T H E A N A R C H I S T - - - - - - - - - - - - Volume 1 Number 1 No God, No Master PACIFIC'S LONGEST WAR -by Brendan Greenhill -------------------- 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.