Statement of The Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega
Representative of American Samoa in Congress
Before the International Relations Subcommittee On
Asia and The Paciic Regarding Indonesia and West Papua
New GuineaU.S. House of Representatives
March 10, 2005Mr. Chairman:
I thank you for holding this hearing. Like many of my
colleagues, I am deeply concerned by the
Administration's decision to certify full IMET for
Indonesia. For years, the U.S. has restricted foreign
military financing for Indonesia and rightfully so
given the horrendous human rights record of the
Indonesian military. Even in the aftermath of the
devastation caused by the recent tsunami, the media
has reported that the Indonesian military has withheld
food and other humanitarian assistance from those
believed to be pro-independent. The U.S. cannot and
must not turn a blind eye to these abuses or to
Indonesia's repression of the people of Aceh and West
Papua.While I am aware that in 2004 Congress narrowed the
basis for its ban on IMET to a single condition
requiring the State Department to certify that the
Indonesian government and military were cooperating in
an FBI investigation of an August 31, 2002 assault on
a group of U.S. citizens in Timika, West Papua, I
believe there are equally serious reasons why the U.S.
should renew bans on IMET and foreign military
financing (FMF) for Indonesia.In response to President Bush's State of the Union
address in which he talked about "our generational
commitment to the advance of freedom" and in which he
said "America will stand with the allies of freedom to
support democratic movements in the Middle East and
beyond, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in
our world" and that "our aim is to build and preserve
a community of free and independent nations, with
governments that answer to their citizens, and reflect
their own cultures," I want to bring attention to the
plight of West Papua New Guinea and assert that TNI
remains the central threat to democracy in Indonesia.The U.S. State Department has publicly acknowledged
the brutal TNI record. As noted in the latest State
Department Annual Human Rights Report on Indonesia:"Security force members murdered, tortured, raped,
beat and arbitrarily detained civilians and members of
separatist movements especially in Aceh and Papua.
Retired and active duty military officers known to
have committed serious human rights violations
occupied or were promoted to senior positions in the
government and in the TNI."Defense Minister Sudarsono has further noted, "The
military retains the real levers of power. From the
political point of view the military remains the
fulcrum in Indonesia." This is the case now and has
been the case since Indonesia seized control of West
Papua New Guinea.In 1962, the United States mediated an agreement
between Indonesia and the Netherlands in which the
Dutch were to leave West Papua, transfer sovereignty
to the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority
(UNTEA) for a period of six years, after which time a
national election was to be held to determine West
Papua's political status.However, after this agreement was reached, Indonesia
violated the terms of transfer and took over the
administration of West Papua from the UNTEA. In 1969,
Indonesia orchestrated an election that many regarded
as a brutal military operation. Known as the "Act of
Choice," 1,022 elders under heavy military
surveillance were selected to vote for 809,327 Papuans
on the territory's political status.Despite the opposition of fifteen countries and the
cries for help from the Papuans themselves, the United
Nations (UN) sanctioned Indonesia's act and, on
September 10, 1969, West Papua became a province of
Indonesian rule. Since, the Papuans have suffered
blatant human rights abuses, including extrajudicial
executions, imprisonment, torture and, according to
Afrim Djonbalic's 1998 statement to the UN,
"environmental degradation, natural resource
exploitation, and commercial dominance of immigrant
communities."The Lowenstein Human Rights Clinic at Yale University
recently found, in the available evidence, "a strong
indication that the Indonesian government has
committed genocide against the Papuans." West Papua
New Guineans differ racially from the majority of
Indonesians. West Papuans are Melanesian and believed
to be of African descent. In 1990, Nelson Mandela
reminded the United Nations that when "it first
discussed the South African question in 1946, it was
discussing the issue of racism." I also believe the
question of West Papua is an issue of racism.Furthermore, I believe this is an issue of commercial
exploitation. West Papua New Guinea is renowned for
its mineral wealth including vast reserves of gold,
copper, nickel, oil and gas. In 1995, for example, the
Grasberg ore-mountain in West Papua was estimated to
be worth more than $54 billion. Yet little or no
compensation has been made to local communities and
new provisions in the law fall well short of West
Papuan demands for independence.In a statement dated February 24, 2004 (attached),
Archbishop Bishop Desmond Tutu called on the UN to act
on West Papua and 174 parliamentarians and 80
nongovernmental agencies from around the world wrote
to Secretary General Kofi Annan asking that a review
be initiated. In the interim, Indonesian military
operations in the highlands of West Papua have been
ongoing since August 2004 and there are indications
that this operation is spreading to other regions of
West Papua forcing thousands of villagers into the
forests where they lack adequate food, shelter and
medicine. Indications are that this operation is
spreading and intensifying.Given these circumstances, I am reminded of Nelson
Mandela's statement before the UN Special Committee
against Apartheid in which he said:"It will forever remain an indelible blight on human
history that the apartheid crime ever occurred. Future
generations will surely ask -- what error was made
that this system established itself in the wake of the
adoption of a Universal Declaration on Human Rights.It will forever remain an accusation and a challenge
to all men and women of conscience that it took as
long as it has before all of us stood up to say enough
is enough."On the question of West Papua, I feel similarly and I
believe it is time to say enough is enough. The
question of West Papua is not an internal problem. As
early as 1961, Robert Johnson of the National Security
Council Staff wrote a letter to Mr. Bundy, the
President's Special Assistant for National Security
Affairs, noting that the United States "must conclude
that it is in our interests that a solution be devised
which will lead to accession of West New Guinea to
Indonesia."In other words, it was our national policy to
sacrifice the lives and future of some 800,000 West
Papua New Guineans to the Indonesian military in
exchange, supposedly, for Sukarno and Sukarto to
become our friends, and yet they organized the most
repressive military regimes ever known in the history
of Indonesia. Almost three decades later, we continue
to exacerbate the problem by making plans to certify
full IMET for Indonesia as our brothers and sisters in
West Papua New Guinea live a struggle of our making.President Bush has publicly stated, "We are all part
of a great venture - To extend the promise of freedom
in our country, to renew the values that sustain our
liberty, and to spread the peace that freedom brings."
In my opinion, the President's mantra must and should
include West Papua and I am hopeful that this means
the Administration will support West Papua's right to
self-determination through a referendum or plebiscite
sanctioned by the UN, as was done for East Timor, and
that the U.S. will end its efforts to develop closer
ties with the Indonesian military.I welcome your comments.
