In a letter dated March 5, 2008 to Indonesia's
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Congressman Eni
Faleomavaega, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs'
Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global
Environment, and Congressman Donald Payne, Chairman
of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health,
joined forces in calling upon Indonesia to end
unreasonable restrictions on international access to
West Papua. The complete text of their letter is
included below:
Dear Mr. President:
In 2005, at your request, we suspended our support
for West Papua's right to self-determination in
order to give you time to implement the Special
Autonomy legislation passed by the Indonesian
Parliament in 2001. We welcomed the promise of this
legislation and your personal assurances that your
government would finally accord the Papuan people a
fair share of the great wealth derived from Papuan
resources. However, after three years, we note that
the people of Papua, through the voices of Papuan
religious and civil society leaders as well in broad
public demonstrations, have declared Special
Autonomy a failure.
We are also disappointed that
your government has not made substantial progress in
implementing Special Autonomy. While your
administration has designated Special Autonomy funds
for Papuan development, these funds have not reached
the Papuan people who, after over four decades,
still lack even rudimentary health and educational
services. As you will agree, effective distribution
and utilization of these funds require trained
Papuan cadre and an infrastructure with the capacity
to disburse these funds efficiently and honestly,
and this means there is a critical need to develop
Papuan cadre and infrastructure. This need can only
be met by a concerted effort involving your
government and international agencies such as USAID.
This is why we have repeatedly asked that you
work with the U.S. Congress and the United Nations,
to develop a plan that assures effective
implementation of Special Autonomy. In no way do we
believe that throwing money at the people of Papua
for the next 15 or 20 years relieves Jakarta of its
responsibility to educate the people of Papua and
help them build the capacity they need to
effectively manage their affairs.
In fact, to leave an uneducated populace without
the tools it needs to rebuild itself is to promote
social and cultural genocide, and this is not right,
especially if Indonesia is intent on the United
States supporting its territorial integrity. If
Indonesia is intent on the U.S. supporting its
territorial integrity, in turn, Indonesia must be
intent on doing right by the people of Papua. Doing
right by Papua means: a) implementing a plan of
success; b) opening your doors to allow Members of
the U.S. Congress, United Nations personnel, and
non-government agencies access to Jayapura and the
rest of the province; and c) demilitarizing your
approach. Indonesia's reliance on force for the
maintenance of control is counterproductive, and
long-standing abuses by security forces have
galvanized independence sentiments among majority
Papuans.
In this latter regard, the January 28 UN report
by UN Special Representative Hina Jilani documents
continuing intimidation and abuse of human rights
advocates by an Indonesian military that remains
largely unaccountable before Indonesian courts. Our
letter to you on December 13, 2007, which is
enclosed for your information, also specifically
addressed the Indonesian military's use of undue
force. Because you never replied to the letter, we
can only assume that you did not receive it or that
the concerns expressed were of no interest to you at
the time of your receipt. However, given that
Congress is now contemplating increasing funding to
train your security forces, including KOPASSUS and
BRIMOB, we are hopeful that you will now address the
concerns expressed in that letter.
Also, we are enclosing photographs and a DVD
which show one Member's experience with your
military while in Biak and Manokwari. Prior to
Congress taking further action to increase funding
for your military, we are sending copies of these
photos and this DVD to U.S. Secretary of Defense
Robert M. Gates, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice, House and Senate appropriators, Members of the
Congressional Black Caucus, and Members of the House
and Senate Foreign Affairs' Committees. We are also
enclosing our December 13, 2007 letter because we
believe it is important for our Administration and
colleagues to know that your government denied a
Member of the U.S. Congress access to Jayapura.
While the photos and DVD do not fully capture
your military's overuse of force during Congressman
Faleomavaega's visit, we believe that they clearly
show a pattern of your military's misuse of force.
Although your military stated that this use of force
was for the Congressman's protection, we believe you
will agree that no Member of Congress should need
hundreds of military personnel in full riot gear to
protect him or her in provinces you say are safe.
Ultimately, Papuans are no threat to Members of
Congress. Papuans are the same as you. They want to
be heard. They want to be educated. They want to
live freely and happily. They do not want to be
herded like animals, kept behind police barricades,
and silenced at gunpoint
Therefore, we are hopeful that you will work with
us to make the situation for Papuans more tolerable.
We are also hopeful that given our goodwill and your
past assurances that you will grant us immediate
access to Jayapura.
Congressmen Faleomavaega and Payne concluded their
letter by stating, "Continued refusal by your
military to allow our access to Jayapura and other
parts of Indonesia will inevitably call into
question the seriousness of your government's
assurances to us regarding your intent to implement
Special Autonomy and to end unreasonable
restrictions on international access to West Papua."
