Berita dari Papua: WPNCL CALLS ON THE GOVERNMENT OF INDONESIAN TO DIALOGUE WITH THE PAPUAN PEOPLE

West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL) had written twice to the President of the Republic of Indonesian Dr. Haji Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in 2007 and again in 2008 requesting him to dialogue with the Papuan people. But until now there is still no response from him or his government.

Since its’ establishment WPNCL was committed to the use of peaceful means as the dominant principle to resolve the conflict between the Papuan people and the government of Indonesia. WPNCL considers a mutually beneficial Summit/dialogue with Indonesia the first priority in the process of resolving the issue of West Papua. Such dialogue or Summit must be facilitated by a Third Party or Mediator, endorsed by both parties, the Papuan people and the government of Indonesia.

WPNCL viewed the recent incident involving the arrest and detention of Mr. Jonah Wenda, Spokesman of the Military Council of the West Papuan National Liberation Army (TPN PB) and peace Activist of WPNCL on 6 September 2009 in Klamono/Sorong as a provocative act that could undermine the on going efforts to maintain peace and tolerance in the land of Papua. Mr. Jonah Wenda was transferred to Jayapura for further interrogation then released on … September and placed under house arrest. It is important to keep in mind that peace and tolerance in the land of Papua could be maintained because of the hard work of peace activists of the land including Mr. Jonah Wenda. He had worked tirelessly together with members of WPNCL to make sure that TPN remain committed to peace. WPNCL considers this as confidence boosting effort to pave the way for peace negotiation with the government of Indonesia. After all there must be genuine good will efforts shown by both parties before any negotiation.

Mr. Jonah Wenda and the other peace activists are conducting themselves in the open and known to members of the public. They cannot be considered as a threat to any one. All their activities are manifestations of the undertaking in 2002 where POLDA PAPUA (Regional Police Force of Papua) had agreed to work together with the Papuan Peoples Representative Council (DPRP) and Stakeholder in the Society to maintain peace in the land of Papua. The details of commitment of Stakeholders in the form of Recommendations could be ascertained in the Report of the Peace Conference of the Papuan people held in Jayapura from 15-16 October 2002.

Since that Conference, a Task Force for Peace was established by members of the Civil Society. The main task was to disseminate information and engage Civil Society about the recommendations. The Task Force had also facilitated consultations and reconciliation with groups that potentially could hinder or endangered the peace efforts. It facilitated parallel meetings with different stakeholders in the Society including the different regional commands of TPN.
The Task Force for Peace in Papua had also facilitated combined meetings with Papuans in the country and those in Diaspora. From 16-20 June 2003 a Think Tank Group meeting was held in Utrecht, Netherlands. Some 23 Papuan intellectuals participated. The 3 main agenda items of the meetings were Human Rights and Justice, Development, and Politics. Because of the absence of some important Stakeholders including the TPN it was recommended that another meeting be organized some where closer to West Papua. Such meeting must be inclusive to allow for full participation of Stakeholders of the whole resistance movement.

All these meetings realized the need for workshops tor the purpose of dissemination of the basic recommendations and more importantly to allow for wider participation and input by all sectors who want the realization of peace in West Papua. Two Workshops were facilitated in the country. The first Workshop held in Jayapura on 27 October 2004 recommended that a high level meeting of National leaders must be convened to seriously consider all the criteria and options in the process to resolve the conflict in West Papua. The second workshop held on 20 November 2004 agreed to organize a meeting for the leaders of all the Papuan organizations in the Civil Society. The workshop also discussed technical matters involved including, agenda, venue, participants and cost involved in convening such a meeting.

Considering the recommendations from the workshops many diverse groups in the Civil Society decided to go ahead to convene the proposed National meeting/Summit involving Stakeholders in the country and also in Diaspora. This meeting/Summit was held in Papua New Guinea from 28 November to 1st December 2005. This Summit was able to make a number of interim decisions: The establishment of a National Coordinating body called, West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL). The Summit decided that the Secretariat of WPNCL be based in Port Vila, the Capital of the Republic of Vanuatu. The Summit also decided that concerted efforts must be made to consult widely on unity and maximize consolidation between different factions of the Resistance movement in West Papua. From the invited 28 Resistance organizations only 18 were able to attend. The remaining 10 organizations sent their apologies and endorsed the purpose of the Summit.

Based on the recommendations from the above Summit an important meeting was convened for the Commanders of the West Papuan National Liberation Army, the TPN PB. PNG was also the venue for this meeting which was held from 22-24 July 2006 and was attended by all the regional Commands of TPN. A number of important agreements were made in the meeting including, the duty and function of TPN as a Revolutionary Army that must protect all West Papuans; separation of TPN from the OPM structure, further more the role and responsibility of TPN during the revolution; the formation of TPN Military Council as the highest Coordinating body of TPN; during the same meeting a declaration of commitment by all the Commanders to work together in the efforts to liberate Papuan people and the land of West Papua; urging all the Commanders within the TPN Command to unify their perceptions whether in programming, strategy and action to accomplish the objective of the revolution; acknowledge and respect the universal principles of humanity; endorse the efforts to establish West Papua as land of peace; urging unity between all the resistance groups in West Papua; urging all West Papuans to work together to maintain National unity.

Another follow up meeting by TPN was held at Victoria HQ from 5-7 April 2007. This meeting had reached a number of agreements to merge, Arfai 1965 Command, Marvic Command and Pemka Command into one Command to be known as West Papua National Liberation Army Command. This new Command comes under the responsibility and direct Command of the Military Council of the West Papua National Liberation Army; Henceforth, the Military Council of TPN PB becomes the highest decision making body or Command of TPN PB; confirming a new Command structure and designation of regional Commands for each HQ; the appointment of ranking officers in the Military Council of TPN PB including the other rankings further down the structure of Command. A communiqué was issued at the end of the meeting to declare or affirm the above decisions: a unity process within the rank and file of TPN PB, the merging of Arfai ’65 Command, Marvic Command and Pemka Command into one Command structure. Commitment by all parties within TPN PB to foster bilateral and international cooperation to combat the traffic of narcotics, to stem terrorist networks and above all the creation of a National Command of TPN PB encompassing all regions of West Papua which was divided into 6 Regional Commands.

Next WPNCL convened its Second Summit in Malaysia from 22-25 September 2007. A number of decisions were made here: WPNCL will establish its Secretariat in Port Vila, Vanuatnu; the adoption of Bylaws of WPNCL that also cover rules on the TPN PB and other functions of the Coalition. The Summit established a negotiating team and agreed on the strategy for negotiation with Indonesia through a Third Party. The Summit had also approved the existence and the on going work of the West Papua Peace Working Group that had networks in 4 major regions, Asia, Pacific, America and Europe. Because of the absence of some stakeholders including TPN PB it was decided to have the final Leaders Summit in Vanuatu.

The third and final West Papuan leaders Summit was held in Vanuatu from 2-10 April 2008. This Summit was endorsed by the Government of Vanuatu. The Summit issued a major resolution calling on Indonesia to agree to resolve the West Papuan conflict peacefully through International negotiation facilitated by a Third Party. The Summit also called on the International community to encourage Indonesia to open West Papua for International access by Journalists and other International agencies.
TPN PB has been one of the important supporting pillars of WPNCL. But since its Commander was elected as Chairman of the Coalition during the Summit in Vanuatu the position of Commander became vacant. Unfortunately it is a technical matter and was referred to the Military Council of TPN PB to decide. This matter was resolved when all the Commanders met near the PNG border from 29-31 October 2008. This was also the first National Planning meeting of the new Military Council of TPN PB.
WPNCL had also held its first National Planning meeting near the PNG border from 4-8 April 2009 to finalize its programs with clear directions and targets including one of the options of negotiating with Indonesia through a Third Party facilitation.

To conclude, WPNCL believes the new government of Dr. Haji Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has the commitment to resolve the West Papuan issue. We encourage SBY’s government to establish communication with us as we previously requested in order to commence the process for negotiation. We hope, God willing this will lead to a mutually beneficial result for both our two peoples, Papuans and Indonesians of this generation and those yet to come.

For more details contact, Rex Rumakiek, the Secretary General on +61 414247468 or the Vice Chairman Dr. John Ondawame on +678 439759026 or the Vanuatu Mission Mr. Andy Ayamiseba on + 678 40808 or 60651.

For general information on Human Rights issues contact Ms. Paula Makabory, the International Representative of Papua Institute of Human Rights Study and Advocacy, on: +61 402547517