Bougainville community leader and MP Theonila Roka Matbob has received the Gwynne Skinner Human Rights Award in recognition of her outstanding work to hold mining giant Rio Tinto to account for the legacy of environmental devastation caused by its former Panguna mine.

Matbob, 31, is a traditional landowner from Makosi, just downstream from the mine.

She was one of 156 Bougainville residents, represented by the Human Rights Law Centre, who last year filed a human rights complaint against the company with the Australian government.

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The complaint received global media attention and led to Rio Tinto publicly committing in July to fund an independent human rights and environmental impact assessment of the mine.

“I’m deeply honoured to receive this award on behalf of myself and my people,” Matbob said.

“We have been living with the disastrous impacts of Panguna for many years and the situation is getting worse. Our communities live surrounded by the vast mounds of waste left over from the mine, which continue to poison our rivers with copper.

“Kids get sick from the pollution. The farms and villages of communities downstream are being flooded with mine waste.

“Many people lack basic access to clean water.

Years of struggle
“Now, after many years of struggle, at last we have an agreement with Rio Tinto to fund a proper investigation of these urgent problems to develop solutions.

“I would like to express my thanks to all those who have supported us to reach this point. But now is not the time to rest. Our work will continue until Rio Tinto has fully dealt with the disaster it left behind.”

Human Rights Law Centre legal director Keren Adams said that Matbob had worked tirelessly over the past few years to brings these issues to world attention and compel Rio Tinto to take responsibility for the devastating consequences.

“It is in large part thanks to her leadership and advocacy that the company has now taken the first important step towards addressing this legacy,” she said.

“At the same time as doing all this, Theonila ran for Parliament and was elected one of Bougainville’s youngest and only female MPs and subsequently made the Minister for Education. She is an inspirational human rights defender and a thoroughly deserving winner of the award.”

Matbob previously worked with the Human Rights Law Centre to document the stories of the communities affected by the mine, including from many inaccessible villages whose stories had rarely been heard.

This work led to the publication of the report After The Mine.

Featured in PJR
She also featured in the documentary Ophir about Bougainville and also in the Pacific Journalism Review Frontline investigation by Wendy Bacon and Nicole Gooch published in the research journal last week.

Matbob will be presented with the award at a virtual ceremony on October 22.

Professor Gwynne Skinner was a professor of law at Willamette University in the United States who spent her career working at the forefront of efforts to develop greater accountability by companies for their human rights impacts.

The award was created by the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable to honour her legacy and recognise the work of individuals and organisations that have made significant contribution to corporate accountability.

A father-daughter team will join the Autonomous Bougainville Government House of Representatives after winning their seats in the recent election.

Raymond Masono retained his seat as the Atolls MP while daughter Amanda Masono Getsi was declared the winner of the North Region Women’s Representative seat.

She told The National she was overwhelmed by the support of the 80,000 people of North Bougainville who had confidence in her.

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“I was voted by both men and women and I will do my best to represent the women of North Bougainville in the ABG (House of Representatives),” she said.

She has a bachelor of law degree from the University of Papua New Guinea and a masters of law degree from the University of Melbourne.

Getsi has more than 10 years of experience as a public servant, during which she played a role in the Bougainville Referendum Commission.

She won one of the three reserved seats for women in the House of Representatives to represent the North, Central and South regions.

Theresa Kaetavara had earlier won the South Bougainville seat and Yolande Geraldine Paul won the Central Bougainville seat.

Kaetavara too will be joined in the House by her son Emmanuel Carlos Kaetavara who won the Baba constituency seat.

Paul will also be joined by her partner Morris Opeti who won the Taonita-Teop constituency seat.

Former Bougainville Revolutionary Army commander Ishmael Toroama was yesterday declared President-elect of Bougainville following the election process that began in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region six weeks ago.

The Central and South ex-combatant representatives have already been declared with 33 constituency seats.

The Pacific Media Centre republishes The National articles with permission.

By Fabian Hakalits in Arawa

It has been 16 years this week since the signing of an important blue print document that put an end to Bougainville’s civil war in Papua New Guinea.

The Bougainville Peace Agreement paved the way for lasting peace on the war-torn island  following the 10-year conflict which erupted from disputes over the giant Panguna copper mine.

On August 30, 2001, the Bougainville Peace Agreement was signed in Arawa, Central Bougainville.

The agreement between the government of Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) was intended to further the objectives of the Burnham Truce, Lincoln and Ceasefire Agreements – brokered with New Zealand help – and other agreements.

It was aimed to be implemented through consultation and co-operation.

Three pillars of autonomy, referendum and weapons disposal were set as guidelines for the referendum conduct in 2019.

Several delegations from mainland Papua New Guinea visited Bougainville to restore the government’s trust and confidence to the people.

Call to surrender weapons
Among them was Papua New Guinea’s former Prime Minister, Bill Skate, who asked hardliners and warlords to surrender their weapons. This was documented in the Ceasefire Agreement.

Women were at the forefront, negotiating for peace.

The Peace Monitoring Group, comprising security forces from Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu and Fiji were deployed on Bougainville in 1998. They monitored the peace agreement, reported on ceasefire violations, and supported the peace process and also involved in the weapon disposal programmes.

They withdraw their mission in 2000 in a ceremony at the Independence Oval in Arawa.

The signing of the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 2001 allowed the establishment of the ABG in 2005,with Joseph Kabui elected as the first president of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.

It was a win-win solution but since 2005 the full implementation of the peace accord has never been realised.

One of the major issues was with the grants owed to Bougainville by the national government.

Outspoken President Momis
Chief John Momis, since elected as president in 2010, has been very vocal on Bougainville issues, especially the grants.

In 2014, Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill paid a goodwill visit to Bougainville.

However, the Joint Supervisory Meeting is another aspect giving value to the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

Since May last year there has been no meeting.

The new Bougainville Affairs Minister and Central Bougainville MP, Fr Simon Dumarinu said the JSB Meeting would be a priority and should be the first item on the agenda as the deadline looms.

Meanwhile, President Momis has reminded Bougainvilleans that the signing of this important blue print document paved the way for a lasting peace on the island.

Fabian Hakalits is Bougainville correspondent for EMTV News. This article was originally published by EMTV News and is republished here with permission.

• More Bougainville stories

They demonstrated in Arawa in central Bougainville and blockaded the route to the derelict Panguna copper mine late last week in a bid to prevent the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) and Bougainville Copper Limited, which has disputed ownership of the mine.

The women also succeeded in getting a court injunction against the mine agreement in the National Court in Port Moresby on Friday afternoon.

Llane Munau was there to capture the women’s protest on camera.

• Full story, video

'Women own the land'

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