East Timor must support West Papua!
22 years ago, on May 20, 2002, East Timor gained its independence after a quarter century of Indonesian military occupation that resulted in the deaths of approximately 200,000 East Timorese.
To quote French journalist Thomas Oswald in a recent broadcast on RCF Radio:
"East Timor gained its independence thanks to changes in the Indonesian government policy, as well as international pressure to allow self-determination for the Timorese people. In contrast, we are still waiting for something similar to happen to the Papuans in West Papua."
West Papua and East Timor, two different cases?
Many argue that the case of West Papua is different from East Timor, given that the former's annexation into Indonesia was approved by the UN while the latter was not. However, this simplistic argument is wrong. Indonesia's military occupation of West Papua is essentially as illegal as that of East Timor between 1975-1999.
Indonesia declared war on West Papua three weeks after it declared independence from the Netherlands on December 1, 1961, just as Indonesia invaded East Timor a week after it declared independence from Portugal on November 28, 1975.
Although Jakarta insists on claiming that UN resolution 2504 of 1969 is the legal basis for its rule in West Papua, this resolution actually makes no mention of Indonesia's sovereignty over West Papua.
Much is at stake in West Papua
Now the question is, why is West Papua still not independent? Why did Indonesia's democratic reforms in 1998 under the leadership of President BJ Habibie apply to East Timorese but not to West Papuans? And why does the international community, with the exception of a few Pacific nations, seem to turn a blind eye to the tragedy of West Papua?
To make things simple, let us recall the adage that money is the nerve of war. Geostrategic stakes and greed know how to accommodate, if necessary, serious violations of humanity. If East Timor's natural wealth is limited to oil and gas, West Papua has much more than that: in addition to oil and gas, there is gold, copper, nickel, uranium, timber, and much more.
However, despite the extreme violence perpetrated by the Indonesian army, the West Papuan people, like the East Timorese before them, have never stopped fighting to regain their right to independence. Just as the Indonesian army failed to crush the East Timorese resistance for 25 years, the Indonesian army with all its sophisticated war equipment supplied by western countries, is increasingly overwhelmed by West Papuan guerrillas after 61 years of occupation.
West Papua is the future of East Timor
If the people of Timor Leste are now enjoying independence, they should not forget their Melanesian brothers and sisters in West Papua who are still suffering from the oppression of the Indonesian regime.
The reconciliation that Dili has initiated with Jakarta should not mean forgetting the historical debt that still needs reparation. Some West Papuan activists such as Octovianus Mote, now vice president of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) advocated East Timor's independence in the late 1990s. Therefore, East Timorese leaders should also have the courage to speak out for West Papua's right to self-determination.
The destiny of both nations has been sealed. Just as West Papuans see East Timor's independence as a preview of their future independence, East Timorese should be able to see a Free West Papua as their future too.
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