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INFO PAPUA : Political & Diplomacy : Political Loby

UK ADMITS - AGAIN - WEST PAPUANS COERCED INTO JOINING INDONESIA IN 1969
By FREE WEST PAPUA CAMPAIGN (UK)
Apr 1, 2008, 19:57

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FREE WEST PAPUA (UK): 1 April 2008

UK ADMITS - AGAIN - WEST PAPUANS COERCED INTO JOINING INDONESIA IN 1969

Here (copied below) is a significant letter from Meg Munn MP (UK Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for the UK's relations with Indonesia) to Lord Judd of Portsea (a former Labour Government Overseas Development [1976-77] and Foreign & Commonwealth Office [1977-79] Minister, Director of Oxfam and Rapporteur for Chechnya to the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,

Until now, Meg Munn has avoided making any reference to the UK Government's historic and as yet unmatched 2004 admission that in the 1969 Act of NO Choice "1,000 handpicked representatives and that they were largely coerced into declaring for inclusion in Indonesia". As you may have seen, in her letter to Robert Wilson MP of 14 January 2008, Meg Munn had attempted a retreat by claiming: “A group of 1,000 Papuan representatives, who were given the responsibility to make the choice on behalf of the Papuan people, voted to remain part of Indonesia”
However, in this letter of 25 March 2008 to Lord Judd, Meg Munn at last admits that "In this debate [13 December 2004], the Baroness did agree with the Lord Bishop of Oxford's summing up of the 1969 Act of Free choice".

Below is an extract of the 2004 debate which shows the full extent of what Baroness Symons, speaking on behalf of the UK Government, agreed with. The UK has therefore confirmed once again that the West Papuans were coerced (forced) into joining Indonesia in 1969. Coercing people to vote for the outcome you want is clearly ILLEGAL under international law. The UK has therefore admitted that the Act of NO Choice was not a valid act of self-determination.

In 1969, the UK, together with the rest of the international community, recognised the West Papuans' right to self-determination. The UK now implictly recognises that the right was not exercised by the Papuans in 1969. As there is no provision under international law for a right of self-determination to lapse over time because it has not been legally exercised, the logical conclusion must be that the West Papuan right to self-determination STILL EXISTS.

Now the West Papuans must be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination in a free & fair, UN administered, one person-one vote, referendum ...in accordance with international law & practice.

This is definitely progress! Keep up the pressure!

Papua Merdeka!

Richard

Richard Samuelson
Free West Papua Campaign, Oxford, UK.
www.freewestpapua.org
House of Lords 13 Dec 2004 : Column 1084

Indonesia: West Papua


Lord Bishop of Oxford asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will support the call for the United Nations Secretary-General to instigate a review of the United Nations' conduct in relation to the Act of Free Choice in West Papua in 1969.

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, in 1969 the United Nations accepted by a majority vote the results of the Act of Free Choice which led to West Papua becoming a province of Indonesia. Because the Act of Free Choice has subsequently raised so much controversy, the Indonesians have introduced the 2001 special autonomy law for Papua, including a truth and reconciliation commission. The British Government support the implementation of these measures.


The Lord Bishop of Oxford: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for that reply. She referred to the so-called Act of Free Choice giving rise to
controversy. Is she aware that Suharto's Indonesia handpicked a little more than 1,000 people, out of a population of 800,000, and forced them to vote 100 per cent for union with Indonesia? Is she further aware that the secretariat of the UN advised the UN Assembly to accept the result of that vote as fair, even though it had agreed to be a guarantor of the fairness of the election? Does she agree that the present unrest in West Papua and the violence by the Indonesian Government is in part a response to the failure at that time?

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, I agree with the right reverend Prelate's summing up of the position. As he is aware, this took place in 1969, some 35 years ago. He is right to say that there were 1,000 handpicked representatives and that they were largely coerced into declaring for inclusion in Indonesia.

For the full text of the 13 December 2004 West Papua debate, see:

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmfaff/109/109we60.htm

Foreign & Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

From the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

25 March 2008



Lord Judd

House of Lords,

London SW1A 0PW





Dear Lord Judd,



Thank you for your letter of 5th of March to Lord Malloch-Brown, on behalf of Richard Samuelson, Co-Director, Free West Papua Campaign, PO Box 656, Oxford, OX3 3AP, about Papua. I am replying as Minister responsible for our relations with Indonesia.



Baroness Symons answered questions on Papua and the Act of Free Choice in the House of Lords on 13th December 2004, in response to questions from the Lord Bishop of Oxford. In this debate, the Baroness did agree with the Lord Bishop of Oxford's summing up of the 1969 Act of Free choice. She also said this took place some 35 years ago and the question was, what should happen now? She spoke about the Special Autonomy legislation and how these measures ought to be allowed to imbed in order for us to see whether greater autonomy granted eases the situation in Papua. She also said that since the appointment of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, we had seen greater positive action from the Indonesian government and that it was wise to allow the Indonesian government to deal with these issues in the first instance as they have indicated they wish to do.



In a debate on Papuan independence tabled by Lord Harries in the House of Lords on the 8th January 2007, Baroness Royall, responding for Her Majesty's Government, did say she recognised that the Act of Free Choice was flawed. She also said that the UK had no plans to support a review of the Act; that we did not support independence for Papua; and like the vast majority of other international players, we respected Indonesia's territorial integrity and had never supported Papuan independence.



The British Government of the day supported the 1969 Act of Free Choice. No British Government since has taken a different view. We do not support calls for a re-visitation of the 1969 Act of Free Choice.

We believe that full implementation of existing Special Autonomy legislation is the best way to proceed towards a sustainable resolution of the internal differences and the long-tern stability of Papua.



Most recently, Lord Malloch-Brown responded to a debate on Papua in the House of Lords on 26th February. In the debate, he said that Indonesia was a country that had changed enormously over the past decade, including significant improvements in the field of human rights. Indonesia now had an active parliament, an effective and outspoken civil society and a lively free press, and that it had one of the most effective human rights commissions in the region.



I hope this helps to explain the Government's position on these issues. You may like to know that I have agreed to meet Andrew Smith MP and his constituents from the Free West Papua Campaign to discuss Papua.



Yours sincerely,



Meg Munn

© Copyright by w@tchPAPUA

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