[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 94 (Wednesday, July 15, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H5584-H5585]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      INDONESIA'S HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN IRIAN JAYA/WEST PAPUA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, my remarks, in sharing these thoughts 
with my colleagues, I have entitled Indonesia's Human Rights Violations 
to the People of the West Papua, New Guinea.
  Mr. Speaker, many of our colleagues are familiar with Indonesia's 
dismal record of human rights violations in East Timor. The abuses have 
been well publicized and documented, especially the Dili massacre of 
1991, where hundreds of innocent Timorese were killed by government 
security forces. What has not received much attention, Mr. Speaker, is 
the tragic story of the people of West Papua, New Guinea, or Irian 
Jaya, as the people of New Guinea have renamed that province. West 
Papua, New Guinea, borders the independent nation of Papua, New Guinea, 
and forms the western half of the world's second largest island.
  Mr. Speaker, the recent violence by the Indonesian government against 
the people of West Papua, New Guinea, is nothing new. It is part and 
parcel of the long history of Indonesia's oppression of the native 
Melanesian people of West Papua, New Guinea.
  In 1961, the people of West Papua, New Guinea, with the assistance of 
Holland and Australia, prepared to declare independence from its Dutch 
colonial master. This enraged Indonesia, which invaded West Papua, New 
Guinea, and threatened war with Holland. As a Cold War maneuver to 
counter Soviet overtures for Indonesia to become a member of the 
Communist block, the United States intervened in the West Papua, New 
Guinea, issue. After the Dutch were advised that they could not count 
on the support of the allies in a conflict with Indonesia, Holland 
seized involvement with West Papua, New Guinea's, independence. 
Indonesia thus took West Papua, New Guinea, in 1963, suppressing the 
West Papua, New Guinea, people's dreams of freedom and self-
determination.
  In 1969, a referendum called the ``Act of Free Choice'' was held to 
approve the continued occupation by force of West Papua, New Guinea, by 
Indonesia. West Papuans called it the ``Act of No Choice''. Listen to 
this, Mr. Speaker. Only 1,025 delegates, hand picked by the Indonesian 
government, were allowed to vote, and bribery and threats were used to 
influence them. The rest of the 800,000 citizens, the local, or the 
indigenous Melanesians, the 800,000 West Papua, New Guineans, had no 
say in the undemocratic process. Despite calling for a one-person, one-
vote referendum, the United Nations recognized the so-called vote.
  Mr. Speaker, since Indonesia took over West Papua, New Guinea, the 
native Melanesian people have suffered under one of the most repressive 
and unjust systems of colonial occupation ever known in the 20th 
Century. The Indonesian military has waged an ongoing war against the 
free Papuan movement and their supporters since the 1960s, and against 
the civilian populace that has objected to Indonesia's plan for 
development in West Papua. An example of the latter are the thousands 
of killings associated with the expansion of the Freeport copper and 
gold mines in West Papua, New Guinea.
  Incredible as it may seem, Mr. Speaker, estimates are that between 
100,000 to 300,000 indigenous West Papua, New Guineans, have been 
killed or have simply vanished or disappeared from the face of the 
earth during Indonesian colonization. Mr. Speaker, the depth and 
intensity of this conflict, spanning three decades, underscores the 
fact that the people of West Papua, New Guinea, do not have common 
bonds with nor accept being part of Indonesia.
  The indigenous people of West Papua, New Guinea, are racially, 
culturally and ethnically different from the majority of Indonesians. 
West Papuans

[[Page H5585]]

are Melanesians, Mr. Speaker, they are not Indonesians. West Papuans 
practice Christianity. Indonesians practice Islam, or the faith of 
Islam. West Papuans have a unique language and culture which is 
distinct and different from the rest of Indonesia.
  Mr. Speaker, to make matters worse, the government of Indonesia has 
chosen a policy of transmigration, or a unilateral forced settlements, 
where hundreds of thousands of Indonesians have now taken residence in 
the lands belonging to these 800,000 to 900,000 West Papua, New 
Guineans, in their own homelands.
  Mr. Speaker, the tragic situation in West Papua, New Guinea, greatly 
concerns me. With the recent shootings over the pro-independence 
demonstrations in West Papua/Irian Jaya, I would hope all my colleagues 
in the House would join me in urging the Indonesian government to 
immediately stop these human rights violations and take steps now to 
review the status of West Papua, New Guinea, as it should be, 
especially perhaps it should be considered as a non self-governing 
territory under the auspices of the United Nations, similar to the 
territory of New Caledonia, currently a colony of France.

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