The Papuan Consensus

PAPUA NATIONAL CONSENSUS

“From atop this rocky mount I see the civilization of the Papuan people, a people who possess great intelligence, common sense, and knowledge, but who are unable to lead this nation. This nation will rise and be led by its people.”

Izaak Samuel Kinje, Aitumeri Wasior, Sunday October 25, 1925

We the leaders of the Papuan Nation, from various positions within the struggle for Papuan nationhood, met in solidarity and friendship at the Cenderawasih University Guest House in Abepura, Jayapura, on April 30 and May 14, 2009. At this meeting we collectively reviewed the situation of the Papuan people since the government of Indonesia occupied the Land of Papua up to the present day.

At this historic gathering we revisited the history of the Papuan nation: on December 1, 1961 Papua achieved independence as a sovereign nation among other nations in the world. Nevertheless, the government of Indonesia unilaterally annexed Papua through the deployment of the Trikora command, announced by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Ir. Soekarno on the December 19, 1961 in Yogyakarta. Since 1965 various factions have struggled to resist the annexation of the sovereign nation of Papua and to defend the identity and sovereignty of the Papuan people.

Alongside the ‘Reformation’ political movement which emerged in 1998, the people of Papua gathered at the Second Papua Congress in 2000. At this Congress Papuans formed the Papua Presidium Council (Dewan Presidium Papua) to coordinate and unite Papuans in a struggle for political rights as a sovereign people. Yet the Indonesian government continues to destroy partnerships among Papuans and threaten the civil rights of West Papuans in a variety of inhumane ways. Therefore we the leaders have become aware of the pressing and fundamental need to create unity among Papuans.

To reunite all of the components of the struggle under a common direction, we the undersigned affirm the Papua National Consensus as the basis and source of guidance and direction for all Papuans. The National Consensus pertains to Political History, Human Rights, Development, the Failure to Implement Special Autonomy Laws, and the agenda for the Papuan struggle.

A. POLITICAL HISTORY

We assert that:

1. The nation of West Papua is absolutely not part of the territory of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia, because:

· Historically, West Papua was not part of the Dutch Indies. West Papua was declared a possession of Sri Baginda, the Queen of the Netherlands, by the Commander of the Netherlands Army Corps during the ceremonial opening of Fort du Bus on August 24, 1828 at Lobo, Triton Kaimana Bay, South Coast.

· Although West Papua and Indonesia were Dutch colonies, West Papua was governed and administered separately.

· West Papuans did not participate in the Oath of Indonesian Youth (Sumpah Pemuda Indonesia) on October 28, 1928.

· When Indonesian representatives met with Japanese officials in Saigon on August 12, 1945, Mohammad Hatta declared Papuans to be a Negro Race of Melanesian Descent who should take charge of their own fate. Ir. Soekarno proposed that Papuans were too primitive to be involved in the formation of the independent nation of Indonesia.

· West Papua was not included in the proclamation of territories of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia on August 17, 1945.

· At the Round Table Conference held August 23 – November 2, 1949, the status of West Papua (then called Netherlands New Guinea), was explicitly acknowledged by Muhammad Hatta, the head of the Indonesian delegation, who said, “…The West Papua issue does not need to be discussed because….Papuans have the right to Independence.”

2. Papua National Committee Manifest, October 19, 1961

Declares to the inhabitants of one nation and one territory that:

· Based on United Nations Charter Section 73, parts A and B;

· Based on the declaration of independence by regions and nations who are not yet self-governing, as outlined in the resolution accepted by the 15th United Nations plenary session, September 20 – December 20, 1960, no. 1514 (XV);

· Based on the unconditional rights of the people of West Papua in our own territory;

· Based on the wishes of our people and with the mediation of the National Commitee and our House of Representatives (Nieuw Guinea Raad) we achieved concessions from the government of the Netherlands New Guinea and the Netherlands government to the effect that starting November 1, 1961:

a. Our flag is flown beside the Netherlands flag;

b. Our national anthem, Hai Tanahku Papua, is sung along with the Netherlands anthem;

c. The name of our land is West Papua;

d. Our nation is Papua.

On these bases we the Papuan people demand our own territory, equal to other sovereign territories, and alongside these other nations we the Papuan people wish to live in tranquillity and to join with others in promoting world peace.With this manifest we invite all inhabitants who love the land of Papua and our nation to accept this Manifest and defend it as the basis of liberty for our Papuan nation.

3. The pure and noble desire of the West Papuan nation to possess its own territory was acknowledged by the act of annexation by the government of Indonesia under its Trikora command announced by Presiden Soekarno on 19, December 1961 in Yogyakarta. The instruction of the President to put down the Formation of the Puppet Nation of West Papua Created by the Dutch Colonizers is an explicit recognition by the government and people of Indonesia of the existence of the nation of West Papua.

4. The Trikora command sharpened the conflict between the Netherlands and Indonesia over the political status of West Papua. During this period, Cold War alliances positioned East versus West, with Indonesia developing close relations with the nations of the Eastern block, as is indicated in a secret letter from United States President J.F. Kennedy to Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dr. J.E. de Quay dated April 2, 1962, which resulted in the Netherlands coming under political pressure from the U.S. to sign an agreement with Indonesia on August 15, 1962. This agreement was called the New York Agreement.

5. The New York Agreement is an invalid agreement, both legally and morally, because agreement about the status of the land and the fate of the Papuan nation was determined without the involvement of official representatives from West Papua.

6. The government of Indonesia intentionally failed to disseminate information about the contents of the New York Agreement to West Papuans, including information about their right to self-determination and to decide: (a) if they wished to continue to be included in Indonesia, or (b) if they wished to end their relationship with Indonesia.

7. The Act of Free Choice (PEPERA) held in 1969 is legally and morally flawed because it was not implemented in accordance with Section X - II, Paragraph 1 and Section XVIII, Paragraph D of the New York Agreement or in accordance with international law. The Act of Free Choice involved extreme forms of coercion, terrorism, military intimidation and lying to Papuans and the international community.

8. The contract signed by PT. Freeport McMoran Copper and the government of Indonesia in 1967 is not valid because it did not involve official representatives of the West Papuan nation and because the Land of Papua was not legally part of the territory of Indonesia.

B. HUMAN RIGHTS

As a result of the aforementioned political issues which have not been resolved democratically, hundreds of thousands of Papuans have suffered human rights abuses as a result of Indonesian government practices of mass murder, execution, slaughter, kidnapping, terrorism, intimidation, and many other forms of oppression.

We assert that since the annexation of Papua to the present day the Indonesian government continues to:

- Employ inhumane tactics to suppress our right to speak freely and express ourselves publicly to the Papuan people;

- Arrest and detain Papuan leaders and activists with accusations of attacks against the government and of unilateral separatism;

- Misuse the legal system in Papua as a tool for deceiving, imprisoning, and oppressing indigenous Papuans;

- Isolate Papua by forbidding entry to foreign senators, members of congress, diplomats, humanitarian workers and journalists.

C. DEVELOPMENT

We argue that the policies and programs for development that have been implemented by the Indonesian government in Papua from 1963 to the present day have failed to improve the standard of living of Papuans and raise the quality of life in Papua. We think and observe that:

1. The education system implemented by the Indonesian government for the last 47 years has failed to result in high-quality skills and education for Papuans.

2. In the interior regions of Papua, schools lack teachers.

3. Medical facilities do not function and are intentionally under-staffed and under-resourced to the effect that many Papuans die.

4. All sectors of the economy are monopolized by non-Papuan migrants to the effect that indigenous Papuans are economically marginalized.

5. The Indonesian government has failed to develop functioning and good-quality infrastructure. Basic infrastructure such as airports, sea ports and roads are left over from Dutch governance.

6. The Indonesian government knowingly destroys traditional Papuan cultural structures and leadership institutions. Development implemented by the government fails to protect local culture, including cultural values, traditional skills and knowledge, and traditional foods.

7. During the Old Order and New Order periods the government of Indonesia sent vast numbers of transmigrants to Papua; the total number of transmigrants is more than 400,000 people.

8. The number of migrants from outside Papua is ever increasing and migrants dominate the urban centres to the effect that Papuans are increasingly becoming a minority in their own country.

9. The government deliberately promotes a program of Family Planning involving pregnancy prevention injections for Papuans to limit the growth of the indigenous population.

D. FAILURE TO IMPLEMENT SPECIAL AUTONOMY LAW

In our evaluation, the implementation of Special Autonomy Law from 2001 to the present day has not resulted in any significant changes in the lives of Papuans. Rather, we observe that:

1. The Indonesian government has not implemented three main policy priorities, namely (1) policies and activities aimed at indigenous Papuans (2) policies and activities that protect indigenous Papuans, and (3) policies and activities that empower indigenous Papuans.

2. The Special Forces Unit (Kopassus) of the Indonesian military kidnapped and murdered the leader of the Papua Presidium Council, Theys H. Eluai, on November 10, 2001.

3. The government and its apparatus continues to execute, slaughter, arrest and detain Papuans.

4. The Indonesian government issued various laws concerning the creation of new regencies and provinces in Papua, as well as other Presidential Instructions and state regulations which contradict with Law No. 21, 2001 regarding Special Autonomy for the province of Papua.

5. The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS threatens the existence of the people and nation of Papua.

6. The existence of the Papuan people is threatened by acts of poisoning.

7. The Indonesian government fails to address illegal logging, illegal mining, and illegal fishing in Papua.

8. The Indonesian government occupies land owned by indigenous people using tactics of coercion, terrorism, intimidation and false promises to build military and civil infrastructure.

9. Indonesian security forces wage overt and covert intelligence operations that cause Papuans to live in fear.

10. The government and its security apparatus stifles democracy through threats and intimidation towards human rights workers and Papuan activists.

11. The Indonesian government fails to protect the political rights of indigenous Papuans to the effect that legislative and executive institutions are dominated by non-Papuans.

12. The government and its security apparatus facilitates, supports, and protects Indonesian nationalist militia groups and various other groups created by the Indonesian military in order to create internal conflicts in Papua.

13. The Indonesian government supports officials who engage in corruption in Papua.

14. The government of Indonesia is slow to take action on producing and implementing special local regulations and provincial regulations.

15. The Indonesian government stifles the authority of the Papua People’s Assembly to the point that it is unable to defend the basic rights of indigenous Papuans.

In light of the realities described above, we the leadership of various components of the Papuan struggle declare in unity the PAPUA NATIONAL CONSENSUS as follows:

1. ALL PAPUANS

To prevent the extinction of Melanesians in Papua, to put an end to internal disagreements, and to create togetherness and Papuan national unity based on similar understandings and points of view, as well as to prevent internal conflict among leaders of the Papuan struggle, every Papuan and component of our national struggle has a responsibility to:

- promote awareness that all people of our nation are one people, namely the Papuan people, of Melanesian descent and of the Negro race in the Pacific and are not Indonesian people of Malay descent from Cambodia-Yunan;

- promote mutual consideration and respect among all Papuans, from Gak Island, in the West, from Adi Island to the Arafura Sea in the southwest, Mapia Island to the North and Papua New Guinea to the East, regardless of tribe, religion, gender, and age, we unite as fellow Papuans and develop our allegiance;

- promote dialogue among fellow Papuans to put an end to various longstanding forms of suffering experienced by Papuans;

- consider all components, organizations, and factions of our struggle to be assets in our endeavor to liberate the Papuan nation;

- make use of Papua’s natural resource potential for the sake of our struggle in order to create justice, peace and freedom for the Papuan nation, and

- respect, value, and offer full support to each and every Papuan and supporter who struggles privately or publicly in diverse ways to determine his/her own fate and to create justice, peace and respect for human rights in the nation of Papua.

2. IN INDONESIA

In order to solve the conflict in Papua in a dignified manner, every Papuan and component of our struggle, in alliance with supporters in various regions of Indonesia, collectively endeavors to pressure the Indonesian government to:

- in union with Papuan representatives, find a peaceful solution through dialogue facilitated by a neutral third party;

- enable access by foreign monitors, researchers, human rights workers and journalists who wish to visit Papua;

- respect Papuans and treat Papuans with dignity;

- end political manipulation and other forms of oppression such as murder, terrorism, and intimidation of Papuans;

- respect the liberty of Papuans to hold opinions, to gather and to organize, and

- liberate all Papuan political prisoners and detainees.

3. IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA

To prevent loss of life and to end the violent conflict between the Indonesian government and the nation of Papua, every Papuan and component of our struggle, in alliance with sympathizers in various nations, struggles at the international level to:

- encourage the United Nations and the governments of the United States, the Netherlands, and other nations to re-examine the PEPERA conducted in 1969 in West Papua;

- encourage foreign nations to withhold financial assistance for the Special Autonomy funds from the Indonesian government until the government consents to a free and open dialogue mediated by the United Nations;

- encourage the United Nations to create an opportunity for Papuans to determine their own fate in accordance with international human rights standards, international legal principles, and United Nations conventions;

- encourage foreign nations to pressure the Indonesian government to allow foreign observers, researchers, diplomats, human rights workers and journalists to visit Papua;

- encourage the international community in alliance with indigenous Papuans to care for, protect and preserve Papua’s forests as lungs of the earth, and to prevent all forms of destruction, and

- encourage international human rights organizations to investigate human rights abuses in Papua from 1963 to the present day.

This is the Papua National Consensus to which we lend our wholehearted support. Let this consensus unite our perspectives, agendas, and the direction of our united struggle. This consensus unites and binds each component and faction of our struggle to take responsibility for implementing its principles for the sake of creating justice, peace, and freedom in Papua.

The Papua National Consensus takes effect from the following date, and any outstanding issues that have not been addressed in this consensus will be addressed in the future.

Finalized : In Jayapura

On : May 14 2009

ONE PEOPLE ONE SOUL

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