[R-G] Solomon Islands: RAMSI forces mobilised against Solomons workers

[Anthony Fenton]

Solomon Islands: RAMSI forces mobilised against Solomons workers
By Patrick O’Connor
3 July 2008
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jul2008/solo-j03.shtml

Soldiers and police in the Australian-dominated Regional Assistance  
Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) took to the streets of the capital,  
Honiara, last week in response to a strike by telecommunications  
workers and the threat of industrial action by public service  
employees. RAMSI’s provocative intervention comes amid heightened  
social tensions driven by rising food and fuel inflation, and  
coincides with an ongoing dispute over the status of the occupying  
forces’ immunity from Solomons’ law.

“We want to ensure our presence is felt throughout Honiara City,” a  
spokesman from the Solomon Islands’ Police Media Unit told the Solomon  
Star on June 26. The spokesman described the operation as a  
precautionary measure to counter any possible disturbances caused by  
the telecommunications strike. The Star reported that RAMSI soldiers  
were also patrolling the streets while a military helicopter flew  
above. About 140 Australian soldiers and 450 mostly Australian RAMSI  
police are stationed in the Solomons.

That the latest mobilisation was triggered by an entirely peaceful  
industrial dispute reflects the true character of the RAMSI  
intervention force. Initially dispatched in July 2003, the Australian- 
led operation accompanied the takeover of much of the Solomons’ state  
apparatus, including the police, legal system, prison service, finance  
department, and other arms of the public service. While the Australian- 
led intervention into the allegedly “failing” state was justified on  
humanitarian grounds, the police-military response to the recent  
labour disputes again demonstrates the reality: RAMSI’s central  
purpose is to advance the interests of Australian imperialism and to  
counter any acts by the local population that might threaten those  
interests.

More than 300 employees of the majority state-owned telecommunications  
carrier, Our Telekom, went on strike on June 17. The workers demanded  
that the company’s chief executive officer, Martyn Robinson, be sacked  
for allegedly discriminatory practices. Other demands presented by the  
workers related to retirement packages, leave pay, housing, and work  
conditions. Also of concern was the threatened privatisation of  
Telekom and takeover by the Irish telecommunications company, Digicel.  
“It is related to the planned sale of Telekom to Digicel, which these  
people including Robinson, are heavily involved in, but we don’t want  
to talk about their dirty deals,” an unnamed workers’ spokesman told  
the Solomon Star.

The strike caused significant disruptions to the Solomons’ phone  
network. Most lines from Honiara to the provinces went down, many  
mobile phone and internet services were interrupted, and automatic  
teller machine facilities were also affected.

Workers ended their strike last Friday, June 27, after Robinson  
announced his resignation. This followed the intervention of Solomon  
Islands’ Finance Minister Snyder Rini, who directed the Our Telekom  
board to terminate Robinson’s contract. According to a Solomon Star  
report, however, the telecommunication workers met last Monday and  
denounced the decision to allow Robinson to remain CEO for another  
three months. They voted to resume strike action unless the executive  
was immediately removed. Once they returned to work, the Australian  
police and military mobilisation ended.

Shortly before this, the Public Employees Union called off a strike  
action and public protest that had been planned for June 27. The  
union’s general secretary, Paul Belande, met with the minister for  
public services, Milner Tozaka, and reportedly negotiated a memorandum  
of understanding that dealt with some of the public service workers’  
demands. The terms of the deal were not announced, but the union had  
earlier demanded a 49 percent wage rise to help cope with inflation.

Rising world petrol and food prices have further impoverished many  
Solomon Islanders. Standard bus fares in Honiara more than doubled  
last month, while student fares tripled. The price of rice, a staple  
for many families, has also rapidly escalated. A 20-kilogram bag of  
rice cost about SI$115 (A$17) in Honiara in early April, but now sells  
for a reported SI$195. The country’s minimum wage is just SI$3.20 an  
hour for forestry and fishery workers, and SI$4 for others (A$0.48 and  
A$0.60).

“We have to face all these [rising] prices at once and it is just too  
much,” Joy Buru, a mother of two, told the Solomon Times. “Even  
noodles in shops has gone up from $1.60 to $2.30 ... this is getting  
very difficult. The higher prices have caused life to be very bitter  
each day.”

RAMSI under fire

Deepening social tensions are exacerbating the crisis confronting the  
RAMSI occupying forces. The Australian-led force has made no attempt  
to alleviate poverty and unemployment in the Solomons, and five years  
after the supposedly humanitarian intervention, many people find  
themselves significantly worse off. This state of affairs is feeding  
into the steadily mounting opposition to RAMSI’s ongoing presence.

Former parliamentarian Alfred Sasako last month warned that “public  
disorder” may erupt unless the government was able to control prices.  
Opposition leader Manasseh Sogavare last week declared that he would  
move a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Derek Sikua’s  
government in the next sitting of parliament, due this month, on the  
grounds that nothing had been done to control inflation. It remains to  
be seen whether Sogavare has the numbers to unseat Sikua; one  
opposition MP claimed that several ministers were prepared to defect.

Sogavare’s return to power is the last thing the Australian government  
wants. The former Howard government, with the complete support of the  
Labor Party, mounted a vicious and protracted regime change campaign  
against the Sogavare government, which culminated in its ousting  
through a no confidence vote in December last year. The former prime  
minister had attempted to reduce RAMSI’s control over the finance  
department and other sectors, and also launched an official  
investigation into the April 2006 riots, which destroyed much of  
Honiara. Canberra attempted to derail the Commission of Inquiry,  
mounting a witch-hunt against the leading legal figures involved in  
establishing it—Julian Moti and Marcus Einfeld.

Despite the sabotage attempts, the commission completed its work and  
submitted a final report to the Sikua government in late April. But  
ten weeks later, the report has still not been publicly released. The  
World Socialist Web Site has already raised the question as to whether  
the document is being suppressed on the orders of the Rudd government.  
An examination of the Commission of Inquiry’s final submissions  
indicates that one of the final report’s likely findings is that  
RAMSI’s legal immunity from Solomons’ laws be rescinded.

Immunity was included in the 2003 Facilitation Act, which Canberra  
insisted be enacted by the Solomons’ parliament when RAMSI was first  
deployed. The measure is still regarded as a critical aspect of the  
ongoing intervention, allowing RAMSI personnel to intervene into any  
development in the Solomons without fear of the legal consequences.  
The removal of immunity would throw into question RAMSI’s viability,  
potentially inflicting a major blow to the Australian ruling elite’s  
entire strategy in the South Pacific.

The Facilitation Act includes a provision for the Solomons’ parliament  
to conduct an annual review of the terms of the legislation. Prior to  
its ousting, the Sogavare government had intended to oversee, for the  
first time, a parliamentary debate into various aspects of the Act,  
including immunity. The annual review is due to go through within the  
next fortnight, but it is unclear whether Sikua, or any member of the  
government, will move to hold a genuine debate, or whether the  
Facilitation Act will be left unamended and simply rubber-stamped for  
another year. There can be little doubt that Australian officials are  
engaged in furious behind the scenes efforts to prevent a debate.

Immunity has already emerged as a central political issue,  
particularly following the June 13 death of a 26-year-old trainee  
nurse in a car accident caused by an allegedly drunk RAMSI police  
officer. The driver, a Samoan national, cannot be prosecuted in the  
Solomons unless the Samoan government waives immunity. Further  
inflaming tensions, a RAMSI police officer who was a passenger in the  
vehicle and badly injured in the crash has refused to provide a  
statement to Solomons’ police.

A number of angry responses from ordinary Solomon Islanders have been  
published in the local media and posted on internet discussion forums.

The Solomon Times published a letter from Adrian Alamu: “This is  
really disappointing, considering the time, resources and effort our  
detectives wasted on this greedy, arrogant and irresponsible police  
officer. It shows its true colour and he may think that he has no  
obligation or [is] protected under this FA [Facilitation Act], but at  
least he should say something.”

Another Solomon Islander wrote on an internet forum: “This Samoan  
idiot who was involved in the fatal accident few wks ago refuse to  
cooperate with our local police detectives. Is there any way our laws  
could bring him to cooperate under the RAMSI immunity? This is  
humiliating not only for the relatives of the deceased female but for  
all other Solomon Islanders... I guess this uncooperating Samoan  
officer knows well that he is under no obligation to respond to our  
local detectives because he is protected under the RAMSI immunity. I  
am still of the view that whatever circumstances surrounding the fatal  
incident is highly connected to the immunity enjoyed by RAMSI... Time  
to review the immunity or kick some responsible butts out. Stop  
pretending that Solomons is still a war zone.”