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West Papua Report
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The U.S.'s determination to "partner" with the TNI is reminiscent of previous administration's partnering with corrupt and abusive militaries in the service of earlier geopolitical strategies, notably during the cold war. U.S. support for rightwing military dictatorships, delayed democratic evolution in many countries and perpetuated extraordinary suffering. |
Senior U.S. administration officials continue to emphasize U.S. determination to pursue a greater focus on Asia and the Pacific. The "Asia Pivot," according to senior Pentagon and State Department officials, reflects a growing realization in Washington of burgeoning trade opportunities presented by the economic dynamism of the region. At the same time, Washington is increasingly conscious of security challenges posed by the growing power of the Chinese military, as well as territorial disputes, notably in the South China Sea.
The Obama administration has sought to implement the pivot by strengthening existing security, political and
economic ties with states in the region. In the security sector, the Obama
administration has built upon relationships with regional forces established
during the previous administration in the context of anti-terrorism.
The Obama administration's expansion of ties to regional military forces, in
Indonesia, but also in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Burma (Myanmar) have
proceeded notwithstanding well-founded concerns that these security "partners"
have well-documented histories of human rights violations, corruption, and
undemocratic behavior. A number of these prospective security "partners" have
records of repression of minorities. Vietnamese security forces played a
key role in Hanoi's policy of
ethnic cleansing of the Montagnards, who have been
forcibly displaced from much of their Central Highland homelands to make way for
government-subsidized Vietnamese migrants.
In Burma, despite significant democratic progress,
Burmese security forces
continue to carry out repressive measures against tribal groups.
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| U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, second from left, meets with Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in Jakarta, Aug. 26, 2013. DOD photo by U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Aaron Hostutler |
The Indonesian military (TNI) is Southeast Asia's largest military.
Thanks to a sprawling commercial empire of both legal and illegal businesses and
a long history of a lack of accountability before Indonesia's civilian court
system, it remains largely beyond the control of the civilian government. It
also continues to violate human rights with near impunity, as documented by the
UN Human Rights Commission, international NGO human rights monitors,
and even the U.S. State Department's own
annual human rights reports.
The TNI's human rights record is most egregious in West Papua, the troubled
region forcibly annexed by Indonesia in the 1960's. That annexation proceeded
absent any opportunity for the Papuan people
to exercise their right of self-determination. The TNI
has been the principal agent through which the Indonesian government has sought
to enforce its control of the resource-rich region. The brutality of the TNI-backed
occupation of West Papua, the ethnic cleansing entailed by decades of
"transmigration" -- government subsidized migration from within Indonesia to
West Papua which has displaced Papuan peoples from their homes -- and policies
of malign neglect in the areas of health, education and development have raised
credible charges of genocide.
The U.S. administration's determination to partner with the TNI is
reminiscent of previous administration's partnering with corrupt and abusive
militaries in the service of earlier geopolitical strategies, notably in the
context of the cold war. U.S. support for the anti-communist Suharto
dictatorship and with rightwing military dictatorships in Central and South
America, Iran, and elsewhere, delayed democratic evolution in many countries and
perpetuated extraordinary suffering.
The Obama administration's Asia Pivot inevitably must be seen in the context of
these earlier strategies which sacrificed human rights concerns,
democratization, and principles of civil control of the military on the altar of
security objectives. As in the past, the U.S. administration contends that
closer U.S. cooperation encourages reform among its security "partners." The
military-to-military relationship with the Indonesian military during the
30-year Suharto dictatorship remained extremely close despite egregious the
TNI's human rights crimes and corruption. Indonesia's illegal invasion of East
Timor in 1975 and the subsequent occupation of that small country remained
largely irrelevant to Washington's pro-Suharto and pro-Indonesian military
stance.
The saga of East Timor (now Timor-Leste), in the context of U.S. policy toward
Indonesia includes a particular irony. The United States, throughout the
Indonesian occupation of East Timor, accepted the occupation, maintaining that
East Timor was "an integral part of Indonesia" with the caveat that "no genuine
act of self-determination had taken place." The U.S. consistently ignored
Indonesia's crimes in the territory, except when it was compelled to address them
as a consequence of international media attention, such as the in the case of
the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre. U.S. Congressional outrage and public pressure
over that crime forced restrictions on U.S. military cooperation with Indonesia.
The sad saga of West Papua contains
parallels with that of East Timor. West Papua was also invaded and occupied by
the Indonesian military with the backing of the U.S. The West Papuan people,
like the East Timorese, have suffered extraordinary repression under Jakarta's
rule. The United States, echoing its previous stance on East Timor, has
consistently stated that it regards West Papua as an "integral part" of
Indonesia. The U.S. public stance on West Papua, however, differs from its
previous position regarding East Timor insofar as the U.S. refuses to
acknowledge that Papuans have not been afforded their right to
self-determination.
It appears that this long-denied right, along with the Papuan's right to live
free from Indonesian repression, can not be accommodated in the context of
Washington's Asia Pivot. The recent sale of attack helicopters to
Indonesia (see below) is the latest example of human rights concerns and fundamental civil rights,
including the right to self-determination, being sacrificed on the
altar of geo-political expediency.
UPDATE
U.S. Approves Sale Of Apache Helicopters to the TNI
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced the sale of a squadron of eight Apache attack helicopters to the Indonesian military (TNI), during a visit to Indonesia. The sale, which includes pilot training, associated radar, and maintenance support, is worth half a billion dollars over 10 years.
The new Apache attack helicopters will greatly augment the capacity of the TNI to pursue "sweeping" operations, extending TNI capacity to stage operations after dark and in ever more remote areas. |
According to Indonesian officials, the sale includes no conditions governing how the aircraft are to be used. In the past, the U.S. government has imposed restrictions on the sale of weapons systems to the TNI as a means of reducing the possibility that those systems would be employed against civilians.
Last year, more than 90 international non-governmental organizations
wrote to
oppose the sale. Long standing U.S. congressional
concern over the extremely poor human rights record amassed by the TNI appears
not to have been taken into consideration by the U.S. administration. For over
a decade, the U.S. sought to build a partnership with the Indonesian military
notwithstanding that institution's abysmal human rights record, corruption, and
unwillingness to subordinate itself to civilian government control. An
August 27
Jakarta Post report quotes Hagel as stating that he "welcomed the progress
Indonesia has made in improving transparency and the protection of human
rights."
The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and the West Papua
Advocacy Team issued a joint statement condemning the sale. The groups said that "The new
Apache attack helicopters will greatly augment the capacity of the TNI to pursue
"sweeping" operations, extending TNI capacity to stage operations after dark and
in ever more remote areas." The sale of the helicopters "demonstrates that U.S.
concern for greater respect for human rights and justice in Indonesia are
nothing more than hollow rhetoric."
Freedom Flotilla to Sail from Australia to West Papua
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| Police surrounding event in Sorong just prior to arrests of organizers (Photo: NFRPB/WPM sources) | |
Australian activists are sailing from Australia to Merauke in West Papua to demonstrate international concern over the denial of human and civil rights by Indonesia. The Freedom Flotilla is also as a cultural mission aimed at re-establishing millennia-old ties between the aborigine population of Australia and Papua.
Indonesia has threatened to block the flotilla by force. The flotilla, which has permission from local Papuans to land in their area, has been delayed by mechanical problems. Papuans in Merauke and elsewhere in West Papua have staged massive "welcome" demonstrations in support of the mission. In Sorong, police arrested four West Papuan leaders who organized a welcome ceremony for the flotilla.
Flotilla spokesperson Ruben Blake called Indonesian threats of arrest, force and naval interception "heavy-handed." He noted that in the past the Indonesian government has gone to great lengths to prevent people from witnessing conditions in West Papua. He expressed concern for the safety of those participating in the peaceful mission:
- "We believe that safety of a group of peaceful protesters who are going there on a cultural mission as well as a human rights mission should be respected. These threats that haven't been ruling out the use of guns and force is a big concern. People around the world should be absolutely concerned about the safety of the people on board the boats."
The Australian government has warned that it will not extend consular protection or assistance to flotilla participants.
Indonesia Accused of Reneging on Pledge to Invite MSG Delegation
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| Solomon Islands PM Lilo meets Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Photo: Prime Minister's Office. | |
Rex Rumakiek, Secretary-General of the West Papua National Coalition for
Liberation,
accused the Indonesian government of reneging on its promise to invite a
delegation of Foreign Ministers of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) to visit
Jakarta and West Papua. Rumakiek, whose group petitioned the recent MSG summit
for West Papuan membership, told Radio Australia that rather than inviting an
MSG delegation, Jakarta has resorted to inviting the MSG nations to visit
individually. Rumakiek noted that the Indonesian government is seeking to
divide the group, which has been seeking to formulate a united MSG position on
the question of West Papua's status. Indonesia
refunded the US$171,000 cost of a recent state visit by Solomon Islands
prime minister to Indonesia.
Security Forces Stage Widespread Arrests as
Papuans Assert Cultural Identity
West Papua Media has reported scores of arrests of
Papuans who sought to organize peaceful demonstrations commemorating August 15,
"a day intended to celebrate Papuan cultural identity and demand rights to free
expression be respected." The demonstrations were billed as "cultural parades,"
assertions of Papuan cultural identity in the face of what West Papua Media
sources described as a "deliberate campaign of cultural suppression by the
Indonesian colonial security forces."
The parades were held on the anniversary of the
1962 New York Agreement which
began the process of Indonesia's formal take over of West Papua. The parades were also to celebrate the opening of a new Free West Papua Campaign office in
The Netherlands.
Despite widely-reported police statements that they would allow the parades to
go forward, waves of arrests and other intimidation prevented several from
taking place. Nevertheless, the events went ahead in Jayapura, Wamena
and Biak.
Opposition to
ConocoPhillips
The Forum to Care for Papua's Natural Resources is
opposing plans
by ConocoPhillips to explore for oil and gas in West Papua. In a press release
issued in Yogyakarta, August 31, the group said that ConocoPhillips "will
only aggravate symptoms of social breakdown and environmental damage, as such
corporations are only interested in their own profits, and do not care about the
environment and Papuan indigenous people."
According to media reports the company reiterated its plan to carry out seismic testing
in Boven Digoel and Pegunungan Bintang in 2014.
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Support Unconditional Release of West Papua Political Prisoners |
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CHRONICLE
Open letter to Pacific
Islands Forum Leaders
The Australia West Papua
Association (Sydney) (AWPA) has written
an open letter to the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) leaders urged them to
discuss the human rights situation in West Papua at the upcoming Pacific
Islands Forum in Majuro. Joe Collins of AWPA said, "We would like the Forum
Leaders to follow the example of the MSG leaders who at their summit in Noumea,
raised concerns about the human rights abuses in West Papua in their official
communiqué. They also recognized the right of the West Papuan people to
self-determination."
Guardian Reviews
West Papua History
The Guardian, August 29,
published an article by Marni Cordell which offered
a candid review of West
Papua's history. The article, "The West Papuan independence movement - a
history," notes that the Papuan struggle for self-determination continues, 40
years after a "sham ballot" through which Indonesia annexed West Papua.
Benny Wenda Interview
Benny Wenda, human rights defender and advocate for Papuan self-determination
now living in exile in the United Kingdom, was interviewed on Democracy Now! in
February, 2013. The
video and full transcript of the interview were recently made available.
Link to this issue:
http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/2013/1309wpap.htm
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