Report - Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights

Landowner Uprising - in 1988, a decade and a half later, <strong>the</strong> worst fears <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Bougainville people
had been confirmed. Perpetua Serero, a leader <strong>of</strong> Bougainville’s matrilineal landowners spoke to <strong>the</strong>
media clearly stating that:
• They did not grow healthy crops any more;
• That <strong>the</strong>ir traditional customs and values have been disrupted and;
• That <strong>the</strong>y had just become mere spectators as our earth were being dug up, taken away and
sold for millions;
• That <strong>the</strong>ir land was taken away from <strong>the</strong>m by force.
Our people had also experienced one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> worst human made environmental catastrophes <strong>of</strong> modern
times. All aquatic life in <strong>the</strong> Jaba Valley was destroyed with <strong>the</strong> pollution from copper concentrator,
<strong>the</strong> people losing <strong>the</strong>ir fishing ponds, creeks and, estuaries and rivers. Bougainvilleans living on <strong>the</strong>
outer islands face rising sea levels, lack <strong>of</strong> wood for fires and homes and no local economy.
(12) Security and privacy - The Bougainville Conflict: Evictions, Internally and Externally Displaced
Persons (1989 – 1997).
After 25 years (from 1964-1989) <strong>of</strong> environmental degradation, <strong>the</strong> landowners <strong>of</strong> Panguna in Central
Bougainville, <strong>the</strong> site <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RTZ mine, could not take it any longer and started taking things into <strong>the</strong>ir
own hands. The militant landowners began a campaign <strong>of</strong> sabotage to close <strong>the</strong> operation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mine.
In response to this <strong>the</strong> Papua New Guinea Government dispatched its notorious “Police Riot Squad”
into Bougainville in December <strong>of</strong> 1988. In <strong>the</strong>ir frustration from not apprehending <strong>the</strong> militants as <strong>the</strong>y
expected, <strong>the</strong>y started turning onto <strong>the</strong> civilian population by harassing <strong>the</strong>m. One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> strategies
<strong>the</strong>y used was to burn down <strong>the</strong>ir villages. From early 1989 to December, some 1,500 villages in Central
Bougainville were raised to <strong>the</strong> ground by <strong>the</strong> PNG Riot Police Squad. More were to be set alight in
including semi and permanent homes that had cost thousands <strong>of</strong> dollars.
In March 1989, <strong>the</strong> PNG Government quickly rushed into <strong>the</strong>ir parliament special legislation to formally
deploy its army into Bougainville to assist <strong>the</strong> police. The deployment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> PNG Defence Force was
to be formally under <strong>the</strong> command <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> PNG Police <strong>Commissioner</strong>. This was not however <strong>the</strong> case
as soon as <strong>the</strong> PNGDF landed on Bougainville; as in fact, <strong>the</strong>y immediately took over from <strong>the</strong> Police
Riot Squad in running operations all over Bougainville. They carried out early morning raids to capture
civilians and bring <strong>the</strong>m back into so-called “government care centres”. The aim <strong>of</strong> this exercise was
to clear <strong>the</strong>se villages and <strong>the</strong>n declare <strong>the</strong>m as ‘operational zones’ against <strong>the</strong> militants who at this
stage had now called <strong>the</strong>mselves as <strong>the</strong> “Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). More than 20,000
civilians were herded into <strong>the</strong>se care centres all over Bougainville.
These forced evictions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> civilian population completely disoriented <strong>the</strong>m. They had nothing to
do in <strong>the</strong>se camps, like gardening, tending to <strong>the</strong>ir animals and even working on <strong>the</strong>ir cocoa and copra
plantations. Instead <strong>of</strong> living in <strong>the</strong>ir village houses, <strong>the</strong>y were now living in make-shift houses. There
was no privacy and no sanitation. They were just a place to put people in while <strong>the</strong> two factions fought.
In Arawa <strong>the</strong> capital, two playing fields were immediately turned into tent cities. These Australian
supplied tents were hot and uncomfortable to sleep in. The close proximity in living space was also
something <strong>the</strong> people were not used to, having been herded and captured from different villages with
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 147