Antara News
Aug 02 17:09

RI EMBASSY BUSY FIGHTING BILL ON PAPUA IN U.S. CONGRESS
 
 
Washington DC (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Embassy here is now 
continuously making various efforts to prevent the Papua issue in the US 
parliament from expanding or being further blown up by certain parties, an 
Indonesian diplomat said.

"Although the bill (which tends to question the legitimacy of Papua`s status 
as an integral part of Indonesia) is still far from being passed into law, 
we will keep a close watch on developments," Andri Hadi, the embassy`s 
deputy chief of mission, said here Monday.

He said people in Indonesia had so far wrongly assumed that the bill had 
already become a US Congress decision whereas in reality HR 2601 could only 
be passed into law after it was approved by the Senate where it was also 
likely to be a subject of debate.

Andri said certain parties that were not happy about stability in Indonesia 
seemed to have purposely given the public, including people in Papua, 
distorted information about developments in the US Congress.

Therefore, he said , there was no need for people to over-react to the 
developments in the US Congress although they should neither underestimate 
the significance of those events.

"Anyway, it must be admitted that the emergence of the Papua issue in the US 
Congress represents an achievement by those intent on cornering Indonesia," 
he said.

One of the articles in HR 2601 questions the status of Papua while action 
1115 of the bill asks the US secretary of state to report to Congress about 
the effectiveness of special autonomy in Papua and the legitimacy of the 
1969 Act of Free Choice (on the basis of which Papua legally became part of 
Indonesia).

A US State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, meanwhile said here last 
Friday the United States would never support efforts by any party to 
separate Papua from the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia

In the face of the emergence of separatist tendencies in Indonesia, the US 
will continue to support Indonesia`s territorial integrity, he said.

Andri added the Indonesian embassy here would make all-out efforts to 
prevent the bill on Papua) - introduced by two US Congressmen - from being 
passed into law.

"We will keep on approaching the Senate. Many senators have expressed their) 
support for Indonesia in this matter," Andri said.

He said a number of US congressmen currently trying to muster support for 
Papuan independence, namely those grouped in the Congressional Black Caucus 
(CBC), were possibly also misinformed about real conditions in Papua. "Quite 
possibly, they just gave their signatures without really understanding the 
actual situation in Papua," he said.

Copies of the bill had reportedly been distributed among the public in 
Papua. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also deplored the efforts of 
those wishing to interfere in Indonesia`s internal affairs.(*)