New York Agreement
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The New York Agreement[1] was an agreement brokered by the United States in 1962 to transfer the colony of West New Guinea from the Netherlands to Indonesia.
From April 1961 the U.S. National Security Council[2] advised President Kennedy[3] that an agreement trading the colony to Indonesia was a preferred means to win favor with Indonesian President Sukarno. Subsequent to the inauguration of the New Guinea Council on 5 April 1961, Robert F. Kennedy negotiated the agreement between the United Nations, the Netherlands and Indonesia.
At the insistence of the Dutch government, the document also included a guarantee that the Papuan people would be allowed an ‘Act of Free Choice’. Indonesia in January 1962 pledged support for a Papuan plebiscite, contrary to articles 14 and 22 of the agreement from 1963 the Indonesian military sacked the territory of goods for sale in Jakarta, and contrary to articles 15 to 18 dismantle the Papuan education and government systems.[4] Altough Lieut. Gen. Basuki Rahmat announced in December 1966 that Indonesia did not intend to allow a plebiscite, President Gen. Suharto sold colonial mining rights to the Freeport corporation in 1967 and in 1968 decided that the ‘Act of Free Choice’ should be staged during 1969.
By 1968 refugees fleeing Indonesian maladministration from were flowing from western to eastern Papua, disappointed that even freedoms expressed in Article 22 Section 1 of the New York Agreement were not being honored. The legitimacy of the New York Agreement and 'Act of Free Choice' have not yet been reviewed by the U.S. government.[5]
References
- ^ Text of 1962 New York Agreement
- ^ U.S. Department of State summary. "US Foreign Relations, 1961-63, Vol XXIII, Southeast Asia".
- ^ Kennedy letter to Netherlands PM
- ^ U.S. telegrams reveal foreknowledge of Indonesian abuses in West New Guinea. Document Release Marks 35th Anniversary of Controversial Vote and Annexation
- ^ s:HR 2601 Section 1115 A bill proposal during 2005 by the US Congress to ask questions regarding the New York Agreement and resulting conditions in the territory.