Report - Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights

• It has been very difficult for <strong>the</strong>m to try and re-establish <strong>the</strong>mselves again, as <strong>the</strong>re is no economy
and more salaries for our public servants, very few opportunities to earn money. The economic
opportunities that were so prevalent before <strong>the</strong> conflict are not so present today - and so it is not
so easy to find money to rebuild <strong>the</strong>ir lives again;
• The clan plantations lack maintenance, and it is hard work clearing <strong>the</strong> bush, pruning and reestablishing
<strong>the</strong>m;
• It has not been so easy to re-build again entire villages that were razed <strong>the</strong> ground by both <strong>the</strong>
PNGDF, The Resistance Forces (working for <strong>the</strong> PNGDF) and also by <strong>the</strong> Bougainville Revolutionary
Army (BRA);
• New land disputes have become a serious phenomenon, due to <strong>the</strong> internal and displacement <strong>of</strong>
thousands <strong>of</strong> people, who returned to find <strong>the</strong>ir home sites taken by o<strong>the</strong>rs;
• Once <strong>the</strong> most prosperous region <strong>of</strong> Papua New Guinea, Bougainville is <strong>the</strong> poorest and least
developed region, because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> destruction <strong>of</strong> its total economic structure, and <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> all public
works and social services infrastructure - hospitals, schools, houses, infrastructure, farming
equipment, basic services, personal belongings, cultural property, and historical property was all
destroyed;
• Banking services are not accessible to most people. Many loans incurred before <strong>the</strong> war have been
escalating in Port Moresby, even though <strong>the</strong>y are based on destroyed properties. No action has
been taken by <strong>the</strong> courts to address this crippling burden on <strong>the</strong> people <strong>of</strong> Bougainville. In contrast,
<strong>the</strong> PNG Government did address <strong>the</strong> outstanding loans that were owed by big businesses in
Bougainville to <strong>the</strong> tune <strong>of</strong> between $3 million to $5 million dollars.
A motto exists in Bougainville, where people say “Land is life”. For women it is “life” because no matter
where you live, even if it is in <strong>the</strong> middle <strong>of</strong> a crisis, if you were removed from your traditional land
and moved to a “care centre”, or a valley, or <strong>the</strong> bush, or <strong>the</strong> caves, it was important to have a garden
close by for food. Women were forced to always carry seeds with <strong>the</strong>m to plant a garden even under
military occupation. So land is life, and customary land is that land which is <strong>the</strong> home <strong>of</strong> your ancestors.
The war and conflict has made <strong>the</strong> land <strong>of</strong> women battlegrounds. Because <strong>the</strong> war has shifted people
<strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong>ir traditional land and onto o<strong>the</strong>r peoples’ traditional land, this has made our culture today
very unsettling.
Sister Lorraine Garasu <strong>of</strong> Ieta Village
(12) Security + Privacy / (13) Violence against women.
Bougainville is a matriarchal society, as <strong>the</strong> land is passed through <strong>the</strong> women. Women hold <strong>the</strong> titles
for <strong>the</strong> land.
All land in Bougainville is still customary land, except for small areas throughout <strong>the</strong> Island acquired
by <strong>the</strong> government from <strong>the</strong> people, when payments was made by way <strong>of</strong> axes, tobacco, sugar, tinned
meat, and so on. This is how <strong>the</strong> Elders remember such transactions with <strong>the</strong> European plantation
settlers.
Today land in Bougainville is a major issue, since <strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Bougainville conflict/war; people
have had more problems and issues with land than ever before.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 149