FAST FACTS:
West Papua

Where Is It?
West Papua, called Irian Jaya or West Irian by Indonesia and claimed by Indonesia as its 26th province, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, which lies north of Australia in the Pacific and is the second largest non-continental island on the globe. (The eastern half of New Guinea, as a result of its different colonial history, has been independent as Papua New Guinea since 1975.) Just south of the equator, West Papua contains some of the highest mountains, densest jungle, most isolated peoples and richest mineral resources on earth.

Who's involved?
On the surface, it s the people of West Papua (indigenous population around 1,500,000, plus hundreds of thousands of Indonesian transmigrants), organized in the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, or OPM) fighting for independence against the military dictatorship ruling Indonesia (the fourth most populous country in the world, around 200,000,000). But below the surface lies a much more complicated story.

The Indonesian regime s economic interests in West Papua are shared with some powerful multinational corporations: Freeport MacMoRan and RTZ in gold and copper mining; Chevron, Shell, ARCO and others in oil, numerous logging and paper companies, etc.

The OPM is a decentralized organization, with local commanders in different regions. The people of West Papua live in many separate tribes, with different languages. While most agree that they do not want Indonesia controlling their land and lives, the motives for resistance are many, ranging from indigenous, spiritual and survival-based environmental concerns to the desire for a share of the revenue from resources extracted from their land. Local opposition to transmigration and human rights violations is also widespread.

Since when?
West Papuans began struggling for independence from the Netherlands (who called the territory Dutch New Guinea and had ruled it since the 19th century) in 1949, as Indonesia (formerly the Dutch East Indies) achieved liberation from the same colonizer. When Indonesia took over West Papua in 1963, the struggle for West Papuan independence continued against the new colonizer, with the OPM being formed in 1965.

Why?
Indonesia wants West Papua s land, resources and wealth; it also wants to avert the shame of losing to people Indonesians view as primitive savages. The OPM wants human rights and the right to political self-determination under international law. Most West Papuans want the ability to live their lives in peace, on their traditional lands, and with the option to exploit and export resources in a sustainable way while maintaining control and income.

Costs
Estimates of the number of West Papuans killed as a result of Indonesian operations range from 100,000 to 200,000. I have not seen any estimates of casualties or costs to the Indonesian government (which keeps such information under wraps) but they are certainly much lower. Vast areas of West Papuan land have been devastated, not just by war, but by logging and mining. The indigenous people of the area face elimination of their culture and identity from transmigration, displacement and environmental destruction, as well as from officially-sanctioned racism and destruction of their languages and lifestyle.

Outside involvement
There is no outside military support for the OPM, although there are small groups of West Papuan exiles in the Netherlands and several Pacific countries doing political organizing. In addition, NGOs concerned with indigenous rights and/or environmental preservation publicize Indonesian and corporate abuses Within Indonesia proper, there are some nascent groups raising these issues, but the question of West Papua s political status is not on the agenda.

There is no direct outside military support for the Indonesian army (although it purchases weapons from many countries, including the United States), but many multinational corporations, most visibly Freeport MacMoRan, pressure the governments of their respective countries not to object to Indonesia s activities. The neighboring country of Papua New Guinea has been visited by several thousand border-crossers (refugees), many of whom end up in refugee camps. But Papua New Guinea s government, like Australia to the south, is cowed by its huge neighbor and unwilling to confront Jakarta.

Prospects for the Future
As in East Timor, the resistance movement cannot hope to defeat the Indonesian army militarily, although the OPM has held out for more than 30 years. They hope to emulate the recent international political and diplomatic successes of the East Timorese movement for self-determination, but there are several key differences:

The United Nations irresponsibly cooperated in the Indonesian takeover of West Papua, so it is not on the U.N. list of non-self-governing territories and is accepted by nearly all governments as having been integrated as Indonesia s 26th province.

West Papua has no guilty former colonial power championing its cause in the international arena, as Portugal does for East Timor.

West Papua is too rich in land, gold, oil, trees and mineral resources for Indonesia to give it up without struggling to the bitter end.

But the 31-year reign of military dictator Suharto is likely to end within the decade, as the general is now 75 years old. He has seemed more aware of his own mortality since the recent death of his wife Tien, known as "Madame Ten Percent" because of her role in Indonesia s pervasive corruption. There is no consensus as to who or what will follow, only that there will be a power struggle. If Indonesia s rapidly growing (but still fairly small) democratic movement is able to shape the new government, a much more equitable relationship with the people of West Papua is possible. But it is difficult to imagine complete independence short of a major dissolution of what some term the Javanese Empire over the disparate, far-flung archipelago currently ruled from Jakarta.

West Papua has received somewhat more U.S. press attention recently due to Freeport s troubles, but the broader issues remain unseen. The most complete ongoing news on paper is in the monthly TAPOL Bulletin (111 Northwood Rd., Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 8HW UK). TAPOL and others have a new Internet news service called reg.westpapua; you can read it on PeaceNet or contact cscheiner@igc.org for information or to be added to the list. In 1984 TAPOL published West Papua: The Obliteration of a People, which remains one of the few comprehensive books on the subject. The Freeport saga has received some extensive recent coverage; for two views see "Jim Bob s Indonesian Misadventure: A U.S. Mining Company Clashes With Indigenous Peoples," by Eyal Press (The Progressive, June 1996), and "Environmental Imperialism," by Brigid McMenamin (Forbes Magazine, May 20, 1996).

Here in the United States, there is growing interest in the development of a West Papua Action Network to help publicize and agitate on West Papua-related issues. Contact the author (PO Box 1182, White Plains, NY 10602) to be notified when this becomes more formalized.

[Back to Hidden Wars #13: West Papua: Manifest Destiny Redux]

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