Jokowi’s
Christmas peace for Papua : Will it last long?
Dwi Atmanta ; A staff writer at The Jakarta Post
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JAKARTA
POST, 30 Desember 2014
The Christmas gift came three days late for Papuans this year,
but many in the easternmost territory did not seem to mind. What is a more
precious Christmas present for them than getting together with President Joko
“Jokowi” Widodo, who had promised to care for them on the first day of his
presidential election campaign early in June?
Jokowi arrived in Papua on Saturday to celebrate Christmas and
went on his characteristic field trips across the province and neighboring
West Papua until Monday. It was his first Papuan excursion to listen to local
people’s grievances and demands since his inauguration in October.
There was nothing peculiar about such high expectations as
Jokowi set his feet on Papua after a series of bloody incidents, including
the shooting of five teenagers by military and police troops during a clash
in Paniai regency early this month.
Jokowi had refused to comment on the Paniai incident, pending a
thorough investigation, and it was his silence on the killings that sparked
protests from several Papuan church congregations, which immediately
announced their objections to the President’s visit.
During the Christmas celebration on Saturday, however, Jokowi
broke his silence. He said he had ordered the National Police to thoroughly
investigate the Paniai incident. “I want this case to be solved as soon as
possible so that such an incident will not recur in the future. We want Papua
to turn into a land of peace,” Jokowi told thousands of Christmas revelers.
As if to elaborate on the President’s remarks, Coordinating for
Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno said the
Indonesian Military, police and the National Commission on Human Rights were
conducting a fact-finding mission to find those responsible for the act of
violence.
The government’s commitment to settling the Paniai shooting
beyond a doubt is understandable given the many cases of atrocities in Papua
that have remained unaddressed. But leaving the police and military to
conduct investigations into an offense involving their own personnel will
only raise the question of credibility because of the risk of conflicts of
interest and the spirit of the corps facing the investigators.
As has happened in the past, the public will be unable to expect
a transparent investigation, let alone justice to be delivered.
Jokowi realizes the long-standing practice, but the existing
criminal justice system gives him limited options. He can hope the rights
body will declare the Paniai shooting a crime against humanity, which will
then enable him to order the Attorney General’s Office to bring to justice
whoever is held responsible for the killings.
The human rights trial, however, will not materialize without
the consent of the House of Representatives, which currently is controlled by
the opposition.
Fair settlement of the Paniai case alone is a daunting job for
Jokowi. In fact, Papuans have been waiting for a comprehensive solution to
decades of being deprived of their rights in their own homeland, which
ironically occurred after their official incorporation into Indonesia through
the Act of Free Choice in 1969. For years Indonesia had fought for
sovereignty over Papua from the Dutch only to throw the Papuans from misery
into ordeal.
Reform movements led to the granting of special autonomy for
Papua, but no significant changes have happened to the lives of Papuans
despite trillions of rupiah having been transferred from Jakarta. Poverty and
poor access to healthcare and education for Papuans have continued to plague
Papua nearly 14 years after the inception of the special autonomy, which the
Jakarta elites believed was a decent retribution for Papua.
The generous special autonomy funds handed to Papua and later
West Papua correlate with the increasing number of corruption cases involving
local public officials in the two provinces. The naming of 44 West Papua
legislative council members and the province’s regional secretary Marthen
Luther Rumadas and former Papua governor Barnabas Suebu graft suspects
recently is just proof that corruption thrives while supervision is lacking
in Papua.
Papua is a paradox of Indonesian development. Blessed with
abundant natural resources, Papua and West Papua are home to regencies that
rank among the most impoverished and least developed regions in the country.
Recurrent acts of violence in the territory, many of them allegedly
perpetrated by separatist groups, only indicate that injustice, inequality
and marginalization of local people remain unfinished business for Jakarta,
no matter who is president.
Then president Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono promised a new deal for Papua after taking office 10 years ago, but
his government’s approach in dealing with Papua was the same old story.
Jakarta’s recipe to tackle the Papua issue has never departed from “divide
and rule”, as was apparent in the forcible formation of West Papua province
in 2004 and a plan to create two more provinces and a new military command
there.
Like his predecessor
Yudhoyono, Jokowi made many promises to the Papuans, including his plan to
visit the land three times a year. It seems exaggerated, even if Jokowi hopes
his frequent trips to Papua will ensure the development agenda and
improvement of public services to run in accordance with the plan.
To woo Papuan voters back in June, Jokowi underlined Papua’s
importance. Now the country’s leader, he has to show why Papua matters to him
and the whole nation and how he will translate his pledges into policies.
As happened when Indonesia solved the Aceh problem with dignity
in 2005, the central government’s policies toward Papua should be based on
respect for the local people, which will require a dialogue between two equal
parties. A dignified settlement will need efforts on Indonesia’s part to heal
Papua’s past wounds, which of course include a formal state’s apology to
Papuans for atrocities and the government’s indifference that they have
endured for a long time.
The most urgent measure is revising the 2001 law on special
autonomy for Papua. Prior to the end of its term in October, the Yudhoyono
administration submitted the draft revision, which offers Papuan rebels a
part in local politics, reminiscent of the deal accepted by the then Aceh
separatist group, or GAM, which formed the Aceh Party.
Without assurance of an all-inclusive solution, the long-lasting
peace Jokowi will try to create in Papua will never come true. ●
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