By : Selpius Bobii Abepura State prison, 5 July 2013
West Papua is becoming increasingly well known overseas and has even been noted in documents of the United Nations (PBB), however for the wrong reasons! Due to a number of ‘conspiracies of interest’. These conspiracies are indeed thriving in Papua at the local, national and international levels. Yet whether at the biggest end of the scale or the smallest, they always occur due to these special attracting forces of Papua.
The first being the incredible beauty of the place. Both the land and waters of Papua are so very rich
and fertile and the panoramic views are breathtaking. It has broadsweeping
green valleys, hills and plains and lines of huge lofty mountains. The beaches
are decorated with coconut trees that wave in the breeze and the waves of the
wide blue ocean break upon the edge of the beaches. As well as its unique
beauty Papua is also home to many types of very special fauna including the famous
Bird of Paradise and the Victoria bird. Papuans themselves are so captivated by
this natural beauty and have written many songs throughout the ages that try
and depict the beauty in song. As one Papuan once wrote “ The land of Papua is
as if heaven fell to the earth”. This beauty is certainly something that
attracts people to visit and even settle in Papua.
The other reason of course is Papua’s natural resources that are incomparable in richness to any other island or continent throughout the entire world . It has become known worldwide for the mountains of gold and copper held by Papuan mother earth while so many other incredible riches of the earth and waters of Papua still lie silently beneath the surface. Indeed the natural resources of Papua have become an attracting force drawing those who have come to take our resources both legally and illegally.
The other reason of course is Papua’s natural resources that are incomparable in richness to any other island or continent throughout the entire world . It has become known worldwide for the mountains of gold and copper held by Papuan mother earth while so many other incredible riches of the earth and waters of Papua still lie silently beneath the surface. Indeed the natural resources of Papua have become an attracting force drawing those who have come to take our resources both legally and illegally.
The third fascination with Papua is the uniqueness of its people. Papua
is home to around 273 tribes each of which has its own distinctly unique
culture and these are spread throughout 7 regions according to similarity of characteristics.
They were divided into 7 categories in the Dutch colonial era - based on
information from the Customary Council of Papua - for longterm purposes including the mapping
the various government administrative regions, development plans and for
familiarizing themselves to the characteristics of the people of Papua. Between
these 7 tribes there are many similarities between traditions but they are
never the same. The uniqueness of the Papuan tribes draws visitors locally,
nationally and internationally.
Of these three causes the primary attracting force is the second
being the richness of its natural resources and indeed the land of Papua has
been exploited by the Dutch, Americans, English, Japanese and Indonesians. The
nation of West Papua has become a victim of conspiracies of interests being
passed from one lap to another. First from the Dutch to the UN Temporary
Executive Authority (UNTEA), then from there to the lap of the Indonesians.
History itself writes that West Papua has become the very Zion of conspiracies
of many of interests.
In order to take control of the land and waters and seize its natural
wealth, there have arisen a number of competing unilateral economic and
political interests and the resulting scramble
has led to no small sacrifice of materials, time, energy and human
beings. The land of Papua is known by so many foreign countries not just
because of the existence of PT Freeport (being the biggest gold mine and third
biggest copper mine worldwide) but also because Papua has itself become a
source of conflict in that scramble. Ever since the sovereignty of the nation
of Papua was annexed into the Republic of Indonesia (RI) on 1 May 1963 and until
this very moment, West Papua has been ablaze due to continual conflicts being
played out. Seemingly endless conflicts which have been the result of conspiracies
of interest going on behind the scene. In 1963 to achieve their economic and political
interests the Republic of Indonesia and USA colluded together to seize West
Papua from the Dutch and place it in the lap of the Republic of Indonesia, a
collusion in which the sole interests of the USA was their own economic
domination and security interests in the region. Indonesia’s interest in the
deal at the time was primarily around increasing its political power.
USA’s goal was achieved with the signing of the Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) between RI and USA in 1967 regarding the operation of the Freeport
mine in Timika. This MOU smoothed the way for the claim over West Papua by RI
through a so-called referendum in 1969 that was flawed morally and legally. The
opening of the Freeport mine made ever so clear that USA’s primary reason for
helping Indonesia to annex West Papua was for their own economic gain.
The USA had another important reason to engineer this MOU as
it secured an interest for the USA in the Asia Pacific region. RI was taking
advantage of the cold war situation intentionally showing signs of working
together with the Russians and particularly in relation to defence (RI had already made purchases of equipment
from the Russians to come up against the Dutch over the matter of the land of
Papua). Indonesia’s strategy was successful and the USA moved to prevent Russia
getting a hold in the Asia Pacific region by intervening in the dispute between
RI and the Netherlands over West Papua. The deal was that RI would discontinue
its relations with Russia. The result, RI got what it wanted and USA was able
to defend the Asia Pacific region from communist influence and at the same time
achieve its own economic interests in Papua..
The USA conspired with the Indonesians, pressuring the Dutch Queen
through a delegation led by the then President J.F Kennedy and appointing a
retired American Ambassador to the UN Ellsworth Bunker to draft a proposal that
would supposedly bring an end to the dispute between RI and the Dutch over the
issue of West Papua. At the same time influencing the UN to also get involved
in ‘resolving’ the dispute. The Netherlands prior to that point had hoped for
support from Australia, the British and the USA in defending the retention of
Papua by the Dutch, however they had never imagined the political manouvres
that were about to take place by the USA. Following the USA’s moves there was
absolutely no response from either the British or Australia to support the
Dutch’s retention of Papua. Nothing! UN mediated the coming together of the
parties in line with the USA engineered scenario, with the USA providing the
proposal that had been prepared by Bunker. The proposal was signed off as an
agreement between RI and the Netherlands with the UN providing witness and become
known as the ‘New York Agreement’ of 15 August 1962. There was absolutely no
involvement whatsoever in the process of representation from the nation of
Papua. With the signing of the New York Agreement the Netherlands had no
further right to defend the land of Papua and of course to fulfill their
promise to the nation of Papua of bringing about recognition of their full
sovereignty.
The Dutch surrendered the power of administrative governance to UN
(UNTEA) on 1 May 1963 following which UNTEA surrendered the same to RI. With
that transfer the requirement to implement a referendum so the nation of Papua
could supposedly decide on their own future, was also transferred to RI.
However the initial plan for the ‘Act of Free Choice’ with one person one voice
was changed by RI to a method of so-called ‘representation’ and a committee was
formed to that end known locally as the Dewan Musyawarah PEPERA A mere 1026 Papuans were chosen by RI to
determine the fate of the Papuan nation of some 800,000 Papuans in the Act of
Free Choice. Before the vote was taken those 1026 chosen by RI were taken to Java
where they stayed in top-class motels and were provided with sexual favours.
They returned to Papua in a state of ecstasy due to the extent of the blissful
comforts they’d enjoyed to be also given a sum of money and valued objects such
as radios etc. Back in Papua they were accommodated in a special camp where
they were to be indoctrinated and pressured with violence into voting for Papua
to be a permanent part of RI. At the climax in a state of intimidation to the
point of being terrorized with fear, the group of 1026 were forced to vote. Of
that total one didn’t vote due to illness whilst one person from Fak Fak
rejected RI’s pressure and voted for independence for Papua. So ultimately 1024
Papuans under severe intimidation voted for Papua to become a part of the
territory of Indonesia.
Indonesia’s victory with the ‘Act of Free Choice’ was not a victory based on the upholding of the supremacy of law, democracy, truth, honesty, human rights and peace. Rather it was a victory based on violence and an arbitrary engineering of the situation that was morally and legally flawed. The failure of Indonesia to implement the requirements of the New York Agreement was reported by a special representative of the UN named Ortisan, in a session of the UN. However even though at that time 15 member nations of the UN rejected the results of the so-called Act of Free Choice and left the room where the UN session was being held, nevertheless UN noted that the requirements of the New York Agreement of 15 August 1962 had been carried out to completion.
In the process of annexing Papua into RI it was proven that USA manipulation of the situation was extreme. Without the assistance of the USA, it is certain that RI would have experienced resistance in opposing the Netherlands (which at that time possessed full modern war weaponary). The USA prioritized, upheld and realized its own economic and security interests in the region. Whilst those supreme values of upholding international law, democracy, human rights, justice, truth, honesty and peace were overlooked and defeated such that the interests of RI and USA could be achieved. Indeed this annexation of Papua into RI was the most extreme instance of international ‘conspiracies of interests’. An act that was done unilaterally through a political and military invasion so as to secure interests of the USA and RI alone. An act which denied the most basic of human rights of the people of Papua to decide on their own future as to whether they would be independent or forever under RI. The human rights of the people of Papua were sacrificed, were mortgaged off to the State of Indonesia.
Indonesia’s victory with the ‘Act of Free Choice’ was not a victory based on the upholding of the supremacy of law, democracy, truth, honesty, human rights and peace. Rather it was a victory based on violence and an arbitrary engineering of the situation that was morally and legally flawed. The failure of Indonesia to implement the requirements of the New York Agreement was reported by a special representative of the UN named Ortisan, in a session of the UN. However even though at that time 15 member nations of the UN rejected the results of the so-called Act of Free Choice and left the room where the UN session was being held, nevertheless UN noted that the requirements of the New York Agreement of 15 August 1962 had been carried out to completion.
In the process of annexing Papua into RI it was proven that USA manipulation of the situation was extreme. Without the assistance of the USA, it is certain that RI would have experienced resistance in opposing the Netherlands (which at that time possessed full modern war weaponary). The USA prioritized, upheld and realized its own economic and security interests in the region. Whilst those supreme values of upholding international law, democracy, human rights, justice, truth, honesty and peace were overlooked and defeated such that the interests of RI and USA could be achieved. Indeed this annexation of Papua into RI was the most extreme instance of international ‘conspiracies of interests’. An act that was done unilaterally through a political and military invasion so as to secure interests of the USA and RI alone. An act which denied the most basic of human rights of the people of Papua to decide on their own future as to whether they would be independent or forever under RI. The human rights of the people of Papua were sacrificed, were mortgaged off to the State of Indonesia.
Following West Papua’s forced inclusion into RI the international
conspiracies of interest in the land of Papua became increasingly exaggerated.
The conspiracies were realized in partnerships bilateral and multilateral, with
partnerships in the mining industry becoming like fortresses for defending the
continued forced inclusion of West Papua within RI. The scale of the giant PT
Freeport mine in Timika (parent Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.) as noted above being the largest goldmine and third largest copper
mine worldwide, defies the imagination,. The CEO and President of Freeport
James R.Moffett is one of biggest business names in USA. Shareholders of the
massive PT Freeport spread across 24 nations with by far the biggest bite going
to the USA. There are also huge natural gas fields the Tangguh LNG Project
(said to become one of the world’s prime gas supply sources) and massive oil
fields near Sorong. Two of the largest exploiters of Papua’s oil and gas have
been British owned companies working of course with RI. The list of
transnational mining corporations that have been exploiting West Papua’s oil
and minerals is not short. West Papua has indeed become like the world’s
‘kitchen’ providing for many nations and investment in the mining and energy
industry has become the very bargaining power of Indonesia to defend the
continued inclusion of West Papua within its borders.
Campaigning and lobbying for sovereign independence of West Papua continues to be blocked by those nations of the world that choose to prioritise their own bilateral and multilateral trade relations with Indonesia across a range of industries and in particular mining. Papua has been and continues to be sacrificed as the victim in these conspiracies of interests. The question begs ‘Will the people of Papua continue to be sacrificed in this way by the nations of the world, by the U.N and especially by the nations of the Africa the Caribean and Pacific and at this time by the MSG?’ Sacrificed as a result of these nations choosing to prioritise the importance of their bilateral and multilateral relations with the State of Indonesia over the human rights of the people of Papua?
Not only has Papua been sacrificed time and time again in these
international conspiracies of interests but the people of Papua have at the
same time become victims in the most horrible ways imaginable as a result of
national level conspiracies by the State of Indonesia. The annexation of Papua
into RI opened the way for Indonesia to exploit the wealth of natural resources
in its dealings and in bringing that about Indonesia’s inhumane practices have
caused the people of Papua to be marginalized, discriminated against, been made
a minority,, killed directly and indirectly. The results of which the Papuan
people are now known to be heading towards annihilation of their ethnic race.
Jakarta’s Regulation No 12 in 1969 regarding autonomy for Papua was later altered in 2001 at Regulation 21 to become ‘Special Autonomy’ in Papua. That which is now being altered again to become ‘Special Autonomy PLUS’. This also indeed has been part of a conspiracy of RI with these political packages coming out of Jakarta being supported by and in some cases even funded by international parties. Political packages that are applied in Papua in spite of the fact that the people of Papua have rejected them.
The people of Papua have even become victims of local conspiracies of interest by transmigrants and in fact by certain Papuans themselves. Transmigrants have manipulated the situation by working together with RI and even parties from other nations in a number of ways with the result that the city centres and in fact the economics of Papua have now been taken over by transmigrants. Whilst the local indigenous community is forced to sell its goods on the sides of the road and at the sides of shops and markets, being areas that of course have been built by the government..
Jakarta’s Regulation No 12 in 1969 regarding autonomy for Papua was later altered in 2001 at Regulation 21 to become ‘Special Autonomy’ in Papua. That which is now being altered again to become ‘Special Autonomy PLUS’. This also indeed has been part of a conspiracy of RI with these political packages coming out of Jakarta being supported by and in some cases even funded by international parties. Political packages that are applied in Papua in spite of the fact that the people of Papua have rejected them.
The people of Papua have even become victims of local conspiracies of interest by transmigrants and in fact by certain Papuans themselves. Transmigrants have manipulated the situation by working together with RI and even parties from other nations in a number of ways with the result that the city centres and in fact the economics of Papua have now been taken over by transmigrants. Whilst the local indigenous community is forced to sell its goods on the sides of the road and at the sides of shops and markets, being areas that of course have been built by the government..
Even certain Papuans have become agents of conspiracies in the
name of the ‘national interest’, selling out simply for the reward of worldly comforts.
These people play their games in a range of areas including acting as
‘pioneers’ for mining investors. They also act as agents for Indonesian Intelligence, infiltrating the
resistance organizations, NGO’s and non-defence civil servant organisations, churches,
academic institutions and even by establishing organisations themselves to
defend Papua remaining within Indonesia (eg organization the ‘Red White
Ranks’).
There are at any one time so many local,national and international
conspiracies being played out in Papua, with all being applied in nice tidy
systematic ways. All without exception
have the same result of defending the colonial domination of RI and its allies
and effectively prolonging the most severe oppression against the community of
the nation of West Papua. Conspiracies that seem to have no end point and which
given fertile ground by conflicts first created when the State of Indonesia,
the Netherlands, USA and UN unilaterally and without the inclusion of
indigenous Papuans annexed the nation of Papua into the Republic of Indonesia.
This annexation of Papua’s sovereignty into Indonesia directly gave rise to the
consequence of serious widespread human rights violations against the people of
Papua and injustices in many areas of development programs. All leading to
marginalization, discrimination, making Papuans a minority in their ancestors
lands and in combined effect amounting to a slow moving but certain genocide
against ethnic West Papuans.
To rescue the nation of Papua from this humanitarian emergency that is so horrifying in its results and which has been intentionally hidden from the eyes of the world for this last 50 years, the actors of the State of Indonesia, USA, the Netherlands and UN must take responsibility. These four actors that were totally responsible for the annexation of Papua into RI must surely take responsibility for what they have created. So as to bring to an end this most inhumane colonial domination of the nation of Papua by RI and its allies in the land of West Papua. To this end unconditional negotiations need to take place immediately between RI and the nation of Papua with mediation by UN, the Netherlands, USA and / or a neutral nation, to thoroughly discuss the problems in Papua and find a dignified solution.
To rescue the nation of Papua from this humanitarian emergency that is so horrifying in its results and which has been intentionally hidden from the eyes of the world for this last 50 years, the actors of the State of Indonesia, USA, the Netherlands and UN must take responsibility. These four actors that were totally responsible for the annexation of Papua into RI must surely take responsibility for what they have created. So as to bring to an end this most inhumane colonial domination of the nation of Papua by RI and its allies in the land of West Papua. To this end unconditional negotiations need to take place immediately between RI and the nation of Papua with mediation by UN, the Netherlands, USA and / or a neutral nation, to thoroughly discuss the problems in Papua and find a dignified solution.
(This article has been based on a
number of sources including books, articles and oral sourcs from those in Papua
who have been the makers of history.)
Selpius Bobii,
General Chairperson
The United Front of the Struggle of the People of
Papua
& Papuan
Freedom Political Detainee
Abepura Prison,
Jayapura
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