Papua New Guinea Joint Stakeholder Submission for the United Nations Universal Periodic Review
Country: Papua New Guinea
Partners: Anti Death Penalty Asia Network, Capital Punishment Justice Project, Parliamentarians for Global Action, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Issues: Death Penalty
Mechanism: UN Universal Periodic Review
Report Type: Stakeholder Report
This submission addresses Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) progress toward the abolition of the death penalty, and the further steps it can take to consolidate these gains.
On 20 January 2022, the National Parliament of PNG passed the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act Bill 2022, which repealed the death penalty and replaced it with life imprisonment. PNG’s abolition aligns with the global trend against capital punishment, leaving Tonga as the only Pacific Island nation retaining the death penalty. This is a significant development by PNG, achieving legislative abolition at the domestic level.
However, full and irreversible abolition requires the additional step of international legal entrenchment. PNG has not yet ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (OP2-ICCPR),2 which would provide that guarantee and mitigate the risk of reintroduction by a future government – a real concern given PNG's long and inconsistent history with capital punishment. Ratification should be prioritised, followed by associated amendments to domestic legislation. This submission highlights the following issues:
- Domestic controversy and debate around the possibility of reinstating the death penalty highlights the need to mitigate the risk of reintroduction. Public support for the death penalty – particularly under the misconception that it can deter violent crime – has long been used by governments to justify the death penalty. However, this can be mitigated by raising public awareness about the ineffectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent.
- The need to ratify the OP2-ICCPR. PNG acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on 21 July 2008 and is to be commended for abolishing the death penalty in 2022. Ratifying the OP2-ICCPR would take the further step of accepting binding international law obligations against reintroducing the death penalty.
- Required amendments to domestic legislation, including the
Constitution of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea (PNG
Constitution) and the Criminal Code Act 1974, to irreversibly abolish
the death penalty at the domestic level, and as part of the post-ratification process to ensure legal conformity with the OP2-ICCPR.
