We, the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) or Free Papua Movement (FPM),¹  feel it is necessary to explain clearly to the regional and international community why we see that the independence of West Papua today is inevitable. We have come to conclude that there is confusion in the regional and international community about whether West Papua will get independence or not and this uncertainty may have led many of you to believe you are wasting your time on the issue and so you just ignore us.

There are three major reasons to justify our belief that West Papua independence today is inevitable and they are:

1. We have come to a state of full self-consciousness. What we mean is we are fully aware of our own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of our enemy, the Indonesian colonial power.
2. The changes taking place in international and Indonesian politics favour West Papua independence.
3. Indonesia has only one last strategy left to contain West Papua and its land in the boundary of the so-called unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia. That approach is to maintain psychological pressure on the international community to ensure their support for the existing state of Indonesia.

We have come to a state of full self-consciousness.

Almost 40 years of struggle for our independence against the brutal regime of Indonesia has contributed many advantages. Through this very difficult process we have improved in many areas. We have realized that since the beginning we have been fighting alone against the most sophisticated international political circumstances. International developments have been progressing so fast that it has forced us to be wiser, more alert and more creative. As a result we have succeeded in many different things. For example we have:

• built a self-reliance philosophy so our struggle is not dependent on anyone but ourselves;
• built a sense of nationalism where the aspiration for independence exists throughout entire West Papua;
• built the capacity of our defence facility including manufacture of home made weapons which is cheaper and effective in our context;
• resolved our internal disputes so we have come together as one, fighting in different ways but with one goal;
• improved our standard of training, tactics and strategy so that many times we have made an unexpected move that has shocked or confused our colonial masters;
• brought international attention to our case so that Indonesia finds it difficult to succeed in her isolation strategy for us;
• created confusion to the many friends of our colonial master so they do not know exactly our ability and many times they underestimate us.²

Our organization is still progressing in many different areas. Our experiences have also built our self-confidence and we believe nothing is impossible for us. We will defy our enemy and get our independence. It is just a matter of timing and prioritising our alternative strategies.

______________________________
¹ Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) or Free Papua Movement (FPM) was created by the people of West Papua on the 24^th of July 1964, a year after the invasion of the TNI or the Indonesian occupation force in West Papua. The OPM was formed in order to push forward the aspiration of the people of West Papua for self-determination and independence and its initial aim was to sabotage the Act Of Free Choice planned for 1969. The OPM was formed in Manokwari under the leadership of Ludwig Mandacen and Fery Awom (both ex Dutch army). Since 1973, the OPM has a structure, which includes military and political wings.

The changes taking place in international and Indonesian politics favour West Papua independence.

International interests, particularly those of the US, created the Indonesian state during the cold war. The end of the cold war has brought changes to the alliances and interests of international players, including the US. International tensions based on religious difference have replaced communism as the perceived threat to western interests. Indonesia’s value as a pro-western state has therefore shifted within global politics. International economic interests in the markets and opportunities provided by Indonesia’s large population and geographic position remain but their value to Western interests as a buffer to a perceived communist threat has waned. The international community, including the US are gravely concerned by Fundamentalist Islamic forces. Indonesia has a large population, 90% of whom are Muslim and there is a strong sign of fundamentalist element in Indonesia. Now with the continuous pressure of Islamic Fundamentalists around the world, the international community will be concerned to see Indonesia remain a secular state and continue the process of democratization. At the same time the international community continues to maintain support for Indonesia to remain a unitary state.

^{______________________________
2} Practical examples of OPM increasing capacity over the years include:

• 1977 first meeting at the PNG/West Papua border with UNDP PNG representative Dr. Tom Unwin to create first official West Papua refugee camp in Gulf Province in PNG which brought international attention and recognition that ‘border crossers’ were refugees
• 1978 OPM succeed in destroying major pipeline at Freeport Mine resulting in huge losses to company
• 1984 OPM mobilize 15,000 West Papuans to move across the border into PNG to create international attention
• 1985 OPM mobilize to bring the two main OPM factions together to sing an MOU in Port Vila, Vanuatu
• 1986 OPM make connection with Libya
• 1990’s onwards OPM begin to manufacture their own weapons
• 1993 OPM mobilize people to prepare for a National Congress
• National Congress successfully achieved in June 2000 where there was 100% support for independence
• 2000 first West Papua delegation attends UN under sponsorship of Vanuatu
• Early 2001 OPM destroy a small plane carrying 13 high ranking Indonesian military officers using remote control bomb

OPM is the longest established, most widely representative body representing the West Papuan peoples’ aspiration for independence. It is also the group with full capacity. Therefore anyone who wants to deal with the West Papua issue must include the OPM.

The Indonesia state is not the same as during the cold war. There are five main elements at play within the Indonesian state: the elite ruling class, the military, the Democratic Movement, the Islamic Fundamentalist Movement and Liberation Movements. Indonesian politics are very complex and the international community must look carefully at who they support if they are also concerned about regional peace and stability, as not only West Papua but also many people in Indonesia will continue to push for change, which will include modification of the present unitary state.

The present Indonesian regime is not strong or stable. It is dependant on international support because it is weak economically and politically. Internally it is dependent on the support of the military, who are dissatisfied because they are losing power. At the same time, it is dependant on the support of the Indonesian people, who want quick reformation of this same government structure, which has enabled Javanese Royal Family monopoly over power for so long. Both the government and military depend on support of the Indonesian people to maintain their position but people are tired of their abuses of privilege and power and they want change that shakes the structure of the government and military. And this push for change is now unstoppable.

The Indonesian military, which for a long time enjoyed supreme power and international support, is no longer in such a strong position as before. The economic crisis has cut the military budget and the military itself is split. Many years of brutal oppression has resulted in the people of Indonesia now questioning the role of the military in Indonesia. There is a rapidly growing anti-military feeling because people have realized that it is not really the peoples’ defence force but another force of neo-colonialism and the puppet of external interests. This has strengthened peoples’ feeling that it is important to make a total change in Indonesia, which can include modification of the state. At the same time international public opinion about the role of the Indonesia military has changed particularly after events in East Timor were televised to the world. The military have a strong desire to maintain the unitary state and their position of power within it. Their role and conduct in East Timor illustrates this clearly.

The weakening of the hold of the military has allowed space for both the Democratic Movement and for the Islamic Fundamentalist Movement in Indonesia to breathe. These groups both strongly believe that the process of reformation, started 2 years ago in Indonesia, has to continue and that this must include reform of the Indonesian military. The Democratic Movement and Islamic Fundamentalist Movement are both pushing for the process of reformation in Indonesia to proceed quickly, although their reasons for inviting reform are different. Both groups see that modification of the present state of Indonesia is part of the reform process. (It is important to note that while international support and pressure was important in the East Timor case, it was internal support in Indonesia that paved the way for the referendum. SOLIDAMOR (Solidarity for East Timor), a coalition of Indonesian groups including Islamic Fundamentalist Movement and Democratic Movement agreed on a common strategy to support East Timor’s aspirations. Habibi was sympathetic with the strategy of this group). Megawati Sukarno Putri came to power with the support of the Islamic Fundamentalist Movement, although she herself is Buddhist and from the Democratic Movement. Both these groups now want to see their different interests for reform served by her government. Wahid tried to maintain his position through concentrating on convincing outsiders that he could maintain stability and keep the various internal tensions in balance. He saw that the military were weakening and decided to use a democratic approach and the maintenance of an Indonesian unitary state as bargaining for outside support to maintain his position. He underestimated the power of the various internal forces in Indonesia that now make and break Presidents.

The Democratic Movement in Indonesia see that the present military in Indonesia is another obstacle to democracy and therefore many conclude that the only alternative is to adjust and modify the history and boundaries of Indonesia in order to push the military totally back to the barrack so they do what they are supposed to do instead of being involved in public affairs. The Democratic Movement see that in order to maintain the large unitary state of Indonesia, a large defence force must be maintained; so better to modify the state so that Defence Force numbers can be cut. The Democratic Movement also recognizes that the Indonesian state was formed through force, not through the wish of the various peoples that now make up Indonesia. They have sympathy with West Papua case and history³ and support our struggle for independence from the state of Indonesia, as it also serves their interests.

The Islamic Fundamentalist Movement also wants reform but their reasons are different. They want to see Indonesia’s boundaries modified to become an Islamic state. The international Islamic movement has a strategy of establishing Islamic Fundamentalist cells throughout the world, and the Islamic Fundamentalist Movement in Indonesia want to use West Papua as a stepping stone to Melanesia. They offer support to West Papua’s aspiration for independence in return for easy access to Melanesia and the Pacific region. They recognize West Papua’s strategic position of being located between Muslim and Christian societies and they recognize that they can use our struggle to bargain with West Papua leaders for what they want in return.

______________________________
³ Status of West Papua was always different from rest of Indonesia:

1. In 1850 following West Papua’s victory in the 20 year war between West Papua and the representative of Netherlands East Indies, Sultan Ternate, a 3 point agreement was signed between them, witnessed by the Dutch:
• West Papua demanded to be free of slave trade
• West Papua demanded for separate status which resulted in Manokwari becoming the headquarter of Netherlands New Guinea
• West Papua demanded to run its own affairs
2. Since that time West Papua was called Netherlands New Guinea, not Netherlands East Indies. This status was re-instated in 1920 and officially based on that in the 1950’s West Papua was prepared towards being a separate independent state in 1971
3. In 1945 during sitting of preparation committee for Independence for Indonesia (BPUPKI) and in 1953 during the first Indonesia Parliament sitting, there was strong opposition for West Papua to be part of the Republic of Indonesia (including the resignation of Indonesia’s first Vice-President, Dr. M Hata over this issue). But Sukarno using the cold war as bargaining, decided West Papua must be included and used force in 1963 to invade West Papua. Fighting continued (with West Papua undefeated) until UN intervention and the 1969 Act of No Choice, which came to be accepted internationally.
4. In 1949, at the time of round table negotiation between Netherlands Representative and Republic of Indonesia in Den hag, it was officially agreed that West Papua is not part of the Republic of Indonesia.
5. West Papua is culturally and geographically different from the rest of Indonesia.

If international community wants to see Indonesia remain a unitary state and a secular state, they must realize both these things will not go together. So what is the priority?

The only solution for external supporters to maintain a unitary state is to continue to support the military. But we have already seen that their position is not supported by the people of Indonesia and so to support military will only fuel the tensions and conflict that already exist within Indonesia. So this is a dangerous strategy, as it will contribute to further instability in Indonesia and the region.

Which means the present regime will also find it hard to use military to contain the situation in Indonesia. (It is also very important to note that in order just to contain West Papua, Indonesia needed their total military strength as in the past 40 years but with the present condition, we have seen that if the OPM start using all our capacity now, militarily Indonesia won’t be able to successfully stop us. Even they will make us more confident and more determined towards total independence without any proper compromise that can guarantee Indonesian or regional interests in the future. In other words we have seen that today West Papua alone will be able to destabilize Indonesia as we will always win the struggle on the ground and that will eventually split Indonesia into pieces because it will give a big psychological impact to other separatist/liberation movements in Indonesia).

We see that many members of the international and regional community will have an interest in maintaining a secular state of Indonesia and they will come to accept that for this to occur there will need to be some further modification (that is the Indonesian unitary state in its present form will not exist; and the process of modification has already begun with East Timor independence). The possibility of Indonesia becoming an Islamic Fundamentalist state (which will also see modification of the present state) will be of too great a concern to the regional and international community.

In our view external support can come from international Islamic block or from democratic block. But both these external supporters will face opposition from the other block. The third party is the military and they will always pretend to cooperate because they are opportunist and they will always make themselves easy to approach. But it will be useless because military are already weakening. West Papua has become an important party to determine stability as the two most important elements in Indonesia; Democratic Movement and Islamic Fundamentalist Movement, need West Papua. Both want to use West Papua as a good partner to pursue their interest.⁴  If the international community (especially the democratic block), want to try to maintain Indonesia as a secular state without considering West Papua they will be very foolish. The changes in international and Indonesia politics today have shifted the power balance where West Papua has become the most important stabilizing or destabilizing influence in the region. It is time for the international community to turn their attention to the legitimate case of the West Papuan people who have been patient for too long. If international community continue to ignore our issue then it is probable that West Papua will start to lose patience and decide to concentrate on going their own way and prove it on the ground.

______________________________
⁴ Connections between OPM and representatives from both these groups have existed and developed since the end of the 1980’s

Indonesia has only one last strategy left to contain West Papua and its land in the boundary of the so-called unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia.

How will the present regime in Indonesia manage these serious internal tensions so they continue to enjoy power and international support? They will find it hard to use the military to contain the internal demands for change in Indonesia. International public opinion about the role of the Indonesian military has changed, particularly after events of East Timor televised to the world and they can no longer expect to enjoy international support as before.

We see that the present Indonesia colonization had only one last instrument of bargaining with the international community to maintain her interests, including maintaining West Papua in her territory, and that is using psychological approach. They will try to convince the international community that they are capable of managing the tensions and maintaining stability in the remaining unitary state of Indonesia. That can include psychological threat as for example on 1^st December 2000 when Indonesia sent 29 warships to West Papua to contain social unrest. We knew it was psychological approach. We had already decided not to fight 6 months before so it was a tactic to frighten the international community that there would be a ‘blood bath’ if they support West Papua.

The offer of autonomy package to Aceh and West Papua is another psychological approach that will not work. Aceh have said they will not accept autonomy. For West Papua, independence is non-negotiable. The 1960’s were the time to talk. But instead of using a persuasive approach at this time to create room for West Papuans to consider autonomy, Indonesia used brutal force from the beginning. Through almost 40 years our people have died and suffered. We have lost land, property and 600,000 lives. We want justice and what was taken from us by force, not autonomy.

We also see that conditions are right for us to succeed in gaining our independence, so why should we move back from that? It is just a matter of timing and prioritizing our alternative strategies from the different opportunities that exist in the present conditions. But with our realization that West Papua is a key determining factor to regional stability, we prefer to go through a peace and dialogue process supervised by an internationally recognized third party. We must have internal reconciliation that leads to the establishment of a proper West Papuan interim body that can manage a transition towards the establishment of a wise and democratic West Papua national government that will not only look at West Papuan’s interests but also look at common regional interests. We ask for your support.

Thank you.

John E Somer General TPN
OPM Supreme Commander

  MORE COMMENTARIES

Get the latest news,
Get on TheBlackList:
The New "Negro World"!
Statisfying the African Need to Know.
So Now We KNOW...
WHAT NOW?

Subscribe TheBlackList!

Select the newsletters you'd like to receive, then enter your email address below. It's free! TheBlackList listname two goes here