[ppi] [ppiindia] Papua crucial to Indonesia

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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18623353%5E7583,00.html


Richard Chauvel: Papua crucial to Indonesia
Why Jakarta is so sensitive about independence movements 
March 28, 2006 
INDONESIA'S extreme sensitivity and depth of feeling about Papua is reflected 
in its decision to recall its ambassador.

Papua's economic importance to Indonesia is symbolised by the controversial 
Freeport gold and copper mine, which is Indonesia's largest corporate taxpayer, 
worth $US1.2 billion ($1.7 billion) last year. 

Indonesian president Sukarno's statement in 1963 that his country was not 
complete without Papua conveys something of Papua's importance in Indonesian 
nationalist thinking. Sukarno successfully used the incorporation of Papua as a 
focus in the struggle for national unity. It remains thus. 

There are no significant (non-Papuan) Indonesian leaders or parties that 
support Papuan independence and there are many who have grave reservations 
about any form of autonomy. 

The Indonesian parliamentarians' protests and criticism of the granting of 
visas for 42 Papuans have come from across the political spectrum, not just 
from the outspoken nationalists. 




One of the reasons for Indonesia's sensitivity about Papua is the confusion 
surrounding Jakarta's policies in Papua. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has 
made numerous statements about his Government's commitment to find a political 
solution to the Papua conflict on the basis of the 2001 special autonomy law. 
The successful negotiations about Aceh have given the commitment to resolve 
Papua credibility and momentum. 

He received strong support in Papua in the 2004 elections. His election 
generated considerable optimism among Papuans. 

However, Yudhoyono has done little to clarify the confusion, contradictions and 
divisiveness in the Papua policy he inherited from Megawati Sukarnoputri. 

Is his Government committed to the implementation of special autonomy or will 
it continue Megawati's policy to create two or more provinces in Papua? 

Megawati's decision to partition Papua was motivated by a fear that if the 
special autonomy law was implemented, it would empower a Papuan elite in 
Jayapura that would use it as a basis for a further step towards independence. 

The Yudhoyono Government's policy decisions of the past couple of months have 
made a political resolution more difficult. The decision to hold elections for 
governor in the newly created province of West Papua indicates that the 
Government is determined to pursue the partition of Papua. 

This decision undermines and marginalises the Papuan People's Assembly, the 
institutional centrepiece of special autonomy, which the Government established 
as the representative forum for Papuans. The decision disregarded the 
assembly's recommendation in March this year that the election for governor not 
proceed as the assembly had found there was little Papuan support for the new 
province. The assembly appealed to the Government for a comprehensive and open 
dialogue to resolve Papua's problems. Senior government officials from Jakarta, 
including the Security Minister Widodo, who visited Jayapura the day after the 
Abepura riots (March15-16), refused to hold substantive discussions with 
members of the provincial parliament and Papuan religious leaders. 

This supports the argument in last week's briefing update from the 
International Crisis Group that the Government is shutting down dialogue with 
Papuans. 

Relations between the Papuan elite and the Jakarta Government have never been 
easy, but Papuan trust in Jakarta is at a low point. The brutal killing of five 
members of the security forces in the Abepura riots reflects something of the 
depth of feeling among Papuans, their desperation and the degree of alienation 
from Indonesia. 

Canberra's decision to grant Papuan asylum-seekers visas has exacerbated the 
Indonesian Government's anxieties about Papua and heightened suspicions about 
Australian interests and intentions. Jakarta's statement notes that: "The 
[visa] decision justifies speculations that there are elements in Australia 
that support separatist movement in Papua and in this regard the Government of 
Australia has not done anything to them." 

The head of the National Intelligence Agency, Syamsir Siregar, alleged that 
non-governmental organisations involved in the riots in Abepura earlier this 
month had links in Australia. 

It is not only the alleged activities of Australian NGOs that are suspected by 
Indonesian officials. The head of the armed forces, Djoko Suyanto, suggested 
that the asylum-seekers could not have reached Australia without the assistance 
of Australian patrols and that asylum-seekers from the Middle East are treated 
differently. 

These Indonesian suspicions relate directly to Australia's role in the 1999 
international intervention in East Timor. Many Indonesians, inside and outside 
the Government and the military, believe, mistakenly, that an independent East 
Timor was the preferred strategic outcome for Australia. They suspect that 
Australia has the same objective with respect to Papua. Frequent and definitive 
Australian government statements of support for Indonesian sovereignty in Papua 
evoke the Indonesian response: "That's what you said about East Timor." 

Australia has a vital interest in Indonesia peacefully resolving the conflict 
in Papua. Indonesians and Papuans need international support to help reduce 
Indonesia's dependence on violence in its governance in Papua and to 
accommodate Papuans, their interests and values in the government of the 
province. The agreement on Aceh is a model of what is politically possible. 

Richard Chauvel, a senior lecturer at the school of social sciences at Victoria 
University, is author of Constructing Papuan Nationalism: History, Ethnicity 
and Adaptation. 
www.eastwestcenterwashington.org 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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