Samoa Delegate Warns of Troubles in Indonesia's Irian Jaya
WEST PAPUA, INDONESIA; THE NEXT EAST TIMOR TRAGEDY
HON. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA
(Extension of Remarks)
October 19, 2000
HON. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA
in the House of Representatives
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2000
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I come before our colleagues and our
great Nation tonight to discuss a disturbing matter I have raised
before--the bloody struggle for freedom and democracy that is being
waged halfway around the world in the Pacific by the courageous people
of West Papua, a province subjugated by Indonesia and renamed Irian
Jaya.
Although many of our colleagues are familiar with Indonesia's
atrocious and despicable record of human rights violations in East
Timor and West Timor--the world has neglected to address the parallel
tragedy that is being played out as we speak in West Papua.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, to his credit, has attempted
to engage the people of West Papua, in a national dialogue to defuse
the incredible tensions arising from four decades of military
repression and violence perpetrated against the Papuan people. As part
of his peace initiative, President Wahid expressly authorized Papuans
to raise their Morning Star flags, a deeply emotional symbol of the
Papuan people's desire for justice and self-determination.
In recent weeks, however, armed Indonesian security forces have
violated President Wahid's order, perhaps based upon a conflicting
directive from Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, and forcibly
taken down Morning Star flags in the mountainside town of Wamena. This
touched off a massive riot resulting in upwards of 58 deaths and
dozens of injured citizens.
On Monday (October 9, 2000), Amnesty International reported that,
`Indonesian security forces opened fire during attempts to forcibly
remove Papuan flags flying in several locations in Wamena town.' With
hundreds of people taken into custody, Amnesty International stated
that, `some of those released told local human rights monitors that
they witnessed other detainees being tortured by the police. The
police reportedly beat, kicked and used razor blades to torture those
who refused to renounce support for Papuan independence.' Amnesty
International, in particular, took note that 15 individuals have been
denied total access to their attorneys and families, raising fears
that these Papuans are being tortured or subject to extrajudicial
execution.
Mr. Speaker, these recent developments in Indonesia's campaign of
violence against the Papuan people are shocking and reprehensible.
However, I am not surprised by this ugly show of brutality, for it is
nothing new. It is part and parcel of a long history of Jakarta's
oppression of the native people of West Papua.
The first chapter in this tragic story began in 1961, when the people
of West Papua, with the assistance of the Netherlands and Australia,
prepared to declare independence from the Dutch, their former colonial
master. This enraged Indonesia, which invaded West Papua and urged war
against Holland. Skillfully playing the Communist card against the
United States, Indonesia simultaneously threatened to become a Soviet
ally, prompting the United States to take Jakarta's side in the West
Papua issue. Once the Dutch were advised by President Kennedy's
administration that they could not count on United States backing in a
conflict with Indonesia, the Netherlands ceased support for West
Papua's independence and deserted the Papuan people. Indonesia was
thus given a green light to ravage West Papua in 1963, destroying the
Papuan people's dreams of freedom and self-determination.
In 1969, the second chapter unfolded, when the United Nations
supervised a fraudulent referendum called the `Act of Free Choice',
which, upon review, was clearly designed to give cover and official
sanctioning of Indonesia's forced occupation of West Papua. West
Papuans derisively refer to it as the `Act of No Choice', since only
1,025 delegates hand-picked by Jakarta were allowed to vote, with
bribery and death threats used to coerce them. The rest of the 800,000
citizens of West Papua had absolutely no say in the rigged plebiscite.
Despite calling for a `one person-one vote' referendum, the United
Nations shamefully acquiesced and recognized the defective vote--a
vote which, not surprisingly, was unanimous for West Papua to remain
with Indonesia.
Since Indonesia and its military subjugated West Papua, the Papuan
people have suffered under one of the most repressive and violent
systems of colonial occupation in the twentieth century. Incredible as
it may seem, Mr. Speaker, as the world witnessed in East Timor, the
estimate of West Papuans who have been killed or who have simply
vanished from the fact of the earth during the Indonesian occupation
numbers in the hundreds of thousands. Papuans project that between
200,000 to 300,000 of their people have disappeared at the hands of
the Indonesians.
Mr. Speaker, in recent years our Nation has rightfully intervened to
stop ethnic cleansing and genocide, such as in Kosovo, yet for decades
in West Papua the Indonesians have been allowed to commit outrageous
human rights abuses of the highest magnitude.
Mr. Speaker, the depth and intensity of this conflict spanning four
decades underscores the fact that the people of West Papua do not
desire and will never accept being part of Indonesia. In all ways,
manner and fashion, they are a people and culture dramatically
distinct and apart from the rest of Indonesia.
In an attempt to overwhelm the Papuan people, the Indonesian
Government has chosen a policy of mass transmigration, not unlike what
China is doing in Tibet. The West Papuan people have been inundated
with an annual influx of over 10,000 families from the rest of
Indonesia. Already, the migrants threaten to outnumber the West
Papuans, reducing the indigenous natives to a minority in their own
homeland.
Mr. Speaker, the tragic situation in West Papua greatly concerns me.
With Jakarta's renewed thirst for blood, I would ask that all of our
colleagues join in urging the Indonesian Government to exercise
restraint and immediately stop the killings and human rights
violations in West Papua.
To that effect, Mr. Speaker, earlier this year, our
colleagues--Representatives John Lewis, Cynthia McKinney, Lane Evans,
Donald Payne, Robert Wexler, Alcee Hastings and Gregory Meeks--joined
me in a letter to President Clinton strongly expressing our deep
concerns with Indonesia's repression in West Papua and requesting that
the `U.S. ensure that the Indonesian military and police refrain from
any violent response' to the Papuan people's advocacy for
independence. Our letter further requested the Administration to work
with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in undertaking a
thorough and complete review of the 1969 U.N. `Act of Free Choice'.
I commend President Clinton for his forthright response and gracious
letter, in which the President stated, `The U.S. response to events in
West Papua is aimed at minimizing the likelihood of violence and
promoting reconciliation between Papua and the Indonesian government.'
The President further stated `. . . we have strongly urged Indonesia
to uphold justice, human rights, and the rule of law in Papua and to
refrain from using tactics of repression similar to those that were
condemned by the world community in East Timor. We will continue to
impress on Indonesia's leaders the high costs associated with any
attempt to use military-backed militias to incite violence or to
intimidate the people of Papua.'
I thank the President for his stated commitment to stop Indonesia's
practices of brutality in West Papua and look forward to concrete,
timely action from the Administration in response to the recent
troubling developments in West Papua.
Mr. Speaker, as the leader of the free world and protector of the
oppressed, our great Nation cannot in good conscience continue to look
away as another nightmare like East Timor raises its ugly head. I ask
our colleagues to hear the urgent pleas for help of the people of West
Papua and take steps now with the Administration to prevent another
East Timor massacre from taking place.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I submit the aforementioned letters
regarding West Papua from our colleagues and President Clinton for the
Record.
CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC, June 30, 2000.
Hon. William J. Clinton, President, The White House, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. President: We are deeply concerned with recent developments
in Papua, also known as West Papua or Irian Jaya, the eastern-most
part of Indonesia. The Second Papuan People's Congress ended the first
week of June with a declaration of independence from Indonesia, to
which the Indonesian government responded by declaring it would take
all action necessary to maintain the state's territorial integrity.
This independence declaration--dated retroactively to December 1,
1961, when Papuan leaders first declared Papua a sovereign nation
separate from its Dutch colonial rulers--follows years of economic
exploitation and human rights violations by the Indonesian government
and military regime. The decisions of the Papuan Congress, attended by
five hundred delegated representatives, more than two thousand others
inside the hall and some twenty thousand supporters outside, reflect
views held widely throughout the territory. While it is premature for
the U.S. government to take a stand in favor or against the
declaration adopted by the Papuan Congress, we feel that the State
Department should at least demonstrate an understanding of the
underlying reasons for the decision taken by the Papuan
representatives.
The independence declaration of the Second Papuan People's Conference
reflects over thirty years of grievance resulting from a fraudulent
Act of Free Choice held in 1969. A brutally repressive military regime
organized the Act, refusing universal suffrage and convening an
assembly of only 1,025 hand-picked men. They met under extreme duress
and at gunpoint, resulting in an `unanimous' decision to remain with
Indonesia. To its detriment, the United Nations, which was supposed to
supervise the Act but was marginalized throughout the process,
endorsed the results and has done virtually nothing to protect the
rights and freedoms of the Papuan people since then.
The U.S. government must take responsibility for the diplomatic moves
leading to the U.N.'s betrayal of the Papuans. U.S. administrations
were instrumental in negotiating talks between Indonesia and the
Netherlands about Papua, resulting in the New York Agreement in 1962
and the eventual Act of Free Choice. The talks, over which a U.S.
diplomat preside, took place without any Papuan representation and
were followed by six years of extreme repression capped by the denial
of the right to a genuine act of self-determination. Having brokered
an agreement providing for the Act of Free Choice, the U.S. government
had a responsibility to ensure its fair implementation. Yet despite
egregious human rights violations perpetrated against the Papuan
people, the U.S. voted in favor of U.N. General Assembly Resolution
2504 of December 19 in 1969, recognizing the official inclusion of
Papua in the Indonesian state.
Given the involvement of the U.S. in the aforementioned agreements, we
request that the Administration call upon the U.N. Secretary General
to undertake a thorough review of the 1969 Act of Free Choice. We
remain deeply concerned about escalating activities in Papua of
pro-Indonesia militia groups, similar to those that operated in East
Timor, many of whom are linked to the Indonesian Armed Forces. We
further request that the U.S. ensure that the Indonesian military and
police refrain from any violent response to the declaration of
independence, as has already been suggested by some in the Indonesian
security forces and government. We will continue to diligently monitor
the situation in Papua, particularly in the context of severe military
repression throughout the Indonesian archipelago.
We thank you for your serious consideration of our requests and look
forward to your response.
Sincerely.
Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Donald M. Payne, Robert Wexler, Alcee L.
Hastings, Cynthia A. McKinney, Lane Evans, John Lewis, Gregory W.
Meeks.
The White House, Washington, DC, July 9, 2000.
Hon. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Eni: Thank you for your letter regarding recent developments in
West Papua, Indonesia.
The U.S. response to events in West Papua is aimed at minimizing the
likelihood of violence and promoting reconciliation between Papua and
the Indonesian government. Our policy is based on three principles.
First, we have reiterated our support for the territorial integrity of
Indonesia. We continue to believe that a stable, democratic and united
Indonesia is the key to continued stability in the region.
Second, we have publicly called for the Government of Indonesia to
address the legitimate concerns of the residents of Papua within the
context of a unified Indonesia. We strongly support a meaningful
dialogue between the Government of Indonesia and Papuan political
representatives as the best and most appropriate means to address the
underlying problems that have led to calls for independence. Such a
dialogue is the appropriate form to discuss any potential review of
the UN-sanctioned process that resulted in West Papua's inclusion into
Indonesia.
Third, we have strongly urged Indonesia to uphold justice, human
rights, and the rule of law in Papua and to refrain from using tactics
of repression similar to those that were condemned by the world
community in East Timor. We will continue to impress on Indonesia's
leaders the high costs associated with any attempt to use
military-backed militias to incite violence or to intimidate the
people of Papua.
I appreciate your interest in Papua and look forward to continuing to
work with you to ensure the peaceful resolution of the situation.
Sincerely, Bill.
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