TRIKORA: WHEN SUKARNO DECLARED WAR ON WEST PAPUA

The morning of December 19, 1961, Sukarno, Indonesia's first president, delivered a fiery speech in front of thousands of people who filled Yogyakarta's city square. 

This event, known as 'Trikora', has forever changed the face of Indonesia as a nation.

As a reminder, Yogyakarta was deliberately chosen as the stage, because fifteen years earlier, Sukarno made the city the capital of Indonesia's struggle against Dutch occupation (1946-1949). Although Indonesia gained its sovereignty in December 1949, Sukarno was still unsatisfied: 

West Papua, the remaining Dutch colony in the Pacific, rich in natural resources, was not ceded to Indonesia. Sukarno was outraged that the Netherlands had instead granted independence to West Papua on December 1, 1961. That was why on the following December 19, Sukarno decreted the 'Trikora'. Acting as commander-in-chief, Sukarno gave three solemn commands to all Indonesians:

1. Foil the Dutch puppet state of West Papua. 
2. Raise the Indonesian Red and White Flag in West Papua. 
3. Prepare for general mobilization.

In practical terms, Trikora was a declaration of war against the nascent state of West Papua. This changed the face of Indonesia, from a colonized to a colonizing nation. Capitalizing on the raging cold war, Sukarno cunningly manipulated the two opposing blocs to his advantage: On the one hand, he sought military assistance from the Soviet Union to fight the Dutch. On the other hand, he also used US diplomacy to persuade the Netherlands to cede West Papua to Indonesia. To avoid escalating the conflict, the United Nations finally authorized Indonesia to occupy West Papua on May 1, 1963.

Although Sukarno is long gone, Trikora's battle cry still terrorize West Papuans. In a subtle way, the general mobilization launched by Indonesia's founding father 62 years ago continues to this day. The impact can be seen in the marginalization of West Papuans. The liberation promised by Indonesia had turned into a slow-motion genocide. Today, indigenous Papuans account for no more than 40% of West Papua's total population.

Sixty years of Indonesian military occupation have resulted in an estimated 500,000 West Papuans killed. Pacification operations in the past five years have displaced more than 60,000 civilians. In 2023 alone, the Papuan Office of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM Papua) reported 65 allegations of human rights abuses. 

Obviously, Indonesia has failed to prove itself better than the Dutch colonial regime. Therefore, rather than being scorned by the international community, it would be better for Indonesia to decolonize West Papua as soon as possible. To quote Jesuit Father Frans Magnis Suseno: "The situation in Papua is bad and shameful. That's why it's closed to foreign media. Papua is like a festering sore on the body of the Indonesian nation... We will be presented to the civilized world as barbarians who kill Papuans, even if we don't use sharp weapons".