The Guardian 24 August, 2005
Rape, torture
used as weapons in West Papua
Researchers from the University of Sydney’s Centre for Peace and Conflict studies have released a report containing eyewitness accounts of the involvement of the Indonesian military in arson, rape and torture in West Papua. Entitled Genocide in West Papua, it is the result of four years of investigative work by the experts involved and Centre Director Stuart Rees is calling on the Australian Government to take its findings seriously.
"We’re saying that Australia is a signatory to the convention on genocide and that makes us have a legal obligation, as well as a moral obligation, to tell a wide public what is going on", Professor Rees told the media.
The report insists that a "culture of impunity" is protecting the Indonesian military and that their actions in West Papua are threatening the very survival of the Indigenous people.
The US Congress has passed a bill calling for unrestricted access for investigators to observe the Indonesian military’s methods in West Papua. The administration has expressed concern at reports of human rights abuses in the province.
In related news, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week used his state-of-the-nation address to proclaim that his government is now aiming to grant "special autonomy" to Papua. "The government wishes to solve the issue in Papua in a peaceful, just and dignified manner by emphasising dialogue and a persuasive approach", he told parliament.
Separatists proclaimed the state of West Papua on December 1, 1962 after the withdrawal of the Dutch colonial administration but the territory was taken over the following year by invading Indonesian forces. The loss of independence and the theft of the proceeds of the area’s rich resources have bred resentment to rule from Jakarta. A guerrilla war against the occupiers has been waged by the Indigenous people ever since. At present the resistance forces are split into badly co-ordinated factions but the struggle goes on.
The Indonesian president is keen for "special autonomy" to be implemented without outside "interference". "The issue in Papua is our own domestic issue. We decline foreign interference in settling that issue", he said recently.
While much has changed in Indonesia since the time of the country’s withdrawal from East Timor, the "culture of impunity" mentioned in the University of Sydney’s report remains. The accounts of ongoing rape, torture arson and other human rights abuses are tragic warnings that outside observers are still urgently required.