U.S. not for Papua's independence: Juwono

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has expressed confidence in the United States administration, which it said would not back any move that posed a threat to Indonesia's national unity.

"The U.S. government supports the unitary state of Indonesia and it will not back any secessionist movement anywhere in this country. Neither will it support the partition of Papua from Indonesia," Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said on Tuesday.

He was commenting on a move by U.S. Congress members, including Eni Faleomavega from the Republican Party, who proposed a bill to question the validity of the process prior to the 1969 referendum in Papua, when selected Papuan elders voted unanimously to join Indonesia.

Juwono was speaking in a press conference followed the opening of a two-day security dialog attended by defense officials from Indonesia and the U.S.

Present at the ceremony was U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia B. Lynn Pascoe.

"We should not react too much (to the issue). It is a normal political development when two congressmen, who represent American Samoa, concluded that Papuans have not been able to enjoy democracy and decentralization," Juwono said.

"What we have to do now is to boost democracy and decentralization in the province to enable justice to prevail there."

Although Indonesia had claimed Papua as part of its territory since the formation of an independent Indonesia was proclaimed in 1945, the territory remained under Dutch control until 1962. That year, Indonesia and the Netherlands signed the New York Agreement, which transferred the administration of Papua to a United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA), and then to Indonesia in 1963, pending a referendum.

Since Indonesia held the Act of Free Choice -- in which 1,025 Papuan elders voted unanimously to join Indonesia -- a sporadic low-level armed struggle against the vote has taken place. The government has accused the Free Papua Organization (OPM) of orchestrating the secessionist movement.

Debate over the status of Papua has intensified since a group of U.S. congressmen sent a letter on March 14 of this year to the U.S. secretary of state and the UN secretary-general.

The politicians criticized what they called continuing rights abuses, ranging from torture to rape and from arbitrary arrest to murder, against pro-independence groups in the province, while accusing Indonesian Military officers of involvement in the human rights violations.

The letter also lashed out at the Indonesian government for dividing Papua into three smaller provinces: Papua, West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya, regardless of the special autonomy granted to the natural resource-rich territory.

"What has happened in the U.S. Congress is just the expression of some individuals that will not affect the relationship between Indonesia and the United States," Juwono said.