A photo of a group of men armed with machetes, holding what appears to be a severed foot, appeared on the front page of a major national daily in Papua New Guinea on Monday. None of them are photographed in the act of cannibalism, but in a second photo also published on the front page, a man appears to lick this human remains while exposing it to the camera. The Minister of Police, Peter Tsiamalili, said he was particularly disturbed by these images which probably depict “terrifying acts of cannibalism”.
“A violent confrontation between two brothers escalated, leading to a heartbreaking outcome,” Tsiamalili told theAFP. Villagers took part in the conflict, “which led to the horrific murder of the older brother by his younger brother,” he reported. “Such barbarity does not define us as a people or a nation,” he wrote in a statement on Sunday, after images and videos of the same affair were broadcast on social networks.
“These barbaric actions by a group of young people not only shock our collective conscience, but also present a serious threat to our societal values that bind us as a nation,” he added. Police concluded that the images were taken in the Goilala district, in the center of the country, and the murder took place “a month ago”, according to Mr. Tsiamalili. Cases of cannibalism have historically been documented among a small number of tribes in remote areas of Papua New Guinea.
This means that the country is the subject of clichés that are as obsolete as they are stubborn, which it has been trying to get rid of for decades. In April 2024, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, suggested that cannibals could have devoured his uncle, who disappeared in the country during World War II. The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, downplayed his comments and spoke of “confusion” among the American leader.
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