GreenLeft on Bougainville Truce, Torture in Timor id CAA15571; Sun, 19 Oct 1997 02:08:59 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit from Green Left Weekly #294 10/22/97 Truce signed in Bougainville war By Norm Dixon The second round of peace talks in New Zealand has resulted in a truce between the pro-independence Bougainville Interim Government (BIG), the Port Moresby-appointed Bougainville Transitional Government (BTG) and the Papua New Guinea government. Representatives of all sides have expressed optimism that an end to the Bougainville war is in sight. After 10 days of discussions, beginning on October 1 at the Burnham army base near Christchurch, 100 or so delegates agreed to invite a ``neutral'' regional peacekeeping group to Bougainville to monitor the terms of the truce. It was agreed that the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) and the PNG Defence Force would each respect and promote basic human rights and fundamental freedoms, refrain from all acts of intimidation and armed confrontation and promote peace and reconciliation. The truce stipulates that freedom of movement, in and outside the island, be restored and the delivery of services resumed. Regular dialogue will take place between PNGDF officers, tribal leaders, BRA leaders and leaders of the pro-PNG ``resistance'' militias. A small working group will meet, consisting of representatives of the PNG government, BIG and BTG, to work out the final arrangements for a cease-fire. The truce will be in force until the next step, a meeting of top leaders of the BIG, BTG and PNG. The BIG delegation to the talks was led by BRA leader Sam Kauona, former Bougainville Premier Joseph Kabui and international spokesperson Martin Miriori. The BIG delegation included many BRA field commanders who flew directly from their jungle hide-outs to New Zealand. They gave the truce unanimous support. Miriori said on October 12 that the truce meant Bougainvilleans could begin to build a lasting peace. ``It is another step on a long and difficult road that we are committed to travel together.'' He said he did not believe Port Moresby had ``hidden agendas''. ``Those of us who came here are now partners in peace rather than enemies at war.'' BTG Premier Gerard Sinato reported that the PNGDF immediately lifted all restrictions in Bougainville following the signing of the truce on October 10. PNG Prime Minister Bill Skate said on October 10 from Port Moresby: ``A momentum for peace is already under way. The Burnham truce formalises the desire of all parties for peace ... I believe there is good will and genuine commitment to find a lasting peace on Bougainville.'' He endorsed the truce and said the PNG government would order the PNGDF to immediately observe its provisions. BIG President Francis Ona did not attend the talks. He has not yet stated his views on the truce; he will be briefed by BIG leaders when they return. A full meeting of the rebel movement's leadership is to be held at Kongara in central Bougainville. Ona expressed scepticism about the outcome of the first round of the Burnham talks in July because of its failure to address adequately the issue of independence. He also warned against Australian participation in the proposed peacekeeping force. Ona's doubts deepened when PNG PM Skate stated on August 28 that ``independence is non-negotiable''. During the recent meeting of the South Pacific Forum, Prime Minister John Howard also stated that Australian support for the peace process was contingent upon independence being off the agenda. Ona remains determined that the peace process must culminate in a referendum which includes the option of independence. The establishment media and governments have attempted to create divisions within the Bougainville independence movement and its supporters and discredit Francis Ona as a lone, eccentric and isolated critic. Writing in the September 19 Canberra Times, Matthew Spriggs outlined the argument: Francis Ona, isolated in the remote inland of Bougainville, is reliant on a couple of ``over-enthusiastic'' and ``well-meaning'' Australian supporters. It is they who have convinced Ona to question the merits of the peace process. ``All they are in fact achieving is to isolate rebel leader Ona from his own people'', Spriggs charges. Echoing a similar line, NZ foreign minister Don McKinnon dismissed Ona's absence from the October talks as unimportant, sneering that the BIG leader was ``still sitting up in the hills''. John Braby, an Australian supporter, rejected Spriggs' analysis in a letter to the Canberra Times on September 27. ``Francis Ona, after 10 years at it, is probably better able than most to make up his own mind, and has also arrived at an extensive network of tried and trusted advisers over the same time.'' Braby concluded by urging all sections of the Bougainville independence movement and their supporters to remain united as they discuss the options before them and not to allow the press and governments to divide them. ``Talking is the way out. On the one hand, anything is better than war; on the other, a peace carelessly concluded will not be peace for long. How a course between the two is sailed remains to be seen, but I imagine it can be discovered by sincere and fundamental discussion between all parties''. *** East Timorese arrested, tortured over bombs By Jon Lamb Indonesian authorities are believed to be holding up to 13 East Timorese in relation to a cache of bombs and weapons discovered in Dili and the Central Java city of Semarang. The regional commander for East Timor, Colonel Salamat Sidabutar, has called on the Austrian embassy to release two East Timorese seeking refuge there, claiming that they are ``terrorist'' ringleaders. Sidabutar also claims that an Australian who visited Central Java in March taught the suspects how to make the bombs. According to the Melbourne-based East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC), nine men were arrested in Semarang on September 14 following a bomb explosion in a house. Lawyers from the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute have been refused access to the nine, who are being detained at the local police station, on the grounds of ``state security''. Another four men were arrested in Dili on September 16. ETHRC believes that all have been tortured with electric shocks to extract confessions. One man, Constancio Chantal dos Santos, had two fingers severed during his interrogation. At the time of his arrest, he was discovered with letters from imprisoned resistance leader Xanana Gusmao, who is claiming responsibility for the bombs, intended for use against military targets. Brazilian Indian burned alive By Barry Healy A Brazilian judge has caused outrage with an extraordinary ruling in the case of the killing of an Indian, Galdino Jesus dos Santos. On September 29 Judge Sandra de Santis Mello ruled that the charge against the accused should be assault and battery followed by death, not murder. Jesus dos Santos, a Pataxo Ha-ha-hae Indian, was burned alive as he lay sleeping at a bus stop in Brasilia on the night of April 20. Murderous attacks of this sort have been taking place in Brazil for some years, but this is the first time that charges have been laid. On October 7 the judge reiterated her decision on the charges and again ruled that the case not go to a jury trial. In a statement Cimi, the Indianist Missionary Council, said that the ruling corroborates the common opinion that judges are biased and manipulated by the powerful groups and social classes to which they belong. ``It also evokes the old feeling that impunity will once again prevail'', Cimi commented. Cimi says that all of the accused are members of the ``high middle class'' and one is the son of a judge. Cimi claims that they are being favoured by ``a clear social and economic protectionism''. The ongoing struggles of Brazilian Indians were illustrated on September 7 when Indian representatives met with government officials to try to iron out land rights problems. Leaders of the Apoinme and Capoib Indian organisations met the minister for justice and the of the government Indian affairs agency, Funai. The minister walked out of the meeting and left it to Sullivan Silvestre, the president of Funai, to explain that the agency's budget has been cut by 28% and that indigenous areas are not being ``demarcated'' because of a lack of political will. Among the issues to be resolved is the case of the Kaxixo people who are fighting to invalidate an old anthropological report according to which they don't exist. Environmentalists have scored at least one recent victory in Brazilian courts. The first attempt to completely privatise the exploitation of a forest has been held up by a ruling that the necessary environmental impact statement has not been completed. *** NGOs push South Pacific Forum for action This is an abridged version of the communique issued by the third NGO Parallel Forum, held to coincide with the South Pacific Forum meeting in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, September 19-26. The forum brought together Pacific-based non-government and community organisations, representatives of churches, trade unions, women's groups and environmental organisations. The land is our mother, our life, our history, our culture, our spirituality, our future generations. The sea is where all life comes from. The ocean unites us as peoples of the Pacific. We give voice to our visions and concerns, and our commitment to action on issues affecting: our environment and resources; indigenous rights, sovereignty and decolonisation; economic, social and cultural development and relations with our governments and the governments of the colonial powers in the Pacific. We note that the 1997 South Pacific Forum communique does not address the right to self-determination and independence for colonised peoples. Together with our delegates from East Timor, West Papua, Te Ao Maohi (French Polynesia), Bougainville, the Kanaka Maoli of Ka Pae A'ina (Hawai'i), Aotearoa and Aboriginal Australia, we reaffirm our support for the right to self-determination. Next year is the anniversary of the annexation of Ka Pae A'ina, and the Kanak people of Kanaky (New Caledonia) will determine their future. People in Wallis and Futuna, Rapanui [Easter Island] and the South Moluccas have also been colonised by foreign powers. We call for more action by the governments of the South Pacific Forum and the Forum Secretariat for the complete decolonisation of the South Pacific. We call for the extension of the mandate of the UN Decolonisation Committee beyond 2000 and the reinscription of colonised peoples with the committee's list of non-self-governing territories. We are saddened by the response of the Australian government to the Human Rights Commission report on the Stolen Generations, and oppose the government's plans for theft of land under the 10-point plan for extinguishment of native title. The NGO Parallel Forum also planned actions to halt the destruction of our environment and resources. We must act to maintain control of our land, our waters, our labour. We welcome the South Pacific Forum's statement on positive progress in the movement for the abolition of nuclear weapons. But the end of nuclear testing in the Pacific does not mean the end of the nuclear age. We will return to our homes to press for an end to the transhipment, storage and dumping of nuclear wastes in the Pacific, the clean-up and ongoing monitoring of contaminated sites, and support for test site workers affected by nuclear testing, especially in Te Ao Maohi, Christmas Island and the Marshall Islands. From Rarotonga, where the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty was first signed, we call on our governments to amend and strengthen the treaty. We support initiatives for a Nuclear Weapons Convention and seek government support for its formal introduction to the United Nations. We were angered that Pacific peoples' concern on climate change was overridden at the South Pacific Forum. As Australia and other industrialised nations failed to heed our voices, we call for Pacific governments to support the position of the Alliance of Small Islands States at the December 1997 climate change negotiations in Kyoto, Japan. We oppose the proposed 10 year extension of permits for the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agents Disposal System, and call for the South Pacific Forum to carry our concern to the United States government. Our air and waters are sacred - we are not the dump site for the world. The focus of the Forum Economic Action Plan is on economic growth and privatisation, but we reaffirm that development can only take place if it builds community and equity, and addresses all aspects of life: our land, our culture, our values, our environment and the social well-being of our communities. -30- Six-month airmail subscriptions (22 issues) to Green Left Weekly are available for A$80 (North America) and A$90 (South America, Europe & Africa) from PO Box 394, Broadway NSW 2007, Australia http://www.peg.apc.org/~greenleft/ e-mail: greenleft@peg.apc.org ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytas-10.19.97-02:09:05-30355