Oleh Oridek Ap
Pada hari selasa tanggal 20 juli 2004 sekitar jam 12.30 delegasi Acheh, Papua dan Maluku berangkat dengan bes menuju ke Geneva dan untuk beraksi disana. Delegasi terdiri oleh 17 bangsa Acheh,15 bangsa Maluku dan 2 bangsa Papua. Saudara-2 dari Acheh ramai-2 turun dari Norway ke Belanda untuk ambil bagian. Dalam sejarah perjuangan dan kerja sama ketiga bangsa Acheh, Papua dan Maluku inilah pertama kali yang ada inisiatif untuk beraksi bersama di luar dan didalam gedung PBB.

Inisiatif datang dari saudara Nico Souisa (FKM Belanda) dan didukung oleh saudara Fadlon Musa (GAM/ ASNLF) dan Oridek Ap (SAP Nederland) yang juga berbasis di Belanda. Sesudah 18 jam duduk di dalam bes, kami tiba di tempat tinggal di Geneva pada tanggal 21 juli 2004 sekitar jam 18.00 dengan baik.

Hari rabu tanggal 22 juli 2004 kami pergi dan masuk ke dalam gedung PBB untuk ambil bagian dalam 22nd session of the working group on Indigenious Population. Bangsa Acheh diwakili oleh Tengkuh Bakhtiar Abdullah. Tengkuh Bakhtiar Abdullah membawa sebagian dari delegasi masuk kemuka untuk ambil bagian dalam session. Kami yang lain, berpakai pakaian adat masuk ke gedung dari belakan. Dan efek dari kami punya masuk lebih dari yang kami harapkan. Oleh sebab kami semua yang masuk dari belakan semua pakai pakaian adat, kami menarik perhatian dari banyak peserta-2 yang hadir disitu. Sesudah kami dapat tempat untuk duduk kami keluarkan bandera Papua, Acheh dan Maluku dan duduk. Sekitar 25 sampai 30 minit peserta-2 yang hadir dan orang-2 media datang dan bikin photo dari dekat. Oleh sebab kami punya kehadiran begitu menarik perhatian terlalu banyak dari para hadirian, ketua dari session memerintah kami untuk lipat bandera. Memperhatikan kesempatan-2 yang akan datang, kami ikut permintaan dari ketua, dan lipat bandera-2 kembali.

Pukul jam 13.30 kami berdemo dimuka gedung PBB sampai jam 15.00. Setelah demo kami masuk kembali lagi kedalam gedung PBB. Didalam kami bagi-2 statement-2 masing. Kami Papua kami telah bagi statement dari Saudara Benny Wenda (DeMMak) dan juga sebuah statement dari Aries Wader.

Sekitar jam 20.00 kami pergi untuk hadir di acara resepsi. Disitu kami ditanya oleh Viktor Kasiëpo, yang pegang acara resepsi, untuk sumbangkan berberapa lagu Papua. Juga suadara/i dari Maluku telah sumbangkan berberapa lagu. Malam itu rameh sekali.

Kesan Papua
Kami hari itu semua sukses. Baik dengan lobi juga dengan aksi. Kami dapat perhatian banyak dari tourist-2 dan juga dari perserta-2 di PBB. Kami dua yang mewakili Papua Barat (Oridek dan Erisam Ap) pakai pakaian adat, dan hari itu kami sendiri boleh saksi kekuatan dari pakaian tradisionel Papua di PBB. Kami berdua bermaksud untuk tunjukan kepada orang-2 dari dunia yang hadir di PBB bahwa kami bukan orang Indonesia, tetapi kami adalah asli Papua dari ras melanesia. Kalau dua orang bisa menarik begitu banyak perhatian, apalagi 10 atau 20 orang. Lain kali akan lebih rameh lagi, ikut waktu sadja.

Demikian laporan singkat dari kami disini. Salam dan hormat.

Selamat berjuang !

‘berjuang terus tetao menang’

STATEMENT FROM DEMMAK (THE KOTEKA TRIBAL ASSEMBLY) OF WEST PAPUA DELIVERED TO THE 22ND SESSION OF THE WORKING GROUP ON INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS.

DELIVERED BY THE CHAIR OF DEMMAK - BENNY WENDA

REGARDING THE POSSIBILITIES FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN WEST PAPUA

CONFLICT IN WEST PAPUA

The conflicts the indigenous people of West Papua suffer are with the following groups:

The Indonesian State (inc. its military and police)
Corporate investment
Loggers
Missionary and Aid Organisations
The Dominant Global Powers

CONFLICT WITH THE INDONESIAN STATE

Mass Murder
Since Indonesia invaded West Papua in 1962 the indigenous population has suffered genocide at the hands of the Indonesian state. Well documented elsewhere [1] between 100,000 to 300,000 indigenous West Papuans have been killed or disappeared at the hands of the Indonesian military and police. Beyond this many carry scars of physical and mental abuse from torture, beatings and general intimidation [2]. Hundreds also languish in Indonesian prisons [3].

Trans Migration
Conflict has also arisen due to the hundreds of thousands of Indonesians trans migrated into West Papua [4]. Indigenous land has been appropriated for the trans migration camps and most business and other opportunities are dominated by trans migrants.

Forced Suppression of Indigenous Culture
Traditional dress and music has at various times been banned by the occupying Indonesian State. Indigenous children are forced to speak Indonesian in schools and learn a false history.

Provincial Split
In recent years the Government of Indonesia has tried to enforce the splitting of West Papua into three provinces [5]. Conflict has arisen between the indigenous population who oppose the split and want to see an independent West Papua and those close to the government and business who wish to see the split as it will increase profits and power in their hands.

CONFLICT WITH CORPORATE INVESTMENT

The two main players here are the Freeport goldmine and the BP LNG plant. Conflict due to the Freeport mine has been well documented [6] and probably represents one of the most extreme examples of the capitalist threat to indigenous peoples and their lands. It has displaced thousands of people from their lands, killed hundreds in the process via its collusion and finance of the Indonesian military and killed many more people, swathes of forests and an entire river system with its ensuing pollution.

BP are trying to do things differently but are beginning to have the same effect as Freeport and ultimately will destroy the lives and land of the indigenous population in its area of operation. Already conflict has been generated between local villages over compensation. The indigenous population have also protested at the BP plant to complain about the many problems introduced by the new investment [7].

CONFLICT WITH LOGGERS

As the rainforests of Indonesia continue to disappear, the forests of West Papua are being logged at an ever increasing rate. Being home and food source for the indigenous population there is increasing conflict between the indigenous population and loggers. Much of the logging is also carried out in conjunction with the Indonesian army who use force to access areas of forest. Recently indigenous Papuans have been shot and arrested for attempting to resist logging in their area [8].

CONFLICT WITH MISSIONARY AND AID ORGANISATIONS

Although most of the indigenous population of West Papua may not recognise this conflict, it is there and it is growing. Missionaries came to our land and changed our cultures. Mostly we accepted but now we are surprised when the missionaries do not help when the Indonesian army come to kill us. If this continues there will be more conflict. Also they have brought with them along with many of the Aid organisations the ideology that development and western lifestyles are “good”. This is beginning to produce conflict as we Papuans never used money or commodified things but now we have been shown and now there is distrust and problems [9].

CONFLICT WITH THE DOMINANT GLOBAL POWERS

Although it may not be easily visible there is obviously conflict between the indigenous population of West Papua and the dominant global powers. These include the G8, IMF, World Bank, WTO, UN etc. It is through the interests of the global elite that West Papua was denied its freedom and handed to Indonesia via the decision at the UN general assembly to take note of the fraudulent Act of Free Choice [10]. It is the likes of Britain, Australia and America that arm, fund and train the Indonesian military who kill us. It is their corporations that destroy our land and our culture and it is their ideology which gets imposed on us via Western missionaries and Aid organisations.

STATEMENT OF POSITION OF THE OPM (FREE PAPUA MOVEMENT) AND DEMMAK (KOTEKA TRIBAL ASSEMBLY) WHO REPRESENT THE INDIGENOUS POPULATION OF WEST PAPUA.

We are not terrorists!
We do not want modern life!
We refuse any kinds of development:
religious groups, aid agencies, and governmental organisations
just Leave Us Alone, Please!

POSSIBILITY FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN WEST PAPUA

Considering the scale of problems suffered by the indigenous population of West Papua and the feelings of the population towards their oppressors it is obvious that the indigenous population will continue to struggle whilst the above problems continue. It is the view of the OPM and DeMMaK that the solution for West Papua is that the outside world Just Leave Us Alone. This is the one solution to the conflicts in West Papua.

REFERENCES

[1] Indonesian Human Rights Abuses in West Papua: Application of the Law of Genocide to the History of Indonesian Control, Yale Law School http://www.law.yale.edu/outside/html/Public_Affairs/426/westpapuahrights...

[2] Impunity and human rights violations in Papua, Amnesty International, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA210152002?open&of=ENG-IDN

[3] http://westpapua.net/cases/hr/prisoner/lists.htm

[4] West Papua: The Obliteration of a People (Carmel Budiardjo and Liem Soei Liong, Tapol, 1988

[5] West Papua: Call for cancellation of three-way split - TAPOL letter to UK Foreign Office Minister, Mike O'Brien
http://tapol.gn.apc.org/let030828.htm

[6] Risky Business: The Grasberg Gold Mine
An Independent Annual Report on P.T. Freeport Indonesia, 1998 , Project Underground, http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/motherlode/freeport/tenrisks.htm...

[7] The Tangguh gas project: what hope for human rights protection in a worsening political climate? Down to Earth Newsletter No. 60, February 2004
http://dte.gn.apc.org/60GAS.htm

[8] Partner’s in Crime: A Greenpeace Investigation of the Links Between the UK and Indonesia's Timber Barons - 2003

[9] Just Leave Us Alone, Wira Wero, Published by SSP (www.eco-action.org/ssp)

[10] UNTEA and UNRWI: United Nations Involvement in West New Guinea During the 1960’s, John Saltford , http://www.freewestpapua.org/docs/saltford.htm