Again, the chairman of United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has made "an arrogant political manuever for his purposes interest". In the name of help to end the genocide in West Papua, Benny Wenda and his supporters will be collected 10,000 signers who wants the genocide in West Papua must be ended.
    
On their propaganda, collecting signers from each countries has important for West Papua independence. Furthermore, their propaganda has said the West Papua are crying for their freedom-please sign this petition to show your support.
 
Papua's independence supporters in their online petition has said "The world's longest running military occupation and genocide has killed more than 500,000 people, and is destroying the world's second largest rainforest and 50,000 years of civilisation. Why haven't more people heard of West Papua? Here's one reason: it's because the Indonesian government doesn't want you to know.

The country's authorities are working hard to cover up their brutal occupation of this Pacific island nation, just 250 Km North of Australia. Please sign this petition calling for an end to the genocide and a free and fair independence vote for the West Papuan people. In 2016 alone eight thousand people including many children were arrested just for taking part in independence demonstrations or for raising the West Papuan flag.

There are frequent reports of kidnapping and torture by the military and police. Journalists and community leaders are routinely detained and tortured simply for speaking out. One West Papuan mother said; "We gave birth and raised the children, only to see them being killed like animals. In the eyes of the Indonesians, we West Papuans are like animal."

The Indonesian government strictly controls media and NGO activity, allowing these stories to avoid international attention and continue one of the most brutal "silent genocides" of the 21st century. Please sign this petition calling for an end to the genocide and a free and fair independence vote for the West Papuan people. In 1969, the people of West Papua (situated on the same island as Papua New Guinea) were promised a independence referendum which was violated by Indonesia at gunpoint.  

Since then, Indonesia has been occupying the area illegally, killing the indigenous population and bringing in the largest mining companies in the world who are stealing & destroying the natural resources. The people of West Papua have one of the highest poverty rates in the world, and continue to be denied basic freedoms. There is a real fear that without intervention they will lose everything. Add your name to the petition NOW! Thanks to growing international support, the struggle of the West Papuan people is getting more and more attention and there is hope.

Now, they're calling for your help to gain the freedom they were promised over 50 years ago. Will you add your name and help us to bring this urgent situation to the United Nations? Your name will join with others around the world until August 2017, when this petition (with your name) will be swum 69 kms across Lake Geneva by the Swim for West Papua team, and handed straight to the UN.
Please join us and the people of West Papua on this journey by following the story of the Swim team and the petition as it goes around the world @BackTheSwim @FreeWestPapua. "Together we can put an end to this genocide once and for all. Thank you".

The Historical Record of the Papuan Problem

The Region of Papua that is now becoming the Province of West Papua (Manokwari) and the Province of Papua (Jayapura) were  founded through the democratic process as the result of the Act of the Free Choice of Papua in the year of 1969 based on the New York Agreement between The Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Kingdom in 1962. The Act of the Free Choice of Papua as the modification  of Referendum of Papua was held in 1969 to be based on the  principle of One Tribe One Vote held, supervised and controlled by The United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA). UNTEA was the Representative of the United Nations, consisting of a number of the UN Officials who were staying in Papua for several months preparing the Act of the Free Choice. The right to vote is represented by the leaders of the existing Tribes.

The result of the votes was indicating that the Papuan decided   their choice declaring that the Region of Papua to become a part of the territory of The Republic of Indonesia. This result approved and officially reported by UNTEA to the UN Headquarters in New York. The United Nations that was founded after The World  War Two had been respected and trusted as the World Organization that was founded based on Peace, Freedom, respecting Human Right, Justice, Coordination and Cooperation so that all the members of the UN should respect all the decision approved by the General Assembly of the UN. Officially the decision of the UN General Assembly to be based on the decision made by the UN Security Council.

Now - after almost 50 years time - a number of Papuan people demanded the United Nations to make a decision declaring Papua is one of the autonomous Territories in the World and to have the right to decide its status through the Referendum. The UN will definitely reject the demand, because the Region of Papua had been a part of the Indonesian territory, so that the Region of Papua was not an autonomous Territory, but it had been a part of the Independent State of  The Republic of Indonesia.

So why do a number of Papuan still talk about Referendum and Independence of the Region of Papua. Likely we should look back to the World history, namely  the ending of the Ideological Warfare as the impact of the end of the Cold War had been likely followed by the rises of the NGO beside the Political Parties in all of the countries in the world. The confrontation among groups in the world changed.

The confrontation among various NGO apparently marked the Proxy War among various interest of various groups in the world, replacing the Cold War between the United States Block Countries and the Soviet Union Block Countries.

The demand of a group of Papuan to the UN in order to declare the Region of Papua to be an autonomous Country so that the Indigenous people of the Region of Papua likely intend to create Papua as the independent country separated from the Republic of Indonesia.

But we should remember that the Republic of Indonesia has been doing and will keep doing as much as possible for the benefit of Papua people while Dutch who has colonized Papua almost 350 years to have done nothing to change Papua as the backward country to become advance country similar to the neighboring countries such as the Eastern part of Maluku, Papua New Guinea, Solomon and other advance countries in the South West of Pacific.

So it is clear the problem faced by the Region of Papua is not the problem that should be solved by Referendum, but the problem of Papua is to develop the region to become advance and modern region.

Why are there always many provocative narratives in Papua? Why are the Papuans always politicized for some momentary interests? Why must all problems in Papua be blown up to the media? And how can we create a peaceful journalism in Papua?

This article intends to comment another article that I see quite provocative and agitative entitled "Genosida sedang terjadi di Papua, Akses PBB dan Media Asing Dibatasi" published in http://www.tabloid-wani.com/2016/07/genosida-sedang-terjadi-di-papua-akses-pbb-dan-media-asing-dibatasi.html.

The main messages of that article are: first, have you ever heard about genocide in Papua of Indonesia? Many have not heard such news from Papua and a few know what exactly happens there - and this is what the Indonesian Government wants and such condition will be maintained to protect the secret (extermination efforts of the indigenous people of Papua).

Second, since the armed forces entered the territory of Papua and since then have operated for more than fifty years (50 years), the Indonesian government has cut the access of all media. Access for foreign journalists who want to report the situation in Papua has been limited. Those who have entered Papua with tourist visa have been deported, arrested and even imprisoned. Local reporters got worse luck, they have been threatened, intimidated, beaten, and forcedly disappeared or killed.

Third, the Indonesian government clearly does not want anyone to know what they are doing in Papua. More than 500,000 civilians have been killed in the genocide of the indigenous population. Thousands more have been raped, tortured, imprisoned or "disappeared mysteriously" after being arrested. Entire villages have been destroyed, an entire generations were wiped out. Basic human rights such as freedom of speech and expression are rejected and Papua is in a state of distress.

Fourth, the ban on foreign journalists and world humanitarian organizations is intended to cover the atrocities being committed against the indigenous population. International humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organizations have been pressured to close their office and leave Papua.

Fifth, access to UN human rights observers has been closed for eight years. Also, access for journalists, humanitarian agencies and human rights observers is often pressured. They must not raise all the issues the Indonesian government has managed to hide in all areas of Papua. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in 2014 in his campaign said that the Indonesian government did not hide anything in Papua and promised to facilitate access for foreign journalists, humanitarian agencies, and human rights organizations. But until now, President Jokowi has not fulfilled those promises.

According to an anonym observer of Papua issue who resides in Papua, the narratives are very provocative and discrediting the Government of Indonesia. The article allegedly intentionally created by a group of Papuan independence movement as a propaganda material to illustrate that Papua is in severe condition, but in reality Papua is quite safe and conducive.

Foreign Press

Anyone still remember? On August 6 of 2014, the news was dominated by the arrest of two foreign journalists from France due to visa misuse. Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat only had a tourist visa respectively, but they conducted journalistic activities in Wamena, Papua.

The local security forces suggested that both of them could pose a security instability in Papua, then they both were transferred to Jayapura (08/08/2014), Papua for further processing. The arrest raised the pros and cons from various circles. Aliansi Jurnalis Indonesia (AJI) and the Press Council demanded the release of the two French journalist as they had evidently no affiliation with separatist groups in Papua as alleged by the local security forces.

The demand to release the French journalist was certainly not easy to meet since this problem was not only concerning the press. This problem concerned the interests and the authority of the state to be able to control and monitor the activities of foreigners who were considered to destabilize the national security. Fears of the indications that there might be provocation within the people of Papua and the government should become an early detection for the local security forces. Therefore, the unity and integrity of the nation of Indonesia as a sovereign state will not be easily undermined by foreign interests.

The government in this case needs to prioritize legal process, so that the questions or rumors related to journalists from France whose identity and immigration documents were not clear could soon be clarified, including to the Embassy of France in Jakarta. Because I am sure that if there are journalists from Indonesia being caught in another country due to some violations, they must also be prosecuted by the country.

In addition, the trip of the two French journalists was also marred by "a couple of lies". In fact, the Indonesian government is quite open to foreign journalists to do reporting in Papua or West Papua, as long as they enter the region in a "respectable manner and do not lie" and not conduct any activity other than journalistic activity so that they will not be deported.

A number of organizations in Papua and West Papua seem to constantly play political maneuver to internationalize the Papua issue by exploiting human rights violations in West Papua and Papua as a central issue, although the Papuan activists are always unable to provide a strong evidence of human rights violations occurring in Papua.

In April 2014, there were rumors among the Papuan activists that they actually knew if the European Parliament put concern for the problems in Papua and West Papua, especially the case of human rights violations because Baroness Catherine Ashton (High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) has also been informed.

But strangely, one of the European Parliament member suggested that the typical rumors or babbles are often delivered by the members of European Parliament and Comprehensive and Partnership Cooperation Agreement (PCA) to Baroness Catherine Ashton, thus such things do not have any political impact. In fact, the European Parliament officially supports NKRI.

I believe that the existence of or access for foreign journalists, foreign organizations, even the United Nations will help to solve the problems in Papua, yet they might also exploit it as happened before that can be seen in the article entitled "Genosida sedang terjadi di Papua, Akses PBB dan Media Asing Dibatasi", published through http://www.tabloid-wani.com/2016/07/genosida-sedang-terjadi-di-papua-akses-pbb-dan-media-asing-dibatasi.html that was obviously not a product of journalism or academic writing, because it was full of lies.

However, the press in Papua and West Papua has a significant role to maintain peace and the course of development in Papua, including the integration of Papua into the Republic of Indonesia by promoting peace journalism, not journalism that full of lies, agitating and provocative.

The Special Development of Papua

Historically the world culture had developed and the difference concerning human life and the people interest, and conflict had embarked to dispute and confrontation. This situation likely could be solved only by the better life of the people. It is predicted the situation of Papua was also in fact resulted by the demand for the better life among the people include those young generation who have realize that the World now is modern life and culture.

As the conclusion, the present generation who are complaining  about their life demanding for the better conditions because the former generation never to think about those young generation that would be born and asking for the better life.

The members of ULMWP or NCWP/LNPB are definitely young generation  and they are demanding for autonomous status of the Region of Papua and ask the United Nations for Referendum of the Region of Papua. They want to modernize Papua, but they should know demanding autonomous status of Papuan Teritorty andf to hold the Referendum to become independent Papua are not definitely the way to reach the Papuan prosperity.
 
Do not they ask their own heart that some day the new generation after them will come and those new generation also raise their demand the same issue as they are doing now, if the Papuan situation and condition  is still the same such as it is now.
All young people the members of ULMWP, NCWP and other progressive NGO should think that now is the time to develop Papua so the new generation who will be born in Papua will not demand the old  generation to leave Papua, because the Region of Papua is only for them as the next generation of Papua.

Accordingly now it is the time to develop Papua and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia the independent country that Papua belong to, to be ready to support to develop Papua or more  The present generation of Papua should stop their adventurer everywhere bringing weapon in the jungle, in the mountain and in the hill as combatant or playing politics exploiting the word human right to attack their own Country and their own Government.

The Government of The Republic of Indonesia regularly changed and they have no interest on Papua because when their term finished  Papua will be still there never to move everywhere in the Pacific or other ocean.  The Government of the Republic of Indonesia is just wanting the present generation of Papua to develop their ability in order to develop their capability to develop Papua.

The Government of the Republic of Indonesia has not any interest on the development of Papua, but to modernize Papua so the next Papuan generation will not complaining to the present generation as did nothing, but demonstration, quarreling  and fighting with the security guards and then tried to go to the UN to convey their protest and complaining as if they were treated with cruelty and hard treatment by the Police of his country.

The main idea of this remarks is just based on the true and genuine heart feeling of all the Government apparatus of Indonesia, the Government genuinely expects all the young Papuan generation of now, members of the ULMWP or the NCWP to stop their opposition activities and asked  to develop Papua and The Government of Indonesia is ready to support the framework of  supporting the Papuan to develop Papua based on the Law on The Special Development Program of Papua.  

Now the present generation accuses the Government as commits to Human Right Violation, it is not true because the new generation of Papua utilized its freedom movement, to express the people right for moving, speaking and expressing their attitude with sharp, rude and radical attitude. Of course that kind of activities could  provoke also strong and hard response of the security apparatus  professionally to prevent strongly in order not to become riot and chaos.

Radicalism definitely is not a culture, but if it is sometime used by the security personnel as a mean to cope with the situation because the mass demonstration is too rude and hard.
The most important thing to be expected by the government is certainly quarreling and fighting between those young generation against the security apparatus will never happen again either on the street or in the security investigation and detection.

Must be clarified
    
An international public must know that the step of Papuan independence which will set up by ULMWP with Benny Wenda as their coordinator, actually its had been copied the process of East Timor independence from Indonesia. Every step related to East Timor independence has been copying by Papua separatist group right now such as they were built several organization such as ULMWP, Papua Students Alliance (AMP), West Papua National Committee (KNPB), Local Parliament Papua (PRD), West Papua People National Federation (FNRPB) etc. When East Timor was released from Indonesia, East Timor's separatist group had been built several organization such as East Timor News Network (ETAN), East Timor People Liberation Council, East Timor Armed Forces (Falintil) etc.
    
If we are comparing the process of East Timor independence from Indonesia and the step of Papua's separatist group who wants to separate from Indonesia, there is a common perception. For example Falintil as same as with Liberation Papua Organization (OPM); ULMWP as same as with ETAN or East Timor People Liberation Council etc.
    
Papua's separatist group had been prepared their lobbyist actor and spokesman actor's such as Benny Wenda. East Timor separatist had Ramos Horta and Marie Alkatirie as their lobbyist.
    
Papua's separatist group has been trying to make Papuan issues which take an international attention through several tactics and strategies such as online petition which is coordinating with Benny Wenda or ULMWP.
    
Getting an international attention, Papua's separatist group has been releasing "un-logical issue and hoax information" including genocide in Papua or other human rights violations.
    
The international people must be known that online petition which done by ULMWP is a tricky online petition. Beware and watch out, if you click their online petition such as you want to click "an illegal", but in the output you were finished "legal" and its mean you're supporting their online petition.

I think this is a fraud to an international communities and these actions should be punished because Papua's online petition which is designed with Papua's separatist supporters has been deceived an international opinion related to Papua's issue. I suggest an Interpol communities must be arrested Papua's separatist leader and supporters who had been delivered and provoked an international communities to join with their political actions.

*) The writer had earned his master title at the University of Indonesia (UI) and one of Cersia, Jakarta founder.

Pewarta: Toni Ervianto *)

Editor : M. Tohamaksun


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