Turning a blind eye

Disappearances, destabilisation, infiltration, the raising of militias, starvation, neglect of the education and health of indigenous people, an official policy of transmigration and consequent stacking of the population with foreigners, the strangling of language and culture, the blind opposition to all forms of national feeling, the subversion of the young, the rape of the women, the forced movement of people from tribal lands: are we talking about East Timor or West Papua? You be the judge. Read the reports.

The impunity enjoyed by the tormentors of Timor is a major cause of the mayhem in West Papua. Indonesia has not yet demonstrated the will to address the appalling treatment of people by its armed forces. It is nonsense to suggest that any military machine which has successfully evaded responsibility for rampant human rights abuses among a civilian population, whom it considered inferior, would not undertake the same activities in similar circumstances.

It is equally inconceivable that having been so recently defeated by civilians, with the consequent terrible loss of face, the same “scot free” machine would not be tempted to prevent a repeat. The international community, including Australia, by not calling Indonesia to account in one region, have thus given the green light for similar behaviour in others.

The desperation of the military to maintain control is heightened by the illegality of Indonesian sovereignty in both East Timor and West Papua, the former through invasion and the latter through a fraudulent “Act of Free Choice”. The vicious cycle of illegal claim to authority, resistance by the people and the use of increasing force to maintain power has exploded in mayhem and abuse.

There is a lack of appreciation by both Indonesia and Australia that oppression in West Papua, as in East Timor, is more likely to fuel nationalist sentiment than to quell it. The governments of Indonesia and Australia are dishonest when they accuse human rights supporters of destabilising the Republic of Indonesia. There would be far fewer problems if the Papuan people had been treated as human beings deserve, and if the efforts to establish autonomy had been sincere.

Indonesia’s anger at Australia’s recent granting of temporary protection visas to 42 West Papuans resulted in the suggestion that the cases of future asylum seekers may “have to take into account the views of the countries applicants are fleeing”. It is deeply troubling that such a proposal could even be contemplated. It has been run up the Australian flag pole, and although hastily withdrawn, has served to test the waters, to soften up the population, perhaps for its re-introduction, perhaps for something worse.

An equally disgraceful proposal certainly followed hot on its heels, i.e. to consider the whole of Australia not to be Australia for migration purposes, so that asylum seekers who reach the mainland would be processed offshore, and sent elsewhere for refuge.

The house is alight and the neighbours are fleeing, but we lock our door on them in case we might upset their negligent landlord.

Indonesia may be making some creditable steps towards democracy, but while atrocities such as those endured by the Timorese people remain unaddressed and the perpetrators remain at large in positions of authority and esteem, claims of progress are weakened.

One of the requirements of democracy is accountability; the refusal to shoulder responsibility betrays elements more appropriate to dictatorships and autocrats. Whiffs of such behaviour occur even in a long-standing democracy like Australia where senior ministers can evade responsibility by telling lies: claiming an inability to recall facts, to lack personal knowledge of major issues within their brief, or to claim being kept in the dark by their departments.

The CAVR Report illustrates the extreme to which the exercise of power without responsibility can lead. When individuals or governments are not held accountable for their actions, they are emboldened to repeat those actions, as is being convincingly demonstrated by Indonesia.

It must be understood that the responsibility for assisting Indonesia to see that accountability and respect for human rights are requirements of democracy cannot lie with East Timor. The Timorese have had to shoulder the burden of serving other nations’ interests for too long, for example, in protecting us during World War II by helping our soldiers; suffering because of Australian complicity during the Indonesian occupation; and sharing their oil with us after independence.