By Netani Rika
December 2021 will mark the 60th anniversary of the declaration of Papua’s independence and the beginning of eight years of international coalescence to rob a people of their freedom.
After billions of dollars of profits for multi-national corporations and the murder of half a million Papuans, Indonesia continues to occupy the land it first invaded in May 1962.
That year, the newly-formed Papuan Volunteer Corps repulsed an attack by Indonesian paratroopers, forcing the United Nations to intervene to save the invasion force. The Netherlands, United States and Indonesia then struck a deal which led to the longest war for independence in modern history.
August 15 is seen as the day the world betrayed Papua for the sake of the security of US armed forces in Vietnam and the profits of its multi-billion dollar mining interests.
The date marks “a day of betrayal for us West Papuans”, says a Papuan leader in exile, Benny Wenda.
“This is the day a secret deal was done between the United States, Indonesia and the Netherlands, deciding our future without any consultation with the people of West Papua.”
Wenda heads the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP), created with the help of the Vanuatu churches, its council of chiefs and the Pacific Conference of Churches.
“This secret deal was done without a single West Papuan in the room,” he says.
Wenda believes the deal included an agreement to hold a referendum—one person, one vote—to decide the long term future of Netherlands New Guinea (later named Irian Jaya by Indonesia or West Papua by its Indigenous people).
“But it never happened,” Wenda said. In August 1969, after a truce between the Netherlands and Indonesia, the United Nations Temporary Authority took control of Papua and seven years later handed the territory over without consulting the people.
“The 1969 Act of No Choice was a fraud. Our right to self-determination remains stolen from us by Indonesia.’’
Known in Indonesia as the Act of Free Choice and supervised by the United Nations, 1022 of Papua’s 816,000 people were rounded up and coerced to vote for integration with Indonesia.
By acquiescing to this electoral fraud, the US secured Indonesia’s support in the Cold War and its ongoing, futile attempt to secure Vietnam against the perceived Communist threat.
Australia – which had troops on the ground in Vietnam and investments in Papua – was also concerned over implications of a large military force on the border with New Guinea which was under its administration.
For Indonesia’s President Sukarno, securing Papua fulfilled his pre-independence promise and slogan of a republic from Sabang in the east to Merauke in the west.
Just after Indonesia’s independence from the Netherlands in 1949, the Netherlands and Western powers agreed that Papuans – based on their ethnic and religious beliefs – be given an independent state.
A hospital was built in Jayapura (formerly Hollandia), and a shipyard in Manokwari where the first missionaries landed in 1855. A military force was formed for internal and external defence.
Legislative, advisory and policy functions were given to the New Guinea Council and a Papuan, Nicolaas Jouwe, became its short-lived vice president.
Jouwe designed the Morning Star flag, symbol of Papuan resistance, which was raised on December 1961.
As international pressure and lobbying by the US, Australia and its allies mounted at the United Nations, the Netherlands was forced to review its original plan to grant Papua independence in 1970.
Now, Wenda has renewed calls for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to urgently visit Papua and determine the state of the people.
The West Papua Conference of Churches has echoed the call, pointing to increased human rights violations by members of the Indonesian security forces.
These include the bombing of villages to clear land for mining and forestry projects along with race-based attacks on students beginning in 2018.
To the churches, it is obvious that Indonesia and its supporters in the US and Australia, remain driven by economic benefits.
“The granting of Special Autonomy and the expansion of civilian and military infrastructure is a camouflage to hide the occupation of the Land of Papua for the benefit of exploiting natural resources,” the church leaders said.
First enacted in 2001, Special Autonomy allowed limited freedom – including a provincial assembly and the right to fly a territorial flag – but these were rescinded three years later by President Susilo Bamban Yudhyono.
In a letter last year, church leaders objected to the renewal of the autonomy laws. “Many Papuans have voiced objections to Jakarta’s plans for Special Autonomy Volume 2 with its aims of expanding civilian infrastructure, division of provinces and districts, and strengthening of security force bases in West Papua,” their letter said.
“To date 750,000 Melanesians have signed the Petition Against Special Autonomy for Papua Volume 2 and have demanded the right to self-determination.”
The letter was signed by Pastor Dorman Wandikbo of the Indonesian Evangelical Church, Reverend Benny Giay of the Kemah Injil Church, Reverend Andrikus Mofu of the Evangelical Christian Church, and Rev Socratez Sofyan Yoman of the Fellowship of Baptist Churches of West Papua.
Despite this, Indonesia has renewed its special autonomy laws and the world – once again – has turned a blind eye to the desperation of a people who continue to struggle for freedom.
