By Norm Dixon
On March 21, the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, Sir Julius Chan, made plain his intention to escalate the war against the pro-independence Bougainville Interim Government (BIG) and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). In an address to the nation, he announced the formal end of a cease-fire first proclaimed in September, 1994 and the reintroduction of a virtual state of emergency on the island.
Citing recent military operations by the BRA that killed 10 PNG troops and police in the area near Bougainville's northern tip, Chan said PNG's armed forces would be "greater and better equipped and we will deal with Bougainville Revolutionary Army elements inside and outside PNG".
The government would "expose and uncover" supporters of Bougainville inside PNG, Chan threatened. He singled out BIG leaders Francis Ona, Sam Kaona and Joseph Kabui, as well as BIG's representatives overseas including Martin Miriori in the Solomon Islands and Moses Havini in Australia. The military has been authorised to take "preventative measures" against the BRA and there are reports that more PNG troops are preparing to travel to Bougainville.
Speaking in Sydney on March 22, Moses Havini condemned Chan's "declaration of war" and rejected threats directed at him and other leaders of the Bougainville independence movement. Havini said that despite Chan's announcement, the cease-fire had been abandoned by the PNG government as long ago as October 1994 when it refused to remove troops from Arawa, declared a neutral zone in the original cease-fire agreement, to allow BIG/BRA negotiators to enter.
He also pointed out that the PNG military had opened fire on Bougainville leaders as they returned to the island after attending the December 1995 peace talks in Cairns. Despite the success of those talks and good prospects for further talks scheduled for April, Chan suddenly and unilaterally declared on January 12 that there would be no more meetings. Last year, the PNG Defence Force launched many operations against the BRA in southern Bougainville. On January 25, in the village of Simbo, PNG troops massacred 12 women and children. It was these events that led the BRA to step up its fight near Buka.
Havini repeated the BIG and BRA's support for a resumption of the peace process and for a negotiated settlement. "My main fear is that the PNG government has given the military the sanction to do anything they like on Bougainville. Thousands of civilians are likely to be caught in the cross-fire", Havini said.
Havini commended new Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer for his March 21 statement that the Australian government believed there was no way the conflict on Bougainville could be settled militarily. He called on the Australian government to put pressure on PNG to rejoin the peace process. He also called on Canberra to end the military assistance to PNG that has enabled the war to continue into its seventh year.
Havini urged the new government to change the Foreign Incursions Act to prevent Australian citizens flying the Australian-supplied Iroquois helicopters and other military equipment for the PNG Defence Force. The previous Labor government amended the act to allow Australians to fight alongside the PNGDF.
Vicki John, of the Bougainville Freedom Movement, called on Downer to state publicly that the Australian government has not offered further military or financial support to the PNG government. She said that prior to the recent federal election, in a meeting with BFM activists, Downer had said the Liberal Party was committed to reopening of the CRA-owned Panguna copper mine within five years.
John reminded the Australian government that the war began because of the Australian-owned mine's negative impact on the lives of the people. Sir Julius Chan and the PNG government — as well as the Australian government which funds PNG's war — are "conspiring" to reopen the mine in the interests of CRA, not the people of Bougainville or PNG, John said.