http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian/guardian/946boug.htm
The Guardian March 24, 1999
Bougainville:
The people of East Timor are facing many important questions after 25
years of brutal occupation and armed struggle. There are many similarities
in the issues facing the peoples of East Timor and Bougainville and
possible lessons to be learnt from the Bougainville model: reconciliation
between Bougainvilleans, the cease-fire, agreement to disarm, withdrawal of
Papua New Guinea troops, the role and composition of the peace monitoring
group, the fact the group was unarmed, and the steps involved in self-
determination. Moses Havini, the International Representative of the
Bougainville Interim Government/BRA in the Bougainville Reconciliation
Government, provides an update on the process of self-determination.
The road to peace over troubled waters in our country (Bougainville) has
been a long and a hazardous one for our people and for the region.
After nine years of fighting, we had a breakthrough in 1997, and began
negotiations with the Government of Papua New Guinea; coming from using the
"sword" (war) to applying the "pen" (negotiations). Peace is often
described as `the absence of war'. This however must not be misconstrued in
the context of Bougainville.
For us it is not merely a return to an environment of peace and harmony.
Peace must be a `dividend' that must eventually lead to the very essence of
our struggle and that is our right as a people to be free and to be
independent in our own right.
Nor must other people try to tell us that we are not entitled to this right
including the Government of the State of Papua New Guinea. This right is a
human right according to the United Nations and the Humans Rights
Declaration and international law.
One of the issues is to challenge well over 400 years of colonisation and
intervention from the West, which still lingers on even a year away from
the next millennium.
During this long period of colonisation there have been bitter struggles
for decolonisation right throughout the world. This is including the
Pacific region; in our continued fight to be free and be independent in our
own right.
The right of self-determination is a right that must be made available to
all races and all groups of peoples that are yearning for it.
After nine years of fighting, with the breakthrough in 1997 we entered into
a number of peace agreements which became the basis by which the present
peace process on Bougainville is being negotiated.
These included the Burnham Declaration, the Burnham Truce (responsible for
sending the first Truce Monitoring Group), Lincoln Agreement and the Cease-
fire Agreement, which we signed in April 1998.
The Cease-fire Agreement was crucial because it began the process of
actually ceasing the war in the jungle of Bougainville and getting on with
the business of peace negotiations.
The parties entered into a "permanent and an irrevocable cease-fire",
agreeing to a regional peace monitoring group, invitation of a UN observer
group, the disposal of arms by the BRA [Bougainville Revolutionary Army]
and the withdrawal of the Papua New Guinea Defence Forces from
Bougainville.
The Lincoln Agreement is the document that clearly stated the method by
which the people of Bougainville were going to plot their political
direction.
It contained two important provisions: 1, the formation of a Bougainville
Reconciliation Government (BRG); and 2, requesting the people of
Bougainville to get together in a pan Bougainville conference and formally
establish a Bougainville position.
The pan Bougainville conference sat from August 20-22, 1998. This was the
first time that all parties and factions met together as one body. The most
important achievement of this gathering was a one, united stand calling for
an independent Bougainville homeland.
It also called on the Government of Papua New Guinea to give the people of
Bougainville as a matter of principle the chance to exercise their
individual and collective rights and their right to self-determination, for
a new constitution and the Bougainville Reconciliation Government to be
established by the end of 1998.
The new parliament of Bougainville would be called a Congress,
democratically elected with the widest representation.
It would institute, promote and protect the law of rule, existing common
law including cultural and traditional law.
The Constitution of the Bougainville Reconciliation Government was approved
and adopted by the leaders on December 24, 1998.
Our preamble states: that the people of Bougainville are proud of the
wisdom and worthy customs of their ancestors, mindful of the heritage and
conscious of their destiny, agree that all power in Bougainville belongs to
its people and is exercised on their behalf by the Congress that they have
established by the constitution.
A contrasting departure from the PNG constitution, which states that, "all
power in Papua New Guinea lies within the Government of Papua New Guinea".
Our constitution also declares that "the resources of Bougainville belong
to the people of Bougainville".
At the outset we are plainly making clear and are claiming that all our
resources - whether it be minerals or whatever - belong to the people of
Bougainville, and not to Papua New Guinea or any other persons for that
matter.
The Constitution also takes into full account the inherent political,
social, cultural and indigenous rights for the people of Bougainville, as
these rights may effectively or notionally be known under international law
when we negotiate with the Government of Papua New Guinea for a political
settlement.
The leaders of Bougainville also see that this Constitution will apply
until a political settlement is reached between the Bougainville
Reconciliation Government (BRG) and the Government of Papua New Guinea.
The structure of the BRG: The BRG will consist of the principal arms,
namely the Bougainville People's Congress (an elected legislature with all
the powers of law making) and the Congressional Executive Council.
The composition of the Congress will be a single-chamber legislature where
it will include:
* all members of parliament currently representing the people of
Bougainville in the Papua New Guinea parliament;
* members which will be elected from the 40 former community Governments
now increased to 57; and
* members appointed as nominated members, including women representatives.
The Congress may, by resolution, change the maximum number of Congress
members. The Constitution also gives full support to an act of self-
determination by the people of Bougainville to be determined now or
sometime in the future.
The latest development in this political process has been the formal
election of the Bougainville Constitutive Assembly (BCA) on January 15 this
year 1999, in accordance with the Constitution.
The BCA has wide representation including women, churches, members of the
former Bougainville Transition Government, Bougainville Interim Government,
the Bougainville Revolutionary Army, the Resistance forces and other groups
within Bougainville.
We have also invited the recalcitrant Mr Francis Ona to appoint his members
into the BCA.
The BCA is the forerunner of the Bougainville Reconciliation Government
that is due to be formally elected in April 1999.
Elections
Writs will be issued for the elections in April, nominations will be
received, ballot papers will be printed and polling teams mobilised.
It is anticipated that the declaration of membership and the swearing in of
members of the first Bougainville parliament will take place by April 23.
One of the very first tasks of this new Bougainville parliament will be to
negotiate a whole new charter with the Government of Papua New Guinea.
Within this charter matters such as new treaties etc., the issue of a
Bougainville political settlement will be included.
We have basically and strictly followed all the schedules as contained in
all our Agreements signed since 1987. We have experienced a few mishaps,
and incidents along the way but not serious enough to disrupt the peace
process.
As far as we are concerned this whole process is an act of self-
determination mechanism where we are now in a process of deciding what our
future will be.
Papua New Guinea has been silent and mute on this issue. But the message is
however loud and clear from our people. Our ultimate goal is for an
independent and free homeland of Bougainville.
Self-determination and independence
United stand
People's Congress
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