MELBOURNE, Australia: Days of tribal violence in Papua New Guinea’s mountainous interior have left more than 35 people dead, a police official said on Tuesday.
Police Assistant Commissioner Joseph Tondon in Enga province said the death toll from the violence blamed on illegal miners was still being assessed.
“There was a fierce battle on Sunday. It’s estimated 35-plus men were killed in action,” Tondon told The Associated Press.
“I’m putting all the figures together. There were some innocent bystanders also murdered,” he added.
A United Nations’ humanitarian adviser for the South Pacific island nation, Mate Bagossy, said as many as 50 people had been killed in days of violence in Enga. He had no estimate for the number of wounded and was checking with local health facilities, which he said were ill-equipped to cope with medical emergencies.
Authorities told aid agencies on Tuesday that up to 300 soldiers and police were moving to the area to restore peace, Bagossy said.
“We are not sure it’s calming. It’s not yet stabilized,” Bagossy said.
Fighting in the Porgera Valley broke out on the outskirts of Porgera town near the New Porgera gold mine, which has halted most of its operations because of the violence until at least Thursday.
Homes and businesses in Suyan village were razed in the fighting, the Post-Courier newspaper reported.
A disaster management meeting led by the Papua New Guinea’s National Disaster Center and the UN Resident Coordinator Richard Howard on Tuesday agreed to send a team to Porgera within days to assess humanitarian needs, the degree of danger and the area’s accessibility, Bagossy said.
One obstacle for responders delivering aid was that the main road to Porgera remained blocked 40 kilometers (25 miles) from town by rubble from a massive landslide on May 24. The national government estimates more than 2,000 villagers were buried and hundreds more displaced. The United Nations estimated only 670 villagers died but does not dispute that the death toll could be far higher.
Tribal warfare is a growing security problem across Papua New Guinea and is rife in Enga, where recovery has been slow since the landslide.
Bagossy did not know how many fighters were involved near Porgera, but social media video showed they were heavily armed.
“There is a combination of high-powered weapons, including assault rifles. That’s not very common yet — it’s expensive — but is becoming more and more common,” Bagossy said.
Community tensions had been simmering for some time, but the violence escalated last week.
“The reports that we got is that this was initiated as a ... relatively minor conflict between illegal miners,” Bagossy said.
“The conflict escalated into clashes between two groups and then those two groups have reportedly brought in their allies and this has caused an eruption of violence in the entire area of Porgera town and surrounds,” he added.
Days of tribal violence in Papua New Guinea leave more than 35 people dead, police say
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Days of tribal violence in Papua New Guinea leave more than 35 people dead, police say
Venezuela advances amnesty bill that could lead to mass release of political prisoners
- Such an amnesty is a central demand of the country’s opposition and human rights organizations with backing from the United States
CARACAS: Venezuela’s legislature on Thursday advanced an amnesty bill proposed by acting President Delcy Rodríguez that could lead to the release of hundreds of opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons.
Such an amnesty is a central demand of the country’s opposition and human rights organizations with backing from the United States. But the contents of the bill have not been released publicly, and rights groups have so far reacted with cautious optimism — and with demands for more information.
The bill, introduced just weeks after the US military captured then-President Nicolás Maduro, still requires a second debate that has yet to be scheduled. Once approved, it must be signed by Rodríguez before it can go into effect.
In announcing the bill late last month, Rodríguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled National Assembly would take up the legislation with urgency.
“May this law serve to heal the wounds left by the political confrontation fueled by violence and extremism,” she said in a pre-taped televised event. “May it serve to redirect justice in our country, and may it serve to redirect coexistence among Venezuelans.”
Rights groups, fearing some political detainees will be excluded, want more details about the requirements for amnesty before any final vote.
The Venezuelan Program for Education-Action in Human Rights, or PROVEA, issued a statement emphasizing that the bill must be made public urgently due to its potential impact on victims’ rights and broader Venezuelan society.
Based on what is known so far about the legislation, the amnesty would cover a broad timeline, spanning the administration of the late Hugo Chávez from 1999 to 2013 and that of his political heir, Maduro, until this year. It would exclude people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, and serious human rights violations, reports indicate.
