By Norm Dixon
The Papua New Guinea government's military blockade of Bougainville is coming under increasing international pressure. The European Community and those countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific that receive EC aid (known as the ACP-EC Joint Assembly) met during the second week of October and decided to send a mission to PNG and Bougainville to investigate the crisis.
The motion noted that the crisis originated with the closure of the Panguna copper mine in 1989 "after a violent conflict about compensation to the traditional landowners for the environmental and social devastation caused by the mining operation". It also noted that since "the proclaimed leaders of Bougainville unilaterally declared independence the island of Bougainville has been closed off for regular services, medical supplies and communications by the government of Papua New Guinea".
It added that the January 1991 Honiara Accord remains unimplemented. "No new negotiations have taken place ... the conflict since has escalated and violent operations of both the Bougainville Revolutionary Army and the troops sent by the Papua New Guinea government have killed hundreds of people."
The ACP-EC referred specifically to the August resolution on Bougainville adopted by the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities, which called on the PNG government to restore "without delay the freedom of movement to the inhabitants of Bougainville" and appointed a special rapporteur to review the peace treaty processes between PNG and Bougainville.
The ACP-EC expressed its concern over "the long lasting conflict on Bougainville as the most violent crisis in the Pacific region since Pacific island states became independent" and its "disappointment that the parties in the conflict failed to restore negotiations after January 1991 and that the conflict has further escalated". It called on the Bougainville Interim Government and the PNG government "to restore the negotiations for a final peace settlement".
An international mission consisting of representatives of the ACP-EC, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the South Pacific Forum will visit "the conflict area" to investigate:
- the allegations of human rights abuses;
- the social, economic and environmental impact of the Panguna mine operation;
- the financial implications of the restoration of services on Bougainville;
- the views of the different parties in the conflict on a political solution.
The mission will report on its findings and advise on steps to restore negotiations and to restore humanitarian services to the island.
Meanwhile, the PNG government has frustrated the planned visit to Bougainville of a delegation from the Pacific Conference of Churches, the Papua New Guinea Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches, which had been scheduled to begin on October 13.
The delegation was to be led by Tongan Bishop Patelesio Finau, chair of the Pacific Conference of Churches, and to include Rose Muingnepe, chair of the PNG Council of Churches, John Doom, World Council of Churches Pacific Secretary, and the general secretary of the Solomon Islands Christian Association, Wainga Tion.
Rose Muingnepe said the purpose of the visit was to allow church leaders to see and hear the real situation from the churches on Bougainville first-hand.
The Bougainville Interim Government representative in Honiara, Martin Miriori, said the delegation's safety while in BRA-controlled areas was "absolutely guaranteed". Every assistance to the delegation would be given, he said.
However, the PNG government halted the delegation's trip at the last moment, claiming their safety could not be guaranteed.