West Papua is the western half of the
island of New Guinea or
Papua. Though it had been part of
Australia around 5000 BC, and shares similar ecology to
Australian rainforests; the people of Papua and other Melanesian islands developed complex farming
and trading cultures which have remain largly intact.
Claimed as a possession of Indonesia
since 1969, West Papua has been divided into the provinces of West Irian Jaya, and Papua Province. Having by 1960
established a strong national identity, and being significantly more
developed than Papua New Guinea then was, the people of West Papua had
rejected both the Indonesian invasion in 1961 and 1962, and the denial
of their voting rights in the 1969 Indonesian decision to annex West
Papua as part of Indonesia.
Papuans, the native people of New Guinea
are a Pacific Melanesian people as are
those of the Moluccas, Solomons,
Vanuatu, New Caledonia and
Fiji. Melanesians have inhabited
the Australian continental islands of Papua and the Moluccas for over forty
thousand years and have developed
diverse cultures and languages; there are over 300 languages and two
hundred additional dialects in west Papua alone.
It is believed the first Europeans to sight New Guinea were the Portuguese, but it was the Dutch vessel Duyfken which first recorded its travel along the southern coast of Papua in 1605. The Duyfken did not explore the coast of Papua, but sailed south into the Gulf of Carpentaria, landing in northern Australia.
In 1828 the Dutch claimed the south coast west of the 141st meridian, and in 1848 added the north coast west of Humboldt Bay. The Netherlands established trading posts in the area after Britain and Germany recognised the Dutch claims in treaties of 1885 and 1895. (At much the same time, Britain claimed south-east New Guinea later known as the Territory of Papua and Germany claimed the north-east later known as the Territory of New Guinea).
In 1923 the Nieuw Guinea Beweging (New Guinea Movement) was created in the Netherlands by ultra right wing supporters calling for Dutchmen to create a tropical Netherlands in Papua. This pre-war movement without full government support was largely unsuccessfull in its drive, but did coincide with the developement of a plan for excess Eurasians of the Dutch Indies to establish Dutch farms in northern west Papua. This effort also failed as most return to Java disillusioned, and by 1938 just 50 settlers remain near Hollandia and 258 in Manokwari.
In the early 1930s the need for a national Papuan government was discussed by graduates of the Teachers College in Mei Wondama, Manokwari. These graduates continued their discussions among the wider community and appear to have quickly succeeded in cultivating a desire for a national unity across the region's cultures and its three hundred languages.
In 1942
the northern coast of
West Papua and the nearby islands were occupied by
Japanese forces, whose vehicles
and men were hard pressed to survive the Papuan environment, by 1944
Japan had lost 65% of its initial invasion force without combat. When
Gen. MacArthur's forces arrived in West Papua the American forces found
the local people both friendly and willing to assist. They soon
discovered the Dutch speaking Papuans were still able to access vast
networks of farms and able to provide builders and machine workers in
addition to guides and translators; in quick order the American forces
knew none of the hardships which had bedeviled the Japanese.
Within months over twenty US military bases and hospitals surrounded Hollandia and dotted various other locations. Intended as the staging point from which to launch a campaign towards the Philippines and South East Asia, Gen. MacArthur had his Headquarters constructed at Hollandia (now Jayapura) where they are still popular tourist attractions for western visitors.
The Netherlands retained it's lose
possession of West Papua from 1945;
but upon reaching Java in Asia
4,000km away they were shocked to find that four
years of propaganda had turn many Javanese against them and that the
pre-war dis'' Sukarno now commanded a large militia. Since the 1920's
Sukarno had been calling for armed revolution and for Japan to declare
war against the United States of America as well as other western
powers of the Pacific. When Japan took power in early 1942 Java, the
Javanese people had refused to aid the Japanese war effort; in response
the Japanese General had released Sukarno from his Dutch jail and gave
him access to a new trans-Java and trans-Sumatra radio and loud speaker
network. Unknown to the west, Sukarno had convinced many Javanese that
both non-Asians and westerners were their true enemy, and by mid 1945
over two million Javanese had joined volunteer armies to fight the
western powers.
It was from this vast force that Sukarno was able to form his post-war
militia; Hatta and Sukarno had declared independence upon the radio at
the wars end, six weeks before any Netherland representatives were able
reach Java.
The growth of this Axis militia power in Asia would quickly came to control the destiny of West Papua throughout the rest of the twentieth century and into the twenty first. After Japan had in March 1945 created the independence committee to which they appointed Sukarno and others, the committee soon proposed that they should claim not only Java and Sumatra, but also Borneo and the Celebese, which had been part of the Dutch East Indies. This was then expanded to include West Papua which had also been a Dutch colonial claim.
Though outraged by Sukarno's demands, and shocked by the level of infrastructure destruction and proverty which the war years had created in Java and Sumatra, the post-war Netherlands was unable to mount any military response to the militia until 1949. While successful in regaining control of the urban centers, the militia had withdrawn into the rural regions and the Netherlands declined pressing a campaign against gurellia tactics. The two sides agreed to resolve their differences in discussions known as the Round Table Conference held from August to October 1949 at the Hague. Unable to agree upon the final matter of West Papua, the conference closed agreeing to discuss the West Papua issue within one year.
To prepare for negotiations of the
administration of West Papua, a joint Dutch-Indonesian commision was
established to tour (17 May to 5 June 1950) and report upon the region.
However divergant views resulted in separate reports; the Dutch
emphasised their view that a democratic expression of West Papuan
wishes was not yet fessible, and that under Article 73 of the United Nations charter this
requirred the Netherlands to regard the West Papuan interests as
paramount; the Indonesian delegation stated view was that the region
was an inseparable part of the United States of Indonesia and that
indigenous interests were secondary to Indonesian interests. The Dutch
rebutal that West Papua was ethnically and geographically Pacific and
not Asian was refluted by Indonesian efforts to prove the opposite.
(see Melanesia and West
Papua ecology)
The first Dutch-Indonesian conference
dedicated to the West Papua issue was held 4 to 27 December, 1950. The
Indonesian delegation open with a statement that by right West Papua
belong to Indonesia and did not require negotiation, though they were
willing to offer concessions which for the Dutch meant, businesses and
civil servants could remain complete with guaranteed pensions, Dutch
emigration would be allowed, and the Christian missions would be
safeguarded; while for the West Papuan people a representative council
would immediately be established and autonomy would be allowed
afterwards.
However the continued reports during
1950 of corruption and the removal of democratic principles, had
created Dutch concern regarding Indonesian intentions. The Netherlands
insisted that indigenous self-determination was paramount and it should
be preceded by a information campaign by both Indonesian and the
Netherlands, that either a Papuan council or joint Ministerial body be
created to hear any issues, and vitally that self-determination be
restricted to the Papuan people and that the process be jointly
supervised.
Jakarta rejected the proposal on 23
December 1950 and demanded sovereignty of West Papua be transfered to
Indonesia by June 1951. The Prime Minister of the Netherlands
later (1973) claimed to also have offered to transfer West Papua
to Indonesia as a autonomous state; and that it was Sukarno himself who
had rejected both offers.
After the failure of the West Papua
talks, Indonesia investigated if it could revise the Round Table
Conference agreements which the Netherlands agreed to if Indonesia
would agree to compromise. At the new talks in January 1952 the
Indonesian delegate argued that West Papua had legally already belong
to Indonesia under the RTC agreements. Refuting this, the Netherlands
suggested the matter should be submitted to the International Court of
Justice; an offer which Indonesia declined stating that its grounds
were political and not legal rights.
During 1952 the Netherlands developed a
policy to maintain the status of West Papua, meanwhile Sukarno and
Mohammad Yamin continued promoting a rhetoric that all territories
which legend claimed as part of the ancient Madjapahit empire should
become part of Indonesia.
Holland accelerated its education and technical programs in preparation for independence. A naval academy was open in 1956 and Papuan troops and naval cadets begun service by 1957.
In Nov 1957 Australia and the
Netherlands issued a statement on administrative cooperation of the two
halves of Papua stressing inalienable rights of the indigenous people
in accord with the UN charter. In Jan 1958 the director of the
Australian school for colonial officers, J. R. Kerr, presented a plan
for a united Melanesian state.; while in Washington the Australian
Ambassador was instructed to ask the US to commit to supporting the
Netherlands as a trusted ally.
By 1959 Papuans were nurses, dental surgeons, draft-men, architects, telephone repairmen, radio and power technicians, working a range of experimental commercal crops, police, forestry and metrological staff; etc. This progress towards self governance was documented in reports prepared for the United Nations from 1950 to 1961.
Elections were held and Papuan representatives elected during 1959.
In May 1961 an elected Nieuw Guinea Raad (New Guinea Council) became the first Papuan parliament and was responsible for designing and implementing full independence by 1971. The Council decided upon new symbols, a national anthem (Hai Tanahku Papua (Oh My Land Papua)), national flag (Morning Star), and decided the country's official name would become "West Papua". The Dutch recognized the flag and anthem on 18 November 1961 (Government Gazettes of Dutch New Guinea Nos. 68 and 69), and these ordinances came into effect on December 1, 1961.
The Morning Star flag was raised on the
1st December 1961, an act
which West Papuan people celebrate each year at flag raising
ceremonies as indicative of their national unity and commitment to
independence.
Indonesia began an attempted invasion by paratroopers on December 18 1961, though these troops were quickly arrested by the Papuan people. Indonesian efforts continued, including a minor naval battle on January 19, 1962. Behind the scenes, the United States forced the Netherlands to surrender West Papua to Indonesia in August under terms negotiated in New York and specified in a document known as the "New York Agreement". The Australian government, which had been a firm supporter of the Papuan independence, also reversed its policy. (See US Foreign Relations, 1961-63, Vol XXIII, Southeast Asia and US President letter )
The agreement, ratified in the UN on
September 21 1962, stipulated
that authority would transfer to a United Nations Temporary
Executive Authority (UNTEA) on October 1, and that UNTEA would hand the
territory to Indonesia on May 1,
1963, until such time as a
UN-conducted "Act of Free Choice" could
determine the will of the people.
Since 1962 consistent reports have surfaced of programs of suppression including killings, imprisonments, and aerial bombardments. The Indonesian government disbanded the New Guinea Council, and forbade the use of the new flag or the singing of the national anthem. There has been considerable resistance to Indonesian integration and occupation, both through civil disobedience (such as Morning Star flag raising ceremonies) and via the formation of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM, or Free Papua Movement) in 1964.
The widely criticized "
Act of Free Choice" was conducted from 14 July to 2 August 1969 not by the
United Nations as defined in the 1962 New York Agreement, but by the
Indonesian military forces. Indonesia had in talks with the UN in
January 1969 deemed voting was beyond the capacity of the West Papuan
population, and that a Indonesian system called Penentuan Pendapat Rakyat
(PEPERA) should be used instead of voting such as the 1959 elections.
Conducted
while US President Nixon made a three week tour of Asia, all western
reporters in Java and the region had been instructed not to cover the
West Papua vote; however Reuter correspondent Hugh Lunn ignore this
instruction and attended the event where he wittnese Papuans with
protest
signs such as "One, One Vote" whom the Indonesian arrested at gun point.
Former West Papuan politicians Clemens Runaweri and Wim Zonggonau testisfy they were
with the people of Jayapurra during the Act of Free Choice
preparations, when the crowd started singing Christian hymns in protest
of the Indonesian conduct; and that in response Indonesian tanks came
onto the streets and commenced shooting into the crowd to disperse it.
Warned that they were now targets of the military, Clemens Runaweri and Wim Zonggonau fled on foot towards
the safety of Papua New Guinea from where they plan to travel to the
United Nations in New York and tell the world that the 'Act of Free
Choice' was a sham. However when Indonesia received a media report of
this intention, it issued urgent confidential requests to Australian
Ambassador Gordon Jockel that these two politicians be arrested,
stating:
"the early arrival of these two
Irianese at the United Nations could stimulate defiance and seriously
upset the management or conduct of the Act of Choice within West Iria"
As the men were boarding the airplane,
an Australian official drove up and instructed them to step down, when
they explaned that they already had their tickets and other travel
documents the official had the police arrest the two. They were
interned on Manus Island until after the Act of Free Choice had been
completed.
In papers released in 2004, it has been revealed that US Ambassador, Marshall Green in 1969 had fore knowledge that Indonesia had no intention of allowing a Papuan vote that might prevent Indonesia from annexing West Papua as a Indonesian province; he further pointed out that any UN member would unwise to expect free or direct elections.
See West Papuan Genocide.
In 1977 construction of the worlds largest copper and gold mine (also the worlds largest open cut mine) began. Under a Indonesian license signed in 1967 (two years before the "Act of Free Will") the US company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. holds a 30 year mining license for the region from the official opening of the mine (1981). Locals made several violent attempts to dissuade the mine owners, including blowing up a pipeline in July, but order was quickly restored.
The 1990s saw Indonesia accelerate its transmigration program, under which 1.2 million Javanese people into Papua over a ten year period. Nearly all of these migrants are Muslim, coming into an area that, prior to Indonesian occupation, had been Christian.
A national congress in 2000 again calling for independence resulted in a military crackdown on independence supporters. In 2001 a now majority Islamic population was given limited autonomy. An August 2001 US State Department travel warning advised "all travel by U.S. and other foreign government officials to Aceh, Papua and the Moluccas (provinces of North Maluku and Maluku) has been restricted by the Indonesian government".
During the Abdurrahman Wahid administration in 2000 Jakarta discussed a offer of Special Autonomy if West Papua would stop its calls for independence, though rejected by the people, Jakarta continued with its special autonomy plans for Papua Province in 2001. After the small nation of East Timor regain its independence from Indonesia President Wahid was impeached in July 2001. In 2004 the western part of Papua Province became the non-autonomous province of West Irian Jaya Province. In 2005 Jakarta announced is intention to split the remaining part of Papua Province into five parts.
Indonesia structures regions by Regencies and districts within those. Though names and areas of control of these regional structures can vary over time in accord with changing political and other requirements, in 2001 the Irian Jaya (Papua) Province consisted of 12 regencies (kabupaten), 1 city (kotamadya), 117 subdistricts (kecamatan), 66 kelurahan, and 830 villages (desa).
The Regencies in 2001 were: Biak Numfor; Fak-fak; Jayapura; Jayawijaya; Manokwari; Merauke; Mimika; Paniai; Sorong; Timka; Wamena; and Yapen Waropen. See main article Indonesian Regencies of Papua for further details.
Hollandia, founded in 1910 had by 1962 developed into a city with modern civil, educational, and medical services. Since Indonesian administration these services have been replaced by Indonesian equivalents such as the TNI (military) replacing the Papuan police force. The name of the city has been changed from Hollandia, to Kotabaru then Sukarnopura and finally Jayapura.
Jayapura is the largest city, boasting a small but active tourism industry, it is a neat and pleasant city built on a slope overlooking the bay. Cendrawasih University campus houses the Jayapura Museum. Tanjung Ria beach well known to the Allies during the WW II, is a popular holiday resort now with facilities for water sports, and General Douglas MacArthur's World War II quarters are still intact.
| Land Area | |
| Area | 420,540 km2 |
| Climate | |
| Rain fall | 1800 to 3000 mm |
| Temperature | 19-28°C |
| Humidity | 80% |
A central East-West mountain range dominates the geography of New Guinea, over 1600 km in total length. The western section is around 600 km long and 100 km across. Steep mountains 3000 to 4000 m and up to 5000 m high along the range ensures a steady supply of rain from the tropical atmosphere. The tree line is around 4000 m elevation and the tallest peaks are snowbound year round.
Both North and West of the central ranges the land remains mountainous mostly 1000 to 2000 m high covered by thick rain forest and a warm humid year round climate.
The third major habitat feature is the south east lowlands with extensive wetlands stretching for hundreds of kilometers.
The province has 40 major rivers, 12 lakes, and 40 islands. The Mamberamo river, sometimes reffered to as the "Amazon of Papua" is the province's largest river which winds through the northern part of the province. The result is a large area of lakes and rivers known as the Lakes Plains region. The famous Baliem Valley, home of the Dani people is a tableland 1600 m above sea level in the midst of the central mountain range; Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) is a mist covered limestone mountain peak 4884 m above sea level.
Lani, perhaps better known as Dani.
Mee.
Biak.
A vital tropical rainforest with the world's tallest tropical trees and vast biodiversity, Papua's known forest fauna includes marsupials (including possums, wallabies, tree kangaroos, cuscus), other mammals (including the endangered long-beaked echidna), many bird species (including birds of paradise, casuarius, parrots, cockatoos), the world's longest lizards (Papua monitor) and the world's largest butterflies.
| Animal Class | Est. Number |
|---|---|
| Mammal | 180 |
| Marsupial | 70 |
| Bird | 700 |
| endemic bird | 450 |
| Bats | 70 |
The island has an estimated 16,000 species of plant, 124 genera of which are endemic.
The extensive waterways and wetlands of Papua are also home to salt and freshwater crocodile, tree monitor, flying foxes, osprey, bats and other animals; while the equatorial glacier fields remain largely unexplored.
Ecological dangers include deforestation at an alarming rate; the spread of the exotic Crab-eating Macaque (monkey) which now threatens the existence of many native species; pollution such as Grasberg mine dumping 190,000 tons of copper and gold tailings into the rivers system each day;
During the 1960s, the region had its own postage stamps. The first were overprints reading "UNTEA" (United Nations Temporary Executive Authority) applied to the stamps of Dutch New Guinea, issued in 1962. There are four slightly different types of overprint, three types applied locally, and a fourth made in the Netherlands and sold by the UN in New York City.
These were superseded on 1 May 1963 by stamps of Indonesia overprinted "IRIAN BARAT" and a series of six commemoratives whose designs included a map of Indonesia stretching "from Sabang to Merauke" and a parachutist landing in New Guinea. These, as were later issues in 1968 and 1970, were inscribed both "IRIAN BARAT" and "REPUBLIK INDONESIA". The last issue specifically for the territory consisted of two depicting birds (Black-Capped Lory and Bird of Paradise), issued 26 October 1970.
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