Citizen Media and Civil Resistance in West Papua
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reaching proposal that sincerely attempted to address core West Papuan grievances
within the framework of a united Indonesian state. However, its promise has not
been realised. Despite a substantial redirection of revenue from mining, oil and gas,
proceeds that formerly went to Jakarta and are now returned back to the provincial
government in West Papua, health and income levels have actually deteriorated
under Special Autonomy. As the pro-democracy activists in other parts of Indone-
sia worked to institutionalise the 1998 reform agenda, in West Papua human rights
violations, including torture, increased (Hernawan 2013).
Even as Special Autonomy was instituted, Jakarta's iron fist fell. Efforts to
keep the Morning Star flag flying in Wamena were brutally repressed in October
2000. Then on 10 November 2001, the flamboyant chair of the PDP, Theys Eluay,
was strangled to death by soldiers from Kopassus (Komando Pasukan Khusus
or Indonesian Special Forces Command) after attending a dinner party as the
military's guest of honour. And while individual members of the PDP continue
to be politically active, the jailing of PDP leaders, followed by the assassination
of Theys Eluay, was a blow from which the PDP never recovered.
The military also renewed military operations, particularly in the Highland
areas. One such operation in 2005 left over 6000 internally displaced people
barely eking out an existence in the mountains and jungles and hundreds of
homes, schools, churches, and health clinics burned to the ground (Wing and
King, 2005). Another military operation in December 2006 resulted in similar
numbers of internally displaced people being too scared to return to their homes.
In addition, a network of militias was established. By 2000, reports started cir-
culating that Laskar Jihad, a Muslim militia group, had established itself in West
Papua and begun a programme of training and recruitment. In the Highlands,
the militia group BMP (Barisan Merah Putih or Red and White Garrison) was
formed. In Timika, Eurico Gutteres the notorious East Timorese militia leader
out on bail for his part in the post-referendum violence that was organised and
perpetrated by the TNI and their militia proxies in East Timor-formed the Red
and White Defenders Front.
It was clear that by 2001 the brief Papuan Spring that burst into flower so
dramatically in 1998 had come to an end.
The movement for dialogue and Papua as a land of peace
Despite localised movement successes, including two dramatic strikes at the
giant US-Anglo Freeport gold and copper mine and the important learning
about organisation and resistance that came with them, the larger picture re-
mained grim. The Indonesian military was quickly reasserting its control over
the territory. Religious leaders were concerned that the formation of militias
like Laskar Jihad could ignite the kind of inter-communal violence between
diverse ethnic and religious communities that had occurred in Central Sulawesi
PACIFIC JOURNALISM REVIEW 22 (1) 2016 45View entire presentation