SIXTY YEARS OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN WEST PAPUA (1963-2023)


On May 1, 2023, the Papuan people in West Papua commemorated 60 years of Indonesian occupation. On this occasion, many are wondering: what has happened in the last sixty years in West Papua? Is it with Indonesia, the Papuans live peacefully on their ancestral land? 

Indeed, to date, there are many bloody conflicts in the regions of Intan Jaya, Nduga, Puncak Jaya, Puncak Papua, Yahukimo, Kiwirok - Pegunungan Bintang and Maybrat. Every day, Papuans suffer human rights violations from the Indonesian authorities.


Before discussing human rights abuses in West Papua, let me first clarify what human rights are:

Generally, human rights are defined as fundamental rights inherent in every human being. This principle was formulated for the first time in France in 1789 through the universal declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen: "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights". This was taken up by the United Nations in 1948. In 1966, on this same UN declaration, two complementary articles were added, namely: the international agreement on civil and political rights and the international agreement on economic, social and cultural rights.

Indonesia, declared independent in August 1945, incorporated human rights into its constitution. Its preamble even stipulates that independence is a right for all peoples. During its democratic reform after the fall of General Suharto in May 1998, Indonesia reaffirmed its adherence to human rights, through Law Number 39 of 1999. Indonesia has also ratified many international human rights conventions. Among others: conventions against discrimination against women, against apartheid, against the use of chemical weapons, for the protection of children, for the protection of civil and political rights, etc.

But faced with the reality, we cannot deny that state violence, as well as human rights violations in Indonesia, especially those against Papuans, have never ceased since 1963. Indeed, with various arguments, the Indonesian government, regardless of regime, has carried out military operations that have resulted in the deaths of thousands of Papuans.


The history of human rights abuses by the Indonesian government against Papuans can be categorized into the following four periods:

  1. Presidency of Sukarno, known as the 'old order' (1963-1967)
  2. Presidency of Suharto, known as the 'new order' (1967-1998)
  3. The era of democratic reform, known as 'Reformasi' (1998-2001)
  4. The era of special autonomy, known as 'OTSUS' (2001-present)


1. Papua under President Sukarno

Sukarno, the first Indonesian president (1945-1967), is the architect of the annexation of West Papua. The Indonesian invasion began at the end of December 1961. This major military operation, supported by the USSR, is known as 'Trikora'. The following year, the United States, fearing the escalation of the conflict, pressured the Netherlands to cede the administration of their former colony to the UN, despite the good faith of the Dutch who granted independence to the Papuans on December 1, 1961.  

On  May 1, 1963, the UN passed its torch to Indonesia: It was the beginning of the Indonesian occupation. Officially, Indonesia was there only to ensure the smooth running of an upcoming referendum, which will determine the choice of the Papuan people: whether they want independence or join Indonesia. 

However, the reality is quite different: from day one, the Indonesian army has committed atrocities against the civilian population. There were aerial bombardments in various places. Public facilities, including hospitals, are looted by the army. In Manokwari, an anti-Indonesian riot broke out: two Indonesians were seriously injured. In retaliation, the Indonesian army fired into the crowd. Result: between 1,000 and 2,000 Papuans were killed.



2. Papua under General Suharto

In 1967, Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia, a pro-Soviet, resigned. He was replaced by Suharto, a pro-American general. To use an Indonesian proverb, Papua, which had just come out of the mouth of the crocodile, entered the mouth of the tiger.

One of the first measures taken by the second Indonesian president was to grant concessions to the American multinational Freeport, to exploit the Grasberg deposits in Papua, the world's third largest gold and copper reserves. The signing of the contract took place on April 7, 1967.

In order to keep Papua under its protection, Indonesia mobilized all of its military and civilian forces to secure victory in the 1969 referendum, known as "The Act of Free Choice", or PEPERA in Indonesian. However, this was in reality a sham referendum, as it concerned only 1,025 of the approximately 800,000 Papuans who lived at that time. The Indonesian regime considered the majority of Papuans to be too backward to understand democracy. 

The thousand people involved in the referendum were none other than Papuan personalities chosen by the Indonesian government itself, to vote, under pressure from the army, in favor of annexation. The number of victims killed prior to the Act of Free Choice remains unknown. Thousands of civilians were allegedly tortured, raped and killed. Eliezer Bonay, former governor of Papua, said there were around 30,000 people killed between 1963 and 1969. Around 5,000 Papuans fled abroad, to neighboring Papua New Guinea, as well as to various countries western countries, especially the Netherlands.

Without stopping there, there have been at least ten military operations in Papua, launched during the 32 years of Suharto's presidency. Among others: Operation Pamungkas (1971), Operation Koteka (1977), Operation Sapu Bersih (1978-1982), Operation Sate (1984), Operation Gagak 1-2 (1985-1987), Operation Kasuari 1-2 (1987-1990 ), Operation Rajawali 1-3 (1989-1991). The NGO LP3BH Manokwari and Yale University in the United States mentioned that around 100,000 Papuans had been killed. Benny Wenda, acting chairman of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP), claimed that more than 500,000 Papuans have lost their lives during half a century of Indonesian occupation.



3. Papua in the era of democratic reform, known as 'Reformasi’

In May 1998, after 32 years in power with an iron fist, General Suharto resigned. This event marked the beginning of democratic reform in Indonesia.

Under the presidency of BJ Habibie, democratic spaces that were previously closed to Papuans are once again open. The Papuans call on the Indonesian government to withdraw the army and end the transmigration program. The latter is none other than the massive and anarchic settlement of the Indonesian population with a Muslim majority, in a Papua with a Christian majority. The Papuans also demand respect for their right to independence. 

In response to this movement, the Indonesian government carried out numerous arrests, tortures and summary executions of key Papuan activists. Massacres took place in Biak in 1998, in Wamena, Abepura and Nabire in 2000. Under the reform regime, not only the army but also the police were implicated in various abuses against Papuans. Between 1998 and 2003, at least 2,500 Papuans were killed.



4. Papua under special autonomy, known as ‘OTSUS’

Worried about political upheavals in Papua, in 2001, the Indonesian government granted special autonomy status to its largest eastern province. 

Ironically, the implementation of special autonomy in Papua was marked by the assassination of Theys Eluay, chairman of the Papua Council Presidium, by the Indonesian Special Forces Command (KOPASSUS) on November 10, 2001. Tortures and massacres continue to occur: in Wasior in 2001, in Wamena in 2003, in Paniai in 2004 and 2014, in Abepura in 2006, in Nduga in 2018, in Intan Jaya in 2019 until now. The number of casualties over the past twenty years has not been well recorded as a whole.

There are also other forms of violence hidden by the Indonesian state: Papuans who died of AIDS, food poisoning, cholera, alcohol and drugs. The number of Indonesian migrants in Papua cities has increased dramatically. Racist anti-Black Papuan sentiment is on the rise among Indonesians. The exploitation of natural and forest resources is uncontrolled. Unfortunately, it was under the special autonomy regime that the indigenous Papuans began to become a minority in their own country.



Conclusion

Over the past eight years, the human tragedy in West Papua has consistently drawn the attention of the international community. 

In 2013, the Melanesian countries expressed their support for the Papuan people and their right to self-determination. This was followed by a statement from 16 Pacific nations, at a summit in Port Moresby, urging the Indonesian government to dialogue. In December 2018 in Nairobi, representatives from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries acknowledged the egregious facts of human rights violations in West Papua. In November 2019, the president of the UN Human Rights Council declared West Papua to be one of the conflict areas that needed to be resolved. In September 2021, during the United Nations General Assembly, a number of participants denounced human rights violations in Papua. They particularly deplored the intimidation of activists who defend the Papuan cause. 

A series of violence has taken place during the sixty years of Indonesian occupation of West Papua. Numerous military operations launched by Jakarta have claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Papuans. Markus Haluk, Executive Director of ULMWP, said: “For us Papuans, development is just a pretext for the Indonesian government to commit abuses: murders, rapes, arbitrary arrests and imprisonment. Most perpetrators were not prosecuted. Even if dealt with in court, the alleged perpetrator often ends up being acquitted and then rewarded and promoted. The truth is that the future of Papuans is becoming more and more uncertain. Worse, the Papuan people are on the verge of extinction!”

In 2021, the "Petition of the Papuan People" group received more than 700,000 signatures. It is time for the Indonesian government, currently led by President Joko Widodo, to allow the visit of the UN Human Rights Council to West Papua. The only democratic solution to the Papuan problem is to grant the right to self-determination to the Papuan people. To quote Jesus Christ in Matthew 7:7-8: " Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and the one opens to whoever knocks. "




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