[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 20, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H6180-H6181]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        IN SUPPORT OF WEST PAPUA NEW GUINEA'S QUEST FOR FREEDOM

  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, I take this Special Order time to 
address a most serious problem pertaining to the colony of West Papua 
New Guinea, as it is noted and made part of the Foreign Relations 
Authorization Act for fiscal years 2006 and 2007.
  Mr. Speaker, the House has just passed this important legislation by 
a historic vote of 351 to 78 in favor of this bill, and I certainly 
want to personally commend the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the 
honorable chairman of our Committee on International Relations; the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), our senior ranking member; the 
gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach), distinguished chairman of the Asia and 
the Pacific Subcommittee; and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) 
for their tremendous help and leadership in getting this provision 
included in this year's authorization bill.
  At the outset, Mr. Speaker, I want to first extend my 
congratulations, and I do commend the good people of Indonesia for 
having achieved this new milestone of their political development into 
a democratic form of government. I commend the newly elected President 
of Indonesia, President Yudhoyono, and I wish him well in all his 
efforts to fight corruption and bring about democratic reforms in the 
new government.
  I also note, Mr. Speaker, with interest that the honorable Prime 
Minister of Australia, Mr. John Howard, is visiting us here in 
Washington. It is my sincere hope that the Prime Minister will 
seriously rethink again Australia's policy towards West Papua New 
Guinea, and I urge all Pacific nations of the Forum Organization not to 
turn their backs on West Papua New Guinea.
  As former colonies themselves, the Forum nations should seriously 
take the matter of West Papua New Guinea before the United Nations for 
reexamination, especially on the faulty policies that were implemented 
by the United Nations towards West Papua New Guinea in the years past.
  Mr. Speaker, history has not been kind neither to the people of 
Indonesia nor to the people of West Papua New Guinea. Under the 
military dictatorships of Presidents Sukarno and Suharto, some 1 
million Indonesians were brutally murdered and killed similar to the 
killing fields in Cambodia under Pol Pot. And by the same token, since 
the military takeover of West Papua by the Indonesian Army in 1969, 
approximately 100,000 West Papuans were murdered, tortured, killed; and 
it continues even as I speak today, Mr. Speaker.
  In actual fact, Mr. Speaker, according to human rights reports and 
West Papuans themselves, actually approximately 300,000 to 400,000 West 
Papuans have been murdered, tortured to death, and disappeared at the 
hands of the Indonesian military.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States mediated an agreement in 1962 between 
the Dutch and Indonesia regarding West Papua, but totally without 
Papuan representation. Under the terms of the agreement, the Dutch were 
to leave West Papua and transfer sovereignty to the United Nations 
Temporary Executive Authority for a period of 6 years, after which time 
a national referendum would be held to determine West Papua's political 
status.
  This shift, however, did not come to pass. In fact, shortly after the 
sealing of this agreement, Indonesia violated the unambiguous terms by 
military force of arms, under President Sukarno, and seized control of 
West Papua from the United Nations.

                              {time}  1945

  Thereafter, in 1969, Indonesia orchestrated an election that many 
regard as a brutal military operation. Known as ``an act of free 
choice,'' 1,022 Papuan elders were ``selected'' under heavy military 
harassment, and intimidation of their families, and to no one's 
surprise, every elder voted in favor of Indonesian rule.
  Under the ensuing decades of Indonesia military rule, West Papuans 
have suffered as victims of one of the most repressive and unjust 
systems of colonial occupation in the 20th century. Brutal treatment by 
the Indonesia military has resulted in the deaths, as I said earlier, 
of some 100,000 West Papuans.
  I am delighted to say that this bill requires Secretary Rice and the 
Department of State to reexamine the special autonomy law that was 
supposed to give autonomy to West Papua. It is my understanding, Mr. 
Speaker, that the provisions of the autonomy law that was passed by the 
Indonesia parliament, while substantive, is nothing but the paper that 
it was written on. The autonomy law, Mr. Speaker, I respectfully 
submit, is nothing but a sham, a complete farce, and the Indonesia 
government should be ashamed for doing this.
  Mr. Speaker, President Bush during his speech in his inauguration and 
his

[[Page H6181]]

presentation in February of this year before the Joint Session of 
Congress I believe gave one of the best speeches that I have ever heard 
concerning democracy and the need as a commitment from our Nation to 
promote democracy throughout the world among the countries of the 
world.
  Since the passage of the special autonomy law 3 years ago, four key 
measures under the law remain unimplemented or actively violated. The 
Papuan People's Council remains nonexistent, cheating indigenous West 
Papuans of their right to representation; the funds for West Papua are 
unallocated or are allocated late, threatening their ability to meet 
their basic human needs; transmigration continues, overwhelming 
culturally distinct indigenous West Papuans with Indonesia migrants; 
and key governance provisions were violated when West Papua was divided 
now into two provinces.
  We cannot allow the repeat of history, Mr. Speaker. Rather, we must 
work to ensure that the central government acts in concert with the 
needs of the indigenous people of West Papua.
  Mr. Speaker, human rights abuses committed by the Indonesia military 
over decades, including those related to environmental degradation, 
still continue today. Under the repressive regimes of Presidents 
Sukarno and Suharto, military brutality continues. The Indonesia 
military and special forces have in the past 3 years alone murdered 81 
indigenous Papuans, tortured, beaten and jailed 34 more Papuans, 
displaced some 6,393 families from their homes, burnt down 23 churches 
and 370 traditional houses.
  This violation threatens to escalate. The Indonesia central 
government is responding swiftly to a West Papuan announcement that 
decisively rejects the special autonomy law, and as I speak, Mr. 
Speaker, the Indonesia army of the government is currently transferring 
over 15,000 troops to West Papua, which is already occupied by some 
10,000 troops, composed of six army battalions, one air force 
battalion, one battalion of mobile brigade police, which totals some 
25,000 soldiers, by far the heaviest military presence in all of 
Indonesia.
  Mr. Speaker, these human rights issues transcend national borders. It 
is time for the Congress to no longer tolerate the human rights abuses 
threatening the military violence and the denial of a voice under which 
the people of West Papua have suffered for so many years.
  Mr. Speaker, for too long, the cries of the West Papuans have fallen 
on deaf ears, and I pray that with the concerted attention of the 
Congress the international community will support this effort.

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