The UN Security Council
urged a full political settlement in the
Papua New Guinea dispute with the province
of Bougainville on Wednesday. The Bougainville
Revolutionary Army (BRA) has been waging
a campaign for independence of the region
for over 20 years. The dispute has claimed
more then 20,000 lives, Amnesty International
estimates.
hone
calls.According to Friends of the Earth, (FOE) over
200 In a statement to the press, the Council's current
President, Ambassador Alfonso Valdivieso of Colombia,welcomed
continued progress in negotiations between the Government
of Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville parties,
particularly the August 7 endorsement in principle
of a comprehensive political settlement.
"The members of the Council encouraged
the parties to work flexibly and in a spirit
of cooperation to resolve outstanding issues
so that the settlement can be formally agreed
and its implementation proceed as soon as possible," he
said.
Valdivieso
called the development of a comprehensive political
settlement - with provisions for the
establishment of an autonomous government in
Bougainville, for an eventual referendum and
for a weapons disposal program - "an important
step towards final peaceful settlement of the
conflict." Council members look forward
to the finalization of the settlement, he said.
The deal, originally reached on June 22, is
the fruit if negotiations that began in January.
The three major points addressed were: a phased
implementation of autonomy in the region, a deferred
referendum to happen in the next 10 to 15 years
that would address the region's status, including
the question of independence, and a phased weapons
disposal plan.
The
members of the Council noted the important
role of the
Peace Monitoring Group - comprised
of Australia,Fiji, New Zealand and Vanuatu -
in helping to establish the environment in which
the peace process has been able to proceed. They
also noted that the UN Political Office in Bougainville "has
consistently played an important 'good offices'
role" that should continue.
In a media statement Papua New Guinean Prime
Minister Sir Mekere Morauta said that the government
would retain the right to override any results
of the referendum. But he initialed the deal,
reportedly under heavy Australian pressure. Papua
New Guinea was an Australian protectorate until
1975 and 239 of the 293 Peace Monitoring Personnel
in the region are Australian.
Bougainville is made up of two islands Buka
and Bougainville. The region is about 1,000 kilometers
from Papua New Guinea's capital Port Morseby.
The government controls most of the territory,
but the BRA still controls the area around the
Rio Tinto-owned Panguna Mine, one of the most
lucrative in Papua New Guinea, which has been
idle since 1989.
Another possible hitch to the peace plan is
that the parliament must endorse the peace plan,
but Morauta is not anxious to convene a parliament
he previously suspended just before a confidence
vote.
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