In PNG’s barbarous prisons, where is the voice of Australia?

Outside detention, the police often use excessive force, not only in dealing with crime but also in evicting residents from settlements, says Nowak.

“Excessive use of force amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In correctional institutions, those who attempt or succeed in escaping are subjected to torture upon recapture as a standard practice. This includes brutal beatings with bush knives and gun butts, shooting detainees’ legs and feet at close range and cutting their tendons with bush knives and axes after they are apprehended, with the intent of disabling them. The victims are usually kept in punishment cells without any medical treatment, which sometimes leads to their death, as at Baisu Correctional Institution near Mount Hagen.”

A lack of effective complaints mechanisms, independent investigation and monitoring and similar safeguards create an environment of impunity fueling these practices, he says.

Conditions of detention

There is a general atmosphere of violence and neglect in all police lock-ups and in many correctional institutions. Detainees had no knowledge of or trust in any complaint mechanisms available to them.

The lack of effective oversight mechanisms and the prevalence of bribery in the criminal justice system result in prolonged detention in police custody or on remand for detainees, particularly those with little money.

Lock-ups are used to keep detainees on remand for a considerable time, often for many months or even more than a year. Nowak: “I am deeply concerned about the fact that many persons suspected of having committed a criminal offence are locked up for prolonged periods in appalling conditions of detention in police custody. This practice … [is] in violation of Articles 7 and 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

Over 11 days in May this year he saw detainees locked up in overcrowded, filthy cells, without proper ventilation, natural light or access to food and water for washing, drinking and for using the toilets. In the Highlands, where temperatures can be particularly low at night, prisoners are often left without any blanket or warm clothes, while sleeping on concrete floors.

“In general, detainees were hardly ever taken out of their cells, and I found several instances where the officers on duty did not even have the keys to some of the cells, raising serious safety concerns …”

Nowak found that some prisoners were forced to urinate and defecate in plastic bags and bottles, which were then picked up by the female detainees and piled in the small common space. In all police stations, detainees had to sleep on the floor. Although some were allowed visitors, it was often only for a few minutes. Despite the very small amount of food provided to the detainees, food provided by families was often rejected.

Poor conditions and prolonged detention in lock-ups spreads cholera and other contagious diseases. “Access to medical care was generally non-existent, leading sometimes to death in police custody. In other instances, the delayed access to any medical care led to avoidable amputations and the spread of disease among the detainees. The overall impression was one of negligence.”

None of the police stations can be regarded as complying with international minimum standards for the humane treatment of detainees, but conditions in Goroka and Mount Hagen Police Stations were particularly appalling.

Those held on remand are not separated from convicted prisoners, which violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.