Bougainville remembers the dead from the civil war

5:04 pm on 17 May 2018
no caption

Photo: supplied

Bougainville is today remembering those who died during the ten year Bougainville conflict with Papua New Guinea.

More than 20,000 people are believed to have lost their lives.

May 17th was the day in 1990 when the separatist leader Francis Ona made a Unilateral Declaration for Independence for the region.

The Autonomous Bougainville Government subsequently gazetted May 17th as a public holiday to be observed as a memorial for the dead.