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The History of the Return of
Irian Jaya (West Papua) to Indonesia
1. West Irian was part of the Dutch colony since 1828. When the Dutch
recognized Indonesian sovereignty in 1949, the status of Irian Jaya was
yet to be resolved. The Agreement to Transfer the Sovereignty, signed by
Indonesia and the Netherlands in the Hague in November 1949, stated inter
alia:
"the status quo of the Residency of New Guinea shall be
maintained with the stipulation that within a year from the date of
transfer of sovereignty to the Republic of the United States of
Indonesia the question of the political status of New Guinea be
determined through negotiations."
2. Noticing that there were no signs of any solution to the Irian
issue, Indonesia submitted the matter to the United Nations in 1954.
Indonesia's position was endorsed by the Asia Africa Conference in April
1955 which passed a resolution supporting Indonesia and then asked the
United Nations to assist the two conflicting parties in reaching for a
peaceful solution. Nevertheless, up until 1961 there was no indication of
any peaceful solution despite the fact that the matter was discussed at
the plenary meetings of the United Nations General Assembly and at
Committee One. Meanwhile, diplomatic relations between the two countries
were severed in 1961. The Government of Indonesia announced a new policy,
Tri Komando Rakyat (Trikora), and the confrontation between the two
parties was inevitable. In 1962 an armed fight broke between Indonesia and
the Dutch in the western coast of Irian.
3. Considering the negative development, specifically in an
international relations which were engulfed in the Cold War era, the
United Nations Secretary General U Thant appointed US Ambassador Elsworth
Bunker as mediator to find a solution to the Irian issue between Indonesia
and the Netherlands. The two countries finally reached an agreement on
Irian, as made out in the "Agreement between the Republic of
Indonesia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands concerning West New Guinea
(West Irian)", signed on 15 August 1962 by the Foreign Minister Mr.
Subandrio as the representative of the Government of Indonesia and Mr. J.H.
van Roijen and C. Schurmann as the representatives of the Netherland
Government at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. This agreement
was then known as the New York Agreement.
4. It was agreed by the two parties that the Agreement had to be
ratified before the discussion of the Irian issue at the United Nations
General Assembly and that it would enter into force upon adoption by the
United Nations General Assembly and terminate when all principles
contained therein had been executed. Thus, the New York Agreement entered
into force at the 17th United Nations General Assembly in 1962 by the
adoption of Resolution No. 1752 regarding the New York Agreement on 21
September 1962.
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The New York Agreement: the Legal Foundation for Self
Determination
5. The New York Agreement, which was not only agreed by Indonesia and the
Netherlands, but also accepted by the international community, was in
principle a legal foundation for the implementation of the rights for self
determination in West Irian. The implementation of the content and spirit
of the New York Agreement was monitored by the international community,
thus proving it was not engineered by the parties involved in the dispute,
Indonesia and the Netherlands.
6. The New York Agreement comprising 29 Articles basically contained
the stipulations on:
The transfer of administration from the Netherlands to the United
Nations, in Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11;
The transfer of administration from the United Nations to Indonesia,
in Articles 12 and 13; and
Self determination, in Articles 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21.
7. The transfer of administration from the Netherlands to the
United Nations was implemented after the United Nations Resolution that
adopted the New York Agreement was signed. The United Nations temporary
administration was carried out by the United Nations Executive Authority (UNTEA),
an agency created for the purpose. The Dutch flag was taken down and the
United Nations flag flown. The UN Secretary General substituted the Dutch
security forces with UN security forces, mostly comprised of West Papuans.
The UN Secretary General would send periodic reports to Indonesia, the
Netherlands and the UN General Assembly. Under the Agreement, the
Netherlands relinquish the governance of Irian to UNTEA effectively on 1
October 1962.
8. As determined by the New York Agreement, the UNTEA Administration in
Irian was divided into two phases, the first started on 1 October 1962
until 1 May 1963. In this phase, Dutch officials were replaced by
non-Dutch and non-Indonesian officials. UNTEA was also required to
disseminate information to the West Papuans regarding the transfer of
administration to Indonesia and the principles of self determination as
specified in the New York Agreement. The second phase of the UNTEA
Administration was to be implemented by bringing into consideration the
local developments and was unbounded by a time limit. When the United
Nations found the time as appropriate, UNTEA would carry out the transfer
of administrative responsibility to Indonesia. Following the transfer of
administrative responsibility to Indonesia, all UNTEA security personnel
would be replaced by Indonesian security personnel and Indonesian laws and
regulations would be applicable in the territory. This transfer of
administration to Indonesia was completed on 1 May 1963.
9. Subsequent to the transfer of administration to Indonesia, an act of
free choice would be carried out. The principles of the act of free choice
as determined by the New York Agreement were as follows:
The exercise of the act of free choice would be directed by the
advice, assistance, and participation of the United Nations.
The procedure of the act of free choice would be consulted with the
representatives of the people.
The provisions for participation in the act of free choice would
comply with international practices.
The United Nations and Indonesia would present the report on the act
of free choice to the UN General Assembly.
Indonesia and the Netherlands would acknowledge and be bound by the
result of the act of free choice.
10. It was evident that the New York Agreement, as the legal basis
for the act of free choice, did not state that the principle of "one
man, one vote" had to be employed on the act of free choice/self
determination in Irian (Penentuan Pendapat Rakyat or PEPERA in short). The
New York Agreement was composed such as to ensure the transparency of the
implementation of the act of free choice, by encompassing the elements of
advice, assistance, and participation of the United Nations and UN reports
to the international community by way of the UN General Assembly.
PEPERA as the Formal Process of Act of Self Determination
11. In realizing its mandate, the United Nations appointed Ambassador
Fernando Ortiz Sanz from Bolivia as the representative of the UN Secretary
General to carry out the responsibility of providing advice, assistance,
and participation, and to report on the implementation of the act of self
determination. Ambassador Ortiz Sanz arrived in Jakarta on 12 August 1968
and proceeded to Irian on 22 August 1968 to establish the UN office in
Jayapura. The office was opened on 4 August 1969.
12. The New York Agreement did not specifically stated the procedure
and method of the implementation of the act of free choice. Therefore, the
appropriate means that was suitable to the level of social, economic, and
cultural development and the geography of West Irian needed to be
established. This was due to the fact that the New York Agreement did not
require the implementation "one man, one vote" system on the act
of self determination. There was no engineering involved and no cause for
suspicion, for the reason that according to international law, there was
no obligation that an act of self determination had to apply a "one
man, one vote" system.
13. To establish the best way to implement the act of self
determination in Irian, Indonesia held a meeting with the United Nations
in Jakarta and in New York. Based on the result of the meeting, Indonesia
conveyed a note to Ambassador Ortiz Sanz on 18 February 1969 that
basically contained a proposal on the method of the implementation of the
act of self determination, which was as follows:
The act of self determination would be carried out by a
representative assembly in every regency utilizing the system of
democratic deliberation.
The representative assembly would be comprised of three
representatives: a regional representative elected by the community, a
functional representative representing the political, social,
cultural, and religious interests, and a traditional representative
consisting of directly elected tribal representatives.
The method had to be first consulted with the people of Irian as
determined by the New York Agreement.
14. Responding to the
proposal, the UN Representative stated that the United Nations was
prepared to cooperate and participate on the implementation of the act of
free choice. The United Nations also actively participated in the process
of consultation between the Indonesian Government and the people of West
Irian on the method of implementation of the act of free choice. The
method of consultation was finally decided as the most appropriate for the
implementation of the act of free choice. The Djakarta Times
on 26 February 1969 in the article "UN and the Netherlands
Approve Indonesian Policy on Act of Free Choice" wrote that
"the United Nations and the Dutch Government have approved the policy
of the Indonesian Government on the act of free choice in West Irian by
way of consultations and not by one man, one vote system." Meanwhile,
The Indonesian Observer on 24 February 1969 in the news
article "West Irian Legislators Endorse Voting Method"
reported that "the Regional Legislature of Merauke regency (kabupaten)
has issued a statement emphasizing that if the act of free choice should
be conducted at all it should be through the regional legislatures by
means of representative voting."
15. Based on the above, the act of free choice in Irian was conducted
utilizing the representative and deliberation system. During the process
of the act of free choice from 14 July to 2 August 1969, the
Representative of the UN Secretary General actively participated in the
process according to his mandate and responsibilities as outlined in the
New York Agreement. In his report to the General Assembly, the
Representative of the UN Secretary General Envoy stated inter alia:
"The Petitions opposing annexation to Indonesia … show that
without doubt certain elements of the population of West Irian held
firm convictions in favour of independence. Nevertheless, the answer
given by the consultative assemblies to the questions put to them was
an unanimous consensus in favour of remaining with Indonesia."
"Finally, on the basis of the facts presented in this report
and the documents referred to, it can be stated that with the
limitations imposed by geographical characteristics of the territory
and the general political situation in the area, the act of free
choice has taken place in West Irian in accordance with Indonesian
practice, in which the representatives of the population have
expressed their wish to remain with Indonesia."
17. After analyzing Indonesia's and the United Nations’ reports
and other documentation, the 24th UN General Assembly on 19 November 1969
adopted Resolution 2504 (XXIV) that legalized the act of self
determination in Irian Jaya as determined by the New York Agreement:
"Bearing in mind that, in accordance with article XXI,
paragraph 2, both parties to the Agreement have recognized these
results and abide by them,"
"Takes note of the report of the Secretary General and
acknowledges with appreciation the fulfilment by the Secretary General
and his Representative of the tasks entrusted to them under the
Agreement of 15 August 1962 between the Republic of Indonesia and the
Kingdom of the Netherlands concerning West New Guinea (West
Irian)".
18. Upon the adoption of UN General Assembly Resolution 2504 (XXIV),
the act of free choice by way of deliberation, not "one man, one
vote", was accepted by the international community. From that point
on, the international community recognized, de jure and de facto, that the
region of Irian Jaya was an integral part of the Unitary State of
Indonesia. This international recognition could not be annulled or
revoked, for not one country in the world could challenge the legitimacy
of the territory of Irian Jaya as part of the Unitary State of the
Republic of Indonesia. The principle of integrity and sovereignty of any
state is one of the main principles embodied in the United Nations
Charter. Consequently, any separatist movement would be rejected by the
international community, as it violated the principles and objectives of
the United Nations.
19. In accordance with the New York Agreement, apart from consulting the
United Nations on the implementation of the Act of Self Determination,
Indonesia also kept the Netherlands informed of any developments. In the
framework of bilateral meeting between Indonesia and the Netherlands, held
in Rome on 20-21 May 1969, both parties agreed to issue a Joint Statement
on the subjects touched and agreements reached at the meeting. Indonesia
was represented by Foreign Minister Adam Malik at the meeting, whilst the
Netherlands was represented by Foreign Minister Luns and Developmental
Cooperation Minister Udink.
19. The Rome Joint Statement stated inter alia:
The Indonesian Foreign Minister reiterated the Indonesian
Government's intention to fully implement the conditions set out in
1962 New York Agreement. The Foreign Minister advised the Dutch
Ministers in detail about the measures taken by the Indonesian
Government regarding the act of free choice in West Irian after the
comprehensive consultation with and the approval of the regional
representative institutions in West Irian, and with the advice,
assistance, and cooperation of the Representative of the UN Secretary
General Ambassador Ortiz Sanz and his assistants.
The Indonesian Foreign Minister reiterated the position of the
Indonesian Government that due to technical and practical problems,
the implementation of the act of free choice with the Indonesian
system of deliberation was the best procedure. The Foreign Minister
explained that West Irian would be accessible to analysts and foreign
correspondence.
On economic cooperation, it was agreed that the Netherlands would
provide the funds for the UN FUNDWI Projects. Projects on air, coast
and river transportation should be made a priority. Both countries
would forthwith convey a technical assistance project proposal to the
Asian Development Bank in the form of a list of the territory's
economic potentials.
Conclusions
20. The implementation of the
act of self determination was carried out democratically and in a
transparent manner by involving the people of Irian Jaya by way of
consultation on the method of the act of free choice. The whole process of
the act of free choice involved the participation, assistance, and advice
of the United Nations and in turn was acknowledged by the international
community (the United Nations General Assembly).
21. It was clear that the PEPERA as the implementation of the act of
free choice was not legally flawed. A unilateral interpretation and
misinterpretation of the New York Agreement and attempts to twist
perceptions that the New York Agreement had to exercise ‘one man, one
vote’ system was certainly not justified and not true to the fact.
(Source: Directorate of International Organizations ,
Department for Foreign
Affairs)
Related Documents:
Agreement between the Republic of Indonesia and the Kingdom of the
Netherlands concerning West Papua New Guinea (West Irian)
The Rome Joint Statement
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