Papua New Guinea - 34.83
129
Culturally Pacific, Economically Subsaharan
Few colonial masters were more brutal than the one-two punch of Germany and Australia. Germany did very little to invest in any of its colonial possessions (German New Guinea was no exception) and administrative incompetence led to bureaucratic deadlock in Australia’s administration of the territory. While Britain and France at least did some work to invest in the future development of their colonies, neither Germany nor Australia had such motivation and thus, the territory that would be Papua New Guinea languished. Modern-day Papua New Guinea is a difficult country to characterize. Geographically, it is definitively Southeast Asian. While it shares a land border with Indonesia, it has significant cultural overlap with Oceania. PNG suffers from many of the same issues as significantly poorer regions of the world, seeing high rates of communicable diseases, suffering from poor infrastructure and high poverty, and struggling under an incompetent regime. This is not to say that there is nothing redeemable about Papua New Guinea. The country is relatively democratic and the government imposes few restrictions on freedom of expression. The future of the country looks bright as the new Marape administration appears significantly less corrupt and more democratic than the outgoing O’Neill administration. Additionally, Papua New Guinea’s promise to liberate the longstanding separatist region of Bougainville will resolve decades of violent tension between Bougainville’s independence movement and the Papuan government.
Human Rights - 29
Papua New Guinea has functionally abolished the death penalty. The death penalty was officially abolished in 1971 and brought back in 1991, though no executions have been carried out since. Police brutality was a major issue in PNG throughout the year. Numerous reports of arbitrary killings by police were filed and few were investigated. Police were often excessively violent in searches, frequently unnecessarily destroying property. Additionally, police often carried out strip searches without reason. Police robbery is disturbingly common. During a raid on an open-air market, police allegedly stole $23,000 in beer and $86,000 (USD equivalent) in cash from a store owner. The investigation remains ongoing. Numerous women have reported robbery and assault by police. The Ministry of Police has acknowledged that brutality is an issue and has vowed to fix it. Torture was a widespread issue in PNG. While officially illegal, individual officers often attempted to coerce confessions through torture. Sexual assault was a widespread method of torture, especially against female prisoners. Police often threatened the arrest of or violence against detainee’s family members to coerce testimonies. Prison conditions in PNG are awful. Prisons were severely overcrowded because pretrial detainees were held with convicts. Prisoners lacked adequate access to sanitation and medical facilities. Prisoners also lacked adequate access to nutritious food; the prison diet consisted primarily of ground millet and cassava gruel. Arrests were often made subjectively in a misguided attempt to mitigate prison overcrowding. Detainees were often subject to lengthy pretrial detention times and if detainees were denied bail they could remain in pretrial detention for years. Arbitrary arrest is common as police do not need a warrant or probable cause, rather only “reasonable suspicion” that a crime has been committed. Homosexuality is illegal for men and legal for women, though this law goes generally unenforced. Abortion is legal to save the woman’s life.
Democracy - 52
PNG is a commonwealth democracy, limiting its score to 95. The prime minister is officially nominated by the governor-general after parliamentary elections, but in practice is usually the leader of the majority coalition. Parliament is directly elected and in the last election cycle, no party was able to gain a majority. Electoral laws are free and fair, but several irregularities have been noted. Voter rolls were poorly maintained and many dead Papuans remained eligible to vote. Registering to vote was difficult, especially for residents of the Southern Highlands. Electoral violence in the Southern Highlands resulted in dozens of deaths and hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage. Bribery and electoral fraud were alleged but were not found to be widespread. The Electoral Commission took several months to release election results, causing renewed electoral violence in the Southern Highlands. Party formation and participation are not restricted and dozens of parties competed in the 2017 elections. Many candidates run as independents and join parties after winning seats. The illegal practice of “bulk voting” often occurs in rural villages. Villages will vote for a candidate and village leaders will fill out all ballots in the village for the same candidate. The Bougainvillean Independence Referendum was generally considered free and fair. The government of Papua New Guinea respected Bougainville’s bid for independence and plans to grant Bougainville independence by 2027.
Freedom - 62
Government-owned media is strictly regulated and does not criticize the government. Several journalists were fired for reporting on the COVID pandemic in the country. Demonstration permits must be obtained fourteen days in advance and such permits are often denied. Drug possession is punishable by life in prison. No new gun ownership licenses have been issued since 2017 but gun ownership licenses issued before 2017 have been grandfathered in.
Economy - 20
Health - 9
Papua New Guinea has a life expectancy of 65 years and an infant mortality rate of 3.8%. 21.3% of Papuans are obese and 21.8% are malnourished. Some one in three Papuan children are malnourished. PNG struggles with healthcare access, as modern medicine is difficult to obtain outside of Port Moresby. Many rural Papuans lack any access to modern medicine of any kind. 17.9% of Papuans have access to clean, running water. Only 40% of Papuans have access to clean drinking water and of this 40% most do not have access within their homes. PNG has major problems with mosquito-borne illnesses, namely malaria. PNG has major problems with cholera.
Corruption - 1
Corruption affects all levels of Papuan society. Judicial verdicts are bought and sold and detainees can pay bribes to skip lengthy pretrial wait times. Police extortion, and often outright theft, are rampant. Public services must be bribed into action where they are available at all. Land rights are not adequately protected. Public contracts are impossible to obtain without corruption. Politicians at all levels of society participate in shady dealings. Former Prime Minister O’Neill is currently under investigation for a $14,000,000 generator purchase from an Israeli firm.
Competency - 1
The government is failing to provide for the people as significant portions of the country lack access to even the most basic of social services. Elections in the country are very poorly managed, to the detriment of the country’s credibility as a democracy. Disease is rampant. Corruption is endemic and poses a major obstacle to development.
Future - 77
Prior to COVID, the Papuan economy was growing rapidly and despite a minor hit due to the pandemic it is likely to recover quickly. The Marape administration is significantly less corrupt and more democratic than the proceeding O’Neill administration, spelling a bright future for the country.
Actions Abroad - 70
PNG is a member of the commonwealth of nations. PNG receives large amounts of foreign aid from the United States and China. PNG is generally isolationist and maintains good relations with most nations.
38% of Papuans live below the international poverty line and 39.9% live below the national poverty line. 2.74% of Papuans are unemployed but a significant portion of the population are subsistence farmers. PNG has a high economic disparity. The minimum wage in PNG is $141 per month. PNG has a weak universal healthcare system and access to healthcare of any kind is severely limited outside of Port Moresby. Many rural Papuans lack any access to modern medicine. Most wealthy Papuans travel to Australia for healthcare. The Papuan economy shrunk 3.9% in 2020 and grew 5.9% in 2019.