Witnesses appearing before an inquiry in recent weeks have cast the death of 4 students, killed by police in Port Moresby, in a sorry light. So far eight witnesses have testified that on the night of the 25th June riot police repeatedly fired on students, including when they were walking towards police with their hands in the air. At least 17 others were confirmed injured by gunfire.

The students were part of the Anti-Privatisation Alliance, made up of students, unions, soldiers and settlement dwellers. They had been camped peacefully outside Morauta House since the 21st June, waiting to present PM Sir Mekere Morauta with a petition to end the IMF/World Bank structural adjustment program and its privatisation of public assets, or resign. Sir Morauta has often said that the program is essential, as PNG needs the $210 million in IMF/World Bank loans and $300million in Australian aid for restructuring. Repayment of foreign aid already represents 40% of PNG's budget.

Sir Morauta appeared and accepted the protesters petition on the afternoon of Wednesday 25th June, saying he would respond the next day. Shortly after 10pm, riot police flown in from Mt Hagan in the Western Highlands (500km away) 'dispersed' two hundred peaceful students with shotguns, M16s and teargas. Police pursued fleeing students back to the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG), and shooting continued until morning.

Doctor John Luluaki, a professor of law who lives across the road from the UPNG campus testified that at about 11pm on the 25th he encountered a few hundred noisy but peaceful students near the campus, but no police. At about 2 am he "woke up to a terrible noise. He got out of the house and saw people firing into the campus and immediately knew police had arrived. The firing lasted about one and a half hours." Between 6 and 7am on the 26th, Dr Luluaki saw students, hands in the air, being shot by police. Another witness on campus Mr Kerekere said the policemen were armed with firearms, which included AR15s, M16s and SIG automatic rifles.

Police testimony

Police testimony included Acting NCD/Central Commander Geoffrey Vaki, who denied M16s were used on protesters. "If the 60 M16s present were used, nobody would have survived", he said. In Mr Vaki's opinion the use of tear gas against the crowd that night was sufficient and that any further force would have been considered an over reaction and unauthorised. The inquiry didn't enquire as to why the shooting went on for eight hours or who authorised lethal force.

Inquiry scope

The judicial inquiry is headed by retired Australian judge Sir Robert Woods, and is nearing the end of eight weeks of public hearings. An earlier coronial inquiry quickly confirmed police had shot four dead. Sir Woods has said that most importantly he, "…was being asked to make recommendations on the state of the law and procedures for such situations especially the procedures used by police in such situations." Given that Sir Morauta has admitted that corruption was endemic in all levels of society and that, "discipline is appalling in our police force and army," Sir Woods' brief is trivial. The Anti-Privatisation Alliance instead want to know who issued orders to fire on a peaceful crowd in the middle of the night, who flew the cash strapped Mt Hagen riot police 500km to the scene, and when the Australian government is going to accept some responsibility for the consequences of its actions and rethink its arm twisting over the structural adjustment program.

Police and contractors

PNG Police riot squads' usual work is protecting private and public infrastructure from criminals and neighboring landholders. They were sent to Bouganville to protect CRA's copper mine from local landholders angry about pollution. In Mt Hagen, foreign owned gold and copper mines require their services.

Big export operations discreetly support police, as well as have their own security forces. Australian ex-forces or ex-police are common employees on both sides of a grey line.

The use of contractors led to the so called Sandline affair, when regular soldiers discovered that the government had arranged for mercenaries hired through Sandline P/L to regain control of Bouganville and reopen what was the biggest copper mine in the world. Soldiers joined students and others to prevent the plan being executed, while the Australian government feigned shock and horror.

Organisers in fear

While the Woods inquiry has no interest in which police are responsible for the deaths, the student representative council of the UPNG is feeling the heat. Since they organised the sit-in, relatives of at least one dead protester have been stalking organisers. One student source believes the 'relatives' are members of Sir Morauta's party and said, "it has a demonstrated uncanny capability of murdering those who don’t comply with its whims".

Australia is the largest source of armaments for PNG, has trained much of its police force, and is home for many companies pursuing or extracting resources in PNG. The AusAid & IMF/World Bank thumb on the aid windpipe is forcing Sir Morauta down a path he knows he's unlikely to survive. Even if privatisation goes ahead, land tenure is an even bigger hurdle. With the Woods inquiry showing no interest in laying responsibility for the deaths, students and their allies know the price they are paying for control of their country.