Flowers in the Wall EPDF.Indd

FLOWERS IN THE WALL Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and Melanesia by David Webster ISBN 978-1-55238-955-3 THIS BOOK IS AN OPEN ACCESS E-BOOK. It is an electronic version of a book that can be purchased in physical form through any bookseller or on-line retailer, or from our distributors. Please support this open access publication by requesting that your university purchase a print copy of this book, or by purchasing a copy yourself. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] Cover Art: The artwork on the cover of this book is not open access and falls under traditional copyright provisions; it cannot be reproduced in any way without written permission of the artists and their agents. The cover can be displayed as a complete cover image for the purposes of publicizing this work, but the artwork cannot be extracted from the context of the cover of this specific work without breaching the artist’s copyright. 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Acknowledgement: We acknowledge the wording around open access used by Australian publisher, re.press, and thank them for giving us permission to adapt their wording to our policy http://www.re-press.org 15 Facts, Feasts, and Forests: Considering Truth and Reconciliation in Tanah Papua Todd Biderman and Jenny Munro In this chapter we are interested in what sorts of “truths” are included in “truth and reconciliation” and from whose perspective. We also consider what sorts of reconciliation are already taking place in Tanah Papua, even amid ongoing violence. In Tanah Papua we have the problem of a multi-di- mensional conflict and a state that is very dedicated to controlling what is said about that conflict. It is worth considering how “non-truth” plays out in local reconciliation attempts and who or what institutions are defended or marginalized in this dynamic. Tanah Papua has been the site of low-level, endemic conflict since the 1960s. Despite Indonesia’s efforts to eradicate Papuan nationalism, Indig- enous aspirations for independence have persisted. The Free Papua Move- ment (Organisasi Papua Merdeka or OPM), a network of poorly armed fighters based in remote areas that has staged sporadic attacks on Indone- sian forces, has gained much attention from Indonesian authorities. How- ever, the OPM is only one of many groups that criticize Indonesian rule and draw attention to social injustices and human rights abuses. The vast majority of Papuans do not participate in any OPM-related activities and most are not in favour of violence as a means of achieving independence. More recently, organizations such as the West Papua National Committee (Komite Nasional Papua Barat, or KNPB) have put forth a vocal critique of 205 Indonesian abuses, while the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) seeks to bring attention to political conditions in Papua on an international stage. Politics in Tanah Papua is not reducible to the historical context by which Indonesia came to govern. Rather, Papuans critique the social, economic, environmental, and political conditions that have emerged under Indonesian rule. The Indonesian state, especially the police and military in Papua, has been intolerant of such criticisms. Criticism of Indonesian governance is branded as “treason,” suppressed through violence, murder, and intimidation, and often punished through arbitrary detention and im- prisonment. There is denial about the actions of the military and police in Papua at the highest levels of Indonesian governance, and human rights vi- olations have not been addressed. Indeed, truth, denial, secrets, and impu- nity are at the heart of the political conflict in Papua. Indonesian non-truth is central to Papuan experiences and grievances. Yet scholars have argued that non-truth is exceedingly common in approaches to conflict resolution throughout Indonesia, including in Papua, and even for community ac- tors drawing on local understandings.1 Still, for Papua, one question that arises is how non-truth as an approach is valued or enforced in response to incidents of state violence, even as Papuans and their supporters continue to criticize non-truth as a broad political practice of the Indonesian state because it denies history, rights, and current conditions. In looking at the concept and practice of truth and reconciliation in Papua, we first acknowledge that Papuans and their supporters have been doing work that reflects the principles of truth and reconciliation in spite of ongoing conflict. Their work, as we discuss later, is mainly of local -in spiration and derivation, but also reflects international connections and experiences. Papua’s diversity provokes questions about how international, national, or otherwise high-level processes can engage appropriately with local voices, world views, and cultural values. What, then, are Papuan approaches to reconciliation, and what is the role of truth? Because conflict is ongoing, the Papuan case also gives us an opportunity to ask what has to take place, or what conditions have to be created, in order for reconciliation to occur and so that truth may be spoken. There are three aspects to highlight about approaches to truth and reconciliation in Papua. The first aspect is the present landscape and state 206 Todd Biderman and Jenny Munro of Papuan approaches to conflict resolution. The second aspect, extending from that, questions what needs to be resolved and why. One area we highlight is the impact of economic development projects, namely resource extraction and land exploitation, on Papuan identity. Thirdly, given these points, and exploring some recent examples of small-scale reconciliation in the wake of state violence, we ask what truth and reconciliation processes in Papua might look like. In this chapter we make use of secondary sources on the conflict and resolution-related actions, present some views from people we have worked with in Papua, and generally draw on over a decade of experience working with Papuans. Truth and reconciliation is a topic we have come to by way of a keen interest in inequalities in Tanah Papua and a commitment to community-based and Indigenous-led efforts to ameliorate inequalities. Todd Biderman comes from a development and social- and ecological-jus- tice background, largely in Indonesia. Over the last eight years he has been working with Papuan civil-society groups and communities. Jenny Munro is an anthropologist who works on gender, health, and education in Pap- ua, particularly in the central highlands of Papua province. We have also collaborated on developing an Indigenous-led HIV prevention strategy for Tanah Papua. 2 Understandings of the Conflict in Tanah Papua Before we can discuss what approaches have been taken towards resolving the political conflict in Papua, it is important to note that there is disagree- ment about the nature of the conflict itself, and therefore what needs to be resolved, by whom, and why. This situation partially underpins Papuans calls for truth, or “straightening history” (pelurusan sejarah), described in more detail later. In general, there are dominant Indonesian and dominant Papuan perspectives on the conflict. The Indonesian perspective is mainly represented and put forward by government officials and some commen- tators. The Papuan perspective includes Papuan scholars, some political leaders and representatives, and everyday Papuans. There is also diversity within Indonesian and Papuan views. 15 | Facts, Feasts, and Forests 207 Indonesian Views The dominant, official perspective in Indonesia is that there should be no question about the legitimacy of Indonesia’s hold on Papua. In this view, Papua never should have been retained by the Dutch in the first place, as the Netherlands was obliged to return the entire former East Indies colony to the new independent government of Indonesia. From this point of view, Papua is critical part of a complete Indonesian nation, and indeed bringing Papua into its fold was an important emphasis of early Indonesian actions. Thus, one analysis of Papuan desires for independence suggests that the Indonesian agenda of generating a feeling of national belonging and common identity has failed. A less sympathetic view holds that “radicals” (the OPM and other groups that have been branded as terrorist organizations), who are presumed to represent a violent minority of Papuans, refuse to accept Indonesian authority, actively wage war on the state in order to achieve independence, and need to be eradicated through violent means.

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