Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/papua_ne.txt

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TITLE:  PAPUA NEW GUINEA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                        PAPUA NEW GUINEA


Papua New Guinea (PNG) comprises some 1,000 tribes and over 800
distinct languages in a population of about 4 million.  It has
a federal parliamentary system based on universal adult
suffrage in periodic free and fair elections.

The Government has constitutional authority over the armed
forces (PNGDF), police, and intelligence organizations.
However, government failure to control and discipline the PNGDF
has led to human rights abuses involving civilian communities
on the island of Bougainville.  A similar failing has resulted
in abuses by the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC),
the country's only police force.

The economy is characterized by a relatively small but modern
free enterprise sector, heavily dependent on foreign
investment, and a traditional subsistence sector that supports
over 80 percent of the population.  The modern sector produces
most of the wealth and, normally, slightly less than 80 percent
of government revenue, with the balance of the budget needs
made up by assistance, including a cash grant from Australia.

Resolving the secessionist movement, now over 5 years old, on
the island of Bougainville continued to be a major priority of
the Government.  In October the Government of Prime Minister
Chan sponsored an internationally monitored peace conference
that was boycotted by senior Bougainville Revolutionary Army
(BRA) leaders.  Extrajudicial killings by security forces and
BRA insurgents on Bougainville were major human rights abuses.
Other continuing problems were the physical abuse, sometimes
resulting in death, of detainees and prisoners by security
forces, and the Government's failure to bring the perpetrators
to justice; extensive discrimination and violence against
women; and a tradition of ethnically motivated violence.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
           Freedom from:

     a.  Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There continued to be credible reports from Bougainville that
the PNGDF and progovernment resistance fighters executed
alleged BRA members or their supporters.  In May the Catholic
Bishops' Conference asserted that earlier in the year, persons
who were either soldiers or resistance fighters brutally beat
and executed Thomas Patoe at the Sovele Catholic mission
compound.  Patoe was the younger brother of a BRA commander in
the Nagovis area who had begun to work with resistance
fighters.  A BRA spokesman claimed that security forces
tortured and executed Clement Duini of Amoing village in
central Bougainville and two others from southwest Bougainville
in July at government-run care centers.  In February the BRA
accused the PNGDF of killing a civilian by pushing him out of a
flying helicopter.

A circuit-riding National Court judge and the magistrate system
have been reestablished in Buka.  The Government nonetheless
continued, as in previous years, to fail to investigate
security force atrocities in the Bougainville conflict or to
bring perpetrators to justice, thus perpetuating the climate of
impunity that encourages the continuation of such abuses.  In
April the court did, however, sentence a former BRA commander
to 17 years in prison for willful murder and arson during a
November 1990 BRA attack in Buka.  No progress has been
publicly reported in an inquest ordered in 1991 by former
Attorney General Narokobi into the deaths of 11 persons in
North Solomons Province in 1989 and 1990.

Government sources hold the BRA responsible for 12 deaths of
PNGDF personnel and the deaths of at least 3 policemen in
1994.  There are also credible reports that the BRA killed
civilians.  Between January and March, the BRA is alleged to
have engaged in at least 11 separate attacks resulting in at
least 40 deaths.  Prior to and during the 7-day October peace
talks, both sides violated the cease-fire in several reported
ambushes, resulting in at least seven deaths.

Outside of Bougainville, in February a court in Mount Hagen
sentenced a policeman to 5 years' hard labor for manslaughter.
According to the court, the policeman was angered by the just
released detainee's verbal abuse and retaliated by killing him
with a spear.  In July in Port Moresby a youth died in police
custody during or immediately after questioning.  The incident
was investigated by police, but at year's end no charges had
been filed.

     b.  Disappearance

Although both the security forces and the BRA continued to
allege that the other was responsible for civilian kidnapings
or disappearances, no official charges were made publicly.

     c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

The Constitution forbids torture and other cruel or degrading
treatment or punishment.  Nonetheless, PNG security forces (PNG
soldiers, police, and correctional personnel), as well as BRA
insurgents on Bougainville, continue to engage in such
practices.

Credible reports indicate that the PNGDF mutilated or
dismembered bodies of BRA killed in combat and left them as a
warning to others.  Other credible reports indicate that
resistance forces supporting the PNGDF have done the same to
wounded BRA.  Security forces are reported to have burned homes
in villages near Panguna during their August operation to
retake the mine.  A coroner's inquest into the role of PNGDF
soldiers in the 1993 burning down of a Port Moresby club and
the death of a soldier had reported no findings by the end of
1994.

The BRA is believed responsible for a May attack in Mabes
village that injured former Bougainville Member of Parliament
(M.P.) Sir Paul Lapun and his family.

Credible reports of torture, excessive force, and abuse by PNG
police in all regions reflected continued government failure to
discipline the RPNGC.  Almost all of the more than 28 cases
reportedly filed in 1994 with the national court, under special
procedures designed to protect human rights, alleged abuse by
correctional or police officers.  Allegations ranged from rape
while in detention to severe beatings that caused loss of sight
or limb.  In early 1994, villagers from several small
communities near Fane, Central province, reported that police
had entered their homes in late December 1993, beating the
villagers and stealing and destroying property.  The police
apparently were searching for suspected criminals.  Such
attacks on villages are frequently a form of collective
punishment.

Although the courts address cases of police abuse that are
pressed through the court system, many cases never reach the
courts because of the lack of evidence, reliance on incomplete
police investigations, or the failure of overburdened and
underfunded prosecutors to follow through.  Frequently
witnesses can not be located or funds found to transport them
long distances to court.  In the first of five similar rulings
in 1994, the national court in August ordered the State to pay
more than $1 million to five clans in Chimbu province for
damages inflicted by police in separate incidents in 1986 and
1990.  According to the reports, which the Government never
denied, police burned homes, destroyed crops, killed livestock,
and assaulted villagers while searching for suspected
criminals.  In May a policeman in Lae was sentenced to 9 years'
hard labor for the September 1993 rape of a woman in police
custody.  In Port Moresby, a senior police official is facing
charges for raping a woman under detention.  In October a
National Court judge ordered the State and a police officer to
pay damages to a prisoner for abuse suffered during detention.

Prisons are severely overcrowded and understaffed, and prison
escapes are common.  Due to government-wide financial
difficulties, water and food were in short supply during the
last half of the year.

The authorities released some prisoners to relieve pressures on
the prison system.  Family members are allowed to visit and
supply food to supplement the prison diet, although prison
visits and privileges are frequently curtailed following
disturbances or breakouts.

Redress through the courts is sometimes available to victims of
official misconduct.  Following several years of litigation,
the case brought by an M.P. from Bougainville seeking
compensation for injuries suffered at the hands of security
force members in 1989 was settled out of court.  The Supreme
Court introduced a simple form in 1989 enabling citizens to
file human rights complaints directly with the national court,
without need for counsel.  If the judge determines that the
case has merit, he may direct an investigation.  The
compensation claim of five Chimbu clans cited previously in
this section was initiated though this simplified process.  It
was, however, pursued by a private lawyer.

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

The courts enforce constitutional protections against arbitrary
arrest and detention.  For example, using special procedures
developed for human rights cases (see section 1.c.), in October
the National Court fined the State for holding a civilian for 4
days without charge.  The constitutional protections, however,
have been weakened by the Internal Security Act and 1993
amendments to existing anticrime legislation which provide that
judicially issued warrants are no longer required when the
authorities suspect that a person has committed any offense
against that Act or in the case of certain, largely
white-collar, offenses.  The Act further permits a person to be
classified as a member of a proscribed organization solely on
the basis of an affidavit filed by the police commissioner,
without further proof.  The Government has not yet sought a
conviction under the Internal Security Act.  Under amendments
to the Bail Act and the Criminal Code passed in 1993, only
national or Supreme Court judges may grant bail in certain
criminal cases involving a firearm.  In all other cases, bail
may be granted unless a judge rules otherwise.  Those under
arrest have the right to legal counsel, to be informed of
charges, and to have their arrest subject to judicial review.

In April a man from Central province claimed that he had been
held by the BRA for 6 years and released only following
extensive negotiations with his family.  He claimed that he and
five others had been taken prisoner while trying to leave Kieta
in 1988.  He had no information on the whereabouts of the
others.

Given the relative shortage of police and judicial resources
and an exceptionally high crime rate, periods between arrest
and trial can be long, particularly in the rural areas where 6
months can pass between arrest and committal.  Such periods of
detention, however, are subject to strict judicial review,
through continuing pretrial consultations, especially at the
National Court level.  Nevertheless, cases are frequently
delayed for months awaiting the results of police
investigations.

Exile is not practiced.

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

The Constitution provides for due process, including a public
trial, and an indpendent court system enforces this.

Defendants have the right to an attorney.  Legal counsel is
provided either by the Public Solicitor's office or by the Law
Society on recommendation of the Public Solicitor's office, for
those accused of serious offenses and unable to afford
counsel.  "Serious offenses" are generally defined as felony
charges or any case heard in either the national or district
court (as opposed to village or magistrate courts).

Defendants and their attorneys may confront witnesses, present
evidence, plead cases, and appeal convictions.

The courts are completely independent of executive, political,
or military authorities, and the Government does not hold any
prisoners on purely political grounds.

Although the national court has resumed operation in Buka,
North Solomons province, the lack of free and safe access to
Bougainville island proper continues to hamper investigations
of alleged human rights violations there.

     f.  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

While the authorities generally respect privacy rights, police
in the highlands and the PNGDF in Bougainville have burned
homes to quell intertribal conflict and punish communities
suspected of harboring suspected criminals.  Also, police often
force entry into homes during searches for criminals or stolen
goods.

     g.  Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian
         Law in Internal Conflicts

Armed conflict decreased significantly following the
institution of a cease-fire September 9.  There were two
significant outbreaks of violence in the period preceding the
cease-fire:  the first, February-March, was attributed to the
BRA and the second, August, was related to the PNGDF's action
to retake Panguna copper mine.

Each side claims the other committed abuses against civilians.
In March the BRA accused the PNGDF of using civilians as human
shields, citing specifically a March 23 clash at Tabago and
Maisuru in south Bougainville.  The PNGDF countered that the
BRA was responsible for killing 17 civilians during an attack
on a relief convoy.  Throughout the year, but particularly
immediately following the cease-fire, the Government reported
an increased number of civilians leaving BRA-controlled areas
in search of food, shelter, and health care.  Before the
September cease-fire, there were continuing reports of BRA
attacks against civilians, both to hamper economic activity and
to intimidate them into remaining in BRA-controlled areas.  The
BRA allegedly burned homes and villages throughout Bougainville
in retaliation for villagers' cooperation with security forces
and to deny opponents use of the villages.  BRA attacks on
security forces continued despite the cease-fire, with a
soldier and a civilian killed in mid-November.  At least one
member of a BRA party attempting to attend the early October
Bougainville peace conference reportedly was wounded when the
party was fired on by the PNGDF.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution provides for free speech, including freedom of
the media, and this freedom is generally respected in
practice.

The media provided independent coverage and analysis of major
controversies in 1994--including the ongoing insurrection on
Bougainville, the legal problems of senior government
ministers, and the question of the legality of the snap
election called by the former prime minister.

One blatant attempt at censorship occurred nn April 6, when the
Minister for Communication ordered the national radio
broadcasting system, NBC, to stop broadcasting news from a
summit meeting of the New Guinea islands' premiers on the
grounds that the premiers might discuss secession.  NBC, which
receives its funding from the Government but maintains a
generally independent line in its news stories and editorials,
defied the ban and continued to broadcast, drawing from press
accounts supplied by others present at the summit.  Following
widespread domestic and international criticism, the Minister
rescinded his order, claiming that his concern for the personal
security of NBC reporters, rather than the political content of
their coverage, had inspired his censorship attempt.

The two daily newspapers and one weekly newspaper compete
aggressively.  One of the two dailies is owned by a Malaysian
firm, which has invested heavily in PNG's timber industry, and
by senior members of the former government, but the newspaper
has nonetheless been generally independent and unbiased in its
first year of existence.

The Government and the PNG defense force continued to control
the media's access to Bougainville, restricting access of
journalists to the island and to participants in the conflict,
although a greater number were allowed to visit and interview
combatants on both sides of the insurrection this year than in
the past.  There is no attempt to censor press reports filed
from Bougainville.

The courts occasionally try citizens and foreigners under the
provisions of the Censorship Act which ban the import,
broadcast or publication of materials deemed pornographic
according to Papua New Guinea's rather strict, church-based
standards.  The usual sentence for violations of the Censorship
Act is confiscation and destruction of the restricted goods,
although the courts can legally impose a fine of $17.00 (20
Kina) or more or a prison sentence of up to 2 years.  The
Ombudsman Commission and the courts in Papua New Guinea have
supported the right of free speech over government prerogative
in most of the cases they have been asked to address.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

Private associations and public assemblies are legal.  The
Government does not require registration of associations.
International affiliation of church and civic groups is also
freely permitted.  Public demonstrations require police
approval; this is frequently denied on the grounds that such
activities encourage bystanders to engage in vandalism and
violence.  In April in Buka, the Government told organizers of
a demonstration planned to protest a change in administrative
personnel and responsibilities that the demonstration would be
illegal.  The demonstration did not take place.  In December
human rights and women's activists were given permission to
march in protest of human rights abuses in general and the
increasing incidence of criminal and family violence.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

The Constitution contains provisions for freedom of religion,
and the Government respects these fully.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

Following the October cease-fire, PNG security forces no longer
required travelers to Buka to obtain permits.  Government
approval is still required for travel to Bougainville for those
not from the island.  By the end of the year, a border post had
reopened permitting crossings between PNG and neighboring
Solomon Islands.  Otherwise, freedom of movement within and
outside the country has not been restricted in practice.  The
Government has not applied sections of the Internal Security
Act left standing by the Supreme Court which authorize the
Government to exclude from any part of the country anyone
convicted under the Act or likely to commit an offense under
the Act.  The Government has dropped plans it announced in 1993
to introduce legislation establishing a national system of
registration and identification cards.

The Government hosts around 9,000 Melanesian refugees from
Irian Jaya, the neighboring province of Indonesia.
Approximately 6,000, many of whom have land or kinship ties
with Papua New Guineans, live along the border just inside
Papua New Guinea.  Neither the Government nor the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) provides
services to them.  While Papua New Guinea recognizes Irian Jaya
as an integral part of Indonesia, the Government nonetheless
grants asylum to qualified refugees, and regulations allow
foreign citizens who meet the 10-year residency requirements to
become PNG citizens.  The Government administers UNHCR
assistance to about 3,600 refugees at the sole remaining camp
at East Awin.

There were no known forced repatriations of Irian Jayan
insurgents to Indonesia during 1994.  More than 120 were
voluntarily repatriated.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

Citizens freely exercise the right to change their government
through direct elections with a secret ballot and universal
adult suffrage.  The voters elect a unicameral Parliament made
up of 109 members from all 19 provinces and the Port Moresby
National Capital District.  Any citizen can stand for election,
and several foreign-born citizens sit in Parliament.  With a
multiplicity of small parties, coalition governments tend to be
weak and shifting; none has yet survived its 5-year electoral
mandate.  Former Prime Minister Paias Wingti provoked a
constitutional crisis in September 1993 when he attempted,
through an unexpected resignation and immediate reelection, to
ensure that his coalition remained in office .  In August the
Supreme Court ruled that Wingti's reelection was invalid.  He
did not stand for office when Parliament on August 30 elected
Deputy Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan Prime Minister.

By-elections for Parliament ordered by the National Court in 3
provinces, following disputed 1992 elections, were contested by
26 candidates in October and conducted peacefully but were
marred in one district by preelection violence in June.
Postelection violence caused by disgruntled supporters of
losing candidates continued to occur, however, particularly in
provincial and local elections.

Although there are no legal barriers to their participation in
political life, women are not found in significant numbers in
senior positions in government or in politics (see Section 5).
There are no women in the Cabinet or in Parliament.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

There are no official barriers to the formation of human rights
groups.  The PNG Association for Human Rights, formed in 1992,
has been relatively inactive.  The Individual and Community
Rights Advocacy Forum (ICRAF), a nongovernmental organization
(NGO) formed in 1993, became increasingly active; it focused on
human rights and the environment.  NGO's have exercised their
right to comment on human rights issues in the media without
any known government interference or retribution.  The
Government organized a U.N.-sponsored seminar in October to
review its options for establishing a national human rights
commission.

The U.N. Human Rights Commission adopted a resolution in March
urging the Government to seek a peaceful solution to the crisis
in Bougainville, and it authorized the Secretary General to
consider appointing a Special Representative after September 30
if the situation warranted.  The Government facilitated a visit
by a senior U.N. official in August, and in September the
Secretary General advised that he would not appoint a special
representative.  The Government permitted an increased number
of visits to Bougainville by reporters, including an Australian
television crew in February, and sponsored visits by an
Australian parliamentary delegation in April, Tonga's Crown
Prince in June, and a representative of the U.N. Secretary
General for the October peace conference.  However, it has not
extended invitations to nongovernmental human rights
organizations that have expressed interest in investigating
alleged human rights abuses there.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

Extreme ethnic and geographic diversity prevents domination by
any one tribe or clan.  The democratically elected government,
based on loose coalitions, has taken care not to favor one
group over another consistently.

     Women

The Constitution and laws have provisions for extensive rights
for women including family law, marriage, and property rights.
Some women in the modern sector have achieved senior positions
in the professions, business, and civil service.  Nonetheless,
traditional patterns of discrimination against women result in
a significant denial of human rights.  Despite constitutional
and legal provisions, most women, even those in urban areas,
still live in a system that relegates them to second-class
status.  Village courts tend to enforce traditional attitudes
and values that oppress both women and youth.

For example, village court justices tend to be overly severe on
women by imposing jail terms on women found guilty of adultery,
while penalizing men lightly or not at all.  Circuit-riding
national court justices, however, frequently annul village
court sentences and free unjustly imprisoned women.
Nevertheless, when sentence is imposed, there is a tendency to
impose longer sentences on women than men, particularly in
cases involving loss of life.  Where polygynous marriages are
still customary, particularly in the highlands, there has been
an increase in the number of women charged with the murder of
another of their husband's wives, reportedly due to the
breakdown in custom and tradition.

Violence against women, including domestic violence and gang
rape, is prevalent.  Some tribal and clan cultures emphasize
antagonism between the sexes.  While women are ostensibly
protected by their families and clans, they are nonetheless
often victims of violence and force.  Traditional village
deterrents, such as requirements for compensation, are breaking
down.

Attacks on women remain common in intertribal warfare as well.
Fear of rape, especially gang rape, is justifiably common among
women and constrains not only their movements and social
activities but also their ability to exercise authority and
discipline in business and professional activities.  The number
of reported cases of rape is rising steadily.  Though rape is
punishable by prison sentences, and sentences are handed out
when assailants are found guilty, few assailants are
apprehended.  Most areas without access to law enforcement
services rely on "payback," a traditional form of revenge
directed at the offender's tribe or clan, to deter or punish
rape.  Domestic violence such as wife beating is also common
but is usually viewed by police and citizenry alike as a
private, family matter.  One study sponsored by the police
department itself found that wife abuse is prevalent in police
families.

Both the Government and public organizations are working to
upgrade the status of women but so far with limited results.
In June Parliament ratified the Convention on the Elimination
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).  According to the U.N.
Development Program, the literacy rate of PNG's adult female
population has actually declined by 5 percent over the past 14
years.  The Government provides a grant to the National Council
of Women and has instituted an Office of Women's Affairs in the
Department of Home Affairs and Youth.

     Children

The Government's ability to protect the rights and welfare of
children is limited by financial constraints.  Approximately 44
percent of PNG's population is under the age of 16.  In PNG's
traditional clan system, children are generally cared for
within the extended family, in accordance with financial
resources and the tribe's access to services.  Because of the
geographic isolation and remoteness of many villages,
malnourishment and infant and maternal mortality rates are very
high.  Although statistics are not available, welfare officers
believe that child abuse is increasing as village life and the
extended family give way to urban development.  Most programs
to protect and develop youth are operated by NGO's, including
the recently formed child protection services, and religious
organizations.  Many government programs are severely
underfunded.

     People with Disabilities

Through the National Board for the Disabled, the Government
provides limited funding for the disabled to approximately 14
NGO's which provide services.  The Government does not provide
programs or services directly.  Services and health care for
the disabled, except for that provided by the traditional
family and clan system, do not exist in several of the
country's provinces.  No legislation mandates accessibility for
the disabled.