Final Text 11.9.02Interview of
Mr Imron Cotan, Minister/Charge d'Affaires, a.i.,
Indonesian Embassy, Canberra
by
Mr Evan Williams,
Foreign Correspondent Program, ABC TV
On West Papua
At the Indonesian Embassy, 9 September 2002
ABC: (inaudible)Mr Cotan: I can assure you that the Indonesian Government will be more than happy to engage them.
ABC: They do say that the failure to get that channel of dialogue open. It is a bit unfair to hit you though because you are not involved in those negotiations. But they say they're finding it difficult to get that channel open.
Mr Cotan: I cannot understand because I believe, Jakarta, the central government, is now in a position to entertain a sort of dialogue, because Indonesia is a free country now. I am very upset to listen to those accusations that they are not able to channel their frustation. We are a very democratic country now.
ABC: The central point that the West Papuan activists repeatedly go back to, is the, and I am sure with your experience in international relations you are aware of this, the 1969 Act of Free Choice, which was really the legal basis on which Indonesia owns West Papua. Now, of course, every West Papuan I talk to calls that the Act of No Choice. They say it was a fraudulent manipulation by the government at the time and that they demand a plebiscite, a vote, a revote, to find out what Papuans really feel.
Mr Cotan: You have to go back to history to study it carefully, .. the conditions and situations in Papua at that particular moment required that particular action and it is sanctioned by the UNGA Resolutions. We cannot open the pandora box, that would simply open the whole thing up again. Why don't we simply try to study whether or not it would be feasible for them to run this special autonomy package offered by the government and you know that this Law 21 of 2001 was designed by Papuans themselves, giving them a free hand to develop and prosper and as a matter of fact nowadays they have $A1.7 billion annual budget. That is the biggest in Indonesia. Using that amount of money they can progress and can excel to the extent that would envy the rest of the Indonesian regions. The only thing that perhaps we need to do is to give the autonomy package a chance.
ABC: They keep saying autonomy is great, but we want independence.
Mr Cotan: The problem is, again I would like to urge you to see and read the Law 21 issued in 2001. That law even allows them to send a representative of Papua to be posted in every single Indonesian Embassy abroad, representing the interests of the Papuan people. For me it is a very well thought gesture from the central government to let them express themselves. For me it is a state within a state, but what else do you expect.
ABC: I mean, can you understand their frustration, against history, but when Amnesty International says that over 33 years of Indonesian rule, there have been up to 100,000 people killed or disappear.
Mr Cotan: Well again, I receive a lot of statements in that regard and I can't clarify the numbers as also in another case like what we had in 1965. Again I cannot speculate how many people fallen victims, but again that was the past. What we need to do is now to look into the future whether or not Papuans will be able to live within the autonomy package.
ABC: Would Indonesia ever consider a plebiscite for West Papua on Independence?
Mr Cotan: I believe again a sensible government will not let such an occasion to occur.
ABC: Why not?
Mr Cotan: Because the decision has been taken, opening up old wounds would simply be counterproductive.
ABC: Do you think it would lead to the West Papua Province breaking away?
Mr Cotan: Well I am not saying that that would be the case, but opening the pandora box would also lead to a very devastating situation in Indonesia. It can also be an entry point for those who would like to see Indonesia disintegrated and again I would like to warn you that Australia will be the one who would suffer.
ABC: Looking to the future, people say that in fact the West Papuans are claiming that the same strategy that was used in East Timor by the military, not the civilian government, by the military, the raising of militia, the use of Laskar Jihad in this case, the targeting of leaders, the use of violence and intimidation are now being employed in West Papua.
Mr Cotan: Again, by implication, you would accuse TNI as not being aware of what happened. I would assume, instead, that they have understood the situation they would not be able to do that again. Of course, if someone accuses you, they are free to do so, but from my perspective, TNI would not do the same thing as what happened in East Timor. They know exactly the circumstances, so if this TNI, the one that we are now talking about, is a new defence force and they know exactly the environment in which Indonesia lives in.
ABC: One point on that because in fact West Papuans quote an interview with the head of Laskar Jihad from South Sulawesi who was saying that in fact we work with the security forces in West Papua. Stop the succession move.
Mr Cotan: I cannot again comment on that speculative statement. I need to see it first and then study it and turn it back to my capital asking their official response.
ABC: One further thing on the President and this is to be fair to your office and to hers is that again a claim by an activist Papuan, this is in relation to the murder of Theys Eluay. They point to a speech by President Megawati Soekarnoputri and again it's unfair because we are not showing you exactly the words, but this is a claim. So if you feel like responding please do. Where they say that she said that any move towards succession will be targeted, will be stopped, basically and that they want in international investigation, based on the murder of Theys Eluay, to see if in fact it wasn't ordered from the office of the President to have him murdered or whether that speech was a green light to the security forces, because somebody in authority obviously gave those men the order to kill him.
Mr Cotan: I used to work for the office of the President for the last four years and I can assure you there is no instruction whatsoever coming out from the office of the President involving this case.
ABC: .. some sort of an emotional response by the people.
Mr Cotan: My message is that if Papua cuts loose from Indonesia that would become an entry point for Indonesia's disintegration and that would send chilling effects not only to the region but also to the world. We would not like to see this happened.
ABC: What sort of effects?
Mr Cotan: Boat people, illegal migrants, less than 500 people have created enough havoc in Australia. What would you expect? Millions of people coming to your country. That would destabilize the whole region, not only the whole region, but the world. We are talking about a huge movement of people and it is in the best interests of the international community and I am very happy that your government understands, that Indonesia remains intact.
Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Canberra - Australia