By Hayley J. Campbell
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PAPEETE, Tahiti — French Polynesia’s ruling party, To Tatou Aia, has been unable to address the budget debate due to a continuing struggle to maintain its majority.

The budget meeting set for this morning was delayed after disputes arose among the To Tatou Aia’s members. Hiro Tefaarere was one such member who withdrew his vote for the ruling party and threatened to form his own party.

The wife of Aia Api leader, Emile Vernaudon, also withdrew her vote from To Tatou Aia when the government refused her husband a land deal. Mrs. Heifara Izal later gave her support creating a one-vote majority in the To Tatou Aia assembly.

Internal dissents have plagued the ruling party ever since French Polynesian elections took place four months ago. Members of the opposition have made numerous threats of employing a no confidence motion.

Radio New Zealand International reports that President Tong Song will, “do what he can, and if he cannot fulfill his mandate it won’t be his fault.”

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International — Political instability in Tahiti delays budget debate — 13 August 2008

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APIA, Samoa — The Police Commissioner has launched an investigation and suspended a Samoan police constable after allegations surfaced accusing the officer of sexually offending a 19-year-old woman.

An organization known as the Samoa Victim Support group first reported the allegations two weeks ago. The woman reported the offense, and an investigation soon followed. The young woman is currently under the care of the support group.

Papalii Li’o, assistant police commissioner and spokesman, has said that the Ministry of Police will not tolerate such behavior especially among its police force.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International — Samoan police constable suspended for alleged harassment — 13 August 2008

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HONIARA, Solomon Islands — The Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands is facing charges of driving under the influence of alcohol.  An arrest warrant was issued after Prime Minister Dr. Derek Sikua failed to appear at court.

The drunk driving incident occurred while Dr. Sikua was the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education in 2006. The prosecution already completed its case in March, but the court is still waiting on the defense case. Private attorney, Charles Ashley, is representing Dr. Sikua.

Acting director of Police Prosecution, George Ofu, has said that Dr. Sikua’s hectic schedule is the reason for the defense case’s delay.

But Mr. Ofu has also warned that if Dr. Sikua fails to appear for his October 21st court date, the police will have to enforce the law.

For more information, please see:
Solomon Star — Prime Minister Faces Arrest Warrant In Drunk Driving Case — 13 August 2008

By Ryan L. Maness
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji — Ousted Fijian Prime Minister Lasenia Qarase, long an outspoken critic of Fiji’s interim government, has come out this week in opposition to the draft of the proposed People’s Charter.  According to Qarase the draft, as written, will do more to divide the people of Fiji than it will do to unite them.

He has particular concern about the role of Fiji’s Constitution under the new proposed system.  He has said that charter is talking out of both sides its mouth with regard to the Constitution.  “While on one hand they say the supreme law of the land will be the constitution, they are saying that the electoral reforms will have to be in place before the election, and to do that you would need to change the constitution, so they are simply suggesting that the charter will be stronger.”

Qarase has also expressed concern that the Charter to expand Fijian racial divides.  “For the indigenous population it would violate their rights to property (land reforms), as well as their rights to a separate Fijian administration,” he said.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International — Ousted Fiji PM says new charter fuels divisions — 07 August 2008

Fiji Broadcasting Corporation Limited — Political Parties reject Charter — 09 August 2008

Fiji Daily Post — PEOPLE’S CHARTER WILL ‘DIVIDE FIJI’ — 08 August 2008

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SUVA, Fiji — Among the items included in the draft of the proposed People’s Charter is that Fiji’s military play a greater role in the governance of Fiji.  NGOs have come out to say that the role of the military should not be expanded in Fiji.

Angie Heffernan, executive director of the Pacific Center for Public Integrity,  said that there is no need to expand the military’s role, because its role is already fully explained by the Constitution.  If anything, Heffernan said, the military should be downsized.  “Fiji has a military strength that is ridiculous for the size of Its population, and as long as we feed the monster that we have chosen not to take to task, Fiji will continue to be vulnerable to coups perpetuated with the help of the military,” she said.

The Pacific Concerns Resource Centre has also condemned the suggestion, saying that the military’s involvement in the last three coups demonstrate that the military should not be brought any closer to governance.  “We don’t agree with the recommendation that it should even be involved any further than what we are currently experiencing,” Ema Tagicakibau, campaign director for the PCRC, said.  “If what we are going through is any indication of what future military involvement will be like then I think every law abiding citizen of this country must strongly condemn that call.”

For more information, please see:
Fiji Times — Reject military’s expanded goal: NGO — 07 August 2008

Radio New Zealand International — PCRC opposes Fiji charter’s role for military — 06 August 2008

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SUVA, Fiji — The National Council for Building a Better Fiji has released a draft of its much anticipated People’s Charter on Wednesday.  The draft was released and will be distributed to the public for discussion and consultation.  It is hoped that the draft will be ready to be presented to the President of Fiji by October.

According to council member, Josefa Serulagilagi, the aim of the Charter is to guarantee good governance and provide for social and economic development.  “What we would like to do is to really take out what is always called the coup culture in this country, and if we can, develop a kind of system whereby we move forward, and have solutions, so that we make sure that we don’t have that kind of attitudes in the minds of the people,” Serulagilagi said.

Among the proposed changes in the Charter is to change to convert the Fiji electoral system to proportionate representation, to adopt “12 principles” to end the coup culture and to reduce poverty to negligible levels by 2015.

For more information, please see:
Fiji Daily Post News — The People’s Charter and the Way Forward – Summary — 07 August 2008

Radio New Zealand International — Fiji says it may need help to fund Charter consultation — 06 August 2008

Radio New Zealand International — Fiji council releases draft charter aimed at ending coup culture — 06 August 2008

By Christopher Gehrke
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, South America

CANBERRA, Australia – Over thirty years of state government opposition to indigenous control of land was reversed today when the Australian government returned its largest remaining tract of rainforest to Cape York Aborigines.

Cape York, 695 square miles, has a human population of just 15,000.  According to Reuters, Aborigines have inhabited for 45,000 years.  They have higher rates of unemployment, substance abuse and domestic violence than other Australians.  Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister, apologized to Aborigines in February for 200 years of injustices stemming from Britain’s colonization.

Aborigines have been making steady gains in reaching land agreements allowing them to use traditional lands for their own benefit.  Experts believe that the Cape York land handed over will yield ecotourism opportunities.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Australian Aborigines get pristine forest back – 5 August 2008

ABC News – Qld Govt hands back national park to owners – 6 August 2008

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MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Delegates at a major AIDS conference in Mexico city cited cases of fisherwomen in the Pacific offering sex for food.  This is seen as another consequence of rising food prices, and is raising the rise of HIV infection, U.N. officials said Monday.

According to the U.N. overfishing of tuna in the Pacific has forced Papua New Guinea fisherwomen to join the crews of larger boats, where they engage in “fish for sex” deals.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – AIDS Threat:  Trading Sex for Food – 4 August 2008

Radio New Zealand – UN says HIV spreads by Pacific women selling sex for food – 5 August 2008

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JAKARTA, Indonesia – Human sex trafficking thrives in Indonesia due to extreme poverty, reports the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

“The root of the problem is poverty, but in some areas…prostitution is accepted.  It’s the culture,” explains the International Labor Organization’s Arum Ratnawati, describing people so poor they sell or send their children into commercial sex work to earn income for their families.

Over 4 million schoolchildren are unable to go to school in Indonesia, and 70,000 were trafficked for prostitution.  Most girls are tricked into prostitution by family members, relatives, or other people they trust who promise them jobs.  They are often forced to pay off the debt the trafficker paid their parents in brothels, between $55-$110.

For more information, please see:

IRIN – INDONESIA:  Poverty at root of commercial sex work – 24 July 2008

The New Nation – Don’t make women trade-item for tourism – 18 July 2008