Reports of the Indonesian military using white phosphorous munitions on West Papuan civilians last month are only the latest horror in a decades-old jungle war forgotten by the world. But new geopolitical maneuvering may soon change the balance of power here, prompting regional concern about an intensifying battle for this rich remote province of Indonesia.

It is time for the United States and Australia to change policy, complementing Pacific island diplomacy, or risk a major strategic setback at the crossroads of Asia and the Pacific.

Once again, Papuan highlanders have fled their villages into the bush where they are starving and being hunted by Indonesian security forces.

Fighting between OPM (Free Papua Movement) guerrillas and the Indonesian military has increased in recent months, creating a fresh humanitarian crisis in a region cut off from the world: Indonesia prevents all foreign media and NGOs from operating here.

This makes West Papua perhaps the only territory besides North Korea that is so inaccessible to the international community.

For years West Papuans have claimed that Jakarta has been building up its forces, including local militias, ready to unleash just as they did in East Timor before its bloody birth in 1999. Different to East Timor however, is the presence of jihadi groups too, something the OPM has warned about for some time.

Alarming quote
Recent comments reported by Associated Press by Indonesia’s Security Minister General Wiranto, who oversaw the death and destruction during East Timor’s transition to independence in 1999, are alarming:

Earlier this week, security minister Wiranto, who uses one name, said there would be no compromise with an organization the government has labeled a criminal group.

“They are not a country, but a group of people who are heretical,” he said.”

Heretical?

This is significant – by using the word “heretical” rather than “treasonous” is Wiranto signalling a coming jihad against the West Papuans?

A low level insurgency waged by the OPM guerrillas has for decades sought independence for the mostly Christian, Melanesian population. Church groups and NGOs claim more than 300,000 Papuans have perished under Indonesian occupation since Indonesia formally annexed “Dutch New Guinea” via a UN referendum in 1969 known as the “Act of Free Choice”.

Farcical vote
It was the UN’s first decolonisation mission and it was a farce – the UN allowed a handpicked group of 1025 Papuans to vote from a population estimated at the time to be close to one million. Just in case they didn’t get the message, Indonesia’s Brig General Ali Murtopo flew in and warned:

“This is what will happen to anyone who votes against Indonesia. Their accursed tongues will be torn out. Their full mouths will be wrenched open. Upon them will fall the vengeance of the Indonesian people. I will myself shoot them on the spot.”

The UN’s own envoy overseeing the plebicite, Chakravarty Narasimihan, former UN Under secretary general in charge of the “Act of free Choice” said:

“It was just a whitewash. The mood at the United Nations was to get rid of this problem as quickly as possible. Nobody gave a thought to the fact that there were a million people there who had their fundamental human rights trampled. Suharto was a terrible dictator. How could anyone have seriously believed that all voters unanimously decided to join his regime? Unanimity like that is unknown in democracies.”

The fix was in and had US blessing; Washington arm-twisted Australia and Holland to back Indonesia’s annexation of West Papua, despite the position of both nations to have West Papua prepared for independence by 1970.

Australia would go on to deliver independence to the eastern half of New Guinea island, known as Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 1975.

For decades Australia’s first line of defence was considered to be the rugged 800 km border that separates PNG from Indonesia. Long before the recent rise of China, Australia’s chief strategic concern was Indonesia, especially during times of direct conflict such as the Konfrontasi period of the 1960s and more recently when Australia led an international intervention force that secured East Timor’s independence in 1999.

Pushing east
Since the 1960s Indonesia has been pushing east, with then President Sukarno taking “West Irian” (West Papua) by force while at the same time calling PNG “East Irian” and Australia “South Irian”.

It remains one of the great “what ifs” of Australian strategic history – if Australia and Holland had ignored US pressure and continued to support West Papuan independence, it would have prevented the long running civil war there and may well have stopped Indonesia’s subsequent invasion of East Timor in 1975.

Instead, Australia reluctantly agreed to the US “New York Agreement” of 1962 and found itself being dragged into the US war in Vietnam.

It fought the wrong war.

In the decades since, Australia has sought to manage its often turbulent relationship with Indonesia, recognising its size and importance within southeast Asia, by studiously ignoring the ongoing “slow-genocide” happening in West Papua.

Not only has Australia never provided material support for its rebels or refugees, it continues to arm and train Indonesia’s elite anti-terrorism unit Densus 88, which has been accused of “mission creep” in extending its operations to take out not just Islamic terrorists post 9/11, post Bali attacks, but Papuan nationalists too.

This has resulted in a lose-lose policy for Australia; after East Timor, no amount of Australian assurances of Indonesian sovereignty will ever convince Jakarta’s generals that Australia does not have designs on West Papua; at the same time Australia has lost much moral and strategic credibility among its Pacific island neighbours who all support West Papuan independence and question why their two big brothers in the Pacific – the US and Australia – continue to “throw the West Papuans to the wolves”.

But while they may have been able to ignore West Papua’s independence movement for decades, new geopolitical manouverings have emerged in the past year which signal a need to re-assess long running policy.

Social media explosion
The explosion of social media in recent years has taken this hidden war out of the shadows for good. Pacific diplomacy is isolating ANZUS policy and the West Papuan struggle will not remain a bow-and-arrow affair for much longer.

It is only a matter of time before China begins offering substantial material support and training – they are already in discussions with the West Papuan leadership. Nor are they the only player getting involved.

In December 2017, Russian Tu-95 nuclear bombers made sorties from bases on Biak island in West Papua probing the air space between Australia and Papua. It was the first time Russian nuclear bombers have operated in the South Pacific, prompting Australia to scramble fighter jets from RAAF Tindal for the first time in many years.

Jakarta has likely invited Russia to display a show of force as a warning to Australian and US forces stationed in Darwin – as well as China – lest they show any inclination to support West Papuan independence.

But can Jakarta trust Russia? Although there is considerable military co-operation between the two, Russia may have its own agenda in West Papua, recognising its resource wealth and strategic position due south of Vladivostok.

West Papuan leaders speak of Russia’s sense of having been betrayed by Indonesia in the 1960s. After Khrushchev met with Sukarno at their historic Bali summit in 1960, a time when Indonesia’s communist party the PKI was the third largest in the world, Moscow believed it had done a deal to become Indonesia’s partner in helping annex West Papua and thus gain access to the known mineral riches of West Papua, not to mention its strategic position as a gateway between Asia and the Pacific.

Instead, US President Kennedy was able to woo Sukarno (both were young, charismatic “ladies men” who hit it off together) sufficiently to broker a deal where the US would recognise Indonesian sovereignty over West Papua in an attempt to temper both Sukarno’s leftist leanings and the growing PKI.

Coup ‘re-orientation’
The deal signed in 1962 was called the New York Agreement and signalled America would not support Holland’s defence of an independent West Papua. By 1965 Kennedy was dead and Sukarno had been overthrown in a coup that led to a “re-orientation” of Indonesia.

Newly installed General Suharto purged Indonesia of communists and granted the first foreign mining licence to US company Freeport to establish a gold mine in the Puncak Jaya mountain range of West Papua, soon to become (and remain) the biggest gold mine in the world.

Russia was furious, but could do little then. China’s support for the PKI was also checked and Suharto’s 30 year dictatorship, backed by the US and allies, ensured both Russia and China lost their influence in Indonesia.

Today it is a different story.

While Russia influence in the Pacific is small but growing, Chinese influence has surged to become a major force in Pacific politics and security. Part of its engagement with Pacific island nations is to support those nations such as Vanuatu which back West Papuan independence in the face of Indonesian threats.

China’s relationship with Indonesia continues to deteriorate over issues such as rival claims in the South China Sea, nationwide demonstrations across Indonesia in support of persecuted Uighers in China, and concerns about the growing Islamification of Indonesia threatening the local Chinese (often Christian) communities.

Last year, the (Christian) Chinese Governor of Jakarta was hounded out of office by hardline Islamist groups accusing him of blasphemy.

Periodic pogroms
Indonesia’s Chinese community has long been subject to periodic pogroms (such as during the PKI crackdown in the 1960s and during the fall of Suharto in 1998) and as they watch the growing Islamification of Indonesia, they are all preparing Plan B exits, with Singapore, Malaysia and Australia top of their list.

In the past, Beijing could do little to protect the Chinese diaspora here, but today that has changed. West Papuan leaders suggest that China may have a plan to help liberate West Papua and thus provide a sanctuary for Indonesia’s persecuted Chinese community.

Were China to support West Papuan independence it would have the backing of the vast majority of Papuans and give China not just access to its huge mineral wealth, but also a strategic foothold in the south, south China Sea and a major gateway between the Indian and Pacific Ocean.

It would also win the kudos of many Pacific island nations who feel the US and Australia have not defended Pacific island interests all because of the avarice of one US company.

China is also taking note of the recent decision by neighbouring PNG to allow a major new military base on Manus island for US and Australian forces. Manus island, a naval base since WW2, would allow US and Australian naval and air force projection into the South China Sea and beyond, once again amplifying the strategic position of West Papua next door to thwart such allied projections if China got a foothold there.

China is also anticipating a Prabowo presidency in Indonesia this year, which they regard as a CIA asset, ironically backed by hardline Islamic groups, and who will be hostile to the Chinese community there. And not just hostile to China, but Australia and the Pacific too.

Australia has had a good run with amenable leaders such as SBY and Jokowi in recent years, but a Prabowo presidency would see a Duterte-like strongman likely to cause friction.

Reflexive stance
The answer in such circumstances is not to take a reflexive pro-Indonesia stance against Chinese moves, but to check both Indonesian and Chinese expansion by helping the Christian Melanesians of West Papua secure their freedom as part of the Pacific family.

Doing so is not just the right moral thing to do (correcting a previous injustice) but the right strategic thing to do: it prevents a Chinese foothold in the South Pacific, prevents Indonesian jihadis and territorial expansion east into the Pacific, secures an “air-sea gap” for Australia, properly secures a border between Muslim Asia and the Christian Pacific, and in so doing wins the admiration and loyalty of the rest of the Pacific island community precisely at a time when they are being aggressively courted by China.

This year Vanuatu, backed by dozens of countries in the ACP block (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) is expected to introduce a motion before the UN General Assembly calling for a proper referendum on independence for West Papua and its inclusion on the United Nations De-Colonisation list.

Unless this long-running struggle is resolved soon, West Papua may soon become a major battleground between Indonesian forces including jihadis and Papuan guerrillas backed by China.

US policy has long been guided by Freeport’s commercial interests (helped by such prominent board members as Henry Kissinger and ex-President Ford), but that now pales in comparison to the strategic calculus as China moves in.

Besides, Freeport is now losing its grip – in December it finally accepted a new deal with Jakarta losing its majority ownership of the mine and the Carstenz deposit. Freeport now has been reduced to 49 percent ownership.

Of course, China is playing both sides of the fence – guess who provided funds for Jakarta to increase its equity?

Right side of history
It is time for the US to get on the right side of history. It should go back to supporting Australia and Holland’s original policy – and the rest of the Pacific’s today – by supporting a process towards West Papuan independence to halt growing Islamic and Chinese influence in the Pacific.

As one West Papuan leader told me recently:

“We have suffered for decades. If the democratic west continues to ignore our struggle we have no choice but to look east for our liberation”.

Ben Bohane is a Vanuatu-based photojournalist covering the Pacific who has reported on West Papua for the past 25 years. He is the only foreigner to have been in the three most active Command areas of the OPM operating in West Papua. This article was first published in the Journal of Political Risk and is republished by Asia Pacific Report with the permission of the author.

• Papua leaders call on Indonesia to withdraw troops

Wiranto spoke during a forum titled “Violence Against Journalists on Duty” at Persada Executive Club in Jakarta last week, which also saw in attendance Air Force (TNI AU) spokesman Air Commodore Jemi Trisonjaya, head of the Indonesian Press Council Yosep Adi Prasetyo, head of Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) Margiono, as well as representatives of government institutions and media.

“There needs to be a balance between rights and duties. If they are consistently implemented, violence against journalists will not occur,” Wiranto claimed.

According to the 1999 Press Law, authorities are not allowed to prohibit a journalist from news coverage.

Reporters carrying out their duties are most often subject to violence by security officials who on the spot try to prevent the reporting.

Wiranto said journalists had the right to investigate and report. However, their duty was to support the nation.

He added that there was no intention from the authorities to exercise violence, but more discussions should take place regarding the issue.

Violence statistics worse
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) data shows that violence against journalists in 2016 was worse than in the previous year, making Indonesia rank 130th out of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index report — below Timor-Leste, Taiwan and India.

“Violence is not what we desire. There were 78 incidents in 2016 and 42 incidents in 2015. Most of the incidents occurred spontaneously, when the authorities felt threatened,” Wiranto said.

Violence, however, does not only come from the hands of the police.

Last Wednesday morning, a cameraman from a local TV station was punched while reporting a flood in Kemang, South Jakarta.

The perpetrator, known by initials K.G.U., and his two friends were opening the hood of their Morris Mini Cooper, which broke while trying to cross the water.

Unhappy with the camera pointing at them, the 25-year-old K.G.U. approached the reporter and attacked him. He was caught by police a few hours later.

West Papua press freedom and human rights violations have also been on the rise in recent months.

Condemning Attorney-General George Brandis for visiting Papua last week alongside “tour guide” former Indonesian general Wiranto, who was indicted by the United Nations for alleged crimes against humanity during Timor-Leste’s bloody 1999 vote for independence, the newspaper said:

“Attorney-General George Brandis went to the Indonesian province of Papua last week, boasting his trip was a first by an Australian minister. He may have intended to signal Australia’s willingness to help tackle what he called ‘social and economic challenges’ in the troubled province, but any symbolism intended was regrettably hijacked by his choice of travel companion.

“Senator Brandis was accompanied by Wiranto, the former Indonesian general indicted for alleged crimes against humanity committed during East Timor’s bloody 1999 vote for independence. The former general was recently appointed chief security minister by Joko Widodo, in the latest in a series of disappointing decisions by the Indonesian President.

“Mr Wiranto was commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces at a time the United Nations estimated a military-sponsored rampage cost the lives of 1400 East Timorese, yet has never faced the charges.

“It may be a pragmatic need that guides Australia to engage with Mr Wiranto, given his new position. Australia and Indonesia must co-operate against common threats of Islamist extremism and broader regional problems.

“But it sends a callous message to allow a man such as Mr Wiranto to play tour guide in what has long been seen as Indonesia’s restive frontier.

Flawed UN process
“The [two] provinces once known as West Papua have campaigned and fought for independence since a flawed UN process in the 1960s saw the territory incorporated into Indonesia. There have been military crackdowns and human rights abuses, and while some claims are difficult to verify, there is ample reason for concern.

“Australia has always insisted Indonesia has sovereignty over the territory, and Senator Brandis was at pains to emphasise this ‘longstanding and bipartisan policy’ during his trip. Despite such assurances, an almost paranoid suspicion has persisted among some circles in Jakarta’s elite, perversely blaming Australia for East Timor’s independence and believing Canberra wishes to see Papua go the same way.

“The government should not feel obliged to assuage Indonesia’s unwarranted fears by sweeping aside human rights concerns in Papua. If Senator Brandis felt it was appropriate to see conditions in the province firsthand, so be it. But inadvertently or not, by choosing to accompany Mr Wiranto on the trip, he also signalled Australia was willing to forget past sins – and that was the wrong message.

“It was during the Howard years that Australia granted refugee status to 42 Papuans who fled the province. Unfortunately, Australia has since hopelessly compromised its moral standing on human rights questions with the wrong-headed insistence on offshore processing and the practice of turning back asylum seeker boats.

“Australia finds itself regularly at odds with Indonesia in large part due to proximity, shown by controversy over espionage, cruelty in the live cattle trade, and recent executions. It became a regular cocktail party joke during the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to observe that unlike ties with Australia, Indonesia and Iceland had a perfect relationship because the two countries are so far apart they have nothing in common and nothing to argue about.

“The difficulty between Indonesia and Australia was underlined this week in the results of an opinion poll by the Australia-Indonesia Centre, based at Monash University. It found almost half of Australians held an unfavourable view of Indonesia, compared with overwhelmingly positive views of Australia by Indonesians.

“Perhaps more than anything, such results reflect mutual ignorance. Leaders can talk about closeness, but true warmth will only be felt when neighbours speak frankly.”

The Age editorial, 15 August 2016

The statement reminded the world of the human rights allegations against Wiranto over his attempts to block independence in the country after 14 years of illegal Indonesian rule.

“We have been monitoring a real life political phenomenon happening in Indonesia, namely the decision of President Jokowi to include former General Wiranto as the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs in his new cabinet,” said the ANTI statement.

“This decision has unsettled us a great deal.  We recall what happened in 1999, before, during, and after the referendum in Timor-Leste which resulted in more than 200,000 civilians suffering torture, rape, forceful removal, enforced disappearance and murder.

“These acts violate the fundamental human rights principles and values set out in international humanitarian law. For this reason, these acts are deemed crimes against humanity.”

ANTI said that for more than a decade, victims and the families of victims in Timor-Leste had consistently insisted on truth and justice for Timor-Leste from Indonesia and the international community, especially from the members of the UN Security Council.

“In 1999 Wiranto was the Supreme Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces who had the competence and power to ensure security and stability for the process during and after the Referendum as set out on May 5, 1999, in agreement from the Minister for Foreign Affairs from Indonesia, the Minister for Foreign Affairs from Portugal, and the United Nations Secretary-General.

‘Systematic violence’
“Former General Wiranto was the Supreme Commander of the Indonesian military and is a responsible member for the large scale and systematic violence, removal and persecution that resulted in 280 deaths and forced 200,000 people to flee to Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) in Indonesia, as well as the mass destruction inflicted on the personal possessions and assets of the Timorese people.

“In March 2003 the Serious Crimes Unit (SCU) issued an indictment against former general Wiranto and others.

“The aforementioned unit also requested for the Dili District Court to issue a warrant of his arrest. on March 19, 2004. The Deputy Prosecutor General for Serious Crimes issued a letter to support the issuance of a warrant of arrest against General Wiranto, with irrefutable evidence against him proving that General Wiranto committed human rights violations and crimes against humanity in Timor-Leste.

“Despite these gross charges, former general Wiranto lives as a free man holding positions of influence and power in Indonesia today.  He has never gone under any formal justice procedures where he could be prosecuted for his crimes and rather lives with an ambiguous status of ‘accused’, and trusted within the Widodo administration.

ANTI’s demands
“Based on these facts, the Timor-Leste National Alliance for an International Tribunal (ANTI) demands the following:

1. For the international community to influence the Jokowi Government to take seriously the  prevention of nominating criminals within the government structure in order to further strengthen the process of democracy and to uphold human rights in Indonesia and elsewhere around the world;

2. For the UN Security Council to consistently uphold its decision to combat impunity, based on the indictment issued by the Special Panel for Serious Crimes in 2003. We ask that an effective mechanism be sought to ensure that criminals are held accountable in a credible fashion, in particular the former General Wiranto;

3. Indonesia and Timor-Leste need to strengthen and foster democracy to break the chain of impunity and establish societies that respect human rights values and strengthen the democratic rule of law. Therefore, we urge and stand by Indonesia to immediately remove Wiranto from the Joko Widodo Government structure.

4. We Call on the international community members state has a moral responsibility to arrest the accuse former General Wiranto.

The statement was signed by the following non-government and human rights groups – all members of ANTI: JSMP, HAK, La’o Hamutuk, ACbit, Asosiasaun Vitima, KSI, Front Mahasiswa Timor-Leste, MDI, Sek. Fongtil, Fokupers, AJAR-TL and Verupupuk.

Wiranto replaces General (Ret.) Luhut Pandjaitan.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, told the media that Wiranto was appointed “because he had been well-tested and was experienced in resolving various assignments, especially during the transition period from the New Order to the Reform era in the late 1990s”.

The cabinet secretary neglected to mention that Wiranto’s experience includes a “long and dark record of human rights violations” for which he has never been held accountable, said the three rights groups in a joint statement.

The statement contunued:

“President Jokowi must annul his appointment of Wiranto and instead bring him to justice,” said Basilisa Dengen from Watch Indonesia!

“John M. Miller for the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) called the Wiranto appointment ‘an outrage’. He added that ‘Jokowi has clearly abandoned all pretence to concern about accountability and justice for past human rights crimes’.

Timor-Leste indictment
“Wiranto is the most senior Indonesian official indicted in 2003 by the United Nations’ Serious Crimes Unit, which was a section of the Office of the General Prosecutor of Timor-Leste (East Timor).

“The appointment of Wiranto as a coordinating minister confirms that Jokowi does not consider human rights as a priority of his government. This is not the first time Jokowi [has] appointed military generals with poor human rights records to his administration. Victims and human rights organisations have been waiting for Jokowi to fulfill his election promises to resolve a number of past and present human rights violations.

“‘By installing a human rights violator to a key security position, President Jokowi has insulted our sense for justice. He has turned his back to the victims, survivors and their families, and universal respect to human rights,’ said Adriana Sri Adhiati of TAPOL.”

“TAPOL, ETAN, and Watch Indonesia! urge President Joko Widowo to prove his commitment to uphold human rights and resolve past human rights abuses. It is long overdue for the Indonesian government to reveal the truth and provide justice and reparations to the victims of human rights violations.

“The groups also urge the Indonesian government to work with the Timor-Leste government to promote accountability for human rights violations in Indonesia and East Timor, particularly by implementing the recommendations of CAVR ( Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation) and CTF (Commission for Truth and Friendship).

“The groups also called for President Joko Widodo to apply a strict vetting policy before the appointment of his ministers in order to realise a respectable and competent government.”

Background
East Timor was a former colony of Portugal that Indonesia illegally invaded and occupied in 1975. The UN conducted a referendum on the question of independence in 1999.

After the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly to reject Indonesian rule, Indonesian security forces and militia under Wiranto’s command destroyed most of the territory’s infrastructure, killed more than 1000 independence supporters and forcibly deported more than 250,000 people to West Timor.

The indictment alleges that under international law, General Wiranto, at the time Minister of Defence and chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces, was responsible for crimes against humanity for failing to punish or prevent crimes, including murder and persecution, committed by his subordinates or those acting under his effective control in the period before and after the 1999 popular consultation in East Timor.

The indictment is outstanding but no trial has been held.

The indictment was accompanied by an application for a warrant of arrest, meaning that Wiranto and other indicted military officers face the possibility of arrest and extradition to Timor-Leste should they travel outside of Indonesia.

In 2002, the government of Indonesia set up an Ad-Hoc Human Rights Court for East Timor to hear cases of human rights abuses committed in 1999 in East Timor. However, Wiranto was excluded from list of suspects.

Wiranto was also the commander in-charge when the shootings of Trisakti University students in Semanggi took place, shortly followed by the violent riots of May 1998, which are believed to be the work of of the military. Many student activists are still missing.

The National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) conducted a pro justicia investigation that concluded that the army commander was responsible for these crimes against humanity. Wiranto refused to participate in the investigation.

Despite his indictment, Wiranto – who once said that the atrocities in 1999 resulted from internal conflict in East Timor with no involvement from the Indonesian military – plays a prominent role in Indonesian politics.

He ran for president in 2004 and 2009 and served the chair of the Hanura Party (People’s Conscience Party), which won 5.26 percent of the national vote in the last election and joined with other parties supporting Jokowi’s run for the presidency.

East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) (www.etan.org)
Tapol (www.tapol.org)
Watch Indonesia! ( www.watchindonesia.org)