Oceania

Amnesty International Criticizes PNG Police for Abuse of Power

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

PORGERA VALLEY, Papua New Guinea – Amnesty International says Papua New Guinea (PNG) police abused their power and acted outside their authority when they evicted people from their homes near the Porgera gold mine.

Last year, police conducted an operation to restore law and order around the Porgera gold mine in Enga Province. Amnesty International contends that police in PNG illegally and forcibly evicted people from their homes.

Amnesty International released a report documenting how PNG police burned down approximately 300 homes of people in the gold mine area.

A mining and human rights specialist, Shanta Martin, says that the report is based on evidence from 180 people, medical reports, and other data.

Martin stated: “There was significant evidence of forced evictions that people had certainly been living there, that they were well established houses that were burned down. Police acted contrary to search warrant, which would not in any way give the police power to destroy property, that they failed to ensure that there was notice and consultation with those who are going to be affected.”

Many residents reported that they had no forewarning of the raids, had no time to collect their belongings, and their food gardens were all destroyed. The families – including children, pregnant women, and the elderly – had no alternative housing made available for them by the government.

Martin says that because of the abusive acts of the PNG police, the families have become victims of human rights violations.

The Porgera Joint Venture manages the Porgera gold mine, and supplies accommodation, food, and fuel to police in exchange for security in the remote area under an agreement. Amnesty International says that the company should have reported the police eviction activity to PNG authorities as soon as company officials became aware of it, but instead, the company supported the police.

Amnesty International calls on the Porgera Joint Venture to cease supplying accommodation, food, and fuel to the police immediately.

Martin further calls upon the government to investigate the matter. She emphasizes the “need for the [PNG] government to carry out a full investigation, to prosecute those responsible and provide remedies for those affected.”

The Governor of PNG’s Enga Province, Peter Ipatas, supports Amnesty International’s call for an independent investigation into the evictions at the Porgera gold mine.

Ipatas says that Amnesty International’s call for an investigation makes sense.

“If anything happened and if people think that a government agency has acted outside our laws then obviously every one is subject to scrutiny. So I would assume that if there is an allegation that police mistreated their lawful duties then obviously government authorities need to investigate.”

Ipatas further stated that the unique situation of people living within the mine area will continue to cause problems, and the government should relocate them to a more appropriate area.

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Political backing for Amnesty call for investigation of controversial PNG police action – 04 February 2010

ABC News – PNG police ‘torched village near mine site’ – 03 February 2010

Radio New Zealand International – Amnesty criticises PNG police over Porgera evictions – 03 February 2010

Yahoo News – PNG police ‘torched village near mine site’ – 03 February 2010

Associated Press – Papua New Guinea Police burn homes at gold mine – 02 February 2010

Papuan Human Rights Activist Dies at Age 61

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

MANOKWARI, West Papua – Papuan human rights activist, Viktor Kaisiepo, passed away in his home town of Amersfoort, in the Netherlands, at the age of 61.

Kaisiepo was a spokesperson for the West Papua People’s Front, which is a federation of Papuan organizations in the Netherlands.

Kaisiepo was born in Dutch New Guinea. His family left for the Netherlands when Dutch New Guinea was handed over to Indonesia in 1962.

Kaisiepo’s father was a well-known activist for Papuan independence. Viktor Kaisiepo followed his father’s footsteps, and also became one of the most well regarded activists for Papuan independence.

Kaisiepo frequently lobbied the United Nations to promote the rights of his people as well as the rights of other indigenous peoples.

He devoted his life to the right to self-determination of the Indonesian province of Papua.

Kaisiepo became a familiar face to the indigenous activists throughout the world, representing the indigenous peoples of Papua at various international conferences.

He was the Executive Director of the Foundation Papua Lobby, and a member of Presidium Dewan Papua and represented the organization in Europe, the United States, and at the United Nations. Since 2003, he served as a consultant to the Word Bank Grants Facility for Indigenous Peoples.

He also co-founded and held positions in various NGOs, including: the Unrepresented Nations and People’s Organization (UNPO), an international organizations with 110 millions members whose aim is to achieve recognition and improvement for peoples through peaceful means; the International Alliance of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in the Tropical Forests; the secretariat of Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP); and served as a Human Rights Defender in 1985 for the United Nations.
Kaisiepo will be remembered as one of the most influential human rights activists.

For more information, please see:

Radio Netherlands Worldwide – Papuan activist Kaisiepo dies – 31 January 2010

Radio New Zealand International – Papuan activist Kaisiepo dies aged 61 – 31 January 2010

Solomon Star – Papuan activist Kaisiepo dies aged 61 – 31 January 2010

Cultural Survival – “We’ve Gained a Lot”: Viktor Kaisiepo Discusses the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People

First People’s Worldwide – Board Bios

East Timorese Police Beat Up Man, UN Peacekeepers Watch

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

DILI, East Timor – UN peacekeepers turned the other cheek as East Timorese police they were supposed to be mentoring allegedly beat up on a young man late last year.

The East Timorese police allegedly hit, kicked and repeatedly stomped on the young man near an official ceremony.

There is growing concern about the supervision and training that the UN Integrated Mission in East Timor is providing to local police.  The UN mission is also supported by Australian Federal Police and Australian soldiers.

Officers of the Policia Nacional de Timor-Leste (PNTL) allegedly kicked the man in the head and hit him with a rifle butt.

A film of this incident was posted on the internet and handed over East Timorese authorities this month.

The sequence of events depicted in the film shows a young man, who was standing on a beach on Atauro Island and holding a sign relating to a local fishing group, being dragged away by PNTL officers, while UN police watch in the background.

No one has suggested that East Timor President, Jose Ramos Horta, who was holding a fishing competition on the Island, observed the incident.

After being dragged away, PNTL officers attempted to handcuff the youngman while two plainclothes officers stood on him, stomping on his back.

The video then shows the officers kicking the man in the head.  Another plainclothes officer slammed the rifle-butt into his stomach.

While the beating was taken place, the video also shows uniformed UN officers looking on, just beyond the circle of PNTL officers.

According to Gyorgy Kakuk, a UN East Timor spokesperson, a joint investigation, and a separate criminal investigation, has been commenced by both the UN and the PNTL.

The spokesman also indicated that once it is established what happened and why, that there may be a separate investigation into the responsibility of police officers, other than PNTL.

“The investigation has to determine what has happened, why did it happen there and, as a result of that investigation, perhaps there will be an investigation established into responsibility of other police officers other than PNTL.”

Australian peacekeepers were not involved in the incident.

However, in a separate controversial incident, Australian soldiers allegedly ran over an East Timorese woman in early December.  The soldiers, who were apparently unaware that the woman died as a result of head injuries from the incident, made no attempts to contact the victim’s family to express their regret or to offer compensation.

Since arriving in 2006, Australian troops, contrary to the UN’s system of accountability, are not under the command of the UN.  The Timorese also believe that Australian soldiers should be placed under UN control.

The UN peacekeeping mission in East Timor became involved in rebuilding the police forces in East Timor, so that they would be capable of policing the country by 2010.

Meanwhile, the Special Representative for the Secretary-General of the UN, Ameerah Haq, has visited several East Timorese districts that are in the transition process.

She noted, “I am impressed by the level of organization and professionalism displayed by PNTL officers . . . as well as the continuing working relationship with UN police officers who now focus on monitoring and mentoring their PNTL colleagues.”

For more information please see:
The Australian – UN peacekeepers stood by East Timorese bash a young man – 29 January 2010

UN News Centre – New UN envoy assesses progress made by Timorese police force – 29 January 2010

Sydney Morning Herald – Left in lurch, says Timor family – 28 January 2010

Australia Screens Asylum Seekers for HIV, UN Disapproves

By Eileen Gould
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia – Australia’s “discriminatory” policy of screening asylum seekers for HIV has been criticized by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

UNHCR’s regional office has requested that Australia end their health requirement for asylum seekers.  “The present operation of the health requirement is discriminatory in effect and endangers a number of human rights norms.”

Its submission to an inquiry into this practice accuses Australia of “fall[ing] short of its international obligations.”

According to the UNHCR, the health requirements prevent any migrant, who is found to have AIDS or HIV, from entering Australia, unless the individual receives a waiver from the Immigration Minister. Waivers are granted infrequently.

Under the law, asylum seekers with active tuberculosis are banned from entering the country.  However, some individuals, typically partners of Australian citizens are not subject to the same ban and are allowed into the country even if they fail a health test, on grounds of compassion.

The ordinarily strict health rules have been loosened for migrants, allowing any chronically ill foreign workers and families to immigrate, in order to solve the skills shortage.

Changes in the rules would encourage those with work visas to move to Australia, as they or their dependants were previously were turned away for health reasons.

Sources have reported that Australian taxpayers will spend approximately $60 million on healthcare for 288 asylum seekers who were granted these “health waivers” last year.

The Immigration Department rejected applications from more than 1500 individuals who failed the health tests.

Further, the department extended the waiver recently so that some skilled foreign workers and their families would qualify. But the department has not yet announced whether any skilled permanent migrants were given waivers.

An immigration spokesperson verified that all states and territories, with one exception, agreed to extend the waiver to certain categories of skilled worker visas last year.

New South Wales, the state to which most migrants flock, has not yet accepted the extension of the waiver due to the impact on their hospitals.

He added that “if some applicants fail the health requirement, there is the option for a health waiver to be considered.”

For more information please see:

The Australian – United Nations blasts HIV tests on asylum-seekers – 29 January 2010

Visa Bureau – Migrants with HIV/Aids will be allowed to emigrate to Australia – 29 January 2010

Global Visas – Chronically ill foreign workers allowed to move to Australia – 28 January 2010

Australian Academic Says Fiji is Not Ready for Democracy

By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

SUVA, Fiji – Jonathan Fraenkel, an academic at the Australian National University, says that Fiji is not ready to return to a free democracy.

Fraenkel fears that Commodore Frank Bainimarama, the prime minister of Fiji, will break his promise to the people of Fiji.

The Commodore stated in a speech that by 2014 politicians should be ready to take over the running of the country.  Fiji hopes to achieve democracy, and has been in the process of returning to a democratic government.

During his visit to Kadavu, an island in Fiji, the Commodore reiterated that national elections will be held in 2014. He used the visit as an opportunity to explain the reasons for past military coups, specifically in 1987 and 2000.

He explained that the takeover of 1987 was carried out to further the development of Fiji. In the 2000 takeover, where a number of soldiers lost their lives, the Commodore assured that the military will “never forget their fellow comrades who died.”

The Commodore has appointed four military colonels to the positions of divisional Commissioners, in hopes for “rapid development in the country.”

The Commodore called upon the people of Kadavu to support the government’s plans. Chiefs on the island of Kadavu have expressed their support for the Commodore’s administration, and urges the Commodore to continue his term after 2014 if reforms in the government are completed by then.

But Fraenkel fears that the Commodore’s plan for politicians to take over the running of the country will not be totally free from military influence. Such influence has resulted in Fiji’s history of human rights violations and abuses.

Fraenkel says that the Commodore has a history of changing what he has vowed to do.

He states: “A trail of broken promises and if we believe what we’re hearing, the electoral democracy that is restored in Fiji will not be one that is free of military influence.”

For more information, please see:
Radio New Zealand International – Fiji not set to return to democracy, says academic – 28 January 2010

Islands Business – Fijian province wants Commodore Bainimarama leadership to go beyond 2014 – 26 January 2010

Pacific Islands News Association – Fijian province wants Commodore Bainimarama leadership to go beyond 2014 – 26 January 2010