[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 132 (Thursday, October 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1827-E1828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           WEST PAPUA, INDONESIA; THE NEXT EAST TIMOR TRAGEDY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA

                           of american samoa

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 18, 2000

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I come before our colleagues and our 
great Nation tonight to discuss a disturbing matter I have raised 
before--the bloody struggle for freedom and democracy that is being 
waged halfway around the world in the Pacific by the courageous people 
of West Papua, a province subjugated by Indonesia and renamed Irian 
Jaya.
  Although many of our colleagues are familiar with Indonesia's 
atrocious and despicable record of human rights violations in East 
Timor and West Timor--the world has neglected to address the parallel 
tragedy that is being played out as we speak in West Papua.
  Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, to his credit, has attempted 
to engage the people of West Papua, in a national dialogue to defuse 
the incredible tensions arising from four decades of military 
repression and violence perpetrated against the Papuan people. As part 
of his peace initiative, President Wahid expressly authorized Papuans 
to raise their Morning Star flags, a deeply emotional symbol of the 
Papuan people's desire for justice and self-determination.
  In recent weeks, however, armed Indonesian security forces have 
violated President Wahid's order, perhaps based upon a conflicting 
directive from Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, and forcibly taken 
down Morning Star flags in the mountainside town of Wamena. This 
touched off a massive riot resulting in upwards of 58 deaths and dozens 
of injured citizens.
  On Monday (October 9, 2000), Amnesty International reported that, 
``Indonesian security forces opened fire during attempts to forcibly 
remove Papuan flags flying in several locations in Wamena town.'' With 
hundreds of people taken into custody, Amnesty International stated 
that, ``some of those released told local human rights monitors that 
they witnessed other detainees being tortured by the police. The police 
reportedly beat, kicked and used razor blades to torture those who 
refused to renounce support for Papuan independence.'' Amnesty 
International, in particular, took note that 15 individuals have been 
denied total access to their attorneys and families, raising fears that 
these Papuans are being tortured or subject to extrajudicial execution.
  Mr. Speaker, these recent developments in Indonesia's campaign of 
violence against the Papuan people are shocking and reprehensible. 
However, I am not surprised by this ugly show of brutality, for it is 
nothing new. It is part and parcel of a long history of Jakarta's 
oppression of the native people of West Papua.
  The first chapter in this tragic story began in 1961, when the people 
of West Papua, with the assistance of the Netherlands and Australia, 
prepared to declare independence from the Dutch, their former colonial 
master. This enraged Indonesia, which invaded West Papua and urged war 
against Holland. Skillfully playing the Communist card against the 
United States, Indonesia simultaneously threatened to become a Soviet 
ally, prompting the United States to take Jakarta's side in the West 
Papua issue. Once the Dutch were advised by President Kennedy's 
administration that they could not count on United States backing in a 
conflict with Indonesia, the Netherlands ceased support for West 
Papua's independence and deserted the Papuan people. Indonesia was thus 
given a green light to ravage West Papua in 1963, destroying the Papuan 
people's dreams of freedom and self-determination.
  In 1969, the second chapter unfolded, when the United Nations 
supervised a fraudulent referendum called the ``Act of Free Choice'', 
which, upon review, was clearly designed to give cover and official 
sanctioning of Indonesia's forced occupation of West Papua. West 
Papuans derisively refer to it as the ``Act of No Choice'', since only 
1,025 delegates hand-picked by Jakarta were allowed to vote, with 
bribery and death threats used to coerce them. The rest of the 800,000 
citizens of West Papua had absolutely no say in the rigged plebiscite. 
Despite calling for a ``one person-one vote'' referendum, the United 
Nations shamefully acquiesced and recognized the defective vote--a vote 
which, not surprisingly, was unanimous for West Papua to remain with 
Indonesia.
  Since Indonesia and its military subjugated West Papua, the Papuan 
people have suffered under one of the most repressive and violent 
systems of colonial occupation in the twentieth century. Incredible as 
it may seem, Mr. Speaker, as the world witnessed in East Timor, the 
estimate of West Papuans who have been killed or who have simply 
vanished from the fact of the earth during the Indonesian occupation 
numbers in the hundreds of thousands. Papuans project that between 
200,000 to 300,000 of their people have disappeared at the hands of the 
Indonesians.
  Mr. Speaker, in recent years our Nation has rightfully intervened to 
stop ethnic cleansing and genocide, such as in Kosovo, yet for decades 
in West Papua the Indonesians have been allowed to commit outrageous 
human rights abuses of the highest magnitude.
  Mr. Speaker, the depth and intensity of this conflict spanning four 
decades underscores the fact that the people of West Papua do not 
desire and will never accept being part of Indonesia. In all ways, 
manner and fashion, they are a people and culture dramatically distinct 
and apart from the rest of Indonesia.
  In an attempt to overwhelm the Papuan people, the Indonesian 
Government has chosen a policy of mass transmigration, not unlike what 
China is doing in Tibet. The West Papuan people have been inundated 
with an annual influx of over 10,000 families from the rest of 
Indonesia. Already, the migrants threaten to outnumber the West 
Papuans, reducing the indigenous natives to a minority in their own 
homeland.
  Mr. Speaker, the tragic situation in West Papua greatly concerns me. 
With Jakarta's renewed thirst for blood, I would ask that all of our 
colleagues join in urging the Indonesian Government to exercise 
restraint and immediately stop the killings and human rights violations 
in West Papua.
  To that effect, Mr. Speaker, earlier this year, our colleagues--
Representatives John Lewis, Cynthia McKinney, Lane Evans, Donald Payne, 
Robert Wexler, Alcee Hastings and Gregory Meeks--joined me in a letter 
to President Clinton strongly expressing our deep

[[Page E1828]]

concerns with Indonesia's repression in West Papua and requesting that 
the ``U.S. ensure that the Indonesian military and police refrain from 
any violent response'' to the Papuan people's advocacy for 
independence. Our letter further requested the Administration to work 
with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in undertaking a 
thorough and complete review of the 1969 U.N. ``Act of Free Choice''.
  I commend President Clinton for his forthright response and gracious 
letter, in which the President stated, ``The U.S. response to events in 
West Papua is aimed at minimizing the likelihood of violence and 
promoting reconciliation between Papua and the Indonesian government.'' 
The President further stated ``* * * we have strongly urged Indonesia 
to uphold justice, human rights, and the rule of law in Papua and to 
refrain from using tactics of repression similar to those that were 
condemned by the world community in East Timor. We will continue to 
impress on Indonesia's leaders the high costs associated with any 
attempt to use military-backed militias to incite violence or to 
intimidate the people of Papua.''
  I thank the President for his stated commitment to stop Indonesia's 
practices of brutality in West Papua and look forward to concrete, 
timely action from the Administration in response to the recent 
troubling developments in West Papua.
  Mr. Speaker, as the leader of the free world and protector of the 
oppressed, our great Nation cannot in good conscience continue to look 
away as another nightmare like East Timor raises its ugly head. I ask 
our colleagues to hear the urgent pleas for help of the people of West 
Papua and take steps now with the Administration to prevent another 
East Timor massacre from taking place.
  Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I submit the aforementioned letters 
regarding West Papua from our colleagues and President Clinton for the 
Record.

                                    Congress of the United States,


                                     House of Representatives,

                                    Washington, DC, June 30, 2000.
     Hon. William J. Clinton,
     President, The White House, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. President: We are deeply concerned with recent 
     developments in Papua, also known as West Papua or Irian 
     Jaya, the eastern-most part of Indonesia. The Second Papuan 
     People's Congress ended the first week of June with a 
     declaration of independence from Indonesia, to which the 
     Indonesian government responded by declaring it would take 
     all action necessary to maintain the state's territorial 
     integrity.
       This independence declaration--dated retroactively to 
     December 1, 1961, when Papuan leaders first declared Papua a 
     sovereign nation separate from its Dutch colonial rulers--
     follows years of economic exploitation and human rights 
     violations by the Indonesian government and military regime. 
     The decisions of the Papuan Congress, attended by five 
     hundred delegated representatives, more than two thousand 
     others inside the hall and some twenty thousand supporters 
     outside, reflect views held widely throughout the territory. 
     While it is premature for the U.S. government to take a stand 
     in favor or against the declaration adopted by the Papuan 
     Congress, we feel that the State Department should at least 
     demonstrate an understanding of the underlying reasons for 
     the decision taken by the Papuan representatives.
       The independence declaration of the Second Papuan People's 
     Conference reflects over thirty years of grievance resulting 
     from a fraudulent Act of Free Choice held in 1969. A brutally 
     repressive military regime organized the Act, refusing 
     universal suffrage and convening an assembly of only 1,025 
     hand-picked men. They met under extreme duress and at 
     gunpoint, resulting in an ``unanimous'' decision to remain 
     with Indonesia. To its detriment, the United Nations, which 
     was supposed to supervise the Act but was marginalized 
     throughout the process, endorsed the results and has done 
     virtually nothing to protect the rights and freedoms of the 
     Papuan people since then.
       The U.S. government must take responsibility for the 
     diplomatic moves leading to the U.N.'s betrayal of the 
     Papuans. U.S. administrations were instrumental in 
     negotiating talks between Indonesia and the Netherlands about 
     Paupua, resulting in the New York Agreement in 1962 and the 
     eventual Act of Free Choice. The talks, over which a U.S. 
     diplomat preside, took place without any Papuan 
     representation and were followed by six years of extreme 
     repression capped by the denial of the right to a genuine act 
     of self-determination. Having brokered an agreement providing 
     for the Act of Free Choice, the U.S. government had a 
     responsibility to ensure its fair implementation. Yet despite 
     egregious human rights violations perpetrated against the 
     Papuan people, the U.S. voted in favor of U.N. General 
     Assembly Resolution 2504 of December 19 in 1969, recognizing 
     the official inclusion of Papua in the Indonesian state.
       Given the involvement of the U.S. in the aforementioned 
     agreements, we request that the Administration call upon the 
     U.N. Secretary General to undertake a thorough review of the 
     1969 Act of Free Choice. We remain deeply concerned about 
     escalating activities in Papua of pro-Indonesia militia 
     groups, similar to those that operated in East Timor, many of 
     whom are linked to the Indonesian Armed Forces. We further 
     request that the U.S. ensure that the Indonesian military and 
     police refrain from any violent response to the declaration 
     of independence, as has already been suggested by some in the 
     Indonesian security forces and government. We will continue 
     to diligently monitor the situation in Papua, particularly in 
     the context of severe military repression throughout the 
     Indonesian archipelago.
       We thank you for your serious consideration of our requests 
     and look forward to your response.
           Sincerely.
         Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Donald M. Payne, Robert Wexler, 
           Alcee L. Hastings, Cynthia A. McKinney, Lane Evans, 
           John Lewis, Gregory W. Meeks.

                                  ____
                                  

                                              The White House,

                                     Washington, DC, July 9, 2000.
     Hon. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega,
     House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Eni: Thank you for your letter regarding recent 
     developments in West Papua, Indonesia.
       The U.S. response to events in West Papua is aimed at 
     minimizing the likelihood of violence and promoting 
     reconciliation between Papua and the Indonesian government. 
     Our policy is based on three principles.
       First, we have reiterated our support for the territorial 
     integrity of Indonesia. We continue to believe that a stable, 
     democratic and united Indonesia is the key to continued 
     stability in the region.
       Second, we have publicly called for the Government of 
     Indonesia to address the legitimate concerns of the residents 
     of Papua within the context of a unified Indonesia. We 
     strongly support a meaningful dialogue between the Government 
     of Indonesia and Papuan political representatives as the best 
     and most appropriate means to address the underlying problems 
     that have led to calls for independence. Such a dialogue is 
     the appropriate form to discuss any potential review of the 
     UN-sanctioned process that resulted in West Papua's inclusion 
     into Indonesia.
       Third, we have strongly urged Indonesia to uphold justice, 
     human rights, and the rule of law in Papua and to refrain 
     from using tactics of repression similar to those that were 
     condemned by the world community in East Timor. We will 
     continue to impress on Indonesia's leaders the high costs 
     associated with any attempt to use military-backed militias 
     to incite violence or to intimidate the people of Papua.
       I appreciate your interest in Papua and look forward to 
     continuing to work with you to ensure the peaceful resolution 
     of the situation.
           Sincerely,
                                                             Bill.

     

                          ____________________