| |
|
The
Newsletter of West Papua Action. November 1999. No. 6 |
|
Contents |
|
|
|
|
|
Donations
to develop the West Papua campaign are always welcome.
Money can be lodged to:
West Papua Action,
Bank of Ireland,
Portlaoise,
Co. Laoise,
Ireland.
A/C no. 59691993.
Sort Code: 90-18-88.
|
|
|
|
19
Nov. 1969 to 19 Nov. 1999: West Papua 30 years off the UN agenda
|
|
|
West Papua Action, Trócaire, and AfrI (Action from Ireland)
have come together to publicly commemorate the shameful and
unresolved dropping of West Papua from the agenda of the United
Nations 30 years ago. Carmel Budiardjo of TAPOL and Léonie
Tanggahma of the Papua People's Foundation have been invited
to speak, and Fionnuala Gilsenan, Trócaire has been invited
to chair. The meeting is in Buswells Hotel, Dublin at 8.00pm
on November 19th.
On 19th November 1969, the General Assembly of the United
Nations voted to "take note" of the report of the then Secretary-General's
representative on the conduct of what should have been an
act of self-determination for the West Papuan people. Only
1, 025 people (all men) out of some 800,000 people were allowed
to vote, and this in a climate of fear and intimidation. In
a side-stepping manoeuvre the fraudulent referendum was not
ratified but West Papua dropped off the UN agenda.
|
|
|
|
Netherlands,
US, Australia implicated in West Papua take-over |
|
|
According to the Sydney Morning Herald (26/08/99):
"previously secret documents show Australia played a leading
behind-the-scenes role to ensure [West Papua] Irian Jaya became
a part of Indonesia in another UN-supervised vote - the so-called
Act of Free Choice in 1969.
Top-secret government files, released under a 30-year rule
of the Government's Archives Act, showed Australia colluded
with Holland, the United States and United Nations officials
to rubber-stamp the Indonesian take-over of the Melanesian
province.
The documents show Australian military officers collected
evidence of Indonesian atrocities, including military offensives,
rapes, beatings, lootings and torching of villages, but the
Federal Government kept the information secret.... "
One secret US government document given to Australia before
the self-determination process began in July, 1969, shows
UN officials indicating almost all West Papuans supported
independence.
A document, prepared by the US Embassy in Jakarta and presented
to Australia before the West Papuans were to decide their
future in the UN-supervised process, said:
"Personal political views of the UN team are ... 95 per cent
of Irianese [West Papuans] support the independence movement
and that the Act of Free Choice is a mockery".
In a clear indication the Netherlands and Australia knew there
would not be a fair vote and did nothing about it, one top-secret
report written by a Dutch intelligence officer, which has
not been officially released, was distributed to Australia
and Indonesia, also before the vote.
Dated June 27, 1969, the document said it was evident the
West Papuans could not fairly decide whether or not to remain
a part of Indonesia.
"The act of free choice cannot be carried out honestly
according to western ideas. The 'electors' will also be appointed
by the Indonesians," the report said.
"But finding enough Papuans willing to act as 'electors'
for the Indonesians may turn out to be quite a problem. So
there will be no free choice by the people. Not even the United
Nations headed by Mr Ortiz-Sanz can alter this fact."
Australia, at the request of Indonesia, also arrested and
prevented two pro-independence West Papuan leaders from travelling
to the UN, just weeks before the UN-supervised vote on self-determination.
The men, Willem Zonggonao, 26, and Clemens Runawery, 27, were
detained when they crossed the border into Australian administered
New Guinea, carrying testimonies from many West Papuan leaders
calling for independence and for the UN to abandon the Act
of Free Choice.
Mr Zonggonao, previously a member of the Indonesian West Irian
Assembly, in a recent interview from Port Moresby, PNG, said:
"Because we refused to sign the paperwork, they put us in
jail. Then ASIO interviewed us and we were ... flown to Manus
Island."
Manus Island, 300 kilometres north-east of Australian-administered
New Guinea, was used as a place to send scores of West Papuans
refugees, to ensure they did not engage in any political activity.
Mr Zonggonao also said the West Papuans chosen to participate
were "indoctrinated by military officers and told if they
didn't vote for Indonesia they would have their tongues cut
out".
The Australian Ambassador to Indonesia at the time, Gordon
Jockel, witnessed the Act of Free Choice in Irian Jaya and
in one of the secret cables he wrote:
"In the two or three days we had in Biak and Djajapura it
was easy to see the mass of the Papuans there are sullen and
discontented."
The documents also show Australia maintained a secret military
and intelligence relationship with Indonesia, aimed at eliminating
armed pro-independence dissent. Telexes sharing information
on the movement of the West Papuan armed resistance were sent
over the border between Australian-administered New Guinea
and West Irian. The documents were dated before and during
the act of self-determination.
One cable sent on July 15, 1969, from Indonesian officers
in Jayapura to Australian officials in Vanimo, New Guinea,
said:
"We inform you that some west Irianese have deserted to
your country under the leadership of Bernadus Warry ... armed
with four weapons. Would you like to help us investigate.
We are awaiting your answer."
The document indicated Australia assisted. "Djajapura is
being informed that the matter is being investigated."
But no action was taken on evidence gathered by Australian
military officers of Indonesian atrocities. One report, dated
August 29, 1969, stated:
"Our previous information on rapes committed by Indonesian
soldiers has been confirmed in a number of cases. The Bobol
and Tamus people are quite definite on this score and ...
in particular one girl from Bobol, I think, was raped by a
number of soldiers when she was 11, several years later again
and again when she was 16 and then married."
Despite these abuses, the files showed Australia played a
leading role in a campaign to ensure the Act of Free Choice
was accepted without debate at the UN General Assembly in
November 1969.
Indonesia, backed by Australia and the Netherlands, lobbied
countries including Malta and several West African nations
to not question the legitimacy of the self-determination process.
Dutch and UN officials were implicated in a cable to Canberra
dated September 8, 1969, from Sir Patrick Shaw, the Australian
Ambassador to the UN.
"Netherlands Ambassador Middleburg hopes that the handling
of the item in the Assembly will go quietly with only two
statements, from the Netherlands and Indonesia," Sir Patrick
Shaw wrote.
"[UN] Under Secretary General for special political affairs
Rolz-Bennett continues to be cautiously optimistic that the
item will not give rise to much discussion." "
|
|
|
|
Independence
Flag Flies in West Papua |
|
|
The "Morning Star" West Papua independence flag is being raised
with increasing frequency and boldness in the past year. In
the latest incident, a group of West Papuans in Timika, to
the south of the country, are reported to be willing to lower
the flag if President Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri
grant their demand for face-to-face dialogue.
They are also reported to have demanded that United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan pressure the Indonesian government
to settle the West Papua case peacefully and wisely, and to
have demanded that the Indonesian Military (TNI) withdraw
all combat troops from the country. (Jakarta Post, 16/11/99)
Flag-raisings often occur in July and December. In July 1998,
the military opened fire on unarmed civilians in Biak early
in the morning of July 6th after the independence flag had
been flying through the night. This is now known as the Biak
massacre where eight people have been confirmed dead, three
people disappeared and 33 wounded who did not receive adequate
attention. Hundreds of residents were beaten and kicked by
the military and 150 were taken into custody. (Tapol Bulletin,
July 99)
|
|
|
|
Human
Rights Violations against Women in West Papua |
|
|
In the report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against
women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy
reported, inter alia, after her mission to Indonesia
and its territories (20/11/98 to 4/12/98):
"109. The Special Rapporteur believes that a thorough and
impartial investigation into the use of rape as a method of
torture and intimidation by the military in Irian Jaya [West
Papua] is imperative. According to information received, perpetrators
have not been brought to trial, victims and their children
have not been compensated and human rights abuses continue
to occur even under the new regime."
In one case interview, it was reported:
"103. A is from Jila village. She was raped by a soldier from
the Indonesian military while she was working in the fields
in 1987. She has a child as a result of the rape. She returned
home and told her parents what had happened. They were extremely
angry and went to the military post to demand justice. Her
parents were beaten up by the soldiers. Her two brothers,
one of whom is a priest and the other a village chief, went
to the military post; they were also beaten up by the military.
The perpetrator was moved out of the area. In 1988, A had
a child as a result of the rape. She had been a virgin when
she was raped and virginity has a high premium in this society.
Her parents said that she should have protected herself better;
the wrong was put on her. It is alleged that soldiers raped
many women in that area. Women were afraid that, if they resisted,
their families would be attacked. There are many children
as a result of the rapes. / Case interview, Jakarta, November
1998."
|
|
|
|
John
Ondawame visits Ireland |
|
|
Mr. John Otto Ondawame, International Spokesperson of the
Free Papua Movement (OPM) was in Ireland as a guest of West
Papua Action from January 26th to February 6th, 1999.
Mr. Ondawame, who is originally from the Timika/Tembagura
region in the south of West Papua, and who is currently based
in Canberra, Australia where he is studying for his PhD at
the National University there fulfilled a busy schedule before
leaving for the UK, the Netherlands, New York, New Orleans,
and Fiji.
He spoke at the annual AfrI Féile Bríde conference in Kildare
on Saturday, Jan. 30th. He met with students of the Athy Model
school, Ballingarry Presentation, Scoil Chríost Rí, Portlaoise
and with students of both the Presentation and CBS secondary
schools in Portarlington.
On Jan. 28th, he was a guest at the Joint Committee on Foreign
Affairs sub-committee on human rights. He met with officials
of the Department of Foreign Affairs on Feb. 5th, and was
also received at the Dutch embassy. (The Netherlands was the
colonial power in West Papua before the Indonesian regime
took control.)
Mr. Ondawame was also interviewed on the Today with Pat Kenny
radio show on Jan. 27th, and recorded a voice-over for Network
2 television news that evening, on which footage of West Papua
and the Freeport mine was briefly shown. Print articles with
photos appeared in: the Leinster Leader, the Leinster Express,
AP/RN; there was a small piece in the Nationalist. Mr. Ondawame
was also interviewed by the Irish Times.
In the United States, Mr. Ondawame met with the UN's permanent
representatives in New York. His visit there was picked up
by various news wire services such as IPS and AFP. In New
Orleans, the plaintiff's attorney in the ongoing lawsuit against
the mining giant Freeport/RTZ told the Times-Picayune that
"John Ondawame ranks with Nelson Mandela."
|
|
|
|
Horta
calls for extension of EU arms embargo to Indonesia |
|
|
In a statement sent to the Netherlands Standing Commission
on Foreign Affairs, Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos Horta has called
for the current EU embargo on arms sales to Indonesia to be
continued beyond the proposed end-date of January 17th. Calling
for all East Timorese to be returned home and for the Indonesian
authorities to cooperate with UN investigations into human
rights violations, Horta goes on to say:
"Moreover I would like to point to the fact that the Indonesian
armed forces (TNI) play a very controversial role in the Moluccas,
Irian Jaya/West Papua, Aceh and Kalimantan, and as well in
the repression of the opposition within Indonesia. An embargo
is necessary until TNI becomes subordinate to democratic control."
|
|
|
|
Thousands
march for independence in Meraurke |
|
|
[TAPOL added the following note to this report: "It is likely
that provocateurs were responsible for organising a crowd
which used violence while the peaceful demonstation in support
of independence was in progress."]
"Thousands of people marched to the local assembly building
in Merauke yesterday calling for independence for West Papua.
The huge crowd filled the streets leading to the assembly
building. The security forces were overwhelmed by the size
of the crowd, some of whom carried sharp weapons. However,
people in the crowd insisted that this would be a peaceful
demonstration.
"Calling for independence, the demonstrators also rejected
the government's decision to split the province of [West Papua]
Irian Jaya into three provinces. As midday approached, even
more people joined in."
(Cendrawasih Pos, 23 October 1999)
|
|
|
|
Thousands
protest division of West Papua |
|
|
In October of this year, thousands of people are reported
to have protested against the Javanese/Jakarta proposal to
divided West Papua into three separate provinces of Indonesia.
At present West Papua is ruled as the "26th province of Indonesia".
East Timor was the 27th, according to Jakarta.
|
|
|
|
Visit
of John Rumbiak to Ireland |
|
|
In a brief visit to Ireland recently, John Rumbiak, director
of the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy in West
Papua, attended a conference in Derry organised by AfrI and
Children in Crossfire called "The Price of Peace?".
He also met with members of Amnesty International in Dublin.
John had been lobbying British parliamentarians and hopes
to return to Ireland next year.
|
|
|
West Papua Action
gratefully acknowledges the financial support of Trócaire.
The contents of this publication
are solely the responsibility of West Papua Action,
c/o AfrI,
Grand Canal House,
Lower Rathmines Road,
Dublin 6.
Ireland.
Tel. 353 1 496 8595.
Fax. 353 1 4968592.
E-mail. wpaction@iol.ie
|
|
|
