It may not look very scary to you or me, but to the Government of Indonesia it is a dangerous threat to the "unity of the nation". No, it's not an assault rifle or a pound of high explosives, or even a bow and some arrows ....it is a BAG.

Yesterday in Jayapura, West Papua, two women, Yohana Pekei & Nelly Pigome were interrogated by Indonesian police and intelligence agents because they make bags and sell them for a few pence to help support their families.

What could possibly be so dangerous about a bag sold by the roadside by two West Papuan women?

If I told you that the bag has a star woven into its design, maybe you can now understand why the Indonesian State is so terrified of this particular bag? Still confused? Well, let me tell you that the star is the "Morning Star", symbol of 45 years of dreams of West Papuan independence from Indonesia. When a State doesn't enjoy the support of the entire population of a territory it claims as its own, it cannot dare to allow even the smallest sign of disagreement.

So the NKRI, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, with all its pomp, majesty and immense military power... is now scared of a bag. Ten years after the fall of the dictator Suharto, an event which was supposed to herald a new era of openness and democracy, Indonesia is now plumbing new depths in a last desperate attempt to keep its grasp on West Papua.

Earlier this week, Barnabas Suebu, Indonesia's colonial Governor in West Papua, ordered the Police to enforce a new law, Article 6 of Government Regulation 77, 2007, making it a criminal offence to "display, sell or use" ... "any flag or logo used by separatist movements".(1) Yohana & Nelly's bag is now an illegal bag.

In 2004, two West Papuan independence activists, Filep Karma & Yusak Pakage were jailed for 15 & 10 years respectively for peacefully raising the Morning Star flag itself. Now it's Yohana & Nelly's turn for Indonesia to turn into criminals... for making and selling a bag.

Last November, Time Magazine acclaimed Suebu as a "Hero of the Environment" for his supposed promises to start protecting West Papua 's threatened rainforests. This week Suebu has revealed his true colours as a "Hero of Indonesian nationalism".

And Indonesia is not only scared of Papuan bags. It's scared of Papuan books too. In December, Indonesian State prosecutors seized 60 copies of a book by Papuan academic, Sendius Wonda, entitled "The Sinking of the Melanesian Race: The Political Struggle in West Papua".

"The book is misleading, it could spark unrest and divide the Papuan community," said Rudi Hartono, the Chief of Indonesian intelligence (BIN) in West Papua. "We will continue raiding bookstores in other places [searching] for the book".(2)

And here is why Yohana & Nelly's bags and Sendius Wonda's book are so scary to the Government of Indonesia; they tell the truth ...the inconvenient but undeniable truth that the vast majority of West Papuans want independence from Indonesia.

But as an activist with the Free West Papua Campaign I would say that wouldn't I? Well don't just take it from me. In June 2006, the then BBC Jakarta correspondent, Rachel Harvey, was allowed the rare privilege of a visit to West Papua by the Indonesian government. Here is what she said on her return:

"I didn't talk politics with every Papuan I met. But whenever the subject came up, and it did repeatedly, everybody I spoke to told me they wanted independence."(3)

And in February 2007, a senior Indonesian political sciences academic, Muridan S. Widjojo, from the Centre for Political Studies at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) [an official Institute under the authority of the Indonesian President himself] who unlike foreign academics or journalists is given free access to West Papua by the Indonesian military, admitted with remarkable candour:

"However, we have to realize that deep inside, almost every Papuan wants to be free from Indonesia."(4)

And to trump them all, how can you doubt the aforementioned Indonesian Governor himself, Barnabas Suebu, speaking in 2000, before his current period in power? Here is Suebu, the same man who this week declared Yohana and Nelly's bag illegal, interviewed by Tempo magazine during the "Papuan Spring", the brief and wonderful period of openness which followed the collapse of the Suharto dictatorship, an era cruelly closed with the November 2001 assassination of West Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay by Indonesian Special Forces:

Q. "In your view, will the people of Irian Jaya vote for independence or autonomy if a referendum is held?"

A. "Based on my observations in Jayapura, I predict there will be a greater preference for independence. So, this is a serious matter. I hope no one will say again that this is the wish of a trivial few. They do not accept autonomy.... They only want independence... The people of Papua insist on independence but Jakarta rejects it... the people are craving for independence."(5)

A Papuan bag and a Papuan book. Indonesia is indeed very scared.... of the truth.

Notes:

1. Cenderawasih Pos 11 January 2008 "Morning Star flag ban stands: Suebu"

2. The Jakarta Post 15 December 2007 "[Indonesian] Government Bans, Confiscates Book on Papuan Political Struggle"

3. Te Waha Nui Online 14 June 2006 "West Papuan clergyman to speak on human rights at seminar" http://www.tewahanui.info/news/140606_westpapua.shtml

4. Jakarta Post 1 February 2007 "Papuan Separatists not a threat". http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20070201.H05

5. Tempo Magazine Interview NO. 34/XXIX 23 October 2000 "Barnabas Suebu: "They Only Want Independence"

[Richard Samuelson is the co-director of the Free West Papua Campaign (UK), www.freewestpapua.org.]