In 1883 the island of New Guinea was partitioned by three Western powers, the Dutch claiming the western half, while the Germans and British divided the eastern half into German New Guinea in the north and British Papua in the south.The Republic of Indonesia was created in 1949 when The Netherlands granted independence to the colonised peoples of the former Dutch East Indies. West New Guinea however, due to its distinct Melanesian population and cultural characteristics, was retained as a colony by the Dutch and during the 1950s the Dutch government prepared the territory for independence. President Sukarno meanwhile consistently maintained Indonesia's claim to all former territory of the Dutch, and when his demands were not met armed conflict ensued from 1962.
Under pressure from the United States to come to terms with Indonesia, the Dutch agreed to secret negotiations. In August 1962 an agreement was concluded in New York between the Netherlands and Indonesia, under which the Dutch were to leave West New Guinea and transfer sovereignty to UNTEA (the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority), for a period of six years until a national vote was to be conducted to determine Papuan preference for independence, or integration with Indonesia.
Almost immediately however, Indonesia took over the administration from UNTEA, and the oppression of the West Papuan people intensified. A sham referendum was held in 1969, and the UN sanctioned a vote by 1025 handpicked electors, coerced into unanimously choosing to "remain with Indonesia".
The UN Representative sent to observe the election process produced a report which outlined various and serious violations of the New York Agreement. In spite of the "duly noted" report and in spite also of testimonials from the press, the opposition of fifteen countries and the cries of help and justice from the Papuans themselves, West Irian was handed over to Indonesia in November 1969. The inhabitants of Papua New Guinea, across the border, achieved full independence in1975.
Once Indonesian took over responsibility for administration of the province , they brutally repressed any West Papuan not accepting the takeover. Uprisings began to take place against their brutal rule in various areas such as Biak Island and in the Central Mountains. The Indonesian military responded by exterminting entire villages. There is no exact figure on the number of West Papuans killed in the resistance, but it is believed to exceed 200,000.
Since the 1st December 2000, the anniversary of the first flying of the West Papuan Morning Star flag in 1962, the TNI has cracked down on the West Papuan People. Many have been killed and their leaders have been arrested. A subversion trial of five of the key leaders has been set for May 14th. They include Theys Eluay, Reverend Herman Awom, Don Flassy, John Mabor and Thaha Al Hamid.The five presidium members were arrested in Jayapura on subversion charges in the days surrounding last year's commemorations on December the 1st.Most recently large numbers of the TNI have been sent to West Papua exacerbating the already highly volatile situation. The Indonesian airforce has also been flying Hawk jet fighter aircraft (supplied by Britain ) low over villages in an effort to terrorise the population
The most recent build up is on the area bordering Papua New Guinea. It was reported in The jakarta Post of the 21st April that three new battalions coming from outside Irian Jaya have been deployed for an ongoing 'Security Border Operation'.
During this period (late 2000-2001) over 400 refugees (the majority of whom are women and children) have fled across the border into PNG, joining approximately 10,000 other West Papuan refugees, many having been there since the early 1980’s. Latest figures indicate that there are now up to 512 (recent) border crossers in the Vanimo area. The Papua New Guinea Council of Churches has made a strong plea to the PNG government to recognize the plight of these West Papuan border crossers. The call comes following a visit by Council of Churches General Secretary Sophia Gegeyo and the Social Concerns Desk Secretary Peter Saroya in April 2001 to Vanimo, where the West Papuans are living.
There has been consent human abuses in West Papua since the Forum meeting in Nauru last year. We have included one of the graver cases below. We have also included (in the appendex), the report from the Swiss journalists who was arrested after the events of the 1st of December 2000. His eyewitness account makes for horrific reading and vividly describes what can happen to West Papuans believed to have separatists tendencies.
Following an attack on the police station at Abepura (near Jaypura) on the 7 December 2000 by an unidentified group (in which two police officers and one security officer where killed), the police and anti-riot troops retaliated by raiding student hostels in the area, although there was no evidence that the students were involved in the attack on the police station. Hundreds of students were taken into police custody and were beaten and tortured. (See account by Swiss journalist below).The National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas Ham) who investigated the incidence, confirmed at a press conference in April that torture and other inhumane deeds had been committed by police and Brimbo personal against local West Papuans. An official said that two people were killed while 34 others suffered serious wounds while in police custody.
In an other disturbing event, two members of the Australian branch of the ICJ (international Commission of Jurists) were refused visas by the Indonesian authorities to enter West Papua. They had been invited by the local human rights organisation in Jatpura to observe separatist trials in Jaypura and Wamena. Justice Dowd of the ICJ said the refusal from Jakarta was the first time Australian ICJ observers had been formally rejected by Indonesia. Justice Dowd said the exclusion of international observers reduced the chances of a fair trial. “We know now that some of them are being seriously intimidated, some are being subjected to torture and assaults, he said. “There is no fair trial if that’s what is happening."