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Goodbye Indonesia
People & Power investigates one of the world's most forgotten conflicts -
the West Papuan struggle for independence.
People and Power Last Modified: 31 Jan 2013 11:38
When the Dutch decolonised their East Indies empire after the Second
World War they handed it all to the emergent country of Indonesia - all except
the territory of West Papua, which forms one half of New Guinea, the second
largest island on Earth. This remarkable landmass - split neatly by colonial
powers into West Papua and Papua New Guinea - is like few other places in the
world.
Its mountainous terrain and dense rainforests have spawned extraordinary
linguistic diversity among its indigenous population, some of whom are still in
uncontacted tribes. Five decades ago few, if any of these tribes, showed any
desire for their land to become an extension of Indonesia, a new nation state
with which they shared neither history, culture, religion nor ethnicity, but
which wanted resource-rich West Papua within its borders.
The Dutch resisted Indonesia's demands for a while, beginning to invest
in West Papuan education and encouraging nationalism. But eventually global
realpolitik intervened in the shape of US President Kennedy. Concerned about
the possibility of communism spreading across South and Southeast Asia, the
Kennedy administration saw Indonesia as a useful regional ally that should be
kept happy.
In 1963, with American backing, the United Nations gave Indonesia
caretaker rights over the territory, on condition that a referendum on
independence should follow. But when the poll - named, without apparent irony,
as the 'Act Of Free Choice' - took place in 1969 it was widely perceived as a
sham.
From a population of around of 800,000, just over 1,000 tribal elders
were selected by the Indonesians to represent the nation. Allegedly threatened,
intimidated and held in seclusion, they voted as they were told. Ignoring
well-founded international protests that the referendum had been rigged, the UN
accepted the result and West Papua moved from being a Dutch colony to an
Indonesian province.
But a West Papuan resistance movement, the Free Papua Organisation (OPM),
soon started fighting back - in the first instance using bows and arrows to
capture the guns of the Indonesian military. A sporadic, low level conflict has
continued ever since.
It has never been an even fight (a few thousand unfunded guerrillas
against the well-equipped modern army of the world's fourth most populous
nation) and Amnesty International and other human rights groups estimate that
the Papuan death toll has reached in excess of 100,000 over the years. Some
believe it might be even higher, although it is hard to know for sure because
the Indonesian authorities have never welcomed independent monitors and foreign
reporting is banned.
Even today, 15 years after a democracy replaced Indonesia's dictatorial
President Suharto, West Papua is still one of the most policed places on the
planet - with approximately 30,000 security personnel dealing with an
indigenous population of around two million.
According to Jennifer Robinson, from International Lawyers for West
Papua, it has also become one of the most brutal places on the planet. "West
Papuans have suffered all forms of human rights abuse, whether it be torture,
enforced disappearances, killings, extreme restrictions upon freedom of
expression," she says.
Amnesty International is equally critical. In August 2012 it said it
continued to receive "credible reports of human rights violations committed by
the security forces … including torture and other ill-treatment, unnecessary
and excessive use of force and firearms by the security forces and possible
unlawful killings. Investigations into reports of human rights violations by
the security forces are rare and only a few perpetrators have been brought to
justice."
For its part, the Indonesian government routinely denies such charges and
claims the actions of its security forces in West Papua are simply a necessary
counterpoint to a criminal insurgency that threatens law and order, the safety
of the population and the legitimacy of the state.
Over the last decade, however, the dynamics of this struggle have begun
to change, with the emergence - alongside the armed struggle - of a new civic
non-violent independence movement, the West Papuan National Committee (KNPB).
Its membership has grown exponentially and it has bred a new generation of
activists focused on both organising non-violent mass protest and making the
outside world more aware of their plight. And that, says Robinson, has provoked
the Indonesians into a predictably harsh response.
"In the past few years we've seen a change in the security situation in
West Papua - I think in response to the growing momentum behind their campaign
for a referendum on self-determination which has got widespread popular
support, but which is also gaining momentum internationally. [It has] resulted
in a greater security crackdown on all peaceful activists who are in any way
affiliated with the independence movement," Robinson says.
So what lies behind this five-decade-old struggle and why, in the face of
Indonesia's heavy handed intransigence, are activists so determined to continue
with their campaigns and protests?
People & Power sent filmmaker Dom Rotheroe and fixer Sally Collister to
find out. Because it is virtually impossible for foreign journalists to obtain
official permission to visit the territory they travelled in the guise of
tourists. Filming discreetly, keeping a low profile and evading the attention
of the security police they managed to meet up with KNPB supporters and
activists and hear a remarkable story of a people committed to doing whatever
it takes to gain control of their own destiny.
People & Power can be seen each week at the following times GMT:
Wednesday: 2230; Thursday: 0930; Friday: 0330; Saturday: 1630; Sunday: 2230;
Monday: 0930.
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