Editorial
Sydney Morning Herald
December 5, 2000

The shooting of at least nine independence supporters at the weekend in Indonesia's remote province of Irian Jaya appears to signal a new, more violent phase in a protracted conflict. The sight of well-armed soldiers facing crowds of indigenous tribesmen, people clad in penis gourds and clutching hand-made spears, will heighten concerns over human rights abuses by Indonesian soldiers. For Canberra, the deteriorating situation in Irian Jaya - known as West Papua - adds another troubling element to a difficult bilateral relationship. When three senior Indonesian ministers arrive in Canberra later this week for the Australian-Indonesian Ministerial Forum, Australian officials will be unable to ignore the new bloodshed, despite Australia's stated policy of publicly opposing independence movements in Indonesia.

It is not difficult to understand the anger and confusion of the people of Irian Jaya. The dozens of coastal and highland tribes have no ethnic, cultural or religious ties to the Javanese-dominated government in Jakarta. Despite its early hope for independence, the former Dutch colonial territory was handed over to Indonesia in 1963. Under former president Soeharto, this sparsely populated land was viewed not as a fragile ecosystem of unique highland forests and mangroves inhabited by isolated tribes, but as a source of new farming land and valuable natural resources. Hundreds of thousands of mainly Muslim settlers were relocated to the province. Local and foreign companies logged and mined the land, backed by Indonesian troops to quell opposition from local tribes.

Hopes for demilitarisation, autonomy and even independence soared with the fall of Soeharto in 1998, the vote for independence in East Timor in 1999 and then President Abdurrahman Wahid's erratic but conciliatory gestures in granting Papuans permission to fly the deeply symbolic "Morning Star" independence flag and hold several jubilant "freedom forums". With the recent arrival of 1,300 new troops and scores of deaths as Indonesian soldiers tore the "Morning Star" down, the military appears to be reasserting itself, leaving Mr Wahid's peace overtures in tatters.

It would be tempting to equate the situation in Irian Jaya now with that of East Timor before independence and to think that Australia should call on Jakarta to grant the West Papuans an "act of free choice". However, the independence struggle in Irian Jaya is different. Canberra has little influence over Jakarta. Relations between the two nations are at a very low point, with Indonesian resentment still high over Australia's role in East Timor. It is clear that the Wahid Government will never allow an "act of free choice" in Irian Jaya. The East Timor referendum which led to independence was approved by the transitional president, Dr B.J. Habibie, in the power vacuum which followed the fall of the Soeharto regime. No such window is likely to open for the West Papuan people in the near future. In the international arena, too, the Papuans do not enjoy the same kind of support

the East Timorese had. The occupation of East Timor by Indonesia was never recognised by the United Nations, but Irian Jaya's incorporation into Indonesia was, in 1969.

In South-East Asia there are fears that the "splitting off" of any more parts of Indonesia into unstable independent nations would jeopardise regional security. Singapore's pro-Government The Straits Times this weekend called the military crackdown a "helpful sign". And while the United States was strongly critical of Indonesia's occupation of East Timor, it has other interests to protect in Irian Jaya, notably the huge Freeport copper and gold mine.

Meanwhile, this conflict between Indonesian troops and the Papuans is likely to continue, with more deaths but no prospect of a decisive victor. Irian Jaya is twice as large as Victoria, with few roads, dense forests, uncharted mountains and remote coastal settlements. In such a country, neither conventional troops nor jungle-based guerillas can expect to dominate. The most Australia can do is call for restraint by the Indonesian armed forces and emphasise that the only way forward is to redress the economic and power imbalances in Irian Jaya. More violence will only further radicalise the independence movement and fuel this sad battle of spears and guns.