THE YEAR IN THE PACIFIC
by Rt Rev Paul Richardson, Focal Person
Survey of the Region.
The Pacific continued to be a troubled region of the world in the period under review. In March the Appeal Court in Fiji upheld the validity of the 1997 Constitution. A caretaker government of doubtful legality has remained in power and fresh elections are due in August. The Citizens� Constitutional Forum (in which the Rev Akuila Yabaki plays a prominent role) had its registration withdrawn at the end of June. This body has been active in challenging the legal status of the interim government.
The Townsville and Marau accords have brought peace to the Solomons but the country continues to face severe disruptions and massive economic problems. The government is virtually bankrupt and international support will be needed to rebuild the national infrastructure and enable the economy to start functioning again. The role of the churches, and of the religious orders in particular, in promoting peace and reconciliation has been widely recognised. This was reflected in the knighthood awarded to the Anglican Archbishop of Melanesia, the Rt Rev Ellison Pogo, in March.
Prospects appear brighter on the island of Bougainville. At the end of June it seemed as though the PNG Parliament would give approval to an agreement providing for autonomous government on the island and a referendum on independence within fifteen years. Implementation of the agreement will require Parliament to pass constitutional amendments. Mainland Papua New Guinea was rocked by riots in Port Moresby in June in which four students died. The rioters were protesting against an IMF restructuring programme involving privatisation of public corporations and land registration.
East Timor continues to wrestle with the challenge of building a political, social, and economic infrastructure out of the chaos and destruction left by the Indonesian administration. Elections are due this year on August 30th and East Timor is set to achieve independence in January 2002 when the UN will cease to be responsible for administration of the country. Resistance leader, Xanana Gusmao, has said he is withdrawing from political life. Little real progress has been made on bringing to justice the perpetrators of human rights violations in East Timor. Under a new treaty with Australia East Timor looks likely to receive 90 per cent of the revenue from the oil and gas reserves of the Timor Gap.
The political outlook in West Papua (Irian Jaya) is not good. A civilian independence movement has emerged in the country in addition to the various insurgency groups but he government has responded with the arbitrary arrest of protest leaders and a crackdown on peaceful protest that has encouraged armed groups to attack security posts and other targets. President Wahid has failed to deliver on promises of autonomy and the political conflicts in Jakarta have meant that the government does not have the will to address the underlying causes of discontent in Papua. Human Rights Watch and Tapol have played an important role in focusing international attention on such human rights violations as the Aberupa case in December in which police killed three students and tortured dozens of others following a rebel attack on a police post at Aberupa.
Forum Activities
The Forum met in September, 2000, and February, 2001, in order to allow members to exchange information and views. In February we heard a presentation by Mr Paul Barber of Tapol on the situation in West Papua. The Forum sees a need to increase the awareness of Christians in the UK of the situation in the UK and is looking at ways of doing this. The Focal Person continues to be involved with ECSIEP, an NGO based in Holland that is concerned to promote knowledge of Pacific issues. ECSIEP has established good relations with the European Commission Pacific Desk and in September organised a seminar in Brussels at which representatives of European NGOs were briefed on the Cotonou agreement. This agreement provides for the involvement of non-state actors in devising and implementing national development strategies and encourages local free trade areas and campaigns against corruption and human rights violations. The British government has ended bilateral aid to the Pacific but the EU continues to provide assistance. It is important for churches and NGOs to help develop the capacity of their partners in the Pacific to take advantage of EU support. (Further information from ECSIEP at www.antenna.nl/ecsiep/ ).
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