Andrew Kilvert and agencies, Jayapura – West Papua yesterday announced the formation of a government and declared independence from Jakarta, as Indonesian soldiers and riot police continued to patrol the streets of the capital, Jayapura.
The announcement followed a week-long congress in Jayapura, where 3,000 indigenous West Papuans have been debating a series of resolutions. While shying away from using the term transitional government, the congress announced an executive of 31 people to represent West Papua.
Mr Clemens Runaweri, a member of the executive and a political leader under Dutch colonial rule, told the Herald: "We want to shape our system along the path of democracy." The executive planned to establish an electoral commission and boundaries, appoint diplomats and draft a constitution.
It also planned to challenge Indonesian sovereignty by calling for a review of the 1969 United Nations-sponsored vote that saw West Papua incorporated into Indonesia.
"[The] Act of Free Choice was conducted under threats of intimidation, sadistic killing, military repression and other immoral acts," the congress moderator, Mr Franzalbert Joku, said.
The congress called for crimes against humanity in the province to be investigated and for those involved brought to justice. It named named a tribal chief, Mr Theys Eluai, as chairman of the Papuan People's Presidium and Mr Tom Beanal as deputy chairman.
President Abdurrahman Wahid has often said that Indonesia will not countenance a state within a state, so independence for West Papua is not on the agenda. At the weekend he criticised the congress as unrepresentative and said most people in West Papua wished to remain integrated with Indonesia.
But Mr Runaweri reponded: "Whilst the congress is not a perfect democracy, the people were selected by their own communities from the 14 regions throughout West Papua with further international West Papuan representatives".
Last week the Foreign Minister, Mr Alwi Shihab, said: "If discussion goes too far [the Government] will have to react".
Tension is growing in Jayapura as West Papuans wait for a response from Jakarta. Soldiers and riot police continue to patrol the streets of Jayapura, including the mobile brigade units implicated in the shooting of 55 protesters in the southern Papuan town of Timika last December.
Over the past six months, the Indonesian authorities have tolerated the formation of a pro-independence West Papua militia and there are fears that any intervention could result in violent clashes between the authorities and the militia.
Villagers from remote areas in traditional dress have flocked into the capital, and protesters armed with bows and arrows, spears and knives have been seen on the streets. Despite some heated debate at the congress, no violence has been reported.
West Papua achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1961. By 1963, the Indonesian military under President Sukarno had seized the province, although small bands of independent guerillas known as OPM continue to operate in the province and along the border with Papua New Guinea. Some guerillas attended the congress, further angering local authorities.
With the fall of Soeharto, the West Papuan independence movement has become more open in its call for independence. "There is no turning back from here," Mr Runaweri said. "This will raise eyebrows in Jakarta, but the people's will is our strength. The will of 2 million Papuan people worries us more than Jakarta."