A Prisoner on Behalf of Maikel Ilintamon Was Beaten by Abe Prison Officers Until He Died

Vanuatu: Another Kind of Wealth

Media Statement: Kua Supports Marape’s Move

MEDIA STATEMENT

KUA SUPPORTS MARAPE’S MOVE

SUNDAY 14 APRIL 2019

The Shadow Attorney General and Member for Sinasina Yongomugl, Kerenga Kua welcomed the resignation of Mr James Marape from the O’Neill Cabinet, saying it is timely and we still have the opportunity to save this country if more cabinet ministers follow suit and abandon the corrupt practices of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

Mr Kua said, “My sacking as the Attorney General in 2014 was for the very same reason that Marape today has resigned from Cabinet. O’Neill does not take advice from his Cabinet but instead takes a lot of ill advice from opportunists that surround him.

“We have seen more scandals during O’Neill’s administration than any other time in our short history starting from the purchase of the generators from Israel to the UBS loan that were both undertaken without following due government processes. We witnessed the blow out in costs for sports infrastructure for the Pacific Island Games. We watched with disbelief as Mr O’Neill tried to expropriate the PNGSDP.

“We watched the huge spend and borrowings for the APEC meeting that has seen little to no trickle-down effect to the people of Papua New Guinea. Yet we are reminded daily as we drive along Wharf road, Port Moresby and see the line of buses and cars being corroded by the salt air of the amounts wasted by this government. Monies that have could have been spent on medicines in both urban and rural areas of the country; and on education so that schools should not be suffering and forcing parents to pay despite the PNC promise of free education.

“More recently we saw the unfurling of the Paladin scandal and the setting up of Mr O’Neill’s Pacific Brewery on alleged customary land.

“Mr O’Neill is unstoppable, he does not heed to advice as in the case of the Department of Petroleum’s notice that the Papua LNG agreement is not ready for signing but expediency seems to be the order of the day. Not enough awareness has not been conducted and many landowners from the project area feel further marginalised and do not understand the significance of the signing of this project agreement.

“We witnessed the manipulation and demise of state departments and agencies to suit outcomes favourable to Mr O’Neill and a handful of his political and business associates. A lot of damage has been done eroding the capacity of our institutions.

“But Mr Marape’s move gives the Opposition and the people of this country hope that more members of parliament will move to partner with Opposition to put an end to this continual abuse at the highest Office of our country.

“We are still a democracy and one person cannot unilaterally overrule other elected representatives of the people of Papua New Guinea. Mr O’Neill cannot undermine the system of government that we have by overlooking ministers and dealing directly with Department heads. Cabinet ministers should not tolerate this tyranny.

“Further it is unbecoming that Mr O’Neill should suggest to a senior and loyal Cabinet minister that Mr Marape has not performed in his electorate. Mr O’Neill has not resolved pending police matters in his own electorate and should not be pointing fingers.

“Importantly, I urge cabinet ministers to stop suffering in silence and come forward by tending your resignation and forming a better political alliance where we can truly serve the interest of the people of this country.

Kerenga Kua MP
Shadow Attorney General & Minister for Justice

Source: Facebook.com

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via IFTTT April 14, 2019 at 02:35PM

How land grabbers weaponise indigenous ritual against Papuans

Christians in Indonesia’s Papua Province Increasingly Under Threat

By Gina Goh

03/27/2019 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – In predominantly Muslim Indonesia, its largest and easternmost province, Papua, a place where over 80% of the population identifies as Christian, stands in stark contrast to the rest of the country which holds the world’s largest population of Muslims.

Blessed by missionaries from the Netherlands, Germany, and the United States with the Gospel, the resource-rich region, however, has long suffered from economic inequality, lack of development, and human rights abuses from Jakarta. It continues to be the country’s least developed and most impoverished area.

Now, Christianity in this region is also increasingly threatened as the influence of Islam grows. The number of Muslims and mosques particularly in cities has increased, especially in Jayapura district. Many old mosques are demolished and rebuilt with taller minarets to overshadow nearby churches.

On February 27, with samurai swords in their hands, a gang of six led by a controversial Muslim cleric ransacked a Christian man’s home for playing Christian music at dawn as a nearby Islamic boarding school was observing morning prayer.

Ja’far Umar Thalib, the cleric who runs Ihya As-Sunnah Islamic boarding school in Muara Tami district, allegedly barged into the home of Henock Niki around 5:30 a.m. with several sword-wielding followers dressed in white.

“The perpetrators then severed the cables of the victim’s speakers. They told him that the loud music was disturbing worshipers in the mosque,” national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo told reporters in Jakarta. Other news outlets also reported that the mob went on to damage the speakers and injure the man’s 14-year-old son.

According to Dedi, Henock told the attackers that the morning prayer was at 4:15 a.m., which should have been over by that time. They subsequently fled south in a minibus.

“The perpetrators then severed the cables of the victim’s speakers. They told him that the loud music was disturbing worshipers in the mosque.”

The attack on Henock’s house drew protests from local residents who immediately took action to block the road to stop the perpetrators from fleeing. Residents reported the incident to the police and asked them to arrest the mob.

The police were able to apprehend the suspects and secure evidence from the scene, including five samurai swords, several long machetes, and a number of media materials from Laskar Jihad, Thalib’s radical Islamic organization.

Reskrimum Director of the Papua Regional Police, Commissioner Tonny Harsono, told reporters, “We are charging the seven suspects with Article 170 Paragraph 2 concerning destruction, while three of them will also be charged with Law Number 12 of 1951 concerning ownership of sharp weapons.”

Thalib is known for his radical line of thoughts and actions. He recruited a “jihadist army” to fight in a deadly conflict between Christians and Muslims in Ambon, in the Maluku Islands, that claimed the lives of approximately 5,000 people between 2000 and 2003.

On March 4, more than 2,000 Christians in Papua took to the streets to demand Thalib’s expulsion.  They held a protest outside the Papua governor’s office in the provincial capital Jayapura. Protesters said they would take the matter into their own hands if the governor failed to expel Thalib.

Rev. Dorman Wandikbo, president of the Evangelical Church in Indonesia who was part of the rally, said, “His presence has damaged interreligious harmony in Papua, and if no action is taken, he will turn this place into a land of conflict.”

He also added that Thalib’s influence was spreading in Papua. “We don’t want him to create another conflict like the one that devastated Ambon,” he stated.

Members of the minority Muslim community in Papua are also in support of his expulsion. Taha Alhamid, a Muslim leader who was part of the rally, said his community also believed that Talib should be returned to his hometown.

“We want the police to immediately remove him from Papua,” he said.

For interviews, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org

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via IFTTT March 30, 2019 at 08:36AM

NZ desak kekerasan bersenjata di Papua harus dihentikan sebelum negosiasi

Vanuatu requested to support China’s candidate for top FAO post

Vanuatu has been requested to support China’s candidate for the postition of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director General (DG) in this year’s election during the 41st Session of the FAO Conference.

The Chinese Minister of Agriculture, Han Changfu, made the request to Vanuatu’s Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Bio-Security (MALFFB), Hosea Nevu,during their dialogue yesterday.

Minister Changfu told Minister Nevu and high officials from the MALFFB that the government of China has nominated a candidate for the agency’s top leadership post and wants Vanuatu’s support during election at the FAO Conference in June, the highest governing body of the organisation.

If elected, China will help Vanuatu and other developing nations in food security related issues, said Minister Changfu.

FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) combating hunger and poverty.Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate arguments and debate policy.

The FAO DG post is very important because whoever is elected will head the agency and the wide range of responsibilities include overseeing food-aid programmes in over 150 countries across the globe.

The election of the new FAO DG in June this year will bring together all 194 FAO member countries. The new FAO DG will be elected by a majority vote, cast by FAO member countries.

In his response regarding the request from Minister Changfu for Vanuatu to back up China’s nomination at the FAO Conference, Minister Nevu said: “The request requires collective decision making.

“The MALFFB and Trade will submit a paper on this to the Council of Ministers (COM) to make the decision”, he said.

According to the Chinese Minister of Agriculture, China’s candidate for the FAO DG Position is Dr Qu Dongyu, the Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The Chinese Agriculture Minister Changfu was in Port Vila for a one-day visit.

He was accompanied by a high officials from the China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The delegation includes the Director General of Fisheries, Zhao Liliang, Director of the Department of International Cooperation under the Ministry of Agriculture, Wu Changxu, Vice President of Chinese Academic of Tropical Agriculture and Science , Liu Guodao, Deputy Director General of General Office Liv Ruiming, Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation, Xie Jianmin, Director of Bureau of State Farms and Land Reclamation, Deng Qingin , Deputy Director of International Cooperation, Wu Changxuo and the head of the China National Agriculture Development Cooperation, Yudifei.

They will leave Port Vila today (Wednesday) to proceed on their journey to Fiji where they will attend the Second China-Pacific Island Countries Agricultural Minister’s Meeting.

The two-day meeting starts tomorrow (Thursday).

Source: VDP

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via IFTTT March 28, 2019 at 08:01AM