Background

HUMAN RIGHTS

KILLINGS, RAPES, MINE-RELATED DEATHS AND ARBITRARY DETENTIONS

Allegations of rapes, beatings and killings of community members by Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) security forces have been prevalent for at least a decade.
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FORCED EVICTIONS

In March 2009 the Government of Papua New Guinea”™s National Executive Council responded to a request by Member of Parliament Philip Kikala of Lagaip-Porgera by deciding to deploy military and police in a “call out” to address “law and order issues” in the vicinity of the Porgera Joint Venture gold mine.
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RESETTLEMENT

One of the primary demands of the Porgera Alliance is for the resettlement of the approximately 5,000 people who live within the Special Mining Lease area of Barrick Gold’s Porgera Mine.
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ENVIRONMENT

The Porgera Joint Venture mine empties millions of tons of tailings and mountains of waste rock directly into the nearby 800 km-long river system. The waste enters the Porgera River, which drains into the Lagaip River then into the Strickland River and eventually into the Fly River before reaching the Gulf of Papua, 800 km from the mine site. The upper reaches of the river system are fast flowing and steep while about 200 km downstream the river enters an extensive flat floodplain where it meanders. Dumping into this major river system began in 1992 and has continued unabated ever since.
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