SUBJECT: Humanitarian Crisis Unfolding in Nduga, West Papua DATE: 25 January 2019
1. This document has been drafted by the International Lawyers for West Papua addressing the current humanitarian crisis devastating West Papua, including the alleged use of the chemical weapon white phosphorus in the Nduga region by the Indonesian armed forces.
The thwarted decolonization as a continuing source of conflict
2. The right to self-determination has been a long-embedded principle within international law. It is a collective right and it belongs to the people who depend on their occupiers.1 The right was first enshrined in the UN Charter2 and has become the primary focus of many international instruments ever since, such as the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.3 Self- determination is also mentioned in other international Conventions and Treaties, such as the ICCPR4 and the ICESCR.5
3. The right to self-determination entails the assertion of people’s free will through democratic methods.6 The right became customary international law to the extent that States shall recognize their obligations to provide some minimum standards of self- determination to indigenous communities.7
4. As part of the decolonization process during the 1960s, the Netherlands, as a former colonial power, was preparing the indigenous West Papuans for independence and to eventually have their right to self-determination exercised. However, under the New York Agreement8, the Dutch relinquished colonial control over West Papua and
1 United Nations General Assembly, Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (1960), art. 2. 2 United Nations, Charter of the United Nations (1945). 3 United Nations General Assembly, Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (1960). 4 United Nations General Assembly, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976) (ICCPR). 5 United Nations General Assembly, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1976) (ICESCR). 6 UN, Charter of the United Nations (1945); United Nations General Assembly, Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007); United Nations, Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations (1970). 7 United Nations, Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), Preamble, artt. 43 and 45. See also: ICJ Advisory Opinion on Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence (2010). 8 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1752 (XVII) on the ‘Agreement between the Republic of Indonesia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands concerning West New Guinea (West Irian)’, 21st September 1962 (UN Doc A/RES/1752(XVII)), (New York Agreement).
transferred the administration of it initially to the UNTEA who then transferred that administration to Indonesia in 1963.
5. An Act of Free Choice as a means of self-determination was then required for West Papua by 1969 to decide if they wished to become independent from Indonesia. In the period between 1963 and 1969, Indonesian military rule over the territory intensified. In an attempt to intimidate the Papuans into voting for integration, a series of violent military campaigns targeting the Papuan population were conducted. This Act of Free Choice remains the contentious point between West Papua and Indonesia and has led to continuing conflict.
6. The British Foreign Office Minister, UN Staff, journalists, agricultural officers and human rights activists have also reported on human rights violations and crimes committed by Indonesian officers against the indigenous Papuans, when they did not comply with the Indonesian orders. UN Under-Secretary General Chakravathi himself said that the whole referendum was a ‘whitewash’.9 Integration of West Papua into Indonesia was achieved by threats and violence as evidenced and documented by Harold Luckham10 and Hugh Lunn.11
7. This thwarted process of decolonization continues to be a source of conflict between West Papuans and Indonesians. The latter often answers to peaceful protests with excessive violence and denies these people their basic human rights.12
Current Situation in Nduga region, West Papua
8. Nduga is the Eastern province of West Papua. According to the International Coalition for Papua (ICP), the region is witnessing a significant escalation of armed conflicts. Violent clashes between the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-PB) caused the deaths of five military men and four civilians. Indonesian ‘joint security forces launched military attacks and raids in the regencies of Mimika, Puncak Jaya, Lanny Jaya and Nduga…
9 UN Under-Secretary-General Chakravarthy Narasimhan quoted in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Historic Vote was a Sham: Ex-UN Chiefs Admit’ (23rd November 2001). 10 John Saltford, ‘The United Nations and the Indonesian Takeover of West Papua, 1962-1969’ (Routledge Curzon, 2003), pg. 47. 11 John Saltford, ‘United Nations Involvement with the Act of Self-Determination in West Irian (Indonesian West New Guinea) (1968-1969)’, pg. 85. 12 Jason McLeod, ‘Citizen Media and Civil Resistance in West Papua’, Pacific Journalism Review 22:1 (May/July 2016), pg. 41.
The raids in the Nduga Regency resulted in the killings of indigenous civilians and the displacement of hundreds of villagers.’13
9. Adding to the airstrikes targeting concentrations of indigenous Papua civilians, allegations were made of Indonesia employing the chemical weapon of white phosphorus in Nduga on 15 December 2018. Documentary evidence suggests that civilians have suffered burns similar to the ones caused by white phosphorus.14 In response to these allegations, Indonesian officials have claimed not to possess chemical weapons, due to Indonesia’s signatory status to many international instruments prohibiting such practices.
Indonesia’s association with chemical weapons
10. Indonesia has been historically associated with the use of explosive and chemical weapons, specifically in West Papua. Since 1963, the Indonesian military has tirelessly attempted to expel the West Papuans from their territories. In 1967 and 1968, an Indonesian military aircraft bombed and strafed the town of Manokwari. In 1977, the Indonesian military carried out aerial bombings in Jayawijaya, where nearly 5000 people died. Further cluster bombings and napalm were deployed in the Yamsi- Arso region, carried on OV-10 Bronco Planes. The same year, they carried out bombings in the Central Highlands as well.15 In 1981, Indonesia initiated the military campaign called “Operation Clean Sweep”, which involved the military bombings of the village of Madi, using napalm and chemical weapons.16 West Papua is not alone in Indonesia’s use of chemical weapons during acts of independence. In 1999, during East-Timor’s act of self-determination, Indonesia employed chemical weapons in their military operations in East-Timor.17
13 International Coalition for Papua, ‘Human Rights Update West Papua – January 2019’,
11. Clearly, the Indonesian military is not only capable of possessing chemical weapons, but it is also prone to use them against civilians residing in remote areas. Without assistance, and intervention as appropriate, by the international community the situation will likely further escalate leading to more suffering. The available documentation, though so far limited in amount and scope, reveals a grisly catalogue of facts and appalling conditions the indigenous Papua communities have to endure. The account given by the Indonesian authorities is riddled with inconsistencies and cannot be considered as trustworthy. The establishment of an independent and impartial mechanism by the international community, mandated to investigate conflict related violence, is essential to verify the facts and circumstances of the past and recent violations and abuses in West Papua.