The 'Bougainville Crisis'
Disputes concerning the Panguna mine, culminating in actions by landowners that forced the mine to be shut down, resulted in the 'Bougainville Crisis' of the 1990s. The PNG Government responded to closure of the Panguna mine by sending its Defence force to Bougainville, thereby declaring an all out war with the people of the island. In 1990 the PNG Government established a blockade around Bougainville - land, sea and air. What ensued was a protracted war between the PNG Defence Forces and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), fought out in villages all over Bougainville with many murders and other atrocities. The PNG Defence Force received substantial support from Australia.
Around 20,000 Bougainvilleans, men, women and children died, either directly from the war or from preventable and treatable illnesses, because of the lack of basic medicine and other supplies. The novel Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones, also made into a feature film starring Hugh Laurie, provides an impression of how the war was experienced by ordinary people in Bougainville.
Attempts to negotiate peace, or ceasefires, in 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996 and 1997 were unsuccessful. Representations were made on behalf of Bougainville to the UN, which passed Resolutions in 1992 (ECOSOC), 1993 (HRC), 1994 (HRC) and1995 (HRC), when it also appointed a Special Rapporteur who reported back in 1996. In 1996 the UN HRC passed a fourth Resolution. Photographs showing that massacres had taken place were published in the Australian press and the Australian Government ceased to provide support for the PNG Government's actions.
In 1996 the then Prime Minister of PNG, Sir Julius Chan, ordered invasion of Bougainville by PNG Defence Force. He sought military assistance from Australia and New Zealand and, when they declined, sought to hire mercenaries from the London-based Sandline International to recapture Panguna mine (the "Sandline affair"). When news of this leaked out, international condemnation forced him to abandon this plan, and he was forced to resign. Eventually a ceasefire was agreed in 1997 and negotiations continued as to Bougainville's status and government.
Around 20,000 Bougainvilleans, men, women and children died, either directly from the war or from preventable and treatable illnesses, because of the lack of basic medicine and other supplies. The novel Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones, also made into a feature film starring Hugh Laurie, provides an impression of how the war was experienced by ordinary people in Bougainville.
Attempts to negotiate peace, or ceasefires, in 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996 and 1997 were unsuccessful. Representations were made on behalf of Bougainville to the UN, which passed Resolutions in 1992 (ECOSOC), 1993 (HRC), 1994 (HRC) and1995 (HRC), when it also appointed a Special Rapporteur who reported back in 1996. In 1996 the UN HRC passed a fourth Resolution. Photographs showing that massacres had taken place were published in the Australian press and the Australian Government ceased to provide support for the PNG Government's actions.
In 1996 the then Prime Minister of PNG, Sir Julius Chan, ordered invasion of Bougainville by PNG Defence Force. He sought military assistance from Australia and New Zealand and, when they declined, sought to hire mercenaries from the London-based Sandline International to recapture Panguna mine (the "Sandline affair"). When news of this leaked out, international condemnation forced him to abandon this plan, and he was forced to resign. Eventually a ceasefire was agreed in 1997 and negotiations continued as to Bougainville's status and government.