Call for charges to be dropped against Act Now Campaign Manager and Australian agencies to investigate further

Last Wednesday, 11 December Papua New Guinea police arrested, detained and then charged Mr. Eddie Tanago, Campaign Manager of PNG organisation Act Now with defamation. He is currently on bail. Reportedly charged under section 21 (2) of PNG’s 2016 Cybercrime Code Act – the criminal defamation charges against Mr. Tanago hold a maximum sentence of 15 year’s imprisonment.

Media have reported that allegations relate to Mr. Tanago re-sharing a post from a radio station advertising an interview with PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA) staff members, which included a photo of the managing director. The re-post on the Act Now Facebook page included a comment raising questions about PNGFA forest enforcement. Our understanding is that this has been characterised as defamation.

Papua New Guinea is Australia’s closest neighbour and one of the largest recipients of Australian official development assistance. Australia is also PNG’s largest policing partner. This includes long-term development assistance to ‘support...the rule of law and security’. Many organisations in Australia collaborate and learn from civil society organisations in Papua New Guinea. PNG is arguably one of the most challenging places in our region to be a human rights and environmental defender.

Act Now is known globally for its tenacious work trying to stop illegal logging and related human rights violations. The week before his arrest Mr. Tanago was presenting to a group of international anti-money laundering experts in Singapore.

The PNG Forest Authority is the primary PNG government agency charged with enforcing PNG’s Forestry Act. Reportedly, the criminal charges were laid following a complaint against Mr. Tanago made by the Managing Director of the PNGFA.

Civil servants, in any country, have a right to privacy and to perform their role free from slander. However, civil society organisations also have a civic right to ask questions about how government agencies are performing their duties.

The filing of criminal charges after a single social media post can be interpreted as a massive over-reach and likely intended to try to silence or intimidate Act Now. More broadly, it is likely to intimidate other human rights defenders in PNG.

In August 2024, CIVICUS Monitor specifically noted concerns regarding the harassment and threats against human rights defenders in PNG, particularly those working on land and environmental rights. It also critiqued criminal defamation laws as a tool to silence criticism and repress freedom of expression and political discourse.

We urge:

·      Australia’s diplomatic, aid and scientific agencies to use their channels to defend human rights and call for criminal charges against Mr. Tanago to be dropped.

·      The NRL and tourism businesses to investigate the potential risk of an unjust or excessive application of criminal defamation posing a potential risk to Australian visitors to PNG – including rugby tourists.

·      Australian businesses, including financiers, that operate within PNG to publicly state their support for the dropping of the charges against Mr. Tanago and develop human rights defender policies.

·      Australian government and parliamentarians to investigate programs to support rule of law and policing in PNG, to understand if they may be inadvertently contributing to the misuse of policing to harass or intimidate human rights defenders.

Issued by:

• Jubilee Australia Research Centre
• ActionAid Australia
• Uniting Church of Australia Synod of Victoria and Tasmania
• Friends of the Earth Australia
• Greenpeace Australia Pacific