Experts seek to dispel distrust between governmenr and Papua

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A seminar featuring respected intellectuals, analysts and religious leaders has urged the government to lift Presidential Instruction No. 1/2003 on the formation of two new provinces in Papua, and conistently enforce Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for the resource-rich province to help solve the increasingly complex issues.

The day-long seminar organized by the Centre for Strategic International Studies (CSIS), Frederich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and Papua Special Autonomy Team (TOKP), also sought the possibility of establishing an independent special team to bridge the widening distrust between the central government and Papua.

Former Papua governor Barnabas Suebu said Papuans no longer had confidence in the central government since Jakarta appeared to have no real solution to prolonged and perceived injustices and has made it more complicated with the issuance of the much- criticized presidential instruction to partition the region.

"The only way to regain Papuans' confidence is to annul the presidential instruction and implement the special autonomy consistently to let Papuans tackle their home affairs, control their land and settle past human rights abuses," he said.

He insisted that the situation in Papua, especially on the eve of the upcoming general elections, would be worse and more people would be killed as long as Jakarta still treats Papuans as objects in its policies, "and, sooner or later, Papua will face the same fate as Aceh."

Jakarta's apparent rationale for splitting Papua was so it could put more pressure on or factionalize the Free Papua Movement (OPM) and suspend a full implementation of the special autonomy law which leaders now say could, in its full enforcement, eventually lead to complete separation a la East Timor.

The Constitutional Court is still examining Law No. 45/1999 on the split, the enforcement of which was suspended by former presidents B.J. Habibie and Abdurrahman Wahid. In addition, the instruction contradicts the 2001 special autonomy law on that point, so President Megawati's instruction may be invalid.

Chairman of the Communion of Churches in Papua Rev. Herman Saud and historian Anhar Gonggong asserted that the very concept of one Indonesia from Sabang to Merauke was not accepted in many regions, including Papua and Aceh, and those people do not consider themselves as an integral part of Indonesia.

On the other hand, the people in other provinces could learn a lot from Papuans on how to become Indonesians, because unlike those living in remote areas in Java, most Papuans could speak Indonesian (as opposed to just Javanese), even though the region was not part of the 1928 Youth Declaration (One Indonesia... One language...), said Herman.

He said he was proud of Papuans and to be Papuan and Indonesian simultaneously, although 50 percent of Papuans are still living below the poverty line and others are still living in the "stone age".

Sabam Siagian, former ambassador to Australia questioned the interests of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), Home Minister Hari Sabarno and the Indonesian Military (TNI), all of whom seemed to be behind the issuance of the controversial presidential instruction endorsed by Megawati last year.

Sabam went on to say that the Papua issue would remain as long as Jakarta made no changes to help Papuans in the province and continued in not showing goodwill to settle the problems.

Former foreign minister Ali Alatas emphasized the importance of establishing a national body to identify all the problems that Papuans are facing.

Citing three fundamental mistakes that have contributed to the increasingly complex issue, he said it could not be solved unless the government found the political will to do it.

His three-mistake theory comprised the following: "First, we lost the momentum to settle all past problems before the presidential instruction was issued. Second, we underestimated the complexity of the issues, and third, we have not learned from the mistakes we made recently, like East Timor and Aceh.

"Therefore, we probably need a sincere facilitator, who could be a direct subordinate of the top security minister, to figure out what we can do to settle the problem," he said.

Political analyst Ikrar Nusa Bhakti of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, claimed that Papuans had no objections to Papua being slashed in three, provided it was conducted in compliance with the law and done gradually.

Jusuf Wanandi, a co-founder of CSIS, suggested that the proposed establishment of a special team or appointment of a special facilitator be conducted by the current government despite the busy upcoming election schedule.

Sydney Jones, the coordinator of the International Crisis Group identified BIN, the Home Affairs Ministry and TNI as three real obstacles to a full implementation of the special autonomy as well as a comprehensive solution to the prolonged issue. Eye-box: Identified problems in Papua:

1. human rights abuses 2. security disturbances 3. illegal take-over of communal lands 4. transportation and communication problems 5. poverty and undevelopment 6. qualified human resources shortage 7. conflicts among 300 tribes 8. corruption 9. widening social disparity 10. conflicting laws and policies on Papua