Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said Papua was reviewing plans to begin executing death row prisoners after

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said Papua was reviewing plans to begin executing death row prisoners after the international outrage over executions of eight people, including two Australians, in Indonesia. He called for a review of the law, saying the matter would be debated in parliament, which could result in the law being repealed. "We've had no representations from anyone. It is our own initiative because Papua New Guinea is a very religious and very Christian country, so it is based principally on those foundations,” he said. "We certainly do not want to be seen as a country that is actively promoting the death penalty as a means of enforcing law and order in the country," O’Neill told The Wall Street Journal in an interview.
O’Neill said his government believed Papua New Guinea’s existing law-and-order measures had proven effective and there was now an opportunity to review the death penalty. "There has been a huge drop, almost 50 %, in major crimes and of course there has been a substantial fall in petty crimes as well," he said. "So as a result of these declines in crime in the country, I think we are able to continue on that program (without the death penalty).”