This research focused on the special autonomy system of West Papua (Papua Barat) in Indonesia. The background of the establishment of Papua and the enactment of the special autonomy system in Papua were covered in this research. Also, the countermeasures taken by the Indonesian government in response to Papua’s human right issues, the form of the legislation of the special autonomy system, and the consequences from the enactment of this policy were analyzed in this research.
West Papua is a state resulting from the transfer of sovereignty from the Dutch colonial authorities in 1963. It was officially recognized as the 26th Province of Indonesia in 1969. In the process of deciding whether this province should be merged with Indonesia, the central government appeals to forceful measures by making sure that everyone agrees with the merge. In 1961, West Papua Congress was founded and acted as an organization representing the aborigines of the region. The aim of the congress was to achieve independence in 1970 and they did so by banning the use of the national anthem and the national flag. Besides, the parliament was forced to dissolve. Pressure politic was introduced in response to the demand for independence by the aborigines. In the process of implementing an integrated policy, human rights in West Papua were infringed.
As a form of countermeasure done by Indonesian government on the human rights issues in Papua, a special autonomy system was enacted on the Papua Province. This action was viewed as an appeasement policy done by the central government to cease the independence movement. The implementation of the system enabled the Papua province to be conducted as a local government which had certain degree of freedom. However, the economic development of Papua dropped significantly after the special autonomy system was introduced. Although the government was changed, marking the beginning of democracy, the lives of the aborigines were not improving. Instead their lives were worse than before. As a result, the introduction of the special autonomy system was a failure. The main reasons were the lack of understanding about the local situation and the inability of creating an effective policy that is fair among the local people. Besides, the absence of the mutual trust between the central government and the local government has become a barrier to effectively implement the policy. Therefore, there is a need to re-inspect the Papua’s special autonomy system.