Papuans: the struggle for independence
Papuans fighting for the separation of the homeland from Indonesia became more active. As reported by Mikhail Tsyganov (RIA News"), 21 February was fired at a military helicopter, trying to take out the bodies of those killed in the province of Papua. Three people were injured. The task was not completed, the helicopter returned to the base. The commander in chief of the Indonesian armed forces, Agus Suhartono, reported the incident to President Yudhoyono, who, in turn, gave the order to prosecute and arrest the attackers.
As the Minister-Coordinator for Political and Security Affairs of Indonesia, Joko Suyanto, stated, the attackers belonged to the detachments of local leaders of the separatist organization Movement for Free Papua - Tabuni and Muriba.
Earlier on the same day, the Free Papua Movement (Free Papua Movement or Operasi Papua Merdeka, OPM), the same movement carried out an action in West Papua: eight Indonesian soldiers were killed. Two attacks, as indicated by Duncan Roden (Australian Resource "Green Left") were a response to a series of violent actions by the Indonesian authorities, taken against the growing movement of peaceful protest by the Papuans, calling for an end to the Indonesian occupation and advocating self-determination.
In the first attack - to the military post in Punchak-Jaya - one soldier was killed, another was wounded. About an hour later, another armed group ambushed Indonesian soldiers. Seven soldiers and four civilians accompanying them died.
According to the newspaper The Jakarta Globe, the police chief of Papua - Tito Karnavian - said that Goliath Tabouni, the head of OPM, personally took responsibility for the killings by telephone. He linked the attacks with the latest local elections. Interestingly, OPM members made another statement: they denied any references to the election. In a special statement, they claim that the attacks on the soldiers were organized by the OPM under the command of General Tabuni, but had nothing to do with elections in the area (Punchak-Jaya) or anywhere else in Papua. However, the statement noted that OPM "reject programs from the Indonesian government, including district elections in Punchak-Jaya or in another area of Papua."
In a statement made later for the Western Papua media, OPM spokesman Nicholas Tabuni said that the area of the new military post “formally belongs to OPM” and that the indigenous peoples of this area are eligible. Tabuni said the Indonesian military ignored OPM letters asking them to refuse to fast, which led to the attack.
The newly elected governor Lukas Enembe told The Jakarta Globe that the main problems in the province are high unemployment, poverty and backwardness, hence the struggle for independence and anti-government sentiment.
According to the Central Statistical Bureau, the poverty rate in the province of Papua was 31% as of September last year. More than 1,1 million people in the two provinces live below the poverty line.
Enembe says: “As long as Papua will continue to be viewed as a territory that exists for someone to profit from it, the problems here will remain.”
He also drew attention to the rapid development of corruption. According to the Jakarta Post, the issue was raised by the Regional Representatives Council (DPD). According to Ferdinand Ibo Yatipei, a DPD member from Papua, ten years after granting special autonomy status to West Papua, no new infrastructure was created here in transport, education and health, but the largest piece of autonomy funds was torn off to finance bureaucracy, or Simply put, the money was stolen by corrupt local elites and influential officials from Jakarta.
DPD Deputy Chairman Laode Ida added to this: a military garrison must be withdrawn from West Papua. According to him, it is necessary to stop the violence produced by Indonesian special forces: it was their presence, their “wrong operations” that caused the attacks.
In fact, as reported by Jakarta Post, Admiral Agus Suhartono, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Indonesia, admitted that one of the dead soldiers was a member of the special forces command of the army (Kopassus). The activity of this division caused condemnation from the human rights organizations of the groups for atrocities committed not only in West Papua, but also in Indonesia.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at an emergency cabinet meeting that the government will strive to improve the standard of living of the Papuans and will not use the military approach to restore peace.
However, Joko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security issues, said at a press conference that the government is ready to send even more armed people to the provinces. It became clear that the government does not have a clear and firm position regarding any party trying to violate public security or refuse to recognize the sovereignty of the unitary state of Indonesia in Papua.
Thus, the Australian journalist concludes, despite the president’s words, Indonesia’s commitment to defending its “unitary state”, despite the wishes of the Papuans, who were forcibly incorporated into Indonesia through the fraudulent “Free Choice Act” in 1969, means that all wishes of the Papuans will remain, as before, without attention.
In a statement after the attacks, an OPM spokesman said that the people of Papua “do not ask anything from the government of Indonesia. OPM demands the political rights of the nation, independence of Papua, full sovereignty - one in which Papua would become equal with other countries of the world.
Jimmy Demianus Iye, Deputy Chairman of the Regional Legislative Council of West Papua, told The Jakarta Globe: “We have never enjoyed Indonesia’s independence. What we have? Only blood and tears. ”
“Let's talk about our unity,” he continued. - Why is the government afraid to start a dialogue with Papua? Today there are a lot of military men dressed in civilian clothes: it’s as if there is a big war going on in Papua. ” He added that the Papuans love people from Indonesia, but they want to get rid of poverty and take care of the interests of future generations. Comrade Iye calls for dialogue and equality in Indonesia.
Reports of military operations in the area of conflict show why many Papuans support independence. West Papua media write that at least 1000 soldiers have occupied villages around Punchak-Jaya, carrying out a search operation for suspects. Villagers are forced to feed them. They are interrogated.
Therefore, it appears, writes Australian, that the good intentions of Mr. Yudhoyono on the ground are not carried out. As of February 26, at least 18 houses, five churches, two schools and one library were destroyed by the police together with special forces. All this raises concerns about the impending humanitarian catastrophe. Thousands of locals have already left their homes. The occupied villages can later be used by the military as transshipment points for the destruction of OPM.
The perpetrators of the attacks have not yet been found or even identified, according to Caron Snowdon, correspondent ABC (Radio Australia). According to the Indonesian ambassador to Australia, the opposition of the Indonesian government originates from the “tiny” minority in Papua. According to the ambassador, Papua will always be part of Indonesia. At the same time, the diplomat recognizes that to ensure security, military forces need to be properly prepared.
Najib Rifat Kesouma, Ambassador of Indonesia to Australia, says Papua is one of Indonesia’s unique provinces. The problem here is that the reason for the discussion is the rule of law. “For me,” the ambassador notes, “the rule of law is a twin brother or twin sister of democracy. If you have a democracy, but you do not have the rule of law, you will have difficulty applying a democratic system. The problem in Papua is that many demonstrations take place there, which then turn into acts of violence: the participants burn police cars, show negative emotions against the officers. ”
C. Snowdon asks the ambassador a question: “So, should the security forces also exercise restraint and be better prepared to work in such situations?”
Kesuma agrees: "Exactly, I think this is the most important ..."
Snowdon gently recalls that other countries have given independence to the colonies. But does Indonesia not see an appropriate path for itself?
The diplomat immediately replies: “Of course, it is impossible for Indonesia to give Papua. Because Papua is part of Indonesia ... "
The journalist is interested: “Why then just not send additional troops there and eliminate what you call a“ tiny ”opposition minority?”
The ambassador replies to this: “Well, we don’t want to shed blood in Papua anymore. We want to peacefully resolve this issue in Papua. ”
At the end of the interview, C. Snowdon hints that foreign journalists are deliberately not allowed into Papua. “And when can I get a visa to go to Papua?” She wondered.
Kesuma leaves the answer: “Well, you can go to Papua, but you know that the situation is inconvenient there for the trip now ... Or you can just send your application to us, I will send it to Jakarta, and they will consider it, you can go in Papua, or not. "
Lyubov Lyulko (Pravda.ru) пишет:
В "The Interpreter" 6 March was published a written response to Joe Collins, a representative of the Association of West Papua in Sydney, to the note of George Darroc, who believes that the OPM rebels are not particularly concerned about the repression of the civilian population, because they expect that "internal pain" will only increase their strength.
It has been half a century since the Indonesian authorities began to command in West Papua, but the Western Papuans still go to peaceful demonstrations. In their hands they hold banners calling for a referendum or for self-determination. Jakarta and the international community must understand that the issue of West Papua is not removed from the agenda.
If Yudhoyono is inclined towards a welfare approach, then other officials of this approach do not share. The Indonesian Deputy Minister of Defense said that the special forces had taken a firm stand: tactical actions were being taken against the armed groups that had killed soldiers and civilians in Papua: harassment, detention and destruction. Such statements create an atmosphere of fear in West Papua.
The Australian and American governments, comrade Collins notes, have expressed condolences to the families of the dead soldiers. “... But I don’t think that condolences have ever been expressed to the families of West Papua, who have died or been tortured by the security forces.”
For many years, the people of West Papua, Collins said, have been calling on Jakarta to engage in dialogue with their representatives to try to solve the problems. Now is the right time to start negotiations.
In conclusion - a bit of economic geography. In West Papua are located The world's largest reserves of copper (in Tembagapura) and the largest deposits of oil and natural gas in Indonesia (about 40 km south-west of Punchak-Jaya). In addition, there are significant reserves of gold and uranium. But mining, along with forest processing and fishing (both of which are abundant here), has almost no effect on improving the standard of living of the Papuans.
Recall what was said by Governor Enembe: “As long as Papua will continue to be considered as a territory that exists so that someone can profit from it, the problems here will remain.”
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