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VIII. Recommendations

The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary has primary responsibility for how the police force treats children and other citizens. The Papua New Guinea Correctional Service is responsible for the treatment of children in its custody. The Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, the Judicial and Magisterial Services, the Ombudsman Commission, and Parliament, also play important roles in preventing and addressing police violence. Human Rights Watch calls on the constabulary and, as appropriate, these other entities, to implement the recommendations set out in our September 2005 report, as well as those of the September 2004 administrative review of the police commissioned by the then-Minister of Police.¹⁵²

In particular, the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary should take the following steps to stop police beatings, rape, and torture of children:

• Make strong and repeated public statements, at the highest institutional level (beginning with the new Minister of Police and the Commissioner of Police) against police violence against children, sex workers, and men and boys perceived to be homosexual.

• Punish officers who torture, rape, or use excessive force, using administrative sanctions, including dismissal, and criminal prosecution. Similarly punish commanding officers who know or should know of such acts, and who fail to prevent or punish them. Improve the speed and efficiency with which cases of criminal action by police are sent to the public prosecutor. Address outstanding cases, including the beatings and rape of women and girls in the 2004 raid on the Three-Mile Guesthouse and the 2005 shootings of schoolboys in Enga province.
• Hold all police officers who undergo training accountable for following it.
• Strengthen the police force’s Internal Affairs Directorate, penalize officers who do not cooperate with the it, investigate alleged abuses and delays in implementing dismissal orders, and allow outside monitoring of cases, for example by the Ombudsman Commission. Take greater steps to improve public access to complaint units, including public education about the complaints process. Consider requesting international assistance to the directorate.
• Issue a directive, from the Commissioner of Police, that possession of condoms in itself should not be construed as evidence of living on the earnings of prostitution, and explicitly prohibit police officers from interfering in HIV/AIDS education and condom distribution.
• Strengthen and expand the juvenile justice system. Gazette the volunteer juvenile court officers. Establish and fully support additional juvenile reception centers throughout the country. Add additional, qualified staff to the juvenile policy monitoring unit and expand it throughout the country. Strengthen the unit by providing hands-on training in cell inspection. The juvenile policy monitoring unit should, in turn, make more regular cell inspections, record the results of each inspection (any children detained with adults, any injured children, and action taken), and measure its success by actions taken, not by lack of cases.
• Immediately implement the 2005 Police Juvenile Justice Policy and Protocols that mandate that children be detained only in “extreme or special circumstances” and never with adults. Provide all detainees, and especially children, medical care as needed and in a timely manner. Ensure that conditions of police lockups comply with international standards, including the provision of adequate food and water, separate and sufficient bedding, and adequate bathing and sanitary facilities. Hold shift officers-in-charge to their responsibility for ensuring that the policy is followed.

Ongoing, independent monitoring of police violence is essential. The government should immediately designate an independent body outside the police force to monitor police violence against children. If the Ombudsman Commission is given this responsibility, it should also be provided with adequate resources to do so. If a Human Rights Commission or police ombudsman (recommended by the September 2004 administrative review of the police) is created, the government should consider giving one of these bodies this responsibility. However, the government should, in the meantime, make every effort to strengthen existing accountability mechanisms.

The Ombudsman Commission should continue and strengthen the work of its human rights desk, which should prioritize cases of police violence against children.

The Minister for Justice should immediately commission a committee to inquire into police violence and generate findings and recommendations to the government.

Magistrates and National Court judges should ask children who appear before them about possible police violence using the checklist developed for juvenile magistrates, order medical care when needed, and exclude evidence obtained on the basis of torture. All magistrates and judges should be trained in protocols for juveniles and be held accountable for following them. Juvenile magistrates should implement plans to visit all places where children are detained, using the new questionnaire, and follow up on problems identified during visits. More National Court judges should monitor detention under the visiting justices scheme. Magistrates and judges should never send children to institutions not approved for juveniles.

The Office of the Public Solicitor should continue to pursue cases of police misconduct and strengthen the unit responsible for constitutional claims. The government should, in turn, deduct successful claims against the state from the budget of the department involved, and penalize officers who fail to cooperate with investigations. Measures to reduce the amount paid in civil claims must not create additional impediments to legitimate claims.

The government should respond to therequest of the UN special rapporteur on torture for an invitation to visit Papua New Guinea.

The government should improve access for victims of police violence to medical, legal, counseling, and other support services. Health services should include access to post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV and emergency contraception.

International donors, particularly Australia, remain critical to the police sector in Papua New Guinea, although the collapse of the Enhanced Cooperation Program in 2005 has resulted in a much-reduced level of support from Australia than previously anticipated. Papua New Guinea has been resistant to what it perceives as outside interference in the operations of its police force. Nevertheless, international donors could be more proactive, even within the constraints of the current relationship, in efforts to curb police abuses.

In particular, international donors should:

• Do more to assist the long-term development of local groups with the capacity for independent monitoring of police violence, for educating the public about police responsibilities and making vocal public demand for effective and lawful policing, and for helping victims obtain services and navigate the public complaint process.
• Continue and expand support for juvenile justice reforms.
• Prioritize accountability for police violence in any support for the police force’s internal affairs directorate.
• Ensure that assistance for reducing fraudulent claims against the state does not impede legitimate claims.
• Continue and expand support for the Ombudsman Commission, seeking creative ways to provide human resources and other forms of support where the capacity to absorb additional financial resources is strained.

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