Naked City

After a weeklong congress during which 3,000 indigenous West Papuan delegates hotly debated their options, the mineral-rich easternmost province in Indonesia declared independence from Jakarta. The declaration is the latest challenge to the authority of the Indonesian government, which has ruled the province with an iron hand since 1969.

The West Papuan independence movement has been gaining strength for more than two years. Just five years ago, several indigenous West Papuans were shot to death for daring to raise the West Papuan flag. Today, the province has appointed a tribal chief, Theys Eluai, to be chairman of the Papuan People's Presidium. Tom Beanal, the longtime leader of the Amungme tribe and formerly a plaintiff in a lawsuit against New Orleans-based mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, was named deputy chairman of the presidium.

It is too early to tell how Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid will react to the latest call for independence in the province Jakarta calls Irian Jaya. Last week, the country's foreign minister, Alwi Shihab, said if the West Papuans go "too far," the government will "have to react." Last year, after the Indonesian colony of East Timor declared independence, the central government sent in waves of thugs and soldiers who looted and burned buildings in the breakaway province for several days. Rebuilding the province will take decades.

It's not yet known how the independence movement will affect resource-extraction companies like Freeport, which has repeatedly been accused of human rights violations and environmental maladies at its giant Grasberg mine. Freeport spokesman Garland Robinette did not return a phone call from the Chronicle. Freeport may be hoping that its $250,000-per-year lobbyist, Nobel Peace Prize winner Henry Kissinger, will be able to persuade Wahid to keep West Papua part of Indonesia.

The West Papuan move for independence came with a resolution calling for an investigation into the numerous cases of murder and torture that have occurred in the region. The measure also calls for those responsible to be brought to justice. As always, the best source of information on these issues is: www.cs.utexas.edu/users/boyer/fp.