By Norm Dixon
In a significant vote that has gone largely unreported by the Australian media, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva has called on the Papua New Guinea government to end the economic blockade of Bougainville and allow an international fact-finding mission access to the besieged island.
The resolutions also called on Port Moresby to resume negotiations with the Bougainville Interim Government to achieve a peaceful and "mutually satisfactory solution" to the conflict.
The resolutions were passed by consensus by UNCHR's 49th session, on March 10. The vote is a blow to both the PNG government, which refused to attend the meeting, and the Australian government, which reportedly lobbied informally against the resolutions on Bougainville.
During the deliberations on Bougainville, concern for the situation there was strongly expressed by a range of human rights groups and those representing indigenous peoples, including Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, Pax Christi and the World Council of Churches.
Many African countries strongly backed the resolution. The draft resolution was sponsored by Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria.
In a move that angered the PNG government, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Solomon Mamaloni also co-sponsored the resolution. In a fax to the president of the UNCHR, he said he was supporting the resolution "to remind the sovereign government of PNG of its obligations under the United Nations Charter and, by virtue of its own national constitution, to stop violating the constitutional rights and freedoms of the Bougainville people".
Speaking to the Solomons parliament on March 11, Mamaloni said the Bougainville crisis was no longer an internal matter for Papua New Guinea alone but a global problem. This has been the case since the conflict began to spill over into the Solomon Islands, and refugees began arriving from the war-torn island.
He said that the PNG government and other parties concerned should seek assistance from bodies such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the South Pacific Forum and international church bodies to find a peaceful solution.
Mamaloni accused the PNG government of trying to hide the situation inside Bougainville. This was evident from Port Moresby's refusal of requests by a UN delegation to go to Bougainville to investigate alleged human rights violations and the spill-over effects of the crisis into Solomon Islands.
The Solomons prime minister also accused Australia of siding with the ougainville conflict. He told parliament Australia could not deny its responsibility in the conflict, as Australia had not only been supplying arms and ammunition to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force but had also been training its soldiers on Australian soil.
Support for Bougainville's independence is growing in the Solomon Islands. During the final session of parliament prior to its dissolution on March 14 pending a general election, former prime minister Ezekiel Alebua and a senior opposition leader, George Kejoa, called on the government to recognise Bougainville's independence. Independence for Bougainville was the only way a peaceful settlement of the conflict could be achieved, they said.
In recent weeks, Port Moresby has become increasingly belligerent towards the Solomon Islands' stand on Bougainville. PNG secretary for defence Peter Peipul has accused the Solomon Islands of prolonging the Bougainville conflict through its support of "BRA criminals".
PNG deputy prime minister Sir Julius Chan claims that the Bougainville Revolutionary Army is being armed by the Solomon Islands, a claim firmly denied by Honiara.
Other PNG leaders have called for diplomatic relations with Honiara to be suspended and for PNG to withdraw from the Melanesian Spearhead Group — which groups PNG, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
In late February, the Solomon Islands reacted to repeated incursions of its airspace by PNG aircraft by authorising security forces to open fire on aircraft that violate its airspace and fail to identify themselves. Several incidents have resulted in warning shots being fired. However, the orders were suspended on March 19, according to Solomons police commander John Homelo, to help ease tensions.
Other sections of PNG society have supported the Solomon Islands' stand. The PNG Council of Churches has applauded the Solomon Islands' action in bringing the Bougainville crisis to the attention of the world. The council called on Port Moresby to heed the call for an international fact-finding mission to be permitted to visit Bougainville. It urged countries and churches throughout the world to put pressure on the Papua New Guinea government.