Racism and the "colonial mindset" in the appropriation and exploitation of people and their lands, their natural resources and their labour.
In December 2016 The Jakarta Post used this photograph, taken on 1st September 2016, of President Joko Widodo escorting Queen Maxima of the Netherlands (the erstwhile Colonial power) at the Merdeka Palace, in an opinion piece headlined: Indonesia in its post-colonialism development.
The author, Dharendra Wardhana, begins the opinion piece referencing Indonesia's colonial past:
Most people assume that Indonesia had an inauspicious fate on being a former colony of the Netherlands, simply as a result of comparison with former British colonies, for instance. While that conjecture might not necessarily be accurate, there are some facts that most Indonesians barely notice. We seldom learn that not all members of Commonwealth nations become developed economies. For example, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sierra Leone are not sharing the similar prosperity as Malaysia or Singapore.
Arguably, Indonesians might feel a little better when realizing that the worst colonizer is neither the Dutch nor the Japanese. It seems that teachers in schools barely teach the history of other colonies. According to the argument of Professor Tim Lankester from the University of Oxford, whom I met a few years ago, it was Belgium that was arguably among the worst colonizers when King Leopold made Congo his personal property, exploited its resources and overworked all its inhabitants between 1908 to 1960. In fact, the Belgian colonizer inflicted much irreversible damage. Hitherto, the prolonged strife still looming between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes is attributable to the ethnic separation policy. Undoubtedly, there are more stories of ill-fated colonies from all over the world, as vividly illustrated in Asian Drama (Myrdal, 1968).
Compared to other colonies’ experiences, we might be slightly fortunate that by the early 20th century, the Dutch administration eventually relented to the pressure of liberal politicians to promulgate Ethical Policy. At that time, the decision to accept moral responsibility for the welfare of colonial subjects ran counter to the formal official doctrine that the Netherlands’ East Indies was solely a profit-making region. That moment later became a milestone and marked the beginning of modern development policy as well as the start of nationalist struggles toward independence. Of the three aims of Ethical Policy, education seemed to carry sizable benefits particularly toward a middle class that progressively thought about the larger extent of natives’ equal rights.
Why does Dharendra Wardhana make this comparison between the Dutch and the Belgian colonial record? What has the Eurocentric ideological framework of colonialism to do with Indonesian political, economic and ethical development?
Samir Amin, who animated the term in his work on Eurocentrism was also clear in terms of method, when it came to the challenge of how to overthrow the colonial and imperial powers, through a process of de-linking from imperialism. To quote from the IDEAS In Memoriam: Samir Amin:
Though his emancipatory project was focused on Africa and his locational shifts within Africa made him a pan-Africanist in physical and conceptual terms, he saw himself as one among those shaping a movement for emancipation from oppression and egalitarian development across the Third World. His personal experience, however, did not lead to the conclusion that the problem in underdeveloped countries was just one of exploitative elites and the governments that represented them. He attributed the failure of those governments to their inability to confront the global structures reproducing inequality and deprivation that had been shaped through capitalist history and under colonialism. In his view, imperialism, and the monopolisation of resources, finance and knowledge by the classes that dominated in the developed nations, had condemned the ‘bourgeois’ nationalist project to failure. An alternative was required.
The emancipation of the Third World depended on its delinking from imperialism, and finally on the overthrow of the latter.
The Wikipedia article on Eurocentrism has a section following on from the origins of the Terminology with the heading European exceptionalism. One of the features of European colonialism and the conquest, domination and exploitation of the world, its peoples and its resources, was, and is, the need for a set of narrative structures to help explain why it was that Europe, exceptionally, had been given the special destiny to run the rest of the planet. These narratives include a set of assumptions concerning superiority, prejudice and racism, and yet are evident in discourses across the globe.
During the European colonial era, encyclopedias often sought to give a rationale for the predominance of European rule during the colonial period by referring to a special position taken by Europe compared to the other continents. Thus, Johann Heinrich Zedler, in 1741, wrote that;
"even though Europe is the smallest of the world's four continents, it has for various reasons a position that places it before all others.... Its inhabitants have excellent customs, they are courteous and erudite in both sciences and crafts".
The Brockhaus Enzyklopädie (Conversations-Lexicon) of 1847 still has an ostensibly Eurocentric approach and claims about Europe that;
"its geographical situation and its cultural and political significance is clearly the most important of the five continents, over which it has gained a most influential government both in material and even more so in cultural aspects".
European exceptionalism thus grew out of the Great Divergence of the Early Modern period, due to the combined effects of the Scientific Revolution, the Commercial Revolution, and the rise of colonial empires, the Industrial Revolution and a Second European colonization wave.
A great divergence? European exceptionalism is widely reflected in popular genres of literature, especially literature for young adults (for example, Rudyard Kipling's Kim) and adventure literature in general. Portrayal of European colonialism in such literature has been analysed in terms of Eurocentrism in retrospect, such as presenting idealised and often exaggeratedly masculine Western heroes, who conquered 'savage' peoples in the remaining so-called 'dark spaces' of the globe.
Thinly disguised racist narratives were part of the necessary ideological structure to maintain the European colonialist and capitalistic system of exploitation of the peoples of the whole world, but one short story, one novella in particular, creates a sort of cultural collision between truth and fiction, reality and denial. This is Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.
Stephen Bates 1999 article, considers some aspects of the impact in Belgium of the publication of the excoriating account of the Belgian rape of the Congo in the book King Leopold's Ghost by the American author Adam Hochschild. These aspects reflect a common tendency of the colonial oppressor, to mobilize on all fronts, a campaign of denial. Stephen Bates points out that:
The history of Leopold's rule over the Congo has long been known. It was first exposed by American and British writers and campaigners at the turn of the century - publicity which eventually forced the king to hand the country which had been his private fiefdom over to Belgium.
But Hochschild's book has hit a raw nerve for a new generation with its vividly drawn picture of a voracious king anxious to maximise his earnings from the proceeds of rubber and ivory.
It is clear that many of Leopold's officials in the depots up the Congo river terrorised the local inhabitants, forcing them to work under the threat of having their hands and feet - or those of their children - cut off. Women were raped, men were executed and villages were burned in pursuit of profit for the king.
But what has stuck in the gut of Belgian historians is Hochschild's claim that 10 million people may have died in a forgotten holocaust. In outrage, the now ageing Belgian officials who worked in the Congo in later years have taken to the internet with a 10-page message claiming that maybe only half a dozen people had their hands chopped off, and that even that was done by native troops.
They argue that American and British writers have highlighted the Congo to distract attention from the contemporary massacre of the North American indians and the Boer War.
Under the headline 'a scandalous book', members of the Royal Belgian Union for Overseas Territories claim: 'There is nothing that could compare with the horrors of Hitler and Stalin, or the deliberate massacres of the Indian, Tasmanian and Aboriginal populations. A black legend has been created by polemicists and British and American journalists feeding off the imaginations of novelists and the re-writers of history.' Professor Jean Stengers, a leading historian of the period, says: 'Terrible things happened, but Hochschild is exaggerating. It is absurd to say so many millions died. I don't attach so much significance to his book. In two or three years' time, it will be forgotten.' Leopold's British biographer, Barbara Emerson, agrees: 'I think it is a very shoddy piece of work. Leopold did not start genocide. He was greedy for money and chose not to interest himself when things got out of control. Part of Belgian society is still very defensive. People with Congo connections say we were not so awful as that, we reformed the Congo and had a decent administration there.' Stengers acknowledges that the population of the Congo shrank dramatically in the 30 years after Leopold took over, though exact figures are hard to establish since no one knows how many inhabited the vast jungles in the 1880s.
According to Dharendra Wardhana in the opinion piece headlined Indonesia in its post-colonialism developmentthe
decision by the Dutch colonial administration; "to accept moral responsibility for the welfare of colonial
subjects ran counter to the formal official doctrine that the
Netherlands’ East Indies was solely a profit-making region" became a significant moment. The positive "gloss", or "spin", he attaches to this moment relies heavily on the comparison made between an "ethical" colonial regime and one of unbridled brutality, as found in the Belgian Congo.
"That moment
later became a milestone and marked the beginning of modern development
policy as well as the start of nationalist struggles toward
independence."
The trouble is that the "business" of empire requires a latent capacity to conduct, by any means necessary, including murder, rape and the infliction of life changing injury, to guarantee that the "business" makes a profit.
Meanwhile . . .
The LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security is a leading academic space for scholars, practitioners, activists, policy-makers and students to develop strategies to promote justice, human rights and participation of women in conflict-affected situations around the world.
Sexual violence committed against the people of West Papua is being used increasingly by Indonesian security forces as a means of taking land from the indigenous population. Szilvia Csevár and Christine Tremblay from The Hague University of Applied Sciences, look at the enforced militarisation of West Papua and the patterns of sexual violence used as a means to fully control and exploit the islands natural resources.
Located on the Western half of the island of New Guinea, West Papua is a militarised territory, the site of a long-term conflict between Indonesia and indigenous Papuans seeking self-determination. Central to the ongoing conflict is the Grasberg mine, containing the world’s largest reserve of copper and gold and operated by the US mining giant Freeport McMoRan Inc. Over the years, the Indonesian authorities have systematically rejected any claims of the indigenous population on their traditional lands. In the meantime, extracting activities do not only plunder West Papua’s natural resources, resulting in extreme pollution of the environment, they also provide an excuse for the presence of military forces on the territory leaving them free to use sexual violence to terrorise the indigenous population, affecting primarily indigenous women, and forcing communities to leave their lands.
During Dutch colonial rule it was called ‘West New Guinea’ or ‘Netherlands New Guinea’. Demanding integration into Indonesia, Indonesian authorities referred to it as ‘West Irian’. For many years it was the Indonesian province of ‘Irian Jaya’, later split in two and renamed ‘Papua’ and ‘West Papua’ respectively. This article refers to the territory under Indonesian control in its entirety as West Papua.
Frustrated decolonisation
While the Netherlands accepted Indonesia’s independence set out in the Hague Agreement in 1949, West Papua was exempted from this transfer of authority and the territory remained under Dutch administration. A series of negotiations followed, during which the positions of the two states were discussed within the UN General Assembly on several occasions. While Indonesian representatives insisted on West Papua forming an integral part of Indonesia and thus should be returned to them, the Netherlands maintained its view that Dutch administration in West Papua was pre-requisite to create proper conditions for the self-determination of the people concerned in accordance with Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter as West Papua was by then added to the UN list of non-self-governing territories.
Then Dutch Foreign Minister Luns submitted a draft resolution to the General Assembly calling for a transfer of sovereignty to the people of West Papua, placing the territory under temporary UN administration and allowing a referendum to be carried out determining the political status of the territory. At the time, the then President made clear that Indonesia would not hesitate to resort to “methods which would startle the world if the United Nations did not comply with his Government’s wishes” and the Netherlands was pressed into an agreement designed to prevent Indonesia from siding with the Soviet Union.
Negotiated without any involvement of the West Papuan people, administration of the territory was transferred to Indonesia under the 1962 New York Agreement, with short intermediary control by the UN Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA). Under Article XVIII of this Agreement, definitive control by Indonesia over West Papua was conditional on an act of self-determination according to international standards thus requiring a referendum based on the principle of ‘one man one vote’.
The Act of Free Choice was conducted in July 1969 with about 10,000 Indonesian troops present on the territory. A ‘one man one vote’ referendum, as required by the New York Agreement and international law on the matter, was firmly rejected by Indonesia, which instead insisted on a ‘consultation’ with 1,022 selected electors, representing a population of 800,000. In his Report to the UN Secretary General, UN Representative Ortiz-Sans concluded that “the [Indonesian] Administration exercised at all times a tight political control over the population.”
Militarised territory
By permanently integrating West Papua into its territory, Indonesia has secured full and uncontrolled access to West Papua’s vast concentration of natural resources. The Grasberg mining complex has been operated by PT Freeport since 1967, with extracting activities continuously expanding. Currently guarded by the BRIMOB, a special counter insurgency unit within the Indonesian Police, the mining site was for many years secured by the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI). With sources indicating “it is in their interest to create the sort of security that necessitates their presence” – peaceful demonstrations and resistance activities have been met with disproportionate violence and are used to explain their presence – the TNI continues to profit from the Grasberg mine by receiving structural illegal payments from Freeport.
extracting activities do not only plunder West Papua’s natural resources, resulting in extreme pollution of the environment, they also provide an excuse for the presence of military forces on the territory leaving them free to use sexual violence to terrorise the indigenous population
In 2016, Amnesty International reported on excessive violence by Indonesian military and police forces against indigenous Papuans. Freedom House also reported on widespread deadly violence “related to labor disputes and foreign-operated mines and other resource extraction enterprises”. As highlighted by the Minority Rights Group International, a common feature of these confrontations is the involvement of Indonesian security forces. Regular reports of rights abuses in West Papua are published by the International Coalition for Papua.
Grasberg Mine, operated by the US mining giant Freeport McMoRan Inc. Image Credit: Richard Jones
Pattern of sexual violence
There is evidence of sexual violence committed against the indigenous population, especially women, despite the scarce sources available due to the Indonesian authorities’ policy of isolating the island. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women reports that rapes by Indonesian military forces were indiscriminately committed against women in the area of the Grasberg mine. The report also reveals rape used as an instrument of torture by Indonesian army forces, as well as by police forces, when interrogating women on the whereabouts of their husbands who are allegedly affiliated with the OPM (Free Papua movement). Rapes committed by Indonesian Special Forces Command (Kopassus) in a village in the vicinity of the Grasberg mine were also unveiled by the International Centre for International Justice.
Moreover, it has been argued by researchers that violence perpetrated by Indonesian military forces against the Papuan population has become more and more sexualised. Testimonies of men’s penises being cut off and a women’s vagina being cut out and fed to her husband are some of the atrocious examples being avowed.
Sexualised violence is one of the methods employed by Indonesian security forces to incite the indigenous population to flee and abandon their houses and lands. The space is then left to the Indonesian authorities to fully exploit the natural resources of the island of West Papua by granting concessions to foreign investors
Sexual violence as a land grabbing method
These acts of sexual violence illustrate a method used by the Indonesian security forces to terrorise the indigenous population of West Papua, leaving them no choice but to flee (often to the forest) in order to escape acts of violence. The story of NM being arrested, tortured and gang raped as a form of interrogation to discover the whereabouts of her husband suspected to be affiliated with OPM illustrates the use of this method. Following her release, she fled to the forest with her family and hid there for three years. Her story is similar to the stories of many Papuan women who are victims of sexual violence and forced to abandon their homes and land in order to escape the ill-treatments by the Indonesian military forces.
Sexualised violence is one of the methods employed by Indonesian security forces to incite the indigenous population to flee and abandon their houses and lands. The space is then left to the Indonesian authorities to fully exploit the natural resources of the island of West Papua by granting concessions to foreign investors as exemplified by the case of the Grasberg mine. In this context, one may view this method as a form of land grabbing that utilises sexual violence and other human rights violations in order to gain the full control over the land. This control facilitates the protection of the economic interests of the Indonesian authorities on the West Papuan territories.
Since West Papua’s much-contested annexation by Indonesia, Papuans have been violently dispossessed of their traditional lands and natural resources and sexual violence has been employed as a method of land grabbing by the Indonesian authorities. Extractive activities contribute to the environmental destruction of West Papua and largely benefits Indonesian authorities and foreigner companies, while in turn creating a ‘lawless environment’ in which sexual violence is utilised to gain more lands.
This blog is part of the mini-series on Gender, Nature and Peace framing the conversation on women’s rights, climate change, the environment and post-conflict situations, and builds on the first Gender, Nature and Peace workshop, funded by the British Academy small grant and by the AHRC project a Feminist International Law of Peace and Security. The second workshop is due to take place in Colombia
This is what is happening and it is NOT a "Black Legend"!
The moment we include the term "Black Legend" is the moment we must recognize that we are in an ideological battleground, a culture war. The LODERe:LODEarticles to be found on the Re:LODE Methods & Purposes section of the site includes a discussion of the Black Legends and Culture Wars along the LODEzone line.
The United States Bureau
of European Affairs was clear in its understanding in 1962 about what was at the "heart of darkness" in the Indonesian insistence to reproduce the territorial imprint of the Dutch colonial administration, and;
"was sympathetic to the Dutch view that annexation
by Indonesia would simply trade white for brown colonialism".
What is desperately needed is a redistribution of economic power that encompasses not only incomes but also any necessary means to empower society in improving livelihoods. The question of how much to redistribute is also inextricably linked to politico-economic considerations, which pose a new challenge on striking the delicate equilibrium between the two ideological stances, i.e. capitalism vis a vis socialism. Unfortunately however, maintaining an appropriate balance in its relation with both strands is always tricky anywhere.
Ultimately, the essence of gaining independence is to seek for greater prosperity and to remove barriers to equal opportunities for the citizens. The objectives can be made achievable through two important key elements. First, the freedom to earn a better livelihood through wider access to resources, which previously was highly restricted only for colonists and its collaborators. Second, the extension of social responsibility, particularly for the vulnerable indigenous groups.
None of these worthy ambitions are capable of fulfillment while the globalised forms of imperialism, and the monopolisation of resources, finance and
knowledge by the classes that dominate in the developed nations, and now too in the developing nations, continues unchallenged. An alternative is required.The emancipation of all the citizens of the Indonesian archipelago depends on its delinking from imperialism, and finally its overthrow.
Neo-imperialism and the monopolisation of resources
Police clash with workers of American mining company Freeport-McMoRan during a protest in Timika, Papua province, Indonesia, Oct. 10. Indonesian security forces fired on striking workers at Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg gold and copper mine after a protest turned deadly.
Rights groups are calling on Indonesia to investigate the fatal shooting of gold and copper mine workers in eastern Indonesia. In a gruesome escalation of a dispute between U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan and workers from their Grasberg mine, security forces opened fire on a crowd of strikers, killing one man and injuring more than a dozen others. “This latest incident shows that Indonesian police have not learned how to deal with protesters without resorting to excessive, and even lethal, force,” said Amnesty International’s Sam Zarifi in a statement published online. “The authorities must launch an independent and impartial investigation into this tragedy.”
The violence, though tragic, is hardly surprising. Grasberg, which holds one of the world’s largest reserves of gold and copper, has frequently seen protests over wages, working conditions and public accountability. About 8000 of the site’s workers have been on strike since Sept. 15, demanding that their pay, which reportedly ranges from $1.5 to $3.00 an hour, be raised significantly. An eight-day strike in July crippled the mine, contributing to a global rise in copper prices.
The fight at Grasberg is, in many ways, about the fight for Papua itself. The western part of the island of New Guinea was once a Dutch colony, but has been Indonesian territory since a highly contested 1969 plebiscite known as the “Act of Free Choice.” Much of the indigenous Melanesian population opposes Indonesian rule and see the government—and their allies at Freeport—as occupiers.
The massive mining operation has long been a flashpoint in the conflict. Over the years, there have been periodic episodes of violence and reports of environmental abuse. In 2005, the New York Times described “a spreading soot-colored bruise of almost a billion tons of mine waste” (That account was based on satellite images, because reporters are banned from Papua.) Their investigation also found that Freeport had unusually close ties to the Indonesian military, an organization with a “blighted” history of rights abuses. In a recent op-ed for the Guardian, Benny Wenda, an exiled Papuan independence leader, said companies like Freeport legitimize Indonesian rule while giving little back to the community. “While they have profited from our natural resources, my people have been subjected to nearly 50 years of oppression, hardship and poverty,” he writes.
Both Freeport and Jakarta insist that mining benefits the region. In a statement released Sept. 21, the company called their compensation packages “highly competitive” and noted that between taxes, wages and procurement, the firm contributed $3.8 billion to the Indonesian government in 2010. They blamed the strikers for the instigating violence—a version of events backed by local police, but denied by workers representatives. On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the protesters may lower their wage demands to $7.50 per hour from a previous demand of at least $12.50 per hour. That may bring them closer to a settlement. For Papua, though, there is no deal in sight.
Emily Rauhala is an Associate Editor at TIME.
Conflict and the optics of ethnicity - The soldiers are "Indonesian" - The workers in the mine are "Melanesian".
Neles Tebay writes an opinion piece for The Jakarta Post May 13 2015 on the recognition of Melanesian identity after decades of denial, headlined Insight: Not easy to be Melanesian in Indonesia's Papua:
One does not need to ask if there are Melanesians in Indonesia, as there are Indonesians who identify as Melanesian. Those Melanesians can be found in the country's two most eastern provinces, Papua and West Papua, at least.
But is the Melanesian identity of Papuans accepted or rejected in Indonesia's pluralistic state, the official slogan of which cries 'bhinneka tunggal ika' (unity in diversity)?
The identity is a given: Melanesian is not an expression of political ideology. It has nothing to do with citizenship. It is a human race which all indigenous Papuans, without discrimination, belong to. Every Papuan is and should always be Melanesian by race, regardless of religious affiliation, political aspiration or citizenship.
Since Melanesia constitutes a race, it is created by neither any institution nor by any government. It is not established by any religious institution. It does not result from a long devoted prayer. It is a result of having Indonesian citizenship. Papuans themselves neither establish nor select it for their survival. Indeed, Melanesian as a race is not gifted to any Papuan, either in Indonesia or abroad. It is important for the government to be reminded that the Melanesian race is not a gift presented to Papuans by the government after Papua was integrated into Indonesia in May 1963. The Melanesian race has nothing to do with Papuans' citizenship status. Like it or not, Papuans were always Melanesian, long before the integration of Papua into the Indonesian republic. The identity, however, was denied.
Although Papuans are already Melanesians by birth, they question: Why has the government not recognized the Melanesian identity of Papuans, since 1963 until today?
Papuans' experiences show that their Melanesian identity was denied by the government from 1963 to 2001. Papuans were banned from recognizing themselves as being Melanesian for 38 years. For the government, the term 'Melanesia' was mistakenly interpreted as an expression of separatism. A Papuan who recognized him or herself as Melanesian was immediately accused of being separatist and, therefore, treated as Indonesia's enemy who had to be eliminated before destroying the nation's territorial integrity. Many Papuans have been sacrificed for bravely recognizing their Melanesian identity in public.
Papuans were forced into a difficult situation where they had to choose between denying their Melanesian identity for the sake of their survival or recognizing their Melanesian identify with the consequence of sacrificing their lives. So Melanesian identity has been denied for the sake of the territorial integrity of the Indonesian republic. Hence, a call for recognition.
The government has eventually recognized, although not fully, Papuans as Melanesian. The recognition can be found in Law No. 21/2001 on the special autonomy of Papua province. Yet Papuans do not feel that their Melanesian identity is fully respected. The government began to focus its attention on Papuans' Melanesian identity in 2013, when Papuans, especially those fighting for independence from Indonesia, began to get support from people and the governments of four countries in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG): Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Vanuatu.
Support for Papua was given on the commonality of being Melanesian. Melanesian countries, in a summit in Noumea, New Caledonia, in 2013, made a unanimous decision to support Papuans' right to self-determination. The support for Papua from all Melanesians in South Pacific countries is getting stronger, wider, and is taking root in Melanesian hearts. People from the four Melanesian countries have been manifesting their solidarity with the Papuans considered as their Melanesian brothers and sisters of West Papua (Papua).
Melanesians in the southern Pacific have been strongly encouraging their respective governments to welcome the return of Papuans to the Melanesian family by accepting West Papua through the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) as a new member of the MSG. Sharing the same Melanesian cultural values, the government of the four Melanesian countries will decide this May 21 whether they recognize Papuans as Melanesians by accepting West Papua as a member of the MSG.
Considering developments in the Melanesian countries of the Pacific, one could understand the significance of the call for recognition of Papua'€™s Melanesian identity raised by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), through the party's fourth national congress held in Bali in April. The PDI-P even highlighted an obligation for the government to recognize the Melanesian identity of Papuans as an integral part of Indonesian cultural identity and expression of bhinneka tunggal ika.
The government should show recognition, as there has been no public acknowledgement in Indonesia on the Papuan cultural identity as being Melanesian during 52 years of integration. President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo visited Papua and West Papua on May 8-11. During his visit, however, he mentioned nothing about Papuans' Melanesian identity. We will wait and see.
Papuans, for their part, do not seem to look for recognition in Indonesia, because they are traumatized by bitter experiences that they have endured for calling themselves Melanesian. As a result, they are hoping that the recognition of their identity will come from the Pacific, particularly from Melanesian countries. Now they have full hope of official acceptance as a new member of the MSG on May 21. For more than 50 years, the Melanesian identity has been seen from a political perspective. Political context decides the Melanesian-ness of Papuans. As a result, sometimes it is recognized but other times it is denied. Therefore, it is important to discuss Melanesia as a cultural issue rather than a political one.
We are NOT monkeys!
Ethnocentrism, or racism? The mindset of an Indonesian government capable of the "land grab" and exploitation of the lands of the Indigenous People of West Papua, a Melanesian population, mostly non-Muslim and predominantly Protestant Christian in their belief, betrays characteristics that point to a colonial style racism rather than a Javanese ethnocentrism.
Update 2019
A week of rolling and in some cases violent demonstrations across West Papua, were prompted by an incident in the Javanese city of Surabaya, where military officers and nationalist militia allegedly taunted Papuans with racist slurs, calling them “monkeys”, “pigs” and “dogs”.
Protesters decry racism and call for self-determination one week after violence flared
Kate Lamb in Jayapura Mon 26 Aug 2019
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in highland areas of West Papua, one week after violent demonstrations flared across Indonesia’s easternmost provinces, leaving one dead and dozens injured.
An anti-racist solidarity protest drew thousands of people in Dogiyai region, where marchers decried racism and called for determination, according to local reporter at the scene. Schools in Dogiyai were closed in anticipation of the rally with students joining the action, the reporter said.
In Wamena, the protest organiser Dominikis Surabat said a planned rally went ahead peacefully, with thousands joining. Protesters called for Papuan students to “return to the motherland” so they would be free of racist insults from Indonesia, he said.
Activists had expected thousands to join protests on Monday as the population of the highland areas is largely comprised of indigenous Papuans, compared with coastal towns such as Jayapura, where migrants from across Indonesia make up half of the population.
The planned action followed a week of rolling and in some cases violent demonstrations across West Papua, prompted by an incident in the Javanese city of Surabaya, where military officers and nationalist militia allegedly taunted Papuans with racist slurs, calling them “monkeys”, “pigs” and “dogs”.
Footage of the incident quickly went viral and has caused widespread anger across West Papua, culminating in mass protests and renewed calls for independence.
In Jayapura, Papuans who spoke to the Guardian were furious, saying they had long been discriminated against and treated as second-class citizens. Victor Yeimo, a pro-independence figure, said people were angry not “just because they call us monkeys, but because they [Indonesia] treat us like animals”.
At church services in the hills of Sentani on Sunday morning, pastors gave impassioned sermons denouncing racism they said Papuans had long endured, while across Jayapura banners were put up calling for racist actions to be rejected.
Prominent pro-independence figures in Papua said the Surabaya incident opened up historical wounds that had festered since the province was brought under Indonesian control in 1969.
An Indonesian government clampdown on the internet in the region has continued. A spokesperson for the Papua police, Ahmad Kamal, told the Guardian that internet services would continue to be limited for another week to prevent the spread of “fake news”.
When protests erupted in Jayapura last Monday, the government slowed internet speeds. Data services were cut completely by Wednesday.
Markus Haluk, from the United Movement for the Liberation of West Papua, said the internet shutdown was “part of the military operation because the Indonesian military always finds a way to isolate Papua and stop Papuan voices being shared with the world”.
Local journalists have decried the blackout, saying it has made it increasingly difficult to verify information in the field at a critical time, while thousands signed a petition calling for services to be restored.
“Everything is down,” said Victor Mambor, the editor of Tabloid Jubi. “Many people are asking me about what is happening in Papua because they cannot get information. The internet is now only available in two places, Hotel Horizon and the Aston.”
At the news website Suara Papua, its editor, Arnold Belau, said internet services at its offices were totally severed on Sunday. “The state’s policy of blocking the internet is very damaging for us since Suara Papua is an online media so we rely on the internet,” he said, adding that at least 20 online media outlets in Jayapura were effected.
Amid the shutdown police have confirmed that one man was killed in an armed clash between pro-independence fighters and security personnel in Wamena on Friday.
Activists claim dozens have also been injured but police have disputed this, calling the information a “hoax”.
West Papua students 'shot by militias' as video of soldiers firing on crowds emerges
Three students believed shot in dormitories on Sunday, as video emerges of last week’s clashes in which soldiers fire on peaceful protests
Ben Doherty and agencies Mon 2 Sep 2019
Three West Papuan students have reportedly been shot in their dormitories by militia groups amid growing tensions in the region, as disturbing footage emerged of Indonesian soldiers firing on peaceful demonstrators during clashes last week in which protesters say six died.
The Papuan students were attacked in a dormitory in Abepura district, Jayapura, by police-backed armed militias on Sunday. One student was killed by a bullet wound to the chest. The students were reportedly attacked as they tried to defend themselves from vigilantes from a pro-Jakarta group calling itself Masyarakat Nusantara (Archipelago Community).
Papuan protesters allege non-Papuan vigilante groups are being encouraged by police and military to attack Papuans during what has been more than a fortnight of protests over racial discrimination and abuse as well as calls for independence from Indonesia.
Despite an internet blackout across Papua and West Papua, footage has emerged showing soldiers firing at a crowd of demonstrators outside a government office in Deiyai last week: some of the demonstrators are standing with their hands in the air, as soldiers move in.
Protesters say six people were killed in the confrontation, and more than a dozen injured, after a police opened fire on a peaceful demonstration that had occupied the regent’s office in the middle of Deiyai city.
Victor Yeimo from the West Papua National Committee said: “They [went] inside peacefully, but suddenly, without any provocation police opened fire into the mass of demonstrators. Then … people attacked with bow and arrow.”
Photos have emerged of the body of one Indonesian soldier killed in the clash last Wednesday, his body pierced with arrows.
Papua police spokesperson Commander Anton Ampang has disputed the death count, saying one protester was killed, and that security forces opened fire only after being attacked. “Around 1,000 people armed with arrows, spears and machetes joined the protesters and started to dance the Waita dance [a traditional war dance] and threw rocks at the security forces,” Anton said in a statement.
Military personnel in a car were attacked, he said.
“The crowd shot arrows and threw rocks at security personnel in front of the Deiyai regent’s office and there were even sounds of gunfire from the direction of the crowd, leading security personnel to shoot at the attackers,” he said.
Demonstrations have broken out across Papua and West Papua, often descending into violence after being opposed by security forces and vigilante groups. Because of an internet shutdown across the remote provinces, information on clashes is emerging slowly, and is hard to verify.
Footage from Fakfak on the south-west coast of Papua on 21 August has also emerged, showing armed militia, some carrying Indonesian flags, clashing with Papuan protesters. Police and military personnel move among the pro-Jakarta militia, and gunshots can be heard.
Alfa Isnaeni of the nationalist Banser militia, the paramilitary wing of Indonesia’s largest independent Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, said 2,000 members were conducting “combing out” operations, seeking information on anti-Indonesia groups, but said militia members were prepared to conduct security operations if requested. “If the TNI [Indonesian military] commander or the defence minister asks us, the only thing we can say is that we’re ready,” Isnaeni said.
And in Jayapura, a lone protester scaled a giant flagpole to tear down the Indonesian national flag, replacing it with the Morning Star flag on West Papua, an act that carries a potential 15-year jail term.
Police have responded to weeks of demonstrations by banning “anarchist” demonstration, and arresting dozens on Papuans accused of rioting in the region’s capital.
“Everyone is forbidden from carrying out demonstrations and conveying opinions in public that could give rise to anarchist acts, damage, and burning of public facilities,” a six-point police order said.
Indonesia earlier said it would deploy about 2,500 more police and troops to Papua, adding to about 1,200 personnel it had already sent after unrest first broke out.
The mineral-rich but under-developed and impoverished region of Papua has been the scene of a low-level insurgency against Indonesia’s rule for decades.
But protests marking the August anniversaries of the New York Agreement and the Act of Free Choice - the political acts which formalised Indonesian control of Papua - have been further sparked by racist bullying of Papuan students in Java, and police reprisals against them for demonstrating.
The exiled leader of the United Movement for the Liberation of West Papua Benny Wenda said the independence movement was peaceful and that a free and fair referendum was the only solution to the long-running contestation of the region.
“As Indonesia deliberately tries to create ethnic conflict in West Papua with militia, I must stress that for West Papuans our enemy is not the Indonesian people. Our enemy is only the system of colonisation. We will not be provoked. Our peaceful struggle is for a referendum.”
Dame Meg Taylor, the secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, said she was deeply concerned by the escalating violence, and called for calm and restraint from all parties. She said the “root causes of the conflict” must be addressed by peaceful means. “These events make the proposed visit of the UN high commissioner for human rights to West Papua even more important.”
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