Free Papua Movement
The Free Papua Movement (Indonesian: Organisasi Papua Merdeka, abbreviated OPM) established in 1965 is the nationalist organization for West Papuan independence free of genocide and other gross human rights abuse. The country has been under Indonesian military occupation since the 1962 invasion; and annexed as part of Indonesia since a staged vote in 1969.
While support for the organization, and Papuan independence is universal among Papuans who had no cultural, historical, racial, religious, or ecological connection with mainstream of Indonesia before the invasion; the government paid settlers transported from Java during the military occupation desire ownship of the land. According to OPM supporters, the region has been under Indonesian military occupation which has been conducting a program of genocide since the 1960s. (see West Papuan genocide)
While Sukarno in Java declared Indonesia independent from the Netherlands shortly after World War II, the Dutch protected western Papua from colonization exploitation and occupation until 1962. The advancement of the Papuan education, government, and other civil services came to a stop with the arrival of the Indonesian troops. Upon the Dutch withdrawal from the region, a United States-sponsored agreement called for the transfer of control from The Netherlands to Indonesia, with the stipulation that a United Nations conducted referendum on the transfer be held no later than 1969.
In 1969 the Indonesian military orchastrated what it called the "Act of Free Choice", a referendum on Papuan independence in which the public was not allowed to vote. The vote was nearly unanimous for integration, but this result which was widely recognized, by Papuans and representatives of foreign governments, as rigged by the Suharto administration in Jakarta.
In response to this Oom Nicolas Jouwe and two OPM commanders, Seth Jafeth Roemkorem and Jacob Hendrik Prai, planned to announce a new Papuan Independence in 1971. On 1st July 1971 Roemkorem and Prai declared a Republic of West Papua, a constitution and schedule were drafted and adopted.
Conflicts over strategy between Roemkorem and Prai soon initiated a split of the OPM, however, into a PEMKA fraction lead by Prai, and a TPN fraction lead by Roemkorem. This greatly weakened OPM's ability as a centralized combat force. It remains widely used, however, invoked by both contemporary fighters and domestic and expatriate political activists.
In 1982 a OPM Revolutionary Council (OPMRC) was established, and under the chairmanship of Moses Werror the OPMRC has sought independence through an International Diplomacy campaign. OPMRC aims to obtain international recogition for West Papuan independence through international forums such as the United Nations, The Non Aligned Movement of Nations, The South Pacific Forum, and The Association of South East Asian Nations.
In 1984 OPM staged an attack on Jayapura, the provincial capital and a city dominated by non-Melanesian Indonesians from elsewhere in the archipelago. The attack was quickly repelled by the Indonesian military, which used it as a pretense for broader counterinsurgency activity. This triggered an exodus of Papuan refugees, apparently supported by the OPM, into camps across the border in Papua New Guinea.
In the mid-1990s, the organization gained renewed prominence and greater support among indigenous Papuans. This was fuelled in large part by anger over the actions of the gold mining corporation Freeport-McMoRan, which is accused of environmental destruction and of supporting human rights abuses by the Indonesian military. In separate incidents in January and August 1996, OPM captured hostages, both European and Indonesian, first from a research group and later from a logging camp. Two hostages from the latter group were killed, and the rest were released.
See also
References
- Bell, Ian; Herb Feith; and Ron Hatley (1986). The West Papuan challenge to Indonesian authority in Irian Jaya: old problems, new possiblities. Asian Survey 26(5):539-556.
- Bertrand, Jaques (1997). "Business as Usual" in Suharto's Indonesia. Asian Survey 37(6):441-452.
- Evans, Julian (1996). Last stand of the stone age. The Guardian Weekend. August 24:p. T20.
- van der Kroef, Justus M (1968). West New Guinea: the uncertain future. Asian Survey 8(8):691-707.