LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The constitution provides the individual the right to “freedom of conscience, thought, and religion and the practice of his religion and beliefs, including freedom to manifest and propagate his religion and beliefs,” except where that practice infringes on another person’s rights or where it violates public laws, safety, or the welfare of marginalized groups. The preamble of the constitution refers to “our noble traditions and the Christian principles that are ours.” There is no official state religion.

Religious groups are required to register with the government to hold bank accounts, own properties in the religious group’s name, maintain limited individual liability, and apply to the Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) for exemption on income tax and to the Department of Treasury for exemption of import duty. To register, groups must provide documentation, including a list of board or executive committee members and a constitution.

According to the law, Christian religious instruction in public schools is compulsory. Non-Christian students may opt out with approval of the school principal. Religious organizations are free to establish private schools and may require students who opt out of religious instruction to transfer to public schools.

Foreign missionary groups are permitted to proselytize and engage in other missionary activities. Religious workers receive a three-year, special exemption visa from the government. Applications for the visa require a sponsor letter from a religious group in the country and an approved work permit from the Immigration and Citizenship Authority.

The country is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

GOVERNMENT PRACTICES

As of year’s end, the government had not released the results of a nationwide poll from 2021 on a proposed constitutional amendment that would define the country as Christian, and the proposed amendment had not been introduced in parliament. In 2021, media outlets reported Prime Minister Marape said the change would not take away personal rights as enumerated in the constitution, but it would reflect the fact that a majority of citizens in the country practice Christianity. Political opponents, civil society groups, and some religious groups, including the Council of Churches, Catholic Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Evangelical Alliance, continued to object to the proposed amendment, saying the country did not have an exclusive ethnic or religious affiliation and that the controversy could potentially cause a “holy war” among the largest faith groups for supremacy of one denomination over the others and against religious minorities. Opponents to the proposed amendment said if the country were declared Christian, the government would be obliged to identify which denomination was the state church. Some religious opponents of the amendment also continued to say it would undercut the sentiment that all persons are children of God.

In August, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the National Spiritual Assembly of Baha’i, which had challenged the government’s plan to seize its land in the National Peace Park in Port Moresby to erect a unity pillar monument. In 2021, Prime Minister Marape said the proposed monument would symbolize the country’s Christian identity.

Parliamentary sessions and most government meetings continued to begin and end with Christian prayers, but according to parliament officials, persons of different faiths were able to abstain with no repercussions. The Speaker of the House selected a member of parliament to start the sessions with a Christian prayer. According to senior government officials, some national government agencies continued to tell public servants they had to attend weekly morning devotions for 10 to 20 minutes; the specific day of the devotion varied by region and agency. Pastors from different Christian denominations led the morning devotional sessions. Individuals choosing to opt out of these activities could do so without negative consequences, according to the same government officials.

The Department of Education continued to set aside one hour per week for religious instruction in public schools. According to sources, almost all students attended. Representatives of Christian churches taught the lessons and there was no standard curriculum. Children whose parents did not wish them to attend religious instruction classes or take Christian life studies classes were able to opt out, and there were no cases reported during the year of a principal denying approval.

The government continued to fund churches to deliver health and education services through the Church-State Partnership Program, which received additional funding from international partners. PNGCC member churches – including the Anglican, Seventh-day Adventist, Baptist Union, Roman Catholic, United, and Evangelical Lutheran Churches, and the Salvation Army as well as other churches and organizations as associate members – continued to operate approximately 60 percent of schools and health services in the country. The government subsidized these institutions using a formula based on the number of schools and health centers run by each church. In addition, the government continued to pay the salaries of and provide benefits for the majority of teachers and health staff (generally members of the civil service) who worked at these church-administered institutions, as it did for teachers and health staff of national institutions. The church-administered institutions provided services to the general population irrespective of religious beliefs, and the services were not religious in nature.

Individual members of parliament continued to provide grants of government money to religious institutions in their constituencies to carry out religious activities. All of these institutions were Christian.

The PNGCC continued to work with provincial governments to establish provincial church councils.

In March, local media reported Sir Julius Chan, governor of New Ireland Province, condemned GBV and SARV. He said, “Accusing women of sorcery is disgusting,” and urged the government to take stronger preventive measures.

According to a November report by the NGO Papua New Guinea Tribal Foundation, authorities arrested two individuals accused of SARV and charged them with willful murder under amendments to the criminal code that empowered the state to prosecute SARV offenses. In May, the Special Parliamentary Committee on Gender-based Violence and Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence recommended enacting a law that would mandate police investigate SARV and GBV allegations even if a victim withdrew the complaint, noting that many SARV and GBV victims were reportedly paid to withdraw their complaints. In 2021, the committee wrote, “This type of violence is absolutely unacceptable: it is not excusable as part of PNG’s culture but rather arises from the misunderstanding (and sometimes the deliberate manipulation) of traditions and religion to harm innocent people, in particular women and children.”

In October, the committee presented its first report to parliament, which included a study that found on average, approximately 400 individuals were accused of sorcery each year, with 65 accused persons being killed. The committee said the National Department of Health recorded in excess of 100,000 cases of GBV, including sorcery related violence, within only a few years, stressing the already overburdened health services and overloading the justice system. Ruth Kissam, a civil society activist working to support SARV survivors, told the committee that police investigated 37 cases of SARV in 2022, but none of the investigations resulted in prosecutions, and access to justice was still an obstacle for SARV survivors. Kissam added where there was no justice, survivors remained under threat from their perpetrators, who remained in the community and could harm them again. The committee announced the Department of Community Development and Religion gave churches 25 million kina ($6.7 million) per year to address SARV and GBV.

On August 26, Prime Minister Marape in his speech on the National Day of Prayer and Repentance said the country was experiencing challenging times and urged individuals to seek forgiveness and guidance from God as humble Christians.