The need for understanding Papua's history, grievances<\/p>\n
Carmel Budiardjo, London<\/p>\n
It has been asserted in your columns this week (Local
\nElections and Papuan Politics, July 11, 2005) that because the
\nmajority of West Papuans participated in general elections in
\n2004, they were therefore participating in an internal
\nreferendum. The writer also claims that they participated in an
\nexternal referendum, known as Pepera (the so-called Act of Free
\nChoice) which took place in 1969.<\/p>\n
He did not dispute the fact that only one thousand Papuans
\nparticipated in Pepera but alleged that because the result was
\nendorsed by the United Nations, the Indonesian government was
\njustified in "relying on the results of Pepera" for its claim
\nthat West Papua is a legitimate part of the Indonesian Republic.<\/p>\n
In the first place, to liken general elections to a referendum
\nshows the shallowness of this analysis. Elections are about
\nchoosing representatives of different political parties which in
\ntoday's Indonesia consist of nearly fifty parties. Whereas a
\nreferendum is the occasion for the electorate to choose between
\ntwo or more options, and opinions often cross party lines.<\/p>\n
Whether or not people participate in elections relates not
\nonly to making choices about party programs but may also be
\ngenerated by fear or anxiety that by not participating, they
\ncould face accusations of separatism or sedition.<\/p>\n
Recent events in West Papua, such as the military operations
\nunderway in the Central Highlands district of Punjak Jaya, which
\nforced thousands of villagers to take refuge in the forest,
\nabandoning their homes and gardens, suggest that fear of the
\nauthorities still plays a role in people's decision about
\nparticipating in political events.<\/p>\n
Now that Indonesia has entered an important new political era
\nin which democratic rights are recognized as one of the basic
\nrights of the population, it is strange that someone who presumes
\nto have the expertise to hold forth about political affairs fails
\nto recognize that the Act of Free Choice conducted by the
\nIndonesian authorities in the Soeharto era was anything but
\ndemocratic.<\/p>\n
At the time of the Act, the population of Papua was estimated
\nas being a little over 800,000, yet no one disputes the fact that
\nonly one thousand persons (to be precise, 1,022), not even one
\nper cent of the population, participated in that Act.<\/p>\n
The Act was conducted following the New York Agreement of 1962
\nwhich was concluded as the result of intervention from Washington
\nwhich feared that Indonesia, then under President Sukarno, was
\ngetting too close to the Soviet bloc. The agreement was concluded
\nbetween Indonesia and The Netherlands, without Papuan
\nparticipation or consultation.<\/p>\n
As a result of Dutch insistence, it included a clause
\nproviding for an Act within six years that should be held in
\naccordance with "international practice" This can surely only
\nmean one thing, namely the principle of "one man, one vote".<\/p>\n
The issue of West Papua was discussed in the House of Lords
\nlast December. On that occasion, the Bishop of Oxford asked the
\nBritish government for its views about the Act of Free Choice
\nwhich he had described as being an occasion when a thousand
\nrepresentatives "were coerced into declaring for inclusion in
\nIndonesia".<\/p>\n
Replying for the government, Baroness Symons said: "He is
\nright to say that there were 1,000 handpicked representatives and
\nthey were largely coerced into declaring for inclusion in
\nIndonesia". One can hardly disregard the views of the British
\nGovernment, stated in the country's highest political forum.<\/p>\n
As we know here in the UK, the British government is closely
\nfollowing events in West Papua, not least because a major British
\ncompany, BP, has decided to invest massively in the exploitation
\nof West Papua's vast reserves of natural gas. While seeking to
\npromote this investment, the government has not refrained from
\nacknowledging that the way in which the territory was
\nincorporated into the Indonesian Republic was seriously flawed.<\/p>\n
West Papua has now been officially part of Indonesia for more
\nthan thirty years, or even longer if you include the six years
\nfollowing the Dutch withdrawal in 1963, yet the sense of
\ngrievance still runs deep.<\/p>\n
When President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a visit to West
\nPapua last December, shortly after his inauguration and after
\nsaying that the resolution of the conflict in West Papua was "one
\nof his top priorities", the leaders of all the churches there
\ndecided to boycott the visit. As far as we know, not even during
\nthe worst days of the Soeharto era did such a thing ever happen.<\/p>\n
No one should make the mistake of disregarding the views of
\nthe churches in West Papua which have always played a prominent
\nrole and have always acted in the best interests of the largely
\nChristian population.<\/p>\n
There are many serious problems in West Papua, not least the
\nconfusion created by the government's decision first to establish
\nSpecial Autonomy, and then to split the territory into three or
\nperhaps even into five provinces. Allegations are being made that
\nmoney intended for running the special autonomy administration is
\nbeing used to cover the cost of ongoing military operations.<\/p>\n
There is also concern that the continuing influx of migrants
\nfrom other parts of Indonesia is turning the Papuans into a
\nminority in their own homeland. In some of the major cities such
\nas Jayapura, this is already true.<\/p>\n
It may be true that events in West Papua are too infrequently
\nreported in Indonesia's national media which perhaps accounts for
\na great deal of misunderstanding about conditions there. We can
\nonly hope that this will be speedily remedied.<\/p>\n
In particular, commentators should play closer attention to
\nthe events in the 1960s which lie at the root of the grievances
\nof the people of West Papua.<\/p>\n
The writer is the founder of the Indonesia Human Rights
\nCampaign, set up in 1973.<\/p>",
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