Bougainville fighting continues
By Frank Enright
The Bougainville Interim Government has moved to clear up any misunderstanding over comments by its United Nations representative, Mike Forster. Forster, in an interview with NBC radio, was alleged to have said that secession was no longer possible and that the Bougainville Revolutionary Army should surrender.
The vice-president of the interim government, Joseph Kabui said, "Although there has been some confusion over misquotes in the press, the matter has now been cleared up." Kabui praised Forster's efforts to bring about a just peace and human rights on behalf of the people of Bougainville.
Forster released a statement on April 7 that said in part: "In my statement [to NBC] I made it clear that I felt the demand by PNG for the unconditional surrender of the BRA was as unrealistic as the call for immediate secession by the BRA if there were going to be negotiations. We who are interested in peace and human rights on Bougainville feel that there is a middle ground."
Radio Free Bougainville on April 3 reported an incident in late March in which PNG troops raided Barubaru village and carried out extrajudicial executions of five men, which it named. An eyewitness to the murders claimed that the victims were lined up and shot at Marau PNGDF camp near the mouth of the Java River.
An intercepted PNGDF radio message indicated that a further six people had suffered the same fate at camp Toperuru, Nagovisi, on the west coast.