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Bouganville independence and peace process

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See Bouganville civil unrest, 1990s‎

On Bougainville Island, a rebellion occurred from early 1989 until the Bouganville people and their land gained a measure of independence as an autonomous region. The truce, which retained a degree of control for the former occupiers, came into effect in October 1997 and a permanent cease-fire was signed in April 1998. Under the eyes of a regional peace-monitoring force and a United Nations observer mission, the government and provincial leaders established an interim government and worked toward election of a provincial government and a referendum on independence.

Australian "peace" Huey helicopters in Bougainville

Ceasefire[edit]

This article contains content from Wikipedia. Current versions of the GNU FDL article History of Bougainville on WP may contain information useful to the improvement of this article WP

Sandline and ceasefire[edit]

Under pressure from human rights groups, the governments of Wikipedia:Australia and Wikipedia:New Zealand declined to provide military support, forcing Chan to begin to look elsewhere. Thus began the Wikipedia:Sandline affair, where the government of Papua New Guinea attempted to hire mercenaries from Wikipedia:Sandline International, a London-based Wikipedia:private military company, composed primarily of former British and Wikipedia:South African special forces soldiers, which had been involved in the civil wars in Wikipedia:Angola and Wikipedia:Sierra Leone. With negotiations with Sandline ongoing and incomplete Chan ordered the military to invade anyway. In July the PNG defense forces attempted to seize Aropa airport, the island's principal airfield. However, the attack was a disaster, suffering from poor logistical planning and determined resistance by BRA fighters. In September, BRA militants attacked a PNG army camp at Kangu Beach with the help of members of a local militia group, killing twelve PNGDF soldiers and taking five hostage. The following month, Theodore Miriung was assassinated. Although Chan's government attempted to blame the BRA, a subsequent independent investigation implicated members of the PNG defense force and the resistance militias. Discipline and morale was rapidly deteriorating within the ranks of the PNG military, which had been unable to make any substantial progress in pentrating the mountainous interior of the island and reopening the Panguna mine. Chan decided that his best chance lay to recapture the Panguna mine was with the Sandline mercenaries.

However, this too turned out to be a disaster. News of his intention to hire mercenaries was leaked to the Australian press, and international condemnation followed. Furthermore, when Wikipedia:Jerry Singirok heard of the news, he ordered the detaining of all the mercenaries on arrival. In the resulting saga, Prime Minister Chan was forced to resign, and Papua New Guinea came very close to a military coup. Indeed, the officers in charge had the parliament surrounded, but steadfastly refused to go any further. In the end, however, they got their way, with Chan's resignation and the removal of the mercenaries from Papua New Guinean territory.

Sandline sparked a lowpoint in the Bougainvillean war. Since 1997, a ceasefire has largely held on the island. Breaking with Ona, Kauona and Kabui entered into peace talks with the government of Wikipedia:Bill Skate in Wikipedia:Christchurch, Wikipedia:New Zealand, which culminated in the signing of the Lincoln Agreement in January 1998. Under the terms of the agreement, PNG began to withdraw its soldiers from the island and a multinational Peace Monitoring Group was deployed. Legislation to establish a Bougainville Reconciliation Government failed to win approval in the PNG Parliament. A Bougainville provincial government of the same status as the other eighteen provinces of Papua New Guinea, with Wikipedia:John Momis as Governor, was established in January 1999. However, this government was suspended after facing opposition from both the BIA/BRA and BTG. Arrangements were made for the creation of a modified government, to be established in two phases-the first being the Bougainville Constituent Assembly and the second being the elections for the Bougainville People's Congress. Elections were held in May, and Kabui was named President. However, the legality of this was contested by Momis, with the support of a number of tribal chiefs and Resistance leaders. In November, a new body, the Bougainville Interim Provincial Government, was established, headed by Wikipedia:Momis. Rapprochment between Kauona and Wikipedia:Momis led to an agreement in which the two bodies would act in consultation. An organised reconciliation process began at the tribal level in the early 2000.

Wikipedia:Francis Ona refused to play any part in the peace process, and, with a small minority of fighters, continued to occupy the area around Panguna mine Template:Citation needed. Throughout the decade, Ona continued to resist overtures to participate in the new government, declaring himself 'king' of Bougainville before dying of malaria in 2005. In March 2005, Dr Wikipedia:Shaista Shameem of the Wikipedia:United Nations working group on mercenaries asked Wikipedia:Fiji and Papua New Guinea for permission to send a team to investigate the presence of former Fijian soldiers in Bougainville. (UNPO) As part of the current peace settlement, a referendum on independence will be held sometime in the 2010s, with an apparent small minority of fighters left in the centre of the island, and enough instability to ensure that the mine remains closed.

Operation Bel Isi ("Peace") - 30 April 1998 - 23 August 2003[edit]

Template:Infobox military conflict

The Peace Monitoring Group (PMG) on Bougainville in Papua New Guinea was brought about by the civil unrest on the island in the 1990s. The PNG government requested the Australian and New Zealand governments to provide a monitoring group to oversee the cease fire on the island. This group was made up of both civilian and defence personnel from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Vanuatu. Support remained strong throughout the PMG's deployment. The PMG was established on the island on 1 May 1998 and took over from the New Zealand Truce Monitoring Group which then departed.

The PMG comprised approx. 100 personnel, was unarmed and wore bright yellow shirts and hats. It had no specific legal power although it did have a mandate under the Lincoln Agreement. It remained definitively neutral at all times. In the early stages of its deployment, it acted primarily as a cease fire monitoring group and spread information about developments in the peace process. Following the Bougainville Peace Agreement, the PMG focused primarily on facilitating the Wikipedia:weapons disposal program, in co-operation with the small UN Observer Mission on Bougainville (UNOMB). There was also some logistical support given to the constitutional consultation and drafting process from 2003.

File:simon woolley.jpg
Simon Woolley - Operation Bel Isi - 2000

Support was provided to the group via use of the Wikipedia:Loloho wharf on the eastern side of the island by naval vessels from Australia and New Zealand as well as the Wikipedia:Kieta airfield by weekly C130 Hercules flights from Wikipedia:Townsville . Four UH-1 'Huey' helicopters were supplied by Wikipedia:Australian 171st Aviation Squadron, which were painted bright red for visibility and utilised to ferry personnel to inland villages inaccessible by foot or vehicle. With more than 8,000 safe flying hours in the skies of Bougainville to their credit, the choppers made their way back to Australia aboard HMAS Kanimbla. Later, air mobility was outsourced to the commercial Hevilift company, which provided two Bell 212 helicopters.

HQ PMG was based in Arawa and comprised approx. 50 personnel providing coordination for all the operations in Bougainville. The majority of personnel lived in local houses in the Arawa township.

The Logistical Support Team at the Loloho wharf, it comprised approx. 70 personnel and provided such services as catering, dental, medical, IT support, vehicle transport and communications to the out lying team sites. LST members lived in the "Opera House" which was an old storage silo for copper when the mine was open.

The remaining staff of PMG were located all over Bougainville in team sites monitoring the peace and liasing with local communities. The following locations had team sites in 2000 - Arawa, Sirakatau, Buin, Tonu, Wakunai and Buka.

The Bougainville Peace Agreement decreed that all personnel should be withdrawn from the island by December 2002. However, the group was extended by the applicable governments and withdrew completely by 23 August 2003.

The total cost of Australia's development and military assistance to Bougainville from the financial year 1997-98 until FY 2002-03 was $243.2 million. Over 3500 Australian defence personnel and 300 Australian civilians served in the Peace Monitoring Group during Operation Bel Isi.

For more info about Operation Bel Isi - follow this link Op Bel Isi Website

Autonomy[edit]

New Zealand brokered the formation of an Wikipedia:Autonomous Bougainville Government, ignoring Ona’s claim to control over 90% of the land and 90% of the people.[1] The governments of PNG and Australia were anxious to regain control of the Wikipedia:Panguna mine, still controlled by Ona and BRA.

On 17 May 2004, Wikipedia:Francis Ona had himself crowned as King Frances Dominic Dateransy Domanaa, King of Meekamui (meaning “Holy Land”).[2][3] Ignoring his coronation, the Wikipedia:Autonomous Bougainville Government organized its first elections in June 2005. Ona came out of 16 years of hiding into the public light to oppose the elections, which he felt were superfluous. Only 3% of eligible voters participated; Ona attributed this to the persisting loyalty of Bougainville to him and his vision of sovereignty.

"The Bougainville autonomous government is a minority government and has no mandate of the people to rule, and can effectively be declared an illegal government", wrote Professor Louis Berrigan.[4]

Wikipedia:Joseph Kabui was elected President of the Autonomous Government favored by PNG and brokered by New Zealand.

Perspectives on Autonomy vs Independence[edit]

THE PNG PERSPECTIVE:

  1. Bougainville is part and parcel of PNG
  2. Bougainville exists and operates under the PNG Constitution
  3. The people share common culture and tradition
  4. They are bound by international treaties and conventions that make them citizens of PNG
  5. PNG has the power under the Constitution and the Parliamentary system to determine, promote and safeguard the form share or size of a government for Bougainville.

Given these facts and other considerations, the actions of PNG could be deemed to be valid in that:

  1. It negotiated and developed the BCL
  2. Established the first Provincial Government
  3. Protected mining installations against the rebellion
  4. Restored peace and promote restoration and rehabilitation programs
  5. Chart an autonomous system of government and conduct elections

THE MEEKAMUI PERSPECTIVE:

  1. Bougainville is a sovereign nation
  2. Sovereignty is from GOD.
  3. Sovereignty is not for a metropolitan power to grant a people like Bougainville.
  4. History has it that generations past were governed under monarchy system. These have been identified and strengthened under the Twin Kingdoms of PAPALA in the Siwai District, and MEEKAMUI in the Crowne Prince Ranges.
  5. FRANCIS ONA is King Francis Dominic Dateransy Domanaa of the Kingdom of Meekamui and NOAH MUSINGKU is King Peii II according to royal heritage.
  6. BCL was a copper/gold mine and ONA instigated the rebellion to put a stop to the loss of massive gold reserves stolen through a secret mafia.
  7. ONA has the resources to restore basic services and fund the sovereign MEEKAMUI government.
  8. According to Meekamui Government Newsletter – Meekamui Express, ONA has over 80 percent support of the people, coupled with the support of chiefs who signed declarations of loyalty – copies of which have been lodged with the UNITED NATIONS.[5]

Sovereignty in Bougainville[edit]

Now, a small memory monument and a declaration of independence engraved in stone commemorates the independence movement. Ignored by western media, but very much a part of Bougainville's present are the independent "Twin Kingdoms of Bougainville" under first King Francis (Ona) and then King David Peii II (Wikipedia:Noah Musingku) created out of the areas of the island never recaptured by PNG forces.

In 2005 the World Bank contacted Ona, reigning as King Francis. The Bank recognized his government and his status as King of Me’ekamui and offered financial assistance to his kingdom. This offer was refused.[6]

Francis Ona died in 2005, and was succeeded by Wikipedia:Noah Musingku reigning as King David Peii II. Musingku created continued the establishment of a governmental infrastructure at his ancestral village of Tonu, and expanded his financial and banking network known as Wikipedia:U-Vistract. U-Vistract created an economic flurry in the late 1990s, and is widely seen as a Wikipedia:Ponzi scheme. In 2010, however, Musingku’s bank network achieved international recognition and funding,[7] and it appeared to be a significant source of restoration funding for Bougainville. A second election of the Autonomous Government was held in 2008, and John Momis was elected in 2010.

Under 2001 peace accords, Bougainvilleans have been promised a referendum on independence from PNG within the next few years. As of Template:Monthyear, it has not been held.

Further information[edit]


Monitoring groups[edit]

External monitoring groups have been commonly used in the Indonesia area to monitor ceasefires, elections, and even as interim governments in the case of East Timor, to various effect.


Truce Monitoring Group[edit]

The New Zealand Truce Monitoring Group (NZTMG) departed from the island on 1 May 1998, once the Wikipedia:#Peace Monitoring Group was established and took over the NZTMG's activities.

Peace Monitoring Group[edit]

This article contains content from Wikipedia
An article on this subject has been nominated for deletion on Wikipedia:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/
Peace Monitoring Group
Current versions of the GNU FDL article on WP may contain information useful to the improvement of this article 		WP+
NO
DEL

The Peace Monitoring Group (PMG) on Bougainville in Wikipedia:Papua New Guinea was brought about by the civil unrest on the island in 1990. The PNG government requested the Australian and New Zealand governments to provide a monitoring group to oversee the cease fire on the island. This group was made up of both civilian and defence personnel from Wikipedia:Australia, Wikipedia:New Zealand, Wikipedia:Fiji and Wikipedia:Vanuatu. Both sides of the conflict welcomed the group being on Bougainville. This support remained strong throughout the PMG's deployment.

The Wikipedia:Bougainville Peace Agreement decreed that all personnel should be withdrawn from the island by December 2002. However, the group's presence was extended by the applicable governments and withdrew completely by 23 August 2003. A much smaller Bougainville Transition Team (with orange t-shirts) succeeded the PMG but has now also withdrawn. Australian police and civilian advisers have subsequently served on Bougainville as part of Australian government assistance to Papua New Guinea.

The PMG was unarmed and had no specific legal power (though it did have a mandate under the Lincoln Agreement). Its mandate was to remain definitively neutral at all times. In the early stages of its deployment, it acted primarily as a ceasefire monitoring group and spread information about developments in the peace process. Following the Bougainville Peace Agreement, the PMG focused primarily on facilitating the weapons disposal program, in co-operation with the small UN Observer Mission on Bougainville (UNOMB). There was also some logistical support given to the constitutional consultation and drafting process from 2003.

Support was provided to the group via use of the Loloho wharf on the eastern side of the island by naval vessels from Australia and New Zealand as well as the Wikipedia:Kieta airfield by Wikipedia:C-130 Hercules. Four Wikipedia:UH-1 Iroquois helicopters supplied by the Wikipedia:Australian Army, which were painted bright red for visibility, were utilised to ferry personnel to inland villages inaccessible by foot or vehicle. Later, air mobility was outsourced to Wikipedia:Hevilift, which provided two Wikipedia:Bell 212 helicopters. PMG Personnel wore bright yellow shirts and hats so that everyone on the island was aware of their presence.A Logistics Cell at Loloho also provided such services as catering, dental, medical, vehicle transport and communications to the outer lying sites such as Tonu and Wikipedia:Wakunui.

External links[edit]

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Peace+Monitoring+Group%22&tbm=nws&tbs=ar:1


References[edit]

  • Peace on Bougainville - Truce Monitoring Group by Rebecca Adams (Vic. Uni. Press, 2001), former senior PMG personnel

External links[edit]


Reprinted in full, with full credits to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and thus in compliance with the respective copyright laws. This is a record for posterity, in lieu of online page recording ability

Australian Government maintains decision to withdraw Peace Monitoring Group from Bougainville

AM - Saturday, 19 April , 2003 08:25:00

Reporter: Shane McLeod

HAMISH ROBERTSON: Australia is being warned that its decision to withdraw Peace Monitors from Bougainville by the end of June could jeopardise the island's peace initiative.
The warning has been sent to Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer by Bougainville's political leaders.
But as Shane McLeod reports, Mr Downer believes it's time for the Monitoring Group to come home.
SHANE MCLEOD: There was a show of solidarity for peace this week as the Papua New Guinea Defence Force brought to an end its 12-year, and at times controversial, deployment on Bougainville.

PNG Defence Force Commander, Peter Ilau.

PETER ILAU: I think every good thinking man and woman here would like to leave history as something for the historians to look at; everybody else wants to move on.
SHANE MCLEOD: With the PNGDF's departure, there are some who still have lingering concerns about security in a province without a fully operational police force. But of more pressing concern is the planned departure at the end of June of the Australian-led Peace Monitoring Group, comprising civilian and military personnel from Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu and Fiji. The Peace Monitors have been on Bougainville for five years, long enough says Australia, and New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Phil Gough, agrees.
PHIL GOUGH: We are very keen that that deadline should remain in place. It provides an incentive for the tasks that need to be fulfilled, to be fulfilled by that time.
SHANE MCLEOD: In Bougainville, the departure of the PMG is being viewed with trepidation. The peace process has been running behind schedule in the key area of weapons disposal, and with the separatist leader, Francis Ona and his Mekamui Defence Force still outside the peace process, there are fears the Peace Monitors' withdrawal could precipitate a worsening security situation.

Joseph Kabui is the President of the Bougainville Peoples' Congress.

JOSEPH KABUI: We did not want to see our major facilitators in the whole peace process to, in a way, without the whole Bougainville peace process coming to his final conclusion and then leaving away.
SHANE MCLEOD: Mr Kabui has expressed his concerns in a letter to Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer. Similar letters have been written by the Provincial Governor and the Provincial Administrator. But perhaps the most significant letter is one sent jointly by the heads of the former military opponents, the Bougainville Revolutionary Army and the Bougainville Resistance Force.
Ishmael Toroama from the BRA and Hillary Masiria from the BRF have warned that the withdrawal of the Peace Monitoring Group will leave a power vacuum in the Province. Both men worry that if the Peace Monitors leave before the island's new autonomous Government is established it could easily result in a collapse of the process.
Joseph Kabui shares the concerns.
JOSEPH KABUI: I don't like, you know, gambling, you know, it is like, you know, taking, it is really a gambling sort of thing that has been done in here, but we cannot gamble with peoples' lives.
SHANE MCLEOD: But Australia maintains its decision to withdraw the Peace Monitoring Group is the right one. It says the group's mandate has been completed and the peace process remains strong. Australian support for Bougainville will be maintained, particularly through its aid program.
A Spokesman for Mr Downer says specific replies to the Bougainville leaders' concerns will be sent to them in coming weeks, and to reveal their content now would be inappropriate. But from all signals emanating from Australia, the reply isn't likely to be what those on Bougainville want to hear.
HAMISH ROBERTSON: That was Shane McLeod reporting from Port Moresby.

See also[edit]

Template:Politics of Bougainville Documentary films

Other

Further reading[edit]

  • Oliver, Douglas (1973). Bougainville: A Personal History, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
  • Oliver, Douglas (1991). Black Islanders: A Personal Perspective of Bougainville, 1937–1991, Melbourne: Hyland House.Repeats text from previous 1973 reference and updates with summaries of Papua New Guinea press reports on the Bougainville Crisis
  • Quodling, Paul. Bougainville: The Mine And The People.
  • (2005) Regan, Anthony and Griffin, Helga (eds.) Bougainville Before the Crisis, Canberra: Pandanus Books.
  • Pelton, Robert Young (2002). Hunter Hammer and Heaven, Journeys to Three World's Gone Mad, Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press.
  • Gillespie, Waratah Rosemarie (2009). Running with Rebels: Behind the Lies in Bougainville's hidden war, Australia: Ginibi Productions.


Citations[edit]

  1. ↑ [1] ABC Foreign Correspondent- World in Focus - Lead Story (1997) Exclusive interview with Francis Ona. Interviewed by Wayne Coles-Janess.
  2. ↑ [2] Papala Chronicle Issue 3 pp 7,9.
  3. ↑ [www.csrm.uq.edu.au/docs/SSGM_09_05_bainton_cox.pdf] (National, 23 May 2004)]
  4. ↑ [3] Papala Chronicles Issue 17 page 8
  5. ↑ [4] Papala Chronicles Issue 3 p 7
  6. ↑ [5] Papala Chronicles Issue12 p 2
  7. ↑ Wikipedia:Noah_Musingku#Bougainville/Meekamui under Musingku

External links[edit]

http://www.c-r.org/accord/boug/accord12.index.shtml

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