Police crimes continuing: Report

LACK of accountability on police violence has persisted in the country and weak enforcement of laws criminalising corruption and violence against women and children continue to foster a culture of impunity and lawlessness, according to a report.
The Human Rights Watch in its report on human rights breaches throughout the world found that police violence continued in PNG, especially targeting those suspected of crimes.
This is despite the establishment of a police task force in 2018 to investigate unlawful conduct by police officers in Port Moresby.
“Media reports state that between Sept 2018 and Jan 2019, 133 police have been investigated and 42 arrested, yet convictions remain rare outside Port Moresby,” the report stated.
“In the same time period, PNG courts convicted and imprisoned 15 police officers in the country’s capital for a range of offences including brutality, aiding prison escapees, and domestic violence.
“At time of writing, no police officers had been prosecuted for killing of 17 prison escapees in 2017 and four prison escapees from Buimo prison in Lae in 2018.
“In March, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported 50 complaints by the community of Alotau in Milne Bay against police for brutality.”
The report stated that domestic violence affected more than two-thirds of women in PNG.
“In March 2019, more than 200 domestic violence and sexual violence cases were reported in Lae and Port Moresby, where over 23 murders alone were attributed to domestic violence. “In July, six people were killed in an ambush in Menima village and in retaliation for their deaths, days later, gunmen killed eight women and five children in a brutal massacre in the Hela Province.”
Prime Minister James Marape condemned the killings, calling for the death penalty against perpetrators, although no one had been arrested at time of writing.