Benny Wenda : Semua Dapat Orang Keuntungan Dari Papua Barat Kecuali Bagi Papua

BennyWenda (West Papua's independence leader, living in exile in the UK)

Sebagai anak tumbuh di dataran tinggi terpencil di Papua Barat, kita sering mendengar cerita dari para sesepuh tentang bagaimana roh nenek moyang kita hidup di pegunungan dan hutan. Bagaimana mereka akan menangis jika mereka melihat apa yang terjadi hari ini. Penebangan liar marak, dan emas terbesar di dunia dan tambang tembaga, Freeport, telah menyebabkan kerusakan lingkungan permanen pada tanah suci kami yang terlihat dari ruang angkasa.

Anda akan berpikir bahwa menjadi rumah bagi tambang emas terbesar di dunia dan besar deposit gas alam, Papua Barat akan menjadi lahan kekayaan. Namun kami tetap bagian termiskin dan paling tidak berkembang dari seluruh Indonesia. Ada kurangnya perawatan kesehatan dasar, dan tingkat melek huruf lebih rendah dari rata-rata nasional.

Jadi siapa yang mengambil keuntungan dari tanah suci kami? Jawabannya terletak dengan perusahaan termasuk Freeport, Rio Tinto dan BP - dan, tentu saja, pemerintah Indonesia. Ketika Papua Barat dijajah oleh Indonesia pada awal tahun 1960, Indonesia dengan cepat diberikan hak untuk menambang tanah kami kepada perusahaan AS Freeport-McMoRan (di bawah bimbingan Henry Kissinger, yang kemudian bergabung dengan dewan Freeport).

Para jutaan dolar Freeport kontrak ditandatangani pada 1967, dua tahun sebelum orang Papua Barat diberi pemungutan suara apakah akan tetap menjadi bagian dari Indonesia dalam referendum PBB diwajibkan oleh hukum internasional dan komitmen PBB untuk dekolonisasi. Kesepakatan untuk mengeksploitasi sumber daya kita sudah ditandatangani sebelum pemungutan suara berlangsung: Indonesia meninggalkan apapun untuk kesempatan dalam mengamankan aliran pendapatan masa depan. Act of Free Choice (kami menyebutnya Tindakan Pemilihan Tidak) melihat hanya 1.025 orang diizinkan untuk memilih, dari total penduduk hampir 1 juta, di bawah ancaman kekerasan.

Freeport dan Rio Tinto yang dikatakan memiliki hubungan erat dengan militer untuk melindungi kepentingan pertambangan mereka di tanah-tanah rakyat saya - militer yang sama yang diperkirakan telah menewaskan lebih dari 400.000 umat-Ku dan terus melakukan pelanggaran hari ini. Pada tahun 2008, pemerintah Norwegia dihapus $ 1 miliar dalam investasi di Rio Tinto karena kerusakan lingkungan yang disebabkan oleh perusahaan. Sayangnya, negara-negara lain tidak mengikuti.

Di mata orang Papua, perusahaan-perusahaan telah memberikan legitimasi internasional untuk pemerintahan kolonial Indonesia. Sementara mereka telah mendapat keuntungan dari sumber daya alam kita, umat-Ku telah mengalami hampir 50 tahun penindasan, penderitaan dan kemiskinan. Sebagai seorang anak, desa saya dibom oleh militer Indonesia dan kami melarikan diri untuk hidup di hutan selama bertahun-tahun, dalam ketakutan akan hidup kita. Saya telah menyaksikan pemerkosaan dan pembunuhan keluarga saya oleh tentara Indonesia. Ketidakadilan hanya memperkuat tekad saya untuk berkampanye bagi umat-Ku.

Minggu ini saya akan berbicara di Forum Kebebasan Oslo, membawa suara perjuangan Papua Barat untuk audiens baru. Umat-Ku telah menunggu hampir 50 tahun untuk memiliki suara mereka didengar dan untuk menghormati mereka yang paling mendasar dari hak - kebebasan berbicara dan kebebasan untuk menentukan masa depan mereka sendiri. Ketika saya meninggalkan Papua Barat pada tahun 2002 Saya meneteskan air mata. Saya berdoa bahwa suatu hari, keluarga saya dan saya akan dapat kembali ke tanah air kami sambil tersenyum. Ini adalah tekad bangsaku untuk melanjutkan perjuangan kita dan upaya teman-teman kita yang memberi saya iman itu akan terjadi.

Source News: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Freeport Donasikan Advokasi Pelanggaran HAM di Papua

Salju Abadi Pengunungan Papua (area Freeport Indonesia/foto dok)

JAYAPURA, selaluonline.com- PT Freeport Indonesia mendonasikan dana senilai Rp5,8 miliar lebih guna mendukung operasional Yayasan Hak Asasi Manusia dan Antikekerasan (Yahamak), dalam mengadvokasi pelanggaran HAM di Indonesia, khususnya Papua.

Bantuan dana sebanyak itu, tercantum dalam penandatanganan Nota Kesepahaman alias Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) antara PT Freeport Indonesia yang diwakili vice president pada Departement Community Relations Demianus Dimara dengan Yahamak yang diwakili langsung direktrisnya, Yosepha Alomang, di Jayapura, Jumat (2/3/2012).


"Sebagai perusahaan besar yang sangat peduli terhadap HAM, kami siap membantu. Dan untuk kerja sama ini, kami sebagai lembaga pendonor hanya mempelajari program kerja advokasi Yahamak dan sepakat lewat MoU," kata Demianus.

Freeport Donasikan Advokasi Pelanggaran HAM di Papua

Negeri Mutiara Hitam Itu Terus Membara

Ilustrasi

JAKARTA - Papua yang berada di wilayah Timur Indonesia menjelang tutup tahun terus membara. Aksi penembakan dan kekerasan yang terjadi di Negeri Mutiara hitam itu seakan tidak pernah habis meski pemerintah telah mengerahkan ribuan pasukan.

Di sepanjang 2011, tercatat belasan orang meregang nyawa di Papua. Sebagian besar kasus, korban tewas akibat tembakan oleh orang tidak dikenal. Berikut data yang berhasil diperoleh okezone:

Pada 13 April 2011, terjadi penembakan 5 orang warga sipil di Dogiyai Papua.
Dalam peristiwa ini, dua orang menjadi korban tewas yakni Dominikus Auwe dan Aloysius Waine. Sedangkan tiga korban lainnya menderita luka-luka yaitu Vince Yobee, Albertus Pigai, dan Matias Iyai.

Genap sebulan tepatnya 14 Mei, aksi kekerasan terjadi di Pelabuhan Laut Nabire. Pria yang diketahui bernama Derek Adii diduga dianiaya oleh oknum anggota TNI. Sayangnya infomasi siapa pelakuknya masih simpang siur.

Di bulan yang sama yakni 28 Mei, Sertu Kamaruzaman dari Kopassus menjadi korban penembakan di Distrik Ilu, Puncak Jaya. Saat kejadian, Kamaruzaman didatangi tiga orang bersenjata yang diduga OPM dan melakukan penyerangan, sehingga mengakibatkan telinga kirinya terluka.

Setelah dua bulan tenang, Bumi Cenderawasih kembali bergejolak. Pada 5 Juli, Pratu Kadek Widana dari Yonif 751/BS tertembak saat melakukan patroli di kawasan Puncak Jaya, Papua. Akibat insiden penembakan itu, tangan kanannya tertembus peluru.

Selang enam hari, 11 Juli, kembali terjadi penembakan terhadap seorang berkebangsaan Australia, Drew Nicholas Grant, dan Bripda Marson Freddy, anggota provost Polda Papua yang mengawal mobil Freeport. Mereka tewas di Mile-53 dan di mile 51, Tembagapura, Timika, Papua.

Sehari setelah itu, dua peristiwa terjadi secara bersamaan di dua tempat terpisah. Satu kasus penembakan terjadi di Mile-51, Timika. Korban merupakan security PT Freeport Indonesia Markus Rante Allo

Di tempat terpisah, Pratu Herber yang tengah melakukan patroli keamanan di Puncak Senyum, Puncak Jaya, diserang orang tidak dikenal dan mengalami luka di tangan kanannya hingga tiga jarinya patah.

Akhir bulan yakni 30 Juli-1 Agustus terjadi bentrokan antara warga di Ilaga, Kabupaten Puncak, Papua. Bentrokan tersebut menyebabkan korban tewas menjadi 21 orang. Insiden ini dipicu ketidakpuasan atas penyelenggaran pilkada di wilayah itu.

Tak kalah dengan bulan Juli, pada Agustus 2011 tercatat ada lima insiden di Papua. Pada 1 Agustus, terjadi serangan yang dilakukan OPM di Tanjakan Gunung Merah, Papua. Akibat serangan itu empat orang tewas, dua luka berat, dan dua luka ringan.

Pada 3 Agustus, giliran Helikopter Mil Mi-17 milik Komando Daerah Militer XVII/Cenderawasih, diberondong tembakan oleh orang tak dikenal di sekitar Puncak Senyum, Kabupaten Puncak Jaya, Papua.

Tidak hanya kasus kekesaran saja yang terjadi di tanah Papua, namun pembakaran bendera Indonesia sebagai bentuk kekecewaan terhadap pemerintah juga terjadi.

Ini terlihat pada 5 Agustus terjadi pembakaran Bendera Merah Putih oleh Kelompok OPM di bawah pimpinan Goliat Tabuni. Peristiwa ini terjadi di Markas Tentara Pembebasan Organisasi Papua Merdeka (TPM-OPM) di Tinggi, Nambut, Pucak Jaya.

Bahkan saat peringatan Hari kemerdekaan RI pada 17 Agustus, terjadi pengibaran bendera bintang kejora dilakukan di dua tempat terpisah, yakni di Gunung Tanah Hitam Abepura dan di Dok 8 Jayapura.

Di bulang yang sama tepatnya 23 Agustus, terjadi penyerangan terhadap anggota Komando Daerah Milliter (Kodam) Cenderawasih, Kapten (inf) Tasman yang merupakan Perwira Pembina Mental.

Kapten Tasman tewas dengan kondisi mengenaskan, yakni leher belakang ditebas dengan parang. Jenazah ditemukan di Jalan Baru, Campwolker, Perumnas 3, Kelurahan Yabansai, Distrik Heram, Papua. Dia dibantai usai mengatar istrinya ke sekolah untuk mengajar.

Belum genap sebulan, aksi kekerasan kembali terjadi. Pada 10 Oktober, terjadi bentrokan antara massa pekerja dengan aparat keamanan di area pertambangan Freeport, Timika.

Bentrokan ini muncul karena tambang di Tembagapura masih beroperasi di saat ribuan pekerja sedang melakukan mogok karena menuntut kesejahteraan lebih baik.

Unjuk rasa yang dilakukan oleh sekira 2.000 orang dari tujuh suku dan pekerja PT Freeport Indonesia mengakibatkan 2 warga tertembak, 7 polisi terluka terkena lemparan batu, dan 3 kendaraan operasional PT Freeport hangus dibakar massa.

Penembakan lagi-lagi terjadi pada 14 Oktober. Saat itu dua penembakan terjadi di hari yang bersamaan. Pertama, di ruas jalan Tanggul Timur tepatnya di Mil 37 pada yang menewaskan tiga pekerja PT Puri Fajar Mandiri yaitu Yana Heryana, Iip Abdul Rohman dan Deden.

Kemudian di Mil 40 dan Mil 38 yang mengakibatkan dua pendulang tradisional dan seorang karyawan PT Kuala Pelabuhan Indonesia (KPI) tewas.

Lima hari pascapenembakan, kericuhan terjadi saat Kongres Rakyat Papua III yang digelar di Lapangan Sepak Bola Zakheus, Abepura, pada 19 Oktober. Kali ini aparat dari TNI dan gabungan kepolisian membubarkan paksa kongres tersebut.

Aparat mengklaim Kongres Rakyat Papua III diindikasi sebagai gerakan separatisme. Sekira 200 peserta ditangkap dan berdasarkan data Asosiasi Mahasiswa Pengunungan Tengah Papua Indonesia (AMPTPI) Papua terdapat enam warga meninggal dunia akibat luka tembak.

Sementara warga lainnya dikabarkan mengalami luka para akibat tembakan, dan 17 orang lainnya hilang atau belum kembali ke rumahnya masing-masing.

Tepat dua hari kemudian, 21 Oktober, terjadi penembakan oleh gerombolan bersenjata tak dikenal di Mil 39 ruas Timika menuju Tembagapura, Papua. Penembakan ini menyebabkan 3 orang tewas dan menewaskan Albertus Laitawono (29) dan Yunus (25) yang bekerja sebagai penjaga kios di mil 40.

Sementara seorang korban lain yakni Aloysius Margana, karyawan PT Kuala Pelabuhan Indonesia, ditembak saat mengemudikan mobil operasional perusahaan. Margana belakang diketahui kerabat dari Roy Suryo, anggota DPR.

Tidak berhenti sampai di situ, 24 Oktober terjadi kasus penembakan Kapolsek Puncak Jaya, Papua, AKP Dominggus Oktavianus di Bandara Mulia. Kabupaten Puncak Jaya yang terletak di Pegunungan Papua. Kabupaten ini baru genap berusia 15 tahun pada 8 Oktober 2011 lalu.

Terakhir penembakan dilakukan terhadap helikopter jenis ER. Akibat penembakan yang terjadi pada 17 Desember tersebut, satu orang mengalami luka luka.

Banyaknya kasus yang terjadi di Papua hingga saat ini belum diketahui apa yang menjadi penyebabnya. Banyak kalang menuding, maraknya sejumlah perlawan yang dilakukan pihak tertentu karena akar masalah kesenjangan sosial di wilayah tersebut tidak merata.

Pemerintah sepertinya kehilangan akal untuk meredam sejumlah kemarahan warga Papua. Bahkan sejumlah aksi penembakan dan kekerasan yang terjadi dituding dilakukan oleh Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM).

Jika merujuk pembentukan OPM, organisasi ini berasal dari kekecewaan masyarakat atas sikap pemerintah yang tidak mengerti akan keinginan warga setempat. Belakangan banyak desakan kepada pemerintah agar menggelar referendum.

Apabila pemerintah tidak segera dapat mengatasi gejolak tersebut, tidak mustahil aksi kekerasan akan terus terjadi.
(ahm)

Shootings probe as Australian miner stops work in Indonesia

BY TOM ALLARD IN JAKARTA

 

Witnesses say Indonesian police shot dead two protesters at point blank range as they fled a fusillade of bullets as authorities broke up a blockade against gold exploration activities undertaken by an Australian-owned mining company.

 This source:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/

Sydney-based Arc Exploration announced yesterday it had stopped its exploration work at the concession on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa amid an investigation by the country's human rights watchdog to ascertain, among other things, whether the company had paid the police.

A spokesman for the company said no payments or other benefits had been given to police ''to my knowledge'' and that Arc Exploration held all the permits necessary for its work.

According to a detailed account of the incident by the Indonesian environmentalist group Walhi, about 700 police attacked 350 protesters ''without any prior warning shots'' at Sape port near Bima on Christmas Eve.

''The civilians then ran [and] scattered without fighting. The running civilians were still being shot at,'' according to Walhi's account, which it said was based on witness testimony.

Arief Rahman, a local farmer was killed. So, too, was his cousin Saeful, who was carrying the wounded Mr Arief when he was felled. Wahli and its campaign manager, Teguh Surya, said the grievances of locals came because ''it is well known gold mining will leave behind a toxic lake, a big hole in the ground and the land will then be unusable,'' he said.

In addition, Mr Teguh said, a spring used by nearby farmers would be contaminated once the actual mining began. ''The farmers would prefer that the land remained productive for their future,'' he said.

The Australian Greens have called on the Federal Government to investigate the activities of Arc.

Greens acting leader Christine Milne said there were ''legitimate questions'' for the company to answer.

Senator Milne drew links between Arc and two other companies - Newcrest Mining and Freeport.

The senator said Arc employed John Carlile as managing director because of his experience with Newcrest Mining operating in Indonesia. She said Newcrest admitted in 2004 it had paid Indonesian security forces to manage its site in Indonesia.

She also said an Arc board member was from Freeport, operator of a controversial mine in West Papua that had a similar relationship with the security forces there. with AAP

Indonesia fails to end strike at Papua mine

Workers in troubled province demand higher pay from US owners of gold and copper mining complex

 Bruno Philip
 

Striking Freeport workers manning a roadblock where the company pipeline used for gold concentrates was cut. Photograph: AFP this publihed:  Theguardia.co.uk
For weeks a strike has paralysed work at a giant mining complex at the foot of Mount Puncak Jaya in the central highlands of Papua, Indonesia, where the majority of the population are indigenous Papuans. The strike, by a third of the 23,000-strong workforce, is driving up the world prices for copper and gold. The Glasberg mine – 90% owned by the US conglomerate Freeport McMoRan and 10% by Indonesia's government – contains one of the world's largest reserves of these minerals. The miners are protesting against low wages – considering working conditions, the risks they are exposed to, and the cost of living in this isolated spot, 4,000km east of the capital, Jakarta. Tension has been mounting for several weeks, with more than 8,000 miners blocking access roads and preventing other workers from entering the site. The conflict began three months ago, and there is still no prospect of a settlement. Appeals by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for a solution have had no effect. The province where the mine is located covers the western half of a very large island. Papua New Guinea, independent since 1975, occupies the eastern part. Papua province was controlled by the Dutch until it was ceded to Indonesia in 1969. The region has been unsettled ever since. A conflict – largely ignored by the outside world – has pitted separatist forces against the Indonesian army. The province, which is closed to western media, is more or less run by the military. There have been recurrent allegations of serious human rights abuses by the army. On 14 November thousands of demonstrators marched through the provincial capital, Jayapura, demanding independence. At the start of the dispute, the workers at Glasberg, who earn the equivalent of $1.50 an hour, were demanding a 20-fold wage increase. They subsequently scaled back their claim, asking for just $4. Freeport has offered another 53 cents, but the strikers rejected this. Since then there has been deadlock. The conflict is costing the company and the country a great deal. Freeport, which reported $5bn profits on Glasberg operations in 2010, has announced losses of $19m a day since the strike began. Revenue from the mine generated about $1.4bn in tax and royalties for the government in the first half-year of 2011, according to the Jakarta Globe. Freeport says part of the government revenue finds its way back to the province, accounting for more than two-thirds of its budget – but the strikers dispute this. This article originally appeared in Le Monde

Kesejahteraan Bukan Akar Masalah Papua

Socratez Sofyan Yoman/dok/pgbp

Rakyat Papua  memang manusia  yang terlupakan atau terabaikan dalam segala aspek.  Karena wilayah Papua dicaplok, diduduki dan diintegrasikan ke dalam wilayah Indonesia dengan tujuan kepentingan ekonomi, politik, keamanan dan pemusnahan etnis Melanesia dan digantikan dengan etnis Melayu dengan Program Transmigrasi yang massif.      Wilayah Papua dikelola dengan pendekatan keamanan, ketidakadilan, kekerasan dan kejahatan kemanusiaan yang tidak pernah menghormati martabat dan kehormatan manusia Papua. Stigma separatis, makar dan OPM adalah alat pembenaran pemerintah dan aparat keamanan Indonesia untuk menindas penduduk asli Papua. Papua menjadi daerah tertutup bagi media asing dan juga diplomat asing.

Wilayah ini menjadi perhatian oleh semua orang dan semua media dari dalam dan luar negeri apabila terjadi kekerasan dan kejahatan kemanusiaan yang dilakukan oleh aparat keamanan atas nama integritas NKRI maupun perlawanan karyawan PT Freeport Indonesia yang menuntut untuk peningkatan kesejahteraan mereka. Bahkan menjadi perhatian juga ketika rakyat dan bangsa Papua mempertanyakan status politik mereka dan melakukan perlawanan terhadap pendudukan dan penjajahan Indonesia di atas Tanah Papua. Dalam bagian ketiga ini, rakyat Papua memandang Indonesia sebagai kolonial baru di Papua.

Kita mengikuti dan membaca di berbagai media cetak dan elektronik tentang keprihatinan dan kepedulian terhadap situasi kekerasan dan kejahatan kemanusiaan yang disampaikan oleh perorangan maupun atas nama institusi dan lembaga. Isi pesan, komentar dan masalah yang dimengerti dan disampaikan itu sangat beragam. Dari keberagaman persepsi itu membuat para pembaca menjadi bingung dan kabur tentang substansi akar masalah sesungguhnya yang diperjuangkan oleh rakyat dan bangsa Papua Barat selama ini.

Misalnya Muhammad Yusuf Kalla, mantan wakil Presiden RI, pada acara peluncuran buku karangan dr. Farid Husein yang berjudul: Keeping The Trust For Peace, Kisah dan Kiat Menumbuhkembangkan Damai di Aceh, pada 8 November 2011 di Hotel Sahid Jakarta, Kalla menyatakan: “ masalah Papua adalah masalah kesejahteraan. Semuanya sudah dikasih jadi mereka menuntut dan meminta apa lagi”.  Orang yang sama pada acara di TVOne, pada 8 November 2011 malam dihadapan ratusan orang dan di dalamnya tokoh-tokoh Papua yang hadir,Kalla menyatakan: “ masalah Papua adalah persoalan kesejahteraan”.   Pemahaman yang sama disampaikan oleh Ketua Umum Pimpinan Pusat Muhammadiah, M. Din Syamsuddin dan Ketua Umum Pengurus Besar Nahdlatul Ulama, Said Agil Siroj menyatakan: “ akar persoalan di Papua adalah ketidakadilan, terurama dalam kesejahteraan ekonomi. Kekayaan alam di wilayah itu dikeruk dan hasilnya dinikmati perusahaan asing dan pemerintah pusat. Rakyat setempat justru miskin dan kurang pendidikan….” (Kompas, Jumat, 11 November 2011).

Pemikiran yang disampaikan oleh Yusuf Kalla, Din Syamsuddin, dan Said Agil Siroj, adalah representasi tentang apa yang dipahami oleh Pemerintah Indonesia selama ini sebagai akar masalah Papua. Tetapi, pemahaman pemerintah Indonesia seperti ini keliru, salah dan melenceng jauh dari akar masalah yang sesungguhnya di Tanah Papua.

Seorang Dokter dan Pasien

Sebelum disampaikan akar masalah Papua yang sebenarnya, saya mencoba membuat satu analogi dari perspektif medis.  Kalau orang sakit datang kepada dokter, langkah-langkah yang dilakukan seorang dokter adalah tanya pasien: nama siapa? berapa usia? pekerjaan apa? kapan sakit? berapa lama sakit? sakitnya bagaimana?  apa sebabnya sakit? rasanya bagaimana? apakah sudah minum obat? apakah sudah makan? tinggal dimana?  dan sejumlah pertanyaan yang ditanyakan kepada pasien.   Setelah bertanya,  dokter mengambil langkah berikut yaitu, memeriksa pasien, mendiagnosa penyakit dan dokter menemukan sebab-sebab timbulnya penyakit pada pasien dan penyakitnya.  Selenjutnya, dokter mempersiapkan obat untuk suntik pasien maupun untuk obat yang harus diminum oleh pasien. Dosis suntikan dan obat yang diberikan dokter kepada pasien juga harus sesuai dengan tingkat kesakitan pasien. Dokter tidak biasa memberikan obat dan suntikan yang tidak sesuai dengan tingkat penyakit.

Analogi ini saya tempatkan Jakarta adalah ibarat dokter. Papua adalah ibarat pasien yang sedang sakit. Jadi, Jakarta adalah dokter yang salah. Dokter yang keliru. Dokter yang tidak professional. Dokter yang tidak menanyakan pasien dengan baik. Dokter yang langsung mengambil alat suntik dan masukan cairan suntik pada pasien tanpa mengetahui penyakit pasien. Dokter ambil obat sembarang tanpa melakukan diagnosa yang tepat tentang penyakit dan juga tanpa memperhitungkan dosis dan langsung memaksa pasien meminum obat.  Indonesia memberikan obat Otonomi Khusus No. 21 Tahun 2001, obat Inpres, obat Keppres, obat Perataruran Pemerintah (PP), obat Triliunan rupiah, obat kekerasan dan kejahatan aparat keamanan, dan  dokter yang sama  membuat kesalahan fatal yang terbaru adalah obat Keputusan Peraturan Presiden Unit Percepatan Pembangunan Papua dan Papua Barat (UP4B). Obat terakhir yang namanya obat UP4B ini adalah obat yang sudah tidak relevan lagi. Otonomi Khusus, walaupun obat yang masih ada relevansi tentang kebutuhan orang asli Papua tapi sudah gagal mengobati dan menyembuhkan luku-luka penduduk asli Papua.

Status Politik dan Sejarah Integrasi adalah Akar Masalah Papua

Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahun Indonesia (LIPI) dalam bukunya: Papua Road Map telah menemukan empat akar masalah Papua, dan yang paling mendasar adalah  status politik dan Sejarah diintegrasikan Papua ke dalam wilayah Indonesia adalah substansi akar masalah Papua. Perjanjian New York 15 Agustus 1962 yang ditanda tangani oleh Pemerintah Belanda dan Indonesia yang dimediasi Pemerintah Amerika tanpa melibatkan orang asli Papua. Penyerahan Pemerintahan Sementara dari UNTEA (United Nation Temporary  Executive Administration) pada tanggal 1 Mei 1963 kepada Indonesia sebelum pelaksanaan PEPERA 1969. Pelaksanaan PEPERA 1969 yang tidak sesuai dengan Perjanjian New York 15 Agustus 1962 tetapi sesuai dengan sistem lokal Indonesia yaitu, “musyawarah” yang bertentangan dengan standart hukum Internasional yaitu “one man one vote”.

Prof. J.P. Drooglever, sejarahwan Belanda, telah melakukan penelitian tentang hasil PEPERA 1969 yang telah dinyatakan bahwa PEPERA 1969 adalah peristiwa lelucon yang sangat memalukan. Dr. John Saltford, akademisi Inggris, telah melakukan penelitian tentang hasil PEPERA 1969 di Papua Barat dan hasil kesimpulannya menyatakan: “ pengkhianatan dan penghinaan hak-hak politik rakyat dan bangsa Papua Barat”.  Dr. Hans Meijer sejarawan Belanda melakukan penelitian tentang hasil PEPERA 1969 dan dinyatakan: “hasil PEPERA 1969 adalah sangat memalukan Indonesia dan Belanda”.  Kongresman Amerika Serikat dari Samoa, Eni Faleomavaega menyatakan: hasil PEPERA 1969 di Papua Barat harus ditinjau kembali. Anggota Parlemen Inggris, Hon. Andrew Smith dan Hon. Lord Harries mempertanyakan status politik Papua ke dalam wilayah Indonesia melalui proses PEPERA 1969 yang penuh kebohongan dan manipulatif. Intelekual dan cendikiawan kawakan yang ternama dimiliki Kristen Katolik, Dr. George Junus Aditjondro, pada kesempatan peluncuran buku saya yang berjudul: West Papua: “Persoalan Internasional” di kantor Kontras Jakarta, 3 November 2011, dia menyatakan: “ PEPERA 1969 di Papua Barat tidak benar dan itu dimenangkan oleh aparat keamanan Indonesia bukan pilihan rakyat Papua tinggal dalam Indonesia. Jadi, tak ada pilihan lain, Papua harus referendum. Karena hanya referendum yang dapat menentukan apakah orang Papua masih ingin menjadi bagian dari Indonesia atau tidak”.

Menurut rakyat dan bangsa Papua Barat, semua perjanjian Internasional dan pelaksanaan PEPERA 1969 telah menghancurkan kemerdekaan dan kedaulatan yang telah dimilikinya. Seperti 1 Desember 1961 adalah hari kemerdekaan rakyat dan bangsa Papua Barat lengkap dengan atribut Negara dan bangsanya: yaitu: lagu: Hai Tanahku Papua; Bendera Bintang Pajar; Mata Uang, Lambang Negara, Nama bangsa: Bangsa Papua.  Kemerdekaan ini dianeksasi oleh pemerinth Indonesia melalui Maklumat Trikora, Ir. Sukarno, di Yogyakarta, 19 Desember 1961.

Uraian singkat ini  menjadi jelas bagi Pemerintah, TNI, POLRI, seluruh rakyat Indonesia, bahwa akar masalah Papua bukan persoalan kesejahteraan.  Tetapi, akar masalah Papua yang sebenarnya adalah  sejarah dan status politik Papua ke dalam Indonesia yang belum jelas sampai hari ini.Oleh karena itu, demi nama baik dan kehormatan Indonesia di mata dunia internasional, maka status politik Papua ke dalam Indonesia ini harus diselesaikan dengan dialog yang jujur dan terbuka antara Pemerintah Indonesia dan rakyat Papua yang dimediasi pihak ketiga yang netral.  Dialog damai harus dilaksanakan diluar bingkai NKRI, OTSUS, UP4B dan Papua Merdeka supaya penyelesaian berprospek damai dan manusiawi ditemukan.

*)Penulis:  Ketua Umum Badan Pelayan Pusat Persekutuan Gereja-gereja Baptis Papua:

A struggle for justice in Papua

West Papua's Freeport mine

Setyo Budi

First published in New Matilda

It was 10 o’clock in the evening on 11 September. Sudiro, the chief negotiator in West Papua’s Freeport strikes, was sitting alone on the veranda of his house. He had spent all day with Freeport Indonesia management, bargaining for a wage rise for the members of his union – the All Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI) Freeport division.

Suddenly, a bowl that was sitting on a table close to him was hit with a bullet and shattered. Sudiro, who is the head of the Chemical, Energy, and Mine Workers branch of the SPSI, received a clear warning: if he continues to fight for wage parityfor the workers at Freeport’s Grasberg mine he will be killed.

“I was surprised when I got home that night and told that our leader was shot [at],” Albar Sabang from the SPSI said in a phone interview. “We don’t know who shot him. The gunman used a silencer.”

The shooting took place on the same day that the union received a letter from Freeport management requesting the union and its members “to not propagate a strike action and recruit workers to join the strike”

.

Talks between the SPSI and Freeport management over the 2011-2013 contract terms took place from July 21 to August 19 and failed to reach an agreement. The deadline was then extended to August 26 with the same result. In the beginning the union bargained for a wage increase from US$1.5 – $3 to US$35 – $200 per hour. This demand was decreased to $30 – $100 per hour, and is now $12 – $37.50 per hour. Last year, the company gave the workers a 3 per cent wage increase. As the negotiation deadlocked, the union called a month-long strike, which started on 14 September at 10 o’clock that evening.

The workers demanded a parity wage with their comrades who work in other Freeport operating mines in North and South America. Freeport workers in West Papua receive the lowest wages of all Freeport workers – lower than workers in Mongolia or the Congo.

In a letter forwarded to me, SPSI argues that their demands are based on Freeport Indonesia profiting a lot more than its sister companies in Peru, Chile, Arizona and New Mexico. Their skills are equivalent to their fellow workers in those mining areas, and profit margins are believed to be as high as 60 per cent. Their working conditions are harsher and more dangerous, and the price of gold, copper and silver has significantly increased.

Freeport’s Grasberg mining complex is one of the world’s largest single producers of copper and gold, and contains the largest recoverable reserves of copper and the largest single gold reserve in the world.

In an interview via email, Sabang describes the terrain and working conditions at the mine:

“The mining area is located up to 4200m above sea level, that requires the workers to take an hour journey by buses and trams. The weather in the area is cold, and misty, especially in Grassberg open pit area, and rains heavily all day. They have to wear four layers of clothes to work. They have to work five to seven days a week. They have to work up to 10 hours a day. For those who work in the Maintenance Department, sometimes have to work from 12 to 14 hours a day.”

From the beginning of the negotiation, the union did not trust management, and accused them of lying. In a letter to the Indonesian Minister of Mining and Energydated 16 September, Freeport management accused the union of “intimidating and threatening those who did not participate in the strike”.

The letter also said that the workers’ demand to have to have a “wage increase equals to workers in the developed countries is irrational”. The letter further says: “If it takes place it will affect our national economy, as (it) will create high inflation and our country competitiveness in the international market”.

The strike has had a huge impact on Freeport Indonesia’s operation. It is reported that the company has lost 1,361 metric tons of copper and 5,000 ounces of gold a day because of the strike, the Phoenix-based company said on 21 September [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1109/S00607/freeport-strike-daily-loss-of-us82m-for-indonesian-govt.htm]. The Indonesian government estimated a potential loss of 230,000 tons of ore a day [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1109/S00607/freeport-strike-daily-loss-of-us82m-for-indonesian-govt.htm].

Scab labour

In the same letter, management told the minister “to avoid a great loss, it will recruit temporary workers to replace those who were on strike”. These workers will be employed in the operational field and maintenance.

The strike has also affected the Indonesian government’s revenue. It is reported that it is losing about US$8.2 million dollars a day in taxes, revenue and dividends [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1109/S00607/freeport-strike-daily-loss-of-us82m-for-indonesian-govt.htm]. In his reply to management dated 21 September, Thamrin Sihite, the Director General of Coal and Minerals, said the Indonesian government “understands the situation, and allow Freeport Indonesia to use sub-contractors to replace the striking workers”.

Unlike Freeport, which only pursues an economic interest, the Indonesian government has political interests in the region. The Indonesian Government uses the Freeport mining area as a bargaining chip in foreign diplomacy against the West Papuans’ independence struggle. For the Indonesian military the mine has also functioned as a source of revenue.

Ajazeera reports that Freeport has illegally paid individual soldiers and policemen had been routinely made to secure the Grasberg complex and its staff. A report by Global Witness revealed that an additional $10million had been paid directly to individual military and police commanders between 1998 and 2004. This included $247,000 between May 2001 and March 2003 to General Mahidin Simbolon, former chief of staff in the Bali-based Udayana regional command, which included East Timor, who was responsible for the 1999 East Timor massacre, and monthly payments throughout 2003 to the police Mobile Brigade that is known for numerous serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and arbitrary detention.

For the Indonesian elite the area has been used for a political bargaining and source of revenue. A US diplomatic cable recently released by WikiLeaks shows that a “disparate group of political and economic actors with varied agendas used anti Freeport sentiment to fuel their pursuit of political power”. Dated 22 March 2006 the cable shows that Adrianto Machribie, PT Freeport Indonesia President Director, told the American Ambassador that “disparate group of economic and political actors seeking power or economic enrichment or both” by using the anti-Freeport protest that occurred on 16 March. This protest resulted in the death of four [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/03/16/1142098608191.html?from=rss] security officials.

The protest was ignited when people began to blockade the Freeport facility at milepost 74 on February 22. The illegal miners continued to protest for increased economic benefits, including the right to sift the Freeport mine tailings in search of trace gold and access to Freeport community development funds. Machrabie also said “former presidential candidate and past speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Amien Rais seems to see fomenting ultra-nationalist sentiment as a way of unifying his National Mandate (PAN) political party behind him as he prepares to make another run at the presidency in 2009”.

In the same cable Machribie also accused the Coordinating Minister for Peoples, Welfare Aburizal Bakrie and Former Vice President, Jusuf Kalla of using the protest to make short term profits by depressing the stock price of Freeport McMoRan.The shares fell 14 per cent during the initial protest in February though they have since recovered to pre-strike levels.

Fuelled by these interests, the Indonesian government allowed the company to hire sub-contractors to replace the striking workers. This decision caused the death of a worker, Petrus Amayiseba, and 10 workers were injured when the police (who had been hired by Freeport) opened fire at them during a scuffle on 10 October. In a letter a union official explains what happened during the incident:

“At 9.30 in the morning about 1000 striking workers and Anis Natkime one of the seven tribal chiefs who own the land (where Freeport located) negotiated with the police who guarded the gate in Gorong-Gorong terminal. As the negotiation failed, the workers kept pushing through that resulted in scuffles. Overwhelmed with the situation, the police commander then gave warning shots, while other police officers shot at the workers. Saw their fellow workers fell, the other workers threw rocks at the police that was countered with more shootings”.

As a protest, SPSI laid Amayiseba’s coffin at the entrance of  house of local people representatives of local people’s representative in Timika until James R Moffett, the President and CEO of Freeport McMoran, takes responsibility.  The death of Amayiseba triggered solidarity protests a crossed Indonesia and condemned by Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/indonesia-must-investigate-mine-strike-protest-killing-2011-10-10).

Since the shooting incident the union’s officials have received threats from the police. On October 11, the police commander in Mimika, Edward Siregar told Sudiro “lets see who is more powerful, your organisation or the police. I will finish you and your followers off”. This threat was repeated in a meeting that night at the house of local representatives attended by local politicians and head of Indonesian military.

Sabang said that there has been an effort of the security apparatus to deviate the issue, and made it a political one. It is evidenced with another shooting incident on October 15 when a bus of workers was riddled with bullets of machine gun that resulted in the death of three workers.  On the same day Leo  Wandagau 34 years old striking worker who was a victim of the shooting incident on October 10 died in the local hospital.

The shootings were the latest violence perpetrated by the management and Indonesian police. During the strike the management has intimidated the workers via local media and text messages. They also visited the workers’ houses asked them to go back to work. In addition they employed private security firm, Securicor, a security firm founded in 1935 in London that merged with Group 4 Falck in 2004.

Group 4 Falck took over the direct control of Australia’s refugee detention centres from Australasian Correctional Management, owned by its subsidiary Wackenhut, which had run them since 1998 http://www.globaldetentionproject.org/fileadmin/docs/GDP_PrivatizationPaper_Final5.pdf. This merger (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HXI/is_2004_Feb_24/ai_n25083750/) formed G4S (Group Four Securicor), a security firm that is responsible for the abuse of its Indonesian workers (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61609.htm) and responsible for the death of Western Aboriginal man that is known as Mr Ward (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-06-15/prison-van-firm-under-scrutiny-after-death/1713972).

SPSI official said that Securicor officers have intimidated the striking workers and have operated beyond its working areas. SPSI also said that on September 23 Securicor and police officers went to the SPSI office in Freeport to arrest one of the members, Jimmy Deda, but were stopped by other workers. On the same day Securicor and the Freeport management brought in temporary workers to replace the striking workers in Mile 38.

In response to the prolonging strike action, Freeport Indonesia has sacked all SPSI officials and taken over SPSI headquarters that was previously provided to SPSI by the management. In a letter dated on October 5, the management wrote to Sudiro, “We would like to request a house on Tembagapura St number 380 that was provided for SPSI last year by October 8. If the house is not emptied, we will pack all documents and stationaries”.

The workers’ struggle in Freeport is a struggle for justice; a struggle that is shared by many West Papuans. It is a struggle against greed and powerful elite in Jakarta and Papua that has impoverished West Papuans. The natural resources have become a curse for the local population. For this reason the seven tribal chiefs who represent the population of Freeport areas have written a letter on 25 September to support the striking workers. They also threaten to “close the mines” unless the workers’ demands are met.

Read source, http://www.castlemaineindependent.org/papua/

Police say officer shot dead in Indonesian Papua

TIMIKA, Indonesia — An Indonesian police officer was shot dead Monday in the latest deadly attack in eastern Indonesia's restive Papua province, police said.

Mulia city police chief Dominggus Awes was at the local airport, southwest of the provincial capital Jayapura, when two men began beating him, grabbed his gun and shot him with it, Papua police spokesman Wachyono told AFP.

"They punched him, took his pistol and shot him in the neck and face, hitting his nose. He was taken to a hospital and later died from his injuries," he said.

Police blamed the incident on the region's separatists, mostly poorly armed indigenous Melanesians who have fought a low-level insurgency for decades.

"We are still chasing the attackers. We believe they are separatists trying to steal weapons from security forces for their group," he said.

Indonesia is accused of torture and other gross human rights abuses in Papua at the hands of the police and military.

Jakarta denies the allegations but refuses to allow foreign media or aid workers into the region to conduct independent inquiries.

Five Papuans were found dead after Indonesian security forces stormed a pro-independence assembly, firing warning shots and tear gas and beating participants last week in Abepura town, outside Jayapura.

Police said they fired shots into the air when a group of Papuan leaders declared independence and raised the separatist Morning Star flag.

At least seven people have been killed in violent attacks during a long workers strike at a giant gold and copper mine run by US company Freeport McMoRan.

More AFP 

West Papua: A history of exploitation -Opinion – Al Jazeera English

West Papua was taken over by Indonesia in 1969, and a legacy of oppression and environmental devastation has followed.

The Grasberg mine has damaged surrounding river systems, such as the Ajikwa river above [West Papua Media]

Investing in conflict-affected and high-risk areas is a growing concern for responsible businesses and investors. Companies based in developed countries often operate in lesser-developed foreign markets, where governance standards are lax, corruption is high and business practices are poor.

These pieces focus on one specific Anglo-Australian company and their American partner that jointly operate a mine in West Papua, one of the poorest provinces of Indonesia. The risks for the company include the potential to contribute to environmental and social damage in a foreign market. The risks for investors include financing a company that does not get its risk management right.

This is the second chapter of a four-part essay that examines how the Norwegian Pension Fund came to blacklist the mining giant Rio Tinto. The first part can be found here.

Part 2: A history of exploitation

New Guinea, geographically as well as historically, is Australia’s closest relative. Separated from the mainland during the last glacial period, the waters filled in what now separates them: about 152km of the Torres Strait.

While Australia and New Guinea both have enviable mineral stores, economic and political exploitation has left the latter as home to many of the poorest people on Earth. New Guinea is also an island of two histories.

The eastern half forms the independent state of Papua New Guinea – a status it has enjoyed since breaking from Australia in 1975. With its natural resources of oil and industrial metals, Papua New Guinea has long been exploited for its minerals at places like Ok Tedi and Bougainville.

Both projects ended in social and environmental disaster. The environmental impact of Ok Tedi was so great that, in 1999, Paul Anderson, then chief executive of Australian mining company BHP, conceded that the mine was “not compatible with our environmental values”. But it did serve the company’s pursuit of profit. It was not until the Ok Tedi environmental disaster three years later that the true impact of BHP’s mining practices came to the attention of the global public. BHP subsequently sold its interest, established a fund to restore the sustainable development of the affected people, and received immunity from further prosecution.

The western half of New Guinea has had a lesser-known but equally tragic history centred around the Jayawijaya Mountain, home to the Amungme, and farther downstream, the Kamoro people. As with much of East Asia, the indigenes were under Dutch rule when a geological expedition in 1936 located a significant ertsberg (ore mountain) deep in the southwestern highlands. World War II intervened, and the Japanese claimed Indonesia and some of the western parts of New Guinea.Following defeat in the war, the Japanese were marshalled back to their home territory, and Dutch colonialism resumed. Importantly, when Indonesian independence was obtained from the Dutch in 1949, few knew of the ertsberg (mineral ore) hidden deep in West Papua’s wilderness.The Dutch began a ten-year Papuanisation programme in 1957 that would see West Papua handed back to the indigenes, and would create the independent state of West Papua around 1972.Despite multiple territorial claims, the ore mountain lay dormant for over 20 years.On March 6, 1959, the New York Times reported the presence of alluvial gold in the Arafura Sea just off the coast of West Papua. Reminded of their earlier discovery, Dutch geologists were said to be returning to the ore mountain, now simply known as Ertsberg.Independence deniedThe indigenes, meanwhile, as part of their programme toward independence, established a Papuan National Council and provisional government as well as their own military, police force, currency, national anthem, and flag. At the time, West Papua’s independence was due before the United Nations Decolonisation Commission, and representatives took part in various cultural and political activities throughout the region. By December 1, 1961, the West Papuan “Morning Star” flag had been raised alongside the Dutch for the first time. Many assumed that independence was imminent.Unbeknown to both the indigenes and the Dutch, US mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold was negotiating directly with Suharto – at the time an Indonesian army general – for a small group of its experts to prospect this ore mountain. The path into West Papua through Suharto promised to be fruitful for Freeport, since its board was stacked with the Rockefeller’s Indonesian oil interests who already were versed in the general’s way of doing business. An exploration agreement was reached, and soon after a geologist from Freeport was forging his way through the wilderness toward Ertsberg.West Papua was about to change hands again.Armed with Chinese and Soviet weapons, as well as an increasingly public friendship with the communists, Indonesia declared war on the Netherlands. To protect Western interests from the threat of communism, on August 15, 1962, the United Nations and the United States orchestrated a meeting between Dutch and Indonesian officials during which interim control of West Papua was signed over to Indonesia.Six years of UN interregnum followed, after which a plebiscite would decide whether to form a separate nation or integrate into Indonesia. All 815,000 West Papuans were to vote in an Act of Free Choice.To ensure a favourable outcome, the Indonesians worked to suppress Papuan identity. Raising the West Papuan flag and singing of the national anthem were banned, and all political activities were deemed subversive. Indonesia ruled through force, for self-interest. Alarmed by ongoing media reports, on April 5, 1967, in the British House of Lords, Lord Ogmore called for a UN investigation. By early 1968, with Suharto having assumed the presidency of Indonesia, a US consular visit almost unanimously agreed that “Indonesia could not win an open election” in West Papua.West Papua still wanted its independence.In a desperate attempt to secure West Papua’s right to self-determination, two junior politicians crossed the border into Australian-administered Papua and New Guinea on May 29, 1969. They carried damning evidence of Indonesian repression; the hopes of a yet-unformed nation rested on the politicians reaching the UN. As Australia and its allies were amenable to Indonesian control of West Papua, the two were imprisoned upon crossing the border until after the referendum. Their brave plea was silenced.Between July and August 1969, less than a quarter of one per cent of the population – some 1,026 West Papuans – signed the country’s freedom over to Indonesia. The election, held under the aegis of the UN, was far from an act of free choice. The following day West Papua was declared a military operation zone, the local people’s movement was restricted, and expression of their national identity banned under Indonesian law.Poor, neglected West Papua.Selling West PapuaControl of West Papua proved a lucrative business deal for the Indonesians. Two years prior to the Act of Free Choice – coincidentally on the same day the plight of Papua was raised in the House of Lords – Freeport signed a contract of work with the Suharto government entitling a jointly owned company, PT Freeport Indonesia (Freeport-Indonesia), full rights to the Ertsberg mine. In return, Indonesia would derive significant tax revenues and fees as well as a minority 9.36 per cent shareholding. Without the authority to do so, Indonesia nevertheless cut itself into a deal that sold large tracts of West Papua to the US company, intent on sifting it for copper and gold.Although Ertsberg fulfilled its promise, as production slowed in the mid-1980s, Freeport-Indonesia began to explore surrounding mountains and ridges for other reserves. As is often the case, the best place to establish a new mine is next to another. Sure enough, significant copper and gold reserves were located at Grasberg only a couple of miles southwest of Ertsberg.Grasberg has the largest recoverable reserves of copper and gold in the world. It’s also Indonesia’s economic beachhead.Observing the Grasberg mine via Google Earth, one sees a scar like no other: Located about 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) above sea level, open-pit (above ground) mining has bored a hole through the top of the mountain more than half a mile (1 km) wide. What they’re digging for is more than $40bn worth of copper and gold. Every day the operation discharges 230,000 tons of tailings (waste rock) into the Aghawagon River. This process is expected to continue for up to six more years, at which point exploration will go underground until there’s no value left. Freeport estimates that will occur by 2041.The operation is so large that it has shifted the borders of the adjacent Lorenz National Park. Listed as a World Heritage site by the UN’s Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1999, the park is “the only protected area in the world to incorporate a continuous, intact transect from snowcap to tropical marine environment, including extensive lowland wetlands”. For the Amungme and Kamoro indigenes, corporate imperialism had replaced European colonialism.The ramifications are both environmental and social.‘Slow-motion genocide’The social and economic condition of the indigenous Amungme and Kamoro poses fundamental human rights concerns. Although Freeport-Indonesia directly or indirectly employs a large number of West Papuans and is regularly Indonesia’s biggest taxpayer, in 2005, the World Bank found that Papua remained the poorest province in Indonesia. With a marked rise in military personnel and foreign staff has come a number of social issues, including alcohol abuse and prostitution such that Papua now has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in Indonesia.Indonesian control of West Papua has been characterised by the ongoing and disproportionate repression of largely peaceful opposition. Few sustained violent interactions have occurred; however, in one major conflict in 1977, more than 1,000 civilian men, women, and children were killed by the Indonesian military in Operasi Tumpas (“Operation Annihilation”) after a slurry pipe was severed and partially closed the Ertsberg mine.More recently, in 1995, the Australian Council for Overseas Aid reported that the Indonesian army and security forces killed 37 people involved in protests over the mine in the preceding seven-month period. While the level of violence is difficult to establish, academics at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney maintain that up to 100,000 West Papuans may have been killed since Indonesian occupation. They call what’s happening to West Papua “slow-motion genocide”.There are also two primary environmental concerns over Grasberg. The first is that the mine discharges 230,000 tons of waste rock a day into surrounding waterways; given the escalating rate of processing, this rate is arguably above that allowed by national law. Secondly, acid rock drainage – the outflow of acidic water – has resulted from the disposal of a further 360,000 to 510,000 tons a day of overburden and waste rock in two adjacent valleys covering 4 miles (6.5 km), up to 975 feet (300 metres) deep. The mine operators dispute both claims.Riverine methods of waste disposal are banned in every developed country on Earth. The World Bank no longer funds projects that operate this way, due to the irreversible ecological devastation, and the International Finance Corporation requires that rock be treated prior to disposal, which is not a practice carried out at Grasberg. Since the mid-1990s, a number of independent environmental assessments have found unacceptably high levels of toxicity and sediment as far as 140 miles away.Freeport and Rio Tinto maintain that riverine tailings disposal is the best solution, given the difficult terrain, the threat of earthquakes, and heavy rainfall.Grasberg’s reserves are so vast that extracting them is expected to create 6 billion tons of industrial waste.President Suharto, who is now recognised as one of the most corrupt and tyrannical leaders in history, renewed Freeport-Indonesia’s exclusive mining rights in 1991 for a further 30 years with an option of two 10-year extensions. The license included an option to prospect another 6.5 million acres (2.6 million hectares), as far as the Papua New Guinea border. “The potential is only limited by the imagination,” Freeport’s chairman, James Moffett, remarked to shareholders in March 1995. “Every other mining company wants to get into Irian Jaya [West Papua]. Bougainville and Ok Tedi don’t hold a candle to Grasberg.”Part 3 to follow next week.This is an extract of a chapter from the book, Evolutions in Sustainable Investing: Strategies, Funds and Thought Leadership, to be published by Wiley in December 2011. NAJ Taylor is a PhD candidate in the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland, and casual lecturer in the Faculty of Law and Management at La Trobe University.Follow NAJ Taylor on Twitter: @najtaylordotcomThe views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.Related articles

• The blacklisting of Rio Tinto – Opinion – Al Jazeera English.
• Would An Independent West Papua Be A Failing State? :: JapanFocus (westpapuamedia.info)