I have lived in Australia for the past five years and have visited the United States several times. Currently I am in America working to promote democracy and human rights in West Papua; a right that my people have been desperately struggling to win for almost fifty years.Even in the recent past West Papuans have continued to be hunted like animals but our resolve has never diminished to win independence and become our own self-governing nation.
Since 2009 when the Australian government granted thirty-nine West Papuan friends and myself political refugee status in 2006. Australia has given us protection, permanent residency and in some cases Australian citizenship.
My question to Indonesia is, Why do the Australians value the lives of West Papuans and allow us to enjoy our freedom while at the same time the majority of West Papuans do not even know what freedom feels like?
On October 8 and 9 there will be an historic meeting of the West Papua National Authority Congress unlike any other in our past. It will take place in Port Numbay, the capital city of West Papua. The people of West Papua have known for seven years of the existence of the West Papua National Authority (WPNA). At the meeting we hope to break new ground on the soil of our beloved homeland and forge new and vital relationships with important international powers. Additionally we will be meeting in Cenderawasih University on 16-19 of October. The floodgates of democracy will soon swing wide open and we West Papuans will finally realize our dream of merdeka and the international community shall be behind us on a journey as a nascent, democratic nation.
My hope is that the American government will continue to hear the voices of West Papuans through our presence here in Washington, D.C.
I would like to request that the international community hears our call for help and understands that our policy of peaceful protest is rooted in 50 years of repression and violence. Our continuing struggle for freedom is clearly endorsed and encouraged by President Barak Obama of the United States as illustrated by his words spoken in April 2009 in Prague:
“ peaceful protest could shake the foundations of an empire, and expose the emptiness of an ideology. It showed us that small countries can play a pivotal role in world events, and that young people can lead the way in overcoming old conflicts. (Applause.) And it proved that moral leadership is more powerful than any weapon. ”
Bintang Papua. 8 September 2011Although thirteen of the fifteen Papuans who were arrested on 31 August have since been released, the National Human Rights Commission’s (Komnas HAM) Papua branch is continuing to pay serious attention to what happened, said Mathius Murib, deputy chairman of the commission. ‘We have been paying close attention to what has happened from the start up to the present moment,’ he said.
‘The proper procedures were not followed and the people who were detained were subjected to mal-treatment, and what is even more disturbing is that a child of 7 or 8 years old was kidnapped at the same time,’ he said.
After receiving complaints from the families of the victims, Komnas HAM decided to investigate the case.’Since receiving these complaints we have been conducting investigations which are still on-going.’
Commenting on allegations by the KNPB – National Committee for West Papua – that the events in Papua that preceded the arrests had been deliberately set up, especially the incidents in Jayapura, he said that we would need to have evidence that this was true. ‘People can express their opinion about this but everything needs to be based on careful investigations which can be properly accounted for.’
‘We need to know who was responsible, what the motivation was and whether the incidents were deliberately set up or not.’ When asked whether the incidents were being comprehensively investigated, he said he said that a number of incidents had occurred one after the other, almost daily, cases that need to be handled by the police.Moreover, some people were involved in several of the incidents. ‘Is this a matter for the police or for the NGOs or for the Komnas HAM? Whatever the case, they must be dealt with, and it is mainly the responsibility of the police to do so.’
Asked whether the Komnas HAM was conducting its own investigations, he said that this would depend on whether it falls within its authority to do so. The procedure requires that there should be an official request. Komnas HAM could make recommendations but that is all. But basically it is the responsibility of the police.’
As yet, the government and the legislature have said nothing. ‘Up until now, those who have been expressing their concern about the cases are the NGOs, the churches and Komnas HAM. But issuing statements is not enough; bodies need to do whatever is within their authority in order to change things for the better. This is a matter for the legislature which should exercise its powers to do so.’
RI, Aussie special forces launch joint exercise
The Jakarta Post
JAKARTA: The Indonesian Army Special Forces (Kopassus) is currently conducting a two-week joint training exercise with the Australian Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) in the Thousand Islands regency, north of Jakarta.
Members of the special forces from both countries will take part in exercises, including live fire training and marine terrorism prevention, tempointeraktif.com reported Thursday.
Kopassus commander Maj. Gen. Lodewijk F. Paulus officially opened the joint exercise on Tuesday at the Kopassus headquarters in Cijantung, Jakarta.
The exercise is hoped to encourage exchange of knowledge between the two delegations, and improve cooperation between both countries, he said. It also aims to improve the forces abilities and skills in personal and group fighting techniques and tactics, he said.
He added that Indonesian and Australian forces had been carrying out joint exercises since 1992.
Is Indonesia about to lose its grip on the western half of New Guinea, a territory the size of France and ancient homeland of the Melanesian West Papuans?
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at today's press conference in Auckland. Photo: Henry Yamo / PMC
“Again this issue should also be discussed at the Decolonisation Committee of the United Nations General Assembly. And when it comes, again, to whether you are an independent state or non self-governing territory, whatever, the human rights is an inalienable and fundamental principle of the United Nations. We will do all to ensure that the people in West Papua, their human rights should be respected.” [1]
To read of West Papua being raised in the context of the UN Decolonisation Committee by the Secretary-General is quite startling, for one specific reason: West Papua was removed from the list of colonised territories in 1969. This is unlike the situation in East Timor, which had not been removed from this list, becaming the trigger for their 1999 vote on self determination.
East Timor was a clear case of invasion in 1975, brutal suppression by a foreign power and liberation in a baptism of blood and fire in 1999. On the other hand, the West Papuan people were the victim of a brutal play of Realpolitiks during the Cold War.
After Indonesia gained their independence from the Dutch in 1949, Holland retained their territory in western New Guinea, preparing the indigenous population for independence. In 1957 Australia signed an agreement with the Netherlands to work toward the independence of the whole island of New Guinea and many Australians were involved on the ground in this preparation. [2]
In 1961 the Dutch administration formed a local parliament, including indigenous representatives and raised the West Papuan morning star flag, which flew along with the Dutch tri-colour across the territory and 1970 set as the year of independence. In this bright dawn of Papuan democracy, Australia helped to raised the hopes and expectations of the people of West Papua for freedom and self-determination.
Since 1949 Indonesia had been demanding control of the western half of New Guinea, even though it was, like the eastern half of the island, an ancient Papuan land. The Indonesian response was now to begin invading and a full-blown war with Indonesia appeared imminent, in which Australia would have fought along-side Papuans trained by the Dutch to defend their island homeland.
Wishing to avoid being drawn into a war with Indonesia, the United States intervened and told the Dutch to get out, Australia to butt out and gave the green light for Indonesia to take over half of New Guinea, as the new colonial master. This was deeply humiliating for the Netherlands and also Australia and brought into question the true independence of Australian foreign policy.
In this play of Realpolitiks, West Papuan lives, land and resources were used by Washington to buy a nominally pro-Western alliance with Indonesia and also access to Indonesian and Papuan resources. This action was nothing short of a slave trade and theft of land and property on an unimaginable scale.
The West Papuan morning star flag, which first officially flew in New Guinea in 1961, when Australia was working on the ground with the Dutch toward the independence of the whole island of New Guinea.
Indonesia became the new colonial power in New Guinea in 1963 and the atrocities began, with as many as 400,000 Papuans being killed in an ongoing genocide, which has pushed the Papuan aside to make way for Indonesian occupation and immigration. When a vote for self-determination was held in 1969, the United Nations allowed Indonesia to run it completely and even the UN observers on the ground only witnessed 20 percent of the vote.
Could it be called a vote, when 1025 selected men were lectured under the shadow of guns, before being invited to step over a line drawn in the dirt? An armed rebellion was going in in West Papua at the time. Wishing to avoid the prospect of war with Indonesia, most nations voted to allow West Papua to be incorporated into Indonesia and be removed from the list of colonial territories. A few newly independent African nations objected.
Would the United Nations get away with such a vote today. Such a bizarre process would not have been accepted in East Timor in 1999.
If the West Papuan people deserve natural justice, then they have a right to a genuine vote on self-determination. If Indonesia wishes to hold its head high as a truly democratic nation, then they will agree to this happening. If Australia wishes to regain honour with West Papua, then we will support the rights of the West Papuan people to self determination, just as we did the East Timorese and the Papuans of eastern New Guinea.
Sadly, all Australians have blood on our hands when it comes to West Papua, because we did not stand and demand justice, but went along with a brutal theft, slave trade and on-going atrocity Just across our northern border, many West Papuans have been shot on sight for raising the morning star flag, or sent to jail for 20 years.
Filep Karma was jailed for 15 years in 2004 for raising the West Papuan flag and when recently offered remission by the Indonesian Government, refused to accept this, saying, “he preferred to serve out his normal sentence and demanded the Indonesian Government to apologise to the Papuan people for all the atrocities it has caused.” [3]
For decades West Papuan supporters around the World have raised the question of the West Papuan right to self-determination and the voice of the indigenous Maori was added to this throng at the recent Pacific Island Forum being held in New Zealand, when the leader of the Mana Party, Hone Harawira, raised the West Papuan issue with Ban Ki-moon, declaring:
“Can I please ask that you support peaceful dialogue between the Indigenous People of West Papua and Indonesia, to put an end to the killings there and to find a strategy to get Indonesia out of a land that isn’t theirs.” [4]
Bintang Papua, 6 September 2011The executive committee of the Synod of the KINGMI Church in the Land of Papua has responded to the threat issued by the police force in Paniai that failure to hand back two firearms by the end of Wednesday, 7 September would mean that the police will launch hunt and search operations against the TPN/OPM led by John Yogi.
According to the KINGMI Church, these search operations against John Yogi who is alleged to have seized the weapons, could result in possibly hundreds or even thousands of casualties of innocent people among the civilian population, said Dr Benny Giay.
The deputy chairman of the Papuan branch of the National Human Rights Commission, Matius Murib, also had a meeting with Ruben Magai, the chairman of commission A of the DPRP about the issue.
Dr Benny Giay of the KINGMI Church called on Commission A of the DPRP to provide the opportunity for local leaders and churches to hold discussions with John Yogi and his comrades. The reason for doing so was that, according to reports from local communities in Paniai, everyday life in Paniai has been paralysed and many local inhabitants have fled their villages in a state of trauma, havng heard about the forthcoming operations against the TPN/OPM. ‘We call upon Commission A and the chief of police to do everything possible to prevent casualties among the civilian population,’ he said.
Meanwhile, the Rev. Albert Kesya, said that plans to launch search operations against the TPN/OPM had been made public at a time when the congregation were involved in Spiritual Camping in Madi Kampung, Enaro,sub-district of Paniai. on 26 July. which is not far from the location where the headquarters of the TPN/OPM is believed to be based. Even so, Brimob forces in Panai had attacked and seized many things, including thousands of bullets (the figure given in the article is 40,000), Rp 50 million, twelve hand phones, ten bows and arrows, and a Yamaha motorbike.
Deputy chairman of the National Human Rights Commission in Papua, Matius Murib, said the government and the security forces need to pay attention to three things. There can be no justification for anyone among the authorities or the population to use violence and cause casualties among the population. ‘Such actions,’ he said, ‘were rejected by human rights organisations around the world, bearing in mind that Indonesia has ratified covenants against the use of violence. and the loss of lives. Secondly, the local population needs to hold negotiations with the TPN/OPM. Whatever the situation, people like John Yogi and his group can be expected to listen and to understand.’
‘There is no need to set a deadline for the launching of operations. Weapons belonging to the state should be in the hands of the state. There can be no justification for launching search operations against the TNP/OPM. There are weapons in the hands of many groups. And there are many weapons in the hands of people who are not authorised to hold weapons.’
‘People cannot be allowed to do things that will result in victims falling among the civilian population.’ He said that some people can be expected to use weapons as a bargaining point to achieve certain objectives, but trying to force people to return weapons will never solve the problems.’
Ruben Magai, chairman of Commission A of the DPRP in Papua, called on the chief of police in Papua to use social means, not military means, because the latter will only traumatise the people and make them very afraid.
West Papua Media Alerts 