Sri Lanka

Fighting that broke over a water source around 26 July has turned into undeclared full scale war. Both the government and the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE) claim to be taking defensive steps and the ceasefire has not been officially repudiated by either party. Hundreds are said to have been displaced in the recent fighting and hundreds more are expected to be dead. The exact figures are not available as it is impossible to get any independent source of information from the affected parts of the country. Both the government and the LTTE are also fighting a propaganda war against each other. Both sides have accused each other of killing civilians. The LTTE accused the government of killing 60 school girls in a bomb attack and the government accuses the LTTE of massacring Muslims. The government does not deny bombing a facility that held young girls but it claims they were LTTE child soldiers while the LTTE claims they were school girls undergoing first aid lessons. The United Nations Children’s Fund has confirmed the bombing but says it found no trace of the facility being a training camp, however it is not sure whether the dead number to 60. The situation of the internally displaced in the meanwhile has been alarming with dropping hygiene in camps followed by overcrowding. The cutting off of the Jaffna peninsula by the war has made it worse for aid supplies to reach those in distress. In the meanwhile the war has been accompanied by shooting of a Tamil member of the government Peace Secretariat and a bomb attack on the Pakistani High Commissioner in Colombo both alleged to be the handiwork of the LTTE. While on the one hand a Tamil politician and the managing director of a newspaper were shot in Jaffna, there has also been a huge international outcry over the execution style killing of 17 Tamil aid workers in the East on 6 August. Both these incidents have been alleged to be the handiwork of the government armed forces. Besides this, there are several other stories of atrocities being churned out by both the parties against each other making truth blurred.

Australia

In August, keeping on the path of its draconian refugee policy the Australian government went ahead with plans of putting together an armed prison ship that would, according to it, hold up to 30 illegal fishermen. Fears of human rights violations in such treatment of fishermen have been raised along with fears that the ship may also be used to house illegal immigrants who arrive by boat. Shortly afterwards in the same month, the Australian lower house passed a Bill that would allow the Australian Government to process all illegal immigrants offshore enabling the Government to discriminate between refugees based on their mode of transport. This meant that those arriving by boat would not have access to various Australian legal facilities that other refugees enjoy and it would also be easy for the Government to deal with them in a high handed manner away from national legal hurdles as well as monitoring bodies. This also would allow a large-scale violation of the principle of non-refoulement which has become jus cogens in international law. However, due to large protests, the Prime Minister dropped the Bill before it went to the upper house for approval.

Canada

The Canadian Newspaper Association (CNA) in September released its National Freedom of Information Audit 2006. The audit tested access to information in ten provinces and found that out of 100 information requests made by journalists from 39 newspapers one-third were either denied information or provided with partial information. The requests covered a host of issues including municipal spending on herbicides and pesticides, bonuses paid to local hospital executives and crime statistics. As in the CNA's 2005 audit, the federal government performed poorly and failed to provide any responses within the 30-day mandated period. The audit's release was timed to coincide with the start of Right to Know Week, an initiative conceived by the country's information commissioners to raise public awareness about the right to information.  

Tonga

The King of Tonga died on 10 September. He has been succeeded by King Tupou V. Economic disparity has been growing lately with the traditional nobility being prosperous while almost 40 per cent out of the 114,000 population live below the poverty line. The government has been bordering bankruptcy of late due to bad investment strategies. There is a pro-democracy movement in Tonga that has been calling for democratic reforms and abolition of monarchic practices. The recent death of the King led to a short pause in the movement but it has now resumed again. The new king has promised speedier reforms and more democracy.

Elections in Seychelles/Gambia

Presidential elections in Seychelles were held between the 28 and 30 July. Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon released the report of the Independent Expert Team on 18 August that reported that the election was credible, “allowing for the expression of the will of the Seychellois people”. The Secretary-General noted that the Expert Team’s report had recommended a number of changes in the electoral process for example ‘the report called for the separation of the State and the ruling party,” as well as the need for “establishing an independent Public Service Commission, so as to ensure civil service employment is not affected by any transition of power.” The Expert Team’s report also urged the establishment of an “Electoral Commission to enhance good governance and the the need for inter-party dialogue, and a vibrant and independent media.”

Elsewhere, Presidential elections were also held in the Gambia on 22 September. Mr. Yahya Jammeh was re-elected with more than 60 per cent of the vote and was declared the winner of the election. The Commonwealth Observers Group in their Interim Statement had noted that they were “impressed by the enthusiasm with which the Gambian people exercised their democratic rights”. Although the Observers Group stated that the process was well organised and that the voters were able to express their will however they also noted that “they had been made to be aware of events in the lead up to the Election Day which might have impacted on the outcome.” Due to problems of illiteracy, Gambians used marbles to cast their ballot.

Vanuatu

On 24 August, Lieutenant Colonel Patu Navoko Lui was appointed as Vanuatu’s Police Commissioner. The post has been vacant for two years. Lieutenant Colonel Lui has identified structural reform of the police force as a priority, saying that the current police organisation is top heavy and suffers a lack of junior officers.

The previous Police Commissioner, Robert de Niro, was sacked in 2004, following an attempt by the police to arrest President Vohol. President Vohol was removed from office shortly after this incident, following a parliamentary vote of no confidence. The Police Service Commission later conducted an investigation into the incident and revoked Commissioner de Niro’s appointment.

The replacement of the Police Commissioner was delayed by debate over whether it is appropriate to appoint a foreigner. The current Internal Affairs Minister, George Wells, favoured a foreign appointment. The Police Service Commission began the selection process for the Commissioner in July last year, eventually whittling down to three local candidates. Subsequently Lieutenant Colonel Lui was selected from the three.

Lieutenant Colonel Lui has previously served with the Vanuatu Mobile Force. This elite group is the paramilitary wing of the Vanuatu police. In 1996, the group briefly kidnapped the then President during a pay dispute.

Pakistan

In early September, Sherry Rehman, a Member of the National Assembly from the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party has introduced the Freedom of Information Bill 2006 in the National Assembly. The Bill seeks to reform the six media ordinances introduced by the military regime in 2002, including the Freedom of Information Ordinance, and enshrine freedom of information as a fundamental human right.