Amnesty International says the people responsible for the burning of up to 200 homes in the Papua New Guinea gold mining town of Porgera must be held accountable.
Community leaders say the houses were razed to the ground during a police raid on Friday on Wingima village, which borders the Canadian-owned Barrick Gold Porgera mine.
The area has been under a state of emergency for the past month, with extra security forces deployed over concerns of illegal mining.
Amnesty's Pacific researcher, Kate Schuetze, says forced evictions are never an appropriate response to law and order issues.
"What we want in this situation is for the police, the authorities, everyone around that area to take a step back and look into this issue and investigate the issue and make sure that those people responsible are held accountable."
Kate Schuetze says Amnesty is also calling for PNG authorities to provide emergency assistance to those people who have lost their homes.
The PNG police have told media 20 homes were destroyed not 200.
