HOT TOPIC :
U.S. Department of State heading for peace in Bougainville!
by Axel G. Sturm
When the Bougainville Crises came to an end ten years ago, disarmament and weapon destruction became a major issue of Bougainville politics. Without law and order no economic development will be possible, without enduring peace the wish of independence will remain a dream - forever. Since 2010 Bougainvilleans get support from the United States of America to get rid of old World War II weapons left behind by soldiers from different countries.
It was in the 60ies of the 20th century when Conzinc Riotinto of Australia (CRA), the predecessor of Bougainville Copper Limited landed on Bougainville, first for exploration and later for mining in the Panguna area. They found a people traumatized by crucial battles that happened twenty years before: The Second World War that opposed the United States of America’s army to Japanese troops on the remote island of Bougainville.
U.S. troops on Bougainville in 1943
Until this time Bougainville had been a more or less forgotten tropical island in the Melanesian part of the Pacific Ocean. That war brought never seen destruction and brutality to that part of the world. Bougainville and his peoples lost – once for ever – their virginity.
Nearly 50 years later, the Panguna mine had opened and already contributed an enormous amount of money to the newly founded state of Papua New Guinea (PNG), unrest rose up.
Primary School in Bougainville
Although BCL had brought new infrastructure in roads, schools and excellent health service to the island the indigenous people of Bougainville started to revolt against Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL). That was because of unpaid royalties and environmental damage. Today it also seems that the former management of BCL did not listen to the local matters sufficiently. As BCL is owned at approximately 20 percent by the state of Papua New Guinea, since the beginning of mining in Panguna Bougainville Copper was considered as an occupying power from "abroad" - from Papua New Guinea. The old Bougainvillean wish for independence from PNG came up again. Soon first terrorist attacks to BCL installations on the ground were reported. As these attacks increased, BCL decided to abandon the Panguna mine urgently. Once BCL had left the island the Bougainvilleans became even more desperate: The Bougainvilleans continued fighting against each other. The so called “Bougainville crisis” roused. That was some kind of civil war that caused some reported 1,200 victims by direct battle activities and some 20,000 people more who died by age or because of poor medical treatment due to a lack of medicines. This was because a blockade of the island by PNG.
Historic copy of Papua New Guinea's first newspaper "Post-Courier!
In the so called “Sandline Affair” a group of foreign mercenaries, together with soldiers of the PNG Defence Forces (PNGDF), tried to give a turn-around to the situation. But failed.
Bougainville rebel with automatic gun
The rebels who first had attacked the mine area and later the PNGDF were well prepared: Instead of using traditional bows and arrows they were supplied with high quality guns, ammunition and explosives that they had either stolen from the mine area or that they had dug out in the surrounding rain forest where all soldiers who fought in Bougainville had buried a giant number of war weapons at the end of WW2 in the ground. Those - well preserved by grease - are still in use today by some criminal groups on the island who threaten peace loving Bougainvilleans.
Winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize:
U.S. President Barack Obama
Now, more than 65 years later, Peace Nobel price winner Barack Obama’s Department of State sent a group of experts to the ground of Bougainville to collect and to destroy these old war remnants.
Charles A. Stonecipher is the coordinator in Washington D.C. for that “cleaning-up mission”. He gave the ESBC this complete report on the U.S. activities on the ground in Bougainville to be published exclusively on the ESBC’s homepage. Mr. Stonecyper pointed out that the operations run under leadership of the U.S. Department of State, headed by Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and not by the Pentagon as some newspapers falsely reported. Furthermore: He answered to all the ESBC’s questions as well.
Viva Panguna