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Editorial: A new start for Papua?
New leaders raise hopes for old problems
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ew leaders raise hopes for old problems. Following his campaign pledges, President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has signaled a different approach to Papua, announcing on Sunday in Merauke that Papua and West Papua are now open to the foreign press. The historic trial of two French journalists last October reinforced the message that the foreign media was not welcome in the easternmost provinces ' raising constant questions about what the government is hiding. Theoretically foreign journalists may cover issues in Papua ' provided they get permits from numerous institutions, the trial against Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat revealed.
The first attempt by the foreign media to cover Papua will reveal the nature of Jokowi's openness compared to that on the ground. Earlier on Saturday five political prisoners were released from the Abepura prison, as Jokowi granted them clemency for their role in the 2003 raid on a military arsenal in Wamena. 'Today, we're releasing these five detainees to end the stigma surrounding conflict in Papua,' Jokowi said.
Releasing other political prisoners would make room for freedom of expression and promote dialogue, said the prisoners' lawyer, Latifa Anum Siregar, who has just been awarded the 2015 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights.
Papuans have long complained of this 'stigma', including the suspicion that every voice hinting at disagreement with the official narrative of Papua's history belongs to the 'separatists' ' rendering them a legitimate target for persecution on the basis of 'subversion', and even arbitrary detention, torture and killings, rights organizations say.
Activists have repeatedly requested such 'dialogue' between Papuan and national leaders, but former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono shied away from dialogue attempts that would, on the Papuans' terms, have had to include differences on just how free was the Free Choice of 1963, the basis of Indonesia's claim over Papua.
Papuans further say that their cultural, Melanesian, identity, is not recognized either ' while their squabbling elites and migrants from other islands grab the largest slice of economic benefits. In contrast Jakarta's post-reformasi approach has been to throw more money at Papua, critics say, along with the continued security approach.
Worse, as elsewhere, crimes by police and military personnel against civilians are covered by endemic impunity. The domestic press is hampered in covering Papua not only in their resources, but by anxiety over their safety ' safety being the trumped-up excuse to bar foreign media.
Noting the government's success in resolving the political conflict in Aceh, in 2009 researchers of the Indonesian Institute for Sciences (LIPI) recommended a 'road map' comprising acknowledgement of identity, dialogue including on Papua's history, reconciliation and trials for human rights abuses, apart from a new paradigm on development.
It has taken a new president from outside the entrenched elite to welcome press freedom and release political prisoners in Papua. Hopefully Jokowi can convince citizens that a new approach on Papua will have to include openness and a safe space to voice differences.
