Bougainville MUST SEE FILM
- The Coconut Revolution (Stampede Productions Nov 2001) (Video 50 minutes)
This is the modern-day story of a native peoples' remarkable victory over Western Colonial power. A Pacific island rose up in arms against giant mining corporation Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ) - and won despite a military occupation and blockade. When RTZ decided to step up production at the Panguna Mine on the island of Bougainville, they got more than they bargained for. The island's people had enough of seeing their environment ruined and being treated as pawns by RTZ. RTZ refused to compensate them, so the people decided it was time to put an end to outside interference in the island's affairs. To do this they forcibly closed down the mine. The Papua New Guinea Army (PNGDF) were mobilised in an attempt to put down the rebellion. The newly formed Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) began the fight with bows & arrows, and sticks & stones. Against a heavily armed adversary they still managed to retain control of most of their island. Realising they were beaten on the ground, the PNGDF imposed a gunboat blockade around Bougainville, in an attempt to strangle the BRA into submission. But the blockade seemed to of had little or no effect. With no shipments getting in or out of the island, how did new electricity networks spring up in BRA held territory? How were BRA troops able to drive around the island without any source of petrol or diesel? What was happening within the blockade was an environmental and spiritual revolution. The ruins of the old Panguna mine where being recycled to supply the raw materials for the world's first eco-revolution. A David and Goliath story of the 21st century, The Coconut Revolution will appeal to people of all backgrounds
1943 - The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay in BougainvilleThe Coconut Revolution
Environment/Indigenous People’s Issues 52 Min VHS
Bougainville is a small island off the coast of Papua New Guinea. No one really cared when the British company Rio Tinto Zinc bulldozed jungle and proceeded to dig the worl’ds largest open-cast copper min there in the sixties. Then in 1989, he indigenous inhabitants, led by the enigmatic Francis Ona, revolted. By dodging through the shoot-to-kill gunboat blockade filmmaker Dom Rotheroe and sound recordist Carlos Soto brought out this behind the lines film and showed how the world’s first Eco-Revolution began.
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The film Coconut Revolution is a splendid transformation of a civilisation. It is indicative of the many benefits derived from nature which many nations have neglected, choosing instead to pursue building bombs, nuclear weapons, ammunitions for war and the insanity of terrorism, racism etc.
Kwesi Kwatia Philip, Ghana
Alexandra, Jordan
Ona is dead - Kabui confirms his death
The National, 25 July 2005 By Bonney Bonsella
SECCESSIONIST Bougainville and Mekamui leader Francis Ona is dead. Mr
Ona died at 1pm at his Guava village yesterday. President of the
Bougainville Autonomous Government Joseph Kabui confirmed the death of
We should remember this is the fellow who was behind Radio Free
Bougainville, from whom I received a QSL (actually it was from Sam
Voron) ten or more years ago now. I still recall the story they told,
of a coconut-oil-powered generator and an output of 40 watts on 3850.
Those were the days! (Walt Salmaniw, BC, Aug 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Viz.: the reclusive rebel leader from Buka last night. . .
THE COCONUT REVOLUTION
Bows and arrows against helicopter gunships, and bows win - with a little help from the coconut. This is Bougainville, a small island off the coast of Papua New Guinea and the site of the world's first successful ecological revolution. The world paid no attention when in the sixties the British company Rio Tinto Zinc bulldozed jungle in Bougainville and proceeded to dig the word's largest open-cast mine. Then in 1989 the indigenous inhabitants launched a remarkable and ultimately victorious revolt. Dodging bullets and evading the gunboat blockade that encircled the small island, filmmaker Dom Rotheroe documented this David and Goliath story of the 21st century.
Filmmakers/Distributors Contact Information:
Mike Chamberlain
mike@stampede.co.uk
This is the modern-day story of a native peoples' remarkable victory over Western Colonial power. A Pacific island rose up in arms against giant mining corporation Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ) - and won despite a military occupation and blockade. When RTZ decided to step up production at the Panguna Mine on the island of Bougainville, they got more than they bargained for. The island's people had enough of seeing their environment ruined and being treated as pawns by RTZ. (from £10.00)
![[Image]](http://www.cultureshop.org/cat_img/COCOREV.jpg)
View one minute trailer (Download RealPlayerWithSpyWare)
RTZ refused to compensate them, so the people decided it was time to put an end to outside interference in the island's affairs. To do this they forcibly closed down the mine.
The Papua New Guinea Army (PNGDF) were mobilised in an attempt to put down the rebellion. The newly formed Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) began the fight with bows & arrows, and sticks & stones. Against a heavily armed adversary they still managed to retain control of most of their island. Realising they were beaten on the ground, the PNGDF imposed a gunboat blockade around Bougainville, in an attempt to strangle the BRA into submission. But the blockade seemed to of had little or no effect.
With no shipments getting in or out of the island, how did new electricity networks spring up in BRA held territory? How were BRA troops able to drive around the island without any source of petrol or diesel?
What was happening within the blockade was an environmental and spiritual revolution. The ruins of the old Panguna mine where being recycled to supply the raw materials for the world's first eco-revolution.
A David and Goliath story of the 21st century, The Coconut Revolution will appeal to people of all backgrounds
Winner:
FICA Festival of Environmental Film, Brazil
BEMA Richard Keefe Memorial Award - WWF
Golden Kite, Best Documentary, Mar del Plata, Argentina
Silver Kite, Best Film for Young People, Argentina
Runner up:
BEMA (British Environmental Media Awards) Best Documentary
Amnesty International Awards, Best Documentary
One World Media Awards 2001, TV Documentary
Director: Dom Rotheroe
Sound: Carlos Soto
Funding: Soros Documentary Fund
Producer: Mike Chaimberlain
photos © Alex Smailes +44 (0)7771 657 997
50 minutes
==================
The Coconut Revolution
| User Rating | |
|---|---|
| Producer(s) | Mike Chaimberlain |
| Director(s) | Dom Rotheroe |
| Release Date | 2001 |
| Runtime | 24 min |
| Format(s) | video |
| Youth Media | no |
Film Description
This is the modern-day story of a native peoples' seemingly impossible victory over Western Colonial power. An island rose up in arms against giant mining corporation Rio Tinto Zinc - and won!
When Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ) decided to step up production at the Panguna Mine on the Pacific Island of Bougainville, they got more than they bargained for. The island's people were fed up with being used as pawns by the west. RTZ refused to compensate them, so the people decided it was time to put an end to outside interference in the island's affairs. To do this they forcibly closed down the mine.
The Papua New Guinea Army (PNGDF) were mobilised in an attempt to put down the rebellion. The newly formed Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) began the fight with bows & arrows, and sticks & stones. Against a heavily armed adversary they still managed to retain control of most of their island. Realising they were beaten on the ground, the PNGDF imposed a gunboat blockade around Bougainville, in an attempt to strangle the BRA into submission. But the blockade seemed to of had little or no effect.
With no shipments getting in or out of the island, how did new electricity networks spring up in BRA held territory? How were BRA troops able to drive around the island without any source of petrol or diesel?
What was happening within the blockade was an environmental and spiritual revolution. The ruins of the old Panguna mine where being recycled to supply the raw materials for the world's first eco-revolution.
A David and Goliath story of the 21st century, The Coconut Revolution will appeal to people of all backgrounds
Winner:
FICA Festival of Environmental Film, Brazil
BEMA Richard Keefe Memorial Award - WWF
Golden Kite, Best Documentary, Mar del Plata, Argentina
Silver Kite, Best Film for Young People, Argentina
Runner up:
BEMA (British Environmental Media Awards) Best Documentary
Amnesty International Awards, Best Documentary
One World Media Awards 2001, TV Documentary
| Official Site | www.cultureshop.org |
|---|---|
| Contact | admin@cultureshop.org |
The Coconut Revolution (2000) (TV)
Directed by Dom Rotheroe
Release date: 2000 (UK) moreGenre: Documentary
Runtime:
50 minCountry:
UKLanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorFilming Locations:
Bougainville, Papua New GuineaBougainville: Our Island, Our Fight (1998)
| View Photos | Add to My Movies | View Trailers | Discuss In Message Boards | IMDb Pro Details |
Directed by
Wayne Coles-JanessRelease date:
1998 (USA) morePlot Outline:
Documents an indigenous people who fight against a multinational mining company (Panguna copper mine) and government forces (PNG). The guerrillas relay the belief that they fight to defend their independence and preserve the local environment on the island of Bougainville.Awards:
1 win moreUser Comments:
The Coconut Revolution (Bougainville story) more
Runtime:
USA:52 minCountry:
Australia
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---- Some spoilers but this is a documentary with a story.... -----
Excellent documentary about a "forgotten war". One wanders how the makers heard about what happened on a tiny island near Papua New Guinea. Even more: it's amazing a documentary was made about it all!
This documentary tells the story of a Pacific island's population that rose up in arms against a giant mining corporation named "Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ)". Grace to their creativity and string bound they won their autonomy and this despite a military occupation and a blockade of their island.
When the mining company RTZ decided to step up production at the Panguna Mine on the island of Bougainville, they got more than they bargained for. The island's people had enough of seeing their environment ruined and being treated as pawns by RTZ.
Not a moment the RTZ Company thought about providing the islanders any compensation of the destruction and pollution made. This although huge profits were made by their mining activity. The people decided it was time to put an end to outside interference in the island's affairs. To do this they concluded the mine had to be closed down.
The Papua New Guinea Army (PNGDF) were mobilized in an attempt to put down the rebellion. The islanders fought back with bows & arrows, and sticks & stones. Against a heavily armed adversary they still managed to retain control of most of their island. Realizing they were beaten on the ground, the government of Papua New Guinea imposed a blockade. The islanders became very creative in running their own island and realizing their own destiny. They managed to produce 'green' electricity and even developed their own fuel in order to keep some cars running. Their military fight for freedom deepened as it became as well an environmental and spiritual revolution. The ruins of the old Panguna mine where being recycled to supply the raw materials for the world's first eco-revolution.
A David and Goliath story of the 21st century. An amazing success story. So many cultures and people have been wiped out by colonialism and for cooperate profit. Not those of Bougainville island.
Many viewers might find inspiration in how those people work together to build a society that is conscious about ecological matters and socially more just.
Bougainville – 'Our Island, Our Fight'
Max Bourke
In the early 1990s attempts were made to raise public awareness about Australian complicity in the tragic events occurring only a few hundred miles off-shore in Bougainville. In an age driven by images there were none to portray the effect that continued attacks and a blockade were having on Bougainvillian. They were rendered invisible by a lack of information. It could be said that the denial of media access has been as detrimental to the people of Bougainville as the blockading of food and medical supplies, which is why Wayne Coles- Janess' film is an important and courageous production. It is also highly acclaimed, boasting awards from several festivals, including the Houston and Flagstaff International Film Festivals.
Smuggled by banana boat across the PNG patrolled border, Coles-Janess visited Bougainville several times in the mid 1990s to make the only documentary filmed during the conflict. His task was made none the easier by the lack of broadcaster support that his early proposals met. In the end he covered the production costs himself, financing the project by shooting current affairs stories for the ABC's Foreign Correspondent whenever he visited the island. His persistence paid off: as the video slick proclaims, this film is 'the only record of life for refugees in the jungle and dramatic front line footage of Bougainville's fight for independence'.
Coles-Janess drops us in at the deep end from the start: 'I didn't recognize the body that was lying there. It was all squashed up like a pig that's been cut'. These words come from a survivor of Papua New Guinea's ten year civil war on Bougainville, backed by explicit still images of the carnage. Throughout the programme the violence of this war—a visit to an over-attended makeshift clinic treating victims of military attacks among the more arresting scenes—is presented with the same understated frankness as the interviews; not sensationalized, but shocking images of a shocking reality.
Released from Australian administration in 1975, Bougainville came under Papuan control despite a vigorous independence movement. Archival footage at the start of the film exposes the colonial attitudes of an Australia oblivious to the warning signs of trouble to come. Mineral exploitation profits from the Panguna copper mine, established and run by Australian multinational CRA (now merged with RTZ and known as Rio Tinto) have earned PNG billions of dollars, while delivering little compensation to the locals whose land has been taken or devastated by pollution. The BRA (Bougainville Revolutionary Army) was formed, fighting a guerrilla operation to shut down mining operation and later, under PNG counter-attack, broadening their scope into an independence war. Unable to regain control, the PNG military enforced a ten year economic and communications blockade of the island. According to the film the result has been 14,000 deaths—from a population of only 160,000.
Coles-Janess speaks with a wide range of Bougainvillians, from villagers displaced by fighting to Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) soldiers and the President Francis Ona of the Bougainville Interim Government (BIG). These interviews, many of them relating the horrors they had personally witnessed at the hands of the PNG army, are the meat of the film. The directness with which the characters discuss the morbid and personal realities of war manage to cut through news-hardened defences to land emotive blows.
A sparse narration ties together these interviews and several observational sequences, with additional exposition in the form of text plates. Even so, the story sometimes wanders and risks losing the thread of the narrative. Fortunately the subject matter is compelling enough to carry the film; in fact you would be hard pressed to look away.
The observational sequences bring home the reality of life on Bougainville. The filming of an abandoned coastal village is cut short by the arrival of a PNG military helicopter. A shot of the aircraft passing overhead cuts prematurely and is followed by an erratic point-of-view scramble through thick grass and undergrowth. In the background the noise of the chopper turbine is interspersed with machine-gun fire. The camera weaves through bracken, then drops to the deck briefly before continuing on.
One of Coles-Janess' two companions—both unarmed—was wounded in the attack. Their flight continues with this man piggy-backed by the other, Coles-Janess and camera bringing up the rear. When they stop Coles-Janess has the foresight to place his camera strategically, capturing the scene as he and his companion dress the wounded man's arm before moving on. Another observational scene shows a Chiefs Meeting in South Bougainville and here a tension hinted at in some of the interviews becomes explicit. 'Yes, we'd all like independence,' says one impassioned speaker. 'But by the time we get it we could be dead.'
But Francis Ona is insistent on independence as the only lasting solution for Bougainville and he has a message for the Australian audience. Australia, he says, is supplying PNG with helicopters, ships, weapons, ammunition and training. Shots of empty munitions cases stamped with Australian government identification back his claim. 'Australia is fighting this war,' he says. 'Without Australia we can beat Papua New Guinea.'
Bougainville – 'Our Island, Our Fight' is an eye-opening tour of a conflict that has otherwise been almost invisible to the outside world. And for Australians it is a poignant reminder of the politically bound nature of foreign aid. Seeing the brutal effect of our own war machinery, albeit in the hands of a neighbour, makes the impact of this film very visceral indeed.
| DOM ROTHEROE |
![[Image]](http://www.cinema.bg/sff/2004/sfm/images/px.gif){kind=small} |
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| Date of Birth: 24/4/64 Nationality: British Agent - Natasha Galloway DRAMA (as writer/director) My Brother Tom: Feature film, shot on DV, about a savage love story between two abused teenagers. FilmFour/Film Council/British Screen. 2001. Best Film and Best Actor at Sochi Film Festival; Best Debut at St Petersburg Film Festival; Best Newcomer at British Independent Film Awards; Audience Prize at Angers Film Festival; Herald Angel Award at Edinburgh Film Festival; Studio Bruxelles Award at Flanders Film Festival; Greatest Artitistic Contribution Award and Youth Jury Award at Verona Film Festival; Best Film at Britspotting Festival; Jury Prize at Chatenay-Malabry Festival; Best Film and Audience Prize at Jugendfilmfestival Vienna. The Stick-Up: a 12 minute 35mm drama about a man glued forty foot up a warehouse wall. 2001. Trip - A Mythology: a 25 minute 16mm drama, post-produced on video. A type of road movie about a drug which makes people see their myths. 1995. Gents: 16mm advert for British Film Industry. 1990. Second Prize Kodak Student Advert Awards. DOCUMENTARY The Coconut Revolution: documentary about the war on Bougainville. Channel 4, 2000. Grand Prize FICA Film Festival; Richard Keefe Memorial Award at BEMA; Silver Kite for Best Documentary and Grand Prix at Mar Del Plata Film Festival. Nominated for One World and Amnesty International Media Awards. (Camera, Director) We Can Rebuild You: an eight hour series on rebuilding the bodies of accident victims. Sky One, 2000. (Camera, Co-Director) Mission Rescue: a rescue team at the Turkish earthquake. 1999. (Camera, Shoot Director) Blockade: a portrait of the guerrillas of East Timor. As a one-man crew, I was the first to travel with the resistance into the interior and film them in combat. RTP, Portugal/SBS, Australia, 1996. (Camera, Shoot Director) Shadows On The Street: about the murder of Rio’s streetkids by the police. Channel 4, 1996. (Camera, Editor) A Sarajevo Diary: a refugee’s return to his besieged hometown. Channel 4, August 1993, updated December 1993. Nominated for BAFTA Flaherty Award. Special Commendation, Prix Europa. Finalist, New York Festivals. (Director, Editor, Co-Producer) - In other roles - The Beat Of Distant Hearts: documentary on culture in the refugee camps of Western Sahara. 1999. Winner Best Documentary, CIBA Awards. (Camera) He’s Gotta Have It: documentary on the making of a no-budget black feature. 1998. (Camera) Peter Green - Back For Good?: profile of the Fleetwood Mac legend. Anglia, 1997. (DV Camera) We Recruit: documentary on the Lesbian Avengers. Channel 4, 1995. (Camera) Underground TV: a 12 minute piece for The Late Show on the camcorder as a political weapon. BBC2, 1994. (Camera, Editor) Prayers To Broken Stone: documentary on religion in Ethiopia. 1993. (Camera) Walls Of Sand: documentary on the war in Western Sahara. 1992. (Assistant Director) Other Information Articles published in Esquire, The Independent On Sunday, The Geographical, Adrenalin, Juice, L’Expresso, NRC Handelsblad, The World's Most Dangerous Places. |
Bougainville is part of Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Solomon Islands group.
Bougainville, the adjacent island of Buka, and assorted outlying islands including the Carterets are sometimes known as North Solomons. Together they make up the Papua New Guinean Bougainville Province. The population of the province is 175,160 (2000 census).
The island is ecologically and geographically, although not politically, part of the Solomon Islands. Buka, Bougainville, and most of the Solomons are part of the Solomon Islands rain forests ecoregion.
Louis Antoine de Bougainville named the island after himself.
History of Bougainville
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bougainville is a province of Papua New Guinea. It was named after the French navigator Louis Antoine de Bougainville.
Pre-history
Bougainville has been inhabited for at least 33 000 years. Its people speak languages belonging to three language families, the northern and southern Bougainville families, whose origins are unknown and presumably ancient, and languages of the Austronesian family, which arrived with the more recent Lapita culture from the west three millennia ago.
 | This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it. |
European colonisation
The German New Guinea Company established control over Bougainville and Buka, Choiseul, Shortland and Treasury Islands in 1885 but did not extend its farther control southwards in the Solomons, whose southern islands came under a British protectorate in 1893 with the eastern islands being added in 1899. In 1900, Germany transferred all of its claims in the Solomons other than Bougainville and Buka to Great Britain while Britain, in return, withdrew from Western Samoa. During World War I Australia occupied Bougainville together with the rest of German New Guinea; the League of Nations placed the territory under Australian mandate in 1920.
Second World War
- See also: Battle of Bougainville
In 1942, Bougainville was occupied by the Japanese, and was used as a base to attack Guadalcanal and other Allied territory. The 3rd Marine Division landed on the west coast of Bougainville in November 1943, and shortly afterwards, there was a large night sea battle, the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay between cruisers and destroyers of the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Americans routed the Japanese and were never bothered again in this area by the I.J.N. It took a concerted Allied land offensive between November 1943 and April 1944 to occupy and hold the part of the island along the western shore in an area called "Torokina". The Americans set about establishing a wide defensive perimeter, draining swamps, and building multiple airfields for defense, and for attacking the Japanese on New Britain Island. The Marines were replaced by US Army troops. The Japanese infiltrated the mountains and jungles of Bougainville, and launched a counteroffensive against the Americans in 1944. The critical focus of their attack was at a place called by the Americans "Hellsapoppin Ridge". In repulsing this attack, the American soldiers and airmen broke the back of the Japanese Army on Bougainville. The survivors retreated to their bases on northern and southern Bougainville, and the Americans left them to "wither on the vine" for the remainder of the war. During the 1943-45 period, more than 17,500 Japanese soldiers were either killed in combat, died of disease, or died of malnutrition. In 1945, the Australian Army took over occupation from the Americans, and Australia resumed control of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea, which became a United Nations trusteeship. The remaining Japanese on Bougainville refused to surrender, but rather held out until the surrender of the Japanese Empire on 2 September 1945. They were then commanded by the Emperor to surrender to the Allied Australians, Americans, and New Zealanders, and they were then repatriated to Japan.
Beginnings of the independence movement
Bougainville is rich in copper, and possibly gold. The mining of copper has been the cause of considerable tensions over the last fifty years, and has been related to both attempts at secession. In 1964, the first attempts were made to explore the island's resources, when CRA Exploration, a subsidiary of Australian company Rio Tinto Zinc, began drilling in the Panguna area. The mine, under their subsidiary, Bougainville Copper Ltd. opened in 1969.
The first independence movement began to arise in the late 1960s, as people began to air their grievances against the Australian colonial government over the handling of the Panguna mine. Australian External Territories Minister Charles Barnes was accused of telling the Bougainvillean people they would "get nothing". In 1972, Bougainville was granted some degree of autonomy, but this did not end the secessionist movement. Relations between Bougainville and the mainland were not helped when, in December, 1972, two senior Bougainvillean public servants were murdered as payback for a road accident in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. This caused outrage on the island, and helped to consolidate the independence movement. As a result, the Bougainville Special Political Committee (BSPC) was set up to negotiate with the Papuan government on the future of Bougainville within PNG.
By 1974, they had reached a compromise with a Special Committee of the Papuan Parliament, which would have given them even greater autonomy, although not another key demand of the Bougainvillean negotiating team, which would have seen a share of the profits from the Panguna mine go to the people of Bougainville. However, the conservative Papuan government declined to follow key sections of the Committee's report, and in May, 1975, negotiations between the two collapsed completely.
Republic of North Solomons
On 28 May 1975, the Interim Provincial Government in Bougainville agreed to secede from Papua New Guinea. This caused a three-way impasse between the Government of PNG, the legislature in PNG, and the authorities in Bougainville. The PNG government made attempts to resolve the situation through June and July, but these failed, and the interim government announced that they would declare independence on 1 September, ahead of Papua New Guinea's own independence on 16 September. On 1 September, they issued the 'Unilateral Declaration of Independence of the Republic of North Solomons'.
They sought international recognition through the United Nations, but were unsuccessful. They also failed in an attempt to be united with the Solomon Islands. In early 1976, the Bougainvillean government realised that they would have to accept Papua New Guinean sovereignty. This was supported by the 'Bougainville Agreement', signed later that year, which gave Bougainville widespread autonomy within Papua New Guinea. For the remainder of the 1970s, and into the early 1980s, relations between the two remained tense, but relatively peaceful. However, in 1981, disputes re-emerged over the status of the mine, and this would form the basis of the conflict which would turn violent in 1988.
Shutting the Panguna mine
The mine at Panguna had been perhaps the most major sticking point between Bougainville and the mainland. It was vitally important to the economy of Papua New Guinea, but the people of Bougainville were seeing little benefit from it. Bougainvillean leaders alleged that the mine had been responsible for devastating environmental consequences. They also claimed that Bougainville Copper had set up a system of apartheid on the island, with one set of facilities for white workers, and one set for the locals. They accused Bougainville Copper Ltd., of being responsible for poisoning the entire length of the Jaba River, and causing birth defects, as well as the extinction of the flying fox on the island. These grievances led to the decision in late 1988 of two cousins and local leaders, Francis Ona and Pepetua Serero, to take up arms against the Papuan government. Ona himself had worked for Bougainville Copper, and had witnessed the effects the mine was having on the landscape of the island.
In 1987, Ona and Serero called a meeting of landowners at Panguna, and as a result, the Panguna Landowners' Association was formed, with Serero as 'chairlady', and Ona as General Secretary. They demanded billions in compensation from CRA - a total of half the mine's profits since it began in 1969. In November 1988, Ona stormed out of a meeting with the company after a report by a New Zealand company claimed that the Jaba River was not poisoned. He resigned his job, went into the jungle, and formed the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). They held up the mine's magazine, stole explosives, and committed numerous acts of arson and sabotage. They also cut the power supply to the entire mine by blowing up power pylons. These were carried out under the command of an Australian-trained soldier, Sam Kauona, who had defected from the Papuan defence forces to become Ona's right hand man. Kauona also became the spokesperson for the group. He continued to conduct hit-and-run raids on mine property and government installations. The campaign was successful, when the mine was shut down on 15 May 1989, after terrorist attacks on mine employees. As of 2005, the mine remains closed. Serero was to die of an asthma attack soon afterwards, and Ona continued to lead the uprising alone.
From uprising to war of secession
The Papuan police, and then the army (under Jerry Singirok, who was later to be an important player in the Sandline affair) made several arrests, but Ona proved to be elusive, and they failed to catch him. Attempts to resolve the standoff continued, and Bougainville Copper continued to deny responsibility for any of the grievances of Ona and his supporters. The company suggested that the death of the flying foxes was due to a virus brought in from East New Britain, and that the river was unaffected by the mine. Nevertheless, the PNG government and Bougainville Copper initially made attempts to resolve some of the outstanding issues, and offered an expensive compromise deal, which was rejected outright by Ona and Kauona.
One further sticking point between the company and the Landholders' Association focused around the rights of landholders around the mine. The company claimed that there were only 850 titleholders, who did have some rights, and 5000 were beneficiaries, who had few rights at all. Francis Ona was one of the latter. In response, Bougainville Copper refused to accept the 1987 meeting as legitimate, and kept dealing with the original executive - a group of old men that they maintained a good working relationship with.
The Premier of Bougainville, Joseph Kabui, and the Member for Bougainville in the national parliament, Father John Momis, a former leader of the 1975 secession attempt, supported the new executive, and demanded the company recognise them as legitimate. Both were later to play an important role in the movement. Both were also beaten by riot police during 1989. They were not the only ones, as allegations of human rights abuses by the PNG army began to arise. These embarrassed the PNG government, and more than twenty arrests were made as a result.
However, the BRA was also involved in violence against the provincial government, being responsible for the murder of John Bika, Kabui's Commerce and Liquor Licensing Minister, who had supported the compromise agreement between the Bougainvilleans and the Government.
As a response to the continuing violence, the national government called a state of emergency, and placed the island under the administration of the Police Commissioner, who was based in Port Moresby. The allegations of human rights abuses continued, and a survey in late 1989 indicated that at least 1600 homes had been destroyed. The conflict showed no signs of ending, and in January, 1990, Bougainville Copper announced the mothballing of the Panguna mine. In 1990, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea agreed to pull Papuan troops out, and for international observers to witness the disarmament of the BRA. The agreement was signed, on the Bougainvillean side, by Sam Kauona. The police, fearing that they would be slaughtered without military support, also fled, and the island was left to the BRA. Back in Port Moresby, the decision to withdraw from Bougainville led to an attempted military coup, which was subsequently defeated.
Civil war
In May 1990, Papua New Guinea imposed a blockade on Bougainville. Francis Ona responded by unilaterally declaring independence. He set up the Bougainville Interim Government (BIG), but it had little power, and the island began to descend into anarchy. The command structure set up by the BRA seldom had any real control over the various groups throughout the island that claimed to be part of the BRA. A number of 'raskol' (criminal) gangs that were affiliated with the BRA, equipped largely with weapons salvaged from the fighting in World War II, terrorized villages, engaging in murder, rape and pillage. Bougainville split into several factions, and a civil war began. Much of the division in this fighting were largely along clan-lines; the BIG/BRA was dominated by the Nasioi clan, causing other islanders to view it with suspicion. On the island of Buka, north of Bougainville a local militia was formed which succeeded in driving out the BRA with the help of Papuan troops, during a bloody offensive in September. Multiple agreements were signed and not honored by any side. The BRA leadership of Ona and Kauona fell out with some of the political leaders, such as Kabui. Several other village militias, which together became known as the resistance, armed by the PNG defence forces, forced the BRA out of their areas.
Papua New Guinea's policy towards Bougainville hardened after the defeat of the incumbent government at the 1992 elections. New Prime Minister Paias Wingti took a considerably more hardline stance, and angered the Solomon Islands, after a bloody raid on one island that was alleged to be supporting the Bougainvilleans. The Papuan army, in alliance with the resistance, succeeded in retaking Arawa, the provincial capital, in January 1993. Papuan Foreign Minister Sir Julius Chan attempted to gather a peacekeeping force from the nations of the Pacific, but Wingti quashed the idea. He subsequently ordered the army to retake the Panguna mine, and was initially successful. However, his government was short-lived, and in August 1994 was replaced as Prime Minister by Chan.
Chan announced his intention to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, meeting with Kauona in the Solomon Islands and arranging for a peace conference to be held in Arawa that October, with security provided by an Australia-led South Pacific Peacekeeping Force. However, the BIG leaders boycotted the conference, claiming that their safety could not be guaranteed. In their absence, Chan's government entered into negotiations with a group of chiefs from the Nasioi clan, headed by Theodore Miriung, a former lawyer for the Panguna Landowners Association. This resulted in the establishment of a Bougainville Transitional Government in April 1995, with its capital in Buka. Miriung was named Prime Minister of the new government, but frequently clashed with Chan by criticizing abuses committed by Papuan soldiers.
By 1996, Chan was beginning to get frustrated at the lack of progress. In January, following a round of negotiations in Cairns, Australia, between the BRA, BTG and the PNG government, a PNG defense force patrol boat fired upon Kabui and the other delegates when they returned to Bougainville. The next month, the home of the BIG's representative in the Solomon Islands, Martin Mirori, was firebombed. Chan decided to abandon attempts at peace, and on 21 March 1996, he gave the go-ahead for an invasion of Bougainville, under new commander of the PNG defence forces, Jerry Singirok.
Sandline and ceasefire
Under pressure from human rights groups, the governments of Australia and New Zealand declined to provide military support, forcing Chan begin to look elsewhere. Thus began the Sandline affair, where the Papuan government attempted to hire mercenaries from Sandline International, a London-based private military company, composed primarily of former British and South African special forces soldiers, which had been involved in the civil wars in Angola and Sierra Leone. However, while negotiations with Sandline were underway, 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 milita group, killing twelve Papuan 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 militas. 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 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 Bill Skate in Christchurch, New Zealand, which culmintated 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 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 Momis. Rapprochment between Kauona and 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.
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 [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. There is still a small minority of fighters left in the centre of the island, and enough instability to ensure that the mine remains closed. It would seem that the war in Bougainville is over. As part of the current peace settlement, a referendum on independence will be held sometime in the 2010s.
In March 2005, Dr Shaista Shameem of the United Nations working group on mercenaries asked Fiji and Papua New Guinea for permission to send a team to investigate the presence of former Fijian soldiers in Bougainville. (UNPO)
Operation Bel Isi ("Calm Stomach") - 30 April 1998 - 23 August 2003
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. It must be pointed out that both sides of the conflict welcomed the group being on Bougainville. This 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 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 Kieta airfield by weekly C130 Hercules flights from Townsville . Four UH-1 'Huey' helicopters were supplied by 171 Op Spt Sqn, 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
The first elections were organized in June 2005. Joseph Kabui was elected President.
References
Citizens of Bougainville have filed a class action lawsuit in the United States against Rio Tinto arising from the environmental damage caused by the mine and war crimes occurring during the civil war years. In August 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected Rio Tinto's effort to dismiss the claim. See Sarei v Rio Tinto, 456 F.3d 1069 (9th Cir. 2006).
Earth's magnetic field:
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