This update covers developments relating to the freedoms of expression and association in Palau from 30th October 2024 to 5th March 2025.
GENERAL
Elections
On 5th November 2024, Palau’s incumbent President Surangel Whipps Jr. won a second term during a national election. He defeated former President Tommy Remengesau Jr. On 16th January 2025, President Surangel Whipps Jr. took office.
Submission to UN Special Rapporteurs alleging harm by U.S. military
On 19th November 2024, the Ebiil Society, a Palau NGO working on environmental protection through indigenous knowledge, along with seven Palauan high-school students, filed a submission to two UN independent human rights experts detailing rights violations caused by the United States’ ongoing militarisation in Palau. The filing was submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
The submission alleges that the U.S. military did not communicate with the indigenous communities about how their land would be used and did not conduct adequate environmental impact assessments and obtain necessary permits prior to deploying their activities. The submission builds on a previous joint submission to a UN treaty body on the impact of of U.S. colonisation and militarisation of the island. The authors of the submission demand a site visit by the Special Rapporteurs to assess and report on the U.S. military activities in Palau and their impact on rights and the environment.
Report on gender equality in the Asia-Pacific
On 19th November 2024, the Social Development Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific issued a report titled “Charting New Paths for Gender Equality and Empowerment” to inform the Asia-Pacific regional intergovernmental review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which is an agenda for gender equality and the empowerment of women.
It notes that Palau has taken measures to improve financial inclusion and access to credit
for women’s start-up businesses and that Palau is close to gender parity when it comes to the percentage of women in managerial positions (45.5 per cent).
Collective calls for outright ban on deep seabed mining
On 25th February 2025, a dozen civil society organisations in the Pacific called on the authorities to permanently ban deep seabed mining to protect the region’s marine ecosystems and indigenous rights.
The Pacific Blue Line collective is made up of women, youth, faith-based and environmental organisations and demanded this ban as Pacific Islands leaders meet for the High-Level Talanoa on deep sea minerals.
EXPRESSION
Defamation lawsuit against Palau newspaper
On 31st October 2024, a company owned by the father of the President filed a civil lawsuit against the Palau-based newspaper Island Times, its publisher, and editor Leilani Reklai, alleging negligence and defamation.
The company, Surangel and Sons Co., argues that the newspaper’s article titled “Surangel & Sons Condemns Tax Report Leak as Privacy Violation” published on 29th October 2024 contained “false and inaccurate information”. The newspaper argues that the article drew largely from the company’s press release, which condemned a recent tax report leak as a smear campaign and a violation of privacy, and that it included context about the alleged leak.
President Surangel Whipps Jr., who, at the time of the filing of the lawsuit was running for re-election, asserted that Island Times should have explained the tax process instead of reporting information from the leak. Five days after the introduction of the lawsuit, Surangel Whipps Jr. faced an election test (see above).
Surangel and Sons is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and announced that it would no longer sell Island Times newspapers in its stores. Leilani Reklai expressed that the lawsuit could potentially bankrupt Island Times and have a chilling effect on media freedom in Palau and the Pacific.
Leilani Reklai received the support of the Pacific Freedom Forum who stated that the lawsuit jeopardises public trust in media, as well as citizens’ access to public information and press freedom; of the Palau Media Council who called the action an assault on press freedom; and of the International Federation of Journalists who called the company to immedietaly withdraw the lawsuit. The Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) also echoed these calls and wrote a letter to the President’s office.
Any journalists coming across official documents already circulating and directing public conversations would only be doing their jobs in looking into these issues, and reporting it
- Pacific Freedom Forum Chair Robert Iroga
On 27th November 2024, the Palau Media Council and Island Times thanked those who contributed toward the newspapers fundraising plea to cover legal costs.
State of the media in Palau
On 4th March 2024, the State of the Media project (conducted by Pacific researchers in partnership with the University of Adelaide, with oversight from ABC International Development) published a report on the state of the media in Palau.
It notes that since the COVID-19 pandemic, Palauan media are challenged by staff shortages and dwindling revenue. Most media respondents stated that, given the capacity constraints, they had already used artificial intelligence or were considering using it, to assist with editing, writing headlines, and transcribing.
The report also notes that the media face significant difficulties accessing information from the government, with officials preferring to post information directly to social media accounts rather than issue press releases or answer questions from journalists.
ASSOCIATION
Uncertain impact of USAID freeze
The impact on Palau of the U.S. foreign assistance freeze announced on 26th January 2025 is uncertain.
About 80 per cent of the USAID budget in the Pacific goes toward economic assistance for countries the U.S. holds Compact of Free Association agreements with, such as Palau. According to Alexandre Dayant, deputy director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre at the Lowy Institute, Compact of Free Association nations are shielded from the USAID freeze as their funding was approved by Congress through the Department of the Interior, but there is still some uncertainty. Palau remains among the most aid-reliant countries in the world and the United States leads the Official Development Finance support to Palau.
As of 6th December 2024, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had a Pacific Mission that covers 12 nations, including Palau, to support the development of a submarine cable branch system that increases Palau’s digital connectivity. USAID also supported an intergenerational mentoring programme that addresses the issues youth face and nurtures them to take an active role in Palauan society by fostering relationships with their elders.
On 31st January 2025, President Surangel Whipps Jr, in an interview with ABC radio, said that the programmes funded by the U.S. are vital and indicated that some employees working on these projects were told to wait for the conditions of the pause to be clarified.