By Michael Andrew

As Timor-Leste celebrates 20 years since the landmark vote that determined its independence from Indonesian rule, activists are urging the New Zealand government not to repeat mistakes from the past and back West Papuan independence until the last minute.

West Papua Action Auckland’s Maire Leadbeater said the New Zealand government largely ignored the “shocking violence” in Indonesian-ruled Timor-Leste in favour of fostering bilateral and military ties.

“The government sort of stuck with it’s very quiet do nothing say little approach,” she said.

READ MORE: Timor-Leste turns 20: Colonial past feeds problems of neocolonial present

Heavily involved in the Timor-Leste independence campaign, Leadbeater said it wasn’t until the violence and international pressure reached critical levels that the New Zealand government started to openly support the idea of an independence referendum.

Parallels have been drawn between Timor-Leste’s journey to independence and the ongoing movement in West Papua, which has culminated in violent protests and demonstrations over the past fortnight.

The protests were sparked when an Indonesian militia attacked West Papuan students in Sarabuya, pelting them with stones and calling them “monkeys.”

Papuan deaths and injuries have already been reported after Indonesian authorities deployed military personal to quell the demonstrations. The internet has also been shut down to prevent pro-Papuan support from spreading, prompting condemnation from rights and media groups the world over.

While the New Zealand government has stayed relatively quiet on the issue, Leadbeater said now is the time for it to speak up and condemn human rights violations rather than wait until they get worse.

“They don’t want to be left again do they, not changing until the absolute [last minute] and allowing the awful things to occur?”

WPAA has written an open letter to Jacinda Ardern urging her to condemn the racism that started the protests and end the internet blackout which is preventing journalists from reporting covering the story.

The current protests are the latest developments in the West Papuan quest for independence, which has been fought since the 1960’s when Indonesia claimed the former Dutch colony as its province through a widely discredited referendum.

Activist and former Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty said that the protests are a critical development in the struggle for West Papuan self-determination.

“This is not a moment for neighbouring countries to be silent. This is a moment that neighbouring countries should urge Indonesia to stop human rights abuses.”

While the government could not change Indonesia’s internal policy, she said Ardern should at least encourage Indonesia to allow a visit from the UN Human Rights Commission.

This would ensure the bloody process by which Timor-Leste gained its independence would not be repeated in West Papua, she said.

“I hope that East Timor is not the future for West Papua in the sense that hundreds of thousand people were murdered in the process of East Timor getting its independence.

“There is still this unspoken and unrepentant history really in the sense that there has never been recognition of how bad it was.”

Indonesia invaded Timor-Leste on December 9, 1975, nine days after it declared independence from the outgoing Portuguese administration.

Known as Operasi Seroja, it was largest military operation ever carried out by Indonesia.

It resulted in a number of Timorese casualties, with reports of Indonesian military indiscriminately killing civilians in the occupied cities.

The soldiers involved in the invasion are celebrated as heroes in Indonesia. According to news site KBR, the special forces unit involved in the invasion of Dili, the nanggala team, was honoured at the presidential palace two weeks ago for its service during the operation. 

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Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk

A senior Jakarta Post managing editor has predicted it is possible that West Papua may face a self-determination vote following the Timor-Leste example and this could pave the way for independence.

Writing an opinion column in the Post today, Kornelius Purba warned the Papuan people may “fulfill their dream of independence much sooner than their expectations”.

“Remember what happened in East Timor 20 years ago could recur in Papua,” he wrote in his article after almost two weeks of unrest in the Melanesian Pacific region following a racist attack in the Java city of Surabaya on August 17.

READ MORE: East Timor style referendum could happen in Papua too

“We are too lazy to discern the roots of the Papua problem but resort to the use of force to make sure that family unity is intact, although some no longer regard the country as their home,” he wrote.

“The Papuans will only feel Indonesia is their true home when they find the love and equal treatment that they deserve as part of the family.”

Purba compared the Papuan crisis with Timor-Leste, which will be celebrating 20 years of independence from Indonesia on Friday.

“You may laugh at me now if I forecast the Papuan people will fulfill their dream of independence much sooner than their expectations, just like the way East Timor separated from Indonesia following the historic August 30, 1999, referendum,” he wrote.

“Many will no doubt blame the United States or Australia if a Papua exit comes to pass.

‘Blame ourselves’
“But seeing the racial abuse against Papuan students and the heightened reactions in Papua, we Indonesians, not just the government, should blame ourselves. We have treated the Papuans the same way we did the people of East Timor.”

While the Timorese were considering special autonomy or limited self-governance that Jakarta had offered in January 1999, Indonesia’s third president BJ Habibie gave East Timor the option of breaking free.

Seventy eight percent of the 345,000 Timorese voters chose independence in the referendum on 30 August 1999.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International condemned the Indonesian internet censorship in the wake of the blackout imposed last Wednesday, which Jakarta claimed was necessary to stem the wave of protests and “fake news”.

Responding to the decision of the Communications and Information Ministry to shut down mobile internet in Papua and West Papua provinces, Amnesty International Indonesia’s executive director Usman Hamid described it as an “appalling attack” on the Papuan people’s right to freedom of expression.

“This is not a time for censorship. These tensions are not an excuse to prevent people from sharing information and peacefully speaking their mind,” he said.

“In addition, the decision would also prevent people from documenting and sharing evidence of abuses committed by security forces, just as authorities are sending more security forces to the region.”

Call for investigation
Hamid said the immediate priority for the Indonesian authorities should be to launch a thorough and effective investigation into the root cause of the unrest – allegations of discrimination and unlawful use of force against Papuan students in Surabaya and Malang in East Java almost two weeks ago.

“Further restricting the exercise of human rights must not be the answer,” he said.

The Jakarta Post reports that prominent West Papua journalist Victor Mambor claimed he had faced intimidation and harassment for reporting on the internet blackout sanctioned by the government amid escalating protests.

The Indonesia Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI Indonesia), of which he is a member, reported that Mambor, the editor of Tabloid Jubi newspaper and a correspondent for The Jakarta Post, had fallen victim to “doxing” by a social media user with the Twitter handle @antilalat last Thursday.

Doxing refers to the publishing of private or identifying information about individuals on the internet, usually with malicious intent.

A day later, UK-based law firm Doughty Street Chambers announced that Mambor had filed an urgent appeal to UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression David Kaye regarding internet blocking in the provinces amid protests that have occurred since Monday.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz