Catholic Bishop declares war on ‘witch hunters’ in Papua New Guinea

By Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.

31 Dec 2014

 Breitbart

In Papua New Guinea, four women have been accused by other villagers of practicing black magic and may face an excruciating death, along with their thirteen children and grandchildren.

The accusations followed on a measles epidemic that recently hit the village, which, according to some of the inhabitants, is the result of a curse.
The Catholic Bishop of Wabag, Arnold Orowae, has launched a campaign against the persecution of so-called witches, and has threatened Catholics who get involved in sorcery-related attacks with excommunication.
In an interview Tuesday, Bishop Orowae expressed his disgust at people who call themselves Christians and yet spread dissension and lies linking innocent individuals to sorcery. He also said that the Catholic Church would fight against these witch hunters together with the police.
“The unethical and unlawful killing of women alleged to be witches must and will be stopped in 2015,” the bishop said.
The Bishops’ Conference of Papua New Guinea has also published an open letter in the two major Papuan dailies, to condemn the persecution of pseudo-witches.
Human Rights Watch said that violence against women in PNG “is rampant,” often involving charges of sorcery. In February, 2013, a mob in Western Highlands Province accused 20-year-old Kepari Leniata of sorcery after a six-year-old child died in her city. The mob stripped her and burned her to death as a witch. Eight other women reportedly were victims of such attacks during the course of the year.
The accused women are from the isolated Hewa area of the Enga province, a part of the country where there are no police and only a few missionaries. In the absence of decent roads, the area is accessible only by charter plane.
The dominant religion in this area is Lutheranism, but Catholics make up more than a quarter of the nation’s people, and the Church has launched an awareness campaign throughout the country, threatening to excommunicate any Catholic taking part in the torture or killing of so-called witches.
Rueben Mete, national youth director for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG, says his church is also taking a very strong stand against people attacking or killing people accused of witchcraft.
A Lutheran missionary, Rev. Lutz, said that at least 25 suspected witches were tortured and murdered in the region Hewa the past 10 years.
The Catholic Church has been fighting a deeply rooted mentality in the area that attributes natural calamities to sorcery. Last January, the Church organized a conference titled “Church and Media – A Joint Reflection on Sorcery” in Boroko, a suburb of the capital, Port Moresby.
An Italian missionary and sociologist, Fr. Franco Zocca, was keynote speaker at the conference, and discussed the Church’s attitude toward magic and sorcery, as well as the findings of the Melanesian Institute, which studies indigenous cultures of the region.
Fr. Zocca has spent years researching attitudes toward sorcery in Papua New Guinea, and told conference attendees that “only scientific enlightenment and a massive education effort can help overcome sorcery beliefs” in the country.

Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter @tdwilliamsrome

Domestic violence as a way of life: The reality for Papua New Guinea's women

Commentary

The RAND Blog

December 31, 2014

by Mahlet Woldetsadik

 

In Papua New Guinea (PNG), the South Pacific's largest island, extreme forms of gender-based violence are frequent and unpunished—and more than half of reported victims of sexual abuse are age 15 or younger.


Groups like Doctors Without Borders say the widespread abuse of women by domestic partners, criminal gang members, and even members of law enforcement across the nation of 7.3 million resembles what is observed in conflict zones. This view is supported by studies that estimate interpersonal violence, including intimate partner violence, to be far more prevalent and more costly than violence perpetuated during civil wars.
Efforts by the national government to address violence against women have been slow, due to policymakers' reluctance to acknowledge what the community considers “social” or “private” issues as public matters. Domestic violence in PNG has been trans-generational and embedded in the culture's low view of women's place in the family.
Women's status in PNG not only subjects them to harm at home but is also reflected in their poor health outcomes. WHO studies have shown that when women experience interpersonal violence, they are 16 percent more likely to bear a low birth-weight child and be at a higher risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections. PNG women also have a lower life expectancy than men, although the reverse is typically true in most countries around the world.
There is no comprehensive data that fully details the different ways women in PNG experience violence; most islanders live in remote areas where data collection has been a challenge. The available information has come from qualitative community studies by government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These data are substantiated by direct accounts from survivors and victims' families.
A 2009 study (PDF) noted that nearly two-thirds of participants said they were survivors of domestic violence. These percentages are extremely high when compared to the global average wherein 30 percent of women say they experienced intimate partner violence—the most common form of violence experienced by women—at one point in their lifetime. Most women in PNG said it was difficult to disclose abuse to family members or to report incidents to authorities because of the stigma that exists about these crimes, the lack of community support, and a weak criminal justice system.
In recent years, efforts to reduce violence against women have received greater attention from policymakers due to the work of civil society organizations interested in women's rights and increased media coverage. In 2012, 101 East, a weekly program broadcast by Al Jazeera English, featured a documentary on the plight of PNG women, exploring why so many are assaulted and highlighting community-driven recommendations to reduce the violence rates.
Most recently, Vlad Sokhin, a freelance photographer and multimedia producer, published his photo book Crying Meri, which documented gender-based violence in PNG. This two-year project was supported and showcased by groups like UN Women and Amnesty International. He worked with NGOs, local social workers, and human rights advocates to identify survivors willing to tell their stories—and most he approached agreed to be photographed, in hopes their sharing might spare their daughters and granddaughters their horrific experiences. He also photographed perpetrators who openly talked about their crimes without qualms about prosecution. The final product is a stunning compilation of harrowing pictures and short stories.
In the meantime, two dozen employees of the National Public Service, PNG's largest employer, volunteered to become role models with the goal of changing attitudes and behaviors about PNG women's rights both at the workplace and at home. These men are the faces of 19 government departments and have pledged to support the National Public Service Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Policy (PDF) by identifying loopholes in laws and policies that might deprive women from attaining justice.
There also are many PNG women, such as Monica Paulus, who work tirelessly at their own peril, to defend women's rights in their communities. Paulus' group, the Highlands Women's Human Rights Defenders Network, seeks to rescue and support women accused of the still prevalent claim of sorcery. Paulus strives to help the accused women find temporary shelter, health care, and legal help to prepare their cases for court.
Although PNG has sought to improve its criminal justice system for decades, it was only in April 2014 that lawmakers approved family protection laws first drafted in the early 1990s. Besides criminalizing domestic violence, this new legislation strengthens protection orders and instructs law enforcement authorities to aggressively pursue and prosecute family violence and sexual assault cases.
A recent report by the Lowy Institute for International Policy argues that Australia, PNG's neighbor to the south and largest aid donor and key development partner, has the opportunity and responsibility to use its aid programs to support gender rights and equity. Canberra, through bilateral agreements, can press officials in Port Moresby to give higher priority to addressing gender-based violence by identifying and strengthening weak links in PNG's legal system and by providing resources to local initiatives that support affected individuals and families.
The problem of gender-based violence against women is a persistent one in PNG, and around the world. In addition to ratifying international and national agreements that protect women from abuse, the PNG government should invest in more research so that the true extent of the problem can be captured. Moreover, local programs, especially those that actively involve men, should be encouraged and sustained.

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Mahlet Woldetsadik is an assistant policy analyst at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and a Ph.D. candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. This blog was written for the Pardee Initiative for Global Human Progress.

Don't party like it's 1999

By MALUM NALU

My mind goes back 15 years to Dec 31, 1999, Y2K year, when everyone was saying computers would go haywire and the world would end at the stroke of of midnight.
The missus and I lived in a big three-bedroom house at Rotary Park, West Goroka, and had no kids then.
An apocalyptic, surreal, silence shrouded Goroka that day as everyone stayed indoors and said their last prayers.
The hellfire and brimstone mob had been working overtime in the markets, shops, and sidewalks of our town.
Such was the end-of-the-world feeling you would have actually thought that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalyse were riding into town that day. 
I told Hula, my missus,  that if the world ended, we might as well go out it in style riding on chariots of fire, so we went to the Bird of Paradise and drank, hugged, and kissed each other as if the world would end (I'm not recommending that you drink today or am I promoting alcohol).
Even the bar at the Bird was so quiet, (on a New Year's Eve) you could have heard a pin drop, and we thought we were in some mad scene in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
That night, some of our guys from Butibam village in Lae, Egi Luther Daure, and his elder brother, David, drove down the highway from Mt Hagen in a 10-seater.
To cut a long story short, the world didn't end at midnight (contrary to what the prophets of doom and righteous brothers were preaching and singing on the streets), and on New Year's Day 2000, with the Highlands Highway being scot-free of vehicles (as Papua New Guineans, being Papua New Guineans, thought the world would end with a religious fervour), music blaring to silence any sad dirges, and eskies full of beer (our driver didn't drink), we hit Lae in a record three hours (thank to the Y2K paranoia and mass hysteria).
That's my little tumbuna story about our younger and wilder days (I'll write a book about it if I can find the time in 2015).
Happy New Year one and all, and stay sober...don't go out drinking like it's 1999...

Is Papua New Guinea descending into kleptocracy?

Note the use of "kleptocracy" to describe PNG in this article in the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday: "The recent collapse in oil prices, however, may mean that Australia will not have the luxury of ignoring the plight of Papua New Guinea, in particular, for much longer.
"Like Australia, PNG has spent the revenue of the resources boom as if it would go on forever.

"At the same time, the former Australian protectorate has been busily eroding its political and legal institutions to the point where kleptocratic behaviour has come to threaten the viability of the state itself.
"Unlike Iraq, Ukraine or China, there is no country other than Australia that the world will expect to intervene."
So what is "kleptocracy"?
According to Wikepedia:   " Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, (from Greek: κλέπτης - kleptēs, "thief"[1] and κράτος - kratos, "power, rule",[2] hence "rule by thieves") is a form of political and government corruption where the government exists to increase the personal wealth and political power of its officials and the ruling class at the expense of the wider population, often with pretense of honest service.
"This type of government is generally considered corrupt, and the mechanism of action is often embezzlement of state funds.
"While the term can be used in its literal sense to mean a society based on theft, it is more commonly used derogatorily to point out a corrupt government or ruling class."

PM says Opposition Leader does not understand global energy markets

30 December 2014 

Office of the Prime Minister

“The greatest threat to wellbeing and happiness in our country comes from people who try to create baseless fear and anxiety - simply for their own political gain,” Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said today following another repetitive news conference by the Opposition.

He raised concern at ongoing attempts to undermine the economy, harm business and destroy jobs by an Opposition with a vested interest in failure.
“At a time when the image and reputation of Papua New Guinea is improving around the world, and national pride continues to grow, there are people who will seek to rubbish the national economy for their own political gain,” O’Neill said.
“I challenge these few merchants of doom and gloom to take account of their actions and be factual in their words.
“In 2015 we need a responsible opposition that will challenge the government on policy and fact, and to have a mature discussion.”
O’Neill said the recent re-hashing of claims by the Leader of the Opposition in relation to the budget were simply wrong.
“The Opposition Leader has nothing new to say and keeps repeating the same baseless claims time-after-time. 
“His attempts to talk down the economy over the fall in oil prices is an example of irresponsible behaviour that can affect jobs and business if people were to believe him.
“While the price of oil has dropped, for the most part this will not overly affect LNG revenues as we have forward contracts in place that are set at a fixed formula. 
“These are 20-year contracts predominantly with customers in China and Japan.
“All commodity prices fluctuate depending on supply and demand. 
“Currently there is an increase in supply of oil in the market as OPEC countries are not cutting back on production. 
“As such there is an increase in supply against demand and consequently prices have dropped.
“When we prepare an annual budget this is prepared based on a long-term average of commodity prices as the basis for the assumptions in the budget forecast. 
“Therefore we believe strongly that prices will readjust as common sense in the market prevails and production is set to meet global demand.
“This really is something that a former Chairman of the IMF and World Bank Board, even though only in the job for just a few months, would have understood if they had focused on the briefings provided to him.
“Mr Polye is either confused or is deliberately misleading the market in relation to forward contacts for Papua New Guinea’s LNG sales.
“When the LNG project came online ahead of schedule this year, only the additional gas was sold at spot prices as this could not be factored into earlier contracts. 
“These additional gas sales are a bonus in revenue for the nation.
“Next year only LNG that is surplus to fixed contracts will be sold at spot prices. 
“This is smart business for any energy producing nation.
“Despite claims by Mr Polye, forward contracts will be honoured by LNG customers as they are large and reputable international companies with long-term outlooks. 
“These companies lock in long-term forward contracts in order to protect themselves from future price increases - in doing so they carry the risk that energy prices will drop. 
“This is part of the global energy business and Mr Polye either does not understand this or is playing games with Papua New Guinea’s economy.”
O’Neill called on the media to be careful and check the facts so as to not be hoodwinked into publishing baseless nonsense.
“Most media are responsible and their nation thanks them for their commitment to journalism, but there remains the odd newsperson or blogger who leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to checking facts and ensuring balance.”

Prime Minister commends Christmas behaviour, urges same for New Year

30 December 2014
Office of the Prime Minister

 Prime Minister Peter O’Neill (pictured) has commended citizens and law enforcement agencies around Papua New Guinea for a relatively safe Christmas period, and called on people to welcome the New Year with the same caution.

“We have seen people celebrating the festive season with respect for each other,” O’Neill said.
“Through well planned and implemented policing activities, together with community cooperation, for the most part people have been able to enjoy a safe Christmas
“In almost every country around the world there are law and order issues over the festive season, particularly where alcohol is involved.
"But reporting we have from around Papua New Guinea shows that despite isolated incidents, Christmas has been celebrated in good spirit.”
O'Neill said while some of the reported incidents were serious, "this is not of the scale that might have occurred in previous years".
He commended police and community leaders in working together to ensure a safer Christmas.
“A managed police presence through our cities has been effective in dealing with people who have consumed too much alcohol, or who might have had questionable intent," O'Neill said.
“At the same time, self-imposed liquor bans at a local level in some areas has reduced temptation for reckless behavior.”
O'Neill has conveyed his best wishes for people around PNG to enjoy New Years’ Eve celebrations and start 2015 on a positive and safe note.
“To all people in Papua New Guinea, I wish you a happy New Year.
"Please stay safe, look after each other, and enjoy the start of a new year for our nation.”

O’Neill welcomes re-election of Shinzo Abe in Japan

December 29,  2014 
Office of the Prime Minister

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has written to offer his congratulations to the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, following his re-election this month.
At Japan’s general election on December 14 this year, Abe’s political coalition, made up of his own Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito political party, received a two-thirds majority in the Lower House of Japan’s Parliament, called the Diet.
Abe was subsequently re-elected by the Diet and has now announced his Cabinet.
In his letter, O’Neill congratulated Abe on the large proportion of the vote received by the ruling Coalition, and highlighted the ongoing strengthening of ties between Japan and Papua New Guinea.
"Our Government has every confidence that the objectives set by Prime Minister Abe for his next term of Government will be accomplished,” he said later.
“Papua New Guinea’s trading relationship with Japan continues to expand, and in June this year we had the honor of Japan receiving our first LNG shipment.
“We anticipate that we will see our trade and investment relationship continue to grow in the coming years.
 O’Neill said Japan’s commitment to continuing to build ties with Pacific Island nations had also been enhanced under Abe’s leadership.
“Prime Minister Abe has indicated a strong desire for Japan to be active in the Pacific to increase trade and enhance development.
“This was demonstrated during the visit by Prime Minister Abe and his delegation to Papua New Guinea in July this year.
“Japan is delivering a 20 billion Yen (K428 million Kina) development package over a three year period in Papua New Guinea.
“This covers a number of initiates in areas such as education, health, infrastructure, law and order, rural development and fisheries.
“Papua New Guinea values our partnership with Japan and we look forward to this continuing to strengthen with Shinzo Abe as Japan’s Prime Minister.”
Prime Minister O’Neill said he looked forward to meeting Abe in 2015.