By Mark Abberton
Five hundred people participated in a four-day congress beginning February 23 in Sentani, in Indonesian-controlled West Papua, to discuss efforts to build a unified leadership for independence. About 1000 security personnel stood outside but did not intervene.
The congress endorsed a statement that rejected the rigged 1969 United Nations-recognised "Act of Free Choice" referendum which legalised Indonesia's 1963 annexation of West Papua. "Only 0.8% of the 80,000 eligible voters took part in the so-called popular consultation [in 1969]", the statement noted. Participants called on the UN to oversee an independence referendum similar to the UN-sponsored ballot in East Timor.
The congress also condemned the 1962 UN-Netherlands-Indonesia agreement to transfer control over West Papua from the Netherlands to a UN transitional administration and finally to Indonesia in May, 1963. This agreement was made without consultation with the West Papuan people.
Representatives of tribal groups, youth and students, women's groups and academics, and delegates living outside West Papua, were elected onto a Papuan Presidium Council. Its main task is to organise a larger congress, possibly in April.
A report in the March 4 Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad has supported claims that the 1969 "Act of Free Choice" was a farce. The article contained excerpts from secret instructions given by Sumarto, the Indonesian commander in Merauke, West Papua, to the regent of the area.
The instructions stated that participants in the deliberating popular meetings (which decided West Papua's relationship with Indonesia) must be selected according to their loyalty to Indonesia. Sumarto said that "one has to have the courage to use improper methods to remove" delegates who were not loyal.
NRC Handelsblad also quoted Sumarto describing the role of Ortiz Sanz, head of the UN observer mission for the 1969 referendum: "One has to use the criterion that he is an adviser and assistant of the Indonesian government and not a mediating institution. For this reason he has to keep to the rules of this place."
In recent weeks, West Papuans have continued to protest against past human rights violations, against Indonesia's current "far-reaching autonomy" proposals and against the exploitation of West Papuan resources, particularly its gold and copper reserves.
At least four people have been killed and another 13 injured during protest actions since February 28. One of those killed was Willem Manimwarba, who lead a 2000-strong protest on March 2 and was an eyewitness to shootings on February 28. He was reported to have been shot in a drive-by shooting by Brimob (the Indonesian police mobile brigade) and army troops.