10 December 2015, Manokwari,
West Papua (Indonesia) — Even in West Papua, the easternmost and least
populous province of Indonesia, is torture used to crush and silence. Even
there people like Paul Mambrasar have dedicated their lives to fighting it.
Decades
of abuses, layers of grievances
Paul’s challenging working environment
is the result of decades of quasi-institutionalized abuses resulting in many
layers of deep-felt and pervasive grievances of West Papuans against the
Indonesian Government. He is, however, gradually managing to build networks in
his country, also thanks to support from organizations such as
OMCT, and gradually drawing attention to the
regular violations committed.
When the Dutch Government granted
independence to Indonesia in 1949, Papua was not part of it. At the end of the
Dutch colonial rule, Papua was first administered, and then absorbed, by
Indonesia in 1969, following a sham “referendum” requested by
the United Nations.
This so‑called “Act of Free Choice” was in fact a vote
by just over a thousand selected Papuans (out of a population of 800,000 at the
time) who had been pressured to agree to integration within Indonesia.
This vote has been the bone of contention between
Papuans and the Republic of Indonesian. Papuans
have ever since agitated for independence, and have been conducting a still
ongoing, low-level guerrilla warfare against Indonesian forces, in turn engaged
in bloody repression and unpunished human rights violations.
Discrimination and marginalization of Papuan have therefore
worsened the situation. According to the West Papua 2000 census, its population
consisted of twice as many indigenous Papuans as non-indigenous migrants from
other parts of the archipelago, but economic injustice and disadvantage limit the
indigenous population’s access to wealth. Poverty
rates in West Papua are twice the national average, and between 2002 and 2013,
income inequality increased by 24 per cent, according to UNDP.
Government policies have also contributed to the problem.
The arrival of migrants, fostered by transmigration programmes, has upset the
demographics and social and cultural heritage of the people of West Papua and
exacerbated competition over land and resources. Compounded with the socially
and environmentally destructive development projects pushed in the region by
Indonesia, this has caused widespread social disruption and environmental
damage, forcing Papuan tribal groups to relocate, according to researchers from
Yale Law School cited by Elsham in a 2003 Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights session.
Persevering
to fight silence and impunity
Unreported exactions keep occurring as foreign
eyes and independent international observers are barred from West Papua. It is therefore
only thanks to the work of local organizations and human rights defenders such
as Paul, who runs Elsham’s office in West Papua and attends international
advocacy meetings at the Human Rights Council in Geneva communicating regularly
with donors, that the world can know what is happening there.
“Impunity has allowed the security force, the police and the army, free
access to inflict fear and terror through torture and other physical abuses,”
Paul explains his motivation. “In order for torture to end the Indonesia State
must take a strong action to punish those involved in its practice.”
Despite these odds and the many challenges of his job including being under Indonesian intelligence surveillance being as an “independence sympathizer”, Paul, 51, trusts that the human rights conditions in West Papua will improve.
-- by Lori Brumat in Geneva
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