2) In Papua Fighting, Indonesian Forces Claim Rebel Commander Killed
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1) Repeating History in Papua
Translator: TEMPO
Editor: Laila Afifa 1
5 May 2021 15:04 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government seems to be repeating the history of colonialism in this nation. The outcome could be like that in Indonesia in 1945.
The governmnt of President Joko Widodo seems to be repeating the dark history of this nation. In the past, the Dutch colonialists exploited our natural resources and detained and killed Indonesians. Now the people of Papua are experiencing the same thing. They are oppressed and sidelined in their own land. The Ducth used to arrogantly call us "extremists" and "inlanders" - in dismissive tones. Frequently the people living in the Dutch East Indies were insulted and referred to as "monkeys." We were treated unfairly, became victims of racial discrimantion and finally woke up and fought back.
It is as though history is being repeated. Papuan students in Surabaya were called "monkeys" in the days before Indonesian Independence Day commemoration two years ago. This racist abuse was wrong. It is no surprise that thousands of Papuan responded to this incident with large-scale demonstrations and widespread opposition.
As if that were not enough, now the Indoneian government has officially applieed the "terrorist" label to the Papuan independece movement. Announced by coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud Md. on Thursday, April 29, this mistaken policy could add to the number of victims on both sides of this dispute. Once again, civilians face the threat of becoming scapegoats.
It must be said that the approach used by the government to resolve the long running problems of Papua have been wrong from the start. It is not clear if it realizes it or not, but Jakarta strategy bears a very close resemblance to the methods used by the Dutch colonial administration decades ago. The "terrorist" label applied by Mahfud to the opposition movement in Papua is very similar to the "extremist" term used by the Dutch colonial authorities to descirbe the Indonesian indepndence movement.
Apart from applying the terrorist label and increasing the number of poice and militay personnel in Papua, the Indonesian government is also offering sweeteners if the opposition is stopped. In the bill to extend spcial autonomy in Papua, the governmnt is trying to tempt people by offering an increase in the budget for the easternmost province. Previously, the Papuan government only received two percent of the total general allocation funds, but now this is to be increased to 2.25 percent. However, so far most of this special autonomy funding has gone to the Papuan elite. According to Novermber 2020 data from the Central Statistics Agency, Papua and West Papua are still the poorest provinces in Indonesia.
Another policy planned by the government is to divide Papua into several smaller provinces. The government claims that this will improve governance in Papua. But there is also a hidden hope that this division of the provinces will result in the Papuan elite having less time to oppose Jakarta. The tactics of sharing out money and divide and conquer appear to have been taken directly from the guidebook written by the colonia powers in the past.
We know that the Dutch strategy failed, and that Indonesia became independent in 1945. This means that we could suffer the same fate as the Dutch if the mistaken approach in Papua is continued. It is not too late for the government to change direction. President Jokowi could begin by admitting that there are human rights abuses in Papua that must be properly investigated.
The roots of the problem in Papua are not only related to economy, as the cenral government claims. building roads, airports and bridges will not heal the hurt and the feelings of oppression felt by the people of Papua. The way to resolve the Papuan problem that Jokowi has chosen will lead to Indonesia acting like a colonizer, something that the 1945 COnstitution says must be erased from the face of the earth.
Read the Complete Story in Tempo English Magazine
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The Diplomat.
2) In Papua Fighting, Indonesian Forces Claim Rebel Commander Killed
The reports follows Indonesian government promises of a crackdown on separatist fighters in the eastern region.
By Sebastian Strangio May 14, 2021
By Sebastian Strangio May 14, 2021
Two Papuan independence fighters, including a rebel commander, were killed in the latest clashes between Indonesian security forces and separatist insurgents in Papua province.
According to the Associated Press, a joint military and police force killed two of the Papuan fighters during a battle Wednesday with dozens of rebels who were armed with military-grade weapons as well as axes and arrows.
Citing Iqbal Alqudussy, a spokesperson for the joint operation, the AP reported that the fighting took place at a village in Puncak regency in the Papuan highlands, which has been the recent focus of clashes between the Indonesian army and the West Papua National Liberation Army (WPNLA), the military wing of the Free Papua Organization (OPM).
The fight came after police and military forces launched a joint operation to find those responsible for setting fire to several schools in Puncak’s Beoga village. Alqudussy said that one of the dead men was identified as Lesmin Waker, a rebel commander who killed a member of the joint security forces in a gunfight two weeks ago.
After discovering the bodies of the two men in the jungle, security forces seized a military helmet, separatist flags, documents and scores of axes, machetes and arrows from the battle scene, he added.
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Wednesday’s clash took place weeks after Indonesia’s intelligence chief in Papua, Brig. Gen. Gusti Putu Danny Nugraha, was killed in a rebel ambush while on a patrol in the central highlands on April 26. Responsibility for the killing was later claimed by WPNLA/OPM.
Writing in The Diplomat recently, Bilveer Singh of the National University of Singapore noted that the upswing in rebel attacks reflected insurgents’ increased sophistication and access to modern weaponry. “OPM, and especially the WPNLA, have become increasingly violent, daring, and militarily organized,” he wrote. Gusti’s assassination – the first general to be killed in five decades of low intensity conflict in Papua – has prompted a widespread crackdown in Indonesia’s easternmost province, which was officially absorbed into Indonesia in 1969.
President Joko Widodo subsequently told Indonesian media he had ordered security forces to “chase and arrest” all WPNLA rebels, while Bambang Soesatyo, chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly, told the government to “destroy them first.
We will discuss human rights matters later.” The government has also formally designated West Papuan separatists “terrorists.” Since then, the government has strengthened its military presence in Papua, and launched attacks on local villages in Puncak that have reportedly displaced thousands. One community leader from Wamena, near Puncak, told The Guardian this week that the situation for local people as a result of the crackdown was dire. “Thousands are displaced in Puncak, five villages fled into the jungle,” she said. “Health clinics and schools have been taken over by the military. Soldiers are everywhere. We are living in a war zone.”
Earlier this week, Indonesian police arrested the independence leader Victor Yeimo in the provincial capital Jayapura, in connection with the spate of protests and violent riots that seized the region in August 2019, during which he called for a referendum on independence.
With the WPNLA/OPM resorting to more violent methods to achieve its aims, and the Indonesian military and police showing their willingness to respond in kind, Papua seems set for a spell of intensifying instability and conflict
AUTHOR
STAFF AUTHOR Sebastian Strangio Sebastian
Strangio is Southeast Asia Editor at The Diplomat.
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