Free West Papua
11/1/92
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/* Written 11:57 pm Nov 1, 1992 by webink in peg:gen.anarchism
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/* ---------- "Free West papua (Gloat)" ---------- */
Free West Papua! by Brendan Greenhill
(Reprinted from GLOAT. GLOAT is produced by the Brisbane
Anarchists, PO BOX 332 Albert Street Brisbane Qld Australia 4002.
As well as these articles, this issue of GLOAT features Shane
Kneipp's tasteful cover of the Mexican detectives holding aloft
the icepick that killed Leon Trotsky; photos from the Guy Fawkes
campaign; and many other interesting graphics and poems. Send $5)
West Papua is the western half of the island of New Guinea. The
indigenous people there are Melanesians like the people of Papua
New Guinea. I might point out that the Indonesian Imperialists
call West Papua Irian Jaya. This is an acronym for Ikut Republik
Indonesia Anti-Netherlands or follow Indonesia against Holland, a
slogan from the takeover by the Jakarta junta in 1962. The West
Papuans find this arrogant and offensive and refer to their
homeland as West Papua. The reader may often find West Papua
referred to as Irian Jaya. It was claimed as a Dutch colony in
1828 but they could not consolidate their control over the peoples
fully. The same is true of the new colonists, the Indonesian
Armed forces. In the jungles and in the towns and villages, the
idea of a free West Papua lives.
Indonesia's claims In 1949 the Indonesian republic achieved the
status of an independent nation after a war against the Dutch.
West Papua was not included in the new republic. Instead the Dutch
embarked on a crash program to enable the West Papuans to achieve
independence by 1970. The Indonesians opposed this. Instead they
claimed West Papua as part of the Indonesian state based on a
spurious claim by an ancient empire. Their leader Sukarno embarked
on a military and diplomatic campaign to incorporate West Papua
into the Indonesian empire. On the 19th of December 1961 Sukarno
declared the Three Peoples Command [Trikora] to invade West Papua.
Its aims were to prevent the independence of West Papua, to fly
the Indonesian Flag in West Papua and to institute a general
mobilisation of the Indonesian people to conquer West Papua. The
Indonesians sent in 75000 troops to West Papua, including
paratroops and marines but they lost the military campaign. Even
though the military campaign was not sucessful, it made the
careers of many military officers who later rose to prominence or
infamy in Indonesian politics. Included among them were Lieutenant
Colonel Untung who led the abortive coup in 1965, Colonel Sarwo
Edhie who crushed this attempt and later was involved in the
invasion of East Timor, and President Suharto who was the leader
of the military operations against the Dutch. So the West Papua
campaign brought together many of the "New Order" leaders in the
Army. On the diplomatic front they were more sucessful. Indonesia
gained the support of the non aligned movement, of which Indonesia
was a founding member, and the United States, which was worried
about Indonesia's closed links with China and wished to gain
access to the vast resources of West Papua. These resources were
in part discovered by US. Army surveyors during the Second World
War when they occupied West Papua on behalf of the Dutch. The US.
also forced Australia to agree to the settlement. In August 1962,
the New York Agreement was signed and Indonesia secured Dutch New
Guinea. There was no indigenous West Papuan involvement, with only
the Dutch and Indonesians involved. A temporary UN administration
was established and the agreement provided that an "Act of
self-determination" was to be held before 1969. The Indonesians
were to arrange this and this enabled them to manage the result.
The Act of 'Free Choice' The formal transfer of power from the UN
to Indonesia took place on 1 May 1963. Immediately, the West
Papuan people began to resist. 1025 members of local councils were
appointed to exercise the "Act of Free Choice". One person, one
vote was not used because the Indonesians regarded the West
Papuans as too primitive or simple, and needing guidance from a
superior culture. The West Papuan people may have lacked formal
education in the western model but there is evidence that even the
most isolated tribes fully understood that the "Act of Free
Choice" would mean their dispossession from their land by the new
colonists. The West Papuans in turn resented foreigners intruding
on their land. Therefore, resistance to Indonesian rule in the
sixties revolved around the implementation of the "Act of Free
Choice" in a fair manner with a possibility of a rejection of
Indonesian rule. This was not to be, as all the parties in the
settlement including the UN never saw independence as a
possibility. The hand over was stage managed and heavy handed. In
the face of severe political repression and restrictions on free
expression and human rights abuses, many felt physical resistance
to the handover was the only way to proceed. Large scale
uprisings in the highlands of West Papua and in the west in the
Biak Numfor area occurred from 1963 onwards. Biak Numfor was the
area where the Organasi Papua Merdeka or OPM was formed. This
group represents today the aspirations of the West Papuans for
freedom. It originally was the armed part of the resistance but
nowadays denotes all who oppose Indonesian occupation including
the clandestine organisation inside the Indonesian government and
the broad masses of West Papuans. Robin Osborne who has written
the most detailed history of the OPM, states that the majority of
West Papuans support the OPM. In April 1969, journalists were
banned from West Papua and the UN special envoy to supervise the
"Act of Free Choice", Oriz Sanz had to postpone his visit because
the Indonesians refused permission. They did not reveal that the
reason was because of large scale rebellions opposing the "Act of
Free Choice" had broken out in Arfak in 1967 and had spread to the
Wissel Lakes by 1969. These rebellions were put down with great
brutality by the army, with thousands killed and wounded. When
things quietened down, the "Act of Free Choice" proceeded. The New
York Agreement was vague on the rights of Papuans to decide their
fate and so the Indonesians were able to use 1,025 hand picked
"representatives" to meet in Jayapura on 2nd August 1969 and not
surprisingly, they unanimously voted to stay with Indonesia. The
UN took note of the result and washed its hands of the matter.
The post-1969 Resistance Resistance has continued ever since
then. It has been met with fierce repression by the Indonesian
armed forces. Generally the resistance has increased due to this
repression, and the refusal of the Indonesians to acknowledge that
their policies encourage support for the resistance. For instance,
the tribal villagers have often engaged in ritual tribal fighting.
In these fights attacks and retreats are stylised, and there are
few if any deaths or serious injuries. The war is largely a show
of determination and strength. When the Indonesian army heard that
a tribal war had broken out, they responded with paratroops and
aerial bombardment. The leaders were arrested and taken up in
helicopters and thrown to their deaths. Many hundreds were killed.
This did stop the tribal war but it also unified the villagers
against their real enemies; the Indonesian colonists. Support for
the OPM has also tended to increase during these periods of
repression. Their armed attacks have increased during events that
the Indonesians have felt important; such as the 1971 and 1977
elections. The major exception had been the 1984 general
offensive against Jayapura and other areas. This was a failure, as
it seems that Indonesian spies had penetrated the planning group.
There was also a lack of coordination between different areas, so
the rebellion was not as well coordinated as it should have been.
Some of the clandestine networks inside the Indonesian bureaucracy
were exposed and those involved were forced to flee across the
Papua New Guinea border. Other villagers fled from border areas
where OPM and the Army had clashed across to PNG as well. About
10,000 people all up fled, fearing arbitrary arrest and torture.
Many still remain exiles in PNG and are too scared to go back.
Army and Air force incursions into PNG then occurred. They
continue to this day. Following a string of OPM offensives early
in 1992. the Indonesian security forces have crossed into PNG
territory in an effort to flush out OPM guerrillas. The PNG
government now tolerates incursions by Indonesian troops. This is
a response to activity by OPM in opposition to the June 9th
elections. News reports quoted the Indonesian military commander
for West New Guinea warning his men not to shoot the people while
enforcing the poll. There have been a number of trials of OPM
supporters and corrupt Army soldiers in West Papua in 1992. One
of the most interesting was a case in which a serving Indonesian
Army officer had stolen over 100 weapons including M-16 rifles
from an armed forces arsenal, and then sold them to the OPM for
personal gain. All of this activity suggests that the OPM has
recovered for its past setbacks and a series of factional
disputes within the organisation to become a more effective
resistance movement. It is apparent that the rhetoric of the Gulf
War and the "New World Order" has rubbed off on the West Papuans
as it has revigorated the East Timorese. We can only hope that
they can be more sucessful in their struggle.
Should Libertarians Support the OPM?? But what does the future
hold for West Papua and it's independence struggle? And why should
libertarians support it? The OPM is one of the most isolated
liberation movements in the world so it is not surprising that it
attracts little support or publicity. However in the last year,
there have been a series of television shows and newspaper
articles on West Papua. There have also been moves on the
diplomatic front. It seems that some hope is warranted. The OPM is
also one of the most resilient resistance movements in modern
history. It has been able to survive and rebuild in virtual
isolation over a period of thirty years. But with Transmigration
of Indonesians from other parts of the country, the West Papuans
are faced with cultural genocide and it remains to be seen how
long the struggle can be maintained. Environmental problems such
as unrestricted logging and pollution from the transnational
Freeport copper mine may also spell doom for West Papua. My
opinion is that libertarians should support the OPM. Even though
traditional societies may have problems in our opinion, if an
injustice and genocide are being committed on a people then we
must speak out about it. A traditional society is more democratic
and libertarian than the regimented and militarist social control
imposed on West Papua by the Indonesian military and their
Transmigation projects. The other point is that these groups need
to be exposed to our ideas so that we can influence the eventual
form of their struggle. We must not be uncritical however but
also, we must not fall into the Marxist trap of lecturing third
world peoples about their evils from the white man's perspective.
The other thing we can hope to counteract is the destruction of
the social aspects of revolution in the takeover of power. There
may be a counterpoint to the Marxist leaders and their
megalomania. Dimensions of gender or class struggle should never
lose their importance in the quest for freedom. Lastly any
organised opposition to the Indonesian military ruling class
deserves support because it can speed up the destruction of
systems of exploitation by the Australian bosses in Indonesia.
After all, the rulers of Australia and Indonesia have more in
common with each other than are the differences are between the
Australian and Indonesian people The longer we ignore this
tragedy, the lower our people become in the eyes of our closest
neighbours. Papua Merdeka! Tan Malaka.
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* Origin: Pactok Project (90:900/990)
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