The conflicts in Papua are the work of members of the separatist Free Papua Organization OPM) who often attack government outposts, businesses, and civilians.
OPM supporters have conducted various protests and flag-raising ceremonies for independence and accuse the Indonesian government of indiscriminate violence and of suppressing their freedom of expression.
In the light of this, the Papua Peace Conference is a great step to finding a solution to the conflicts Papua.
The three-day ongoing peace conference from Tuesday to Thursday, July 5-7, 2011, is organized by the Papua Peace Network (JDP) and participated in by around a thousand people.
The Papua Peace Network is made up of non-government organizations activists, church leaders, and youth leaders in the provincial city of Jayapura.
"Also present at the conference are indigenous people of Papua to find the best possible solution to existing problems in a bid to maintain Papua as the land of peace," Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) observer Muridan S Widjojo said in Jayapura on Tuesday.
"The peace conference is a big initial step to see more clearly various inputs from the indigenous people of Papua about the way how to develop Indonesia`s easternmost province into a more peaceful and better direction," Muridan said.
The co-author of "Papua Road Map" added that the peace conference should run in accordance with the original idea to make the ancestral land of Papua indigenous people a land of peace.
"It is through a dialog or conference that we can resolve the prolonged conflict on the land of Papua so far," Muridan said.
Asked how Jakarta viewed the Papua Peace Conference, Muridan said there was a good signal from the central government by sending Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto as one of the keynote speakers.
The security minister arrived in Jayapura on Tuesday to speak in the conference, themed "Let Us Make Papua a Land of Peace."
Djoko came to the conference venue at the hall of Cenderawasih University in Abepura in the company of Cenderawasih Military Commander Maj Gen Erfi Triassunu and Papua Police Chief Insp Gen Bekto Suprapto.
In his keynote address to open the conference, the security minister said the conference was an appropriate occasion to establish lines of communication between the government and the local community.
"This conference is a very good step to obtain an overall understanding of the Papua people`s aspirations and to establish communication links between them and the government," Djoko said.
He said all Indonesians yearned for a quiet and peaceful situation in order to develop their respective regions, not only in Papua but also in other parts of the country.
"Any way, development of a region, be it in Papua and other parts of the country, needs a conducive political and security situation," said the security minister.
Meanwhile, Papua Peace Network chairman Pater Neles Tebay said the background of the implementation of the peace conference was due to frequent and ongoing horizontal conflict between the members of local community and vertical conflict between them and the government.
"If nothing is done to solve various problems in Papua, it will continue to be a land of conflict and not vice versa," Pater Neles Tebay said.
According to him, the people of Papua yearned for a peaceful situation but in reality it was the opposite because many of them had yet to find it necessary to involve themselves in the effort to create peace on the land of Papua.
Therefore Neles said said the objective of the three-day peace conference was to create a peaceful situation in the land of Papua.
"Unlike the previous conference in the past years, this one is arranged in such a way so that the participants from the indigenous people of Papua can involve themselves in the effort to create real peace in Papua," Neles Tebay said.
According to him, many parties and certain institutions had staged peace campaigns so far in Papua, but various conflicts in reality continued to flare up.
Neles pointed out that horizontal conflict among the people of Papua and vertical violence against the government frequently broke out in Papua and therefore the best possible solution should be sought through the peace conference.
The Papua Peace Network chairman said the outcome of the conference would be recorded in a book with both English and Indonesian version and distributed to all parties.
Meanwhile, the Papua Peace Conference organizing committee chairman Seper Manufandu said around one thousand thousand delegates from all districts and towns in the provinces of Papua and West Papua would attend the conference.
In addition, Seper said representatives from central government and Regional Representatives Council (DPD), non-government organizations, investors, donor institutions, traditional leaders, women figures, independent activists, academicians, and foreign envoys would also be present in the peace conference.
"This peace conference is a great event to identify and formulate whatever is needed to make Papua a land of peace," Seper said. (*)
Reporter: Otniel Tamindael
Editor: Otniel Tamindael
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
