By Matthew Gilmore
West Papua is becoming big trouble for its Indonesian masters, with an unprecedented amount of politically motivated action occurring in the past months and OPM leader Kelly Kwalik emerging as a popular hero of the liberation struggle.
Large demonstrations in the capital, Jayapura, after the death of Tom Wainggai and four days of protests in the mining towns of Tembagapura and Timika, which caused the closure of the Freeport mine for three days, have been disturbing for both foreign investors and the Indonesian government.
After a Freeport security officer's vehicle allegedly killed a local man near Tembagapura, the town where Freeport miners are housed, about 3000 local people began demonstrating on March 10, smashing company offices, equipment and town facilities and closing down the town and the mine for three days.
On March 12, the protesters moved on to the administrative town of Timika, where 6000 people participated in the demolition of Freeport and town facilities. The military took a defensive position around the airport and shot into the crowd, injuring in the legs two men who were scaling the fence into the airport compound. Two other people were killed when a commandeered vehicle rolled on the way to Freeport's port at Amapapare. A Sulawesi trader was also killed in the markets.
On March 18, demonstrations erupted in Jayapura when the body of Tom Wainggai, the renowned West Papuan academic and patriot who had died in military custody in Java on March 14, was returned for burial.
Wainggai had been sentenced to 20 years in prison after organising a pacifist flag raising ceremony in Jayapura in December 1988.
As a result of the event, 38 other people charged with subversion were sentenced to prison terms of from two to 15 years. A year later a further 30 people received sentences of two to 17 years for alleged involvement in a demonstration planned for December 1989.
Wainggai's health in prison had deteriorated over a long period, and Amnesty International had appealed to the Indonesian government to cut short his imprisonment on medical grounds.
Wainggai had appealed to the prison authorities to be treated at the Red Cross hospital, but had been taken instead to the military hospital, and died on the way. The Red Cross doctors who reportedly attended the autopsy stated that Wainggai died of heart and stomach problems. However, members of the Communication Forum of Irian Jaya Youth in Jakarta said the autopsy report mentioned a gash eight centimetres long on his left temple and a six centimetre gash below his right eye. It is clear that Wainggai was left to languish and die in Cipinang prison.
When the body arrived in Jayapura, people were waiting at the airport and lined the road to the cemetery. The military authorities decided to deny access to the body to the mourners, who sought to carry the body in a procession through the capital before burial.
The authorities whisked Wainggai's body away in an ambulance. People at the airport were angered, and the protests started.
Four thousand to 5000 people marched back towards Jayapura. In Abepura the crowd, its numbers swelled by students, demolished the Abepura market near the Cendrawasih University and burned a number of houses, cars, government buildings, shops and the bus terminal. During the demonstration four people were killed, including a West Papuan in the Indonesian police force who joined in and was killed by a transmigrant stall holder.
As with the demonstrations in Timika and Tembagapura in the week before, the army did little to stop the demonstrators. It seems that the presence of journalists and diplomatic missions from Europe in the province on behalf of the Dutch and English nationals held by the Free Papua Movement (OPM) leader Kelly Kwalik, caused the Indonesian military commanders to refrain from confronting the demonstrators.
Since the demonstration in Jayapura, 89 people have been arrested. In Timika seven persons have been identified as being held by the military.
Since January 8, Kelly Kwalik and his deputy, Daniel Kokoya, have eluded the efforts of the Indonesian army and Brigadier General Prabowo, who is the son-in-law of President Suharto and heads Indonesia's elite Kopassus special forces. Prabowo has endeavoured to find the hostages in the mountains between Freeport and Wamena. Kwalik still holds 11 hostages, including five British and Dutch nationals, and has released 13 others without incident.
On March 18 Kwalik released Abraham Wainggai, a relation of Tom Wainggai, who reported that all the hostages were in good condition, only being tired from the constant moving. The International Committee of the Red Cross has visited the hostages. Apparently at the behest of Kwalik, the Red Cross negotiated the release of the hostages with Moses Werror in Papua New Guinea, only to have Kwalik ignore Werror's terms.
Kwalik has indicated that he wants United Nations involvement in West Papua and it seems that some form of official UN or international involvement is a likely precondition for the release of the hostages.
The European Parliament passed a resolution on March 14 indicating its concern over what is happening in West Papua (and it used the term "West Papua", not Irian Jaya), especially in terms of the rights of indigenous people, environmental destruction and Freeport. The resolution also makes clear the parliament's concern that harm will come to the hostages as a result of the Indonesian army using force to free the hostages rather than from their captors.
West Papua is receiving unprecedented attention in the Indonesian press, and as a result of the hostage taking, the international community has had to take an interest in the West Papuan issue. After the demonstration in Jayapura a wall in Abepura was graffitied in English, "We love Kelly Kwalik". At the recent soccer tournament supporters from mountainous Fak Fak and Wamena regions, where Kwalik operates, chanted "Kwalik, Kwalik Kwalik" through the games. Kwalik has emerged this year as a major political leader in the country.
The demonstrations of community outrage around Freeport caused Freeport's CEO, Jim-Bob Moffett, to fly into Timika from Louisiana and for the first time to meet directly with 70 Amungme representatives. The meeting, which occurred under heavy military guard, was attended by military heads, including Prabowo. Moffett stated that he had no idea that relations with local people had gotten so bad because his staff had not told him. He promised to change the mine from top to bottom. The Amungme made a statement of demands and Moffett promised to get back to them within one month.
Freeport mine, with gross earnings in the order of $US1.4 billion in 1995, is one of the most lucrative copper mines in the world. In 1995 Freeport mined 115,000 tonnes of ore per day; it is in the process of expanding to 190,000 tonnes per day. Affected people in the region have been endeavouring to get some justice for the massive environmental pollution and enormous social problems.
In the days after the meeting with Moffett, 22 local people from Kamoro, Dani and Moni tribal groups, who were involved in the demonstrations, were detained and taken to Jakarta by Prabowo. The Indonesian press reported that 22 "Amungme chiefs" met Indonesian government ministers, apparently to negotiate the Amungme position. Sources indicate that the group is not representative of the Amungme people. There is concern that the government may be attempting to subvert attempts by the Amungme Peoples Council to negotiate a range of improvements in the situation of people affected by the mine.
The problem now is to translate all this action into some tangible benefits for the Papuan people and the campaign to end Indonesian rule. The recent efforts of the people have brought this issue back into international view, but this interest would be best sustained if the issue could go before United Nations forums like the Human Rights Sub-commission and the Decolonisation Committee as a first step towards a reappraisal by the UN.
The Indonesian government will be working hard to make sure the issue blows over. Arresting people as scapegoats for the demonstrations and a reported increase in surveillance and intimidation in Jayapura are the government's way of trying to subdue the situation.
The widespread resentment over the denial of land and political rights amongst local people and the recent successes of the demonstrations and OPM guerilla actions must encourage further defiance of Indonesian rule and renew support for the OPM's nationalist objectives.
[To assist, or for further information about the campaign in West Papua, contact the Australia West Papua Association, PO Box 65, Millers Point NSW 2000; phone/fax: (02) 9960 1698.]