Declaration of truce

Bougainville

By Sam Vulum

The peace process on Papua New Guinea’s trou

ble-torn Bougainville

Island has taken another encouraging step forward with the recent declaration of truce on the island. PNG’s Defence Force Commander Brigadier General Leo Nuia announced on October 24 that all restrictions imposed by the security forces on Bougainville had been lifted as of October 10, the signing date of the Burnham Truce in New Zealan.

He said this had been done to honour and comply with the truce and further enhance the peace process.

This now means that people who want to travel in or to Bougainville no longer need clearances from the security forces.

People are free to move anywhere, at any time; shipping companies and third-level airlines are free to operate throughout Bougainville. General Nuia urged all Bougainville traditional border crossers to report to Torato Island for immigration and customs formalities before entering the Solomon Islands territory. He also direct ed that the PNGDF vacate its camp in Buka to allow the lata people to resettle in their village. The truce was signed by gov ernment officials, Bougainville Transitional Government and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army in a two-week meeting to prepare an agenda for the third round of peace talks.

The talks envisaged another leaders’ meeting which PNG Prime Minister Bill Skate is expected to attend. The meeting has been scheduled for January 1998.

However, a Reuters report quoted NZ government sources as saying that two fur ther sets of talks are set to be held in NZ during the coming months. The first round, to take place before Christmas, would involve a handful of officials representing the various factions on Bougainville.

“They all feel comfortable here. For the BRA, Burnham is almost like a second home,” one source said.

NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Don McKinnon confirmed a meeting of offi cials was the next step, but said arrange ments were up to the parties to the talks.

Government officials did not expect pro independence rebel leader Francis Ona to

be involved in the talks. They said he seemed to be becoming marginalised, although it was difficult to assess how much influence he retained.

The truce calls for a commitment that all parties refrain from all acts of intimida tion; lifting of all internal restrictions on Bougainville enforced by the security forces, BRA or any other groups on the island. Skate said the truce formalised the desire for peace by all parties on Bougainville. Skate said the national gov ernment would also consider entering into a formal ceasefire agreement supervised by a neutral third party and all parties involved in the conflict after a proper investigation of cost and implications of such an arrangement was completed.

In a first test of the truce, notorious sep aratist rebel leader Sylvester Vane, who was involved in a motor vehicle accident, has been treated and set free. Vane, one of the most wanted rebels prior to the truce, was injured in a car accident at Tinputz on October 21. Although his injuries were minor, he was nevertheless rushed to Sohano Hospital for medical treatment.

Vane had been considered by security forces and government authorities as a notorious rebel materminding activities in the northern part of mainland Meanwhile, a delegation of Australian and NZ experts on monitoring peacekeeping visited PNG in October to assess technical requirements for agreed peace monitoring arrangements for Bougainville.

Bougainville Affairs Minister Sam Akoitai, announcing the visit, said it was part of the follow-up to agreements reached between parties to the conflict on Bougainville when they met in Burnham, NZ in early October.

“The Govemnment is pleased with the way that the Burnham truce and removal of internal restrictions are working,”

Akoitai said. “We need to move quickly to provide the sense of security that the peo ple of Bougainville need, by getting the truce monitoring group into place as soon as possible.” The Bougainville conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives, began when landowners revolted in 1988 over damage caused by the huge Panguna copper mine and the royalties they received from it. Bougainville has been a huge political headache for PNG. ■