A recent cash payment by the state for the release of three hostages held captive by armed gunmen in Papua New Guinea’s Southern Highlands province has set a “dangerous precedent”, says the opposition.

Deputy opposition leader Douglas Tomuriesa said in a statement that the Marape government had set a bad precedent in allowing ransom money to be paid to the kidnappers for the release of the three hostages late last month instead of eliminating the gunmen.

The shadow treasurer said that thankfully the three captives had been set free without any harm but he expressed sadness that such a bad precedent had been set for the country which was likely to spur similar hostage-taking incidents in future.

Tomuriesa said since the hostages were now free, Police Commissioner David Manning must ensure that the culprits would be brought to justice and face the full force of the law.

He said it was “shameful” that the Prime Minister had contradicted his Police Commissioner by initially denying that any ransom had been paid.

“I now demand the Prime Minister tell the truth and reveal the actual amount of ransom paid to the criminals and why a third party was involved,” Tomuriesa said.

One of three women captives was released on February 23 while the other two were released with Australia-based New Zealand academic Professor Bryce Barker on February 26 after K100,000 (NZ$46,000) had been paid, according to one news report.

“If all the government can do is pay ransom to terrorists, then PNG can forget about promoting tourism and foreign investment in the country as investors will view the country as too dangerous.

“By very quickly resorting to allowing payment of ransom money, the government has now realised that the PNG police and military are very ill-equipped to deal with a dangerous hostage-taking situation.

“The whole country will remain at risk unless the gunmen are made to surrender all their guns, including the high-powered machines stolen from the PNG Defence Force armoury.”

Tomuriesa said the government must now seek specialised training and assistance from friendly countries like Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, or the United States to establish and train a special task force for the PNG police and military.

The special force would need to be capable of undertaking search and rescue operations should similar hostage-taking situations arise in future.

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

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Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape has revealed that about K100,000 (about NZ$46,000) was paid to the kidnappers for the release of the three remaining hostages in the Bosavi mountains in the Southern Highlands province at the weekend.

The three hostages, an Australian-resident New Zealand professor and his two female colleagues, were set free yesterday.

In a news conference today, Prime Minister Marape clarified that the money was given through community leaders for the release of the hostages.

”There was no K3.5 million paid [NZ$1.6 million — the original kidnappers’ demand]. The liaison money exchanged was K100,000 paid through the community leaders for a liaison to take place.

“The demand was very high and they maintained it all the way through, but we had to break the ice and ensure the safe return of the captives,” said Marape.

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Prime Minister James Marape has urged armed captors to free the remaining four hostages which includes an Australian-based New Zealand professor, following the release of a local woman and three local guides.

“These are citizens of our country and a friend of our country. Let’s settle this the Melanesian way,” Marape said.

“We know who you are.”

Marape, who is in Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum “unity” summit this week, said the full names and pictures of the 13 people involved in the kidnapping were with police.

“[You have] been identified. So release the [remaining] four hostages,” he said.

The armed men, reported to be from Hela, kidnapped the seven researchers and guides on Sunday for a cash ransom at Fogomaiyu village near Mt Bosavi on the border of Southern Highlands and Hela.

The PNG woman was released with the four local guides.

One guide stays with professor
But one guide chose to remain with the professor, who is a permanent resident of Australia and teaches at the University of Southern Queensland.

The seven included a female staff of the National Museum, a Woman Leader Network member, an anthropology graduate of the University of Papua New Guinea, who is doing field work with the professor, and four local guides.

Marape called on the kidnappers, who were known to authorities, to release the four remaining hostages.

Marape said that the hostages were well.

“We are working with locals in the area as intermediaries to negotiate the safe release of the four,” he said.

Second such incident
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso said this was the second such incident to happen in the area.

“It is not an organised crime, but a group of opportunists, who are heavily involved in the guns and drugs trade in the region who are doing this. It was a chance encounter,” he said.

“The safety of the remaining four people still held as hostages remain paramount.

“We are negotiating for their safe release.”

Deputy Police Commissioner Dr Philip Mitna said police were talking to the armed men through intermediaries.

“We are treating the matter as serious,” he said.

Rebecca Kuku is a reporter for The National. Republished with permission.

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As day five dawned in Papua New Guinea’s kidnapping drama, the family of one of the four hostages captives — one of three women held in the Bosavi mountains, Southern Highlands province — was relieved she was set free yesterday afternoon.

The Post-Courier was reliably informed of the release by the gunmen, with Police Commissioner David Manning confirming the news.

“The release of one female Papua New Guinean captive is a positive outcome, and negotiations continue for the safe release of the remaining two female Papua New Guineans and the male New Zealand citizen,” Commissioner Manning said.

“From the information that we have received, the remaining three captives are in reasonable health, though [they] are being held in difficult terrain.

“We are continuing to work to strengthen lines of communication, which remains a challenging aspect of this operation.

“I will not go into deeper details at this point as this is an ongoing operation. The priority for police is to resolve this situation and return the remaining captives safely to their families.

“Negotiations are being undertaken with care so as to seek a peaceful resolution and minimise an escalation of tensions.”

Ten accused identified
Ten men from five clans in Komo LLG, Hela province, have been identified as the alleged kidnappers of the Australian-based New Zealand researcher and the three PNG women.

The Post-Courier understands that the men are from the clans of Pina, Hetaruku, Pi, Alo, Taburuma, and Hambuali.

Replying to questions raised by the Post-Courier, Commissioner Manning said: “We are working to negotiate an outcome.

“We are satisfied with the amount of information that we are receiving, pointing us to the area where they are kept and the identity of their captors,” he said.

“It is our intent to ensure the safe release of all and their safe return to their families. However, we also have contingencies if negotiations fail.

“At the end of the day, we are dealing with a criminal gang with no other established motive but greed.

“It is in everyone’s interest to ensure [that] we progress this effort as responsibly and safely as possible.

We have taken into consideration all factors and possible outcomes, we remain committed to ensuring a successful outcome.

“That being said, the group behind this abduction are aware that any harm coming to the people they are holding captive will be met with a swift security response.

“As one of the captives is a New Zealand citizen with Australian residency, the High Commissions of both countries continue to be briefed on the situation.”

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

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The Post-Courier has exclusively been advised of the release of one of the women held captive by armed men in the Bosavi mountains, Southern Highlands.

Police Commissioner David Manning confirmed with the newspaper that the woman was released yesterday afternoon with authorities working to bring her home.

“The release of one of the Papua New Guinean women is a positive outcome, and negotiations continue for the safe release of the remaining two women and the New Zealand professor,” he said.

The full story will be in the Post-Courier today.

Republished with permission.

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Papua New Guinean security forces have been authorised to use the full force of the law to secure the four captives being held hostage by an armed gang in Bosavi, Nipa-Kutubu, Southern Highlands province since Sunday.

Police Commissioner David Manning said the abductors were being offered “a way out”.

Manning described the gang as having no “established motive but greed”.

“We are working to negotiate an outcome, it is our intent to ensure the safe release of all and their safe return to their families. However, we also have contingencies if negotiations fail,” he said.

“It is in everyone’s interest to ensure we progress this effort as responsibly and safely as possible.”

The four captive researchers are reported to be an Australian anthropology professor and three PNG women.

“We have taken into consideration all factors and possible outcomes, we remain committed to ensuring a successful outcome,” said Commissioner Manning.

“We are satisfied with the amount of information that we are receiving, pointing us as to the area where they are kept and the identity of their captors.

‘Treated fairly’
“They can release their captives and they will be treated fairly through the criminal justice system, but failure to comply and resisting arrest could cost these criminals their lives.

“The full force of the law will be used to immobilise and apprehend the criminals,” Commissioner Manning said.

“Our specialised security force personnel will use whatever means necessary against the criminals, up to and including the use of lethal force, in order to provide for the safety and security of the people being held.”

Hela Governor Philip Undialu has called upon the captors of the four hostages to release them as they entered the second day of captivity.

In a response to questions by the Post-Courier, Governor Undialu said: “The location of the hostages is like two days’ walk from Komo with no communication network.

“The only access we have now is through a missionary based at Bosavi connected via a satellite phone.

“I have asked the LLG president, ward members and community leaders of Komo to find who’s missing in the community after speculation that some Komo youths are involved.

‘Act of terrorism’
“At this stage we do not have the identities of the individuals. Whatever the case maybe, no one has any right to abduct, kidnap, hold them hostage and ask for cash payment.

“This is an act of terrorism, like we hear of in other countries. Law enforcement agencies must take this seriously and deal with such crimes appropriately.”

His response comes after police said the armed men were allegedly from Komo in Hela.

He said that the situation was being closely monitored by the government.

Prime Minister James Marape, who is in Suva for the Pacific Islands Forum “unity” summit, has also confirmed that security personnel were monitoring the situation.

Across the nation, many people in the country have condemned the actions of the 21 men who are holding the four researchers hostage.

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

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A West Papuan independence movement leader, Benny Wenda, says the release of New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens held hostage by armed rebels is out of his hands.

The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) fighters kidnapped Mehrtens on February 7 after he landed a small commercial passenger plane in Nduga regency.

The group then burned the Indonesian-owned Susi Air plane and demanded the New Zealand government negotiate directly for Merhtens’ release.

Exiled Wenda is president of the peaceful United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).

He told RNZ Pacific he did not condone the actions of the liberation army rebels and had called for them to release the pilot peacefully.

He said he sympathised with the New Zealand people and Merhtens’ family but insisted the situation was a result of Indonesia’s refusal to allow the UN Human Rights Commissioner to visit West Papua.

“Because the place where it’s actually happening is where hundreds of thousands [of indigenous Papuans] have been displaced from 2018 up to now — in Nduga, Intan Jaya, Mybrat and also Oksibil,” Wenda said.

‘Warning to Indonesia’
“So this happening right now is a warning to Indonesia to let the UN High Commissioner visit which they have been ignoring these last three years.”

“We are not enemies [with New Zealand]. We are very good,” Wenda said.

“New Zealand is a very strong supporter of West Papua.

“I do not think the [TPNPB] group can harm the pilot unless Indonesia uses the situation to do harm. That is my concern.”

He said Indonesia should consider TPNPB’s demands.

Wenda is leading a delegation from the ULMWP that is currently in Fiji ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum.

The group has observer status in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and is lobbying to become a full member.

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

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Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

Two Papua New Guinean police vehicles travelling from Hagen to Hela in the Highlands after servicing were fired on today in a Highlands attack, with one vehicle being seized and two policemen taken captive, report local media.

The Tari-based MS9 vehicles were shot at this morning at Tindom Hill, Semin village, reports the EMTV News Facebook page.

Loop PNG also reports the attack, saying it was carried out by “disgruntled Nipa locals”.

READ MORE: Mendi in chaos after renewed political violence erupts

A seized PNG police vehicle at Semin village, Southern Highlands. Image: EMTV News Facebook

But the news website also quoted regional police chief Gideon Kauke as saying the policemen were “rescued by another unit” while their weapons and vehicles had been removed.

Kauke said the police were “regrouping” and deciding on the next course of action.

-Partners-

EMTV News said the first vehicle, driven by the MS9 commander, escaped with a flat tyre. The second vehicle was driven by two other police officers and three assault rifles had been seized.

Hela police chief Martin Lakari had appealed to Southern Highlands people to release the officers and the state vehicles.

Deputy Police Commissioner Operations Jim Andrews confirmed police were holding talks with locals to negotiate the return of vehicles and weapons.

Loop PNG reported the tribesmen were upset over Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s government decision on Friday to suspend the Southern Highlands provincial government following rioting in Mendi on Thursday.

Asia Pacific Report republishes EMTV News content with permission.

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