Amnesty International Report 1995 - Papua New Guinea

There were reports of torture and ill-treatment by police; one person died as a result. On Bougainville several supporters of an armed secessionist group were reportedly extrajudicially executed and ill-treatment of civilians continued, although reports of human rights violations on the island declined. At least one "disappearance" remained unresolved and the government failed to investigate reports of human rights violations in 1993. An armed secessionist group also reportedly committed human rights abuses, including deliberate and arbitrary killings. In August Sir Julius Chan became Prime Minister after a parliamentary election. The new government expressed support for human rights investigations and the establishment of a national human rights commission. The new government initiated peace negotiations with the secessionist Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) to end the six-year conflict on the island of Bougainville. In October the government signed an agreement with 15 BRA commanders, but by the end of 1994 a settlement with key leaders of the secessionist movement had not been reached and fighting continued. The government announced that it would lift its blockade of Bougainville in October. In March the UN Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution noting the failure of the government to provide information about steps taken to address human rights violations by security forces on Bougainville or to prosecute the perpetrators. The resolution called on the government to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Special Rapporteur on torture to visit Bougainville to conduct independent investigations. To Amnesty International's knowledge, the government had failed to issue the invitations by the end of the year. A Supreme Court challenge to the 1993 Internal Security Act, which could be used to detain peaceful political opponents of the government, declared sections of the Act invalid. However, broadly worded sections of the Act remained intact, granting the head of state powers to ban organizations deemed to be "promoting or encouraging, or…likely to or about to promote or encourage terrorism". Sections allowing for the imprisonment of alleged supporters of banned organizations also remained in force. There were continued reports of torture and ill-treatment by police. On 1 November Babi Stevens, who was assisting a foreign film crew researching released young offenders, was stopped by police in Chimbu Province, arrested without charge and detained for two days. While in custody he was reportedly beaten with a gun barrel and kicked. Friends visiting him the day after his arrest said that as a result of the beatings he could not talk properly. The day after his release, he was again questioned by police and reportedly kicked. On 5 November Sande Alpane, a shopkeeper, was beaten to death by police in the streets of Port Moresby. Witnesses said that two car-loads of police hit Sande Alpane with their rifles and then left him lying in the street. He was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. There were continued reports of possible extrajudicial executions and ill-treatment of suspected BRA supporters by the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) on Bougainville. However, these reports were difficult to verify because of the continued blockade of the island. In August, four suspected BRA supporters were reportedly killed by the PNGDF in Central Bougainville. The four, along with 10 others, escorted a woman needing med-ical treatment to the Arawa care centre, a government-run camp for civilians. Two of the four were reportedly taken from the camp around midnight on 23 August and killed by the PNGDF. The other two were taken the following day to Loloho where they were shot by the PNGDF. The remaining 10 were reportedly taken to Loloho army base where they were subjected to mock executions. The government-backed paramilitary Resistance Forces were also reportedly responsible for killings of suspected BRA members on Bougainville. Thomas Patoe, the brother of a BRA commander but himself a member of the Resistance Forces, disappeared for several hours after being given a gun and hand grenades, possibly prompting speculation that he was liais-ing with the bra. On his return he was taken to a Catholic mission compound by Resistance Force members and reportedly beaten, cut with knives and then shot. By the end of the year, the government was not known to have investigated these and other reported human rights violations. There was no information about whether the government had investigated the reported extrajudicial execution of six men by the PNGDF in January 1993, when their boat was intercepted in waters off Bougainville (see Amnesty International Report 1994). The "disappearance" of Ken Savia, seized by government troops in Arawa in February 1993, also remained unresolved (see Amnesty International Report 1994). Mechanisms for redressing human rights violations by the security forces remained inadequate. Victims of violations were often hampered in their use of them by inefficiency and obstruction, particularly by local police. However, the courts granted compensation to some complainants. In October a national court judge ordered compensation to be paid to Darius Ken, because he had been held illegally in police custody for four days without being charged. Also in October, a judge ordered compensation be paid to another individual alleging ill-treatment in prison. No one was sentenced to death and no executions were carried out during the year. In June, two men were found guilty of wilful murder, an offence carrying the death penalty which was reintroduced in August 1991. In handing down the verdict, the judge asked the defence to argue why the defendants should not be sentenced to death. In this case the defence was successful. The BRA continued to commit human rights abuses on Bougainville. There were reports of deliberate and arbitrary killings by the BRA of unarmed individuals and Resistance Force members. In a report published in October, Papua New Guinea: Human Rights Commission Mooted, Amnesty International urged the government to demonstrate its commitment to human rights by establishing effective mechanisms for investigating violations. An Amnesty International request to visit Bougainville, sent to the government in November 1993, remained unanswered.