An Act of Free Choice: Decolonisation and the Right to Self-Determination in West Papua

by Pieter Drooglever

Overview

A fascinating, authoritative history of West Papua up to their controversial takeover by Indonesia in 1969

This important study introduces the history and people of West Papua, tracing the origins of the international conflict surrounding their struggle for self-determination following the Second World War. Based on three decades of exhaustive research and focusing particular attention on the sham referendum of 1969 - which Indonesia dubbed 'The Act of Free Choice', an election rigged to legitimize Indonesian control over West Papua - Droogleever highlights the continuing impact of this injustice on Indonesia's most underdeveloped and poverty-stricken province.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781851687152
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Pages:	928
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 2.00(d)

About the Author

Pieter Drooglever was the lead researcher on a government-sponsored, 27-year study of the decolonisation of Indonesia at the Institute of Netherlands History at The Hague. He also served as chairman of the historical committee for Indonesian Studies, and was a lecturer in Indonesian History at the University of Nymegen, where he held the L.J. Rogier chair.

Table of Contents

Preface

Illustrations

Map: Netherlands New Guinea c. 1960

1 A Distant Corner of the Netherlands East Indies

The Dutch East India Company (DEIC), Tidore and New Guinea

The eastern frontier of the Netherlands East Indies

Establishing control and exploring the interior

Administrative policies up to the Second World War

The Protestant and Catholic Missions

The ‘mise en valeur’: business and colonists

Looking back



2 The Shock of War

West New Guinea during the Second World War

The way back

New Guinea under the Japanese occupation

The restoration of government under Van Eechoud

Echoes of the revolution



3 New Guinea as a Bargaining Tool

Indonesia becomes independent

The nationalists take the helm

Political relations in the Netherlands

The federal response

Linggadjati; talks and clashes

A poker game between Bandung, Yogya and The Hague

Claims on New Guinea

The Republicans’ wishes

Malino and the Moluccan Commonwealth

The Indo-European option and the Papuan cause

Passing the Papuans from player to player

Dutch moves

East Indonesian aspirations

Republican reactions

Two Dutch pickets

New Guinea and the Decree on the Government of Indonesia during the Period of Transition

The removal of Tidoran home rule on New Guinea



4 Separation from Indonesia

Minister Van Maarseveen steps into the limelight

The covert hand of Hollandia

The Round Table Conference

Players from the side-lines

Arguments, circumstances and motives



5 Locking Horns

The Netherlands and Indonesia in the ‘status-quo’ year

New Guinea in cold storage

The Supomo mission

Ali Sastroamidjojo’s offensive

The Geneva Conference



6 Direct Rule from The Hague

A new system of government

Regaining momentum under Van Waardenburg

Two Calvinist comrades in power

For the sake of the Papuans’ education

Changed conditions in Protestant circles

The arrival of the American and Australian missions

A new place for the Roman Catholics

Education

Language policy

The hesitations of big business

A development project under the colonial flag

Territorial extension of the administration



7 The Dispute in an International Perspective

The hounds are loose

The superpowers and the place of the United Nations

Consultations with Australia

American guarantees

An arms race at the equator

The points of departure

The Indonesian military build-up from 1958 onward

The Karel Doorman’s odyssey



8 The Turning Tide in The Hague and Washington

The crumbling home front

De Quay takes office

The first steps on the path to internationalization

Minister Luns and the General Assembly of 1960

Tunku Abdul Rahman's mediation attempt

Bright boys in Washington

Further commotion on the home front

The conception of the Luns plan

The Luns plan in the General Assembly of 1961

9 The Metamorphoses of the Luns Plan

The Dutch Cabinet’s definition of its position

Talking under pressure

The military situation

American diplomatic assistance

The dispute about the preconditions

Washington’s ‘knock on the head’

Kennedy nails his colours to the mast

Ambassador Bunker’s plan

Back to Middleburg

The New York Agreement

The Indonesian approach

Van Roijen and Malik get down to business

The making of the New York Agreement

The last hurdles

10 Democratization Under Bot and Platteel

New Guinea; reactions of the government and the population

The democratization of the administration

Town and Regional Councils

The New Guinea Council

Forming Parties



11 Papua Blues

The New Guinea Council and the political parties

The forming of the National Committee: Flag and Anthem

The Luns Plan in the New Guinea Council

Bitter travel experiences

Jitters in New Guinea

The political stance of the Papuans in 1962

Contacts with the Eastern neighbours

Contacts with African countries

Members of the New Guinea Council visit The Hague

A proclamation of independence?

The final months under the red-white-and-blue



12 Under Jakarta’s Thumb

The entry of the UNTEA

Under one roof with the UNTEA and Indonesia

Indonesia as temporary administrator

Build-up to the plebiscite

Between Delft, Manokwari and New York

13 The First Phase of the Act of Free Choice

Preliminary manoeuvres

The task of the United Nations

The appointment of Ortiz Sanz

Defining positions in The Hague, Jakarta and Washington

Ortiz Sanz’s first steps

Interim consultations in The Hague and New York

The further development of the Indonesian plans

Papuans in action

Resistance

Diplomacy



14 The Second Phase of the Act of Free Choice

Luns, Udink and Malik to Rome

The composition of the consultative councils

Self-determination in practice

Reporting to the United Nations

Looking back in the Netherlands



Conclusion



Appendix

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

There is always merit in setting the record straight, no matter how much time has passed. For the Indonesian province of Papua, it has been a long and bloody 36-year wait. The Papuans have refused to accept the ‘Act of Free Choice’ by which they supposedly voted to join Indonesia in 1969. [This book], commissioned by the Dutch government, the former colonial ruler in Indonesia, unequivocally vindicates their stance.

The Sydney Morning Herald

"Essential reading for anyone who cares about human rights and democracy. It is my sincere hope that Drooglever’s excellent work will help draw the world’s attention to the plight of a people who have been oppressed, ignored and forgotten for too long."

Lembit Opik - MP and member of International Parliamentarians for West Papua

"it is a book for politicians, historians, legal experts and, above all, for those who want to know about the weight of the weak in the events of the modern world."

Inside Indonesia

"Nowhere else can one find a fuller or more creditable account."

International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter

"An Act of Free Choice is probably the most important book on the plight of the West Papuans that has yet been published. To understand the great wrong that was done - and continues to be done - to the people of West Papua, it is crucial to read this book. I hope that Western politicians, and perhaps even some Indonesian ones, will read it and understand what needs to change."

Paul Kingsnorth - author of Real England: The Battle Against the Bland

"An Act of Free Choice is probably the most important book on the plight of the West Papuans that has yet been published. To understand the great wrong that was done - and continues to be done - to the people of West Papua, it is crucial to read this book. I hope that Western politicians, and perhaps even some Indonesian ones, will read it and understand what needs to change."

Paul Kingsnorth - author of Real England: The Battle Against the Bland