Just as Indonesia’s president Susilo Bambang Yudhuyono was being feted globally for being a democrat, the Indonesian government was entrenching Papua’s reputation as Indonesia’s last bastion of authoritarian military rule. Now Peace Brigades International has finally been forced out.
Inspired by the US civil rights movement and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, the movement for democratic self-determination in West Papua is using new tactics of nonviolent action to advance its cause.
The Papuan movement is acting with a new strategic maturity in its quest for autonomy, argues Jason MacLeod.
