Biketawa Declaration

The Biketawa Declaration is a declaration agreed to by all the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum constituting a framework for coordinating response to regional crises. The declaration takes its name from the Kiribati islet of Biketawa, where the Forum Leaders met in a retreat to discuss, agree and adopt measures for collective security.^[1]

The declaration was agreed to at the 31st Summit of Pacific Islands Forum Leaders, held at Kiribati in October 2000 in the regional context of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état and ethnic tensions in the Solomon Islands.^[2] It commits Forum members to eight core values, including good governance, liberty of the individual, democratic processes and indigenous rights.^[3] Where these values are breached, the Forum Secretary-General and members will develop a response, which may include mediation, institutional support, or targeted measures (sanctions).^[3] Since its adoption it has been invoked a number of times, leading to regional peacekeeping and stabilization operations in:^[4]

• Solomon Islands (Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, 2003 - 2017)^[5]
• Nauru (Pacific Regional Assistance to Nauru, 2004-2009)^[6]
• Tonga (2006 Nukuʻalofa riots, 2006)^[7]
• Nauru (election observation mission for the 2019 Nauruan parliamentary election)^[8]

The Declaration also provided the basis for the Forum's 2009 decision to suspend Fiji after it had failed to hold elections in the wake of the 2006 Fijian coup d'état.^[9][10] The suspension was lifted in 2014, after the military regime held elections.^[11]

Forum members and NGOs have unsuccessfully sought to invoke the declaration over torture in Fiji,^[12] the 2011 Fiji-Tonga territorial dispute,^[13] the Nauru government's 2014 crackdown on opposition,^[14] and the 2016 Nauruan parliamentary election.^[15]

The Declaration was most recently invoked to respond collectively to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[16] In July 2021 Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna reminded Samoa's caretaker government of the Declaration in a statement on the 2021 Samoan constitutional crisis.^[17][18]

Biketawa Plus

In 2017 the Forum began to consider expanding the Biketawa Declaration to cover other security threats such as natural disasters.^[19] Talks on the proposed "Biketawa plus" continued through 2018,^[20] resulting in the 2018 Boe Declaration.^[21] This expanded the Bitekawa Declaration to include issues of human security, environmental security, transnational crime, and cybersecurity.^[22]

References

1. McDonald, Hamish (2008-08-15). "Careful diplomat brokered regional co-operation". Sydney Morning Herald. from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
2. "PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM TAKES NO ACTION AGAINST FIJI, SETS UP FUTURE CRISIS PROCEDURES". Pacific Islands Report. 30 October 2000. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
3. "BIKETAWA DECLARATION". Pacific Islands Report. 30 October 2000. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
4. "10th Anniversary Of The Biketawa Declaration". Scoop. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
5. "Pacific Island Forum countries are being asked today to support an intervention force in Solomons". RNZ. 30 June 2003. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
6. "Forum despatches planner to help Nauru out of debt crisis". RNZ. 24 August 2005. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
7. Steven Ratuva (2019). "Thy kingdom burn: Hegemony, resistance and securitisation in Tonga". Contested Terrain: Reconceptualising Security in the Pacific. ANU Press. Retrieved 11 July 2021. the [Tongan] government sought help from Australia and New Zealand, under the provisions of the Biketawa Declaration. The two countries obliged by providing 110 soldiers and 44 police officers to act as peace-keepers.
8. "Several groups to observe Nauru election". RNZ. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
9. "Fiji formally ousted from Pacific Islands Forum". Stuff. 7 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
10. "Pacific Islands Forum suspends Fiji". Sydney Morning Herald. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
11. "Fiji's suspension from Pacific Islands Forum is lifted". RNZ. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
12. "Pacific Forum declines comment on Fiji torture reports". RNZ. 24 May 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
13. "Tonga says no need to activate the Biketawa declaration over Fiji spat". RNZ. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
14. "Forum urged to step in over Nauru". RNZ. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
15. "Pacific Forum says no Nauru monitors without govt invite". RNZ. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
16. "Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers Agree to Establish a Pacific Humanitarian Pathway on COVID -19". Pacific Islands Forum. 8 April 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
17. "Statement on the political situation in Samoa- Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Puna". Pacific Islands Forum. 10 July 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
18. Adel Fruean (11 July 2021). "Convene Parliament: Forum Secretary-General". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
19. "Fiji in favour of revised Biketawa Declaration". RNZ. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
20. "Pacific countries discuss new crisis response mechanism". RNZ. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
21. "Pacific Leaders endorse new security deal". RNZ. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
22. "Boe Declaration on Regional Security". Pacific Islands Forum. Retrieved 11 July 2021.

External links