Gulf Times [Qatar], Tuesday, 21 February, 2006, 09:15 AM Doha Time
Papuan conflict a hard nut to crack for Indonesia
By Ahmad Pathoni
JAKARTA: Resolving a simmering separatist conflict in remote Papua could prove a
more difficult task for Indonesia than negotiating peace in Aceh in the absence of a
credible partner for talks, analysts say.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is eager to halt the low-level
insurgency in eastern Papua after ending a decades-long separatist confli! ct in Aceh,
at the other extremity of the sprawling archipelago nation.
But analysts say the poorly-armed Free Papua Movement (OPM) is split,
disorganised and lacks a leadership with any capacity to represent Papuans in
negotiations with the government of the world's largest Muslim nation.
The OPM has waged a sporadic guerrilla offensive against Jakarta's rule ever since
Indonesia assumed control of the resource-rich former Dutch territory in the 1960s, as
Indonesia's military has been accused of human rights abuses.
Full details of violent incidents in jungle-clad Papua - which is off-limits to foreign
media - rarely emerge and it can be difficult to confirm who is behind them.
The plight of the Papuan! s, who unlike most Indonesians are of Melanesian descent
and predominantly Christian, hit international headlines last month with the arrival of
43 asylum seekers in Australia by boat.
The group accused the Indonesian military of perpetrating genocide in the province,
charges countered by the Indonesian government as "rubbish".
"The problem with Papua is: who has the legitimacy to negotiate on behalf of Papuans
with the government?" said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, an analyst with the Habibie Center
think tank.
"GAM (the Free Aceh Movement) has a clear leadership hierarchy, but Papuan
separatists are fragmented," she told AFP, referring to Aceh's rebels, who inked a
peace pact with Jakarta last August after a nearly three-decade-long conflict that
killed 15,000.
Anwar also noted that the Aceh peace initiative was spurred on by the devastating
December 2004 tsunami, which left some 165,000 Acehnese dead and brought
massive international attention to the province.
While not on the scale of the Aceh bloodshed, several prominent incidents in Papua
have been blamed on OPM, including a 2002 ambush that killed two US citizens and
an Indonesian, dogging relations with the United States since.
The group's leader Anthonius Wamang, who was arrested with seven others last
month, admitted they fired on the vehicle, but he also accused the military of being
implicated in the attack near a mine owned by US giant Freeport-McMoRan.
While the military has denied a connection, t! he allegation highlights the often murky
nature of the conflict.
Indonesia banned foreign media from entering Papua in 2003, a move again defended
by Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono this month.
"We feel that Indonesian unity and cohesion would be threatened by foreign intrusion
and concern," he said.
Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group predicted that it would "take a long
time" to resolve the conflict in Papua.
Papua is "a much more complex place" than Aceh, with many different tribes and a
generally low level of education, she said.
Indonesia won sovereignty over Papua, then called West Irian, in 1969, after the Unit!
ed Nations allowed an integration referendum that involved just 1,000 hand-picked
tribal leaders and was widely labelled a sham.
Papua is on the international radar today due to a natural gas project there led by
energy giant BP as well as Freeport's gold and copper mine, the world's largest.
Jones noted that the outside interest has not resulted in much action.
"There has been a lot of international concern, but it hasn't led to political support for a
referendum," she said.
Jakarta has offered special autonomy for Papua, giving it a greater share of its oil and
gas revenues among other concessions, but its clumsy implementation has failed to
curb local discontent.
In August, Yudhoyono promised to seek a peaceful end to the Papuan conflict,
rejecting international interference after a US congressman called for unfettered
access to investigate how Jakarta gained control of Papua.
Not everyone, however, is convinced OPM are a major concern.
"Sometimes they are active but most of the times they are dormant," said Albert
Rumbekwan, a Papua-based member of the National Commission on Human Rights
which is investigating claims by the Papuans in Australia.
"Outsiders may think Papua is a dangerous place, but it is actually safe here." - AFP
© Gulf Times Newspaper, 2006
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