A/HRC/16/52/Add.5
any furniture. Very little daylight entered the cells. There were no functioning toilets in the
cells and the detainees have to defecate in plastic bags or urinate in plastic bottles in front
of the others, which were then pushed out of the cells into the court yard. The bags and
bottles were piled up in the courtyard, after the female detainees were forced to collect
them from the different cells. The detainees were fed rice once a day. The Special
Rapporteur found used condoms everywhere in the courtyard, and two boxes in the
Commander’s office. The Special Rapporteur was informed that police officers arrested
women and kept them for the night, exchanging sex for their release. A male police officer
was inside the female cell at the time of the visit.
During the debriefing, the Station Commander and the person in charge of the cells
confirmed that the female detainees cleaned the lock-up, including collecting the urine and
excrements and washing the male detainees’ clothes. The male detainees confirmed that the
women brought them their food. The station commander in principle acknowledged the bad
conditions of detention; however, he justified the situation by a lack of resources provided
by the Government. The lack of food was also explained by a lack of funds. Nevertheless,
family members were not allowed to provide food for detainees. The station commander
further reported that the detention block flooded with water and excrements when it rained
due to the broken sewage system.
The Special Rapporteur considers Mount hagen Police Station the worst of all detention
facilities he had visited in Papua New Guinea. He had also received numerous allegations
of beatings at Mount Hagen Police Station during his interviews with prisoners at Baisu
Correctional Facility. He urged the Government to immediately close down this inhuman
police lock-up and to take disciplinary measures against the responsible police officers.
Individual cases
Cell 1
P.D., aged 17 or 18, student, had been arrested on 25 April and taken to court on 27 April.
His next hearing would be on 27 May. Max Taki, 22 years, had been arrested on 11 April
and taken to court on 27 April. His next hearing would also be on 25 May. Hammon
Wassok, 21 years, had already been detained for six months. All 3 detainees explained that
they are locked in the cell 24 hours a day, without blankets, although it was very cold at
night. The cell was infested with mosquitoes, rats and cockroaches. The artificial light was
on all night. They could not receive family visits, and their families were chased away
when they brought food.
Cell 2
The detainees had some cartons in the cell and an old bed without a mattress. They
explained that the roof was leaking, and when it rained, the broken sewage would rise,
filling the cell with dirty water. Timothy Phieder, aged 29, had been arrested on 11
January 2010 and was taken to court three times, in March, April and May. On 25 May he
would be taken to court again. The door to the cell had been open during the previous four
days, and he was cleaning the lock-up together with the women. Mark Luk, 32 years, had
surrendered on 21 May. Phil Undaba, aged 37, confirmed that the cell would be filled with
waste when it rained. None of the three detainees had been beaten in the police station.
Cell 6
There was one detainee held alone in the cell and he appeared to be suffering under a severe
mental condition. Other detainees reported that the detainee had been in the cell for at least
three months and received medication every morning.
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