Court dedicated to deal with GBV, sorcery, cases to be set up in Port Moresby

 News that matter in Papua New Guinea

Image for illustration only. For image info, go to 'They just slaughter them': how sorcery violence spreads fear across Papua New Guinea - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/14/they-just-slaughter-them-how-sorcery-violence-spreads-fear-across-papua-new-guinea 

Court dedicated to deal with GBV, sorcery, cases to be set up in Port Moresby

PORT MORESBY: Papua New Guinea (PNG)’s Chief Magistrate Mark Pukaka told the two-day Parliamentary Inquiry Into Gender-Based Violence that a court would be set up dedicated to dealing with Gender-Based Violence (GBV) cases only.

“This will help speed up the hearing of complaints filed by GBV survivors.

“There are 42 vacancies in the magistracy to be filled. We are unable to find good candidates to fill the positions and we do not want mediocrity in our ranks,” he added.

Here are news breaks on the inquiry as reported by The National:

Special court for GBV cases

May 26, 2021The NationalMain Stories

A COURT will be dedicated to dealing with gender-based violence cases only to speed up the hearing of complaints filed by survivors, mainly women and girls, an inquiry has been told.
Chief Magistrate Mark Pukaka told the two-day inquiry conducted by a special parliamentary committee on gender-based violence (GBV) that the magistracy, which still has 42 vacancies, needed to beef up its capacity.
“We cannot find good candidates to fill these positions (and that is basically because) we don’t want mediocrity in our ranks,” he said.
“We need to look at remuneration to encourage good candidates.”
Chief Magistrate Pukaka said his team of magistrates would hear so many cases a day, including GBV ones.
The committee chaired by Alotau MP Charles Abel had been trying to find out why many GBV cases were held up in the court system, and if the magistracy had been facing problems in administering the district court system.
Chief Magistrate Pakuka said the magistracy had a chief magistrate, two deputy chief magistrates and 124 paid positions.
But it still has 42 positions to fill.
Deputy inquiry chairman Allan Bird asked him whether things would improve in the magistracy if it was provided the right staffing to reassure women and children that they would be able to access responsive GBV protection services.

Senior Magistrate Tracy Ganaii at the Special Parliamentary Committee on Gender-Based Violence Public Inquiry at APEC Haus. – Nationalpic by KENNEDY BANI

CM Pakuka said he was not in a position to give any guarantee.
“Numbers alone would not necessarily give the results,” he said.
“Criminal cases stand on three legs: the police, magistrate and defendant.
“The time it takes the police to return to court with the completed file is (how long) it takes.”
Senior Magistrate Tracy Ganaii said there was a shortage of magistrates to process the interim protection orders (IPO) for GBV cases.
She told the inquiry that the turnaround time for IPOs was one day but it depended heavily on which courts the magistrates preside in.
Family Court Magistrate Rosie Johnson said the hearing of cases depended on the availability of completed police files.
“We are not giving special attention to (GBV cases), attending to interim protection orders,” she said.
“The solution is to (provide) a standalone Family Court where it is safe for victims of GBV to come to.”
The parliamentary committee agreed that support would be provided to the Magisterial Service family safe court concept to be piloted in the National Capital District and Goroka District.

No withdrawal of cases

May 26, 2021The NationalMain Stories

Reports by LULU MARK and MIRIAM ZARRIGA
GENDER-based violence cases filed for prosecution will not be withdrawn, even if an offer of compensation is made, says Public Prosecutor Pondros Kaluwin.
“We do not allow compensation,” he told an inquiry by a special parliamentary committee into gender-based violence (GBV) yesterday in Port Moresby.
He said compensation payments had led to cases being stopped from going to court.
“When money changes hands, it interferes with the prosecution of cases in relation to GBV,” he said.
“Some women will lodge a GBV case and then try to withdraw it.
“This is not legal. My team will not accept that because by law, GBV cases cannot be withdrawn except by the public prosecutor.”
Kaluwin said some cases could not proceed when witnesses to, and survivors of, GBV cases failed to show up.
“Legally, we have recourse to summon these people. But sometimes they just disappear,” he said.
“Sometimes even the parents refuse to testify for their children.
“Some will come to court and because of what has happened since, they go into the witness box and lie.
“These are the realities of what happens in court.
“Even though they saw what happened, they will say that they did not see.”
Kaluwin pointed out that in some cases of alleged rape, the man and woman would marry during the course of the proceedings, forcing the prosecution to reassess the case.
“The prosecution have to weigh the public interest when prosecuting GBV cases,” he said.
Kaluwin told the inquiry that 44 lawyers, half of whom were women, worked in his office.
“We have a Family Sexual Offences Unit but it is based only in Waigani.
“In some provinces, we have only lawyer stationed there, responsible for all cases.”
If he has his way, he would have five lawyers based in each provincial centre, with three in smaller areas.
National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop was concerned that police prosecutors had GBV cases heard in the district courts where a lot of the cases failed.

Address sorcery, state told

May 26, 2021The NationalMain Stories

 

THE Government must step up efforts to address sorcery accusation-related violence (Sarv) to assist non-government organisations in dealing with the problem, says Lutheran missionary Anton Lutz.
He told a special parliamentary committee on gender-based violence that when a woman was accused of sorcery, the community would turn against her leaving only one or two to help her.
He said the churches were doing all they could but their efforts were not enough given the magnitude of the problem.
“This is not (only the churches’) work but also the work of the nation,” he said.
Lutz called on the Government to set a standard on how police and health workers should respond to Sarv cases, such the service to be immediately provided and the time for police to arrive at the village. Lutz told of how he was attending to a woman who had been tortured in Enga while a few kilometres away a political rally was being held.
He saw politicians flying in and out in helicopters under police escort.
“This woman was being tortured and I can’t get someone to help get her to a hospital.
“The public servants of this country must start serving this country.”
It needs to be impressed on young people that sorcery was not real and violence based on it was unacceptable, he said.
He said the fear of sorcery was impeding national growth and development hence it was a concern that needed Government intervention.