West Papua - An Introduction

West Papua borders the independent nation of Papua New Guinea and forms the western half of the world's second largest island. West Papua became the twenty-sixth province of Indonesia in 1969 after the so-called "Act of Free Choice", sponsored by the UN, saw the transfer of official administration from The Netherlands, the colonial power, to Indonesia. The province was in 1973 re-named Irian Jaya, "Victorious Irian", by the Indonesian President, General Soeharto. The indigenous movement rejects this name and identify themselves as West Papuan. Resistance to Indonesia had begun in 1962 when temporary authority was first given to Jakarta, and continues to the present.

Over the twenty six years that Indonesia has held official control of West Papua, the indigenous population has endured one of the twentieth century's most repressive and unjust systems of colonial occupation. An on-going war has been fought against a popularly supported indigenous movement opposed to Jakarta's rule, and against members of the civilian population who stand in the way of Indonesian "development". An escalation in killings recently, especially around the massive Freeport copper and gold mine in the central highlands, has been widely reported in the Australian and international media.

The indigenous people of West Papua are of the same ethnic origin as those in the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and are also related ethnically and culturally to other Melanesian peoples of the Pacific. Yet under the Indonesian government's Transmigration program, the indigenous West Papuans are being reduced to a minority population due to an annual influx of over 10,000 families of sponsored migrants from Java and Sulawesi and an unknown number of "spontaneous" migrants. The widespread appropriation of land for new settlements, forestry concessions, mining projects and farming has led to numerous large-scale conflicts between the Indonesian military and dispossessed tribespeople, particularly in the late 1970s, 1984, and again in 1990-92 and 1994-95.

Indonesia does not regard the West Papuan people (or other communities) as indigenous and subordinates adat (traditional) law to the national interest. This denies a fundamental feature of West Papuan life and identity, viz relationship with the land, leaves the West Papuan people fundamentally defenceless in the face of development and transmigration policies, and absolves Indonesia of any obligations under international instruments and mechanisms.

"The Charter of the United Nations, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights affirm the fundamental importance of the right of self-determination of all peoples, by virtue of which they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development" - Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, The United Nations Commission on Human Rights

Australia sweeps atrocities in West Papua under Indonesia’s carpet - 24 March 2006

Today's Government hose-down of speculation that granting refugee status to 42 West Papuans was akin to acknowledging Indonesian atrocities in West Papua is not only misleading, but counter-productive for both nations. 

No sooner had the Immigration Department announced its finding that 42 of the 43 West Papuans had a genuine fear of persecution if returned to Indonesia, than the Australian government tried to cover up Indonesian abuses in West Papua by stating that their claims ‘may or not be true’.

Jakarta’s accusations that the decision would confirm suspicions of Indonesians that Australians supported West Papua’s separatist movement were equally unhelpful. While Australia was quick to point out that it was a Departmental level decision on individual cases, not a Government decision, Indonesia warned that it was likely to ‘open the floodgates for other West Papuans hopefuls’ even though both countries have since the Tampa affair been committed to intercepting and deterring such movements. 

Beneath the public posturing, however, real damage is now being done. The longer Australia chooses to ignore Indonesian military atrocities in West Papua and its undermining of West Papuan autonomy, the less likely it is that the democratic gains of Indonesia’s post-Soeharto reformasi movement will be extended to West Papua and the more likely it is that such abuses flourish.

For West Papuans, the ‘Papuan Spring’ of 1998-2000, which brought hopes for peace under a Special Autonomy agreement, is over. Trust in Jakarta’s reforms and hopes for peace under the Special Autonomy agreement have faltered. Now, with the mass troop build-up and ongoing push for Indonesians to populate West Papua, Papuans feel they have their backs to the wall.

For West Papuans, the view is all to clear. Indonesia reaps the rewards as it exploits the largest gold deposit in the world in West Papua’s Freeport Mine, while West Papua struggles for funds for basic health and education. With the highest rate of HIV AIDS infections in Indonesia, and little being done to reverse the trend, West Papuans now believe Indonesia has conspired to wipe them all out.

Only five months after its creation, the Papuan People’s Council - the hope of the Papuan People and the centerpiece of the 2001 Special Autonomy Agreement – is on the brink of collapse, threatening a downward spiral of violence and increasing insecurity. Stalled by Jakarta-based politicians fearing it would be a vehicle for Papuan nationalism, the Council not only had its powers diluted, but before coming into being Jakarta divided West Papua into two new provinces, holding snap elections in the new province of West Irian Jaya to cement its status as a separate province outside the special autonomy agreement.   

Meanwhile, the military has been beefing up its troops in Papua, despite having little real accountability for its ongoing human rights abuses. As tensions mount, it is these paramilitary policy and military units that are expected to keep the lid on this pressure cooker. The violent clashes that followed recent student demonstrations demanding the closure of Freeport Mine do not leave much to hope for.

Yet, it is not too late to resurrect the Papuan People’s Council and it is in Indonesia’s interests to do so if it is too be able to negotiate a lasting peace. In late November 2005, Papuan and Indonesian leaders did come to the agreement that Papua should remain a single economic, social and cultural entity, regardless of the provinces division. If that were to take shape, there would be one Council and the revenue raised by resource extraction in each province – gold and copper from Freeport Mine in West Papua and BP natural Gas from West Irian Jaya – would be shared by both. 

Now more than ever therefore is the time for active and honest international engagement with Indonesia’s leadership to urge them to commit to serious dialogue with West Papuan leaders, with the option of external mediation as occurred in Aceh after the Tsunami.

Further Action

What you can do:

Write to the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600, asking to stop all arms sales to Indonesia, to stop the training of Indonesian troops, especially special force troops and to halt the combined military exercises until the Indonesian governrnent shows a commitment to Human Rights.

Write to: the United Nations Centre for Human Rights, Palais des Nations, CH-1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland, asking that they send both the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on Torture to conduct investigations into the human rights situation in Irian Jaya.

Write to: the Australian Foreign Minister and Prime Minister and demand that the issue of West Papua be put on the agenda of the South Pacific Forum.

Write to: the South Pacific Forum and demand that the issue of West Papua be brought to the Decolonisation Commission of the United Nations before the General Assembly.

Write to: the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade of the Federal Parliament and urge them to send a fact finding mission to West Papua to monitor the situation. Contact address:
The Chair
JSCFADT
Parliament House
Canberra 2600

Write to: the PNG Prime Minister asking him to act on the issue of the status of the West Papuan refugees, their right to residency, freedom of movement and opportunities for further education and employment. Also write to the Australian Foreign Minister asking him to take up the matter with the PNG government.

Join or establish a West Pagua support group in your area. These local groups can assist with up to date information about the issues.

For further information about West Papuan refugees:

Australia West Papua Association,
Sydney PO Box 65, Millers Point, NSW 2000
iris@matra.com.au

Australia-West Papua Association
PO Box 1148
Collingwood Vic 3066
Tel: 03 387 2095 (ah)

UNHCR PO Box 631, Port Moresby, PNG
Tel: (675)212 033
Fax: (675) 214 984

For more information about Human Rights:

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney or Melbourne, see above)

Tapol (The British Campaign for the Defence of Human Rights and Political Prisoners in Indonesia)
1 1 1 Northwood Road,
Thornton Heath
Surrey CR48HW, UK

ICRAF Powes Parkop
PO Box 155
University of Papua New Guinea
Tel: 326 2469
Fax: 826 2385

Inside Indonesia
PO Box 190, Northcote 3070 Victoria

ACFOA Human Rights Office
124 Napier St., Fitzroy, 3065
Tel: (03) 417 7505
Fax: (03) 416 2746

Tasmanian West Papua Association
22 Cambridge Road Bellerive 7018,
Tasmania Australia
Tel: 002 44 5713

For further information about health:
AusAID (Australian Agency for International Development)
Indonesia Section
GPO Box 887
Canberra ACT 2601
Tel: 06 276 4000

World Vision Australia
GPO Box 899C
Melbourne 3001 Victoria

International Women's Development Agency
PO Box 1680
Collingwood 3066 Victoria

For further information about the environment and deforestation:

Australia West Papua Association, (Sydney or Melbourne)

Down To Earth International Campaign for Ecological Justice in Indonesia
PO Box 213
London SE5 7LU, UK

You can support the indigenous environment NGOs working in West Papua, such as: YPMD (The Irian Jaya Rural Community Development Foundation).
YPMD, PO Box 1114, Jayapura,
Indonesia
Tel: (0967) 81071, 81776
Fax: (0967) 81488

WALHI (The Indonesian Forum for the Environment)
J1. Penjernihan I/15
Pejompongan
Jakarta 10210

For further information about mining:

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney or Melbourne)

Mine Watch, 218 Liverpool Road,
London, N1 1LE
Fax: + 44 71-700 6189

Down to Earth
PO Box 218,
London SE5 7LU, UK

For further information about Transmigration:

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney or Melbourne)

Survival International
11-15 Emerald Street
London WC1N3QL, UK