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AMERICAN SAMOA’S DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION RESIGNS

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (RNZI, Aug. 30) - American Samoa’s
Director of Education, Dr Sili Sataua has resigned amid allegations of his
misappropriating food supplies from the School Lunch program for his own use.

Sataua says that his resignation was in the best interests of
the department and that he was stepping down of his own will.

A Senate Investigative Committee has heard that that food
supplies and equipment from the School Lunch programme were often delivered to
the director’s home.

Other allegations include the awarding of contracts without
competitive bidding.

Sataua denied claims attributed to senior DOE officials that the
governor, Togiola Tulafono had asked for his resignation but he was refusing to
step down.

He said he was not forced to resign.

Sataua has been director of education for more than five years
and was...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (RNZI, Aug. 29) - New Caledonia’s only
Kanak judge said widely held custom practices should not supersede French common
law when it comes to crimes of domestic violence.

Speaking at a Secretariat of the Pacific Community Workshop on
Human Rights, Fote Trolue spoke of differences between French Common Law and New
Caledonian Custom law, which is recognized under the French Constitution as
applicable to the indigenous Kanaks.

The Appeals Court Judge said that custom practices could be
applied to civil suits, but that criminal law as practiced in the French system
is the only way to seek justice for those affected by domestic violence.

Trolue said custom laws can not serve justice for either victims
or perpetrators of domestic violence and other crimes linked to breaches of
human rights.

He says it is hypocrisy to say ‘custom will resolve
everything,’ and that it’s a way of...

By Giff Johnson

MAJURO, Marshall Islands (Marianas Variety, Aug. 29) - The College of the Marshall Islands is close to losing $4.5 million annually in U.S. education funding and whether or not it maintains this access to this funding after the current school year has everything to do with the level of funding that the Nitijela, the local legislature, provides the local college in the fiscal year 2004 budget, CMI President Wayne Schmidt said in an interview this week.

Loss of U.S. funding would force the Majuro-based college to significantly reduce its programs, if not close its doors, as many observers believe.

The reason Nitijela action to increase the college’s budget is critical is that funding is a major factor in the five eligibility requirements that must be met to maintain accreditation through the U.S. Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

WASC has already put the College of the Marshall Islands on notice that if it doesn’t solve the five...

By Ian Boden

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National, Sept. 1) - Ombudsmen from the Pacific and beyond will begin a two-day conference in Madang today morning.

Hosted by the Papua New Guinea Ombudsman Commission at Madang, the 21st meeting of the Autralasia and Pacific ombudsmen will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister.

In what is predicted to be one of the most important gatherings of Pacific ombudsmen for many years, delegates and observers representing nations and territories as far apart as Western Samoa, New Caledonia, Fiji and the Cook Islands will meet their counterparts from Macao, Hong Kong, Japan and Indonesia.

Australia and New Zealand will also be represented.

This meeting, only the second held by PNG since 1989, has a deliberate focus - the roles of ombudsmen in the development of democracy, with a particular emphasis on customs, conflict and compliance.

PNG's Chief Ombudsman Ila Geno is accompanied by Ombudsmen Hitolo...