America supports integrity of RI, congressman says

America supports integrity of RI, congressman says

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A United States Congressman assured Indonesia on Thursday of his
country's support for the territorial integrity of this country,
which has been plagued by secessionist movements for decades.

Co-Chair of the U.S. Congressional Indonesia Caucus Robert
Wexler said the U.S. policy was clearly demonstrated when
President George W. Bush met Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono during the latter's visit to Washington in June.

"We America support the integrity of the Indonesian territory
and we do not support any separatist movement in Indonesia.
There is no if, no and, no but," he said during a press briefing
after a meeting with Susilo at the Presidential Office.

U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia B. Lynn Pascoe was also present
at the meeting.

Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said the President
and Wexler discussed bilateral and regional issues, including
efforts to enhance ties between the two countries.

The contentious issue of Papua was raised recently following a
move by two U.S. Congress members who proposed a bill calling for
a thorough analysis of the Papua's history, including the 1969
Act of Free Choice, in which 1025 handpicked tribal elders voted
unanimously to become a part of Indonesia. The Netherlands had
claimed the territory as an overseas protectorate from 1949 until
1962.

Wexler, however, stated that the bill did not reflect the view
of the United States, in general.

"Any kind of different view (among U.S. legislators) is merely
due to democratic circumstances," he said after a separate
meeting with Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono.

However, Wexler admitted that "there is a little
miscommunication" among the Congressmen in regard to Papua.

He said he was optimistic that the government could handle the
problems in the restive province.

"After hearing the president's plan and explanation, we have
great hopes that the issues will be handled in a just fashion,"
said Wexler, who represents the Democratic Party from Florida.

He assured the president that there was no "division of
opinion" in the U.S. about the integrity of Indonesia.

Before meeting Susilo and Juwono, Wexler had earlier held
talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda.

Debate over the status of Papua also seems to have come to
surface because U.S. legislators criticized what they called
continuing rights abuses against the pro-independence group in
the resource-rich province in a letter sent to the U.S. secretary
of state and the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan
earlier this year.

Political analyst Bara Hasibuan, meanwhile, was of the opinion
that the debate on Papua was a result of the government's failure
to address prolonged discontent in the territory.

"The government should review its unclear policies on Papua to
win the people's hearts and minds," explained Bara.

Jakarta, he added, was not serious about implementing special
autonomy in Papua.

"Human right abuses, deployment of reinforcement troops and
injustices have been decried by Papuan groups to draw the world's
attention to those issues," said Bara, an intern at the U.S.
Congress in 2002 and 2003.

The government has not yet implemented the special autonomy
law for Papua, and actually violated elements of that law by
proceeding with a division of Papua into three smaller provinces
last year, although the Papuan People's Council local
consultative body was never consulted -- as it is supposed to be
when such decisions are made -- because it has never been
established.