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Congress to affirm right to independence

Source
South China Morning Post - June 3, 2000

Reuters in Jakarta – A landmark congress discussing the future of Indonesia's Irian Jaya province is set to close on Saturday with an affirmation of the right to independence but without the setting up of a provisional separatist government.

Delegates at the six-day congress voted on Friday to reject the idea of creating a provisional government, fearing that such a move would provoke a harsh reaction from Jakarta, which is resolutely opposed to independence for its easternmost province.

"The idea would be tantamount to separatism and this would justify the Indonesian army and police to launch an operation to wipe us out," Fadal Ahmad, a student at Cenderawasih University in the provincial capital of Jayapura, told the Jakarta Post.

Delegates have, however, approved a motion that a United Nations plebiscite in 1969, in which Irian Jaya voted to become part of Indonesia, was flawed. They are also expected to include an affirmation of the right to independence in a list of declarations to be issued before the conference closes.

About 3,000 people, including tribal leaders, have gathered in Jayapura for the congress. The city is about 4,000 kilometres east of Jakarta.

The majority of delegates at the congress are in favour of independence, but there have been disagreements between moderates who want to achieve their goal through negotiation, and those who want an immediate declaration of independence and the setting up of a provisional separatist government. President Abdurrahman Wahid had originally been due to open the congress, but backed out when it became clear it would be in favour of independence. Jakarta has attacked the congress, saying it does not represent the wishes of the people of Irian Jaya.

Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said this week the government would be very concerned if the congress "goes over the limit" by declaring support for independence.

But Tom Beanal, chairman of a 31-member presidium council at the congress, rejected charges that the delegates were unrepresentative. He told the Jakarta Post that the congress included representatives of all the province's regencies and groups, selected by local people.

The remote province on the western half of New Guinea island is rich in natural resources, including one of the world's largest copper and gold mines, the Grasberg mine majority-owned by US-based Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold.

But many of its people remain poor, and separatist leaders say Jakarta has plundered its resources with little given in return. Like Aceh province in Sumatra, Irian Jaya has long had a low-level guerrilla movement against Jakarta rule.

Demands for independence have been fuelled by fears that Indonesians from other parts of the archipelago are taking over the province.

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