Pacific Nuis - 29 September 2000
posted 1st October 2000
By Duran Angiki

GIZO, Solomon Islands (WP): Escalating ethnic violence in the national capital of the British former colony in the Solomons, Honiara, has now become "business as usual". Since the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF) took over the government and police arms and authority in a coup on June 5 and thus control Honiara, stealing has rapidly becoming worse. Besides armed militia looting of state and private properties on a daily basis in front of the government and its overseas friends, none bother to raise concern. The situation has caught the country's diplomatic missions such as Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the European Union in a predicament. As ethnic militia carry out daily criminal activities under their noses, they helplessly play a "wait and see" game. Diplomatic sources confirmed that the three traditional friendly nations had maintained warnings issued after June 5 for their nationals not to fly into the Solomons.

The New Zealand High Commission¹s office in Honiara confirmed re-issuing warning against tourists intending to travel to Solomons. The diplomatic advice warned that only New Zealanders with urgent businesses in the country should come over. Such travel advisories are unable to stop criminals, who have held the country at ransom with growing compensation demands that now reach SBD$200 million. Although foreigners were not singled out as prime targets, their presence in Honiara remain a beacon of hope for the daily victims of the crisis. Among the latest victims were two expatriates who had been involved in the civil society¹s educational programs and efforts in assisting the government to find a solution to the conflict. It reported that MEF elements harassed the director of the University of the South Pacific Centre in Honiara, Julian Treadaway, and a member of the Solomon Island Christian Association Peace Office, Bob Pollard. Since last week, the foreigners had to go in hiding and fled the country after armed militia reportedly ransacked their homes and looted their belongings. Besides them were their local colleagues whom MEF criminal elements had ransacked their offices and houses at broad-daylight and stole all their household goods. An Australian technical staff person of Solomon Telekom, Steve Hall, was forced to flee Honiara early this week after MEF criminals harassed and stole his vehicle.

The editor of the country¹s only daily newspaper, the Solomon Star, Imo Ta¹asi, said the situation in Honiara was "not really bad". But he confirmed that two of his reporters from the Western Solomons had to be given indefinite unpaid leave recently following major threats to their lives. He confirmed that the only news reporters left working with the newspaper were ethnic Malaitans and himself ? a Gilbertese naturalised Solomon Islands citizen. Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) news editor, Walter Nalangu, said the station coverage of the ethnic violence in Honiara had been constrained by a number of reasons. He said the general lawlessness in Honiara could not guarantee anybody¹s safety so journalists had to work with such an understanding. Since MEF took control of Honiara, ethnic Malaitan criminals took advantages of the situation and indiscriminately targeting business houses, wealthy locals and especially ethnic people of Choiseul and Western states.

One of the reasons the MEF criminals were singling out the ethnic people from both former provinces was the declaration by their leaders of the two provinces as "state" governments. MEF took the declaration by both former provinces, now known as Western Solomons, as a direct defying of the MEF authority and control of Honiara. Besides the MEF "ethnic cleansing" of Guadalcanal people in Honiara, it also waged a criminal campaign against people of other ethnic groups in the capital. The criminals' daily activities in Honiara, included chasing out of families at broad daylight out of their homes and stripping down houses from the top roofing to the floor and anything movable. The MEF campaign resulted in the mass exodus of civil servants, doctors, lawyers and people of all walks of life out of Honiara back to their various provinces and especially Western Solomons. As of this week, victims and critics had equally expressed scepticism about the immediate return of peace to the battered national capital of the Solomons. The director of the Solomon Islands government information unit, Alfred Maesulia, said the government had seen the forthcoming peace-talk as the only positive way of bringing peace.

IFM spokesman Henry Tobani, a fortnight ago said the Guadalcanal militia was committed to work closely with the government in bringing about lasting peace. ME lawyer Andrew Nori also reiterated a similar view about his group's commitment to finding lasting solution to the 20-month ethnic conflicts. But the assurance fails to sway the public fear, especially on the MEF leadership whose current controlled in Honiara had only brought misery. Besides the MEF elements criminal activities, about half of the population also suffered from total water cut since June caused by the militia. IFM members' blow up the water reservoir in retaliation against the MEF daily intrusion into the Guadalcanal militants¹ territory after the coup on June 5. After the damage of the water source, the Solomon Islands Water Authority has since been unable to repair it, causing an unbearable situation in the capital. Apart from the water problem, innocent people of Honiara had to go through the trauma of living under the criminals' rule. Former Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Francis Billy Hilly, said the looting and harassing of people in Honiara would not stop until the government disarmed MEF criminals. Right under the nose of the government, MEF criminals had been engaged in daily robbery, atrocities and ethnic cleansing of non-Malaitans without a single arrest. He said this was a sign of total collapsed in the law and order in Honiara, which had threaten to spread over to other parts of the country. A tertiary schoolteacher, Reeves Wilfred Billy, who also fled Honiara after criminals harassed and threaten his family, doubted that security would soon return.

He said the law and order problem in Honiara would not be changed unless the government disarmed criminals. Following the MEF coup on June 5, the ethnic Malaitan militia sealed-off IFM militants to the rural areas of Guadalcanal and held hostage the more than 20,000 population of the city. Since then, the ethnic Malaitan militia had daily erected four roadblocks in the city and enforced night curfews from 6:30pm to 7am, restricting the nightlife in Honiara Recent attempts by the MEF backed government to restore law and order by appointing an ethnic Malaitan Commissioner of Police, Morton Siriheti, failed to produce the desired result. The lawlessness becomes evident as armed MEF criminals' daily-looted shops, ransacked houses, stripping down property and driven around in stolen vehicles without arrest by the unarmed police. Among the ranks of criminals in Honiara were about 90 prisoners of predominantly ethnic Malaitans whom the MEF released from the Rove prison camp.

JOURNALIST DURAN ANGIKI THREATENED

A prominent journalist, Duran Angiki, and his family are in grave danger after they have repeatedly been threatened by an armed opposition group. Duran Angiki and his uncle, Dykes Angiki, have received several threatening phone calls from the spokesperson for the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF), lawyer Andrew Nori. Andrew Nori has informed Duran Angiki that MEF members are searching for him, and that his wife, children and other relatives, including the family of his uncle, Dykes Angiki, are also at risk. Duran Angiki, who is based in the capital, Honiara, has been reporting on the ethnic conflict and the role played in it by armed opposition groups. He recently alleged that Andrew Nori had been paid by the Solomon Islands' government for his legal services to the MEF, in a report published by the online Pacific news service, Pasifik Nius. On 27 September, Andrew Nori demanded that Angiki issue a public retraction and apology for this report within one week. Two journalists writing for the Solomon Star newspaper, which is sympathetic to the MEF, are reported to have fled Honiara in the past few weeks after being threatened by the MEF.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The MEF is a paramilitary group supported by sections of the police. In June it led a coup, forcing the Prime Minister to resign and the parliament to form a new government. The new Prime Minister promised to consider an amnesty for armed groups involved in the conflict, as an incentive for a cease-fire. Since then, civil society groups and journalists, who have warned against the idea of a blanket amnesty for paramilitary groups that have committed human rights abuses, have increasingly been threatened or attacked by MEF. All sides to the ethnic conflict have been responsible for human rights violations, and so far there has been almost complete impunity for those responsible. Amnesty International is particularly concerned at violations of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which forbids governments and armed opposition groups alike to torture or deliberately kill civilians taking no part in hostilities, to harm those who are wounded, captured or seeking to surrender, or to take hostages.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters in English or your own language: - expressing concern that the Malaita Eagle Force has threatened Duran Angiki, his family and other journalists for their peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly; - urging the MEF leadership to issue a clear statement condemning any violence or intimidation against civilians, including journalists; - appealing to the MEF to immediately halt attacks on people taking no direct part in hostilities. To the Prime Minister: - expressing concern at threats made by members of the Malaita Eagle Force against Duran Angiki, his family and other journalists; - urging the government to publicly condemn any violence and intimidation against civilians, and asking them to do everything within their power to provide Duran Angiki, his family and other journalists with protection from such attacks.

APPEALS TO:

Malaita Eagle Force Command, Andrew Nori & Lesley Kwaige, Bridge Lawyers, Barristers & Solicitors, PO Box 821, Honiara Solomon Islands (Southwest Pacific). Fax: + 677 20195 Salutation: Dear Mr Nori and Mr. Kwaige The Hon. Mannaseh Sogavare MP, Prime Minister Office of the Prime Minister, PO Box G1, Honiara, Solomon Islands (South Pacific). Telegrams: Prime Minister, Solomon Islands, Fax: + 677 26088/25470 Salutation: Dear Prime Minister

COPIES TO: Diplomatic representatives of the Solomon Islands accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.

Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 9 November.

VILLAGERS IN FEAR OF MILITARY SUVA:

Fiji villagers in the western area of Wainibuka live in fear after soldiers stormed their houses in search of prison escapee Alifereti Nimacere, reports the Fiji Times. And an army officer confirmed that men were beaten during interrogation. The soldiers brutally assaulted four village men who claimed they were innocent of any crime. Two of the men walk with the aid of crutches while the others suffered deep bruises to tgheir ribs, arms and legs. The men said they were punched, kicked and beaten with iron rods. The headman of Naibita Village, in Wainibuka, Silivinosi Daubitu, said the villagewrs no longer felt safe in their own homes.

The soldiers, camped at Rokovuaka in neighbouring Ra Province, constantly patrol the main road as part of their operations. According to the Fiji Times, Daubitu said gthe military raided a number of homes randomly last wek and forced some men to accompany them to a vacant area. There they assaulted the suspects. The unit's commanding officer, Lieutenant Jo Misivoni, confirmed his soldiers had assaulted the men to "extract information". * Nimacere, Fiji's most notorious criminal, has been the target of a major manhunt since he reportedly joined rebels supporting coup leader George Speight. He is also thought to have military issue arms seized by the rebels. The Fiji Times also reported that the military ordered a staff reporter and a photographer gathering news about the alleged assaults to leave the village. The unnamed reporter said: "The air of fear in the village was obvious when the [soldiers] arrived. Everyone fled to their homes and left us."

USP CHIEF WARNS CAMPUS OVER RACE, POLITICS

SUVA: Vice-Chancellor Esekia Solofa has warned staff and students of the University of the South Pacific they risk being suspended for any ethnic or political offence "likely to damage trust" between campus communities. "This includes provocative comments or criticisms made within or outside the community, leaflets, graffiti and any kind of personal intimidation or harassment," he said. "Persons guilty of such actions show that they do not belong in our university community and will be removed. "Our task is teaching and learning, and we must take action to preserve our freedom to get on with it." Last month, university authorities fined USP Students Association president Veresi Bainivualiku $150 for "manhandling" an Indo-Fijian student in an incident which stunned the campus for more than a week. Association of University of the South Pacific Staff president Dr Biman Prasad said the student leader needed to do some "serious soul-searching'' after the fine. Dr Prasad added that student leaders and associations should participate in more fundamental activities like human rights instead of petty issues which had racial overtones. Writing in a memorandum dated September 22, Vice-Chancellor Solofa said there had been "certain trends" which were worrying the university since Fiji's political crisis began on May 19.

He said that the regional university in general could be proud of its record in promoting understanding on racial, national, religious and political issues. The university community had often set a "shining example" - notably at Fiji's Laucala campus where "large numbers of Fijians, Indians, other Pacific Island and international students, Christians, Hindus, Muslims" lived, worked and shared together. "However, as we have faced a renewed challenge from outside events in the last few months, I have sensed some deterioration in these relationships and tensions and suspicions among the members of our community," Solofa said. "It is time for each of us to do what we can to reduce them and restore the peaceful atmosphere needed. "Threats and counter-threats by members of different groups against others which put at risk the university's special mission cannot be tolerated." Solofa also reminded heads of schools, institute directors and other senior staff to refrain from all public political activity. He reminded staff not to use university facilities for political purposes. In June, at the height of the political crisis, Solofa circulated a memo to USP staff and students which was widely interpreted as a "gag" on public comment on the coup and its aftermath. The journalism training website, Pacific Journalism Online, was also closed for a month. .

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