PNG Govt Urged To Deal With Guns Issue

PNG Govt Urged To Deal With Guns Issue

The use of guns for illegal purposes is still prevalent in Papua New Guinea and the new government has been called on to deal with this issue.

Calls were made by the chairman of the guns control committee and former army commander General Jerry Singirok during the seventh annual ethics symposium held at Divine Word University in Madang on Friday.

Singirok said among the reports that were released, at least 10 women were raped at gun-point in the country each week.

He said a significant number of victims were girls. In other parts of the country, people were using firearms for negotiations.

Singirok said a guns report was presented in September 2005 to the previous government which was headed by the current Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare.

But he said since then nothing had happened about the report.

"Where does state responsibility and accountability begin and end if such a sensitive issue is not addressed and who will take on the responsibility to address it?" he asked.

Singirok said without government intervention, guns would continue to remain the single most inhibiting factor in the nation’s development.

In his paper, titled Ethics and Social Justice in PNG, Singirok also touched on his experiences in relation to the Sandline crisis.

He said even after 10 years there were still varying views on the issue.

However, as the instigator of "Operation Rausim Kwik" and as commander at the time of expelling the Sandline mercenaries, he did what he did "as a professional and ethical soldier because the Bougainville crisis had not reached that critical point where the use of mercenaries was justified within the context of just war".

"...Therefore a mere coincidence in relation to the theme of this symposium I must publicly test my judgment on aspects of ethics and social justice," he said.

* Singirok revealed that he was working on a book on his experiences titled Operation Rausim Kwik – A Matter of Conscience, which will be published soon.

ENDS

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