National dialogue to decide area's fate

National dialogue to decide area's fate 

The Jakarta Post

Sun, 02/07/2010 3:10 PM  |  Headlines

One of the primary means that could emerge in bridging the differences between the aspirations of the Papuan people and Papua's inclusion in the Unitary Republic is a step-by-step approach of a national dialogue currently drafted under the aegis of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

"Before the national dialogue that will be attended by all stakeholders, including Papuans in diaspora, all parties in Papua and West Papua will hold dialogue scheduled by the end of this year so they can synchronize their own perceptions on the issue," Muridan S. Widjojo of the LIPI said.

"After that, we will facilitate a national dialogue featuring all elements in the government, the Papuan elite and those in exile, to approve the road map in a bid to address the problems permanently and in phases," he told The Jakarta Post in Mimika recently.

LIPI representing the government, and Papuan religious leaders representing Papuan people, have formed the Papuan Peace Network (JDP) tasked with making an inventory of problems through public consultations.

The Papuan People's Assembly will also be involved by contact and engaging with Papuans abroad, mainly those in Vanuatu, Australia, the Netherlands, the US and South Africa.

Rev. Neles Tebay said he was confident the JDP could facilitate the process, including the difficult task of accounting for the various aspirations that may need to be discussed in the pre-national dialogue meeting of Papuans.

"In January, we held public consultation in Jayawijaya and Mimika and next, the same forum will be held in other regencies and municipalities with the main target of completing the public consultation in November, one month before the pre-dialogue meeting," he said.

Paskalis Kosay, a member of the parliament caucus for Papua, said both the national House of Representatives and the Regional Representatives Council in Jakarta had given a signal of support for the national dialogue with the caveat that the dialogue would be held with the understanding that Papua was an integral part of Indonesia.

Tom Beanal, chairman of the Papuan Council Presidium (PDP), said PDP and the West Papuan National Authority (WPNA) would seek the presence of the UN or US as mediator and witness in the dialogue, "because we don't trust in the central government which has frequently deceived us."

Legislator Yorrys Raweyai, a member of the commission on defense, information and foreign affairs at the House of Representatives, said his commission had asked the President to appoint a special envoy to help facilitate the national dialogue.

"We do not want the dialogue and its results to be rejected by the Indonesian Intelligence Agency *BIN*, the Indonesian Military *TNI* and the Home Ministry," he said.

Asked on the targets of such a dialogue, Yorrys stressed that it should be an open-ended talk but must begin with special autonomy as its main topic.

"The most important thing is that all stake holders convene to dialogue to give constructive input for Papua. Therefore, the national dialogue is expected to focus on four root problems in Papua: education, health, infrastructure and prosperity."

Papuan groups have also called on the central government, the BIN and the TNI on the one side and the OPM on the other, to engage in a cease-fire as a prerequisite to the national dialogue, saying it was impossible to prepare dialogue while the military continued its operation in the two provinces.

Unresolved problems in Papua

1. Controversy over Papuan People's Free Choice in 1969
2. Controversy over the military operation in Papua
3. Human rights abuses during and after the New Order era
4. Poor educational service
5. Poor health service
6. Poverty
7. Migrants and social disparity
8. Stagnant special autonomy
9. Unfair fiscal balance
10. Planned development of Papua into five provinces

Letters: Papua is always like a project

Sat, 02/06/2010 1:03 PM  |  Reader's Forum

I totally agree with Izak Morin (This time, Papuans speak louder, The Jakarta Post, Jan. 29).
There's obviously something missing in the handling of the Papuan case. Indonesia can claim to be a state, but certainly not a nation since the "sense of belonging to Indonesia" is one thing many parts of Indonesia lack.
Raising the West Papua flag is not just a way of getting heard but an act to gain recognition as a different race with a different culture, but they should still be treated equally. One thing the government doesn't seem to care much about.
I, myself, spent more than 25 years in Papua. I grew up there, although, due to my physical appearance, many would consider me an immigrant. But what I learned from living there is that there is a strong feeling of resentment toward the government.
A feeling often called "Papuan nationalism": A sense of belonging to a minor, differently treated and peripheral society within a country.
Papua is not just a case of economic and social injustice. It also involves issue of human rights, race and cultural problems which require not only government help but help from the larger Indonesian society as well. For those who haven't realized it, Papuans have always had a hard time integrating into the larger Indonesian society. It's often not just because of the Papuans' lack of confidence but involves their treatment by the larger community.
Comments like "Oh yeah, you wouldn't know. You're just from Papua" is certainly not something that helps us integrate into the larger community.
We're still Indonesians, you know, only with a different race and culture. Papuans lack "recognition" in many senses. We have to admit when you look at Papua, it looks like a poor, marginalized and uneducated people. Papua is always like a "project" for the government. Look beyond that, please.
Erza Killian
Malang, East Java

Papua: Indonesia's great enigma

The Jakarta Post.
Sun, 02/07/2010 3:10 PM  |  Headlines

The country's easternmost territory has been a bane of security and development for a long time. With Timor Leste separated from the republic and Aceh peacefully consolidating itself, Papua remains an enigma despite the numerous political initiatives taken at various levels. The Jakarta Post's Ridwan Max Sijabat and Markus Makur look at the latest efforts to resolve the complex issues holding back this resource-rich region from realizing its development potential.
Yet again, on Jan. 24, 2010, shootings occurred in the vicinity of the PT Freeport Indonesia mining site in Timika, Papua. Fortunately, no one was killed.
But the aftermath resulted in customary finger pointing.
The pro-independence Presidium of Papuan Council (PDP) and the West Papuan National Authority (WPNA) have been quick to blame the continued aggravation on the Indonesian Military's (TNI) use of a "militaristic intelligence" approach to handling problems in the province.
"Papua is becoming tense. People are afraid to go out of their homes," PDP chairman Tom Beanal told the Post.
"Authorities know what's going on, but turn a blind eye while maintaining a repressive militaristic approach," he claimed.
Every incident, it seems, is rubbing salt on the open wound of injustice and unresolved issues blighting Papua over the past four decades - from militarism to human rights; social injustice to economic exploitation; autonomy to independence.
Franz Kapissa, a member of the WPNA whose existence was endorsed by the second congress of the Papuan Customs Council (DAP) in Jayapura in 2000, places the root problems back to what he sees as the controversial referendum, called the Papuan People's Free Choice (Pepera) in 1969, and most recently the failure of special autonomy to "Indonesianize" Papua and its 1.5 million indigenous inhabitants.
The absence of significant progress in the past four decades, he claims, was a measurable parameter showing the failure of integration "since the main problems of poverty, backwardness and human rights still linger".
"Papua will continue to be an issue without a solution," he said.
The most identifiable form of secessionism emerged during the New Order era through the Free Papua Movement (OPM). The perceived threat of the OPM led to frequent campaigns by the TNI through much of the 32-year New Order rule.
In the wake of the reform era in 1998 and the events in then East Timor in 1999, the political voice of Papuans grew louder. The government rejected calls for an East Timor style referendum and instead in 2001 granted special autonomy.
The tension slightly abated when then president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid took the initiative by recognizing the Papuan people's communal rights, allowing them to celebrate Papuan day by raising the Morning Star flag and "rebaptized" the land by renaming Irian Jaya with the more colloquial Papua.
Nine years into special autonomy the voices of discontent remain unsettled. There has been marginal improvement in welfare despite the annual allocation of an estimated Rp 5 trillion to the special autonomy fund. Since then, the territory has also been controversially carved into two separate provinces.
While the situation seems to be at a standstill, quiet talks have begun behind the scenes between Jakarta and Papuan representatives.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has tasked the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) to make a complete inventory of the problems and design a roadmap that could ultimately lead to what has been described as a "comprehensive solution" to the Papua problem.
Muridan S. Widjojo, a LIPI researcher who has been in Papua for two years to prepare the roadmap, stressed that the issue is far too complex to simply be viewed merely from a "security perspective".
Without going into specifics, Muridan said that a permanent, comprehensive and elegant solution must be immediately sought to address the complex issue in a bid to maintain Indonesia's sovereignty over the province.
But as in the past, any initiative has its detractors, and LIPI's own efforts may not be receiving the full blessing or coordination from other elements within government.
Over the past seven months the Indonesian Intelligence Agency (BIN) have held their own series of talks with pro-independence Papuan figures, facilitated by the Coordinating Political, legal and Security Affairs Ministry.
Another approach involves the Indonesian Resilience Institute (Lemhanas), National Defense Board (Wantannas) and the Home Ministry.
Tom and Franz confirmed the behind the scenes meetings but insisted that limited, if any, progress had been made. Such was the apparent frustration that Papuan figures on Dec. 1, 2009, issued a petition to the President, asking for an amendment to the constitution that could pave the way for at least three alternatives in resolving the Papua issue.
According to the petition obtained by the Post, the three alternatives were: creating a federal national state, one nation two systems or confederation.
Papua native and Golkar Party legislator Yorrys Raweyai squarely blamed the Papua issue on the central government and the TNI, whom he said showed no political will to deploy a humane approach and achieve true change in Papua.
"After 47 years, Jakarta has failed to *Indonesianize' Papua's indigenous people. The mounting demand for separation now comes from young Papuans born when the territory was already integrated as part of Indonesia.
"*Indonesia* did not learn from its mistakes in East Timor," he lamented.
Yorrys, also a member of the defense, information and foreign affairs commission at the House of Representatives, said his commission would back efforts by LIPI.
"The central government should suspend military operations. It should stop making Timika a training ground for 1,700 elite soldiers and drop plans to establish a new military command in West Papua," he appealed.
While some contend that separation or a stronger autonomy is the answer, others insist that it is not.
Jayapura regent Habel Melkias Suwae maintained that the integration issue was final and the challenge was how to carry out economic development to improve the people's social welfare under special autonomy.
"Like Timor Leste, Papua will fall into crisis and be in a stateless condition if it is separated from Indonesia," he argued.

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The Fears of Papua's Secession from Indonesia

Syafii Maarif

The Fears of Papua's Secession from Indonesia

Selasa, 2 Februari 2010 | 05:37 WIB

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Three kids row with oars while standing up in their boat on Asewts River, Agats District, Asmat Regency, Papua

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former Muhammadiyah leader Syafii Maarif said he feared Papua may eventually secede from the Republic of Indonesia because of the local people’s discontent about perceived injustices. "Conditions in  Papua are like a simmering fire in a stack of chaff. If Papua separates from Indonesia, I am afraid to imagine what will happen in the other provinces,"  Syafii told newsmen at the Maarif Institute here on Monday.
He said the order of justice aspired to by the nation’s founding fathers had until now not been established. "Justice  is still a far cry in Indonesia ," he added. Papua’s natural resources were being ruthlessly exploited by the government without regard for the local people’s welfare and prosperity, he noted.
    
"Mineral deposits are taken away and forests decimated but the local people’s interests are ignored," he said. If only the government applied the paradigm of justice in Papua’s development , Syafii said he was sure the Papua people would abide in remaining citizens of Indonesia.
"I express this fear of Papua’s secession although I also think they are not ready for independence because of human resources constraints," he said. In the case of Timor Leste, a former Indonesian province, the people were in 1999 also not ready for independence, and there were later actually regrets  about having seceded from Indonesia, he said.