By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

Rush has been in prison for more than five years on a heroin smuggling conviction. (Photo Courtesy of ABC News).

DENPASAR, Indonesia - In a final attempt to avoid the death penalty, ‘Bali Nine’ drug mule Scott Rush made an emotional appeal to an Indonesian court on Thursday.

“I wish to say to you, my parents, my family, and the community, how sorry I am for the crime that I have committed and the pain that I have caused,” Rush told Denpasar’s District Court on Thursday.  Read more...

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

Aboriginal children are often left to wander alone while their parents go out drinking. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters.)

NORTHERN TERRITORY, Australia - Child protection workers in Australia’s Northern Territory have told officials that international aid is needed for starving Aboriginal children.

In a submission to the Northern Territory’s government inquiry, the workers said that the situation is so bad that assistance from organizations such as the Red Cross or Oxfam is necessary, a shocking claim to emerge from one of the world’s most affluent nations.

The disturbing allegations come in the midst of Australia’s campaign election.  Read more...

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

Commodore Bainimarama. Photo courtesy of ABC.

SUVA, Fiji–Fiji’s prime minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, remains unapologetically in favor of censorship and an iron-fisted military regime.  Despite pressure from nearby nations such as Australia and New Zealand, Fiji’s strongman continues to place trust in his military, but not his own people.

Commodore Bainimarama took control of the impoverished island nation in a military coup in 2006.  He did away with the constitution and now rules by decrees.  He told ABC television that he believes only the military can adequately run the country and that politicians, judges, and the public aren’t trustworthy.  He also defended his strict censorship regulations and rule-by-decree regime.  Read more...

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

Indonesian soldiers welcome U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who announced that the U.S. was lifting a ban on engagement with special Indonesian military forces. (Photo Courtesy of Los Angeles Times.)

JAKARTA, Indonesia – The U.S. military has decided to lift a decade-long ban on engagement with Indonesia’s Komanda Pasukan Khusus (Kopassas), a special forces unit that has been accused of humans rights abuses.  Read more...

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga—Two teenagers in Tonga have been spared a whipping sentence that would have given each six lashes with a rod.  The Court of Appeal overturned the sentence this week on the grounds that it would be considered “cruel and unusual.”

Timote Fangupo and Penisimani Fa’aoa, both now 17, were first imprisoned for crimes they committed when they were 15.  They served time for housebreaking and theft, and escaped from prison three times.

The whipping sentences, accompanied by a 13-year prison term, were set late last year by Justice Shuster, a British Commonwealth High Court Judge who had been appointed to Tonga in 2008.  Read more...

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SYDNEY, Australia – East Timor’s parliament has unanimously passed a resolution to reject Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s proposal to establish an offshore asylum seeker detention centre on the country.

Prior to the passage of the resolution, Ms Julia Gillard has said she hopes to cooperate with other nations in the region to establish a processing center for asylum seekers, with the possibility of setting up one in East Timor.  Read more...

By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

Australian PM Julia Gillard makes a policy announcement regarding asylum seekers. (Photo Courtesy of CBC News.)

SYDNEY, Australia – In an effort to unveil a new refugee policy, Australia’s new leader has proposed a plan to develop a regional processing center in East Timor in order to curb public opposition to an influx of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

“In recent days I have discussed with [President] Ramos Horta of East Timor the possibility of establishing a regional processing center for the purpose of receiving and processing irregular entrance to the region,” Julia Gillard announced in her first policy speech since assuming her role as prime minister.  Read more...

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SYDNEY, Australia – The Australian government plans to transfer all asylum seekers currently located in Christmas Island to a mainland detention center. These refugees – about 600 Afghans and 150 Sri Lankans – have arrived by boat since the suspension took effect in April of this year.

Australia’s immigration minister Chris Evans says the government is looking for mainland sites to accommodate the asylum seekers.

“It is our intention to take that cohort probably in the first instance to Curtin where we’re increasing our capacity, but we’ll obviously make judgments based on individuals,” he said.  Read more...

By Sovereign Hager
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor-News

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea- A cholera outbreak, which started in August of 2009 appears to be getting worse. There have been over 600 cases reported since August and reports of the disease are no longer only appearing in rural areas. There have been reports of the disease in the capital city of Port Moresby.

The government declared a public health emergency in August after there were reports that public funds to fight the disease were “dried up.”  The spread of the disease to urban areas has been linked to sanitation problems.  Read more...

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea – People of Papua New Guinea (PNG) have signed a petition calling on Parliament to reject the proposed Ombudsman Commission Amendment Bill. They fear that the Bill will allow senior politicians in PNG to be free of investigation. The Governor of PNG’s National Capital District has offered to organize a meeting to discuss the controversial bill.

The PNG government’s draft of the Bill is designed by politicians to allow the Ombudsman Commission funds to be cut. People in PNG fear that this bill will prevent the Ombudsman’s Office from investigating senior politicians.  Read more...