tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/west-papua-3312/articlesWest Papua – The Conversation2023-06-09T03:00:03Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2069332023-06-09T03:00:03Z2023-06-09T03:00:03ZI was involved in talks to free a kidnapped Kiwi pilot in West Papua. With negotiations stalled, what happens now?<p>New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has now been held hostage in West Papua for four months. Stalled attempts to negotiate his release, and an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/17/six-soldiers-killed-30-missing-in-attempt-to-rescue-kidnapped-pilot-in-west-papua">unsuccessful Indonesian military rescue attempt</a>, suggest a confused picture behind the scenes.</p>
<p>Members of the West Papua National Independence Army (TPNPB) <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/484193/rebel-group-in-papua-says-kidnapped-nz-pilot-safe">kidnapped Mehrtens</a> on February 7, demanding Indonesia recognise West Papua’s independence. The Nduga regency, where Mehrtens was taken and his plane burnt, is known for separatist violence and military reprisals. </p>
<p>New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300890618/indonesian-rebels-release-new-video-of-captured-nz-pilot-captain-phillip-mehrtens">has said</a>: “We’re doing everything we can to secure a peaceful resolution and Mr Mehrtens’ safe release, including working closely with the Indonesian authorities and deploying New Zealand consular staff.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Indonesian military (TNI) has continued its <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/17/papua-rebels-ambush-indonesian-troops-looking-for-kidnapped-pilot">military operation</a> to hunt down the TPNPB – including by bombing from aircraft, according to Mehrtens in one of several “<a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/488694/i-am-alive-i-am-healthy-kidnapped-pilot-in-papua-says-in-new-video">proof of life</a>” videos released by the TPNPB.</p>
<h2>Early negotiations</h2>
<p>From late February, I was authorised by the TPNPB to <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/papuan-rebels-accuse-nz-of-deserting-captured-pilot/news-story/6ceae0ba4cb7dc1af94bac4b4275dd10">act as an intermediary</a> with the New Zealand government. This was based on having previously worked with pro-independence West Papuan groups and was confirmed in a video from the TPNPB to the New Zealand government. </p>
<p>In this capacity, I communicated regularly with a New Zealand Police hostage negotiator, including when the TPNPB changed its demands. </p>
<p>The TPNPB had initially said it would kill Mehrtens unless Indonesia recognised West Papua’s independence. But, after agreeing to negotiate, the TPNPB said it would save Mehrtens’ life while seeking to extract concessions from the New Zealand government. </p>
<p>Its current position is that New Zealand stop its citizens from working in or travelling to West Papua, and also cease military support for Indonesia. In late May, however, frustrated by the lack of response, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/27/west-papua-rebels-threaten-to-shoot-new-zealand-pilot-if-independence-talks-denied">TPNPB again said</a> it would kill Mehrtens if talks were not forthcoming. </p>
<p>My involvement with the New Zealand government ended when I was told the government had decided to use another channel of communication with the group. As events have unfolded, my understanding is that the TPNPB did not accept this change of communication channels.</p>
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<h2>Latest in a long struggle</h2>
<p>The TPNPB is led by Egianus Kogeya, son of Daniel Yudas Kogeya, who was killed by Indonesian soldiers in an operation to rescue hostages taken in 1996. The TPNPB is one of a small number of armed separatist groups in West Papua, each aligned with a faction of the pro-independence movement. </p>
<p>The West Papua <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/29/west-papua-independence-history">independence movement</a> grew out of Dutch plans to give West Papua independence. Indonesia argued that Indonesia should be the successor to the Dutch East Indies in its entirety, and in 1963 assumed administration of West Papua with US backing. It formally incorporated West Papua in 1969, after 1,035 village leaders were forced at gunpoint to vote for inclusion in Indonesia.</p>
<p>As a result of Indonesians moving to this “frontier”, more than 40% of West Papua’s population is now non-Melanesian. West Papuans, meanwhile, are second-class citizens in their own land. Despite the territory having Indonesia’s richest economic output, West Papuans have among the worst infant mortality, average life expectancy, nutrition, literacy and income in Indonesia. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-nz-pilot-held-hostage-in-west-papua-is-the-pawn-in-a-conflict-only-real-international-engagement-can-resolve-199601">The NZ pilot held hostage in West Papua is the pawn in a conflict only real international engagement can resolve</a>
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<p>Critically, freedom of speech is also limited, <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/478679/un-review-raises-concerns-about-rights-violations-in-west-papua">human rights violations</a> continue unabated, and the political process is riven by corruption, vote buying and violence. As a consequence, West Papua’s independence movement continues.</p>
<p>There have been a number of mostly small military actions and kidnappings highlighting West Papua’s claim for independence. “Flag-raising” ceremonies and street protests have been used to encourage a sense of unity around the independence struggle.</p>
<p>These have resulted in attacks by the Indonesian military (TNI) and police, leading to killings, disappearances, torture and imprisonment. <a href="https://www.ipwp.org/human-rights-in-west-papua/">Human rights advocates suggest</a> hundreds of thousands have died as a result of West Papua’s incorporation into Indonesia.</p>
<p>Illustrating the escalating conflict, in 2018 the TPNPB <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46446719">kidnapped and killed</a> more than 20 Indonesian workers building a road through the Nduga regency. It has also killed a number of Indonesian soldiers, including some of those hunting for Mehrtens. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-world-failed-west-papua-in-its-campaign-for-independence-129623">How the world failed West Papua in its campaign for independence</a>
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<h2>Negotiations stalled</h2>
<p>TPNPB spokesperson Sebby Sambom has said foreigners were legitimate targets because their governments support Indonesia. Despite Kogeya’s initial claim that Mehrtens would be killed if demands were not met, Sambom and TPNPB diplomatic officer Akouboo Amadus Douw had responded positively to the idea of negotiation for his release.</p>
<p>Since talks broke down, however, the TPNPB has said there would be no further proof-of-life videos of Mehrtens. With the TPNPB’s late May statement that Mehrtens would be killed if New Zealand did not negotiate, his kidnapping seems to have reached a stalemate.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fight-for-freedom-new-research-to-map-violence-in-the-forgotten-conflict-in-west-papua-128058">Fight for freedom: new research to map violence in the forgotten conflict in West Papua</a>
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<p>The TPNPB has told me it is concerned that New Zealand may be prioritising its relationship with Indonesia over Mehrtens and has been stalling while the TNI resolves the situation militarily. </p>
<p>At this stage, however, Mehrtens can still be safely released. But it will likely require the New Zealand government to make some concessions in response to the TPNPB’s demands. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the drivers of the conflict remain. Indonesia continues to use military force to try to crush what is essentially a political problem. And, while the TPNPB and other separatist groups have little hope of removing Indonesia from West Papua, they feel they have run out of options other than to fight and to take hostages.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206933/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Damien Kingsbury has advised a number of separatist organisations on negotiations to end conflict, most notably in Aceh in 2005.</span></em></p>A negotiator in early talks to free Phillip Mehrtens from West Papuan independence rebels explains the current stalemate and what might happen now.Damien Kingsbury, Emeritus Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1996012023-02-10T00:29:38Z2023-02-10T00:29:38ZThe NZ pilot held hostage in West Papua is the pawn in a conflict only real international engagement can resolve<p>“Phil Mehrtens is the nicest guy, he genuinely is – no one ever had anything bad to say about him”, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/nz-pilot-taken-hostage-in-papua-flew-dangerous-routes-to-support-family-20230208-p5civk.html">says a colleague</a> of the New Zealand pilot taken hostage this week by members of the West Papuan Liberation Army (<a href="https://thediplomat.com/tag/west-papua-national-liberation-army-tpnpb/">TPN-PB</a>) in the mountainous Nduga Regency.</p>
<p>How such a nice guy became a pawn in the decades-long conflict between West Papua and the Indonesian government is a tragic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But it is also a symbolic and desperate attempt to attract international attention towards the West Papuan crisis.</p>
<p>A joint military and police mission has so far <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/131190436/no-sign-of-kiwi-pilot-taken-hostage-in-papua-despite-rescue-mission">failed to find or rescue</a> Mehrtens, and forcing negotiations with Jakarta is a prime strategy of TPN-PB. As spokesperson Sebby Sambom told Australian media this week:</p>
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<p>The military and police have killed too many Papuans. From our end, we also killed [people]. So it is better that we sit at the negotiation table […] Our new target are all foreigners: the US, EU, Australians and New Zealanders because they supported Indonesia to kill Papuans for 60 years. Colonialism in Papua must be abolished.</p>
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<p>Sambom is referring to the international complicity and silence since Indonesia annexed the former Dutch colony as it prepared for political independence in the 1960s. Mehrtens has become the latest foreign victim of the resulting protracted and violent struggle by West Papuans for autonomy.</p>
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<h2>Violence and betrayal</h2>
<p>The history of the conflict can be traced back to 1962, when the US facilitated what became known as the <a href="https://www.freewestpapua.org/documents/the-new-york-agreement/">New York Agreement</a>, which handed West Papua over to the United Nations and then to Indonesia.</p>
<p>In 1969, the UN oversaw a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-world-failed-west-papua-in-its-campaign-for-independence-129623">farcical independence referendum</a> that effectively allowed the permanent annexation of West Papua by Indonesia. Since that time, West Papuans have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/fight-for-freedom-new-research-to-map-violence-in-the-forgotten-conflict-in-west-papua-128058">subjected</a> to violent human rights abuses, environmental and cultural dispossession, and mass killings under Indonesian rule and mass immigration policies.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-world-failed-west-papua-in-its-campaign-for-independence-129623">How the world failed West Papua in its campaign for independence</a>
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<p>New Zealand and Australia continue to support Indonesian sovereignty over West Papua, and maintain defence and <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/131180291/new-zealanders-kidnapping-in-papua-has-brought-a-hidden-conflict-into-focus">other diplomatic ties</a> with Jakarta. Australia has been involved in training Indonesian army and police, and is a major aid donor to Indonesia.</p>
<p>Phil Mehrtens is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Captives-Freedom-Hostages-Negotiations-Future/dp/998089203X">far from the first hostage</a> to be taken in this unequal power struggle. Nearly three decades ago, in the neighbouring district of Mapenduma, TPN-PB members kidnapped a group of environmental researchers from Europe for five months.</p>
<p>Like now, the demand was that Indonesia recognise West Papuan independence. Two Indonesians with the group were killed. The English and Dutch hostages were ultimately rescued, but not before further tragedy occurred.</p>
<p>At one point, negotiations seemed to have stalled between the West Papuan captors and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which was delivering food and supplies to the hostages and working for their release.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fight-for-freedom-new-research-to-map-violence-in-the-forgotten-conflict-in-west-papua-128058">Fight for freedom: new research to map violence in the forgotten conflict in West Papua</a>
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<p>Taking matters into their own hands, members of the Indonesian military commandeered a white civilian helicopter that had been used (or was similar to one used) by the ICRC. Witnesses recall seeing the ICRC emblem on the aircraft. When the helicopter lowered towards waiting crowds of civilians, the military opened fire.</p>
<p>The ICRC denied any involvement in the resulting massacre, but the entire incident was emblematic of the times. It took place several years before the fall of former Indonesian president Suharto, when there was little hope of West Papua gaining independence from Indonesia through peaceful negotiations.</p>
<p>Then, as now, the TPN-PB was searching for a way to capture the world’s attention.</p>
<h2>Losing hope</h2>
<p>Since the early 2000s, with Suharto gone and fresh <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/west-papua-issue-won-t-go-away-melanesia">hope inspired</a> by East Timor’s independence, Papuans – <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/indonesia/indonesia-opm-lays-down-arms">including members</a> of the West Papuan Liberation Army – have largely been committed to fighting for independence through peaceful means.</p>
<p>After several decades of wilful non-intervention by Australia and New Zealand in what they consider to be Jakarta’s affairs, that hope is flagging. It appears elements of the independence movement are again turning to desperate measures.</p>
<p>In 2019, the TPN-PB <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46446719">killed 24 Indonesians</a> working on a highway to connect the coast with the interior, claiming their victims were spies for the Indonesian army. They have become increasingly outspoken about their intentions to stop further Indonesian expansion in Papua at any cost.</p>
<p>In turn, this triggered a hugely disproportionate <a href="https://theconversation.com/west-papua-is-on-the-verge-of-another-bloody-crackdown-161272">counter-insurgency operation</a> in the highlands where Phil Mehrtens was captured. It has been reported at least <a href="https://www.oikoumene.org/news/in-west-papua-thousands-upon-thousands-of-displaced-people-lack-basic-life-giving-services">60,000 people have been displaced</a> in the Nduga Regency over the past four years as a result, and it is still not safe for them to return home.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/west-papua-is-on-the-verge-of-another-bloody-crackdown-161272">West Papua is on the verge of another bloody crackdown</a>
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<h2>International engagement</h2>
<p>It is important to remember that the latest hostage taking, and the 1996 events, are the actions of a few. They do not reflect the commitment of the vast majority of Indigenous West Papuans to <a href="http://www.futureleaders.com.au/book_chapters/pdf/Future_Justice/Jennifer_Robinson.pdf">work peacefully</a> for independence through demonstrations, social media activism, civil disobedience, diplomacy and dialogue.</p>
<p>Looking forward, New Zealand, Australia and other governments close to Indonesia need to commit to serious discussions about human rights in West Papua – not only because there is a hostage involved, but because it is the right thing to do.</p>
<p>This may not be enough to resolve the current crisis, but it would be a long overdue and critical step in the right direction.</p>
<p>Negotiations for the release of Philip Mehrtens must be handled carefully to avoid further disproportionate responses by the Indonesian military. The kidnapping is not justified, but neither is Indonesia’s violence against West Papuans – or the international community’s refusal to address the violence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199601/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Camellia Webb-Gannon has received funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>The kidnapping of Phil Mehrtens is a sign the West Papuan independence movement is again becoming desperate to attract international attention, following decades of violent human rights abuses.Camellia Webb-Gannon, Lecturer, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1730012022-01-06T17:21:53Z2022-01-06T17:21:53ZMultiracism: why we need to pay attention to the world’s many racisms<p>Racism is being called out across the world – and not just in the usual places. The word “racism” has been taken up by <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/world-left-yazidis-to-suffer-says-nobel-winner-nadia-murad-5fr7h2lfl/">Yazidis in Syria</a>, <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/people-will-rise-up-uyghur-exile-foresees-end-of-chinas-ruthless-rule/">Uyghurs in China</a>, and <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/16/black-lives-matter-papua-indonesia/">Papuans in Indonesia</a> and used to describe their experience of discrimination. </p>
<p>Expressed very simply, racism is prejudice and discrimination by a more powerful in-group against a minority group or individual based on their ethnic background. Yet in both public and academic debate in the west, racism is routinely represented as uniquely western, European and white. It’s a chain of association that reflects the history and power of western racism. </p>
<p>Racism in the west is an enduring and shameful problem. But in a multi-polar world, where the relationship between power and prejudice is shifting, a more universal approach is needed, too. Racism has a diverse history with multiple roots – and needs to be called out <em>wherever</em> it is encountered.</p>
<p>The past 20 years have witnessed numerous acts of mass racist violence. The recent conviction of an Islamic State fighter in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/yazidi-genocide-landmark-guilty-verdict-for-is-jihadi-could-transform-how-atrocities-are-brought-to-justice-173043">German court for genocide</a> was welcomed by Yazidi rights advocate and Nobel peace prize winner Nadia Murad, who <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/world-left-yazidis-to-suffer-says-nobel-winner-nadia-murad-5fr7h2lfl">tells us</a> that her community has been “subjected to ethnic cleansing, racism and identity change in plain sight of the international community”. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/yazidi-genocide-landmark-guilty-verdict-for-is-jihadi-could-transform-how-atrocities-are-brought-to-justice-173043">Yazidi genocide: landmark guilty verdict for IS jihadi could transform how atrocities are brought to justice</a>
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<p>Reports of one million Muslims <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights-un-idUSKBN1KV1SU">held in “re-education camps”</a> in Xinjiang province in China appear credible. And in 2019, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24187&LangID=E">UN human rights experts</a>, detailed “the deeply entrenched discrimination and racism that indigenous Papuans face” in West Papua from the Indonesian police and army, pointing to “numerous cases of alleged killings, unlawful arrests, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”.</p>
<p>There are many such cases. We might add the bloody pogroms targeting <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26918077?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">Muslims in India</a> and <a href="https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/hazaras-afghan-state/">Hazaras in Afghanistan</a> and the widespread maltreatment of black Africans in North Africa. In 2017, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/11/13/libya-migrant-slave-auction-lon-orig-md-ejk.cnn">CNN aired footage</a> of black African migrants auctioned as slave labour for as little as US$400 (£300) in a clandestine market outside Tripoli.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">CNN report on migrants being sold as slaves in Libya.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The facts are there: the racism is stark and ongoing. Yet these examples rarely feature in journals in the academic field of ethnic and racial studies. It is a typical oversight that serves the interests of those who wish to bury discussion of the topic and deny the existence of racism in their country.</p>
<h2>Growing debate</h2>
<p>A new generation of activists and many scholars across Asia and Africa don’t want to forget or be silent. In part, their choice to use the term “racism” comes from the knowledge that this is a word the international community listens to. But mostly it stems from the fact that racism is an accurate description of the hatred they have witnessed. It’s a hatred that leads to ethnic and racial minorities facing attack, eviction, impoverishment and – sometimes – enslavement and genocide.</p>
<p>In my book <a href="https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=multiracism-rethinking-racism-in-global-context--9781509537310">Multiracism</a> I draw on these new voices to understand the diversity of racism and make the case that the modern world cannot continue to view racism in the traditional, rather monolithic, way.</p>
<p>Thus, for example, in <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-05357-4">Discourses of Race and Rising China</a>, Yinghong Cheng depicts racism in China as “an independent variation rather than an imitation or reflection of western racism”. In <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=8250">Ethnic Nationalism in Korea</a> Gi-Wook Shin writes that “nationalism based on common blood and shared ancestry” has been “a key feature of Korean modernity”.</p>
<p>Critical studies from many different sources are opening up the question of who gets to define racism. The Indian activist for the rights of the Dalit or “Untouchable” caste, <a href="https://www.rawatbooks.com/sc-st/caste-race-and-discrimination-discourses-in-international-context">Teesta Setalvad</a>, asks: “is it not time that we fill and feed such terminology with our own histories and thereby deepen their meanings?” She goes onto explain: </p>
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<p>Within political science and sociology circles, racism has come to typify and describe systems of inequality and discrimination. The condition of the 160 million Dalits more than fulfils the description of the conditions used to describe racism.</p>
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<p>A caste is something that one is born into and, for many, it defines pretty much all aspects of their lives. The social exclusion of Dalits in India has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/dec/28/india.mainsection">depicted as a form of apartheid</a>. The Indian government has no sympathy for this kind of conceptual expansion and <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/08/17/india.caste/">points out</a> that Dalits are defined by caste – not ethnicity or race. But “racism” is not a fixed signifier – it is being adopted but also adapted. It is being put to work in fast-changing societies in new ways that help people organise and resist discrimination.</p>
<h2>Speaking out</h2>
<p>In many countries, writing about racism can result in harassment, imprisonment or worse. Disappearances of activists and scholars critical of discrimination are common, while other researchers are forced into exile. The Eritrean social critic <a href="https://www.lit-verlag.de/isbn/978-3-643-90332-7">Abdulkader Mohammad</a>, writing in exile, explains that “speaking about ethnicity and ethnic conflicts has been a risky issue and a taboo” in his country.</p>
<p>The topic of racism is held by numerous governments to be a direct political challenge and an unpatriotic affront. Even in democratic countries such as India, Turkey and Malaysia, research is increasingly difficult and risky. <a href="https://merip.org/2018/12/turkeys-purge-of-critical-academia/">Anti-racist scholarship can be dangerous</a> but it is happening anyway and, despite the risks, academics and activists are asking the world to listen and learn.</p>
<p>If we do, we will hear a profound challenge to the idea that the history of racism can be framed solely or simply in terms of western action and non-western reaction. Chouki El Hamel in his groundbreaking <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/history/african-history/black-morocco-history-slavery-race-and-islam?format=PB&isbn=9781107651777">Black Morocco</a> shows that North African patterns of racism do not simply mirror Euro-American racism.</p>
<p>El Hamel’s intervention, along with others, takes issue with the defensiveness and evasion that has marked debate in the past, in which the severity or importance of anti-black racism in North Africa was downplayed or simply ignored. The telling title of a report published in 2020 by the Arab Reform Initiative on anti-black racism in Morocco is <a href="https://www.arab-reform.net/publication/ending-denial-anti-black-racism-in-morocco/">Ending Denial</a>.</p>
<p>There is a nascent debate on racism in Morocco. It is a debate that demands to be acknowledged and taken seriously, along with those many other voices from beyond the west that are today studying, challenging, and reimagining racism. Yet a final point must be made. For this is a topic where silence and denial can be more telling than public controversy. The fact that racism is now being talked about in some circles in Morocco does not mean that Morocco is “where the problem is”. </p>
<p>Far from it – it is where the silence endures, where it is impossible to speak out, that racism is likely to be taking its heaviest toll.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173001/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alastair Bonnett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The west has long defined racism as a function of colonial domination and discrimination. But in a changing world this definition must be challenged.Alastair Bonnett, Professor of Geography, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1687522021-10-01T09:52:01Z2021-10-01T09:52:01ZThe pandemic is a golden opportunity for Papua to step up its game in education technology<p>Papua, Indonesia’s easternmost island and one of its most rural provinces, is significantly behind in education – both in terms of students’ learning achievements and digital infrastructure.</p>
<p>The region’s <a href="https://www.bps.go.id/indicator/26/418/1/-metode-baru-peringkat-indeks-pembangunan-manusia.html">Human Development Index</a> and <a href="https://www.bps.go.id/publication/2020/12/15/f52c2f6c113db406967d5cb0/indeks-pembangunan-teknologi-informasi-dan-komunikasi-2019-.html">Technology Development Index</a> have ranked lowest in Indonesia throughout the last few years. <a href="https://www.unicef.org/indonesia/media/2066/file/Rural%20and%20remote%20education%20initiative%20for%20Papuan%20Provinces%20-%20Programme%20overview.pdf">Low success rates</a> in national examinations among Papuan students also stayed consistent from 2017 to 2019.</p>
<p>In 2020, amid the importance of online learning, Papua had the fewest households with internet access – <a href="https://www.unicef.org/indonesia/media/10531/file/Strengthening%20Digital%20Learning%20across%20Indonesia:%20A%20Study%20Brief.pdf">only 29.5%</a> compared to Jakarta with 89%.</p>
<p>This has meant Papua has <a href="https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2020/10/22/covid-19-is-widening-indonesias-education-gap">struggled with online learning</a> during the COVID-19 crisis.</p>
<p>Interestingly, it may just be the right time to invest in Papua’s education technology.</p>
<h2>Mindset of Papuan educators is shifting</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/indonesia/1/">2015 study</a> by the Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership (ACDP) – a collaboration between the Indonesian government, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Australian Aid, and the European Union (EU) – identified at least three essential requirements for developing education technology in Papua.</p>
<p>These include: </p>
<p>1) increasing awareness among educators of the need for technology</p>
<p>2) ensuring the availability of digital infrastructure</p>
<p>3) preparing educators so they have the skills to fully implement digital tools.</p>
<p>The first need is the toughest to fulfil – for educators in Papua, and even around the world.</p>
<p>While providing digital infrastructure and training programs is by and large within the Indonesian government’s control, it takes a lot of time and effort to shift a mindset.</p>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/indonesia/1/">findings from the study</a> revealed that at the time, approximately 70% of teachers in Papua used technology solely for administrative purposes and preparing lessons, not for supporting students’ learning – even though the study found many students already owned laptops and smartphones.</p>
<p>In the western world, up until 2019, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) also <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/07/in-intervention-study-moocs-dont-make-the-grade/">struggled with low completion rates</a> – despite having some of the biggest academic names providing their courses. This too proved how shifting students’ mindset to complete courses online, as they would typically do offline, was no simple task.</p>
<p>Even <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/10/theres-no-erasing-the-chalkboard/503975/">the usage of whiteboards</a> faced challenges. Despite having been available since the 1960s, classrooms only began to replace chalkboards with whiteboards in the 1990s, as the advent of computers required classrooms to be free of dust.</p>
<p>However, the COVID-19 pandemic has played a significant role in drastically changing behaviours, particularly in education. The closing of schools has pushed Papuan educators to examine their teaching habits and consider the importance of education technology.</p>
<p>Even though the region’s <a href="https://www.unicef.org/indonesia/coronavirus/stories/learning-home-during-covid-19-pandemic">digital infrastructure was lacking</a>, there are indications the use of education technology has soared throughout the region.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/535881589465343528/pdf/EdTech-in-Indonesia-Ready-for-Take-off.pdf">a World Bank study in 2020</a>, the use of education technology (including platforms such as Ruangguru, Zenius, and Google Classroom) in Papua was close to 10%. This is on par with the far more developed provinces like Riau and South Sulawesi. Papua even fared better than some other parts of Sumatra (such as Aceh and Bengkulu), Sulawesi, and Kalimantan.</p>
<p>Amid the pandemic, educators in Papua seem willing to engage in online learning if given an enabling environment.</p>
<p>This is a rare opportunity for stakeholders in Indonesia’s education sector – it’s the first time in a while Papuan educators are on a level playing field with their peers in the rest of the country.</p>
<h2>Multiple opportunities to move forward</h2>
<p>The opportunities to seize this momentum exist on various fronts.</p>
<p>In terms of infrastructure, providing general connectivity to the internet lies largely in the government’s hands. However, opportunities for providing connectivity to schools, teachers, and students also exist in the form of private funding and public-private partnerships.</p>
<p>Assuming general connectivity remains scarce in Papua, the solution may not even have to be online.</p>
<p>Technology experts and government analysts have previously mentioned a number of alternative tools to online learning, such as the use of <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org">Raspberry Pi</a> – computers the size of credit cards <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9504208.stm">originally designed for teaching basic computer science</a> in schools and developing countries – with at least 16 GB memory to carry digital books and learning contents.</p>
<p>The opportunity for private funding is also present in providing <a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/535881589465343528/pdf/EdTech-in-Indonesia-Ready-for-Take-off.pdf">digital devices and technical assistance to educators</a>. For instance, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the Ministry of Education and Culture worked with telecommunication companies to give <a href="https://kuota-belajar.kemdikbud.go.id/">internet data support to teachers</a> throughout the country.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the ACDP study mentioned <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/indonesia/1/">the importance of monitoring and evaluation</a> to ensure these digital tools are put to proper use. Education experts can assist in developing them in schools and education institutions.</p>
<p>Similarly, schools and regional governments can train educators to use education technology by <a href="https://www.unicef.org/indonesia/media/10531/file/Strengthening%20Digital%20Learning%20across%20Indonesia:%20A%20Study%20Brief.pdf">working with institutions specializing in teacher development</a>. There are even programs such as <a href="https://sekolah.penggerak.kemdikbud.go.id/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Paparan-Program-Sekolah-Penggerak.pdf"><em>Sekolah Penggerak</em></a> – that push collaboration between different schools and teachers to promote progressive learning practices – to help fill in teaching gaps among educators in the region.</p>
<p>All of these will take a lot of hard work, but they will not be in vain.</p>
<p>Improvement in digital infrastructure and the skills to use them can allow both teachers and students to explore beyond what can be found in schools. An improved monitoring and evaluation system will enhance school leadership, and by extension, lead to better teaching and learning.</p>
<p>There are only two possible outcomes from this pandemic, and they depend on the actions of relevant stakeholders. Papua’s education can either attain the support it needs and become competitive, narrowing the gap of the nation’s persisting inequalities, or it can receive no support and fall further behind.</p>
<p>Whatever attempts are made, the pandemic is a golden opportunity to leave a lasting and impactful legacy for education in Papua.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168752/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Garry Pawitandra Poluan terafiliasi dengan Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Indonesia. ACER Indonesia menerima dana untuk projek Evaluation of ICT in Education in Papua Province (ACDP-045) dari Education Sector Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership (ACDP), kemitraan antara Pemerintah Indonesia, Asian Development Bank, Uni-Eropa, dan Pemerintah Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sherine Hassan terafiliasi dengan Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Indonesia. ACER Indonesia menerima dana untuk projek Evaluation of ICT in Education in Papua Province (ACDP-045) dari Education Sector Analytical and Capacity Development Partnership (ACDP), kemitraan antara Pemerintah Indonesia, Asian Development Bank, Uni-Eropa, dan Pemerintah Australia.</span></em></p>Papua, one of Indonesia’s most rural provinces, struggled with online learning during the COVID-19 crisis. Interestingly, it may just be the right moment to invest in Papua’s education technology.Garry Pawitandra Poluan, Senior Project Officer for Research, ACER Indonesia Sherine Hassan, Education Consultant, ACER Indonesia Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1612722021-05-27T04:34:52Z2021-05-27T04:34:52ZWest Papua is on the verge of another bloody crackdown<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403038/original/file-20210527-21-inna64.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=63%2C29%2C2661%2C1844&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dita Alangkara/AP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Destroy them first. We will discuss human rights matters later.” These are the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/441298/fears-of-major-military-crackdown-in-papua">reported words</a> of Bambang Soesatyo, chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly to the Indonesian military (TNI), last month. </p>
<p>He was talking about the Indigenous people of the contested territory of West Papua, who are seeking independence from Indonesia. This has sparked concerns West Papua may again be on the brink of a violent crackdown — or worse — executed by Indonesia’s elite security forces, including the notorious <a href="https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/us-explores-ties-controversial-indonesian-army-unit">Kopassus</a>.</p>
<p>These have occurred before, for example, the well-documented massacres in the <a href="https://www.freewestpapua.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AHRC_TheNeglected_Genocide-lowR.pdf">Baliem Valley</a> in 1977-78 and on <a href="https://www.biak-tribunal.org/">Biak Island</a> in 1998. </p>
<p>The world said nothing about these events when they were happening — they were conducted out of public sight. If violence is committed again, the world cannot in clear conscience turn away.</p>
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<h2>Months of building tensions</h2>
<p>The immediate catalyst for this latest military intervention was the <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2021/04/26/papua-intelligence-chief-killed-in-weekend-rebel-attack-.html">fatal shooting</a> of Brigadier General Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha, head of Indonesian intelligence in Papua, on April 25. The act was <a href="https://humanrightspapua.org/news/33-2021/790-tpnpb-kill-papuan-intelligence-chief-in-puncak-regency-human-rights-observers-fear-further-military-raids">claimed</a> by members of the West Papua National Liberation Army, the TPN-PB. </p>
<p>Danny had been in the highlands region investigating the killing of two school teachers and a youth, who were <a href="https://jubi.co.id/siswa-sma-ilaga-ditembak-tpnpb-dituding-mata-mata-polisi/">accused</a> by the TPN-PB of being Indonesian spies.</p>
<p>After the killing, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo <a href="https://www.aseantoday.com/2021/04/jakarta-calls-for-renewed-offensive-crackdown-against-papuan-rebels/">ordered</a> state security forces “to chase and arrest” all armed militants and Bambang issued his threat to “crush” the rebels.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/riots-in-west-papua-why-indonesia-needs-to-answer-for-its-broken-promises-122127">Riots in West Papua: why Indonesia needs to answer for its broken promises</a>
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<p>We know, from recent accounts, what such revenge can look like. </p>
<p>In February, an Indonesian soldier was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/three-brothers-killed-by-indonesian-soldiers-papuan-health-clinic-army-witness-2021-04-06/">shot and killed</a> by separatist fighters in the central highlands of Papua, and security forces went on the hunt for his killer. During their interrogation of residents of a village, they shot a young man, Janius Bagau, in the arm, shattering his bone. </p>
<p>His brothers accompanied him to a health clinic to seek medical attention. While there, the three men were <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/three-brothers-killed-by-indonesian-soldiers-papuan-health-clinic-army-witness-2021-04-06/">allegedly tortured and killed</a>, according to Janius’s wife, who was interviewed by Reuters. </p>
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<p>The military claimed the men were members of TPN-PB — the armed wing of the broader separatist group called the Free Papua Movement (OPM) — and had tried to take the soldiers’ weapons and escape. However, a spokesman for the group said none of the men were members. </p>
<p>The killing of Danny, the head of Indonesian intelligence in Papua, is certain to result in similar retribution. In the wake of the shooting, the government formally declared Papuan separatists “terrorists”, which human rights groups <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/indonesia-designates-papuan-separatists-terrorists-2021-04-29/">warned</a> could lead to more abuses. </p>
<p>The military also deployed 400 elite soldiers known as “<a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/indonesia-deploys-special-forces-to-troubled-papua-region/">Satan’s forces</a>” to the region, who had previously taken part in operations in Timor-Leste and Aceh. </p>
<p>And a leading independence figure, Victor Yeimo, was <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/442242/west-papuan-independence-campaigner-arrested">arrested</a> for alleged treason, sparking widespread protests across the restive region. At least two cities have been without internet service for weeks. </p>
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<h2>Displacement in the guise of development</h2>
<p>In 1971, Papuans comprised over 96% of the population in the two provinces of Papua and West Papua, on the western side of the island they share with Papua New Guinea. Now, Papuans in urban centres and coastal regions <a href="https://apjjf.org/2017/02/Elmslie.html">make up less than half</a> the population due to the inward migration of non-Papuan settlers in recent years.</p>
<p>Many Papuans believe they are facing a <a href="https://www.ulmwp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/A-Slow-Motion-Genocide-Indonesian-Rule-in-West-Papua-1.pdf">slow-motion genocide</a> as they are progressively marginalised and their lands are <a href="https://apjjf.org/2011/9/12/David-Adam-Stott/3499/article.html">forcibly expropriated</a> for military-backed logging, oil palm and mining operations. </p>
<p>One major reason for the escalation of the conflict in recent years has been the policies pursued by Jokowi. He believes economic development will trump Papuan nationalism and has pushed accelerated development as a cure for the conflict. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/papua-how-indonesian-president-jokowi-is-trying-and-failing-to-win-hearts-and-minds-107826">Papua: how Indonesian president Jokowi is trying – and failing – to win hearts and minds</a>
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<p>Chief among these projects is the construction of a highway through the highlands region to the coast that will “<a href="https://theconversation.com/papua-how-indonesian-president-jokowi-is-trying-and-failing-to-win-hearts-and-minds-107826">open up</a>” the interior of Papua. These are the very regions where Papuans remain in the majority and retain some degree of control over their lives. </p>
<p>Where Jokowi sees economic development flowing from the road, the Papuans see more soldiers, logging and mining companies, and more Indonesian settlers. Three years ago, TPN-PB forces <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46446719">killed</a> at least 24 Indonesian road workers whom they claimed to be Indonesian army spies in a bid to stop the construction of the road.</p>
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<p>The area has been heavily occupied by the military ever since, resulting in the expulsion of some <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/amid-crackdown-indonesia-arrests-papuan-independence-leader/">45,000 people</a> from their homes. </p>
<p>The Papuan fighters see the conflict as a legitimate war of <a href="https://suarapapua.com/2018/12/06/panglima-kodap-iii-ndugama-bertanggungjawab-atas-kasus-nduga/">national liberation</a> against foreign invaders. The TPN-PB has reportedly signalled it may start <a href="https://en.jubi.co.id/tpnpb-demands-international-intervention/">targeting</a> non-Papuan settlers if Papuan civilians are killed or injured in the military crackdown, which seems highly likely. </p>
<p>This opens up the horrifying possibility of inter-ethnic conflict between settlers and Papuans, which to date has been largely avoided. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fight-for-freedom-new-research-to-map-violence-in-the-forgotten-conflict-in-west-papua-128058">Fight for freedom: new research to map violence in the forgotten conflict in West Papua</a>
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<p>Indonesia successfully, albeit with great difficulty, resolved the other two armed conflicts that had troubled the nation for decades: Aceh (which remains as part of Indonesia) and Timor-Leste (which became independent). Through dialogue and foreign involvement, however, peace was finally achieved. </p>
<p>There has been no substantial dialogue between leaders in Jakarta and independence advocates in West Papua to date. The UN has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-world-failed-west-papua-in-its-campaign-for-independence-129623">ineffectual</a> in resolving the conflict, and the world, with the exception of some of the Pacific nations, has turned a blind eye. </p>
<p>While global attention has been riveted on Palestine, Myanmar and the plight of the Uyghurs in China in recent months, it is time to speak out against the atrocities unfolding on Australia’s door step.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161272/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jim Elmslie is the convenor of the West Papua Project at the University of Wollongong, which is a think tank focused on researching political developments in West Papua</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Camellia Webb-Gannon receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is affiliated with the West Papua Project. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ronny Kareni does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tensions have been building over the last month following the killing of an Indonesian intelligence chief. The government has vowed to ‘chase and arrest’ all armed militants in the region.Jim Elmslie, Honorary Fellow, University of WollongongCamellia Webb-Gannon, Lecturer, University of WollongongRonny Kareni, Invited User, Indigenous KnowledgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1601102021-05-17T02:33:14Z2021-05-17T02:33:14ZProposed base for Elon Musk’s SpaceX project threatens lands and livelihoods in Biak, Papua<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399124/original/file-20210506-13-1es3yqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C13%2C3000%2C1980&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/40126461411">Official SpaceX Photos/flickr</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In December 2020, the Indonesian government had offered the Papuan island of Biak, home to some 100,000 inhabitants, to the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/12/10/944620768/theres-rich-and-theres-jeff-bezos-rich-meet-the-members-of-the-100-billion-club#:%7E:text=Rounding%20out%20the%20group%20of,the%20five%2C%20with%20%24105%20billion.">centibillionare Elon Musk</a> as a potential launch site for the SpaceX Mars-bound expedition. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.spacex.com/">SpaceX</a>, an aerospace corporation founded in 2002 by Musk, is arguably the world’s most leading-edge technological project. It aims to enable humans to travel to and live on <a href="https://hbr.org/2021/02/the-commercial-space-age-is-here">Mars and potentially other planets</a> sustainably and at scale. </p>
<p>This way, human civilisation can continue in the event of a <a href="https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-first-mars-trip-2024">planetary disaster</a> – for instance, an asteroid strike or nuclear war – that would make life on Earth impossible. </p>
<p>At a local level, government officials <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/10/anger-after-indonesia-offers-elon-musk-papuan-island-for-spacex-launchpad">say</a> the project will help enhance the economic development of the residents of Biak, a rural island where urban infrastructure is lacking.</p>
<p>Most recently, <a href="https://money.kompas.com/read/2021/03/11/101341726/pemerintah-bantah-tawarkan-biak-sebagai-landasan-peluncuran-roket-spacex">local news reported</a> on March 11 that the Indonesian government has denied making the offer to Elon Musk, although a report published in late March by JUBI, a news website based in the capital city of Papua, Jayapura, <a href="https://en.jubi.co.id/space-x-west-papua-biak-launchpad-indigenous-people/">claims the SpaceX project in Biak is still ongoing</a>. </p>
<p>It is still unclear whether Musk has confirmed his acceptance of the government’s offer. </p>
<p>However, many Biak residents have voiced strong <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/10/anger-after-indonesia-offers-elon-musk-papuan-island-for-spacex-launchpad">opposition</a> to the project. </p>
<p>They fear it may damage their natural environment, have negative impacts on their cultures and livelihoods, and displace communities from their homes and villages. </p>
<h2>Economic and strategic factors</h2>
<p>Biak island is an attractive location for the Mars expedition for economic and strategic reasons. </p>
<p>The island sits within a region rich in natural resources, including <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55297975">copper and nickel</a>. These metals are essential for the production of rockets and long-range batteries for electric vehicles, like Tesla (another Elon Musk venture).</p>
<p>Biak is also located <a href="https://theconversation.com/indonesias-first-spaceport-in-biak-papua-set-to-become-first-equatorial-launching-site-in-the-pacific-127499">one degree south of the equator</a>, meaning less fuel will be required for a spacecraft to reach orbit. </p>
<p>SpaceX expects to generate revenue of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2020/06/02/revisiting-spacexs-36-billion-valuation-after-its-first-manned-mission/?sh=49c3bb7244fb">US$36 billion</a> by 2025, although the accuracy of such projections is <a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/elon-musk-predicted-starlink-would-generate-%2430-billion-in-revenue.-dont-believe-it.-2021">disputed</a>. </p>
<p>As a social anthropologist, I have spent many years researching how Indigenous Papuan peoples interact with their natural environments. </p>
<p>In particular, I have been exploring how Papuan cultural values and traditions shape how they engage with and understand the value and meaning of the natural environment – the forests, oceans, rivers and land. </p>
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Baca juga:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-west-papua-oil-palm-expansion-undermines-the-relations-of-indigenous-marind-people-to-forest-plants-and-animals-124885">In West Papua, oil palm expansion undermines the relations of indigenous Marind people to forest plants and animals</a>
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<p>Between March and April 2021, I interviewed 10 Biak inhabitants to understand their perspectives on the SpaceX project.</p>
<p>The overwhelming majority of these individuals believe they have the right to decide what developments happen on their lands and what kind of livelihoods they want to pursue. </p>
<p>One of the elders explained that local communities in Biak have been <a href="https://pulotu.shh.mpg.de/culture/biak">fishing, gathering, hunting and engaging in small-scale horticulture and animal husbandry</a> for many generations. </p>
<p>The idea of achieving sustainability in outer space, especially Mars, was strange for many of the interviewees. They firmly believe that the way they use forests and oceans is already sustainable. </p>
<h2>Land and livelihoods</h2>
<p>The SpaceX project could also threaten the lands and livelihoods of Biak residents. They continue to rely primarily on <a href="https://pulotu.shh.mpg.de/culture/biak">fishing, hunting and horticulture</a> for their daily subsistence. </p>
<p>As with other Indigenous Papuan communities, the <a href="https://knepublishing.com/index.php/Kne-Social/article/view/436">land and environment</a> represent an integral part of the richness of their local cultures. </p>
<p>As several interviewees explained, clans and tribes in the Biak area share ancestry with different plants, species and locations in the landscape, which are responsible for their health and well-being. </p>
<p>For instance, the <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=fLHyCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=biak+numfor+totemic+species&source=bl&ots=DmRpqPEsYr&sig=ACfU3U3dycnZqK7z63IbjMwUt7KLWNzXnQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjL0c3CoLTwAhUUO30KHS-2BU0Q6AEwD3oECA8QAw#v=onepage&q=totem&f=false">crocodile</a> is said to represent the power of the sea and Biak clans consider it a sacred totem animal. </p>
<p>To Biak and other Papuan dwellers, the <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/230420111.pdf">environment</a> is also a source of precious traditional knowledge, stories passed down through generations, and animist belief systems. </p>
<p>Biak <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-015-0742-4_6">myths</a> often feature forest plants like the coconut palm, animals including snakes and birds, and natural phenomena like the Moon and Sun.</p>
<p>For Biak inhabitants, damaging the environment means damaging local people’s sense of cultural identity, belonging and pride. </p>
<p>Another risk is that the Biak project might <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/app5.143">displace populations</a>.</p>
<p>One of the Biak elders I interviewed noted that relocating tribes to other territories could cause problems with the tribes already inhabiting and owning these territories. </p>
<p>This in turn risks leading to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/resrep06523.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A47858bb3295cde76ed8bba9182548844">land disputes</a>, social conflict and more violence. </p>
<h2>Deep-rooted trauma</h2>
<p>Many Biak dwellers whom I interviewed also argue that the project will obscure the history of violence and suffering, and the dreams of justice and freedom for West Papuans, in favor of rockets and space exploration. </p>
<p>In particular, the transformation of their island into a launchpad for extra-planetary discovery risks further obscuring the trauma that haunts the relatives and descendants of those who died in the <a href="https://www.biak-tribunal.org/">Biak Massacre</a> of July 1998. </p>
<p>The Biak Massacre Citizens Tribunal – an expert witness and judicial inquiry event held at the University of Sydney in December 2013 – concluded that Indonesian military and security forces had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/13/west-papuans-tortured-killed-and-dumped-at-sea-tribunal-hears">tortured, raped, killed and dumped hundreds of Biak civilians at sea</a>. </p>
<p>Some of the victims had attempted to raise the West Papua Morning Star flag – a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/23/west-papuans-face-jail-banned-flag">crime</a> punishable by up to 15 years’ jail under Indonesian law. </p>
<p>To date, no charges have been laid against the perpetrators of the violence. </p>
<p>The government denies responsibility for this event, described by human rights organisations as one of the <a href="https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1307/S00123/groups-urge-justice-on-15th-anniversary-of-biak-massacre.htm">worst massacres</a> in Indonesia’s post-Suharto history. </p>
<p>Unhealed trauma plays a big part in shaping Biak residents’ reactions to the SpaceX project. </p>
<p>For many inhabitants, looking into the future demands first and foremost a recognition by the national and international community of the violence that has characterised West Papua’s modern past and the denied freedoms that continue to characterise its present. </p>
<p>From my long years working with and learning from Indigenous Papuans, I have come to understand that they, too, have their own dreams, including dreams of justice, healthy environments and cultural continuity.</p>
<p>Indigenous Papuan peoples are among the last standing guardians and custodians of rich Indigenous civilisations in Indonesia. These are grounded in relations of respect and nurture with the land and environment. Papuan peoples envision hopeful futures for their children and grandchildren to come – not on Mars or the Moon, but right here on their own customary lands, forests and seas. </p>
<p>The problem arises when some dreams are prioritised at the cost of others. </p>
<p>Extra-planetary exploration may promise revolutionary futures for humans to come. But it should not undermine the well-being and justice of humans today. </p>
<p>Humanity’s shared future can only be great if all visions of the future are respectfully taken into account – those of entrepreneurs and government, but also those of local communities and their increasingly vulnerable environments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160110/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophie Chao tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Biak inhabitants fear a new space project of Elon Musk, if it goes ahead, will damage their environment, cultures and livelihoods, and potentially displace local communities.Sophie Chao, Postdoctoral Research Associate in History, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1280582020-05-14T19:57:47Z2020-05-14T19:57:47ZFight for freedom: new research to map violence in the forgotten conflict in West Papua<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334214/original/file-20200512-66719-woxodd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">BAGUS INDAHONO/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Indonesia has <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-27/indonesia-to-revive-truth-and-reconciliation-commission/11829594">recently</a> indicated it is considering investigating the killings of hundreds of thousands of people in the 1965 “anti-communist” purge under authoritarian leader Suharto. </p>
<p>If the inquiry goes ahead, it would mark a shift in the government’s long-standing failure to address past atrocities. It is unclear if they will include other acts of brutality alleged to have been committed by the Indonesian regime in the troubled region of West Papua. </p>
<p>Observers of the conflict estimate that between <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=dgjUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT20&lpg=PT20&dq=between+100,000+and+500,000+deaths+in+west+papua&source=bl&ots=lH03wnVNyS&sig=ACfU3U31j7U44k6ELRLYSvT-n93hkJew6g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZv-Co8_XpAhWiyjgGHRXTCPsQ6AEwCXoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=between%20100%2C000%20and%20500%2C000%20deaths%20in%20west%20papua&f=false">100,000 and 500,000</a> West Papuans have been killed since the Indonesian takeover of West Papua in the 1960s.</p>
<p>While the number of killings peaked in the 1970s, they are rising again due to renewed activism for independence in the territory. In September 2019, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/28/i-feel-like-im-dying-west-papua-witnesses-unrest-indonesia-police">as many as 41 people were killed</a> in clashes with security forces and <a href="https://www.newmandala.org/increasing-inroads-in-west-papua/">Jihadi-inspired militia</a>.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MfgVCJntLBA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Clashes between security forces and the West Papua National Liberation Army have escalated since January, which human rights groups <a href="https://www.humanrightspapua.org/images/docs/Human%20Rights%20Update%20West%20Papua%20April%202020.pdf">say</a> have resulted in at least five deaths. At least <a href="https://eng.jubi.co.id/a-shooting-victim-killed-in-mimika-was-a-student-of-umn-tangerang-selatan/">two other civilians were killed</a> in another incident.</p>
<p>The latest violence was sparked by <a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-talk-more-about-racism-in-indonesia-123019">racial attacks on Papuan university students</a> in Java last year, which prompted thousands of Papuans to protest against the government. The protests brought <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/this-is-the-next-east-timor/">renewed media attention</a> to human rights violations in the region and Papuans’ decades-long fight for autonomy.</p>
<p>However, because the international media have been prohibited from entering West Papua, the broader conflict has received relatively little attention from the outside world. (<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-12/west-papua-secret-war-with-indonesia-for-independence/12227966">This week’s feature by ABC’s Foreign Correspondent program</a> in Australia was a rare exception.) </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/riots-in-west-papua-why-indonesia-needs-to-answer-for-its-broken-promises-122127">Riots in West Papua: why Indonesia needs to answer for its broken promises</a>
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<h2>New project to map past atrocities</h2>
<p>Late last year, we embarked on a project to map the violence that has occurred in West Papua under Indonesian occupation. </p>
<p>This was in part inspired by the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/ng-interactive/2019/mar/04/massacre-map-australia-the-killing-times-frontier-wars">massacre mapping project</a> of Indigenous people in Australia by the Guardian and University of Newcastle, and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s mapping of <a href="https://www.piac.asn.au/2019/05/14/tides-of-violence-mapping-the-conflict-from-1983-to-2009/">violence in Sri Lanka</a>. </p>
<p>Our aim was to bring renewed attention to the protracted crisis in West Papua. We hope that by showing the extent of state-sanctioned violence going back decades, we might encourage the kind of international scrutiny that eventually led to intervention in East Timor.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-australia-take-a-stand-on-west-papua-18953">Will Australia take a stand on West Papua?</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<p>The map only documents some of the massacres that have taken place in West Papua since the 1970s, as conditions in the territory make it difficult to accurately record and verify deaths. The challenges include a lack of resources for record-keeping, internal displacement and frequently destroyed properties, and a fear of reporting deaths. Others have disappeared, and their bodies have never been found. </p>
<p>We also encountered a relative dearth of data from the 1990s to 2010s, in part due to few journalists reporting on incidents during this period.</p>
<p>For the purposes of our project, we relied largely on reportage from the <a href="http://www.humanrights.asia/">Asian Human Rights Commission</a> and the <a href="https://www.humanrightspapua.org/">International Coalition for Papua</a> (both of which have strong connections within West Papua), as well as research by the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Indonesias-Secret-War-Guerilla-Struggle/dp/0868615196">historian Robin Osborne</a>, <a href="http://www.biak-tribunal.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Names-Without-Graves_Elsham-Papua-English.pdf">Papuan rights organisation ELSHAM</a>, Indonesian human rights watchdog <a href="https://www.tapol.org/publications/west-papua-obliteration-people">TAPOL</a> and a <a href="https://www.freewestpapua.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/West_Papua_final_report.pdf">comprehensive report</a> by academics at Yale Law School published in 2004.</p>
<p>Among the <a href="https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5030&context=sspapers">most recent attacks</a> is the torture and murders of scores of protesters on Biak Island in 1998, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/13/west-papuans-tortured-killed-and-dumped-at-sea-tribunal-hears">according to a citizens’ tribunal</a> held in Sydney. Some <a href="https://www.freewestpapua.org/2013/07/07/protest-and-memorial-for-the-biak-massacre/">estimates</a> say the death toll may have been as high as 200.</p>
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<p>Though far from complete, our mapping project reveals several broad trends.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The majority of massacres have taken place in the West Papuan highlands, the region with the <a href="https://apjjf.org/2017/02/Elmslie.html">highest ratio of Indigenous to non-Indigenous West Papuans</a></p></li>
<li><p>many killings were committed while Papuans were peacefully protesting for independence from Indonesia</p></li>
<li><p>given the numbers of troops posted to West Papua and the types of weapons at their disposal, the government <a href="https://www.tapol.org/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/pdfs/NeglectedGenocideAHRC.pdf">should have had full knowledge</a> of the extent of devastation caused by attacks by security forces and militia groups. (Indonesian security forces are generally known for being out of the government’s control)</p></li>
<li><p>in the vast majority of killings, the perpetrators have never been held to account by the government.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The government <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/foreign/the-war-next-door/12239998">claims</a> the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) is conducting inquiries into some of the more recent incidents, although <a href="https://www.indoleft.org/news/2020-03-20/concern-bloody-paniai-case-will-stall-after-ago-returns-investigation-dossier.html">there are concerns</a> the body doesn’t have sufficient powers and the government has previously been reluctant to <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/02/17/palace-denies-2014-papua-killings-constitute-gross-human-rights-violation.html">accept findings</a> of abuses. </p>
<h2>Why has the world stayed silent?</h2>
<p>Both Australia and New Zealand have been hesitant about intervening in human rights crises in the region, particularly when Indonesia is involved. </p>
<p>In 2006, Australia signed the <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/indonesia/Pages/agreement-between-the-republic-of-indonesia-and-australia-on-the-framework-for-security-cooperation">Lombok Treaty</a>, which assured Jakarta it would respect the sovereignty of the Indonesian state and not support “separatist movements”.</p>
<p>However, Australia – and the rest of the world – did finally act when it came to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/30/east-timor-indonesias-invasion-and-the-long-road-to-independence">independence referendum in East Timor</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334980/original/file-20200514-77239-5h2l02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334980/original/file-20200514-77239-5h2l02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334980/original/file-20200514-77239-5h2l02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334980/original/file-20200514-77239-5h2l02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334980/original/file-20200514-77239-5h2l02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334980/original/file-20200514-77239-5h2l02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334980/original/file-20200514-77239-5h2l02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Australian troops serving on the East Timor/West Timor border with the UN peacekeeping force in 2000.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lewins/AAP</span></span>
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<p>In his <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780730499640/lazarus-rising/">memoir</a>, former Prime Minister John Howard mentioned East Timor independence as one of his key achievements. However, in office, he showed <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/howard-government-resisted-taking-1500-east-timorese-at-gravest-risk-20191219-p53lh2.html">very little appetite for supporting East Timor independence</a> and ruffling Indonesia’s feathers. </p>
<p>It was largely the diplomatic intervention at the international level by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWEzSJYvHOE">US President Bill Clinton</a>, alongside the deployment of Australian Federal Police (AFP) working as unarmed civilian police for the UN mission in East Timor, that eventually secured the referendum. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334890/original/file-20200514-167781-gdxrb5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334890/original/file-20200514-167781-gdxrb5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334890/original/file-20200514-167781-gdxrb5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334890/original/file-20200514-167781-gdxrb5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=896&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334890/original/file-20200514-167781-gdxrb5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334890/original/file-20200514-167781-gdxrb5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334890/original/file-20200514-167781-gdxrb5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1126&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Co-author Jaime Swift serving in East Timor in 2006.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Media coverage played a critical role in persuading the world to take action. In West Papua, the media have not had the same effect. </p>
<p>This is in part due to what the Indonesian security forces learned from East Timor on how to control the media. The Indonesian government has frequently cut internet services in West Papua, enacted a complete ban on foreign journalists and denied requests from the UN Human Rights Commission to investigate human rights violations.</p>
<p>Despite this, mobile phone <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/02/west-papua-students-reportedly-shot-by-militias-as-video-of-soldiers-firing-on-crowds-emerges">videos of abuse</a> continue to leak out.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1093800046821167105"}"></div></p>
<p>In the absence of extensive media coverage, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/17/australia-refuses-to-rule-out-handing-over-sydney-lawyer-who-advocates-for-west-papuans-to-indonesia">Papuan pro-democracy advocates and their supporters</a> have been calling for a UN-sanctioned human rights investigation. There is also significant support from human rights defenders in Indonesia for such an inquiry. </p>
<p>As it now has a <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/with-un-human-rights-council-seat-indonesia-has-choice">seat</a> on the UN Human Rights Council, Indonesia should fully support such a move. However, the <a href="http://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/indonesian-elections-role-of-military/">military retains considerable influence</a> in the country, and holding commanders suspected of human rights abuses to account remains politically difficult. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/joko-widodo-looks-set-to-win-the-indonesia-election-now-the-real-power-struggle-begins-115626">Joko Widodo looks set to win the Indonesia election. Now, the real power struggle begins</a>
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<p>In fact, President Joko Widodo last year appointed as his new <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/23/indonesia-joko-widodo-appoints-arch-rival-as-defence-minister-prabowo-subianto">defence minister</a> Prabowo Subianto, who himself has been accused of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/23/indonesia-joko-widodo-appoints-arch-rival-as-defence-minister-prabowo-subianto">human rights abuses</a>.</p>
<p>Given these challenges, what will it take for the world to show enough moral courage to force change in West Papua?</p>
<p>The right way forward is clear. As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Indonesia needs to put an end to the media ban in West Papuan, support an independent UN investigation and hold accountable those responsible within the government for violent acts. </p>
<p>If Indonesia does not take this course of action, then diplomatic pressure from the world will be required.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128058/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Camellia Webb-Gannon receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is affiliated with the West Papua Project at the University of Wollongong. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jaime Swift is a member of the Cranfield Recovery and Identification of Conflict Casualties Team</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Westaway receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Wright is affiliated with the University of Cambridge. </span></em></p>To bring attention to the renewed conflict in West Papua, Australian researchers are going back decades to document incidents of violence in a new mapping project.Camellia Webb-Gannon, Lecturer, University of WollongongJaime Swift, DPhil (PhD) candidate, University of OxfordMichael Westaway, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Archaeology, School of Social Science, The University of QueenslandNathan Wright, Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1377002020-05-05T03:22:33Z2020-05-05T03:22:33ZPacific governments accused of using coronavirus crisis as cover for media crackdown<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332225/original/file-20200504-83775-z9jc2a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=114%2C128%2C683%2C352&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">IPI/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As fears grow over vulnerability to the coronavirus in parts of the Pacific, some governments stand accused of sheltering behind tough emergency or lockdown rules to silence criticism. </p>
<p>Already, several <a href="https://rsf.org/en/2020-world-press-freedom-index-entering-decisive-decade-journalism-exacerbated-coronavirus">media freedom watchdogs</a> and the United Nations have condemned countries – including Fiji and Papua New Guinea – for exploiting the crisis.</p>
<p>UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has called on governments to stop <a href="https://asiapacificreport.nz/2020/04/25/dont-blame-the-messenger-warns-un-over-media-virus-crackdowns/">using the pandemic</a> as “a pretext to restrict information and stifle criticism”. She cites the International Press Institute’s <a href="https://ipi.media/covid19-media-freedom-monitoring/">tracking</a> of at least 152 alleged media violations since the outbreak began in China last December. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is no time to blame the messenger. Credible, accurate reporting is a lifeline for all of us.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>According to a new <a href="https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/category/press-releases/article/exposed-the-crisis-facing-journalism-in-the-face-of-covid-19.html">report</a> from the International Federation of Journalists, three out of four journalists worldwide have faced intimidation, obstruction or other restrictions covering the pandemic.</p>
<p>In April, Papua New Guinea police minister Bryan Kramer <a href="https://asiapacificreport.nz/2020/04/12/police-minister-kramer-blasts-two-journalists-in-virus-reporting-row/">attacked</a> two experienced journalists, saying they “can’t be trusted” and ought to be sacked.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-countries-score-well-in-media-freedom-index-but-reality-is-far-worse-116373">Pacific countries score well in media freedom index, but reality is far worse</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Kramer used his Kramer Report Facebook page to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kramerreportpng/posts/1947742718695358">accuse</a> Loop PNG political and business editor Freddy Mou and senior PNG Post-Courier journalist Gorethy Kenneth of misrepresenting a financial report by Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey. “Both journalists have close ties to the former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill,” Kramer wrote. “Both have been accused of publishing biased and misleading reports.”</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331918/original/file-20200501-42942-1lakvb0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331918/original/file-20200501-42942-1lakvb0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331918/original/file-20200501-42942-1lakvb0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331918/original/file-20200501-42942-1lakvb0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331918/original/file-20200501-42942-1lakvb0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331918/original/file-20200501-42942-1lakvb0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331918/original/file-20200501-42942-1lakvb0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">PNG journalists Gorethy Kenneth and Freddy Mou.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Loop PNG</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Based on an interview with Ling-Stuckey, Mou’s story alleged the “bulk” of a 23 million kina (NZ$11 million) budget for COVID-19 operations was being used to hire cars and media consultants. Kenneth supported Mou by posting the interview video on social media.</p>
<p>Loop PNG stood by its <a href="http://www.looppng.com/png-news/loop-png-stands-key-facts-91406">“key facts”</a>, saying any “misunderstanding” was “not deliberate or intentional”. Paris-based media freedom advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said the harassment was <a href="https://rsf.org/en/news/papua-new-guinea-government-minister-calls-two-reporters-be-fired-over-covid-19-coverage">“unacceptable meddling”</a>. The PNG Media Council called for <a href="https://asiapacificreport.nz/2020/04/23/media-council-calls-for-transparency-over-coronavirus-png-media-tested/">greater “transparency”</a>.</p>
<p>Ironically, Kramer has a reputation for political transparency rare in PNG. His blog pledges to tell the “inside story through in-depth investigative reporting” and boasts more than 128,000 readers in a country with low internet penetration. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-state-of-exception-becomes-the-norm-democracy-is-on-a-tightrope-135369">When the state of exception becomes the norm, democracy is on a tightrope</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>PNG has eight confirmed COVID-19 cases but no deaths. However, there are fears that a serious outbreak could rapidly overwhelm the health system. Even before the pandemic, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/09/papua-new-guineas-health-system-unprepared-covid-19">warned</a> Human Rights Watch, “the fragile health system […] was underfunded and overwhelmed, with high rates of malaria, tuberculosis and diabetes”.</p>
<p>Human Rights Watch’s Georgie Bright points out that 80% of the PNG population is rural, the country has only 500 doctors, fewer than 4000 nurses and barely 5000 hospital beds. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The country has only 14 ventilators. A COVID-19 outbreak would be catastrophic.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Health officials also point to neighbouring Indonesian-ruled Melanesian provinces Papua and West Papua as a warning for PNG. Politicians worry about encroachments along the 820 kilometre locked-down but still porous border. </p>
<p>Reliable West Papuan data are hard to obtain as they are sometimes “hidden” within Indonesian statistics, but reports <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/415535/surge-in-covid-19-cases-in-papua-mining-hub">indicate</a> 283 cases and seven deaths with totals rising. Only seven respiratory doctors and 73 ventilators are available for 45 hospitals with a regional population of 4 million.</p>
<p>The doctor in charge of the capital Jayapura’s COVID-19 Response Team, Silwanus Sumule, <a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/04/27/limited-health-facilities-leave-papua-facing-tough-covid-19-fight.html">told</a> The Jakarta Post: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I know this might sound harsh for some people but this is the fact – if you don’t want to die, don’t come to Papua. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Indonesian authorities warned in April that people illegally crossing borders would be <a href="https://asiapacificreport.nz/2020/03/30/pacific-coronavirus-indonesia-issues-no-mercy-warning-on-border-crossing/">shown “no mercy”</a>, making reporting from the region particularly dangerous. Three days later, after PNG border police arrested nine “illegals”, East Sepik governor Allan Bird called for a <a href="https://asiapacificreport.nz/2020/04/02/png-arrests-9-border-crossers-while-governor-calls-for-shoot-to-kill-order/">“shoot to kill” order</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331924/original/file-20200501-42913-171yqd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331924/original/file-20200501-42913-171yqd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331924/original/file-20200501-42913-171yqd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331924/original/file-20200501-42913-171yqd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331924/original/file-20200501-42913-171yqd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331924/original/file-20200501-42913-171yqd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331924/original/file-20200501-42913-171yqd7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama with Brigadier-General Jone Kalouniwai (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">RSF/Fijileaks</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While other Pacific countries such as Cook Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga remain COVID-19 free, elsewhere in the Pacific media are still struggling to report the crisis, especially in the American territory of Guam (148 cases and 5 deaths) and the French territories of New Caledonia (18 cases) and Tahiti (58 cases).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-so-hard-to-stop-covid-19-misinformation-spreading-on-social-media-134396">Why is it so hard to stop COVID-19 misinformation spreading on social media?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>On Guam, when nearly 1000 infected crew members on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt were taken ashore, the captain who <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/how-an-outbreak-on-the-uss-roosevelt-became-a-defining-moment-for-the-us-military/2020/04/16/2735f85c-7f24-11ea-8de7-9fdff6d5d83e_story.html">blew the whistle</a> was relieved of his command. The Pacific Island Times has condemned a lack of transparency during a <a href="https://www.pacificislandtimes.com/single-post/2020/04/30/News-blackout">“news blackout”</a> around a US$129 million federal relief budget. </p>
<p>In Fiji, where there have been 18 coronavirus cases with no deaths, Brigadier-General Ratu Jone Kalouniwai <a href="https://fijisun.com.fj/2020/04/22/the-paradox-of-our-rights-during-perilous-times/">warned</a> in the Fiji Sun that the government had “good reasons to stifle criticism” and for “curtailing freedom of […] the press” in response to curfew violations. Two radio personalities were arrested and charged over “malicious” social media comments. </p>
<p>Reporters Without Borders’ Asia-Pacific director Daniel Bastard <a href="https://rsf.org/en/news/rsf-reminds-fiji-press-freedoms-importance-tackling-covid-19">said</a> the comments “recall the worst time of the Fijian military dictatorship from 2006 to 2014”.</p>
<p>Launching its 2020 global <a href="https://rsf.org/en/ranking">Media Freedom Index</a>, Reporters Without Borders recently warned that the pandemic “provides authoritarian governments with an opportunity to implement the notorious ‘shock syndrome’ – to impose measures that would be impossible in normal times.”</p>
<p>Although Pacific nations are not among the worst offenders on the index, with factual reporting of COVID-19 crucial for vulnerable societies, any suppression or censorship is a threat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137700/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Robie is convenor of Pacific Media Watch, a media freedom group collaborating with Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Paris.</span></em></p>While Pacific communities need robust public health reporting, local media face harassment and arrest while covering the crisis.David Robie, Professor of Pacific Journalism, Director of the Pacific Media Centre, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1296232020-01-23T08:59:00Z2020-01-23T08:59:00ZHow the world failed West Papua in its campaign for independence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311085/original/file-20200121-117933-y44e7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C4285%2C2912&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of Free West Papua Campaign Netherlands demonstrate in The Hague last September against excessive violence in West Papua by the Indonesian army.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Remko de Waal/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Activism and protests marked West Papua’s <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2019/07/west-papuas-quest-for-independence/">50th anniversary last year of the so-called Act of Free Choice</a>, which formalised Indonesia’s control over the territory, with the region’s people once again demanding independence from Indonesia. </p>
<p>In January 2019, West Papuan activists delivered <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/381108/papuan-petition-for-independence-vote-handed-to-un-rights-chief">a petition to the United Nation (UN) demanding a referendum on West Papuan independence</a>. </p>
<p>Six months later, protests broke out after Indonesian police arrested 43 West Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java. Footage of the arrests showed Indonesian soldiers <a href="https://theconversation.com/riots-in-west-papua-why-indonesia-needs-to-answer-for-its-broken-promises-122127">racially abusing the indigenous Papuan students</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-04/west-papua-latest-protest-over-referendum-for-independence/11471016">Protesters took to the streets in the months following the incident</a>, demanding an end to racial discrimination against West Papuans within the Indonesian state and calling for a referendum on independence for the territory. </p>
<p>These recent protests build upon a long history of Papuan activism in response to Indonesian government repression, racism and denial of West Papuan desires for independence.</p>
<p>As early as the 1960s, West Papuan nationalists argued for their right to independence – under <a href="https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/about">the UN’s 1960 Declaration on Decolonisation</a> – following the renouncement of Dutch control over Indonesia. However, they ultimately failed.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07075332.2019.1694052">recently published paper</a> argues this failure was in part due to international political dynamics, which sabotaged West Papuans’ attempts to ride the waves of decolonisation efforts by Asian and African countries throughout the 1940s to the 1960s.</p>
<h2>Why West Papua failed in international forums</h2>
<p>In the 1960s, West Papuan activists attempted to link their decolonisation campaign to earlier struggles for independence across Asia and Africa. Triggered by instability during the post-war era, colonial countries in Asia and Africa formed connections to end colonialism. </p>
<p>At the UN, West Papuan activists sought the support of African delegates who they believed were likely allies. They argued West Papua and Africa shared a history of racial oppression and a desire to see the end of colonialism in all its forms. </p>
<p>While African leaders were sympathetic to the cause of West Papuan activists, they were already committed to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Non-Aligned-Movement">Non-Aligned Movement</a> led by Indonesia. </p>
<p>This bloc supported Afro-Asian solidarity and committed leaders not to interfere in the affairs of other nations. It protected them from intervention by their former European colonial powers and from the raging Cold War politics, as they didn’t take side between the US and the Soviet Union. </p>
<p>Contrary to the name, the Non-Aligned Movement didn’t advocate keeping out of the Cold War, but <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07075332.2015.1078394">aimed to use its alliance of Afro-Asian nations to exploit Cold War tensions for Third World aims</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310752/original/file-20200119-118343-194jbos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310752/original/file-20200119-118343-194jbos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310752/original/file-20200119-118343-194jbos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310752/original/file-20200119-118343-194jbos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310752/original/file-20200119-118343-194jbos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310752/original/file-20200119-118343-194jbos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310752/original/file-20200119-118343-194jbos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310752/original/file-20200119-118343-194jbos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The first conference of the Non-Aligned Movement was held in Belgrade in 1961.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indonesia, for example, made deals with the United States promising access to mine gold and copper in Papua. Indonesia turned down Soviet aid, while also using the Afro-Asian bloc at the UN to gain support for its control of West Papua. </p>
<p>The Cold War improved opportunities for nations already committed to power blocs. But for the West Papuans, newcomers to international politics, it was another barrier to entry into the international community. </p>
<p>Afro-Asian connections had begun to solidify in the 1950s and Indonesia’s prominence within the alliance prohibited Papuan involvement.</p>
<p>By the time Papuan activists entered the political arena in the 1960s, Indonesia had already developed its Cold War strategy.</p>
<h2>Alone, isolated and continuously repressed</h2>
<p>West Papuans were denied independence also because the UN system failed to heed their calls and instead placed appeasing Indonesia above its commitment to decolonisation and human rights. </p>
<p>After an interim period of UN administration, <a href="https://www.ulmwp.org/west-papua-and-the-right-to-self-determination-under-international-law-melinda-janki">the Netherlands and Indonesia signed an agreement to transfer control of West Papua to Indonesia</a> in 1962. The agreement included a provision requiring Indonesia to consult the population of West Papua on whether or not they wanted to remain part of the republic.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311031/original/file-20200121-145034-180pl63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311031/original/file-20200121-145034-180pl63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311031/original/file-20200121-145034-180pl63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311031/original/file-20200121-145034-180pl63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311031/original/file-20200121-145034-180pl63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311031/original/file-20200121-145034-180pl63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311031/original/file-20200121-145034-180pl63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=740&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Indonesian flag is raised alongside the UN flag in West Papua, 31 December 1962.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">UN Photo Library</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After intense campaigning by West Papuans, <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/136930601">Indonesia finally announced it would conduct this act of self-determination in 1969</a>. Yet when the referendum came, Papuans were once again denied a voice in the future of the territory. </p>
<p>As the UN was excluded from most of the process, Indonesia went unchallenged in <a href="http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/indonesischebetrekkingen1945-1969/DekolonisatieVanIndonesieEnHetZelfbeschikkingsrechtVanDePapoea/papers_pdf/saltford">allowing just over 1,000 hand-picked individuals to vote on behalf of the entire West Papuan population</a>. Under this rigged system, the men unsurprisingly voted in favour of becoming part of Indonesia.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311033/original/file-20200121-144966-68p4m4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311033/original/file-20200121-144966-68p4m4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311033/original/file-20200121-144966-68p4m4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311033/original/file-20200121-144966-68p4m4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311033/original/file-20200121-144966-68p4m4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311033/original/file-20200121-144966-68p4m4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311033/original/file-20200121-144966-68p4m4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Papuans were arrested and intimidated by the Indonesian military in the lead-up to the act of self-determination.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ULMWP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the UN General Assembly meeting to ratify the Act of Free Choice, many African representatives were unwilling to back it without debate as they believed it undermined the UN’s principles of decolonisation. </p>
<p>They highlighted the hypocrisy of establishing the Non-Aligned Movement with the explicit aim of opposing colonialism and then allowing Indonesia to set up colonial-style rule in West Papua. </p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.ulmwp.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/United-Nations-General-Assembly-24th-Session-1813th-Plenary-Meeting-Record-of-the-Debate-on-the-Act-of-Free-Choice-1969.pdf">this debate</a>, no delegate was willing to vote against Indonesia. </p>
<p>The assembly voted to accept the Act of Free Choice as it was – in a vote of 84 to 0 with 30 abstentions – <a href="https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/2504(XXIV)">noting that it fulfilled the requirements and UN responsibilities of the agreement</a>. </p>
<p>While the West Papuans had convinced African leaders of their desire for self-government and the unjust nature of Indonesia’s control, the African representatives were unwilling to openly vote against Indonesia and break their alliance in the Afro-Asian bloc. </p>
<p>To stand against Indonesia would endanger their political standing and protection in the international community. Delegates instead chose to abstain. </p>
<h2>Will West Papua have another chance?</h2>
<p>Several factors have changed in the international community since the 1960s. </p>
<p>The changes include an increase in membership of leaders from the Pacific and the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html">recognition of rights for indigenous peoples</a>. </p>
<p>Yet the preference of UN delegates to value state sovereignty over justice and equality remains the same. </p>
<p>Whether the activists can gain support for a referendum will depend upon their abilities to turn the tide of politics at the UN. </p>
<p>Current West Papuan activists have gained <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/396833/pacific-leaders-push-for-un-rights-commissioner-visit-to-papua">support from Pacific leaders</a> and had success <a href="https://www.ulmwp.org/westminster-declaration">with officials from the UK</a>. </p>
<p>However, they still need to win significant support from African and Asian delegates to tip the power balance in their favour.</p>
<p>As in 1969, world leaders would do well to listen to the voices of Papuan activists as choosing to ignore their calls will have dire consequences for West Papuans in Indonesia. <a href="https://www.un.org/en/sections/nobel-peace-prize/international-labor-organization-ilo/index.html">In the words of the International Labour Organisation</a>, “If you desire peace, cultivate justice.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129623/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Kluge tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>International political dynamics sabotaged West Papuans’ attempts to ride the waves of decolonisation efforts by Asian and African countries throughout the 1940s to the 1960s.Emma Kluge, PhD Candidate, Department of History, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1248852019-10-16T07:02:17Z2019-10-16T07:02:17ZIn West Papua, oil palm expansion undermines the relations of indigenous Marind people to forest plants and animals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297283/original/file-20191016-98674-1haapah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C1379%2C877&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Indigenous Marind in West Papua consider the forest and its plants and animals as kin. These culturally valued multispecies relations, however, are being disrupted by oil palm development projects.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sophie Chao</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It was the third night Rosalina (a pseudonym), an indigenous woman from the Marind community in Merauke, West Papua, dreamt of ‘being eaten by oil palm’. She had been having recurring nightmares over the last few weeks, in which oil palm’s sharp spines turned into bayonets, and hard and round palm oil fruit transformed into lethal bullets.</p>
<p>In her dream, Rosalina heard repeated shots before finding her father slumped next to her, covered with blood. She herself died the next night of hunger and thirst after losing her way in an oil palm plantation in the middle of the night. </p>
<p>Nightmares of being ‘eaten by oil palm’ or ‘shot by oil palm’ plague many Marind indigenous people in Khalaoyam village (a pseudonym), West Papua, where I have been undertaking ethnographic fieldwork since 2011.</p>
<p>The village is one of several Marind settlements affected by large-scale oil palm plantation expansion under the <a href="https://awasmifee.potager.org/?page_id=25">Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE)</a>, a government development project that will convert at least a million hectare of forests and swamp into privatised concessions. </p>
<p>Khalaoyam village is home to some two hundred Marind households who depend primarily on the forest for their subsistence - for instance, hunting, gathering, and fishing. However, the forest represents much more than just a source of food for indigenous Marind.</p>
<p>For instance, Gerfacius, another member of the Marind community, spoke to me of the soil still smelling of the ancestral forest that had once stood here, but that has been razed to make way for oil palm over the past few years. </p>
<p>To him, the soil that was once full of memories of his plant and animal kin was now full of death, loss, and sadness. </p>
<h2>The forest is our family</h2>
<p>For Marind people, the forest is a living, sentient ecology in which selfhood is extended to plants and animals. </p>
<p>Indeed, many Marind villagers whom I spoke to describe the forest as their “family” and many clan names represent the deep relationship of forest plants and animals to human communities, as shared descendants of ancestral spirits, or <em>dema</em> (in Marind language). </p>
<p>For instance, the Mahuze clan are “children of the dog” (<em>mahu</em> meaning dog and <em>ze</em> meaning “child of” in Marind) and the Balagaize clan are “children of the crocodile.” </p>
<p>Importantly, Marind also consider the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00141844.2018.1502798?journalCode=retn20">diverse plant and animal species living in the forest to be sentient beings</a>, endowed with will, agency and volition.</p>
<p>Each Marind clan, or <em>bawan</em> (in Marind language), is related to other grandparent (<em>amai</em>) or sibling (<em>namek</em>) species with whom they share bodily wetness (<em>dubadub</em>) and skin (<em>igid</em>). </p>
<p>Together, skin and wetness are primary markers of personhood among Marind and they take the form of sweat, tears, sap, mud, water, grease, and more. </p>
<p>Humans and <em>amai</em> (forest organisms) sustain their mutual existence through everyday practices of reciprocal care. </p>
<p>For instance, <em>amai</em> grow to support humans by providing them with food and other resources. In return, Marind exercise respect and perform rituals as they interact with <em>amai</em> (plants and animals) in the forests, recall their stories, hunt, gather, and consume them. Exchanges of skin and wetness, along with rituals of care and respect, enable humans and other-than-humans to thrive in each other’s company within the forest environment.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297284/original/file-20191016-98644-aespbm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297284/original/file-20191016-98644-aespbm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297284/original/file-20191016-98644-aespbm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297284/original/file-20191016-98644-aespbm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297284/original/file-20191016-98644-aespbm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297284/original/file-20191016-98644-aespbm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297284/original/file-20191016-98644-aespbm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Forest foods, like sago starch, are considered nourishing by Marind because they derive from revered plants and animals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sophie Chao</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Marind people and oil palm expansion</h2>
<p>Since around 2008, however, the relations of Marind to their non-human kin have been undermined by large-scale deforestation and monocrop oil palm expansion, <a href="http://setkab.go.id/category/mp3ei/page/1/">promoted by the Indonesian government</a> in the name of national economic development and food sovereignty.</p>
<p>These agribusiness projects are largely being designed and implemented without the free, prior, and informed consent of Marind. Many communities report being forced into land surrender deals in exchange for derisory compensation. </p>
<p>One Marind family I spoke to, for instance, reported having been paid a one-off sum of Rp350,000 per hectare of land, or less than AU$35, for a lease of 25 years. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.forestpeoples.org/sites/fpp/files/publication/2011/06/mifee-buku-low-res.pdf">Other grievances shared by Marind villagers</a> included unfulfilled Corporate Social Responsibility schemes, increased local food insecurity, critical water pollution, endemic biodiversity loss, and widespread deforestation, including through illegal burning.</p>
<p>Just as Marind do not see themselves as existing separately from the natural environment, so too the destruction of the forest is more than just an “environmental” problem for Marind.</p>
<p>Rather, this destruction undermines the historical relationships of Marind men, women, and children to the plants and animals with whom they share the forest. </p>
<p>It annihilates the past events, memories, and stories inscribed in the landscape – its trees, organisms, rivers, and hills.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297282/original/file-20191016-98648-13xgs4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297282/original/file-20191016-98648-13xgs4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297282/original/file-20191016-98648-13xgs4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297282/original/file-20191016-98648-13xgs4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297282/original/file-20191016-98648-13xgs4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297282/original/file-20191016-98648-13xgs4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/297282/original/file-20191016-98648-13xgs4q.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deforestation and oil palm expansion are taking place at an accelerated pace across Merauke.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sophie Chao</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Deforestation also deprives Marind of forest foods that are nourishing and meaningful because they derive from plants and animals whom Marind revere and respect, and whose futures and survival, too, are jeopardised by agribusiness expansion.</p>
<p>The obliteration of the forest, then, represents the devastating loss of the dynamic, multispecies world in which Marind’s sense of identity as human beings and as indigenous peoples is rooted. </p>
<h2>Lesson learned from indigenous Marind</h2>
<p>The conversion of forests to monocrops represents far more than just an “ecological” change for indigenous people like Marind.</p>
<p>Marind people believe that “nature” and “culture” are not separate and mutually exclusive realms. Rather, humans and their environment come into meaningful being through their relationship to each other.</p>
<p>The transformation of kindred forests to industrial plantations thus radically subverts the sense of social, moral, and collective self worth that Marind derive from living with, in, and from, the sentient forest. </p>
<p>The layered emotional, cosmological, and social meanings of the forest among the Marind people, and the cosmological and existential implications of its destruction, invite us to rethink state-promoted forms of large-scale land development that purport to improve socioeconomic wellbeing among rural communities in West Papua.</p>
<p>It is important to reconfigure such forms of development from top-down to bottom-up approaches that take as their starting point indigenous peoples’ own understandings of the natural environment, as these are shaped by local cultural norms, values, and aspirations. </p>
<p>This is not to suggest that indigenous cultures are static and unchanging, or that they are necessarily resistant to development.</p>
<p>Rather, it is to highlight the need for grassroots and culturally sensitive approaches that respect the cosmologies, beliefs, and practices of indigenous communities, whose wellbeing as humans is indissociable from the wellbeing of their multispecies forest “families.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124885/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophie Chao receives funding from Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the Australian Ministry of Education and Training, and Macquarie University for this research.
</span></em></p>Indigenous Marind in West Papua consider the forest and its plants and animals as kin. These culturally valued multispecies relations, however, are being disrupted by oil palm development projects.Sophie Chao, Postdoctoral Research Associate in History, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1221272019-08-21T07:51:46Z2019-08-21T07:51:46ZRiots in West Papua: why Indonesia needs to answer for its broken promises<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288853/original/file-20190821-170906-1h38cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Political arrests have been on the rise in recent years in restive West Papua, and the local population is pushing for a new referendum on independence.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Frans/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last weekend, the <a href="https://asiapacificreport.nz/2019/08/18/indonesian-police-raid-papuan-student-dormitory-with-tear-gas-arrest-43/">Indonesian police took 43 West Papuan students</a> into custody for allegedly disrespecting the Indonesian flag during an independence day celebration (an allegation the students deny). </p>
<p>Police stormed the students’ dorm and used teargas to force them out, while bystanders and officers called them “<a href="https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2019/08/19/todays-minkes-racism-at-heart-of-jakarta-papua-conflict.html">monkeys</a>”, a derogatory term for ethnically Melanesian Papuans. </p>
<p>West Papuans have long been cast by Indonesians as primitive people from the Stone Age, and this racist treatment continues to this day. West Papuan author Filep Karma described the extent of racism against West Papuans in his 2014 book, <a href="http://humanrightspapua.org/news/16-2014/127-launching-of-filep-karma-s-book-as-if-we-re-half-half-animals">As If We Are Half-Animal: Indonesia’s Racism in Papua Land</a>, saying he often heard Indonesians call West Papuans monkeys.</p>
<p>This latest episode of discrimination builds on <a href="https://www.academia.edu/25626470/Anatomy_of_an_Occupation_The_Indonesian_Military_in_West_Papua">more than five decades</a> of racism, torture, summary executions, land dispossession and cultural denigration of West Papuans by Indonesian security forces. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/finding-a-dignified-resolution-for-west-papua-58805">Finding a dignified resolution for West Papua</a>
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<p>After the students were detained last weekend, riots erupted in the cities of Manokwari and Jayapura. Thousands of people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/20/indonesian-president-calls-for-calm-after-violent-protests-in-west-papua">turned out to protest</a> against the mistreatment of the students and, more broadly, the mistreatment of West Papuans by the Indonesian authorities. Many protesters waved the nationalist Morning Star flag, an act <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/23/west-papuans-face-jail-banned-flag">punishable by a 15-year jail sentence</a> (Indonesia is not just sensitive about how West Papuans treat the Indonesian flag – the state prohibits them from flying their own.)</p>
<p>In response to the deteriorating security situation, Indonesia has <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/indonesia-deploys-troops-west-papua-region-protests-spread-190820230710563.html">deployed more troops</a> to the region.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288861/original/file-20190821-170918-sqfty6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288861/original/file-20190821-170918-sqfty6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288861/original/file-20190821-170918-sqfty6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288861/original/file-20190821-170918-sqfty6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288861/original/file-20190821-170918-sqfty6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288861/original/file-20190821-170918-sqfty6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288861/original/file-20190821-170918-sqfty6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Protesters set fire to the local parliament building and cars in West Papua earlier this week.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sofwan Azhari/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Widodo’s promises haven’t changed much</h2>
<p>When the politically moderate Indonesian President Joko Widodo came to power in 2014, West Papua observers had <a href="https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/west-papua-hopes-of-change-with-jokowi-win/">high hopes</a> he might broker peace in the region, much the same way the government of his predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was able to <a href="https://www.insideindonesia.org/peace-at-last">quell a long-running separatist conflict in Aceh</a>. </p>
<p>However, Widodo has not been capable of controlling the Indonesian military in West Papua. He also doesn’t seem to realise that <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/indonesian-infrastructure-isnt-quelling-desire-for-independence-in-papua/">economic development is not the solution</a> to ending the armed resistance in the region – West Papuan leaders want a political resolution, not an economic one. </p>
<p>Part of Widodo’s development agenda in West Papua has been to commence building a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-asian-frontier-locals-fear-jungle-highway-is-a-road-to-ruin-11551972938">Trans-Papua Highway</a> to facilitate movement of goods and people across the astoundingly rugged terrain in the region. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/papuans-and-jokowi-are-hostage-to-indonesian-politics-42251">Papuans and Jokowi are hostage to Indonesian politics</a>
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<p>But in December, West Papuan guerrilla forces <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/05/west-papua-fears-of-spiralling-violence-after-attack-leaves-up-to-31-dead">attacked</a> Indonesian workers constructing the highway, killing several dozen. There’s deep resentment among West Papuans toward Indonesian migrant workers, who they believe are taking their jobs and land and disrupting Papuan life in the region. </p>
<p>Violence by the Indonesian military and police against West Papuans has also increased during Widodo’s presidency. According to the International Coalition for Papua, a human rights organisation, <a href="http://humanrightspapua.org/hrreport/2017">more than 6,400 people</a> were arrested for political activism in 2015 and 2016. The group has also documented more than 300 victims of torture or maltreatment and 20 victims of extra-judicial killings for those years.</p>
<p>In addition, local journalists continue to face harassment from security forces, while foreign journalists are still denied entry to West Papua. Preventable diseases and malnutrition have also had devastating effects throughout the region.</p>
<p>In 2017, Widodo <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201857416/indonesian-president-looks-at-west-papua-dialogue">finally reached out to West Papuans offering dialogue</a> – a process West Papuans had been requesting since at least 2008. However, the leaders of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) <a href="https://www.bennywenda.org/2018/ulmwp-only-stands-for-self-determination/">decided</a> it was too little, too late. </p>
<h2>A new independence referendum</h2>
<p>West Papuans are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-30/west-papuans-fight-for-another-independence-referendum/10584336">now calling for a UN-supervised referendum</a> on independence from Indonesia. </p>
<p>In 1969, seven years after Indonesia invaded West Papua, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/29/west-papua-independence-history">the United Nations oversaw a referendum</a> in which West Papuans were to decide on independence or official integration with Indonesia. Indonesia handpicked less than 1% of the Papuan population to vote and <a href="https://www.ipwp.org/background/act-of-free-choice/an-analysis-of-the-1969-act-of-free-choice-in-west-papua-thomas-musgrave/">threatened them with violence should they make the “wrong” decision</a>.</p>
<p>The result has been a lengthy, often brutal colonial occupation of Papuans and their land. </p>
<p>Independence advocates have the support of at least <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/78qvpe/indonesias-alleged-human-rights-abuses-in-west-papua-are-getting-international-attention">seven Pacific island nations</a> – as well as a <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/363121/nz-govt-mp-calls-for-west-papua-issue-to-go-to-un">number of MPs in New Zealand</a> – as they pursue the possibility of a new referendum on decolonisation through the United Nations. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1163831378993197056"}"></div></p>
<p>Through revived links with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WeBleedBlackandRed/">global Black Power and Indigenous movements in the Pacific and beyond</a>, as well as the mass connectivity afforded by social media, Papuans are enjoying levels of solidarity from around the world they have never before experienced. </p>
<p>While independence is still unlikely for West Papua, it would be foolish to rule it out. Timor Leste, South Sudan and Kosovo have shown us that right to self-determination is one that is still honoured, even if infrequently.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/all-the-ingredients-for-genocide-is-west-papua-the-next-east-timor-9340">All the ingredients for genocide: is West Papua the next East Timor?</a>
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<h2>Why does West Papua matter?</h2>
<p>Why should the world care about this little-known decolonisation movement? </p>
<p>The answer is simple: In the post-Rwandan genocide world, the international community has committed to a moral and political “<a href="http://www.globalr2p.org/about_r2p">responsibility to protect</a>” people whose states are unable or unwilling to ensure them safety, or are perpetrating crimes against them. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1163708491929772033"}"></div></p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/about-responsibility-to-protect.shtml">United Nations “responsibility to protect” mandate</a> means that UN members are required, under international law, to protect anybody at risk of</p>
<blockquote>
<p>genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.</p>
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<p>It is time the world lives up to its responsibility to demand that state-sanctioned violence against West Papuans stop, no matter how bad relations with Jakarta become. Ultimately, lives are worth more than politics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122127/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Camellia Webb-Gannon receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is affiliated with the West Papua Project at the University of Wollongong. </span></em></p>Violence has returned to West Papua over the arrests of students for allegedly desecrating a flag. So much for the new push for reconciliation under Indonesia President Joko Widodo.Camellia Webb-Gannon, Lecturer, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1078262018-12-05T10:32:44Z2018-12-05T10:32:44ZPapua: how Indonesian president Jokowi is trying – and failing – to win hearts and minds<p>Almost every December, the Indonesian region of Papua makes headlines both nationally and further afield. In 2018, following the <a href="https://asiapacificreport.nz/2018/12/01/surabaya-counterprotest-300-arrested-in-west-papua-flag-demonstrations/">arrest of hundreds</a> of Papuans commemorating the region’s “independence day” on December 1, the nation was shocked by <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/12/04/opm-gunmen-accused-of-massacring-31-construction-workers.html">the killing of 31 construction workers</a> allegedly by armed separatists – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/05/west-papua-fears-of-spiralling-violence-after-attack-leaves-up-to-31-dead">although the details are still unclear</a>. There are now fears <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/05/west-papua-fears-of-spiralling-violence-after-attack-leaves-up-to-31-dead">the violence could escalate</a>.</p>
<p>Ironically, these events took place as the Indonesian government makes a tremendous effort to develop Papua – which makes up the western half of the island of New Guinea and includes the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. In fact, no other Indonesian region outside Java receives so much attention, with the nation’s president, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, visiting two or three times annually in recent years.</p>
<p>But while his attention has been appreciated, Jokowi has also been <a href="https://en.tempo.co/read/news/2018/10/20/055922704/KontraS-Human-Right-Issues-Not-Priority-for-Jokowi-JK">accused</a> of having a poor attitude to human rights abuses and state violence in the region. And while the president enjoys <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/07/10/95-of-papuans-support-jokowis-reelection-enembe-tinal.html">wide public support in Papua</a>, the aspiration of <a href="https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/struggle-self-determination-west-papua-1969-present/">Papuan self-determination</a> is gaining traction both domestically and internationally. </p>
<h2>The Jokowi Way</h2>
<p>Since Papua was granted special autonomy (or “Otsus”) status by Indonesia in 2001, Jokowi’s prosperity-based approach has focused on developing infrastructure and improving connectivity. The government’s 4,330km Trans-Papua road project, for example, aims to put an end to the isolation of many Papuan communities.</p>
<p>Jokowi also introduced the “BBM Satu Harga”, a national standard price for fuel. This policy aims to bring down the <a href="https://westpapuaupdate.com/locations-west-papua-will-enjoy-one-fuel-price-2018/">cost of fuel in Papua</a>, which can reach Rp50,000-100,000 (£2.70-£5.40) per litre, nearly ten times the average price nationally. The pricing policy has proved popular, although in practice Papuans in the region’s highlands only enjoy the standard national price once or twice a month due to supply constraints.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248773/original/file-20181204-34128-1c7yye9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248773/original/file-20181204-34128-1c7yye9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248773/original/file-20181204-34128-1c7yye9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248773/original/file-20181204-34128-1c7yye9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248773/original/file-20181204-34128-1c7yye9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248773/original/file-20181204-34128-1c7yye9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248773/original/file-20181204-34128-1c7yye9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248773/original/file-20181204-34128-1c7yye9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A map of Indonesia: the provinces of Papua and West Papua are on the far right of the map.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU0Mzk2NTM0NiwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfNTczNTE0NTE5IiwiayI6InBob3RvLzU3MzUxNDUxOS9odWdlLmpwZyIsIm0iOjEsImQiOiJzaHV0dGVyc3RvY2stbWVkaWEifSwiUm9kLzdDUWFLQ0RjbzUzbnFZQlRUbHVGRWRjIl0%2Fshutterstock_573514519.jpg&pi=33421636&m=573514519&src=PidifCJvqvOWP-xn5WkaXw-1-14">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During Jokowi’s presidency, central government funding has also increased for both Papuan provinces. In 2016 alone, the central government allocated a <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/indonesias-big-development-push-in-papua-qa-with-program-overseer-judith-j-dipodiputro/">85.7 trillion rupiah</a> (£4.6 billion) development fund for Papua and West Papua. On top of this Otsus fund, both provinces also have benefited from <a href="https://finance.detik.com/berita-ekonomi-bisnis/d-3238786/selain-dana-otsus-pemerintah-suntik--rp-28-t-untuk-infrastruktur-papua">additional infrastructure spending</a>. </p>
<p>But while Papua has received <a href="https://republika.co.id/berita/ekonomi/makro/17/11/14/ozeo2s-jk-anggaran-pembangunan-untuk-papua-paling-tinggi">a larger share</a> of the country’s development fund than any other region, its public service provision is among the worst in the country. Major public health disasters are commonplace, such as the recent <a href="https://indohun.org/news/deadly-measles-outbreak-and-malnutrition-striking-children-in-asmat-regency-province-of-papua-the-role-of-the-indonesian-government/">measles outbreak in Asmat Regency</a>, which along with malnutrition killed hundreds of children. In fact, Papua has been at the bottom of the national <a href="https://tabloidjubi.com/eng/papua-human-development-index-remain-lowest/">human development index</a> for decades. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248183/original/file-20181130-194956-17gmm89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248183/original/file-20181130-194956-17gmm89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248183/original/file-20181130-194956-17gmm89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248183/original/file-20181130-194956-17gmm89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248183/original/file-20181130-194956-17gmm89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248183/original/file-20181130-194956-17gmm89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248183/original/file-20181130-194956-17gmm89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queuing for single price fuel in Ilaga District, Papua.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jokowi has also focused on developing security, deploying thousands of <a href="https://www.antaranews.com/berita/538180/5000-personil-tni-ad-akan-isi-kodam-papua-barat">additional soldiers to the region</a>. Although aimed at <a href="https://tniad.mil.id/2016/11/kodam-xviiikasuari-papua-barat-akan-diresmikan-bulan-ini/">strengthening national defence</a>, there are ongoing concerns about human rights abuses in the region. A recent report by <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Dont-Bother-Just-let-Him-Die.pdf">Amnesty International</a> indicates that extrajudicial killings involving security personnel are still taking place in Papua. </p>
<p>Jokowi has also been criticised for failing to deal with such abuses when they occur. So far, <a href="http://www.asia-pacific-solidarity.net/southeastasia/indonesia/indoleft/2018/kompas_notonehumanrightscasehasb_181018.htm">none</a> of the human rights cases relating to Papua have been resolved during his administration, leading to <a href="https://theconversation.com/papuans-and-jokowi-are-hostage-to-indonesian-politics-42251">growing Papuan distrust</a> of Jakarta (Indonesia’s capital and the seat of the national government). According to one Papuan leader I interviewed:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Jakarta is busy chasing away the smoke but not trying to put out the fire.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Self-determination</h2>
<p>Against this backdrop, the campaign for Papuan self-determination is growing. While there is some armed resistance, most Papuans campaign peacefully through democratic action such as mass rallies and social media campaigns. Domestically, this peaceful campaign is directed by the National Committee of West Papua (<a href="https://theconversation.com/violence-in-west-papua-the-vulnerable-become-indonesias-latest-target-7783">KNPB</a>), the Papuan Student Alliance (<a href="http://www.humanrightspapua.org/news/28-2018/333-brawl-between-papuan-students-and-nationalist-mass-organisation-in-malang-police-fails-to-protect-papuan-students-freedom-of-assembly">AMP</a>), and The Democratic People’s Movement of Papua (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBMsZHaGWMg">Garda Papua</a>). These organisations are mostly supported by Papuan youths and students. </p>
<p>But they have also been active beyond Papua, including in many of Indonesia’s biggest cities, such as Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya on the island of Java, Denpasar on Bali, Medan on Sumatra, and Makassar and Manado on Sulawesi. Recently, the cause also received support from non-Papuan groups, such as the Jakarta-based Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (<a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/319294/indonesian-group-backs-west-papuan-self-determination">FRI WP</a>).</p>
<p>Nor is this just a domestic issue. The United Liberation Movement for West Papua <a href="https://www.ulmwp.org/">(ULMWP)</a> was established in December 2014, two months after Jokowi took office, and has since been building support for the cause among Pacific nations. Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu have raised the Papuan issue in <a href="https://vanuatuindependent.com/2018/09/05/vanuatu-continues-push-un-resolution-west-papua/">UN forums</a> many times. </p>
<p>Which all goes to show that the Indonesian government’s strategy in the region has been less fruitful than expected. </p>
<h2>Time to reflect</h2>
<p>Jakarta’s trust-building project in Papua is falling short because of the government’s narrow perspective of the problem. Since the late 1990s, all Indonesian presidents except <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/05/19/gus-dur-laid-foundation-peace-settlements-aceh-papua-scholar.html">Gus Dur</a> have tended to make the <a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-the-root-problem-in-papua-and-its-solution-87951">Papuan issue</a> all about economic development. Other crucial issues stated in the <a href="http://peraturan.go.id/uu/nomor-21-tahun-2001.html">“Otsus Law”</a>, such as Papuan identity, local political parties, law enforcement, human rights and the protection of indigenous people, have been overlooked. </p>
<p>Consequently, rather than facilitating the emergence of a strong and autonomous Papuan government, Otsus has made Papua even more <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/sph/rjedep/v7y2018i1p55-72.html">dependent</a> on Jakarta. And as the human rights issues remain <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/03/indonesias-unresolved-police-killings-papua">unaddressed</a>, the slogans of self-determination are being shouted even louder.</p>
<p>Jakarta and Papua must now come together and reconsider the best options for a more constructive future relationship. For if the 17 years since the region was granted Otsus status have revealed anything, it’s that economic development alone is not enough to win the hearts and minds of the Papuan people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107826/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arie Ruhyanto does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The government is focusing on economic development, but ignoring human rights abuses, local politics and indigenous peoples.Arie Ruhyanto, Doctoral Researcher, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/709132017-01-06T07:56:24Z2017-01-06T07:56:24ZIndonesia restores military ties with Australia after latest neighbourly dispute<p>The Indonesian government has confirmed that <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-05/indonesia-softens-military-suspension-with-australia/8164440?WT.mc_id=newsmail&WT.tsrc=Newsmail">it will not suspend military cooperation</a> with Australia after a top general said earlier in the week that ties between the two nations would be cut. The incident is just the latest episode in a rocky relationship between the neighbours.</p>
<p>On January 4, Indonesian Military Chief Gatot Nurmantyo declared the suspension of Indonesia-Australia military cooperation, apparently because an Indonesian special forces commander trainer <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/indonesia-australia-military-cooperation-on-hold-for-technical-reasons-20170104-gtltai.html">found materials</a> at an Australian teaching facility that were insulting to both the Indonesian military and the state’s ideology of <em>Pancasila</em>. </p>
<p><em>Pancasila</em>, from the Sanskrit word for for “five”, <em>panca</em>, and the Javanese for “principles”, <em>sila</em>, is the name given to the official founding principles of the Indonesian state. <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-38514742?ocid=global_bbccom_email_05012017_top+news+stories+australia+">The principles are</a>: “The one God system (monotheism), just and civilised humanity, the unity of Indonesia, democracy and social justice for all.”</p>
<p>The incident is part of the ups and downs of the <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/pubfiles/Mackie,_Australia_and_Indonesia_1.pdf">Indonesia-Australia diplomatic and military relationship</a> that dates back to 1945 when Indonesia first declared independence from both Japan, which had <a href="http://countrystudies.us/indonesia/15.htm">occupied the country in 1942</a> and the Dutch, who had <a href="http://www.san.beck.org/20-11-Indonesia1800-1950.html">colonised it</a> in the 18th century. </p>
<h2>Neighbourhood blues</h2>
<p><a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/9673762?selectedversion=NBD1680646">In September 1945</a>, Australian waterside workers imposed “a black ban” on all Dutch ships destined for Indonesia in Australian ports. Later, Australian government showed sympathy for its northern neighbour in the <a href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/rijksstudio/timeline-dutch-history/1820-1950-indonesia-and-decolonisation">Dutch-Indonesia conflict</a>, even while officially maintaining impartiality.</p>
<p>Since then, however, the relationship between Australia and Indonesia has been rocky at times, depending on what Australia has perceived to be in its national interest. Australian public opinion opposed Indonesia’s <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2753089?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">desire to incorporate West Papua</a> into the nation in the 1950s, for instance, and a low-level separatist conflict continues in the province.</p>
<p>Australia <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/whitlams-visionary-leadership-indonesia">initially supported Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor</a>, but after the fall of president Suharto in 1998, then-Australian prime minister John Howard proposed a referendum <a href="https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/school-of-humanities-and-social-sciences/timor-companion/howards-letter">on the issue of independence for East Timor</a>. </p>
<p>This led to the <a href="https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/school-of-humanities-and-social-sciences/timor-companion/referendum">secession of East Timor from Indonesia</a>. And the violence that ensued led Australia to send troops to East Timor <a href="http://nautilus.org/publications/books/australian-forces-abroad/east-timor/international-force-east-timor-interfet/">under the auspices of the United Nations’ INTERFET</a> (International Force East Timor).</p>
<p>Defence cooperation between Australia and Indonesia has improved drastically since then: both countries need each other. For Australia, Indonesia is an <a href="http://dfat.gov.au/geo/indonesia/pages/indonesia-country-brief.aspx">important nation for its security and economic objectives</a> as the country is its gateway to Asia. </p>
<p>Indonesia, on the other hand, needs Australia as a strategic partner to modernise and further professionalise its military forces. Every year, Indonesia sends <a href="http://www.news.com.au/world/asia/australian-taxpayers-are-paying-millions-for-indonesian-military-officers-to-study-down-under/news-story/6ee9fed843ba977ae0eb342c8791a300">more than a hundred officers to Australia</a> for training and education.</p>
<p>Yet the distrust engendered by Australia’s intervention in East Timor lingers, and remains the root of current problems in the nations’ relationship. It still hovers in the background despite improvements in economic, military, and diplomatic relationship. </p>
<h2>Hidden agendas?</h2>
<p>General Gatot Nurmantyo is the perfect embodiment of this lack of trust. In March 2015, for instance, he suggested that Australia’s meddling in East Timor’s secession from Indonesia <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/what-does-indonesias-new-military-chief-pick-mean/">was part of a proxy war to secure oil</a>. </p>
<p>In December 2016, he ominously warned of <a href="http://m.news.viva.co.id/amp/read/858153-intip-kekuatan-lain-panglima-tni-pura-pura-kunjungi-darwin?client=safari">Australia’s desire to take over the Masela Oil Block</a>, which is close to Timor-Leste (as East Timor has been called since gaining independence) and Darwin. He also noted that Indonesia is currently surrounded by Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia, which all of which used to have problems with Indonesia.</p>
<p>Many Indonesians share similar discomfort, though it might not as extreme as General Nurmantyo’s. Despite <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-17/china-indonesia-wary-of-us-troops-in-darwin/3675866">assurances</a> from both US President Obama and Australia’s then-prime minister Julia Gillard that the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-16/gillard2c-obama-announce-darwin-troop-deployment/3675596">goal of stationing 2,500 US troops in Darwin from 2017</a> was to counter China – and not to threaten Indonesia or the Southeast Asian region generally – many Indonesians still believe there’s a hidden agenda concerning both US and Australian interest <a href="http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/77866/us-mily-presence-in-darwin-arouses-suspicion-in-many-quarters">in Indonesia’s abundant natural resources and Papua</a>. </p>
<p>Given this background, it should be no surprise that a homework assignment for an Indonesian Special Forces language student to write an essay supporting the argument “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/why-indonesian-general-gatot-nurmantyo-broke-off-military-relations-with-australia-20170105-gtmak3.html">Papua should have independence because it was part of Melanesia</a>” would touch a raw nerve.</p>
<p>It confirmed General Nurmantyo’s worst expectations about Australia’s intentions, including that <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/defence-minister-marise-payne-denies-australia-has-recruited-indonesian-soldiers-for-spying-20170104-gtm4cr.html">Indonesian officers training in Australia would be indoctrinated and recruited as spies</a>. </p>
<h2>Contradictory messages</h2>
<p>At the same time, General Nurmantyo’s reaction caught other Indonesians completely off guard. Indonesian military’s spokesman, Major General Wuryanto, for instance, stated that the reason for the temporary freeze was <a href="http://www.koran-sindo.com/news.php?r=0&n=39&date=2017-01-04">technical matters (<em>masalah teknis</em>)</a> and not due to insulting <em>Pancasila</em>. </p>
<p>Even the normally nationalistic Indonesian Defence Minister, Ryamizard Ryacudu, <a href="http://jakartaglobe.id/news/misspelling-pancasila-not-australias-official-stance-defense-minister-ryamizard/">played down the incident</a>, saying that it was an isolated personal act that the Australian government had regretted. And he noted that Australia had apologised for the incident, which <a href="http://www.antaranews.com/berita/604961/ryamizard-menhan-australia-minta-maaf">actually happened in mid-December 2016</a>. </p>
<p>To add to the confusion, a tweet from the presidential staff office suggested that the temporary halting of the military cooperation between Australia and Indonesia was only on joint training, education, officer exchange, and official visits. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"816886963160526848"}"></div></p>
<p>Later, however, in a letter that was followed by a press conference by Wiranto, the Coordinating Ministry for Politics, Law, and Security, stressed that <a href="http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2017/01/05/15093071/wiranto.kerja.sama.militer.ri-australia.hanya.hentikan.program.bahasa">the relationship freeze was limited only to language courses</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151911/original/image-20170106-18647-149jzqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151911/original/image-20170106-18647-149jzqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151911/original/image-20170106-18647-149jzqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151911/original/image-20170106-18647-149jzqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151911/original/image-20170106-18647-149jzqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151911/original/image-20170106-18647-149jzqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151911/original/image-20170106-18647-149jzqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Letter from the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law, and Security.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Work to do</h2>
<p>It seems from the different responses of several government ministers that General Nurmantyo’s decision to halt the military cooperation was abrupt, and that it came without any warning or coordination with other ministers – or even the military’s own spokesman. </p>
<p>The relationship between Australia and Indonesia is clearly very important for the Indonesian government, given the response to General Nurmantyo’s announcement. It would have been simple for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the rest of the cabinet to simply reaffirm what General Nuryantyo had proclaimed. But they value Indonesian-Australian military ties, and so Jokowi and the rest of the cabinet went into damage control mode to limit the fallout.</p>
<p>Finally, the incident shows that trust between Australia and Indonesia remains fragile, since a language class writing assignment could cause such an outrage. Indonesia’s wounds from East Timor’s secession are clearly still very raw. </p>
<p>Coupled with the uproar over <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-21/abbott-not-apologising-as-indonesia-freezes-cooperation-with-au/5106896">revelations in 2013 that Australia wiretapped</a> then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2009, which led to suspension of cooperation between the two countries, it shouldn’t be surprising that Indonesia remains wary of Australia’s intentions.</p>
<p>Clearly, both the Australian and Indonesian governments still have a lot of homework to do to build trust between their nations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70913/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yohanes Sulaiman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Indonesian government has back-pedalled on an announcement by the head of the country’s military that cooperation between the two countries would be suspended.Yohanes Sulaiman, Visting Lecturer in International Relations and Political Science at Indonesian Defense University & Lecturer, Universitas Jendral Achmad YaniLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/671642016-10-19T06:47:14Z2016-10-19T06:47:14ZBehind the beauty of Indonesia’s Raja Ampat islands lie poverty and neglect<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142155/original/image-20161018-16173-iii3j9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/trekpedition/22609466166/">Trekpedition.Com/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the month of October, people walking past Times Square in New York City will see a large billboard with a picture of Indonesia’s Raja Ampat islands, accompanied with the tagline “escape to a magical place”. But the appeal of the image hides the abject poverty of the people living on the islands.</p>
<p>A cluster of islands in the Bird’s Head peninsula of West Papua in Indonesia, Raja Ampat is one of the <a href="http://www.cntraveller.com/recommended/amazing-journeys/raja-ampat-islands-indonesia">best diving spots in the world</a>. It’s a pristine and biodiverse marine environment where you can see colourful tropical fish with the naked eye from above the water. </p>
<p>Formerly known as Irian Jaya, the western half of the island of Papua was claimed by Indonesia in 1961. The people of West Papua voted to become a part of Indonesia in a widely disputed plebiscite in 1969 and in 2003 the territory was divided into two provinces – West Papua and Papua. But they are generally referred to together as West Papua. </p>
<p>There is a pro-independence movement across Papua, especially in the highlands, and the police and military frequently crack down on separatists. But the coastal areas, including Raja Ampat, is politically stable and safe.</p>
<p>The islands have abundant natural beauty that make them look like an earthly paradise. But of the more than 45,000 residents, around 20% <a href="https://rajaampatkab.bps.go.id/website/pdf_publikasi/Kabupaten-Raja-Ampat-Dalam-Angka-2016.pdf">live below the poverty line</a> with poor access to education, health care, and markets. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"783842722335498242"}"></div></p>
<p>Data shows that in 2015, a household of four to five people in Raja Ampat spent an average of <a href="https://rajaampatkab.bps.go.id/website/pdf_publikasi/Kabupaten-Raja-Ampat-Dalam-Angka-2016.pdf">US$65 a month on food and other consumables</a>. That’s 10% higher than the <a href="https://www.bps.go.id/linkTabelStatis/view/id/966">national average</a> because the cost of living on the islands is so high. </p>
<h2>Relative isolation</h2>
<p>It takes around eight hours to reach Raja Ampat from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta. From Jakarta, you either get a direct flight to Sorong, or have to stop in Makassar, on the island of Sulawesi between Java and Papua, and then continue the flight to Sorong, on the northwest tip of Papua. </p>
<p>Then you get on a ferry to Waigeo island (also known as Amberi, or Waigiu), one of the four main islands of the 1,800 that make up <a href="http://regional.coremap.or.id/downloads/cerita_sukses_coremap_II_rajaampat4.pdf">Raja Ampat</a>.</p>
<p>Waisai, the capital of Raja Ampat, is located on Waigeo, the largest island in the group. It houses several cottages, mostly owned by local elites. Most of Raja Ampat’s government and administration activities are centred in Waisai. But the population is scattered across many islands.</p>
<p>For my doctoral research, I stayed on Mainyafun island, four hours by boat from Waisai, in April 2016. Mainyafun is home to 55 households, with each family having between nine and 12 members. </p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=19x-mMdpPO8lpCIY1v9ORlit7l5A" width="100%" height="480"></iframe>
<p>Like in many towns in Raja Ampat, Mainyafun doesn’t have a water treatment facility. Clean drinking water is transported from Waisai either twice a month or once every two months depending on the season. Villagers also collect rainwater for drinking. Water from the mountain is piped into the village centre, but it has very high mineral content.</p>
<p>There’s no electricity and no phone signal. Most people refer to education as “prestigious goods”, and only study to the end of elementary school – the highest level available on the island. </p>
<p>To continue schooling beyond elementary level, students in Manyaifun have to go to Waisai. The journey costs US$100 one way and takes four hours by fibreglass boat, often without safety equipment.</p>
<h2>Scraping a living</h2>
<p>Being in an area abundant with fish, most people on the island earn their living as fishers. But a lot of them still live in extreme poverty. Most families are indebted to the local mini store owner who sells staple goods.</p>
<p>The price for the fish they sell is so low that even if they catch ten kilograms of fish every day, they still lose money. Fishers need five litres of fuel a day to operate their small boats. But fuel is scarce and very expensive, and five litres costs US$12.50. </p>
<p>The fishers sell to a collector in Mainyafun who processes them into salted fish. The maximum selling price in Mainyafun is US$0.20 for a kilogram, so ten kilograms of fish gets around US$2. After the cost of fuel, that’s a loss of US$10.50. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142153/original/image-20161018-16176-1nkyqoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142153/original/image-20161018-16176-1nkyqoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142153/original/image-20161018-16176-1nkyqoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142153/original/image-20161018-16176-1nkyqoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142153/original/image-20161018-16176-1nkyqoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142153/original/image-20161018-16176-1nkyqoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142153/original/image-20161018-16176-1nkyqoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most people on the islands earn their living as fishers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/puppydogbites/5598919391/">Adam Howarth/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The price of fish in Waisai is ten times higher, and it’s 20 times higher in Sorong. But fishers in Mainyafun have to sell their fish right away because there’s no electricity to power cold storage. </p>
<p>People need bigger boats, cheaper fuel and access to Waisai or Sorong markets to get a better price for their fish. But a decent boat with an engine that can carry a larger volume of fish costs more than US$10,000, which is impossible for them to afford. </p>
<h2>Lack of health care</h2>
<p>There’s a small public community clinic in Manyaifun. The one doctor and four nurses who work there serve seven sub-districts scattered on neighbouring islands. </p>
<p>Working conditions are hard. Many of their patients are the fishers who leave their house at five in the morning and return at five in the afternoon. Health workers have to be on standby all the time. </p>
<p>The most common issues are malaria, skin infections and respiratory diseases. Death in childbirth is common for women. Only basic and generic medicines are available in the clinic, and sometimes stock is scarce. </p>
<p>Living on an isolated island with no phone signal jeopardises both health workers and the people they serve. Patients needing emergency care, such as chronic malaria, often die. The only hospital with decent equipment is located in the mainland city Sorong, 135 kilometres away.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141616/original/image-20161013-31308-1xm5urg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141616/original/image-20161013-31308-1xm5urg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141616/original/image-20161013-31308-1xm5urg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141616/original/image-20161013-31308-1xm5urg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141616/original/image-20161013-31308-1xm5urg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141616/original/image-20161013-31308-1xm5urg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141616/original/image-20161013-31308-1xm5urg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A nurse in Mainyafun searches for phone signal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The health workers sometimes have to go to neighbouring islands for health emergencies on small boats. They have to ignore the fact that sometimes the waves reach up to three metres. It’s worse if they have to go at night time because there are no modern navigation tools or any information about the expected weather. </p>
<p>Health workers are only able to meet their families once or twice a year. Most of them come from Sorong and South Sulawesi, which is 1,532 kilometres away. <a href="http://www.gajimu.com/main/gaji/gaji-pejabat-negara-ri/gaji-pns">The basic salary of health workers</a> as civil servants or contract workers is US$150 a month. This is the same all over Indonesia, but that’s very small compared to the demands on the health workers on Manyaifun, who are also sometimes paid late.</p>
<h2>Getting better services</h2>
<p>While Indonesia promotes Raja Ampat to the world, local people and health workers feel abandoned. They rarely see government officials in their district. According to my interviews with the local doctor and nurses, bureaucrats in Waisai, especially from the health agency, don’t care about their lives, safety or emotional needs. </p>
<p>The local government officials I interviewed told me they tried to improve welfare by teaching people how to build homestays for tourists and how to promote them online. But locals and health workers said they had never met any official who’d visited their district.</p>
<p>The poverty in Raja Ampat is a reflection of the vital role of the state in the development process. Only through proper attention from the elites in Raja Ampat, and supervision from the central government, can change come to the impoverished people in the area. Until then, Indonesia may want to think twice about advertising Raja Ampat as paradise on Earth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67164/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Asmiati Malik does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Raja Ampat is one of the richest in bio-marine life in the world. But many inhabitants of the cluster of islands in West Papua, Indonesia live in poverty.Asmiati Malik, Doctoral Reseacher, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/588052016-05-06T00:24:44Z2016-05-06T00:24:44ZFinding a dignified resolution for West Papua<p>On Monday, Indonesian police arrested <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/indonesian-police-arrest-1-500-in-papua-1462262785">nearly 1,500 protestors</a> in Jayapura, Papua. They were rallying in support of a coalition of groups representing West Papuans’ aspirations for independence.</p>
<p>The police stopped the protesters, who were heading to the local parliament, forced them to board military trucks, and took them to the Mobile Brigade compound.</p>
<p>The protesters were demonstrating their support for the <a href="http://pacificpolicy.org/2014/12/west-papuans-unite-to-form-new-umbrella-group/">United Liberation Movement of West Papua’s</a> (ULMWP) bid to gain full membership in the grouping of Melanesian countries, the <a href="http://www.msgsec.info/index.php/members/brief-about-msg">Melanesian Spearhead Group</a> (MSG). </p>
<p>The ULMWP holds observer status in the group, which consists of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands. Last year, Indonesia was granted associate membership. </p>
<p>To prevent further violent mistreatment of protesters, together with several Papuan councillors and church leaders, that day I went to the Mobile Brigade’s compound to negotiate with the security forces to release the detainees peacefully. </p>
<p>Monday’s arrests were the largest in the West Papua independence movement’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/29/west-papua-independence-history">history</a>. </p>
<p>Why did thousands of people in Papua take to the streets to support ULMWP? </p>
<p>Public discontent in West Papua is a result of a complicated past. It is a product of historical manipulation and repression of the right to self-determination of West Papuans. </p>
<p>Over the past five decades, the Papuan people have not moved from their position in relation to Indonesia. They have struggled to make progress in their predicament as the oppressed people. They are marginalised, suffering from various forms of violence, and being pushed from their own land.</p>
<p>Solving the problem of West Papua in a dignified manner should involve not only Indonesian authorities but also Papuans and the international community. In that sense, ULMWP and the popular support for ULMWP within West Papua is part of the solution and should not be repressed. </p>
<h2>The silenced truth</h2>
<p>Ever since West Papua was <a href="http://www.amazon.com.au/United-Nations-Indonesian-Takeover-1962-1969-ebook/dp/B000OI1282">transferred into the hands of Indonesia</a> in the early 1960s from being a remote outpost of the Dutch, it has become the land of “mourning and grief”. </p>
<p>Gross human rights violations have been taking place in West Papua since Indonesia, backed by the United Nations, annexed the western half of the island of New Guinea in 1963. In 1969, Indonesia gained complete rule of West Papua via a <a href="http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB128/">sham referendum</a>. </p>
<p>West Papuans have looked to their Melanesian brothers and sisters to assist them in seeking resolution of past abuses by the Indonesian government and to build a new Papua. But they are still confronted with many challenges. </p>
<p>In September, countries in the <a href="http://www.forumsec.org/">Pacific Island Forum</a>, a grouping of 14 countries that includes Australia and New Zealand, agreed to send a fact-finding mission to investigate human rights violations in West Papua. The Indonesian government refused to accept such a team. </p>
<p>Indonesia’s co-ordinating minister for politics, law and human rights, Luhut Pandjaitan, instead held two focus group discussions at a luxury hotel in Jayapura for the so-called “settlement of human rights issues”. </p>
<p>But West Papua is a nation that grew up with and is shaped by experiences of living under Indonesia’s military operations. These cannot be solved simply with focus group discussions. </p>
<p>Sadar Operation (1962, 1965-67), Wisnumurti Operation (1963), Wibawa Operation (1969), Pamungkas Operation (1970-1971), military operations in Jayawijaya (1977-80), Sapu Bersih Operation (1979-82), and Tumpas Operation (1983-84) are only a few of a series of violent acts of oppression that have confronted ordinary Papuans. </p>
<p>Today, Indonesia’s militaristic approach in West Papua remains intact. </p>
<p>This approach has resulted in a series of acts of intimidation and terror committed by security forces. They are involved in land expropriation and natural resources extraction under the banner of development and investment, in the name of Papuan welfare. </p>
<h2>Diplomatic pressure from Indonesia</h2>
<p>Following the increasing concern and solidarity from the Pacific region and support from the MSG for a resolution of West Papua’s problem, the Indonesian government is aggressively lobbying countries and political leaders in the Pacific. </p>
<p>Upon his return from a visit to PNG and Fiji last month, Pandjaitan boasted that Indonesia had the support of the two countries and could handle the MSG. At the same time, he argued that foreigners should not interfere in matters of human rights in West Papua.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, environmental destruction and rampant militarism walk hand in hand in West Papua. Papuans are continuously stigmatised as backward, ignorant and poor. This has become a pretext for what Indonesian authorities call “the acceleration and expansion of development”. </p>
<p>Pressed against waves of Indonesian migration, Papuans are not given any chance at all to develop themselves. They are a minority in their own land, not only in terms of number but also in terms of power. Every protest and negotiation effort by indigenous people is met with brutal responses and security operations. </p>
<h2>Dignified resolution</h2>
<p>In talking about West Papua, the Indonesian government often uses language that obscures past abuses. Papua’s relationship with the outside world is heavily controlled. The Indonesian government <a href="https://theconversation.com/indonesias-opening-of-papua-still-needs-to-bridge-the-gap-between-reality-and-rhetoric-50399">makes it difficult</a> for international journalists to cover Papua and bans international researchers from studying the region.</p>
<p>Indonesia’s solutions for West Papua are based on shallow reflections and fear of the West Papuan people. </p>
<p>A genuine resolution for the West Papuan problem will only come from Indonesia’s willingness to listen to and stop oppression of West Papuans. </p>
<p>Indonesia should welcome the support from international communities, such as the MSG and the United Nations, as mediators in finding a resolution on West Papua.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58805/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benny Giay is the head of Synod of Kingmi Church in West Papua.</span></em></p>Solving the problem of West Papua in a dignified manner should involve not only Indonesian authorities but also Papuans and the international community.Benny Giay, Lecturer, Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Walter Post JayapuraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/503992015-11-17T23:06:24Z2015-11-17T23:06:24ZIndonesia’s ‘opening’ of Papua still needs to bridge the gap between reality and rhetoric<p>In September, Jakarta-based French journalist Marie Dhumieres decided to test whether Indonesia’s decades-long barring of foreign media from Papua had indeed ended. In May, the Indonesian government had announced it would lift restrictions for accredited foreign journalists wanting to report on the Papua and West Papua provinces.</p>
<p>For decades, foreign journalists had to submit to a long and complex bureaucratic process to gain access to the region, where widespread public dissatisfaction with Jakarta and a small but persistent pro-independence insurgency exist. Minders from the intelligence agency would shadow the rare journalists who received permission, controlling their movements and restricting access to sources on the ground.</p>
<p>Dhumieres got lucky. The government gave her a police permit to visit Papua. </p>
<p>On October 1, she flew from Jayapura, Papua’s provincial capital, to Pegunungan Bintang to interview independence activists. She did not experience any police harassment or surveillance during her trip. </p>
<p>Her travelling companion, a Papuan activist, was not as fortunate. A week after Dhumieres had returned, police detained him and two of his friends. The police interrogated them for ten hours. Dhumieres responded by tweeting her dismay to Indonesian President Joko Widodo: </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"652323190627106817"}"></div></p>
<h2>Papua’s media freedom challenges</h2>
<p>A recent Human Rights Watch <a href="https://www.hrw.org/node/283014">report</a> shows that the ordeal of Dhumieres’ activist companions was no accident. Although Indonesian authorities have granted foreign journalists access to Papua, often after months of jumping through <a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight/audio/201777672/insight-for-8-november-2015-west-papua">“bureaucratic hoops”</a>, government obstacles to foreign media access linger.</p>
<p>The bureaucratic impediments range from demands for details of itineraries and focus of news coverage to the need to supply multiple “recommendation letters” from prospective interviewees/sources in order to get official permission to visit Papua. </p>
<p>These obstacles reflect Indonesia’s deep ambivalence to allowing greater foreign media access to Papua. In some cases, officials and members of the police and the military are outright hostile to the idea.</p>
<p>That hostility is rooted in more than 25 years of government suspicion of foreign nationals’ motivations in the troubled region.</p>
<p>By declaring Papua open to foreign journalists, Widodo – known as Jokowi – <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/06/05/jokowi-open-access-papua-foreign-journalists-int-l-organizations.html">symbolically fulfilled a promise</a> he made as a presidential candidate in June 2014.</p>
<p>But so far he has yet to put the change in writing via presidential instruction. Meanwhile, various government officials and military commanders have made a <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/27/dispatches-indonesias-papua-censorship-reflex">series of contradictory statements</a> regarding foreign media access to Papua. This suggests Jokowi’s administration lacks a coherent, unified policy on lifting restrictions on foreign media access to Papua. </p>
<p>The challenges to media freedom in Papua are compounded by obstacles faced by Indonesian journalists – particularly ethnic Papuan reporters. Local journalists who report on sensitive political topics and human rights abuses are often subject to harassment, intimidation and violence by officials, members of the public and pro-independence forces.</p>
<h2>No research allowed</h2>
<p>In addition to media freedom challenges, the Indonesian government effectively blocks access to Papua by foreign academic researchers. </p>
<p>The government has often monitored, harassed and deported foreign academics who in recent years have attempted to do research in Papua. In at least two cases documented by Human Rights Watch, the government has imposed visa bans on Australian academics for their contact in Australia with Papuan independence groups. </p>
<p>Anthropologist <a href="http://ebenkirksey.blogspot.co.id/">Eben Kirksey</a> of Princeton University noted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have been working [on Papua] since 1998, negotiating access in a legal situation where all basic science is viewed as being an inherently suspicious activity. In effect, almost all official applications to conduct research [there] are rejected by Jakarta.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/damien-kingsbury-8440">Damien Kingsbury</a>, a professor at Deakin University in Australia, also came under surveillance by security forces in Papua during a research trip to the region in 2003. He said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When you check into the hotel [in Papua], the guest list is checked [by Indonesian security forces], as it was in Aceh. You are monitored and you have to be very careful.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In 2003, Indonesia carried out a military operation in Aceh to crack down on the separatist movement. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/scott-burchill-1411">Scott Burchill</a>, also from Deakin University, has never visited Papua nor applied for an official Papua access permit. But the Indonesian government placed him on a visa blacklist. In 2006, Burchill had given public talks to Papuan independence groups.</p>
<p>The experiences of both foreign journalists and academics indicate that the Indonesian government’s sensitivity to Papua access is deeply ingrained and that parts of the government are strongly resisting change. </p>
<p>To genuinely open Papua to foreign media, Jokowi must bridge the gap between rhetoric and reality. He should follow through on his commitment by issuing a presidential directive that specifies the obligations of government ministries and security forces to ensure unobstructed foreign media access to Papua. </p>
<p>The government should extend this commitment to unimpeded Papua access to foreign researchers. This will provide a much-needed legal foundation for foreign media and academics to assert their right to travel there and to resist efforts to deny that right.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Phelim Kine co-wrote this article with Andreas Harsono, senior researcher on Indonesia at Human Rights Watch.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50399/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Phelim Kine is the Deputy Asia Director at Human Rights Watch in New York.</span></em></p>Although Indonesian President Joko Widodo declared Papua open for foreign media in May this year, government obstacles to access the restive region linger.Phelim Kine, Adjunt Professor, Roosevelt Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, City University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/422512015-06-01T04:26:36Z2015-06-01T04:26:36ZPapuans and Jokowi are hostage to Indonesian politics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82838/original/image-20150525-32567-rzbuvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Joko Widodo is surrounded by politicians and military generals with agendas that are unlikely to help the Papuans.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Mast Irham</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Indonesian President Joko Widodo recently announced the end of the decades-long restriction on foreign journalists in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, Indonesia’s territories in the island of New Guinea. While the president, popularly called Jokowi, says he is committed to human rights in the Papua provinces, the military and police continue to murder Papuans with virtual impunity. </p>
<h2>Military and police violence</h2>
<p>For the military, Papua is central to promotion advantages and their income – the government covers only 25% of the military budget. Corruption and human rights abuses go hand-in-hand with this.</p>
<p>In September 2014, <a href="http://westpapuamedia.info/2013/09/25/1-dead-3-shot-in-waghete-paniai-by-brimob-for-refusing-to-shave-dreadlocks/">West Papua Media</a> reported mobile brigade (Brimob) police had shot three men for refusing to shave during raids targeting men with long hair, long beards and dreadlocks. These are seen as symbols of pro-independence supporters who operate in Papua’s jungles.</p>
<p>In December 2014, Indonesian military and police <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/11/govt-told-form-team-investigate-paniai-case.html">fired into a crowd</a> in the highlands town of Paniai on the western side of Papua. Five teenagers, some in their school uniforms, were killed. Twelve people were injured.</p>
<p>The Paniai region has been the target of escalating brutal crackdowns by the military following the launch of <a href="http://tabloidjubi.com/2012/12/19/reverting-to-the-dom-era-papua-back-to-being-a-zone-of-military-operations/">“Operation Matoa”</a> in December 2011. The operation intended to break a local armed resistance movement. It displaced an estimated 14,000 indigenous Papuans along the way. </p>
<p>In March this year, police <a href="http://www.elshampapua.org/index.php/elsham-papua/79-english-news/227-police-shot-two-civilians-and-arrest-knbp-member-in-yahukimo">opened fire</a> on a crowd in Yahukimo, West Papua, killing one person and injuring four. This was a peaceful gathering to raise funds for humanitarian aid to victims of Cyclone Pam, which had struck Vanuatu a couple of days earlier.</p>
<p>Though exact figures are in dispute, some sources <a href="https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/58930">estimate</a> that up to 500,000 indigenous Melanesians have been killed under Indonesia’s occupation.</p>
<h2>Jokowi’s commitment to human rights in Papua</h2>
<p>Jokowi visited Papua twice during his election campaign. In comparison, the former president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, made only three visits during his entire ten years in office.</p>
<p>In August 2014, Jokowi met with 30 Papuan politicians and religious leaders. He planned to have a dialogue with Papuan leaders every three months, either personally or involving key staffers. He promised to follow up the December 2014 killing in Paniai. </p>
<p>Natalius Pigai, a member of the Indonesian Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM, met Jokowi shortly after the killings and said Jokowi knew of the case and would act. However, nothing has happened so far.</p>
<p>Jokowi has also announced a plan to build a presidential palace on the shores of Lake Sentani near Papua’s capital, Jayapura, a signal of new presidential attention to the Papuan provinces.</p>
<p>When he visited Papua in early May, Jokowi announced the lifting of the ban on foreign media and released five political prisoners who he then met personally. However, between 20 and 30 people remain incarcerated and local journalists are sceptical about the lifting of the media ban, which they regard as window dressing that will still exclude reports of human rights abuse. On this visit, Jokowi also announced a slate of new infrastructure investments in energy, tourism, manufacturing and communications. </p>
<p>Jokowi’s trip to Papua directly presaged his trip to Papua New Guinea, the overt purpose of which was to strengthen economic ties. As with Wayang puppetry, the shadow behind this light was to undermine PNG support for Papuans in West Papua. PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill announced his <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-06/png-pm-vows-to-speak-out-against-oppression-in-west-papua/6074572">support</a> for Papuans in February. </p>
<p>Jokowi’s activities in Papua are promising signs. But they remain ambiguous as internal politics continue to intervene.</p>
<h2>Internal political struggle</h2>
<p>Jokowi is surrounded by politicians and military generals with agendas that are unlikely to help Papua. </p>
<p>Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, the leader of Jokowi’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), demands Jokowi bow to her wishes. As president, Megawati’s platform was driven by a strong conviction that Indonesia’s territorial integrity – including West Papua – must be preserved no matter what.</p>
<p>Megawati was a weak president, but she had around her several “strong” but shady political characters, including ex-generals. These strongmen have been forced onto Jokowi in both his election team and cabinet. </p>
<p>The former head of Indonesia’s intelligence agency, A.M. Hendropriyono – the alleged mastermind behind the assassination of human rights defender <a href="https://theconversation.com/solving-munirs-murder-case-a-test-for-indonesias-president-elect-31293">Munir Said Thalib</a> – was part of Jokowi’s team during the presidential election.</p>
<p>Even more harmful for Papua is Jokowi’s defence minister, <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/11/04/news-analysis-handpicked-defense-minister-between-strategy-and-keen-interest.html">Ryamizard Ryacudu</a>. Ryamizard was Megawati’s army chief of staff and was instrumental in a 2003 military operation against the separatist movement in Aceh. The operation involved human rights abuses and wholesale terrorising of the region’s civilian population.</p>
<p>Ryamizard believes that violence against civilians is heroic if it is for the sake of unity of the Republic. In response to the report on the 2001 murder of prominent Papuan leader Theys Eluay by Special Forces soldiers, Ryamizard said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>To my mind they (the soldiers) are heroes.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Late last year, Ryamizard publicly argued for greater involvement of the military in civilian life, a return of greater domestic security powers to the military, and reshuffling of the security forces to bring police under the command of the Home Ministry rather than the president. He is for an authoritarian state with increased power for the military, even over the president. Ryamizard is supported by Megawati and the central PDI-P party authorities – Jokowi’s political base.</p>
<p>Jokowi’s political strength both inside his own party and against the opposition is terribly fragile. He is buckling under the strain.</p>
<p>Jokowi is not motivated by personal image, nor corrupt advantage. But his ability to address human rights abuses in West Papua is compromised. He is deeply embedded in an internal political context that requires he demonstrate the Indonesian value of <em>tegas</em> – firmness.</p>
<p>Behind Jokowi is the shadow of Prabowo Subianto, an ex-general with a questionable human rights record. Voters see Prabowo, Jokowi’s opponent in the presidential election, as a “firm” leader. Prabowo controls the parliament through the Red and White coalition and is seeking to bring Jokowi down.</p>
<p>Jokowi is also caught in required obeisance to his PDI-P party controllers, who command the way he is “firm” in public. At the PDI-P Congress earlier this year, Megawati told Jokowi to do what he was told and not give in to international pressure in the case of Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. Jokowi quietly accepted the haranguing and remained publicly “firm”. </p>
<p>Jokowi also capitulated to interests within the party in undermining the highly respected Corruption Eradication Commission, the KPK. This seriously weakened public faith in his firmness in eliminating corruption, a core election pledge. </p>
<p>Jokowi is in a bind of his own making. He is a man of vision and integrity frozen by the politics of his time.</p>
<p>Papua awaits escape from being held hostage to wider Indonesian politics. But escape for the Papuans first requires Jokowi to escape his political shackles in order to deal with human rights abuses in Papua.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42251/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Hill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The future of Papuans remains subject to the swirling mists of Indonesian national and international political intrigue.Stephen Hill, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/418962015-05-21T02:02:07Z2015-05-21T02:02:07ZPapua is not a problem but the way we talk about Papua is<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82474/original/image-20150521-11417-527fiq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The image of West Papua have always been framed by outsiders. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Byelikova Oksana / Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many of us were surprised but pleased when Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced early this month that the decades-long restriction on foreign journalists in Papua <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-11/indonesia-opens-restive-papuan-provices-to-media/6459068">would be lifted</a>. </p>
<p>Access to Papua for international press and observers has been a longstanding issue. It was not only raised by rights organisations but also featured prominently during the 2012 <a href="http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G12/150/17/PDF/G1215017.pdf?OpenElement">Universal Periodic Review on Indonesia</a> at the UN Human Rights Council. </p>
<p>But the pleasant surprise did not last very long. Less than 24 hours later, Minister for Security and Political Affairs Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/dont-just-come-to-west-papua-and-make-promises-joko-told-20150520-gh61bu.html">told Indonesian media</a> that the access will be subject to the scrutiny of an agency. Indonesian military commander General Moeldoko confirmed this statement separately, saying that the government has yet to formulate new rules of the game for foreign journalists. Without waiting for further instruction from the national authorities, Papua police acted independently by announcing that foreign journalists will have to report to them.</p>
<p>While these statements reflect the ongoing conflicting policies on Papua, they reveal something much more problematic: the framing of Papua as a problem. </p>
<p>Papua is not a problem. The way we talk about Papua is.</p>
<h2>Conflicting policies for Papua</h2>
<p>This is the fundamental issue that we have to address. Papuans have repeatedly expressed their concerns over crimes against humanity, including the recent <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/indonesian-military-and-police-fire-into-crowd-of-west-papuan-civilians-killing-5-20141208-122wf0.html">killings of four students</a> by the Indonesian security apparatus in Paniai. But the response of the government is simply to delay the case until it withers away. </p>
<p>They asked for an evaluation of the Special Autonomy Law, but the response was establishing <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/09/08/jokowi-told-disband-up4b-papua.html">UP4B</a>, a government task force to accelerate economic development programs. This policy perpetuated the existing conflicting policies of Papua until the team finished its term last year.</p>
<p>Papuans have raised their voice over the shifting demographic composition, with an increased influx of people from other islands coming to Papua. The government responded by planning a new transmigration program, overlooking the creeping threats of ethnic conflicts. </p>
<p>Papuans have asked for dialogue with the national government, but so far the government only holds closed-door meetings <a href="http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2014/11/24/jokowi-hope-for-papua/">with the Papua Peace Network</a>. They asked for open access for foreign journalists, but the response is a cacophony of mixed messages.</p>
<p>The government’s off-target responses have often been informed by analyses that typically frame Papuans as incompetent. These analysts hold the view that government services in Papua such as health care, education and public services are declining because the groundwork personnel, who are largely Papuans, are absent from their work. This analysis is partly true if they isolate the case to the local level. </p>
<p>But such analyses ignore the question of conflicting government policies on Papua that contribute to the low quality of implementation. The Papuan public service is an integral part of the larger government machinery. Even when a policy has clear guidance and is equipped with strong supervision and mentoring, implementation could go wrong; let alone when there are conflicting policies with minimal supervision.</p>
<h2>How outsiders frame Papua</h2>
<p>If we look back to the history of Papua, since their first encounter with outsiders Papuans have been construed according to the mindsets of the outsiders. The first encounter with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Tidore">Sultanate of Tidore</a> through the hongi fleet between the 17th and 18th century was marked by violence and slavery. Although the contact was limited to the Islands of Raja Ampat, the Bird Heads area and the Island of Biak, this mistreatment illustrated that Papuans were framed as objects by the sultanate.</p>
<p>Following the unconditional transfer of sovereignty from the Netherlands to Indonesia in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_National_Revolution">1949</a>, the Dutch retained then West New Guinea as the last resort of its imaginary empire legacy in Asia. In 1966 Yale historian Arend Lijhart described this act as “trauma of de-colonisation”.</p>
<p>Since the territory was integrated into Indonesia in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Free_Choice">1969</a>, the name of the land has changed three times, illustrating the ways in which the government construed the land of Papua: from Irian Barat during Sukarno’s period to Irian Jaya during Suharto’s period and back to Papua under Abdurrahman Wahid, widely known as Gus Dur. </p>
<p>The change was not merely about names. It was also about different visions of Papua. </p>
<p>Sukarno envisioned the liberation of Irian Barat from the Dutch. Suharto promised a glorious and prosperous Irian Jaya. Gus Dur simply showed respect for Papuans and listened to their wishes by restoring the original name of the territory into the original name. As a result, among the three names, Papuans highly appreciate only the last change.</p>
<h2>Friends in the Pacific</h2>
<p>Papuans have been subjected to various framings without proper consultation with them. So, it is understandable that they have shifted their attention from the national government to the <a href="http://www.msgsec.info/">Melanesian Spearhead Group</a>.</p>
<p>Although the Western world may never hear about this forum, Papuans found genuine dialogue and a warm welcome from the members of this sub-diplomatic forum in its neighbourhood: the Pacific. </p>
<p>They found ample space to express themselves as members of the Melanesian family. They have no worry about being judged or measured against foreign criteria any more because they have their own say and can speak for themselves despite all formal procedures.</p>
<h2>Listen to Papuan voices</h2>
<p>This is what we missed in the discussion of opening access for Papua: let Papuans speak for themselves. It is not a romanticism. Rather, it is a call on national and international policy-makers that Papuans should be given space to speak for themselves, whether with the national government, foreign governments, foreign journalists or international observers, so they are no longer framed as a problem. </p>
<p>Gus Dur set a clear example of how to engage Papuans with respect. This example can be translated into some form of governance that accommodates Papuans’ concerns in a comprehensive policy based on justice, peacemaking and a spirit of reconciliation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41896/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Budi Hernawan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Conflicting policies on Papua reveal that the Indonesian government frame its easternmost region as a problem.Budi Hernawan, Research Fellow at Abdurrahman Wahid Centre for Interfaith and Peace, Universitas IndonesiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/325032014-10-06T01:58:37Z2014-10-06T01:58:37ZQ&A: Australia’s reaction to arrest of French journalists in West Papua<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60755/original/8zfzfbrv-1412329237.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Australian government, by supporting a motion passed by the Senate, expressed concern over restrictions to press freedom in West Papua.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Sue Wellwood</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian Senate passed a motion last week, with explicit support from the Foreign Minister’s office, expressing concern over the imprisonment of two French journalists for reporting in Indonesia’s restive province using tourist visas. </p>
<p>The motion notes that press freedom in West Papua, where a 50-year separatist movement exists, is “tightly restricted”. The Senate called for the Australian government to request Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat’s release. </p>
<p>The following is an interview with Ross Tapsell. </p>
<hr>
<h2><strong>How will Australia’s comment about press freedom in West Papua affect Australia-Indonesia relations?</strong></h2>
<p>Unfortunately I doubt the comment will mean much at a time like this. Just last week we saw numerous Australian media practitioners dismayed that Parliament passed tougher <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/01/us-australia-security-idUSKCN0HQ2WX20141001">national security laws</a>, which will have implications for journalists and whistle-blowers.</p>
<p>One case that has been cited that would have been affected by these new laws is the reporting of Australian government <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-18/australia-spied-on-indonesian-president-leaked-documents-reveal/5098860">tapping</a> of the Indonesian president and his wife’s phone. Earlier this year, Indonesian president <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/31/irked-sby-urges-oz-be-transparent-over-wikileaks-claim.html">Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on the Australian government</a> to stop suppressing details of a court case which involved him. Also, as others have already pointed out, Australia doesn’t allow journalists into Manus Island detention centre to talk to asylum seekers.</p>
<p>So while it is great that Australia stands up for greater access for foreign journalists in West Papua, we are hardly a beacon of light for media freedom at the moment. The Australian government has to practise what it preaches, otherwise it risks being seen as hypocritical.</p>
<h2><strong>What is the state of press freedom in West Papua for foreign journalists and how extraordinary is the case of Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat?</strong></h2>
<p>West Papua is the only region in Indonesia where journalists need a special permit and clearance from officials in Jakarta. </p>
<p>The Indonesian government has a long history of restricting foreign press as well as other researchers and aid workers from accessing the region since it took the territory in 1963. For example, in June 1969, the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club lodged a protest with the Ministry of Information on the restriction on travel and entry of foreign press into West Papua, claiming the measures would have grave consequences for Indonesia’s image abroad and lend substance to doubts about the government’s approach to the region. The current situation for foreign media is, sadly, not new. </p>
<p>Some selected foreign journalists have received permission from Jakarta to report from West Papua, and they are almost always followed by intelligence agencies in the region. By my rough count, around ten Australian journalists have received permission to travel to the region since 2006. </p>
<p>Today, it is possible to go to many areas of the Papua provinces as a tourist. As such, many foreign journalists have entered on a tourist visa and reported from the region, as Dandois and Bourrat allegedly did. If caught and found to be there on a wrong visa, they are usually evicted from the region or sent home to their country. So it is extraordinary that these French journalists have been in jail for this amount of time. </p>
<p>This is also very poor public relations management of the situation by the Indonesian government. The longer the journalists are in jail the more likely international attention will be drawn to this story and Indonesia’s image will continue to be tarnished. </p>
<h2><strong>How should the new Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, deal with this case?</strong></h2>
<p>The French journalists should be released from jail in Papua and sent home. This would be consistent with previous actions taken by the Indonesian government.</p>
<p>Joko Widodo has said that once he is president he will consult widely with Papuans who are looking to improve the situation in their region. Obviously all advocates of media freedom (including myself) would like to see more openness in the region, including for both foreign and local media. </p>
<p>It is important to remember that many local Papuan journalists face threats and intimidation from security forces on a regular basis simply for doing their job. It is difficult for them to report on issues involving local politicians, human rights and the role of security forces in the region. There are numerous stories that simply can’t be published in the local press. So let’s not forget local journalists, and more broadly the restrictions on freedom of expression in the Papua provinces. </p>
<p>Certainly, ending the visa restrictions for foreign journalists is a good place for Widodo to start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32503/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ross Tapsell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Australian Senate passed a motion last week, with explicit support from the Foreign Minister’s office, expressing concern over the imprisonment of two French journalists for reporting in Indonesia’s…Ross Tapsell, Lecturer in Asian Studies, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/189532013-10-07T05:27:00Z2013-10-07T05:27:00ZWill Australia take a stand on West Papua?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32550/original/mntb6hcc-1381116938.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Three West Papuan activists 'took refuge' in Australia's consulate in Bali on the weekend. What is the actual state of play in the troubled region?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Bagus Indahono</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-the-ingredients-for-genocide-is-west-papua-the-next-east-timor-9340">commentary</a> has compared the situation in West Papua to genocide and drawn parallels to East Timor. There seems to be little doubt that human rights abuses have occurred over a long period of time. These violations were given a fresh airing over the weekend, after three West Papuan activists <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-06/west-papuan-activists-leave-australian-consulate-in-bali/5001220">scaled the walls</a> of the Australian consulate in Bali in an apparent attempt to draw attention to the situation in region.</p>
<p>These abuses have largely been the focus of civil society groups, with no countries or regional organisations willing to weigh into the issue. One reason is the lack of large diasporas in developed countries (such as the Timorese in Australia) and in a similar vein, a lack of historical engagement with the oppressed (again as in the case of Australia and the Timorese during World War Two). </p>
<p>The lack of action by governments raises question: who should or could do something about it? And what will the Abbott government do about the “problem” of West Papua? </p>
<p>The election of Tony Abbott spawned much conjecture about Australia’s foreign policy priorities. Unfortunately, we don’t have much evidence to go on. There is no question that the new government will not challenge any foreign policy orthodoxies, and the US alliance will remain the centrepiece of security policy.</p>
<p>But what about at the policy margins where there is more opportunities to manoeuvre? Commentators have delved into past speeches to try to piece together a picture of the government’s priorities on less central foreign policy issues, from West Papua to Fiji. Statements in opposition suggest that there may be some movement on the latter, but not the former. Too many factors inhibit radical change, not the least of which is history.</p>
<p>Those searching for a glimmer of hope in relation to a more activist role might cite John Howard’s reversal on East Timor as a precedent. However, opinion on the intervention in East Timor is <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/07/1046826536143.html">divided</a>. Howard’s 1998 letter to Indonesian president B. J. Habibie was unprecedented, and many argue that the final result - a referendum and independence - was unintended.</p>
<p>Howard is Abbott’s close confidant, but what would he say of the legacy of intervention? Howard has been less than enthusiastic about the intervention in public statements, insofar as it entailed great risk and imposed great costs in relation to fracturing relations - which is connected to the dramatic increase in unauthorised arrivals in the early 2000s. The outpouring of <a href="http://www.ausaid.gov.au/Publications/Documents/tsunami_report_june05.pdf">support</a> during the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami went a long way to rebuilding trust, as did signing the <a href="http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/indonesia/ind-aus-sec06.html">2006 Lombok Treaty</a>.</p>
<p>During the election, the Coalition’s <a href="http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2013/09/06/Coalition-releases-its-foreign-policy.aspx">foreign policy statement</a> noted:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We will build on the Howard government’s Lombok Treaty with Indonesia to broaden an deepen security ties. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Further, the Rudd and Gillard government’s “inept” handling of offshore processing and live cattle exports were singled out, and repairing Australia’s relationship with Indonesia was highlighted as a key foreign policy priority. The new government is certainly “pivoting” to Jakarta.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32555/original/8vc59vh6-1381121360.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32555/original/8vc59vh6-1381121360.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32555/original/8vc59vh6-1381121360.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32555/original/8vc59vh6-1381121360.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32555/original/8vc59vh6-1381121360.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32555/original/8vc59vh6-1381121360.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32555/original/8vc59vh6-1381121360.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Tony Abbott will again meet Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyno this week, but the issue of West Papua is almost certain not to rate a mention.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Romeo Gacad</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>West Papua won’t even be an elephant in the room when Abbott meets Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the <a href="http://www.apec2013ceosummit.com/">APEC Summit</a> this week. Historically, Labor governments have used foreign policy to foster liberal ideals, although the Rudd and Gillard governments increasingly compromised these goals in the national interest (in the case of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-05/gillard-holds-historic-talks-with-burmese-leader/4354114">Burma</a>, for instance). On his last visit to Indonesia, <a href="http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/rudd-reiterates-recognition-of-indonesias-sovereignty-over-papua/">Rudd reiterated</a> Australia’s support for Indonesian sovereignty and Abbott <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2013/s3859497.htm">did likewise</a> on his first visit to Indonesia.</p>
<p>Support for human rights has become more and more the purview of AusAID rather than the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The key difference with the Abbott government, therefore, is that it doesn’t claim to use foreign policy to support human rights. This is clear in the move to bring AusAID more <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/09/18/ausaid-be-absorbed-department-foreign-affairs-and-trade">closely under</a> the control of DFAT, and to more tightly focus aid on the national interest (such as promoting trade). </p>
<p>So, the Coalition’s aid policy will continue to focus on capacity building in Indonesia, but it will continue to be responsive to Indonesian sensitivities about sovereignty in West Papua.</p>
<p>For the Coalition government, West Papua is not a “problem”. The Abbott government is unlikely to make any moves on West Papua that could threaten more pressing national interests, such as security and trade. Continuity will be the order of the day, and any appeal to liberal human rights norms will fade further into the background of the declaratory rhetoric. </p>
<p>Of course there will be embarrassing blips, such as the protestors “visiting” the consulate in Bali or the asylum seekers arriving by canoe in 2006, but the policy will not change unless a radical departure from the status quo can be painted as being in the national interest.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18953/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael has worked as a consultant for AusAID.</span></em></p>Recent commentary has compared the situation in West Papua to genocide and drawn parallels to East Timor. There seems to be little doubt that human rights abuses have occurred over a long period of time…Michael O'Keefe, Senior Lecturer of International Relations, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/180852013-09-13T04:10:08Z2013-09-13T04:10:08ZWhat will the West Papua flotilla mean for Australia-Indonesia relations?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/31206/original/smq9v997-1378949117.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">West Papuan refugee Amos Wainggai is on board the Freedom Flotilla, headed for Papuan shores from Australia. What will it mean for our relations with Indonesia?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Cleo Mary Fraser</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Given the extreme sensitivity with which the issue of West Papua is viewed in Indonesia, the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-11/an-papua-flotilla-approaches-indonesia27s-marine-border/4951834">“Freedom Flotilla”</a> heading from Australia to the Indonesian-controlled territory is sure to create tension. </p>
<p>The question now is how much tension and how it will be handled by all involved.</p>
<p>West Papua refers to the western half of the island of New Guinea that has been under Indonesian rule since 1962. Indigenous Melanesians living there have continued to call for self-determination. Recently, Australian Aboriginal political activists have entered the fray. One result of this is the Freedom Flotilla, which is aimed at bringing this issue into the mainstream.</p>
<p>The Aboriginal link is important. The genesis of the Freedom Flotilla was in the Aboriginal Tent embassy in Canberra in 2000, when the newly-arrived West Papuan exile Jacob Rumbiak met with Aboriginal elder “Uncle” Kevin Buzzacott and explained the dilemma facing the West Papuans. </p>
<p>This struck a chord with Buzzacott. It resonated with the long history of Aboriginal occupation, dispossession and marginalisation. Buzzacott saw the connection as deeper than shared victimhood. He traced their ancient historical and cultural relationship back to prehistoric times with its common past and ancestry.</p>
<p>The Freedom Flotilla started in Blanche Springs, adjacent to Lake Eyre in Australia’s arid heart. Carrying water from this spring and ashes from the Tent Embassy fireplace, the quest came to symbolise a re-connection of these two ancient peoples. The group travelled from the desert to Cairns and boarded the flotilla for the final leg to Merauke on Papua’s southern coast. Two of the vessels subsequently broke down, leaving only the flotilla’s flagship vessel, The Pog. </p>
<p>Flotilla members were issued with Aboriginal passports and given entry visas by Rumbiak in his self-proclaimed capacity as “Foreign Minister” of the “Federated Republic of West Papua”.</p>
<p>Flotilla spokesman Ruben Blake says the flotilla hopes to draw attention to the situation in West Papua and pave the way for journalists and independent observers to have greater access. Pointedly, the flotilla also hopes to highlight Australia’s silence on West Papua and its complicity through its funding of the Indonesian military.</p>
<p>But no-one knows how this will end. The Indonesian government has <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/20/indonesia-west-papua-flotilla-force">signalled its intention</a> to stop the flotilla from landing in West Papua and its armed forces have been told to intercept the vessel. The best outcome would be if the boat is peacefully “turned around” - but other, less benign, outcomes are also possible. The worst would be the use of armed force by the Indonesians, which seems unlikely but given the the military’s violent reputation, it is not impossible. </p>
<p>Another scenario involves The Pog being impounded and the crew arrested, if for no other reason than travelling without valid passports and visas. This could mean a long spell in jail and loss of the vessel. </p>
<p>The possibility also remains for a major diplomatic incident.</p>
<p>Former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr has withdrawn diplomatic support for people who intentionally break other country’s laws. He also <a href="https://www.indymedia.org.au/2013/08/27/bob-carr-publicly-attacks-west-papua-activists">dismissed</a> flotilla members as being engaged in a “cruel hoax” in promoting the “impossible” dream of an independent West Papua. But this will not put the story back in the can. </p>
<p>Incoming Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop will be left to deal with seething anger felt in Jakarta at what it sees as a direct threat to their sovereignty coming from Australia shores. After Australia’s involvement in East Timor’s liberation, distrust and suspicion of Australian motives remains high. The possibility of a freeze in bilateral relations, as occurred in 2006 over Australia <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/papuan-boat-arrival-fuels-crisis/2006/04/04/1143916526871.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1">accepting West Papuan refugees</a>, persists.</p>
<p>Given all the areas in which Australia and Indonesia must engage, such as on asylum seeker policy, this relationship is of first order importance for both countries. But whichever way this episode ends, the Freedom Flotilla has highlighted one of the most fraught issues between Australia and Indonesia.</p>
<p>Also seeping into the collective consciousness is the notion that West Papua is the “new” East Timor. Increased militarisation, massive resource development and a huge influx of non-Melanesian Indonesian migrants has intensified the situation.</p>
<p>This bodes badly for the bilateral relationship. </p>
<p>If Australia’s future relations with Indonesia hang on the thread of West Papua - as the diplomatic frenzy created by six people on a leaking boat seems to imply - much more attention must be devoted to the grievances of the West Papuan people. This has now become a matter of regional security.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18085/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jim Elmslie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Given the extreme sensitivity with which the issue of West Papua is viewed in Indonesia, the “Freedom Flotilla” heading from Australia to the Indonesian-controlled territory is sure to create tension…Jim Elmslie, Visiting Scholar, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160602013-07-13T22:14:09Z2013-07-13T22:14:09ZRefugees and rebels set to dominate Rudd’s PNG visit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27407/original/hjx4r6kn-1373716796.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Asylum seekers and West Papua will be high on the agenda for Kevin Rudd's talks with his PNG counterpart Peter O'Neill.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Alan Porritt</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-11/australian-prime-minister-to-visit-png/4814448">lands</a> in Port Moresby to meet with his Papua New Guinean counterpart Peter O'Neill, several conundrums are set to tax his mind and diplomatic skills. </p>
<p>Front and centre of the talks will be containing Australia’s escalating refugee crisis due to the currency this issue has with the Australian electorate. There’ll be other issues on the table as well, such as PNG’s health system and how Australia can help there.</p>
<p>But one problem testing Rudd’s mettle, however, has little sway with the Australian public, but is of huge significance to Indonesia: the resurgent support across the Pacific for the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-10/wounded-papuan-rebel-commander-speaks-from-jungle-hideout/4811188">beleaguered inhabitants of West Papua</a>. Given Indonesia’s importance to Australia this means that the West Papua issue concerns us as well.</p>
<p>Papua New Guinea has always been a fascinating country and rather hard to comprehend for itinerant diplomats. Having simultaneously a booming economy (thanks to the mining and petroleum industries) and many aspects of a failed state, PNG defies simplistic analysis. </p>
<p>While Port Moresby is full of cranes, construction sites and brand new Toyota LandCruisers, the schools and aid posts in the bush – where some 80% of people still live – are falling apart and severely under-resourced in staff and materials. By some measures literacy is even falling. Yet there is a sense of optimism, especially amongst PNG’s elite, that the country has a bright future and is, as they <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/png-gas-project-faces-risks-20120528-1zfb6.html">say</a>: “a mountain of gold floating in a sea of oil”.</p>
<p>There are serious problems to be sure. <a href="http://www.ausaid.gov.au/Publications/Pages/9246_8817_4620_4371_9540.aspx">Epidemic rates</a> of HIV-AIDS; rampant <a href="http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/transparency-international-backs-png-pms-move-on-corruption/1159638">corruption</a>; massive <a href="http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/10/30/papua-new-guinea-deforestation-at-critical-level/">deforestation</a>; mining operations that spread <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-09-06/png-warned-of-environmental-mining-disaster/501510">environmental devastation</a>; a <a href="http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=77489">burgeoning population</a> growing at one of the fastest rates on the world; entrenched violence <a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-islands-beset-by-gender-violence-but-why-13150">against women</a>; huge economic inequality and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3379597.htm">creeping land alienation</a> under the Special Agricultural Leases are just a few. </p>
<p>PNG is also suffering the effects of climate change. The <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-07/png-east-sepik-flooding/4674444">recent flooding</a> of the Sepik River is the biggest in living memory and has caused the destruction of houses that survived previous floods. But these problems are unlikely to be focused on other than in the AusAID conversation checklist. As a nation with a long history of providing PNG with aid and advice - which is only sometimes taken - Australia will continue to address these issues in a methodical and sometimes successful way.</p>
<p>The contemporary points of concern are more recent in origin: the saga of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-if-it-was-our-kids-four-corners-and-asylum-seekers-13811">Manus Island refugee camps</a> and the sudden re-emergence of West Papua. The <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/aust-locks-in-manus-solution-20120908-25lme.html">“Manus Solution”</a> for Australia’s refugee crisis was dusted off and restarted under the previous Gillard government’s attempts to stem the flow of boat people. </p>
<p>The hope that the Manus policy would create such harsh conditions for asylum seekers that other prospective boat people would be put off making the hazardous journey was dashed almost as soon as the camps re-opened. The sheer number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia overwhelmed the system and filled the Manus Island camps quickly, but showed no sign of abating under the hoped-for deterrent effect.</p>
<p>Responding to domestic criticism in Australia and widespread discontent with the Manus Island refugee facilities in PNG, <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national-news/women-kids-moved-from-png-detention/story-fncynjr2-1226667144283">women and children</a> have now been removed from the camps and sent to better conditions in Australian facilities. The government would now like Manus to become the regional processing centre for refugees, still retaining its disincentive role but working in conjunction with the PNG government. </p>
<p>Serious money will be spent upgrading and running Manus in an effort to mitigate domestic and international criticism and enable Australia to conform to its obligations under the various international agreements and protocols the government has signed. </p>
<p>This gives considerable bargaining power to the PNG government. Australia needs its co-operation to progress with these plans and will have to finesse the deal with concessions and enhanced aid. Perhaps Australia will even make it easier for PNG nationals to gain entry visas to this country: a common complaint amongst our Pacific neighbours.</p>
<p>The other issue where PNG holds considerable bargaining power is West Papua. Long a dormant, even dismissed, issue, the conflict on the western half of the island of New Guinea is entrenched, but has suddenly come to the fore of regional politics. For instance, the recent Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) meeting in Noumea <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-18/an-msg-delays-decision-on-west-papua-membership/4761812">was dominated</a> by the spectre of West Papua. </p>
<p>Expatriate West Papuan independence groups have formally asked for membership of the MSG. For once, their requests are being taken seriously. This is due to a variety of factors such as the increasing knowledge of the murderous conflict from the internet, the better organisation of the West Papuan groups themselves, a more receptive audience amongst the new generation of Pacific leaders and an escalation of the conflict in West Papua itself, where violent demonstrations and unsolved killings are now commonplace.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27409/original/s6qn8jfq-1373718940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27409/original/s6qn8jfq-1373718940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27409/original/s6qn8jfq-1373718940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27409/original/s6qn8jfq-1373718940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27409/original/s6qn8jfq-1373718940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27409/original/s6qn8jfq-1373718940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/27409/original/s6qn8jfq-1373718940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The issue of West Papuan independence has gained fresh relevance recently after political ructions in the Pacific region.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Sue Wellwood</span></span>
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<p>It is widely accepted how sensitive the West Papua issue is for Indonesia, which vigorously maintains its claim of sovereignty over the region. Indonesia is deeply troubled by the growing internationalisation of the conflict and is actively engaged in countering support for the West Papuan cause in the Pacific countries – especially Vanuatu, but also in PNG and Australia. </p>
<p>When Rudd met with Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week it was Rudd who <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/indonesia-takes-aim-at-abbott-plan-20130705-2phhb.html">raised the issue</a> of West Papua. Rudd pledged support for economic development in the region, presumably to improve the lot of the West Papuans in the hope that they might moderate their calls for independence. </p>
<p>Membership of the MSG by a West Papuan group would hugely boost their campaign and be a massive blow to Indonesian, and by extension, Australian diplomacy. MSG membership would give the West Papuans access to take their case to the United Nations and to garner support in African and Caribbean countries. Currently, the membership issue is pending: it has been put aside to allow - at Indonesia’s invitation -, government officials from the MSG countries (PNG, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Fiji) to visit West Papua to see the situation for themselves.</p>
<p>West Papua’s pending membership of the MSG therefore gives the Pacific countries – especially PNG as the biggest and most powerful member – great bargaining power in their dealings with both Australia and Indonesia. Therefore, this issue, and talks over the Manus Island facilities will feature heavily in Rudd’s brief visit to PNG. They are the areas in which PNG diplomats can exert pressure over the whole gamut of interactions the two countries share.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/16060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jim Elmslie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd lands in Port Moresby to meet with his Papua New Guinean counterpart Peter O'Neill, several conundrums are set to tax his mind and diplomatic skills. Front and centre…Jim Elmslie, Visiting Scholar, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/113132012-12-14T01:30:33Z2012-12-14T01:30:33ZAustralian media only tells half the story about West Papua<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/18667/original/nbqkkpt3-1355444189.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's more to the West Papua story than men in Bambi suits.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kayt Davies</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last friday a <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/trained-by-a-baron-and-backed-by-bambi-now-west-papua-freedom-fighter-faces-jail-20121206-2ayc7.html">picture story</a> appeared on page three of The Age that was ostensibly about events in West Papua. The story was pitched as a quirky yarn, replete with a wacky Disney character, a kilt (always a bit funny) and some large weapons. </p>
<p>All these elements tick boxes on the newsworthiness checklist - but, as US journalist Charles Feldman told a gathering of the Journalism Education Association of Australia in Melbourne earlier last week, “there is a difference between news and journalism”.</p>
<p>The story was about Gerard Michael Little, who presents as a well meaning man dismayed at the death toll in Papua and who allegedly wanted to put his military and paramilitary training to good use in the form of an armed peace keeping force. He was arrested in Brisbane last week under a rarely used law that prohibits hostile activities by armed non-state actors, including planning and training. </p>
<p>To make the charges stick, the prosecutor will have to prove that he was armed and intending to take offensive action.</p>
<p>The story’s first appearance was on Wednesday December 5 when <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/man-faces-foreign-incursion-offences/story-fn3dxiwe-1226530261912">The Australian</a>, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-05/alleged-would-be-mercenary-appears-in-brisbane-court/4409204">ABC Local</a>, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/west-papua-rebel-held-20121205-2avw2.html">the Sydney Morning Herald</a>, <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/man-faces-foreign-incursion-offences/story-e6frf7kf-1226530261912">The Herald Sun</a> and APN’s <a href="http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/vic-man-faces-foreign-incursion-offences/1648440/">Toowoomba Chronicle</a> reported that Little had been arrested. <a href="http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/australian-arrested-on-accusations-of-planning-hostile-activities-in-papua/560015">The Jakarta Globe</a> followed up the next day as news emerged from his court appearance. </p>
<p>The articles were all accounts of the bare facts of the court case, in turn highlighting Little’s Victorian and Toowoomba connections, paramilitary training in the Ukraine, disability pension and grandfather status. Reporting <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/trained-by-a-baron-and-backed-by-bambi-now-west-papua-freedom-fighter-faces-jail-20121206-2ayc7.html">a day later</a>, The Age’s Justice Editor Dan Oakes did commendable research on the man and wrote up what he found.</p>
<p>But what was omitted was the context. What is happening in West Papua, in general and in particular this week, goes some way towards explaining Little’s actions.</p>
<p>Having arrived in Melbourne a day ahead of a gathering of journalism educators, I was in town for the December 1 West Papuan <a href="http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/52973">flag day celebrations</a> in front of the State Library. West Papuan foreign minister in exile Jacob Rumbiak <a href="http://blakandblack.com/2012/12/01/west-papua-remembering-51-years-of-oppression/">told the crowd</a> he’d spent a decade in prison for raising a flag in Papua, and that he had many colleagues behind bars for exercising their right to peacefully express their opinion. A young Papuan activist read an open letter to Julia Gillard calling for Australia to take responsibility for the actions of the troops it is training and the atrocities they are committing on Papuan soil.</p>
<p>While Melbourne was sunny and bright, the cloud that passed over the gathering in its final moment at Federation Square was news that Victor Yeimo, the chairman of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) <a href="http://westpapuamedia.info/2012/12/02/victor-yeimo-and-others-arrested-as-police-crackdown-on-december-1-protests-in-jayapura/">had been arrested</a>. His crime was to lead a peaceful protest march. </p>
<p>The Melbourne West Papuan community waited for news, as international human rights monitors made enquiries about Yeimo’s status and whereabouts. The next day police announced he had been released, leading to concern that he may have “disappeared”.</p>
<p>But Yeimo surfaced, and filed a <a href="http://westpapuamedia.info/2012/12/04/victor-we-are-ready-to-wreak-havoc-and-clash-with-all-of-you-reflections-by-an-unrepentent-leader/">report</a> that quoted Jayapura police captain Kiki Kurnia saying, “We are ready to wreak havoc and clash with all of you”. Yeimo called on the international community to take action.</p>
<p>Other positive news that didn’t attract the interest of News Ltd, Fairfax or the ABC: an <a href="http://westpapuamedia.info/2012/12/06/indonesian-government-to-act-on-papuan-political-prisoners/">announcement</a> that the Indonesian Law and Human Rights Ministry had agreed to give sentence remissions to around 20 Papuan political prisoners. This announcement must be backed by vigilant international watchdog journalism to ensure that it delivers the due judicial process it appears to promise.</p>
<p>Tempering the optimism of this announcement was the sad news that political prisoner <a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1212/S00120/police-shooting-of-escaped-political-prisoner-sparks-riots.htm">Timotius Napirem Ap</a> was shot dead - in the feet, neck and back - by police.</p>
<p>This is just one week in the rolling saga of the civil resistance movement in West Papua. It’s a story that involves villagers who live in grass huts in jungles, students who live in dorms in the urban heart of Jayapura, Australian mining executives, and the protesters who gathered in Melbourne.</p>
<p>For them, the flurry of news attention given to Little’s arrest must seem odd. That events like these would prompt a military-trained man to step in and try to do something about the void of international neglect and media disinterest is not surprising. But he’s a symptom, not the cause, and his story is just a quirky tangent to a real story that is mostly ignored by Australia’s mainstream media.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/11313/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kayt Davies does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Last friday a picture story appeared on page three of The Age that was ostensibly about events in West Papua. The story was pitched as a quirky yarn, replete with a wacky Disney character, a kilt (always…Kayt Davies, Senior Lecturer, Journalism, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/93402012-09-21T04:28:38Z2012-09-21T04:28:38ZAll the ingredients for genocide: is West Papua the next East Timor?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15382/original/8fqyfzs9-1347427824.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">West Papuan activists protesting at the Hague for independence of the Indonesian-held province.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Apdency/Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Allegations that Australia is funding <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3577104.htm">death squads in West Papua</a> have brought the troubled province back to Australian attention. </p>
<p>Blanket denials by both Indonesian and Australian governments – standard policy for such reports in the past, no longer cut the mustard.</p>
<h2>The players respond</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-18442620">killing</a> of Papuan activist Mako Tabuni by Indonesian police was for Jakarta a legitimate operation against a violent criminal shot while evading arrest. That Tabuni bled to death from his untreated wounds while in police custody did not rate a mention.</p>
<p>The Australian response was more measured. Foreign Minister Bob Carr took the allegation that Tabuni had been assassinated seriously because the partially Australian funded and trained elite anti-terrorist organisation, Densus 88, was accused of playing a role in the killing. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15364/original/rvn8b9kw-1347409117.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15364/original/rvn8b9kw-1347409117.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=822&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15364/original/rvn8b9kw-1347409117.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=822&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15364/original/rvn8b9kw-1347409117.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=822&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15364/original/rvn8b9kw-1347409117.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1033&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15364/original/rvn8b9kw-1347409117.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1033&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15364/original/rvn8b9kw-1347409117.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1033&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Bob Carr raised the issue of human rights with foreign minister Marty Natalegawa in June this year in his first official visit to Indonesia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Adi Weda</span></span>
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<p>For once there was a direct Australian connection to the human rights abuses that have been happening in West Papua for decades. Australian taxpayers may indeed be helping to fund Indonesian death squads. Carr called on the Indonesians to make a full <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/indonesia-rebukes-carr-over-west-papua-call-20120829-250yb.html">enquiry</a> into the affair.</p>
<p>The Indonesian response was to appoint Brigadier General Tito Karnavian as Papua’s <a href="http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/ex-antiterror-chief-set-to-be-new-papua-police-chief/542004">new Police Chief</a>. This sends the clearest possible message that Jakarta intends to deal with the Papuan separatists’ insurgency with lethal force, rather than diplomacy and negotiation. </p>
<p>Many activists have been arrested and a concerted effort is underway to break the back of the urban based, non-violent Papuan rights organisations, such as Tabuni’s KNPB (Komite Nasional Papua Barat).</p>
<h2>Independence</h2>
<p>Most Papuans would favour independence over Indonesian occupation. This is a recipe for ongoing military operations, repression and human rights abuse as the Indonesian military and police hunt down “separatists”.</p>
<p>This seems to suit most players. West Papua is the Indonesian military’s last zone of exclusive control after the loss of Aceh and East Timor. It’s a fabulous prize to control as extensive (legal and illegal) logging, huge mining projects and massive development funds provide rich pickings for those in control, while incoming migrants are drawn in by economic opportunities unavailable elsewhere. It is really only the Papuans who are suffering in this massive free-for-all.</p>
<p>The plight of the Papuans is slowly but surely seeping into the global consciousness. While modern technology allows West Papua’s riches to now be exploited, it also allows the stories and images of Papuan suffering to emerge. Increased Indonesian militarisation and repression only exacerbate this trend. </p>
<h2>A new East Timor?</h2>
<p>This is the same trajectory that East Timor’s long struggle for freedom followed: an overwhelmingly dominant military on the ground but a growing sense of outrage within the international community, especially in the Western nations. This led Indonesia to be treated almost as a pariah nation and underpinned East Timor’s rapid shift to independence in the wake of Suharto’s fall.</p>
<p>While no other nation supports West Papuan independence, except Vanuatu sporadically, and the rule of the Indonesian state appears unassailable, a dangerous dynamic is developing. </p>
<p>As the situation in West Papua deteriorates, human rights abuses will continue, with the very real prospect of a dramatic increase in violence to genocidal levels. </p>
<p>The ingredients are there: stark racial, religious and ideological differences coalescing around a desire for Papuan resources and Papuans’ land, on one hand, and independence on the other. Indeed many Indonesians, as well as the Indonesian state, already view Papuan separatists as traitors.</p>
<p>This should rightly concern Australians: we are in a quasi-military alliance with Indonesia through the 2006 <a href="http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/indonesia/ind-aus-sec06.html">Lombok Treaty</a>. We are a player, albeit minor, in these events. When there is a divide in the opinion of the political, military and bureaucratic elite, and that of the wider population, as occurred in Australia over Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor, the majority view tends to eventually prevail. And the majority view, formed by such programmes as the ABC 7.30 report, is moving to one of sympathy for the Papuans and antipathy towards Indonesia for what many see as a re-run of East Timor’s disastrous occupation. This does not bode well for relations between the two countries.</p>
<h2>Words or bullets?</h2>
<p>Indonesia runs the risk of having its widely heralded democratisation process stained by the Papuan conflict. There is also the fact that while West Papua remains a military zone the Indonesian army will continue to be unaccountable and largely outside of civilian control, stymieing anti-corruption efforts not just in Papua but through out the country. The consequences for the Papuans are abundantly clear: no basic rights and a life lived in fear.</p>
<p>While there are no quick or easy solutions to this conundrum, one choice is manifestly clear: does the answer lie in more words or more bullets? </p>
<p>Jakarta has so far rejected meaningful dialogue in favour of a beefed up security approach. Australia, and Australians, should forcefully criticise this as being against our own, and Indonesia’s (let alone the Papuans’) long-term interests. </p>
<p>If the West Papuan conflict continues to follow the East Timor trajectory this problem will continue to grow, relations will become strained and tensions rise. It’s worth remembering that Australia and Indonesia very nearly came to blows over East Timor. Let’s learn from the past and encourage, and promote, meaningful dialogue between all parties.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/9340/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jim Elmslie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Allegations that Australia is funding death squads in West Papua have brought the troubled province back to Australian attention. Blanket denials by both Indonesian and Australian governments – standard…Jim Elmslie, Visiting Scholar, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/77832012-07-02T03:53:48Z2012-07-02T03:53:48ZViolence in West Papua: the vulnerable become Indonesia’s latest target<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/12398/original/v3tfrzvx-1340934831.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Indonesian activists protest against the Indonesian government's violence in West Papua.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Bagus Indahon</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Why has West Papua’s non-violent student movement the West Papuan National Committee (KNPB) become the latest target of a campaign of terror in West Papua?</p>
<h2>Calls for a referendum</h2>
<p>Since Indonesia’s 1963 takeover of West Papua from the Dutch, the occupation has been characterised by <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/once-again-australia-is-silent-about-violence-on-its-doorstep-20120117-1q4k5.html">oppression and violence</a>. </p>
<p>Indonesia’s unwillingness to allow West Papua a chance to choose its political future stems largely from the revenue it pulls in from the US-owned gold and copper mine in West Papua, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmontlake/2012/01/26/cave-in-freeport-mcmoran/">Freeport McMoRan</a>. </p>
<p>In passing months, the KNPB has organised protests across West Papua that call for an independence referendum. This has placed unbearable pressure on Indonesia. The protests have also raised awareness of the abuses committed by Indonesian security forces against indigenous Papuans, as noted at the May 2010 United Nations Periodic Review. </p>
<p>Indonesia’s human rights record has also elicited criticism from Germany. This criticism was the precursor to a month of shocking violence in West Papua. Perhaps this is why KNPB has been the focus of the Indonesian security apparatus’ latest attack on indigenous West Papuans.</p>
<h2>Assassination, violence, and protest</h2>
<p>The broad daylight assassination of KNPB deputy chairperson Mako Tabuni on June 14 by police, has enraged the indigenous resistance movement triggering a backlash of riots and fresh violence in West Papua’s largest town, <a href="http://csis.org/publication/violence-hits-papua-again-crisis-need-leader">Jayapura</a>. </p>
<p>Police claim Mako was <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/papua-activist-was-armed-say-police-20120619-20m17.html">armed with a police rifle</a> and resisted arrest. Eyewitnesses to the murder disagree, saying Mako was standing at a kiosk eating betel nut when several cars pulled up and shot him on the spot.</p>
<p>A week before the assassination, <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA21/001/2011/en/25845977-cc75-4098-846a-0ec8018fbd0a/asa210012011en.html">Buchtar Tabuni</a>, the chairperson of the KNPB, was arrested for organising student demonstrations in West Papua. Police claim they pursued and killed Mako because of confessions from an incarcerated Buchtar that Mako had been responsible for several murders earlier that month, including of other KNPB members. </p>
<p>Mako had actually been campaigning for an independent investigation into the killings. The spokesperson of an Indonesian NGO for victims of violence, Kontras Papua, said that the Papuan police had spun myriad lies in the aftermath of Mako’s assassination. </p>
<p>The police allegation was categorically denied by KNPB spokesperson, Victor Yeimo, whom I spoke to several days ago. Yeimo attested to Mako’s commitment to non-violence and queried why KNPB would be shooting its own members. </p>
<p>Police and the Indonesian security forces have illogically pinned the murder of KNPB members and others on the Papuan indigenous resistance movement, and a police wanted list is circulating with more KNPB names listed. </p>
<p>On 23-4 June, five KNPB members were allegedly detained by <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/06/16/police-likely-intensify-densus-88-s-role-papua-watchdog.html">Densus 88</a> (Indonesia’s Australian-trained counter-terrorism unit) forces, and families of the five are worried as they have not been seen since.</p>
<p>In the week following Germany’s denunciation of Indonesia’s treatment of West Papuans at the UN Universal Periodic Review, a <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/police-link-dead-activist-to-shooting-of-tourist-20120619-20m72.html">German tourist was shot</a> in Jayapura by an indigenous-looking gunman police claim may have been Mako Tabuni. </p>
<p>In a handy turn of events for police the tourist’s wife was unable to identify Tabuni due to his murder, and the legal system is saved from subjecting him to due process. The shooting may well have been executed by another indigenous Papuan. The use of ethnic Papuans to carry out Indonesian military dirty-work is a well known occurrence. The timing of Germany’s criticism and the shooting of the German tourist is unnerving.</p>
<p>Military violence has also spread to West Papua’s highland town, <a href="http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=68757">Wamena</a>. When two soldiers <a href="http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/28886/">hit a child whilst speeding</a>, the local community retaliated by killing one of the soldiers. Hundreds of soldiers from the local battalion came back later for revenge, running amok by setting fires, shooting into crowds and vandalising houses. </p>
<p>Over the past month the shooting spree in West Papua has claimed at least 18 lives. This is partly the work of trained killers, with snipers targeting vital organs. </p>
<p>The leaders of the two largest churches in West Papua, <a href="http://newmatilda.com/2011/07/07/leaked-letter-reveals-indo-army-scare-tactics">Benny Giay</a> and <a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/11/07/ndumma-socratez-sofyan-yoman.html">Socratez Sofyan Yoman</a>, assert that the mysterious killings are politically motivated and have left indigenous Papuans in fear of leaving their homes. <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/10/28/indonesia-independent-investigation-needed-papua-violence">Human Rights Watch</a> also reports that the government continues to overlook the need to investigate the violence, barring monitors and journalists from entering Papua to investigate.</p>
<h2>Justice and Australia’s role</h2>
<p>It seems unlikely that those to blame will be brought to justice, as Indonesian President <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/y/susilo_bambang_yudhoyono/index.html">Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono</a> has made light of the soldiers’ rampage by labeling it “<a href="http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/sby-sanctions-for-papua-law-enforcers-committing-inappropriate-actions/523951">inappropriate action</a>”. He has called the shootings in Papua “<a href="http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/06/18/comment-shootings-are-small-scale-sby.html">small-scale</a>” in comparison to those taking place in the Middle East. </p>
<p>Where is this leader’s compassion for his people? Or are Papuans’ deaths so insignificant that they only merit attention when statistically matched to those in other global tragedies?</p>
<p>The recent shootings in Papua are, sadly, nothing new for West Papuans, although the frequency of lethality and the accompanying power of the Papuan backlash by way of protest are increasing.</p>
<p>As Indonesian security forces fan the flames of West Papuans’ independence aspirations, Australia must end its assistance to them. </p>
<p>By <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2010/10/27/australia-press-indonesian-security-forces-accountability">training Indonesia’s counter-terrorism forces</a> accused of carrying out much of the current violence in Papua, Australia is more of an accomplice to Indonesian crimes than it was via its wilful ignorance during the lead up to the intervention in East Timor. </p>
<p>It will be an embarrassment to Australia, but a blessing to West Papuans if, because of the violence that Australian expertise helps finesse, Australia is forced to intervene to prevent genocide in West Papua in the near future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/7783/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Camellia Webb-Gannon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Why has West Papua’s non-violent student movement the West Papuan National Committee (KNPB) become the latest target of a campaign of terror in West Papua? Calls for a referendum Since Indonesia’s 1963…Camellia Webb-Gannon, Coordinator of the West Papua Project, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.