a kind of mending Restorative Justice in the Pacific Islands a kind of mending Restorative Justice in the Pacific Islands Edited by Sinclair Dinnen with Anita Jowitt and Tess Newton © ANU E Press Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/kind_mending _citation.html National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry Title: A kind of mending : restorative justice in the Pacific Islands / edited by Sinclair Dinnen with Anita Jowitt and Tess Newton Cain. ISBN: 9781921666827 (pbk.) 9781921666834 (eBook) Notes: Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: Restorative justice--Pacific Area. Other Authors/Contributors: Dinnen, Sinclair. Jowitt, Anita. Cain, Tess Newton. Dewey Number: 364.68 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design by Emily Brissenden Cover: Sikaiana, Solomon Islands Photography: Simon Foale Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2010 ANU E Press First edition © 2003 Pandanus Books dedication To the champions of peace and justice throughout the Pacific islands contents acknowledgements ix list of abbreviations x list of maps xi restorative justice in the pacific islands: an introduction 1 Sinclair Dinnen the fundamentals of restorative justice 35 John Braithwaite the age of steam: constructed identity and 45 recalcitrant youth in a papua new guinea village Michael Goddard tribal warfare and transformative justice in the 73 new guinea highlands Alan Rumsey restorative justice and women in vanuatu 95 Rita Naviti vanuatu law, the police and restorative justice 101 Peter Bong restorative programs in the formal justice system 105 of vanuatu Honourable Justice Vincent Lunabek conflict resolution in a multi-cultural urban setting 109 in papua new guinea John Ivoro restorative justice in papua new guinea: 115 a collaborative effort Ruby Zarriga viii rehabilitation for change in fiji: a women’s initiative 123 Peni Moore the vanuatu cultural centre’s juvenile justice project 139 Joemela Simeon the lakalakabulu area council of chiefs in vanuatu 145 Paul Vuhu re-inventing the cultural wheel: re-conceptualising 149 restorative justice and peace building in ethnically divided fiji Steven Ratuva informal justice in law and justice reform in the 165 pacific region Alumita Durutalo restorative justice in the solomon islands 177 Father Norman Arkwright bougainville women’s role in conflict resolution 195 in the bougainville peace process Ruth Saovana-Spriggs restorative justice in bougainville 215 Pat Howley a marriage of custom and introduced skills: 255 restorative justice bougainville style John Tombot epilogue — some thoughts on restorative justice 265 and gender Margaret Jolly references 281 index 293 about the editors 309 ix acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge the generous financial assistance from AusAID towards the conference in Port Vila on which this book is based. Monica Wehner, then administrator of the SSGM project, organised the travel arrangements of overseas participants and contributed in many other ways. Many thanks to the Vanuatu Kaljoral Senta and the staff and students of the USP Law School in Port Vila. In particular, thanks to the rapporteurs: Jennifer Corrin-Care, Yoli Tom’tavala, Ted Hill, Bob Hughes, Maria Coady, and Don Paterson. Ian Heyward and Keith Mitchell of the Cartography Unit at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, ANU, prepared the maps. Helga Griffin assisted with proof reading and formatting. Finally, our sincere gratitude to Ian Templeman, and the team at Pandanus Books for their patience and professionalism. x list of abbreviations ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution ALTA Agriculture and Landlord Tenancy Act (Fiji) BCA Bougainville Constituent Assembly BIG Bougainville Interim Government BPC Bougainville People’s Congress BRA Bougainville Revolutionary Army BTG Bougainville Transition Government BWPF Bougainville Women for Peace and Freedom CoC Council of Chiefs ELCOM Electricity Commission (Papua New Guinea) GRA Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army IFM Isatabu Freedom Movement LACC Lakalakabulu Area Council of Chiefs LMS London Missionary Society MEF Malaitan Eagle Force MOA Memorandum of Understanding NGO Non-government organisation NZAID New Zealand Agency for International Development PFM Peace Foundation Melanesia PMG Peace Monitoring Group PNGDF Papua New Guinea Defence Force PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder SDA Seventh Day Adventist SIPL Solomon Islands Plantations Limited SPR Sperim Public Rot SSEC South Seas Evangelical Church SSGM State Society and Governance in Melanesia (Project) UPNG University of Papua New Guinea USP University of the South Pacific VSS Veisorosorovi VYPP Vanuatu Young People’s Project WAC Women’s Action for Change xi list of maps map 1 detail of micronesia, melanesia, xii–xiii polynesian outliers and south-east asia map 2 the nebilyer valley and environs 77 map 3 the ku waru region and nearby tribes 79 in the western nebilyer valley map 4 micronesia, melanesia and polynesia 275 map 5 melanesia with polynesia outliers 276 map 6 papua new guinea and solomon islands 277 map 7 solomon islands 278 map 8 guadalcanal (solomon islands) 279 map 9 vanuatu 280 JAPAN CHINA BONIN TAIWAN MARIANA PHILIPPINES PALAWAN MICRONESIA MARSHALL PALAU CAROLINE KIRIBATI BORNEO NAURU SULAWESI MOLUCCA MELANESIAIRIAN JAYA INDONESIA PAPUA NEW GUINEA SOLOMON Polynesian TIMOR Outliers SANTA CRUZ ROTUMA 'UVEA BANKS FUTU VANUATU FIJI TONGA NEW 'ATA CALEDONIA AUSTRALIA KERMADEC NEW ZEALAND CHATHAM 100o 120o 140o 160o 180o Pacific (Micronesia, Melanesia and Pol map 1 detail of micronesia, melanesia, polynesian outliers and south-east asia HAWAI'IAN ISLANDS OAHU 20o HAWAI'I MARSHALL WASHINGTON FANNING CHRISTMAS o KIRIBATI Equator 0 LINE NAURU PHOENIX Polynesian POLYNESIA MARQUESAS Outliers COO SANTA CRUZ ROTUMA 'UVEA SAMOA FUTUNA SOCIETY TUAMOTU K ARCHIPELAGO FIJI TAHITI NIUE 20o TONGA 'ATA TONGATAPU RAROTONGA MANGAREVA HENDERSON AUSTRAL PITCAIRN RAPA EASTER KERMADEC NEW 40o ZEALAND CHATHAM 180o 160o 140o 120o Melanesia and Polynesia) and South East Asia restorative justice in the pacific islands an introduction Sinclair Dinnen Department of Political and Social Change Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies Australian National University About the Conference Most of the chapters in this book were presented as papers at a three-day conference in Port Vila, Vanuatu, in June 2000. Organised jointly by the Australian National University’s State, Society and Governance in Melanesia (SSGM) Project and the Law School of the University of the South Pacific (USP), the conference was held at the Emalus Campus of USP. ‘Restorative Justice and Conflict Management in the Pacific Islands’ provided the broad theme for discussion of different approaches to crime and conflict in the Pacific Islands and, in particular, in the Melanesian countries that provide the research focus of the SSGM project. In addition to the operations of formal state mechanisms, speakers were encouraged to address informal approaches to conflict resolution including quasi-traditional strategies and the role of non-state agencies. There are growing concerns about conflict and criminality in many parts of the Pacific Islands. ‘Law and order’ problems, as they are euphemistically termed, reflect the many dislocative effects of larger processes of social and economic change taking place in the region. Much of the policy debate generated by these developments has been directed at the need to strengthen state agencies and processes of law enforcement. Less attention has been paid to the role, actual and potential, of those informal 2 a kind of mending structures and processes that in many places continue to wield more influence than do the institutions of the modern nation- state. In addition to general issues of lawlessness, the region has been shaken by a number of complex internal conflicts in recent years. These have inevitably focused attention on the challenges of conflict prevention and resolution. A nine-year civil war on Bougainville, precipitated by landowner grievances over levels of compensation for mining development, has inflicted enormous suffering on the people of that island, as well as causing significant economic and political damage to Papua New Guinea. In May 2000, just over a month before the Vanuatu conference, George Speight led an armed takeover of the Parliamentary complex in Suva and held Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and members of his Cabinet hostage. As with the earlier Rabuka-led coup of 1987, the Speight coup was executed on the pretext of protecting the rights of indigenous Fijians against alleged encroachment by Indo–Fijians, particularly in relation to land. These actions have had devastating social, economic and politics impacts in Fiji. On the 5th June 2000, a couple of weeks after the Fiji coup, members of an armed militia group (the Malaitan Eagle Force — MEF), with the active collaboration of elements of the Solomon Islands police, seized control of key installations in the national capital, Honiara. Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa’alu was forced to resign. The Solomon Islands coup had been preceded by two years of mounting tensions between the indigenous inhabitants of Guadalcanal and settlers from the neighbouring