http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/as00_faleomavaega/westpapuadec16.html
December 16, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C.-FALEOMAVAEGA AND CONGRESSMAN DONALD PAYNE CALL UPON
AFRICAN NATIONS TO REQUEST UN REVIEW OF WEST PAPUA
Congressman Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), Ranking Member of
the House International Relations Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, and
Congressman Donald Payne (D-New Jersey), Ranking Member of the House
International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights &
International Operations, announced today that they have called upon the
African nations to request a review of the United Nation's actions in West
Papua.
The Congressmen's request comes in response to a petition letter
they sent to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on March 14, 2005 in which they
requested his support in conducting a review of the 1969 Act of No Choice in
which 1,025 Papuan elders were coerced and manipulated into voting unanimously
on behalf of 80,000 Papuans to become a part of Indonesia rather than an
independent nation. Although the UN sanctioned the 1969 Act of No Choice, the
Act is generally regarded in the international community as a fraudulent tactic
that was used by former President Suharto and his military regime to claim
control of West Papua, a territory rich in natural resources including gold,
silver, copper, oil and gas. In fact, recently declassified US documents show
that the Indonesia government knew that allowing an open referendum would lead
to West Papuan independence.
In a letter dated September 26, 2005, the Secretary General
informed Congressman Faleomavaega and Congressman Payne that he would consider
a review of the 1969 Act and the UN's conduct in West Papua if the General
Assembly called for it. Should the Assembly decide to revisit this issue,
Secretary General Annan has assured that he will do his utmost to implement the
Assembly's mandate.
For this reason, Congressman Faleomavaega and Congressman Payne
have called upon the Ambassadors representing the African nations before the UN
to initiate a call for a General Assembly review. Historically, the African
nations raised objections to the 1969 Act of No Choice. Bolivian Ambassador
Ortiz-Sans, who monitored the vote on behalf of the United Nations, also noted
that the referendum had occurred in the absence of political freedoms
guaranteed by the 1962 New York Agreement brokered by the United States that
set the framework for Dutch withdrawal from West Papua.
Ambassador Otiz-Sanz issued the following statement in his report:
"I regret to have to express my reservation regarding the
implementation of Article XXII of the (New York) Agreement relating to 'the
rights, including the rights of free speech, freedom of movement and of
assembly of the inhabitants of the area.' In spite of my constant efforts, this
important provision was not fully implemented and the (Indonesian)
Administration exercised at all times a tight political control over the
population."
In spite of the Ambassador's report, testimonials from the press,
the opposition of fifteen countries and the cries for help from the Papuans
themselves, the UN sanctioned Indonesia's act and, on September 10, 1969, West
Papua became a providence of brutal, Indonesian rule. Since Indonesia seized
control of West Papua, the native Papuans have suffered blatant human rights
abuses, including extrajudicial execution, torture, sexual violence and
mutilation as well as, according to Afrim Djonbalic's 1998 statement to the UN,
"environmental degradation, natural resource exploitation, and commercial
dominance of immigrant communities." This exploitation of resources includes
reserves of gold, copper, nickel, oil and gas which have been valued at over
$54 billion. Local labor has been used in the extraction of these resources
with little or no compensation to Papuans.
A recent study by the Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic at Yale
University states:
"The historical and contemporary evidence strongly suggests that
the Indonesian government has committed proscribed acts with the intent to
destroy the West Papuans as such in violation of the 1948 Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the customary
international law prohibition this Convention embodies."
In view of this study, it should be noted that native West Papua
New Guineans differ linguistically and racially from the majority of
Indonesians. The Papuans are Melanesian and believed to be of African descent
while the majority of Indonesians are of Javanese descent. Studies like the
aforementioned show that there is a strong indication that the Indonesians are
committing genocide against the West Papuans through oppression and acts of
violence and these acts of genocide may be race-based.
For this and other reasons, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and 174
parliamentarians and 80 nongovernmental agencies from around the world have
written to Secretary General Kofi Annan asking that a review be initiated. In
turn, Faleomavaega and Congressman Payne have called upon the African nations
to call for a General Assembly review. Additionally, the Congressmen included
historic language in the U.S. Foreign Relations Authorization bill for FY 2006
and 2007 which requires the U.S. State Department to submit to Congress a
report analyzing the 1969 Act.
The language also requires the State Department to submit a report
detailing implementation of special autonomy for Papua and Aceh. Such reports
shall include (a) an assessment of the extent to which each province has
enjoyed an increase in revenue allocations and decision making authority; (b) a
description of access by international press and non-governmental organizations
to each province; (c) an assessment of the role played by local civil society
in governance and decision making; (d) a description of force levels and
conduct of Indonesian security forces in each province; and (e) a description
of United States efforts to promote respect for human rights in each province.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed this legislation on July
20, 2005. As this matter is now pending between the House and Senate,
Congressman Faleomavaega and Congressman Payne are determined to keep Indonesia
under the spotlight until exploitation, violence and racism in West Papua is
brought to an end.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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