http://www.smh.com.au/world/indonesia-papua-and-the-prisoners-of-history-20111022-1mdlz.html Indonesia, Papua and the prisoners of history Richard Chauvel October 23, 2011 Prisoners are led away from the Third Papuan People's Congress. At least six people were killed and about 300 arrested by Indonesian police and military. Photo: Reuters
LAST Wednesday the Papuan People's Congress was closed down by the violent intervention of Indonesian police and military. At least six people were killed, more than 300 were taken into custody, the leaders accused of treason, and many others were beaten by police and soldiers. This has been traumatic for Papuan society and a terrible assault on Indonesia's democratic aspirations. The congress was held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first declaration that West Papuans considered themselves to be a nation and had a right to establish a state. The political manifesto of October 19, 1961, was issued at the time when the United Nations was debating a Dutch proposal to internationalise the administration of West Papua, then Netherlands New Guinea, and secure the UN's support for Papuan self-determination. Papuan leaders who formulated the manifesto supported the Dutch proposal, but they wanted to introduce a Papuan voice into a decade-long dispute between Indonesia and the Netherlands about their homeland and their future. Last week's congress sought to realise the ideal expressed in the 1961 manifesto by declaring an independent state and electing a president and prime minister. It is as if Indonesia is entrapped by the history of its incorporation of West Papua in the 1960s. Indonesia seems condemned to repeat the repressive policies that have alienated Papuans, rather than able to devise a framework in which Papuan values and interests can be accommodated in the Indonesian state. When Indonesian foreign minister Dr Subandrio spoke to the UN in November 1961 he threatened that Indonesia would take military action if moves were made to establish a separate state in West Papua. A month later President Sukarno ordered his armed forces to destroy the ''puppet'' state of West Papua. Last week, 50 years later, when the congress proclaimed a state, the compulsive institutional reaction of the police and military commanders in Papua was violent force. In contemporary Indonesia, following the separation of East Timor and the resolution of the conflict in Aceh, there are few more sensitive issues than the independence of West Papua. For much of the past decade since the assassination of the pro-independence leader Theys Eluay, Indonesia has sought to prevent any public discussion of independence. But there have been signs of a reopening of the political space in Papua. In June 2010 there was a mass public consultation organised by the Papuan People's Assembly and in July this year there was a ''Peace Conference'' at which the Indonesian Co-ordinating Security Minister and local military and police commanders were keynote speakers. The discussion at these two political gatherings had much in common with last week's congress - human rights abuses by the security forces, the economic marginalisation and dispossession of Papuans, the illegitimacy of Papua's incorporation into Indonesia and independence. There seems to be a policy impasse in the central government and a political vacuum in Papua. The government's policies seem directionless. The incumbent governor, Barnabas Suebu, has been replaced by a caretaker, a Jakarta bureaucrat. The lack of policy direction from Jakarta and the departure of Suebu means the two sources of leadership capable of restraining the military and police were absent last week. While many influential Papuan leaders were not involved in the congress, the coercion used by security forces is likely to have a unifying effect. The congress's 50th anniversary commemoration is the first of a series of highly symbolic anniversaries for Papuan nationalists, the most important of which will be the 50 years of the first raising of the Papuan flag on December 1. Papuan leaders will have to manage a volatile mix of alienation and distrust of Indonesia and high expectations of what might come of these commemorations. Indonesian security forces need to recall President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's statements that the old ways of using military means to solve issues in Papua have failed. Richard Chauvel is an Indonesia specialist and teaches at Victoria University Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/indonesia-papua-and-the-prisoners-of-history-20111022-1mdlz.html#ixzz1bim31RPy [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
