A/HRC/16/52/Add.5
68.
The conditions in correctional institutions were better for juveniles than for adults.
In all the facilities visited that had a juvenile section, beds and blankets were provided. In
the case of adult detainees, however, the quantity and quality of the food was inadequate. In
addition, the Special Rapporteur found some boys being held with adults, even when there
was a separate section for juveniles. Particularly worrying was that, at the Bomana
correctional institution, many of the juveniles had been remanded, in clear contravention of
the Protocol. The Special Rapporteur commends the work carried out by the Brothers of the
Sacred Heart, who run the Hohola remand centre for juveniles. The juveniles were held in a
well-equipped facility in a friendly and stimulating environment, and provided with
opportunities for education and work. The Government gives economic assistance to the
Brothers of the Sacred Heart to run Hohola, but it is insufficient. Inadequate funding was
indeed part of the reason why the other centre for remanded juveniles, the Badili Remand
Centre, had to be closed by the institution that ran it.
F.
Women
1.
Violence against women
69.
Women in Papua New Guinea have very low social status, partly due to the fact that
most communities are patriarchal, placing them at a very high risk of abuse in the domestic
and public spheres. Gender-based violence is prevalent throughout the country, and
domestic violence is widespread. These acts are, for the most part, underreported owing to
shame or fear of further violence or rejection by the communities. Little support is afforded
by the State, as there is no effective mechanism to address violence against women. In this
regard, many victims of domestic violence are not even recognized as victims by society,
and violence against women appears to be socially legitimized and accompanied by a
culture of silence and impunity.19 Of concern was the fact that many female detainees
interviewed by the Special Rapporteur had been incarcerated for crimes linked to domestic
violence and polygamy.
2.
Women in detention
70.
The Special Rapporteur was concerned to find that women were extremely
vulnerable upon arrest and in police custody. Although women were kept in separate cells,
they were not always protected against police officers or other detainees. At the Boroko
police station, for example, the Special Rapporteur was able to enter the cell without the
presence of any police officer, because there was no lock. A similar situation was found at
the Mount Hagen police station, where the Special Rapporteur also found a large quantity
of unused condoms in the Commander’s office. In general, the Special Rapporteur received
many allegations of sexual abuse and of threats of sexual abuse in exchange for release
from custody. Some officers appeared to arrest women for minor offences with the
intention of abusing them sexually. Additional allegations were received of male detainees
entering cells where women were held and engaging in acts of sexual violence. As
punishment, some women were threatened or placed in cells with male detainees for a
night, where they were subjected to collective rape. Women were also forced to perform
domestic work for officers in both police stations and correctional institutions, including
doing their laundry and making string bags (bilums) for the officers to sell. In the Mount
Hagen police station, the women also had to collect the male detainees’ plastic bags and
bottles filled with urine and excrement and wash their clothes.
19
CEDAW/C/PNG/CO/3, para. 29.
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