Papua Under the State of Exception

ANTROPOLOGI INDONESIA VOL. 41 NO. 1 2020 Papua under the State of Exception Budi Hernawan Driyarkara School of Philosophy, Jakarta Email: [email protected] Abstract The paper argues that in post-Suharto Indonesia, Papua remained under Carl Schmitt's state of exception in which law was suspended to allow executive power of the state to reign with little restrictions. The structure of domination has become much more complex as it no longer consisted of dichotomy of the state authority and Papuan resistance movements. Rather, it colluded with the power of market, the monopoly of the powerful over natural resources, as well as the penetration of Wahhabism that undermined the existing cultural and social cohesion of the Papuans. The domination of the executive power of the state remained pervasive in the form of re-militarization of Papua. The power of the market has placed Papua and Papuans under control of the economy elite who ruled the game especially when it came to land acquisition and extraction of natural resources. The politico-economy structure of domination has been exacerbated with the new phenomenon of Wahhabism that has undermined the cultural and social cohesion of the indigenous and non-indigenous Papuans. All these elements only affirmed that the state of exception ruled Papua as a frontier. Keywords: domination, extractive industry, frontier, Papua, state of exception, Wahhabism Introduction shooting of the Papuan Church workers in the Intan Jaya Regency have exacerbated Do we have good news from Papua? We the situation (The Humanitarian Team for can answer immediately. Since the Intan Jaya 2020). Government of Indonesia granted the status Meanwhile, in the swamp area of of special autonomy to Papua almost two Asmat, the indigenous population decades ago in 2001, the provinces continue continued to face low health status. The experiencing protracted conflict that has measles outbreak and stunting, which affected thousands of civilians, especially featured prominently in the media in 2018 in the Central Highlands such as Nduga (Koten, Gobay, and SKPKC 2019: 1-17), (Koten, Gobay, and SKPKC 2019: 33-64), shocked the Indonesian public conscience Puncak, Puncak Jaya, and Intan Jaya of the fragility of the lives of the young Regency. Thousands of civilians left their Papuan generation. home for safety as they have been caught in While the nation celebrated the armed conflict between the Indonesian Independence Day on 17 August 2019, joint Armed Forces (Tentara Nasional forces of the Indonesian military and mass Indonesia/TNI) and the West Papuan organizations (ormas) attacked Papuan National Liberation Army (Tentara students in Surabaya, calling them Pembebasan Nasional Papua ‘monkey’ and ‘dog.’ This racist attack Barat/TPNPB). The recent incident of prompted Papuans and their supporters 50 ANTROPOLOGI INDONESIA VOL. 41 NO. 1 2020 took to the street in all major cities across approach is not entirely inadequate, the Papua. Papuan solidarity movements structure of domination that sustains the simultaneously organized demonstrations Papuan frontier goes beyond state power. It in various cities in Indonesia, PNG, Timor also derived from the intrusion of extractive Leste, and Australia (van den Broek 2020, industry that operated with but also beyond Hernawan 2020b). the power of the state. Similarly, the The glimpse of reality illustrated structure domination was more and more how Papua and Papuans have experienced entrenched with the penetration of ultra- a situation that is far from normal. Rather, conservative stream of Islam. Just like the it would match what Cameroonian state power, these two major factors treated philosopher Achilles Mbembe calls Papua as the frontier because they believed ‘frontier’ (2003). This term refers to zones that Papua was under the state of disorder. characterized by war and disorder: “the Therefore, together three-dominating colonies are the location par excellence power seized the momentum to control where the controls and guarantees of Papua. judicial order can be suspended—the zone In analyzing the structure of where the violence of the state of exception domination, I would begin with a is deemed to operate in the service of discussion of Carl Schmitt’s concept of the ‘civilization’” (Mbembe 2003: 24). The state of exception as the analytical term frontier is effective to characterize the framework of this paper before moving into dynamics of Papua as the area continues to an examination of the three major experiencing armed conflict and disorder. dominating powers, namely the Indonesian But when we ask further what factors that state, the extractive industry, and the construct a frontier, we will have to dig penetration of Wahhabism in Papua. The further into the underlying structure of paper will end with concluding remarks. domination that creates and maintains it. Drawing on Carl Schmitt’s concept of the state of exception, this paper will Understanding the State of Exception examine the structure of domination that has been governing the frontier of Papua In comparison to other German political until today. In investigating the structure of theorists from the twentieth century, Carl domination, I limit it to the period of post- Schmitt is not so well known in the English- Suharto authoritarian regime since it is the speaking world because he was regarded as time where democracy prevails in a ‘Nazi theoretician’ (Schwab 2005: xl). Indonesia. The context of democracy is Schmitt’s commentators (Strong 2005, central to Carl Schmitt’s concept of Scheuerman 2016) explain that Schmitt’s exception since his critique is not applied in involvement with the Nazi did not derive the context of authoritarian regime. Rather, from his misunderstanding of Hitler or he targets liberalism which believes in because of his personal ambition. It had rational administration and regulatory nothing to do with Hitler’s personal framework (Scheuerman 2016: 559-560). qualities. Rather, Schmitt believed that In analyzing Papua, many tend to Hitler was ‘something like the entity God focus their lenses solely on the executive had sent to perform a miracle… and the power of the Indonesian state. While this miracle was the recovery of a this-world 51 ANTROPOLOGI INDONESIA VOL. 41 NO. 1 2020 transcendence to sovereignty and thus the who decides on the exception’ (Schmitt human realm of the political’ (Strong 2005: 2005: 5). Despite various possible xxx). In other words, Hitler manifested his interpretation, Strong (2005: xii) argues philosophical understanding of the political that ‘Schmitt is saying that it is the essence so that is why Schmitt embraced the Nazi of sovereignty both to decide what is an wholeheartedly and he did not give up his exception and to make the decision belief even until he was released from appropriate to that exception, indeed that prison. one without the other makes no sense at all. Schmitt’s Political Theology was Two inseparable elements—the ability to first translated into English in 1922 and the decide and to enforce the decision—must Concept of the Political entered the be there. English-speaking world only in 1976 Schmitt emphasizes that (Schwab 2015: xl). The former discussed sovereignty is the ultimate power or the the idea of emergency power or the state of highest power (Schmitt 2005: 6, 17). exception whereas the latter advanced the Following French philosopher Jean Bodin, idea of friend-enemy criterion of politics Schmitt believes that during the normal, which Schmitt had initially developed in sovereignty is bound to natural law but 1927. In the current global political during emergencies, the tie to natural law landscape, especially post-9/11 attacks on ceases. This is when the state of exception the World Trade Center and Pentagon in the prevails. So ‘the exception… can at best US, Schmitt’s work on emergency power characterized as a case of extreme peril, a has attracted major interests among legal danger to the existing of the state or the and political scholars as they look for an like’ (Schmitt 2005: 6). explanation for the continuity between the Scholars analyze that Schmitt’s counterterrorism policies of the US argument of sovereignty was developed in President Barrack Obama and his three stages of his professional career: predecessors (Scheuerman 2016: 547). In World War I when he served as jurist for other words, emergency power in the military dictatorship in 1916–1917, the context of the US counterterrorism policy Weimar debates about Article 48 of the continues despite regime change. constitution, and finally, the end of Weimar This logic becomes pertinent to the Republic in 1930–1933 when he joined the central argument of this article that Nazi. During the World War I, Schmitt was discusses the state of exception that based in Munich serving as the regional continues governing Papua despite the General Komando, the military authority collapse of Suharto’s New Order in 1998. responsible for exercising emergency rule The successive democratic governments in Bavaria. It is not surprising that during remain unable to restore the Papua frontier the war, a military dictatorship governed to a normal province since exceptionalism Germany and this context has strong continues to prevail. influence on Schmitt’s thinking as he was The concept of the state of tasked to justify the extension of military exception is rooted in Schmitt’s theory of rule beyond the end of war (Scheuerman state’s sovereignty. Schmitt begins his 2016: 552). Political Theology with

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