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T H E A N A R C H I S T
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Volume 1 Number 1 No God, No Master
PACIFIC'S LONGEST WAR -by Brendan Greenhill
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The 25th South Pacific Forum held in Brisbane in August failedto
officially recognise the Pacifics longest war since
WW2.Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating dismissed criticism
ofthe handling of the issue and the then PNG Prime Minister
PiasWingti claimed Bougainville was an internal matter for
PapuaNew Guinea. As he spoke, the troops of the PNG Defence
Forcewere mounting their most ambitious operation. This was
theassault on the Australian owned CRA copper mine at Panguna;the
main prize for the government in its effort to eliminatethe
Bougainville rebels (Conzinc Rio Tinto Australia, asubsidiary of
Rio Tinto Zinc - ed.
Despite reports that the PNG government was going bankrupt,the
money was found for one last offensive. Heavy fightingtook place
along the Panguna Mine Access road between thePNGDF and the
Bougainville Revolutionary Army from the 31st ofJuly and early
August. Patrols pushed towards the mine butwere met by BRA
resistance.
HIGH SPEED
On August 15th, Papua New Guinea began an assault to take themine
site. Called Operation "High Speed", it involved a majorthree
pronged advance to Moroni village, overlooking the minesite. The
advances were backed up with helicopter landings ofmore troops.
One PNG soldier was killed on the first day
At this news Pias Wingti proclaimed that the civil war wasover
and the mine was taken. He was uncriticly reported by
theAustralian media. Newspapers and media outlets such as theAAP,
ABC, Age, Sydney Morning Herald, the Courier Mail and
theAustralian Democrats Vicki Bourne all believed this was
thecase. By the 17th the PNGDF had moved near the mine
site,including Guava village, the home of President of
theBougainville Interim government, Mr Francis Ona.
BrigadierGeneral Ted Dademo, the PNGDF's top officer claimed it
wascaptured and that a care centre was being set up there.
Itseems that no one told the people at Panguna as villagers
wentabout their daily chores near the mine
DRAWING THE PNGDF OUT
At first the BRA offered little resistance to troops movinginto
the area. The strategy of the BRA was to draw the PNGDFout of
their bunkers on the coast into the mountains were theywere more
vulnerable to attack. The PNGDF was also at the endof a
precarious supply line with the only hope of supplies,relief or
reinforcements for some soldiers being byhelicopter. And they
soon found out how precarious it was. OnMonday the 15th of
August, a "civilian" helicopter owned byHevi Lift, a helicopter
contractor for the PNG government washit by BRA ground fire at
Tonu. The New Zealand pilot, MrDennis Killip, was wounded in an
attempt to evacuate a woundedPNGDF soldier from the battlefield
in Siwai, South West Bougainville. The damaged helicopter was
grounded at Wakunaion Bougainville. And later on Friday the 19th,
the BRA counterattacked at Moroni near Panguna in Operation Warm
Up.Over 100 rounds were fired at a PNG helicopter by the BRAusing
homemade guns, SLR and machine guns at Moroni. Accordingto the
BRA this helicopter was owned by the "NationalEmergency Service"
and bore an Australian flag. The helicopterwas forced to limp
back and make an emergency landing atWakunai. According to the
BRA the European pilot was alsowounded
Because of lack of air support, the PNGDF were in a
panic.Counterattacks were made at Dampari, Java, Moroni and
thePanguna mine site. At Lambalam, the PNGDF and
militia"resistance forces" (Bougainvillians supporting supporting
thePNG forces) were attacked on the 19th of August.
TheBougainville Revolutionary Army shot 8 army and
resistancefighters and suffered 1 casualty themselves
MOUNTING CASUALTIES
At the Mt Kaupara repeater station, a PNGDF unit that waslanded
there by helicopter was cut off due to lack of airsupport. They
later had to retreat and a soldier was woundedon the 22nd of
August. No helicopter was available to evacuatehim. The same day,
BRA were able to attack the provincialcapital, Arawa and 1
soldier was shot at Arco motors. On the24th, 7 casualties were
suffered near Guava. 3 were confirmedkilled. Also killed was
Major Kekebogi, the commander of theattack on Panguna; he died
near Guava. More casualties wereinflicted at the Mt Kaupara
repeater station on the 24th. LtColonel Jerry Singarok, the PNGDF
commander on Bougainville,was wounded on the 26th. His Iroquois
helicopter was also hiton a mission to recover the casualties
from Moroni. Thisheralded the disintegration of the offensive.
PNGDF were inretreat and BRA were on the offensive to regain the
advantage
According to BRA sources, casualties suffered by both sides
upuntil the 26th of August were: PNGDF and resistance forces
41killed or wounded.They described these as conservativefigures.
BRA had 1 killed and 3 wounded in action.
REMODELLING
One further clash occurred on Sunday the 4th of September.
ThePNGDF burnt down 34 houses at Moroni. This village was
a"model" village set up by Bougainville Copper Ltd when themine
was established in the '60s. The PNGDF attacked despiteorders to
remain in static positions. Local BRA who lived atMoroni
retaliated and killed at least 2 soldiers. One body wasevacuated
by helicopter. This was the most serious breach ofthe ceasefire
but it has not jeopardised the peace process.
THE OFFENSIVE COLLAPSES
The collapse of the offensive and the rout of the PNG forceswas
now complete. Units were cut off and cut to pieces,officers were
being killed and wounded, helicopters were beingshot up and their
pilots wounded.It was obvious operation"High Speed" had failed.
what made these successes by BRA more amazing was that their
commander, Sam Kauona had left Bougainville as the attack on
Panguna started. He describedthe attack as a complete flop and an
insult to the peaceprocess which the Bougainville people had
embarked on. MartinMirori from the Bougainville Interim
Government stated thatthe fighting has helped the BIG negotiate
from a position ofstrength. He said "The fighting has made a
difference in thenegotiations because of the pressure the BRA is
putting on thePNGDF in the battlefront".
UN PRESSURE
The United Nations is also putting pressure on PNG to resolvethe
Bougainville conflict. The UN Human Rights committeepassed a
resolution on Bougainville on 25th of August. Theresolution
called on PNG to return to the negotiating table,to immediately
allow medical supplies into the areas beingblockaded by PNG and
urged PNG to cooperate with the SpecialRapporteurs on Torture and
Extra Judicial Executions to enablethem to investigate reports of
human rights violations onBougainvillle. The resolution also
requested the SecretaryGeneral of the UN to consider the
appropriateness ofappointing a Special Representative concerning
the humanrights situation on Bougainville. This move served to
furthererode PNG's reputation in the international community
Sam Kauona arrived in the Solomon Ils on Friday the 26th ofAugust
and met with Francis Saemala, Foreign Minister of theSolomon Ils.
Mr Saemala then convened a meeting betweenofficials of the
Government of Papua New Guinea and "theOrganisation known as the
Bougainville Interim Government" andthe Bougainville
Revolutionary Army on Saturday the 27th. SamKauona was present in
negotiations for the first time sincethe crisis started in 1989.
The meeting was held in a full andfrank atmosphere and resolved
that the first priority wasceasefire and peace. Other issues to
be discussed were theconvening of a Pan Bougainville peace
conference between allBougainvillians to resolve their
differences. Consultativemeetings were held between the BIG, the
BRA and the sevenBougainville Interim Authorities starting on
Monday the 29thof August. The Bougainville Interim Government
demanded thisfrom the PNG negotiators. Recommendations were then
put to aMinisterial meeting held on the 2nd of September.
EXIT PIAS
In the meantime, politics caught up with Pias Wingti. He
hadresigned from the Prime Minister's job last year in order
tothwart a vote of no confidence in him. He was then reelectedand
became Prime Minister again. The PNG opposition pursuedhis
constitutional coup though the courts and the SupremeCourt found
that he had acted against the PNG constitution. Hewas forced to
act in a caretaker role as Prime Minister. Whenthe vote for a new
Prime Minister was held on the 30th ofAugust, his supporters fled
him and supported Sir Julius Chan.Chan was then elected the new
Prime Minister of Papua NewGuinea. His first priority was the
Bougainville issue andpeace talks. The one mystery of this little
saga is why the PNG Supreme court brought down its decision at
such a crucialtime for Pias Wingti. The Supreme Court had been
consideringthis case for some time and the decision could not
have comeat a worse time for Wingti. Who knows what went on
behind the scenes.
The parties agreed to cease operations from the 3rd ofSeptember
and all military units were to remain in placepending an official
signing of instruments of ceasefire. Afurther clash occurred on
the 4th but apart from this, noother fighting has occurred so
far. The ceasefire wasdifficult for the BRA to enforce due to
communicationdifficulties. According to Martin Miriori, despite
the bestefforts of the BRA leadership and broadcasts over Radio
FreeBougainville, it may take weeks for all the BRA units to
be contacted.
The Ministerial Meeting was held in the Solomon Islands on the2nd
of September and was chaired by Solomon Island Deputy Prime
Minister Francis Saemala. Sir Julius Chan led the PNG delegation
and General Sam Kauona of the BRA led theBougainville Interim
Government/BRA delegation. Called the Honiara Commitments to
Peace, this agreement brought in apeace agreement for a cessation
of the five year war onBougainville. Sam Kauona said that the
consultative processneeded time and should not be rushed. He
wanted the roots ofthe war to be addressed carefully. Mr Kauona
stated that PNGfought the war to enforce its sovereignty but the
Bougainville people fought to protect their rights, land rights,
economicand political rights. The ceasefire came into effect
onmidnight, Friday 9th of September 1994, seven days after
the meeting.
PEACE CONFERENCE
The installation of a South Pacific peace keeping team wasseen as
a priority. The BIG/BRA team also called for the lifting of the
blockade and the planning of a Bougainville Peace Conference to be
held in Bougainville. Another issue to be discussed is the
political question for a settlement for the people of
Bougainville. Moses Havimi from the BougainvilleInterim
Government said that independence was definitely stillon the
cards. It was hoped that Bougainville could carve outits own
future.
Concern has been expressed at representation in the Pan-
Bougainville peace conference. Bougainville land ownership
hastraditionally rested with the women. The principlenegotiations
have taken place between men so far. Lets hopethat all
Bougainvilleans can decide their own future and thatgroups such
as the Panguna Womens Association will have astrong and
representative voice in the future of Bougainville.The
Bougainville Interim Government has stated that talks willtake
place between all people, women and men
The South Pacific Regional Peace Keeping Force itself seems tobe
contentious.Some observers have stated that 200 troops and2
weeks to prepare for the Pan-Bougainville peace conference is not
enough time. With 1000s of people to go to theconference, it
seems that few peacekeepers would find itdifficult to guarantee
the safety of Bougainvillians all overthe island. It is proposed
that a handover of arms by BRA toSPRPKF take place but the BRA
obviously don't want them in toend up in the hands of the PNGDF.
The haste at which the forcehas been set up and indeed the whole
peace process isunseemly. General Sam Kauona of the BRA has
expressed deepdissatisfaction with the arrangements being made.
He said thatthere was supposed to be close consultation between
bothsides. This has not been taking place.
INNOCENT BYSTANDERS
There is also concern about Australia's role. The BRA feel that
Australia is a party to the war and should not lead
the peacekeeping force or enforce the border
arrangements.Australia is supplying warships, logistics and
funding for thepeace process. Australia may possibly be
manipulating the process to gain an outcome favourable to its
interests and in the event that the peace process fails would have
substantialforces in the area, nationals at "risk" and a perfect
excuse to intervene like what happened in Grenada or Haiti with
theUS
DIVISIONS ON BOUGAINVILLE
The distrust between the BRA and the Bougainville
Interimauthorities seems to be only exceeded by their
mutualunhappiness with the way the peace arrangements are going.
TheWakunai resistance leaders won't observe the ceasefire
unlessChan goes and talks to them. They want the PNGDF to stay
andare not happy with the BRA. Nick Penalai from the South
WestBougainville Interim Authority, for instance, could find
thata Peace settlement will leave him out on a limb. This
appliesalso to the so called "Cease fire BRAs". These people
arerenegades and criminal raskols who were in the BRA earlierthen
joined resistance forces. They allegedly committed
manyatrocities. They may find their position similar to that
ofthe South Vietnamese supporters of the US when Saigon fell;Get
on the boat or off to "reeducation" camp
The PNGDF are also are spreading disinformation. They spread
astory that Sam Kauona was not the BRA representative and
hadbeen kicked off Bougainville. Clearly, this is absurd. Itseems
that there are some groups in the PNGDF who don't wantto pullout
of Bougainville at any price. But they may bebrought under
control. Brigadier General Daedemo was sacked bySir Julius Chan
because of long term animosities and hisbungling of the last
offensive and inability to bring thePNGDF in Bougainville under
the control of the central PNGgovernment
The time is not one for complacency or belief that the war isnow
over. The situation on the ground is very sensitive. Aceasefire
is a very delicate military state of affairs andrelies completely
on good faith and consultation. And the restoration of essential
services must be a priority for allBougainvilles sake. But if
Australia intervenes, MartinMiriori has said though that if peace
fails the fight will goon
The Bougainville Freedom Movemen can be contacted at: PO Box
5409 West En Qld 410 Fax + 61 7 846 589 email zzzfm@peg.oz.au
CASH SCAM EXPOSED
Money from the Bougainville Peace Restoration Appeal is going to
the Papua New Guinea Defence Force. The appeal is supposed to
provide funds to avert a Somalia or Rwanda type refugee crisis on
Bougainville. Instead, about $60 000 is going to the PNGDF to
provide supplies for "care centres". The appeal is being run by
the Faces of Papua New Guinea Committee, which has direct links
with the Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan.