At least 20 people were wounded when police used batons, water cannon and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who joined rallies in Indonesia’s West Papua region on the 61st anniversary of an agreement that made the territory part of Indonesia, news agencies report.

The US-brokered 1962 New York Agreement allowed Indonesia to annex the Christian-majority region after the end of Dutch colonial rule, according to a report in the UCA News.

Riot police attacked peaceful demonstrators in three locations near the provincial capital Jayapura yesterday, alleged Emmanuel Gobay, a Catholic and an official of the Papua Legal Aid Institute.

• READ MORE: West Papuan solidarity group condemns arrest of 21 activists protesting 1962 ‘tragedy’
• Other West Papua reports

The demonstrators called on the international community to review the agreement and take action to end ongoing violence and repression in the region, said the report.

“In fact, they only held peaceful demonstrations,” said Gobay, who joined one of the rallies.

He stated that more than 20 people were beaten, with one of them later being treated in hospital.

“One person was seriously injured and was immediately transported to the hospital for treatment,” he said.

Listening to speeches
Videos and photos obtained by UCA News showed police attacked with water canons and fired tear gas while people were listening to speeches from leaders of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), the protest organiser.

Gobay said that although the authorities viewed the KNPB as a “separatist — pro-independence — group “they should have the right to express their opinion” as guaranteed in the nation’s constitution.

“Moreover, they submitted an official letter notifying police about the programme beforehand,” he added.

He condemned the use of water cannon and tear gas on demonstrators.

These should only be for anarchic demonstrations — “not peaceful demonstrations,” he said.

Gobay alleged that police committed criminal offences by torturing and beating protesters, and called on the Papuan police chief to immediately prosecute the perpetrators so that there was a deterrent effect, said the UCA News report.

Father Bernard Baru from the Jayapura Diocese’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission said that this repressive action was a repetition of the discriminatory treatment of Papuans by the state.

Brutal police action ‘normal’
“In Papua, police actions like this are considered normal. This only deepens discrimination against Papuans,” he said.

Police officials were not available for comment.

KNPB spokesman Ones Sahuniap issued a statement to condemn the police brutality and claimed those who were beaten suffered serious head injuries and bled profusely.

Suhuniap said the police used rattan and batons to beat and break up the demonstration.

The KNPB simultaneously held demonstrations in Papua and in other parts of Indonesia, asking the United Nations to review the 1962 New York Agreement.

During the rallies, KNPB leaders called the New York Agreement “a violation of human rights of Papuans” sponsored by Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United States and the United Nations.

Not party to agreement
As per the agreement, later added to the agenda of UN General Assembly, the Netherlands agreed to transfer the control of West Papua New Guinea to Indonesia, pending an UN-administered referendum.

The Papuans were not party to the agreement and it paved the way for the 1969 Act of Free Choice, an independence referendum favoring Indonesian rule in Papua whuch was largely regarded as a sham.

Indonesia’s annexation of Papua and use to force to crush dissent sparked an armed pto-indeoendence movement.

Thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced due to the conflict in the easternmost region in the past decades.

An Australian West Papuan solidarity group has condemned the reported arrest of 21 activists protesting in Jayapura over a “tragic day in history” and called on Canberra to urge Jakarta to restrain its security forces.

The West Papuan National Committee (KNPB) activists were arrested at the weekend because they were handing out flyers calling on West Papuans to mark the date on Tuesday — 15 August 1962 —  when the Papuan people were “betrayed by the international community”, reports Jubi News.

That was the date of the New York Agreement, brokered by the US, which called for the transfer of the Dutch colony of Netherlands New Guinea to Indonesia after a short period of UN administration.

• READ MORE: The New York Agreement on West Papua
• Other West Papua reports

No West Papuans were involved in this agreement.

“Hopefully this year the Indonesian security forces will allow the West Papuan people to hold their peaceful rallies without interference,” said Joe Collins, spokesperson for the Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) in a statement.

“Canberra should be urging Jakarta to control its security forces in West Papua, otherwise we will see more arrests and more human rights abuses.

“We should not forget,  Australia was involved and still involved”.

The New York Agreement included a guarantee that the Papuan people would be allowed an “Act of Free Choice” to determine their political status.

Peaceful demonstration
The so-called “Act of Free Choice” in 1969 has been branded as a sham by activists and international critics.

Sixty one years after that contested agreement, West Papuans are still calling for a real referendum.

The Central KNPB spokesperson, Ones Suhuniap, said that 21 KNPB Sentani Region activists were arrested on Saturday when activists distributed leaflets calling for a peaceful demonstration to mark the New York Agreement and also the racism troubles that Papuan students suffered in Surabaya, Central Java, in August 2019.

Although some of the activists had been released, these arrests were intended to intimidate civil society groups into not taking part in the planned rallies, said the spokesperson.

Collins said: “West Papuan civil society groups regularly hold events and rallies on days of significance in their history, to try and bring attention to the world of the injustices they suffer under Indonesian rule.

“And this is what Jakarta fears most — international scrutiny on the ongoing human rights abuses in the territory”.

Collins said it was of “great concern” that Indonesian security forces could again stage a crackdown in “their usual heavy-handed approach to any peaceful rallies held by West Papuans” during this coming week.

In the past, West Papuans had not only been being arrested for peaceful action but had also been beaten, tortured – and some people had faced charges of treason.

Three students jailed for ‘treason’
On Tuesday, three students were found guilty of treason and given a 10-month prison term by a panel of judges at the Jayapura District Court for alleged treason by being involved in a “free speech” event last year, reports Jubi News.

Yoseph Ernesto Matuan, Devio Tekege, and Ambrosius Fransiskus Elopere took part in the event held at Jayapura University of Science and Technology (USTJ) on November 10, 2022, when they waved Morning Star flags of independence.

The event aimed to reject a Papua peace dialogue plan introduced by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

Esther Haluk, a women’s rights activist from GARDA Papua, is among West Papuan activists who have condemned a declining state of freedom of speech in the Melanesian region.

Speaking in a recent online discussion on “Status and Trends of Freedom of Expression, Assembly, and Digital Rights in West Papua”, she said there was a growing sense of fear among Papuans who wished to openly voice their opinions due to the Indonesian government’s response.

Haluk said that the deterioration of freedom of expression in Papua could be traced back to 2019 when large-scale protests erupted in response to instances of racism.

• READ MORE: Other West Papua reports

She said individuals from the Papuan community who had participated in those protests were subsequently arrested and imprisoned.

“Some Indonesian people call us monkeys but when we fight against it, we are arrested. We are victims,” Haluk told the discussion organised by SAFEnet and TAPOL this week.

According to Haluk, whenever Papuans exercised their freedom of expression to voice the truth, they were consistently met with opposition from the military and police forces.

Haluk shared that she personally experienced being arrested for participating in a peaceful protest in May 2022. However, at the police station she was questioned about her social media posts instead.

Facebook account hacked
“So at that time we were taken to the police station not because of the protest but rather due to our social media posts. My Facebook account was hacked three times after I posted some comments on the news,” Haluk explained.

Haluk said the policies implemented by the Indonesian government did not align with the wishes of the Papuan people, particularly over the splitting up of Papua province to  establish new provinces.

However, when Papuans protested against the policy, they were arrested.

“We refuse to accept the policies enforced in Papua because they do not positively impact our lives,” she said.

“We are witnessing ecological destruction that poses a threat to our existence, as well as issues of land appropriation.

“It is our fundamental right to express ourselves and engage in peaceful protests, yet the government responds by deploying a significant number of military and police personnel to suppress Papuan voices,” Haluk said.

She said Indonesia as a democratic nation should uphold and honour the freedom of expression of Papuans.

Peaceful protests
In Haluk’s view, the way the Indonesian government treated Papuans indicated that Papuans were not viewed as a part of Indonesia.

“We intended to conduct a peaceful protest, so why did the government resort to sending in the police and military to forcibly disperse us?

“We were simply exercising our rights, so why the use of such excessive force by the military and police?

“Based on our experiences as Papuans, it feels as though our rights hold no significance and are not acknowledged within Indonesia,” Haluk said.

Ian Moore of the human rights campaign TAPOL revealed in the forum that there were 21 instances of arbitrary dispersals that took place in 2022, according to the Tapol West Papua 2022 report “Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Assembly”.

Moore highlighted that most of the incidents occurred in Papua province, particularly in the capital Jayapura. However, similar incidents were also reported in other parts of West Papua, especially in Sorong, and Central Papua.

Moore said that various police units were involved in the dispersal of peaceful demonstrations in Papua, ranging from standard units to special task forces such as the Nemangkawi Task Force, the Mobile Brigade Corps, and police intelligence agencies

Papuans ‘oppressed’
Made Supriatma, a researcher at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said the state continued to oppress Papuans by deploying military forces to deal with their protests.

This response, Supriatma added, was “excessively brutal” and amounted to repression against Papuans.

Supriatma said that various protests by Papuans indicated a growing sense of nationalism, particularly among the youth in Papua.

The Indonesian government should engage in dialogue with Papuans to address their concerns and listen to their demands.

“Papua has a strong movement, and young Papuans are eager to voice their opinions and participate in protests, even in the face of military repression,” Supriatma said.

Republished with permission.

A West Papuan leader, defending himself against treason charges, has denounced “systemic racism” by Indonesian authorities in the Melanesian region in a court hearing.

Viktor Yeimo, the international spokesperson of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), presented his defence statement — pledoi — in a hearing at the Jayapura Class 1A District Court in Papua Province last Thursday.

He claimed that the treason charge against him was discriminatory and had political undertones.

• READ MORE: Other Viktor Yeimo reports

Yeimo also argued that the trial conducted at the Jayapura District Court had failed to provide evidence of any wrongdoing or violation of the law — let alone treason — on his part.

The accusation of treason against Yeimo was linked to his alleged involvement in the anti-racism protests in Jayapura City on August 19 and 29, 2019.

These protests were made to condemn derogatory remarks made towards Papuan students at the Kamasan III Student Dormitory in Surabaya on August 16, 2019.

On August 12, 2021, the Jayapura District Court registered the alleged treason case under the case number 376/Pid.Sus/2021/PN Jap. The trial was presided over by chief judge Mathius and member judges Andi Asmuruf and Linn Carol Hamadi.

Witnesses ‘proved innocence’
When reading his defence statement, Yeimo said that all witnesses presented by the prosecutor had actually proven the fact that he did not plan or coordinate the demonstrations against Papuan racism that took place in Jayapura City.

Video of Viktor Yeimo’s defence presentation.  Video: Jubi TV

“At the August 19, 2019 action, I participated as a participant in the action against racism, and took part in securing the peaceful action at the request of students until it was over,” Yeimo said.

During the hearing, Yeimo argued that the witnesses produced by the prosecutor had actually corroborated his innocence. Their testimony had shown that he did not organise the protests in question.

Yeimo maintained that he had simply participated in the protests as a supporter of the cause and had helped ensure their peaceful conduct.

“During the protest on August 19, 2019, I merely acted as a participant and helped maintain a peaceful demonstration until it ended,” Yeimo said in his defence.

Yeimo highlighted the testimony of Feri Kombo, the former head of the Cenderawasih University Student executive board in 2019, who affirmed that Yeimo was not involved in the planning or coordination of the anti-racism protests.

Kombo was summoned as a witness on February 7, 2023, and testified that Yeimo had only given a speech at the event when requested by the protesters, and that the speech was intended to maintain order among them.

Delivered speeches
“I delivered speeches expressing my disappointment with the acts of racism in Surabaya. This aspiration is protected by the country’s laws as a constitutional right,” Yeimo said.

“As stated by the state administration expert witness and the philosophy expert witness, this right has a scientific basis.”

In addition, Yeimo stressed that he had never been involved in participating, let alone planning, in the protest that occurred on August 29, 2019, which was confirmed by all the witnesses presented in the trial.

Yeimo admitted that he had taken photos and videos in front of the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) office and the Governor’s Office, but did not join the protest.

Yeimo clarified that he captured photos and videos to share with journalists and the public outside of Papua since the internet network was cut off by the central government at the time.

He added that President Joko Widodo had been found guilty of unlawful acts by a judge in the State Administrative Court in relation to the internet blackout.

Response to racism
Yeimo said that the anti-racism demonstration was a spontaneous action taken by both Papuan and non-Papuan people in response to the racial insults that had been directed at Papuan students in Surabaya.

“The 2019 anti-racism protest that spread throughout Papua was a spontaneous response by Papuans and non-Papuan sympathizers from various backgrounds including private sector workers, students, farmers, military and police, and others.

“Everyone was reacting to the racist remarks in Surabaya. The demonstration in Jayapura was organised by students and the Cipayung group, and there was no planning, conspiracy, or treason as alleged.

“My speech was to represent the Papuan people who felt outraged by the racist insults. I deny all accusations that link me to my organizational background and other activities that have no direct connection to the facts of the anti-racism protest,” Yeimo said.

Yeimo stated that during the protest on August 19, 2019, he spoke about the issue of racism and discrimination in Indonesia. He emphasised that these problems were not merely personal issues but rather systematic problems that were perpetuated for the benefit of the ruling economic powers.

“It is evident that racist views have led to Papuans being treated differently in all aspects of their lives. The negative stigma attached to Papuans is what led the mass organisation and state apparatus to attack the Papuan Student Dormitory in Surabaya.”

In his statement, Yeimo’s arguments revolved around the issue of racial discrimination that Papuans have faced and how it is seen as a normal occurrence that the State tolerates.

Papuans standing up to injustices
He highlighted that when Papuans stood up against these injustices, they were met with accusations of provocation and charged with treason.

“This trial case proves it. Racism really exists in all these accusations and charges. Could the State explain why the Papuan race is a minority, with only 2.9 million people remaining, while in Papua New Guinea there are already 17 million Papuans?” Yeimo asked.

In his pledoi, Yeimo not only defended himself against the treason allegations but also criticised Indonesia’s lack of development in Papua.

He raised questions about why the poverty rate in Papua remained the highest among all provinces in Indonesia and why the Human Development Index in the region had consistently been the lowest.

Yeimo pointed out the contrasting approaches taken by the Indonesian government in resolving the conflict in Aceh and in Papua.

Differences with Aceh
While the Aceh conflict was resolved through peace talks, Papua’s aspirations for independence have been met with violence and imprisonment.

Yeimo questioned why the government treats the two regions so differently.

Yeimo said that although Indonesia had enacted several laws to address issues of discrimination, freedom of expression, and special autonomy for Papua, these laws do not seem to be enforced in Papua, and their implementation did not benefit the indigenous Papuans.

“Isn’t that a structured crime against us Papuans? Can the government answer these questions? Or do the answers have to come from the muzzle of a gun?” asked Yeimo.

“Why is the government avoiding solutions recommended by state institutions such as the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, the National Research and Innovation Agency, and others who present the studies on Papua problems?”

Linguist witness competence in Yeimo’s trial questioned
During the hearing, Viktor Yeimo’s legal team, represented by the Papua Law Enforcement and Human Rights Coalition, presented a defence read by advocate Emanuel Gobay.

Gobay argued that the prosecutor’s conclusion that Yeimo had committed treason relied solely on the testimony of a linguist witness who lacked the necessary expertise to prove the elements of the crime of treason as outlined in Article 106 jo Article 55 paragraph (1) to 1 of the Criminal Code, which Yeimo had been charged with.

“As a matter of fact, during the trial, the prosecutor never presented a criminal expert witness. Instead, the prosecutor relied on a linguist and then concluded that Viktor Yeimo was guilty of treason,” said Gobay.

According to Gobay, Yeimo’s legal team had presented multiple expert witnesses who explained the components of the treason offence, which included the elements of intent, territorial separation, and participation.

“All elements mentioned in Article 106 are not proven based on the testimony of both the prosecutor’s witnesses and the expert witnesses we presented,” Gobay said.

Gobay expressed the hope that the judges would review all the facts presented in Yeimo’s trial.

He asked the judges to re-examine the data provided by legal philosophy expert Tristam Pascal Moeliono, human rights expert Herlambang P Wiratraman, conflict resolution expert in Papua Cahyo Pamungkas, and criminal law expert Amira Paripurna.

Ultimately, Gobay made a plea to the judges to exonerate Viktor Yeimo, stating there was no proof of the alleged offences.

He requested restoration of Yeimo’s reputation and the State to bear the trial costs.

Republished from Jubi with permission.

Amnesty International Indonesia and Amnesty International Australia have condemned the repression used against the people in West Papua when they were commemorating Human Rights Day yesterday — December 10, which marks the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Indonesian authorities made 116 arrests and injured at least 17 people during multiple forced dispersals of rallies in the lead up to and during December 10 in four regencies across West Papua.

“We are appalled to hear about these mass arrests. Many were arrested when the rally had not even started,” Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said.

• READ MORE: Other West Papua reports

“This shows Indonesian authorities’ utter disregard of West Papuans’ right to peaceful assembly.

“Criminalising them for simply peacefully exercising such right will only breed further resentment and distrust. That discriminatory treatment against them has to stop,” said Hamid.

“People all over the globe commemorated Human Rights Day. The fact that West Papuan people could not enjoy the same right, shows that there is a human rights emergency in West Papua.”

Amnesty International Australia national director Sam Klintworth said: “Australia needs to demand accountability from Indonesian authorities, especially as they are recipients of so much Australian aid.”

23 arrested in Wamena
On December 8, 23 people in Wamena were arrested for several hours when they were distributing leaflets for people to join the Human Rights Day rally.

On December 10, forced dispersals and mass arrests took place in Wamena and Jayapura.

In Jayapura, 56 people were arrested and at least 16 people were known to be injured during forced dispersals in multiple locations.

In Wamena, 37 people were arrested and at least one person was injured when the multiple rallies were forcibly dispersed.

Also on December 10, a rally in Sorong was forcibly dispersed, and the protest in Manokwari was blocked by police.

Most of the protesters were members of the West Papua National Committee (Komite Nasional Papua Barat – KNPB), a peaceful grassroots organisation campaigning for the right to self-determination.

Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Indonesia has ratified through Law No. 12/2005, explicitly guarantees the right of any person to hold opinions without interference.

Freedom of peaceful assembly is also guaranteed under Article 21 of the ICCPR.

Amnesty International does not take any position regarding political status within Indonesia, including calls for independence.

However, the organisation believes that the right to freedom of expression includes the right to peacefully advocate for independence referenda, or other political positions.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is pleased that a Sydney magistrate jailed protester Deanna “Violet” Coco on Friday. But he is out of step with international and Australian human rights and climate change groups and activists, who have quickly mobilised to show solidarity.

On Monday, protests were held in Sydney, Canberra and Perth calling for the release of Coco who blocked one lane of the Sydney Harbour Bridge for half an hour during a morning peak hour in April.

She climbed onto the roof of a truck holding a flare to draw attention to the global climate emergency and Australia’s lack of preparedness for bushfires. Three other members of the group Fireproof Australia, who have not been jailed, held a banner and glued themselves to the road.

• READ MORE: What Violet Coco’s jailing says about the Australian justice system – Crikey

Coco pleaded guilty to seven charges, including disrupting vehicles, possessing a flare distress signal in a public place and failing to comply with police direction.

Magistrate Allison Hawkins sentenced Coco to 15 months in prison, with a non-parole period of eight months and fined her $2500. Her lawyer Mark Davis has lodged an appeal which will be heard on March 2, 2023.

Unusually for a non-violent offender, Hawkins refused bail pending an appeal against the sentence. Davis, who will again apply for bail in the District Court next week, said refusal of bail pending appeal was “outrageous”.

Climate change protester sentenced to jail over Sydney Harbour Bridge protest. Video: News 24

‘People shouldn’t be jailed for peaceful protest’
In Sydney, about 100 protesters gathered outside NSW Parliament House and then marched to the Downing Centre. The crowd included members of climate action groups Extinction Rebellion, Knitting Nannas and Fireproof Australia but also others who, while they might not conduct a similar protest themselves, believe in the right of others to do so.

One of the protest organisers, Knitting Nanna Marie Flood, was unable to attend due to illness. Her message called for the release of Coco and an end to the criminalisation and intimidation of climate activists.

It was read by another Knitting Nanna, Eurydice Aroney:

“Nannas have been on Sydney streets protesting about gas and coal mines for about 8 years now. Over that time we’ve had lots of interactions with the Sydney Events police, and not a lot of trouble.

“You could say we are known to the police. We were amused and surprised at the recent climate emergency rally at town hall, when one of the police said to some Nannas that he thought we’d fallen in with the wrong crowd!

“Looks like we better clear some things up.”

“We ARE the crowd who knows that climate action is urgent and it starts with stopping new gas and coal. We know the importance of public protests to bringing about social and political change.

“We will stand up against any move to take away the democratic right to protest. What is happening to Violet Coco is a direct result of the actions of the NSW government with the support of the ALP opposition.”

The message ended with a call to all climate activists: “Now is the time to BE THE CROWD — we can’t afford to fall for attempts to divide the climate movement. We all want to save the climate, and to do that we need to protect democracy.”

The Knitting Nannas have launched a challenge to the validity of the protest laws through the Environmental Defenders’ Office.

Snap rally at NSW Parliament and a march to the courts at the Downing Centre where climate activist Violet Coco was sentenced to 15 months in prison last week.

We demand repeal of the draconian anti-protest laws, an end to new fossil fuel projects and serious climate action now! pic.twitter.com/F1Yxs8L0DG

— Padraic Gibson (@paddygibson) December 5, 2022

One of those attending the protest was Josh Pallas, president of NSW Council for Civil Liberties. Civil Liberties has been defending the right to protest in NSW for more than half a century.

In a media release, he said: “Peaceful protest should never result in jail time. It’s outrageous that the state wastes its resources seeking jail time and housing peaceful protesters in custody at the expense of taxpayers.

“Protesters from Fireproof Australia and other groups have engaged in peaceful protest in support of stronger action on climate change, a proposition that is widely supported by many Australians across the political divide and now finding themselves ending up in prison.

“Peaceful protest sometimes involves inconvenience to the public. But inconvenience is not a sufficient reason to prohibit it. It’s immoral and unjust.”

Deputy Lord Mayor and Greens Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore told the crowd that they had the support of the City of Sydney which recently passed a unanimous motion calling for the repeal of the NSW government’s draconian anti-protest laws.

“If you are a group of businesses in the City of Sydney and you want to close the street for a street party, this state government will give you $50,000. If you are a non-violent protester who cares about climate change and you are blocking one lane of traffic for 25 minutes, they will give you two years [in jail].

“We know these laws are designed to intimidate you… Thank you for being the front line in the fight. you are the ones to put your bodies on the line to protest about issues we all care about, ” she said.

Amnesty International support for democracy
Amnesty International spokesperson Veronica Koman emphasised how important it was to see the defence of democratic rights from a regional perspective. She said that Amnesty was concerned that severe repression of pro-independence activists in West Papua was spreading across to other parts of Indonesia.

She fears the same pattern of increasing repression taking hold in NSW.

Human Rights Watch researcher Sophie McNeil, who has won many awards for her journalism, was another person who was quick to respond.

“Outrageous. Climate activist who blocked traffic on Sydney Harbour Bridge jailed for at least eight months” she tweeted on Friday.

Since then she has followed the issue closely, criticising the ABC for failing to quote a human rights source in its coverage of the court case and speaking at a protest in Perth on Monday.

Today she posted this tweet with a short campaigning #FreeVioletCoco video that has already attracted nearly 13,000 views:

Authorities in #Australia are disproportionately punishing climate activists in violation of their basic rights to peaceful protest

Violet Coco has been sentenced to 15 months in prison

Her crime? A peaceful protest that lasted 25 minutes#FreeVioletCoco @hrw pic.twitter.com/5qhyCWs2fk

— Sophie McNeill (@Sophiemcneill) December 5, 2022

‘If you’re reading this, you’ll know I am in prison’
In jailing Coco, Magistrate Hawkins went out of her way to diminish and delegitimise her protest. She described it as a “childish stunt’ that let an “entire city suffer” through her “selfish emotional action”.

Coco has been involved with climate change protests for more than four years and has been arrested in several other protests. On one occasion, she set light to an empty pram outside Parliament House.

Rather than fight on technicalities, she chosen to plead guilty, knowing that if the magistrate was hostile, she could be taken into custody at the end of Friday’s hearing.

Several steps ahead of her critics, she made a video and wrote a long piece to be published if she went to prison.

The piece begins: ”If you are reading this, then I have been sentenced to prison for peaceful environmental protest. I do not want to break the law. But when regular political procedure has proven incapable of enacting justice, it falls to ordinary people taking a stand to bring about change.”

She describes how her understanding of the facts of climate science and the inadequacy of the current response led her to decide to give up her studies and devote herself to actions that would draw attention to the climate emergency.

“Liberal political philosopher John Rawls asserted that a healthy democracy must have room for this kind of action. Especially in the face of such a threat as billions of lives lost and possibly the collapse of our liveable planet.

“But make no mistake — I do not want to be protesting. Protest work is not fun — it’s stressful, resource-intensive, scary and the police are violent. They refuse to feed me, refused to give me toilet paper and have threatened me with sexual violence.

“I spent three days in the remand centre, which is a disgusting place full of sad people. I do not enjoy breaking the law. I wish that there was another way to address this issue with the gravitas that it deserves.”

She describes how she has already been forced to comply with onerous bail conditions:

“I was under 24 hour curfew conditions for 20 days in a small apartment with no garden. After 20 days effectively under house arrest, my curfew hours changed — at first I could leave the house for only 5 hours a day for the following 58 days, then 6 hours a day under house arrest for the following 68 days.

“This totalled 2017 hours imprisoned in my home for non-violent political engagement in the prevention of many deaths. Cumulatively, that is 84 days or 12 weeks of my freedom.”

Premier Perrottet says he does not object to protest so long as it does not interfere with “our way of life”.

If it does, individuals should have the “book thrown at them.”

His “way of life” is one in which commuters are never held up in traffic by a protest while endlessly sitting in traffic because of governments’ poor transport planning.

A way of life in which it is fine for governments to take years to house people whose lives are destroyed by fires and floods induced by climate change, to allow people to risk death from heat because they cannot afford air conditioners, open more coal and gas operations that will increase carbon emissions and turn a blind eye to millions of climate refugees in the Asia Pacific region.

It involves only protesting when you have permission and in tightly policed zones where passers-by ignore you.

Labor still backs anti-protest laws
Leader of the Opposition Chris Minns also says he has no regrets for supporting the laws which he says were necessary to stop multiple protests.

But laws don’t target multiple actions, they target individuals. He has not raised his voice to condemn police harassment of individual activists even before they protest and bail conditions that breach democratic rights to freedom of assembly.

There was no visible Labor presence at Sydney’s rally.

Perrottet and Minns may be making right wing shock jocks happy but they are out of line with international principles of human rights.

They also fail to acknowledge that many of Australia’s most famous protest movements around land rights, apartheid, Green Bans, womens’ rights, prison reform and environment often involved actions that would have led to arrest under current anti-protest laws.

They display an ignorance of traditions of civil disobedience. As UNSW Professor Luke Macnamara told SBS News: “[V]isibility and disruption have long been the hallmarks of effective protest.”

He believes disruption and protest need to go hand in hand in order to result in tangible change.

“There’s an inherent contradiction in governments telling protesters what are acceptable, passive, non-disruptive means of engaging in protests, when the evidence may well be that those methods have been attempted and have proven to be ineffective,” he said.

“It’s not realistic on the one hand to support the so-called ‘right to protest’, and on the other hand, expect the protest has no disruptive effects. The two go together.”

Wendy Bacon was previously a professor of journalism at the University of Technology Sydney and is an editorial board member of Pacific Journalism Review. She joined the protest. This article was first published by City Hub and is republished with the author’s permission.

The final act in this week’s protest on the lawns of Parliament was the announcement by Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki of a new political party.

Perhaps this was the whole point of the event, as it was never entirely clear what the protest was actually against in the first place.

According to Tamaki, the proposed Freedoms NZ party (which has yet to be formally registered) would be a coalition of three existing fringe parties: the New Nation Party (which is keen to leave the United Nations), Vision NZ (which promotes the idea “Kiwis will once again be First, no longer playing the runner up to immigrants or refugees”), and the anti-5G Outdoors and Freedom Party.

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Given the fractious nature of extreme-right politics, it was perhaps not surprising when the last of that triumvirate announced it had not agreed to any alliance.

But tempting though it might be to dismiss the latest attempt by extremists to take their place in the very institutions they publicly denounce, there are important reasons we should not be complacent.

While extremist parties have historically struggled at general elections in New Zealand, the political landscape has altered significantly in the past two years. Recent polls are now registering support for those on the extreme right.

It is true this support is fragmented across small parties, which have a terrible track record of cooperation. And at this point none is close to the 5 percent threshold (or single constituency seat) required to secure a place in Parliament.

But even if it seems unlikely Tamaki will be able to persuade other prominent figures on the right to hand their own platforms to him, it won’t be for lack of effort.

Luxon told reporters to “read between the lines” in Parliament on Wednesday, saying he and Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki had little in common. https://t.co/yatj6XrJAT

— The Dominion Post (@DomPost) August 24, 2022

Strange bedfellows
More importantly, by refusing to rule out working with them in the next Parliament, National Party leader Christopher Luxon has potentially given Tamaki and his fellow travellers a sniff of credibility.

Luxon’s equivocation is slightly mysterious. Tamaki has said he believes covid was the work of Satan and that Christians would be protected from the virus. He has compared life in Auckland under lockdown with concentration camps. And his views on migrants, family values and the place of women in public life have seen him compared with Hungary’s autocratic leader Viktor Orban.

It’s hard to imagine this sitting comfortably with at least some of Luxon’s own caucus colleagues — particularly its women MPs.

And while it might also be easy to agree with Luxon that fringe parties have little chance of clearing electoral thresholds, this also minimises the threat such movements pose to the fabric of liberal democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Lessons from Europe
There are two lessons about the influence of right wing populists in other countries that should be heeded.

The first is that it is reckless to glibly assume such parties cannot enjoy electoral success. In the 1980s, no European government required the support of populists to take or remain in office. But during this century, as many as 11 European governments have relied for their existence on coalition with rightwing populist parties.

Moreover, once the dust had settled on the 2019 European Parliament elections, the populist/rightwing nationalist bloc held 112 (15 percent) of the 751 seats.

The term “bloc” suggests a degree of ideological, strategic and policy coherence that doesn’t necessarily characterise Europe’s populists. But that shouldn’t obscure the fact they are emphatically there.

What’s more, populists do not need to be in office to have an impact. They can exert significant influence indirectly in a number of ways: by occupying the news cycle (thereby securing public visibility), by shaping the political agenda, by pushing mainstream parties to the right, and by moulding the language with which politics is transacted.

Rise of the far right
In the United Kingdom, the influence of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party on the Conservative Party’s sharp tilt to the right in recent times is just one example.

And Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue Parliament to force through a “no deal” Brexit, while unsuccessful, was widely seen as a tactic to bring back voters who had deserted the Tories at the European elections.

Not so many years ago people laughed at the idea that extreme right populists could win parliamentary seats. No one’s laughing any more.

In many parts of the world, populist parties are no longer constitutional oddities — they are institutionalised features of party politics and acceptable partners in government.

By refusing categorically to rule out a political accommodation with Tamaki and his followers, Luxon is keeping alive the possibility — however faint — this may also come to pass in New Zealand. Until we hear otherwise, not ruling them out means they could be ruled in.

Dr Richard Shaw is professor of politics at Massey University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson has warned that although people have a right to protest when “they threaten, harass and disrupt people and a whole city they lose that right”.

In a post on Facebook, Robertson — who is also Finance Minister and MP for Central Wellington where the five-day-old Parliament protest is happening — said he was contacted by many constituents this week who were distressed at what was happening in the city.

“School pupils spat at and harassed for wearing a mask, roads blocked delaying public transport and emergency services and businesses shut down,” he said.

• READ MORE: France bans convoy on Paris as ‘threat to public order’
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• RNZ News live blog

Robertson said there had also been threats of violence against politicians and the media.

The protester threats came as New Zealand had a record 454 community cases today — up on yesterday’s previous record — as omicron cases begin to surge.

“Looking down on a protest that wants to hang me as a politician, a sign that compares the Prime Minister to the March 15th terrorist, calls for arrest and execution of me and other leaders you might understand why I believe the police need to move them on.”

Robertson acknowledged that protest was an important part of democracy, but said that “like all freedoms it comes with responsibilities”.

He said in the past he had led protests onto Parliament grounds and discussed with those involved that if they crossed certain lines they would be arrested.

‘Threatening a whole city’
“I was always of the view that the cause or the issue was what mattered most, and we would strive to make our point, and then move on to live to fight another day,” he said.

Robertson said people lose the right to protest when “they threaten, harass and disrupt people and a whole city”.

He said the protesters at Parliament had been trespassed and needed to leave.

Robertson thanked police for doing a difficult job in trying conditions and said it was up to them how they enforced the law.

He said as Wellington Central’s local MP he had been in regular contact with police and the city council to support the rights of those in the capital “to go about their lives free from harassment and severe disruption”.

“I am confident that this will happen, though it will no doubt take some time,” he said.

Robertson said the high vaccination rates reassured him that the protesters only represented a small minority.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has condemned the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) under the leadership of Firli Bahuri as an “authoritarian and anti-criticism” institution over the Greenpeace laser protest.

ICW researcher Kurnia Ramadhana said this after the KPK had reported Greenpeace Indonesia to the South Jakarta district police (Polres) for laser painting the KPK’s red and white building on June 28.

“The report against a civil society organisation with the South Jakarta district police by the KPK will become a historical note that the KPK under the command of Firli Bahuri has truly changed into an authoritarian institution which is anti-criticism,” Ramadhana told Kompas.com.

Also, according to ICW the KPK’s move to report Greenpeace to police further demonstrated the KPK’s inability to cover up the scandal surrounding the civics or nationalism test (TWK) for KPK employees.

At the very least, said Ramadhana, there were three things that must be looked at in response to the KPK’s report to the South Jakarta district police.

‘Democratic’ system
First, Indonesia practises a democratic system which is embodied under Article 28 E Paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution which reads: “All persons have the right to freedom of expression, association and opinion”.

“So, this report can be seen as an effort to curb democracy,” said Ramadhana.

Second, Article 20 of the KPK Law states that the anti-corruption agency is accountable to the public.

So from this, according to Ramadhana, the laser painting action should be viewed as a response by the public to the problems within the KPK which should be responded to, not instead reported to the police.

Third, the person who made the report — who is strongly suspected to be a KPK employee — has violated the code of ethics, namely Article 7 Paragraph (2) d of KPK Supervisory Board Regulation Number 2/2020.

Meanwhile, it is stated that the Supervisory Boards, “In its implementation of the basic values of professionalism, all Commission members are prohibited from: responding to criticism and suggestions in a negative and excessive manner”.

“Because of this, the Supervisory Board must take immediate action in response to this report,” said Ramadhana.

Police report filed by KPK
Earlier, KPK acting spokesperson Ali Fikri admitted that the police report over the laser painting was submitted by the KPK’s general bureau.

“Correct, the KPK through the general bureau has carried out coordination and made a report with the South Jakarta Polres,” said Fikri in a written release.

“It was in relation to the laser painting incident on the KPK building on June 28, 2021, at around 7.05 pm by an external party,” he said.

The KPK believes that the laser painting had the potential to intentionally disturb the operational order and comfort of the KPK offices. Moreover, the KPK’s red and white building is a vital object.

“We believe that they intentionally disrupted the operational order and comfort of the KPK offices as a vital national object,” said Fikri.

Fikri revealed that KPK security personnel and the South Jakarta district police who were on guard at the time had prohibited and warned the external party not to carry out the action.

The party which carried out the laser painting, however, continued with the action, even changing location.

No police permit
Also, according to Fikri, the action was carried out outside of the times set for protest actions and did not have a permit from police.

Because of this, the KPK is leaving entirely up to the South Jakarta district police to follow up on the report.

“So now, we are leaving it entirely up to the South Jakarta Polres to follow up on it,” said Fikri. “We hope that all parties will always maintain order and comfort at the KPK offices.”

The laser painting action occurred on the evening of Monday, June 28, when protesters used a laser to write messages, one of which was “Brave, Honest, Sacked”. There was also a message which read: “Motion of No Confidence”, and “Save the KPK”.

The messages were part of an action by Greenpeace Indonesia in response to issues related to corruption eradication ranging from the sacking of 51 KPK employees for failing to pass the TWK to efforts to weaken the KPK.

Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “Tindakan KPK Laporkan Aksi Tembakan Laser Dinilai Otoriter dan Anti-kritik”.

About 35 people joined an Auckland rally last Sunday in solidarity with a Mā’ohi Nui Lives Matter demonstration by thousands of Tahitians happening in Pape’ete, the capital.

In solidarity and in sync with the Pape’ete event, the Mai te Paura Atōmī i te ti’amara’a: From Bomb Contamination to Self-determination rally was organised by Les Tahitiens de Nouvelle-Zélande (Tahitians of New Zealand) and hosted at Auckland University of Technology.

Ena Manuireva and colleague Tony Fala were the main organisers at AUT.

• READ MORE: NZ nuclear-free activists, campaigners back Tahiti’s Mā’ohi Lives Matter rally
• Thousands rally in Tahiti in protest over nuclear weapons legacy

With the live feed from Tahiti in the background, the message was clear to those who attended:

• French nuclear tests were wrong, killed people, and destroyed the environment; and
• France must now pay reparations.

The organisers wanted to remind the audience about the important date of July 17, 1974, as the largest radioactive nuclear test named Centaur — a test that contaminated more than 100,00 people which was nearly the entire population of Mā’ohi Nui at the time.

Nine takeaways from the event

1. This rally is the start of more solidarity action for Mā’ohi Nui people. We hope to engage more members of the Mā’ohi Nui community living in Aotearoa in this work.
2. It is reassuring to have the support of rally speakers in Auckland who represent different peoples of Oceania.
3. The nuclear issue in Mā’ohi Nui is being commemorated in other ways in Aotearoa. The Auckland Museum launched an exhibition on Remembering Moruroa and the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū is celebrating the artistic vision of one of Aotearoa’s most significant artists, the late Ralph Hotere. His collection includes the Moruroa watercolours — which has a fitting title, Ātete! (to resist).
4. The organisers plan to have further meaningful discussions with the Green MPs concerning the Mā’ohi Nui issues. They hope to work with Green MPs to develop concrete proposals so that the issue of nuclear waste in Mā’ohi Nui can be tabled in Parliament.
5. The organisers intend to reach out to the Department of Disarmament and Arms Control. They plan to talk to Nuclear Disarmament Minister Phil Twyford about this issue.
6. In the same vein, the organisers will approach the Ministry of Education to propose changes to the new school curriculum emerging in 2022 — changes that would include the teaching of the history of the anti-nuclear stand that New Zealand took in Oceania.
7. Rally organisers Ena, David, James, Mua, and Tony acknowledge the support of Greenpeace, former members of NFIP, and Peace Movement Aotearoa.
8. The organisers thank Mahealani Coxhead, Tasha Dalton, Ma’ara Maeva, Sally Manuireva, and Jos Wheeler for their invaluable contributions to the rally.
9. The organisers thank the Auckland rally audience and express solidarity to Oscar Temaru over the continuing struggle in Mā’ohi Nui.

The MC and speakers

Reverend Mua Strickson-Pua is an activist, educator, and poet. He was the master of ceremonies for the rally and event co-organiser. He introduced all the speakers.

Ena Manuireva is a Mangarevan-Tahitian, Mā’ohi Nui activist whose story started back on his native island of Mangareva. Mangarevans were the first people in French-occupied Polynesia to be used as guinea pigs and contaminated during the first so-called “clean” French nuclear tests on July 2, 1966. Ena narrated the personal story of how his mother became sick and vomited as her lips bled after she unknowingly ate contaminated fish; of how his older sister had weak bones as a baby, and how she developed a vulnerable body that forced his family to flee to Tahiti to save her life and find refuge. Manuireva challenged France to restore truth and justice through reparations and to return independence to Mā’ohi Nui.

The generation that paved the path for activism in Aotearoa and around the Moana-Nui-a-Hiva:

Hilda Halkyard-Harawira is a distinguished Māori activist, community worker, educator, and founder of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement (NFIP). She shared some rich impressions regarding her work as a Māori activist working in the NFIP movement from 1980. Hilda told the moving story of travelling with Māori activists to Mā’ohi Nui in 1995; of witnessing the vibrant anti-nuclear struggle in Tahiti, and of meeting Mā’ohi anti-nuclear protest leaders Charlie Ching and Oscar Temaru. She read extracts from an important address she presented at a 1995 anti-nuclear activist gathering in Tahiti. Moreover, Hilda spoke of her great friendship with Oscar Temaru while expressing her abiding support for Mā’ohi Nui’s struggle for nuclear justice and for independence from France today. Hilda Halkyard-Harawira’s rich address reminded the audience of the profound whakapapa interlinking Māori activists with Mā’ohi Nui, the wider Pacific, and the NFIP Movement.

Maire Leadbeater is of Pākehā heritage. She is an activist, former Auckland city councillor, historian, and writer. Maire is a member of West Papua Action Auckland. Maire expressed solidarity with Mā’ohi Nui in her oration. She explained why West Papua is not on the United Nations list of territories to be decolonised. Maire provided an important update on the contemporary West Papua struggle. Maire Leadbeater’s speech allowed the rally audience space to consider the significance of the West Papua struggle alongside that of the noble Mā’ohi Nui resistance in wider Oceania.

Dr David Robie is a Pākehā environmental activist, editor of Asia Pacific Report, and retired founding director of the AUT Pacific Media Centre. He sees events during his career around the Pacific, including French-occupied Polynesia, as a “game changer”. Those events include the publication of the book Moruroa Mon Amour in the 1970s by Bengt and Marie-Therese Danielsson, Tahiti-based activists, describing their outrage regarding the use of Moruroa as the testing site, leading up to the recent publication of the book Toxic and its damning revelations about France’s persistent lies over the nuclear tests. He also mentioned his Blood On Their Banner on Pacific independence struggles, first published in Swedish in spite of censorship thanks to the Danielssons’ contacts, and his inspiration from meeting Oscar Temaru which contributed to his commitment to the Mā’ohi Nui cause. David demands compensation for the harm done by the nuclear tests, a formal apology to the Mā’ohi Nui people, and a return of their independence.

Political support to the cause shown by the Greens:

Teanau Tuiono is of Māori and Atiu heritage. He is a member of parliament for the Green Party and a long time indigenous environmental activist. Teanau articulated the story of the abiding relationships interconnecting the peoples of Atiu and Mā’ohi Nui. He spoke powerfully about the visits of Atiu men to Mā’ohi Nui to work in the phosphate industry in years gone by. Teanau affirmed Oceanian solidarity towards the peoples of Mā’ohi Nui in his korero. Further, he acknowledged that Oceania’s peoples are bound together by the twin whakapapa of both genealogy and shared struggle. Teanau narrated the story of how he marched in support of the Mā’ohi Nui people as a student activist in 1995. Moreover, he spoke of being part of the group who hosted Oscar Temaru at Waipapa Marae at the University of Auckland after the march. Tuiono’s oration provided the audience opportunity to understand the solidarity Māori and Pacific Island peoples have extended to Mā’ohi Nui in Aotearoa since the 1990s.

Golriz Ghahraman is of Iranian descent. She is a member of parliament for the Green Party, a lawyer, and a community advocate for migrants and refugees. Speaking as a former refugee to Aotearoa, Golriz extended her solidarity to Oscar and the Mā’ohi Nui people in her speech. She illuminated the connections between Mā’ohi Nui; struggles in the wider Pacific; refugees, and migrants. Golriz spoke of the importance of the Palestinian struggle in her labours. She provided the rally audience with the ability to reflect upon the interconnections between the Mā’ohi Nui struggle — and that of the Palestinian, refugee, and migrant communities within and beyond Oceania.

The emergence of the young generation of activists:

James Hita is a Māori Greenpeace activist and coordinator for Greenpeace Deep Sea Mining. His message was unequivocal: nuclear tests are not isolated threats; they are part of the many perils that are directly impacting our Ocean. Climate change, nuclear tests, and deep-sea mining all negatively impact upon our most important natural food supply, Te Moana-Nui-a-Hiva. His message was a constant call to awareness for all of us that we must stand united and fight together against the many wrongdoings inflicted upon our Moana-Nui-a-Hiva.

Anevili TS is a Samoan activist and media worker who represents Indigenous Pacific Uprising (IPU) and Te Ara Whatu activist organisations. A link for her oral presentation at the conference can be found here. Anevili critiqued French colonialism in Mā’ohi Nui. Further, she reminded her audience that the climate change and nuclear issues cannot be separated in Mā’ohi Nui or in wider Oceania. Anevili extended solidarity to Oscar and the Mā’ohi Nui people and invited the French to get out of the Pacific. Anevili’s powerful address articulated the message that younger people in the Moana in Aotearoa stand in solidarity with Mā’ohi Nui today.

India Logan-Riley is a Māori climate change activist, an Indigenous rights campaigner, and a member of Te Ara Whatu. She talked about the whakapapa (genealogy) that the Mā’ohi Nui people have with their land and how France is trying to steal and destroy the land. She highlighted the difficult position New Zealand occupies at the UN- New Zealand is in alliance with other colonial powers such as France. However, she commended the resilience of the Mā’ohi Nui population after more than a quarter of a century since the last nuclear tests were done. She reiterated her support for justice and reparations for the Mā’ohi Nui people. India’s talk reminded the audience of the immensely strong relationships between indigenous Pacific peoples and their lands.

The panel of speakers included young activists as the organisers wanted to acknowledge the increasingly vital role that young people will play in the future by standing up to all kinds of challenges — while acknowledging the vital role of our activist elders who have come before us.

Emerging young activists will be the ones to hold the New Zealand government to account for their lack of action on environmental issues.

Younger activists will also have to stand up and reprimand other countries when other nations’ actions threaten the people and the planet.

Acknowledgements
The Auckland rally was only one expression of solidarity for the Mā’ohi Nui people beyond Tahiti: Messages of solidarity from Fiji (Claire Slatter), Micronesia, and the wider ‘Sea of Islands’ were presented to the people of Mā’ohi Nui via video message and social media.

On behalf of all the organisers, Reverend Mua Strickson Pua:

• Acknowledged the kinship linkages connecting all of the peoples of Oceania.
• Affirmed the continuing struggles of the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa, Australia, Hawai’i, Kanaky, Mā’ohi Nui, Micronesia, Rapa Nui, West Papua, and others.
• Upheld the work of tangata whenua protectors and supporters in Aotearoa in the struggles at Aotea Island, Ihumātao, Pūtiki, and Shelly Bay.
• Affirmed the interconnections between climate change, nuclear issues, and deep-sea mining as oceanic issues requiring collective responses from all peoples of the “Sea of Islands” together.

Today marks 50 years to the day that six Pacific Islanders grouped together in central Auckland to form the Polynesian Panther Party.

The party was founded on 16 June 1971 by members Will ‘Ilolahia, Fred Schmidt, Nooroa Teavae, Paul Dapp, Eddie Williams and Vaughan Sanft. They were later joined by Tigilau Ness, Lupematasila Misatauveve Melani Anae and Alec Toleafoa.

They took inspiration from the United States civil rights movement Black Panthers during a period of police brutality against the African American population.

• LISTEN TO RNZ: Untold Pacific History: Waking Up to the Dawn Raids here, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and iHeart Radio
• Other Dawn Raids and Polynesian Panther articles

Similar scenes of racial unrest occurred in Aotearoa, and long before the infamous Dawn Raids too. In the early 1870s, an Evening Post article said: “Bad as the Chinese are, the South Sea savages are worse, and any extensive importation of them would have a most pernicious effect.”

New Zealand faced major economic troubles almost a century on from that report, and Pasifika immigrants brought under the allure of jobs in industrial labour were resorted to as the scapegoat.

“It was a time of revolution,” Associate Professor Lupematasila Misatauveve Dr Melani Anae told RNZ’s Untold Pacific History.

“To heck with authority, to heck with conservatism, to heck with the Vietnam War, that was the kind of climate we were growing up in,” she said.

“We delivered the West End newspaper around Ponsonby and Herne Bay to get money to pay for the office. The work we did as the Polynesian Panthers was conscientising, it was making people aware of who we were.”

Musician Tigilau Ness recalls that they were criticised for “hating white people”.

“We had to put up with that kind of stigma as well, not only from the Europeans, the white people, but from our own people. ‘Why you do this to the Palagi? Why you go fight the police?’,” he said.

The Panthers insisted on peaceful strike and protest action, as opposed to their US counterparts.

They drove in supporters’ vehicles and “dawn raided” the homes of politicians by shining torches and yelling through loudspeakers, to prove why their work was necessary.

Legal rights pamphlets were distributed, homework centres were held in church halls and food co-ops were run. They also provided free transportation for the families of prison inmates who wanted to visit them, and on release free accommodation would be offered.

Fifty years on, the Panthers have concluded a tour of schools and Pasifika communities in Wellington, intending to share the story of the ‘Claw’ to the next generation.

 

The Polynesian Panther Party will hold a three-day fonotaga commemoration event this weekend at the University of Auckland’s Fale Pasifika.

Dawn Raid apology
The Panthers’ golden jubilee couldn’t be more forthcoming, given an announcement made this week of a formal government apology for the 1970s Dawn Raids.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the time had come for an apology for a Labour Party immigration policy that targeted Pasifika people who had overstayed their visas by mere fact of their ethnicity.

“To this day Pacific communities face prejudices and stereotypes… an apology can never reduce what happened, or undo the decades of disadvantage experienced as a result, but it can contribute to healing for Pacific peoples,” she said.

Ardern was joined at the theatrette lecturn by Pacific Peoples Minister ‘Aupito Toeolesulusulu Tofae Su’a William Sio, who wiped away tears while sharing his own personal story of being raided as a teenager.

“I’m quite emotional… I’m trying to control my emotions today,” he said.

His parents had only just bought a home, taken as an achievement for the family, when a year or two later they’d been woken up to a police officer flashing a torch in their eyes.

“To have somebody knocking at the door in the early hours of the morning with a flashlight in your face, disrespecting the owner of the home, with an Alsatian dog frothing at the mouth,” ‘Aupito recounted.

“The memories are etched in my memory of my father being helpless.

“I don’t think there is any Pacific family who was not impacted on by the events of the Dawn Raids, and there is a strong moral imperative to acknowledge those past actions were wrong. Through an apology, they recognise those actions were unacceptable under the universal declaration of human rights, and are absolutely intolerable within today’s human rights protections.

“Come for the ceremony,” ‘Aupito said, welcoming the Panthers to the government apology.

Ardern added “[the Panthers] will probably remind us to ‘educate to liberate’.”

The Prime Minister will make her formal government apology for the Dawn Raids on June 26 at the Auckland Town Hall, 50 years on from the start of the revolution against racial injustices against Pasifika in Aotearoa.

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

Bananas, balaclavas and banners … these were stock-in-trade for human rights activists of the New Zealand-based Coalition for Democracy in Fiji who campaigned against then Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka’s original two coups in 1987 and the “banana republic” coup culture that emerged.

Many of the activists, politicians, trade unionists, civil society advocates and supporters of democracy in Fiji gathered at an Auckland restaurant in Cornwall Park to reflect on their campaign and to remember the visionary Fiji Labour Party prime minister Dr Timoci Bavadra who was ousted by the Fiji military on 14 May 1987.

Speakers included Auckland mayor Phil Goff, who was New Zealand foreign minister at the time, and keynote Richard Naidu, then a talented young journalist who had emerged as Dr Bavadra’s spokesperson — “by accident” he recalls — and movement stalwarts.

• READ MORE: Other articles about Fiji’s 1987 coups and the coup culture
• Photo gallery by Del Abcede

The mood of the evening was a fun-filled and relaxed recollection of coup-related events as about 40 participants — many of them exiled from Fiji — sought to pay tribute to the kindly and inspirational leadership of Dr Bavadra who died from cancer two years after the coup.

Participants agreed that it was a tragedy that Dr Bavadra had died such an untimely death at 55, robbing Fiji of a new style of social justice leadership that stood in contrast with the autocratic style of the current Fiji “democracy”.

Naidu, today an outspoken lawyer and commentator, spoke via Zoom from Suva about Dr Bavadra’s unique approach to politics, not unlike a general practitioner caring for his patients, a style that was drawn from his background as a public health specialist and trade unionist.

He referred to Johns Hopkins University in the United States — “the bible of global statistics about covid-19 pandemic in the world” — and remarked that Dr Bavadra had gained his public health degree at that celebrated campus.

Covid and Dr Bavadra
Naidu asked how, if he had been alive today and still prime minister, Dr Bavadra might have approached the Fiji covid-19 crisis with 46 new cases of infection being reported last night.

Fiji has now had 360 cases in total since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 161 recoveries and four deaths.

Naidu described the current leadership in Fiji in response to the covid pandemic as unresponsive and lacking in direction. He believes Fiji is in a worse position today than it was in 1987 and poverty and food shortages were a growing problem.

The challenge for Fiji was a lack of consultation with grassroots organisations and a “bubble” mentality among the key leaders of Voreqe Bainimarama’s government that refused to see the suffering on the ground.

“Everything was bad in Fiji before 2006 [when Bainimarama staged his coup],” he said, reflecting the leadership’s mantra. “Everything good in Fiji is after 2006.”

Lawyer Richard Naidu speaking about Dr Bavadra’s legacy and the reality of Fiji today. Video: David Robie/FB

Naidu referred to a social media posting in relation to the Samoan constitutional crisis when he commented: “ Australia and New Zealand must be wondering: Is Samoa ‘21 just a rehearsal for Fiji ’22?” The question is what would happen if Bainimarama and FijiFirst lose the election next year.

In spite of his fears for the future, Naidu said he still remained optimistic because of the young leadership and committed civil society that was emerging in spite of the barriers.

‘Have we won?’
Looking back 34 years, Naidu asked the audience: “Have we won?”

With a negative response, he challenged the participants to keep working for a better Fiji.

Auckland mayor Phil Goff speaking at the Bavadra reunion last night. Image: David Robie/FB

Mayor Phil Goff said that after the 1987 coups, New Zealand did not just have a “trickle of migration, we had a flood of migration, and I think something like 20,000 or 30,000 people came from Fiji in the wake of the coups”.

And, he added, “that was a huge benefit to our country, it strengthened our country. But it was a huge drain on Fiji because these were the people with skills and energy and they could have been contributing had Fiji been a welcoming country, if everybody had first class citizenship.

“But they didn’t see that future for themselves in Fiji and I understand that and they came to make a better life in New Zealand.”

Goff called on those present to keep campaigning for human rights.

Union and NFIP days
Trade unionist Ashok Kumar recalled when he had worked for the Fiji Public Service Association and Dr Bavadra had been president at the time and he had inspired many people with the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific movement, “which had been a big issue for Fiji”.

Trade unionist Ashok Kumar speaking. Video: David Robie/FB

Other speakers also spoke of their admiration for a “forgotten” Dr Bavadra and how they hoped to “keep his memory alive”.

Former National Federation Party MP Ahmed Bhamji said it was hoped that the Bavadra lecture event would become an annual one and he declared that they were already planning for the 35th anniversary of Rabuka’s first coup next year.

Bhamji was a sponsor of this year’s event and among his fellow organisers were Nikhil Naidu, Rach Mario and Maire Leadbeater, who was MC for the evening.

• More information about CDF

Police have forced protesters demonstrating at the weekend against the attendance of Myanmar military commander General Min Aung Hlaing at the ASEAN Ministerial Level Conference (KTT) in Jakarta away from the meeting into the nearby Agung Al-Azhar Mosque area, reports CNN Indonesia.

The peaceful action was organised by the Leaders and Organisers of Community Organisation in Asia (LOCOA) in front of the ASEAN secretariat building in South Jakarta on Saturday.

The police then asked the protesters to move back from the ASEAN secretariat building.

• READ MORE: Criticism over Myanmar ASEAN deal with military coup leader

A scuffle broke out when police began forcing demonstrators away from the meeting venue. Police eventually maneouvered the protesters into the Agung Al-Azhar Mosque area.

Metro Jaya regional police traffic director Sambodo Purnomo Yogo said that the police had intentionally forced the protesters away in order to “sterilise” Jalan Sisingamaraja or the area in front of the ASEAN secretariat building.

“State guests will be passing through the Sisingamaraja route, so we pushed them further inside so that it would not disrupt the passing guests,” he said.

Yogo emphasised that they did not prohibit the demonstrators from conveying their views. “Please go ahead (and demonstrate) but inside,” he said.

Legitimate government not invited
In a media release, LOCOA said it regretted that the ASEAN Ministerial Level Conference to discuss the Myanmar crisis did not invite the legitimate government of Myanmar.

“LOCOA strongly condemns ASEAN and its member states because they invited the military junta to the KTT ASEAN”, read Saturday’s official release.

LOCOA also slammed the military junta for its violent actions against peaceful protesters and for committing illegal killings, arrests, torture and imprisonment with total impunity.

They demanded that the military end the violence against peaceful demonstrators and civilians and urged the United Nations to immediately send a monitoring and humanitarian support mission to Myanmar.

Myanmar’s military commander General Min Aung Hlaing who launched the coup d’etat against the civilian government attended the meeting.

Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “Polisi Sekat Pedemo Junta Myanmar di Kawasan Masjid Al-Azhar”.

Demonstrators from the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) have protested the Indonesian police actions in blocking them when they wanted to hold a rally at the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Monday, reports CNN Indonesia.

They have experienced the same problem during demonstrations in Papua.

One of the speakers at the rally, John Tinmeva, criticised the police attitude which he believes is unjust.

• READ MORE: More Asia Pacific Report articles about West Papua

Police blocked them on Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat near the Arjunawiwaha or Horse Statue when they were about to hold a long-march to the nearby State Palace. It is unclear on what grounds that the police blocked them.

On the other hand, said Tinmeva, police allowed large crowds of supporters of Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader Habib Rizieq Shihab to gather at several events which were held over the last week since the self-exiled FPI leader returned from Saudi Arabia on November 10.

Tinmeva said Shihab’s return was greeted by thousands of people who paid no attention to health protocols. Police did not disburse the crowds of supporters.

“Habib Rizieq arrived yesterday as free as you please. People were free to greet him, Jakarta was full of crowds. Meanwhile in Wamena, Paniai, West Papua when they want to convey an opinion [demonstrate], they’re specifically banned by the Papua regional police,” said Tinmeva during the rally at the Horse Statue on Monday.

Papuan regional police declare ban
The Papuan regional police have made an announcement banning students from protesting against Special Autonomy or Otsus.

The Papuan People’s Council (MRP) was also prohibited from holding a public hearing with students saying that the activities were leading towards a planned act of makar (treason, subversion, rebellion).

“[When] the Papuan people wanted to hold a public hearing organised by the MRP, it was closed down. Is this country just and fair? A constitutional state?,” he said.

During the demonstration today, the AMP put forward three demands: opposing the operation of the former PT Freeport Indonesia Wabu Block, rejecting the extension of Special Autonomy for Papua which will expire in 2021, and opposing the recently enacted Omnibus Law on Job Creation.

The AMP protesters, who shouted “referendum” when they were blocked by police, saw this as a form of repression against democracy.

Police banned the Papuan students from demonstrating at the State Palace even though they have submitted a written notification a week before.

Police installed razor wire and closed access to roads leading to the palace.

“This is evidence of the muzzling of democracy. This is also happening in the land of Papua,” said another speaker, Roland Levy, standing in front of the razor wire blockade.

Translated by James Balowski for Indoleft News. The original title of the article was “Demo Diadang, Mahasiswa Papua Sindir Pembiaran Massa Rizieq“.

The Bali chapter of the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) has held a weekend protest action at the Renon traffic circle in the provincial capital of Denpasar to mark 58 years since the UN-brokered 1962 New York Agreement.

During the action on Saturday, which was closely watched by police, the protesters issued a political statement addressed to the regime of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice-President Ma’ruf Amin.

The statement was also addressed to the Netherlands, the United States and the United Nations.

READ MORE: Protests against the New York Agreement

AMP Bali chairperson Jeeno said that they were taking up 10 demands during the action. They demanded:

1. Freedom and the right to self-determination as a democratic solution for the Papuan people;
2. The Indonesian government immediately withdraw all organic and non-organic TNI (Indonesian military) and Indonesian police from the land of Papua as condition for peace;
3. The closure of the Freeport gold-and-copper mine and the LNG Tangguh gas field operated by BP and the MNC Group LNG plant, which are the masterminds behind humanitarian crimes in the land of Papua;
4. The United State must be held accountable for the colonialism and human rights violations against the West Papua nation;
5. Demilitarisation of the Nduga regency and revoke Presidential Regulation Number 40/2013 which legalises the military’s involvement in the Trans-Papua highway;
6. Open access for international and domestic journalists to report on West Papua;
7. The West Papuan people be given the right to freedom of association, assembly and expression;
8. Unconditional freedom for all West Papuan political prisoners;
9. Rejection of the extension of Special Autonomy; and
10. Revoking of the decision to expel four Khairun University students in Ternate, North Maluku, for their involvement in West Papuan protests.

“With this statement we call on all of the people of West Papua to unite and fight to win the ideals of national liberation. For the attention and support of all the Indonesian and West Papuan people, we express our thanks,” said Jeeno.

Translated by James Balowski of Indoleft News. The original title of the article was “Peringati Perjanjian New York, AMP Papua Serukan 10 Poin Tuntutan”.

Hong Kong protesters in New Zealand are worried they could be arrested if they return home because they have attended political demonstrations here.

Beijing’s new national security law, passed on Tuesday, criminalises secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces, but will also effectively shut down protest action and freedom of speech.

Penalties under the law include life in prison.

READ MORE: Hundreds arrested in Hong Kong over China security law protests

Within a day of its passing, hundreds have been arrested in Hong Kong, including a man carrying a flag that said “Hong Kong Independence”.

There are fears the laws could be applied more broadly, due to article 38, which says people can be charged in or outside of Hong Kong, even if they are not permanent residents.

“It seems like to them, no matter where you are, no matter what your nationality is … if you ever step to Hong Kong, they can just arrest you,” an Auckland woman, who asked not to be named because she feared reprisals from Beijing, said.

She said despite her fears, she would continue to attend pro-independence rallies in Auckland.

Legal specialists say the national security law is so broadly worded it could be used to charge Hong Kong dissidents living overseas.

‘Stay out of Hong Kong’
George Washington University law professor Donald Clarke wrote in his blog: “If you’ve ever said anything that might offend the PRC or Hong Kong authorities, stay out of Hong Kong.”

Canada has warned its citizens in Hong Kong or travelling there they risk arbitrary detention and possible extradition to mainland China.

Another member of Auckland’s Hong Kong community said he was worried because he and others who had attended pro-independence protests have been filmed by Chinese diplomats in New Zealand.

“I wish there were more safeguards in terms of the government or the police taking more of an active interest in the threatening behaviour from foreign entities,” he said.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters is concerned the legislation was passed without proper consultation, and he said the government would be studying it and its rollout closely.

“This is a critical moment for fundamental human rights and freedoms protected in Hong Kong for generations,” he said.

Auckland University Asian studies professor Manying Ip said it was too early to tell how the law would be applied, but she said it was unlikely to damage the New Zealand-Hong Kong relationship.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

New Zealand’s first weekend at post-covid alert level 1 drew massive crowds to Super Rugby Aotearoa franchise matches in Auckland and Dunedin – but hospital emergency departments across the country also felt the impact of the return to normality.

In Auckland yesterday Sunday afternoon, the home team Blues played in front of their largest crowd in 15 years – a full house of 43,000 fans at Eden Park – and they didn’t disappoint, beating the Hurricanes by 10 points – 30-20.

While in Dunedin on Saturday night, 20,000 watched the game between the Highlanders and the Chiefs which was much closer with Bryn Gatland landing a stunning drop goal with minutes left on the clock to give the Highlanders the win by one point – 28-27.

READ MORE:  Al Jazeera live updates – France declares ‘first victory’ against coronavirus

Dunedin and Auckland’s mayors Aaron Hawkins and Phil Goff were among the thousands in the stands this weekend for the world’s first post-covid live rugby union matches.

Goff said that besides being a great game of rugby, the peaceful Black Lives Matter solidarity march in Auckland was a celebration of the return of normality.

“The fact that this match was broadcast around Australia and other places was a huge chance to showcase to the world New Zealand’s success in dealing with covid-19,” he said.

Hawkins said it was great to have “the zoo back in action” on Saturday night and to take part in the BLM march from the Octagon to Forsyth-Barr Stadium.

‘Great atmosphere’
“It was a great atmosphere before and after the game, it has huge implications for our local hospitality sector, being able to gather in numbers at events like big rugby games,” he said.

After the Blues match, Goff said the cafes, bars and restaurants in the area appeared to be doing great trade.

“Things were thriving there and people pick up that atmosphere of confidence and I think that that will spread around the city and around the country,” he said.

However, the first weekend of alert level 1 also brought an increase in admissions to hospital emergency departments.

Stabbings, assaults and car crashes were just some of the reasons for patients flocking back in, according to Waikato Hospital’s Dr John Bonning, who is also the president of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine.

He said that expected arrivals had dropped by 50 to 60 percent in some hospitals, but reports from around the country indicated that this had risen to 85 to 95 percent of what was expected at this time of year.

“Mental health presentations have gone up proportionally across the country, but in general we’re getting unfortunately a return to some of the trauma and alcohol-fuelled violence that we’ve been used to over the years,” he said.

Paediatric presentations lower
However, paediatric presentations remained lower than usual, despite the end of lockdown restrictions.

“They usually go significantly higher in winter and they’re down 30 to 40 percent around the country,” he said. “That’s going to be due to increased hygiene measures and a bit of distancing that’s occurring and we’ll continue to watch that to see how that changes.”

Bonning said that while it was great that people were going outside and getting active, safety was important.

“All we’re keen for is for people to try to be responsible, take care of themselves and avoid that really avoidable alcohol-fuelled violence and motor vehicle trauma, the nasty stuff that people are really injured by.”

At Waitako Hospital, “fairly aggressive” screening for covid-19 continued, he said.

“We are very vigilant and the concept of a second wave is very much on our minds.”

The death of African-American man George Floyd at the hands of police has sparked protests across the United States and inspired many people to reflect on our own history of police violence against Indigenous people in Australia and New Zealand.

After thousands marched across New Zealand on Monday, a series of rallies and vigils are planned in Australian cities this week, and many have wondered: how should we safely protest during a pandemic?

As an infection prevention researcher, I am, of course, genuinely worried by the prospect of large crowds gathering. But I also completely understand why people want to go and make their feelings known on racism – not just in Australia and New Zealand, but internationally.

READ MORE: US protesters teargassed for Trump photo-op

It is a clash when we are trying to manage covid-19 and puts us in a dilemma.

But I can’t stand and judge people who want to go.

Colleagues in the US who are so moved by what’s happening there are forgoing their social distancing and putting themselves and their colleagues at risk by attending the protests. For them, it is a personal decision and a risk they are prepared to take.

In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said while “I utterly understand” why people had marched, New Zealand had social distancing rules in place to protect people’s health – and the June 1 marches were “a clear breach of them”.

If we had one person, one person in that crowd, just think what could happen there because we’ve seen it before […] I understand the strength of feeling and I understand the sentiment and I understand that sense of urgency that everyone felt. But my job is to look after the country’s health as well.

NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says while she doesn’t want to stop peaceful protests, the June 1 Black Lives Matter protests across NZ were a “clear breach” of COVID-19 rules.

In Australia, people should remember many states have strict rules about public gatherings and it’s likely you’ll be breaching them if you attend a protest. In Victoria, there’s a limit of 20 people at an outdoor gathering. For NSW the limit is 10, while in Queensland the limit is 20.

Remember, coronavirus is spread via close contact, so you are significantly increasing your risk of infection if you are in a large crowd.

All that said, if you’re considering attending a protest, here are four things to think about

1. Is there another way I can show support?
Given I’m an infection prevention researcher, working to prevent the spread of covid-19, I have to say this: if there is any other way you can show support, other than attending a mass gathering – whether that’s donating to a group doing good work, doing any sort of online protest or whatever option you can find – you should consider it.

Think about whether you yourself are at higher risk – by being older or immuno-compromised, for example – and whether there is a more sustainable way for you to support a movement you care about.

2. Think about how you’ll get there
Plan your trip to and from the protest carefully. Avoid crowded public transport – consider driving or riding a bike if possible – and follow social distancing rules if you must travel by bus, train or tram.

Make sure you bring hand sanitiser and use it liberally. Wash hands as soon as you get home.

3. If you go, observe social distancing

If you’re in Australia, download and use the COVIDSafe app. Try as best you can to observe social distancing at any event you attend. That means staying at least 1.5 metres apart from everyone else (or 2 metres in New Zealand) whether you are standing in an open space or marching down a street.

Remember that coronavirus is spread by droplets released when people breathe, talk, cough, sneeze, sing or shout in close proximity to others. No hugging to demonstrate solidarity.

When you get lots of people together and emotions run high, things can go awry very quickly. I’d be prepared to leave the demonstration if I started to get concerned about the proximity of people around me. There’s a risk more people will turn up than you or the event organisers anticipated; if there are bigger crowds than expected, be prepared to make a decision to head home.

A mask alone will not protect you, they’re only one piece of the armoury and are only useful if you socially distance and wash hands as well. If you throw yourself into a situation where you are close to other people, a mask will not be enough to protect you or others.

4. Do not attend if you feel unwell or have any covid-19 symptoms
This should go without saying: absolutely stay home, no matter how strongly you feel about the issue, if you have any symptoms, such as a sore throat or a cough.

Indigenous Australians are an at-risk demographic for covid-19, as are Māori and Pasifika, so you need to think carefully about the risk you may pose to others if you turn up while experiencing symptoms.

If there was to be a small cluster in one of these protests, and the virus was passed to an Indigenous community, the effects could be devastating.

If you feel that compelled to attend a demonstration, think about anything you can do to minimise the chances of spread, or you will undo the gains Australia and New Zealand have made in keeping the coronavirus spread under control.

Dr Philip Russo, is associate professor and director of Cabrini Monash University Department of Nursing Research, Monash University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

• The fury in US cities is rooted in a long history of racist policing, violence and inequality
  
• Riot or resistance: How media frames unrest in Minneapolis will shape public’s view of protest

Thousands of New Zealanders have joined large numbers of Americans in protesting following the killing of Minneapolis man George Floyd.

In Auckland, Aotea Square overflowed yesterday with people before thousands marched down Queen Street towards the US consulate building.

Organisers said the aim was simple,”we want to put pressure on our government from the local level, right up to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to publicly condemn the acts of violence and state-sanctioned murder against African Americans in the United States”.

READ MORE: George Floyd protesters undeterred by curfews in US cities

Protests have been held in more than 30 cities across the US and throughout the world after disturbing video surfaced showing bystanders pleading with a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, as he gasped for breath.

Floyd died from the incident, the latest in a string of deaths of black men and women at the hands of US police.

Nigerian-Kiwi Mary Adeosun drove up from Hamilton for the protest.

She was in tears as she spoke to our reporter: “I really feel for my skin-folk, for the innocent lives that have been taken… I’m so far away in this country and I’m seeing people who look like me dying [in the US]”.

Hobson Hohepa flew his Tino Rangatiratanga flag high at the protest: “[Racism] happens here in our country. It happens to us. It happens to me. I’ve had enough.”

Ricky Wilkins is an African-American from Los Angeles, California. He has been living in New Zealand for the past seven months.

“I feel loved. Everybody wants to be us but no one wants to care for us. It’s just amazing to see in Aotearoa how people are representing and showing us love.”

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

• More photo essay images

#BlackLivesMatter

A teenager held her phone steady enough to capture the final moments of George Perry Floyd’s life as he apparently suffocated under the weight of a Minneapolis police officer’s knee on his neck. The video went viral.

What happened next has played out time and again in American cities after high-profile cases of alleged police brutality.

Vigils and protests were organised in Minneapolis and around the United States to demand police accountability. But while investigators and officials called for patience, unrest boiled over. News reports soon carried images of property destruction and police in riot gear.

READ MORE: US police seen as using excessive force as outrage over George Floyd’s death rises

The general public’s opinions about protests and the social movements behind them are formed in large part by what they read or see in the media. This gives journalists a lot of power when it comes to driving the narrative of a demonstration.

They can emphasiSe the disruption protests cause or echo the dog whistles of politicians that label protesters as “thugs.”

But they can also remind the public that at the heart of the protests is the unjust killing of another black person. This would take the emphasis away from the destruction of the protests and toward the issues of police impunity and the effects of racism in its many forms.

The role journalists play can be indispensable if movements are to gain legitimacy and make progress. And that puts a lot of pressure on journalists to get things right.

My research has found that some protest movements have more trouble than others getting legitimacy. My co-author Summer Harlow and I have studied how local and metropolitan newspapers cover protests. We found that narratives about the Women’s March and anti-Trump protests gave voice to protesters and significantly explored their grievances. On the other end of the spectrum, protests about anti-black racism and indigenous people’s rights received the least legitimizing coverage, with them more often seen as threatening and violent.

Forming the narrative
Decades ago, scholars James Hertog and Douglas McLeod identified how news coverage of protests contributes to the maintenance of the status quo, a phenomenon referred to as “the protest paradigm.” They held that media narratives tend to emphasize the drama, inconvenience and disruption of protests rather than the demands, grievances and agendas of protesters.

These narratives trivialise protests and ultimately dent public support.

Here’s how this theoretically plays out today:

Journalists pay little attention to protests that aren’t dramatic or unconventional.

Knowing this, protesters find ways to capture media and public attention. They don pink “pussy” hats or kneel during the national anthem. They might even resort to violence and lawlessness.

Now the protesters have the media’s attention, but what they cover is often superficial or delegitimising, focusing on the tactics and disruption caused and excluding discussion on the substance of the social movement.

We wanted to explore if this classic theory fit coverage from 2017 – a year of large-scale protests accompanying the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency.

To do so, we analysed the framing of protest reporting from newspapers in Texas. The state’s size and diversity made it a good proxy for the country at large.

In all, we identified 777 articles by searching for terms such as “protest,” “protester,” “Black Lives Matter” and “Women’s March.” This included reports written by journalists in 20 Texas newsrooms, such as the El Paso Times and the Houston Chronicle, as well as syndicated articles from sources like the Associated Press.

We looked at how articles framed the protests in the headline, opening sentence and story structure, and classified the reporting using four recognized frames of protest:

• Riot: Emphasizing disruptive behavior and the use or threat of violence.
• Confrontation: Describing protests as combative, focusing on arrests or “clashes” with police.
• Spectacle: Focusing on the apparel, signs or dramatic and emotional behavior of protesters.
• Debate: Substantially mentioning protester’s demands, agendas, goals and grievances.

We also kept an eye out for sourcing patterns to identify imbalances that often give more credence to authorities than protesters and advocates.

Overall, news coverage tended to trivialize protests by focusing most often on dramatic action. But some protests suffered more than others.

Reports focused on spectacle more often than substance. Much was made of what protesters were wearing, crowd sizes – large and small – celebrity involvement and flaring tempers.

The substance of some marches got more play than others. Around half of the reports on anti-Trump protests, immigration rallies, women’s rights demonstrations and environmental actions included substantial information about protesters’ grievances and demands.

In contrast, Dakota Pipeline and anti-black racism-related protests got legitimising coverage less than 25 percent of the time and were more likely to be described as disruptive and confrontational.

In coverage of a St Louis protest over the acquittal of a police officer who killed a black man, violence, arrest, unrest and disruption were the leading descriptors, while concern about police brutality and racial injustice was reduced to just a few mentions.

Buried more than 10 paragraphs down was the broader context: “The recent St. Louis protests follow a pattern seen since the August 2014 killing of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson: the majority of demonstrators, though angry, are law-abiding.”

As a consequence of variances in coverage, Texas newspaper readers may form the perception that some protests are more legitimate than others. This contributes to what we call a “hierarchy of social struggle,” in which the voices of some advocacy groups are lifted over others.

Lurking bias
Journalists contribute to this hierarchy by adhering to industry norms that work against less-established protest movements. On tight deadlines, reporters may default to official sources for statements and data.

This gives authorities more control of narrative framing. This practice especially becomes an issue for movements like Black Lives Matter that are countering the claims of police and other officials.

Implicit bias also lurks in such reporting. Lack of diversity has long plagued newsrooms.

In 2017, the proportion of white journalists at The Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle was more than double the proportion of white people in each city.

Protests identify legitimate grievances in society and often tackle issues that affect people who lack the power to address them through other means. That’s why it is imperative that journalists do not resort to shallow framing narratives that deny significant and consistent space to air the afflicted’s concerns while also comforting the very comfortable status quo.

Dr Danielle K. Kilgo is an assistant professor of journalism at Indiana University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

• This is an updated version of an article originally published on January 16.

Seven more people have been detained in Indonesia for alleged treason since a complaint filed with the United Nations last month, says the human rights watchdog TAPOL.

The complaint was submitted to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and UN Special Rapporteurs by Jennifer Robinson and Veronica Koman with the support of TAPOL on 15 April 2020.

Ten days later, April 25, more than 100 people participated in a peaceful rally commemorating the declaration of the South Moluccan Republic 70 years ago.

At least 23 people were arrested on that day. Most of them were released except the seven people detailed below.

Three people marched into the Maluku regional police headquarters in Ambon around 3.45 pm while carrying a large Benang Raja independence flag and shouting “Mena Muria”.

They are currently detained at Maluku regional police detention centre and have been charged with Articles 106, 110 and 160 of the Criminal Code:

Simon Viktor Taihitu, born 29 October 1963;

Abner Litamahuputy, born 25 January 1976, who had been imprisoned previously for his political activities

Janes Pattiasina, born 9 December 1968.

The four others are detained at Ambon police resort detention centre and have been charged with Article 106 of the Criminal Code. Their heads were shaved.

Derek Taihuttu, born on 28 October 1961. Taihuttu, a farmer, was arrested at 2 am and has been charged with Article 106 of the Criminal Code. Police arrested him based on the information provided by MS who had been arrested earlier that day for posting a photo with a Benang Raja flag on Facebook. MS told police that the instruction came from Derek Taihuttu.

Constantinus Siahaja, born on 25 May 1987. The farmer was arrested at around 4 am when he was asleep in Sidang Allah church in Hulaliu and has since been charged with Article 106 of the Criminal Code. Police arrested him based on the information provided by Derek Taihuttu that he kept a Benang Raja flag which was given by Derek Taihuttu.

Dominggus Saiya, born on 13 September 1968. He has been charged with Articles 106 and 110 of the Criminal Code for flying the Benang Raja flag on a flag pole outside his house.

Agusthinus Matalula, born on 5 August 1963. Police arrested him based on the information provided by Dominggus Saiya that Dominggus Saiya received the Benang Raja flag that he flew outside his house from Agusthinus Matalula. Agusthinus Matatula was given the flag by the late former notorious political prisoner Johan Teterissa. He has been charged with Articles 106 and 110 of the Criminal Code.

By Charlotte Muru-Lanning in Auckland

A Tongan group visited Ihumātao to show solidarity with the occupation of the land by mana whenua who greeted them with a pōwhiri.

The visit was to encourage more people from the Tongan community to show their support for the occupation, said an organiser, Semisi Vea Sikei.

“We’ve been to Ihumātao a few times and we were disappointed to see a lack of Pacific Islanders there,”  said Sikei, who is Māori and Tongan.

READ MORE: The call of Ihumātao: Migrant communities standing with Māori

Attendee Makelesi Ngata said that it was important to be there as a group to acknowledge how the Tongan community has benefited from being able to live on Māori land.

“It means a lot to me because we reside here, our parents migrated here from Tonga,” she said.

“We’re here to show our appreciation.”

The struggle also mirrored the struggles of people in Tonga whose sovereignty over land and affairs are under threat from international interests, she said.

“We can feel it as well.”

Another organiser, Siosi’ana Mafile’o-Tapueluelu said that the weekend visit was to show unity between the two groups.

“We just want to be there to show our support and to show our love to our Māori brothers and sisters,” she said.

It was love shown through Tongan food like taro, chop suey, pineapple pie and keke ‘isite, poetry, songs and traditional hymns.

The congregation of around 30 people was dressed in traditional church attire and carried Tongan flags. They were welcomed by Kaumātua with a pōwhiri to the makeshift marae atea at Ihumātao on Sunday.

• Charlotte Muru-Lanning is Ngāti Maniapoto and Waikato Tainui. She is based in Auckland, New Zealand. She has a BA in sociology and film and media studies and is currently completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism at Auckland University of Technology

The occupation at Ihumātao is a spectacle of flags.

In every direction they flutter. Alongside tino rangatiratanga – the Māori flag of independence, Samoan colours fly. Next to the United Tribes of New Zealand banner a Tongan flag quivers. A Niuean flag stands tall on Te Puketaapapatanga ā Hape – the sacred Maunga. A Hawai’ian flag is draped from the shoulders of a man like a cape. And on a teenager’s black t-shirt the Morning Star, the true flag of the people of West Papua is displayed with proud impunity.

It’s the Pacific, come ashore at Ihumātao, standing alongside tangata whenua with whom past, present and future are bound through ancestral bloodlines and an ocean of perspective.

GALLERY: Guardianship photo shoot with the Ihumātao ‘protectors’ – Del Abcede

WATCH Pacific people rally behind Ihumātao occupation – Tagata Pasifika

Yet here at Ihumātao, the site of a peaceful occupation to protect sacred Māori land from development, the flags are more than symbols of national identity. Here they are united symbols of indigenous.

As one supporter was reported declaring: “This is an indigenous problem!”

Although this occupation, against a backdrop of colonial injustice, means so much for Māori in Aotearoa and indigenous across the Pacific who are facing similar battles to protect their land, it has also mustered the support of other cultural groups whose members have formed their own deep and unique connections with Māori people and culture.

Asian presence at Ihumātao
If presence – both at the occupation site and on social media – is anything to go by, one of the most ardent non-Māori supporters of the occupation is Asians Supporting Tino Rangatiratanga.

Formed in 2016 from a group of six Asian-New Zealanders, ASTR now has a chapter in both Auckland and Wellington and thousands of supporters from across the country.

The members are passionate in their support of the Mana Whenua at Ihumātao, and were part of the Asian delegation at the occupation.

Outside of protests, they organise Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) workshops where other Asian migrants can learn about the Treaty and Aotearoa’s colonial history.

“We’re trying to demystify [the history] and build bridges,” says youth worker and ASTR member Mengzhu Fu.

“Pākehā try and mediate the relationship between Asians migrants and Māori,” she says.

The colonial status quo
“When they have control of those relationships they often pit migrants against Māori and that division often works in their favour to maintain the colonial status quo.

“The relationship often has to be through them but we want to bypass them and directly build those relationships.”

She also says because of language issues Asian migrants are often susceptible to the misrepresentation precipitated through the New Zealand media.

“There’s is a lot of misinformation that is translated from Pākehā media.

“A lot of our communities that are not as fluent in English will receive that media and make a perception of Māori based on Pākehā translations.”

While she was certainly exposed to those negative perceptions when she first arrived here as a child, she has since discovered that the reality is far different.

Journey of discovery
Her journey however has been her own, and like many New Zealanders, her high school years did little to expose her to much of this country’s history.

“I went to quite a prestigious public school and I only remember learning about the Treaty in fourth form and it was quite brushed over.

“We did re-enactments of the Treaty but we never learned what happened after it was signed.”

Another member of ASTR, Qian-ye Lin, agrees: “I think I only learned about the Treaty or specificity of New Zealand colonial history through my friends, like by falling into friend groups that are political and who are willing to teach me.”

Also a migrant from China, Lin says that Asian migrants are desperate to integrate into Pākehā society which means that the Māori world often falls into the shadows.

“There is this massive need to assimilate whether it is for survival or otherwise.

“That was my journey of assimilating into the Pākehā world and then realising that by doing that I’m also complicit in colonisation.”

Cultural reflections
A student at the University of Auckland, Lin says that one of the most valuable aspects of learning about New Zealand’s colonial injustices is the insights it provides her into her own culture.

“I feel that being Han Chinese and of the more privileged class I’ve definitely been quite blind to colonisation or the perspective of indigenous people because I do occupy the space of being the dominant majority in China.”

She says that ASTR’s work helps educate Asian migrants and enables them to engage meaningfully with the colonial aspects of their own ancestry.

However, both her and Fu hope the work will also permeate more into Pākehā society.

“Sometimes it’s as simple as listening. Listening to people who have been disempowered,” Fu says.

Lin agrees: “I feel like the first step is to get over your fragility, and being brave enough to admit that maybe you do occupy a dominant position.”

“It’s about taking accountability and realising that Pākehā have been privileged because of that history and there are ways that they can dismantle that as well.”

Muslim delegation
On a weekend in late July, a Muslim delegation was welcomed with a pōwhiri onto the whenua at Ihumātao.

They sat with the kaumatua (elders), listened to karakia (prayer) and waiata (songs) and were shown hospitality in accordance with the revered Māori customs of manaakitanga.

Among the delegation – which included several Islamic leaders and scholars, was Shaymaa Arif who has found that the principals of manaakitanga have an uncanny similarity to Islamic customs.

It’s the respect and inclusivity of manaakitanga, she says that is bringing Māori and New Zealand Muslims closer together.

“An understanding has really developed,” she says.

“The communities are becoming closer to each other, the gap is becoming smaller.”

A former human rights lawyer based in Kirikiriroa (Hamilton), Arif says the contact between Muslims and Māori has historically been stifled by fear based on media-driven stereotypes and intergenerational ignorance.

A bond is forming
However, in recent years the walls have started to come down and a true bond is forming, the kind that can only form between people who have shed similar tears and felt similar pain.

“There is a long trail of tears in this beautiful country which we as people from minority groups have also experienced on a different level so we understand the struggle.”

After the Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15, that understanding was galvanised into something even stronger.

“The Māori community stood with us so much. They came out and gave us that space to lean on them.”

“They literally were like ‘we understand the struggle. We’ve been through this for so many years.’”

For Arif, who has ventured up from Hamilton three times to join the occupation, the kindness and support shown to her by Māori deeply affected her youth. In her teen years she was included in kapa haka groups without question. In her university years Māori mentors coached her even through she’s not Māori. It was manaakitanga she says, that made her feel connected and welcome.

And yet now, four months after the mosque attacks, questions are being asked if that sense of public connection and unity that was touted on a national level in the aftermath of March 15 has been maintained. Has the bulk of New Zealand society moved on, and once again forgotten about its Muslim community?

Possibly, but certainly not by everyone. Arif says that every Friday evening, four months on from the attack, a group of local Māori pitch a gazebo on the park across the road from the Hamilton mosque and stand guard, while inside the worshippers pray in peace.

That, she says, is why she stands with the mana whenua at Ihumātao.

New Zealand police have pepper-sprayed two dogs and arrested three more people at the site of a controversial land dispute in South Auckland, reports RNZ.

The site at Ihumātao near Auckland Airport is zoned for housing development but has been the subject of a bitter dispute between local iwi and private construction company Fletcher Building.

Yesterday three people were arrested after police and kaumatua (elders) arrived on site to deliver eviction notices to the demonstrators, some of whom had been occupying the land for months.

READ MORE: Why Ihumātao is being occupied by ‘protectors’

While protesters remained overnight, peacefully singing waiata and sitting around a campfire, tensions again erupted when Fletcher trucks began entering the site at 8am this morning.

A spokesperson for the protesters group SOUL, Pania Newton, said that was despite an agreement with police that no more vehicles would go through.

Police ‘breach trust’
“The police have breached our trust. We no longer have any confidence in the New Zealand police,” she said.

According to RNZ, police said protesters attempted to obstruct a truck from gaining access through the cordon and two were arrested.

One woman will face charges of obstruction and being unlawfully on a vehicle, police said. A second person will be given a pre-charge warning for obstruction before being released.

Police said the dogs were pepper-sprayed because they were “uncontrolled and aggressive.”

Sacred land
Ihumātao is part of land considered wāhi tapu (sacred) by local hapū and iwi as it sits next to Ōtuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve, home to New Zealand’s earliest market gardens and a 600-year-old archaeological and burial site.

While 32 hectares of the land is owned by Fletchers Building, protesters have been occupying the site in a gesture of resistance against the planned housing development.

During yesterday’s confrontation, Spinoff reported one protester criticising police for their participation in evicting kaitiaki [guardians] on behalf of the foreign-owned Fletchers.

“Complicit in colonisation”
“You’re complicit in colonisation. The armed constabulary at Parihaka were just doing their job. Apartheid police in South Africa were just doing their job,” she said.

Videos on the SOUL Facebook page shows more demonstrators arriving at the site, singing songs and performing haka before a growing police presence.

Meanwhile, 300 protesters descended on Parliament in Wellington today in a show of solidarity with the people of Ihumātao, reported RNZ.

Protest organiser Tamatha Paul was urging the police force to stand down and all parties to get together to resolve the issue according to tikanga Māori.

Yesterday, Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson spoke in support of the occupants saying they were on the right side of history and her heart went out to them.

“Unjust land confiscation”
“I wanted the government to come to a better solution and negotiate directly with mana whenua, so I’m really sad that it has come to this, which is a continuation of unjust land confiscation,” she said.

Stuff.co.nz has been criticised on social media for referring to the demonstrations as an “illegal occupation” despite the fact that the Crown confiscated the whenua (land) from Māori during the invasion of the Waikato in 1863.

A global human rights watchdog claims that Vietnam’s human rights record could jeopardise a free trade deal with the European Union.

A warning letter by Human Rights Watch, dated September 17, sent by 32 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) was addressed to the EU Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmström.

It called for a “push for robust progress in Vietnam’s human rights record ahead of the possible ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)”.

“. . . loose provisions on national security have been widely used to suppress peaceful dissent and jail scores of human rights defenders. . .,” the letter said.

READ MORE: Vietnam censorship extends to popular, official news website

The letter claimed that there was a need for a series of targets that the country should meet before the agreement was handed over to the European Parliament for its approval.

The ratification of the EVFTA agreement is slated to happen at the end of this year and would rid the country of at least 99 percent of customs duties paid on exports into Europe.

Censorship has lately become a growing concern.

Censoring reality
The words Bachelor: Vietnam contestant Minh Thu uttered to Bachelor Quoc Trung on the episode which aired on September 21 said: “I went into this competition to find love, and I’ve found that love for myself, but it isn’t with you. It’s with someone else”.

While participating in the competition over time, Thu had fallen in love with another woman, fellow contestant Truc Nhu, and they left the programme together.

“In Vietnamese pop culture, there’s a lot of people that are rumoured to be LGBT or people that hint at it. . . So to see a moment that’s unequivocal, where someone is saying that they love someone else . . . I think it’s going to be very powerful to young people,” says the shows story producer Anh-Thu Nguyen.

At this point in the history of Vietnam, few are willing to come out of the proverbial closet – in more ways than one.

Despite this, censors allowed the confession to air almost completely, a move surprising many viewers and commentators.

Vietnam, a Communist country since 1976, has seen much censorship over the years and its culture, it appears, has been no different.

Bachelor: Vietnam, currently in its first season, has faced issues of potential censorship since its inception. According to the show’s executive producer, Anh Tran, it was difficult to sell to networks.

Many of the traditional parts of the United States’ version of the show had to be edited or cut out entirely to avoid censure from censors.

The rose ceremony, for example, has to be carefully edited to avoid showing a line-up of women vying for a man – the main plot point for the show.

Censorship of culture
Vietnam is ruled by the Communist Party, and censorship is seemingly common in the cultural realm as singer Mai Khoi could attest.

In March, the woman who has been dubbed as the country’s own Lady Gaga or Pussy Riot, was detained at the airport, and “interrogated for eight hours”.

Copies of her latest album, Dissent, were confiscated, she claimed in a Facebook post.
She has written songs about the women’s movement and LGBT rights. She also ran – unsuccessfully – for public office in the country. She now performs in secret in her own country.

The country has been a Communist nation since the 1960s, and censorship has long been a part of that.

Last month, Reuters reported that a court had jailed an activist for 12 years in prison and a further five years’ house arrest.

Nguyen Trung Truc, 44, was – according to a statement given by police – among a group called “Brotherhood for Democracy” in 2013. The group, police said, conducted “anti-government activities” with the aim of creating a system of “multi-party democracy” in Vietnam.

‘Hurt the prestige’
A second man, Bui Manh Dong, 40, was convicted over his comments on September 28.
Police said that Dong had “hurt the prestige and leading role of the [Communist] party and the state”.

Dong, and one other man, Doan Knanh Vinh Quang, were accused of encouraging people to protest against government policies or write posts that were critical of the government.

Vietnam has a high level of social media use among its citizens yet the country’s Communist government has introduced a new law which, according to Amnesty International, would force tech companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook to hand over data from their users.

“This decision has potentially devastating consequences for freedom of expression in Viet Nam,” said Clare Algar, international director of global operations for Amnesty International, in June.

“With the sweeping powers it grants the government to monitor online activity, this. . . means there is now no safe place left. . . for people to speak freely”.

Last year, it was reported that the country had built up a force of “cyber-troops” to tackle what they call “wrongful views”.

Jessica Marshall is a student journalist on the Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies course at AUT. She is filing articles in the Asia-Pacific Journalism Studies paper.

Off The Wall: with Padre James Bhagwan in Suva

As we conclude the month of June 2017, it would be remiss of me not to draw our attention to our neighbour New Zealand, which yesterday broke a 14-year drought on the water to convincingly win the oldest trophy in international sport — the America’s Cup.

However, the emergence of New Zealand as a yachting superpower is not the only reason it makes history this month. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Aotearoa becoming a “nuclear-free” country when the NZ Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act came into force on 8 June 1987, the day we globally mark as World Ocean’s Day.

Professor David Robie, director of the Pacific Media Centre, believes activist movements in New Zealand through the 1980s helped spark the change needed for the country’s nuclear-free stance in the Pacific.

“What pushed NZ in the direction it did with the nuclear-free approach was the masses of activism, of just ordinary people, people getting out on their boats on Auckland harbour for example.”

Speaking at an event, “Celebrating 30 years of Nuclear-Free Aotearoa/New Zealand 1987/2017,” organised by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) — Aotearoa, Dr Robie said the process to achieve the nuclear-free stand was a David and Goliath struggle to make NZ nuclear-free against the US and global pressure.

“The real ‘David’ were the ordinary people of New Zealand who exerted extraordinary pressure on the government to deliver. The barrages of letters from citizens, constant lobbying by peace campaigners, local councils … declaring themselves nuclear-free, the door-knocking petitioners and, of course, the spectacular protests.”

Pacific ‘ahead of the game’
The author of Eyes of Fire: the Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior (1986, 2005 and 2015), and Don’t Spoil My Beautiful Face: Media, Mayhem and Human Rights in the Pacific (2014) also reflected on the impact of what happened in NZ on the Pacific, acknowledging some small Pacific countries and communities who were “actually ahead of the game”:

• 1979 — The Republic of Palau (Belau) adopted a nuclear-free Constitution and was forced by the US to hold a further 10 referenda in attempts to undermine the document. The “father” of the Constitution, President Haruo Remeliik, was assassinated on June 30, 1985. In the end, the people of Belau were ironically forced to vote to drop their nuclear-free status for “economic survival” a month after New Zealand’s Bill became law;
• 1980 — The newly independent nation of Vanuatu, formerly the New Hebrides, also adopted a nuclear-free Constitution and banned nuclear ships from its territorial waters. The country was led by the inspirational Father Walter Lini, who linked nuclear weapons with colonialism;
• 1983 — Tahiti’s airport suburb of Fa’aa led by mayor Oscar Temaru, who later became president of French-occupied Polynesia several times, declared itself nuclear-free; and
• 1987 — The first Fiji Labour Party government led by Dr Timoci Bavadra also planned to bring in a nuclear-free law but was deposed at gunpoint in the first military coup of Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka in May that year.

Why is this 30th anniversary of a nuclear-free NZ and the Pacific struggle to also be nuclear-free important today?

According to ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons), nine countries together possess around 15,000 nuclear weapons. The US and Russia maintain roughly 1800 of their nuclear weapons on high-alert status — ready to be launched within minutes of a warning.

Many times more powerful
Most are many times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. A single nuclear warhead detonated on a large city could kill millions of people with the effects persisting for decades.

The failure of the nuclear powers to disarm has heightened the risk of other countries acquiring nuclear weapons. The only guarantee against the spread and use of nuclear weapons is to eliminate them without delay. Although the leaders of some nuclear-armed nations have expressed their vision for a nuclear-weapon-free world, they have failed to develop any detailed plans to eliminate their arsenals and are modernising them.

Someone, who participated in the early Pacific-wide protest movement against nuclear weapons testing and militarisation of the Pacific region, Fiji-based Vanessa Griffen says: “In the Pacific, we have collectively experienced the known and unknown consequences of nuclear weapons use, the push by non-nuclear states for a ban on nuclear weapons is the only sensible, humane and responsible course of action to take.

“Nuclear weapons states should be regarded, collectively, as lawless and flouting international humanitarian standards.”

Griffen became aware of the environmental and genetic impacts of radioactivity from French nuclear weapons testing in French Polynesia as a student at the University of the South Pacific. She joined the anti-nuclear movement ATOM (Against Testing on Moruroa) and helped form the early Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) network.

Concurrently, she was part of the Pacific women’s movement which was always against nuclear weapons testing and for a peaceful Pacific.

She has been a representative of FemLINKPacific, a partner member of ICAN and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC).

Plea to use statehood
“Pacific Island states, with an unusually high experiential qualification for speaking up for nuclear disarmament, are a significant number in the United Nations and should use their statehood collectively and effectively on this global issue of nuclear disarmament,” she said.

From 1946 to 1958, the US conducted 67 atomic and hydrogen bomb tests at Bikini and Enewetak atolls in the Marshall Islands, accounting for 32 percent of all US atmospheric tests. In the 1960s, there were 25 further US tests at Christmas (Kiritimati) Island and nine at Johnston (Kalama) Atoll.

The UK tested nuclear weapons in Australia and its Pacific colonies in the 1950s. Starting in 1952, there were 12 atmospheric tests at the Monte Bello Islands, Maralinga and Emu Field in Australia (1952-57).

There were also more than 600 “minor” trials, such as the testing of bomb components and the burning of plutonium, uranium and other nuclear materials, conducted at Maralinga.

Under “Operation Grapple”, the British Government conducted another nine atomic and hydrogen bomb tests at Kiritimati and Malden islands in the central Pacific from 1957 to 1958.

After conducting four atmospheric tests at Reggane (1960-61) and 13 underground tests at In Eker (1961-6) in the Sahara desert of Algeria, France established its Pacific nuclear test centre in French Polynesia.

For 30 years between 1966 and 1996, France conducted 193 atmospheric and underground nuclear tests at Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls.

Fragile ecology
Their impact on the fragile ecology of the region and the health and mental wellbeing of its peoples has been profound and long-lasting. Pacific Islanders continue to experience epidemics of cancers, chronic diseases and congenital abnormalities as a result of the radioactive fallout that blanketed their homes and the vast Pacific Ocean, upon which they depend for their livelihoods.

As you read this, the United Nations is convening negotiations in 2017 on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”. This new international agreement will place nuclear weapons on the same legal footing as other weapons of mass destruction, which have long been outlawed.

The negotiations began at UN headquarters in New York for one week in March and will continue from June 15 to July 7, with governments, international organisations and civil society participating.

Despite being the most destructive, inhumane weapons ever invented, nuclear weapons are the only “weapons of mass destruction” that are not yet banned under international law. (Chemical and biological weapons are both banned internationally.)

In December 2016, the UN General Assembly took action to address this crucial gap, voting to begin negotiations in 2017 for a treaty to ban nuclear weapons.

Pacific Island governments have joined the historic talks at the United Nations that should result in an international treaty that bans nuclear weapons as the second, and possibly final round of negotiations aims to have a final text on a treaty adopted in early July.

Reverend James Bhagwan is an ordained Methodist minister and a citizen journalist. He contributes the regular “Off The Wall” column to The Fiji Times and this article is republished with permission. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Methodist Church in Fiji or the newspaper.

• ‘We shouldn’t rest on our laurels’
• A David and Goliath struggle
• John Pilger’s documentary The Coming War On China

By Freddy Mou in Port Moresby

More than 1000 protesters from four villages Portion 152 where the Papua New Guinea LNG plant sits have gathered on site to demonstrate over their overdue royalty payments.

The villagers were from Papa, Boera, Porebada and Lealea and they blockaded ovehicle access into the plant site.

Spokesperson and chairman of the Porebada Besena Association, Judah Matt Baru, said  they had not received any payment since the first shipment of LNG in 2014.

He said the government had promised repeatedly to pay its royalties but never kept its promises.

“We cannot sit and spectate on our own land. The government must come good with their promises or else we will shut the plant site for an indefinite period,” Baru said.

Baru said their petition was being given to the government but nothing had been done.

Meanwhile, police have been deployed to the site and are manning the entry gate.

Protest condemned
The Provincial Police Commander for Central Province, Superintendent Laimo Asi, today condemned the protest.

Asi said no approval was given by authorities to stage the protest.

The commander, who was at earlier today, said he had warned landowners not to cause any damage to the plant site but to allow the operation to continue as normal.

He had advised them that the protest was illegal and while the landowners had been reluctant to back off, they promised to do it peacefully.

Asi said his men were on the ground to protect facilities and to ensure the protest did not turn rowdy.

Freddy Mou is a senior Loop PNG journalist.

Scores of Indonesian police blocked Papuan students in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta who planned to hold a demonstration on Friday.

Around 70 or so students were prevented from leaving the Kamasan student dormitory on Jl. Kusumanegara, Yogyakarta.

“Police have been on guard in front of the dormitory since 9.30am and have prevented us from leaving the dormitory,” said Papua Student Alliance (AMP) chairperson Abi Douw when contacted by CNN Indonesia.

The students, who planned to hold a demonstration, fought back and as a result a scuffle broke out between police and students. Several students suffered minor injuries to the knees, forehead and arms.

The students, who came from several different organisations such as the AMP, the Student Forum for the Papuan People and the Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-West Papua), had planned to hold a solidarity action over violence in recent days against people in Dogiyai regency in the West Papuan central highlands.

Similar solidarity actions were held in various other cities around the country.

“We are demanding [an end] to security sweeps against the people of Dogiyai which have resulted in deaths, we demand that the joint security forces leave the area,” said Abi.

Security sweeps leave four dead
The security sweeps in Dogiyai have left four people dead and 15 injured after they were shot by security personnel.

Abi said that they had already asked for police to agree to the planned solidarity action a day earlier. “We provided [police] with a notification and they provided a record of it,” he said.

Police however blocked the action, said Abi, on the grounds that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was currently visiting Yogyakarta.

Widodo was in Yogyakarta to attend a ceremony to break ground on the construction of a new international airport in Kulon Progo regency.

“The police said that the reason for blocking our action was because President Jokowi would be here,” said Abi.

Yuliawati is a journalist reporting for CNN Indonesia in Jakarta. Translated from the Bahasa by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was “Jokowi Kunjungi Yogya, Mahasiswa Papua ‘Terkurung’ di Asrama”.

John Miller (1929-2016) died in Christchurch in November, aged 87. John and Leonida (Leony) have been members of the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa (PSNA) since 1994 (PSNA hasn’t published a newsletter since 2009, so we count anyone who was a member in 2009 as being a current member).

As Jim Consedine explained in his obituary for the Catholic Worker publication The Common Good, John Miller visited the Philippines in 1983, when it was being ground under the heel of the Marcos martial law dictatorship.

He married Leony, returned to New Zealand, and their daughter Cory was named after Cory Aquino, who became President when the world famous People Power movement swept the Marcos regime out of power and out of the country in 1986.

John remained passionately interested in the Philippines for the rest of his life and he always attended Christchurch public meetings addressed by Filipino speakers that PSNA toured through NZ on a regular basis.

The photo of John that accompanies this obituary was on his funeral programme. He was wearing a “Free All Political Prisoners” T shirt and it bore the names of the major human rights group Karapatan, and of SELDA, the group representing the victims and families of the Marcos martial law dictatorship.

I suspect he probably got it during PSNA’s 2004 NZ speaking tour by Marie Hilao-Enriquez, a leader of both Karapatan and SELDA and herself a martial law detainee.

Political prisoners
Unfortunately, neither political prisoners nor the vile Marcos family are consigned to the past in today’s Philippines.

They are both very much front and centre under the new President, Rodrigo Duterte.

This other photo was taken just last weekend by my wife Becky, who is currently in Manila on her annual Christmas visit to her family. It was taken at a rally to protest against this month’s burial of Ferdinand Marcos (who has been dead since 1989) in the National Heroes Cemetery in Manila.

The shirtless young man (a stranger to Becky, who took the photo) has names written on his back. They are of victims of the Marcos martial law dictatorship.

The top one says “Liliosa” – Liliosa Hilao, who was the most high profile female murder victim of that regime (in the early 1970s).

Liliosa was Becky’s maternal aunt and Marie Hilao-Enriquez’s sister. This stuff is still very current in the Philippines – it has never been resolved.

Anti-Bases Campaign
I also knew John in another capacity. Although he was never a member of the Anti-Bases Campaign, he came on ABC’s Waihopai spy base protests more than once.

He came with the Christchurch Catholic Worker contingent. ABC, although an avowedly secular group, has had a long and productive working relationship with Catholic Worker.

Three of its North Island members – Adrian Leason, Peter Murnane and Sam Land – were the famous Domebusters, who deflated one of the spy base’s domes in 2008 and were acquitted of all charges by a jury.

They are the stars of the excellent current documentary The 5th Eye. (If you haven’t seen it yet, join us at the upcoming Waihopai spy base protest. We’re showing it in Blenheim on January 28).

John was already an old man when he came on the Waihopai protests but he burned with youthful passion whenever he spoke there and even more so when he recited one of his own poems (Jim Consedine, who co-presided at John’s ecumenical funeral, jokingly said: “John had 400,000 poems”).

His whole demeanour and tone of voice changed when he launched forth – he became an orator, with a declamatory tone.

To mention John without mentioning religion is like mentioning Christchurch without mentioning earthquakes. It was central to his being.

Evangelical enthusiasm
His funeral was a Catholic/Methodist joint production (definitely a first for Becky and me and, I suspect, for a lot of the others attending). In her eulogy, Cory said she asked him once: “Dad, what do you do for fun? Dad replied “I go to church”.

“But what do you for fun, Dad?” Dad replied: “I pray”. At that point, Cory said, she gave up.

John was a passionate Christian pacifist and a man with great evangelical enthusiasm.

He was a neighbour of ours, living in the next street, and would regularly turn up unannounced (his record was five times in one day) to tell me about something he’d just read in the radical Christian press or to generally share the Good News.

As a friend said: “John doesn’t do small talk”. He regularly tried, and failed, to get me along to one of the various churches he regularly attended. (I’m a long lapsed Anglican and Presbyterian, married to a long lapsed Catholic).

At times he could be a nuisance (it is not an easy road being an unapologetically public religious practitioner in a heavily secular society), but his motives and commitment to peace and a truly radical Christianity could never be doubted.

I’ve met plenty of other Biblebashers, too many of them on my own doorstep, but John was one with a difference, he was a progressive Biblebasher, albeit one with a striking resemblance to an Old Testament prophet.

He and I were on the same side.

Rest in peace, you zealot for peace. My deepest condolences to Leony and Cory (whom I’ve known since she was a child).

Murray Horton is a social justice campaigner, organiser of the Anti-Bases Coalition (ABC) and Campaign Against Foreign Control (CAFCA), and a stalwart of the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa.

Leilani Salesa said the media was powerful at creating awareness of issues and it was critical that they reviewed their teaching and practice methods to give Papuan people a chance of self-determination of their future.

• Full story here

Oceania Interrupted powhiri

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Indonesia has no desire to engage in dialogue about the serious human rights issues in West Papua.

Sogavare reaffirmed these views at a media conference in Honiara after returning from Vanuatu where he had the opportunity to meet with his Vanuatu counterpart, Prime Minister Charlot Salwai, and a delegation of leaders from the United Liberation Front for West Papua (ULMWP) at the sidelines of the 2023 Pacific Games bid presentation.

One of the issues discussed in the meeting between the two Melanesian prime ministers was a motion to be tabled by Prime Minister Salwai at the upcoming MSG Leaders’ summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, for granting of full MSG membership to ULMWP.

Prime Minister Sogavare registered his full support for this West Papua initiative.

In the meeting between Sogavare and the ULMWP delegation, the West Papuans presented a two-point petition for consideration by the MSG chair for discussion at the upcoming leaders’ summit.

The issues are the elevation of ULMWP’s membership of the MSG and a request to the United Nations for intervention in West Papua to neutralise the ever increasing rate of genocide there.

Sogavare told the media conference that Indonesia’s apparent rejection of the resolution reached by the Pacific Islands Forum leaders in Port Moresby in 2015 for the deployment of a fact-finding mission in West Papua as well as the Indonesian president’s refusal to meet with him in his capacity as the MSG chair to explain the position of the MSG on the issue of West Papua are strong grounds for elevating the status of ULMP to full membership.

‘No alternatives’
“Indonesia leaves the MSG no alternatives on bringing the West Papuan issues on the table for discussion, except to elevate the status of West Papua from observer status to full membership, so that the MSG Leaders can discuss the West Papuan issues more strategically,” he said.

Prime Minister Sogavare is adamant that Indonesia would continue to downplay West Papua human rights issues until a possible United Nations resolution on West Papua is achieved in the future.

He said as chair, the MSG would take on board such matters as priority issues to address.

The prime minister said fresh accounts of ongoing human rights violations in West Papua are continuing to emerge.

However, the Indonesian President’s refusal to meet him in Jakarta to convey the MSG’s position on West Papua is a clear indication that Indonesia has other reasons for joining MSG other than discussing West Papua human rights issues.

He said the Indonesian president’s noncommittal attitude warrants the MSG to take the matter up to the next notch – the United Nations for intervention.

Prime Minister Sogavare said he was aware that said since the ULMWP was granted an observer status of the MSG in 2015, the situation in West Papua had became more tense.

This was leaving the indigenous people now at the brink of extinction.

Last week, while in Port Vila, Prime Minister Sogavare said Indonesia had refused his request for dialogue gave him all the reason to take this matter back to the MSG, adding that Indonesia had crossed the line so we need to take some tough steps.

• A new hopeful chapter in West Papua’s 50-year freedom

Students at the two leading universities in Papua New Guinea – the national University of PNG in the capital Port Moresby and Unitech in the second city of Lae – have been protesting and boycotting classes for two weeks.

They are demanding that Prime Minister Peter O’Neill stand down and allow investigations into allegations of corruption proceed without hindrance.

According tothe Electoral Office’s media officer, Alphonse Muapi, the Lae Election Office did not see seek head office approval before conducting a vote over the boycott of classes at Unitech.

Muapi said the Electoral Office could not conduct a referendum because its regulations did not recognise the university Students’ Representative Council (SRC).

“Due to this referendum conducted at Unitech, it has left the Electoral Commission in a very awkward position as we are not sure how to address the referendum which should have taken place before a boycott can commence,” Muapi said.

Protesting Students from the  University of Papua New Guinea and the University of Technology  have  continued boycotting classes today, with further threats of a mass withdrawal.

The Electoral Office had rejected a similar request for a ballot by the University of PNG SRC.

They say they will withdraw from studies but have given 24 hours to the administration for the reimbursement of their semester 2 school fees and return tickets back to their province.

This followed another call from the Vice-Chancellor yesterday at 4pm for the students to return to class today.

• Students reach out to public in ‘awareness’ day
• Unitech boycotts classes, Tabar slams
• UPNG students’ actions
• Take your petition to the PM, says Parkop
• UPNG warns student planned protest ballot ‘bordering on contempt’
• UPNG students shrug off threats

More than 3000 students from the University of Technology and the National Polytechnic Institute in Papua New Guinea’s second largest city of Lae travelled in busloads to the Eriku Oval yesterday for a “public awareness” meeting.

Authorisation for the gathering was given after lengthy dialogue between the Lae Metropolitan Superintendent, Anthony Wagambie Jnr, and student leaders.

Like the University of Papua New Guinea in the nation’s capital of Port Moresby, the majority of students wore black signifying their protest over what they see as an assault on Papua New Guinea’s constitutional offices.

Each element of this awareness meeting was carefully chosen – the flags for diversity and unity and the female students also were the forefront of this relatively quiet protest.

“My intention in joining this awareness is to take the message to out parents, our uncles and our brothers and sisters so that they will know what we are fighting for,” said Tanya Sawa, one of many young women who voted for a boycott just days ago.

The students were barred from carrying anything defamatory or contemptuous in nature, including placards or slogans that could trigger court proceedings against them.

They were also barred from walking from the Taraka campus to Eriku for fear that it could trigger a riot.

Police escort
Instead, the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) organised buses to take the students from the university to Eriku with a police escort.

This is the first time since the unrest began that Unitech has reached out to the public.

Student leaders have said this was not a protest but instead an “awareness meeting” to educate the public on national issues affecting the country, and why their call for the prime minister to step aside still stands.

“I wouldn’t say that we’re heading towards an authoritarian state, but I would say what’s happening will affect us for years into the future,” said the president of the Simbu Students’  Association, Lucas Kiak.

The awareness meeting was approved after two weeks of meetings between student leaders and Metropolitan Superintendent Wagambie, who has been personally facilitating discussions to ensure the tensions do not escalate and spill over into violence.

The manner in which the meeting was controlled has also triggered positive reactions in the Lae community, as well as on social media, where Lae police have been praised for their professionalism and restraint.

Scott Waide is the EMTV correspondent in Lae.

• Unitech awareness event exceeds all expectations

However, the vote never happened.

The protesting students have a petition calling on Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to step down and face an alleged corruption investigation. But they refused to hand over the petition to government officials last week when they visited campus without the prime minister.

The Electoral Commission told PNGFM News when contacted that the commission did not recognise the UPNG Students’ Representative Council (SRC) body and they would not conduct any ballot that day.

According to the Electoral Commission’s legal team, the SRC body has no powers to request for referendum to be conducted.

The commission would only respond to a request from the UPNG administration.

The director of UPNG’s public relations, Jim Robins, clarified the administration’s stand that it would not have any say in the referendum or how it would be conducted.

“The university administration cannot request the Electoral Commission to conduct the referendum as we would be in contempt of court if we do that,” he said.

Robins also stressed the statement by the Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, Malakai Tabar, saying students should return to class before tomorrow to avoid exclusion from their courses.

‘Threat to democracy’
Earlier this week, the general secretary of the Trade Union Congress, John Paska, claimed current student boycott of classes threatened the country’s democracy.

He urged students to return to class until all legal processes had been exhausted.

Paska has called on workers throughout the country not to join the protest, saying any demonstration is legally baseless.

• Unitech boycotts classes, Tabar slams UPNG students’ actions
• Take your petition to the PM, says Parkop
• UPNG warns student planned protest ballot ‘bordering on contempt’
• UPNG students shrug off threats

“We have been informed that 12 protesters were taken into police custody in Kuala Kencana for further investigation and questioning,” the AHRC said in a statement.

“Prior to the protest, the indigenous Papuans had informed the police of their intention to call for an end to rampant human rights violations in Papua.

“Despite this, the police suddenly forcibly dispersed the demonstration, with the claim that one of the protesters called for a referendum in his speech for indigenous Papuans who suffer from rampant violations conducted by the Indonesian security forces.”

The AHRC said it had also learned that the police had warned and intimidated local religious leaders to avoid political activities and speaking about human rights violations and referendums in churches.

“Over the last year, countless cases of forced dissolution of protesters in Papua and West Papua province have been observed. In all of these cases, the police have not taken the responsibility to examine whether or not the use of excessive force was lawful.”

At the same time, civilians did not have effective complaint mechanisms to challenge the police’s use of excessive force and abuse of power, said the AHRC.

Protection obligation
“As state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with the promulgation of National Law No. 11 of 2005, the Indonesian government is obliged to ensure that the right to freedom of opinion and assembly is protected, as noted in Article 21 of the Covenant:

“The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognized. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”

The government should take the forced dissolution of protests and police excessive use of force seriously, particularly as a National Commission on Human Rights report states that the highest number of human rights violations in Indonesia, including Papua, are conducted by the police, said AHRC.

“Besides the failure of police reform, the government is also failing to evaluate its policy upon Papua and West Papua, despite the protection of indigenous Papuans being a priority of President Joko Widodo’s administration.”

The AHRC noted with concern that the law enforcement agencies and criminal justice system in Papua and West Papua provinces had themselves become part of the problem.

“As a result of the judicial mechanism failing to fulfill the right to justice for indigenous Papuans, Papuan people do not see that their rights are fulfilled and respected in the manner of Indonesian citizens by the government,” said AHRC.

“Rather, the presence of state security forces in the region has led to routine violence and the restriction of their freedom of opinion, assembly and thought.

‘Release all detainees’
“The government of Indonesia should therefore take immediate action to release all detained protesters who took part in peaceful demonstrations, and guarantee that any future peaceful protest is protected by the law and similar violations will not recur.

“The government should further evaluate the presence of the Indonesian security forces in Papua and West Papua province, particularly as the proportion of the forces is not equal to that of the local indigenous Papuans, and far from protection, their presence has only resulted in rampant human rights violations against the Papuans.

“Lastly, the government should be more consistent in implementing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and show its seriousness by enforcing the law based upon fair trial principles.”

Merdeka: Media and the case for Papuan civil resistance

But Asia Pacific Report had a photographer on the inside – with the protesters blockading the floor leading to the venue of the New Zealand Petroleum Conference.

Asia Pacific’s Del Abcede captured these images of police dragging away the protesters.

The non-violent civil disobedience action was organised by Greenpeace.

Another Del Abcede image gallery from SkyCity

Dragging away protesters

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By Mackenzie Smith

Climate change activists formed a singing blockade around the SkyCity Auckland Convention Centre today in an effort to disrupt the Petroleum New Zealand Conference.

The protesters dispersed peacefully around 10:30am after a dawn start and were confident that the action was a success.

Chris Hay, an actions coordinator for Greenpeace NZ, said that the conference was effectively shut down for 2.5 hours and that was “a really great achievement”.

“More than 200 people committed to, if necessary, being arrested in order to tell the oil industry that it’s no longer business as usual,” he said.

He believes that the “radical” image normally associated with protests is beginning to change due to increased awareness from the public regarding issues such as climate change.

“The men and suits that we saw today… those guys, for too long, have been determining our future,” he said.

“This is democracy in action. Democracy doesn’t happen every three years, it happens every day.”

Hottest month
Last month — February — was reported to be the hottest month in recorded history,  something that Greenpeace NZ, which organised the protest, wanted everyone to remember.

The organisers have drawn comparisons between today’s “peaceful civil disobedience” and civil rights movements such as the 1981 Springbok Tour protests and Rosa Parks’ effort to end segregation in America.

“The climate justice movement has in front of it a job which is as big as the civil rights movements had in front of it,” said Greenpeace NZ executive director Russel Norman.

He said that although the historical movements had their differences to what was achieved today, the tactics used in order to achieve a civil rights victory were extremely relevant — and that with that history came a certain validity.

Organisers felt that while getting their message across was the main focus, it was important to preserve the kaupapa, which Hay explains as being “the spirit of things”.

Greenpeace NZ officials made it clear to protesters that today’s protest was to be non-violent and would involve no shouting, chanting, loudhailers, or active resistance of arrest.

Any protesters who did not conform to this definition of non-violence would not be provided with the customary legal support.

Greenpeace NZ chose not to apply their brand to this protest in a move that Norman describes as being “quite experimental”.

They hope that this will bring the strength and diverse representation of a people’s movement rather than that of a singular body.

Norman believes there is a “balance to be struck” between the building of broad social movements and providing support to the institutions that support them.

‘Life and death’ action needed