Police rampage claimed

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A human rights group in Papua New Guinea is accusing police of burning down 150 houses in a village near the Porgera Gold Mine, during an early morning raid over the weekend.

The Akali Tange Association also alleges up to eight women were gang-raped and six men beaten during the raid.

The group’s executive officer, McDiyan Robert Yapari, said police mobile squads forcefully evicted residents from Wingima village and it is the third time the village has been burnt down.

Yapari said he had been informed by a local policeman that the raid was ordered by Barrick Gold, which co-owns the Porgera Mine.

Earlier this month, the association joined calls for Canada to appoint a mining ombudsman to monitor Canadian mining companies, including Canadian company Barrick Gold, which co-owns Porgera. It said an ombudsman would finally provide some justice for victims as well as holding mining companies to account.