PNG (Papua New Guinea) committed to death penalty

GlobalPost
Enforcing the death penalty is a "necessary pathway" for Papua New Guinea's government to reduce crime, Justice Minister Kerenga Kua said in reports Friday.

Kua, who is also the Pacific nation's attorney-general, shrugged off criticism of the revival of long-dormant capital punishment, saying it was a priority for the Pacific nation if it was serious about reducing rampant crime.

"I maintain that it is the government's position that this was necessary pathway that we had to follow if we were serious about minimising law and order problems in the country," The National quoted Kua as saying.

Kua added the legislation was only directed at a small group of people and that the "mainstream of society did not need to be too concerned about the implications of the death penalty".

"If implemented properly, it should add to creating a more orderly and peaceful society that our people will enjoy," he said.

Papua New Guinea moved to revive the death penalty in May when parliament passed laws allowing execution by a range of methods, including hanging, electrocution, lethal injection, and firing squad.
The country has not carried out an execution since 1954, and inscribed the de facto moratorium into law in 1970, while keeping the death penalty on the statutes for crimes such as treason and piracy.

But parliament voted earlier this year to extend the long-dormant death penalty to cover rape, robbery and murder, drawing criticism from rights advocates around the world.

"I assure the people of PNG that we will not waver from implementing the death penalty," Kua told the house, the Post-Courier newspaper reported.

He added that a delegation had travelled abroad including to the US state of Texas, Thailand and Indonesia, to better understand how to implement the legislation.

Kua said a report from the trip had been compiled and he would assure the people of PNG "that we will be passing legislation for the extreme penalty's usage soon".

Crime in PNG is rampant, including in the capital Port Moresby where in June four Chinese nationals were hacked to death, with one reportedly beheaded and the others dismembered.

Refugees could be freed from PNG detention camp within weeks

Radio New Zeland
Asylum-seekers found to be genuine refugees could be freed from the Manus detention centre in Papua New Guinea within weeks and allowed to work according to PNG’s chief migration officer Mataio Rabura.

Mr Rabura told the newspaper, The Australian, that long-term resettlement options could include other states which participate in the UN refugee convention, including Australia.

He says his officials are in the process of working out where in PNG to house those granted refugee status.

Mr Rabura says those not granted refugee status and who have exhausted the review process would be relocated to a transit facility in Port Moresby for repatriation to their country of origin or another country where they have right of residence.

He denied there was a cap on the number of asylum-seekers Australia could send but that if the number sent to Manus reached 15,000 they would look to establish processing centres in other provinces.

The prime minister Peter O’Neill says that many of the first 140 asylum-seekers sent to Manus under the deal he struck with the Australia’s Kevin Rudd, want to be transported back to their countries of origin.