Coincidence or not, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Indonesia’s defense and military decision makers and US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta are all now in Bali at a time when Papua is in turmoil and US gold and copper giant Freeport is facing new threats in the province.
With Panetta planned to meet Yudhoyono either on Sunday morning or the following day and a confirmation that Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro would meet Panetta on Sunday afternoon on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministerial Meeting, speculation has circulated that Papua and Freeport would become the key topics of the discussion.
“We are now trying to find time for the meeting. I think if we cannot do it on Sunday morning then it most probably happen on Monday,” Presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said here on Saturday.
Faizasyah, however, denied any connection between Panetta’s visit and what has happened in Papua in recent days.
“It [Yudhoyono-Panetta planned meeting] has been arranged at least two weeks before,” he said.
While conditions in Papua, coupled with Jakarta’s failure to address problems, there have been rising demands for independence. Analysts have agreed that the US, which has an interest to keep Freeport operations secure, played a significant role in making Papua an international issue, resembling what has happened in Timor Leste prior to 1999.
“As long as Papua’s problems are not solved, Freeport’s operations will continue to be under threat. This is the US’ biggest concern,” University of Indonesia international relations expert Hariyadi Wirawan said.
“I think this will be one of the topics that will be discussed when Pak Presiden or Pak Purnomo and Panetta meet, although it will not be disclosed to the public,” he said.
Hariyadi warned that Indonesia should offer concrete ways to solve Papua’s problems to prevent the US from taking drastic steps, including sending its own soldiers to guard Freeport or even question before an international event, Indonesia’s approach to handling problems in the province and turning the issue into an international concern.
“We don’t know if all the incidents in Papua have been designed in coincidence with Panetta’s visit or ahead of Obama’s planned visit in November, but the visits have given the momentum,” he said.
At least 11 people have been killed in Papua in recent weeks after riot at the Freeport mine site in Timika and pro-independence campaign in the province’s capital of Jayapura in the last two weeks.
After three people were shot to death on Wednesday in Jayapura, unidentified gunmen killed another three people in Timika, the nearest town to the world’s largest copper and gold reserve, on Friday.
A contract worker of PT Freeport Indonesia, a local unit of US gold and copper giant Freeport-McMoRan, was killed along with two local residents of Timika, some 450 kilometers west of Jayapura, or around 3,000 kilometers east of Jakarta.
In 1967, four years after Indonesia annexed Papua from the Dutch, Freeport opened the region’s first gold and copper mining operation at the Grasberg mine near Timika.
A recent string of deadly incidents in the country’s most remote and underdeveloped province probably constitutes the most serious situation the region has faced in the past 10 years, culminating in the deadly incident as the police tried to disperse Papuan tribes gathered in Jayapura over a congress after they declared an independent Papua.
Jakarta was quick to justify their tough actions against the declaration, stating that there was no justification or compromise for such an act.
However, academics warned that the government must learn that violence would never solve problems, but could probably only worsen conditions, pointing to the series of killings in then East Timor province, including the Santa Cruz’s killings, which culminated in the creation of Timor Leste.
“Jakarta must pursue dialogues seen as genuine, honest and sincere by the Papuans. We, the academics, are ready to help with inputs for the government. Hopefully, we can offer fresh and breakthrough inputs to solve the problems,” Hariyadi said.
Comments (3):
raflihasan on medan | Mon, 24/10/2011 pm31 14:10pm
Apparently, US policy will support Indonesia stance on Papua since they have realized their positions and its interest regionally and economically.
Regionally, indeed, as an entity in South East Asia where there are more than 500 million populations in the region, Indonesia has strong position in that area where more than a half was Indonesian people. Furthermore, historically in ASEAN, Indonesia was the leader and the pioneer of that organization who promote ASEAN identity in the world stage society ever since. So that’s why I think Indonesia could stand high and face its domestic problem solely without any interventions. So, politically and geo-strategically, Indonesia has the power to do so.
Economically, at the further most of Indonesia territory there is the largest copper mine in the world and might be the most advantageous gold mining in the world as well where the US mine company have been there since 1970s. Obviously, amid the global recession that impact to the US economy, they don’t wan to lose their major profit.
On the other hand, Indonesia is still facing the democracy evolution in Papua where some of groups still asking for their independency through referendum or peace dialogue by raising issue such as human rights violation and Papua indigenous history. Well, I would say there will be no American or USA if we talk about history since we’ve realized that Indian was the real “owner” of that land, same as I say there will be no Australia if we talk about Aborigin history. And so the human rights violation, some of those events were created to frame up the government and the security apparatus in the middle of situation that could pull them into human rights violation category.
This is all set up and had been planned for such a long time by pro independent groups as we saw at the last congress. They had raised the morning star flag, then proclaimed the Democratic Republic of West Papua. That was provocation that provoked security apparatus to handle that problem according to the treason and emergency law.
At last but not least, no countries in this world would tolerate with separatism acts. Because it cost a lot, for the unity and the unitary of the nation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hipolit Beras P. on Sukoharjo | Sun, 23/10/2011 pm31 15:10pm
The police does not say a word about six West Papuans murdered by firearms when the police and the TNI broke the peaceful gathering in Jayapura. In another article, the Jakarta Post writes that they died during an "altercation", which is an euphemism. That was cold-blood murder and the perpetrators should be found and tried. Instead, it is the victims that the Indonesian authorities want to send to jail.
This reminds us of the Tanjung Priok massacre in 1984, where the Indonesian military fired on the crowd. The survivors of the shooting were given harsh sentences for causing "trouble" and the military officers who ordered the shootings still run free.
Nothing has changed since Suharto. What can you expect anyway, from a fascist system where the military is still influent everywhere, including both within the House and at the top of the executive. We have a president who is an army general and who declares that torture in West Papua is a "minor" thing. In West Papua, torture by Indonesian security forces is frequent if not systematic, as is rape and murder. So, where is the difference between present day's Indonesia's fascist regime and that of Suharto, the mass-murderer? In West Papua surely the military continues to run its business as usual.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nairdah on On the Road | Sun, 23/10/2011 pm31 12:10pm
Every time the TNI use their hateful military oppression against Papuans it further increases alienation and resentment by Papuans. Instead of applying a strategy of peace and reconciliation it seems that TNI, despite claims to the contrary, continue to want to keep the fires of conflict burning.
TNI is party to creating a new generation of untrusting, alienated and resentful young Papuans. The implications of that should be obvious.
One has to question whether the TNI is intent on creating a situation in Papua where they can justify a full scale military action. Another claim that is often made locally is that TNI so enjoys all the opportunities to 'do business' in Papua that they have to keep justifying their existence in Papua. Their business interests reportedly include gold mining (Timika), logging, gaharu (incl PNG), cendrawasih, private security (Freeport) and almost anything they can intimidate the Papuans to collect or make for them. The manner in which these business activities occur does nothing to heal relations between Jakarta and the Papuans because of the often one-sided 'master and slave' relations. Understandably Papuans may feel resentful at being colonised, exploited and oppressed in their own Papuan homeland.
The latest incident in Jayapura is just one of a continuing saga. It is not an isolated incident and could have been predicted. It flies in the face of claims that autonomy exists and looks much more like neo-colonial military oppression to look after the business interests of the coloniser than an internal security operation. All indications are that no Papuans at the Congress were armed so why shoot unarmed people? Was this just the usual tactic to terrorize those Papuans that voice opposition to Government?
RI can't afford to have TNI continuing to maintain a conflict situation. Time for Jakarta to bring TNI into a more considered and integrated strategy to promote peace and trust in Papua.
Definitely time for a rethink on the failed military style approach.