House team to lobby U.S. congress on Papua issue

House team to lobby U.S. congress on Papua issue

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives plans to send a four-member
delegation to the U.S. to lobby congress in an attempt to block
passage of a bill that raises questions about the status of
Papua.

The head of the House's inter-legislative cooperation body,
Amris Hasan, said on Monday the team, whose members had not yet
been selected, would leave for Washington sometime in mid-August.

He said the team's mission was to provide U.S. congressmen a
better understanding of the history of Papua.

"I am certain the U.S. congress has received wrong information
(about Papua) that is not based on historical facts and which has
led to this misunderstanding," he said.

The bill on Papua raises questions about the status of the
resource-rich province. If passed into law, the bill could
increase international pressure for the Indonesian government to
allow the people of Papua to vote on independence.

Amris also urged the government to lobby the U.S. to help
block the bill's passage.

Meanwhile, some Indonesian legislators blamed these latest
developments on the government's failure to fully implement
special autonomy for Papua, leading to growing demands from
within the province for independence.

"There are voices on the ground questioning the government's
seriousness about implementing full autonomy there .... We know
that Papuans, independence fighters in particular, have strong
connections with international communities," said Regional
Representatives Council (DPD) deputy La Ode Ida.

He said several DPD members representing eastern provinces,
including Papua, held a meeting with President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono some time ago to discuss the growing calls for an
evaluation of the special autonomy for Papua, but they were not
taken seriously.

"The government has ignored requests for a national dialog
with Papuans on the issues of ongoing economic injustice and poor
law enforcement. Are we going to wait until we have another
Aceh?" La Ode asked.

A member of House Commission I for security and international
affairs, Marzuki Darusman, said the government must begin to
introduce better policies in Papua with the growing international
attention and support for the independence of the province.

"The most urgent thing is for the government to instill a
sense of fairness and justice among the Papuan people," said
Marzuki.

For decades, particularly during the more than 30-year rule of
authoritarian president Soeharto, the central government has been
accused of plundering the natural resources of Papua, while
ignoring the economic development of the province.

The government and the military have also been accused in the
past of human rights violations in Papua.

Since its independence in 1945, Indonesia has stipulated that
Papua is part of the unitary state of Indonesia, although the
province remained under the rule of the Dutch until 1962.

The central government granted special autonomy to Papua in
2001 to help curb separatist movements in the province.