Historic vote was sham, ex-UN chiefs admit Date: 23/11/2001
By Slobodan Lekic in Jakarta Racked by separatist struggles across its vast chain of islands, Indonesia is being especially haunted by a referendum 32 years ago that former United Nations officials now admit was a sham. The region in question is Irian Jaya, Indonesia's eastern-most province, and the referendum legitimising the Dutch colony's annexation is proving to be a source of intensifying separatist fervour. UN officials who conducted the 1969 vote by tribal chiefs now say most citizens of the province covering the western half of New Guinea island were intentionally excluded from the process. "It was just a whitewash. The mood at the United Nations was to get rid of this problem as quickly as possible," said Chakravarthy Narasimhan, a retired UN undersecretary-general who handled the takeover. "Nobody gave a thought to the fact that there were a million people there who had their fundamental human rights trampled," he said from his home in Madras, India. The ballot immediately sparked an uprising in the region, which is also known as Papua. The Indonesian Army has failed in repeated attempts to crush the rebellion, and support for independence has strengthened since the dictator Soeharto was forced from office in 1998. In the past, bloody protests have erupted on December 1, the anniversary of Papua's 1961 independence proclamation. Indonesian security forces are bracing for more trouble on the upcoming 40th anniversary. The killing of the independence leader, Theys Eluay, on November 10 has added to tensions. Opposition to rule from Jakarta appears almost universal among Papuans. But the Indonesian Government is adamant about holding the region, the nation's biggest and home to rich natural resources. When the Dutch originally granted independence to the Indonesian archipelago in 1949, they retained control of Papua, arguing that it had no ethnic, linguistic or cultural links with the other islands. The Netherlands announced it would grant statehood to Papua and set up a local legislature on December 1, 1961. Indonesia reacted by launching a series of cross-border incursions. The invaders were easily routed by Dutch marines. But the United States, under president John F. Kennedy, feared a military defeat could drive Indonesia into the Communist bloc, and pressured the Dutch to hand it over. The Dutch eventually agreed, and in 1962 the UN was brought in to prepare a "one man, one vote" referendum for self-determination by 1969. Within a year, however, the world body relinquished administration of the region to Jakarta, and left Soeharto's military dictatorship in charge of preparing for a democratic plebiscite. The Indonesians, sensing overwhelming opposition to the takeover, decided to canvass only 1,025 hand-picked supporters. The result was a unanimous vote for integration. Lobbied intensely by Washington, the UN Security Council endorsed the vote. "How could anyone have seriously believed that all voters unanimously decided to join his [Soeharto's] regime?" Mr Narasimhan said. "Unanimity like that is unknown in democracies." Other former UN officials agreed. Brian Urquhart, another retired UN undersecretary-general, said: "It was arranged to have the UN put the seal of good housekeeping on the easiest but not necessarily most democratic way to resolve the problem." Associated Press http://www.smh.com.au/news/0111/23/text/world9.html The Sydney Morning Herald Eluay murdered, police inquiry finds Date: 23/11/2001 By Lindsay Murdoch, Herald Correspondent in Jakarta A preliminary police investigation indicates the Papuan independence leader, Theys Eluay, was murdered, a senior police officer said yesterday. The initial finding comes after days of speculation about his death that has heightened tensions in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, also known as West Papua. "Based on preliminary evidence gathered from witnesses, there is a strong indication that this is a murder case," said Adjunct Chief Commissioner Janner Pasaribu from the provincial capital, Jayapura. Mr Eluay, 63, was found dead in his smashed car on November 11 in an isolated are that adjoins Papua New Guinea. Although first reports about the death said he was murdered, a military officer later claimed there was evidence suggesting he had died of a heart attack. National police on Monday described the death as "unnatural" but declined to classify it as murder. Mr Eluay, a flamboyant tribal leader and veteran politician, headed the pro-independence Papua Presidium that last year declared the territory had never legally become part of Indonesia. He proclaimed independence for West Papua when he hoisted the separatist Morning Star flag outside his home on November 12, 1999. Police investigating Mr Eluay's death have questioned more than 100 people and are trying to find his driver, Aristoteles Masoka, who has been missing since November 10. Mr Masoka, 21, phoned Mr Eluay's wife on the night he is believed to have been killed, saying they had been kidnapped by non-Irianese men. Mr Eluay's family believes Mr Masoka is still alive but that he fears being killed if he comes out of hiding. Despite tensions over the death, President Megawati Sukarnoputri plans to spend time in the province over Christmas to promote a new law that gives people living there widespread autonomy, including between 70 and 80 per cent of revenues from vast natural resources. The law also allows for the province to receive an additional $A1.16 billion a year from Jakarta and changes the official name from Irian Jaya to Papua, the name preferred by Papuans. Mr Eluay and other pro-independence campaigners have rejected the law, scheduled to come into force before the new year, saying they want nothing short of independence. The senior security minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said yesterday Ms Megawati would seek input from local leaders on the new law during her visit. 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