West Papua Update

The European Commission statement on West Papua issue

Thursday, 5 September 2002 – Strasbourg

The Commission, together with the diplomatic missions of the Member States, continues to closely follow developments in Papua.

The Union immediately made a declaration on 13 November 2001, deploring the death in suspicious circumstances on 10 November of Mr Theys Eluay, the chair of the Papuan Praesidium, and continues to urge the Government of Indonesia to investigate the matter thoroughly and bring the perpetrators to justice. The Commission has participated in this and all Union démarches and continues to draw attention to Union’s concerns regarding the situation in Papua.

At the end of March, Union’s Heads of Mission in Jakarta, including the Commission Delegation, visited Papua for a fact-finding visit and to reiterate the Union’s concerns to the Indonesian authorities.

Following the Indonesian Parliament’s approval in November last of a regional autonomy law for Irian Jaya (to be called thereafter ‘Papua’), full implementation of this law should make a significant contribution to resolving the difficulties in the province. To support this process in the longer term, the Commission envisages – within its Country Strategy for assistance to Indonesia – to focus on encouraging good governance and the rule of law in the framework of the Government’s decentralisation and regional autonomy policies including Papua.

The Commission shares the stated position of the Union, which firmly supports the territorial integrity of Indonesia, while encouraging the Government to make urgent efforts to address and resolve peacefully Indonesia’s internal conflicts, whether separatist or sectarian in character. Therefore in the present context the Commission is not proposing to call for a review of the ‘Act of Free Choice’ of 1969 regarding Papua.

Source: The European Parliament