About West Papua
West Papua is the western half of the island of New Guinea. It borders the independent state of Papua New Guinea and lies just 250km north of Australia.
Swathed in tropical rainforest which is second in size only to those of the Amazon, it is home to many unique species of wildlife including tree kangaroos and beautiful birds of paradise. It is also one of the world’s most resource rich areas containing huge reserves of oil, gas, copper, gold and timber.
The indigenous population number about 1 million Melanesian Papuans, many of whom still live subsistence or hunter gatherer tribal lifestyles. The diverse tribes of New Guinea speak some 15% of the world’s known languages, despite having less than 3% of the world's population.
A Bit of History
Previously a Dutch colony along with the islands that now make up Indonesia, West Papua remained under Dutch control when the Republic of Indonesia became an independent nation state in 1949. The Dutch government began preparing West Papua for independence throughout the 1950s. At the end of 1961, West Papua held a Congress at which its people declared independence, and raised their new flag - the Morning Star. Within months the dream was dead: the Indonesian military invaded West Papua and conflict broke out between the Netherlands, Indonesia and the indigenous population regarding control of the country. The US intervened and engineered an agreement between Indonesia and the Netherlands, which in 1962 gave control of West Papua to the United Nations and one year later transferred control to Indonesia. The Papuans were never consulted. However, the agreement did promise them their right to self determination - a right which is guaranteed by the UN to everyone on Earth.
Act of No Choice
By 1969 there was widespread resistance to Indonesian rule. The Indonesian military had killed and imprisoned thousands of Papuans in the seven years it had occupied the country - yet it was under these conditions that the people were supposed to exercise their right to self determination. It was agreed that the UN should oversee a plebiscite of the people of West Papua, in which they would be given two choices: to remain part of Indonesia or to become an independent nation once again. This vote was to be called the 'Act of Free Choice.'
But the Act was a sham. Instead of overseeing a free and fair election, the UN stood by while Indonesia rigged the vote. Declaring that the Papuans were too 'primitive' to cope with democracy, the Indonesian military hand-picked just 1,026 'representative' Papuans - out of a population of one million - threatened to kill them and their families if they voted the wrong way, and then told them to choose. The result was 'unanimous': West Papua would remain part of Indonesia. Despite protests from the Papuans, a critical report by a UN official and condemnation of the vote in the international media the UN shamefully sanctioned the result and West Papua has remained under control of the Indonesian state ever since.
The Papuans call this referendum the 'Act of No Choice'.
The People and Land Under Attack
Since the first days of Indonesian occupation, the people and land of West Papua have been under relentless attack. In order to maintain control over the Papuans, and to claim the land to make way for resource extraction, the Indonesian army has systematically murdered, raped and tortured people in numbers that could constitute a genocide. One of the worst examples of this is the displacement and killing of thousands of people to make way for the giant American- and British-owned Freeport mine, the largest gold mine in the world, which has reduced a sacred mountain to a crater and poisoned the local river system. Also, in a further attempt to dominate Papuan culture, around one million people from overcrowded shanty towns across Indonesia have been moved into 'transmigration' camps cut into the forests.
Resistance to Indonesian Colonialism
Resistance to the Indonesian occupation started from the first days of occupation. An armed guerrila group called the OPM ('Free Papua Movement') was formed in 1970 to resist the colonisation of West Papua. The OPM carried out a number of guerrilla attacks on the Indonesian military and on the holdings of multinational companies who had taken Papuan land and resources - including a successful attempt to close down the down the Freeport gold and copper mine. Armed mostly with bows and arrows, the small, ragged but determined OPM fought an almost unknown war against the well-armed, Western-backed Indonesian military for decades.
Recent Years
Following the fall of the Indonesian's military dictator, General Suharto, in 1998, a political space briefly opened up in West Papua. The Morning Star flag was flown again and a huge public congress was held in 2000 with hundreds of delegates from tribes all across Papua. The Congress rejected the result of the 1969 Act of Free Choice and reaffirmed West Papua as an independent nation. It also gave power to the newly formed Papuan Presidium Council (PDP) to gain world recognition for West Papua’s independence. The OPm declared a ceasefire,and it was hoped that Indonesia would agree to peaceful talks with Papuan leaders about independence.
But these hopes were, yet again, in vain. Fearing 'secession', the army moved in, and hundreds of people were shot and arrested for public flag-raisings and independence rallies. Then, in November 2001, the charismatic president of the PDP Theys Eluay, was assassinated by Indonesian soldiers.
At the beginning of 2004, Indonesia set their agenda for the future by installing former East Timor police chief Timbil Silaen as new police chief in Papua and at the same time allowing notorious East Timor militia leader Eurico Guterres to set up operations in the highland town of Wamena where he is openly recruiting people to his pro Indonesia militias. Both of these people have been implicated in the massacres that swept East Timor in 1999 after it declared indepence from Indonesia.
Today, West Papua's tragedy continues. Though the majority of Papuan people are united in calling peacefully for independence, through a number of organisations including the PDP, the Alliance of Papuan Students (AMP), and Demmak, a pan-tribal coalition, the Indonesian military and authorities continue their reign of terror. Recent events have included the burning of highland villages by Indonesian soldiers - resulting in 6000 internal refugees still living in temporary camps in the forest - the shooting and beating of protesters calling for the Freeport mining company to leave the country, and the jailing of two men for ten and fifteen years for the 'crime' of raising the Morning Star flag in public.
But there is good news too. The issue of West Papua is creeping up the international agenda, as campaign groups, Papuan leaders-in-exile and concerned people all over the world alert their leaders to the injustice that is happening in West Papua. Media outlets and politicians are waking up to the issue. Things are moving in the right direction - but they need to move faster if more bloodshed is to be avoided, and the people of West Papua are finally to be given a political voice.
You can help it happen - support the Free West Papua Campaign!
Briefing
Briefing: June 2008
By Richard Samuelson, Co-Director, Free West Papua Campaign (UK)
WEST PAPUA (previously named Netherlands New Guinea by the Dutch and Irian Jaya by Indonesia) is the western half of the island of New Guinea, bordering the independent nation of Papua New Guinea. West Papua has been illegally occupied by the Indonesian military since it was handed over, against the will of the indigenous population, by the Netherlands to Indonesia in 1963.
For the past 45 years, successive Indonesian regimes have used extreme violence against the people of West Papua as the only possible way of terrorising them into submitting to rule by Indonesia.
Since 1963, at least 100,000 West Papuans have died at the hands of the Indonesian occupying forces, representing approximately 10% of the population. Countless others have been tortured, raped, intimidated and imprisoned.
As was revealed earlier this year (2008) by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Dr Manfred Nowak, the Indonesian security forces are continuing to commit gross human rights abuses in West Papua to this day. In his report, Dr Nowak found that “torture and other forms of inhuman & degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners is widespread”. (1) He particularly condemned so-called “sweeping operations”, purportedly to counter the West Papuan independence movement, in which Indonesian Special Forces and para-military police kill and torture West Papuan civilians,
destroy crops and burn homes and churches, forcing hundreds of men, women & children to flee into the jungle to save their lives.
In 1970 the indigenous Melanesian populations of West Papua and PNG were equal at one million each. 40 years on there are now 6 million Melanesians in PNG but only a million and a half on the other side of the border in West Papua. During this same period, Indonesia’s trans-migration programme has brought in approximately one million Indonesian migrants to West Papua. It is estimated that within the next few years, indigenous Papuans will become a minority in their own land. (2)
In terms of natural resources (gold, copper, nickel, natural gas, timber etc.), West Papua is one of the richest
territories claimed by Indonesia, but in every measure of poverty and depravation (child mortality, education etc) it is one of the poorest.
Since 2000, the OPM (Free Papua Movement) has been committed to pursuing independence for West Papua through purely peaceful, democratic means. The Indonesian Government has however responded to this commitment with yet more violence against the West Papuans and an ever increasing military, police and intelligence presence.
These are the key steps towards peace with justice for West Papua:
(i) SELF-DETERMINATION: The root cause of the conflict is the denial of the West Papuans’ right to self-determination,
a right which was recognised by the international community throughout the 1950’s and ‘60’s. However, with the
help of General Suharto’s Western allies (in particular the USA, UK & Australia), Indonesia staged a sham referendum in 1969.
Cruelly called the “Act of Free Choice”, the Indonesian military hand-picked 1,026 Papuan elders to ‘represent’ a then population of 800,000, and forced them at gun-point to vote for Indonesia. Suharto and the West knew full well that if they had allowed the Papuans ‘one person-one vote’, as is required under international law, they would have voted overwhelmingly for independence.
In a landmark breakthrough after over 30 years of silence on the matter, the UK Government formally admitted in 2004 that in the 1969 ‘Act of Free Choice’, “1,000 handpicked representatives … were largely coerced into declaring for inclusion in Indonesia”. (3)
West Papuans are therefore calling for a new UN-monitored independence referendum, in the same way as the East Timorese were allowed to vote in a free and fair, one person-one vote referendum in 1999.
(ii) DIALOGUE: The West Papuans are calling on the Indonesian Government to enter into internationally-mediated dialogue, without pre-conditions, with genuinely representative West Papuan leaders. Indonesia has to date refused. Western governments claim the conflict is an “internal matter” and thus currently refuse to offer to mediate dialogue.
(iii) ACCESS: The Indonesian Government severely restricts access to West Papua for foreign journalists and international human rights observers, including Amnesty International.
(iv) DE-MILITARISATION: As a first step towards peace, West Papuans are calling on the Indonesian Government to halt all planned increases of its military (TNI) presence in West Papua and immediately withdraw the TNI, para-military Police (Brimob) and intelligence agents (BIN) to barracks. This would be a hugely important first step to reducing the currently highly charged and tense situation in West Papua. As Ms Hina Jilani, UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders, said on 28 January 2008 “A climate of fear undeniably prevails in West Papua”. (4)
Very recently (16 June 2008), the UK Government admitted “We are aware of reports of increased military presence in Papua, particularly along the border shared with Papua New Guinea”. (5)
(v) FREEDOM of EXPRESSION: West Papuans are calling on the Indonesian Government to allow them to exercise their rights to Freedom of Expression, Association & Assembly, particularly in relation to peaceful demonstrations in favour of self-determination & independence for West Papua (including peaceful raisings of the Morning Star flag), and immediately & unconditionally release all West Papuan political prisoners. Indonesia is currently in breach of its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights which it signed in 2006.
By way of example, two West Papuan independence activists, Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage, were sentenced in 2005 to 15 and 10 years imprisonment respectively for peacefully raising the Morning Star flag on 1st December 2004. Amnesty International has recognised them as Prisoners of Conscience and is campaigning for their immediate and unconditional release, together with all other Papuan political prisoners. (6)
(vi) DEMOCRACY: West Papuans are calling on the Indonesian Government to allow any Papuan in favour of self-determination / independence the freedom to pursue these aims via the democratic process. (At present any type of “Free West Papua Party” is illegal under Indonesian law.)
(vii) NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: West Papua is blessed/cursed with abundant natural resources; gold, copper, nickel, natural gas, timber etc. With the help of Western multi-nationals such as BP
& Rio Tinto, Indonesia & the West are making vast profits at the expense of the West Papuan people and their
natural environment.
Many observers believe that Western governments' reluctance to condemn human rights abuses committed by the Indonesian military in West Papua is to avoid damaging their economic interests with Indonesia.
West Papua is almost entirely covered with virgin tropical rainforest, second only in size to the Amazon. It is therefore a key target for logging and clearance for palm oil production, one of the key ingredients for biofuels. This is made possible through widespread corruption involving the Indonesian military. West Papuans who object to natural resource exploitation are counted as “separatists” and “enemies of the state” and are threatened, tortured and killed by the Indonesian security forces. (7)
(viii) ARMS SALES TO INDONESIA: Western countries continue to sell arms to Indonesia despite overwhelming evidence that the Indonesian military uses such weapons to oppress civilian populations, including in West Papua.
For example, in 2005, British-made Tactica armoured personnel carriers fitted with water-cannons were deployed against unarmed West Papuan demonstrators in Jayapura, the capital of West Papua. The Indonesian Police mixed acid with the water, leaving many Papuans permanently blinded. (8)
CONCLUSION: Throughout the 45 year long Indonesian occupation, Western governments have turned a blind eye to Indonesian atrocities and oppression in West Papua to protect their economic and geo-political interests in Indonesia. But as the East Timor & Anti-Apartheid cases so powerfully illustrate, concerted parliamentary, religious and grass roots pressure can eventually persuade Western governments to put their peoples’ core values of justice, freedom, democracy and the rule of international law before narrow national self-interest. This is what the West Papuans so urgently need – now, before it is too late.
Richard Samuelson
Co-director, Free West Papua Campaign, Oxford, UK.
NOTES
(1) Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak: MISSION TO INDONESIA 7 March 2008
“Mr Nowak found that torture and other forms of inhuman & degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners is widespread and "At some police stations, e.g. in … Polres Wamena [West Papua] …, severe beatings were ongoing as the Special Rapporteur conducted his visit."
The Special Rapportuer also particularly highlighted "the use of excessive force by [Indonesian] security forces"... "in particular in Papua" and called on the Government of Indonesia to "take all steps necessary to stop the use of excessive violence during police and military operations, above all in conflict areas such as Papua …". http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/7session/A.HRC.7.3.Add.7AEV.doc
(2) See: West Papua: Genocide, Demographic Change, the Issue of 'Intent', and the Australia-Indonesia Security Treaty by Dr. Jim Elmslie, University of Sydney, West Papua Project.(2007)
(3) “He [The Rt Revd Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford] is right to say that [in the 1969 Act of Free Choice] there were 1,000 handpicked representatives and that they were largely coerced into declaring for inclusion in Indonesia” Baroness Symons (Foreign Office Minister) speaking in the House of Lords, 13th December 2004
(4) Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General Ms Hina Jilani on the situation of Human Rights Defenders on her visit to Indonesia (5-12 June 2007) 28 January 2008.
(5) Letter from Catherine Seaton, SE Asia & Pacific Group, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, London, to Richard Samuelson, Co-Director, Free West Papua Campaign (UK), 16 June 2008
(6) See Amnesty International UK Action on Filep Karma & Yusak Pakage:
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=204
(7) See: The Last Frontier - Illegal Logging in Papua Report by the Environmental Investigation Agency & Telepak
http://www.eia-international.org/files/reports93-1.pdf
(8) Indonesia deploys British arms against protesters: The Observer (UK) 27 November 2005 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/nov/27/indonesia.armstrade