Australian aid to PNG must also foster human rights
PHILIP LYNCH
Last week, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Professor Manfred Nowak, released a preliminary report following a fact-finding mission to Papua New Guinea. In a country just 150 kilometres north of Australia, the independent and highly regarded international law expert expressed serious concern about widespread and grave human rights violations. Among other abuses, he highlighted the "regular practice" of police violence, often amounting to torture. He also expressed alarm at the level of entrenched gender discrimination and violence, stating that "women in Papua New Guinea hold a very low status in society, placing them at a very high risk of abuse both in the domestic and in the public sphere".
During his mission, the Special Rapporteur was able to conduct unannounced visits to places of detention and to interview detainees in private. What he found was, in his words, "appalling". His preliminary report details evidence of systematic torture and ill-treatment in places of detention, including "overcrowded, filthy cells, without proper ventilation, natural light or access to food and water". He lamented the "insufficient or totally non-existent" access to medical care in detention facilities, particularly for people with mental illness or disability.
Perhaps most disturbingly, the Special Rapporteur's assessment of the prospects for self-initiated progress in Papua New Guinea appears bleak. He identified a "high level of corruption and unprofessionalism" among law enforcement and correctional authorities and a weak commitment to the rule of law. He further identified a culture of impunity, stemming from a "lack of effective complaints mechanisms and independent investigation and monitoring safeguards".
Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have expressed similar concerns in recent reports regarding police brutality against children and rampant violence against women.
The Special Rapporteur's preliminary report contains a number of concrete recommendations for domestic reform in Papua New Guinea, which should be implemented as a matter of urgency. It also contains a critical recommendation for the international community, namely that the "international donor community considers the protection of human rights" as "the highest priority" in engaging with Papua New Guinea.
This recommendation is particularly apposite to Australia for at least three reasons.
First, on May 24, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith announced that the government would review the PNG-Australia Development Co-operation Treaty over the coming months. The treaty underpins Australia's aid and development program in PNG and has not been reviewed since 2004. The review is a significant opportunity for the government to commit to the promotion and protection of human rights as the primary goal and instrument of Australia's development co-operation with Papua New Guinea.
Second, a recent report of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade on Australia's role in promoting human rights in the Asia-Pacific recommended that AusAID "adopt a human rights-based approach to the planning and implementation of development projects". This recommendation was underpinned by evidence that development and human rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing, and that a human rights-based approach can enhance program effectiveness and efficiency. Both the Overseas Development Institute and the OECD Development Assistance Committee have identified that the integration of human rights in all aspects of aid programming can deliver more effective, sustainable and value-for-money development outcomes. The prioritisation of human rights as a key aim and instrument of Australia's development co-operation with PNG would be consistent with the Government's commitment to strengthen the effectiveness of Australia's aid program.
Third, making human rights a core part of doing business with Papua New Guinea would constitute a concrete advancement of the government's April 2010 commitment to "improve the protection and promotion of human rights within our region and around the world". It would also give substance to the government's pledge, in the context of our UN Security Council candidacy for 2013-14, to act as a "principled advocate of human rights for all".
The Joint Standing Committee's recent report identified the Asia-Pacific as a "diverse and complex region with a mosaic of human rights challenges". It found that there is a "clear need to enhance mechanisms to protect human rights and to redress human rights violations" and that Australia has a "significant role to play" in the region. Nowhere are the human rights challenges more acute, and nowhere does Australia have a more significant role to play, than in Papua New Guinea.
The government's response to the PNG-Australia Development Co-operation Treaty Review is a significant opportunity for Australia to enhance aid effectiveness, demonstrate leadership on human rights in the Asia-Pacific, and contribute to the realisation of human rights in Papua New Guinea in practical and effective ways.
Last week, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Professor Manfred Nowak, released a preliminary report following a fact-finding mission to Papua New Guinea. In a country just 150 kilometres north of Australia, the independent and highly regarded international law expert expressed serious concern about widespread and grave human rights violations. Among other abuses, he highlighted the "regular practice" of police violence, often amounting to torture. He also expressed alarm at the level of entrenched gender discrimination and violence, stating that "women in Papua New Guinea hold a very low status in society, placing them at a very high risk of abuse both in the domestic and in the public sphere".
During his mission, the Special Rapporteur was able to conduct unannounced visits to places of detention and to interview detainees in private. What he found was, in his words, "appalling". His preliminary report details evidence of systematic torture and ill-treatment in places of detention, including "overcrowded, filthy cells, without proper ventilation, natural light or access to food and water". He lamented the "insufficient or totally non-existent" access to medical care in detention facilities, particularly for people with mental illness or disability.
Perhaps most disturbingly, the Special Rapporteur's assessment of the prospects for self-initiated progress in Papua New Guinea appears bleak. He identified a "high level of corruption and unprofessionalism" among law enforcement and correctional authorities and a weak commitment to the rule of law. He further identified a culture of impunity, stemming from a "lack of effective complaints mechanisms and independent investigation and monitoring safeguards".
Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have expressed similar concerns in recent reports regarding police brutality against children and rampant violence against women.
The Special Rapporteur's preliminary report contains a number of concrete recommendations for domestic reform in Papua New Guinea, which should be implemented as a matter of urgency. It also contains a critical recommendation for the international community, namely that the "international donor community considers the protection of human rights" as "the highest priority" in engaging with Papua New Guinea.
This recommendation is particularly apposite to Australia for at least three reasons.
First, on May 24, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith announced that the government would review the PNG-Australia Development Co-operation Treaty over the coming months. The treaty underpins Australia's aid and development program in PNG and has not been reviewed since 2004. The review is a significant opportunity for the government to commit to the promotion and protection of human rights as the primary goal and instrument of Australia's development co-operation with Papua New Guinea.
Second, a recent report of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade on Australia's role in promoting human rights in the Asia-Pacific recommended that AusAID "adopt a human rights-based approach to the planning and implementation of development projects". This recommendation was underpinned by evidence that development and human rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing, and that a human rights-based approach can enhance program effectiveness and efficiency. Both the Overseas Development Institute and the OECD Development Assistance Committee have identified that the integration of human rights in all aspects of aid programming can deliver more effective, sustainable and value-for-money development outcomes. The prioritisation of human rights as a key aim and instrument of Australia's development co-operation with PNG would be consistent with the Government's commitment to strengthen the effectiveness of Australia's aid program.
Third, making human rights a core part of doing business with Papua New Guinea would constitute a concrete advancement of the government's April 2010 commitment to "improve the protection and promotion of human rights within our region and around the world". It would also give substance to the government's pledge, in the context of our UN Security Council candidacy for 2013-14, to act as a "principled advocate of human rights for all".
The Joint Standing Committee's recent report identified the Asia-Pacific as a "diverse and complex region with a mosaic of human rights challenges". It found that there is a "clear need to enhance mechanisms to protect human rights and to redress human rights violations" and that Australia has a "significant role to play" in the region. Nowhere are the human rights challenges more acute, and nowhere does Australia have a more significant role to play, than in Papua New Guinea.
The government's response to the PNG-Australia Development Co-operation Treaty Review is a significant opportunity for Australia to enhance aid effectiveness, demonstrate leadership on human rights in the Asia-Pacific, and contribute to the realisation of human rights in Papua New Guinea in practical and effective ways.
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