Seeing Indonesia as Family with Various Dynamics
Muhamad Rosyid Jazuli, Annalia Bahar — March 2021
Diversity within Indonesia is like diversity in a family. Every individual in it is different. There’s fighting, there’s dispute, but of course there are affection and love. However, regardless of its dynamics, the family is still a family that is a unique, integrated unit.
Other people may comment on these dynamics. However, the ones who know the most and can make decisions about the future of anyone in the family are those from within it. Those are the ones who interact with each other every day.
Decisions are not to be made or even influenced by close neighbors, distant neighbors, and not those who can only think about the family’s shortcomings, without knowing what really happened.
The brief illustration above is a description of the dynamics within Indonesia’s diversity. Given that it is a large nation with around 1,340 ethnic groups, and 718 regional languages, uniting Indonesia is difficult. It requires strong cooperation between all nation elements.
Amid the current era of globalization full of vast information spread and conflicting interests, each needs to have the ability to filter information and prioritize the principles of objectivity and neutrality before concluding.
In recent years, the coverage of Papua and West Papua has increased, along with the escalation of conflict in the two regions, including racism in the last two years. However, as soon as the problem arose, many parties immediately reached out to help calm the situation, conveying sympathy and empathy.
Unfortunately, for close and far away neighbors, the misunderstandings that lead to the slightest “quarrel” become the subject of gossip subsequently capitalized to benefit those who try to take advantage of the grave condition. Even worst were the accusations that this Indonesian family should be divided. The head of the family was considered to fail in providing security to the family members.
UN Upholds the Sovereignty of Every Country
As stated in Article 2 in Part I (Objectives and Principles) of the UN Charter, in achieving the goals of maintaining world peace and security, in practice, the UN as an organization of independent nations operates based on the principle of sovereignty for all its members. Furthermore, it is also stated that there is no discussion whatsoever contained in the Charter of the United Nations which gives the UN the authority to intervene in matters that were within the domestic jurisdiction of its member states.
It means that as an independent country with legal and sovereign governance, Indonesia has the full right to solve various problems that occur in it, of course, by prioritizing the principle of equality before the law.
For the fifth time, Indonesia has been selected to become a UN Human Rights Council member in the period 2020–2022. She obtained the support of votes from 174 UN member countries. That indeed serves ample proof of the international world’s confidence in Indonesia’s commitment and track record in the application and advancement of human rights that exist at the global level and regional and national levels.
Indonesia received the highest votes for the Asia Pacific region. She was elected along with three other countries from the Asia Pacific group namely Japan (165 votes), Republic of Korea (165 votes), and Marshall Island (123 votes).
Indonesia as it is: a long journey
Nobody will deny that Papua has a dark period, especially when it comes to its integration with Indonesia. During the devastating era of colonialism, information and its spread was very confusing. Conflicting claims of power occurred, including in Papua. Some Dutch officials allegedly told some leading Papuan figures that the region was independent, particularly from Indonesia. Ambiguously, the Dutch unilaterally claimed Papua as one of their provinces. Such a claim was then heavily criticized by Mohammad Hatta (1958), then Vice President of Indonesia.
But in the end, all must refer to the main post-colonial rules that apply internationally, especially the one internationally upheld at that time, namely Uti Possidetis Juris. Simply put, the law says that all area of a colony should become part of the new state.
Observing the fluctuation of socio-political and security dynamics in Papua, among others, is influenced by the partial political understanding of some parties about integrating Papua into the Republic of Indonesia. Some argued that the integration of Papua into part of Indonesia on 1 May 1963 tended to be forced by foreign political interests that piggybacked Indonesia in seizing the Papuans’ sovereign rights.
Due to the aforementioned perplexing post-colonial situation, some Papuans claimed to have obtained independence from the Netherlands since 1 December 1961.
Consequently, with such an understanding, some Papuans have attempted to challenge the historical reality of integration with various political efforts, including through the internationalization of the Papua issue.
As a new country, Indonesia was still learning, of course, at that time in managing its land. Such a process also happened in almost all former colonial countries. Again, remember that such a learning process, which includes repressive approaches, does not only occur in Indonesia! The colonial governments even used this method of violence in ruling their colonies.
The ways of managing the country, including managing Papua, through pressure finally ended, especially since the reform era or Reformasi occurred in Indonesia. Democracy is in command throughout Indonesia, including in Papua.
More specifically, only our native Papuans can lead the region as regulated in Article 12 of Law Number 21 of 2001 concerning Special Autonomy for Papua Province. The law states that those who can be elected as Governor and Deputy Governor are Indonesian citizens with the first condition is they must be Native Papuan.
In fact, in other areas, of course, outsiders will not be elected as regional leaders. However, specifically for Papua, this is strengthened by a strong, formal regulation to respect and protect the people’s rights there.
Furthermore, this regulation is also the basis for implementing the special autonomy fund (Otsus) policy and additional infrastructure funds (DTI) for Papua, which from 2002 to 2020 have been disbursed in the amount of Rp. 93.05 trillion for Papua, and Rp. 33, 94 trillion for West Papua, disbursed from 2009 to 2020.
Even though the Ministry of Home Affairs is currently working on the extension of regulations related to Special Autonomy and Commission II of the DPR RI, there are still many boisterous pros and cons from the public. Indeed, some voices refusing the continuation of this Special Autonomy Volume II is strong.
The escalation of some political issues regarding Papua shows that there is still a lot of homework to do by the Indonesian government. These relate to demands for the Jakarta-Papua dialogue facilitated by third parties, requests for tracing the political history of the process of integration of Papua into the Republic of Indonesia, and implementing the 1969 Pepera demands for resolving past human rights violations to date. All elements of the nation must resolve such homework to improve our brothers and sisters’ welfare in Papua.
Furthermore, the Special Autonomy regulations’ evaluation needs to collaborate directly with Papuan leaders. The government also needs to conduct studies, dialogue, and research with various levels of society and hear input from experts so that the level of community satisfaction with the implementation of Otsus so far can be known.
Papua and its development: complex, and of course, not perfect
It has been crystal clear that the Indonesian people have never been silent about allowing Papua to languish and impoverish. A study conducted by LIPI (a kind of the highest research council in Indonesia) in 2008. This study examines Papua’s problems, which lead to 4 root causes.
First, the issue of history and the political status of Papua’s integration into Indonesia. Papuans and many other Indonesians of other ethinicities (including us) still do not feel that the process of integration into Indonesia was correct. Second, there has not yet been reconciliation and recognition about the problem of military operations that occurred in the past in Papua. Military operations that have been ongoing since 1965 until especially the current Reformasi era, had given Papuans a long record of state violence and human rights violations.
Third, everything that has been mentioned previously has caused the Papuan people to have the stigma of being marginalized. Fourth, the failure of the development of Papua, where the state is not present in the parts where Papuans need it. For example, it is easy to find a school where the teaching and learning process is not running because there are no teachers and also an empty puskesmas (local health service center) because there are no medical personnel and medicines.
LIPI’s recommendations include: First, recognition and empowerment of indigenous Papuans. Second, a new paradigm of Papuan development. Third, human rights court and reconciliation. How can all this be done? In addition to continuing development programs that are / are currently underway, the most important policy recommendation is to enable dialogue between conflicting parties, both in Papua and the Central Government in Jakarta.
Now Papua has an infrastructure that connects the different areas within it. Communication and internet connections are also available there. Schools, both public and private, are widely available in Papua. Some come with fees, but many are free. There are also many shopping centers, both traditional and modern.
Many locals, Papuan natives, have become regional leaders. Many Papuans are now government officials, TNI and POLRI members. Some have even become figures at the central level. Of course, it is all not that perfect.
The availability of roads, schools and the internet is not yet evenly distributed. There are also cases of past violence that have not been resolved. Recently, we were even shocked by the shooting of a Papuan community leader, Pastor Yeremia, allegedly shot by a security officer.
In response to this, the government formed a Joint Fact-Finding Team (TGPF), which has continued to carry out its investigations since last October. Unfortunately, in carrying out their mission, several fact-finding team members were shot at by an armed group, known as the TPM-OPM, in Hitadifa District, Intan Jaya, Papua.
Armed contact between the security forces (TNI-POLRI) and members of the TPM-OPM is nothing new. A study conducted by the Papua Task Force (GTP) of Gajah Mada University (UGM) shows that 204 cases of violence in Papua and West Papua between 2010 and May 2020 occurred vertically and horizontally. More than half of the violence was committed by the Papuan Armed Criminal Group, known as the KKB and the TPM-OPM.
The GTP UGM found that the KKB committed most cases, namely 118 cases, 42 cases were by residents, and 28 cases were by TNI-POLRI, while 16 cases were by unknown persons. All these incidents resulted in 1,869 people being victims. Of these, 356 people died, and 70% or about 250 people were civilians. 46 TNI personnel, 34 police and 26 KKB members also died.
By law, it is clear that TPM-OPM is a group that violates the law in Indonesia. Thus, resisting and repressing them is the duty of the Indonesian government! What kind of government is it that would let such extremists and separatists operate within the country?
You may think, aren’t Papuans supporting the OPM? If so, you need to expand the circle of your information intake and discussion. Indeed, there has been positive news about Papua, such as that it is a safe, multicultural place to visit. Unfortunately, much positive information from Papua is not conveyed globally because merely they are not written in English. What are the benefits of reporting positive news, especially for the media? That’s their right, of course, for not reporting. However, as introspection, this is serious homework for Indonesia.
As explained above, Papuans are diverse, and like most Indonesians, some work for the government and in the private sector. Many Papuans are now found to be medical doctors (soon some will be specialist doctors), regional leaders, successful businessmen, and military and police leaders. Maybe only a few of them would confuse themselves with political issues and sympathize with the TPM-OPM.
Also, allowing the OPM to develop is a state crime because it means allowing separatism. Again, The TPM-OPM is an armed group. They are not a group that messes around with someone’s life. Recently they set fire to missionary planes carrying foodstuffs for Papuans. If you don’t know it, it’s probably because the news is a little bit written in English.
But indeed, they need to be approached culturally and in dialogue. At this point, the government cannot go it alone. Religious and community leaders who commit to Indonesian unity must be embraced together.
There have been many approaches to ensure that violence in Papua does not recur. However, one thing needs to be continuously promoted: the traditional security approach with the use of force alone or show of force will never be effective in resolving various complex situations in Papua. A more humane and deliberative process is needed that responds to the community’s need to change, including to continue to improve health, education, and the economy of the region.
Respect each other’s household rules
In terms of the existence of “political” prisoners regarding Papua’s issue, we need to be wise in looking at the context of the problem. Actually, who are called as political prisoners by some parties or individuals? If these political prisoners are detained without trial, then what is called political prisoners refers to a dead end.
All those currently detained for Papua-related cases have gone through an open trial process. If someone is not satisfied with the result, please take legal actions, or convey it in public that there is an error in the judicial process, not making a baseless statement, let alone boasting around that Indonesia is an injustice country or anything like that.
Indonesia is indeed a country based on law. Anyone who violates the law, of course, needs to be prosecuted. Those who have been prosecuted, of course, clearly violate the ruling regulations in Indonesia. It should be noted that criminal law is not universal. It develops according to the context and situation in the regions of each country.
Comparing the basis and implementation of each law in various countries is certainly welcome, or even encouraged as part of knowledge production. However, pressuring one government to follow how the rule applies in another is very unwise. In this context, what a few parties and individuals state to ask Indonesia to release political prisoners is a playful, baseless and thoughtless statement.
Most importantly, regarding the entry permit for the UN investigation team to Papua, it needs to be clarified that currently there is no ongoing investigation mechanism against Papua or anything like that. The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia (PTRI) Geneva has taken action by meeting with the UN Secretariat to convey Indonesia’s views and positions.
And it is certain, as stated in the UN Charter, the United Nations runs its organization based on the principle of respecting the sovereignty of its member nations. Also, within the UN itself, there is no specific mechanism for such intervention.
For information, regarding the handling of the current Covid-19 pandemic in Papua, so far it has been going well. Papua is the region with one of the best handling of a pandemic in Indonesia. Again, if you can’t find news like this, it might be because the related info has not been written in English.
There is a lot of information, especially written in English, which states that Papua is closed for foreigners. In fact, many foreigners live and settle in Papua. They manage schools, houses of worship, reading homes, and social activities to improve the Papuan people’s social and economic standard.
There are also many non-native Papuan Indonesians who live in Papua. They are not migrants but have lived there for generations as Papuans. They call Papua is their home. That Papua is a multicultural area is a recent issue, let alone today’s dispute. Multicultural Papua has been long before when colonialism was born. Multicultural interactions have occurred there for centuries.
Select info mindfully
Looking at the aforementioned illustration, the dynamics that occur in Papua are like those in a family. Indonesian citizens, especially those who are educated, will not deny that various social, economic, and political problems in Papua have happened similarly across regions in Indonesia.
However, apart from many imperfect things, it is clear that Papua is one of the fastest-growing areas in Indonesia. The Indonesian people are those who love each other, who are ready to help their relatives, including Papuans, regardless of skin color when difficulties strike.
However, there are still voices from neighbors or distant people who always want to see the division of the Indonesian “family”. Of course, that’s life.
Now, as a wise reader and person, the choice is right before you. If there is dynamics in your family, you can choose at least two options of info as follows.
One, to listen to the neighbor’s imprudent, sometimes misguided, voice. It can be loud and spiky, and often it doesn’t have any basis. Two, listen to stories and explanations from your family. Listen to those who know how the rules apply in your household, as well as the real situation therein. (*)
This piece fully represents the writer’s idea. It does not express any ideas or stances of specific institutions or organizations she/He works at or is affiliated with.
*This article may, or could be our last piece in this medium, the Wawawa Journal. We have been blessed by this opportunity to help the public understand the complexity of Papua’s issues. We are thankful for the chance to provide some balance perspective about the issues, and also, for the overwelming feedback (both positive and negative) which indeed has surely allowed us also to learn more about our country which we could not have been done without it.
