Statement on Gender, Economic and Climate Justice by Pacific Women Activists

We are local and young women activists in various countries of the Pacific,  gathered in Suva, Fiji on 6-9 September 2010 for the Regional Training and  Consultation on Gender, Economic and Climate Justice that was convened by the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) and the Pacific Network on Globalization (PANG). The Pacific region is confronted by the onslaughts of market forces through processes of trade, financial and services liberalization, and the implication of environmental changes on food security, water scarcity, sea level rise and intrusion. These are
causing major upheavals and chaos in our social relationships, communities and societies at large.


In this context, we need policies and programs that empower communities, families and individuals, rather then exposing us to market assault and the changes in climate that affect land, livelihoods, handicrafts, indigenous medicines, staple food, symbolic wealth and our caring social relationships
that include women’s informal networks of mutual support.

While we are in solidarity with the struggle of people’s movements and nongovernmental organizations, a political response based on a feminist interlinkages perspective on gender, economic, and climate justice, is yet another way by which we can contribute to the development of an alternative paradigm of sustainable development in the Pacific. Such a feminist approach utilizes concepts of social reproduction and women’s right over our bodies and sexualities as core principles in our political analyses and actions. By this we mean that care of individuals should not be bargained away by governments when they negotiate trade and environmental agreements like PACER PLUS, WTO, UNFCC, CBD, etc. In guaranteeing social reproduction, such as health, education, water, livelihoods, etc. the state must also protect and promote the right of women to control our bodies and our sexualities in all places -our homes, schools, communities, etc.This means putting in place a policy, legislative and program environment that:

(a) gives justice to women who are physically and sexually abused and denied
their sexual & reproductive health life & rights;

(b) provides equal access, control and ownership of resources of both land
and the sea;

(c) ensures women’s meaningful participation in decision making in politics
and citizen’s mobilizations;

(d) supports the empowerment and voices of Pacific women to confront aspects of our culture that are hampering our development and autonomy; and

(e) ends all forms of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, class,
gender identity, sexual orientation and abilities.


We will therefore adopt various strategies aimed at promoting a feminist inter-linkages analyses and activities aimed at: our organizations; constituents and allies; and regional platforms facilitated through
intergovernmental or social dialogues.


We also strongly commit to continue networking with each other as we continually strengthen and recreate a vibrant regional Pacific feminist women’s movement that engages in a politically interlinked way - locally, nationally, regionally and internationally.




Dated: 20 October 2010


This statement has been endorsed by:
Lice Cokanasiga, Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), Fiji;
Nerida-Ann Hubert, Nauru Youth Council, Nauru;
Josephine Kalsuak, SPC/RRRT, Vanuatu;
Rosa Koian, Bismarck Ramu Group, Papua New Guinea;
Eweata Maata, Kiribati;
Arieta Moceica, Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC); Fiji;
Reeti Onorio, School of Development Studies, USP, Kiribati;
Ender Rence, Solomon Islands Development Trust, Solomon Islands;
Lu'isa Samani, Women's and Children's Crisis Centre, Tonga;
Kairangi Samuela, Cook Islands Women's Counselling Centre: Punanga
Taturu, Cook Islands;
Filomena Tuivanualevu, Fiji Women's Rights Movement, Fiji;
Sainimere Veitata, Nesian350, Fiji.

Kia Ora Gaza

International Aid Convoy to Gaza

Day 34: 21 October 2010

Notes:

• Times: All times given are those of Egypt and Gaza. Their clock is 11 hours behind New Zealand time.

• Messages: The contents of this bulletin are real time texts from our Kiwi volunteers on their way to Gaza. Texts have been edited for readability.

• Writers: Roger Fowler and Chris van Ryn.

• Photos: Azra to Gaza blog.

http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/

Kia Ora Gaza was part of an international aid convoy that finally reached Gaza today after 34 days of travelling.

The convoy of 400 volunteers from 30 countries driving 150 vehicles was carrying medical supplies worth NZ$7 million and entered the region via the Egyptian-controlled Rafah Gate.
Rafah is the only land entrance to Gaza not under the control of Israel’s military
The team of six Kiwi volunteers joined the aid convoy led by Viva Palestina in heading to Gaza following the shooting of nine members of an aid flotilla by Israeli soldiers in May.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Aid-convoy-finally-reaches-Gaza/tabid/417/articleID/182594/Default.aspx

 

Save Rapanui Benefit Los Angeles

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lono Kollars, Kaleponi Advocates for Hawaiian Affairs
Phone: 951.534.3750
E-mail: lono.kollars@yahoo.com

SAVE RAPA NUI: EASTER ISLAND IN CRISIS
with Rapa Nui Film, Music, Art and Discussion to Support the Indigenous People in Crisis

When: Thursday, October 28, 2010, from 6:00PM - 11:00PM

Where: Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd, LA, CA 90027

VIP Reception and Seating: $50 (at 6:00pm)
General Admission: $25

Info: Santi Hitorangi, United Nations Representative for Rapa Nui and Longtale International will be co-hosting a screening and panel discussion of the documentary “BEING RAPANUI,” a Rapa Nui perspective, with an exhibition and silent auction of Rapa Nui Petroglyphs rubbings as well as other art donated by La Luz de Jesus Gallery to help support the struggle of the Rapanui indigenous people to keep their ancestral homelands on Easter Island.

The event is sponsored by: KAHA, (Kaleponi Advocates of Hawaiian Affairs), Imipono Projects, VC (Visual Communications), Longtale International and La Luz de Jesus Gallery

Traditional Pacific Island haka and entertainment, live musicc and DJ Ninja Simone (Soul Sessions).

Los Angeles, CA—

Rapa Nui, also known as Isla de Pascua, but better known as Easter Island, is part of the Polynesian Triangle that stretches from Hawaii to the North, Rapa Nui to the East and New Zealand to the South. Easter Island has long been the subject of curiosity and speculation. How and why did its inhabitants carve and transport the massive statues (Moai) which surround the island? What remains of this culture today, and what lessons can we learn from their legacy?

Rapa Nui is one of the most remote places on the planet. Their closest neighbor, Pitcairn Island with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, is about 1,300 miles to the West. Continental Chile is about 2,200 miles to the East. It is a U.N. World Heritage site, famous for its monolithic Moai, stone statues created and moved by the islanders’ ancestors.

Until 1888, Rapa Nui was unclaimed by any foreign country. The island lacked rivers and trees, and a safe anchorage. Chile annexed the island under the impression that it had agricultural potential and strategic possibilities as a naval station. Formal annexation brought little change to the island until 1896 when Chile placed the island under the jurisdiction of the Department of Valparaiso. The island was turned into a vast sheep ranch under the direction of a Valparaiso businessman, Enrique Merlet, who confiscated buildings and all animals left to the Rapanui by the missionaries who had fled the island in the wake of Dutrou-Bornier's reign of terror. Islanders were forced to build a stone wall around the village of Hangaroa and, except for work, permission was needed to leave the area even to fetch water from the crater. Those who revolted against these perverse rules were exiled to the continent, few returned.

As of August 4th, 2010, the people of Rapa Nui have non-violently re-occupied the lands that had been unlawfully taken by Chile from their grandparents. The Chilean government has responded by sending in armed forces. As the Rapa Nui people strive to reclaim their island and independence, the islanders may be on the brink of extermination at the hands of Chilean forces.

A peaceful resolution would be the hope for restoration to the world and a new beginning for Te Pito O Te Henua “the Navel of the World,” what the early settlers called Rapa Nui.

The Indian Law Resource Center in Washington D.C. has agreed to represent the Rapa Nui families and the Rapa Nui Parliament.

Although many people think the island is deserted and the Moai are a mystery, the Rapa Nui are very much alive and has been a civilization of master engineers, artists and survivalists for nearly 2000 years.

For more information about Rapa Nui, contact Susan Hitorangi: (845) 596 5403,
Tepitoproductions@mac.com or go to SaveRapa Nui.org.

The Barnsdall Gallery Theater is owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs

All Power To The People (1996) Part 1

A film by Lee Lew Lee Opening with a montage of four hundred years of race conflict in America, this powerful documentary provides the historical context for the establishment of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in the mid-1960s. Organized by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, the Party soon embodied every major element of the civil rights movement which preceded it and the Black, Brown and Red power movements which it helped pioneer. The Party struck fear in the hearts of the white capitalist power structure, which feared it as a terrorist group. During the Nixon years, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, with the cooperation of the CIA, used all means at their disposal to infiltrate and derail the Black Power movement. Methods of state repression included assassination, frame-ups, dirty tricks and black propaganda. Witnesses include not only Party veterans and other Black Power pioneers and political prisoners such as Mumia Abu-Jamal, Dr. Muthulu Skakur and Dhoruba Bin Wahad, but also "establishment" figures like former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, CIA officer Philip Edward Agee, and retired FBI agents. Yet, the documentary is not a paean to the Panthers, for it criticizes the megalomania, corruption, and narcissism of some Party leaders, while it praises their courage and idealism. Whether or not one is sympathetic to the Black Panthers, the film is an important historic look at the political and racial turmoils of the 1960s and an up-close look at the leading players

Kolumbus Day in Amerikkka

Event Guide BPP History Month Oakland Public Libraries

See Also : http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/

AntiCapitalist Public Service Announcement

hooliganz revolution

Chilean Troops Flown In to Supress Rapanui

CHILEAN TROOPS FLOWN IN  TO SUPRESS  RAPANUI  - ON THE VERGE OF EXTINCTION  - September 29, 2010

 

Contact:               Kihi Tuki-Hito   011 56 9 88190047

                        Levanate Araki  011 56 9 81506843

                          Santi Hitorangi  1 845 596 5402

 

This morning a C-47 military plane arrived on Rapanui  (aka Easter Isalnd) with a contingency of SWAT teams to augment the already in-place armed forces set to remove indigenous Rapanui people from their ancestral lands..   Since July 31, the Rapanui have been non-violently re-occupied the land illegally taken from their grandparents and have been , asking for their legal title to be restored.

 

Tonight the Rapanui people are on high alert – expecting what may come in the wee hours of the morning. 

 

This afternoon Marisol Hito, spokeswomen of the Hitorangi clan,  presented the Rapanui case to the Human Rights Commission of the Chilean House of Representatives.     The Commission unanimously voted to stay any order to harm or remove Rapanui people from their claims.

 

Marisol Hito stated that,  “We have been asking to negotiate for 60 days with the Chilean government, but they have refused to negotiate and instead sent in armed troops to cause psychological and physical duress .  From day one we have been expressing that our claim is for recognition of title to our lands, and the ability to manage  our sovereignty.   Under Chilean law  only Rapanui people can legally hold title to land on the island.”

 

 The Human Rights Commission filed a protective order for the 18 children that are in occupation at the Hanga Roa Hotel,  reclaiming their land title and future.    The Hanga Roa property was illegally sold during the Pinochet regime to a non-Rapanui  person, and was subsequently transferred to a non-Rapanui corporation, in violation of Chilean law.

 

Kihi Tuki-Hito  showed the Rapanui flag on the back of his jacket and spoke to  press after the 8 hour meeting with the Human Rights Commission.  He said,  “  We want  to peacefully restore our rights to our land and self government”.

 

Chile has refused to conduct serious and meaningful peaceful negotiations and has criminalize all the Rapanui claimants in  violation of human rights and  of  the Universal Declaration of Indigenous Rights,  to which Chile is a signatory.

 

Ironically  Chile uses the Rapanui moai, the well-known monolithic stone statutes,   on its currency and passports  as a symbol colonial supremacy over Rapanui people. 

 

Only 5,000 Rapanui people exist today .   Any violence against them is an act of extinction to these legendary people who are a heritage and treasure of humanity.  In 1994 UNSECO declared Rapanui as a “heritage of humanity.”

 

If we as humans can save the smallest inhabited place on the planet earth, Rapanui, then when we  can learn how to heal and save our entire human existence on this  planet.

 

This is a an S.O.S. for the world to save itself.

 

For more information go to SaveRapanui.org

UB40 One In Ten

From Aotearoa to Gaza with Love

Kia Ora Gaza, he tira tenei no Aotearoa tonu e haere nei ki Gaza ki te awhina i te hunga o reira, a muri tonu i nga mahi whakatumatuma i waenga i te iwi o Iharaira.

The Bobby Seale Exhibition

Greetings Comrades: The Bobby Seale Exhibit opens October 2 @ the W. Oakland Library. The program starts at 1pm with Bobby speaking about 1:45pm. James Mott will host the program for the day

Keeping our Legacy alive
It's About Time

Kanaky iwi want their land back from the French

Life and Death of Steven Biko

Lest we forget  Today is the 33rd anniversary day of the brutal murder, in apartheid police custody, of Steve Biko

Day of Action planned for October 20 2010

The Maori organiser for the Council of Trade Unions is encouraging Maori workers and their whanau to get involved in the union movement’s national day of action next month. Helen Te Hira says low income Maori workers have been hit hard by government actions. She says they will get a chance to speak out on what’s being called 20-10 2010. “So on the 20th of October there will be actions up and down the country led by unions but also whanau who are really feeling what’s been a cascade of attacks on working rights,” Ms Te Hira says.

Moana Jackson PRIMER ON THE FORESHORE AND SEABED

A FURTHER PRIMER ON THE FORESHORE AND SEABED.

‘I once spoke of our people who have their mana attacked being like a beached whale struggling to live…what I say now is to remember how often the sea casts the whale on the shore’.

                                   

     - Te Ataria, 1889.

‘The question that must always be asked of legislation is not whether it is a legislative compromise or even whether it is practical, but whether it is just’.

                                            - Justice Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court, 1970.

ABSTRACT.

This Primer is part of material produced for hui within Ngāti Kahungunu on the foreshore and seabed that began with the original proposals put forward on the issue by the last government in 2003.

It addresses some of the main parts of the new Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill and asks questions about the new regime it establishes for the foreshore and seabed.

It tries to provide some context for the Bill by considering the grounds that have compelled Māori to so forcefully and consistently voice concern about the issue over the last several years - it considers the attempts the people have made to avoid being ‘beached’ by the various Crown proposals since 2003.

It also tries to apply the test for legislative legitimacy outlined by Justice Marshall and assesses whether the Bill is just.

It regrettably concludes that it is not.

It further concludes that the proposed Bill simply consolidates the main inequities of the 2004 Seabed and Foreshore Act that the Waitangi Tribunal found to be problematic in terms of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination held to be racially discriminatory.

In that context the Prime Minister’s statement that the Bill will be a full and final settlement of the issue is simply inaccurate because rather than removing the injustice it actually compounds it.

- Moana Jackson.

What was the context of Maori opposition to the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act?

There were three main grounds of opposition.

1.     The Act was a confiscation of Iwi and Hapū rights to the foreshore and seabed because it removed title and vested it in the Crown on behalf of ‘all New Zealanders’.

    

2. The act was discriminatory because it required Iwi and Hapū to allow access over areas of foreshore they had an interest in but did not place the same responsibility on Pākehā. It created a basic inequality of obligation.

3. The Act was also discriminatory because it denied Māori access to the Courts to seek clarification of rights. It created a basic inequality of legal opportunity.

What did Iwi and Hapū seek?

Repeal of the Act and a replacement piece of legislation that

(a)   removed the possibility of confiscation and

(b)  was non-discriminatory.

Does the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill Repeal the 2004 Act?

Yes.

There has been a lot of work done by the Māori Party and others, including the Ministerial Review Panel chaired by Justice Edward Durie and countless submissions by Iwi and Hapū to ensure its repeal.

Does the new Bill remove the inequities in the 2004 Act?

No.

Indeed in many ways it simply enshrines them in new language.

How does the new Bill address the issue of confiscation?

The Bill does remove the idea of vesting the foreshore and seabed in the Crown.

However it still takes Iwi and Hapū interests off Māori and vests them in a new construct called a ‘common space’ in the marine and coastal area.

It remains a confiscation because it is still a taking from Iwi and Hapū. The only difference is that the final destination of the confiscated land is given a new name.

What does the ‘common space’ mean?

It is a legal fiction denoting an area that nobody owns and within which no-one is allowed to have new private title.

Does the ‘common space’ apply to all the foreshore and seabed around the coast?

No.

It effectively only applies to area in which Māori might have an interest and specifically excludes the large majority of foreshore currently held by others under private title.

Does the new Bill have rules around the ‘common space’? 

Yes, which is why it is a legal fiction.

For example on one hand it says it is a common space no-one owns and on the other it outlines in great detail the authority and control the Crown has over it.

It thus has specific provisions for absolute Crown ownership of certain minerals in the ‘common space’ with the associated power to grant licenses for those minerals. It asserts Crown ownership rights over an area that no-one is supposed to own.

How does it address the issues of discrimination?

It doesn’t really.

The continued confiscation is itself discriminatory because areas held by others are not subject to the same taking and subsequent vesting in the ‘common space’. Only Māori are discriminated against in this way.

The Attorney General Chris Finlayson has nevertheless stated that ‘the Bill, unlike the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 which it replaces, treats all New Zealanders, including Māori, without discrimination’.

Yet the Bill clearly discriminates between Māori and other New Zealanders in all sorts of other quite specific ways.

For example while our people have always been willing to allow access we have always asked that Pākehā in similar situations be required to do the same. Under the Bill they do not have to do so, which thus maintains the basic inequality of obligation.

Does the Bill restore the right of access to the Courts?

Yes.

It establishes a new ‘customary title’ in the ‘common space’ that Iwi and Hapū may seek to have recognised in court.

However to establish the title Iwi and Hapū have to prove continuous use of the relevant area since 1840. Because the ability of most of our people to use the foreshore since 1840 has been taken away or limited by actions of the Crown it is going to be almost impossible for most Iwi and Hapū to meet the test.

Indeed research conducted into the previous regime suggested that at least 98% of Iwi and Hapū have been denied undisturbed possession since 1840.

The acceptance by the Prime Minister that the threshold was so high most wouldn’t meet it is both an accurate assessment of the test and a perhaps unwitting acknowledgement of its basic discriminatory nature.

Due process is restored but in a way that maintains the basic inequality of access.

Are there other provisions regarding due process?

Yes.

The newest provision sets a time frame of six years for Māori to prove their so-called ‘customary title’.

This is a particularly odious provision as it introduces something new into the whole discourse of civil and human rights, namely that a right or interest can only exist if people can establish it within a certain time limit.

It is rather like saying for example that the basic right to freedom of speech can only exist if you can prove you have it in six years. Rights are meant to be universal and their universality depends upon them being free of time constraints.

It simply introduces another discriminatory process applicable only to Māori.

Can Iwi and Hapū negotiate ‘customary title’ in the ‘common space’?

Yes, direct negotiations can be held with the Crown but will in practice only be available those few Iwi and Hapū that can meet the relevant test.

It excludes most Māori and will therefore be divisive and create further inequalities.

What is the nature of the ‘customary title’?

It is a new form of title that is neither the customary title recognised in Māori law nor even that recognised in the Pākehā law of aboriginal title.

It is also quite specifically defined as being less than freehold title.

It is therefore a discriminatory title in that others may have freehold in their land contiguous to the moana but Iwi and Hapū can’t – it is a subordinate title predicated on a notion of essentially subordinate Māori rights.

These few issues alone make the Bill discriminatory, unjust, and in continuing breach of Te Tiriti and other relevant international Human Rights Conventions.

Is there a period for submissions?

Yes, although the dates and times have yet to be announced.

Hasta Siempre Commandante-Buena Vista Social Club

Dedicated to Dad on Fathers Day Love & miss you much Papa.
Love & Respect Always

Road spikes to protest land rights in Te Urewera

De-activating colonialism & Decolonising activism

Activate the decolonisation process and you end up with a treaty!” - Robbie Thorpe

Tuesday 31 August 2010, 6:30-8:30pm
MAYSAR Gym, 184-186 Gertrude St, Fitzroy
Light refreshments provided

RSVP: limited numbers. clarelan@deakin.edu.au 0409 352 297

*Robbie Thorpe, Gunai & Maar Nations, voice of Treaty Republic and Black GST
will host a panel of speakers:

*Sina Brown-Davis, Indigenous Activist  & Mum from Ngati Whatua ki Kaipara

*Peter Lewis, non-Indigenous, Chair of ANTaR Victoria (Working for Land Justice and Reconciliation)

*Gary Foley, member of the Gumbaynggirr Nation, historian, lecturer and activist



Discussion of:

• What are the pitfalls and dangers for non-Indigenous people’s involvement in supporting Indigenous struggles?
• non-Indigenous people want to help but don’t know how
• How can we get better value out of our activists? Make the best use of their time and energy?
• How can we take control of our lives with the support of conscientious Australians?
• Let’s come up with a guide/protocol for activists Our energy is taken up educating generation after generation of non-Indigenous people

A community forum for reflection and action in connection with Clare Land’s PhD research, which tries to spread and deepen conversations about how non-Indigenous people support Indigenous struggles. Clare will be analysing the forum and providing copies to the community.

La belleza de la desobediencia

Parihaka Peace Festival 2008 Te Miringa Hohaia

Kua mate a Te Miringa Hohaia i te ata nei kei tana kainga. No Parihaka a Te Miringa, te papakainga o nga manu e rua - Te Whiti o Rongomai raua ko Tohu Kakahi. E te rangatira, kua wheturangitia koe, haere ki Hawaiki-nui, Hawaiki-roa, ki Hawaiki-pamamao

Report says police force was unnecessary, unreasonable, and unjustified.

A report released today by the Independent Police Conduct Authority concluded that the actions of four police officers who used force against Rawiri Falwasser at Whakatane Police station were unnecessary, unreasonable, and unjustified.

Meanwhile, the really appalling thing about this case is that most of the officers have got off scot free. All were acquitted at trial in 2008 (apparently wearing a police uniform allows you to beat and torture with impunity), and while one has since resigned, the other two were either transferred or demoted. That's just not good enough. There should be no place in the New Zealand Police for thugs who beat prisoners. Their continued presence in the police force is yet another reason why we cannot trust or respect it.

Unjustified

Vanuatu: Chiefs call on Forum leaders to protect custom land

Vanuatu's Malvatumauri (National Council of Chiefs) has called on Pacific leaders to protect custom land, endorsing a regional declaration on indigenous land tenure in Melanesia.

Vanuatu’s Malvatumauri (National Council of Chiefs) has called on Pacific leaders to protect custom land, endorsing a regional declaration on indigenous land tenure in Melanesia.

Chief Selwyn Garu, Secretary General of the Malvatumauri announced that the council of chiefs had unanimously endorsed the Mele Declaration on Land in Melanesia.

The declaration, prepared at a regional meeting last June, states: “We are opposed to any form of alienation of land from customary landowners, whether by outright sale or through leases which remove landowners’ capacity to effectively control, access and use their land.”

The declaration also calls for the overhaul of land administration in Melanesia and rejects “all policies which require that customary land be registered as a precondition for business or development activities.”

The Malvatumauri, a national body which unites chiefs from 20 island councils and two urban councils, is meeting in Port Vila this week.

Chief Selwyn Garu said: “The declaration was presented before the Council of Chiefs this morning. The members of the Council of Chiefs talked about it and in the end of the discussion we unanimously endorsed it.”

The Mele Declaration was prepared by the Melanesian Indigenous Land Defence Alliance (MILDA), a network of landowner, cultural and community groups concerned with land tenure and development across the Melanesian region.

MILDA was founded at a meeting in Madang, Papua New Guinea in 2009. Their second meeting at Mele village in Vanuatu last June brought together a range of organisations “to strategise a regional response to the persistent pressure for registration and leasing of customary land.”

The Mele Declaration was prepared at the June meeting, which brought together chiefs, church leaders, members of women’s and youth groups and other participants from Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Australia.

Changing land use for tourism

In Melanesian nations like Vanuatu, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, over 90 per cent of land is held by customary land and resource owners.

For Selwyn Garu: “When we talk about land in Melanesia, you can’t separate land from custom. If you lose land, you lose custom. If you lose custom, you lose land.

“Custom defines the use of land, but custom cannot be practiced on alienated land – it can only be practiced on custom land,” he stated. “Land continues to be the main source of employment for the people in the villages. With land, we have all that we need.”

Vanuatu’s Constitution states that “All land in the republic of Vanuatu belongs to the indigenous custom owners and their descendants.” It also states that “only indigenous citizens of the republic of Vanuatu who have acquired their land in accordance with a recognised system of land tenure shall have perpetual ownership of their land.”

In spite of this, many land owners on Vanuatu’s main island of Efate have granted long-term leases to overseas investors for tourist projects and private strata title developments, which have effectively alienated much of the shoreline along the coast.

Landowners must compensate the leaseholder for improvements to the land if they wish to reclaim their land at the end of the lease. For this reason some villagers will find it difficult to reclaim leased land after decades of construction or improvement on land provided under long term leases.

Action by Forum leaders

The chiefs’ decision comes as government leaders from around the region have gathered in Vanuatu for the 41st Pacific Islands Forum.

After endorsement by the Malvatumauri on Wednesday morning, the declaration was launched at the Chiefs’ Nakamal in Port Vila by Chief Selwyn Garu, Joel Simo of MILDA and Ralph Regenvanu, the Member of Parliament for Port Vila.

Regenvanu, one of the co-founders of MILDA, called on Forum leaders to protect land rights as the basis of the Melanesian economy: “We would like this Declaration to inform what the Forum is doing and the decisions that they’ll take in the next few days. We are urging our leaders of government, we are urging international financial institutions (including donor countries) but especially our own leaders to move away from policies that talk about land registration as a prerequisite for gaining credit.”

Regenvanu added: “Over the last couple of years, we’ve managed to get the concept of the ‘traditional economy’ on to the agenda in Vanuatu, in the Melanesian Spearhead Group and in the Forum. But we need to have our leaders seriously taking this concept, this reality on board - the traditional economy continues to be the main source of sustenance for people in much of Melanesia.”

For Chief Selwyn Garu: “I’d like to say that land is a living thing. It gives life. It empowers life and you can’t reduce the value of land the way it is being done nowadays in many parts of Melanesia.”

Bobby Seale : "No More Shucking and Jiving!"

Mililani Trask: What Is Self Determination?

Qld Gubbament gagging activist Lex Wotton

Unions protest National Party conference at sky city Auckland NZ

Foley Speaks

Gary Foley speaking at New Way Summit Melbourne 2nd July 2010

Crash Nationals Party

The overwhelming MAJORITY of Maori /Pasifika are workers. Attacks on workers are attacks on Maori & Pasifika peoples.

A Nuclear Free Pacific Niuklia Fri Pasifik

A Tribute To Mau Piailug And The Voyaging Canoe Makali`i

Protests against changes to the beneficiary system

Public forum – Guam: The Struggle Against Militarisation of the Pacific

Armed Conflict – Pacific, Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific, Quaker Peace and Social Justice Network.

Venue:  Trades Hall, 54 Victoria Street Carlton (Ground floor, meeting room 1)  
Time:  7 pm – 9 pm; Coffee and Tea 6 pm – 7 pm 
Date:  Thursday, 8 July 2010


Speakers
Dr.Lisa Natividad, a Chamorro leader and social worker from Guam, will speak on “The Devastating Consequences of the Proposed Increased Militarisation of Guam”.
Maki Yonaha, Japanese for Peace, will give “An Update on the US military base in Okinawa and its Connection to Guam”. 
Mosese Waqa, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict – Pacific, will discuss “Civil society partnerships’ role in addressing militarisation in the Pacific”.
Nic Maclellan, Journalist and researcher on the Pacific islands, will speak on “Security in the Asia-Pacific Region: For Whom?”
Sponsored by: Medical Association for Prevention of War, Japanese for Peace, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict – Pacific, Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific, Quaker Peace and Social Justice Network.


For further information: MAPW, 9023 1958, www.mapw.org.au
Download the flyer

http://www.iwda.org.au/au/2010/06/29/public-forum-guam-the-struggle-against-militarisation-of-the-pacific/

Legalised Dogs

See ya Later Poaka Broad wouldn't wanna be ya :P

OFF THE PIG Haere Atu Nga Poaka

The Last Kinection - I Can (featuring Radical Son)

Thelastkinection

The Last Kinection featuring Radical Son - I Can
Video directed & produced by Isaac Turier.

(N.Wenitong, J.Wenitong, J.Turier, T.Asqash, D.Leha)
Produced By Jaytee for Hazard Productions & Weno for Blackchilli Productions / Lyrics written & performed by
Nay, Weno & Radical Son / Guitar written and performed by Timiyay / Scratch's performed by Jaytee

The Last Kinection - I Can (featuring Radical Son)

Thelastkinection

The Last Kinection featuring Radical Son - I Can
Video directed & produced by Isaac Turier.

(N.Wenitong, J.Wenitong, J.Turier, T.Asqash, D.Leha)
Produced By Jaytee for Hazard Productions & Weno for Blackchilli Productions / Lyrics written & performed by
Nay, Weno & Radical Son / Guitar written and performed by Timiyay / Scratch's performed by Jaytee

We started the riot: Report 7 of the weeklong resistance coverage of the...

Go FORTH!

Who are we? - Report 5 of the weeklong resistance coverage of the G20 r...

G20 Protest The Battle of Toronto

Press Statement - Toronto Community Mobilization Network

June 27, 2010
For Immediate Release

Press Statement - Toronto Community Mobilization Network

The G8/G20 are anti-democratic illegitimate institutions that inflict daily violence on our communities. Everywhere the G8 and G20 have met to further their exploitative agendas – from London to Pittsburgh to Toronto they have faced huge opposition from local communities. The kind of mass resistance we have seen in Toronto has and will continue to follow them wherever they go.

For several months, communities across Toronto have been coming together to resist the imposition of austerity measures advanced at the G8/G20 summits. The Harper government spends 1.2 billion taxpayer dollars to host the G8/G20 summits while it cuts social spending in ways that have drastic impacts people in the Toronto area and other parts of Canada.

Since these communities have come together, the police have been using intimidation tactics to repress and silence people in the Toronto community. Police and intelligence officers went to community organizers' homes and harrassed them in the streets. Now they have arrested many of these people, many of them young organizers of color, and charged them with conspiracy.

These people hold the Harper government to account and they speak out against policies that are making ordinary people poorer, sicker and more desperate. As a result, they have been intimidated, harassed, and imprisoned. They are political prisoners in this country, where the police repression shows that its claims of democracy are simply window dressing.

While police continue to intimidate people, individuals and community members keep going out in the streets to show that they are not afraid and stand with political prisoners as well as oppressed peoples – first nations communities, immigrants and refugees, poor people, people of color, women, trans people, people with disabilities and queer communities.

The police intimidation and repression added to the anger and frustration people have with the G8/G20 policies and leaders that destroy their lives and the lives of people around the world. This is why people targeted banks and multinational corporations, and the property of police.

Ultimately, 1 billion dollars were spent on beating people who were demonstrating throughout the week, on intimidating community members in the streets, on arresting organizers of color and indigenous solidarity organizers, on sending demonstrators to hospital with broken bones, and on using tear gas on those in the so-called designated “free speech” zone. 1 billion dollars has not been used to protect people and to keep the city safe. Instead it has been used to repress the people who are working to make this city, and planet a fairer, more just, and more humane place.

Toronto Community Mobilization Network

How to destroy a police car

G20 protesters hit streets, skeptics slam summit

At The G20 Fence: Arthur Manuel, Defenders of the Land

At the G20 Fence: Harsha Walia, No One is Illegal Vancouver

At the G20 Fence: Question and Answer

The Warriors BY Iroqua

Mo Ake

Music Video for "Mo Ake", track 4 from Dubstep / Drum & Bass album TOHE by Upper Hutt Posse, released July 2010. Footage taken from "Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou" music video by Upper Hutt Posse

Bobby Seale Speaking Across America (Part 1)

Bobby Seale takes to the stage with his charismatic and activist eloquence, illuminating the true sixties birth and youthful intelligentsia of the BPP. Mr. Seale transports the audience back to the mini-civil-war turbulence of the late sixties and early seventies. Defining himself as "revolutionary humanist" Mr. Seale brings the 60's protest movement era full circle showing how times have changed. How we must reach for the future: Protest, organize peoples programs and evolve a greater direct [participatory] community control democracy.

Bacon Bitz

http://submedia.tv
Day three of subMedia.TV's G20 Rebellion coverage. Today we bring you updates on the Canadian Police State and we follow the Toxic Tour of Toronto.