Papua has the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in Indonesia. Latest official figures put the number of cases in the province at 1,1,25 but experts say the real figure is much higher.
Papua deputy governor Constan Karma on Tuesday expressed concern over the ongoing spread of the incurable disease, saying about 80 new cases are being recorded every month.
He urged locals to avoid sexual intercourse outside of wedlock and pledged to provide local non-government organizations and health clinics with funds to conduct AIDS awareness campaigns.
State news agency Antara said Papua ranks second after Yogyakarta province in the severity of the spread of HIV/AIDS. The high incidence of AIDS in Papua has officially been blamed on infected Thai fishermen visiting coastal and offshore brothels in the province.
But Papuan sources in Jakarta, including two civil servants, claim the Indonesian military has for years been covertly sending Java-based prostitutes infected with AIDS to the province as part of a plan to weaken the indigenous population.
There is no hard evidence to support this claim of alleged genocide, although some human rights activists and church officials have also said the military could be responsible for the growing number of AIDS cases in Papua.
Reverend John Barr of the Uniting Church in Australia earlier this year said: "I heard a number of stories concerning the increasing incidence of HIV-AIDS in Papua. While I could not obtain precise statistics, the increase in HIV-AIDS is said to be alarming. Many people believe the military have a vested interest here in introducing and perpetuating the problem. The introduction of HIV-AIDS is being undertaken as an effective way of wiping out indigenous people.
Alarming rates of HIV-AIDS among remote tribes in the Merauke region is a case in point. This has resulted from the introduction of prostitution in the area and the deliberate offering of favors to local tribal leaders in response to the acquisition of indigenous land for commercial development. Many believe this is a blatant case of ethnic cleansing."
Barr also said there is also a general distrust of official medicine in West Papua, adding that allegations of the military's alleged role in the AIDS problem must be investigated.
"I have heard allegations that there was military and local involvement in bringing prostitutes to West Papua. In places such as the Baliem Valley, women don't sleep with their men for a long time after having a child, so some of the men go to the prostitutes and thus facilitate the spread of AIDS. I heard very serious allegations that women were being involuntarily sterilized in Wamena hospital. [T]hese allegations are very serious and need to be investigated. Wamena hospital is funded by, among other agencies, the European Commission. This distrust could only negatively impact on the spread of AIDS," he said.
The Indonesia Human Rights Campaign (Tapol) in July quoted a source as saying "logging firms were pointed to as 'knowingly' bringing infected prostitutes up to remote villages". It's no secret that the Indonesian military plays a major role in Papua's timber industry.
How high?
Indonesia officially has about 3,00 [this should probably read 3,000 - JB] recorded cases of HIV/AIDS, but Health Minister Achmad Sujudi in April 2002 admitted the real number could be closer to 120,000.
The World Health Organization estimates that up to 6 million Indonesians are infected with HIV. Several foreign countries have also warned that Indonesia's official AIDS tally is only the tip of the iceberg. "Indonesia is on the brink of a major AIDS explosion," a visiting US State Department official told Laksamana.net in Jakarta last week.
Rampant drug abuse in Indonesian prisons, involving inmates sharing dirty intravenous needles, has been singled out as a major cause of the rise in the number of HIV/AIDS cases among prisoners. The complicity of corrupt prison officials in the drugs trade means the problem is unlikely to be dealt with.
The rise in HIV/AIDS has been directly linked to prostitution and drug use, especially in Java. Indonesia has more than 71,000 registered prostitutes, of whom 60,000 are aged between 15-20.
Although prostitution is officially condemned in Indonesia, it is usually legalized at local levels, as many brothel complexes are managed and patronized by military and government officials. All too often condoms are not available in brothels, let alone bars frequented by sex workers and their patrons. Prostitutes in Jakarta say many clients refuse to use condoms.
The rise in drug trafficking is also a cause for concern. Experts say that about 40% of Jakarta's 4 million drug users are infected with HIV.