Over
the past five decades, certainly since the late 1950s, Solomon Islanders
have had a special dream about itself, a development vision. People,
all kinds of people from the village woman to the town labourer to
the office worker, had a strong dream. They really thought that all
their efforts, work and literally pain would some how bring about
development. During these 50 years or so, practically every government
of the day worked on a national development plan, millions of development
dollars were loaned or granted to us by the so-called developed nations
of the world and countless men and women spent thousands of hours
working on the development process. Unfortunately, with all that development
resource, at least for most villagers and town people, it never arrived.
Development, for Solomon Islands, failed to come alive in our country.
In the past 24 years of MPs and PMs holding forth in parliament, if
anything can be said on the positive side of every government which
ruled in Honiara, they were all interested in development. Each fondly
believed that the generation following them would be better off than
the previous one. In everyone's dream, the country would have better
schools, enjoy more medical help, see growing number of their youth
employed and village life would get a bit less difficult for women.
But it never happened for most people.
Yes, of course, a certain number of people, residing mostly in Honiara,
during this period lived quite well, thank you. They indeed tasted
the fruit of development and drank deeply of its pleasures. These
were usually the well connected ones--politically in the know--, had
received a decent education (at the nation's expense, of course),
were well taken care of when sickness struck and held down all the
good jobs. Never did you see or hear of one of them being out of work.
But this kind of people were few and far between. Most citizens' lives,
whether in the village or living in the back of Honiara had hardly
changed at all over the last 24 years since independence.
Most Solomon Islanders to this day remain 'underdeveloped' which means
their school days were poor to non existent. Medical attention, if
provided at all, was most often by a poorly trained village first
aid assistant. Employment for most meant working copra, diving for
beche-de-mer, catching fish and basically tending to the garden. Now
and then, every four years in fact, a bunch of local men, rarely,
very rarely a woman, would parachute into the village and pretended
that the village and villagers' lives were at the centre of their
concern.
If only villagers would vote them into parliament, village life would
change dramatically for the better. Good schooling, clinics filled
with medicine and substantial amounts of money would begin to flow
into the lives of village people. During the early parliamentary days--1984,
1989 and again in 1993--villagers actually believed these wild promises.
But over the past two election periods--1997 and 2001--however, people
became less and less convinced that the parliamentarians had anything
more in mind than returning themselves to Honiara's 'easy life style'.
Development was on the politicians tongue constantly but rarely did
development take place in the lives of ordinary people.
But the Solomons is not alone in experiencing this constant development
lie. At this very moment, most people worldwide live on less than
a $1.00 a day. That means they eat, drink, sleep and literally die
making do on less than a dollar a day. In fact, most Solomon Islanders
are in that very same canoe. The vast bulk of our people, the 80%
village dwellers or those who live in the back of Honiara make do
with less than $1.00 a day. And what is worse, their lives are getting
harder, more difficult and with less and less hope for the future.
That is why I say: FORGET DEVELOPMENT! THINK SURVIVAL!
The Solomons is not alone in living in this miserable poverty trap.
Of the 187 different nations scattered around in Africa, Asia, Americas
and Europe only a few--literally two dozen, that's 24 nations--are
called developed. The rest--163 countries, Solomons included--are
on the wide road of greater poverty as this century marches on. People
of the developed world, on the other hand, live on much, a hundred
times more, each day. If anything is clear, it is that our world has
two kinds of people: those who are rich and who are getting richer
by the day and the poor who are getting poorer by the hour.
Yet, although the future of our world is not rosy, the Solomons does
have some real strengths. Our food supply, although now dominated
by Australian rice, flour and canned goods, has the potential to become
more and more supplied by our own gardeners, fishermen and reef workers.
Most of our people, compared to billions overseas, still drink unspoilt
water which reduces diseases. And much of our energy needs could be
supplied by coconut oil if only our political masters and leaders
would realise that the day of petroleum products--petrol, diesel,
kerosene--has past. That is why we must Forget Development! Think
Survival! |
|
When speaking
at the World Media Freedom Day seminar held at the University of
the South Pacific in Fiji, during May this year, Dr Tarcisius K
Tara, the well known Solomon Islands politics lecturer, spoke about
the Pacific media's democracy role.
In his customary well presented address, Dr Tara made two important
statements which attracted my attention. In the first of these,
he said, "Does the media in our region facilitate democracy
both in terms of its contents as well as its accessibility? In terms
of content, we need to ask whether or not the media provides accurate
and adequate information that is necessary for facilitating democracy."
In his second reference he said, "Does it (the media) facilitate
for different opinions? Who should have access to the means of communication
and how should this access be used? The more voices we have in the
media, the greater our ability to avoid biases and inaccuracies.
This will facilitate democracy."
In the context of what Dr Tara said about the use of the media,
I would like to examine his references to accurate, adequate information
- and access to the media - to illustrate how the absence of accurate,
adequate information by just a few journalists influenced my morale
(and the Police) during the situation in the Solomon Islands at
the onset of the ethnic troubles - to the detriment of democracy
- by damaging police-public relations and the overall effectiveness
of the police service in investigating crime and conducting operations.
Firstly, though, a couple of comments about the role of the media.
I happen to share the views of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's Senior
Minister and former Prime Minister, who was once quoted as saying
of the media in developing societies, "The media has a duty
to galvanise the people behind the government and its policies to
facilitate the country's efforts to make material progress."
There is no doubt the mass media today is a powerful instrument
and few will question its influence in shaping attitudes and influencing
behaviour. It is for this reason that, while believing in the need
for a free press and the right to freedom of opinion and expression,
I also consider the freedom to say what one likes cannot be absolute
and a person's right not to be wrongly or unfairly maligned must
be protected. Indeed, most countries now have laws designed to protect
the individual against the publication of material which reflects
unfairly or falsely on a person's character and reputation. The
collective word for such laws is defamation.
Background - Material Shortages and Valuable Assistance
When I was first appointed Commissioner of Police in the Solomons
in July 1997, I was dismayed to find on arrival in Honiara that
the members of the Police were struggling to carry out their duties
and to maintain basic services. Most of the telephones were disconnected
due to the non-payment of accounts, very many of the police buildings
were in a poor state of repair or had simply collapsed, in the provinces,
during earlier cyclones; equipment was broken down, most of the
transport, including the few small boats and canoes, were inoperative
due to broken parts or broken outboard motors, the members had no
change of uniform and operational duties were extremely limited
due to fuel shortages (some provincial police stations had had no
fuel for six months or more), living quarters were in a very bad
state and, at Temotu and Auki, they were threatened with closure
by the health authorities as being unfit for habitation. Add to
this the fact that the Police sometimes did not receive their salaries
on time because of the then poor state of the Government's finances.
It was hardly surprising, therefore, that the morale of the police
was poor and public opinion of the police service was judged at
an all time low.
There was a change of government in August 1997, a month after I
took office, when the Solomon Islands Alliance for Change (SIAC)
was voted into power. The incoming Government, although faced with
a massive debt burden on assuming office and further hindered by
the suspicious burning down of the Finance Building, soon began
to address the economic situation as well as working on public sector
reforms. Progress was well in hand with the vital economic reforms
by the time the Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival was successfully
hosted in Honiara in July the following year.
There had been some modest progress, too, in the reform of the police
service by mid-'98 with improved morale, enhanced service delivery
and a lessening of crime in Honiara and throughout the provinces.
A substantial gift of police vehicles by the Government of the Republic
of China had helped ease the transport problem and with an increase
in the budget allocation, the members of the Force had been issued
with new uniform items which improved their appearance on duty.
A programme of community policing had started on Guadalcanal and
with the financial backing of the New Zealand and British Governments
the White River Police Post was built with police labour and officially
opened in the presence of both the New Zealand and British High
Commissioners. Many of the urban centres of population, as well
as those in the east and western areas of Guadalcanal began to be
regularly visited by community police liaison officers in the latter
part of 1997 and throughout the next year. On the island of Malaita,
the community readily embraced the community policing concept and
the Loina community, in particular, contributed and built their
very own Neighbourhood Police Post.
The Commissioner of the Singapore Police Force kindly contributed
many items of surplus uniforms and also facilitated the attachment
of the Deputy Police Commissioner and several other senior police
officers on Community Policing seminars which were conducted in
Singapore and in Japan. These seminars proved highly beneficial
to the attendees and contributed to the early success of the community
policing programmes.
The Australian Federal Police also contributed, in no small measure,
in providing much needed uniform and with specialist training. In
addition, the Australian and New Zealand Defence Forces contributed
to the improvement in administration and training, as well as supplying
much needed logistical equipment.
Another major factor in boosting police morale was the substantial
injection of funds provided by the Government of the Republic of
China for the repairs and renovation of police housing at Rove and,
later on, in the provincial centres.
One cannot overlook the assistance also given by the Governments
of the United States, Britain and Japan who provided training and
rendered practical help in other ways - in particular the Japanese
Government assisted the Fire Service - as indeed so did the New
South Wales Rural Fire Service.
Use of the Media
Faced with a critical shortgage of everthing from paper, copiers,
computers and telephones, to inform the members of the police service
of the changes taking place in their operations, training and welfare,
but also to promote openness and transparency, I began issuing regular
press statements (mostly typed on my own typewriter) to get the
right kind of message across. The realisation was that successful
innovative policies depended on good police-public relations. There
was the realisation, too, that operational effectiveness would be
impaired over a range of activities, including public order issues
and in the prevention and detection of crime without the full co-operation
and understanding of the public.
It was my intention to eventually create a small press office at
police headquarters, staffed by trained personnel, to manage and
promote the police image in the media to convey a positive image
to the public generally, but also to ensure the"image"
would be backed up, acted out and enhanced by the workforce.
In line with the development of media policies in most police organisations,
it was my intention to seek outside training courses for the personnel
selected to staff the press office. I considered that, ultimately,
an effective media office would address the aims and objectives
of policy, including guidance to police personnel concerning liaison
with the press office and with the media.
It was unfortunate that there were some in the community that considered
my regular media releases to be "attention grabbing" and
they neglected to see the wider picture in the context of my bid
to enhance police morale and standards of behaviour, as well as
accountability.
Criticism and Reaction in the Media
In an article published in the Solomon Star on July 28 1999, the
contributor wrote, as part of a full length feature, "Of the
thousands of people who have been victimised by the national inter-ethnic
ordeal, the former Solomon Islands Police Commissioner, Frank Short,
rather oddly is among the hardest hit.
From its shadowy beginnings in the parliamentary attempt to oust
the Prime Minister last year to its current stage, the ethnic crisis
has seen Mr Short subjected to character-assassinations of one form
or another.
Mr Short, for example has been called a racist, criticised as a
Police Commissioner who loves being in the media spotlight, and
criticised as excercising tough policies that deprive Solomon Islanders
of their democratic freedom of expression and assembly.
In the same vein, he has also been insulted by being ordered by
a Member of Parliament to pack up and leave.
As issues unfolded his life and his job hanged in suspension as
his dismissal is being called for by the GRA as one of the demands
that must be met by the Central Government if true peace and reconciliation
are to be achieved."
In other references in the same article, the writer said, "The
unfortunate twist of irony in all this (dealing with the allegations)
is that, in only giving partial information to the public about
their demands and allegations, those making the allegations have
unwittingly given themselves a rather lethal blow.
They have done this by way of exposing themselves and having their
credibility and motives questioned, ridiculed and trashed by the
public
Mr Short,on the other hand, has emerged from the ashes of his character
assassination not only purged of any wrong-doing but shown to be
principled - as he should be.
What this shows, of course, is that democracy, the potent force
that it, is not so easy to silence.
Thousands of us can admit that only months ago our Police Force
was in such a listless state of existence that police officers on
duty around Honiara, for example, were and eye-sore.
The lack of confidence, dignity and professional savvy visible in
a crisis situation, one was perhaps better off taking the law into
one's own hands rather than seeking help from the police.
Since Mr Short became Police Commissioner, the transformation one
sees in the whole Police Force in general and in individual police
officers is such that one now feels a sense of security and peace,
and that the Police Force can be counted on after all if need be."
The writer went on to add, "in view of the inter-island crisis
that our country has been through, it is hard to imagine what Honiara
would be like now (July '99) if Mr Short had not assumed the office
of Commissioner of Police, and the physical and psychological transformation
that he has helped bring about in our Police Force had not taken
place......Throughout the national ordeal the only incident that
the police can perhaps be faulted for was the one killing that took
place on Bungana Island during the early stages of the national
crisis. Other than that, in all the confrontations that they have
had with members of the GRA and other law-breakers, the police have
maintained a gentle and dignified composure, avoiding retaliation
and focusing exclusively on peace and social stability as their
primary responsibilities. Undoubtedly, only a police force guided
by strong leadership and the true spirit of mutual respect and trust
can uphold such a level of professionalism in the face of unprecedented
lawlessness."
The writer was extremely generous in his comments for which I still
take comfort, but others were less so and, in trying to motivate
a police service that was damned if it did and damned if it didn't,
I had to endure personal attacks on my character and motives which
hurt deeply and which amounted to implied racial slurs and downright
lies. Typical of one of these allegations was made in the Solomon
Courier Newspaper in February 1999 when a letter purporting to have
been written by Chief Martin Piri of Tobai Village in West Guadalcanal
was published. The full text of this letter can be accessed by referring
to the Archives of the Pacific Island Report (PIR) under the heading
- Solomon Islands Police Chief Short Plans Legal Action Against
Solomon Courier Newspaper Over Letter To The Editor - February 1999.
The Editor of the Courier defended his action in publishing the
letter by saying there was nothing wrong in publishing the letter
written by the Chief. What has not been public knowledge, until
perhaps now, is that Chief Piri did not write the letter and, when
interviewed, independently, said he had no knowledge of the events
said to have been witnessed by him as he had not left his village
for some considerable time and that he could not have been present
to witness the alleged occurrences in Aruligo road when the police
were alleged to have misused their powers on Christmas Day 1998.
The Chief was quoted to have written, in one part of his alleged
letter, "Let me remind my friend that this is not Soweto or
Johannesburg. Please treat all Solomon Islanders as humans and not
as part humans like in the former apartheid South Africa."
In another paragraph, it was alleged, "The militant group term
GRA (Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army) created by the media and the
police is a mockery of the Guadalcanal people. There may be little
groups here and there showing their frustrations over certain issues
but this does not warrant the term GRA."
I had no quarrel with Mr Patterson Mae, the then Editor of the Solomon
Courier, but much less damage would have been avoided to my personal
reputation and that of the police, if the letter had been properly
authenticated before publication.
It became a common theme of journalists like Mr Michael Field of
AFP and even Ms Mary, Louis O'Callaghan of the Australian, to add
to their articles on the unfolding Solomon's crisis, that "I
had done most of my policing in apartheid South Africa", or
references to being "straight out of South Africa." Yes,
it was true that I had served in South Africa prior to coming to
the Solomons, but it was not true that most of my service had been
in that country. I had, in fact, served previously in several Commonwealth
countries including Zambia, Swaziland, Lesothu, Sierra Leone, Vanuatu,
St Helena and in Hong Kong, before the handover to China. My work
in South Africa had concentrated on reducing human rights abuses
and civil claims. I was also privileged to work in the North West
Province Secretariat for Safety and Security where I was the Senior
Legal Administrative Officer to the MEC For Safety and Security,
part of the ANC led Government of Nelson Mandela.
The constant references to my policing in apartheid South Africa,
particularly by Mr Field in his articles and commentary on the Solomons
crisis, could well have proved to be secondary defamation by way
of innuendo - had I taken civil action. I replied to Mr Field's
inaccurate statements in a letter that I wrote to the Pacific Islands
Report - entitled "Nauru's Ban on AFP Correspondent Michael
Field" which was published on August 24 2001
Despite Ms O'Callahan having had a personal interview with me in
my office before I left the Solomons, during which time I gave her
a copy of a newly printed Purpose and Direction document I had produced;
a document setting out a mission, code of conduct and a strategic
direction for the police service, Ms O'Callaghan subsequently wrote
two articles which, in my opinion contained, defamatory references
about myself. In the first of these, published in the Australian
newspaper under the heading "Trouble in Paradise" she
wrote, in a couple of paragraphs, "Into the breach has stepped
Frank Short, a British policeman appointed by the previous government
as police commissioner in 1997. Straight out of South Africa, he
views the rise of militancy on Guadalcanal has the war that he had
to have. Says one observer. " He has armed his force, psyched
them up and persuaded them that the so called Guadalcanal Revolutionary
Army are the enemy, to be demonised and crushed at any cost."
In a subsequent Commonwealth Focus article, Ms O'Callaghan further
embellished her original story by writing, "In fact in the
first six months of this year (1999), Short presided over a diabolical
shift in how Solomon Islands dealt with its people." "
He has armed his force, psyched them up and persuaded them that
the so-called Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army are the enemy, to be
demonised and crushed at any cost," says one long standing
observer of Solomon Island affairs. "this can only fuel the
problem, not resolve it." "It is an approach that has
drawn the consternation of some within the Australian Government
which funds a number of projects with the Solomon Islands Police
Force - a force not equipped in size, resources or training to deal
with wide-scale guerrilla warfare," Ms O'Callaghan concluded.
Ms O'Callaghan's sources clearly had their information wrong and
I have been at pains ever since leaving office to state the true
facts in the many articles I have contributed to the Pacific Islands
Report and to the media in the Solomons. In the latest of these
reports entitled - "A Failed State or a Politically Motivated
Uprising in the Solomon Islands" dated July 30 2002, I drew
attention to a report that I submitted to the then SIAC Government
on November 27 1998. Quoting from part of that report, I said, "There
is a political dimension to the whole situation (having outlined
the rise in militancy and the aims of the militants) and this must
be addressed in the shortest possible time frame if we are not to
see growing militancy that could cause untold damage to national
unity and inter island relations, let alone serious infringements
of the criminal law. There is a need for an effective and reliable,
trustworthy police service capable of providing accurate and informed
intelligence on which to base advice and action. The situation cannot
be allowed to continue and the police service is coming under increased
pressure to deal with the crime trends, let alone having to deal
with politically motivated activities that seem to develop from
misinformation and a lack of national unity and provincial loyalties.
Despite the often lack of in-depth intelligence, this report must
be taken with seriousness and looked at in the political context
to avoid and escalation of the situation." Hardly the sentiments
of a Commissioner bent on crushing anyone!
The reference Ms, O'Callaghan made about "consternation of
some within the Australian Government", is hardly credible
since I made it part of my duty to fully brief the Australian Government
through the usual liaison links of every aspect of my policy and
proposed action, including providing an assessment in the early
months of 1999 of the worsening security threat.
Conflict Resolution, Human Rights and Minimum Force
As for "arming the police", well I have dealt with this
issue in lengthy published reports. My policy was directed to ensuring
that the members of the NRSF and the RRU minimised the use of firearms,
acquired conflict resolution skills and instruction about human
rights, complied with international requirements on the use of arms
and were guided by the principles of minimum force.. A full report
was also submitted to the Government with recommendations for the
early acquisition of less than lethal arms for use during internal
security operations, but there was no money available to acquire
them.
My report entitled " The Truth is Critical to Lasting Peace
and Reconciliation in the Solomon Islands" was published in
the Pacific Islands Report dated April 1 2002 (and on the SIBC's
Analysis page) and this dealt with the Bungana incident, which the
correspondent to the Solomon Star cited in his article mentioned
earlier.
Solomons Recovery
By writing this account of how I believe my efforts were misunderstood,
misinterpreted and reported inaccurately and unfairly, I hope it
will encourage all journalists, but especially those not based in
Honiara, with an interest in reporting on happenings and events
in the Solomon Islands, and at a particularly crucial time when
the truth, healing and recovery is vital, to investigate and determine
the accuracy of their facts and sources of information before committing
themselves to print. I hope, too, that they will work towards reinforcing,
and not undermining the genuine efforts of those charged with the
onerous responsibility of enforcing law and order - and thus democracy.
|
