While civil society groups have placed their hopes in creating a zone of peace in West Papua, thousands of members of Laskar Jihad have flooded into the province in the past year, amid protests from West Papuans that this could lead to inter-religious conflict.
Meanwhile, the local police force has announced a new operation aimed at clamping down on all "separatist" groups in West Papua. There are fears of a crackdown and moves to instigate conflict.
In July, the West Papua chief of police, Drs Made Mangku Pastika, announced that his force would be launching a new operation code-named Operasi Adil Matoa 2002. Matoa is the generic name for police operations in West Papua while adil means "justice". He said that the operation would be directed against "separatists", unarmed as well as armed.
It is feared that such an operation will lead to many arrests. But the main objective is likely to be to incapacitate the Papuan Presidium Council which enjoys widespread support, especially since the assassination last November of its chairperson, Theys Hiyo Eluay. This can only provoke greater unrest and anger among the people.
This operation is being seen as a move by the police to assert its primary role in West Papua as the force for "law and order". This does not mean that the operation will necessarily be any less brutal that what the army is capable of doing. Brimob, the elite force of the police, already has a reputation for great brutality in West Papua.
The police chief's announcement provoked a storm of protest with many fearing that the security forces were preparing for a crackdown on pro-independence activists and groups. The secretary general of the highly respect Traditional Council of Papua, Titus Hamadi, said such an operation could only result in new conflicts at a time when the general situation in Papua was relatively calm. Throwing his weight behind the idea of creating a zone of peace, he said the police operation would spread confusion over who might be targeted as "separatists". It could even include village heads or ordinary villagers. He said the operation should be discussed at a meeting between the regional government, the regional assembly, the police chief and the regional military commander and the police should meanwhile suspend their operation.
Another high profile figure to oppose the plan was John Ibo, chair of the regional assembly, who said that if the police want to end separatism, they should hold public forums to promote the idea of loyalty to the state. [Cendrawasih Pos, 23 and 24 July 2002]
Pieter Eli, the Kontras (Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence) co-ordinator for West Papua, warned that such an operation could result in casualties. He accused the Megawati government of adopting the same policies as the Suharto New Order and said that the authorities were more interested in preserving territorial integrity than protecting the population. This was because West Papua is so rich in natural resources. [Cendrawasih Pos, 18 July 2002]
Police chief explains
Stunned by the strength of opposition to his operation, the police chief warned people against making "exaggerated" claims about the intentions of the police. He tried to assure people that they would not start arresting people. The aim, he said, is to make a proper, "judicial" assessment of organisations like the Papuan Presidium Council: was it or was it not "lawful", and if not, should it be allowed to exist or should it be banned?
He said people were talking a lot about creating a "zone of peace" but these very same people were holding illegal meetings, discussing plans to attack police command posts, and lobbying abroad for support for a referendum. Such things would be investigated and decisions would be taken on how to respond. This, he alleged, was the only way to create a 'zone of peace'. [Cendrawasih Pos, 25 July 2002]
A number of local police chiefs have said that they are ready to take part in the new operation and have already gathered data from previous operations.
Laskar Jihad poses a new threat
Since the beginning of 2000, Laskar Jihad warriors have helped to stoke up the bitter inter-religious conflict in Maluku. Their arrival in Maluku is widely known to have the support of elements within the Indonesian armed forces. Even now, following the conclusion of an accord to restore peace between the Christian and Muslim communities, nothing has been done to remove these disruptive forces from Maluku.
Hence, reports about the arrival of Laskar Jihad members in West Papua has caused alarm among West Papuan activists. Laskar Jihad members have been arriving since 2000, initially in Sorong and then in other parts of West Papua. Towards the end of 2001, its notorious leader, Jafar Umar Thalib, made a visit to Sorong, and since then, the influx has steadily increased.
Church and human rights activists in Sorong say that military training has been taking place, initially in isolated bush areas but more recently on the premises of a local mosque. They say that six Pakistani citizens are involved in these training sessions.
In March, twenty church leaders in Sorong issued a statement together with eight clan leaders and youth leaders, rejecting the presence of Laskar Jihad and drawing attention to the dissemination of inflammatory publications and videos alleging that Christians are responsible for "separatist" movements and constitute a threat to Indonesia's territorial integrity.
A Laskar Jihad bulletin issued in Sorong in January said it was "waging war against Christians because of their support for separatist movements in various parts of Indonesia".
According to the leading human rights organisation ELS-HAM, there are now around three thousand Laskar Jihad members in West Papua and they have set up a number of branches of an organisation called Communication Forum of Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaah in several cities, including Sorong, Fak-Fak, Jayapura, Timika, Nabire and Manokwari.
According to reports from Fak-Fak, small boats have been seen arriving since April, each bringing about ten Jihad members, apparently from Maluku. They have also set up communities in Arso, near Jayapura, which has been the location of large transmigration re-settlement areas for newcomers from Java.
The Rev. John Barr of Australia's Uniting Church, said after a visit to West Papua in May, that he heard many accounts of Jihad training camps in Arso. In addition to the spread of Laskar Jihad groups, the army has been actively promoting the establishment of pro-Jakarta militias known as Satgas Merah Putih (Red-and-White Task Force), whose members are recruited from newcomer Indonesian communities. This is a sinister reminder of what happened in East Timor during the months prior to the independence ballot in August 1999.
ELS-HAM recently announced that it had obtained a copy of a military document, dated 8 April 2002 and signed by the commander of the Jayawijaya military command, which lists the names of eighty local farmers who are members of Satgas Merah Putih in the district, providing confirmation of the army's direct involvement with the militias.
All in all, these developments point to efforts by the security forces, the military as well as the police, to instigate trouble in West Papua, which casts a dark shadow over civil society's hopes of turning West Papua into a zone of peace.