Indonesia must change the way it handles problems in Papua if the nation wants the international community to respect its rights over its westernmost territory, say activists and experts.
The longer the problems linger, the bigger the push for separatism, they agreed.
“Indonesia has a chance to demonstrate its political maturity in these matters,” New Zealand lawmaker and Green Party foreign affairs spokesperson Keith Locke said.
Locke added that Indonesia has made greater progress as a democracy and deserved recognition for its achievements and leadership of ASEAN.
“More limited democracy in West Papua, where people are jailed simply for holding the Morning Star flag, does tarnish Indonesia’s image as a democratic country,” Locke said.
The recent leak of Indonesian Army Special Forces (Kopassus)documents obtained by Australian newspapers reveal deep suspicions of free political expression by Papua’s indigenous Melanesian majority, according to Human Rights Watch.
Hundreds of pages of documents dated from 2006 to 2011 were leaked, including logs of military surveillance of civilians and reports on peaceful political activities.
“The Kopassus documents show the deep military paranoia in Papua that conflates peaceful political expression with criminal activity,” Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Elaine Pearson said in a statement.
“It’s outrageous in a modern democratic country like Indonesia that activists, clergy, students and politicians are the targets of military surveillance. By treating news conferences, demonstrations and meetings like clandestine criminal activities, the military shows its disregard for fundamental rights in Papua,” she said.
Pearson said that the Indonesian Military (TNI) should immediately end its harassment and surveillance of civil society groups.
Muridan Widjojo, a senior researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, agreed that there must be a change in Jakarta’s approach to Papua.
“The conflict has been going on for over 50 years. We need to pursue a better dialogue between Jakarta and West Papua – something that has not yet been successful,” he said.
Muridan said he preferred dialogue to intervention by international lawyers in Papua.
Last week’s “Road to Freedom” conference held in Oxford, UK, evinced growing international pressure on Indonesia to reassess the West Papua conflict.
The conference, hosted by the International Lawyers for West Papua (ILWP) group, outlined the case for self-determination in West Papua.
“The legal case for the self-determination of West Papua is blindingly obvious” Charles Foster of the ILWP said.
The highly debated issue surrounds the Act of Free Choice vote in 1969, where 1000 Papuan leaders unanimously voted to remain a part of Indonesia.
The results of the vote have recently been contested internationally amid demands for a UN review.
University of Indonesia law professor Hikmahanto disagreed on the vote’s outcome.
“The people of West Papua already exercised their right to self- determination in the UN supervised Act of Free Choice.”
“Indonesia is a heterogeneous country made up of former Dutch colonies, which include West Papua,” Hikmahanto said, adding that the IPWP should focus on the welfare of West Papuans instead of pushing for independence.