West Papuan leaders have requested talks with Jakarta to discuss greater autonomy, and increased democratisation for their region, which would fall in line with positive developments throughout the archipelago. A resolution of the decades-long conflict in Papua, one of Indonesia's richest regions, could pave the way for Papuans to develop West Papua under special autonomy and have greater say over resources that include vast forests and huge copper and gold deposits.
Damien Kingsbury, an associate professor at Australia's Deakin University, who advised on the Aceh peace talks says that a deal means Indonesia would have to pull out the military, allow democracy, international human rights monitors, an economic redistribution, and the creation of political parties. "Papua would be looking at creating a more democratic political environment in keeping with Indonesia's own democratisation. That could contribute to a more secure investment climate for Papua with the support of local Papuans." A peace agreement and increased autonomy could change how investors such as Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) -- whose Grasberg mine in Papua is one of the largest copper and gold mines in the world -- negotiate deals in future, Kingsbury said.
Kingsbury's argument can explain that greater autonomy by special autonomy regulation can solve the problem in West Papua. However, small number of Papuan opportunist against the process of peaceful development by creating a hostile attitude towards West Papua local government and central government of Indonesia. The hostile actions by the OPM (Rebellion and Terror Movement against Papuan)should be deal with a very careful security method to protect West Papuan civilian. A high-level armed separatist insurgency in the province has resulted in a limited military presence and a climate of mutual suspicion and fear.
The OPM will never let the democratisation process successfully touch the heart of ordinary West Papuan. They keep intimidating and terrorising West Papuan. Indonesian Military is in jeopardy, whatever TNI do to protect West Papuan from OPM, it can be twisted by wrong story from OPM international networks.
Please let democratisation spread in the land of West Papua, help us from terrorist and political opportunist who sell our problem for money.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Let Democratisation Spread in West Papua
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Time to think about the future of West Papua
Early this month in the year of 2007, a very small number of West Papuan still try to celebrate the 46th anniversary of its declaration of independence, a document that has never been recognized by any member of the international community. Yet every year separatists in the Indonesian province of West Papua raise their rebel flag and engage in traditional celebrations.
This year's celebration were prompted with unclear and mixed feeling and hope because there is no sincerity among Papuan separatist, each party just wanted to targeting a specific aim of political gain or economic motive. From the side of Papuan local government, there is growing concern that militant separatists will be emboldened the celebration within the territory of Indonesia and in international for such as Europe and Australia. Even though the situation could not become explosive, the province of West Papua is under military guard and in recent weeks there have been a rising number of attacks from separatist.
Indonesia's vast archipelago since 1998 has suffered escalating ethnic and religious violence, including the act of terrorism and separatism. To stabilize the situation, the government of Indonesia has offered regional autonomy to restive provinces like West Papua and to Aceh on the island of Sumatra. The power-sharing plan would decentralize authority and enable the provinces to exercise greater administrative control. It would also allow them to retain a larger share of the profits from their natural resources.
In the era of Abdurrahman Wahid presidency, regarding West Papua, Wahid has proposed to rename the province back to West Papua from Irian Jaya, while during Megawati presidency, she has proposed return as much as 80% of revenues from copper, gold, timber and other resources to local people. She had visited the province in during her period of presidency to convince Papuans to accept a new autonomy law.
Like the rest of Indonesia, West Papua was colonized by the Dutch. Some non representative leaders declared its independence in 1961, two years before the Dutch departed without any single international recognition. Though the Dutch were willing to grant independence, Papuans ultimately acceded to Indonesia via a United Nations-supervised referendum in 1969. Separatist leaders maintain that this referendum was flawed because only tribal leaders were allowed to vote.
Since 1998, an active Papuan pro-independence movement has emerged as a byproduct of Indonesia's overall democratization. Some Papuans believe that only independence can help them achieve power control over the land of Papua. Indonesia with its principle of unity within diversity do not allow any discrimination. Papuan leaders with a high level capability in governance can become a Member of Parliament and event member of Indonesian National Cabinet. As Melanesians, Papuans contribute to the development of Indonesian identity as a plural society.
Within the democratic Indonesia, it is the right time to build West Papua with a comprehensive and transparent program of development. It is a challenging time for all Papuans to administer autonomy and distribute the proceeds from natural-resource sharing with a fair and open mechanism.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Root of Conflict and Peace Agendas for Papua
A nice article from Jakarta Post
by Muridan S. Widjojo
The meeting between Vice President Jusuf Kalla, flanked by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo AS, Minister of Home Affairs Mohammad Ma'ruf and Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, and the official leaders of the province of Papua on Nov. 24, followed by the talks with the leaders of West Irian Jaya province the next day, resulted in a positive consensus.
The conflict over the election of local leaders in West Irian Jaya will be settled based on Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy and Government Regulation No. 54/2004 on the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP). This implies that the process of creating a legal umbrella for West Irian Jaya will start with a white paper drafted by the governor of Papua, which will then be studied by the Papuan provincial council and brought to the MRP for approval. Subsequently, it will be forwarded to the central government via the minister of home Affairs.
This process is expected to last a month. According to the consensus, the central government will issue a regulation in lieu of law to provide legal protection for West Irian Jaya. If Jakarta firmly adheres to the accord, the door will likely be open for a comprehensive resolution of the root causes of the Papuan conflict.
However, it is worth noting that the agreement was reached only after the provincial council and MRP had rejected the unilateral plan by the Ministry of Home Affairs to hold local elections in West Irian Jaya, and threatened to reject the government initiated special autonomy and demand a referendum. This threat reflected the pinnacle of disappointment and anger among Papuan people and provincial leaders at the government's arbitrary policies and disregard for the Special Autonomy Law.
The success of Vice President Jusuf Kalla in breaking the political deadlock in Papua is in fact only superficial. The conflict over the elections in West Irian Jaya is just a small symptom of a much bigger problem.
Throughout 2005, the central government and provincial administration found themselves at loggerheads over a number of issues. The most significant consequence of this was a high level of Papuan dissatisfaction with the application of special autonomy, as manifested in the demonstration by 15,000 people organized by the Papuan Tribal Council in August.
Their reasons are obvious.
First, socioeconomic development in the region is making little significant progress. The public health service is seen as inadequate, and the HIV/AIDS question is not being properly handled. The education sector remains plagued by a lack of facilities and teachers. Widespread poverty amid Papua's natural riches is still the order of the day.
Second, little progress has been made on the human rights and state violence questions. To mention but a few cases, the legal process in respect of grave rights violations in Wamena and Wasior has stalled in the Attorney General's Office. A 2004 military operation in Puncak Jaya (2004) that resulted in serious rights abuses has not even been officially reported yet. Worse still, the first permanent Human Rights Tribunal (2005) has failed to punish rights violators in Abepura (2000). The victims in the case were taken aback by a defense attorney's statement that the accused should be considered "heroes" and the injured parties "separatists".
Third, the demand for "setting the historical record straight" in Papua and hopes for reconciliation have not been responded to wisely.
The Papuans' demands for freedom are connected with the historical issue. This problem will hamper Papua-Jakarta reconciliation and the effort to build healthier political ties. The people of Papua will continue to question their political history in various local, national and international forums.
The Vice President, and even the President himself, have emphasized the need to settle the problems of West Irian Jaya and Papua by taking account of the aspirations of the Papuan people and provincial leaders. Whatever course of action is decided upon in resolving the West Irian Jaya issue, Jakarta must avoid unilateral action. The Papuan side, particularly state leaders in the provincial council and MRP, and the governor, should be fully involved.
The West Irian Jaya problem looks likely to be long drawn out and will not be settled within one month as targeted by Vice President Jusuf Kalla. Differing views will arise between the governor of Papua and the MRP, with the governor accepting the splitting of Papua into five provinces and the MRP tending to reject this. This is not to mention the possible introduction of another agenda by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Jakarta, which is apparently set on pushing through the local election plan.
If the West Irian Jaya issue can be properly resolved, the central government and Papuan leadership will be able to prepare three peace agendas to get to the root of the conflict in Papua.
First, Papua's development can be accelerated based on a new special autonomy paradigm that prioritizes the empowerment of indigenous Papuans in the social economy, health and education sectors. Conflicts over natural resources should be resolved based on the principles of justice and benefit to local communities.
Spending on the Papuan bureaucracy should be reduced and priority given to community development spending. Parallel to this, corruption cases, such as that involving the Jayawijaya regent, should be brought to trial.
Second, human rights should be upheld while at the same time putting an end to the impunity enjoyed by the military and police. As a start, the Abepura case should be appeared. The files on the Wamena and Wasior cases should also be improved and delivered to the court for trial without delay. The entire legal process and control over prosecutors and judges should be tightened to prevent outside intervention on behalf of defendants.
Third, the question of "straightening out Papuan history", the territorial integrity of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia and reconciliation should be addressed by opening a dialog between Jakarta and Papua. This should be aimed at reaching a compromise between the "nationalist" and "separatist" poles.
In this regard, all the important elements of Papuan society should be represented, covering the grassroots like the Papuan Tribal Council, the Presidium of Papuan Councils and Churches and official leaders in Papua. The President should appoint a committee made up of members knowledgeable about Papuan affairs and experienced in negotiating. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised that the Aceh peace deal will be a model for Papua.
In the context of the internationalization of Papua, the government should realize that the best diplomacy would be improved Jakarta-Papua relations based upon concrete action in line with the three agendas described above.
There are two principal views in international circles on Papua.
Some NGOs and Indonesian experts believe that Papua could become a second Timor Leste. Other NGOs and Indonesian specialists disagree with this view because, first, Papua has been recognized as part of Indonesia by the United Nations since 1969 and, second, there has been explicit confirmation by influential nations like the U.S., Australia, the Netherlands and Britain that Indonesia has sovereignty over Papua.
The second group tends to believe that special autonomy is more logical and realistic for Papua.
Nonetheless, all the optimism could dissipate if, first, rights violations are ignored and the security forces continue to enjoy impunity; second, Indonesian troops, perhaps also police personnel, go out of control and commit new rights infringements; and, third, a unilateral policy on Papua continues to be imposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, thus increasing antipathy on the part of both informal and formal Papuan leaders.
All this would give more reason to the international community to question the 1969 decision on integration and encourage a referendum in Papua. If this were to happens, a Jakarta-Papua political stalemate would be inevitable. Political violence would increase and disintegration would become part of the agenda.
The writer is a researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Jakarta, and a PhD candidate in history at University of Leiden in the Netherlands.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Freedom Inside Indonesian Democracy
What is happening right now to my people in West Papua is showing the world the true democracy where people can rely on the strength of their words to actualise ideas they have. Indonesia uses the peaceful force of democracy, development, free election and harmony.
So now, when things are turning in favour of freedom and justice in West Papua (with visits by the US Congressman Faleomavaega and the EU and UN Human Rights envoys), Indonesia openly shows the to international community that democracy is the right medicine for West Papua. However Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) and its Army Teror Wings are always turning to the only way it knows: violence and Terror.
In recent years, several factions of OPM such as the Koteka Tribal Assembly and other West Papuan independence movement in some Western countries have tried to tell lies to the international community. They claim that because they are not get involve in Indonesia's democracy, the democracy is false. They use violence in West Papua to create tension like in the past.
The lies story about TNI (Indonesian Military) in West Papua from West Papuan Independence Movement is just unbelieveaable. For example they always claim that TNI is responsible for all violence, intimidation, threats, racist abuse, etc. In contrast, the OPM forget that they the one who threath Papuan people, Oh my God we are the same ethnic, we are one. For the shake of individual needs and ambitions West Papuan daily life is like at the hands of the OPM Terror and the protection from Indonesian military and police sometimes not enough. We West Papuan people are very simple and just simply try to campaign peacefully for economic and cultural development.
OPM, together with support from its international network is currently forming terror group in every regency (district) across West Papua with the express purpose of using violence against peaceful development campaigners to challenge the territorial integrity of the Republic of Indonesia.
We Papuans are calling on the international community to intervene OPM international network in Australia, Papua New Guinea, United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherland, United States, Canada, and any other part of the world. Don’t wait for the creation of OPM terror group to start the war among Papuans. Please stop helping liar opportunist.
1) We call on the international community to send a UN envoys to West Papua and help the development my people. The Indonesian Military must be strengthen to guard West Papuan from terror by OPM. We Papuans don’t have guns, please protect us from terror group of OPM.
2) All Terror group of OPM must be disarmed and disbanded immediately. I urge any of my fellow Papuans who are tempted by OPM money to join one of these militia groups to think again. If you do, you will be helping political and economic opportunist to commit crimes against humanity – against your own people. You have no idea how the opportunist make use of the West Papua issue for money.
3) OPM must stop all forms of violence and intimidation against West Papuans immediately, whether against ordinary Papuans speaking out about human rights abuses.
Now is the time for all Papuans to work together peacefully for our birth-right together with our Indonesian brother and sister: to live in peace and prosperity, free at last from OPM terror, in our own sacred Land, West Papua.
