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Vanuatu gets tough on sex crimes

Thursday 2 March 2017 | Published in Regional

VANUATU – The Vanuatu government has amended its criminal code to toughened up on punishments fora variety of sex and violence crimes.

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Anti-logging protesters arrested

Thursday 2 March 2017 | Published in Regional

SOLOMON ISLANDS – The police in Solomon Islands have arrested more than 60 people involved in a logging dispute in Western Province.

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Independence ultimate goal

Thursday 2 March 2017 | Published in Regional

French Polynesia – French Polynesia’s pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru says strong support for his presidential bid would give him a mandate to make a declaration of sovereignty.

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Manus Island murderer on the run

Thursday 2 March 2017 | Published in Regional

Papua New Guinea – Police in Papua New Guinea are appealing for help to capture one of the escaped killers of Iranian asylum seeker Reza Barati.

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All issues are relevant to people with disabilities

Friday 24 February 2017 | Published in Regional

SAMOA – The Pacific Disability Forum is meeting in Samoa this week to focus on building a more inclusive and equitable Pacific for people with disabilities. Representatives from 19 Pacific countries and territories are attending the five-day conference in Apia. The forum’s chief executive officer, Setareki Macanawai, told Radio New Zealand’s Dateline Pacific what issues the conference is expected to cover. “For example, education, talking about employment, violence against women with disabilities, talk about disaster, about climate change, the whole works. “It is a diverse range of topics. We’re looking at equity, we’re looking at inclusion for people with disabilities. It is our dream, in terms of living side by side, with our brothers and sisters and family members in individual countries and territories.” DATELINE PACIFIC: How well is the Pacific region doing on disability issues at the moment? “ We have governments developing disability policies but we also need, hence the theme of this conference, to ensure that the mainstream society – policies, budgets, frameworks – are including people with disabilities and their rights and aspirations. “So, I think there’s still a way to go but countries in the Pacific, most of them have already signed disability treaties, which is a good sign. The next step is implementation, monitoring and then reporting.” DATELINE PACIFIC: You mentioned climate change. How does that relate to disability issues or how could it relate in the future? “Good question. Everything relates to people with disabilities. At the end of the day, people with disabilities are human beings just like anyone else. “So whatever’s affecting the human being, the person, is affecting a person with a disability. “So climate change – our governments, our civil societies, our region are grappling with an issue – when you talk about relocating a village that’s close to a coastal area because of the rising sea level, there will be people with disabilities in that village. “In the relocation of that village, how can we accommodate the accessibility needs of that person with a disability? When you’re building a new home? when you’re setting up a new village? Climate change affects people with disabilities and I think sometimes we forget.” - Dateline Pacific

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Fiji's Bainimarama still topping the polls

Friday 24 February 2017 | Published in Regional

FIJI – Fiji’s prime minister Frank Bainimarama has continued to score highly in the latest poll by Tebbutt Research. Seventy-eight per cent of the 982 people surveyed over three days earlier this month said he was doing a very good or good job. Forty-four percent said he was their preferred prime minister. It’s a slight drop from last year but the FijiFirst leader remains well ahead of his nearest rival Sitiveni Rabuka who leads the largest opposition party Sodelpa. A scholar of Fiji politics Steven Ratuva said the large number who are undecided on their preferred prime minister are significant with the next election looming. “Something like 30 per cent or so couldn’t make up their mind, so that is a very significant number in relation to people changing their mind when the election comes. “It looks like Bainimarama is far ahead in terms of the election and perhaps one of the reasons as well why they want to have the election early, maybe as early as April instead of September, because I think the poll is in their favour at this point in time.” The poll has Sitiveni Rabuka, the leader of the main opposition party Sodelpa, sitting on 11 per cent as preferred leader. Ratuva said Rabuka is struggling to mobilise support within the Sodelpa party because his leadership has split the party. “One fragment is led by Ro Teimumu Kepa and one led by Rabuka – and the party has been in a bit of disarray as a result of factionalism within the party itself. “Rabuka hasn’t been able to mobilise the kind of support that one would have expected him given his high profile, to be able to stamp his authority within the party. “Given time it might go up above 11 per cent but I think one of the challenges for Sodelpa is being able to sort out internal differences within the party. “Ro Teimumu had a lot of respect and support within the party and amongst a lot of Fijians, particularly the more traditional supporters. “Rabuka has been out of politics for a long time and is struggling to get his status back. He’s been away from politics for 19 years and is trying his best to find a niche in the new political dynamics in Fiji.” Lately their has been talk from the oppostiin parties of galvanising and forming a coalition. “The talk of coalition has been there all the time even before the 2014 election,”Ratuva said. “One of the difficulties in forming a coalition is that you have political parties having different political ideologies, even personal interests. “They have different histories, different, if you like, ideological standpoints, and most of all because Fiji’s new electoral system, where there are 50 seats and you have an open single constituency, forming a coalition can be a challenge for political parties. “This is because if they form a coalition before the election then they have to take the risk of negotiating to reduce the number of candidates which they put forward – which means that they might create tension even within their own parties. So one of the possibilities is to have a coalition after the election. “The idea of the parties ganging up together against FijiFirst is something we will see in the next election and I think the parties may even campaign together and may even do compromises in terms of supporting certain candidates together.” - Dateline Pacific

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Rescue of two boats adrift

Friday 24 February 2017 | Published in Regional

KIRIBATI – A helicopter pilot searching for schools of tuna spotted two small boats drifting in Marshall Islands waters, sparked the rescue of four islanders who had drifted hundreds of kilometres from Kiribati. What is unusual about the rescue is that the two boats – although just eight kilometres apart when spotted – were not connected or aware of the each other’s predicament. Three Kiribati men in one boat, and a teenage boy alone in the other, were rescued by the fishing vessel Kwila 888 after its helicopter pilot spotted the two craft – both 4.5-metre open boats with outboard motors – adrift in the open central Pacific Ocean. The two boats had drifted from Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati, in separate incidents. Although the three adult fishermen in the wooden boat drifted for 28 days – and the 14-year-old boy drifted by himself for 11 days in a fibreglass boat – they ended up within kilometres of each other when spotted by the helicopter pilot from the Kwila 888, a Papua New Guinea-flagged purse seiner. The three fishermen, Arawatau Miito, 57, Toatu Tiwai, 40, and Tenanora Taiki, 22, had drifted for at least 28 days in their 4.5-metre wooden-hulled dinghy after experiencing engine problems. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Bwanikatang Tebuanna drifted for about 11 days in a 4.5-metre fibreglas- type craft after an incoming tide washed the boat away from Tarawa while he was playing on it. The boy did not know how to operate the small outboard engine on the boat. The boy alone had nothing to eat the entire 11 days he drifted out of sight of land, while the three men were able to catch fish and sharks with the fishing gear they had on board for their fishing expedition. All were checked at Majuro hospital on arrival in the Marshall Islands earlier this week. One stayed overnight for treatment of dehydration, while the rest were released after a check up. The Marshall Islands Journal reported that all four were currently still in Majuro – awaiting repatriation to Kiribati, which is expected to happen this weekend. The three men and the teenager knew nothing of each other until the Kwila 888 picked them up, the newspaper reports. The chance of the helicopter spotting the two boats was itself a small miracle. The vessel’s helicopter pilot said he wasn’t feeling well on the day of the rescue and wasn’t going to fly, but he took some pain medication and forced himself to pilot the helicopter in search of fish – which is when he spotted the two boats. Fishing master and captain Yuan Tsai Chen said that the fishing vessel’s helicopter spotted the two boats drifting about 40 kilometres away from the Kwila 888. Fishermen from Kiribati are frequently lost at sea, a fact underlined by the fact this was the second time one of the three men – 57-year-old Arawatau Miito – had been rescued after an open ocean drift. And rescuing the two boats marked the third ocean rescue –fourth if counted by boats saved – for Captain Chen. The previous two rescues were about six years ago on different fishing vessels. The first involved three people from Kiribati who were lost at sea for one month, and the latter was two people who drifted for about 20 days. - RNZI/PNC

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Call for probe into death in custody

Friday 24 February 2017 | Published in Regional

FIJI – There is a potential new human rights scandal involving the Fiji police force with calls for an independent investigation into a death in police custody in Fiji last week. The family of teenager Vikrant Nand claim he was beaten by police prior to his death. The 18-year-old was found dead at the Nakasi police station last Thursday. He was reportedly taken into custody for breaching a domestic violence restraining order. What happened after that is still unclear. The police will not comment but say they have launched an internal investigation. But a leading opposition MP Biman Prasad, who attended Nand’s funeral, says that’s not good enough for his family. “The family is aggrieved at the way in which the way in which the whole investigation has been handled,” he said. “It is alleged that their son was beaten in police custody. These are the claims that the family is making and it’s only proper that there be an independent investigation to establish the full facts.” Nand’s family were reportedly initially told that the teenager had committed suicide. But they say different police officers gave them differing stories about the death. The chair of the NGO Coalition for Human Rights, Nalini Singh, says the circumstances surrounding the incident mean it’s only right and fair that an independent inquiry be held. “Especially in the case where Nand’s death can be considered under suspicious circumstances in custody. The call for this independent investigation would also be a show of good faith from police for a transparent process.” Late last year Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama conceded there had been previous incidents within the disciplined forces where individuals or groups resorted to acts of torture or other forms of punishment that violated human rights. But he said there is now a policy of zero tolerance for such abuses. National Federation Party leader Prasad says the way incidents like Nand’s death are handled will show if the prime minister’s assurances can be taken seriously. “It’s one thing for the prime minister to say that they will not be tolerated– and we all agree that no violence of any form should be tolerated by any person including the police and the military – however the credibility of that kind of a statement will be reflected in the way in which we deal with cases that come before the police and the people of this country.” Fiji’s Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher Pryde has also spoken about measures being introduced to improve justice for police suspects – such as videotaping statements and providing legal counsel within an hour. Coalition for Human Rights’ Singh says greater effort should be made to improve police procedures in line with Fiji’s human rights commitments. “We understand that police officers potentially experience frustration when dealing with detainees and this can sometimes result in death and injury. “This case highlights a very deep fracture that needs to be addressed within the system. “There should be a very strong reminder to police officers. They are in service to the people. They should not take the law into their own hands.” The police have yet to respond to media requests for comment regarding Nand’s death. A police spokesperson told FBC News they will only comment once investigations into the death are complete. - RNZI

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