Jakarta – The military presence in Indonesia's troubled region of Papua is necessary to prevent a slide into tribal warfare, Jakarta's defence minister said on Monday amid allegations the army abused indigenous Papuans.
Papua, a region comprising two provinces on the west half of New Guinea island, has long been under the scrutiny of Western groups critical of how Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, treats the predominantly Christian and ethnically distinct area.
Soldiers were behind the killing of a Papuan independence leader in 2001 and some indigenous activists campaigning for a split from Indonesia have recently accused the army of genocide, charges Indonesia denies.
"In regards to human rights violations, I think it is an old story. The media circus, particulary the satellite television, tends to recycle these images about past events," Indonesian Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono told Reuters in an interview.
After human rights abuses against indigenous Papuans under the autocratic rule of President Suharto were unearthed, the Indonesian government in 2001 issued a law giving Papua a bigger share of revenue from its rich mineral and natural resources and more freedom in running its own affairs. Suharto left office in 1998.
However, some foreign groups, especially those based in Australia, have said the measures were not enough and increased their campaign against the Indonesian military presence in Papua.
Sudarsono, a respected politics professor, said human rights groups had failed to recognise the positive role the military played in maintaining stability in Papua.
The army have "the understanding about the anthropology and sociology of these cultures. They have worked very carefully with the views from within rather than imposing the view from outside in," said Sudarsono, who was a former ambassador to the United Kingdom.
"They must be there simply to prevent the outburst of subtribal warfare. This is what human rights groups in Australia, Europe and the United States do not want to understand," he said.
Papua, with a population of two million occupying a land area almost as large as Iraq, has around 300 indigenous tribes, some still living in virtually Stone Age conditions, with different sets of languages and traditions.
Tribal wars using bows and arrows killed at least three people last month, triggering a deployment of troops to the affected areas. Some reports said Indonesia would increase its military presence in Papua due to those events.
However, Sudarsono dismissed the idea of new troops beefing up the 12,000 already in the region, saying there were no funds for that and there has only been regular rotation of forces.
Jakarta took over the area in 1969 under a vote by community leaders backed by the United Nations. Many rights groups consider that UN process a sham.