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Papua under global watch

As a fifth-time member of the UNHRC, it only makes sense for Indonesia to practice what it preaches about human rights in Papua and other places where injustice, socioeconomic divide and discrimination prevail.

Editorial board (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, December 2, 2020

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Papua under global watch

W

hen Indonesia won a seat on the on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the 2020-2022 term in October last year, many called it a diplomatic achievement — which is true because it took a Herculean effort to secure the coveted membership.

As one of the 47 members of the Geneva-based council, Indonesia can advance its bid for human rights promotion anywhere in the world, in particular the Palestinian cause and the plight of minority Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The campaign will undoubtedly increase Indonesia’s standing as a prominent human rights defender.

It was akin to a slap in Indonesia’s face, therefore, when the Southeast Asian branch of the New York-based Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a statement expressing concerns about the escalating conflict in Papua. The statement came on Monday, just before the West Papua’s self-proclaimed independence anniversary on Dec. 1.

In her remarks, UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani asked Indonesia to conduct “thorough, independent and impartial” investigations into a string of violent incidents in Papua and West Papua, where armed groups have launched sporadic attacks to found an independent state on the natural resource-rich island for decades.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah was quick to lambast the statement, particularly its timing, which Faizasyah said could be interpreted as the UN body’s support for a separatist agenda.

For Indonesia, Papua’s integration into Indonesia through a UN-sanctioned act of free choice in 1969 is final. Several times, however, several Pacific countries have called for a Papua referendum in the UN forum, in a show of solidarity among Melanesians, with the latest presented in the UN General Assembly in September of this year.

To some extent, the “internationalization” of the Papua issue proves the campaign against Indonesia’s sovereignty over Papua has remained unabated and will perhaps intensify if Indonesia fails to address the human rights problems in the easternmost territory.

As a fifth-time member of the UNHRC, it only makes sense for Indonesia to practice what it preaches about human rights in Papua and other places where injustice, socioeconomic divide and discrimination prevail.

For one, the government has yet to comprehensively solve the killing of pastor Yeremia Zanambani in September, which is believed to have involved military personnel, according to the National Commission on Human Rights investigation. The incident was among the atrocities the UN Human Rights Office highlighted in its statement on Monday.

Whatever the motive behind the statement, Indonesia has to listen to the voices of outsiders about Papua, simply because the world is watching — perhaps closely — at what is going on there, in the same way Jakarta wants to know what Myanmar is doing to respect the rights of the Rohingya people.

For a long time, the government has relied on a security approach to deal with the strife in Papua, as evident in the deployment of reinforcement troops to the province. The escalating violence for the last few months there, including the alleged killings of minors, will only worsen if use of force comes first. The security approach has proven ineffective, no doubt about it.

This may be an opportune time for the government to find a comprehensive settlement to Papua’s cause now that it plans to revise the Law on Special Autonomy for Papua.

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