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LETTER TO HON. SUSILO BAMBANG YUDOYONO, PRESIDENT OF INDONESIASubmitted by editor on Sun, 04/11/2007 - 00:15.
Internationally auspiced negotiations is the strategy to solve Indonesia’s problems in West Papua. THE WEST PAPUA NATIONAL AUTHORITY ______________________________________________________________________________ 2 November 2007 Dr. Jacob Rumbiak Honorable Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudoyono Dear Mr. President, On 1 May 1963, the Indonesian government promised the international community that it would develop West Papua. The Indonesian government has failed to deliver this promise and is now facing an entire population of people who are demanding their political as well as their social rights (Integrasi Politik di Indonesia, Dr. Nazaruddin Syamsuddin, Gramedia Jakarta, 1989, p.90; Pemberontakan Organisasi Papua Merdeka, John RG Djopari, MA., 1993). TAPOL Indonesian Human Rights base in London reports that more than 100.000 West Papuans demanding these rights have disappeared or been killed. The Catholic and Protestant Churches in West Papua however estimate that more than 400.000 have disappeared or been killed since 1963. In 1999, after a year era of ‘reformasi’ in Indonesia, West Papuans visited President Habibie and requested his support for a review of the Act of No Choice in 1969. On 26 February 1999, a delegation of a hundred Papuans met President Habibie and requested West Papua’s independence from the Unitarian Republic of Indonesia. The delegation’s demand was reiterated by the Second Papua Congress in Jayapura in May 2000. On 3 July 2003, the Indonesian newspaper ‘Sinar Harapan’ published the results of a survey conducted by the International Foundation For Election Systems (IFES) in association with an international research institute, the Tyler Nelson Survey (TNS). Survey results suggest that more than 75% of Melanesian West Papuans want to be independent of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia. Another survey by the West Papua National Student Union in 2001, conducted at the request of the International Commission of Jurists in Australia, showed that more than 95% of Melanesian West Papuans want independence from Indonesia. A majority of indigenous Papuans have been demanding their political rights since the fraudulent “Act of No Choice” in 1969. Government observers regularly claim that Indonesia’s problems in West Papua are social, and try to convince the international donar community these social problems will be solved through Special Autonomy (government regulation no.21/2001), even though Special Autonomy has never been implemented. Instead of Special Autonomy, West Papua has been partitioned, and without necessary consultations with the Papua Assembly Council/MRP (Drs. Agus Alua, M.Th, Head of MRP, and guest speaker at peace demonstrations in Jayapura on 6 March 2007). Furthermore, at the Papua People’s Assembly Council/MRP second anniversary on 30 October 2007, Mr. Alua said that the MPR is not functioning at all. Educated West Papuan politicians and political analysts understand very well that the MRP, whose membership derives from tribal, religious, and women’s organizations, has a special authority in social affairs but not political affairs. Since Indonesia’s problems in West Papua are based in the political arena, may I suggest the government communicates with politicians and technocrats of the West Papua National Authority. The West Papua National Authority believes this is an appropriate moment for the Indonesian government to begin seriously addressing the political situation, because it can no long afford to ignore it. Indonesia’s problems with West Papua continue to bedevil relations between the republic and the international community, and is retarding international commercial enterprises in West Papua. The West Papua National Authority has been trying to communicate with the Indonesian government—through Section V of the Indonesian Intelligence Agency/BIN—since 2004. Since there has been little real progress, the West Papua National Authority now proposes to break the deadlock by involving a third party negotiator from the international community. Honorable President, we hope you will consider the merit of sitting in dialogue with the West Papua National Authority under the auspices of an appropriate third party with a view to finding or creating appropriate solutions to this long-standing conflict. Your Honour needs to understand that West Papua’s resistance to the Indonesian occupation and search for justice and peace is based in non-violent principles. With highest respect, Dr. Jacob Rumbiak CC: Honorable Bob Brown MP, Australian Green Party Honorable Helen Clark MP, Prime Minister of New Zealand Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (New Jersey) ( categories: Urgent )
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