Background to West Papua

Covered in one of the last great tropical rainforests it is home to many unique species of wildlife including tree kangaroos and beautiful birds of paradise. It is also one of the world’s most resource rich areas containing huge reserves of oil, gas, copper, gold and of course timber.

The indigenous population number about 1 million Melanesian Papuans, many of whom still live subsistence or hunter gatherer tribal lifestyles. The diverse tribes of New Guinea speak some 15% of the world’s known languages!

A Bit of History

Previously a Dutch colony along with the islands that now make up Indonesia, West Papua remained under Dutch control when the Republic of Indonesia became an independent nation state in 1949. The Dutch government began preparing West Papua for independence throughout the 1950’s. At the end of 1961 West Papua had its first Congress, declared independence and raised its flag the “morning star”.

Almost immediately the Indonesian military invaded West Papua and conflict broke out between the Netherlands, Indonesia and the indigenous population regarding control of the territory. The US intervened and brought an agreement between Indonesia and the Netherlands which in 1962 gave control of West Papua to the United Nations and one year later transferred control to Indonesia. The Papuans were never consulted, however the agreement did promise them their right to self determination...

Act of Free Choice

By 1969 there was widespread resistance to Indonesian rule. The Indonesian military had killed and imprisoned thousands of Papuans. It was under these conditions that the people were supposed to exercise their right to self determination. Instead Indonesia hand picked just 1,022 Papuans and by threatening to kill them and their families forced them to vote for Indonesia. The result was a (laughable) unanimous vote to become a part of Indonesia. Despite protests from the Papuans, a critical report by a UN official and condemnation of the vote in the international media the UN shamefully sanctioned the result and West Papua has remained under control of the brutal Indonesian state ever since.

The Papuan’s call this referendum “The Act of No Choice”.

The People and Land Under Attack

Since the first days of Indonesian occupation, the people and land of West Papua have been under relentless attack. In order to maintain control over the Papuans and to claim the land to make way for resource extraction the Indonesian army has systematically murdered, raped and tortured people in numbers that could constitute a genocide. One of the worst examples of this is the displacement and killing of thousands of people to make way for the giant American and British owned Freeport mine which has reduced a sacred mountain to a crater and poisoned the local river system. Also, in a further attempt to dominate Papuan culture, around one million people from shanty towns across Indonesia have been moved into transmigration camps cut into the forests.

Resistance to Indonesian Colonialism

Resistance to the Indonesian occupation started from the first days of invasion and the OPM (Free Papua Movement) was formed in 1964 to fight Indonesia and the forces of colonialism. The OPM have mainly carried out guerrilla operations in the form of attacks on the Indonesian military, the taking of international hostages and sabotage of corporate activity including attacking loggers and temporarily closing down the Freeport mine. Armed mostly with bows and arrows they continue to fight an almost unknown war against the modern western backed army of Indonesia.

Recent Years

Following the fall of the Indonesian military dictator Suharto in 1998 political space opened up in West Papua. The morning star flag was flown again and a huge congress was held in 2000 with hundreds of delegates from tribes all across Papua. The Congress rejected the result of the Act of Free Choice and reaffirmed West Papua as an independent nation. It also gave power to the newly formed Papuan Presidium Council (PDP) to gain world recognition for West Papua’s independence.

However this new political space was soon snapped shut again with hundreds of people being shot and arrested for flag raisings followed by the assassination in November 2001 of the charismatic president of the PDP Theys Eluay.

At the beginning of 2004 Indonesia set their agenda for the future by installing former East Timor police chief Timbil Silaen, as new police chief in Papua and at the same time allowing notorious East Timor militia leader Eurico Guterres to set up operations in the highland town of Wamena where he is openly recruiting people to his pro Indonesia militias. Both of these people have been implicated in the massacres that swept East Timor in 1999.

But the struggle continues and there is a lot you can do to help. So get in touch with a local solidarity group or join in the many campaigns. Free West Papua!