Pacific Notes
Pacific Notes
Chin Saga Draws
to a Conclusion
Camsek Elias Chin, a former Lieutenant-Colonel in the U.S. Army and former Palauan Minister of Justice, is now also a former senator-elect in Palau’s 6th Obliil era Kelulau (Palau National Congress). The outcome of the protracted struggle between Chin and his erstwhile fellow senators is that the Senate, by a vote of 4-2, declared his seat vacant as of June 1.
The dispute centered on Chin’s citizenship. While a deputy commander at the Kwajalein missile range, Chin was granted access to official secrets. According to Senate legal counsel David Schluckabier, U.S. law states clearly that top secret clearance such as that enjoyed by the former senator-elect can only be granted to those who hold U.S. citizenship.
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There was also a question of whether Chin met the residency requirements to serve in the Palauan Senate. The issues were originally brought to the Supreme Court of Palau Senate candidates, who sought to challenge the legitimacy of the Election Commission’s decision to allow Chin to run in the first place. However, many locals felt that Senate insiders who wished to keep Chin out backed the suit. The court threw out the citizenship question and ruled that Chin met residency requirements to stand for election.
Chin’s supporters announced two separate deadlines for the Senate to seat their man. First, activists threatened to march on the Senate within 72 hours if the Senate failed to give way by May 5th. This deadline came and went without any demonstrations. However, the Council of Traditional Chiefs, senior female titleholders and state governors then intervened in an apparent attempt to resolve the dispute in a manner that would save face for all concerned. These leaders met with the Senate and called on it to seat Chin by May 31st.
The upshot of these imprecations was that the Senate President Seit Andres blasted the traditional chiefs for intervening. In an open letter he implied that the chiefs were anachronisms and irrelevant to Palauan democracy.
The Senate as a whole decided to call upon Chin to sign a consent form allowing the Senate to have direct access to all records pertaining to his citizenship that are held by the U.S. government. The retired Lieutenant-Colonel maintained that this was not a constitutional requirement and that furthermore the issue had been resolved as information provided by the U.S. consulate proved that he was not and never had been a U.S. citizen. The senators issued a deadline of their own, requiring in Senate resolution 6-47 that Chin sign the consent form by May 31st. He did not sign and the result is that Chin has been judged by the Senate as “not qualified pursuant to the Constitution” to hold a seat. This means that a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat, and it will be once again up to the Elections Commission to determine which candidates are eligible to stand. Will Chin run again?
—Lorne Holyoak
FAS Heads Talk Telecom, Climate Change
Presidents from the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia held an historic first summit meeting in Pohnpei in early May, discussing issues ranging from telecommunications to climate change.
Presidents Kessai Note, Tommy Remengesau, Jr. and Leo Falcam discussed working together to improve communication and planning among the three freely associated states. Falcam, who chaired the first meeting, said the meeting was a trailblazing effort to improve mutual relations.
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Aside from broad mutual cooperation issues, the three Presidents focused on a number of concrete issues ranging from strengthening maritime surveillance to the extension of the College of Micronesia Land Grant treaty until September, 2003. During the discussions, Remengesau invited the Marshalls and FSM to participate in Palau’s effort to join the National Exchange Carriers Association, a move that is hoped will result in reduced long distance charges.
The three Presidents also agreed to express their serious concerns to the U.S. government about Washington’s decision to withdraw its support from the Kyoto Protocol, an international process that is seen as the first step in combating global warming.
—Giff Johnson
Islands Tap Into Sea Grant Funding
The Pacific Islands Regional Sea Grant (PAIRS) program was formally established as a result of a meeting in Majuro in May. Representatives from the American Samoa Community College, College of Micronesia, College of the Marshall Islands, Northern Marianas College, Palau Community College and the University of Guam, as well as the Marine Resources Pacific Consortium, held the inaugural two day meeting of the PAIRS governing board to flesh out details of growing marine cooperation among the islands.
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The new group has agreed to work cooperatively to fully establish a new and independent Sea Grant program to address pressing needs in marine resources and conservation. Patrick Tellei, President of Palau Community College, was named as chair of this regional governing body.
The meeting approved goals, objectives and a governing structure presented in a developmental proposal submitted to and funded by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and also approved a plan for submitting a regional application for formal Sea Grant Consortium status — which includes a request for interim program status to be funded at $750,000 annually for the next two years for project and program development.
To improve skills levels in each of the U.S.-affiliated islands, it was agreed that a grant proposal preparation workshop will be held at the University of Guam’s Marine Laboratory in September, with all of the six colleges participating.
The Sea Grant group recognized the efforts of three important legislators — Guam Governor Carl T.C. Gutierrez, Guam Rep. Robert Underwood and Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye — for their support in establishing this new regional marine program.
—Giff Johnson
Daewoosa Samoa Owner Charged
A federal trial of Daewoosa Samoa garment factory owner and president Kil-Soo Lee is set for September 25 on charges of involuntary servitude and forced labor of Asian workers at the plant. Lee was arrested in American Samoa on March 23rd by FBI agents and escorted to Honolulu where he is being held without bail. Lee pled not guilty to the charges on mid-April. The charges allege that he threatened the workers with “serious harm or physical restraint” if they didn’t follow his orders.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said recently that involuntary servitude and forced labor still exists on American soil and cited the arrest of Lee as proof. The labor problems between Daewoosa Samoa and its foreign workers began in March of 1999 when the first rumors surfaced of mistreatment of Vietnamese workers. Two years later, more than 120 of the 240 Vietnamese workers have been relocated to Hawaii by the Justice Department to testify against Lee. The rest of the workers returned to Hanoi.
—Fili Sagapolutele
Pacific Greens Call
for Climate Action
Green politicians and activists from around the world urged countries to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, despite U.S. President George W. Bush’s recent decision to withdraw from the international treaty process on global warming. Some went even called for a boycott against U.S. oil companies, who many feel are responsible for the U.S.’s decision to abandon the protocol on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
The calls came at the first Global Greens conference in Canberra, Australia from April 14-16. Over 330 green delegates from more than 60 countries, including representatives from American Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and East Timor, met to adopt an international Green Charter and formulate global green strategy. “We are in this business to take seats in Parliaments…and to displace the old and sometimes corrupt systems which have stolen democracy from the people,” Australian Green Senator Bob Brown said.
Les Verts Pacifique (The Pacific Greens) of New Caledonia, along with members of the Senat Coutumier (traditional chiefs of New Caledonia) and the French and Australian Greens, announced a new campaign to achieve UNESCO World Heritage Listing for New Caledonia’s coral reef.
—Mark Schulman
Suicides Skyrocket
in Saipan, Majuro
A high suicide rate among young men is worrying health officials in the Northern Marianas and the Marshall Islands. In the Marianas, suicides among Micronesian males aged 15 to 24 is “astronomically high,” according to Dr. Anthony Bothone, who chairs the Commonwealth Health Center’s psychiatry department. Between 1992 and 1999, the Marianas experienced suicides at a rate of more than 300 per 100,000 in this youth population. Most of the suicides are among young Chamorro men.
In the Marshalls, there were 50 percent more suicides (12) during the first six months of 2001 than in all of 2000. From 1998 to 2000, the numbers dropped significantly from the double-digit suicide epidemic among young men of the 1980s. Equally troubling about the recent increase in both attempts and completed suicides is that it’s no longer confined to young men. “We’re shocked to see the number so far this year,” said Glorina Harris, the director of Human Services at the Ministry of Health. The highest number of suicides in the past 11 years was 18 in 1990.
—Giff Johnson
