MP's death confirmed

MP's death confirmed

By Norm Dixon

The death of Ken Savia, the minister of health in the Bougainville Interim Government and former minister for health in the North Solomons Provincial Government, has been confirmed by the Papua New Guinea government. Savia was captured by PNG troops when they entered Arawa and raided the general hospital on February 13.

His fate had been kept secret by Port Moresby despite the reports of eyewitnesses who saw him being cruelly tortured on February 14. Savia was made to stand for hours in a car park in the hot tropical sun. He was then tied by a rope to a PNG Defence Force truck and dragged along a bitumen road.

Fearing for the safety of Savia, the Bougainville Interim Government issued a press release detailing the eyewitness accounts on that same day. It was ignored by the Australian media, with the exception of Green Left Weekly.

On March 31, Amnesty International called on its supporters to petition Papua New Guinea about the apparent execution of Ken Savia.

PNG officials' only reply was that Savia had been taken to the PNGDF's base at Wakunai on Bougainville. Under pressure from Amnesty International, government officials admitted to ABC radio reporter Sean Dorney that Savia was dead. The PNG government then confirmed the news.

Bougainville Interim Government spokesperson Mike Forster said that Savia's only crime had been to keep the Arawa General Hospital operating for four years with volunteer staff and few medical supplies. He was deeply devoted to the welfare of the people.

Forster renewed the interim government's call for the PNG government to allow an independent fact-finding mission to visit Bougainville. He called on every union and organisation in Australia to protest against the Australian government's support for PNG's genocidal policies on Bougainville.

From GLW issue 98