Police and Soldiers force HIV-positive man to have sex with two other men in Porgera

Three illegal miners in Porgera in Papua New Guinea's Enga province  have claimed that they were forced by soldiers and police officers providing security there to perform a sexual act, even though one said he was HIV-positive.

They were arrested on Nov 19 by security officers at around 6am as they were looking for gold at the open pit.

In a joint statement to Karath Mal Waka, the chairman of Human Rights Inter-Pacific Association based in Porgera, the three men (names withheld) said the security officers took them to the Kumbipara waste dump site of the mine and ordered them to have sex.

They said two vehicles loaded with soldiers and another vehicle loaded with police officers took them to Kumbipara.

Provincial police commander, acting Superintendent George Kakas said he had been informed about the incident.

He is currently out of the province and could not confirm whether the three men had lodged a complaint with the police. Mal said one of the three had told the security officers that he was HIV-positive but they still forced him at gun point to have sex with the two men.

He said later they transported the three men to the Paiam police station and locked them up without laying any charges.

Mal called on Ila Geno, an independent monitor of the police and army deployment at the mine, to investigate the matter and report it to the police commissioner. The National/One PNG