Jakarta – The central government and representatives from Papuan organizations must involve mediators before engaging in further talks to resolve a string of conflicts in the easternmost region, activists say.
"The mediator should be trustworthy, independent, firm and accommodating," human rights watchdog Imparsial's program director, Al Araf, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
He said former vice president Jusuf Kalla and former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari could be the right men for the job, as they both were considered successful in ending the bloody Aceh conflicts peacefully.
He also said the meeting should be aimed at providing win-win solutions for both parties, only this time they must guarantee better living condition for Papuans.
"Papuans are living under the impression that they received almost nothing for giving up their valuable resources, and what we have seen in the field suggest the same thing. This should be fixed immediately."
A lawmaker from House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense, foreign affairs and information, T.B. Hasanuddin, said the idea to bring a mediator into the dialogue had been proposed by the Indonesia Science Institution (LIPI) around a year ago.
"But still, as of now, we have noticed that the government has not seriously taken this matter into their hands," he said.
Adriana Elisabeth of the Indonesia Science Institute (LIPI) said that there were at least four unresolved problems in Papua: Papuans had been marginalized in the development process, they had suffered unfairness as a result of the development, they were never given clear political status and many human rights violations had gone unnoticed.
"A huge rift of distrust has developed between the central government and the Papuan organizations in finding the best future for Papuans. For example, whenever Papuans want to gather, the government is likely to peg them as separatists. Thus, we need to create mutual trust," she said last week as reported by tempointeraktif.com.
Hasanuddin said the government lost momentum when it didn't handle the job in 2005 after Papua was given special autonomy status.
"The unit should have done its job to ensure that the Papuans had received their special autonomy funds at that time. It will be harder to do it right, this time," he said.
However, he added that he would wait to see how the unit performed before issuing any more comments. "The unit should do its duty by conducting dialogue and by not tolerating any attempts at violence or intimidation along the way," he said.
Papuan Presidium Council secretary-general Taha Al Hamid also recently stated that dialogue between the central government and Papuan organizations was the only way to avoid further bloodshed. "The government should be able to look us right in the eyes and ask what should we do to build a better Papua," he said.
Papuans are now forced to live in fear after the police and their army reinforcements brutally disbanded the third Papuan People's Congress in Abepura, Jayapura, on Oct. 17, killing six and wounding dozens.
The police arrested approximately 300 congress participants and were still pursuing those who fled to the Padang Bulan mountains. The police said they decided to disband the congress after confirming that it was held in part to gain independence from Indonesia.