SPECIAL REPORT: By Scott Waide, RNZ Pacific PNG correspondent

The nauseating stench of dried blood hung in the air as we arrived in Karida village, a few kilometers outside of Tari in Papua New Guinea’s Hela province.

Through the landcruiser window, I could see two men carrying a corpse wrapped in blue cloth and a tarpaulin. They were walking towards the hastily dug graveyard.

This was July 2019.

A longstanding tribal fight by various factions in the Tagali area of the Hela province had triggered this attack. Several armed men came at dawn. The residents, mostly women and children, bore the brunt of the brutality.

The then Provincial Administrator, William Bando, advised us against travelling alone when we arrived in Tari. He requested a section of the PNG Defence Force to take us to Karida where the killings had happened less than 24 hours before.

Two men carrying the corpse, hesitated as we arrived with the soldiers. One of the soldiers ordered the men to disarm. The others who carried weapons fled into the nearby bush.

On the side of the road, the bodies of 15 women and one man lay tightly wrapped in cloth. The older men and women came out to meet the soldiers.

The village chief, Hokoko Minape, distraught by the unimaginable loss, wept beside the vehicle as he tried to explain what had happened.

“This, I have never seen in my life. This is new,” he said in Tok Pisin.

Complexity of tribal conflicts and media attention
For an outsider, the roots of tribal conflicts in Papua New Guinea are difficult to understand. There are myriad factors at play, including the province, district, tribe, clan and customs.

But what’s visible is the violence.

The conflicts are usually reported on when large numbers of people are killed. The intense media focus lasts for days . . . maybe a month . . . and then, news priorities shift in the daily grind of local and international coverage.

Some conflicts rage for years and sporadic payback killings continue. It is subtle as it doesn’t attract national attention. It is insidious and cancerous — slowly destroying families and communities. In many instances, police record the one off murders as the result of alcohol related brawls or some other cause.

The tensions simmer just below boiling point. But it affects the education of children and dictates where people congregate and who they associate with.

Although, the villagers at Karida were not directly involved in the fighting, they were accused of providing refuge to people who fled from neighboring villagers. The attackers came looking for the refugees and found women and children instead.

The Deputy Commissioner for Police responsible for specialist operations, Donald Yamasombi, who has personally investigated instances of arms smuggling, said the traditional trade of drugs for guns along the eastern and southern borders of Papua New Guinea is largely a thing of the past.

“People are paying cash for guns. They are bringing in the weapons and then legitimising them through licensing,” Yamasombi said. “The businessmen who fund them actually run legitimate businesses.”

The involvement of political players is a subject many will state only behind closed doors.

In the highlands, the hire men are a recent addition to the complex socio-political ecosystem of tribal and national politics. Political power and money have come to determine how hire men are used during elections. They are tools of intimidation and coercion. The occupation is a lucrative means of money making during what is supposed to be a “free and fair” electoral process.

“Money drives people to fight,” Yamasombi said. “Without the source of money, there would be no incentive. There is incentive to fight.”

Rules of war
At the end of elections, the hire men usually end up back in the communities and continue the cycle of violence.

In February, Papua New Guineans on social media watched in horror as the death toll from a tribal clash in Enga province rose from a few dozen to 70 in a space of a few hours as police retrieved bodies from nearby bushes.

The majority of the men killed were members of a tribe who had been ambushed as they staged an attack.

Traditional Engan society is highly structured. The Enga cultural center in the center of Wabag town, the Take Anda, documents the rules of war that dictated the conduct of warriors.

Traditionally, mass killings or killings in general were avoided. The economic cost of reparations were too high, the ongoing conflicts were always hard to manage and were, obviously, detrimental to both parties in the long run.

Engans, who I spoke to on the condition of anonymity, said high powered guns had changed the traditional dynamics.

Chiefs and elders who once commanded power and status were now replaced by younger men with money and the means to buy and own weapons. This has had a direct influence on provincial and national politics as well as traditional governance structures.

The unusual level of violence and the use of guns left many Papua New Guineans confused. Milne Bay province, widely known as a peaceful tourism hub, suffered a massive PR hit with embassies issuing travel warnings to their citizens.

In Pindiu, Morobe province, the widespread use of homemade weapons resulted in the deaths of a local peace officer and women and children in a long running conflict in 2015.

The Morobe Provincial Government sent mediators to Pindiu to facilitate peace negotiations. Provincial and national government are usually hesitant to intervene directly in tribal conflicts by arresting the perpetrators of violence.

This is largely due to the government’s inability to maintain security presence in tribal fighting areas for long periods.

Angoram killings
Two weeks ago, 26 women and children were killed in yet another attack in Angoram, East Sepik.

Five people have been arrested over the killings. But locals who did not wish to be named said the ring leaders of the gang of 30 are still at large.

Angoram is a classic example of a district that is difficult to police.

The villages are spread out over the vast wetlands of the Sepik River. While additional police from Wewak have been deployed, there is no real guarantee that the men and women who witnessed the violence will be protected if they choose to testify in court.

Will new legislations and policy help?
The Enga massacre dominated the February sitting of Parliament. Recent changes were made to gun laws and stricter penalties prescribed. But while legislators have responded, enforcement remains weak.

The killers of the 16 people at Karida remain at large. Many of those responsible for the massacre in Enga have not been arrested even with widely circulated video footage available on social media.

In April, the EU, UN and the PNG government hosted a seminar aimed at formulating a national gun control policy.

The seminar revisited recommendations made by former PNG Defence Force Commander, retired Major-General Jerry Singirok.

One of the recommendations was for the licensing powers of the Police Commissioner as Registrar of Firearms to be taken away and for a mechanism to buy back firearms in the community.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

At least 32 people have been killed in an all-out war between Kulumata and Kuboma tribes in Milne Bay’s Kiriwina island.

Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr confirmed that the killings had erupted early last month after yam gardens were destroyed.

“A police team from Port Moresby was deployed yesterday morning to the island to contain and manage the raging war,” he said.

“The Commissioner of Police David Manning is in charge of the operations and directives.

“He has advised me that he is taking swift and appropriate action.

“Police will help forge peace,” he added.

According to sources on the ground, the fight started in early September when a man from Kuboma tribe was killed in a fight over a soccer game in the remote Trobriand archipelago.

Situation still tense
The situation has remained tense since then and escalated on Monday, when the Kuboma villagers (seven villages inland that include Bwetalu, Yalaka, Buduwalaka, Kuluwa, Luya, Wabutuma and Gumilababa villages) allegedly destroyed all the yam gardens of the Kulumata villages (Kavataria, Mulosaida and Orabesi villages).

The Kulumata villagers went up to the station to demand answers from the district development authority on why their yam gardens were destroyed and for authorities to address the situation when they were attacked by the Kuboma villagers who were already there waiting for them.

All-out tribal warfare with traditional spears and bush knives broke out between the two parties, that led to 26 people being killed from the Kuboma side and about six people killed from the Kulumata side.

Another source said it was “frightening to see such violence on their island” that is locally known or dubbed as the “island of love”.

“Tribal fighting has always been part of our lives and culture.

“But normally when someone got killed, the fighting stopped, they cease fire and start the traditional process of dealing with the death, and they do not just continue fighting like this.

“The Kulumata and the Kuboma people are all related to each other and it is heartbreaking for us as mothers, sisters, daughters to watch our people fight among themselves like this.”

“But you must also understand that our gardens are very important to us.

Painted in war colours
“Our yams are important and very valuable, to see them chopped off, destroyed — yes our men would be so angry, because we value our gardens.”

They [men] painted themselves in the traditional war colors and went up to the station to show their frustration.

When they met the other party, they started fighting, and we ran away with our children.

“They will not harm women and children but it was just too frightening to watch, so we ran away,” the source said.

Attempts to get comments from the local MP and Deputy Opposition Leader Douglas Tomuriesa was unsuccessful yesterday.

RNZ Pacific’s PNG correspondent Scott Waide said the clash during the football match five weeks ago left two people dead.

He told RNZ Pacific Waves that in this week’s retaliatory attack a 13-year-old boy was among the dead and several women were wounded.

Kiriwina Island Area Manager Nelson Tauyuwada said in the lead-up to the massacre, crops were damaged, threatening livelihoods.

Rebecca Kuku is a reporter with The National in PNG. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Port Moresby’s “amazing city” tag in Papua New Guinea is fast losing its varnish and appeal — its veneer of a modern metropolis tarnished by an ethnic underbelly that relishes criminal activity, racial violence and a tendency to unleash aggressive violent behavior at any opportune time.

Last weekend’s violence which left three people dead is the fifth such “amazing act” this year, says an exasperated Police Commissioner David Manning.

The question, raised on social media, in homes, schools, offices, among local landowners, the Motu Koitabu, and discussed in pubs and boardrooms across the city, is: “When will enough be enough?’

When will Port Moresby truly rise above its ethnic cleansing bloodbath rituals to become the modern Amazing City of cross cultures that it professes to be, and that every peace loving Papua New Guinean wants to enjoy?

A drug deal gone wrong has sparked a deadly ethnic war between Eastern Highlands and Hela province people living in Port Moresby.

Yesterday, the fight was violent around the Erima, Wildlife, 8 and 9 Mile settlement areas as pitched battles raged.

NCD Governor Powes Parkop called for calm and for peace to return, adding it is against the law to carry offensive weapons in public.

‘Leave it to police’ call
Commissioner Manning also called for calm and for the warring parties to lay down their arms and let police investigate the killings.

As of last night, three men were dead and six wounded who were being treated at the Port Moresby General Hospital.

Last night, Gordon, Erima, Wildlife, 8 and 9 Mile were tense with police patrols keeping a close watch on those areas.

The ethnic clash, the fifth so far this year, is putting a huge dent on the National Capital Diustrict Commission’s (NCDC) effort to promote the capital city’s image as “Amazing Moresby”.

On social media, angry residents have taken not so kindly to the fighting with many urging the government to clamp down on ethnic groups from the Highlands by returning all settlers back to their province of origin.

The Vagrancy Act, which enables police to evict illegal settlers in the city, was thrown out at Independence, which has led to a growing settlement population in the city.

But fed up Motu Koitabu landowners and angry residents want the city cleaned up.

A call for martial law
One commentator even called for martial law to be enacted and the city cleaned of all illegal settlers.

The flare-up between men from the Eastern Highlands and Hela provinces has sent innocent women and children scattering for cover and refuge.

It is alleged the death of a man from Eastern Highlands during a drug deal is said to have started the fight. The police, however, cannot say much, but could only confirm that an investigation has commenced on the issue.

The roads around Erima and 9 Mile saw men and women running with offensive weapons.

While police tried their best to make their presence felt during the chaos, they were outnumbered as scores of men continued to fight.

Commissioner Manning said that any ethnic clashes at other major centres in the country were “unnecessary” and “unfortunate”.

“It is concerning how people can employ their tribal tactics and think that they can clash with other groups in the cities and towns,” he said.

These ethnic clashes are a result of a lack of appropriate policing interventions.

Why have settlements grown?
Furthermore, there are a lot of discussions on why we have allowed settlements to grow in the last two to three decades and whether those settlements contribute to these ethnic clashes, he added.

Meanwhile, NCD Governor Parkop warned city residents carrying weapons who have gone unnoticed.

Bows and arrows, machetes, iron bars, stones and other dangerous weapons were seen publicly yesterday at the Gordon bus stop and Erima with the ethnic clash still tense with police continuously patrolling the area.

City Manager Ravu Frank said this kind of behaviour was illegal. Unfortunately, lives have been lost. City residents have to move around freely and not be in fear of their safety.

The parties concerned must air their grievances to police.

Commissioner Manning said ethnic clashes were no longer restricted to rural centres and it had greater impact on everyone’s lives and gave concern to a lot of people, especially government and police when it happened in the urban environment.

In 2022 alone, five ethnic clashes have erupted between different groups — mostly from the Highlands region.

Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz