Bougainville News 11/13/97 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit VIKKI@lexsun.law.uts.edu.au Wed Nov 12 20:05:11 1997 Postcourier (PNG) Newspaper - 13 November, 1997 Kiwi force stands by for Bougainville call A NEW Zealand navy frigate is understood to be readying itself for the deployment of a truce monitoring force on Bougainville. Foreign Affairs Minister Don McKinnon would not confirm the report yesterday but NZPA understands crews of the frigate Canterbury, the fleet tanker Endeavour and support ship Manawanui have been told they may be leaving as soon as next Tuesday. It is understood New Zealand officials returned just days ago from a preparatory trip to Bougainville with other officials from Australia and Papua New Guinea. The group, which numbered about 10, was investigating the deployment of a force to monitor the truce signed at Christchurch last month after talks between about 100 Papua New Guinea and Bougainville island officials and rebels at the Burnham army camp last month. The group is understood to be finalising its report on the likely make-up of a truce monitoring group now, and its recommendations are expected to go to Cabinet for approval next week. The deployment of any such group, however, would depend on a formal request from the Papua New Guinea Government. It is understood such a request has not yet been made although it is likely that will happen before the final round of leaders' talks over peace on Bougainville, scheduled to be held before January 31. A further round of talks between PNG and Bougainville officials, to lay the groundwork for the leaders' talks, is expected to take place soon. It has not yet been decided where those talks will be held although previous talks have been held in New Zealand and the opportunity for the various factions to talk on neutral territory has been seen as a key to their success. The historic accord signed at Burnham last month recommended that the PNG Government and leaders on Bougainville immediately invite a neutral regional peacekeeping group to monitor the terms of the truce. Under the accord, the parties also agreed to: 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 also agreed to restore freedom of movement and delivery of services to the people of Bougainville, subject to appropriate clearances. The island has been blockaded for years by the PNG Government, preventing food and medicines from being imported. The accord signalled a significant breakthrough in efforts to bring peace to Bougainville after years of bloody civil conflict. Numerous other attempts at brokering peace have failed. There are high hopes, however, that the Burnham talks brought about by McKinnon will succeed where others have failed. It is understood the size of the truce monitoring force for Bougainville has not yet been finalised, although it has been suggested up to 180 people may be involved. The makeup and leadership of any such group is, as yet, undecided. While the New Zealand Government was not prepared last night to confirm whether the frigate Canterbury would be involved in monitoring the truce, the Canterbury has been used previously to aid the Bougainville peace process. In July the 27-year-old frigate, which carries about 240 crew, returned home five PNG soldiers held hostage by rebels on Bougainville after they were released as a show of goodwill following the first round of peace talks in New Zealand. In 1990, a New Zealand frigate hosted a round of peace talks off Bougainville during a previous attempt by New Zealand to help bring peace to the island. ============================== Reconciliation in full swing on Bougainville PEACE on Bougainville took yet another step closer to reality over the weekend when a rebel leader reconciled with his family and relatives after years in the bush. Eddie Mohin, followed by scores of other rebels, made the peace-building process one step better when he emerged from the jungles of mainland Bougainville and reconciled with his people at Tousu. The memorable occasion was witnessed by government dignitaries and representatives from the Australian and New Zealand governments monitoring the Burnham Truce. Bougainville Premier Gerard Sinato and Islands divisional police commander John Toguata were among those present. Mr Toguata, a veteran of the Bougainville crisis, said the reconciliation was a genuine one and peace was well and truly on the way. He said that in the past month, since the declaration of the truce brokered in talks in New Zealand, hundreds of rebels had come out of the bush and returned to live with their families in the villages. The most moving occasion he had witnessed was last Friday when a rebel leader, Ben Kanda, and resistance leader Hillary shook hands and embraced, both of them in tears. ``When Ben Kanda said enough was enough in front of his resistance counterpart, I felt he was telling the truth,'' Mr Toguata said. About 1000 people attended the Tousu reconciliation and 3000 more turned up at Buka for a reconciliation among national and provincial leaders from the province. ``We are now witnessing the beginning of a long but confident road to lasting peace and normalcy on the island,'' Mr Toguata said``Never before have I seen such genuineness for peace among all parties in the province. ``I am now calling on all factions the BRA, resistance, transitional government, security forces and the non-government organisations and churches to work together and put every effort into achieving peace on the island.'' ================================= Chiefs lost command at height of Sandline crisis MILITARY command at Murray Barracks was non-existent at the height of the Sandline crisis because whoever was legally in authority after General Jerry Singirok were under siege. Chief of Staff Colonel Jack Tuat who was acting commander soon after Singirok was terminated, told the Sandline inquiry yesterday, it had come to a stage where he could not exert full control and command of Murray Barracks in the 10 days following Gen Singirok's nation-wide address on national radio, on March 17. Col Tuat said he was ``powerless'' because soldiers loyal to Gen Singirok were heavily armed and nobody would take orders from him or however was in authority at the time. He said there was a general fear among officers to do anything to counter the orders from Flagstaff House where it seemed the sacked commander was still in control. He said officers and staff, including their families were arrested and harassed, and his group did not want to do anything to create fear among the Murray Barracks community. ``Nothing could come our way, in terms of legitimate authority,'' he said. Col Tuat said Major Walter Enuma was the Commander of Operation Rausim Kwik and orders from Flagstaff House were directed to him to be issued. Major John Boino was the operation's logistics officer and he was controlling and supplying water and food to troops at Flagstaff House. All the confiscated army vehicles were also moved to the commander's house through him. Col Tuat said Maj Boino may have also been commanding finance adding that they were operating on a credit scheme. Asked how, he explained that Gen Singirok was aware that funds for Operation Oyster (to send Sandline personnel to Bougainville) was available and they were directing payments for army headquarters to pay. He said Maj Boino was taking his orders direct from Gen Singirok and Maj Enuma. Col Tuat said Captain Belden Namah was second in command to Maj Enuma and ORK, while Corporal Alan Nanguromo (Terminater) co-ordinated the efforts between Flagstaff House and the troops. He said Major Gilbert Toropo who was commander of the Special Forces Unit may have been getting orders direct from Maj Enuma and the Flagstaff House. He said he did not know about ORK until March 17, and that attempts to get information from Gen Singirok before then were unsuccessful. Col Tuat said since the former commander's return from a trip to Singapore and the subsequent exposure of Operation Oyster by the media in February, Gen Singirok was not willing to counter criticism levelled against the government about Operation Oyster. He said all he thought was that Oyster was to continue because the former commander had given him instructions to make sure it progressed as originally planned. While Gen Singirok was away in the Philippines, then Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan had called him to Parliament where he asked him about information that the former commander was trying to abort Operation Oyster. He said he believed Sir Julius was being informed from the inside but that he himself was not too well versed with Oyster or ORK and just listened. He said he could not ask Sir Julius where he got his information from or what the whole thing was about. Col Tuat will continue his evidence today. ===================== MPs would have died if military had opened fire MEMBERS of Parliament and others would have been killed if they were fired on, with the machine gun launched on the SSV military vehicle facing Parliament House, when it was in session on March 25, the Sandline Inquiry heard yesterday. Officer incharge of PNGDF Transport and Movement Captain C.E Siroi said the SSV is classified under Class A as a military fighting vehicle and with a machine gun mounted on it, it would have a destructive effect. The vehicle was brought into the country purposely for use on Bougainville and could launch two types of rounds, one, to shot and kill people and secondly, to burn down a target. Capt Siroi agreed with counsel for the State Loani Henao that if the second ammunition was fired, it would have destroyed Parliament and killed whoever was in the building. Parliament was in its last session for the year, several days after General Jerry Singirok ignited the Sandline crisis and it was when soldiers and civilians converged on Parliament demanding the resignation of then Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan, his deputy Chris Haiveta and Defence Minister Mathias Ijape. Capt Siroi said the SSV was used together with an army helicopter that kept hovering low over Parliament to intimidate the politicians into getting rid of the three leaders. He agreed also that because the SSV was no ordinary vehicle, it should never have been allowed out of the precincts of the military area at Murray Barracks. The orders to use it must have come from the higher command. ``I would say it was to intimidate people in Parliament House,'' he said. He said he could not say who specifically gave the orders for the SSV to be used at Parliament but it had been controlled by the Special Forces Unit under the command of Major Gilbert Toropo. ================ Singirok `involved from beginning' FORMER Defence Secretary James Melegepa said yesterday that sacked Defence Force commander Jerry Singirok had been involved in the Sandline deal ``from the beginning'' until March when he terminated the contract. He told the Defence Force Board of Inquiry that his own first contact with Sandline International was in Cairns in April last year when he, Defence Minister Mathias Ijape and General Singirok met with Sandline's Tim Spicer and Tony Buckingham, representing Executive Outcomes, Plaza 107 and Branch Energy. He said Mr Ijape had told the two men that PNG had difficulty getting its military requirements from ``traditional sources like Australia'' and had to look elsewhere especially for helicopters and high-tech intelligence equipment. The Cairns meeting was only to talk about purchasing military equipment and the discussion was in the context of what type of military equipment to use on Bougainville. Mr Melegepa said he could not understand why the Government wanted to buy ``new'' helicopters when it already had trouble funding its existing helicopter fleet. ``Had I had prior access to the (Project Contravene or High Speed 2) document or even the proposal to Cabinet I would most likely have strongly suggested that the helicopters be merely leased for the duration of the contract, rather than acquired, if our own PNGDF helicopters could not be used,'' he said. The submission to involve Sandline on Bougainville had been approved some time in January and the contract was executed in February when $US18 million was transfered to Hong Kong with arrangements in place for Sandline personnel to come in. Deputy Prime Minister Chris Haiveta had gone to the bank in person to make sure the money was transferred. In March the Defence Department, after learning of the execution of the contract, had secured Cabinet approval for K6 million as the PNGDF's own contribution to the exercise. But only K1.5 million was released because of continued concern with the way the earlier K10 million for High Speed 2 had been spent. ==================== General had `secret' side trip to Belfast Local News 11/13/97 BRIGADIER-General Jerry Singirok took a ``secret'' side trip to Belfast in Northern Ireland during a visit to London in April last year, the Defence Force Board of Inquiry was told yesterday. Former Defence Secretary James Melegepa said General Singirok, then Defence Force commander, was the guest in London of arms dealer Sydney Franklin, who organised for him to look at military equipment. He said that the general told him on his return from London that he had made ``a secret trip to Belfast'', but did not explain the purpose of the trip. Mr Melegepa continued giving evidence yesterday about Sydney Franklin's relationship with General Singirok and the proposal to buy two former Singaporean naval patrol boats. He said the draft contract for the purchase of the boats was prepared by Franklin and produced at their third meeting, in Kuala Lumpur in February this year. ``I explained that for starters I had not, to date then, sighted any proposed draft contract of sale and could not say how far the proposal could have been progressed,'' he said. Franklin had immediately produced a copy of the draft and, after a brief look, ``I was not happy with the contents''. He said he would not recommend the purchase of the boats unless there were substantial changes to the contract. Two aspects that caught him were the absence of a warranty clause (the boats were 28 years old and recently overhauled and refurbished) and the existence of other clauses whereby the vendor would free itself from any residual obligation immediately upon execution of the contract. Mr Melegepa said it would appear to have been during that trip that a ``secret'' bank account was opened for General Singirok in London. =============== Commander's misgivings: Singirok suspected Spicer was trying to take control Local News 11/13/97 SANDLINE International executive Tim Spicer and Brigadier-General Jerry Singirok came close to ``confrontation'' over the command structure for Operation Oyster, the Defence Force General Board of Inquiry heard yesterday. Former Defence Secretary James Melegepa told the inquiry that General Singirok, then Defence Force commander, had been concerned that Spicer was taking over as commander of Operation Oyster, which was to use Sandline ``mercenaries'' in a bid to force the Bougainville militants to surrender. Mr Melegepa said he met with then Defence Minister Mathias Ijape on Sunday March 16, the day before General Singirok moved to terminate Sandline's contract and eject its personnel from the country, to discuss the operation structure in terms of command and control. ``Singirok had a confrontation (with Colonel Spicer) outside the NEC meeting,'' Mr Melegepa said in reply to a question from the inquiry chairman, Judge Timothy Hinchliffe. He said Colonel Spicer and his colleague Tony Buckingham were sitting outside Parliament and making derogatory comments about Deputy Prime Minister Chris Haiveta, to the effect that ``they came all the way from London and the Deputy Prime Minister could not even see them''. ``They were pushy,'' Mr Melegepa said. ``Singirok resented the way they were carrying on.?? He said another disagreement arose when Colonel Spicer secured an aircraft to fly with Mr Haiveta to Wewak, a trip which General Singirok had not approved. He said Colonel Spicer had shown ``mounting concern (about) lack of discussion and agreement with Singirok on the command structure of Operation Oyster''. This had been the subject of his discussion with Mr Ijape on March 16. Mr Ijape had travelled to Goroko that afternoon on an electoral visit, and later the same day Operation Rausim Kwik had swung into motion. Colonel Spicer was picked up and held prisoner aboard a Defence Force patrol boat and other Sandline personnel were rounded up in Wewak. ``I understood that members of Operation Rausim Kwik were made to swear a specific secrecy oath that Sunday morning at Murray Barracks (in the commander's office) before swinging into operation,'' Mr Melegepa said. He also told the inquiry that General Singirok had expressed misgivings to him about Sandline and Operation Oyster on several occasions since February. The general had told him:That the responses of the Prime Minister and his ministers to media revelations about the Sandline deal were ``mostly misleading'';That soldiers were waiting for him, as their commander, to come out publicly and say something about the contract;That he had a strong feeling that the deal was corrupt; and he had concluded that the Chan/Haiveta government was allowing pseudo army and police, through engagement of private security firms, to take over and perform the constitutional role of the regular army and police. Mr Melegepa said General Singirok had told him Network International Security Service, owned by the son of Sir Julius Chan, was involved and ``if the (Panguna) mine were to re-open Network International would get contract for mine security''. The general had said also that he would lose face among other commanders in the region if other people were seen to be doing his and the army's job in Bougainville, and that although the Government was able easily to find the $US36 million for Sandline it was unable to find funding to sustain normal operations. ================================================================= 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 ================================================================= nytpac-11.15.97-03:00:34-7468