SPECIAL REPORT: By Scott Waide, RNZ Pacific PNG correspondent

The nauseating stench of dried blood hung in the air as we arrived in Karida village, a few kilometers outside of Tari in Papua New Guinea’s Hela province.

Through the landcruiser window, I could see two men carrying a corpse wrapped in blue cloth and a tarpaulin. They were walking towards the hastily dug graveyard.

This was July 2019.

• READ MORE: Five arrested in connection with deadly Papua New Guinea massacre
• Other PNG tribal warfare reports

A longstanding tribal fight by various factions in the Tagali area of the Hela province had triggered this attack. Several armed men came at dawn. The residents, mostly women and children, bore the brunt of the brutality.

The then Provincial Administrator, William Bando, advised us against travelling alone when we arrived in Tari. He requested a section of the PNG Defence Force to take us to Karida where the killings had happened less than 24 hours before.

Two men carrying the corpse, hesitated as we arrived with the soldiers. One of the soldiers ordered the men to disarm. The others who carried weapons fled into the nearby bush.

On the side of the road, the bodies of 15 women and one man lay tightly wrapped in cloth. The older men and women came out to meet the soldiers.

The village chief, Hokoko Minape, distraught by the unimaginable loss, wept beside the vehicle as he tried to explain what had happened.

“This, I have never seen in my life. This is new,” he said in Tok Pisin.

Complexity of tribal conflicts and media attention
For an outsider, the roots of tribal conflicts in Papua New Guinea are difficult to understand. There are myriad factors at play, including the province, district, tribe, clan and customs.

But what’s visible is the violence.

The conflicts are usually reported on when large numbers of people are killed. The intense media focus lasts for days . . . maybe a month . . . and then, news priorities shift in the daily grind of local and international coverage.

Some conflicts rage for years and sporadic payback killings continue. It is subtle as it doesn’t attract national attention. It is insidious and cancerous — slowly destroying families and communities. In many instances, police record the one off murders as the result of alcohol related brawls or some other cause.

The tensions simmer just below boiling point. But it affects the education of children and dictates where people congregate and who they associate with.

Although, the villagers at Karida were not directly involved in the fighting, they were accused of providing refuge to people who fled from neighboring villagers. The attackers came looking for the refugees and found women and children instead.

The ‘hire man’ and small arms
Over the next few weeks, local community leaders drew attention to the use of “hire men” in the conflicts. They are mercenaries who are paid by warring tribes to fight on their behalf. Their most valued possessions are either assault rifles or shotguns paid for by political and non-political sponsors.

The Deputy Commissioner for Police responsible for specialist operations, Donald Yamasombi, who has personally investigated instances of arms smuggling, said the traditional trade of drugs for guns along the eastern and southern borders of Papua New Guinea is largely a thing of the past.

“People are paying cash for guns. They are bringing in the weapons and then legitimising them through licensing,” Yamasombi said. “The businessmen who fund them actually run legitimate businesses.”

The involvement of political players is a subject many will state only behind closed doors.

In the highlands, the hire men are a recent addition to the complex socio-political ecosystem of tribal and national politics. Political power and money have come to determine how hire men are used during elections. They are tools of intimidation and coercion. The occupation is a lucrative means of money making during what is supposed to be a “free and fair” electoral process.

“Money drives people to fight,” Yamasombi said. “Without the source of money, there would be no incentive. There is incentive to fight.”

Rules of war
At the end of elections, the hire men usually end up back in the communities and continue the cycle of violence.

In February, Papua New Guineans on social media watched in horror as the death toll from a tribal clash in Enga province rose from a few dozen to 70 in a space of a few hours as police retrieved bodies from nearby bushes.

The majority of the men killed were members of a tribe who had been ambushed as they staged an attack.

Traditional Engan society is highly structured. The Enga cultural center in the center of Wabag town, the Take Anda, documents the rules of war that dictated the conduct of warriors.

Traditionally, mass killings or killings in general were avoided. The economic cost of reparations were too high, the ongoing conflicts were always hard to manage and were, obviously, detrimental to both parties in the long run.

Engans, who I spoke to on the condition of anonymity, said high powered guns had changed the traditional dynamics.

Chiefs and elders who once commanded power and status were now replaced by younger men with money and the means to buy and own weapons. This has had a direct influence on provincial and national politics as well as traditional governance structures.

Tribal conflicts, not restricted to the Highlands
In 2022, a land dispute between two clans on Kiriwina Island, Milne Bay province, escalated into a full on battle in which 30 people were killed.

The unusual level of violence and the use of guns left many Papua New Guineans confused. Milne Bay province, widely known as a peaceful tourism hub, suffered a massive PR hit with embassies issuing travel warnings to their citizens.

In Pindiu, Morobe province, the widespread use of homemade weapons resulted in the deaths of a local peace officer and women and children in a long running conflict in 2015.

The Morobe Provincial Government sent mediators to Pindiu to facilitate peace negotiations. Provincial and national government are usually hesitant to intervene directly in tribal conflicts by arresting the perpetrators of violence.

This is largely due to the government’s inability to maintain security presence in tribal fighting areas for long periods.

Angoram killings
Two weeks ago, 26 women and children were killed in yet another attack in Angoram, East Sepik.

Five people have been arrested over the killings. But locals who did not wish to be named said the ring leaders of the gang of 30 are still at large.

Angoram is a classic example of a district that is difficult to police.

The villages are spread out over the vast wetlands of the Sepik River. While additional police from Wewak have been deployed, there is no real guarantee that the men and women who witnessed the violence will be protected if they choose to testify in court.

Will new legislations and policy help?
The Enga massacre dominated the February sitting of Parliament. Recent changes were made to gun laws and stricter penalties prescribed. But while legislators have responded, enforcement remains weak.

The killers of the 16 people at Karida remain at large. Many of those responsible for the massacre in Enga have not been arrested even with widely circulated video footage available on social media.

In April, the EU, UN and the PNG government hosted a seminar aimed at formulating a national gun control policy.

The seminar revisited recommendations made by former PNG Defence Force Commander, retired Major-General Jerry Singirok.

One of the recommendations was for the licensing powers of the Police Commissioner as Registrar of Firearms to be taken away and for a mechanism to buy back firearms in the community.

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

Papua New Guinea police have arrested three men and seized a stockpile of unlicensed firearms, ammunition, explosives and other illegal items in a raid in Western Highlands province last week.

The arrests identified a further seven men who were alleged to be part of a blackmarket network who move the illegal items from Western Highlands into the upper Highlands provinces. They were also arrested.

About 800 rounds of ammunition, firearms, explosives and other illegal items were  confiscated from the trio, including a Winchester shotgun, shotgun belts, sniper scopes, a Glock pistol and a hand grenade.

• READ MORE: Other PNG crime reports

Deputy Commissioner of Police-Operations Dr Philip Mitna confirmed that a security operation had been carried out.

“Illegal firearms and drug trade is an ongoing issue in the highlands,” he said.

Firearms and live ammunition are smuggled into many border provinces linked by the Okuk Highway.

“A security team in Hela had made surveillance on firearms and ammunition. They visited Hagen (travelling in from Tari) and engaged with Hagen police, who organised raids and executed two search warrants on July 30, 2023, and effected several arrests,” Deputy Commissioner Mitna said.

Regular arms supply
According to information received by the Post-Courier newspaper, there is a regular ammunition and firearms supply arriving from illegal dealers in the Highlands eastern end and this is supplied to the western end, which includes Hela, Enga and Southern Highlands.

“With the continued tribal fights in Hela and Enga provinces and other criminal activities involving firearms, the intelligence had confirmed most of the ammunition was being bought from Jiwaka and Mt Hagen dealers,” Deputy Commissioner Mitna said.

“So far, the number of people being detained has increased to 10, and we anticipate more arrests. Among those arrested included a prominent businessman and security firm owner in Mt Hagen.”

According to the findings and assessment by security personnel, the Western Highlands share has built up to 80 percent of illegal ammunition and has been supplying other provinces.

The team tracked persons of interest from Tari to Mt Hagen and sought assistance, leading to several search warrants being executed by police with support from the PNG Defence Force Reconnaissance Unit.

The arrests of the 10 men came as the operations were executed in two-week intervals and continued last month.

The arrest of a local man in Hides started an investigation into the proliferation and movement of firearms and ammunition within the Highlands region.

Allegedly involved in kidnappings
The man who was picked up in Hides was allegedly involved in the recent series of kidnappings and ransom and incidents in Mt Bosavi, Southern Highlands, and parts of Western Province.

The arrest of the man in Hides and nine more in Mt Hagen led to the uncovering of a large stash of unlicensed firearms and varieties of live ammunition, including a hand grenade as well as several other illegal items at a home in Newtown, Mt Hagen.

According to reports, the intelligence gathered led to the arrest of the main suspect  who was apprehended in Mt Hagen. He is alleged to be the main supplier and distributor of unlicensed weapons and ammunition in the tribal fighting zones in the Highlands region as well as other parts of PNG.

On Tuesday, August 1, 2023, the main suspect was formally cautioned and formally charged with 10 counts under the newly Amended Firearms Act 2022 and two counts under the Explosive Act (chapter 308) respectively.

The charges are:

• Two counts of unlawfully in possession of unlicensed Firearms under section 65 (c)(ii) of the Amendment Firearms Act, 2022;
• Eight counts of unlawfully in possession of unlicensed live ammunitions under the section 65A (a) of the Amendment Firearms Act, 2022; and
• Two counts of unlawfully in possession of unlicensed explosive under the section 14(1) of the Explosive Act, Chapter 308.

The other nine men were still being interviewed and were being processed.

Police investigations were continuing.

Republished with permission.

It has been an interesting couple of weeks for Solomon Islands, with stories of policing, weapons, replica weapons and a security agreement with China dominating the local and regional media.

Let’s start with the issue of arming the police. After the tensions, for a long time Solomon police did not carry arms but this is an exception in our history.

Indeed, the precursor of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) created during the early colonial era was known as the “BSIP Armed Constabulary”.

• READ MORE: Other reports on the leaked Chinese security pact controversy

For as long as I can remember, our police have had access to some form of arms stored in the armoury. Their use traditionally was ceremonial, mostly during parades.

In fact, many of us who used to watch their parades loved to hear the sound made when the police and marine units lifted the guns as they responded to the orders of the parade commander.

The only time the weapons were used in my lifetime was during the Bougainville crisis and during the ethnic tensions.

The Bougainville crisis necessitated the importation by the Solomon Islands government of high-powered guns because of incursions by armed Papua New Guinean soldiers across the border and their use against Solomon Islands citizens at the PNG-Solomon Islands border.

Weapons bought via US broker
I recall that importation as at that time I was a legal adviser in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The weapons were purchased from the US via a broker in Singapore.

Some questions were asked but, given the circumstances, their importation was justifiable.

A diplomatic request was made for their temporary storage in Australia before they were shipped to Honiara. These were government-procured arms and the procurement procedures for their acquisition duly complied with government procurement processes.

I have been advocating for some time the rearmament of the RSIPF and I am also supportive of the RSIPF to be trained by whoever can provide it. Many police officers have been trained in the US, Taiwan, Australia, UK, Singapore, New Zealand and Fiji.

Thus, I have no particular issues with them being trained by Chinese advisers as was the case recently.

However, I do have issues if the RSIPF is going to equip itself with high-powered guns, whether real ones (as supplied by Australia) or fake ones (as supplied by China). These concerns are exacerbated by the current level of secrecy and confusion around the security arrangements.

Firstly, it is questionable whether it is necessary for the RSIPF to be armed with high-powered weapons. Perhaps there are still a number of guns that were taken from the armoury that are still in the hands of former MEF (Malaitan Eagle Force) militants.

Moreover, this information might be known by a key member of the current political coalition who is a former MEF commander. Perhaps the police just want to be prepared.

Memories of the ethnic tensions
However, we also should not forget what happened 22 years ago during the ethnic tensions, when the armoury was compromised by police giving weapons to militants and militants raiding the armoury for weapons — weapons which were then used by Solomon Islanders to intimidate and kill their fellow citizens.

Members of the public are also genuinely concerned about the manner in which the Chinese fake guns were imported into the country — via a logging vessel which is, to say the least, an unusual means of transporting official government goods.

The shifting narratives from the Police Commissioner about this incident have raised more questions than they have answered.

There are also broader questions. Is security created through arming the police? Or should we instead focus on an approach to security whereby the community is recognised as a partner in building and maintaining peace, and build on the long history Solomon Islanders have of brokering conflict among themselves?

While, as I said, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with arming the police, the focus needs to be on using community policing, chiefs, and youth leaders to broker conflicts. It is unfortunate when the ordinary citizens of the country are viewed not as partners in development, but as threat to the hegemony and hold on power by some people.

Last year’s riots and covid-19 have revealed many underlying governance weaknesses. As I have argued earlier, they are symptomatic of a society that has become increasingly less pluralistic, and of political and economic institutions that have become less inclusive.

Then there is the leaked security agreement with China, which has exacerbated existing unease among the public about China. The increasing engagement with China is explained by the Prime Minister as an attempt by the government to diversify its engagement on security.

Chinese naval base unlikely
It is unlikely that China will build a naval base in Solomon Islands. The agreement does not specify that it will and, although it could be construed that way, the reality is that it is not going to happen.

Australia is already building a patrol base in Lofung, in the Shortland Islands which borders Papua New Guinea, and has announced that they will build another one in the eastern Solomon Islands. I would venture to suggest that the capacity of these investments should cater for a naval base if the need ever arises in the future.

What is unprecedented about this security arrangement is that it allows China, with the consent of the Solomon Islands government, to send armed personnel to protect its citizens and assets.

It also prohibits any publicity around these arrangements. It is ironic that a prime minister who invariably extols the virtues of national sovereignty should agree to cede a fundamental sovereign function — the protection of lives and property — to a foreign force.

It is not clear if this is inadvertent, but it would seem that its ramifications have not been thought through.

The security arrangement has also raised concerns in the region. The President of the Federated States of Micronesia has written to Prime Minister Sogavare requesting that he reconsider it.

There is perhaps nothing intrinsically wrong with Solomon Islands signing a security agreement with China. There should, however, be coherence with similar arrangements with other countries, which focus on the capacity of the Solomon Islands Police Force to deal with internal security uprisings, and preferably all assistance should be within a regional framework supported by the Pacific Islands Forum.

Cannot choose neighbours
While a country may choose its friends, it cannot choose its neighbours.

In Solomon Islands today, there is no opportunity for policy debate by the public except on Facebook. The public and constituents do not have the same ease of access to our ministers and prime minister as embassy officials, and mining and logging CEOs.

Such is the current degree of polarisation that any criticism or comment is viewed by the current political coalition as “anti-government”. There does not seem to be any scope for dissenting views, or even constructive ideas from outside the inner circle, to be accommodated.

Unless a more pluralistic society is promoted where people’s views are welcomed, and there are more inclusive political and economic institutions, the government will be forced to depend on regional troops to support it.

At some stage, regional partners must hold Solomon Islands politicians to account for the economic and political situation they have created and the resulting violence such as the rioting last year.

The current focus on arms, without attention to rights and responsibilities, cannot and should not be sustained.

Dr Transform Aqorau is CEO of iTuna Intel and founding director, Pacific Catalyst, and a legal adviser to the Marshall Islands. He is the former CEO of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement Office. This article was first published by Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy Centre at The Australian National University and is republished under a Creative Commons licence.

Papua New Guinea opposition leader Belden Namah has called on a member of Parliament, Lohia Boe Samuel, to resign over the accidental fatal shooting of a man.

In a statement yesterday, Namah weighed in on the restaurant shooting in Waigani which was allegedly an accident and involved Moresby Northwest MP Samuel, a lawyer.

“Accidental or intentional, the leader has been most irresponsible in producing a gun in a public place. Producing a gun and discharging or firing a gun in a public is illegal,” Namah said.

• READ MORE: Other reports on PNG’s gun culture

Namah called on Samuel to resign immediately as MP and face the full force of the law as a private citizen.

“The issue here is not that the discharge of the firearm was accidental. The far more important issue which resulted in the fatal shooting is the production of the firearm in a public place.

“That is illegal and Mr Samuel, as a senior lawyer, ought to have known that better,” he said.

Namah said there should be no cover up of this incident, and that Samuel should do the decent thing and resign immediately.

Police urged to lay charges
He also called on the police to do the right thing and bring him to account.

Namah also drew reference to another incident involving senior Pangu Party MP and Minister for Planning Rainbo Paita who was investigated for firing a high-powered firearm.

Namah said: “Following a so-called ‘high level investigation’ carried out by the Police Commissioner David Manning, Mr Paita was cleared.

“And now we have another of the Prime Minister James Marape’s inner circle of friends involved in a public display of a firearm which endangered the lives of all patrons and staff at a public place resulting in the death of a man.

“Mr Samuel and Mr Paita’s fascination with firearms is not just their own.

“It is indicative of a very dangerous and relaxed attitude by this government under Prime Minister James Marape’s leadership towards the whole issue of firearms, violence and law and order situation in the country,” he said.

Republished with permission.

An inter-agency team working with Australian and American investigators has busted a drug laboratory operating in a Papua New Guinean hotel last week — but this could all be for nothing.

Papua New Guinea does not have the appropriate laws to prosecute offenders involved in such dangerous drugs, a senior police officer said.

The cache was seized in Sanctuary Hotel in the capital Port Moresby’s suburb Waigani.

• READ MORE: Intel singles out 12 meth production locations in PNG
• Businessman pleads guilty to possession of illegal guns charges

Head of the illicit and narcotic investigation team, Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Special Operations Donald Yamasombi, said PNG Police and PNG Customs had worked with the Australian Federal Police and United States Department of Homeland Security in an operation dubbed Saki Bomb.

The team tracked an illegal consignment from the United States onboard a cargo vessel all the way to PNG, resulting in the arrest last week of the hotel’s group operations manager Jamie Pang, 43.

Yamasombi said police had executed a search warrant on November 16 and raided the Sanctuary Hotel at Waigani and found a mini clandestine laboratory to produce methamphetamine, a highly dangerous recreational drug sometimes referred to as ice, or meth.

He said the clandestine laboratory was found inside a hotel room adjacent to Pang’s room.

High powered guns
Police also discovered and seized high powered guns and live ammunition of different calibres.

“History in the making for constabulary to see a laboratory where we got them in the process of producing meth,” Yamasombi said.

Pang was charged with four counts of possession of firearms without licences, five counts of possession of live ammunition and two counts of possession of firearm ­­– a total of 11 charges, for which he pleaded guilty last Friday at Boroko District Court.

“Unfortunately we cannot charge him with methamphetamine because there is no legislation,” Yamasombi said.

“For us it is a slap in the face though we have evidence and substances to prove this.

“But a good result of the operation is that he had pleaded guilty and we are now waiting to see court decision in court this week.”

He said investigations were continuing.

Marjorie Finkeo is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) demands the immediate and unconditional release of Lady Ann Salem, a Manila-based alternative journalist who was arrested on a firearms charge at the end of a raid on her home in which the police planted the evidence.

The co-founder of the alternative media network Altermidya and editor of the Manila Today news site, Salem – also known as “Icy” Salem – is now facing up to 20 years in prison on a trumped-up charge of illegal possession of firearms and explosives, a charge that does not allow release on bail.

When the police arrived at her home in a Manila suburb at around 9 am on December 10, they refused to let her contact her lawyer and made her turn her face to the wall while they carried out a search.

• READ MORE: Philippines media freedom stories

“While I was forced to turn my back for an hour, they planted the evidence,” she managed to tell another journalist as she was being led away to a police vehicle.

The police claim they found four .45 pistols and four grenades during the search.

“The police clearly planted the evidence to incriminate ‘Icy’ Salem in an utterly shameless manner,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.

“In view of their shocking methods, we demand this journalist’s immediate and unconditional release. This latest attack on independent media by the Philippine authorities just discredits President Rodrigo Duterte’s government on the international stage.”

‘Red-tagging’
The police used exactly the same method when they arrested Frenchie Mae Cumpio, the editor of the Eastern Vista news website in the eastern city of Tacloban on February 7. Police officers planted firearms in her home when carrying out her arrest.

Like Manila Today, Eastern Vista is part of the Altermidya network of alternative media outlets that are committed to independent journalism and to defending the most marginalised sectors of Philippine society.

As a result, they are routinely branded as communist by the authorities, a process known as “red-tagging.”

A hangover from the Cold War and, before that, from when the country was a US colony, “red-tagging” is a typically Philippine practice under which dissenting individuals or groups, including journalists and media outlets, are identified to the police and paramilitaries as legitimate targets for arbitrary arrest or, worse still, summary execution.

Relentless war
During a parliamentary hearing on December 1, the government-run National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) formally labelled members of the Altermidya network as violent communist activists without presenting a “shred of evidence” in support of this claim.

Altermidya is the latest victim of the Duterte administration’s relentless war against independent media. Its targets include Maria Ressa, the founder and CEO of the independent news website Rappler, who had to post bail and appear in court on December 4 as a result of a new warrant for her arrest on a charge of online criminal defamation.

Ressa is currently the subject of at least eight different cases by various government agencies.

Last July, the irascible and authoritarian president’s supporters in congress drove the final nails into the coffin of the country’s biggest radio and TV network, ABS-CBN, by refusing to give it a new franchise, after previously refusing to extend its 25-year franchise when it expired in May.

The Philippines is ranked 136th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

Retired and serving police officers in Papua New Guinea are being investigated for alleged offences such as gun-smuggling, fraud and theft, according to Police Minister Bryan Kramer.

It includes “massive corruption at the police headquarters in Port Moresby by retired and serving senior police officers”.

“Cases now under investigation are the smuggling of firearms, land/housing fraud, payroll fraud, drugs, fuel theft, insurance scam, stealing from the retired officers’ pension fund and misusing police allowances,” Kramer said.

• READ MORE: Bryan Kramer: One year in – why so quiet on corruption?

“Investigations are halfway complete in most of the cases.

“Arrests will be done at the completion of the investigations.”

Kramer said the “massive corruption” at police headquarters in Konedobu was done during the term of the previous government led by former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

Kramer said the police force, once described as a national pride, had been “reduced to a private security business serving corrupt politicians and dodgy foreign businessmen”.

Weapons on-sold to province
Meanwhile, a source at police headquarters said detectives were struggling with the investigations into the smuggling of guns allegations because the suspects were retired senior police officers.

“These retired senior officers purchased firearms for the police force and brought them into the country,” the source said.

“However, the firearms were then smuggled out of Port Moresby to another province by a private security company.”

Clifford Faiparik is a reporter for The National newspaper in Papua New Guinea. The Pacific Media Centre republishes National articles with permission.

Former Prime Minister Lord Tu’ivakano will be sentenced at the end of next month after being found guilty in the Supreme Court yesterday of three charges, including making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a passport and perjury.

The offences in what was known as the Chinese passport scandal were committed in 2015, but he was not charged until 2018.

Local media reported that the jury retired at 4pm and were back in just over half an hour.

READ MORE: Former PM denies bribery, firearms, perjury charges over Chinese passport scandal

RNZ reported earlier that six charges of bribery and money laundering in relation to the issuance of Tongan passports to Chinese nationals had been dropped.

As Kaniva News reported last week, it was originally alleged that between 2013-2014, while serving as Minister for Foreign Affairs, he accepted money to issue Tongan passports to various Chinese nationals.

The amounts involved were said to range from TP$3000 (NZ$2052) to TP$199,408.94 (NZ$136,460).

These allegations were withdrawn and not heard.

Firearm charge
Crown Prosecutor Semisi Lutui told the court, the Attorney-General had advised against proceeding with the charges.

The presiding judge, Lord Chief Justice Whitten, will sentence Lord Tu’ivikano on charges of three counts of making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a passport, perjury and possession of 212 pieces of ammunition without a licence.

Last week, the former Prime Minister pleaded guilty to possessing a .22 rifle without a licence.

The firearm and ammunition charges stemmed from a police search of his home  in Nuku’alofa on March 1, 2018.

Lord Tu’ivakano was  accused of making a false statement on the grounds that on July 17, 2015 he wrote a letter to the Immigration Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that Hua Guo and Xing Lui were naturalised as Tongans on October 29, 2014.

On the charge of perjury, it was alleged that on December 21, 2015, he made an oath in an affidavit, stating that these two were naturalised during his tenure as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ministry and that naturalisation Tongan passports were then issued to them, knowing this statement was false.

He was further charged with making a false statement, in that on July 17, 2015 with the purpose of obtaining a passport for Hua Guo and Xing Liu, and with intent to deceive the Immigration Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the accused wrote a letter to the Immigration Division, stating that these two were naturalised as Tongans on October 29, 2014, and he had reasonable cause to believe that statement was misleading.

He was bailed on condition that he surrender his passport and not leave Tongatapu.

Lord Tu’ivakano is still a member of Parliament as a Noble’s Representative.

Philip Cass is associate editor of Pacific Journalism Review and a research associate of the Pacific Media Centre. This article is republished under a partnership agreement with Kaniva Tonga.

• Former Tongan PM found guilty of 3 charges

By Michael Arnold in Port Moresby

A shootout in a supermarket in the Papua New Guinean capital of Port Moresby last Thursday has sparked a nationwide debate on gun control and calls for civilians to be banned from carrying firearms.

The shooting, which happened in Moresby Northeast, resulted in two gunmen firing off 15 rounds in the crowded Boroko Foodworld supermarket, leaving one man dead and two children injured after being caught in the crossfire.

However, both EMTV News and Loop PNG website reported three people had been wounded, including two boys.

Reports from the Pacific International Hospital (PIH) said one young boy was being treated for grazes to his leg and his back.

Doctors also confirmed that apart from the flesh wounds the boy also suffered psychological trauma after the shooting.

He is currently in a stable condition but is being kept under observation at the hospital.

PIH representatives also said the hospital had admitted a high frequency of gunshot cases over past years.

Reckless firarms use
Thursday’s incident has been yet another demonstration of the reckless use of firearms by people in public spaces.

The current moratorium on gun licences is already in place, and there has also been a call for a total ban on private firearm ownership.

The issue of gun control has been high on the government agenda over the past week, with several parliamentarians having already called for improved gun licensing processes and the imposition of heavier penalties for illegal possession of firearms.

Earlier in the day last Thursday, Police Minister Jelta Wong told Parliament he believed the government must totally eradicate illegal weapons.

Presenting his ministerial statement on the status of gun-related issues, he said the report pushed for a total ban on licences as well as illegal guns.

Established by a parliamentary committee headed by former member of Goroka Bire Kimisopa, the report on guns control proposed banning guns and increasing penalties for offenders.

Wong signed a moratorium on October 4 last year, banning the purchase and issuing of new gun permits to citizens.

MPs were able to debate the issue, with many suggesting changes should be made for more assistance on the education of youths, allowing them to change for the better.

Michael Arnold is a PNG Post-Courier reporter.

• Earlier report on the shootout

Breathless police and media commentary about a cocktail of napalm bombs, terrorist cells, guns, ammunition, Māori extremists, guerrilla warfare, assassination threats against politicians, greeted the public on the 15 October 2007.

You name it – the police claimed it and the media hyped it.

From the 17 arrests and the dozens searched and detained – illegally as it turned out – just four people were charged with illegal possession of firearms – two were jailed and two given home detention.

The progressive left was quick to hit back against the hysterical police narrative and bring some semblance of sanity and common sense to the public debate.

This was highly successful and within 24 hours some elements of the media and much of the public were expressing scepticism concerning the police claims.

We worked with Tuhoe activists to organise marches and public demonstrations highlighting the appalling police behaviour and calling for a reigning in of the surveillance state.

Police overreacted
Subsequent developments showed we were right – the police had overreacted and dramatically overreached. They should have taken concerns about military style camps in the Urewera seriously and sent in a Māori liaison officer to find out what was happening and why.

Instead, the police deliberately sidelined their community officers in favour of a dramatic $8 million surveillance operation which they hoped would bring public justification for the massive increase in police (and SIS) powers and resources in the wake of the US September 11 attacks.

New Zealand had become a surveillance state and these raids would show that while we didn’t have Islamic extremists, we had our own home-grown “terrorists”.

A lot of that initial response from the left was instinctive. We knew most of the people the police were claiming as terrorists and knew this was at least a gross over-reaction to whatever had been going on.

The most important lesson from the Urewera raids is to always be sceptical of state agencies who often have their own non-public interest justifications for what they do.

On the other side I don’t think it’s too cynical to say the main lesson the police will have learnt is NOT that they got it wrong and couldn’t tell the difference between a bullshit conversation in a car and a credible terrorist threat, but that it was a failure of PR to prepare carefully enough.

Tuhoe have their own lessons which they have been speaking about in the past few days.

It’s worth remembering too the long list of legislation passed by successive Labour and National governments to extend the surveillance state on the pretext of keeping us safe.

Instead, it has turned this country into a surveillance state where civil liberties and the right to privacy take second place to the powers of Big Brother to intrude into our lives.

This article was first published on The Daily Blog and has been republished with permission.

• Summary of NZ laws threatening civil liberties post September 11, 2001

At a ceremony in Honiara last week the police force launched its limited rearmament programme which will see 125 officers from the Police Response Team (PRT) and Close Personal Protection (CPP) squad bear arms when on duty.

Speaking at the launch on May 8, Commissioner of Police Matthew Varley said it marked an important day in the history of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) and the Solomon Islands.

“For almost 14 years the RSIPF has been without arms, but today as Commissioner of the RSIPF I am proud to announce that the RSIPF is ready for the responsibility of rearmament.”

Rearmament remains a sensitive subject in the Solomon Islands, reports the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation.

During the five-year period of ethnic violence, known locally as “The Tensions’” some officers became part of the conflict with the police armoury in Honiara being raided and the guns used to threaten the population.

The conflict, between 1998 and 2003, was centred between militants from Guadalcanal Island and settlers from Malaita and saw the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) move in and take control.

RAMSI force set to leave
The RAMSI force is set to leave next month. This has made some people in the community nervous, but the ceremony was all about one word: trust.

Delivering the keynote address, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said the Solomon Islands government also had a duty of care not to force RSIPF to compromise its position of trust.

“The Solomon Islands Government also has a duty of care not to place the force in a situation where it is forced to compromise its position of trust,” he said.

“Now that we have regained that confidence, we have a duty to ensure that we maintain the people’s confidence in the force and by extension, the government.

“That responsibility lies squarely on the shoulders of each and every police officer will be entrusted with the use of firearms in the discharge of their official duty.”

• Solomon Islands decision to rearm police sparks heated debate

The officers were in training at the Bomana Police Training College on the outskirts of Port Moresby.

“Firearms are one of the dangerous equipment that police use,” said Commander Perou N’Dranou. “It’s there for a purpose to make sure that we do our job properly to protect life and property.”

The police have faced widespread criticism over the use of firearms with critics claiming that they are using firearms illegally.

Bradley Gregory reports for the state-run National Broadcasting Corporation TV News.