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Dutch report to reveal truth about West Papua's annexation by Indonesia

TAPOL Press Release - November 11, 2005

A long-awaited report commissioned by the Dutch government into West Papua's controversial incorporation into Indonesia will be launched at the Institute of Dutch History in the Hague next Tuesday, 15 November.

The eminent Dutch historian, Professor Pieter Drooglever, was tasked by the government in 2000 to conduct historical research into the events surrounding the 1969 Act of Free Choice in West Papua, a former Dutch colonial territory.

Since the Act took place, the Papuan people have suffered from decades of harsh Indonesian military rule and widespread violations of human rights. Tens of thousands are thought to have died as a result.

Professor Drooglever was able to complete his research despite a lack of co-operation from the Indonesian authorities who refused him access to their archives and permission to enter the country. He was able to study Dutch, British, American, Australian and UN archives and to interview a number of Papuan participants and eye-witnesses to surrounding events.

A number of Papuans and a UN observer present during the Act of Free Choice will attend the launch in the Hague.

In 2001, retired UN Under-Secretary General Chakravarthi Narasimahan, who had overall responsibility for the UN's involvement in West Papua said the process was 'just a whitewash' and added 'the mood at the United Nations was to get rid of this problem as quickly as possible... Nobody gave a thought to the fact that there were a million people there who had their fundamental rights trampled.'

The British government has acknowledged in Parliament that the Papuans were 'largely coerced into declaring for inclusion in Indonesia'.
 

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