West Papua Report - October 2010

full report here

Summary:

An historic U.S. Congressional hearing regarding West Papua revealed ongoing human rights abuse and impunity for the Indonesian military and broad Papuan rejection of Jakarta's failed policy of "special autonomy." The hearing also cast light on a U.S. policy that appeared not to have evolved to address the deteriorating conditions in West Papua or an unreformed Indonesian military intent on resisting accountability and civilian control. Subcommittee Chair Faleomavaega's description of "slow motion genocide" set the tone of urgency that enveloped the hearing. A senior State Department's prediction that migration and demographic trends would soon make Papuans a minority in their own land underscored that tone of urgency. A Pentagon representative cited reforms scored a decade ago to justify recent expansion of U.S. military assistance to the Indonesian military. The hearing heard a Papuan call for a Jakarta-Papuan dialogue about Papua's political future and an end to U.S. support for an unreformed Indonesian military.

In other developments, Indonesian security forces killed two Papuans and wounded a third in Manokwari. The victims were a religious leader, his son and his wife. Non-judicial, administrative sanctions against those responsible were shockingly light. A prominent Papuan academic has welcomed the presidential decision to undertake an audit of "special autonomy" fund flow to West Papua, but lamented the reality that the funds have been unaudited over the past decade.