V

iolence is escalating in the country’s easternmost province of Papua. The whole month of October has been characterized by a series of violence.

Blood began to be shed in Timika, the nearest town to the US gold and copper mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia on Oct. 10, when a company worker, Petrus Ayemiseba, was shot dead as police fired warning shots to prevent protesting workers from entering a terminal at the company’s site.

On Oct. 19, police and troops forcefully dispersed participants of the third Papuan People’s Congress in Jayapura after the latter declared the formation of an independent state and hoisted the outlawed Morning Star flag.

The police reportedly fired warning shots to break up the assembly, prompting numerous participants to flee into the hills. The day after at least three bodies were found near the area where the congress was held.

At about the same time, unidentified gunmen killed three people within the Freeport compound.

The violence did not stop after the congress was dissolved. Mulia Police chief Adj. Comr. Dominggus Oktavianus Awes was shot dead by two unidentified men as he was monitoring the airport in the capital of the Puncak Jaya regency.

The police have accused Papuan rebels of perpetrating the murder, which appeared to be confirmed by a letter sent by rebel leader Puron Wonda to Regent Lukas Enembe, claiming responsibility for the killing.

On Oct. 25 in Jayapura town, a civilian suffered stab wounds after he was attacked by three masked men and one day later another Papuan was found dead in Wamena, also in Jayapura, possibly as a result of violence.

An in-depth analysis is needed to examine whether these acts of violence are connected or separate incidents. In most of the cases, the perpetrators have remained unidentified.

Except for the labor protest in Timika, we do not know the motives and objectives of the acts of violence.

However, one thing that is sure is that the bloodshed indicates long-standing, fundamental problems that have remained unresolved in Papua.

In order to identify and settle these deep-seated problems and prevent acts of violence from recurring, a series of genuine talks between the central government and indigenous Papuans are urgently needed.

The proposed peace talks and participants of the dialogue need to be prepared. For the talks to materialize, three things should be taken into consideration.

First, the current violence must end to provide a favorable climate for dialogue. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should order the military and police to exercise restraint and refrain from committing violence, so should the Papuan rebels. Both parties should realize that violence never resolved any problem.

Indeed, the motives and objectives of the violence should be identified through talks.

Meanwhile, the police could conduct an investigation into the acts of violence and publicly announce the perpetrators or the parties responsible for the killings, including those by the security forces.

Second, all parties should recognize that the violence and calls for independence in Papua have increased in the 10 years after implementation of the law on special autonomy for Papua. This being so there needs to be an examination of what has gone wrong with the enforcement of the law, which has seen more than Rp 28 trillion (US$3.14 billion) poured in to the province?

All the fundamental issues behind the Papuan’s demand for independence are already accommodated in the autonomy law. Therefore, had the autonomy law been fully and consistently implemented by both the central and local governments, then the fundamental problems should have been tackled.

The Papuans feel disappointed with the government’s failure to implement the law, which was evident in the raising of the separatist flag and the formation of a transitional government during the third Papuan Congress. Therefore, the Papuans’ expression of discontent with the government cannot be considered treason.

Both the central and local governments are parties responsible for the public dissatisfaction. Instead of charging the Papuans with treason, the government should review implementation of the special autonomy law.

The government should now initiate a comprehensive evaluation of the implementation of the law. Such an evaluation will be useful to identify obstacles to the enforcement of the law and provide input to the government for improvement.

The evaluation will serve as a good start for trust building between the government and the Papuan people.

Third, President Yudhoyono should appoint a special envoy to handle the Papua conflict. As the envoy will be responsible for initiating political communication with all Papuan leading figures in Papua, Jakarta and abroad, the figure should be carefully selected so as not to meet opposition from the Papuans.

The President has named Lt. Gen. (ret) Bambang Darmono, former Aceh military commander, as head of the special unit for Acceleration of Development in Papua and West Papua.

Bambang will face an uphill communication struggle in conveying the message to the Papuans that the government is committed to settle the Papua conflict through peace talks. Once trust is built between the two parties, the dialogue will materialize and enable the government and Papuans to jointly establish a path to peace and prosperity in the province.

The writer teaches at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and Theology in Abepura, Papua.