West Papua Issue Gets Hijacked

Published in the Fiji Times 22 January, 2014

A collective sigh of disappointment went out last week as news came out that the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) delegation on a fact-finding mission to Tanah (West) Papua was in fact going to spend only one day in the province and go no further than meeting the Indonesian government, which claims sovereignty over the territory it calls “Irian Jaya”, a mainly Melanesian and Christian part of Indonesia comprising the western half of the island of New Guinea.

According to The Guardian newspaper, West Papuan activists claim that the Indonesian military and police blocked them from meeting with the delegation when it arrived in the Tanah Papuan capital of Jayapura. Dozens of people were arrested and an elderly woman manhandled by police when West Papuans gathered in the streets to protest against their exclusion from the meeting.

At last June’s MSG leader’s summit in Noumea, it was agreed that “the MSG fully supports the inalienable rights of the people of West Papua towards self-determination as provided for under the preamble of the MSG constitution,” and that “the concerns of the MSG regarding the human rights violations and other forms of atrocities relating to the West Papuan people be raised with the Government of Indonesia bilaterally and as a Group.” The leaders had also called for a Ministerial Mission at the foreign minister  level to be led by Fiji’s Foreign Minister to Jakarta and then to West Papua in 2013.

However, even before the delegation including foreign ministers of Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands arrived in Jakarta, the visit had become controversial with Vanuatu withdrawing from the visit. In an interview with Radio Australia, Vanuatu foreign minister, Edward Natapei claimed that the visit was hijacked by the Indonesian government.

"Just one day before we were to depart Vanuatu to travel to Indonesia, we got the program of the visit, which neglected, it did not involve a meeting with civil society, it did not involve a meeting with the West Papuan people, the leadership in West Papua," he said.

"We realised that in fact it was being hijacked by the government of Indonesia to work on another issue, which was to promote economic ties and development cooperation with the government of Indonesia."

According to Mr. Natapei,  as part of the mission was t o assess what support there was from indigenous groups there for the Vanuatu-based West Papua National Coalition for Liberation to be given MSG membership, it was made clear to the MSG leaders and the Indonesian government that Vanuatu would only participate if the delegation was given the opportunity to meet civil society groups, pro-independence groups, church leaders and other groups concerned with alleged human rights violations in West Papua.

Howver, a meeting with the Indonesian president in Jakarta on, the foreign ministers of Fiji, PNG and the Solomon Islands signed a pledge of “non-interference” in Indonesia’s “internal affairs”. The joint statement committed the parties to supporting each other’s “sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity”, and pledged greater trade and development co-operation between Indonesia and the MSG countries.

One of the early objectives behind the establishment of the Melanesian Spearhead Group in 198  was to help the Melanesian people of New Caledonia, the Kanaks - get their independence from France. While this is still an ongoing process, the French government allowed the Kanak Independence Movement - the FLNKS - to take up full membership of the Melanesian group. However, it seems to be a different attitude in the case of Tanah Papua’s request to join.

Speaking to the Solomon Star, Pastor Alan Nafuki, the chairperson of the Vanuatu Free West Papua Association said that he believes Indonesia is trying to divide members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group and weaken their stance on West Papua.Pastor Nafuki said that other MSG countries should have followed Vanuatu's lead and stayed home. 

“We want to see Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands to really talk with Vanuatu and New Caledonia, and at least appreciate what we Melanesians see for the betterment for our future, we do not depend on Indonesia, it's a powerful country, we should not affiliate with Indonesia.” 

Prior to the visit, columnist Graham Davis describedthe mission as walking “a tightrope between the intense sensitivity of their Indonesian hosts and the equally intense expectations of their Melanesian brothers and sisters in West Papua.”

The issue of respecting the sovereignty of a nation that is accused of systematic human rights abuse against a group of people seeking self-determination is not an easy one to address, especially for a country whose government has sought to have its own sovereignty respected on the issue of return to democracy. Yet being respectful of another nation’s sovereignty does not mean ignoring the plight of the marginalized and victimized.  Concern about human rights abuse, indigenous rights abuse and socio-economic rights abuse can be raised, must be raised. Respectfully of course. After all these rights are enshrined in Fiji’s new constitution, even if they are limited in some aspects.

As human beings first, and also as Pacific islanders, we are called to be in solidarity with those who experience injustice and legitimated oppression. As a soon to be “true democracy” perhaps we will be able to challenge our soon to be elected leaders to ensure that as a nation we are not only sovereign and democratic, but also compassionate and just towards our neighbours.

“Simplicity, Serenity, Spontaneity”

For more on this issue by the author read: http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=232665 and  http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=236144