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| Socrates Sofyan Yoman |
Earlier this year I had a meeting with a friend who is a
foreign journalist in Jakarta. During our conversation which lasted
almost an hour, I asked him. ‘When are you planning to visit Papua to
get information directly from there?’ My friend said: ‘We are not
permitted by the Indonesian government to visit Papua. I have made
several requests to visit Papua but the government has turned down all
my requests.’ So I asked him: ‘Why are they not allowing you to visit
Papua’ to which he replied: ‘The Indonesian government always says that
it is not possible to guarantee the safety of foreign journalists in
Papua. The OPM could kidnap or kill them.’
On hearing this, I burst out laughing which surprised my
friend who asked me why I was laughing. I said because what government
says is very strange; there is no justification for them to say such a
thing.
This was not the first time I had heard this from
journalists. Every foreign journalist has told me the same thing. My
response has always been: ‘Isn’t it because they have something to hide.
What is the Indonesian government doing to the Papuan people?’
If foreign journalists are not allowed to visit Papua,
it must surely mean that the government has something to hide. If the
Indonesian government has been helping the Papuan people to make
progress in the past fifty years, then surely foreign journalists would
be allowed to go there so as to be able to report on progress there with
regard to education, health, the economy, culture and all aspects of
life and make this information available to the international community.
One thing is certain. Papuans are not kidnappers, they
are not murderers. Papuans want peace and have always respected other
human beings throughout the ages. Long before the Indonesian government
occupied and colonised Papua as a result of the New York Agreement on 15
August 1962, when administration of the territory was handed over by
the United Nations to Indonesia on 1 May 1963 and the fraudulent Act of
Free Choice took place in 1969. Ever since 5 February 1855, foreigners,
white people from Europe have been coming to Papua as missionaries or
evangelists. I would also mention Gotlob Geisler and Carl William Ottow
and other foreigners who have visited Papua since 1855, that is to say
107 years before the Indonesian government annexed Papua in 1962. These
foreigners stayed there with the indigenous Papuan people.
Johann Gotlob and Carl William Ottow arrived in Papua on
Sunday, 5 February 1855. They landed in the Gulf of Doreh Mansiman,
Manokwari. The moment they set foot here, they declared: ‘In the name of
our lord, Jesus Christ, we set foot in this land!’ These two men
brought us the Bible of Jesus Christ.
5 February 1855 is an historic day, a day full of
holiness, bringing good news. It was the Bible, the holy word, which
freed people from their sins and freed them from oppression and
colonialism. The Bible respects the basic rights of mankind, recognises
the dignity of the person. No more crying, no more bloodshed, an end to
discrimination and exploitation of ordinary men and women because they
have been freed from repression. The Bible of Jesus Christ is the holy
book which belongs to all humanity, to the people of all ethnicities, to
all nations.
When the two German missionaries arrived in the Land of
Papua, they met the people, befriended them, stayed there, respected the
people and recognised their right to life, their dignity and treated
the people of Papua as equals. They never did anything to harm the
Papuan people, either physically or mentally. Gotlob and Geissler were
true, loyal friends of the Papuan people, in good times and bad times.
There were no differences, no barriers. They brought love, justice and
equality which flowed from the Cross which they brought.
The Indonesian government’s decision to refuse to allow
foreign journalists to visit Papua is in sharp contrast with the mission
of the Church and the heartfelt beliefs of the Papuan people. This
refusal is an integral part of the government’s policy. It is a
reflection of ‘Generative Politics’ about which Mr Nugroho wrote in The Jakarta Post
on 10 June 2012. According to Mr Nugroho, Generative Politics is a
political stance which has paralyzed, damaged and made the conditions of
the Papuan people much worse. This has been the political approach of
the Indonesian government for the last fifty years. The Indonesian
government has refused to allow foreign journalists to visit Papua
because they have to hide these ghastly facts, the widespread poverty in
Papua and the many years of brutality to which the Papuan people have
been subjected.
A lengthy struggle will be needed to change government
policy which has been implemented for the last five decades. Almost 330
years ago, in 1780, William Wilberforce, a member of the English
parliament, waged a 20-year struggle to end slavery. As an old man, he
said: ‘I realise that changing public opinion is not as easy as clapping
your hands; it takes decades to achieve things. You also need patience
and total commitment to achieve lasting justice, reform and final
victory.
In his struggle for justice, Wilberforce also expressed
the following beautiful ideas: (1) Christianity is the key to justice
and well-being for a people. (2) The only people who can be trusted to
struggle for peace and the nation’s well-being are those who have
expressed remorse for their sins. (3) The only hope for a nation is its
Christianity. I will accept no ideology that conflicts with the
teachings of Christ. (4) If a nation only thinks about physical and
cerebral things, they will lose their spirituality. (5) Every tyrannical
action that is perpetrated in order to reinforce stability can only
lead to the perpetuation of repression. (6) The commandments I have
received from God have convinced me that the search for justice must be
based on fear of the Almighty which does lead to anarchy and that
history has shown that He is right. (7) I should at all times remember
that it is my responsibility until my dying day not just to meditate but
also to act. (8) The thing that has inspired me is an understanding of
the existence of humanity. This is based on the opening words in the
Book of Genesis which states that mankind was created in the image of
the Almighty [Genesis 1:26-28].
It may very well be that the government’s decision to
refuse to allow foreign journalists to visit Papua is because of recent
incidents such as the hostage-taking incident in Mapenduma in 1996, the
taking of a Belgian as a hostage in June 2001 and his release in August
of that year, or the occasion when shots were fired at a German, Pieper
Dietmar Helmut at Base G Coast on 29 May 2012 which was alleged to have
been committed by an ‘an unidentified person’ (OTK). And there are a
number of questions that need to be asked about the acts of violence and
crimes against humanity which have occurred during the 50 years of
Indonesia’s occupation of Papua. (1) Were these actions perpetrated by a
Papuan? (2) And if so, who masterminded these incidents? And who
benefitted from these acts of violence?
During a conversation I had in August 2013 with General
Maruf, Deputy Head of BIN, the State Intelligence Agency, I said: ‘Mr
Maruf, there are many groups in Papua which have been organised by the
OPM. Does anyone believe that there are sewing-machines in Papua to make
Morning Star Flags? Is there a shop in the forest where it is possible
to buy cloth to make Morning Star Flags? How is it possible for the OPM
to get hold of so many weapons and so much ammunition? Every airport and
entry point into Papua, by land, air or sea, is tightly guarded and
every single thing that enters Papua is carefully examined by Indonesian
security officials.’ In response, Mr Maruf said: ‘Only now do I realise
there are groups in Papua which have been organised by the OPM.’
It should now be crystal clear to the reader that the
kidnappings and shootings that have occurred in Papua were not committed
by the genuine OPM but by a specially controlled OPM. Some readers may
have read my book: Annihilation of Ethic Melanesians: Breaking the
Silence about the History of Violence in West Papua (Permusnahan Etnis
Melanesia: Memecah Kebisuan Sejarah Kekerasan di Papua Barat) 2007, which
has been banned by the Indonesian government, by virtue of a decision
of the Attorney-General. On pages 225-256, I wrote briefly about the
genuine OPM and an OPM which was created by the Indonesia military and
police. The violence and crimes against humanity have been used to
stigmatise Papuans as separatists and are alleged to be acts of treason
perpetrated by the OPM in order to create a myth portraying Papua as a
region of conflict and is inaccessible to foreigners. Papua is being
used as a training ground for the armed forces to get promoted, to make
lots of money, a place where more and more troops are sent to combat
separatism. Ottow and Geissler never did anything to stigmatise Papuans
as separatists, treacherous rebels, as OPM, primitive, ignorant,
backward people, cannibals, stupid and under-developed.
An intelligence expert, AC Manulang, former Director of BAKIN. Badan Inteligen Negara Indonesia, the
Indonesian State Intelligence Agency, recently acknowledged ‘It is not
unlikely and may often have happened that disruptive activities in
various places have been masterminded from Jakarta. It is highly likely
that these disturbances have been designed in Jakarta for a number of
reasons. It is not logical to believe that local police chiefs would not
seek the help of influential local leaders to prevent local communities
from becoming uncontrollable. Action has been taken to deal with SARA
[an Indonesian acronym for Social, Religious and Ethnic Disputes], in
places like Maluku or other regions in eastern Indonesia. There have
also been disturbances in western parts of the country. According to
information I have received, there have been disturbances in Ambon,
Lampung, Poso as well as in Papua. These disturbances should be regarded
as serving the interest of the elite in Jakarta.’ [Indopos, Sunday 4 November 2012.]
There are other questions that need to be raised: (1)
Why is it that the OPM has never kidnapped foreign missionaries who have
been living for years in the interior of Papua, in places that are
remote from the cities? (2) Why has the OPM never kidnapped any of the
many foreign tourists who visit Papua on their own or in groups? (3) Why
is it that the OPM has never kidnapped transmigrants who now live in
places close to the forests and far from the cities, in places like
Sorong, Manokwari, Nabire, Merauke or Keerom-Arso?
It is deeply distressing that State violence continues
to occur in our sacred Motherland. This means that the Indonesian
government and the security forces have failed to turn the indigenous
Papuan people into Indonesians. Papuans have already expressed their
dismay about all this on a number of occasions: (a) the Eleven
Recommendations of the Papuan People’s Assembly on 9-10 June 2010. (b)
The Joint Statement of Church Leaders issued on 10 January 2011. (c) The
Theological Declaration of Church Leaders on 26 January 2011. (d) The
Prophetic Message of Papuan Church Leaders to the President of the
Republic of Indonesia adopted in Cikeas, Jakarta on 16 December 2011.
The same concerns were acknowledged by a number of
member states of the United Nations: The USA, United Kingdom,
Switzerland, Canada, Norway, South Korea, Japan, France, Germany,
Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Spain and Italy at a session of the UN
Human Rights Council (UPR) on 23 May 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Bearing these facts in mind, it is the now widely
believed that the Indonesian government and the Indonesian security
forces are themselves part of all this violence and that this situation
has been created and kept alive so as to legitimise continued acts of
violence in the Land of Papua and to utilise these conditions as an
excuse to reinforce the security forces. The reason why foreign
journalists are refused access to Papua is clear for all to see. It
means that they can know nothing about and cannot expose the terrible
truth regarding the State violence being committed against humanity, the
impoverishment and annihilation of the Papuan people that has been
going on for the last fifty years.
————————
The writer of this comment is the General Chairman of
the Alliance of Baptist Churches. He is also the author of the following
books:
Pemusnahan Etnis Melanesia: Memecah Kebisuan Kekerasan di Tanah Papua Barat. (See above)
Suara Bagi Kaum Tak Bersuara. A Voice for the Voiceless.
Integrasi Belum Selesai. Integration is Not Yet Complete.
West Papua, Persoalan Internasional. West Papua is an International Problem
Otonomi Khusus Papua Telah Gagal. Special Autonomy for Papua Has Failed
Saya Bukan Bangsa Budak, I Am Not from a Nation of Slaves
Apakah Indonesia Menduduki dan Menjajah Bangsa Papua? Does Indonesia Occupy and Colonise the Papua People?
Translated by Tapol
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