Jakarta – Hundreds of thousands of pro-independence supporters Wednesday joined peaceful demonstrations across Irian Jaya on the anniversary of the separatist movement as activists defied military warnings and hoisted their flag.
An estimated 800,000 people celebrated the 38th anniversary of the Papuan proclamation of independence in Indonesia's remote easternmost province, John Rumbiak, the chief of the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy in the provincial capital Jayapura, told AFP.
The figures included those who turned up at ceremonies at which the separatist Morning Star flag was flown side by side with the Indonesian flag as well as those who packed into churches for special prayers, he said.
"It is phenomenal how the struggle for independence is fought peacefully despite 37 years of oppression by Indonesia," Rumbiak said. "December 1 is a special day for the Papuans. It's the day when the people proclaimed independence from the Dutch."
He said his group deployed more than 100 volunteers to monitor the anniversaryin different towns and there were no reports of violence in the province which has a population of two million. However, Usman, a staff member at the local legal aid institute in Jayapura said an estimated 11,000 supporters of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), attended the ceremony in the central Inbi square, presided over by leader Theys Eluay. The official Antara news agency put the figure at 5,000.
The military had warned it would tear down the flag and replace it with the Indonesian flag, but under an agreement between Theys and the military all the separatist flags were lowered again at around dusk.
Irian Jaya police chief Brigadier General Sylvanus Yulian Wenas told state television that raising the separatist flag was illegal and some people could be prosecuted.
Peter El, a pro-independence activist, said the demonstrators issued a communique demanding the United Nations cancel the result of a 1964 ballot on whether Irian Jaya, then a Dutch colony, should become part of Indonesia.
"The Pepera [ballot] was rigged and it did not represent the view of the majority of Irianese," El said, adding only 1,000 people were consulted. There have been persistent allegations that those who voted were bribed and intimidated into voting to join Indonesia.
A priest at the Roman Catholic church in Jayapura, Theo Bruder, said the people's demand for secession had a solid basis but warned the path to freedom would not be easy.
"It will take a long time before the powers that be can see the sufferings of the Papuans which have triggered the demands for separation," he said.
A Free Papua state was declared by Irian Jaya leaders in Jayapura while the territory was still under Dutch occupation on December 1, 1961.
But Indonesia claimed Dutch New Guinea as its 26th province in 1963 and after the ballot, the UN recognised Indonesia's sovereignty in 1969.
There have been claims that human rights abuses by the military left hundreds dead in the province when it was under tight central control, and closed off to most outsiders.
Rich in minerals, timber and forestry products, Irian Jaya is home to the world's largest open gold and copper mines, operated by the US-based company Freeport. But Papuans say they have not had a fair share in the resources and have been excluded from employment in the mines and the local administration with jobs going to migrants from elsewhere in Indonesia.
"The people want to free themselves from Indonesian oppression. For more than 38 years the Indonesian military has committed gross human rights violations," Rumbiak said.
"Not only that, the government's development policies such as in the mining sector, the resettlement and family planning programs, have marginalized and impoverished the Papuans owing to the domination of migrant settlers."
On Saturday the troubled province of Aceh also plans to hold demonstrations to mark the founding of the separatist movement there in 1976.