Papua

The year 2011 in the provinces of Papua and West Papua was politically noisy. Papua occupied the headlines of a number of national electronic and print media sources more often than in the previous year. First, the cycle of violence conducted by both the state apparatus and non-state armed groups predominated. On one side, the management of politics and security in the provinces was still colored by state repression and alleged human rights violations. Impunity was maintained and laws could not be enforced, as law enforcers often failed to indicate the perpetrators' identity, calling them "unknown actors." When perpetrators who are members of state security institutions have been identified and known publicly, the court has tended to punish them with light sentences. On the other side, the non-state armed groups became more aggressive. The year saw more members of the police and military becoming victims of attacks by the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka [OPM])- National Liberation Army (Tentara Pembebasan Nasiona [TPN]).

Second, the political impasse caused by mutual mistrust between the government and the pro-independence Papuans continued. The special autonomy law implemented in 2001 has failed to restore trust. The impasse is mainly due to independence demands being approached from the perspective of a security framework (securitization). Most of the government's recent policies were also influenced by the securitization policy, which further undermined the spirit of reconciliation embedded in the special autonomy law.

Third, industrial relations conflicts between workers and the Freeport Indonesia mine intensified. The root of the conflict is wages, which are considered the lowest in relation to other Freeport companies outside Indonesia. A phenomenal strike of the workers' association lasted roughly six months, and the company was forced to halt its operations for about one month. The strike began in July, and negotiations for a new wage structure were concluded at the end of December 2011. The strike ended and the workers enjoyed a wage increase of 37 percent. It was a Christmas gift for both sides.

Fourth, the political will of the government to employ peaceful means of solving the Papua conflict appeared more clearly at the end of the year. On 9 November 2011, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stated that the government was prepared to hold open dialogue with Papuan leaders. This statement confirmed the previous policy in which the president appointed special envoys for Papua and a special unit under the president to handle the political and economic problems of Papua. Overall the new approach has not yet had a positive impact on the political situation in Papua, primarily because the old approaches have not been terminated.

The Papua People's Assembly (Majelis Rakyat Papua [MRP]) also remained a protracted problem in Papua. The official term of MRP members should have ended in 2010, but the selection of new members for the 2011-2016 term did not start until April 2011. To make matters worse, the central government intervened by rejecting the appointments of Agus Alua and Hana Hikoyabi who had already been selected as members of MRP by the provincial committee. Alua and Hikoyabi were labeled "separatist" by Jakarta. As a matter of fact, these two Papuan leaders had an important role in facilitating the demonstration "returning" the special autonomy law to the central government in 2010. As a result of this, the inauguration was delayed. On 7 April, Agus Alua passed away after a long illness.

On 12 April, 73 members of MRP (40 Papua and 33 West Papua) were inaugurated by the Minister of Home Affairs Gamawan Fauzi in Jayapura. On 30 May, members of the MRP agreed to maintain only one MRP for both provinces. However, on 6-7 June the members of West Papua MRP, led by Vitalis Yumte, Z Abidin Bay, and Anike Sabami, decided to establish a separate MRP for West Papua province. Surprisingly this separate body was supported by all members of West Papuan origin. Despite the refusal of Papuan members of Parliament in Jakarta, the separation was encouraged by Jakarta as well as by the governor of West Papua. The newly established West Papua People's Assembly was re-inaugurated...