Amnesty International Report 1994 - Papua New Guinea
- Document source:
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Date:
1 January 1994
Dozens of suspected supporters of an armed secessionist group on Bougainville Island were extrajudicially executed by government forces, some after being tortured, and at least 11 reportedly "disappeared". Torture and ill-treatment continued to be reported throughout the country. Serious human rights abuses were reportedly committed by the secessionist group on Bougainville. Armed conflict on Bougainville continued between the Papua New Guinea Defence Forces (PNGDF) and the secessionist Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). In February government troops entered the provincial capital, Arawa, and Prime Minister Paias Wingti called for the unconditional surrender of Bougainville rebels. Despite an agreement to restore essential services to Bougainville, delivery of food and medicine to the island continued to be obstructed by the PNGDF. In May an Internal Security Act was passed by parliament. The Act grants the Head of State power to order the arrest of members of organizations deemed to "support terrorism" and gives the security forces extra powers to arrest without warrant and detain suspects without charge for up to 20 days. Faced with mounting criticism on human rights grounds, the Prime Minister agreed to review the Act in October. The government proposed an amendment to the Constitution which would reverse the legal presumption of innocence, but this had not been enacted by the end of the year. Dozens of suspected BRA supporters were extrajudicially executed by government troops on Bougainville, some after being tortured. In January, six men, including Rodney Soguwan and Alex Solomon, were shot dead in cold blood when government troops intercepted their boat off Bougainville, according to a seventh man, Moresi Tua, who was shot and wounded but managed to escape. He said the soldiers, who were in a patrol boat, shot one man dead and then shot the others when they jumped into the sea to try and escape. In late January Ellen Divai was killed by a mortar bomb fired by the PNGDF, which also injured eight other people travelling in a truck towards Arawa township. There was apparently no official investigation into the incident. Ken Savia, a leading member of the independence movement in Bougainville, reportedly "disappeared" after being seized by government troops who raided Arawa General Hospital on 13 February. Eye-witnesses said that the following day he was seen tied to the back of a military truck and being dragged along the road. Ken Savia was subsequently reported to have been killed by government soldiers. Ten other people, including a nine-year-old girl and a three-month old baby and their mother reportedly "disappeared" after being seized by troops at the hospital during the raid. The government failed to provide any information about the "disappearance" of Ken Savia and the other 10 people. In January and September the government stated its commitment to pay compensation for the killing of two Solomon Islanders, Jacinta Popo and Peter Kamaraia, during a raid by government troops in 1992 (see Amnesty International Report 1993). Torture and ill-treatment by the security forces continued to be reported on Bougainville and in other parts of Papua New Guinea. Suspected BRA supporters were the principal victims on Bougainville. On mainland Papua New Guinea, the main victims were villagers involved in disputes over logging operations, and criminal suspects. On Bougainville, staff and patients from the Arawa Hospital were reportedly seized by png soldiers and beaten after government troops raided the hospital in February. In September a girl from Luagua village in South Bougainville was reportedly raped in public by a government soldier. On the mainland, at least three incidents of ill-treatment and harassment reportedly occurred in Morobe province. Inhabitants of Kaiapit village said that police from Goroka entered the village in January, lined up young men and threatened to "blow them up", fired their weapons, pushed gun barrels into the mouths of those who protested, and beat others with gun butts and barrels. The Eastern Highlands Police Commissioner said he would conduct a full investigation into the incident, but it was not known whether this had taken place by the end of the year. Vere Tau, a probation officer at Gabagaba village in Central province, alleged that he was beaten in Boroko police station in February. He said he was punched on the face, kicked and beaten with a baton. He was charged with insulting a police officer, a charge later dismissed at the district court. There was no known official investigation into the allegations of ill-treatment. In June police in the capital, Port Moresby, reportedly arrested and beat three people from Bougainville, whom they accused of being BRA supporters. There were apparently no grounds for the allegations against the men, who were then charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. In September a police riot squad reportedly detained Gewai Dusty Zamunu, a village leader and environmental activist in Morobe province, interrogated him about his opposition to a logging operation in Sowara village, and severely beat him. He was released after he appeared before a magistrate on 20 September. The BRA was responsible for human rights abuses on Bougainville. BRA members reportedly assaulted and raped civilians and subjected others to death threats. Amnesty International condemned these abuses and called upon the BRA to respect human rights and basic international humanitarian standards. In June Amnesty International representatives met the Minister of State for Bougainville to discuss the human rights situation on Bougainville. In November Amnesty International published a report, Papua New Guinea: "Under the Barrel of a Gun" - civil conflict and human rights on Bougainville, 1991 to 1993. It described a pattern of extrajudicial execution, torture and other violations by the PNGDF on Bougainville. The report also documented serious human rights abuses by the BRA. It urged the government to initiate thorough and impartial investigations into human rights violations in Bougainville, and to bring suspected perpetrators to justice. Amnesty International also urged the government to permit direct access to Bougainville by international human rights and legal organizations to monitor human rights.
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