West Papua: For 500 years our right to democratic self-determination has not been recognized

Whether by mistake or due to some other reason, the Island of New Guinea has been an innocent victim since foreigners first visited it in the 1500s. The island was divided into two parts (Papua New Guinea and West Papua) by the colonial powers, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands. An Indonesian military force invaded it in 1962 under the command of former Indonesian dictator, Suharto. Ever since, West Papua has been a place of arbitrary arrests, torture, imprisonment without trial, disappearance and mass murder, while our Melanesian brothers in the eastern part of our island enjoy their freedom and independence. We Melanesians in West Papua do not share any of the responsibility for what happened to our island and to our people.

First of all, we are innocent from the beginning because we did not invite any foreigners to come and invade us.

Secondly, we are innocent because we were not consulted about the process of dividing the island into East and West Papua. The straight line drawn exactly down the middle of the island is arbitrary, established by the colonial powers. Arbitrary laws and regulations are used to separate and to prevent us from living, as human beings should live.

This "Berlin Wall of Melanesia" has been tightly under control of the Indonesian military power up until now. We did not make the choice to separate from our brothers, sisters, parents, children and relatives on the other half of the island. 

Third, we were not consulted properly in the matter of joining with Indonesia. It was on December 1st, 1961 that the Netherlands prepared its Netherlands New Guinea, as it was then known, to be an independent nation. (At the same time Australia was preparing British (Australian) New Guinea or PNG to be independent). According to the decision of the fist Papuan Congress in October 1961 the name West Papua was chosen to be the name of our country. This intention was announced on December the 1^st 1961. The date for independence was set for December 1^st 1969.

However, unfortunately, Indonesia ignored these decisions because they did not want West Papua to be independent but wished to absorb the country into a “Greater Indonesia”, as happened in Borneo, Acheh, and later East Timor. This was due to their hatred of the Dutch and especially as President Sukarno had a ambition to conquer the whole of New Guinea, (including PNG,) the whole of Borneo, as well as Malaysia at that time. Sukarno declared a war against the Netherlands in New Guinea and his military invaded the western part of the Island in April 1962. This invasion almost triggered a war between the Netherlands and Indonesia but it was prevented by the intervention of the USA and the UN.

Fourth, as a result of the intervention, an agreement was signed regarding the guidelines for the future of Netherlands New Guinea (West Papua). This is called the New York Agreement. It was signed on August 16, 1962. We were excluded from this process because the agreement was made and signed between the Netherlands and Indonesia under supervision of the UN and the USA, without any consent from Papuans or their leaders (members of the New Guinea Council). Our right to choose was simply ignored.

Indonesia was given a mandate by the UN to administer West Papua from 1^st of May 1963.
Based on the "New York Agreement", a referendum known as "The Act of Free Choice" was held in West Papua in July 10^th - August 5^th 1969. Indonesia violated this agreement by implementing a "musyawarah" (or “consensus”) principle thereby ignoring the "one person - one vote" principle laid down in the New York Agreement. This meant, only those who Indonesia appointed, almost all of them at gunpoint, could vote and the vote was organised to favour Indonesian policy. We were once again not consulted and we were given no option but to remain with Indonesia.

To our frustration, the United Nations Security Council approved this unlawful "Act of Free Choice" as valid and formally handed over West Papua to Indonesia in late 1969. As a response, the New Guinea Council and most of the press at that time clearly expressed their concern and judgement that this Act was not fair and was not carried out according to the guidelines of the New York Agreement. Most of them criticised the parties involved in the "Act." (Please refer to the attached documents). The outcome was, as it is now, that "no one ever tried to listen to or even had the slightest little interest in us." We were just ignored,

The protests continued. On July 1st, 1971, under a mandate from the legitimate representatives of the population, West Papua declared its independence in the capital Port Numbay. This was again ignored and regarded as illegal by Indonesia, who had illegally invaded the island. The international community has been almost completely unaware of this. When we have peacefully protested, they accuse us of disturbing internal security and they attack villages and the defenceless population with aircraft and ground troops. When we fight back with bows and arrows and light weapons, they call us terrorists, ignoring their own acts of terror since 1962 that have caused more than 300,000 Melanesians in West Papua to lose their lives.

Sixth, we are innocent because we are just reacting to the actions of a foreign colonial power. The violation of our rights as human beings continues. Our homeland, the forests of New Guinea, are destroyed and cleared. Our mothers, i.e., the land and mountains are raped and exploited. Our waters become polluted. All these are justified "in the cause of development." Our men are arbitrarily killed, our women are raped; our parents, children, sisters, brothers, and relatives are tortured, imprisoned without trial, and murdered in large numbers. Some have disappeared; we still do not know where they are. We have been crying out to the world for help, asking for help from other human beings who respect humanity and human rights on this planet.

Since the fall of the dictatorship in Jakarta and the independence of East Timor, Indonesia is unprepared to discuss what happened in the 60’s and 70’s in relation to it’s invasion and occupation of West Papua. Jakarta is not prepared to negotiate a peaceful resolution of the situation including the issue of democratic self-determination. Indonesia is still not stable internally and consequently it is still capable of killing civilians and it is not able to establish democratic institutions and procedures for a meaningful peace settlement.

In line with worldwide movements for national independence and self-determination for indigenous people, in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Brazil and Indonesia, Melanesians in West Papua are determined to promote and establish democracy in the Pacific Region. We will no longer be ignored and are determined to become part of the global democratic process, first of all by establishing democracy within Indonesia and West Papua, Now in this 21^st Centaury we will no longer be colonised, we are determined not to step back.

There are some indications that Indonesia and the Netherlands may be prepared to sit with us to re-examine and discuss the legal and historical issue related to West Papua. Already the republic of Nauru has recognised our rights.  Also a member of the US Congress who is a Samoan American has stated that it is shameful to see West Papua under the colonisation of Indonesia.

We are asking the British Government as a country that has an "ethical foreign policy" and is a member of the UN Security Council to help us by supporting our efforts under the umbrella of The Papua Presidium Council to re-examine the alleged "Act of Free Choice".

Yours Faithfully,

Sem Karoba  

“The Alliance of West Papua Students” is the largest student organisation is West Papua. We are campaigning for balance and equality. Most members are tribal persons from the central highlands and southern regions of West Papua

“The West Papua Community” is a political organisation working for democratic self-determination for the tribal people of West Papua.

Mail Addresses and Phone:

In West Papua: PBS/BE FKIP UNCEN, Box 422, Jl. Sentani, ABEPURA 99351, West Papua, Indonesia, Phone: +0062 (0) 969 593160

In the UK: 26 Addison Crescent, Oxfordshire, OX4 4BD, Phone: 01865 243 777 Mobile: 07714 370572