Conflict episode

Bougainville conflict, 1988–1997

An armed conflict that began around the Panguna mine, closed it in 1989 and lasted until a truce in 1997.

What happened

The New Panguna Landowners’ Association, formed in 1987 under Francis Ona and Perpetua Serero, launched the Bougainville Revolutionary Army as an island-wide uprising.[1] Violence closed the Panguna mine in May 1989.[2] In 1990 the PNG government withdrew its forces and officials and imposed a blockade.[3]

Braithwaite and colleagues describe a civil war, for many aimed at independence, lasting from 1988 to 1997.[4] Talks in New Zealand produced a truce in October 1997 and a ceasefire in 1998.[5][6]

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

  1. 1.

    Claim: A new generation of landowners led by Francis Ona and Perpetua Serero formed the New Panguna Landowners’ Association in 1987; by early 1989 it had launched the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) as a Bougainville-wide uprising led by Ona.

    • Braithwaite, John; Charlesworth, Hilary; Reddy, Peter and Dunn, Leah, Reconciliation and Architectures of Commitment (ANU E Press, 2010), ISBN 9781921666681 link, p. 19. Source record
  2. 2.

    Claim: Violence forced the closure of the Panguna mine in May 1989, a severe setback for Papua New Guinea’s economy.

    • Braithwaite, John; Charlesworth, Hilary; Reddy, Peter and Dunn, Leah, Reconciliation and Architectures of Commitment (ANU E Press, 2010), ISBN 9781921666681 link, p. 20. Source record
  3. 3.

    Claim: In 1990 the PNG government withdrew its security forces, police and public servants from Bougainville and imposed a blockade that also cut off medical supplies.

    • Braithwaite, John; Charlesworth, Hilary; Reddy, Peter and Dunn, Leah, Reconciliation and Architectures of Commitment (ANU E Press, 2010), ISBN 9781921666681 link, pp. 27–28. Source record
  4. 4.

    Claim: Braithwaite and colleagues describe a civil war that, for many of those involved, was aimed at independence, breaking out in 1988 and continuing to 1997. Attributed to Braithwaite, Charlesworth, Reddy and Dunn (2010)

    • Braithwaite, John; Charlesworth, Hilary; Reddy, Peter and Dunn, Leah, Reconciliation and Architectures of Commitment (ANU E Press, 2010), ISBN 9781921666681 link, p. 9. Source record
  5. 5.

    Claim: Talks at the Burnham military base in New Zealand in July 1997 brought Bougainville factions together; a second round with PNG leaders in October 1997 produced a truce.

    • Braithwaite, John; Charlesworth, Hilary; Reddy, Peter and Dunn, Leah, Reconciliation and Architectures of Commitment (ANU E Press, 2010), ISBN 9781921666681 link, pp. 46 and 48. Source record
  6. 6.

    Claim: A peace conference at Lincoln University, New Zealand, in January 1998 consolidated a ceasefire described as permanent and irrevocable.

    • Braithwaite, John; Charlesworth, Hilary; Reddy, Peter and Dunn, Leah, Reconciliation and Architectures of Commitment (ANU E Press, 2010), ISBN 9781921666681 link, pp. 48 and 52. Source record
  7. 7.

    Claim: Estimates of deaths in the conflict differ widely. Braithwaite and colleagues call the widely publicised figures of 15,000 to 20,000 baseless, treat Anthony Regan’s estimate of perhaps several thousand deaths (some hundreds in fighting, more from extrajudicial killings, and an unknown number linked to the blockade) as the most authoritative, and themselves code 1,000–2,000 conflict deaths. Disputed — see the text for the competing accounts

    • Braithwaite, John; Charlesworth, Hilary; Reddy, Peter and Dunn, Leah, Reconciliation and Architectures of Commitment (ANU E Press, 2010), ISBN 9781921666681 link, pp. 86–87. Source record Quoting Regan (2005).

Source note

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