FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: March 10, 2008
Washington, D.C. — HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS’
SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRMEN CALL UPON INDONESIA TO END
UNREASONABLE RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL ACCESS TO
WEST PAPUA
In a letter dated March 5, 2008 to Indonesia’s
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Congressman Eni
Faleomavaega, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs’
Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global
Environment, and Congressman Donald Payne, Chairman of
the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, joined
forces in calling upon Indonesia to end unreasonable
restrictions on international access to West Papua.
The complete text of their letter is included below:
Dear Mr. President:
In 2005, at your request, we suspended our support for
West Papua’s right to self-determination in order to
give you time to implement the Special Autonomy
legislation passed by the Indonesian Parliament in
2001. We welcomed the promise of this legislation and
your personal assurances that your government would
finally accord the Papuan people a fair share of the
great wealth derived from Papuan resources. However,
after three years, we note that the people of Papua,
through the voices of Papuan religious and civil
society leaders as well in broad public
demonstrations, have declared Special Autonomy a
failure.
We are also disappointed that your government has not
made substantial progress in implementing Special
Autonomy. While your administration has designated
Special Autonomy funds for Papuan development, these
funds have not reached the Papuan people who, after
over four decades, still lack even rudimentary health
and educational services. As you will agree,
effective distribution and utilization of these funds
require trained Papuan cadre and an infrastructure
with the capacity to disburse these funds efficiently
and honestly, and this means there is a critical need
to develop Papuan cadre and infrastructure. This need
can only be met by a concerted effort involving your
government and international agencies such as USAID.
This is why we have repeatedly asked that you work
with the U.S. Congress and the United Nations, to
develop a plan that assures effective implementation
of Special Autonomy. In no way do we believe that
throwing money at the people of Papua for the next 15
or 20 years relieves Jakarta of its responsibility to
educate the people of Papua and help them build the
capacity they need to effectively manage their
affairs.
In fact, to leave an uneducated populace without the
tools it needs to rebuild itself is to promote social
and cultural genocide, and this is not right,
especially if Indonesia is intent on the United States
supporting its territorial integrity. If Indonesia is
intent on the U.S. supporting its territorial
integrity, in turn, Indonesia must be intent on doing
right by the people of Papua. Doing right by Papua
means: a) implementing a plan of success; b) opening
your doors to allow Members of the U.S. Congress,
United Nations personnel, and non-government agencies
access to Jayapura and the rest of the province; and
c) demilitarizing your approach. Indonesia’s reliance
on force for the maintenance of control is
counterproductive, and long-standing abuses by
security forces have galvanized independence
sentiments among majority Papuans.
In this latter regard, the January 28 UN report by UN
Special Representative Hina Jilani documents
continuing intimidation and abuse of human rights
advocates by an Indonesian military that remains
largely unaccountable before Indonesian courts. Our
letter to you on December 13, 2007, which is enclosed
for your information, also specifically addressed the
Indonesian military’s use of undue force. Because you
never replied to the letter, we can only assume that
you did not receive it or that the concerns expressed
were of no interest to you at the time of your
receipt. However, given that Congress is now
contemplating increasing funding to train your
security forces, including KOPASSUS and BRIMOB, we are
hopeful that you will now address the concerns
expressed in that letter.
Also, we are enclosing photographs and a DVD which
show one Member’s experience with your military while
in Biak and Manokwari. Prior to Congress taking
further action to increase funding for your military,
we are sending copies of these photos and this DVD to
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, House and Senate
appropriators, Members of the Congressional Black
Caucus, and Members of the House and Senate Foreign
Affairs’ Committees. We are also enclosing our
December 13, 2007 letter because we believe it is
important for our Administration and colleagues to
know that your government denied a Member of the U.S.
Congress access to Jayapura.
While the photos and DVD do not fully capture your
military’s overuse of force during Congressman
Faleomavaega’ s visit, we believe that they clearly
show a pattern of your military’s misuse of force.
Although your military stated that this use of force
was for the Congressman’s protection, we believe you
will agree that no Member of Congress should need
hundreds of military personnel in full riot gear to
protect him or her in provinces you say are safe.
Ultimately, Papuans are no threat to Members of
Congress. Papuans are the same as you. They want to
be heard. They want to be educated. They want to
live freely and happily. They do not want to be
herded like animals, kept behind police barricades,
and silenced at gunpoint.
Therefore, we are hopeful that you will work with us
to make the situation for Papuans more tolerable. We
are also hopeful that given our goodwill and your past
assurances that you will grant us immediate access to
Jayapura.
Congressmen Faleomavaega and Payne concluded their
letter by stating, “Continued refusal by your military
to allow our access to Jayapura and other parts of
Indonesia will inevitably call into question the
seriousness of your government’s assurances to us
regarding your intent to implement Special Autonomy
and to end unreasonable restrictions on international
access to West Papua.”
