JAKARTA — There was little doubt about what feelings dwell in the heart of Negro Alpius Kogoyo, head of the Lani tribe of Mimika and commander of the Peoples Opposed to the Division of Papua. Kogoyo was in Jakarta to lobby the Indonesian government and the parliament not to divide the province of Irian Jaya (West Papua) into three provinces — West, Central and East Irian Jaya. It was clear, as he described the situation in his home area around Timika, that he yearned for independence.
"Papuans have nothing", Kogoyo explained. "The economy is dominated by people from other parts of eastern Indonesia, such as Sulawesi, the Bugis and Makarese. They control the middle levels of trade; Chinese control the higher levels. There are more people from Java living in transmigration settlements than there are native Papuans in my region; their settlements are subsidised by the government. We are outnumbered and marginalised in our own country. And we see nothing at all of the wealth coming out of the big Freeport gold mine. Nothing."
Hans Gebze, from the Papuan Student Alliance (APM), who accompanied Kogoyo to meet me, explained that the class stratification in the Timika region, as in most of West Papua, followed ethnic lines. "We hope more non-indigenous people will join our struggle", he said, "but there is a lot of work to do to achieve that. Many non-Papuans, themselves poor and benefiting little from the region's massive resource wealth, had been recruited to pro-regime activities as a result of money. Papuans also make up only about one-third of civil servants."
Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri recently issued an instruction for the province of Irian Jaya to be divided into three provinces, based on a 1999 law that authorised such a move. However, this cuts across a later law that gives Irian Jaya "Special Autonomy" status as a single province.
Between August 23 and 27, Kogoyo led demonstrations of more than 10,000 local people into Timika to protest against the decision. Providing key political direction to the mobilisation was the Koteka Tribal Assembly for Rights, Justice and Peace in West Papua (DEMMAK). DEMMAK includes key leaders from the main tribal groupings throughout Papua and works closely with the APM.
A statement opposed to the presidential instruction was signed by heads of the seven main tribal groupings in the region. It called for its cancellation and demanded that Megawati facilitate reconciliation, using customary law, between rival Papuan groups in the Timika region.
During the August 23-27 protests, running battles took place between thousands of opponents of Jakarta's decision and around 500 supporters of Andreas Anggaibak, the likely candidate for the governor of East Irian Jaya. Five people died during the fighting.
The implementation of the division has been postponed while Megawati's government sends more Indonesian military forces to the region.
Kogoyo told Green Left Weekly that he has some hope that the decision to partition West Papua may be revoked because members of parliament he has met, including from the ruling parties, have said they don't agree with the decision. They blamed the influence of Indonesia's "intelligence community" for what they regard as a bad decision.
According to both Kogoyo and Gebze, the Megawati government fears that the genuine implementation of the special autonomy law will open up more space for the movement for self-determination. A feature of the autonomy law is the creation of a Papuan People's Assembly, with seats allocated for both tribal groupings, women, workers and students. "The government fears that such a Papua-wide assembly may vote for a referendum [on self-determination]", they emphasised. "So they hope also to divide us."
Indonesian government officials have recently said that the Papuan People's Assembly is still going to be constituted at some point. But they have emphasised that as it will not be attached to any level of government and will only play a role in areas in questions of culture and custom. It will not be given any political authority or power.
Kogoyo told GLW that a failure to withdraw the presidential instruction of dividing West Papua would result in confrontations. "This would be completely against the wishes of the Papuan people. Ten-thousand people walked for hours to come to the protests, and stayed more than four days. That is the depth of their feeling."
Gebze added that West Papuans will be holding a congress in December. "We want to form a new political front. The Papuan Presidium Council has failed and no longer aims for self-determination. Its key leader, Tom Beneal, has failed the movement."
Beneal took over as head of the Presidium after the assassination of its previous head, Theys Eluay. According to Kogoyo and Gebze, Beneal, who is also a board member of the Freeport mining company, has lost the confidence of the people. Beneal puts more emphasis on his role as chairperson of the Papua Customary Law Assembly, a body established by the Presidium, added Gebze. "We think this is a sign that the Presidium is moving away from its original mandate as a political organisation."
Gebze also explained that the APM is holding talks with the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and the Acehnese People's Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA), a progressive pro-referendum organisation that is independent of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). "The idea is that the PRD, FPDRA and the APM, and maybe other Papuan groups, unite to campaign for the withdrawal of Indonesian military forces from both Aceh and Papua, and for a referendum in the two regions."
[Max Lane is chairperson of Action is Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific. Visit <http://www.asia-pacific-action.org>.]
From Green Left Weekly, September 24, 2003.
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