{"id":2969,"date":"2006-11-25T04:07:10","date_gmt":"2006-11-25T11:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amptoons.com\/blog\/archives\/2006\/11\/25\/guest-post-from-tonga-revolutionary-not-evolutionary\/"},"modified":"2006-11-25T04:07:10","modified_gmt":"2006-11-25T11:07:10","slug":"guest-post-from-tonga-revolutionary-not-evolutionary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=2969","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post from Tonga: Revolutionary not Evolutionary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two friends of mine have gone to Tonga for Indymedia<\/a>. I’m going to be posting their reports. Smush wrote the words and Sln took the pictures.<\/p>\n

Nuku\u2019alofa (Tonga) \u2013 We, two indymedia (www.indymedia.org.nz) activists, arrived at Fua\u2019amato International Airport early on Friday morning from Aotearoa. After leaving the plane we had to walk to the arrival hall past three Tongan soldiers, two of which were carrying large rifles and the other a hand gun. A police officer walked around with his dog while people where waiting at the immigration desks. More members of the Tongan Defense Force (TDF), armed and in camouflage gear, stood around in the arrival hall. On our way into town we past a military checkpoint at the turn-off to the airport. They didn\u2019t pull us over and we drove the 20kms into the city.<\/p>\n

\"tonfon.jpg\"
\nTonf\u00f6n destroyed<\/b>
\nIn the morning we made contact with members of the Friendly Island Human Rights and Democracy Movement (FIHRDM) and arranged to meet up later. In the interim we went for a two hour walk through Nuku\u2019alofa. On our way towards the city we came across a building which was completely destroyed from Thursday\u2019s fires. It was the headquarters of Tonf\u00f6n, a telecommunication company owned by the royal family.<\/p>\n

Checkpoints<\/b>
\nJust before entering the city centre, across from the Royal Tombs, a military checkpoint is set up. In fact, the whole city centre is cordoned off by roadblocks on every street. Only people who work or live inside the area can enter. You have to be on a list in order to pass. Each checkpoint constitutes off a set of barricades to stop cars with spikes on the ground. There are between two and eight soldiers on guard at each checkpoint. The bigger checkpoints have Tongan and Australian soldiers. The Australian soldiers moved into town on Saturday for guard duty. We counted approximately 12 roadblocks in central Nuku\u2019alofa. The Tongan TV station, which is out of the city centre, is also closed by army personnel of which two are from Australia. \u201cWe do what the Tongan government tells us\u201d said one of them.<\/p>\n

NZ is investigating<\/b>
\nWe came across two NZ police officers and one NZ firefighter who were busy investigating \u2018arson crimes\u2019. They told us that there are two teams, made up of one firefighter, one police photographer and two investigators (all from New Zealand) along with Tongan police, operating at the moment. \u201cWe are here to help to assist the Tongan police\u201d said a NZ police officer.<\/p>\n

Interviews<\/b>
\nWe then had the opportunity to interview five people who are involved in the democracy movement: Finau Tutone, an organiser with the Friendly Island Teachers Association; Akenete T. Lauti, the director of FIHRDM; ‘Akilisi Pohiva and Leopolo Taonesila, both Members of Parliament (two of the nine representatives elected by the people \u2013 in a parliament of 30); and Tevita Tui Uata of the National Tongan Business Association.<\/p>\n

Very quick summary:<\/b>
\nFinau talked about last year\u2019s strike and the connection between the trade union movement and the pro-democracy movement. He said the system needs to change in Tonga. Akenete informed us about the FIHRDM\u2019s activities. They organise workshops and meeting to educate people on human rights issues. While she advocates for non-violence, she does not blame the people but the Government for Thursday\u2019s riots. ‘Akilisi put the movement into a historical context and talked about the progress, or lack of, made inside parliament. Leopolo is one of only two women in parliament (the other one being the Minister of Justice \u2013 appointed by the King). She only started to get involved in politics last year when she was elected to parliament as a people\u2019s representative from an outer island. Tevita, who has been blamed for the riots, thinks that representative democracy will get Tonga out of a system that only works for 1% of the population. He was strongly opposed to Tonga joining the World Trade Organisation and says that the wealth needs to be shared more equally among the people.<\/p>\n

NZ\/OZ soldiers \u2013 get out (or \u201cenjoy your holiday\u201d)!<\/b>
\nWith the exception of Tevita, all of the people we spoke to either do not see the point of the New Zealand and Australian troops\u2019 presence or see them as supporters of the autocratic system. Either way, they want them out of Tonga. The NZ soldiers are not to be seen in Nuku\u2019alofa (they are still somewhere at the airport) and the Australian troops do not seem to do much at all except for sitting around at checkpoints with big guns. Pro-democracy advocates are very critical of NZ support for the government. They say the NZ government should be neutral and not send soldiers to support the system.<\/p>\n

\"revolutionary.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Revolutionary not Evolutionary<\/b>
\nMany shops have slogans painted on them. Across from the market, someone wrote \u201cTHE NU FACE OF YOUTH REBELLION\u201d and \u201cREVOLUTIONARY NOT EVOLUTIONARY\u201d on a burnt-out shop. Other slogans are \u201cFreedomfighter\u201d, \u201cFight the Power\u201d, \u201cDemocracy not Hypocrisy\u201d, \u201cYou had it coming\u201d and \u201cFuck Prime Minister\u201d. Many of them are signed by \u2018Ezekiel\u2019.<\/p>\n

Police checkpoints<\/b>
\nThe police have set up two checkpoints on both sides of town. They pull most cars over and search the boot. We were told they are looking for weapons and stolen goods. They say it is illegal for people to carry weapons and they claim to have confiscated eight .22 riffles over the last few days.<\/p>\n

Army guards the King\u2019s residence<\/b>
\nWe walked to the King\u2019s mansion which is guarded by four Tongan soldiers. The huge house is around 300 meters off the road. While taking photos a black SUV left the premises and the gate was opened for a few seconds. One of the soldiers was prepared to say a few words on camera. He said he does not want democracy in Tonga, he wants peace.<\/p>\n

Marching band practice<\/b>
\nOn our way back into town we stopped at a high-school where a marching band was practicing. Over 50 young men were playing in the band which includes tubas, trombones, trumpets and a percussion section. Everybody is incredibly welcoming and keen to talk about politics. Everybody we talk to wants change here in Tonga. People are sick and tired of living in this system where 1% of the population lives in luxury on the expense of everybody else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two friends of mine have gone to Tonga for Indymedia. I’m going to be posting their reports. Smush wrote the words and Sln took the pictures. Nuku\u2019alofa (Tonga) \u2013 We, two indymedia (www.indymedia.org.nz) activists, arrived at Fua\u2019amato International Airport early … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2969\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}