Page 36 - IB JAN 2017

We Say
Disciplined services must be held to account

No place for ill discipline

THE appalling behaviour by members
of Papua New Guinea’s security forces
this month must be condemned by every
member of the community.
When soldiers and police officers run
amok, indiscriminately firing weapons,
how can members of the public feel
safe?
It is unacceptable in any democracy
that members of the disciplined services
should take matters – or indeed the law
– into their own hands.
Governments and the people rely on
police officers and armed troops to en-
sure national safety and security.
In this latest incident members of the
security forces and their wives have
been injured by the irresponsible actions
of a few selfish individuals.
There is little wonder that the law and
order sector in Papua New Guinea is so
weak when troops can leave their bar- Outgoing Fiji Foreign Affairs Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola with Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Australian Minister for
racks fully armed on a vengeful spree of International Development and the Pacific, at the Forum Photo: Nic Maclellan
an area populated by civilians.
How were these men able to draw
arms from what is presumably a secure
military facility?
Who gave permission for the arms to
be taken out of the barracks and onto Implicated ... We Say that PNG soldiers involved in the Boroko shooting should be brought to justice as a deterrent
the street when there was no threat to to others. Photo: File
the population? defence force. processes provided under the country’s
The incident at Boroko on January 1 Within minutes of the disarming of the constitution.
points to glaring systemic weaknesses soldier, troops from the nearby barracks What example does this give the
which exist in at least one Papua New descended on the local police station and people?
Guinea Defence Force facility. in the process shots were fired. If the soldiers felt wronged, they had
But we must remember that this is not Allegation and counter-allegation have procedures which they should have fol-
the first time PNG troops have drawn surfaced since the incident and now lowed in order to bring about a peaceful
weapons from their barracks before wives have become involved. There has resolution to the situation.
staging attacks on civilian or police been suggestion that the attack on an By mounting a fully armed response to
facilities. army wife by police officers was partly to retrieve the weapon of an officer who had
And if swift action is not taken to blame for the shooting at Boroko Station. already broken the law at least once that
remedy the situation, further violence The disciplined services must be the evening, the soldiers brought disrepute
could take place. first to uphold the law and follow due to themselves, their unit and the PNGDF.
Military and police officials have com- process. The ill-discipline within the PNGDF
menced investigations into the incident They must be a constant example to should be a matter of grave concern for
which appears to have started with an those whom the serve – members of Papua New Guinea’s leaders.
army officer being stopped on a public the public – that no individual is above There is a glaring need for an investi-
road for a routine check. the law. gation into those involved in the Boroko
The fact that the officer was carrying Too often in PNG it is members of the shooting, the command structure of the
a weapon at the time and pointed it at security forces, army and police, who local barracks, control of the armoury
police suggests that there is a real weak- become judge, jury and purveyor of and more widely the lack of discipline
ness in gun control policies within the justice with complete disregard for the within the PNGDF.
l We Say is compiled with the oversight of the editor.

36 Islands Business, January 2017