Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill on Wednesday apologised for violence against women in his country as he vowed to toughen penalties for offenders after a spate of horrific crimes.
The impoverished Pacific nation has proposed death by firing squad as part of stringent new measures to combat rampant violent crime which O’Neill has said is destroying the country.
Addressing some 1,000 people at Sir John Guise Stadium for a national “haus krai”, or traditional mourning period, to protest violence against women on Wednesday, the prime minister said the attacks brought shame upon the nation.
The haus krai, at which those gathered prayed for an end to violence, follows recent attacks against women including a beheading, the burning alive of a mother accused of witchcraft and the gang rape of two foreigners.
“Your government says sorry,” O’Neill said.
Opposition leader Belden Namah attended the two-day haus krai on Tuesday and said the issue crossed political lines, voicing his support for tougher measures for perpetrators of violence.
“Over the past three months, our country has witnessed innocent women and children suffering at the hands of those who do not deserve to be here on this earth,” he told the gathering, The National newspaper reported.
“I personally believe enough is enough. We need to take action.
“If there needs to be a law to be legislated, with maximum penalty to perpetrators, I stand ready to help the people.”
The death penalty is currently in place for treason, piracy and wilful murder in Papua New Guinea but has not been used since 1954, when PNG last carried out an execution.
Organiser of the haus krai Esther Igo, from the Women Arise Movement, told the newspaper that violence had reached unprecedented levels as she called on churches to help stamp out the violence.
The Catholic church has voiced strong opposition to the death penalty, preferring life imprisonment with hard labour for murder and rape.
Under the proposed legislation, PNG would also repeal its controversial Sorcery Act, meaning any black magic killing would be treated as murder, a move international human rights groups and the United Nations have lobbied for.
Papua New Guinea PM apologises for violence against women
