17 Jul 2013

Bougainvilleans unaware of Rio Tinto's PNG past, says criminologist

3:31 pm on 17 July 2013

A criminologist with a particular focus on Bougainville says many grass-roots communities in the autonomous Papua New Guinea province have not been given access to information about Rio Tinto's role during the civil war.

In recent months, Rio Tinto's subsidiary Bougainville Copper Ltd has been among the principles discussing expectations that its huge Panguna mine, which has been shut for 24 years, will re-open.

The Autonomous Bougainville Government says it hopes to begin negotiations with BCL soon.

Dr Kristian Lasslett from Ulster University's State Crime Initiative says any decision on the long-term future of Bougainvilleans must take into full account, the long list of unresolved abuses from the civil war sparked by problems around the mine.

"They haven't learnt about what the executives admitted to, they haven't learnt about the depth of Rio Tinto's support of the PNGDF or what they did to the government. And I think that would be absolute vital information."

Dr Kristian Lasslett