RSS Feed
April 11th, 2013 
Peter Nolan Belief in sorcery and witchcraft is widespread in the poverty-stricken Pacific nation, where unexplained deaths – particularly of children – can often lead to accusations of sorcery. Frequently, the alleged sorcerers are reportedly targeted on the basis of personal vendettas.
Amnesty said it was “extremely concerned” about the three women held captive and urged the local police on Bougainville island to intervene. The group issued a petition demanding police “use all available resources to save this woman’s life; and also that PNG authorities bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice and fast-track the reform of laws that condone this violence.”
Local media said Nikono Rumbali and her daughters have been tortured – and a mob tried to decapitate the mother – but the three were moved to a health clinic after negotiations with community leaders.
But Bougainville police said they were not armed and have no plans to rescue the women or arrest the murderers.
“Police on Bougainville are not armed, even if we are armed there are more arms still out there,” assistant police commissioner Paul Kamuai told ABC Radio. “I have eight regular police, they do not have a proper police station, they live in the villages, so we can’t very quickly get them into a group.”
Kate Schuetze, from Amnesty, urged the government to ensure that police had adequate capability to rescue the women.
“I understand that there are limitations with resources, but it’s not an adequate excuse for government to say that they can’t protect someone’s life,” she said.
Views: 0
Posted in 
