I am very concerned at the reports of continuing tensions and violations of human rights in West Papua, or Irian Jaya as it has been known since 1973. Our concerns on the current situation are shared fully by our EU partners.
The territory became the 26th province of Indonesia in 1969 after a consultative process known as the "Act of Free Choice", which was sponsored by the United Nations and which fol lowed the earlier transfer, in 1962, of administrative authority from the Netherlands to Indonesia. The United Nations General Assembly, in 1969, accepted the Secretary General's report on the fulfilment of his mandate, although it is clear there was some disquiet at that time about the circumstances in which the Act of Free Choice was carried out.
Since 1969, the indigenous population, who are of the same ethnic origin as those in the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, have suffered the twin effects of economic exploitation and Indonesia's transmigration programme. The Government-sponsored programme for migrants from Java and Sulawesi – comprising more than 10,000 families every year – could result in the indigenous West Papuan population being reduced to a minority. The widespread appropriation of land for new settlements, forestry concessions, mining projects and farming has led to numerous large scale conflicts between the Indonesian military and the dispossessed tribes people.
As regards the suggestion that the United Nations should now review its own role in the decolonisation process, such a review of decisions by the United Nations would not only be unprecedented but would also have wide-ranging implications, including for other areas of UN activity. However, even if the grounds for such a review were to be satisfactorily established I do not see any prospect of a mandate for it being agreed by the broad UN membership.
The approach supported by the Government, as well as by the EU, is to promote greater decentralisation and autonomy based on dialogue and negotiations between local authorities and the authorities in Jakarta. However, if this approach is to be successful it will need goodwill and a constructive attitude on both sides.
On the one hand, it requires that the Indonesian authorities exercise full and proper control over the security forces to ensure that human rights violations of which they are accused are investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted, and, above all, that such abuses be brought to an end. It also requires that the Indonesian authorities seriously engage with representatives of the local population and not place unnecessary and wilful impediments in their way.
Additional InformationOn the other hand, it requires that the local population build up their capacity to enter into this process in a meaningful and, I hope, agreed way. In this context, I have invited a human rights representative for Irian Jaya to provide us with suggestions about how we could be of assistance in providing training. However, I am concerned at reports of divisions in the local population involving elements ready to use violence to prevent dialogue taking place.
The situation in Irian Jaya must also be viewed against the background of the current serious pol itical and economic problems throughout Indonesia. I am not confident the authorities in Jakarta will either be able or willing to take the decisions necessary for decentralisation and increased regional autonomy. Together with our EU partners, we are following these developments very closely and with great concern.