West Papua: The forgotten story of a people in crisis.

Since Indonesia took over the rule of West Papua (Irian Jaya) from the
Dutch colonial administration in 1963, indigenous West Papuans have endured
human rights abuses, ignorance from the international community, and the
destruction of their fragile ecosystems. As the situation now escalates,
AWID considers the women of West Papua.

By Rochelle Jones of AWID

We are familiar with what happened in Timor-Leste. It took a human rights
disaster for the international community to take a stand and support the
East Timorese in their fight for independence from Indonesia. West Papua,
it seems, is heading in the same direction. During the 1969 ‘Act of Free
Choice’, where West Papuans were allegedly given the ''choice'' to decide
on independence or Indonesian rule, the Indonesian authorities placed under
detention any prominent West Papuans likely to protest [1]. This resulted in
sovereignty being handed to Indonesia, which was accepted by the United
Nations, and subsequently, West Papuans have been living under the control
of Indonesia ever since, touting the 1969 experience as an ''Act of No
Choice''. Around 200,000 West Papuans have died under Indonesian control.

Only 4 years ago in 2002, members of the Indonesian military (TNI) brutally
assassinated the West Papuan pro-independence leader, Theys Eluay, with
20,000 West Papuans attending his burial. In their most recent report,
Human Rights Watch has reported a build up of troops in West Papua, with
widespread displacement of civilians [2]. Last week, a group of West Papuan
refugees landed on Australian soil seeking asylum from what they described
as genocide against the West Papuan people [3].

THE CURRENT SITUATION

West Papua has some 240 different tribal peoples, each with its own
language and culture. Together with the rest of the island of New Guinea,
they are the ''lungs of the Asia-Pacific, containing the last great
surviving virgin rainforest after the Amazon'' [3]. It is a complex terrain
of issues that the West Papuans face. For over 40 years, they have had to
endure a climate of intimidation and violence from the TNI and militias who
operate to undermine and destroy any pro-independence thinking or action.
Against the odds, West Papuans continue to fight for their identities:

''Our freedom fighters are poorly armed, often having to make do with
spears and bows and arrows to fight the Indonesian army, yet despite our
poor military equipment, we have been strong enough to stand up against
Indonesia's military machine for more than 30 years. No one can deny we are
strong'' [4].

Official transmigration strategies of moving Indonesian nationals into West
Papua are also rendering them a minority in their own homeland. The number
of refugees taking refuge in the jungle as at the end of 2004 was over 6000
[1]. In addition, the mining and illegal logging of West Papua’s pristine
ecosystems has left thousands of indigenous people landless, and has
desecrated sacred grounds. TNI operations created over 11,000 refugees
during 2003-5 [1]. To make matters more complicated, weapons smuggling into
Papua New Guinea through West Papua from Indonesia is commonplace [5]. One
author reports that there is increasing evidence that the TNI channel
weapons into West Papua and then accuse West Papuan separatists of
smuggling, using this for justification of repressive strategies such as
''full-scale security operations to hunt down ‘terrorists’ and gun
smugglers'' [5]. These security operations have typically involved violence
towards and intimidation of villagers, particularly those involved in
pro-independence movements, and has included the raping and murdering of
women – a haunting reminder of what happened in Timor-Leste.

WEST PAPUAN WOMEN

These complex issues are compounded for West Papuan women, as is the case
with most conflict situations. Women face sexual violence, such as rape and
coerced sex work, HIV/AIDS, and displacement from their land and
livelihoods. West Papua has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in Indonesia.
According to a 2005 report, this is because of the ''ongoing harassment
Papuan women face from Indonesian soldiers, as well as the severe lack of
health services for Papuans in the region'' [6]. Despite HIV/AIDS
prevention programs being implemented by local governments, the number of
infections has continued to increase, predominately due to the poor
knowledge amongst health workers about sexually transmitted diseases, high
mobility and migration, insufficient implementation of the programs, and
communication difficulties caused by high rates of illiteracy and multiple
languages [7]. In addition, sexual health is a sensitive issue that is
rarely discussed.

These issues do not stop at the border. According to a recent interview
with Mary Soondrawu, President of the East Sepik Council of Women (ESCOW),
which is a province located on the New Guinea side of the border with West
Papua [8], women suffer a double burden as a result of arms smuggling in
particular, both from the Indonesian smugglers themselves, and their local
men, who are pressured and threatened into compliance. She reports how
ESCOW ''almost weekly deals with issues of smugglers, mainly foreign
nationals (the vast majority Indonesian) who have raped the local women''.
Sex work is also a burgeoning problem wherever the mining companies are,
with many women and young girls conducting ''affairs'' with Indonesian and
other ''white men'' around the logging camps and mining towns, and some
with no choice at all:

''Local women are often forcibly kidnapped from their villages and taken to
the logging camps. They are then forced to perform sex acts on loggers and
police, and sometimes have to ''service'' the whole camp. As Greenpeace
have reported previously (and this is still happening), women who are made
pregnant by this are expelled from camp, and forced to walk back in shame
to their villages'' [8].

Many women in West Papua are unable to turn to help because of the culture
of impunity that exists at all levels of the Indonesian government. One
story in West Papua tells of a homeless woman who was beaten to death by
six police officers after they accused her of stealing money. The
Indonesian Judge let two of the offenders go free, sentenced four months
jail for two other officers, and denied a rank promotion to the remaining
two [9].

The biggest hurdle in eradicating human rights abuses is that groups are
unable to properly mobilise, and the message is very difficult to
disseminate. Foreign journalists and most researchers and aid workers are
still banned from West Papua, and any local dissent is put down
immediately. In December 2004, for example, hundreds of students ''took
part in a demonstration that has landed several of them in jail and facing
a possible death penalty''[1]. Human Rights workers and those who question
the current situation are regularly subject to threats, intimidation and
worse. In 2004, for example, a prominent Free Papua Movement member pleaded
on Australian television for national and international dialogue on what he
described as ethnic cleansing taking place. He was executed only days later
in a raid by the infamous Kopassus arm of the TNI. Just weeks ago, when a
group of West Papuan refugees landed on Australian soil, the Indonesian
government warned the Australian Government against granting them asylum,
and asked for them to be sent back.

West Papua, with its rich natural resources, is an important asset to
Indonesia – one they will not give up easily. Mama Yosepha Alomang, who won
the Goldman Environment Prize in 2002, will not give up easily either:

''As a woman, I didn’t go to school or receive an education. I’m a very
simple person. But I see the world, I see the church, NGOs and I know that
I have got rights. We should be treated as people abroad are, not be seen
as thieves, threatened, intimidated, chased. We should be treated as other
humans, allowed to live in safety, just like other people. That’s what I
want for our lives, to be very peaceful, to solve the problem [of Papua]
peacefully'' [1].

Notes:
[1] Wing, John & Peter King, 2005. Genocide in West Papua? Published by
the West Papua Project at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies,
University of Sydney, and ELSHAM Jayapura, Papua.
[2] Human Rights Watch World Report 2006. Available from:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/indone12273.htm
[3] http://westpapuaaction.buz.org/west-papuas.htm
[4] Interview with Moses Werror 24 January 96 (Green Left Weekly –
Australia).
[5] In 2004 a Gun Control Committee was set up in the PNG Parliament to
investigate the number and availability of small arms in the country. See
''Terror-razing the Forest'' by Nick Chesterfield. 2006. Available from:
www.dev-zone.org/knowledge/Pacific_Focus/Country_specific_information/West_Papua/index.php

[6] Canada’s West Papua Action Network (WESTPAN), 2005. Papua’s Women &
Children Under Fire. Available from: http://www.westpapua.ca/?q=node/125.
[7] Silitonga, Nurlan. 2002. Mining, HIV/AIDS, and Women: Timika – Papua
Province, Indonesia. In Oxfam’s ''Tunnel Vision'' Report. Available from:
www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/ mining/women/tunnelvisionreport.pdf
[8] Chesterfield, Nick. 2006. Terror-Razing the Forest: A Preliminary
Investigation. Available from:
www.dev-zone.org/knowledge/Pacific_Focus/Country_specific_information/West_Papua/index.php

[9] Report written by Rev. Socratez Sofyan Yoman, President of the West
Papuan Baptist Churches, July 2005. Available from
http://westpapuaaction.buz.org/latest-news.htm