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20-10-2022
Bureau Report
MELBOURNE: Australia says it will continue to provide military training, conduct joint exercises and export weapons to Indonesia despite increased violence and allegations of human rights abuses in West Papua, in the far east of the archipelago, where conflict has been rumbling for decades.
The Australian Department of Defence confirmed in a statement to Al Jazeera that Anthony Albanese’s government, which was elected in May, would continue to supply arms to Indonesian forces and provide them with military training.
“Indonesia is one of Australia’s most important partners. Australia will continue to conduct joint exercises, provide military and policy training, and – consistent with appropriate legislation export military equipment to Indonesia,” the statement said.
Despite some rocky patches, Australia has had a longstanding military relationship with Indonesia, including joint training and weapons supply, with Thales Australia selling three Bushmaster troop carriers to Kopassus, Indonesia’s elite forces, in 2014.
Military units, such as Kopassus, conduct joint training exercises with the Australian SAS, the country’s special forces, while Detachment 88 also known as Densus 88, a counterterrorism force set up in the wake of the 2002 Bali Bombings gets funding and training from both Australia and the United States.
Such initiatives have been credited with reducing the threat from hardline groups, but Indonesian forces remain 
under scrutiny over allegations of serious human rights abuses in West Papua, where Indigenous people have been fighting for independence for 50 years.
Indonesia moved into the resource-rich region in the early 1960s, formalizing its control through a controversial, United Nations-approved referendum in 1969.
Amid armed resistance from West Papuan independence fighters such as the Free Papua Movement, or Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM), which reportedly targeted Indonesian civilians, more military and Special Forces units were sent to the area.
Although the area was relatively peaceful during the presidency of Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian military engagement has remained during the administrations of other presidents, including President Joko Widodo, who is now in his second term.
A recent plan to create three new administrative regions in the area triggered peaceful protests in June where some 44 people were arrested. Amnesty International said the police responded with “an excessive use of force”.
“The Indonesian government claims that it wants to ‘develop’ Papua and create prosperity for Papuans,” said Amnesty’s Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid. “But how can Papuans be prosperous if their attempts to express opinions and aspirations are met with violence.”
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Even during the pandemic, Papua continued to rumble.
In 2020, an independent report published by UN experts found that at least 50,000 people had been displaced in the province due to violence. It cited allegations of the use of excessive force, torture and killings against indigenous West Papuans by the police or military.
