Papua New Guinea’s Human Rights Situation In 2011

Op-ed by Matilda Bogner
Papua New Guinea’s Human Rights Situation In 2011

14 December 2011

As part of a series of articles to mark International Human Rights Day, 10 December 2011, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Regional Office for the Pacific highlights successes and challenges faced in the region during the year.

Matilda Bogner, OHCHR Regional Representative for the Pacific, writes that the human rights situation for many in Papua New Guinea is highly precarious, however, government commitments in 2011 to the international community on human rights have the potential to change things for the better.

In 2011, Papua New Guinea appeared before the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council in Geneva and made a series of commitments to progress human rights in the country. Papua New Guinea was participating in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process that examines the human rights record of all UN Member States. It accepted 114 of the 146 recommendations made by other Member States. In a display of good faith, Papua New Guinea declared that it was prepared to engage in frank and open discussions on the human rights situation in the country.

Papua New Guinea committed to establish a national human rights institution, take steps to combat violence against women, take measures to prohibit corporal punishment, enact legislation to protect children from child labour and sexual exploitation and to ratify all remaining core human rights treaties. However, Papua New Guinea noted that financial and capacity constraints were delaying its progress in relation to many of these.

Violence in the country is endemic and affects the lives of all Papua New Guineans. It is one of the severest forms of human rights abuse in the country, perpetrated by officials, such as police and correctional services officers, and ordinary citizens alike. The failure of the justice system in Papua New Guinea to respond appropriately leads to a failure to protect victims and witnesses, and encourages vigilantism and other forms of abuse. In this context, it is a welcome step to see the introduction of Human Rights Rules of the Supreme Court, as a means to fast track human rights cases through the justice system. This is a step in the right direction towards combating impunity, however, much more needs to be done.

Concerns relating to police abuses remain highly relevant in 2011 with no serious reforms put in place since the Government’s own report in 2004 found that police were perpetrators of excessive and unprovoked violence, including rape. During his visit in 2010, the Special Rapporteur on Torture found that the police carried out systematic beatings of detainees upon arrest or within the first hours of detention, including during interrogation. Prison conditions and police lock ups are poor and the system suffers from serious under-funding. The Special Rapporteur expressed concern about conditions in detention where many people are held in detention for prolonged periods due to insufficient oversight mechanisms. In its response to the 2011 UPR, Papua New Guinea accepted recommendations to consider the ratification of the Convention against Torture (CAT). However, it rejected a UPR recommendation to invest greater financial resources to improve its prison conditions to the level required by its human rights obligations, citing capacity restraints.

Violence against women is another serious form of violence that is widespread in the country. In 2010, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women expressed its deep concern at the persistence of violence against women, including sexual violence at the domestic and community levels, and at the lack of information and statistical data on its nature, extent and causes. The Committee was particularly concerned that such violence appeared to be socially legitimized and accompanied by a culture of silence and impunity and cases of violence are underreported.

Severe forms of violence, including rape, sexual violence and sorcery-related attacks and killings are of particular concern. Those accused of witchcraft often face cruel and inhumane treatment. In 2011, there were reports of women being raped, bound, beaten, cut with bush knives, thrown into a river and killed. It is rare for attackers in these cases to be prosecuted. During the UPR review, Papua New Guinea accepted that it needs to put in place comprehensive laws to combat violence against women. Combating these severe forms of violence needs to be a high priority for the Government of Papua New Guinea.

Discrimination against women in other spheres is also common. Women face severe inequalities in social, cultural, economic and political life. However, 2011 saw signs of progress with the passing of legislation which should lead to the creation of 22 reserved seats for women in Parliament. OHCHR Pacific welcomed this move and urged Parliamentarians to implement this vital change before the next general elections, scheduled for 2012.

Poverty levels in the country are also of concern, where people do not enjoy their fundamental rights to health, education, clean water, food and security. Such poverty is increasingly evident in urban informal settlements in Papua New Guinea, which lack basic services, including the lack of provision of water, sanitation, electricity and rubbish collection. People live in cardboard houses, cannot afford to send their children to school, and fear for their own security in increasingly violent surroundings. For some, their poverty is further compounded by being forcefully evicted in a manner that contravenes international human rights standards.

Papua New Guinea does not have a highly developed human rights civil society and efforts to strengthen the work of human rights defenders needs to be supported in order to help bring accountability for abuses in the country. Those that do work to protect human rights, along with victims and witnesses, often face dangers and persecution and steps need to be taken to ensure their protection.

Serious concerns have been raised in 2011 about Papua New Guinea’s human rights situation. However, the Government has stated its commitment to improve and through the UPR process has been provided with a relevant road-map to follow. The country will have to find practical ways to implement the recommendations and ensure that improvements are felt by men, women and children of Papua New Guinea in their daily lives.

*Matilda Bogner is the Regional Representative for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Regional Office for the Pacific, based in Suva, Fiji.

ENDS

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