IN MEMORIAM - Victor Uherbelau joined the ancestors

Solomon Islands (Fisheries Forum Agency )-- The Forum Fisheries Agency mourns the sad passing of its former FFA Director, Talobak Victorio Uherbelau on Sunday, August 27, 2017. He was 78. 

At the forefront of Palau’s emergence into nationhood, Uherbelau, who held the chiefly title Talobak, served as his country’s first Attorney General and went on to become the first of his country to lead a regional agency. The post title was changed to Director-General in 2005.

“Vic Uherbelau was a standout strategist and a determined and principled negotiator in Palau and the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands who brought his skills and his strong commitment to ‘Pacific nationalism’ to his two terms as Director of the FFA from November 1994 to November 2000,” says FFA Director General James Movick.

A self-described “Palauan nationalist”, Talobak Victorio had an impressive career of service to his nation spanning more than five decades and featuring many roles where his work ethic, gifted prose and law degree would help shape Palau’s journey onto the regional and global stage.  

“Talobak Victorio’s life journey reflects the determination of a generation of young Pacific Islanders from Micronesia to take control of their own national destiny even in the days before elected leadership. The late Tony DeBrum on Marshall Islands was another. Talobak Victorio was literally at the centre of it all when the nationhood of Palau was being determined and established. He worked tirelessly to ensure a destiny and a voice for his people at the UN table, and he brought those same traits to his regional leadership of the FFA,” says DG James Movick.

“We mourn the loss of another Pacific leader and statesman, and remember him well as a tough and seasoned negotiator, leading Palau through its Compact negotiations as well as playing a large role in the US Fisheries Treaty throughout its life and up to the most recent negotiation.” 

“The secretariat staff of the FFA and our Pacific fisheries family across the across the region join me in extending condolences to Talobak Victorio’s family, colleagues, and community at this time of bereavement. His contribution to Palau and Pacific development, and to Oceanic Fisheries at the regional and global tables, is immeasurable and we thank them for letting him give so much of his time and his commitment to regional fisheries.”  

Talobak Victorio is survived by his wife Rachel Ngiruos-Uherbelau; daughters, Elsie, Angela, Rebecca and Vaidil, sons Numa and Gaafar; and many grand and great grandchildren.  

CALLS FOR PERMANENT EXEMPTION FROM JONES ACT

"Such protectionist measures penalize some U.S. territories whose conditional citizenship provides deficient  political power in a system where the U.S. Congress can unilaterally apply laws and regulations to them however and whenever they wish, and for whatever reason - some would call this colonialism."  - a U.S. Congressional staffer

McCain: Puerto Rico Should Be Exempt from Jones Act

By MarEx 

On Thursday, shortly after the Trump administration issued a 10-day Jones Act waiver for Puerto Rico to aid the island's recovery, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced legislation to permanently exempt the island from the terms of American cabotage law. McCain is a longstanding opponent of the Jones Act and has regularly introduced legislation to weaken or repeal the law.

“While I welcome the Trump administration’s Jones Act waiver for Puerto Rico, this short-term, 10-day exemption is insufficient to help the people of Puerto Rico recover and rebuild from Hurricane Maria,” said McCain in a statement. “Our legislation would permanently exempt Puerto Rico from the Jones Act, an antiquated, protectionist law that has driven up costs and crippled Puerto Rico’s economy. For years, I have fought to fully repeal the Jones Act, which has long outlived its purpose to the benefit of special interests."

At one page in total, McCain's legislative proposal is brief: it would add Puerto Rico to the list of existing Jones Act-exempt territories, which includes American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Guam, Alaska, Hawaii, and other U.S. coastwise points would still be covered by cabotage regulations. 

The extent of broader congressional support for McCain's bill is not clear, and previous iterations have all failed. Industry groups strongly contest McCain's frequent claim that the Jones Act doubles transportation costs for Puerto Rican consumers. "There is no study that supports this statement in any way," AMP wrote in a recent press briefing. "In fact, anecdotal evidence about rates indicates that the opposite is true. For example, one analysis shows it is 40 percent more expensive to ship goods from the U.S. mainland on foreign vessels to the U.S. Virgin Islands (not subject to the Jones Act) than on Jones Act vessels to Puerto Rico." 

AMP noted that a Government Accountability Office study found that it could not fully estimate the price effects of a permanent Jones Act exemption for Puerto Rico due to the compliance costs associated with other American laws. In addition, AMP pointed out that Jones Act shipping companies are providing certainty and continuity of service for consumers by investing $1 billion in ships, equipment and infrastructure for the Jones Act trade – like TOTE Maritime's new $180 million Panamax container ships, which run on clean LNG fuel. 

Jones Act shipping fits the need

Even in an emergency, the existing American fleet is enough to serve Puerto Rico's needs, asserts shipping firm Crowley Maritime. Crowley operates a container service to Puerto Rico and a cargo terminal in San Juan. “If a Jones Act waiver was needed, we would not be opposed. But in this case, it is not needed," the firm said in a statement Thursday. "By the end of the day Friday, we will have more than 4,100 loaded containers on our terminal in Puerto Rico awaiting distribution, and thousands more on the way . . . There is plenty of U.S. vessel capacity to respond to this crisis, and no amount of foreign ships arriving to the island is going to get relief cargo into the hands of those who need it any faster. In fact, they will likely add to the congestion at the ports and may cause more disruptions. We continue to believe that Americans responding to Americans in need offer the greatest opportunity for success in Puerto Rico." 

Crowley's statement was echoed by the leaders of the House Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Rep. Duncan Hunter and Rep. John Garamendi, who both critized the Trump administration's decision to temporarily waive the Jones Act for Puerto Rico. “Shipping carriers that comply with the Jones Act have more than enough capacity for a robust relief effort for Puerto Rico," said Garamendi. "The entire American maritime industry has done outstanding work to coordinate with local governments to provide relief. The Jones Act is essential to maintain a robust shipbuilding industry and sealift capacity, and waiving it will not help solve Puerto Rico’s problems.”

French Polynesia Agency to go to European Human Rights Court

RNZ

French Polynesia nuclear compo fight 

to go to Human Rights Court

French Polynesia's social welfare agency is set to go to the European Court of Human Rights over payments for victims of France's nuclear weapons tests.

It followed a French court ruling which upheld a French government decision not to compensate the agency in Tahiti after it paid for the care of a victim.

The court rejected the compensation claim by stating that the French state was not liable because there was no proof that the state was directly responsible for the damage.

The expert advice to the court had earlier pointed out that the French compensation commission attributed payments to victims out of national solidarity and not because the state recognised any liability.

It argued that as a service provider the Tahitian agency could only get compensated if it could prove the state's responsibility.

Radio1 in Tahiti said after the rejection the social welfare agency's board has now decided to lodge the case with the European Court of Human Rights.

In July, the French government announced all rejected compensation claims would be reconsidered including one lodged by the agency for money it had disbursed to a victim.

In a reaction to the court ruling, the National Front accused the France's ruling En Marche party of hiding behind legal quibbles.

In reply, En Marche accused the National Front of missing the chance to be quiet, saying it was a constitutional question about the separation of power between the executive and the judiciary.

UNITED NATIONS HEARINGS REVEAL COLONIAL ACCOMMODATIONIST ANTICS OF FRENCH POLYNESIA TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT

UNITED NATIONS PRESS RELEASE

GA/SPD/633

3 OCTOBER 2017

• GENERAL ASSEMBLY
 
• FOURTH COMMITTEE

SEVENTY-SECOND SESSION, 3RD MEETING (PM)

French Polynesia Petitioners Say ‘Accommodationist’ Territorial Government Provides Illusion of Self-determination, as President Hails Autonomy

Governor of Guam Laments Second-class Status of Indigenous Chamorro People, as Others Decry Homeland’s Militarization

The Non-Self-Governing Territory of French Polynesia was led by an “accommodationist” government that provided its people with only the illusion of self-determination, many petitioners declared today, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) entered its second day of debate on decolonization issues.

However, President Édouard Fritch of French Polynesia pointed out that the Territory already enjoyed a large degree of autonomy to govern itself freely and democratically, with full political powers in several spheres.  Its people did not wish to be guinea pigs for ideological clashes, he stressed, recalling that during the last election, in June 2017, 70 per cent of French Polynesia’s population had voted for self-governing candidates.  Moreover, the Territory had demanded that France recognize the consequences of the nuclear testing it had conducted on the Territory, and the French State had done so, he observed.

However, Minarii Chantal Galenon, President of the Association Vahine Piri Rava, noted that while the Territory’s government had recently signed the Elysée accord — thereby establishing goodwill when France had recognized the plight of the testing victims — the accord came with little real commitment and offered no apology, she said, pointing out that it also failed to deal with environmental damage and to clean up radioactive waste.

Maxime Chan, President of the Executive Board of Association 193, added that nothing had been said about nuclear testing for a long time, and young people did not recognize that sad history.  “This is the poisonous legacy that France has left the people of French Polynesia” he declared, emphasizing France must bear the health-care costs arising from temporary or lasting injury to the victims.

The Committee also took up the question of Guam, with Governor Eddie Baza Calvo saying that while he understood the interests of the United States and respected its laws, that Government should also understand the interests of Guam’s people.  When would they be held as equals and given the same rights as other Americans, he asked, instead of being viewed as second-class citizens?

Pim Limtiaco, another petitioner, condemned the ongoing colonization and militarization of Guam, noting that the Territory had suffered an $11 million loss in tourism revenues due to recent threats to its security posed by rising tensions with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Agreeing, Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero, founding member of Our Islands are Sacred, warned that Guam could be caught in the middle of a now-threatened nuclear conflagration.  She also pointed out that a man she had not chosen to lead her country was trading threats with another holder of nuclear weapons, and she did not know how to assure her children that they were safe.

Also speaking today were representatives of Spain, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

The Chief Minister of Gibraltar and another petitioner from that Territory also spoke today, as did several additional petitioners from French Polynesia and Guam.

The Fourth Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 4 October, to continue its discussions on decolonization issues.

READ THE FULL UNITED NATIONS PRESS RELEASE HERE.

"INDEPENDENCE FOR BERMUDA" - HEAD OF PUBLIC SERVICES UNION

Hayward calls for independence

Owain Johnston-Barnes

Independence for Bermuda should be high on the list of priorities for the Progressive Labour Party after its landslide election victory, Senator Jason Hayward told Labour Day crowds yesterday.

The head of the Bermuda Public Services Union said the introduction of a living wage and unemployment insurance had to be addressed, and that independence must be considered.

Mr Hayward said: “We have to come to the conclusion that we live in a system that is not designed for a segment of the population to get ahead.

“We have seen the middle class deteriorate, we have seen our communities deteriorate, we have seen our family structures deteriorate.

“Some will say all by design. So if I want to stand here on this Labour Day as a free worker, we must really be free.

“We have to shift the conversation and remove ourselves from this colonial rule.

“We have to now look at independence as a viable option for our people so we can set our own agenda, so we can create our own system and so we can see our people get ahead.”

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

Cuba, Venezuela Offer Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief

TELASUR

The offers of support come as Trump’s administration continues to ramp up pressure against both leftist governments.

The governments of Cuba and Venezuela are offering relief assistance to Puerto Rico as it recovers from the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro promised to activate a “special plan of support and solidarity” for victims on the Caribbean island. Meanwhile, Cuban Foreign Minister Rogelio Sierra offered to send a team of 39 doctors “to help our brother people.”

The offers of support come as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration continues to ramp up pressure against both leftist governments. The former reality TV star has threatened to bolster the illegal U.S. blockade against Cuba and has escalated sanctions against Venezuela.

ALSO SEE: 

After Hurricane, Trump Reminds Puerto Rico of 'Massive Debt'

Authorities are calling Puerto Rico’s current state a “humanitarian crisis,” with food, water, fuel, telecommunications and electricity scarce and U.S. aid slowly making its way to the island.

“The situation here in Puerto Rico is dire,” said Case Harrity, a local Save the Children representative.

“This is a major disaster and recovery will take months, if not years. Families in Puerto Rico need more help, and they need it urgently.”

It wasn’t until five days after the hurricane hit Puerto Rico that Trump commented on the island’s destruction. Both Texas and Florida were in stable condition, he said, but Puerto Rico “which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble.”

The island’s electrical grid was “devastated,” the president added, reminding the public of its over US$70 billion owed to “Wall Street and the banks” which, he said, “must be dealt with.”

Save the Children reported that nearly 700,000 children and over 15,000 citizens have been displaced, forcing them to live in makeshift shelters while struggling to survive amid the destruction.

Tired of waiting for action from the government, New Jersey residents have organized a relief project for their friends and family in Puerto Rico. Despite the presence of FEMA workers on the ground, community leaders in New Jersey report that many of those areas in desperate need of aid are not in a position to receive it.

“The main roads are open. It’s when you get into the inner cities that they are not as accessible as the main roads where you go to the center of the island, where the eye of the storm passed,” said Lydia Valencia, CEO of the Puerto Rican Congress of New Jersey.

Numerous businesses there have also banded together, organizing fundraisers and gathering donations and supplies for relief efforts.

“We have about 25 pallets ready from the first collection of mixed items. Now we’re working on loading the truck up again,” said Steve Levine, a local restaurant owner.

Hurricane Maria left at least 16 people dead in Puerto Rico as well as damage to 14 bridges, five highways, 58 aqueducts and two major dams.

Banned West Papua independence petition handed to UN

the guardian

Exclusive: Document outlawed by Indonesia was ‘smuggled from one end of Papua to the other’ and signed by 70% of the population.

 27 September 2017 

A petition banned by the Indonesian government, but bearing the signatures of 1.8 million West Papuans – more than 70% of the contested province’s population – has been presented to the United Nations, with a demand for a free vote on independence.

Exiled West Papuan independence campaigner Benny Wenda presented the bound petition to the UN’s decolonisation committee, the body that monitors the progress of former colonies – known as non-self-governing territories – towards independence.

The petition was banned in the provinces of Papua and West Papua by the Indonesian government, and blocked online across the country, so petition sheets had to be “smuggled from one end of Papua to the other”, Wenda told the Guardian from New York.

Independence campaigners have been jailed and allegedly tortured in Papua for opposing the rule of Indonesia, which has controlled Papua (now Papua and West Papua) since 1963. Those signing the petition risked arrest and jail.

“The people have risked their lives, some have been beaten up, some are in prison. In 50 years, we have never done this before, and we had to organise this in secret,” Wenda said.

“People were willing to carry it between villages, to smuggle it from one end of Papua to the other, because this petition is very significant for us in our struggle for freedom.”

The petition asks the UN to appoint a special representative to investigate human rights abuses and “put West Papua back on the decolonisation committee agenda and ensure their right to self‐determination … is respected by holding an internationally supervised vote”.

West Papua was formerly on the decolonisation committee’s agenda – which monitors progress towards decolonisation and independent rule – but was removed in 1963.

Wenda said it felt to him that West Papua’s referendum “had already happened” and that the petition was a manifestation of the people’s desire for independence.

“The people have already chosen, people have signed the petition with their blood and their thumbprint. We are optimistic, confident, that in a few years, we will have progress. This is not just an activist issue: this has gone up to government level, to diplomatic level, up to the United Nations.”

Independence activist Yanto Awerkion was jailed in June for leading a rally in support of the petition. He remains in custody and potentially faces charges of treason.

In an interview from prison, he said: “From behind the iron bars I order and appeal to the international community and to the United Nations, please hear the voice of the West Papuan people.”

‘A publicity stunt’

However, Indonesian foreign ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir, accompanying the country’s contingent to the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, dismissed the West Papuan petition as baseless theatrics.

“That is purely a publicity stunt with no credibility,” he told the Guardian via a text message, “Papua is an integral part of Indonesia as provided for in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2504 (XXIV) 1969.”

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has worked hard to demonstrate the central government’s commitment to developing the easternmost province, prioritising infrastructure and connectivity development, and visiting more than six times since his election in 2014.

The UK’s all-party parliamentary group on West Papua fully supported the petition and its push for UN action, co-chair Alex Sobel said. “This inspiring act of mass democratic expression should definitively lay to rest rhetoric from the Indonesian government that West Papuans are content being part of Indonesia,” he said.

“The people of West Papua have endured over 50 years of widespread human rights violations that have been described by many as a systematic genocide. It has become clear that in an ever worsening situation, the people of West Papua are not safe under Indonesian occupation.”

At the UN over the last week, support for Papuan independence has come from fellow Melanesian leaders of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. But the deputy prime minister of Caribbean nation St Vincent and the Grenadines, Louis Straker, also lent his support to the “legitimate aspiration … for freedom” of the West Papuan people.

Indonesian-controlled Papua and West Papua form the western half of the island of New Guinea. Political control of the region has been contested for more than half a century and Indonesia has consistently been accused of gross human rights violations and violent suppression of the region’s independence movement.

The people indigenous to the province are Melanesian, ethnically distinct from the rest of Indonesia and more closely linked to the people of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia.

Formerly the Netherlands New Guinea, Papua was retained by the Dutch after Indonesian independence in 1945 but the province was annexed by Jakarta in 1963.

Indonesia formalised its control over West Papua in 1969 when its military hand-picked 1,026 of West Papua’s population and compelled them into voting in favour of Indonesian annexation under a UN-supervised process known as the Act of Free Choice.

A 2004 report by the International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School said: “Indonesian military leaders began making public threats against Papuan leaders … vowing to shoot them on the spot if they did not vote for Indonesian control.”

Known as Irian Jaya until 2000, it been split into two provinces, Papua and West Papua, since 2003. They have semi-autonomous status.

Many Papuans regard the Indonesian takeover as an illegal annexation and the OPM (Free Papua Movement) has led a low-level insurgency for decades. That insurgency has long been the excuse for significant military involvement in Papua.

With the heightened police and military presence, there have been reports of security force abuses including extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention, excessive use of force and mistreatment of peaceful protesters. At least 37 Papuans remain behind bars for peaceful acts of free expression or expressing solidarity with the independence movement.

There is little independent scrutiny of the situation in West Papua, as human rights organisations and journalists are restricted from visiting.

Dr Jason MacLeod, from Sydney University’s centre for peace and conflict studies, said the petition directly challenged Indonesia’s legitimacy in West Papua.

“The people of West Papua have never had a chance to freely or fairly decide their political status. This is the first time they’ve really been able to canvas people’s political views from across the territory: a huge number of people have participated in it and overwhelmingly indicated their support for the referendum.”

Should the UN Send Aid to Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands?

Should the UN Send Aid to Puerto Rico 

(and the US Virgin Islands)? 

Puerto Rico (and the U.S. Virgin Islands) is/are in the midst of a calamitous humanitarian disaster.

Today, 3.5 million people in Puerto Rico are without power. (100,000 people in the U.S. Virgin Islands of Saint Croix, Saint Thomas and Saint John are in a similar condition). 

Water supplies are running low. Fuel shortages are rampant. Communication lines are unreliable. Much of the agriculture and infrastructure is destroyed. People are stranded and vulnerable.

Under these circumstances, the United Nations would typically activate it’s emergency response systems. This includes sending in telecoms specialists to restore communications, set up shelter, and distribute food and other relief supplies.

But since Puerto Rico is part of the United States, the United States must first request the help. And so far, Washington has not asked for it. So, for now, the UN is not participating in the relief efforts in Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands.

[This is a long-held mis-perception. According to the U.S. Constitution, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not part of the U.S, but rather "owned by" the U.S. The U.S. Virgin Islands, in particular, is formally recognised by the U.N. as a 'non-self-governing territory,' one of 17 such dependencies scheduled to be reviewed by the U.N. Fourth Committee on 4th October 2017. The U.S. 'citizenship' of  the people of these territories is a conditional citizenship, and is devoid of political rights in the U.S. political system. There is no vote for the U.S. president, non-voting status in the U.S. House of Representatives, and no representation in the U.S. Senate.]

Elsewhere in the Caribbean, however, the UN humanitarian response operations are fully underway. In all, 19 countries or territories have been affected by these storms. Several of these countries are lower income and do not have the capacity to respond on their own, hence the international relief effort.  After Hurricane Irma hit, the UN set up a logistics base in Barbuda from which relief items, including food aid, have been distributed across the Caribbean.

UN teams are also on the ground in some of the hardest hit countries, like Dominica where 80% of the population has been displaced.

So while it is unlikely (?) that the UN would mount a response to the catastrophe in Puerto Rico (and the US Virgin Islands), it is the case that the international humanitarian response is very much underway elsewhere in the region.

[Both territories belong to various U.N. bodies. Puerto Rico belongs to PAHO whilst both dependencies are longstanding associate members of the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and have access to a range of U.N. programmes, in principle. 

U.N. General Assembly resolutions for over a decade have supported the participation of the US Virgin Islands in the programmes of the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP)].

____________________________________________________________________

UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 71/104 

Implementation of the Decolonization Declaration by the 

specialized agencies and the international institutions associated 

with the United Nations

(excerpts)

The United Nations General Assembly,

Requests the specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system concerned to provide information on:

(a) Environmental problems facing the Non-Self-Governing Territories;

(b) The impact of natural disasters, such as hurricanes and volcanic eruptions, and other environmental problems, such as beach and coastal erosion and droughts, on those Territories; 

...........................................................

Recommends that all Governments intensify their efforts through the specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system of which they are members to accord priority to the question of providing assistance to the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories; 

Urges those specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system that have not yet provided assistance to Non-Self-Governing Territories to do so as soon as possible; 

Requests the specialized agencies and other organizations and institutions of the United Nations system and regional organizations to strengthen existing measures of support and formulate appropriate programmes of assistance to the remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories, within the framework of their respective mandates, in order to accelerate progress in the economic and social sectors of those Territories; 

Donald Trump criticised for silence over Puerto Rico disaster

INDEPENDENT

Hillary Clinton calls on President to deploy navy after Hurricane Maria wreaks havoc.

Donald Trump has been criticised for his silence after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, whose 3.4 million inhabitants are US citizens.

At least 13 people are dead and the entire country remains without power after the worst storm for decades hit the island nation on Wednesday.

Many of the country’s hospitals are dependent on diesel generators, and patients have been flown to the US for treatment.

Puerto Rico is an unincorporated US territory, meaning its inhabitants have qualified US citizenship, and it is entitled to federal emergency funds.Officials in the country fear there may be more devastation to come, if the large dam along the Guajatacata River fails. Up to 70,000 people who live within the river's flood plain have been told to leave their homes.  

President Trump's Twitter feed was characteristically active over the weekend – but he didn't find time to post anything about the island's plight.

A number of users expressed anger Mr Trump seemed more concerned about a series of protests by NFL players over racial injustice in the country.

Melanesian leaders condemn UN for turning 'a deaf ear' to West Papua atrocities

the guardian

Ben Doherty

Solomon Islands and Vanuatu leaders want investigation into alleged abuses and support for independence campaign

Vanuatu’s prime minister, Charlot Salwai, says the people of West Papua 

must be allowed the right to self-determination. (Photograph: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

Melanesian leaders have accused the United Nations of having “turned a deaf ear” to human rights atrocities in the Indonesian province of Papua and urged the world to support the region’s campaign for independence.

At the UN General Assembly in New York, the prime ministers of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu called on the UN’s Human Rights Council to formally investigate long-standing allegations of human rights abuses in the provinces.

Vanuatu’s prime minister, Charlot Salwai, said the people of West Papua must be allowed the right to self-determination, to free themselves of the “yoke of colonialism”.

“For half a century now the international community has been witnessing a gamut of torture, murder, exploitation, sexual violence and arbitrary detention inflicted on the nationals of West Papua, perpetrated by Indonesia, but the international community has turned a deaf ear to the appeals for help. We urge the Human Rights Council to investigate these cases.

“We also call on our counterparts throughout the world to support the legal right of West Papua to self-determination and to jointly with Indonesia put an end to all kinds of violence and find common ground with the nationals to facilitate putting together a process which will enable them to freely express their choice.”

The Solomons leader, Manasseh Sogavare, said the UN’s sustainable development goal motto of “no one left behind” would be “synonymous to empty promises unless we in the United Nations take active steps to address the plight of the people of West Papua”.

“Failing this, we as a family of nations will become complicit in perpetuating the sufferings and becoming blind to the injustices, missing yet another golden opportunity to remain true to the saying of ‘leaving no one behind’.”

Indonesian-controlled Papua and West Papua form the western half of the island of New Guinea. Political control of the region has been contested for more than half a century and Indonesia has consistently been accused of gross human rights violations and violent suppression of the region’s independence movement.

The people indigenous to the province are Melanesian, ethnically distinct from the rest of Indonesia and more closely linked to the people of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia.

Formerly the Netherlands New Guinea, Papua was retained by the Dutch after Indonesian independence in 1945 but the province was annexed by Jakarta in 1963 and Indonesia control was formalised by a 1969 referendum widely condemned as having been fixed by the Suharto government.

Known as Irian Jaya until 2000, the province has also been split into two provinces, Papua and West Papua, since 2003.

Many Papuans consider the Indonesian takeover to have been an illegal annexation and the OPM (Free Papua Movement) has led a low-level insurgency for decades.


Indonesia accused of arresting more than 1,000 in West Papua


That insurgency has long been the excuse for significant military involvement in Papua.

With the heightened police and military presence, there have been reports of security force abuses including extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention, excessive use of force and mistreatment of peaceful protesters.

At least 37 Papuans remain behind bars for peaceful acts of free expression or expressing solidarity with the independence movement.

There is little independent scrutiny of the situation in West Papua, human rights organisations and journalists are restricted from visiting.

On taking office in 2014, the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, pledged to boost economic development of Papua and he –ostensibly – eased restrictions on external scrutiny of the region, though travel strictures have not substantially changed. He visited the province in May.

Last month Jokowi met with Papuan civil society, church and customary leaders to discuss establishing a formal mechanism for debating Papua’s long-standing issues. However, Jakarta opposes independence and regards retention of Papua as a fundamental to its “territorial integrity”.

BERMUDA BEGINS DIALOGUE ON EVOLUTION TO INDEPENDENCE

Independence demands unity

Khalid Wasi

Jason Hayward called for independence (Photograph by Akil Simmons)

The recent call for independence by Senator Jason Hayward at the Labour Day rally should not be a cause for alarm or surprise — and it was to be expected. There has always been a sector of labour that has wanted independence. They are not alone because there is also a large sector of the independence pragmatist that crosses the racial divide who, under the proper environment, constitutional construct and circumstance would also support independence.

It is not a clean separation between those who favour and those who do not, but whenever there is a “unilateral” approach towards the subject, the overwhelming sentiments are typically against.

Paradoxically, Bermuda has a history of stepping out well ahead of its contemporaries whenever it comes down to its self-interest. However, the surge of independence of the former colonies in the early 1960s in Africa and the Caribbean were conflated with the issue of race and subjugation. Much of the thrust for independence in Bermuda was spurred by, if not related to, events in the Caribbean.

The topic of independence need not be a subject of racial liberation and could be discussed purely on its jurisdictional merit. The pragmatist of Bermuda, for the most part, if tabulated, may indeed cause the support base for independence to be a majority.

However, their idea of independence is not a simple “flag independence” but is based on certain key principles relating to the individual rights of the citizens, and separation of judiciary from legislature, not just in words but through a guaranteed structure.

The issue of internal and external security within the context of Nato and maintaining a sober relationship with the United States and Canada, with continued connectivity with Britain and Europe — all of which is necessary for future peace and prosperity — are the concerns of the pragmatist.

Canada, for example, was an example of a pragmatic move towards its independence. It was a mature step that involved repatriation of its constitution. It was not the equivalent of the American war of independence, rather it was a step of maturity because the population and its legislature had developed the means of a self-sustaining democracy where there are checks and balances.

READ THE FULL STORY IN THE ROYAL GAZETTE

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL CONDUCTS CONFERENCE ON WESTERN SAHARA

UN Human Rights Council 36th session calls for protection of Western Sahara natural resources 

and holding of self-determination referendum

Geneva, Switzerland Sept 13, 2017 (SPS) - Several ambassadors and experts in law and international affairs held a conference entitled 'The Western Sahara issue, the last colony in the African continent, at the 36th Session of the United Nations Council.. "

The speakers emphasized the need to implement the recent UN General Assembly resolutions on the right to self-determination and the right of the Saharawi people to exercise their sovereignty over their natural resources. They clarified the situation of the territory from the point of view of international law, which considers that the Moroccan presence in the territory is a military occupation, which means according to international law, the illegality of the commercialization of its resources, without the previous consent of the only representative of the Saharawi people, the Frente POLISARIO.

The ambassadors and experts present at the conference urged continued support for the Saharawi people in their just struggle for the recovery of all their rights, and in particular freedom and independence.

Throughout the sessions, a Saharawi delegation, composed of civil society actors, will participate in both from the refugee camps and the Occupied Territories, as well as the permanent delegation of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations in Switzerland.

It should be recalled that the Human Rights Council of the United Nations inaugurated its 36th session yesterday in the capital of Switzerland, Geneva.

DUTCH, FRENCH, BRITISH TURN TO U.N. FOR POST HURRICANE SUPPORT FOR THEIR CARIBBEAN DEPENDENCIES

Koenders requests UN support for reconstruction of 

Sint Maarten

The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands met on Monday with representatives from the Caribbean islands affected by hurricane Irma, as well as the UN institutions, to discuss the devastation the storm has caused. The parties decided to work together to do everything possible to provide the people on the islands with emergency aid and assist with reconstruction. Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders said on behalf of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom that he hoped the UN would respond quickly and flexibly to the needs of the population. ‘This is no time for red tape,’ he said.

The international meeting about the impact of hurricane Irma was held at UN headquarters in New York. Mr Koenders gave an overview of what is needed on St Maarten, Saba and Sint Eustatius. He also expressed his thanks for the assistance provided so far and asked that it be continued.

‘Hurricane Irma has caused widespread destruction,’ the minister said. ‘Many people have lost their homes and there is major damage to the infrastructure. It will be a huge job to restore everything. So I call on the UN to be generous with contributions from its funds and to make expertise available for the reconstruction of St Maarten.’

Many UN organisations are already at work in the affected areas, establishing needs, helping assess the risk of infectious diseases, distributing high-energy biscuits and providing technical assistance. The UN’s development programme has also made $2 million available for the Caribbean islands hit by Irma, while the UN’s emergency relief coordinator is providing $10 million.

Mr Koenders believes the UN should appoint a special envoy for climate and security, who should focus on how climate change affects security. ‘We may well face hurricanes of this strength again,’ he said. ‘Small island states in the Caribbean are extremely vulnerable, and as we’ve seen, can be completely destroyed in a matter of hours. The UN plays a crucial role in developing plans in order to anticipate these risks and respond appropriately. The Kingdom of the Netherlands calls for a UN special envoy who can focus on this.’

Dutch foreign minister asks for UN help in Sint Maarten relief effort

VIRGIN ISLANDS STRONG !! WE WILL RISE STRONGER !!

PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION WORKS TO RESTORE HEALTH SERVICES IN CARIBBEAN FOLLOWING IMPACT OF HURRICANE IRMA

PAHO supports restoration of health services in countries affected by Hurricane Irma

Washington, DC, September 14, 2017 (PAHO / WHO) - Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) experts are supporting efforts to restore health services in the islands most affected by Hurricane Irma, with the deployment of health infrastructure experts, sanitary engineers, epidemiologists, and others, in collaboration with the affected countries.

Health authorities on the affected islands have identified their needs for drug supplies, and PAHO is sending in the necessary supplies, as well as supporting the mobilization of health personnel to support national teams that have been working non-stop since the passage of the hurricane.

The islands of Barbuda, St. Maarten and St. Bartholomew, Sint Maarten, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Bahamas and Turks and Caicos reported serious damage to infrastructure, hospitals, and health centers, along with the loss of electricity and limited access to clean water. Hurricane Irma also hit the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Saba, Saint Eustatius, Saint Kitts and Nevis, causing less serious damage.

READ THE FULL REPORT AT THE PAHO WEBSITE .

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OTR Editorial

"The PAHO contribution to the recovery of the health facilities in the affected countries and territories from Hurricane Irma is especially welcomed. OTR congratulates PAHO for its enlightened position - unlike some international organizations - to include most of the non autonomous territories along with the independent states in its coverage. 

Thus, OTR lauds PAHO's announcement of assistance to the British, French, and Dutch dependencies, as well as to Puerto Rico (which has a formal status with PAHO).  The singular omission of reference to the U.S. Virgin Islands in the periodic PAHO Situation Reports , however, should be corrected given the extensive damage affecting its three main islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John. 

Perhaps there is a misunderstanding as to the political status of the U.S. Virgin Islands as related to its qualifications to receive external assistance. Such eligibility has been long clarified in decades of United Nations resolutions endorsing assistance to that territory from the international system of organizations such as PAHO, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and others. 

Hopefully these agencies will take this into account in the aftermath of not one, but two, category 5 hurricanes which have devastated these islands in their recovery and reconstruction phases.