This is the 123rd in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans. This series is produced by the non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts, other NGO assessments, and analysis and reporting from sources within West Papua. This report is co-published by the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN). Back issues are posted online at http://www.etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm Questions regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams at edmcw@msn.com. If you wish to receive the report directly via e-mail, send a note to etan@etan.org. Link to this issue: http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/2014/1407wpap.htm.

The Report leads with "Perspective," an analysis piece; followed by "Update," a summary of some developments during the covered period; and then "Chronicle" which includes analyses, statements, new resources, appeals and action alerts related to West Papua. Anyone interested in contributing a Perspective or responding to one should write to edmcw@msn.com. The opinions expressed in Perspectives are the author's and not necessarily those of WPAT or ETAN. For additional news on West Papua see the reg.westpapua listserv archive or on Twitter.

CONTENTS

This edition's PERSPECTIVE by David Webster that explores the role of US business in the Kennedy administration's decision to block Papuan self-determination and facilitate Indonesian annexation of West Papua.

UPDATE announces that the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) is awarding dual recipients for its annual "John Rumbiak Human Rights Defender Award." For 2014, WPAT honors New Zealand activist Maire Leadbetter and Catherine Delahunty and the Green Party of New Zealand. Also, the Melanesian Spearhead Group has shelved a Papuan application for membership, pending since 2013. West Papuans are calling for a boycott of the July 9 Indonesian Presidential election. Papuan human rights activists expressed concerns about a Prabowo victory.
Indonesia said it cancelled a New Zealand police training program because of "hidden motives." There have been renewed calls for UN monitors to go to West Papua to verify charges of human rights violations, and Papuans spoke out about the denial of their rights at a church-sponsored gathering at the margins of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

CHRONICLE notes a statement by 32 international organizations for the next Indonesian administration to address long-standing security force impunity for human rights crimes; to make reparations to those who have suffered abuses at the hands of security forces; and to establish civilian control of the military. A panel discusses Papuan rights in Geneva. A new video highlights human rights violations in West Papua. Human rights advocate Yan Christian Warinussy urges President Yudhoyono to release West Papuan political prisoners and open the territory before he leaves office, and a commentary by prominent Papuan academic Budi Hernawan on the "choices" confronting Papuans in the Indonesian presidential election. A three-part series on links the spread of AIDS/HIV in West Papua to the Freeport mining complex.

PERSPECTIVE

Did US Business Shape Early US Policy That Thwarted Papuan Self-Determination?
by David Webster

David Webster is associate professor at Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.

By now it is well accepted that President John F. Kennedy’s administration was responsible for the deal that saw West Papua handed over from Dutch to Indonesian rule, via a United Nations Temporary Executive Authority. The UN interim rule was indeed first suggested by Indonesia’s government, which offered to “borrow the hand of the United Nations” [1] in order to spare the Dutch government the embarrassment of transferring control of West Papua directly to their Indonesian rivals.

Presidents Kennedy and Sukarno,  Andrews Air Force Base, Suitland, Maryland, April 1961. Photo JFK Library and Museum.

Why did the Kennedy administration decide to intervene? Researchers generally cite cold war motives (the fear that Indonesia might “go communist” if not appeased with control of West Papua) and a background of racism in American policy (the belief that West Papuans were “still living in the Stone Age” and could therefore never be independent on their own). [2] These are not wrong, but could there have been other reasons? In particular, given the way West Papuan natural resources later emerged as major money-spinners for the Indonesian treasury and for such American corporations as Freeport McMoRan, could business interests have played a role?

The notes that follow are speculative, but they suggest that it’s at least possible that there were economic reasons supporting the diplomacy that saw West Papua come under Indonesian rule starting on May 1, 1963.

American and other foreign companies saw potential resources in West Papua to exploit, but also saw that the continued Dutch-Indonesian dispute for control made investment risky and perhaps impossible. These companies would have wished for a stable resolution to the conflict and a government that would grant them a favorable investment climate. There are at least four companies relevant to this case: Freeport McMoRan, US Steel, Standard Oil, and Inco.

A subsidiary of US Steel was active in West Papua in this period. Nickel and cobalt were known to exist in large quantities in the Cyclops Mountains near Jayapura, and on Gag and Waigeo islands off the west coast. One of the last acts of the Dutch New Guinea regime in March 1962 was a contract for mining rights to islands of Gag and Waigeo with Pacific Nickel Co., a subsidiary of US Steel; this was renewed by the Indonesian government in 1972.[3]

Freeport, the US-based mining multinational, was already aware of the vast copper deposits of the Ertsberg (Ore Mountain) that it would later mine for vast wealth. Freeport had already found the deposit in the late 1950s, and urged the US government to seek a settlement of the Indonesian-Dutch dispute in order to allow it to start mining the huge deposits it knew were there -- but could not get at, so long as West Papua was disputed territory and potentially a Dutch-Indonesian war zone. Copper deposits at Ertsberg were was discovered in 1936 and reported to Freeport. In 1960, a Freeport manager (Forbes K. Wilson) climbed the mountain and concluded that “the Ertsberg was indeed a unique deposit and probably the largest above-ground outcrop of base metal in the world.” Freeport was unable to get a deal signed, but started negotiations once Indonesian control was secure. In 1967, it signed the first big foreign-investment agreement with the Suharto government.[4]

Robert Lovett, a top Kennedy adviser and official in the Department of State, was a director of Freeport. It seems at least possible that the administration was influenced by Freeport’s wish to see a settlement to the dispute. This possibility is underlined by the willingness of other officials in the administration to work with American companies. Under-Secretary of State Averell Harriman, another Kennedy adviser, certainly was willing to express views of US oil companies to Indonesian officials. He invited the two US oil giants active in Indonesia to lobby him at any time, and it seems unlikely that Stanvac (a consortium of Standard Oil of New Jersey and Mobil) and Caltex (a consortium of Chevron and Texaco) never knocked on that door. These two majors and the British-Dutch Shell consortium (transferred briefly to Canadian paper ownership during the Indonesian-Dutch dispute) were interested in West Papua and in seeing Indonesia on good terms with the West so they could continue to invest in Indonesia on favorable terms.[5]

Indeed, the resolution of the West Papua dispute allowed American mediators to bring together the two American oil giants operating in Indonesia with President Sukarno’s government to strike a new agreement in 1963 that granted new exploration rights to Caltex and Stanvac, at a time when the Sukarno government had been threatening to turn to smaller oil companies and even nationalize the American majors. A settlement of the Dutch-Indonesian confrontation over West Papua made these talks possible and therefore served the interests of US-based oil interests. There is at least one letter from John D. Rockefeller Jr. (Standard Oil/Stanvac) on file in the Kennedy administration National Security papers, expressing real fears that Indonesia might act to nationalize US oil interests if the dispute over West Papua was not settled on terms satisfactory to Indonesia.[6]

Though less central than the oil companies, the international nickel company Inco, headquartered in Canada but in reality heavily US-owned also had potential interests in West Papua resources, and even more so in making sure its prospective Indonesian interests in Sulawesi could go ahead. Inco was the second company after Freeport to sign a contract for mining with the Suharto regime, opening large mining operations in South and Southeast Sulawesi provinces that netted major profits and still operate today.[7]

Finally, Dutch business interests were also active in seeking a settlement. Especially prominent was the Rijkens group, an informal gathering of Dutch businessmen headed by Paul Rijkens, former managing director of Unilever, and including top executives from a number of other large Dutch corporations. Several Dutch multinational corporations had supported the transfer of West New Guinea to Indonesia since 1950. Secret Rijkens Group talks with Sukarno regime took place in April-June 1961.[8] Prince Bernhard, husband of the Dutch Queen, informed Kennedy administration officials on several occasions that Dutch business wanted West Papua to go to Indonesia, a step that would permit freer Dutch investment in the lucrative Indonesian economy. [9] While the Dutch government until 1962 insisted it had a sacred duty to prepare West Papua for independence and political leaders swore they would never hand the territory to Indonesia, officials in Washington also heard clearly other Dutch voices, centered in the business sector, making an opposing case to their government’s rhetoric. This too might have made it easier for the Kennedy administration to force its NATO ally to the bargaining table, and then apply pressure to accept Indonesia’s offer to “borrow the hand of the United Nations” in order to ease a transfer of West Papua from Dutch to Indonesian control.

There is no “smoking gun” indicating that multinational corporations pushed for the agreement that saw West Papua pass under Indonesian rule in 1963. Yet there is at least circumstantial evidence suggesting that business interests were well satisfied with the outcome. The development of Indonesian-ruled West Papua since the 1960s certainly shows a prominent role being played by multinational business in the exploitation of the territory’s natural resources. This story may well have started before Indonesian rule took hold.

-----

[1] President Sukarno, Memorandum of conversation in Washington, April 24, 1961, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-3, vol. 23: 382-90.

[2] The most detailed source for the 1962 phase of the negotiations is Terence C. Markin, “The West Irian Dispute: How the Kennedy Administration Resolved that ‘Other’ Southeast Asian Conflict” (PhD dissertation, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996). See also Christopher McMullen, Mediation of the West New Guinea Dispute, 1962: A Case Study (Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, 1981); William Henderson, West New Guinea: The Dispute and Its Settlement (South Orange, NJ: Seton Hall University Press, 1973). A crucial study for this period is Bradley R. Simpson, Economists with Guns: Authoritarian Development and US-Indonesian Relations, 1960–1968 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2008).

[3] H.G. Verhoeff, Netherland New Guinea: A Bird’s Eye View (The Hague: n.p., 1958), p. 49; Klees Lagerberg, West Irian and Jakarta Imperialism (London: C. Hurst & Company, 1979), p. 10, 120; Nonie Sharp, The Rule of the Sword: The Story of West Irian (Malmsbury, Australia: Kibble Books, 1977), p. 34.

[4] Forbes K. Wilson, the first president of Freeport Indonesia, letter printed in Geoffrey S. Hope et al, eds., The Equatorial Glaciers of New Guinea: Results of the 1971-1973 Australian Universities’ Expedition to Irian Jaya (Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema, 1976), p. 7. See also Forbes Wilson, The Conquest of Copper Mountain (New York: Atheneum, 1981) and Matt Richards, Freeport in Indonesia: Reconciling Development and Indigenous Rights (Canberra: Australian Council for Overseas Aid, 1996).

[5] David Webster, Fire and the Full Moon: Canada and Indonesia in a Decolonizing World (Vancouver: University British Columbia Press, 2009); Greg Poulgrain, “Delaying the ‘Discovery’ of Oil in West New Guinea.” Journal of Pacific History 34 no. 2 (1999): 205-18.

[6] John D. Rockefeller III to Rusk, 6 Feb. 1962, John F. Kennedy Library, National Security Files, box 206.

[7] Webster, Fire and the Full Moon; Jamie Swift, The Big Nickel: Inco at Home and Abroad (Toronto: Between the Lines, 1977).

[8] Dean Rusk memorandum, Dec. 29, 1950, Foreign Relations of the United States 1950, vol. 6: 1102; Willem Oltmans, “Stage by Stage Recapitulation of the Dispute,” United Asia 14 (Feb. 1962); Rudy de Iongh, “West Irian Confrontation,” in T.K.Tan, ed., Sukarno’s Guided Indonesia (Jacaranda Press, 1967), p. 111.

[9] US embassy The Hague to Department of State, April 10, 1961, John F. Kennedy Library, President’s Office Files, Box 122a; Henry G. Walter memo to State Department, May 3, 1961, JFKL, NSF Box 205.

UPDATE

WPAT Honors Prominent New Zealanders For Defending Human Rights in West Papua

The West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) is pleased to announce that it is awarding dual "John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Awards" for 2014. This unprecedented dual award, including two $500 stipends and two plaques, honors the articulate and effective defense of Papuan human rights voiced by both political and citizen advocates in New Zealand. The awardees are: Catherine Delahunty and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand and Maire Leadbeater.

The Green Party has manifested robust opposition to "aid that kills," challenging in particular the New Zealand Government's "community policing program" in West Papua. The Greens also have been strong advocates for Papuan freedom of speech and have sought to provide a platform for Papuan rights advocates in parliament and elsewhere in New Zealand.

In 2009, Green MP Catherine Delahunty (center) and Maire Leadbeater (far left) campaign against illegally logged hardwood with West Papua's Paula Makabory and a supportive cassowary bird. Photo from frogblog.

Maire Leadbeater has been a uniquely persuasive advocate in New Zealand for protecting human rights in the region, helping lead the East Timor Human Rights Campaign and now notably the New Zealand solidarity/support movement and West Papua Action Auckland.

As a writer, local public official and activist she has worked tirelessly to inform key government offices and political forces within New Zealand of the human rights crisis in West Papua. She has worked particularly effectively with New Zealand Greens, with whom she has forged an effective strategy for ensuring that the plight of New Zealand's neighbors in West Papua is well understood in New Zealand and around the world.

With this 2014 dual award, the West Papua Advocacy Team recognizes these courageous and effective New Zealand voices.

Previous awardees are Carmel Budiardjo and Tapol (UK, 2008), John M. Miller and the East Timor and Indonesian Action Network (U.S., 2009), Andreas Harsono (Indonesia, 2010), U.S. Congressional Delegate Eni Faleomavaega (American Samoa, 2011), and the Australia West Papua Association (2012). Last year's award was given to Powes Parkop, Governor of the Port Moresby and the National Capital District of Papua New Guinea.

Melanesian Spearhead Group Under Jakarta Pressure Shelves Papuan Appeal

In its June 26 communiqué, the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) announced it would not act upon the 2013 Papuan request for membership in the MSG. Rather, it called on Papuans to "form an inclusive and united umbrella group in consultation with Indonesia to work on submitting a fresh application." The Communiqué said that the decision was based on a report by a delegation of MSG Foreign Ministers visited Indonesia, January 11-15, 2014, to conduct an assessment on the 2013 application for membership submitted by the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL) and to examine the human rights situation in West Papua. (The Vanuatu Foreign Minister boycotted the visit over concern that Indonesia's arrangements for the visit precluded an opportunity for a genuine fact-finding mission.)

The MSG communiqué also:

"(iii) Welcomed and noted the progress on greater autonomy in Papua and the recent announcement by the President of Indonesia to withdraw the military from West Papua;
 
"(iv) Endorsed that the MSG and Indonesia take a more proactive approach in addressing the issue of West Papua and Papua by undertaking the initiative to conduct greater awareness on the situation in Papua and West Papua Provinces with respective to the Special Autonomy Arrangements and how this has contributed positively to the Governance of the Provinces by the local population;

"(v) Endorsed that the MSG continue to hold dialogue with Indonesia on the issue of West Papua and Papua and encourage and support the establishment of bilateral cooperation arrangements with Indonesia with specific focus on social and economic development and empowerment for the people of Papua and West Papua Provinces";

(see full text of the communiqué at http://awpasydneynews.blogspot.com/2014/06/section-of-msg-communique-in-relation.html

WPAT Comment: The MSG decision to effectively shelve the Papuan application for membership in the MSG constitutes a victory for Indonesia's campaign of intimidation and bribes targeting MSG members. President Yudhoyono has visited the region and several MSG leaders have been invited to Jakarta. Jakarta has ramped up "cooperation" with its neighbors including inducements such as a free trade agreement with Papua New Guinea and plans for a military and police Academy in Fiji. The much-anticipated MSG Foreign Ministers visit to West Papua devolved into a Potemkin tour of a four hour stop over in Jayapura.

Rather than focus on the violations of human rights and specifically the denial of the right to self-determination, the MSG leaders have adopted the ploy of many international governments, notably the U.S., averting attention from rights issues to "development." The MSG, like the U.S. and others have gone so far as to frame its hopes for "development" in the context of the failed Jakarta "Special Autonomy" scheme.

MSG member Vanuatu notably has adopted a separate approach which is focused on protecting Papuan human rights and also raising the issue of Papuan self-determination.

Papuans can take some consolation in the reality that while MSG leaders, with the important exception of Vanuatu, continue to ignore their plight, some political parties in the region, such as the Social Democratic Liberal Party of Fiji, have expressed support for Papuan rights, including the right to self determination. Similarly, civil society groups such as the Fiji Women's Crisis Center have taken public stands on behalf of Papuan human rights.

Papuan Calls for Boycott of Presidential Election

Prominent Papuan voices have called for Papuans to boycott the July 9 Presidential elections. Among them are Papuan exile Benny Wenda and the West Papua National Committee (KNPB). KNPB First Chairman Agus Kossay told local media that "future fate of the people of West Papua is in our own hands" and not those of the colonial state. "[It's] nonsense to say after Jokowi or Prabowo became President, the fate of West Papua would be better," he added.

Wenda wrote "Today West Papua is illegally occupied by Indonesia. We have a right to freedom. We will vote in a proper referendum on self-determination. But we will not vote in any election that continues Indonesia's brutal and occupation of our land."

Papuan Human Rights Activists Oppose Presidential Aspirant Prabowo

Papuan human rights activists have joined Indonesian advocates to publicly oppose Prabowo Subianto for president. The Papuans have formed a coalition under the banner of the "Movement Against Forgetting in Papua."

Pastor John Jonga, recipient of the 2009 Yap Thiam Hiem human rights award, called on the Papuan people not to forget the human rights violations that have occurred. He mentioned the May 13, 1996 case in Mapenduma, where a military attack followed the release of several hostages. Eight civilians were killed and several villages in the area being burnt to the ground. He said that "several military officers must be held accountable, including [presidential candidate] Prabowo Subianto."

WPAT Note: Prabowo participate in efforts to negotiate the release of hostages in 1996, but scuttled the ICRC facilitated negotiations on the eve of their successful conclusion according to senior ICRC officials involved in the effort. (See January 2013 West Papua Report). Prabowo's opponent Joko Widodo has within his circle a number of former senior military leaders, including General Hendropryono, whose career involved serious human rights abuse and impunity for security forces operating in West Papua.

Indonesian Government Alleges "Hidden Motives" in Cancelled NZ Police Training

After Indonesia cancelled a police training program in West Papua, a senior officer said that police intelligence reports suggested there were "hidden motives" behind the New Zealand-funded program. New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) confirmed in late May that the program had been suspended, but refused to answer specific questions about the issue.

On June 17, the deputy chief of the Indonesia National Police, Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti, cited concerns about the program's motives as the reason for its cancellation: "We refused it based on the input from head of [the] Police's Security Intelligent agency, Comr. Gen. Suparni Parto, that there could be a hidden motive behind the aid."

Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty said that such aid perpetuates "an oppressive status quo." She added "We need to have a positive relationship with Indonesia and engage with them respectfully on the West Papua issue, challenging them to negotiate for peace,"

She said the community policing model only works where the government has a "robust and genuine commitment to human rights" and communities that could trust police. "The opposite situation exists in West Papua where the rhetoric of human rights is undermined daily," Delahunty said.

Renewed Calls for UN Monitors To Be Allowed Into West Papua

International human rights groups meeting at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva renewed calls for United Nations monitors to be allowed into West Papua provinces, to document and address gross human rights violations.

Norman Voss from the International Coalition for West Papua said "We look at what local human rights organizations in Papua are documenting - we see we have a quite a high number of cases of torture, of political arrests during political demonstrations."

He called "West Papua, in a way, is the wild west of Indonesia.... There's a lot of money, a lot of resource-extraction and the security forces are benefiting from the ongoing conflict and from this situation. The social gap between indigenous Papuans and other Indonesians who have moved to Papua over the last two decades, is getting wider and wider."
 
Papuans Speak Before International Audience

"Repentance is Decolonization" was the topic of a May side event to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, held at the Church Center for the United Nations in New York. Organized by The Decolonization Alliance,

Menase W. Kaisiepo of West Papua, living in the Netherlands, spoke of the subjugation and occupation of his country by Indonesia. "We want self-determination," he said. "We welcome this call for reconciliation and are happy to have the support of the Methodist Church."

Activist Moiwend spoke about how in her indigenous religion there is a father and son, and when the Catholic Church came, the concepts were similar and acceptable. Then, the occupying church banned their native activities and cultural practices. "My generation has to learn the history of the land," she said, as she held up a small flag, a symbol of resistance -- possessing it can lead to arrest. Churches are important, as some of them allow and amplify the voice of the people. She added that "some pastors are targeted by the military."

CHRONICLE

In a late June, human rights groups urged the next government of Indonesia "to break with the past [and] fully and meaningfully address the legacy of impunity for past human rights violations," adding that "the continued lack of accountability for past and ongoing violations of human rights threatens lasting progress." In early October, a new parliament will be sworn in and the winner of the July 9 presidential contest will take office later that month.

The statement, coordinated by the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and signed by 32 organizations, including WPAT, based in a dozen countries, urged the Indonesia government to "provide meaningful reparations for the victims, survivors and their families of egregious human rights crime."

On West Papua, the groups wrote:

A June 12 side event at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva discussed  Video of the event can be watched here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/human-rights-papua.

Speaking were Victor Mambor, Alliance of Independent Journalists, Papua chapter; 
Esther Cann, Tapol, Budi Hernawan, Franciscans International; and Benjamin Joku, Pro Papua Foundation, Netherlands. The event was moderated by Norman Voss of the International Coalition for Papua.

The event was organized by the Asian Legal Resource Center, Franciscans International, International Coalition for Papua, Pro Papua Foundation, Tapol, Vivat International, and West Papua Netzwerk.

New Video and Petition Regarding West Papua

"Something Kreative" Studios has produced a PSA with the actor Ryan Phillippe which is aimed at bringing awareness to the "world's least talked about genocide. The video links to a petition to the White House. https://vimeo.com/98894537

Before He Leaves Office, SBY Has Important Unfinished Business

In a June 26 statement Yan Christian Warinussy, Executive Director of LP3BH-Merauke, called on President Yudhoyono, before he leaves office, to release all Papuan political prisoners and allow access to foreign journalists and human rights NGOs to West Papua.

Jokowi or Prabowo: For Papuans A Choice or A Dilemma?

Prominent Papuan commentator Budi Hernawan has written a thoughtful assessment for the Jakarta Post regarding the choice -- some would say dilemma -- facing Papuans with over their vote for Indonesian President on July 9. Hernawan notes that neither of the candidates, Joko Widodo nor Prabowo Subianto have had much to say about West Papua. Widodo has close ties to former President Megawati who betrayed the promise of her predecessor Abdul Rahim Wahid (Gus Dur) by abandoning his unprecedented initiatives towards Papuans. Widodo also has the support of a number of generals, notably including former Commander Wiranto, who have notorious human rights records. Prabowo has a particularly black reputation among Papuans who have not forgotten his central role in the Mapenduma campaign which terrorized the central highlands.

AIDS/HIV in West Papua

A three-part series on AIDS/HIV in West Papua by Carole Reckinger and Antoine Lemaire in the Australian online publication New Matilda links the spread of AIDS in the region to the Freeport mining complex. The series follows Jimmy, a young highlander with HIV and examines "the social and economic realities that facilitate the spread of the virus in Papua." They write that "little sustainable infrastructure has been created especially in terms of access to health and education." Jimmy keeps "his status a secret from his family and friends and is reluctant to seek medical help." Part 1: The Curse of Gold; Part 2: Blaming the Victim; Part 3: An Unhealthy System.

Link to this issue: http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/2014/1407wpap.htm

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