Quo Vadis Papua?

On January 29th, in a forum entitled "Quo Vadis Papua, Land of Peace?", Indonesia's Papuan indigenous bishop, Mgr Yanuarius Matopai You, emphasized that military operations are not the solution to the 60-year separatist conflict in the region.

Papua's peaceful proposal 

Serving as Chairman of the Papuan Union of Churches, Mgr You deplored the massive deployment of Indonesian military and police throughout Papua. Foreseeably, this would only create more fear among the local population.

"There needs to be dialog, the Indonesian government must respect the dignity of Papuans. Papua is not an empty land, there are people who inhabit it. It is the Papuans who own the land and wealth in Papua.", Mgr You thus urged Jakarta to engage in a genuine peace dialog with Papuan freedom fighters, as Jakarta successfully did in 2005 with the independence movement of Aceh, the province located in the far west of Indonesia.

Indonesia's militaristic solution

Ironically, instead of considering demilitarization, Jakarta responded by recruiting 10,000 additional police in four Papuan provinces. Indonesian settlers in Papua were mobilized to form militia organizations supporting the Indonesian government, leading to intercommunal tension, as happened in Timor Leste in the late 1990s.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Army Commander General Agus Subiyanto plans to establish a joint Operations Command called Habema. The creation of 22 new military regional commands across Indonesia, including 4 in Papua, is under review.

Terror on the agenda?

"Destroy them first, discuss human rights later," said Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Bambang Soesatyo, in relation to Papuan guerrillas, commonly labeled by the Indonesian government as "armed criminal groups".

Jakarta does not seem to have good intentions to end the Papuan conflict in a civilized way: "The Indonesian military often conducts sudden sweeps, even in city centers, as happened recently in Mulia, Puncak Jaya. They patrol on the streets and residential areas. As a result, many civilians are traumatized," said an anonymous Papuan activist.

Sanctions for Indonesia's atrocities?

Indeed, gross human rights violations committed by Indonesian security forces in Papua have repeatedly come under the spotlight of the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva. The latest one took place on March 15.

However, no matter how loudly civil society groups complain, the Indonesian regime will never care, except perhaps if there are harsh sanctions from the international community.