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Govt blames 'foreign parties' for Papua strife
In response to calls for a self-determination referendum on top of ongoing unrest in Papua and West Papua, the government is blaming “foreign parties” for being behind the protests and rioting in the country’s easternmost provinces
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n response to calls for a self-determination referendum on top of ongoing unrest in Papua and West Papua, the government is blaming “foreign parties” for being behind the protests and rioting in the country’s easternmost provinces.
The government has particularly laid blame on Papuan separatist figure Benny Wenda. Wenda, the chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), has lived in exile in the United Kingdom since 2003 after he was charged with masterminding an attack on a police station in Abepura.
“I think it’s true that Benny Wenda is part of the conspiracy regarding [Papua],” Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said to the press on Monday. “Benny Wenda has been very active for a long time, giving out false information, [making it seem], as if we neglect Papua, as if we commit human rights violations every day.”
Wiranto said on Friday that parties were “free-riding” on the unrest and “deliberately pushing for there to be chaos”.
Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko also accused Wenda on Monday of conducting “diplomatic mobilization” and spreading false information on what was happening in Papua.
National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian previously claimed that rioters in Papua and West Papua had connections with an international network. “The parties who are suspected of mobilizing [rioters] have been mapped and are being investigated,” he said on Sunday as quoted by Antara news agency.
Wenda has denied the accusations, saying that he was used to such claims by the government.
“They have it the wrong way around,” he told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Monday. “It is the TNI [Indonesian Military] who is in Papua illegally and who has killed over 500,000 men, women and children since 1963.”
He claimed that his fight for Papuan independence had always been peaceful and that the protests in Papua had started out peacefully, citing the massive antiracism rally in Jayapura on Aug. 19, which ended without any violence.
Wenda said the protests were spontaneous, in response to the racial abuse of Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java, on Aug. 16, in addition to decades of ongoing discrimination and injustice. He added that his only demands were for a peaceful referendum and for the United Nations to be given access to Papua and West Papua.
“Indonesia is a democratic country, it should provide an example by giving West Papua back to West Papuans,” he said.
Papuan Students Alliance (AMP) chairman Jhon Gobay said the authorities must prove the accusation of foreign interference in Papua. “If not, it seems like they are just using it to justify their despotic accusations against protesters, like the Papuan students who were arrested in Jakarta,” he said.
Over the weekend, the Jakarta Police arrested seven Papuan students and Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua spokesperson Surya Anta on charges of treason after they took part in a demonstration in front of the State Palace. During the protest, the students and Surya, along with hundreds of other Papuan students, demanded a referendum be held while carrying banned Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flags, a symbol of the Papuan independence movement.
On Monday, the Sorong Immigration Office deported four Australians for allegedly participating in proindependence protests in Sorong, West Papua, on Aug. 27.
“It’s not true that the Papuan independence movement was triggered by foreign parties,” Jhon said. “Given the murders of Papuans and other human rights violations, I think separatism is understandable.”
National Committee for West Papua (KNPB) spokesman Victor Yeimo said that the accusation of foreign intervention was insulting to the Papuan people.
“These narratives show that [the government] still sees Papuans as animals that are easily provoked and agitated or as bandwagoners,” he wrote in a post on his official Facebook page on Monday.
University of Indonesia (UI) professor and international law expert Hikmahanto Juwana said it was possible that ethnic and nonethnic Papuan foreign citizens were supporting the independence movement. Several Pacific countries, which do not recognize Papua and West Papua as part of Indonesia, could be aiding protesters, he said.
“The government should be proactive and Indonesian embassies should disseminate accurate information to counter the misinformation from these foreign parties,” he told the Post.
Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid dismissed the government’s claim as political scapegoating.
“Instead of addressing the base issue of the racial abuse against Papuan students in Surabaya, the government is busy demonizing Papuans and scapegoating others.”
