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West Papua/Irian Jaya
Actors |
Relevant actors in the West Papuan conflict include the Papuan Presidium Council (PDP), the Free Papua Movement (OPM), the Indonesian government, the Indonesian military and the International Community.
Papuan Presidium Council (PDP)
The Papuan Presidium Council (PDP) was formed during a large consultation preceding the Papua People’s Congress of June 2000. The PDP serves as the administrative head of the Papuan independence movement, and was created as a largely inclusive body with leaders from various branches of politics, religion, academia, and the community. The OPM, guerilla operatives fighting for Papuan independence since the early 1960s, was ultimately excluded.
The PDP has been under fire from Indonesian authorities over the past year. Five of the council’s members have been under arrest since violence erupted in October 2000, in which fighting broke out in the city of Wamena after police raided community centers which had been raising the Papuan nationalist flag. Despite the absence of any evidence linking the council with the Wamena events, the council members, including PDP president Theys Eluay, were accused of spreading hatred and inciting separatist movements under sections of the Indonesian criminal code regularly used by the Suharto government to silence political opposition.
The PDP, like the Free Papua Movement, does not favor the autonomy bill presented by West Papuan officials to the central government in April 2001. Eluay stated, “The people [Indigenous Papuans] have rejected any kind of autonomy. We want our independence. We are not Indonesian. Our culture, our skin, our hair are so different. We will never be part of Indonesia." (Asia Wall Street Journal 8/21/01).
The Free Papua Movement (OPM)
Since the 1960s the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka or OPM), which was formed to spearhead the independence of the West Papuan nation, has waged a low-level but diehard guerilla separatist campaign. The campaign peaked in the late 1970s with attacks on government outposts. Until the recent emergence of a civilian independence movement, the OPM was for decades the sole outlet for independence aggression. OPM also has at times been known as the National Liberation Army.
The OPM has allegedly engaged in a number of kidnappings, taking foreign hostages in 1996 and 1997. Most of the hostages have since been released, but two were killed during a release operation in 1997. In response to such allegations, the OPM has asserted that, to the contrary, it is the Indonesian military, primarily its Special Forces division (KOMPASSUS), and the US Company Freeport that have been culpable of human rights abuses.
The Indonesian Leadership
Much of West Papua/Irian Jaya’s current framework of independence and leadership is due to the moderately conciliatory approach of former president Aburrahman Wahid. It was Wahid’s sponsorship of the Papuan People’s Congress which was ultimately responsible for the creation of the PDP, and the civilian independence movement in general. Additionally, it was Wahid who decided, in an eminently symbolic gesture, to bring in the new century by visiting West Papua/Irian Jaya, as well as declaring that the province return to its original designation of West Papua. Such evidence of an apparent wish to deal with Papuans, as well as his allowances of Papuan flag-raisings, was no doubt somewhat responsible for the Papuan proposal for special autonomy, as opposed to outright independence, in April 2001.
With Wahid’s ouster in July 2001 West Papua/Irian Jaya’s prospects of entertaining its goals of special autonomy/independence may have significantly changed course. Indonesia’s new president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, appears to be not nearly as willing as Wahid was to negotiate with Papuan demands for special treatment.
However, Megawati appears very willing to deal personally with the problems of West Papua/Irian Jaya. As of this writing, it is unclear whether Megawati will approve West Papua’s special autonomy proposal, although it is likely some form of autonomy will be offered. However, Megawati has suggested that if West Papua’s claims for independence are not ended, and if offers of autonomy are not accepted, the military will quickly resolve the question.
The Military
Since Sukarno’s annexation of West Papua/Irian Jaya in 1963, the military has sustained a strong presence in West Papua/Irian Jaya. Indeed, until 1998, West Papua/Irian Jaya was a designated Military Operations Area in which security forces were given a free hand to combat OPM guerillas. To be sure, OPM agents have been actively engaged for decades battling with military forces and generally fighting for independence. However, questions remain as to whether Indonesian responses to OPM guerilla efforts have been proportionate.
Locked in the military’s firm grip, West Papua/Irian Jaya witnessed only a few episodes of fierce violence during the many years of Suharto’s reign. “Operation Annihilation”, a military sweep conducted in 1977, is illustrative. Military tactics included “requiring each captured rebel to go out and kill a compatriot to prove his loyalty to Indonesia, bringing back a hand, foot, or head as evidence of success”, and dropping tribal leaders thought to be sympathetic to the OPM out of helicopters. Estimates are that between 3,000 and 30,000 Papuans were killed in the fighting.
Seven years later, in yet another apparent retaliation to OPM activity, the military engaged in another “sweep” in which many civilians were killed, including Arnold Ap, a well-known anthropologist. Again, in 1996, the military responded to hostage-takings by the OPM in a brutally destructive sweep which resulted in many refugees fleeing into neighboring Papua New Guinea.
The military sweeps have continued to the present day. According to The Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (ELS-HAM), the current military clampdown in West Papua/Irian Jaya, meant to control Papuan independence forces, has resulted in significant displacement, torture, and death. Indeed, the central government has augmented its military presence in the province with thousands of new troops, resulting in a number of human rights related problems.
According to a Human Rights Watch report, the Indonesian military has been guilty of numerous abuses including intimidating and attacking civilians, arresting, and in some cases, killing independence demonstrators and arresting Papuan independence leaders.
Foremost among the problems associated with the military is the Wamena case, arguably West Papua/Irian Jaya’s worst riot in its history. In October 2000 Indonesian authorities inexplicably attacked several community centers which had been raising the Papuan national flag. The raids resulted in several arrests, shootings, deaths, and the forced removal of flags and flagpoles. The Papuan response to the raids was a full outrage. Mobs made their way to Wamena, capital of the Jayawijaya district, killing non-Papuan migrants along the way. In the clash between the Papuan mobs and police that ensued at least seven Papuans and twenty-four non-Papuans were killed. Thousands of migrants fled Wamena out of fear for continued Papuan reprisal for the police attacks.
With the arrival of the Megawati administration, the military’s role in West Papua/Irian Jaya looms large. Their presence in the province is already heavy, and as Megawati has suggested, if West Papuan claims for independence are not resolved peacefully and quickly, the military will be given an even “freer hand.”
The International Community
The United States, Australia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (see ASEAN’s Joint Statement in Support of the Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity, and National Unity of Indonesia), the Pacific Forum, and Papua New Guinea have all expressed support for Indonesian unity and oppose the secession of West Papua/Irian Jaya. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has expressed her concern over human rights violations in West Papua and the need for peaceful dialogue.
Australia, which supported East Timor’s independence, has backed the Megawati’s administration’s offers of special autonomy for the province. Moreover, in August 2001 Australia opposed the discussion of West Papuan independence at the Pacific Forum meeting in Nauru. The US position may be further clarified in September 2001 during the first meeting between Megawati and United States’ President George W. Bush.
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