Page 10 - IB November 2019

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The Bougainville Referendum Commission has accredited hundreds of scrutineers and observers. Photo: BRC
BOUGAINVILLE VOTES

By Samantha Magick former mine worker Francis Ona and the nascent Bougainville Revolutionary Army
actively began to sabotage mining operations. The PNG Defence Force and police
Do you agree for Bougainville to have: were deployed to Bougainville in response, and the situation quickly escalated. The
A)Greater autonomy? mine shut down in 1989 and fighting continued between PNG and Bougainville
B)Independence? forces (and within factions) for many years. In 1997 a truce was finally negotiated,
a Peace Monitoring Group moved into Bougainville and in 2001 the Bougainville
This is the question Bougainvilleans are answering this month in a long-awaited Peace Agreement was signed in Arawa.
referendum, 20 years after peace was brokered. The referendum is the third prong of While this month’s referendum marks a critical political milestone, a 2016 study and
the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement. The other pillars – creation of the Bougain- series of consultations into the long-term impacts of the war found that it has led to,
ville Autonomous Government (which happened in 2005) and a weapons disposal “the displacement of more than half of the population; widespread human rights
program—have been successfully managed, and the current poll is expected to return abuses; far-reaching societal impacts including undermining of the traditional author-
a clear majority vote for independence. ity of elders and women and damage to cultural values and relationships; property
In the preparation for polling, bows and arrows have been broken, betelnut chewed, damage; and significant impacts on education and the economy. Conflict-related
testimonies and stories shared, shell money exchanged, and hands shaken in reconcil- experiences continue to impact on mental health in the form of trauma-related
iation ceremonies across Bougainville. symptoms, anger, complicated grief, alcohol and substance abuse, domestic violence
Veterans of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army and Papua New Guinea Security including sexual assault, excessive alcohol use and a lack of engagement in purposeful
Forces declared there would be no more war on Bougainville at one such ceremony activities. Other impacts include an increase in other forms of gender-based violence
in Kokopo. (including sexual assault), population displacement, and adverse trans-generational
“This is not our war, this is the war of foreign exploitation. This is the war of the effects on children exposed to disturbed parental behaviours attributable to conflict
decision- makers. We’re just soldiers following orders, we’re not supposed to kill our exposure.”
own brothers and sisters. It was a bad decision from the people who are running The study concluded that there was little capacity within Bougainville to address
the country and had put us in such an awkward situation. We must not repeat this these issues.
event,” Colonel Walter Enuma told the gathering on November 7. While traditional reconciliation protocols have been followed, there has not been a
An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people lost their lives during the war, which transitional justice or truth-telling process in Bougainville, and therefore, many unre-
centred around the profitable Australian-owned Panguna copper mine. At its most solved grievances remain. Official efforts to help families find the remains of relatives
productive, the mine accounted for 14 per cent of Papua New Guinea’s national killed and disappeared during the conflict are underway, however these efforts will
income according to the National Research Institute. However Bougainvilleans were take many years.
unhappy with the disproportionate number of PNG mainlanders working there, It is in this environment that the referendum is being held. Former Irish Prime
negative social impacts, environmental concerns and an inequitable distribution Minister Bertie Ahearn is chairing the Bougainville Referendum Commission. He’s
of the mine’s benefits between the PNG state and Bougainville’s government and confident all will proceed smoothly, with the count completed no later than 20
people. This discontent turned into violent opposition in 1988 when local leader and December.

10 Islands Business, November 2019