Political and constitutional conflict in the west papua. The struggle for selfdetermination in west papua 1969. We learn about the unifying power of melanesian music, expose the extractive companies that are profiting from papuan repression, and hear indigenous leaders lay out their. But this narrative of polling plunging png into violence ignores a bigger picture. The papua conflict is an ongoing conflict in western new guinea papua between indonesia and the free papua movement indonesian. As the conflict between the republic of indonesia and the free papua movement separatists continue, the only killings happened is under the name of the conflict not a genocide. Local human rights organisations continue to report cases of extrajudicial killings. Shortly before obamas arrival in 1967, hundreds of thousands. The opm is the armed wing of the independence movement and the main leader is kelly kwalik. Role of conflict and conflict management in communitybased natural resource projects 1. Papua new guinea has had its share of trouble since independence in 1975. Dynamics of conflict and displacment in papua, indonesia.
This puts the uk in a unique position to take effective leadership to resolve the conflict in west papua, both for moral reasons and to protect vital british interests in the region. Understanding resource conflicts in papua new guinea. As dame carol kidu, papua new guineas minister for community development stated, suddenly with this lng project and all of the tensions and jealousies over the land ownership and all these things, it blew up into a tribal war, a village war. The political conflict in west papua can be resolved peacefully when those involved in the transfer of west papua to the indonesian republic that is, the united nations, the united states of america, the dutch and indonesian governments take responsibility for solving the problem in terms of.
Following your informative guide and listen to fascinating stories about the history of the island, many may sound too bizarre to be true but in this case the truth is stranger than fiction. The contrast between historic and contemporary media coverage in. He describes how the 1969 act of free choice referendum on west papuas future was rigged to ensure that the resource rich island remained under indonesian control. The history wrote that papua formerly named irian and irian barat that now has two provinces. The dangers of shutting down dialogue, international crisis group briefing no 47, march 23, 2006, p. Indonesian rule in west papua, was written by dr jim elmslie and dr camellia webbgannon, both visiting scholars at the centre for peace and conflict studies at sydney university.
Arlinces story its the 1st of july, 20 arlince tabuni, a 12 year old melanesian west papuan girl, daughter of a pastor is enjoying life in her village highlands village of popume. Roddan gives a chilling depiction of economic manoeuvres, both past and present, undertaken by the indonesian government in a bid to marginalise the indigenous papuans. Conflict watchdog warns jakarta is fuelling tension in papua over virus. The conflict was described by bougainvillean president john. Resources and conflict in papua executive summary and recommendations the struggle over land and natural resource rights is a key aspect of the conflict in papua, formerly known as irian jaya, that pits the indonesian state against an independence movement supported by most of the indigenous population. Indonesian human rights abuses in west papua yale law school. Filmed over a two year period, it provides an exclusive insight into the life and times of this freedom fighter and his tireless struggle to liberate his people from indonesian colonial rule. West papua stands on a knifeedge between freedom and disaster.
But papuas insecurity state failure in the indonesian periphery. I read news about 100 papua new guineans png near the border of indonesia merauke and boven digoel who wanted to be indonesian citizens. Eben kirksey first went to west papua in 1998 as an exchange student. Papua conflict analysis free download as powerpoint presentation. Jakartas perceptions and policies papua has been an integral part of indonesia ever since the proclamation of independence. The politics of history in west papua indonesia conflict nino viartasiwi the institute of international relations and area studies, ritsumeikan university, kyoto, japan abstract this study examines how history is used as a source of legitimacy and a political instrument in the sectarian conflict between the. The bougainville civil war, also known as the bougainville conflict, was a multilayered armed conflict fought from 1988 to 1998 in the north solomons province of papua new guinea png between png and the secessionist forces of the bougainville revolutionary army bra, and between the bra and other armed groups on bougainville. A chinese wayfarer once wrote that there was an island in the indonesian archipelago that was called tungki that was part of the moluccas kingdom. Snapshot of government policy in papua and west papua papua is a province of indonesia, located in the western part of the island of new guinea, or west new guinea. Torture of alleged separatists and other civilians is widespread. This article explores the west papua issue through the papua new guinea news media.
The resident mission country economist aaron batten provided technical inputs. The transformation of papuan landscape from mining is, in fact, a territorial transformation that is not only representative of a political conflict but is materially the conflict in motion registered on the soil, subsoil, water, people, plants and life dispersed in the ecology of papua over space and time. Hundreds of past and present cases of nonviolent civil resistance exist. Papua is no more or less part of indonesia than yogyakarta or manado. West papua is the western half of the island of new guinea, formerly known as dutch new guinea. Rodd has published widely on the papua conflict and australiaindonesia relations. Pdf west papua independence in the papua new guinea press.
West papua the silent genocide view post indonesia rights body urges obama to open secret us files by matthew pennington associated press washington the indonesia that barack obama lived in as a child bore fresh scars from the darkest period in countrys modern history. How many people from west papua were arrested because of politics in 2016. Tribal war and natural gas in papua new guinea geocurrents. Efforts by the west papua constituency to contest indonesian sovereignty. As papua new guineas general elections approach, observers of the country are watching closely for signs the polls will trigger conflict, particularly in the volatile highlands.
The second part deals with the current conflict in the territory. The secret war against defenceless west papua march 9, 2006 john pilger describes indonesias brutal occupation of west papua as one of the great secrets of our time. A recent report details genocide against the indigenous people of west papua carried out by the indonesian government, which has occupied the territory since the 1960s the report, a slowmotion genocide. A human rights group says it has obtained documentary evidence linking the indonesian military with east timorstyle militias in papua province. The governments strategy was outlined in leaked documents from the national. Representations of violence, conflict, and displacement in west papua.
A year dispute with the netherlands over whether the former dutch colony would become an independent state or an indonesian province culminated in 1962 in its occupation and annexation by force by he indonesian military and the denial of the right. Ironically despite all the wealth in west papua, it is the countrys second poorest province after west nusa tenggara. You can access the entire archive of over 500 issues with a digital subscription. This article is from the may 2017 issue of new internationalist. Solving the political problem of west papua by peaceful. His later study of west papuas resistance to the indonesian occupiers and the forces of globalization morphed as he discovered that collaboration, rather than resistance, was the primary strategy of this dynamic social movement. Conflict management in communitybased natural resource. Much has been written about violent conflict in indonesias eastern most provinces. Jakartas perceptions and policies by richard chauvel and ikrar nusa.
Subsequent to the withdrawal of the dutch administration from the netherlands new guinea in 1962 and implementation of indonesian administration in 1963, the free papua movement has conducted a lowintensity guerrilla war against. The papua conflict richard chauvel and ikrar nusa bhakti eastwest center washington eastwest center washington isbn 1932728082 previous issues policy studies 1 the aceh peace process. The entire western half of the island was previously known as west papua, and this name continues to be used by west papuans and. It is often thought of as the opposite of cooperation and peace, and is most commonly associated with violence, the threat of violence or disruptive nonviolent disputes. Paper presented to workshop on conflict in the southern highlands province, papua new guinea, australian national university, canberra, 2627 may 2003. Under dutch colonial rule, the territory was known as netherlands new guinea, while indonesia renamed it west irian 19621973 and then irian jaya 19732001. The west papuan independence movement a history world. The uk has also granted asylum to benny wenda, current spokesperson for the united liberation movement for west papua. The politics of history in west papua indonesia conflict.
Understanding and responding to a fragile situation. Conflict island on foot take a walking tour for an exploration of this beautiful tropical island. Since west papua was incorporated into indonesia, papuans have been subject to. The uns decolonisation committee will not accept a petition signed by 1. Papua conflict or west papua conflict in 2002 indonesia divided the western half of new guinea into two provinces papua and west papua. Under the dutch, the territory was the easternmost limit of the farflung dutch east indies. While there are obviously many differences in terms of the nature and process of con. In png highlands, conflict not limited to election season. Human rights abuses in papua and west papua we, the undersigned organizations, are concerned about the serious and ongoing violations of human rights that are taking place with impunity in the easternmost provinces of indonesia papua and west papua. One problem in west papua is that a there are not enough new settlers.
West papua is the most heavily militarized region of indonesia, with an estimated 45,000 troops presently deployed, and an extra 650 soldiers to patrol near the png border from february. West papua and the architecture of global power by eben kirksey. The struggle for selfdetermination in west papua 1969present download pdf version by. Located on the western rim of the pacific, bordering the independent state of papua new guinea, west papua is a melanesian nation in waiting. Indonesia officially acquired west papua in 1969, after a sham ballot on independence in which only a handful of the local population were allowed to vote the region, which makes up. In this issue, we hear the voices of people living under indonesian occupation and fighting to be free. West papua and papua, was a part of the sriwijaya kingdom in the 18 th century. Restrictions on media freedom and rights monitoring in. This paper documents a history of massacres of the west papuan people, from.
This is understandable, given the pattern discernible from previous elections. The violations of human rights have been welldocumentedi. Political and constitutional conflict in the west papua region of. It seeks to identify the reasons behind the decline in coverage of west papua in the png press. On many measures of ethnolinguistic diversity, papua new guinea is the most fragmented society in the world.
Research and knowledge management specialist cyrel san gabriel conducted the study under the guidance of papua new guinea resident mission country director marcelo minc and adb focal point for fragile situations patrick safran. Merauke in papua reports spike in suspected cases, 2 deaths reported. However it was not until 1967 that the massive reserve of copper at mt carstenz was first exploited by the freeport mcmoran company of louisiana, which had been granted mining rights by general soeharto shortly after coming to office. The province is an integral part of indonesia, so when we deal with west papua and its people, msg has no choice but to deal with indonesia, and in a positive and constructive manner, he said. Human rights in west papua heavy presence of the military and other security forces police, special forces, intelligence strongly affect public life in west papua.
From the transmigration program, to the ruralurban divide and the permitted acts of multinational corporations in the region, australias passive stance in the face of multiple human rights violations is questioned. The west papuan resentment at their poverty adds to the causes of conflict. Opm proposes west papua ceasefire to help contain spread of covid19. West papua had for many years produced significant amounts of oil for anglodutch firm shell amongst others. They are distributed free of charge in pdf format via the rsc website. Conflict island on foot, conflict islands png shore.
Pdf many new zealanders, even in politically aware circles, have a limited. The struggle for selfdetermination in west papua 1969present jason macleod march 2011 summary of events related to the use or impact of civil resistance 2011 international center on nonviolent conflict disclaimer. They briefly interrogate a member of her family and then demand. Films the road to home 2015 feature length documentary about the nobel peace prize nominated west papua independence leader benny wenda. What we didnt know about the west papua genocide onwest. For example, papua new guinean officials have maintained contact with opm leaders in order to improve intelligence and, through it, border security, yet indonesia, not accepting the necessity of negotiating with the leaders, has found grounds to accuse papua new guinea of breaching agreements.
1352 706 959 735 787 179 293 1362 396 1310 1327 901 978 204 1349 1124 1585 1358 1536 890 1508 698 149 1336 284 266 884 582 253 1465 643 1206 1169 1347 870 1418 744 1212 164