CPP leader Joma Sison arrested in shock move

The globalised war on terror is striking at any progressive forces on a variety of pretexts. This from Karapatan on the "political" arrest of exiled Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in his "safe haven" in the Netherlands.

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Sison lawyer, Dutch authorities confirm CPP founder's arrest

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, Thea Alberto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 09:14pm (Mla time) 08/28/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 2) A lawyer of Jose Ma. Sison in The Netherlands and Dutch authorities have confirmed the arrest of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Tuesday.

"The communist leader was suspected of giving orders, from the
Netherlands, to murder his former political associates in the
Philippines, Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara," the Dutch national
prosecutor's office said in a statement quoted in an Agence
France-Presse report.

Kintanar and Tabara led a faction of the CPP that broke away from the
party in the early 1990s. They were subsequently assassinated by the
New People's Army, the CPP's armed wing.

Lawyer Jose Jalandoni, son of National Democratic Front (NDF) chief
peace negotiator Luis Jalandoni, said he was on his way to see his
client but could not confirm if the arrest of Sison was related to the
murder charges filed against the CPP founder in the Philippines.

However, Jalandoni said he did not know of any murder charges Sison is facing in The Netherlands, where the CPP founder has been living in exile since 1987.

In a separate phone interview, one of the lawyers helping work for the resumption of peace talks between the government and NDF said a judge and policemen went to Sison's house in the town of Utrecht to interrogate him.

The lawyer then said Sison was brought to The Hague, the Dutch capital.

The negotiations have been stalled for around three years because of
the inclusion of the CPP, NPA and Sison in the terror lists of the
United States, European Union and other countries.

Carl Ala, spokesman of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP,
Peasant Movement of the Philippines) said Sison could be held for
three to as long as 105 days on charges of "multiple murders and for
calling for more murders."

Police also reportedly raided Sison's office in Utrecht and seized all computers, said Ala.

"They are really intensifying the attacks on progressive forces," said
Ala in a text message.

Renato Reyes, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan, New Patriotic
Alliance) secretary general said Sison's arrest showed that the
government was not interested in pushing through with the stalled
peace talks.

"This bodes ill for the peace process. The arrest was most probably
undertaken with the knowledge and prodding of the Arroyo government
who is out to sabotage all hopes for peace talks," said Reyes.

Originally posted at 8:13 pm

• Indymedia
• Joma Sison arrested
• GMANews.TV - VIDEO
• Protests over political arrest
  

Roger Award search opens for 'worst transnational'

Roger Award nominations for the "worst transnational corporation" operating in New Zealand are now open, announces CAFCA. The Roger Award has run annually since 1997. No prizes for guessing whom it is named after. It's organised by CAFCA and GATT Watchdog, both Christchurch-based groups, who rotate the annual organisation.

New this year is an Accomplice Award. Criteria, other details and the nomination form are available on the CAFCA website in Word (52 KB) or PDF format (65KB).

The judges for 2007 are: Laila Harre, from Auckland, National Secretary of the National Distribution Union and former Cabinet Minister; Anton Oliver, from Otago, All Black and environmentalist; Geoff Bertram, from Wellington, a Victoria University economist; Brian Turner, from Christchurch, President-Elect of the Methodist Church and social justice activist; Paul Corliss, from Christchurch, a life member of the Rail and Maritime Transport Union; and Cee Payne-Harker, from Dunedin, Industrial Services Manager for the NZ Nurses’ Organisation and health issues activist. They will be given a shortlist of finalists. The winner(s) will be announced in early 2008 at an event in Christchurch. Previous winners:

Progressive Enterprises (2006)
Bank of New Zealand and Westpac (2005)
Telecom (2004)
Juken Nissho (2003)
Tranz Rail (2002)
Carter Holt Harvey (2001)
Tranz Rail (2000)
TransAlta (1999)
Monsanto (1998)
Tranz Rail (1997)

Carol Archie poses challenges over cross-cultural reporting

Broadcaster and journalist Carol Archie posed some major challenges for the mainstream media about reporting Māori and current affairs at the launch of her new book, Pou Kōrero, at AUT University's marae today. She reckons Māori affairs reporters are being "dumped on" by their news organisations - expected to know everything and do everything Māori. She says it's time to break away from "specialist Māori reporting" - Māori affairs reporting should be carried out by all reporters, not just those who are Māori or specialise in Māori issues. Carol says all journalists have a responsibility to foster "a media of inclusiveness" to help New Zealanders develop their sense of identity. Launching the book, AUT Chancellor Sir Paul Reeves said terms such as "biculturalism" and "multiculturalism" promised much but fell short on delivery. But he added Pou Kōrero was an important contribution to cultural understanding and reporting. Carol describes the book as a "broader" version of Kawe Kōrero, originally written by Michael King and first published more than 20 years ago. Pou Kōrero is published by the NZ Journalists Training Organisation and the launching was hosted by AUT's Pacific Media Centre. While AUT has a proud record on diversity and cultural issues (it's the university whose student body most nearly matches the nation's ethnic mix), it wasn't a good look for the School of Communication Studies j-programme - the launch was only attended by two out of the eight journalism teaching staff! Diversity should start at home.
Photo by Del Abcede

• Book launching images
• David Robie on the launch at AsiaMedia
  
• Random Pacific links:

Fiji chief out of prison, seeks reconciliation
Solomons warlord acquitted of murders

PIAF swipes at Pacific Aids misinformation

PIAF is annoyed over yet another batch of emailed sensationalised misinformation doing the media rounds across the Pacific at the moment. It has sent out its own reminders about the media HIV/Aids code worked out at a regional health seminar in Fiji in 2002. I'm posting it here as a catch up call. As a preamble, the journos from 13 South Pacific nations taking part at that Suva conference stated: "We express concern about the rise of HIV/Aids in our respective countries. Moreover, we find this a difficult disease to report and ask our editorial staff for clear guidelines on the topic. We offer the following suggestions:"

• Confidentiality surrounding news items on HIV/Aids should be maintained at all times. Therefore no names or addresses should be mentioned.
  
• The use of responsible language that reflects a fair and accurate account of the current situation. Past experience has shown that sensational stories on HIV/Aids distort the situation and only increase stigma and fear among readers, listeners and viewers.
  
• Terms such as 'victim' and 'sufferer' need to be dropped and replaced by 'people living with HIV/AIDS'. This gives the story a more positive tone.
  
• It is unhelpful to focus only on the latest figures for HIV/Aids. Often they are inaccurate and misleading. They provide a false sense of security and can promote complacency.
  
• Concentrate more on people living positively with the virus. Let them tell their story. This puts a human face on the story. This has proved far more effective in educating people.
  
• It is vital to include more news items on how to prevent infection and to highlight risk behaviour rather than just risk groups.
  
• Partnerships need to be developed between media representatives, NGOs and local organisations in the South Pacific in regard to HIV/Aids. Joining the email forum, AIDSTOK, is a practical way to discuss issues relevant to HIV/Aids.
  
• Encourage journalists to attend in-country training courses or workshops on HIV/Aids and other related health issues.
  
• Where possible, designate a journalist to work full-time on health stories and introduce a health page. Research in the Pacific has shown that when these two conditions exist, there is broader and more consistent reporting on health issues.
  
• Media organizations need to acknowledge and address the increasing threat posed to young people by HIV/Aids.
  
• Publish a correction for any story on HIV/Aids that is found to be seriously inaccurate and offensive.
  
• All media should encourage greater partnership with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and stress the need to include a media component in their workshops, training and National Aids Councils.
  
  Thanks to Zoe Bake-Paterson at PIAF:
  news@pacificaids.org

PNG Aids victims 'buried alive'

Worth a look: Whenua, fenua, enua, vanua - revolutionary anti-colonialism and anti-capitalism in the Pacific.

Fiji's 'media cartel' on the mat

What a contrast between the open debate at "OurMedia" summit in New Zealand and the Fiji media. Fiji Media Council Daryl Tarte and his "media cartel", as Laminar Flow likes to brand them, have bunkered down in the face of the Human Rights Commission's inquiry into "media freedom and independence". The commission claimed the media wouldn't take part, a claim then denied by the media quartet - Communications Fiji, Fiji Sun, Fiji Television and the Fiji Times. Not convincing for many among the public. So it remains to be seen how investigator Dr James Anthony, of Hawaii, a onetime political adviser to the first Labour PM, Dr Timoci Bavadra, will get on. It isn't surprising that the local media is so defensive about how it operates. It has always been on the back foot when it comes to discussing media's role in society. And journalists themselves don't have the avenues for "making a noise", as media critic Judy McGregor suggested at OurMedia summit - as they would in New Zealand or many other countries. The first lesson is that freedom of the press is actually on behalf of citizens, not a corporate or business right. But that often isn't the reality. A. J. Liebling summed this up rather well. He once said: "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." Many quote him as saying media freedom is "limited" to press owners. However, freedom of the press also means freedom to put the media itself under an uncomfortable spotlight! I remember too well the hamfisted attempts by industry personalities to gag me when I critiqued media coverage in the aftermath of George Speight's 2000 coup. Over time those public record criticisms have been shown to be an accurate account (read the published paper in early 2001). But the real question is: Will an "inquiry" by a commission that has shown itself to be so partisan in support of the regime carry any weight?

Fiji media inquiry hots up - PMW feedback

Fiji election and corruption

So Voreqe "Frank" Bainamarama has finally bowed to EU pressure and the regime has set a date for the post-coup elections in Fiji for 13 March 2009. According to Laminar Flow, it marks an interesting change from the so-called clean-up campaign "from investigations into corruption to actual prosecution". Frank has up-staged both Canberra and Wellington after Helen Clark's bluster about the regime's PM facing being "treated something like a leper" at the forthcoming Pacific Islands Forum summit in Tonga. Updates on the corruption and freedom of speech issues still trickle out from Fiji, and the Fiji Independent Commision Against Corruption (FICAC) has engaged Kiwi lawyer Paul Johnson to add a bit of zip to the prosecution cases. (Check out Scott McWilliam's paper on corruption and governance for some earlier background).

On Fiji matters, NZ photojourno Bruce Connew has produced an inspiring book, STOPOVER, on Fiji's indentured labour, George Speight's coup and the story of Indo-Fijian post-coup migration. Superbly designed by his wife, Catherine Griffiths, it's a must read. An exhibition of this work is scheduled for PATAKA, Porirua, Wellington, New Zealand, from August 26, 2007.

Journalism does matter - and the scribes are defending it!

Top marks to Brent Edwards, Simon Collins and the EPMU union team for the excellent "journalism matters" conference at the weekend. Simon described it as: "There has been nothing like it in my 31 years as a journalist." A solid action plan came out of the talkfest on Sunday with a few challenges ahead - check them out. Top marks also to Mike Kilpatrick and his Te Waha Nui team from AUT (six student journos drove from Auckland to Wellington for the weekend to cover the event). As was expected, especially after Chris Trotter's gloomy preview, the mainstream media barely noticed the summit, apart from a short NZ Herald piece, Audrey Young's blog and some random radio spots.

My own reflections were jotted down on the first day, Chris Warren's speech was inspiring and Jeremy Rose had some good stuff on Sunday. So watch for some feisty coverage in TWN this Friday. Unsurprisingly, I liked Judy McGregor's swipe at the nation's newsrooms for their "pitifully low" Maori, Pacific Island and Asian numbers - "this has been a structural, systemic problem for decades". She handed bouquets to Fairfax for its new internship diversity ratio and suggested that only Waiariki and AUT University media schools would pass an audit for diversity of selection. I'll offer a plug here for AUT - it has had a Pasifika diversity scholarship in place for several years now in partnership with PIMA - and last year the first scholarship BCS graduate was snapped up by Radio NZ, a masters graduate joined Niu FM and another masters graduate started his own Tongan-language newspaper. Plus there is also AUT's Pacific Media Centre initiative promoting independent journalism research. Cook Islands scribe Jason Brown rapped the journalists' "closed door" democracy with a criticism of the use of Chatham House Rules.

"Politics threaten media progress"
In the Christchurch Press, anti-union columnist Karl du Fresne launched into an attack on the politics of the conference. He singled out for special criticism "self-proclaimed socialist" Martin Hirst (for supporting journalists as agents of social change) and keynote speaker Equal Opportunities Commissioner Judy McGregor for being a "trenchant critic of the industry that once employed her". Pictured: Conference convenor Brent Edwards, Radio NZ's political editor and EPMU media council chair. Photo: Jimmy Joe/EPMU.

• Martin Hirst on 95bfm
• Scoop coverage
• EPMU picture gallery
• Judy Mcgregor's 12 point plan for a better media
• Bill Rosenberg's open letter

Regime change in Timor ... and the rioting starts

So the inevitable has happened. Australian-backed regime change has entered its final act. Resistance hero Xanana Gusmao, but a divisive figure when still president of Timor-Leste during last year's clashes, has finally been named prime minister of a coalition government, ousting the Fretilin government that had led the country into independence. Gusmao refused Fretilin's proposal for a "government of national unity" headed by an independent PM. So the stage was set for bitter responses from the internal refugee camps and disaffected youth to President Jose Ramos Horta's announcement on Monday that Gusmao would lead the next government, a coalition of major parties, after five weeks of negotiations following the recent parliamentary elections. Sporadic rioting has begun.
Fretilin - which won the most votes in the election but which fell short of the majority needed to rule - has denounced the decision, declaring the new government is illegal. It has boycotted Parliament since last week. Fretilin has declared it will not cooperate with a government that is "unconstitutional". (Pictured: Election street graffiti - Asia Pacific Network).

• Australia's interests
• Growing pains in Timor-Leste - David Robie
• Final NZ report on the Timorese media
• Gusmao sworn is as East Timor PM

PNG's 'secret' Moti report stirs threats

After early reports in The Australian revealing embarrassing choice bits in the "secret" PNG Defence Force report on the Moti affair, the newspaper followed up with publishing the entire document online. PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare (right), who ought to face charges, says the report, did his damnedest to keep the report out of the media before last month's election. And he has also threatened local media. But now that he looks a fair bet to remain PM after the post-election horse trading, it will be interesting to see how his stance shifts over the next few weeks. According to Michael McKenna in The Australian, Somare had threatened local media with contempt of court over their calls for the official release of the PNG Defence Force Inquiry report that recommends he faces charges over last year’s escape of Australian fugitive Julian Moti (above left) to the Solomon Islands: "Somare's lawyers issued a press release following the leaking of the damning report to The Australian .... The warning was issued on Thursday night as he lobbied independent MPs to form a coalition government with his National Alliance party. Details of the report were first revealed by The Australian on Monday, and were followed by a series of extensive reports. It recommends Sir Michael, as well as several of his top advisers and military officers, face charges or criminal investigation for their alleged role in the escape of Mr Moti, wanted by Australian police on charges of child sex abuse, aboard a PNG military plane to the Solomons on October 10." The problem for the Australians is that many Melanesians in PNG and the Solomon Islands have no sympathy for the Canberra "big stick" and are fed up with the patronising political meddling.