Transcript
Human Rights Watch's Deputy Director for Asia says that despite a change of Prime Minister in PNG last year, progress on human rights has still been too slow.
Phil Robertson says PNG hasn't really worked to dig itself out a the hole it's in, and it's only getting worse.
"We are talking about a very desperately poor country, one where there's a lot of violence committed with impunity, where women are particularly affected, as well as children. Forty percent of the population still lives in poverty, and this is a very resource rich country. Twenty-five percent of the children are not in school, and our estimate was one in thirteen have died of preventable disease."
But PNG's Justice Minister and Attorney-General Davis Steven says he's concerned the NGO has ignored various efforts on human rights by the new government
James Marape was elected by MPs Prime Minister in mid-2019, replacing Peter O'Neill who lost his majority in parliament following almost eight years in charge.
Mr Steven, who is also deputy prime minister, says concerns about corruption played a part in the change of government.
"Also there is a very concerted effort with our development partners, including Australia and New Zealand, on certain fronts to build capacity within the law and justice sector to be a lot more focussed on our human rights efforts."
Mr Steven says he's saddened by the negative implications in the report by the NGO, which he says should know PNG is also preparing to establish a Human Rights Commission.
He says PNG's long-mooted Independent Commission Against Corruption is also set to become a reality.
"Our government in the past six months has actually pushed it to the point where it is now before Parliament. It (Parliament) sits in February, and I'm very confident that this group of leaders will pass the ICAC bill."
Last year's change in government leadership presaged a change in leadership of the police force.
In an effort to eradicate politicisation of the force, and police abuses, the outspoken government critic and opposition MP Bryan Kramer was appointed police minister.
Also the Police Commissioner Gary Baki was removed - recently replaced in permanent capacity by David Manning.
Mr Manning admits members of the constabulary had become disillusioned and discouraged over the years. He says he and the minister have developed a formidable team which he is confident will rebuild the force
"Not just for the fiscal assets of the constabulary. We also have to get out mindsets in order. We need to rebuild our command and control mechanisms, and reinstill discipline. This is a huge task but achievable with the co-operation and commitment of all our senior officers."
Since Peter O'Neill was removed, several high profile arrests have been made in corruption cases, including that of the Electoral Commissioner.
The head of the National Fraud and Anti-Corruption Directorate within the police force says it's starting to make inroads on corruption.
Matthew Damaru says before the change in government, his unit was critically under-resourced.
"The funding has been a big impediment to our investigations, especially in the fight against corruption. But towards the end of last year we had a new commissioner appointed, and I think we are heading in the right direction, working together with the commissioner to address corruption in the country."
But Phil Robertson says pressure from regional countries must be applied on PNG particularly in the areas of economic, social and cultural rights.
"How are they going to change the attitudes of a society to encourage girls to be sent to school, and to say that women should not be beaten as a standard part of a marriage. These are things that are the sort of things that may require a longer period of time, but it's going to involve human rights sensitisation and support from UN agencies and governments that care about these things, and from the international community."
However Mr Steven suggests the NGO lacks understanding of the cultural context in PNG.
"Through our government's education policy drive, we've now started to see a balance in the attention being given to our female children where education is concerned. Our budget focus for example under the Law and Justice sector now has the biggest spending on the challenge that we face to deal with complaints of violence against women."
The minister says it's misleading to say the government is ignoring, or is complacent about, human rights issues.
No one is saying that change can happen overnight in PNG, but the government and Human Rights Watch clearly have different ideas about the required rate of change.
