http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20060327.F02&irec=2
An appeal to Indonesia concerning Papua Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Washington In an article entitled A Lost World in Indonesia Yields Riches for Scientists, The Washington Post recently found this discovery to be worthy of front page news. Yet the debilitating and gut-wrenching plight of the indigenous people of West Papua New Guinea has not received a note of attention from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, other Pacific and European democratic nations, or the Dutch, West Papua's former colonial ruler. Only a few weeks ago, on Jan. 17, 2006, 43 West Papuans, seven of whom were children, arrived on the shores of Australia seeking asylum. They left their homes in West Papua New Guinea and sailed some 2200 miles during the monsoon season in a small, open boat. The 43 Papuans fled a rapidly deteriorating human rights environment where the indigenous Papuans have suffered extensive human rights abuses, natural resource exploitation, environmental degradation, and commercial dominance by immigrant communities. In its 2004 Human Rights report, the U.S. Department of State acknowledged Indonesia's brutal record by stating Indonesia "security force members murdered, tortured, raped, beat and arbitrarily detained civilians and members of separatist movements in Papua." While the Indonesian parliament passed a Special Autonomy Law for West Papua in October 2001 that was intended to allocate greater revenue and decision making authority to the Papuan provincial government, the promise of special autonomy has not been effectively realized and has been undermined in its implementation, such as by conflicting legal directives further subdividing the province in apparent contravention of the law and without the consent of appropriate provincial authorities. Indonesia has reportedly continued to send thousands of additional troops to West Papua, and military operations in the central highlands since the fall of 2004 have displaced thousands of civilians into very vulnerable circumstances, contributing further to mistrust of the central government by the people of West Papua. On the night of Nov. 10, 2001, Chief Theys Hiyo Eluay, Chairman of the Papuan Presidium and outspoken advocate for an independent West Papua through peaceful means, was abducted, tortured and murdered near Jayapura, West Papua. And this is only an accounting of recent developments. In 1969, 1,025 West Papuan elders were coerced and manipulated into voting unanimously on behalf of 800,000 West Papuans for inclusion in Indonesia. This Act of No Choice is generally regarded in the international community as a fraudulent tactic that was used by former President Soeharto to claim control of the colonial province of West Papua and its renowned mineral wealth which includes vast reserves of gold, copper, nickel, oil and gas. The Act of No Choice also raises concerns about racism. I believe the time has come to end discrimination in West Papua. In 2002, the people of East Timor achieved their independence from Indonesia through a referendum sanctioned by the United Nations and I believe the time has come to end discrimination and allow the people of West Papua to determine for themselves their own political destiny. The issue of West Papua is not an internal matter. Neither is it a question of territorial integrity. West Papua was a former Dutch colony just as East Timor was a former Portuguese colony just as Indonesia was a former colony of the Netherlands. The historical evidence is clear on this matter. It is also clear that the Indonesian government has failed to implement the provisions of the Special Autonomy Law that passed five years ago which leads me to believe that Special Autonomy was simply an effort to divide an conquer and, therefore, must be an unacceptable recourse for people of conscience. This is why I am making an appeal to the conscience of the people of Indonesia. After the brutal dictatorial regimes of President Sukarno and Soeharto and the 1965-1966 massacre when some half a million to a million unarmed Indonesians were killed under the guise of alleged communist sympathies, the people of Indonesia have come a long way in their 350 year history in demanding a more pluralistic and democratic form of government. Now, the time has come for the people of Indonesia to demand the same for the people of West Papua. I am pleased that as a result of these efforts U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has acknowledge that West Papua is now on the radar screen and, in the spirit of America's great mission of diplomacy to end tyranny in our world, I am also hopeful that the issues surrounding West Papua will be a primary focus of her discussions with the leaders of Indonesia. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D-AS) is a Member of the U.S. Congress and serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, U.S. House Committee on International Relations printer friendly [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! 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