Protesters have scaled the building of an international weapons company in Rolleston, Christchurch, in resistance to it establishing a presence in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Two people from the group Peace Action Ōtautahi were on the roof of the NIOA building on Stoneleigh Drive, shown in a photo on social media, and banners were strung across the exterior.

Banners declared “No war profiteers in our city. NIOA supplies genocide” and “Shut NIOA down”.

• READ MORE: Other genocide protests

In late December, the group hung a banner across the Bridge of Remembrance in a similar protest.

In 2023, the global munitions company acquired Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, an Australian-owned, US-based manufacturer of firearms and ammunition operating out of Tennessee.

According to the company’s website, its products are “used by civilian sport shooters, law enforcement agencies, the United States military and more than 80 State Department approved countries across the world”.

In a media release, Peace Action Ōtautahi said the aim was to highlight the alleged killing of innocent civilians with weapons supplied by NIOA.

NIOA has been approached for comment.

Police confirm action
A police spokesperson said they were aware of the protest, and confirmed two people had climbed onto the roof, and others were surrounding the premises.

In a later statement, police said the people on the ground had moved. However, the two protesters remained on the roof.

“We are working to safely resolve the situation, and remove people from the roof,” they said.

“While we respect the right to lawful protest, our responsibility is to uphold the law and ensure the safety of those involved.”

Fire and Emergency staff were also on the scene, alongside the police Public Safety Unit and negotiation team.

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

Pro-Palestine protesters picketed the offices of Auckland-based electronics manufacturer Rakon today, accusing it of exporting military-capable products for Israel, which is under investigation by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide against the 2 million people of Gaza.

The ICJ, the world’s highest lawcourt, last Friday ordered Israel to stop its military assault on Rafah in the southern half of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Legal commentators have argued that any country assisting Israel could potentially be prosecuted for complicity in Israel’s alleged war crimes.

• READ MORE: Palestine protesters condemn Google, demand NZ action over Gaza genocide
• Global outrage continues over Israeli defiance of World Court Rafah order
• Israel’s war on Gaza live news: Calls to declare famine in the enclave
• Other War on Gaza reports

Former Shortland Street actor Will Alexander — who is in his 10th day of a hunger strike in protest over Israel’s war on Gaza war — also spoke at the Rakon rally.

A statement by Rakon claimed it was “not aware” of any of its products being used in weapons that were supplied to Israel.

“Rakon does not design or manufacture weapons. We do not supply products to Israel for weapons, and we are not aware of our products being incorporated into weapons which are provided to Israel,” the statement said.

However, Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) has written to the government asking it to suspend military-capable exports from Rakon pending an independent investigation into their use in Israel’s “genocidal attacks on Gaza”.

Rakon makes crystal oscillators used in the guidance systems of smart bombs, PSNA national chair John Minto said in a statement published today by The Daily Blog.

Company’s ‘military objective’
“Their 2005 business plan says the company’s objective was to dominate ‘the lucrative and expanding guided munitions and military positioning market’ within five years,” he said.

“Rakon sends these ‘smart bomb’ parts to US arms manufacturers which build the bombs which inevitably end up in Israel’s genocidal attacks on Gaza.

“Already the United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a resolution calling for a halt to all arms sales to Israel and last Friday the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to end its attacks on Rafah because of Israel’s indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinians.”

Minto added that the New Zealand government had been “muddying the water” by saying New Zealand did not export arms to Israel.

“Exporting parts for guided munitions and JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munitions) bombs which end up in the killing fields of Gaza means we are actively supporting Israel’s genocide”, Minto said.

An Amnesty International investigation has highlighted two incidents involving JDAM bombs which appear to be war crimes.

“It is highly likely the bombs used in these mass killing events (43 civilians killed — 19 children, 14 women and 10 men) have parts manufactured in Rakon’s Mt Wellington factory,” Minto said.

The UN Genocide Convention requires all 153 signatory countries, including New Zealand, to take action to prevent genocide.

A deadly explosion in the Solomon Islands capital has caused fear and confusion about the ongoing threat posed by hidden munitions left over from World War II.

A central Honiara residential area was rocked on Sunday by the detonation of a buried howitzer shell which left one person dead and three others injured, two seriously.

The 101mm cannon round exploded in the Lengakiki area where four youth members of the Kukum Seventh Day Adventist Church had been holding a fund-raising barbecue.

• READ MORE: Fatal 2020 bomb blast still being investigated
• US and Japan urged to act after old WWII shell kills man in Solomon Islands

An elder from the church, Lloyd Tahani, said the open fire they were cooking on was directly above the shell.

“Maybe, because they had been cooking a long time, it triggered the bomb to explode,” said Tahani.

He said the young man who was killed, who he identified as Raziv Hilly, “was hit directly” as he was cooking beneath a mango tree while the other three injured people were standing nearby.

The incident has left the people in Honiara shocked and scared, said Tahani.

‘Fear to the residents’
“It brought fear to the residents in Honiara because, you know, Honiara is where the battle between Japan and the USA finishes,” he said referring to the 1942-43 Guadalcanal campaign.

“You just don’t have a comfortable environment when such things happen. People just feel that we don’t know whether a bomb is still sitting under your house or somewhere where you’re staying.”

Raziv Hilly was a leader in the Kukum SDA Church’s youth ministry, according to Tahani, who will be sadly missed.

He was one of the country’s future leaders, according to a member of the Solomon Islands Parliament.

Peter Kenilorea Jr, who knew Hilly and his family, said he was a much respected youth leader.

“He was a very promising leader here in the Solomon Islands. He had a lot of respect,” said Kenilorea.

“He was one that had a lot of potential for us in the Solomons so it’s just sad to see him go this way. So the family is grieving at the moment and we send our love and our condolences.”

Hilly was also one of the country’s top aviation engineers whose loss is being mourned by his colleagues at the Ministry of Aviation and Communication, according to the Solomon Star.

The other three injured members of the church remain in hospital with one having received surgery on Monday for her serious injuries.

Munitions recovery ongoing
With Solomon Islands seeing some of the most intense conflict in WWII, the country remains littered with bombs, with hidden munitions an ongoing threat across the country.

The head of the police’s explosive ordnance disposal team, Clifford Tunuki, said they had responded to a number of unexploded ordnance (UXO) reports over the years in the capital.

“We keep a data base of the response we conducted and we have checked the history of that area,” said Tunuki, referring to Lengakiki.

“Our research indicates that it is no more contaminated with UXO than other parts of the capital.”

The last one was a mortar shell discovered in 2016, said Tunuki.

“Unfortunately citizens of Honiara can find a UXO anywhere and at any time of the year,” he added.

Norwegian deaths
Last September, two members of a Norwegian NGO working on munitions recovery and disposal were killed when they removed ordnance into Honiara where they had been staying.

Tunuki said he could not comment on that case as the investigation into their deaths was still under way.

The United States, which along with Japan is responsible for most of the country’s UXO’s, said in a statement through its embassy in Papua New Guinea that it is “deeply saddened to hear of the tragic incident in Honiara this past weekend and mourn[s] the loss of life.”

“The United States government, through our Department of Defense, will continue to support efforts to remove unexploded ordnance from Solomon Islands.

“Among these efforts is our ongoing partnership with Norwegian People’s Aid, which has worked in Solomon Islands since 2019 to identify and dispose of unexploded ordnance.”

But work by the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) was suspended last year following the deaths of the Australian and British team members in Honiara, according to Tunuki.

Previously, the Australian and New Zealand military had removed more than 1000 World War II era munitions as part of Operation Render Safe.

Told to hire cleaning company
Meanwhile, the owners of the site of Sunday’s blast have been told to hire a clearing company because there are not enough police resources to check their land.

Tunuki said the scene had been secured and no other threats were detected.

But he said the landowners have been told to hire a private clearing company to check surrounding grounds.

“The problem for us to clear populated areas, then we would need more manpower and resources than we currently have.

“Until then, we can only respond to the community reports that they have located UXO and then we attend to [them].”

Tunuki said there were more recruits being trained for that purpose.

More knowledge needed
But more knowledge and awareness about the potential for UXO’s beneath existing structures and in established neighbourhoods may be needed, according to Peter Kenilorea Jr.

New commercial developments were cleared of munitions but people were not likely to expect them in the yards of existing homes, he added.

“I guess an increase of awareness needs to be done by authorities to alert people on the certain steps that they might need to take, even in an already established area, involving fires and then such,” said Kenilorea.

“I think such awareness needs to come back much more prominent in our discourse here in Honiara and Solomon Islands in general.”

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

By New Zealand-based security analyst Dr Paul Buchanan

Last week Fiji took delivery of a shipment of Russian weapons that were “donated” by Russia pursuant to a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in February 2015.

The Fiji government says the weapons are needed by Fijian peacekeepers in regions like the Middle East because what they currently have in their inventory are obsolete.

The shipment includes small arms (squad) weapons, two trucks, tear gas, other non-lethal munitions and possibly a helicopter.

The shipment will formally be unveiled in February in front of a Russian delegation that will include military trainers who will remain in the country to instruct Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) personnel in their proper use.

Fijian Opposition figures believe that the shipment is illegal because it was not approved by Parliament and that it could be used against domestic opponents of the current military-backed elected government.

The issues
Let me briefly outline the issues:

The shipment is perfectly legal, as it is not part of a treaty that needs parliamentary ratification. Plus, it is a “donation” of military aid so it does not need parliamentary approval.

It is not clear that the formal unveiling will reveal all of the weapons delivered. It is quite possible that some or most of the shipment will be concealed.

The Opposition is correct to be concerned about the ”dual use” potential of the weapons.

Squad weapons, tear gas and non-lethal munitions can be used in peacekeeping but can also be used as instruments of crowd control at home.

Given the RFMF’s history, that is a very real possibility.

The arms shipment could trigger an arms race with Tonga, which also has a military and is a rival of Fiji.

The Tongans are not likely to view the shipment kindly even if it does not specifically include naval equipment. Squad weapons can and are used by navies as a matter of routine.

Although Fijian military inventories may well be obsolete, most UN peacekeeping missions are armed by the UN using NATO-standard equipment.

That includes small arms and troop carriers used in “blue helmet” operations. Thus the claim that the Russian arms are needed for peacekeeping is debatable at best.

The MOU with Russia also outlines military educational exchanges. These follow on a similar programme with the Chinese military (PLA).

The Chinese also have funded and undertaken numerous infrastructure projects such as port dredging and road building that have a parallel “dual use” potential: they can be used for civilian and military purposes alike.

The sum result of this is that the strategic balance in the South Pacific is clearly in flux. Given the US “pivot” to Asia and the reassertion of its security ties with Australia and New Zealand, that is bound to result in increased diplomatic tensions and gamesmanship in the Western Pacific in the years to come.

For the full report, go to: 36th-Parallel.com for Asia-Pacific analysis.

36th Parallel Assessments is a non-partisan, non-governmental geopolitical risk and strategic analysis consultancy. Located in Auckland, New Zealand, 36th Parallel Assessments offers tiered political risk, market intelligence and strategic forecasting services. It combines open source intelligence and trend analysis, qualitative subject studies and targeted research on matters of economic, political and social import from a South Pacific perspective. In doing so 36th Parallel Assessments serves as a window on national and regional trends, including the activities of extra-regional powers and actors in the Trans-Pacific context.

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