PAPUANS PROTEST AUTONOMY FAILURES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 002299

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/ANP, INR/EAP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2017
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL HUM ID
SUBJECT: PAPUANS PROTEST AUTONOMY FAILURES


JAKARTA 00002299 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) Summary: Papuan students have taken to the streets in
peaceful protests, charging that the implementation of the
province's Special Autonomy arrangement has failed. Student
leaders have called for a referendum on Special Autonomy, a
demand that is steadily gathering Papuan support, but which
is totally unacceptable to Jakarta. While popular protests
focus on autonomy and demands for a referendum, the immediate
target is the May 2007 Presidential Instruction on Papuan
economic development, which so far is not delivering
benefits. End Summary.


2. (SBU) On August 20, approximately 300 demonstrators
rallied in front of the Papua Legislative Council (DPR-P) in
Jayapura to protest what they characterized as the failure of
Special Autonomy. A loose affiliation of student
organizations called "The Coalition of People and Students
for Papua" organized the peaceful demonstration. The
students demanded that the provincial government and the
DPR-P acknowledge that Special Autonomy has failed. Council
members Yani (one name only) and Heny Arobaya received the
demonstrators and told them to deliver their demands to the
council when it was back in session. Papuan student groups
also staged small rallies in front of the Department of Home
Affairs and the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) in
Jakarta on August 21. Police presence was restrained and
there were no arrests.


3. (C) The demonstrators also expressed support for a
referendum on Special Autonomy. The students demanded a vote
over whether to continue with Special Autonomy as currently
drafted or to open "direct dialogue" with Jakarta to revise
the law. The Alliance of Papuan Students and the United
Front of West Papuan People, the leading student
organizations in the province, both voiced support for the
referendum, as have many members of the Papua Tribal Council.



4. (C) Echoing these sentiments, DPR-P member Weynand Watory
told poloff that failures in both Jakarta and Jayapura had
undermined the economic redistribution strategy. While money
had begun flowing from Jakarta to Jayapura, the provincial
government had been unable to absorb and use the funds.
(Note: Many provincial governments, with first-time elected
officials and new funds from Jakarta, are suffering from a
lack of capacity to formulate, implement and monitor budgets.
End note.) As a result, he charged, most was going into the
pockets of local officials. Moreover, Jakarta had continued
to drag its feet on implementing Special Autonomy. Jakarta
elites were unwilling to cede control of Papua's enormous
mineral, gas and timber resources to the provincial
government, he asserted.


5. (C) As touched on by Watory, the current Papuan
dissatisfaction seems to spring mainly from flaws in the new
economic strategy, although it is ostensibly directed at
Special Autonomy in general. Presidential Instruction 5/2007
on the Accelerated Development of Papua and West Papua
Provinces (Inpres) issued in May directed 11 ministries to
contribute to Papuan economic development. Papuan member of
the House of Representatives (DPR) Simon Morin told poloff
that people in the province regarded the Inpres as "soft
recentralization." Under the instruction, as Morin
interpreted it, Jakarta ministries could retain control of
key economic sectors, including all of Papua's natural
resource wealth. DPR-P member Watory added that the
President's Office had failed to consult Papuan legislators,
thereby fueling suspicions that the Inpres was yet another
Jakarta stratagem designed to undermine Special Autonomy.


6. (C) GOI officials recognize that its new strategy is not
working as intended, although they point fingers at Papuan
provincial authorities. Ambassador Albert Matandong, Special
Adviser to Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and
Law Widodo, acknowledged to poloff recently that Papuan
officials were siphoning off much of the funding intended for
the broader public.


7. (C) Student demonstrations are a common occurrence in
Jayapura and the number of committed protesters is likely to

JAKARTA 00002299 002.2 OF 002


remain small. That said, the widespread sentiment that the
government's economic strategy has failed indicates more
fundamental concerns about the Special Autonomy Law, which
has been on the books since 2001 and, as of yet, has not been
fully implemented. Unless the GOI and Papuan provincial
authorities are able to implement the law more fully and
effectively, Papuans are likely to become even more
frustrated.
HUME