Media ignores human rights concerns as framework is discussed
ATA victims protested by putting up burners and marched to the stage at Paiam football stadium where the PM and Mark Bistow were delivering their Mine Framework Agreement on Monday, June 7. ATA protesters we then forced out of the fenced field by defence and police. The media was silent on the large presence of local protesters, and nothing was reported on the media about the ATA protest.
ATA currently does not have a copy of the Framework Agreement with GoPNG and Barrick, despite their best efforts. They were referred to the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA), to which they have submitted all a lot of documentation of human rights abuses. However, the ATA feels that they have been referred to a very junior officer within the MRA who seem not to understand how to get the government to make a policy decision to address human rights issues in Porgera.
It is ATA’s understanding that nothing in the Framework Agreement considered or addressed human rights abuse in Porgera.
