Indonesia officially acquired West Papua in 1969, after a sham ballot on independence in which only a handful of the local population were allowed to vote.
The region,
which makes up the western part of the island of New Guinea to Australia's north,
was once a Dutch colony, but the Netherlands began to prepare for withdrawal in
the 1950s.
In 1961, West
Papuans held a congress to discuss independence and raised the West Papuan
"morning star" flag.
But a newly
independent Republic of Indonesia began to assert its claim over the province
and a conflict broke out between Indonesia,
the Netherlands and the indigenous population.
In 1962, a
United Nations-sponsored treaty known as the New York agreement was drawn up to
put an end to this territorial battle, and Indonesia was appointed temporary
administrator of West Papua from May 1963 – without West Papuan consultation or
consent.
A key
requirement of the treaty was that all West Papuans be allowed to vote in a
referendum on independence, which was to be overseen by the UN.
But when the
ballot was held in 1969, it was far from free and fair: the Indonesian military
handpicked 1,026 leaders to vote on behalf of the entire population, and threatened
to kill them and their families if they voted the wrong way.
In this
environment, the outcome of the so-called "Act of Free Choice" was
unanimous – and Indonesia's takeover of West Papua was rubber-stamped by the
UN.
Almost all
indigenous Papuans reject the referendum, dubbing it the "act of no
choice", and many continue to demand a real vote on self-determination to
this day.
This history
forms the basis for West Papuans' call for independence – but it is not just
historical injustice that fuels the movement today.
Indigenous West
Papuans face daily surveillance and intimidation by the Indonesian military and
police, and many report living in constant fear. Thousands have been killed,
detained and tortured since 1963.
Those who
agitate for independence openly do so at a high personal cost. It is illegal to
raise the morning star flag and many of the province's leaders are sitting out
long jail terms for peaceful acts of defiance.
The region has
an armed movement for independence that has been responsible for the deaths of
Indonesian security personnel and actively engages in armed skirmishes, but
there is a much larger civil movement that is also heavily suppressed.
In October 2011,
the Third Papuan People's Congress, a civilian gathering that addressed issues
of self-governance, was violently quashed by Indonesian forces. Six people were
killed and dozens more injured.
Indonesia guards
its "territorial integrity" jealously. And it's no surprise – the
massive Freeport McMoran gold and copper mine in West Papua is one of the
country's largest taxpayers.
For its part,
Indonesia argues that since West Papua was once a part of the Dutch East
Indies, it should also be part of today's independent Indonesian Republic.
Both major
Australian political parties support them in this stance.
Indonesia is
seen as an important political ally for Australia, and politicians from both
sides are loth to antagonise their Indonesian counterparts. Australia maintains
close ties with the Indonesian military. It also provides training and funding
for its counter-terror police unit, Detachment 88, which has been involved in
recent crackdowns on the independence movement.
But Australia is
home to a significant West Papuan community and a large network of supporters
of West Papuan independence. The West Papuan Freedom Flotilla is the latest in a
long history of co-operation between activists from the two countries.
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