SPECIAL AUTONOMY IN WEST PAPUA: SOLUTION OR SOURCE OF PROBLEMS? (2)

Theys Eluay (left), chairman of the Papuan Council Presidium, met with the Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid (right), 2001.

History of Special Autonomy in West Papua

In 1998, General Soeharto, who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for 32 years, stepped down. Papuans gathered together and built a common force to demand their independence from Indonesia in a peaceful way. The Morning Star flag was risen spontaneously throughout West Papua. Indonesian military violence could no longer silence these mass movements.

The following year, a delegation of 100 West Papuan representatives met President BJ Habibie at the Indonesian State Palace in Jakarta. They made the following statement:

"We honestly declare to the President of the Republic of Indonesia that there is no other alternative to negotiate or consider the wishes of the Indonesian Government to develop Papua within the framework of the Unitary State of the Indonesian Republic. So today, Friday, February 26, 1999, to the President of the Republic of Indonesia, we the people of West Papua declare that: 

Firstly, we the people of West Papua wish to leave the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia and to be independent and fully sovereign among other nations on earth. 

Secondly, to immediately establish a transitional government in West Papua under the supervision of the United Nations (UN) in a democratic, peaceful and responsible manner, no later than March 1999.

Thirdly, if no resolution to this political statement is reached in the first and second points, then;

(1) International negotiations between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, the West Papuan Nation, and the United Nations should be held immediately.

(2) We, the people of West Papua, declare that we will not participate in the general election of the Republic of Indonesia in 1999."

On February 23-26, 2000, a large deliberation known as MUBES was held in Papua. Of the 7 points of decision from the MUBES participants, the 4th point states:

"We, the people of West Papua, after integrating with Indonesia through the implementation of an unfair and fraudulent PEPERA (The 1969 referendum), and after 36 years in the Republic of Indonesia, the people of West Papua have experienced cruel and inhumane treatment: Gross human rights violations, murder, rape, ignorance, impoverishment, social and legal injustice that leads to ethnic and cultural genocide of the West Papuan nation, so we, on the basis of the above, declare our will to choose independence - to separate ourselves from the Republic of Indonesia back to our original status as a Papuan nation and state, December 1, 1961."

Subsequently, on May 26-June 4, 2000, the Second National Congress of the People and Nation of West Papua was held. The congress, which was funded by Mr. Abdulrrahman Wahid, then president of Indonesia, decided on the following political statements:

1. The Papuan nation has been sovereign as a nation and state since December 1, 1961.

2. The Papuan people through the Second Congress rejected the 1962 New York Agreement which was legally flawed and morally flawed because it did not involve representatives of the Papuan people.

3. The Papuan people through Congress II rejected the results of the PEPERA, because it was carried out under threats, intimidation, sadistic killings, military violence and immoral acts beyond the limits of humanity. Therefore, the Papuan people demand the UN to revoke UN Resolution Number 2504 dated December 19, 1969.

4. Indonesia, the Netherlands, the United States and the United Nations must recognize the legitimate political rights and sovereignty of the West Papuan Nation based on historical, legal and socio-cultural studies.

5. Crimes against humanity in West Papua, which occurred as a result of an international political conspiracy involving Indonesia, the Netherlands, the United States and the United Nations, must be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators tried in an international court.

6. The UN, the US and the Netherlands should review their involvement in the process of Indonesia's annexation of West Papua and deliver the results honestly, fairly and truthfully to the Papuan people on December 1, 2000.

It was in the context of tremendous pressure from Papuan representatives that Law No. 21 on Special Autonomy was passed in 2001. It was presented as a win-win solution between the Free Papua Movement and the Indonesian Government.

To be continued ... https://markushalukpapua.blogspot.com/2023/06/special-autonomy-in-west-papua-solution_32.html