[ppi] [ppiindia] An appeal to Indonesia concerning Papua

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20060327.F02&irec=2


An appeal to Indonesia concerning Papua 
Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Washington



In an article entitled A Lost World in Indonesia Yields Riches for Scientists, 
The Washington Post recently found this discovery to be worthy of front page 
news. Yet the debilitating and gut-wrenching plight of the indigenous people of 
West Papua New Guinea has not received a note of attention from the U.S., 
Australia, New Zealand, other Pacific and European democratic nations, or the 
Dutch, West Papua's former colonial ruler.

Only a few weeks ago, on Jan. 17, 2006, 43 West Papuans, seven of whom were 
children, arrived on the shores of Australia seeking asylum. They left their 
homes in West Papua New Guinea and sailed some 2200 miles during the monsoon 
season in a small, open boat. 

The 43 Papuans fled a rapidly deteriorating human rights environment where the 
indigenous Papuans have suffered extensive human rights abuses, natural 
resource exploitation, environmental degradation, and commercial dominance by 
immigrant communities. 

In its 2004 Human Rights report, the U.S. Department of State acknowledged 
Indonesia's brutal record by stating Indonesia "security force members 
murdered, tortured, raped, beat and arbitrarily detained civilians and members 
of separatist movements in Papua." 

While the Indonesian parliament passed a Special Autonomy Law for West Papua in 
October 2001 that was intended to allocate greater revenue and decision making 
authority to the Papuan provincial government, the promise of special autonomy 
has not been effectively realized and has been undermined in its 
implementation, such as by conflicting legal directives further subdividing the 
province in apparent contravention of the law and without the consent of 
appropriate provincial authorities. 

Indonesia has reportedly continued to send thousands of additional troops to 
West Papua, and military operations in the central highlands since the fall of 
2004 have displaced thousands of civilians into very vulnerable circumstances, 
contributing further to mistrust of the central government by the people of 
West Papua. 

On the night of Nov. 10, 2001, Chief Theys Hiyo Eluay, Chairman of the Papuan 
Presidium and outspoken advocate for an independent West Papua through peaceful 
means, was abducted, tortured and murdered near Jayapura, West Papua. 

And this is only an accounting of recent developments. In 1969, 1,025 West 
Papuan elders were coerced and manipulated into voting unanimously on behalf of 
800,000 West Papuans for inclusion in Indonesia. This Act of No Choice is 
generally regarded in the international community as a fraudulent tactic that 
was used by former President Soeharto to claim control of the colonial province 
of West Papua and its renowned mineral wealth which includes vast reserves of 
gold, copper, nickel, oil and gas. The Act of No Choice also raises concerns 
about racism. 

I believe the time has come to end discrimination in West Papua. In 2002, the 
people of East Timor achieved their independence from Indonesia through a 
referendum sanctioned by the United Nations and I believe the time has come to 
end discrimination and allow the people of West Papua to determine for 
themselves their own political destiny. 

The issue of West Papua is not an internal matter. Neither is it a question of 
territorial integrity. West Papua was a former Dutch colony just as East Timor 
was a former Portuguese colony just as Indonesia was a former colony of the 
Netherlands. The historical evidence is clear on this matter. 

It is also clear that the Indonesian government has failed to implement the 
provisions of the Special Autonomy Law that passed five years ago which leads 
me to believe that Special Autonomy was simply an effort to divide an conquer 
and, therefore, must be an unacceptable recourse for people of conscience. 

This is why I am making an appeal to the conscience of the people of Indonesia. 
After the brutal dictatorial regimes of President Sukarno and Soeharto and the 
1965-1966 massacre when some half a million to a million unarmed Indonesians 
were killed under the guise of alleged communist sympathies, the people of 
Indonesia have come a long way in their 350 year history in demanding a more 
pluralistic and democratic form of government. Now, the time has come for the 
people of Indonesia to demand the same for the people of West Papua. 

I am pleased that as a result of these efforts U.S. Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice has acknowledge that West Papua is now on the radar screen 
and, in the spirit of America's great mission of diplomacy to end tyranny in 
our world, I am also hopeful that the issues surrounding West Papua will be a 
primary focus of her discussions with the leaders of Indonesia. 

Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D-AS) is a Member of the U.S. Congress and serves as the 
Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, U.S. House 
Committee on International Relations 


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