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Free Papua Movement

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Free Papua Movement
Date1965-present
Location
West Papua
Result Ongoing
Belligerents
 Indonesia Free Papua Movement
Supported by:
 Australia
 New Zealand (allegedly)
 East Timor
 Philippines
 United States
 Netherlands
The flag of the Free Papua Movement, the Morning Star.

The Free Papua Movement (Indonesian: Organisasi Papua Merdeka, abbreviated OPM) is a separatist organization established in 1965 which seeks independence for Western New Guinea from Indonesia. The territory is currently administered by Indonesia as the provinces of Papua and Papua Barat. Since its inception the OPM has attempted diplomatic dialogue, conducted West Papuan flag raising ceremonies (illegal under Indonesian law), and undertaken militant actions.

While the organization, and in turn Papuan independence, is not supported by the significant immigrant Javanese population, it is supported by many indigenous Papuans who consider themselves to have no cultural or historical ties with Austronesian Indonesians. According to OPM supporters, Indonesian administration of West Papua is a military occupation.

"The Free Papua Movement (OPM) is not the all-pervasive revolutionary organization some believe it to be. ... anti-government dissidents have virtually no liaison with each other, receive no outside assistance or direction, and are generally incapable of mounting and insurrection in the face of the relatively large Indonesian military establishment in West Irian. Grievances and anti-GOI sentiment are quite real, however, and there is little question that a great majority of the non-Stone Age Irianese favor a termination of Indonesian rule. Opposition to the GOI stems from economic deprivation over the years, military repression and capriciousness, and maladministration. Limited efforts of the GOI to rectify these problems to date are generally "too little and too late," and it is uncertain whether the Indonesians will actually try to ameliorate the sources of local discontent in coming years. ... The Free Papua Movement (OPM) is widely believed to be the core of opposition to the Indonesian Government in West Irian. But it is difficult to track down the OPM as an organization, although not because its security is tight or people unwilling to talk. On the contrary, everyone talks about the OPM; it has few, if any, secrets, and many Irianese proudly proclaim they are "members" of the OPM. A foreigner travelling in West Irian has no difficulty in contacting anti-government activists. They stop you on the street and groups of them gather around when you visit a native village; in short, no one is reluctant to discuss the OPM and their reasons for disliking Indonesians. One American missionary explains this by saying that "the Papuans simply are unable to keep a secret." Of course, information known to foreigners is also available to the Indonesian authorities, the Army, and even to the most casual observer. ... Regarding the magnitude of the opposition to Indonesian rule, probably a decided majority of the Irianese people, and possibly 85 to 90 percent, are in sympathy with the Free Papua cause or at least intensely dislike Indonesians." - U.S. Ambassador Francis Joseph Galbraith (1913-1986) June 1969

History

Free Papua Movement graffiti in Sentani, Papua

During World War II Netherlands East Indies (to become Indonesia) fell under Japanese Occupation and subsequently gained its independence during the Indonesian National Revolution from 1945 to 1950. Netherlands New Guinea (Western New Guinea), on the other hand, was only partially occupied by Japanese forces (along the north coast) and was not part of the Dutch-Indonesian agreement on Indonesian independence in December 1949. Its pre-war colonial relationship with the Netherlands was continued including the development of independent civil services[1][who?] and the election of a national New Guinea Council in January 1961 which was inaugurated in April 1961. White House advisors McGeorge Bundy and Robert Komer from April 1961 lobbied US President John F. Kennedy to negotiate for Indonesia the trade of West New Guinea to Indonesian control[2]; the resulting New York Agreement was drafted by Robert Kennedy and signed by the Netherlands, Indonesia and United Nations in August 1962. Although the Netherlands had insisted the West New Guinea people be allowed Self-determination in accord with the United Nations charter and General Assembly Resolution 1514 which was to be called the "Act of Free Choice"; the New York Agreement instead provided a seven year delay and gave the United Nations no authority to supervise the act.[3] The legitimacy of this transfer was not recognized by the Papuan population, the majority of whom have continued civil disobedience by raising the West Papua Morning Star flag each year on the 1 December although this action is illegal under Indonesian law and may result in imprisonment of seven to twenty years if caught and handed over to the police for prosecution.[4]

In October 1968 Mr Nicolaas Jouwe, member of the New Guinea Council and of the National Committee elected by the Council in 1962, lobbied the United Nations claiming 30,000 Indonesian troops and thousands of Indonesian civil servants were repressing the Papuan population.[5] According to US Ambassador Galbraith the Indonesian Foreign Minister Adam Malik also believed the Indonesian military was the cause of problems in the territory and the number of troops should be reduced by at least one half. Ambassador Galbraith further described the OPM to "represent an amorphous mass of anti-Indonesia sentiment" with "possibly 85 to 90 percent [of Papuans], are in sympathy with the Free Papua cause or at least intensely dislike Indonesians".[6]

Brigadier General Sarwo Edhie oversaw the design and conduct of the "Act of Free Choice" which took place from 14 July to 2 August 1969. The United Nations representative Ambassador Oritiz Sanz arrived on 22 August 1968 and made repeated requests for to the Brigadier General for Indonesia to allow a one man one vote system (a process known as a referendum or plebiscite) but these requests were refused on terms that the New York Agreement did not specify that the general public be allowed to vote.[7] One thousand and twenty five Papuans were selected from and instructed on the required procedure for the act. The resulting vote was unanimous for integration, but by many Papuans and representatives of foreign governments, claim the result was rigged by the Indonesian Government.

In response, Oom Nicolas Jouwe and two OPM commanders, Seth Jafeth Roemkorem and Jacob Hendrik Prai, planned to announce Papuan Independence in 1971. On 1 July 1971 Roemkorem and Prai declared a Republic of West Papua, and drafted a constitution.

Conflicts over strategy between Roemkorem and Prai soon initiated a split of the OPM into two factions; the PEMKA lead by Prai, and TPN lead by Roemkorem. This greatly weakened OPM's ability as a centralized combat force. It remains widely used, however, invoked by both contemporary fighters and domestic and expatriate political activists.

In 1982 a OPM Revolutionary Council (OPMRC) was established, and under the chairmanship of Moses Werror the OPMRC has sought independence through an International Diplomacy campaign. OPMRC aims to obtain international recognition for West Papuan independence through international forums such as the United Nations, The Non-Aligned Movement of Nations, The South Pacific Forum, and The Association of South East Asian Nations.

In 1984 OPM staged an attack on Jayapura, the provincial capital and a city dominated by non-Melanesian Indonesians. The attack was quickly repelled by the Indonesian military, who followed it with broader counter-insurgency activity. This triggered an exodus of Papuan refugees, apparently supported by the OPM, into camps across the border in Papua New Guinea.

In the mid-1990s, the organization gained renewed prominence and greater support among indigenous Papuans. This was fueled in large part by anger over the actions of the gold mining corporation Freeport-McMoRan, which is accused of environmental damage and of supporting alleged human rights abuses by the Indonesian military. In separate incidents in January and August 1996, OPM captured European and Indonesian hostages; first from a research group and later from a logging camp. Two hostages from the former group were killed and the rest were released.

In July 1998 the OPM raised their independence flag at the Kota Biak water tower on the island of Biak. They stayed there for the following few days before the Indonesian Military broke the group up using force. Reports of a massacre have since surfaced.

Organization

The internal organisation of OPM is difficult to determine. As of 1996 OPM's 'Supreme Commander' is Mathias Wenda.[8] An OPM spokesperson in Sydney, John Otto Ondawame, says it has nine more or less independent commands.[8] Australian freelance journalist, Ben Bohane, says it has seven independent commands.[8] Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI), Indonesia's army, says the OPM has two main wings, the 'Victoria Headquarters' and 'Defenders of Truth'. The former is small, and was led by M L Prawar until he was shot dead in 1991. The latter is much larger and operates all over West Papua. [8]

The larger organisation, or 'Defender of the Truth' or Pembela Kebenaran (henceforth PEMKA), chaired by Mr. Jacob Prai, and Seth Roemkorem was the leader of Victoria Faction. During the killing of Prawar, Roemkorem was his commander.

Prior to this separation, TPN/OPM was one, under the leadership of Seth Roemkorem as the Commander of OPM, then the President of West Papua Provisional Government, while Jacob Prai as the Head of Senate. OPM reached its peak in organisation and management (in modern terms) as it as structurally well organised. During this time, Senegal Government recognised the presence of OPM and allowed OPM to open its Embassy in Dakhar, with Mr. Tanggahma as the Ambassador.

During this time, an undercover operation went on to split the OPM, and resulted in the separation as mentioned above.

Due to the rivalry, Roemkorem left his base and went to the Netherlands. During this time, Prai took over the leadership. John Otto Ondawame (a that time he left his law school in Jayapura because of being followed and threatened to be killed by the Indoneian ABRI day and night)became the right-hand man of Jacob Prai. It was Prai's initiative to establish OPM Regional Commanders. He appointed and ordered nine Regional Commanders. Most of them were members of his own troops at the PEMKA headquarter, Skotiau, Vanimo-West Papua border.

Of those regional Commanders, Mathias Wenda was the commander for region II (Jayapura - Wamena), Kwalik for Nemangkawi (Fakfak regency), Tadeus Yogi (For Paniai Regency), Bernardus Mawen for Maroke region and others. These commanders have been active ever since.

See also

References

  1. ^ Report on Netherlands New Guinea for the year 1961 http://wpik.org/Src/un_report_1961.html
  2. ^ U.S. Dept. of State Foreign Relations, 1961-63, Vol XXIII, Southeast Asia http://wpik.org/Src/950306_FRUS_XXIII_1961-63.html#Indonesia
  3. ^ Text of New York Agreement
  4. ^ [http://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/papua0207/ Protest and Punishment Political Prisoners in Papua], Report by Human Rights Watch
  5. ^ New York Times, Papuans at U.N. score Indonesia, Lobbyists asking nations to insure fair plebiscite
  6. ^ National Security Archive at George Washington University, Document 8
  7. ^ New York Times interview July 5 1969, interview May 10 1969
  8. ^ a b c d van Klinken, Gerry (1996). "OPM information". Inside Indonesia. 02.
  • Bell, Ian; Herb Feith; and Ron Hatley (1986). The West Papuan challenge to Indonesian authority in Irian Jaya: old problems, new possibilities. Asian Survey 26(5):539-556.
  • Bertrand, Jaques (1997). "Business as Usual" in Suharto's Indonesia. Asian Survey 37(6):441-452.
  • Evans, Julian (1996). Last stand of the stone age. The Guardian Weekend. August 24:p. T20.
  • Monbiot, George. Poisoned Arrows: An Investigative Journey to the Forbidden Territories of West Papua
  • van der Kroef, Justus M (1968). West New Guinea: the uncertain future. Asian Survey 8(8):691-707.
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