Blogging on 'trouble in paradise' and 'the arc of instability'

The Coming Anarchy has been hosting a series on security issues in Oceania. Bloggers include Opinio Juris, The Strategist (focusing on Melanesia) and Phil at Pacific Empire. It's good to see some more coverage of issues in the South Pacific (albeit negative ones) in cyberspace.

First Interim Report of the April Riot Commission of Inquiry

The Commission of Inquiry into the 2006 April Civil Unrest in Honiara released its first interim report to the public this morning (see report here...I wish they'd PDF it or something...)

The Commission is chaired by Brian Brunton (a former PNG National Court judge). The other members of the Commission are Noel Levi (PNG), Waeta Ben Tabusasi (Solomon Islands) and Charles Levo (Solomon Islands).

I haven't yet read the entire report, but the points made in the Executive Summary include the following:
there is evidence of a degree of consensus amongst political groups present in Honiara, that in the event of a prime minister being elected by Parliament who was not of their choice, or liking, they would force a regime change; despite this, senior officers controlling Solomon Islands security had (a) inadequately assessed the risks of civil unrest associated with the election of a prime minister;(b) no detailed plan to deal with potential unrest;(c) insufficient numbers of police, insufficient trained riot-control capability and insufficient equipment to deal with the risks of civil unrest associated with the election of a prime minister.

Of considerable interest is this point:

The Commission is of the opinion that the assertions by some witnesses that the outbreak of violence at Parliament House was (a) spontaneous, (b) a reaction to pent-up anger, (c) driven by the need to get rid of corruption, (d) driven by the need to break Chinese influence on political groups, or (e) a reaction to the Participating Police Force firing either flash-grenades or tear gas are, in part, contrived, do not ring true, and conflict with other evidence (such as footage, the throwing of stones, and statements of other witnesses).

Hmmm. I'll read the report before I comment on that one!!

The Voice of Youth: child wedding stopped by school students

A reminder that we should think beyond cliches - kids are the leaders of tomorrow, but they might also be the leaders of today; and while children are frequently described as amongst the most vulnerable, this is a reminder that we shouldn't overlook their capacities and forms of resilience either.

Child wedding 'stopped by pupils' (from BBC)

Classmates of a 13-year-old Bangladeshi school girl due to enter a forced marriage have united to stop the ceremony going ahead, police say.

Around 50 pupils in the town of Satkhira took to the streets to demand that Habiba Sultana's wedding be called off, they say.

Pupils even submitted a petition to police urging them to take action.

Police summoned Habiba's father and ordered him to stop the girl's marriage, which they said was illegal.

Her father was told to sign a bond in which he promised not marry off his daughter while she is still a child, the Bangladesh Daily Star reported.

It said that the wedding was to have taken place in the south-western town of Satkhira on Friday.

Police say that Habiba, a student of Abdul Karim Girls' High School, did not agree when her poverty-stricken father arranged for her to marry a 23-year-old neighbour.

Police say that she was too frightened to protest.

When she told her friends about the impending wedding, they rallied round and urged her not to go ahead.

Parents of her friends contacted Habiba's father and tried to stop him from going ahead with the wedding.

Initially he ignored their protests, but changed his mind after the police were alerted and small protests were held outside the school.

Correspondents say that the stand of the schoolgirls has created a stir in the town.

Like many other parts of the country - young people in Satkhira are deferential to their parents and seldom question their commands.

Leading Pacific and Fiji-based Human Rights Activist banned from leaving Fiji

During the last few weeks, the Fiji military interim administration has banned several NGO workers and human rights activists from leaving Fiji in the course of their normal duties as representatives of their organisations and networks.

The latest victim of these travel bans is the Coordinator of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre (FWCC) Shamima Ali (press release here).

The FWCC was recently appointed the deputy chair of the advisory committee to the Pacific Prevention of Domestic Violence Program, which is an initiative between NZAid and the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police (PICP).

Details of this story can be found in the FWCC's June newsletter.

The FWCC is regarded as one of the most successful AusAID-Pacific NGO partnerships. Shamima Ali is a remarkable woman, being the founding member of the Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights and is the first Pacific Islander appointed by the United Nations as a member of the Expert Group on the Rights of the Girl-Child. Ms Ali was a Pacific representative on the Commonwealth Foundation Civil Society Advisory Council , and was appointed a member of the Commonwealth Observer Group for the Nigerian Elections (April 2003) and appointed Fiji Human Rights Commissioner (February 2004) with a reappointed in February 2006.

The Director of the Fiji Human Rights Commission (an independent statutory authority), Shaista Shameem, has said that she has advised the interim government to lift the travel bans (audio comments here).