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The information in this file was recently published in FREEDOM - the fortnightly anarchist journal published by FREEDOM PRESS: FREEDOM PRESS (IN ANGEL ALLEY) 84B WHITECHAPEL HIGH STREET, LONDON E1 7QX GREAT BRITAIN Do write for a sample copy or for a copy of our booklist of publications. We will be putting more of this information out so watch this spot... Focus on... BOUGAINVILLE The following is an abridged version of an article by Max Watts in the Anarchist Age Monthly Review (August 94) published in Melbourne Australia. In 1899 old Queen Vicky and Kaiser Bill did some horse trading: Bougainville, most definitely ethnically, geographically and culturally one of the Soloman Islands was handed over from this (British!) to Imperial Germany and attached to (German!) New Guinea. The Bougainvillians were not consulted. In 1914 Australia took New Guinea off the Germans, attached it to (Australian!) Papua. Thus it remained apart from a brief Japanese interlude until 1975. The Bougainvillians were not consulted and began to object. These objections became particularly vocal around 1969 when the people of central Bougainville learned that they did not own the land more than 3ft. below their gardens. This belonged to 'the crown'. It had been granted to Bougainville Copper Ltd., (BCL) part of the Australian face of Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ) of London, who were planning on digging it up including of course the gardens trees and rivers. The Bougainvillians became stroppy. The objectors, particularly the land-owning women, were hit on the head with batons, tear-gassed and where necessary jailed by the Australian-led police. The multinationals got the land, dug a six km. long deep, deep hole at Panguna and shipped out much copper and gold. The rest, pretty poisonous tailing's, was thrown into the Jaba river system, which died. The 'benefits' were considerable: 2,341.7 million Kina (over 3 billion Australian dollars) with the local Bougainvillians the 'Landowners' getting rather less totalling some 28 million. Demands for independence went unsatisfied and a more militant leadership of the Panguna land owners emerged calling for more money, ecological safeguards and - shock horror - part ownership of the copper. The multinationals laughed. The Pangunans 'stole' explosives blew up pylons and closed the mine. The PNG riot police did their duty. People were killed. In March 89 the PNG army came in. More people were killed including soldiers. Villages were burned. The people formed the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). Australia sent Iroquois helicopters. All in vain. The mines stayed closed and by March 1990 with the situation out of control the PNG army mutinous and defeated was withdrawn. In May1990 an Interim Government declared independence. The Australian Labor government decided on invasion. The fundamental element of this plan which is being pursued to this day has been the total blockade of independent Bougainville. The blockade, completely dependant on Australian support has a dual function: to stop supplies getting in and information getting out. The Australian government assumed that the public in Australia would become increasingly unhappy at supporting a war of Neo- colonial reconquest, a small, but specifically Australian... Vietnam. If it were impossible to maintain complete silence the war was to be presented as an internal matter, concerning only PNG, or, even better, as a civil war between 'loyal' Bougainvillians and villain 'criminal' secessionists. The plan spelled out that while Port Moresby pretended to negotiate with the Interim Government, the PNG army should reconquer the outer sections of the island building on local conflicts and recruiting local militias. The hardships caused by the blockade, above all the lack of medical supplies, have been quite cold-bloodedly integrated into this strategy. Aid, food, medicines, must be channelled exclusively to sections reconquered by the PNG army. This is clear Labor government policy. The so-called 'care centres' even where run by the Red Cross, have always been part of the reconquest plan. Inside them, Bougainville women and children are to be kept away from their menfolk, fighting for their country; outside they are legitimate targets in a country wide free fire zone. Initially the planners assumed that the government would collapse quickly. Although thousands of Bougainvillians, mostly children and the elderly have died, four years down the track the war continues. The interior, the mine and access roads are still in rebel hands. The planned, anti BRA militia has become effective only in the SW, in parts of the Siwai region and even there little territory has been taken. As the wars drags on information leaks have begun to appear. An Australian radio expert, Sam Voron, ran the blockade and set up Radio Free Bougainville (RFB). Despite enormous difficulties it is still broadcasting and although ignored by the Australian media they are used by Radio New Zealand International, less dishonest in its Bougainville reportage. Others like Rosmarie Gillespie have run the blockade to take medicine in and news out. The Australian government go to great lengths to discredit these people's reports and she has had her passport confiscated. One particular aspect of Australia's war against Bougainville which the mainstream media ignore is the growing resistance to the war internationally and internally. Criticism by the UN, AI, Medecins sans Fronti res and others may briefly and distortedly appear in the 'quality' press but almost nothing is reported nationally about the growing opposition within the Australian union movement. The Bougainville Freedom Movement, apart from organising medical shipments tries to redress the balance, 'carrying a glass of clean water up-hill against a torrent of shit coming down' Some efforts have been successful but much remains unknown to the broad public. In January 1994 the NSW South Coast Labour Council joined the protest calling on a black ban on all shipments to PNG. A Gibraltan registered ship wanting to load 15,000 tons of wheat has fallen under the ban. This led to a meeting with Foreign Minister Gareth Evans where he repeated the standard line: it is a PNG internal matter. Australia will continue supplying arms and finance. The BRA are criminals and in any case 'we' have won and 'they' have lost. There are only a few hundred BRAs left. Even in Port Moresby this was treated as a joke. To placate unionists a parliamentary delegation was sent. It went for three days in April and turned out to be an exercise in fig-leaf hanging, obfuscation and deception. The Bougainvillians had always welcomed outsiders, often risking their lives to bring outsiders in. On the other hand such visits had been restricted or banned by the PNG government. Initially at least the 'left' delegates seemed to believe they would visit all Bougainville and talk to all Bougainvillians including those the Australians had been machine-gunning and suffering under the blockade. However, a few days before the visit Canbera announced it would be restricted to PNG army bases and PNG occupied parts of the island. No contact with independent Bougainville. Canbera claimed that the BRA would endanger the delegation. The fact that it was these Bougainvillians who have constantly asked for international, even Australian visitors, was - as usual - suppressed. The delegation went and returned. Apart from one right winger they've said little so far. The right-winger, Mr Loosely has said that Australia, 'may have either inadvertently or through sheer neglect contributed to some of the problems' which have hit the Bougainvillians. A rather curious way of defining 5 years of war, waged against a small people, by the Australian establishment! 5,000 perhaps 10,000 deaths directly attributable to a blockade which wouldn't have lasted a week without Australian military assistance. Loosely, and his delegation, may surprise us yet, when their 'report' comes out, but in the meantime I much fear that they have only, once again, loosely hung a fig-leaf over Australia's war, against Bougainville. BFM POB 134, Erskineville 2043, Australia Fax (02) 267 4746