaining the context of the complaint against her for abuse of office”.

“They say the complaint has no basis. The commissioners are persons of high repute and integrity,” he stated.

He said the issue was “particularly sensitive” because Puleiwai was an unsuccessful applicant for the position of FICAC commissioner, adding her actions were “severely open to question”.

Puleiwai has rejected the suggestion that she had a “vested interested”.

“The only interest that I have is for the rule of law to be upheld.”

On Friday, FICAC put out a statement saying Malimali was back in office and ready to lead FICAC.

“Malimali is back in office this morning, Friday, 6 September 2024 and is ready to lead the commission,” the statement said.

“Malimali stated that she would not let the events of yesterday [Thursday] deter her from performing her duties as prescribed under the law,” it added.

Meanwhile, Judicial Services Commission has condemned the new FICAC chief’s arrest on Thursday, who it says is “a distinguished member of Fiji’s legal community”.

It remains unclear whether the abuse of office investigation against Malimali has been closed.

It is also unclear when Malimali had resigned from her role as the Electoral Commission chairperson.

RNZ Pacific has contact FICAC and the Electoral Commission Secretariat for comment.

Timeline:

Wednesday, September 4:

• Barbara Malimali revealed as the new FICAC commissioner.
• FICAC confirms Malimali is under investigation for an allegation for abuse of office.
• A former Prime Minister and Labour Party leader, Mahndra Chaudhry denounces the appointment and calls Prime Minister Rabuka to intervene.

Thursday, September 5:

• Rabuka tells state broadcaster government has no input in Malimali’s appointment.
• Local media report Malimali is taken in for questioning under orders from FICAC’s acting deputy commissioner Francis Puleiwai.
• Attorney-General Graham Leung weighs in backing Malimali and slams Puleiwai, saying she “must respect that appointment”.
• Leung says Malimali remains in charge despite investigation, which he claims, “has no basis”, according to five Electoral Commissioners who are “persons of high repute and integrity”, and Pulewai’s actions are “severely open to question”.
• Puleiwai resigns, saying she is “not be able to work in that institution when we know that a suspect is there”, adding “I don’t have any vested interest.”
• Opposition leader in parliament Inia Seruiratu calls the turn of events ‘transparency and accountability under fire’, saying the Malimali appointment situation raises “numerous questions…that need answers”.

Friday, September 6:

• Malimali is back in office and tells state broadcaster she would not let the saga “deter her from performing her duties”.
• Judicial Services Commission condemns the new FICAC chief’s arrest on Thursday, who it says is “a distinguished member of Fiji’s legal community”.
• It remains unclear whether the abuse of office investigation against Malimali has been closed as well as when Malimali stepped down from her role as the Electoral Commission chairperson.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

On August 6, Zgambo was arrested on allegations of publishing seditious material, which under Zambian law includes content advocating for the overthrow of the government or raising “disaffection” among the public, for his July 28 commentary on the Facebook page of the online news outlet Zambian Whistleblower, which called on the government to be transparent about any links between a property it had rented and President Hakainde Hichilema.

Zgambo told CPJ that the police detained him in a cell until August 8 in a bid to get him to reveal his sources. “That is why they held me there for two nights. They just wanted to punish me,” said the journalist, who is due back in court on August 22.

When Hichilema won a landslide victory in 2021, he vowed that “the media will be freed” amid broader rhetoric on improving conditions for the press in Zambia. Despite these commitments, CPJ has since documented several attacks on the press, including arrests of journalists covering protests and the opposition.

“President Hakainde Hichilema’s promises to ensure media freedom in Zambia ring hollow after a journalist who criticized him was arrested and charged with an offense that carries a lengthy prison term,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo, in Nairobi. “Zambian authorities must immediately drop all legal proceedings against Thomas Allan Zgambo. In addition, Zambia should scrap laws that criminalize the work of the press.”

A pattern of legal harassment 

Zambia is widely seen as one of Africa’s most stable democracies. From 2017 to 2022, it had no journalists in jail at 12:01 a.m. local time on December 1, when CPJ’s annual prison census is conducted.

In 2023, Zgambo became the first Zambian journalist to appear in the census in seven years. He was arrested on November 28 over his Zambian Whistleblower report that the Zambia National Service, an arm of the defense force, was importing “substandard” genetically modified maize from South Africa without informing consumers of any potential harm.

Zgambo was freed on bail on the morning of December 1, 2023, and is due back in court for a hearing on this case on August 27.

Zgambo is no stranger to the Zambian courts. He was first charged with sedition in 2013 after documents about the then-President Michael Sata were found in his home. Zgambo told CPJ that he was released on police bond but never received a date to appear in court. Sata died in 2014.

Weaponizing laws to target online journalism 

Like Zgambo, an increasing number of journalists in the region mainly publish via social media amid falling mainstream revenues and government repression. For example, in Somalia, social media can be a lifeline for local communities to access independent journalism and for freelancers to share their reporting.

CPJ has been tracking the weaponization of existing, often colonial–era, legislation to criminalize journalism, as well as the introduction of new laws to target online freedom of expression in countries like Nigeria, Tanzania, and Kenya. Eleven of the 12 imprisoned Rwandan and Ethiopian journalists in CPJ’s 2023 prison census operate outlets that publish on YouTube. 

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, an African Union body, has called on countries in the region to repeal all criminal defamation, insult, and sedition laws. Although sedition provisions have been repealed in Uganda and Malawi, countries such as Zambia and Tanzania continue to use them against journalists.

Zambia’s State House spokesperson Clayson Hamasaka referred CPJ’s request for comment to the police. Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga did not respond to CPJ’s calls and text messages requesting comment.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

His next appearance in the capital Yaounde is scheduled for August 27, but Bondjock has little hope there will be any resolution in what is seen as a classic example of a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) — a vexatious type of lawsuit increasingly used against those who express critical opinions.

These suits frequently invoke criminal defamation laws to punish and censor journalists. In Cameroon, Bondjock — the publishing director of the privately owned online news site Direct Info — is the country’s latest journalist to be accused of defaming influential figures such as football stars, writers, government officials, lawmakers, pastors, and the politically connected.

“Authorities must end the legal harassment and weaponization of Cameroon’s judicial system against Samuel Bondjock, especially as the country’s media regulator has already exonerated him,” said Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa program, in New York. “Cameroon should follow the examples of several other African states to decriminalize defamation, in line with a 2010 resolution of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and must ensure that SLAPP lawsuits are not used to censor the press.”

In March 2022, Ahmadou Sardaouna, the managing director of the state-run Cameroon Real Estate Company (SIC), filed criminal complaints against Bondjock for “impugning his honor” in two articles published in December 2021 and February 2022, according to CPJ’s review of the complaints and news reports.

Four months later, Sardaouna also lodged a complaint with Cameroon’s National Communication Council (NCC) for “unsubstantiated accusations likely to damage his image.” The media regulator ruled in Bondjock’s favor, saying his journalism had met “professional requirements of investigation and cross-checking,” according to a copy of its July 29, 2022, decision, reviewed by CPJ.

Bondjock told CPJ that he has little hope that his trial will begin this month because Sardaouna’s absence led to repeated postponements of previous hearings  “The plaintiff is doing nothing but delaying tactics to prolong this trial in order to exhaust me financially, morally, and even professionally, by wasting my time. My lawyer defends me despite many unpaid fees,” he said.

Joseph Jules Nkana, Sardaouna’s lawyer, told CPJ that his client had not refused to attend previous hearings and that mediation was undertaken by “Bondjock’s colleagues.” However, the journalist had refused to meet to conclude an agreement, Nkana said.

François Mboke, president of the Cameroon network of press outlet owners, who initiated mediation in 2022 to stop the prosecution, told CPJ that it had not been successful.

Bondjock told CPJ there was no reason for him to try to seek an agreement with Sardaouna, as the NCC had ruled in his favor.

Under Cameroon’s penal code, defamation is punishable by a prison sentence of six days to six months and a fine of up to 2 million CFA francs (US$3,330).

In a joint 2023 submission to the U.N. Human Rights Council scrutinizing Cameroon’s human rights record, CPJ and other rights groups noted at least four cases of arrest and conviction for defamation between 2019 and 2022, including against Martinez Zogo, who was killed in 2023.

Other sub-Saharan countries that have criminalized defamation include Nigeria, Angola, Togo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In June 2024, Niger reinstated prison sentences for defamation and insult that had been replaced by fines two years earlier.

Denis Omgba Bomba, director of the media observatory at Cameroon’s Ministry of Communication, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment on Bondjock’s case via messaging app.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

The I-Kiribati people will go to the polls for the first round of voting today.

Ballots are expected to open at 7am NZ time.

The Kiribati Electoral Commission is responsible to conduct the election with the support of the Ministry for Culture and Internal Affairs.

• READ MORE: Other Kiribati reports

There is minimal information available online about the polls, with the most official election information shared via the Ministry of Culture’s Facebook page in late July, which was the candidate lists.

There will be 114 candidates — one less than the previous election — contesting for the first round of voting, with a second on Monday next week.

After that parties will put up their candidates for president, one of whom is likely to be Taneti Maamau, the man who has held the title of Beretitenti, or President, for the past eight years.

“On the evening of the first round of voting (on Wednesday evening) the provisional results are shared on local radio in taetae ni Kiribati,” New Zealand’s High Commissioner in Tarawa, André van der Walt, said.

Results on local radio
“We anticipate the counts for larger constituencies such as in South Tarawa would only be concluded by morning on Thursday.

“The second round of voting will take place on Monday 19 August with results released on local radio overnight. We anticipate the final results will be known on Tuesday 20 August.”

The popular vote for the Beretitenti is expected in September or October.

There are 18 women standing this time, and this compares with just seven female candidates in 2020.

Among them are 10 women in the crowded South Tarawa district — three of who are lawyers.

The low-lying Micronesian nation with a population of about 120,000 is one of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including rising sea levels.

This will be the second elections to be held after Kiribati had switched back allegiance from Taiwan to China in September 2019.

Significant issues
RNZ Pacific’s correspondent in Kiribati, Rimon Rimon, said there were some significant issues that would influence voters this election, such as the soaring cost of living and suggestions the government was struggling to meet its bills.

Campaigning, which has been going on for months, has “become more intense”, Rimon said, adding that “the incumbent candidates seeking re-election [are] really going out”.

He said some people affiliated to political parties were also using kava as a “campaign tool” hoping to win votes.

“A lot of people are saying that they are seeing some of the candidates giving out kava, which is quite a popular commodity here, even though the time for giving out things have already stopped, according to the laws.

“We’re seeing a lot of these. People are giving away kava, not the candidates, but some people tend to know that person giving out the kava belongs to a certain candidate or is a supporter of that candidate.

“Kava has been a commodity used by candidates to really get people around to sit around and talk about ideas that they want to share.”

He added campaigning “goes right to the 11th hour” because “any last-minute effort is very useful”.

Some of the bigger issues confronting whichever government comes to power will be the cost of a copra subsidy that has been deemed wildly extravagant by international financial agencies, along with an unemployment benefit, paid monthly.

They will also find a judicial system turned on its head after the outgoing government removed five expatriate judges on spurious grounds. This left the country without higher courts for months, leading to a huge backlog in cases.

There is also the increasingly stronger link with China which has now led to reports of Chinese police on patrol in parts of Kiribati.

‘Quite draconian’
According to Rimon, a lot of the poeple on the ground want “something new” because Maamau’s government “have taken quite a tough approach on how they introduce a lot of their policies and decisions”

“Some of their policies are quite draconian, especially with media and all news information. I hear a lot of people saying we should have something new,” he said.

But then of course, the other half of the population, or people that I’ve been speaking to, especially in South Tarawa, are quite happy with the government’s performance and would like to see another four years of their reign in government.”

Pacific political watchers say there has been growing competition across the region between Australia, the US and China.

“Each Pacific island country is trying to navigate those waters in their own unique way and try and make the most out of it for themselves,” Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Pacific analyst Blake Johnson told RNZ Pacific.

“And Kiribati does seem to be doing that a little differently to some of the others, in terms of just the transparency.”

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s security detail has cut a media briefing short over protesters in Auckland.

He was holding a press conference yesterday after a walkabout with police to discuss concerns with businesses in the CBD.

Luxon was talking with media when one of his security officers could be seen coming into the business, actively looking around, before placing a hand on the Prime Minister’s shoulder and informing him they had to leave now.

• READ MORE: Other Luxon policy reports

An RNZ journalist at the briefing said he understood protesters were en route to the location, but the prime minister left before they had arrived.

According to The New Zealand Herald, they were pro-Palestine protesters.

Police beat teams
He was also joined by Police Minister Mark Mitchell, and Associate Police Minister Casey Costello and Retail Crime Ministerial Advisory Group head Sunny Kaushal after police added another 21 officers to their CBD beat teams this month, bringing the team to 51.

It is part of a drive to expand the number of police visible on city streets, with the Auckland team expected to increase to 63, another 17 officers joining the Wellington team, and 18 more in Christchurch.

Luxon said the expanded teams was a “great start, and more than a great start … it’s a collaborative effort and what you’re seeing here is that there’s really good join-up.”

He said with cruise ships coming back to New Zealand, it was important to do better and it was important for people to feel safe.

Patrolling Auckland was a collaborative effort, which was seen yesterday with numerous council and Heart of the City security staff also on the beat.

“Police are obviously at the heart of the whole issue, but they are working really constructively with the security officers from the different retail complexes, with the city council . . . ”

Prime Minister Luxon’s press conference cut short.   Video: RNZ News

Beat policing makes difference
Some business people Luxon had spoken to told him they had seen a difference when it came to on the beat policing.

Mitchell said it was also about having all the govenrment and community agencies working together. He said the briefing he had seen from police showed crime was starting to trend down.

“It’s only early signs, it’s green shoots . . .  I don’t have the numbers that I can give to you today but it’s numbers that police have been working on.”

Coster said it was a long-term thing that needed to be seen having a continued effect.

He said the deployment in the CBD was significant.

“Not just our beat staff, but also our public safety units, our community policing staff, and we have a tactical crime unit focused on the central city as well.”

“That’s a very big deployment, on a regular basis.”

Luxon walked through town, stopping to chat with security officers.

“It’s been really good, an announcement and then quick implementation, and you guys joined up together and you’ve been acting more as a tighter eco-system, is even better,” he said to one Britomart security officer.

He also greeted pedestrians as he made his way up Queen Street, some shouting expletive expressions of shock at seeing him.

Murray from Queen’s Arcade on Queen Street said the situation had improved.

“It’s nice to see the police around the lower city CBD,” he said.

“We’re all working together, it’s going to be difficult. We kind of expect the council to do their part in this too with some of the projects, perhaps, homeless people that cause us a little bit of grief, and are a nuisance to themselves and the public,” he said.

He said rough sleepers were still an issue, and that pedestrians felt intimidated by them.

‘We expect churches to face up’
Earlier, speaking to reporters, the prime minister said churches behind the faith-based care institutions needed to be “fully responsible and accountable”, and destruction of records “doesn’t sound right”.

Yesterday’s standup followed the release of the Royal Commission’s report into abuse in care this week, a massive 16-volume report still being digested by the survivors and the public.

“We expect the churches to face up to their responsibility,” Luxon said.

The report noted the president of the Law Society had advised the head of Presbyterian Support Otago to destroy records of children in its care to protect the organisation’s reputation.

Frazer Barton told RNZ Morning Report yesterday he had advised Gillian Bremner to “destroy them at an appropriate time — that’s not ‘go ahead and destroy them now'”. The files were destroyed in 2017 and 2018.

Luxon said he had not been briefed on that but the government wanted to ensure records were available – including being available to survivors.

“I haven’t seen what he’s particularly briefed or asked,” Luxon said. “All I’m focused on is actually responding to the recommendations, working with the survivors, making sure that churches are held responsible for the abuse that they’ve caused as well.”

Asked to comment on his reaction to hearing that records had been destroyed, he said “it doesn’t sound good, it doesn’t sound right, it doesn’t sound what we’re asking churches to do.”

He said the churches should front up and be held accountable.

“We’re asking for them to be fully responsible and accountable.”

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

SPECIAL REPORT: By Netani Rika in Majuro

Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused devastation on the people and environment of the Marshall Islands.

And, as Pacific women gathered on Majuro this week to discuss ways to end gender-based violence, they heard from local counterparts about a battle for justice older than many of the delegates.

Ariana Kilma, chair of the Marshall Islands National Nuclear Commission and descendant of survivors of weapons testing, shared a story of survival, setting the backdrop for the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women.

• READ MORE: Other articles in the Pacific Women series

“I am here to share with you our story. This is a story not only of suffering and loss, but also of strength, unity, and unwavering commitment to justice,” Kilner told delegates from across the region.

“The conference theme ‘an pilinlin koba komman lometo’ (a collection of droplets creates an ocean)” reflects the efforts of the many Marshallese women before me, and together, we call on you, our Pacific sisters and brothers, to stand united in our commitment to justice, healing, and a brighter future for the Pacific.”

The triennial will focus on three specific areas – climate change, gender-based violence, and the health of women and girls.

Marshall Islands President, Dr Hilda Heine, acknowledged that nothing less than a collective, regional effort was needed to effectively address the three issues at the centre of the regional conference.

“Our gender equality journey calls on Pacific leadership to be intentional, innovative and bold in our responses to the gaps that we see in our efforts,” Heine said.

‘We must take risks’
“We must take risks, create new partnerships, and be unwavering in our commitment to bring about substantive gender equality for the region.”

In the area of gender equality, young Marshallese women like Kilner are forging pathways to ensure that justice is done, even if the battle for restitution takes another 70 years. In a bold, innovative move, women of the Marshall Islands have taken their cry to the World Council of Churches and the United Nations.

“Marshallese women have shown remarkable resilience and leadership,” Kilma said.

“From the early days of testing, they raised their voices against the injustices inflicted upon our people. They documented health issues, collected evidence, and demanded accountability.”

The current story of Marshallese women began in the aftermath of World War II when the group of atolls in the Northern Pacific was selected as ground zero for a nuclear weapon testing programme.

This was the beginning of a profound and painful chapter which continues today.

“The people of Bikini and later Enewetak were displaced from their home islands in order for the tests to commence,” Kilner said.

Infamous Bravo test
“For a period of 12 years, between 1946 and 1958, 67 nuclear tests were conducted in our islands, including the infamous Bravo test on Bikini Atoll in 1954. Despite a petition from the Marshallese to cease the experiments, the testing continued for another four years with 55 more detonations.”

Immediately after the Bravo test, people fell ill — their skin itching and peeling, eyes hurting, stomachs churning with pain, heads split by migraines and fingernails changing colour because of nuclear fallout.

It was not long before women gave birth to what have been described jellyfish babies.

“So deformed, [were our] babies sometimes born resembling the features of an octopus or the intestines of a turtle, in some instances, a bunch of grapes or a strange looking animal,” Kilner told delegates at the regional forum this week.

“The term jellyfish babies was coined after the birth of many babies who were born without limbs or a head, whose skin was so transparent their mothers saw their tiny hearts beating within.

“We were told by those scientists that our babies were a result of incest.”

Despite a 2004 study by the United States National Cancer Institute which concluded that the Marshallese could expect an estimated 530 “excess” cancers, half of which had yet to be detected, the US has made no move towards reparation for the islanders.

The study showed that the fallout resulted in elevated cancer risks, with women being disproportionately affected.

Twenty years after the study, the Marshall Islands continues to fight for justice, women at the forefront of the struggle, just as they have been since 1 March 1954.

If anyone has the resilience to fight for justice, it is the Marshallese women.

Netani Rika is an award-winning Fiji journalist with 30 years of experience in Pacific regional writing. The joint owner of Islands Business magazine he is communications manager of the Pacific Conference of Churches and is in Majuro, Marshall Islands, covering the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women. Published with the author’s permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

A group of NZ-based Fiji business people have met in Auckland to plan a boost for indigenous participation in commerce.

And the iTaukei notion of “solesolevaki” — coming together for the greater good — is at the heart of the initiative.

The get-together was facilitated this week by the Fiji High Commissioner to New Zealand, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji business reports

“It’s very encouraging to hear that there are many Fijians in business in New Zealand. We are happy to support all initiatives that improve the well-being of our communities,” Ratu Inoke said.

Siva Naulago, owner of 679 Logistics, said: “iTaukei indigenous people’s point-of-difference is our communal strength.

“Solesolevaki, is an integral part of our culture, and is the coming together for the greater good. This is a more cost-effective and inclusive way of doing business.”

Rachael Mario, from the NZ Rotuman Community Centre, thanked the High Commissioner, saying: “We are very appreciative of His Excellency, Ratu Inoke, for taking the initiative to bring us all together”.

The business leaders agreed to work together with the aim of encouraging and mentoring more indigenous people into entrepreneurship.

And finding more business opportunities for women and youth, to increase family incomes.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

On Thursday, the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice announced the closure of Tamadon TV, alleging that the broadcaster was affiliated with the Harakat-e-Islami political party, after the Taliban banned all such affiliations, and operating on “seized land,” according to Qari Baraktullah Rasuli, the spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice who posted the statement on X, formerly Twitter, and media reports. Tamadon TV denies the claims.

In a breaking news announcement earlier that day, Tamadon TV stated that a Taliban delegation was inside its station to shut down operations. However, later the TV station confirmed that the suspension of its operations was postponed until Saturday. The Taliban has not announced an exact date that it plans to close the station. 

“The Taliban must immediately and unconditionally reverse its decision to ban Tamadon TV and allow the channel to continue broadcasting,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The Taliban is expanding its relentless crackdown on Afghan media and suppressing any independent voices. This must end.”

On June 6, Mohammad Jawad Mohseni, director of Tamadon TV, rejected the Taliban’s claims about the broadcaster’s political affiliations, according to broadcaster Afghanistan International. Mohseni noted that the late founder of the TV station, Ayatullah Asif Mohseni, had resigned as the leader of Harakat-e-Islami in 2005, years before establishing Tamadon TV.

Mohseni said that “the land for Tamadon TV was purchased from a private owner and has a legitimate and legal title deed, and it is not and has never been government property.”

On February 18, 2023, about 10 armed Taliban members raided the headquarters of Tamadon TV in Kabul, beat several staff members, and held them for 30 minutes.

Tamadon TV is predominantly owned and operated by members of the Hazara-Shia ethnic minority and covers political and current affairs as well as Shiite religious programming. Hazara people have faced persecution and escalated violence since the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021.

The closure order of Tamadon TV follows a series of other restrictions imposed on Afghan media in recent months. In May, the Taliban’s Media Complaints and Rights Violations Commission banned journalists, analysts, and experts from participating in discussions or cooperating with London-based Afghanistan International’s television and radio stations. The Commission called on citizens to boycott Afghanistan International and banned anyone from providing facilities for broadcasting the channel in public places.

Earlier, in April, the Taliban shut down Noor and Barya TV broadcasters, which were affiliated with other Islamist political parties, citing violations of “national and Islamic values.”

The Taliban has shut down other broadcasters since it took over the country in 2021,  including Radio Nasim. in central Daikundi Province, Hamisha Bahar Radio and TV in eastern Nangarhar province, and Radio Sada e Banowan in northeastern Badakhshan province. In 2022, the group also banned international broadcasters such as the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Voice of America.

CPJ’s requests for comment sent to Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid did not receive a response.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

The special rapporteur reports on and assesses the human rights situation in Eritrea, and the council extended their mandate for a year in a July 2023 resolution.

In their letter, the non-governmental organizations say Eritrea’s human rights record remains poor, citing the arbitrary and incommunicado detention of journalists, severe restrictions on the media, enforced disappearances, and past findings that crimes against humanity may have been committed in the country since 1991, when the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, a secessionist movement that later became the country’s ruling party, took effective control of Eritrea from Ethiopia.

The organizations also note that Eritrea continues to defy repeated calls by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, a continental quasi-judicial body tasked with ensuring protection of human rights, to release or accord fair trial to journalists detained for over two decades.

With 16 members of the press behind bars, Eritrea is sub-Saharan Africa’s worst jailer of journalists, according to CPJ’s latest annual prison census.

Read or download the letter in English and French below:

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Today is the 24th anniversary of renegade and failed businessman George Speight’s coup in 2000 Fiji. The elected coalition government headed by Mahendra Chaudhry, the first and only Indo-Fijian prime minister of Fiji, was held hostage at gunpoint for 56 days in the country’s new Parliament by Speight’s rebel gunmen in a putsch that shook the Pacific and the world.

Emerging recently from almost 24 years in prison, former investigative journalist and publisher Josefa Nata — Speight’s “media minder” — is now convinced that the takeover of Fiji’s Parliament on 19 May 2000 was not justified.

He believes that all it did was let the “genie of racism” out of the bottle.

• READ MORE: Coup coup land: the press and the putsch in Fiji – David Robie
• FIJI: I was just PR consultant — Joe Nata
• USP 2000 coup student journalism archive

He spoke to Islands Business Fiji correspondent, Joe Yaya on his journey back from the dark.

The Fiji government kept you in jail for 24 years [for your media role in the coup]. That’s a very long time. Are you bitter?

I heard someone saying in Parliament that “life is life”, but they have been releasing other lifers. Ten years was conventionally considered the term of a life sentence. That was the State’s position in our sentencing. The military government extended it to 12 years. I believe it was out of malice, spitefulness and cruelty — no other reason. But to dwell in the past is counterproductive.

If there’s anyone who should be bitter, it should be me. I was released [from prison] in 2013 but was taken back in after two months, ostensibly to normalise my release papers. That government did not release me. I stayed in prison for another 10 years.

To be bitter is to allow those who hurt you to live rent free in your mind. They have moved on, probably still rejoicing in that we have suffered that long. I have forgiven them, so move on I must.

Time is not on my side. I have set myself a timeline and a to-do list for the next five years.

What are some of those things?

Since I came out, I have been busy laying the groundwork for a community rehabilitation project for ex-offenders, released prisoners, street kids and at-risk people in the law-and-order space. We are in the process of securing a piece of land, around 40 ha to set up a rehabilitation farm. A half-way house of a sort.

You can’t have it in the city. It would be like having the cat to watch over the fish. There is too much temptation. These are vulnerable people who will just relapse. They’re put in an environment where they are shielded from the lures of the world and be guided to be productive and contributing members of society.

It will be for a period of up to six months; in exceptional cases, 12 months where they will learn living off the land. With largely little education, the best opportunity for these people, and only real hope, is in the land.

Most of these at-risk people are [indigenous] Fijians. Although all native land are held by the mataqali, each family has a patch which is the “kanakana”. We will equip them and settle them in their villages. We will liaise with the family and the village.

Apart from farming, these young men and women will be taught basic life skills, social skills, savings, budgeting. When we settle them in the villages and communities, we will also use the opportunity to create the awareness that crime does not pay, that there is a better life than crime and prison, and that prison is a waste of a potentially productive life.

Are you comfortable with talking about how exactly you got involved with Speight?

The bulk of it will come out in the book that I’m working on, but it was not planned. It was something that happened on the day.

You said that when they saw you, they roped you in?

Yes. But there were communications with me the night prior. I basically said, “piss off”.

So then, what made you go to Parliament eventually? Curiosity?

No. I got a call from Parliament. You see, we were part of the government coalition at that time. We were part of the Fijian Association Party (led by the late Adi Kuini Speed). The Fiji Labour Party was our main coalition partner, and then there was the Christian Alliance. And you may recall or maybe not, there was a split in the Fijian Association [Party] and there were two factions. I was in the faction that thought that we should not go into coalition.

There was an ideological reason for the split [because the party had campaigned on behalf of iTaukei voters] but then again, there were some members who came with us only because they were not given seats in Cabinet.

Because your voters had given you a certain mandate?

Well, we were campaigning on the [indigenous] Fijian manifesto and to go into the [coalition] complicated things. Mine was more a principled position because we were a [indigenous] Fijian party and all those people went in on [indigenous] Fijian votes. And then, here we are, going into [a coalition with the Fiji Labour Party] and people probably
accused us of being opportunists.

But the Christian Alliance was a coalition partner with Labour before they went into the election in the same way that the People’s Alliance and National Federation Party were coalition partners before they got into [government], whereas with us, it was more like SODELPA (Social Democratic Liberal Party).

So, did you feel that the rights of indigenous Fijians were under threat from the Coalition government of then Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry?

Perhaps if Chaudhry was allowed to carry on, it could have been good for [indigenous] Fijians. I remember the late President and Tui Nayau [Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara] . . .  in a few conversations I had with him, he said it [Labour Party] should be allowed to . . . [carry on].

Did you think at that time that the news media gave Chaudhry enough space for him to address the fears of the iTaukei people about what he was trying to do, especially for example, through the Land Use Commission?

I think the Fijians saw what he was doing and that probably exacerbated or heightened the concerns of [indigenous] Fijians and if you remember, he gave Indian cane farmers certain financial privileges.

The F$10,000 grants to move from Labasa, when the ALTA (Agricultural Landlord and Tenants Act) leases expired. Are you talking about that?

I can’t remember the exact details of the financial assistance but when they [Labour Party] were questioned, they said, “No, there were some Fijian farmers too”. There were also iTaukei farmers but if you read in between the lines, there were like 50 Indian farmers and one Fijian farmer.

Was there enough media coverage for the rural population to understand that it was not a one-sided ethnic policy?

Because there were also iTaukei farmers involved. Yes, and I think when you try and pull the wool over other people, that’s when they feel that they have been hoodwinked. But going back to your question of whether Chaudhry was given fair media coverage, I was no longer in the mainstream media at that time. I had moved on.

But the politicians have their views and they’ll feel that they have been done badly by the media. But that’s democracy. That’s the way things worked out.

Pacific journalism educator, David Robie, in a paper in 2001, made some observations about the way the local media reported the Speight takeover. He said, “In the early weeks of the insurrection, the media enjoyed an unusually close relationship with Speight and the hostage takers.”

He went on to say that at times, there was “strong sympathy among some journalists for the cause, even among senior editorial executives”.

David Robie is an incisive and perceptive old-school journalist who has a proper understanding of issues and I do not take issue with his opinion. And I think there is some validity. But you see, I was on the other [Speight’s] side. And it was part of my job at that time to swing that perception from the media.

Did you identify with “the cause” and did you think it was legitimate?

Let me tell you in hindsight, that the coup was not justified
and that is after a lot of reflection. It was not justified and
could never be justified.

When did you come to that conclusion?

It was after the period in Parliament and after things were resolved and then Parliament was vacated, I took a drive around town and I saw the devastation in Suva. This was a couple of months later. I didn’t realise the extent of the damage and I remember telling myself, “Oh my god, what have we done? What have we done?”

And I realised that we probably have let the genie out of the bottle and it scared me [that] it only takes a small thing like this to unleash this pentup emotion that is in the people. Of course, a lot of looting was [by] opportunists because at that time, the people who
were supporting the cause were all in Parliament. They had all marched to Parliament.

So, who did the looting in town? I’m not excusing that. I’m just trying to put some perspective. And of course, we saw pictures, which was really, very sad . . .  of mothers, women, carrying trolleys [of loot] up the hill, past the [Colonial War Memorial] hospital.

So, what was Speight’s primary motivation?

Well, George will, I’m sure, have the opportunity at some point to tell the world what his position was. But he was never the main player. He was ditched with the baby on his laps.

So, there were people So, there were people behind him. He was the man of the moment. He was the one facing the cameras.

Given your education, training, experience in journalism, what kind of lens were you viewing this whole thing from?

Well, let’s put it this way. I got a call from Parliament. I said, “No, I’m not coming down.” And then they called again.

Basically, they did not know where they were going. I think what was supposed to have happened didn’t happen. So, I got another call, I got about three or four calls, maybe five. And then eventually, after two o’clock I went down to Parliament, because the person who called was a friend of mine and somebody who had shared our fortunes and misfortunes.

So, did you get swept away? What was going on inside your head?

I joined because at that point, I realised that these people needed help. I was not so much as for the cause, although there was this thing about what Chaudhry was doing. I also took that into account. But primarily because the call came [and] so I went.

And when I was finally called into the meeting, I walked in and I saw faces that I’d never seen before. And I started asking the questions, “Have you done this? Have you done that?”

And as I asked the questions, I was also suggesting solutions and then I just got dragged into it. The more I asked questions, the more I found out how much things were in disarray.

I just thought I’d do my bit [because] they were people who had taken over Parliament and they did not know where to go from there.

But you were driven by some nationalistic sentiments?

I am a [indigenous] Fijian. And everything that goes with that. I’m not infallible. But then again, I do not want to blow that trumpet.

Did the group see themselves as freedom fighters of some sort when you went into prison?

I’m not a freedom fighter. If they want to be called freedom fighters, that’s for them and I think some of them even portrayed themselves [that way]. But not me. I’m just an idiot who got sidetracked.

This personal journey that you’ve embarked on, what brought that about?

When I was in prison, I thought about this a lot. Because for me to come out of the bad place I was in — not physically, that I was in prison, but where my mind was — was to first accept the situation I was in and take responsibility. That’s when the healing started to take place.

And then I thought that I should write to people that I’ve hurt. I wrote about 200 letters from prison to anybody I thought I had hurt or harmed or betrayed. Groups, individuals, institutions, and families. I was surprised at the magnanimity of the people who received my letters.

I do not know where they all are now. I just sent it out. I was touched by a lot of the responses and I got a letter from the late [historian] Dr Brij Lal. l was so encouraged and I was so emotional when I read the letter. [It was] a very short letter and the kindness in the man to say that, “We will continue to talk when you come out of prison.”

There were also the mockers, the detractors, certain persons who said unkind things that, you know, “He’s been in prison and all of a sudden, he’s . . . “. That’s fine, I accepted all that as part of the package. You take the bad with the good.

I wrote to Mr Chaudhry and I had the opportunity to apologise to him personally when he came to visit in prison. And I want to continue this dialogue with Mr Chaudhry if he would like to.

Because if anything, I am among the reasons Fiji is in this current state of distrust and toxic political environment. If I can assist in bringing the nation together, it would be part of my atonement for my errors. For I have been an unprofitable, misguided individual who would like to do what I believe is my duty to put things right.

And I would work with anyone in the political spectrum, the communal leaders, the vanua and the faith organisations to bring that about.

I also did my traditional apology to my chiefly household of Vatuwaqa and the people of the vanua of Lau. I had invited the Lau Provincial Council to have its meeting at the Corrections Academy in Naboro. By that time, the arrangements had been confirmed for the Police Academy.

But the Roko gave us the farewell church service. I got my dear late sister, Pijila to organise the family. I presented the matanigasau to the then-Council Chairman, Ratu Tevita Uluilakeba (Roko Ului). It was a special moment, in front of all the delegates to the council meeting, the chiefly clan of the Vuanirewa, and Lauans who filled the two buses and
countless vehicles that made it to Naboro.

Our matanivanua (herald) was to make the tabua presentation. But I took it off him because I wanted Roko Ului and the people of Lau to hear my remorse from my mouth. It was very, very emotional. Very liberating. Cathartic.

Late last year, the Coalition government passed a motion in Parliament for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Do you support that?

Oh yes, I think everything I’ve been saying so far points that way.

Do you think it’ll help those that are still incarcerated to come out and speak about what happened in 2000?

Well, not only that but the important thing is [addressing] the general [racial] divide. If that’s where we should start, then we should start there. That’s how I’m looking at it — the bigger picture.

It’s not trying to manage the problems or issues of the last 24 years. People are still hurting from [the coups of] 1987. And what happened in 2006 — nothing has divided this country so much. Anybody who’s thought about this would want this to go beyond just solving the problem of 2000, excusing, and accusing and after that, there’s forgiveness and pardon.

That’s a small part. That too if it needs to happen. But after all that, I don’t want anybody to go to prison because of their participation or involvement in anything from 1987 to 2000. If they cooked the books later, while they were in government, then that’s a different
matter.

But I saw on TV, the weeping and the very public expression of pain of [the late, former Prime Minister, Laisenia] Qarase’s grandchildren when he was convicted and taken away [to prison]. It brought tears to my eyes. There is always a lump in my throat at the memory of my Heilala’s (elder of two daughters) last visit to [me in] Nukulau.

Hardly a word was spoken as we held each other, sobbing uncontrollably the whole time, except to say that Tiara (his sister) was not allowed by the officers at the naval base to come to say her goodbye.

That was very painful. I remember thinking that people can be cruel, especially when the girls explained that it was to be their last visit. Then the picture in my mind of Heilala sitting alone under the turret of the navy ship as she tried not to look back. I had asked her not to look back.

I deserved what I got. But not them. I would not wish the same things I went through on anyone else, not even those who were malicious towards me.

It is the family that suffers. The family are always the silent victims. It is the family that stands by you. They may not agree with what you did. Perhaps it is among the great gifts of God, that children forgive parents and love them still despite the betrayal, abandonment, and pain.

For I betrayed the two women I love most in the world. I betrayed ‘Ulukalala [son] who was born the same year I went to prison. I betrayed and brought shame to my family and my village of Waciwaci. I betrayed friends of all ethnicities and those who helped me in my chosen profession and later, in business.

I betrayed the people of Fiji. That betrayal was officially confirmed when the court judgment called me a traitor. I accepted that portrayal and have to live with it. The judges — at least one of them — even opined that I masterminded the whole thing. I have to decline that dubious honour. That belongs elsewhere.

This article by Joe Yaya is republished from last month’s Islands Business magazine cover story with the permission of editor Richard Naidu and Yaya. The photographs are from a 2000 edition of the Commonwealth Press Union’s Global Journalist magazine dedicated to the reporting of The University of the South Pacific’s student journalists. Joe Yaya was a member of the USP team at the time. The archive of the award-winning USP student coverage of the coup is here.   

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.

DDCom, formed by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in 2018 to probe unsolved murders, disappearances, and abductions under the previous government, has not released its full investigative reports on the 2014 disappearance and murder of journalist Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla and the 2017 murder of blogger Yameen Rasheed. Impunity persists in both cases.

Read the full press release below:

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

New Zealand High Commissioner Peter Zwart and PNG Defence Minister Dr Billy Joseph welcomed a C-130 Hercules to Port Moresby this week to support Papua New Guinea’s response to the March 24 earthquake and recent severe flooding.

“Papua New Guinea has requested New Zealand’s assistance to transport emergency relief items from Port Moresby to affected areas,” said High Commissioner Zwart.

“I am delighted that the New Zealand Defence Force has been able to provide an aircraft to help get these items to provinces and vulnerable communities that have been significantly impacted.”

• READ MORE: Other PNG disaster relief reports

The aircraft will stay in Papua New Guinea for about three days and is expected to deliver humanitarian supplies to several disaster affected provinces.

The New Zealand High Commission remains in close contact with PNG government officials as the response continues.

High Commissioner Zwart said: “New Zealand has a long-standing commitment to working with and supporting Pacific partners to respond to disasters and address humanitarian need, including in Papua New Guinea.”

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Barangay New Zealand’s Rene Molina has interviewed the country’s first Filipino Green MP Francisco Hernandez who was sworn into Parliament yesterday as the party’s latest member.

This is the first interview with Hernandez who replaces former Green Party co-leader James Shaw after his retirement from politics to take up a green investment advisory role.

Hernandez talks about his earlier role as a climate change activist and his role with New Zealand’s Climate Commission, and his life experiences.

• READ MORE: Francisco Hernandez Green Party profile

The interviewer — educator, digital media producer and community advocate Rene Nonoy Molina — is also a member of the Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN).

“I was involved in the New Zealand climate crisis movement as an activist,” Hernandez says.

“I was involved in a group called Generation Zero, which is the youth climate justice group and that’s how I ended up getting involved in the New Zealand youth delegation that went to Paris.

“So that’s separate from my Climate Change Commission work which came after.”

Hernandez is the son of a member of Joseph Estrada’s ruling party in the Philippines before its government changed in 2001, according to the Otago University magazine.

He migrated to New Zealand with his family when he was 12 and is a former president of the Otago University Students’ Association with an honours degree in politics.

Francisco B. Hernandez talks to Rene Molina.    Video: Barangay NZ

He has also worked as an advisor at the Climate Commission, reports RNZ News.

He stood for Dunedin in the last election, coming third with more than 8000 votes — not far behind National’s Michael Woodhouse (over 9000) but far behind the more than 17,000 votes of Labour’s Rachel Brooking.

Published in collaboration with Barangay New Zealand.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Follow and reach out to the PSC

All commission hearings and meetings are open to the public and anyone can attend. You can find a calendar of meetings here. It meets at 244 Washington St. SW, Atlanta, Georgia, 30334-9052

Contact information: 

Toll-free in Georgia (outside Metro Atlanta): 800-282-5813

Metro Atlanta: 404-656-4501

Fax: 404-656-2341

Email: gapsc@psc.ga.gov

Commission hearings and meetings also are livestreamed on the PSC YouTube channel, though viewers cannot ask questions or pose comments online. You can also follow the PSC on social media. 

Before reaching out to or engaging with the commission, familiarize yourself with the roles and responsibilities of the commissioners, and initiatives the agency is working on so you can frame your request or response appropriately. 

Grist and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR member station, are engaged in an ongoing project demystifying energy policy and affordability in the state. You may find these resources may be useful.

• Want clean electricity? These are the overlooked elected officials who get to decide.
• Your guide to electricity and energy policy in Georgia (a glossary of terms)
• Resources (fact sheets, websites, and more)

Send a complaint, inquiry, or opinion

Public comments are heard during the first hour of hearings and the last 15 minutes of committee meetings. Sign-up sheets are provided and speakers are called on a first-come, first-served basis. 

You can learn more about filing a complaint, inquiry, or opinion to the PSC here. Comments must conform to certain guidelines, including a limit of three minutes at the lectern. Submit written comments here. People who regularly address the PSC say don’t be discouraged if you don’t receive a response right away. Follow up respectfully as time allows, and if you still aren’t satisfied reach out to commissioners through other means, such as calling their offices.

Get involved through community organizations

If you aren’t interested in or comfortable with testifying before the commission, several organizations regularly engage with the PSC and Georgia Power, which is the state’s largest electric utility and regulated by the commission. They include Georgia Conservation Voters, Black Voters Matter, Georgia WAND, and Georgia Watch, all of which offer volunteer opportunities for residents to participate in advocacy. 

Local chambers of commerce also send comments to the PSC, as do city and county governments. You can also look into whether your employer is involved, as major employers sometimes appear in front of the PSC or go through trade groups like the Georgia Association of Manufacturers. 

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Want to contact the Georgia Public Service Commission? Here’s how. on May 10, 2024.

This content originally appeared on Grist and was authored by Lyndsey Gilpin.

The race to form the next government of Solomon Islands could be a tight one, with no single party emerging from the election with enough seats to govern.

Caretaker prime minister Manasseh Sogavare’s Our Party did the best, securing 15 out of the 50 seats in the House.

The former opposition leader Matthew Wale’s Democratic Party is first runner-up with 11 MPs, which is also equal to the number of independent MPs which have been elected.

• READ MORE: Other Solomon islands election reports

As for the rest of the field, the United Party secured six seats, the People’s First Party won three, and the remaining four minor parties won a seat each.

So what happens now?
The Governor-General of Solomon Islands, Sir David Vunagi, will only call a meeting to elect the country’s prime minister once official results have been gazetted and Parliament informs him that all elected members have returned from the provinces to the capital Honiara.

This was confirmed by the Governor-General’s private secretary, Rawcliffe Ziza, who also sought to refute some misinformation about the election of the prime minister — which said it would only be called once a party or a coalition of parties had secured the numbers to form government.

As political parties lobby to secure the numbers to rule, local media will be providing blow-by-blow accounts and social media feeds are awash with coalition predictions.

But the reality is things will remain fluid right up until and including when the elected members meet in parliament to cast secret ballots to elect the country’s prime minister.

There are also rumours of MPs defecting from or joining different groupings.

But the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties has confirmed to RNZ Pacific it has not received applications of either kind, and so as of Friday, party numbers remain true to the final election results below.

Solomon Islands final election results by party:

• Our Party — 15 MPs
• Solomon Islands Democratic Party — 11
• Independents — 11
• Solomon Islands United Party — 6
• Solomon Islands People’s First Party — 3
• Umi For Change Party — 1
• Kadere Party — 1
• Democratic Alliance Party — 1
• Solomon Islands Party for Rural Advancement — 1

According to Government House, most of the newly elected members of Parliament are already in the capital.

But the Governor-General will wait until next week to consider a date for the election of the prime minister, to allow time for members from more remote constituencies to make their way back to Honiara and for the official election results to be gazetted.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Solomon Islands’ incumbent prime minister Manasseh Sogavare has been re-elected in the East Choiseul constituency.

It is the opening move in the political chess match to form the country’s next government.

Returning officer Christopher Makoni made the declaration late last night after a day of counting, according to the national broadcaster SIBC.

• READ MORE: Other Solomon Islands’ elections reports

Counting continues today in provincial centres across the country.

So far at least four members of Sogavare’s former cabinet have been re-elected.

But it is still early days as the first upset of the election also took place overnight, with George Tema unseating Silas Tausinga in the West New Georgia-Vona Vona constituency.

According to the Electoral Commission’s political party breakdown of the election results received so far, Sogavare’s Our Party was leading with 34 percent of votes counted on Saturday morning, followed by former opposition leader Matthew Wale’s Solomon Islands Democratic Party which had 26 percent.

Independent election candidates rounded out the top three with 23.4 percent of the votes counted so far. There was then a sharp drop-off to the fourth-placed People’s First Party on 8 percent.

Once all 50 members of Parliament have been officially elected, they will be whisked back from the provinces to the capital, Honiara, where lobbying camps are already being set up in hotels.

One political party leader and election candidate, whose result has yet to be declared, told RNZ Pacific the first of those camps would be at the Honiara Hotel, and that coalition talks were already underway.

Fewer women MPs
There are also likely to be less women in Parliament after another incumbent woman MP, Lillian Maefai, was ousted by Franklyn Derek Wasi in the East Makira Constituency.

Two other incumbent women MPs, Lanelle Tananganda and Ethel Vokia, did not re-contest their seats in this election, making way instead for their husbands — who had formerly lost the seats because of corruption convictions — to stand.

That left Freda Soria Comua, as the last of the four women MPs in the former parliament, still with a chance to make it back into the house.

There are 20 women among the 334 candidates contesting this election.

It is very rare for women to be elected in Solomon Islands’ male-dominated political sphere. Three out of the four women in the last parliament came into the house as proxies for their husbands.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Polls have opened today in Solomon Islands.

“Today is polling day. Polling Station opens at 7 am and closes at 4 pm. Be at the correct polling station and be in the voting line before 4 pm,” a text message from the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission alerting voters said this morning.

But even before the first ballot was cast a political party president and election candidate told RNZ Pacific on the eve of the election that coalition negotiations were already taking place and the first political lobbying camp is being set up at the Honiara Hotel.

• READ MORE: Calm before the storm – Solomon Islanders prepare to go to the polls
• Other Solomon Islands election reports

The polls which opened at 7am will close at 4pm and more than 400,000 Solomon Islanders are expected to exercise their democratic right and vote to elect their national and provincial representatives.

According to the Electoral Commission, there are 334 election candidates in the running for the 50 available seats in the national election and only 20 of them are women.

There are 219 candidates contesting under parties and 115 as independents.

In the provincial assembly elections, there are 816 candidates contesting – 781 are men and 35 are women.

Out of this lot, 724 are contesting as independents and 92 under political party banners.

Independents outnumber party lists
In both the national and provincial elections — which are being conducted simultaneously for the first time this year — independent candidates far outnumber the candidates fielded by any single political party.

Historically, independent candidates have always played a big part in the formation of coalition governments in Solomon Islands as king makers.

In fact, at the last election in 2019, the caretaker prime minister Manasseh Sogavare actually contested the election as an independent candidate, who formally registered his Our Party after the polls, and then proceeded to sign up most of the independent MPs to create what was the largest party in the last house.

The party president who told RNZ Pacific that coalition negotiations were already well underway said that the same strategy, or a variation of it, may again be employed in this election.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

The Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) has declared its solidarity with civil society groups and student protesters demonstrating against the torture of a Papuan man, Defianus Kogoya, by Indonesian troops in West Papua last February.

The torture was revealed in a video that went viral across the world last month.

PANG said in a statement that peaceful demonstrations came after the video was circulated showing Defianus Kogoya bound in a water-filled barrel, being beaten and cut with knives by Indonesian soldiers.

• READ MORE: Indonesian human rights: 13 soldiers arrested after Papuan torture video
• President Wenda: Crackdown on Jayapura protest shows need for UN visit
• Other Papua torture video reports

Indonesian authorities have since admitted and apologised for the torture, and announced the arrest of 13 soldiers.

In the same video incident, two other Papuan men, Warinus Murib and Alianus Murib, were also arrested and allegedly tortured. Warinus Murib died of his injuries.

Reports state that 62 protesting students have been arrested and interrogated before they were released, while two people were seriously injured by Indonesian security forces.

In an earlier protest, 15 people were arrested for giving out pamphlets. Protesters demand all military operations must cease in West Papua.

“We condemn the excessive military presence in West Papua and the associated human rights violation against Papuans,” said the PANG statement.

“We also condemn the use of heavy-handed tactics by the Indonesian police to violently assault and detain students who should have the right and freedom to express their views.

“This demonstrates yet again the ongoing oppression by Indonesian authorities in West Papua despite decades of official denial and media censorship.”

United Nations experts have expressed serious concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua, citing shocking abuses against indigenous Papuans, including child killings, disappearances, torture and mass displacement of people.

Thirteen arrests over the Papuan torture video.    Video: Al Jazeera

Media censorship
In its concluding observations of Indonesia’s second periodic report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted on 26 March 2024, the Human Rights Committee expressed deep concern over:

• patterns of extrajudicial killings,
• enforced disappearances, torture, and
• other forms of cruel and degrading treatment, particularly of or against indigenous Papuans and the failure to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions.

The committee also highlighted continuing reports of media censorship and suppression of the freedom of expression.

“We call on the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) and the people and the governments of all Pacific Island countries to demand that Indonesia allow for the implementation of the decision of the PIF Leaders in August 2019 for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to conduct a mission to West Papua,” the PANG statement said.

“We call on the special envoys of the PIF on West Papua to expedite their mandate to facilitate dialogue with Indonesia, and particularly to pave the way for an urgent UN visit.

“We echo the calls made from the 62 students that were arrested for the Indonesian government to cease all military operations in West Papua and allow the United Nations to do its job.

“Our Pacific governments should expect nothing less from Indonesia, particularly given its privileged position as an associate member of the MSG and as a PIF Dialogue Partner,” PANG said.

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape says funding for impending byelections is not an issue.

“We are assisting the Electoral Commission with funding, I have strongly advised Electoral Commissioner to get the byelection up and running.

“Put the programme together, get to Treasury and request funding and the byelections must be done. As far as the government is concerned, we want the byelections done at the earliest.”

• READ MORE:  PNG Supreme Court stays Madang byelection pending Kramer appeal
• Other PNG elections reports

The election needed to be “done now”, he added.

However, Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai confirmed the deferral of the byelections was due to lack of funding.

“We are prepared and ready to conduct byelections in the three open electorates first, Sohe in Northern, Maprik in East Sepik and Porgera-Paiela in Enga,” Sinai said.

“However, due to the cash flow situation in the country, we have to wait for the lead agencies to secure the necessary funding for us to deliver the elections.”

Three byelections delayed
Sinai said byelections in Madang, Aitape-Lumi and Dei would not proceed as initially planned until the review matters before the courts were dealt with and concluded.

The issue of writs for the byelections for three electorates in PNG were scheduled for Wednesday and this was said to be now deferred until April due to financial constraints.

PNG Electoral Commission needs K20 million to run the three planned byelections and so far no funding has been allocated.

The Electoral Commission is still waiting for the Finance and Treasury Departments to release the funds that were requested through a budget submission for six open electorates where byelections were expected to be conducted this year.

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier by permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with the Virginia Center for Investigative Reporting at WHRO. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.

The Virginia legislature has approved creating a statewide commission to investigate the role of public colleges and universities in displacing Black communities.

The legislature’s action represents a milestone for the budding national movement to seek compensation for families dispossessed by university expansion. It follows a 2023 series by ProPublica and the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism at WHRO, which showed that universities nationwide have uprooted tens of thousands of families of color, contributing to Black land loss and lagging rates of Black home ownership. The series, which detailed how the creation and expansion of Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, swallowed up a Black neighborhood, spurred city and university leaders there to create a similar task force in January.

The state budget passed by the legislature Saturday would establish a commission to determine whether any public institution of higher education in Virginia “has purchased, expropriated, or otherwise taken possession” of properties in Black neighborhoods to establish or expand a campus, and whether compensation would be “appropriate” for the property owners or their descendants, according to the bill. The commission will also research similar acquisitions in other states to provide context. The panel would report its findings annually to the legislature and submit final recommendations by July 2027. National higher education groups said they are unaware of any other statewide commissions studying the issue.

The Virginia commission would include 10 legislators, the state’s two top education officials and seven members of the public. Gov. Glenn Youngkin has until April 17 to sign the budget; he could also veto specific line items such as the commission’s funding, which consists of $28,760 per year for members’ expenses. Commission staff will be paid separately by the state Division of Legislative Services.

“My country has gone from uprooting Black communities violently to legally doing it,” the Rev. Robin D. Mines, a Richmond minister, testified at a legislative hearing last month in support of the provision. “It is far past due time to do something about this and bringing hope to our communities.”

By documenting the confiscation and destruction of Black neighborhoods for higher-education facilities, the ProPublica-VCIJ series added to the debate over how universities address the legacy of racial injustice — both on their campuses and in the country as a whole. Numerous universities are grappling with their racial histories, even as red states are restricting classroom discussion of critical race theory, which holds that racism is ingrained in America’s laws and power structures.

Del. Delores McQuinn, a Richmond Democrat, introduced legislation in January to create the commission. McQuinn originally proposed allocating $150,000 a year, which was reduced in the conference committee process after her bill was inserted into the budget. She said she would request more funding if needed.

McQuinn, who will be a member of the commission, said she will seek input from other legislators, historians and families affected by university expansion. She said the commission would address “how we repair some of the damage that has been done, whether it is through actual dollars, or scholarships or other kinds of ways.”

She declined to speculate on whether the governor would veto the commission. Youngkin, a Republican, issued an executive order in 2022 to end the use in K-12 schools of what he called “inherently divisive concepts,” including critical race theory, which is more commonly taught in colleges and graduate schools. In a statement Saturday after the legislative session ended, Youngkin said that the legislature “sent me more than a thousand bills plus backward budgets that need a lot of work,” and that he would review and decide on them in the next 30 days.

In the past two decades, prominent universities including Harvard, Yale, Brown and the University of Virginia have issued extensive mea culpas describing their historical involvement with the slave trade and slave owners. In Virginia, a 2021 law required UVA and four other universities that were established before the Civil War and used enslaved laborers to search for descendants and make reparations through scholarships or community-based economic development and memorial programs.

The 2020 protests over the murder of George Floyd prompted more institutions to reexamine their history of racial injustice. Still, only a few universities have reckoned with the impact of their growth on communities of color. In 2022, Colorado lawmakers allocated $2 million in scholarships for families and descendants of the Auraria community in Denver. The establishment of the University of Colorado at Denver campus in the early 1970s and its subsequent growth displaced 350 families and reduced the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood to just 13 cottages and a grocery store. The scholarship program eliminates fees and tuition for students and families who lived in the community between 1955 and 1973.

In Athens, Georgia, former residents of the Linnentown neighborhood have sought redress for the taking of their community by eminent domain to develop dormitories for the University of Georgia in the early 1960s. Researchers estimated the property seizures cost Black families $5 million in current dollars, mostly due to underpayment for the land.

Commissioners in Athens-Clarke County, where that university is located, passed a resolution in 2021 urging the state to compensate the roughly 50 displaced families and their descendants. They set aside $2.5 million to build affordable housing and a community center. The University of Georgia, citing a state constitutional ban on voluntary public funding for third parties, has rejected the concept of reparations.

Virginia legislators began discussing redress for uprooted families in response to the ProPublica-VCIJ series and an accompanying documentary film, which both explored how Newport News’ all-white city council seized the core of a thriving Black community in and around Shoe Lane by eminent domain in the early 1960s to build Christopher Newport’s campus. City leaders wanted to “erase the Black spot” near a segregated country club. In the ensuing decades, the school acquired almost all of the remaining homes.

Following the first article in the series, Christopher Newport University President William Kelly acknowledged in a message to faculty and staff that the university’s progress “has come at a human cost, and we must continue to learn about and understand our complicated history.” Kelly, who became president last year, has also said that incoming freshmen will be taught at orientation about the college’s origins and evolution. In January, the city of Newport News and CNU announced a task force to review decades of property acquisitions and consider possible redress for displaced families.

Christopher Newport University has declined to comment to ProPublica or VCIJ on the joint local task force or the possible state commission.

Other Virginia state universities that absorbed Black communities have tried to make amends for their history. Old Dominion University’s expansion since the early 1960s diminished a once-thriving Black community in Norfolk called Lamberts Point. In the 1990s, the university established scholarships and a jobs program for current neighborhood residents.

A memorial on UVA’s campus acknowledges its centuries of mistreatment of Black people both during and after slavery, including employees and local residents. In 2020, UVA President Jim Ryan announced a goal to build as many as 1,500 affordable homes and apartments on property owned by the school and its affiliates. The housing would be open to residents outside the university community.

While the Virginia measure focuses on public universities because they were established by the state, private institutions have their own fraught history. The University of Richmond, for example, acknowledged in 2019 that part of the campus was built on top of a cemetery for enslaved persons. The university is planning a memorial to honor the people buried there.

McQuinn, the legislation’s sponsor, said that she has long been aware of the displacement of Black neighborhoods by universities, but that the ProPublica-VCIJ series spurred her to act. Several supporters of the proposal, including the heads of the statewide and Richmond chapters of the NAACP, attended the Feb. 9 subcommittee hearing in person or online.

Others submitted comments via the General Assembly’s portal. “I see an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past,” wrote a Richmond resident identifying himself only as Antoine. He added that the “pushback” against studying the history of racial injustice, like the university expansions themselves, is “reminiscent once again of the erasure of a culture.”

Louis Hansen contributed reporting.

This content originally appeared on Articles and Investigations - ProPublica and was authored by by Brandi Kellam.

Officials from the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, a statutory body concerned with gender equality, invited a group of local journalists to cover a briefing on plans to open a regional office in Gweru, a town in the Midlands Province about 223 kilometers (138 miles) south of the capital Harare, on February 27. Before the meeting could begin, Owen Ncube, the Minister of State for Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution, asked all the journalists to introduce themselves, saying some were not fit to cover government events, according to news reports and the two journalists who spoke to CPJ. 

After Mubaiwa, a reporter with the privately owned Mirror Midlands Newspaper, and Chadenga, a reporter with the privately owned newspaper Newsday, introduced themselves, Ncube told them they were “not welcome,” accused their outlets of attacking the government, and banned them from future government meetings in the Midlands Province. Ncube then ordered his security officers to escort the journalists out of the room.

“Barring journalists from covering government events points to a troubling unwillingness by Minister of State for Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Owen Ncube to be scrutinized by the press in a manner that all public officials should expect,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Muthoki Mumo in Nairobi. “Ncube should withdraw his order barring journalists Sydney Mubaiwa and Stephen Chadenga from covering state events, and Zimbabwean authorities must ensure journalists have access to report on the government.”

Six journalists from the privately owned newspapers Midweek Watch and The Sun, the state-owned newspapers Chronicle and Gweru Times, and state-owned radio station YaFM were allowed to stay and cover the meeting, Mubaiwa and Chadenga said.

Zimbabwe Gender Commission Chairperson Margaret Mukahanana Sangarwe and an official from the communications department apologized to the two journalists as they were escorted out of the meeting room. Reached by messaging app, Sangarwe told CPJ she had no comment.

Mubaiwa and Chadenga told CPJ that they had been too afraid to attend government events in Midlands Province since February 27.

The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists “unequivocally condemns” the minister’s actions, the secretary-general of the union, Mswathi Hlongwane, told CPJ, adding that the union “will not accept any attempts aimed at dividing the media along private or public media lines.”

CPJ’s repeated calls and app messages to Ncube, Virginia Muwanigwa, CEO of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, and Jenfan Muswere, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, for comment did not immediately receive replies.

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

"I was just speaking with [Ukrainian President] Volodymyr Zelenskiy and I think these are the two main priorities," Rutte said in an interview with RFE/RL on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on February 17.

Addressing the global security conference earlier, Zelenskiy urged allies to plug an "artificial" shortage of weapons that is giving Russian forces the upper hand on the battlefield and said stalled U.S. aid was crucial.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

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Ukraine faces acute shortages of ammunition and U.S. military aid has been delayed for months in Congress.

"Unfortunately, keeping Ukraine in an artificial deficit of weapons, particularly in deficit of artillery and long-range capabilities, allows [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to adapt to the current intensity of the war," Zelenskiy said.

Asked about the delayed U.S. aid after a bilateral meeting with Zelenskiy, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, denounced "political gamesmanship" in Congress that has no place in such matters.

Republicans have insisted for months that any additional U.S. aid to Ukraine, and Israel, must also address concerns about border security.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, has said he would ask European allies to reimburse the United States for around $200 billion worth of munitions sent to Ukraine.

"We should stop moaning and whining and nagging about Trump," Rutte told the security gathering on February 17. "We do not spend more on defense or ramp up ammunitions production because Trump might come back."

Talk of a potential European nuclear deterrent that would not involve the United States is "not helpful," he told the conference. And it "would only undermine NATO in a time when we really need credible deterrence."

Speaking to RFE/RL, Rutte, who unexpectedly announced his departure from Dutch politics in July, said he was "cautiously optimistic" that U.S. military aid to Ukraine would be delivered soon.

Rutte said any delays by EU countries to deliver weapon supplies to Ukraine was due to the fact that they, along with Ukraine, "are all democracies."

"And sometimes these issues take a bit of time…. And now I know that there are still new discussions on new weapons systems. I think decisions can be made fairly soon," Rutte explained.

Rutte also said Dutch plans to transfer to Ukraine U.S.-made F-16 fighter were "basically on schedule."

"We hope to transfer them as soon as possible. Twenty-four of them, maybe more, but at least 24. We are working together with the Danes and others. So, things are progressing now," Rutte told RFE/RL.

Asked about alleged signals from the Kremlin that Russia could be ready for talks with Ukraine, Rutte said that decision rested solely with Kyiv.

"There's only one person who can ever decide to enter into peace negotiations with Russia. And that man is still the legally elected president of Ukraine," Rutte said, referring to Zelenskiy.

"And what we're doing at this moment is to help him to make sure all your brave men and women in Ukraine, the military and all the citizens, [are able] to free that country from the Russians. And the only one, again, who can decide on peace negotiations is Zelenskiy. Nobody else," Rutte added.

Rutte also commented on the death of Aleksei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died at a remote Arctic prison on February 16.

Navalny's spokeswoman confirmed on February 17 that Navalny had died and said he was "murdered," but it was unclear where his body was as his family and friends searched for answers.

"Aleksei Navalny is one person so brave, so enormous, impressive as he was, that this one person was a threat to the Russian state. That means how weak they are and how insecure they are about our own role and position," Rutte said.

Navalny's death at age 47 has deprived the Russian opposition of its most well-known and inspiring politician less than a month before an election that will give Putin another six years in power.

Asked whether Russia and Putin, whom Western leaders have blamed for Navalny's death, could face further Western sanctions, Rutte was not hopeful.

"I don't think it will in itself lead to extra sanctions," Rutte said, noting the EU was already preparing a 13th package of sanctions against Russia that it hopes to pass by February 24.

"New sanctions packages are important, but making sure that we close the loopholes in the existing packages is also important," Rutte said.

Rutte has emerged as a leading candidate to succeed NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who plans to step down in October after 10 years at the helm.

This content originally appeared on News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

The latest round of Russian strikes came as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and the head of the UN's atomic agency, Rafael Grossi, were in Ukraine, with the latter visiting the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant to assess the situation amid concerns about the plant's safety.

In Kyiv, debris from a downed Russian missile fell on an 18-story residential block in the southern Holosiyivskiy district, triggering a fire that killed at least four people, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Sixteen people were injured in Holosiyivskiy and in the eastern district of Dnipro in the capital, Klymenko said. Rescue crews continue to work at the sites, he added.

Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said at least 38 people were wounded in the capital.

Fragments of a downed Russian missile also damaged electricity lines, leaving part of the Ukrainian capital without power and heating.

"Some consumers on the left bank [of the Dnieper River] are currently without electricity," Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram. "The heating supply main on the left bank was damaged."

"Another massive Russian air attack against our country," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X, formerly Twitter, as an air-raid alert was declared for all of Ukraine. "Six regions came under enemy fire. All of our services are currently working to eliminate the consequences of this terror," Zelenskiy wrote.

In the southern city of Mykolayiv, one mad died following a Russian strike, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych said. Russian missiles also hit the Kharkiv and Sumy regions, wounding two people, regional officials said.

Parts of the Ukrainian capital were left without power and heating following a deadly Russian missile attack that struck in the early morning hours of February 7, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 64 drones and missiles at Ukraine's territory. The Ukrainian air defense shot down 29 missiles and 15 drones, it said.

Borrell, in Kyiv on a two-day visit to highlight the bloc's support for Ukraine, posted a picture on X from a shelter.

"Starting my morning in the shelter as air raid alarms are sounding across Kyiv," Borrell wrote. "This is the daily reality of the brave Ukrainian people, since Russia launched its illegal aggression."

Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), meanwhile, arrived at Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhya -- Europe's largest nuclear power plant -- accompanied by IAEA mission staff and Russian soldiers, Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Grossi on February 6 held talks in Kyiv with Zelenskiy, Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko and other Ukrainian officials.

Russia occupied the plant shortly after it launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and its six nuclear reactors are now idled.

The UN nuclear watchdog has voiced concern many times over the possibility of a nuclear catastrophe at the plant amid fighting in the area.

Zelenskiy said he told Grossi during their meeting that the Russian occupation of the plant must end.

"This is the main prerequisite for the restoration of radiation safety for our entire region," Zelenskiy said in his evening video address.

Grossi said the IAEA has had a monitoring team at the plant since September 2022, but its experts have not been able to inspect every part of the power station.

At times "we weren't granted the access that we were requesting for certain areas of the facility," Grossi said at a press conference in Kyiv.

One of the problems is the situation with the nuclear fuel, which has been inside the reactors for years and is reaching the end of its useful life.

Grossi also said he was worried about the operational safety of the plant amid personnel cuts after Moscow denied access to employees of Ukraine’s Enerhoatom.

Halushchenko said the Russian occupants were preventing hundreds of qualified workers from entering the plant.

"We're talking about 400 people who are highly skilled and, most importantly, licensed. You can't just take them away," Halushchenko told a joint news conference with Grossi.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

This content originally appeared on News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

CPJ and other organizations recently reported that Greece is the only EU country to currently have two open cases of impunity for the murder of journalists and that almost no other country in the EU has experienced such a high number of physical attacks which endanger the safety of journalists in the last few years.

Read the full text of the letter below:

This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.

Papua New Guinea’s Police Commissioner David Manning has been reinstated after being stood down following riots and looting on January 10.

That rioting — branded as Black Wednesday — was sparked by a police protest after unannounced deductions from their wages, which the government blamed on a glitch.

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

• READ MORE: Long term plan needed for underlying PNG problems, says academic

Amnesty International called on authorities to protect human rights in response to the riots.

The 14-day state of emergency following the violence has now ended.

The National newspaper reported Prime Minister James Marape announced Manning’s reinstatement, and that of Taies Sansan as the Department of Personnel Management Secretary, after administrative preliminary investigations concluded.

However, Treasury Secretary Andrew Oake and Finance Secretary Samuel Penias remained suspended “due to their failure to update the salary system, which led to the events of Jan 10”, Marape said.

Marape also said Deputy Police Commissioner Dr Philip Mina was being suspended.

A commission of inquiry will be appointed to look into the police force.

“The commission of inquiry will be headed by a judge from the Supreme Court and National Court, and will be concluded as soon as possible, to look into the structure, the operation, and their ethics of conduct,” Marape said.

“The country deserves to have a police force that is effective and efficient. We will leave no stone unturned as we recover, reboot and restore.”

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

VIDEO: During the hearing, Social Security Works Executive Director Alex Lawson delivered over half a million petitions opposing the commission. Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) responded by having Lawson arrested.

The following is a statement from Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works, in response to the final vote:

“Republicans are plowing ahead with their closed-door commission designed to cut Social Security and Medicare. Many of the Republicans tried to claim that was not their goal, but they tellingly voted down Democratic amendments to rule out cutting those programs and instead require billionaires to pay their fair share.

The vast majority of Democrats on the committee rightfully opposed the commission. Shame on the handful of exceptions: Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). They have stabbed the American people in the back, and undermined President Joe Biden.

The White House has rightfully referred to the commission as a ‘death panel for Medicare and Social Security.’ That is the position of the Democratic Party. Moreover, it is indisputable that Social Security doesn’t add a penny to the deficit.

Despite that, Republicans will now try to claim the mantle of ‘bipartisanship’ for the commission based on receiving a handful of votes from fringe corporate Democrats (one of whom is retiring).

President Biden, Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) should quickly demolish that narrative by slamming the commission. There’s nothing bipartisan about cutting Social Security and Medicare behind closed doors.”

Those opposed to the commission include:

• Voters, including Republican voters
• 116 House Democrats led by Reps. John Larson (D-CT) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
• The White House
• Over 100 organizations, including labor unions and advocates for seniors, women, and people with disabilities
• AARP
• The AFL-CIO
• Former staff members of the 1983 Greenspan Commission, including individuals who worked for both Democrats and Republicans

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.

Oleksandr Prokudin said a rocket attack on January 5 on the agricultural enterprise in Kherson killed a 35-year-old man and injured a 60-year-old resident.

Prokudin said "four targeted strikes" also destroyed buildings and equipment.

Russian troops regularly shell the de-occupied part of the Kherson region. Despite evidence and testimony to the contrary, Moscow denies targeting civilians.

In a rare admission of its military operations in Crimea, Ukraine has admitted it carried out attacks on a Russian military command post and a military unit in separate strikes on the Russia-occupied peninsula, saying it had inflicted "serious damage" to Russia's defense system.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine

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Nataliya Humenyuk, the spokeswoman of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, said on January 5 that "really powerful combat" operations took place earlier this week, hitting Russia's military operations in Crimea especially hard.

"Not only one command post was affected," she said in a rare detailing of Ukrainian operations to repel the full-scale invasion Russia launched in February 2022.

"Now they have the same hysteria with movement again. They are trying to maneuver and position both the defense systems themselves and the objects they protect in other places," she added in an interview on the show Social Resistance.

It was not possible to verify Humenyuk's claims.

The attacks on Crimea come after an intensification of Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukraine.

Russian hypersonic and other missile attacks combined with drone strikes blanketed Ukraine on December 29 and again on January 2, killing more than 40 people and injuring dozens more. Ukraine hit back with attacks in southern Russia on December 30. Authorities in the Belgorod region said 25 people were killed.

The risk of air attacks continued on January 5 as sirens rang out three times across the Crimean city of Sevastopol on January 5, though there were no reports of explosions or impacts from drones or missiles.

In the early hours of January 5, the Russian city of Belgorod also was targeted by another round of Ukrainian shelling, officials said, hours after schools in the region were ordered to extend their holiday closures due to the risk of further attacks.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov also gave residents an opportunity to evacuate to safer areas. Residents will be helped to move to temporary accommodations in the other cities.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak on January 5 joined the United States in saying that Russia has hit Ukraine with missiles supplied by North Korea for the first time since launching its full-scale invasion.

Podolyak's statement came after the governor of the northeastern region of Kharkiv said that it had been struck by missiles fired by Russia that were not Russian-made.

"There is no longer any disguise. The #Moscow regime is no longer concealing its intentions, nor is it trying to pass off a large-scale war of aggression as mythical 'denazification,'" Podolyak said on X, formerly Twitter.

Russia "is attacking Ukrainians with missiles received from a state where citizens are tortured in concentration camps for having an unregistered radio, talking to a tourist, watching TV shows," he added.

He did not provide evidence for the missiles being North Korean, but his statements come a day after U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House on January 4 that recently declassified intelligence found that North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic-missile launchers and several ballistic missiles.

Russian forces fired at least one of those missiles into Ukraine on December 30, and it landed in an open field in the Zaporizhzhya region, Kirby said. Russia also launched multiple North Korean ballistic missiles on January 2 as part of an overnight attack, he added.

Kirby also said Russia is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran. A deal has not been completed, but the United States is concerned that negotiations "are actively advancing.”

With reporting by Reuters

This content originally appeared on News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

Frederick Davie issued the call following a Dec. 13 Radio Free Asia report on Lu’s arrest by Thai police. Authorities later detained him at Bangkok’s Immigration Detention Center. 

Thai police arrested Lu, a former missionary and preacher at the Northern Evangelical Church of Vietnam and head of the Hmong Human Rights Coalition, at his rental home in Bangkok on Dec. 7. 

His arrest occurred two weeks after he publicly denounced the Vietnamese government’s “systematic suppression of Hmong communities in Vietnam.”

Lu and his family fled Vietnam in 2020 to escape ethnic and religious persecution and entered Thailand illegally to seek official refugee status.

“USCIRF is concerned for Lu A Da, a Hmong activist & preacher who fled religious persecution in Vietnam,” Davie posted on the X account of the commission, an independent, bipartisan U.S. government entity that monitors, analyzes and reports on threats to religious freedom worldwide. 

“He is currently detained by the Thai Royal Police, & is facing potential deportation back to Vietnam due to his activism,” he said.

The same day, USCIRF Commissioner Eric Ueland tweeted on the commission's X account that the “Biden administration must raise with Thailand its practice of deporting members of vulnerable religious minorities back to home countries where they face persecution, detainment, & torture.”

Thai immigration authorities have detained other Vietnamese victims of religious persecution who entered Thailand illegally to escape repression by the Vietnamese government. 

More than 1,000 Hmong asylum seekers live in Thailand, according to the Hmong Human Rights Coalition. Because Thailand has not ratified the U.N.'s refugee convention, authorities can arrest asylum seekers without providing justification.

Life may be at risk

On Thursday, Lu’s wife, Giang Thi A, told RFA that she was concerned about her husband’s possible deportation to Vietnam and that the Center for Asylum Protection was trying to get him freed on bail. 

“As he is a human rights activist, the Vietnamese government hates him, and the return would put his life at risk,” she said. 

After Lu’s arrest, the U.N.’s refugee agency in Bangkok granted refugee status to her husband and the rest of his family, she said. 

Vang Sao Gia, a member of the Hmong Human Rights Coalition and a refugee in Thailand, said he suspects that the Vietnamese government was involved in the arrest of Lu, who managed the civil society organization, and of other Vietnamese who have sought refuge there. 

“Previously, when [Vietnamese] refugees were arrested, I used to think that they were just unlucky,” he said. “However, after the recent arrests of a couple of Montagnard people and then of our organization’s members, I have grounds to suspect that the Vietnamese government is involved.” 

In late November, Thai police arrested 11 members of the Montagnard ethnic minority in a raid near Bangkok and are detaining them at the Immigration Detention Center.

Like the Hmong minority, about 1,500 Vietnamese Montagnards have sought freedom from persecution in Thailand.

If deported to Vietnam, the refugees could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison under the Penal Code for “fleeing the country or remaining abroad to oppose the people’s government.”

Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Vietnamese.

Today, over 100 organizations released a letter to Congress opposing the creation of a so-called “fiscal commission” designed to fast-track cuts to Social Security and Medicare behind closed doors.

Additionally, five former staff members of the 1983 Greenspan Commission released a statement opposing the commission. These staffers include individuals who worked for both Democrats and Republicans. The full statement is HERE and a two-page summary is HERE.

These statements are an urgent response to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who has announced his intentions to form just such a commission. The Biden administration has accurately called this type of commission a “death panel” for Social Security and Medicare.

“Congress should address Social Security in the sunlight, through regular order, as it always has,” said Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works and former top assistant to Alan Greenspan on the 1983 commission. “The only reason to create a fast-track, closed door commission is to overthrow the will of the American people by cutting their hard-earned benefits. Anyone who supports this commission is supporting benefit cuts.”

The organizations opposed to Mike Johnson’s planned commission include labor unions, advocates for seniors and people with disabilities, women’s rights organizations, and more. The full list of organizations is below and the letter is HERE:

ACA Consumer Advocacy

AFL-CIO

AFSCME

AFT Washington Retiree Chapter 8045R

Alliance for Retired Americans

American Family Voices

American Federation of Government Employees

American Federation of Musicians

American Federation of Teachers

American Federation of Teachers, Washington

American Postal Workers Union

Arkansas Community Organizations

Beta Cell Action

Blue Future

BOWL PAC

California Alliance for Retired Americans

Campaign for America’s Future

Center for Common Ground

Center For Economic And Policy Research

Center for Popular Democracy

Church World Service

Citizen Action of New York

Coalition on Human Needs

Communications Workers of America

Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces

Consumer Action

District Eight National Alliance of Postal & Federal Employees

Doctors for America

Economic Opportunity Institute

Economic Policy Institute

Equality Federation

Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research

Generations United

Goddard Riverside-NYC

Health Care for America Now

Healthcare for All Minnesota

Healthcare is a Human Right – Washington

Indivisible

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers

International Brotherhood of Teamsters

International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers

Justice for All Network

Justice in Aging

Labor Campaign for Single Payer

Long Beach Alliance for Clean Energy

Long Island Center for Independent Living, Inc.

Massachusetts Senior Action Council

Metro New York Health Care for All

Michigan People’s Campaign

Michigan United

Midtown South Community Council

MomsRising

MoveOn

National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

National Employment Law Project

National Federation of Federal Employees

National LGBTQ Task Force

National Organization for Women

National Partnership for Women & Families

National Postal Mail Handlers Union

National Union of Healthcare Workers

National Women’s Law Center

NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice

New Mexico AFSCME Retirees

New Mexico Alliance for Retired Americans

North Seattle Progressives

Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition

NY Statewide Senior Action Council

NYS Alliance for Retired Americans

Office of Peace, Justice and Integrity of Creation, Sisters of Charity of New York

One Payer States

Our Revolution

P Street

Pacific Islander Health Board of WA

Painters and Allied Trades International Union

People’s Action

Physicians for a National Health Program

Physicians for a National Health Program – NY Metro Chapter

Physicians for a National Health Program – Washington

Progress America

Progressive Democrats of America

PSARA Education Fund

Public Citizen

Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action

Revolving Door Project

Rise Up WV

SEIU 521

Social Security Works

Strengthen Social Security Coalition

Swing Left Bakersfield, CA

Tennessee Health Care Campaign

The Other 98% Lab

The People United

Transportation Trades Department

U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph

United Mine Workers of America

Unity Fellowship of Christ Church-NYC

Upper East Side for Change

Upper West Side Action Group: MoveOn/Indivisible/SwingLeft

Utility Workers Union of America

VOCAL-NY

Washington CAN

We the 45 Million

West Virginia Citizen Action

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.

The referendum on the indigenous Voice in Australia last Saturday was an historic event. Australians were asked to vote on whether to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia in the Constitution through an indigenous Voice.

The voters were asked to vote “yes” or “no” on a single question:

“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

“Do you approve this proposed alteration?”

• READ MORE: Other reports on the Voice

The Voice was proposed as an independent, representative body for First Nations peoples to advise the Australian Parliament and government, giving them a voice on issues that affect them.

Here are some key points:

• The proposal was to recognise Indigenous Australians in the Constitution by creating a body to advise Parliament, known as the “Voice”.
• The “Voice” would be an independent advisory body. Members would be chosen by First Nations communities around Australia to represent them.
• The “Voice” would provide advice to governments on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, such as health, education, and housing, in the hope that such advice will lead to better outcomes.
• Under the Constitution, the federal government already has the power to make laws for Indigenous people. The “Voice” would be a way for them to be consulted on those laws. However, the government would be under no obligation to act on the advice.
• Indigenous people have called for the “Voice” to be included in the Constitution so that it can’t be removed by the government of the day, which has been the fate of every previous indigenous advisory body. It is also the way indigenous people have said they want to be recognised in the constitution as the First Nations with a 65,000-year connection to the continent — not simply through symbolic words.

It was necessary for a majority of voters to vote “yes” nationally, as well as a majority of voters in at least four out of six states, for the referendum to pass.

Unfortunately, it was rejected by the majority with more than 60 percent with the vote still being counted. In all six states and the Northern Territory, a “No” vote was projected.

According to the ABC, a majority of voters in all six states and the Northern Territory voted against the proposal.

New South Wales
81.2 percent counted, 1.81 million voted yes (40.5 percent) and 2.67M million voted no (59.5 percent).

Victoria
78.5 percent counted, 1.56 million voted yes (45.0 percent), and 1.91 million voted no (55.0 percent).

Tasmania
82.7 percent counted, 134,809 voted yes (40.5 percent), and 198,152 voted no (59.5 percent).

South Australia
79.1 percent counted, 355,682 voted yes (35.4 percent), 648,769 voted no (64.6 percent).

Queensland
74.3 percent counted, 835,159 voted yes (31.2 percent), 1.84 million voted no (68.8 percent).

Western Australia
75.3 percent counted, 495,448 voted yes (36.4 percent), and 866,902 voted no (63.6 percent).

Northern Territory
63.4 percent counted, 37,969 voted yes (39.5 percent), and 58,193 voted no (60.5 percent).

ACT
82.8 percent counted, 158,097 voted yes (60.8 percent), and 102,002 voted no (39.2 percent).

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said the next steps after the failed Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum are yet to be decided and called the expectation of having a plan just days after the vote “not respectful”.

For the latest news, visit: https://t.co/X6qtu24rNp pic.twitter.com/smgqgeV55Y

— SBS News (@SBSNews) October 17, 2023

In addition to being viewed as divisive along racial lines, concerns about how the Voice to Parliament would work (whether indigenous Australians would be given greater power) and uncertainties about how the new body would result in meaningful change for indigenous Australians contributed to the rejection.

Australia has held 44 referendums since its founding in 1901. However, the referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament in 2023 was the first of its kind to focus specifically on Indigenous Australians.

As part of a broader push to establish constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians, the Voice proposal was seen as a significant step towards reconciliation and was the result of decades of indigenous advocacy and work.

A key turning point came in 2017 when 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates from across the country met at Uluru for the First Nations’ National Constitutional Convention. The proposal, known as the Voice, sought to recognise Indigenous people in Australia’s constitution and establish a First Nations body to advise the government on issues affecting their communities.

However, the Voice proposal was not unanimously accepted. In the course of the campaign, intense conflict and discussion ensued between supporters and opponents, resulting in what supporters viewed as a tragic outcome, while the victorious opponents celebrated their victory.

The support of Oceania’s indigenous leaders
Pacific Islanders expressed their views before the referendum on the Voice to Parliament.

Henry Puna, Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum, said that Australia’s credibility would be boosted on the world stage if the yes vote won the Indigenous voice referendum. He stated that it would be “wonderful” if Australia were to vote yes, because he believed it would elevate Australia’s position, and perhaps even its credibility, internationally.

The former Foreign Minister of Vanuatu (nd current Climate Change Minister), Ralph Regevanu, warned Australia’s reputation would plummet among its allies in the Pacific if the Voice to Parliament was defeated.

These views indicate the potential impact of the voice referendum on Australia’s relationship with Pacific Island nations, which it often refers to as “its own backyard”.

The “No” camp claimed the Voice was an “elite” idea, that “real” Indigenous people didn’t want it, because Peter Dutton had spoken to “shoppers”. Even with the results, they still insist communities did not want one – taking away what little voice they gothttps://t.co/kWt0hjDHEC

— Rachel Withers (@rachelrwithers) October 17, 2023

Division, defeat and impact
A tragic aspect of the Voice proposal is the fact that not only were Australian settlers divided about it, but even worse, indigenous leaders themselves, who were in a position to bring together a fragmented and tormented nation, were at odds with each other — including full-on verbal wars in media.

While their opinions on the proposal were divided, some had practical and realistic ideas to address the problems faced by indigenous communities in remote towns. Others proposed a treaty between settlers and original indigenous people.

There are also those who advocate for a strong political recognition within the nation’s constitutional framework.

Despite these divisions among indigenous leaders, the referendum on Voice represents a significant milestone in the ongoing indigenous resistance that spans over 200 years.

It is a resistance that began on January 26, 1788, when the invasion began (Pemulwuy’s War), and continued through various milestones such as the 1937 Petition for citizenship, land rights, and representation, the 1938 Day of Mourning, the 1963 Yirrkala bark petitions, the 1965 Freedom Rides, and the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972.

It further extended to 1990-2005 with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), the 1991 Song Treaty by Yothu Yindi, Eddie Mabo overturning terra nullius in 1992, Kevin Rudd’s 2008 apology, and the Uluru Statement from the Heart until the recent defeat of the Voice Referendum in 2023.

A dangerous settlers’ myth and its consequences
The modern nation of Australia (aged 244 years) has been shaped by one of European myths: “Terra Nullius”, the Latin term for “nobody’s land”. This myth was used to describe the legal position at the time of British colonisation.

Accordingly, the land had been deemed as terra nullius, which implies that it had belonged to no one before the British Crown declared sovereignty over it.

Eddy Mabo: A Melanesian Hero
An indigenous Melanesian, Eddy Mabo, overturned this myth in 1992, known as “the Mabo Case,” which recognised the land rights of the Meriam people and other indigenous peoples.

The Mabo Case resulted in significant changes in Australian law in several areas. One of the most notable changes was the overturning of the long-standing legal fiction of “terra nullius,” which posited that Australia was unpopulated (no man’s land) at the time of British colonisation.

In this decision, the High Court of Australia recognized the legal rights of Indigenous Australians to make claims to lands in Australia. It marked a historic moment, as it was the first time that the law acknowledged the traditional rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In addition, the Mabo Case contributed directly to the establishment of the Native Title Act in 1993.

Even though these changes are significant, debates persist regarding the state of indigenous Australians under colonial settlement.

Indigenous Affairs reporter Isabella Higgins says the No victory in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum could change the way Indigenous Australians will want to interact with the rest of the country going forward. pic.twitter.com/g5CxBaU0Op

— ABC News (@abcnews) October 15, 2023

Indigenous leaders need to see a big picture
The recent referendum on the Voice sparked heated debates on a topic that has long been a source of contention: the age-old battle of “my country versus your country, my mob versus your mob, I know best versus you know nothing.”

While it’s important to celebrate and protect cultural diversity and the unique perspectives it brings, it’s equally important to recognise that British settlers didn’t just apply the myth of terra nullius to a select few groups or regions — they applied it to all areas inhabited by indigenous peoples, treating them as a single, homogenous entity.

This means that any solution to indigenous issues must be rooted in a collective, unified voice, rather than a patchwork of fragmented groups.

Indigenous leaders need to prioritise the creation of a unified front among themselves and mobilise their people before seeking support from Australians. Currently, they are engaging in competition, outdoing each other, and fighting over the same issue on mainstream media platforms, indigenous-run media platforms, and social media.

This approach is reminiscent of the “divide, conquer, and rule” strategy that the British effectively employed worldwide to expand and maintain their dominion. This strategy has historically caused harm to indigenous nations worldwide, and it is now harming indigenous people because their leaders are fighting among themselves.

It is important to note that this does not imply a rejection of every distinct indigenous language group, clan, or tribe. However, it is crucial to recognise that indigenous peoples throughout Oceania were viewed through a particular European lens, which scholars refer to as “Eurocentrism”.

This “lens” is a double-edged sword, providing semantic definition and dissection power while also compartmentalising based on a hierarchy of values. Melanesians and indigenous Australians were placed at the bottom of this hierarchy and deemed to be of no historical or cultural significance.

This realisation is of utmost importance for the collective attainment of redemption, unity and reconciliation.

The larger Australian indigenous’ cause
From Vasco Núñez de Balboa’s momentous crossing of the Isthmus of Panama to Ferdinand Magellan’s pioneering Spanish expedition across the Pacific Ocean in 1521, and Abel Janszoon Tasman’s remarkable exploration of Tasmania, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, to James Cook’s renowned voyages in the Pacific Ocean between 1768 and 1779, the indigenous peoples of Oceania have endured immense suffering and torment as a consequence of the European scramble for these territories.

The indigenous peoples of Oceania were forever scarred by the merciless onslaught of European maritime marauders. When the race for supremacy over these unspoiled regions unfolded, their lives were shattered, and their communities torn asunder.

The web of life in Australia and Oceania was severely disrupted, devalued, rejected, and subjected to brutality and torment as a result of the waves of colonisation that forcefully impacted their shores.

The colonisers imposed various racial prejudices, civilising agendas, legal myths, and the Discovery doctrine, all of which were conceived within the collective conceptual mindset of Europeans and applied to the indigenous people.

These actions have had a lasting and fatalistic impact on the collective indigenous population in Australia and Oceania, resulting in dehumanisation, enslavement, genocide, and persistent marginalisation of their humanity, leading to unwarranted guilt for their mere existence.

The European collective perception of Oceania, exemplified by the notion of terra nullius, has resulted in numerous transgressions of indigenous laws, customs, and cosmologies, affecting every aspect of life within the entire landscape. These violations have led to the loss of land, destruction of language, erasure of memories, and imposition of British customs.

Furthermore, indigenous peoples were forcibly relocated to concentration camps, missions, and reserves.

The Declaration received support from a total of 144 countries, with only four countries (which have historically displaced indigenous populations through settler occupation) voting against it — Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.

However, all four countries subsequently reversed their positions and endorsed the Declaration. It should be noted that while the Declaration does not possess legal binding force, it does serve as a reflection of the commitments and responsibilities that states have under international law and human rights standards.

The challenges and concerns confronting indigenous communities are undeniably more severe and deplorable than the current “yes or no” referendum. It is imperative for the entire nation, including indigenous leaders, to acknowledge the profound extent of the Indigenous human tragedy that extends beyond the divisive binary.

Old and new imperial vultures
Similar to the European vultures that once encircled Oceania centuries ago, partitioned its territories, subjugated its people, conducted bomb experiments, and eradicated its population in Tasmania, the present-day vultures from the Eastern and Western regions exhibit comparable behaviours.

It is imperative for indigenous leaders hailing from Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia to unite and demand that the colonial governments be held responsible for the multitude of crimes they have perpetrated.

Message to divided indigenous leaders
Simply assigning blame to already fragmented, tormented, and highly marginalised Indigenous communities, and endeavouring to empower them solely through a range of government handouts and community-based development programs, will not be adequate.

Because the trust between indigenous peoples and settlers has been shattered over centuries of abuse, deeply impacting the core of Indigenous self-image, dignity, and respect.

My personal experience in remote indigenous communities
I am a Papuan who came to Australia over 20 years ago to study in the remote NSW town of Bourke. I lived, studied, and worked at a small Christian College called Cornerstone Community.

During my time there, I was adopted by the McKellar clan of the Wangkumara Tribe in Bourke and worked closely with indigenous communities in Bourke, Brewarrina, Walgett, Cobar, Wilcannia, and Dubbo.

Unfortunately, my experiences in these places left me traumatised.

These communities have become so broken. I found myself succumbing to depression as a result of the distressing experiences I witnessed. It dawned upon me being “blackfella” — Papuan indigenous descent — was and still consistently subjected to similar mistreatment regardless of location.

This realisation instilled within me a sense of guilt for my own identity, as I was constantly made feel guilty of who I was. Tragically, a significant number of the young indigenous whom I endeavoured to aid and guide through diverse community and youth initiatives have either been incarcerated or committed suicide.

West Papua, my home country, is currently experiencing a genocide due to the Indonesian settler occupation, which is supported by the Australian government. This is similar to what indigenous Australians have endured under the colonial system of settlers.

Indigenous Australians in every region, town, and city face a complex and diverse set of issues, which are unique, tragic, and devastating. These issues are a result of how the settler colony interacted with them upon their arrival in the country.

Nevertheless, the indigenous people were not subjected to centuries of abuse and mistreatment solely based on their tribal affiliations. Rather, they were targeted by the settler government as a collective, disregarding the diversity among indigenous groups.

This included the indigenous people from Oceania, who have endured dehumanisation and racism as a result of colonisation.

It is imperative to acknowledge that the resolution of these predicaments cannot be attained by a solitary leader representing a particular group. The indigenous leaders need a unified vision and strategy to combat these issues.

All indigenous individuals across the globe, including Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, and West Papua, are afflicted by the same affliction. The only distinguishing factor is the degree of harm inflicted by the virus, along with the circumstances surrounding its occurrence.

A statement from Indigenous Australians who supported the Voice referendum. https://t.co/UlW2kvd9oa pic.twitter.com/1159uz3bxk

— ulurustatement (@ulurustatement) October 15, 2023

A paradigm shift
Imagine a world where indigenous peoples in Australia and Oceania reclaim their original languages and redefine the ideas, myths, and behaviours displayed on their land with their own concepts of law, morality, and cosmology. In this world, I am confident that every legal product, civilisational idea, and colonial moral code applied to these peoples would be deemed illegal.

It is time to empower indigenous voices and perspectives and challenge the oppressive systems that have silenced them for far too long.

Commence the process of renaming each island, city, town, mountain, lake, river, valley, animal, tree, rock, country, and region with their authentic local languages and names, thereby reinstating their original significance and worth.

However, in order to accomplish this, it is imperative that indigenous communities are granted the necessary authority, as it is ultimately their power that will reinforce such transformation. This power does not solely rely on weapons or monetary resources, but rather on the determination to preserve their way of life, restore their self-image, and demand the recognition of their dignity and respect.

Last Saturday’s No Vote tragedy wasn’t just about the majority of Australians rejecting it. It was a heartbreaking moment where indigenous leaders, who should have been united, found themselves fiercely divided.

Accusations were flying left and right, targeting each other’s backgrounds, positions, and portfolios. This bitter divide ended up gambling away any chance of redemption and reconciliation that had reached such a high national level.

It was a devastating blow to the hopes and aspirations for a better world for one of the most disadvantaged originals continues human on this ancient timeless continent — Australia.

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.

• Other Yamin Kogoya articles

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Social media users in Aotearoa New Zealand are being warned not to make posts on voting or any aspect of political campaigns come election day Saturday.

Scrutineers will be on duty at polling stations across the motu to “keep an eye on things”.

No political campaigning is allowed tomorrow and all election billboards must be removed by midnight.

• READ MORE: Follow election updates on RNZ’s blog
• Other NZ election 2023 reports

The Electoral Commission which oversees the election keeps an eye on social media and follows up on any complaints.

Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne has this advice: “We just advise everyone don’t broadcast on social media about voting or campaigning on election day.”

While it is not long before voting booths shut up shop, it could be weeks before a final election result is declared.

‘Big day’ for election
As of Wednesday more than 970,818 had cast their votes, leaving more than two and a half million still to vote.

Le Quesne expects more than one million votes to have been cast by the end of the day.

He told RNZ Morning Report this was ahead of 2017 but behind 2020.

“We are just getting really prepared for potentially quite a big day on election day,” he said.

More than 2300 voting places will be open on Saturday from 9am to 7pm.

The final results will be declared on November 3.

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

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Concerns over alleged political interference in the command and control of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force are among the grounds that will be pursued by the suspended Chief of Defence, Major-General Mark Goina, if the court grants him leave to appeal.

Goina seeks leave to review the decision of the National Executive Council (NEC) that suspended him from his substantive role as the major-gene­r­al of the PNGDF on August 17, 2023, and appointed Commodore Philip Polewara as acting commander of the PNGDF.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Independent journalist Grant Smith-Ellis was barred on Aug. 4, 2023, from attending future press scrums or otherwise engaging in a professional capacity with the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, after the state body decided he was not a member of the press.

Smith-Ellis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email that he has reported on the commission for more than four years, broadcasting its monthly public meeting and publishing articles about it on his personal website and with outlets such as DigBoston. But at the beginning of August, the commission emailed to notify him that he would only be permitted to interact with the commission and seek information through the same channels available to the general public.

The email, which Smith-Ellis provided to the Tracker, claimed that Smith-Ellis had voiced his personal opinions during legislative hearings and it questioned his “general code of conduct as a purported member of the press.”

“On multiple occasions in recent months, the information you have disseminated as journalism on your social media channels has not been conveyed accurately or fairly, and blended rumor and conjecture with fact,” the commission wrote. “[The] information you rush to post is often riddled with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims.”

When asked about the commission’s characterization of him as an advocate rather than a journalist, Smith-Ellis rejected the idea that reporters must maintain objectivity.

“Journalists are not dispassionate robots, nor should our government ever be in a position to demand such a thing from those in the Fourth Estate,” he said. “Journalists are human beings who tell human stories through human mediums.”

Smith-Ellis maintains that the target of the ban was his watchdog reporting and was an “attempt to silence critical coverage about internal agency dynamics.”

Smith-Ellis said he had asked the commission to review the decision, as it has no policy dictating press behavior or stipulations for inclusion on press lists. He was told on Aug. 7 that no review would be provided. A subsequent petition to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the state’s highest appellate court, was denied without a hearing, Smith-Ellis added.

“As things stand, I am no longer permitted to send press inquiries to [Cannabis Control Commission] press staff or attend press conferences after each monthly public CCC hearing,” Smith-Ellis told the Tracker. “Over the past month, this punitive ban has prevented me from being able to ask the CCC questions on a number of pressing issues in the public interest.”

When asked via email about the commission’s media policies, a spokesperson said that the commission's public meetings are open to reporters, in person or online, and that journalists can question commissioners afterwards during a staff-led media availability. The spokesperson did not offer a further statement on why Smith-Ellis’ access was restricted.

Smith-Ellis told the Tracker he is considering next steps to address what he characterizes as a chilling overreach by a government agency.

“The government has a right to dislike my reporting. The government has a right to seek corrections (which I have always issued when asked). The government does not have a right to silence critical journalism, without even basic due process, on the basis of its content,” Smith-Ellis said.

This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.

Papua New Guinea’s government has appealed to the Australian Federal Police and the Singapore Police to assist PNG police to link money laundering trails.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Prime Minister James Marape said Australia and Singapore had been the major hub of transit for possible money laundering activities.

He wants help from police in the two countries to assist PNG police in their fight against corruption in the country.

• READ MORE: Papua New Guinea to bring criminal charges over UBS loan
• Other PNG crime reports

“We are fighting corruption. For instance, we are following the footprints of the [A$1.2 billion Swiss bank] UBS money that has gone deeply rooted so our police are working on it,” he said.

“Therefore I want to encourage police in Singapore and police in Australia assist PNG police to deal with money laundered from PNG.

“I want to appeal again to the Australian police and Singaporean police to assist our police and I make this statement as the Prime Minister of this country.

“And in the case of UBS, we have made [a] deep incision, we are following the money trail, the entire loot that was looted from this country,” he said.

‘Prioritise law and order’
“I want to give commendation to the Police Commissioner, David Manning — he is not here to stop tribal fights; stopping tribal fights is the job of our members of Parliament.

“Governors you have PSIP (constituency development funds) funds so prioritise law and order using your funds, do not wait for police commissioners to come and stop tribal fights.

“PNG has been labelled a corrupt country so I don’t want to leave this label for the next 20 years so we have to make an example out of other existing corruption that has been documented and evidence are used.

“And the ICAC [Independent Commission Against Corruption] commission of inquiry has sufficient evidence for us to pursue our efforts to fight corruption.

“I will indicate to this House that we will bring to this floor of Parliament the Finance Inquiry again and other inquiries that are outstanding.

“We will revisit if they are not time bound but we will not limit the limited police capacity so that is why I appeal to Singapore police and Australia police to assist my policemen to link to the money trails,” the Prime Minister said.

“Monies do not hide, monies move from one bank account to another bank account, forensic auditors and investigators will follow the money trials and our police are working as part of the law and order conversation, focusing on our country like fighting corruption like never before,” he said.

Marape said the ICAC, Ombudsman Commission and police would work in partnership in the pursuit to address corruption in the country.

He said with the efforts to strengthening the work of the ICAC, three commissioners had been appointed while a third Ombudsman commissioner would be appointed this week.

Jeffrey Elapa is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

Kia ora koutou. Ko Ngāpuhi tōku iwi. Ko Ngāti Manu toku hapu. Ko Karetu tōku marae. Ko Myles Thomas toku ingoa.

I grew up with David Beatson, on the telly. Back in the 1970s, he read the late news which I watched in bed with my parents. Later, David and I worked together to save TVNZ 7 and also regional TV stations.

The Better Public Media (BPM) trust honours David each year with our memorial address, because his fight for non-commercial TV was an honourable one. He wasn’t doing it for himself.

• READ MORE: Other Better Public Media reports
• Better Public Media website

He wasn’t doing it so he could get a job or because it would benefit him. He fought for public media because he knew it was good for Aotearoa NZ.

Like us at Better Public Media, he recognised the benefits to our country from locally produced public media.

David knew, from a long career in media, including as editor of The Listener and as Jim Bolger’s press secretary, that NZ’s media plays an important role in our nation’s culture, social cohesion, and democracy.

NZ culture is very important. NZ culture is so unique and special, yet it has always been at risk of being swamped by content from overseas. The US especially with its crackpot conspiracies, extreme racial tensions, and extreme tensions about everything to be honest.

Local content the antidote
Local content is the antidote to this. It reflects us, it portrays us, it defines New Zealand, and whether we like it or not, it defines us. But it’s important to remember that what we see reflected back to us comes through a filter.

This speech is coming to you through a filter, called Myles Thomas.

Commercial news reflects our world through a filter of sensation and danger to hold our attention. That makes NZ seem more shallow, greedy, fearful and dangerous.

The social media filter makes the world seem more angry, reactive and complaining.
RNZ’s filter is, I don’t know, thoughtful, a bit smug, middle class.

The New Zealand Herald filter makes us think every dairy is being ram-raided every night.

And The Spinoff filter suggests NZ is hip, urban and mildly infatuated with Winston Peters.

These cultural reflections are very important actually because they influence us, how we see NZ and its people.

It is not a commodity
That makes content, cultural content, special. It is not a commodity. It’s not milk powder.

We don’t drink milk and think about flooding in Queenstown, drinking milk doesn’t make us laugh about the Koiwoi accent, we don’t drink milk and identify with a young family living in poverty.

Local content is rich and powerful, and important to our society.

When the government supports the local media production industry it is actually supporting the audiences and our culture. Whether it is Te Mangai Paho, or NZ On Air or the NZ Film Commission, and the screen production rebate, these organisations fund New Zealand’s identity and culture, and success.

Don’t ask Treasury how to fund culture. Accountants don’t understand it, they can’t count it and put it in a spreadsheet, like they can milk solids. Of course they’ll say such subsidies or rebates distort the “market”, that’s the whole point. The market doesn’t work for culture.

Moreover, public funding of films and other content fosters a more stable long-term industry, rather than trashy short-termism that is completely vulnerable to outside pressures, like the US writer’s strike.

We have a celebrated content production industry. Our films, video, audio, games etc. More local content brings stability to this industry, which by the way also brings money into the country and fosters tourism.

We cannot use quota
New Zealand needs more local content.

And what’s more, it needs to be accessible to audiences, on the platforms that they use.

But in NZ we do have one problem. Unlike Australia, we can’t use a quota because our GATT agreement does not include a carve out for local music or media quotas.

In the 1990s when GATT was being negotiated, the Aussies added an exception to their GATT agreement allowing a quota for Aussie cultural content. So they can require radio stations to play a certain amount of local music. Now they’re able to introduce a Netflix quota for up to 20 percent of all revenue generated in Aussie.

We can’t do that. Why? Because back in the 1990s the Bolger government and MFAT decided against putting the same exception into NZ’s GATT agreement.

But there is another way of doing it, if we take a lead from Denmark and many European states. Which I’ll get to in a minute.

The second important benefit of locally produced public media is social cohesion, how society works, the peace and harmony and respect that we show each other in public, depends heavily on the “public sphere”, of which, media is a big part.

Power of media to polarise
Extensive research in Europe and North America shows the power of media to polarise society, which can lead to misunderstanding, mistrust and hatred.

But media can also strengthen social cohesion, particularly for minority communities, and that same research showed that public media, otherwise known as public service media, is widely regarded to be an important contributor to tolerance in society, promoting social cohesion and integrating all communities and generations.

The third benefit is democracy. Very topical at the moment. I’ve already touched on how newsmedia affect our culture. More directly, our newsmedia influences the public dialogue over issues of the day.

It defines that dialogue. It is that dialogue.

So if our newsmedia is shallow and vacuous ignoring policies and focussing on the polls and the horse-race, then politicians who want to be elected, tailor their messages accordingly.

There’s plenty of examples of this such as National’s bootcamp policy, or Labour’s removing GST on food. As policies, neither is effective. But in the simplified 30 seconds of commercial news and headlines, these policies resonate.

Is that a good thing, that policies that are known to fail are nonetheless followed because our newsmedia cater to our base instincts and short attention spans?

Disaster for democracy
In my view, commercial media is actually disaster for democracy. All over the world.

But of course, we can’t control commercial media. No-one’s suggesting that.

The only rational reaction is to provide stronger locally produced public media.

And unfortunately, NZ lacks public media.

Obviously Australia, the UK, Canada have more public media than us, they have more people, they can afford it. But what about countries our size, Ireland? Smaller population, much more public media.

Denmark, Norway, Finland, all with roughly 5 million people, and all have significantly better public media than us. Even after the recent increases from Willie Jackson, NZ still spends just $44 per person on public media. $44 each year.

When we had a licence fee it was $110. Jim Bolger’s government got rid of that and replaced it with funding from general taxation — which means every year the Minister of Finance, working closely with Treasury, decides how much to spend on public media for that year.

This is what I call the curse of annual funding, because it makes funding public media a very political decision.

National, let us be honest, the National Party hates public media, maybe because they get nicer treatment on commercial news. We see this around the world — the Daily Mail, Sky News Australia, Newstalk ZB . . . most commercial media quite openly favours the right.

Systemic bias
This is a systemic bias. Because right-wing newsmedia gets more clicks.

Right-wing politicians are quite happy about that. Why fund public to get in the way? Even if it it benefits our culture, social cohesion, and democracy.

New Zealand is the same, the last National government froze RNZ funding for nine years.

National Party spokesperson on broadcasting Melissa Lee fought against the ANZPM merger, and now she’s fighting the News Bargaining Bill. As minister she could cut RNZ and NZ On Air’s budget.

But it wouldn’t just be cost-cutting. It would actually be political interference in our newsmedia, an attempt to skew the national conversation in favour of the National Party, by favouring commercial media.

So Aotearoa NZ needs two things. More money to be spent on public media, and less control by the politicians. Sustainable funding basically.

The best way to achieve it is a media levy.

Highly targeted tax
For those who don’t know, a levy is a tax that is highly targeted, and we have a lot of them, like the Telecommunications Development Levy (or TDL) which currently gathers $10 million a year from internet service providers like Spark and 2 Degrees to pay for rural broadband.

We’re all paying for better internet for farmers basically. When first introduced by the previous National government it collected $50 million but it’s dropped down a bit lately.

This is one of many levies that we live with and barely notice. Like the levy we pay on our insurance to cover the Earthquake Commission and the Fire and Emergency Levy. There are maritime levies, energy levies to fund EECA and Waka Kotahi, levies on building consents for MBIE, a levy on advertising pays for the ASA, the BSA is funded by a levy.

Lots of levies and they’re very effective.

So who could the media levy, levy?

ISPs like the TDL? Sure, raise the TDL back up to $50 million or perhaps higher, and it only adds a dollar onto everyone’s internet bill. There’s $50 million.

But the real target should be Big Tech, social media and large streaming services. I’m talking about Facebook, Google, Netflix, YouTube and so on. These are the companies that have really profited from the advent of online media, and at the expense of locally produced public media.

Funding content creation
We need a way to get these companies to make, or at least fund, content creation here in Aotearoa. Denmark recently proposed a solution to this problem with an innovative levy of 2 percent on the revenue of streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney.

But that 2 percent rises to 5 percent if the streaming company doesn’t spend at least 5 percent of their revenue on making local Danish content. Denmark joins many other European countries already doing this — Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France and even Romania are all about to levy the streamers to fund local production.

Australia is planning to do so as well.

But that’s just online streaming companies. There’s also social media and search engines which contribute nothing and take almost all the commercial revenue. The Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill will address that to a degree but it’s not open and we won’t know if the amounts are fair.

Another problem is that it’s only for news publishers — not drama or comedy producers, not on-demand video, not documentary makers or podcasters. Social media and search engines frequently feature and put advertising around these forms of content, and hoover up the digital advertising that would otherwise help fund them, so they should also contribute to them.

A Media Levy can best be seen as a levy on those companies that benefit from media on the internet, but don’t contribute to the public benefits of media — culture, social cohesion and democracy. And that’s why the Media Levy can include internet service providers, and large companies that sell digital advertising and subscriptions.

Note, this would target large companies over a certain size and revenue, and exclude smaller platforms, like most levies do.

Separate from annual budget
The huge benefit of a levy is that it is separate from the annual budget, so it’s fiscally neutral, and politicians can’t get their mits on it. It removes the curse of annual funding.

It creates a funding stream derived from the actual commercial media activities which produce the distribution gaps in the first place, for which public media compensates. That’s why the proceeds would go to the non-commercial platform and the funding agencies — Te Mangai Paho, NZ On Air and the Film Commission.

One final point. This wouldn’t conflict with the new Digital Services Tax proposed by the government because that’s a replacement for Income Tax. A Media Levy, like all levies, sits over and above income tax.

So there we go. I’ve mentioned Jim Bolger three times! I’ve also outlined some quite straight-forward methods to fund public media sustainably, and to fund a significant increase in local content production, video, film, audio and journalism.

None of it needs to be within the grasp of Melissa Lee or Willie Jackson, or David Seymour.

All of it can be used to create local content that improves democracy, social cohesion and Kiwi culture.

Myles Thomas is a trustee of the Better Public Media Trust (BPM). He is a former television producer and director who in 2012 established the Save TVNZ 7 campaign. Thomas is now studying law. This commentary was this year’s David Beatson Memorial Address at a public meeting in Grey Lynn last night on broadcast policy for the NZ election 2023.

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.