West Papua: 40 year struggle for justice
and self-determination
Presentation by
Jacob Rumbiak and Harry Wainggai
Important dates in West Papua’s colonial history
1883 - West Papua became a Dutch colony
1949 - Former Dutch East Indies became the independent
nation of Indonesia (West Papua not included, Dutch wanted it to become independent)
1950s - Dutch, with Australian support, prepared West
Papua for independence
1949-1961 - Sukarno agitated for West Papua to become
part of Indonesia
1961, 1st December - First raising of West Papuan
Morning Star flag and singing of national anthem
1961, 19th December - Indonesian military invasion
begins (some troops had entered secretly in 1960)
1962 - Under pressure from United States, Dutch sign
New York agreement with Indonesia. West Papua handed to Indonesia,
with act of self-determination to occur in 6 years
1969 - so-called ‘Act of Free Choice’, 1025 Papuans
under severe duress, agree to remain part of Indonesia. UN sanctions
this vote. Australia prevents two Papuans from flying out of PNG to
report intimidation to the United Nations.
2000 - May/June Papuan Congress held. Pledge to pursue
peaceful path to self-determination.
2001, November - two UN officials involved in
supervising the Act of Free Choice, publicly declare the process was
a ‘sham’.
12 years of non-violent struggle
- Jacob
We Papuans have been involved in a struggle for our right to
self-determination and justice for 40 years. Churches estimate that
400,000 people have been killed or disappeared since 1961.
From 1964 to 1987 our struggle was an armed one against the
Indonesian military colonizers. In the 1980’s our great cultural
leader and academic Dr Thomas Wainggai taught us about non-violent
strategies. In 1988 meetings were held across West Papua. We decided
to adopt Dr Wainggai’s peaceful methods.Dr Wainggai died
mysteriously in jail in 1996.
Our non-violent struggle has survived for 12 years, despite
horrible crimes by the Indonesian military against even women and
young children. Through all their intimidation we have remained
strong.
Many of our leaders have been killed over the years. Three weeks
ago another of our leaders was killed by the Indonesian military.
They want to destroy our non-violent struggle by trying to provoke
us to violence. Despite barbarous acts of intimidation by Indonesian
military, including murder, rape, torture, detention and destruction
of entire villages, the non-violent struggle has continued for 12
years - we have remained strong.
I took part in the armed struggle against the Indonesian soldiers
until 1982 when Dr Wainggai taught me about non-violent strategies.
I realised that the problem was not the Indonesian soldiers, it was
the Indonesian government’s colonial policies. The best way to
change these policies is talk to the government.
I looked at Indonesia and the Dutch who fought each other for 350
years, but when Indonesia became independent they stopped being
enemies. The same will be true for Indonesia and West Papua.
I thought the future for peace and justice in West Papua was with
the young people, so I started to work with students and young
people in West Papua and other parts of Indonesia and the pacific.
We have set up two important student and youth groups. The FKMPB
for students in West Papua and WESTPANYAT, for students and young
people across Indonesia and in South Pacific countries.
The groups want to advance peace and justice by educating people
about Melanesian culture and identity, health, human rights,
democracy and law.
Students and young people join the struggle
- Harry
In 1994 WESPANYAT was a small organization of seven members. It
now has eighteen thousand members who work throughout Indonesia, and
Melanesia - including Papua New Guinea, Bougainville, the Solomons,
Fiji, Vanuatu and Kanaki - raising awareness about Melanesian
cultures, identity, and beliefs.
WESTPANYAT educates the Indonesian people to know and to understand
West Papuan human rights, their human dignity, their natural
cultures and West Papuan identity. It encourage Indonesians to
appreciate that West Papuans want to build their own country, and
are capable of running an independent nation.
WESTPANYAT educates the West Papuan people to know and understand
their human rights, their dignity, their cultures, and the law; and
to believe in the value of their natural resources as the basisfor
health and survival.
WESTPANYAT members educate their Melanesian kin in the Pacific to be
responsible for protecting their human rights, their dignity, their
land rights and their identity. They encourage them to believe that their
Melanesian ancestors did not depend on others to survive, and were
therefore not controlled by foreigners.
WESPANYAT has an important program which is based on knowing,
understanding and respecting each other. Its members work hard to
create peace in the region through non-violent methods.
It’s time for international action
- Jacob
We Papuans have tried for 12 years to bring a peaceful solution
to the problems in West Papua. Things are critical now. We know that
no matter how hard we try to work with them, the Indonesian
government cannot be trusted.
They have promised special autonomy for 2 years now, but still it
is not in place. We did not ask for autonomy, we ask for a
referendum to decide our own future.
They have told the world the military is not committing acts of
violence against us, but still they do.
I would like to read a quote form the Sydney Morning Herald’s
Editorial of 19 November this year:
“When the path of peaceful negotiation proves as perilous as
that of guerrilla warfare there seems little to do but walk away from
the negotiating table. The wrecking of delicate negotiations over
the status of Indonesia's contested province of Irian Jaya - also
known as West Papua - appears to be the aim of those who kidnapped
and murdered the popular leader of the pro-independence movement,
Theys Eluay.”
What happens next depends on Australia and the rest of the
international community. You can turn your backs on our struggle,
and watch as conflict engulfs West Papua OR you can support and
encourage a peaceful solution.
Actions for Australia and the international
community
The time for action is now. The international community must call on the
Indonesian government to urgently:
- set up an independent commission, composed
of persons of integrity, including Papuans, to investigate the
murder of Chief Eluay and the continuing acts of violence by
security forces
- cease all acts of intimidation by security
forces and drastically reduce their numbers
- permit a United Nations team to enter the
province to investigate and monitor the human rights situation
- resume high-level talks with Papuan
leaders with the aim of setting a timeline for a genuine act of
self-determination.
If Indonesia refuses to carry out these
peace-making actions, a United Nations peace-keeping force must be
sent to West Papua, with or without Indonesia’s permission, to
bring an end to the abuses and conduct a referendum
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