Resolution near in Bougainville

By Dara MacNeil

Were it not for the discovery of copper, gold and silver on their island, the people of Bougainville might well have avoided colonial occupation, mass murder and environmental disaster. In fact, the 200,000 people on this tiny island to the north-east of Australia may well have been left alone, and in peace.

Problems for the Melenesian people of Bougainville can be traced to 1768, when their home was unfortunate enough to be `discovered' by a passing French explorer. Louise de Bougainville was kind enough to lend the island his name. Its residents were not consulted.

In 1896, another act of non-consultation propelled Bougainville further along the road of colonial domination, when Britain and Germany arbitrarily decided to cut the island off from its natural hinterland in the Solomon Islands.

Henceforth, the people of Bougainville were designated as `belonging' to a group of territories to the west, with whom they had nothing in common.

Following the end of World War II, the United Nations compounded the original injustice by cementing the island within a `trust', to be administered by Australia.

Thus, when the dominant territory within that trust - Papua New Guinea - was `granted' independence in 1975, by Australia, the latter deemed that Bougainville was to be included in the deal.

A Bougainville declaration of independence issued two weeks previously was ignored by all and sundry and the island fell under the control of Papua New Guinea.

As Martin Miriori - a representative of Bougainville independence movement and a recent visitor to Dublin - points out: ``We are ethnically, culturally and geographically a Solomon Island people with no connections with Papua New Guinea.'' Indeed, Bougainville lies just eight kilometres away from the Solomon Islands.

As it was, events of the previous decade were to ensure that Bougainvilleans' desire for self-determination would be disregarded.

In 1960, rich deposits of gold, copper and silver had been discovered on the island. Six years later, an Australian multinational moved in to exploit this wealth.

Some 800 Bougainvilleans were made landless, while 1400 lost their fishing rights. The Australian mining company, Con-Zinc Rio Tinto (CRA), proceeded to gouge a hole six kilometres long, four kilometres wide and half a kilometre deep, in order to facilitate one of the largest open-cast copper mines in the world. Mining of gold and silver also began.

To date, CRA have dumped over one billion tonnes of toxic waste into the country's river system. The environmental destruction could take more than five decades to repair, if indeed repair is possible.

However, Bougainville proved profitable. Thus, Papua New Guinea has derived some 45% of its export earnings from its share of the profits. In all, over $6 billion worth of minerals was stolen from the people of Bougainville.

In 1988, however, they put a stop to the plunder. Demanding compensation from CRA and the government of Papua New Guinea, the people of Bougainville closed the mine. Papua New Guinea responded with violence. Very quickly, the island moved to a state of open revolt and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army was born. What had begun as an essentially localised dispute thus escalated into a struggle for self-determination.

Unable to inflict military defeat on the insurgents, the Papua New Guinea forces resorted to outright terror. Villages were destroyed and islanders arbitrarily executed.

But by 1990, such was the tenacity of the resistance, that the colonial army was forced to flee Bougainville.

A popular government - headed by Francis Ona, who was instrumental in forcing the closure of the mine - was declared. Bougainville issued its second declaration of independence. Again, the international community affected indifference.

Papua New Guinea responded by placing the island under a complete economic and communications blockade, the same cowardly strategy deployed by the US against Cuba.

According to Martin Miriori the blockade can, to date, be held responsible for the deaths of some 12,000 Bougainvilleans.

The blockade was supported by Australia, as were subsequent re-invasion attempts. Thus, not only did Papuan New Guinea forces arrive equipped, armed and trained by Australia, but the latter also instituted legal changes to allow Australian `citizens' fight alongside the invading army.

The change was effected to allow Australian pilots operate the Iroquois attack helicopters Canberra supplied to Papua New Guinea. Other combat and support roles were also filled by the Australians. In effect, Australia went to war without the knowledge or support of its citizenry.

Without Australia's financial backing and political say so, it is unlikely the campaign of attrition could be maintained.

Since 1990, Papua New Guinea has twice re-invaded Bougainville, and twice they have failed in their chief objectives: to retake control of the island and reopen the lucrative CRA mine. An unknown number of Bougainvilleans have died as a result. Australia's premier Green Left Weekly says that `hundreds certainly, and possibly thousands of islanders, have been massacred.''

A Swiss surgeon has testified to the use of internationally-banned dumdum bullets, by the Papuan forces.

In 1993 Paias Wingti, then head of Papua New Guinea, delivered this chilling summation of his forces' role: ``On Bougainville we gave the security forces a free hand to deal with the problem, without much interference.''

To ensure the absence of scrutiny, Papua New Guinea maintained a ban on any and all human rights, or humanitarian organisations, travelling to the island.

Crucial to the occupation strategy has been the herding of the civilian population into laughably named `care centres' - in reality a 1990s version of the `strategic hamlet' utilised by the US in Vietnam. They are little more than concentration camps and hold some 67,000 people.

In addition, Papua New Guinea has attempted to undercut support for the Interim Government and the Revolutionary Army through the formation of a surrogate, native administration on the island, complete with its own armed wing. Divide and conquer is a tried and trusted imperial strategy.

Of late, however, that strategy shows every sign of complete collapse, with evidence of proxy army members crossing over to the insurgency.

More embarrassing has been the tendency of Papua New Guinea's surrogate authority - the supposed Transitional Government - to question the wisdom of the occupation. Events such as this are believed to be behind the 1996 murder of the head of the Transitional Government, by Papua New Guinea forces.

For their part, the Interim Government and Revolutionary Army have always insisted on resolution of the conflict by way of negotiation. And in July of this year they may have got the breakthrough they have so long deserved.

Thus, an agreement signed between the Papua New Guinea inspired Transitional Government and the independence movement commits both to the ``unity and reconciliation of the Bougainville people.'' The Burnham Declaration, as it is known, also contains an undertaking to ensure the people of Bougainville freely exercise their right to ``determine their political future.''

More importantly, the Declaration also seeks the initiation of negotiations with the government of Papua New Guinea.

Crucially, it appears that recent elections in Papua New Guinea have resulted in a new administration which, to date, appears genuinely interested in a peaceful resolution to this conflict.

Political support has also been expressed by the government of New Zealand, while that of the Solomon Islands is to be an observer at future peace talks. Certainly, Martin Miriori has expressed a guarded optimism about these latest developments.

Bougainville's long nightmare may, finally, be drawing to a close.