Santo Darmosumarto (not verified) — Mon, 07/20/2009 - 11:41pm

I thank all of those who have fed off my earlier comments to start a discourse on this issue through this medium.

I do wish for people to stop saying that the Papuans are different because they are Melanesians and the Malays are not. If that is true, what about the Chinese Indonesians, or the Arab Indonesians. Are they less Indonesians because of their ethnicity. I ask you to recognize the latent racism in your comments and contemplate the possibility of nation-building beyond the differences in the people's skin tone.

I ask you to recognize that if there is to be support for the Papuans, that support is to be given to their right for wealth, their right to speak their language, and their right to continue that culture. Within the autonomy developed by the Indonesian Government, these rights can be channeled. We cannot be naïve in thinking that there could never be abuses by local officials, but there needs to be recognition of current efforts by the Government.

As I have mentioned before, Indonesia is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious state. The Batak culture is nothing similar to the Java culture; the Chinese New Year is anything but similar to the Muslims' Eid. And if one presents the idea of the need for there to be an independent country for each an every ethnic group, religious group, language group, or each of the thousand of islands in this country, then there would be no more Indonesia.

To some people, this would suit them well, the balkanization of Indonesia. There are those who want to see the destruction of Indonesia. But do see that the realization of some of your ideals are not without its dire consequences. For an Indonesia that is unstable will only cause the West more problems.

Learn from Afghanistan, learn from Iraq.. Not every country can be treated with the same standards as yours, no matter how high or low you deem them to be.

Dino Blix (not verified) — Mon, 07/06/2009 - 7:35am

Santo,
you may be right that some of the criticism from some Westerners about Indonesia's treatment of West Papua borders on double-standards, but that doesn't justify the ongoing, flagrant human rights abuses, development abuses and systematic security force-driven violence that Papuans are subject to in their own region. That's what I call abusive.
Just because Indonesia has shown some signs of democratic reform, it doesn't mean Jakarta should be given an easy ride about its Papua problem. Criticism here is meant to be constructive.
Take your head out of the sand perhaps?
Papuans are Melanesians. If Indonesia is afraid of letting go of their Papuan bounty, then perhaps Indonesia can start treating the people and land of Papua better.

Another Expat (not verified) — Sat, 07/04/2009 - 4:55pm

The Anglo Saxon West (UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) want the breakup of countries like Indonesia. They want control - see what is happening Iraq, Iran, Syria. They are starting to move in a very sublte way in Indonesia. They succeeded in Timor. Look at E.Timor now - what they wanted was to get control of it's gas. Even US (not a friend of independent thinking countries by any means) had to speak on behalf of E.Timorese to make the Australians (the ruling elite)to deal fairly with the people of E.Timor when striking a one sided gas deal which only benefits the Australian commercial group.

Papua is very rich in natural resources.....and no wonder subtle but very powerful forces are at work.... pity the people.

Santo Darmosumarto (not verified) — Fri, 07/03/2009 - 11:26am

Although conditions in Papua are not perfect, it is something recognized by the Indonesian Government. And with such recognition, there are efforts being made to ameliorate the conditions through development and greater regional autonomy.

Indonesia is a growing democracy, and an economy which remain struggling to resurrect the prominence it had prior to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. But in those two issues, Indonesia has made progress handsomely, gaining recognition at home and abroad.

It is misleading to view Papua's unique culture as a demonstration of its need for independence. Indonesia is a multi-ethnic state, in which the difference of culture is appreciated and has become the foundation of the nation's strength.

Even in western countries, where supposedly multi-culturalism is celebrated, we can still see the clashes among ethnic groups. I could just imagine if the Vietnamese community in Springvale, Victoria, Australia or the Chinese community in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada decide to assert their communal identity, something very different from the anglo-saxon traditions of their host countries.

It is about time that westerners step of their supposed higher ground and recognize the efforts being made in Indonesia to create a peaceful, democratic, multi-ethnic, and prosperous country. Developing countries are not perfect, in fact, no country is perfect. But to keep on pointing fingers at a government, a people that is doing its best amidst the dire conditions befallen on them, is outright abusive.

Jeremy Hinchcliffe (not verified) — Thu, 07/02/2009 - 3:52am

We must applaud Al Jazeera for agreeing to broadcast this documentary. For too long now the Indonesian Government have banned foreign journalists from reporting in West Papua.

If Indonesia is to be recognised as a democracy, then it must allow freedom of speech and freedom of movement for foreign journalists to report from West Papua and other areas of Indonesia.

For too long now the struggle of the West Papuan people has been hidden from the outside world, but with the BBC recently reporting an undercover documentary and now Al Jazeera following suit, this is a clear sign to the Indonesian Government that the world is watching their actions in West Papua very closely now.

As the 10th anniversary of East Timor's independence draws closer, Indonesia's actions in West Papua will be scrutinsed all the deeper.