Security Council #11 Papua Conflict I. Background the Papua

Security Council #11 Papua Conflict I. Background The Papua Conflict, an ongoing conflict between the Indonesian government and the indigenous peoples of Papua, has its roots during the period of decolonization that took place in the latter half of the 20th Century. The Netherlands, who had placed a major focus on the region known as the Indies, had come to depend on this territory economically, as it accounted for 20% of the world’s tea supply, 35% of the world's rubber supply, 25% of the world’s coconut supply, and a large portion of the world’s quinine and oil supplies. Following the events of the Second World War, Indonesia was was granted independence by the Japanese, who had seized the Dutch East Indies in 1942. Due to its aforementioned economic value, the Dutch clung to whatever territory it could, among which was the western half of the island of New Guinea. Indonesia disagreed with this claim, stating that the whole of the Dutch East Indies should be ceded to them. While the Netherlands tried to hold to their policy of administering the island until it was deemed capable of self determination, the pro-Indonesian United States eventually pressured them into signing the land off to the UN Temporary Executive Authority until a plebiscite could be held. This vote, dubbed the Act of Free Choice, was overseen by the Indonesian military in 1969, during which a group of only 1,022 Papuan voters, who’d been hand chosen by the military, were held at gunpoint and told to vote for integration into Indonesia. Despite the constituency of this vote consisting of less than 1% of those eligible to take part in it, its results were considered final and the region of West New Guinea was incorporated into the Indonesian nation. It is from this event that Papuan resistance, namely via the Free Papua Movement (OPM), against Indonesian rule arose. In the past, these groups have cited numerous grievances with the Indonesian treatment of the West Papuan people. One such grievance is with the Act of Free Choice, specifically claiming that the transfer of Dutch power to Indonesia rather than the granting of independence was a fundamentally unjust decision. The next grievance is the tendency for the Indonesian government to violate the human rights of the Papuan people. This issue stems from the fact that West Papua is still held under what is essentially martial law, as over 15,000 Indonesian troops are stationed in the region specifically for the purpose of maintaining order. It is often cited that between 100,000-500,000 people have been killed in West Papua by the Indonesian military since 1963, though this statistic is questionable due to the degree of secrecy that Indonesia has maintained about the matter. A more certain figure was reported by the International Coalition for Papua is that between 2013 and 2014 there were 22 extrajudicial killings in the region. On top of this, the Indonesian government has been known to arrest peaceful demonstrators and subject them to various forms of torture. During the same one-year period mentioned above it was found that nearly 900 individuals were convicted under political pretenses, 370 of which reported inhumane treatment by their captors. The conflict has involved violence since it began, but in recent years this violence has become particularly brutal. The uptick in violence began in December of 2009, when the leader of the OPM, Kelly Kwalik, was killed in a police raid. The officers involved in this killing were then given recommendations for their actions, inciting anger amongst Papuan citizens. The year following showed a number of skirmishes between rebels and the Indonesian police and military. These cases often resulted in at least a single casualty on either side, rarely reaching numbers higher than three deaths in any single instance. Indonesian officials also began blaming numerous unsolved civilian killings on rebel movements in order to discredit them. The media took notice of the conflict in October of 2011, when Al Jazeera published footage of an attack by Indonesian militants on a independence movement meeting. The attack resulted in five casualties, as well as hundreds of arrests on suspected freedom advocates. Similar attacks have continued up to the past few years. In January of 2018 the West Papua Liberation Army declared war on the Indonesian state. Following this, violent conflicts have broken out in regions across West Papua. For example, the Liberation army killed a taxi driver in the region of Lanny Jaya in November of 2018. The Army claims that the man was believed to be an Indonesian intelligence worker, and were told that the man had been spying on them. This killing prompted a response from the Indonesian government, which itself resulted in the deaths of two Liberation Army members. The military also accuses the Army of having killed an innocent child and a fleeing civilian during that same month in Lanny Jaya. In the Nduga region, the Liberation Army was accused of taking 15 teachers as hostages. This claim, according to the Army, is false, and the teachers that had reportedly been working for the Indonesian government were simply “kept quiet” at a monthly meeting. This controversy brought with it the alleged increased stationing of Indonesian military officials in West Papua, although the military denies these claims. In December of 2018, the Liberation Army took credit for killing of 31 construction workers in the center of the region. Known as the Nduga Massacre, this attack was the deadliest of the conflict in years, and the Indonesian government began immediate military retaliation over it. Within the month, it was reported by newspapers in the region that the Indonesian military had used white phosphorus on the region of Nduga, although this claim was promptly denied by the government. International involvement in the conflict is scarce, with the majority of its participants being located within the general vicinity of Papua itself. Papua New Guinea is on record as having called for the issue to be brought to the UN decolonization board, as well as directly involving itself by taking in refugees displaced by the conflict. It, along with the neighboring nations of Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, publicly stated their support for the Papuan self determination in 2017. There are also a few nations from Europe that have become involved in this crisis, namely Poland and Ukraine. Poland as a nation has not officially involved itself in West Papua. However, a Polish national was arrested in the region in September of 2018 for allegedly conspiring against the Indonesian government. This man, Jakub Fabian Skrzypski, was accused of dealing arms to the OPM, as well as teaching them how to use these weapons. Photos of him posing with members of the organization were also found on his phone. There is no proof of this man’s ties to the Polish government, however, there is speculation as to whether or not he is a volunteer for the Polish Armed Forces. Likewise, a Ukrainian paramilitary organization was affiliated with the training of an Australian national in 2012. The Australian man had allegedly created a Facebook page dedicated to his advocacy for Papuan liberation. Buried within the photos on this page were images depicting armory, including within it a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. The man was apprehended in Australia on his way to West Papua, where he was meant to meet with liberation activists to discuss the training and arming of Papuan militants. The only other foreign involvement in the conflict is by proxy of state-sponsored organizations. The UK and Australia, for example, have heavily invested in Rio Tinto, which itself is accused of committing human rights violations against the Papuan peoples. Investment into such a company is considered by many to be implied complacency in Indonesia’s actions, however it should be noted that these same nations have heavily invested in BP following its attempts to incorporate the Papuan people into their workforce more heavily. Also, British politicians such as James Corbyn, Baroness Symons, and Baroness Warsi have stated that the issue is very pressing, with some openly espousing support for the liberation movement. Therefore, while investing nations’ policies on the issue may be judged by their involvement in third parties that themselves are involved in it, the complexity of the conflict and the relative lack of awareness for it make judging foreign policy on the matter difficult for all but the most directly involved nations. Overall, the Papua Conflict is a matter that demands Security Council intervention. The conflict between government and revolutionary forces has not only directly caused hundreds of casualties, but has also placed the people of West Papua in the middle of an active warzone. Without direct UN intervention, these people will continue to be endangered, something that the UN cannot afford to allow. II. UN Involvement The UN’s first involvement in the area of decolonization came with its passing of Resolution 1514, which called for a speedy end to all forms of colonization. The UN first became involved in the Papua Conflict itself when the Dutch and Indonesian governments began to feud over who held claim over West Papua. When the Dutch were eventually pressured into giving the land up, the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority maintained control over the region until a vote could be held to determine its future. Resolution 1752 was passed in 1962, establishing the rules for a plebiscite to be held. That plebiscite took place in the form of the Act of Free Choice in 1969. Despite the fact that the UN recognized the fact that the Indonesian government’s coercion of voters violated the New York Agreement of 1962, the result of the plebiscite was accepted by the UN in Resolution 2504.

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