Prof.Hafid Abbas
The 8th Chairperson of the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission

On October 21, 2024, after General (Ret) Prabowo Subianto was inaugurated as the 8th
President of the Republic of Indonesia, he formed the Ministry of Human Rights and
appointed Natalius Pigai, the son of Papua as Minister in his Red and White Cabinet.

Such policy reminds me to a similar historic decision made by President KH
Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), shortly after his election as the 4th President of the
Republic of Indonesia on October 21, 1999, he also formed the Ministry of Human Rights
and appointed Hasballah Saad, the son of Aceh, as Minister in his National Unity Cabinet.
At that time, as the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs of Jakarta State University, I was
also appointed by President Gus Dur as Deputy Minister at this ministry.

After a quarter of a century of the historic policy, the dynamics of Aceh Freedom
Movement (GAM) have been resolved comprehensively through a peaceful dialogue in
Helsinki between Indonesian Government and GAM. Meanwhile, the separatism
movement of the Free Papua Organization (OPM) in Papua remains no end, although
Aceh problem was obviously much more complicated.

Since the Helsinki Peace Accords for Aceh was successfully signed by both parties, Hamid
Awaluddin representing Indonesian Government and Malik Mahmud from the GAM side,
on August 15, 2005 in Helsinki, there have been no more drops of blood to wet the land
of Aceh. Although previously, during the three decades of conflict (1975-2005), as
reported by Amnesty International (2015) there were 2-3 victims who died every day
either from the civilian population or from the military (TNI-Polri) or GAM.

Under such circumstances, suddenly on December 24, 2004, Aceh was greatly devastated
by tsunami. The United Nations reported that some 240 thousand deaths, about half a
million Acehnese lost their homes, and had a bad impact on the lives of 158 million other
people spread across 14 countries that were also devastated by the tsunami (UN Press
Release 14/07/2005).

In addition, it is estimated that Aceh’s economic losses are around USD 7.7 billion
(ScienceDirect, 12/06/2021).

Under such condition, unexpectedly, GAM figures opened their minds to have a peaceful
dialogue with Indonesian Government. On the initiative of Indonesia Vice President
Jusuf Kalla, Aceh’s peaceful dialogue in Helsinki could be made. After a long dialogue
process between the two parties, mediated by President Martti Ahtisaari, a peace
agreement could be finally adopted. Three years later, in 2008, Ahtisaari won the Nobel
Peace Prize for his role in mediating the realization of peace.

Roads to a Peaceful Papua

As a lesson learned, since the adoption of Helsinki MoU, Aceh could gradually recover
socially, economically, and politically to fully normal condition. If calculated, the MoU of
almost two decades ago has indeed saved 14600-21900 lives, and prevented greater socio-
economic losses if the conflict was to prolong.

To end decades of conflict in Papua, the following mechanisms could be made.

First, Indonesian Government and OPM could adopt the Helsinki MoU model by
presenting an independent mediator from within or outside the country. The key
elements of the Helsinki MoU included: Special Autonomy for Aceh: The Aceh region was
granted a special autonomous status within Indonesia, with control over local
government, security, and economic matters; Disarmament and Reintegration: The GAM
agreed to disarm and reintegrate into the political process, while Indonesia pledged to
respect Aceh’s autonomy; Human Rights Accountability: Both sides agreed to take steps
toward addressing human rights violations committed during the conflict; Monitoring
Mechanism: A Monitoring Mission, including international observers, was set up to
ensure that both sides complied with the terms of the agreement. The Aceh Monitoring
Mission (AMM), which included representatives from the European Union, the United
States, and other countries, monitored the disarmament process and the overall
implementation of the peace agreement

Indonesian Government and OPM could take and readjust those key areas of common
concerns to be discussed comprehensively during the expected peaceful negotiations to
end decades of conflict in Papua.

Second, the new Indonesian Government under President Prabowo’s administration
could likely remove international pressures to Papua if a number of UN recommendations
could be addressed. In my capacity as the Head of the Indonesian Delegation at the 8th
Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in New
York, May 18-29, 2009, since then, I have observed that the UN have highlighted seriously
various human rights issues in Papua and West Papua. On December 22, 2021, the UN
Human Rights Council exposed various concerns to the Government of the Republic of
Indonesia, such as:

“….We have received concerning the excessive use of force against indigenous Papuans
in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. We have received allegations
indicating several instances of extra-judicial killings, including of young children,
enforced disappearance, torture and inhuman treatment and the forced displacement
of at least 5,000 indigenous Papuans by security forces between April and November
2021.”

Therefore, the Government needs to build a more conducive communication with the UN
by responding various issues that have been highlighted by the UN Special Rapporteurs
and UN Experts related to forced disappearance, the Use of Excessive Violence, Torture,
and Forced eviction; and, Internal Displacement of Indigenous Papuans (IDPs). At the website of the UN Human Rights Council, for example, the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Papuan and West Papuan Indigenous Peoples, noted 33 issues of concern (ohchr.org/sites/ filesIPeoples/SR/). Likewise, the views of UN experts related to various
realities and concerns in Papua were also published in UN Press Released (03/01/2022).

Third, President Prabowo’s administration and the new elected governors, mayors and
head of districts across Papua could jointly prepare a new roadmap for a peaceful and
prosperous Papua. The roadmaps could address: the issues of marginalization and
discriminatory impact on indigenous Papuan people of economic development, political
conflict; the failure of development issues, in particular in the field of education and
health for indigenous Papuans and the failure to empower the people’s economy; the
issues on the accountability resolutions for past state violence against Papuans, etc.

Under such circumstances, President Prabowo could appoint one of his coordinating
ministers related to human rights affairs to set up and coordinate an inter-ministerial
taskforce with the involvement of academe communities and civil society organizations
to address those recurrent and contemporary socio-economic, political and security
issues across Papua.

Lastly, President Prabowo has shown his impressive human rights policy to grant
amnesty to OPM prisoners who have minor rebel cases in Papua (Press Release
13/12/2024). He will prioritize to grant amnesty to 18 inmates of unarmed violence acts
as a reconciliation effort for Papuan people. This indicates the Government’s good
intention to create a more peaceful situation and social stability in Papua.

Hopefully the prolonged conflict in Papua and West Papua can be resolved as soon as
possible peacefully, thoroughly, sustainably and with dignity for all for the greatness of
the Republic of Indonesia now and in the future.(ABIM)