I hope that my approach to this question is useful to you. I found an amazing article on Indonesian history and the areas of East Timor, Aceh, and Irian Jaya (known to independence activists as Papua or West Papua). My main objective in this answer is to give you relevant background information from the article and then direct you to good sources of current information. Among these are longer reports, one directly related to genocide in Papua. With more time, I will be able to put more information on what I feel are the relevant sections of that article.
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From "Third World Quarterly", vol.22, no.6, pp1003-1024, 2001 (If any of your group members are UC students, you should have online access to this article)
"The break-up of Indonesia? Nationalisms after decolonisation and the limits of the nation-state in post-cold war Southeast Asia" by Edward Aspinall & Mark T. Berger
According to this article, East Timor, Aceh, and Irian Jaya (called Papua by those for independence) all share some similarities in their relationship to Indonesia. East Timor is the only area that has gained independence while Aceh and Irian Jaya continue to be subjugated to Indonesian rule.
Papua/Irian Jaya (and formerly West New Guinea, under the Dutch) was incorporated into Indonesia in the 1960's when Sukarno was president. International support for the absorption of Papua was driven by cold-war fears to be discussed below.
In the wake of WWII, Indonesia proclaimed independence. Between 1945 and 1965 there were armed conflicts in Indonesia, but mostly around the composition and philosophy of the government, not about borders.
The US involved itself by supporting the PRRI/Permesta (Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia) in response to the 1950s growth of the PKI (a communist group who wanted to break all ties with imperialism).
In 1965 Suharto came to power, securing his power with the military behind him in the New Order government. Anti-communist massacres occurred in 1965-1966. (Also see: The Indonesian Killings 1965-1966: Studies from Java and Bali, Robert Cribb (editor), Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University 1990). The government under Suharto claimed its legitimacy rested on its being the only group able to prevent a return to the political strife of the 1950s and 60s. Most dissent, no matter its nature, was ascribed to trying to break the state.
While there were various tribal arrangements of government throughout Indonesia, the New Order government attempted to bring all government under the Javanese model of desa, taking away the political variance of the region.
The 1970s saw development projects that resulted in material improvement for certain segments of the society. Jakarta and other major cities now supported middle classes. Resource extraction was key to this and Papua was certainly affected by this.
In 1998, in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, Suharto was kicked out of government. In July 1998 there were actions in favor of independence.
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When Papua was brought into Indonesia, it was because Indonesian nationalists believed that all territory formerly administered by the Dutch should be part of the new state. Papua was on the outskirts of the Dutch colonial project and when the Japanese took over in 1942, there were only 15 colonial outposts. In this period there were around a million people and around 200 language groups. (This in an area the size of California!)
While there was pro-Indonesian sentiment in the 1930s, most resistance was traditional and millenarian. When the Dutch began to expand activity in the area, Papuan nationalism began to take hold.
In the 1950s Sukarno was able to get United Stated aid to quell resistance by threatening to turn to the USSR for aid.
In 1969 the United Nations monitored "Act of Free Choice" (a process to formalize whether or not Papua should become part of Indonesia) was done, without consultation of the Papuans themselves. News in recent years has looked critically at this issue, as the Papuans have made stronger claims about the Act's legitimacy and the media has picked it up.
In 1964 the OPM (Free Papua Movement) was formed. Leadership was traditional leaders as well as urban intellectuals educated by the Dutch. The base of the movement was tribal communities, some who had always been against Indonesian rule. The geographic expanse of the area made it impossible for the Indonesians to control the movement, but Aspinall and Berger also claim that this also made it hard for the movement to solidify.
After the fall of Suharto, leaders have emerged outside of OPM, though they have kept ties to the old movement. In February 1999, 100 Papuan leaders met with President Habibie and stated their only demand was for independence.
May/June 2000 had the Papuan People's Congress, attended by 3000 representatives of the island. Theys Eluay (since assassinated) was elected head of the Papua Presidium Council.
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The Sydney Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies has a West Papua Project. Their "Primary Goal" is: "This project seeks to promote peaceful dialogue between the people of West Papua and Indonesia, and to promote conflict resolution as a viable alternative to the current and escalating conflict."
They have written a report called "Genocide in West Papua? The Role of the Indonesian Security Apparatus and a Current Needs Assessment of the Papuan People" you can download. It comes out of a conference that occurred in August 2005. This is the article I will try to read and write more on.
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A 2006 report done by WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia) looks at the Freeport Rio Tinto copper and gold mine, and discusses the environmental impacts of the mine.
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For recent news on Indonesia, see Inside Indonesia for independent journalism.
Also see www.infopapua.org and on the top left side look for Papuan Human Rights for recent articles.
And from "Building Human Security in Indonesia": West Papua
The BBC has been covering recent events in Papua as well. Do a search for "papua indonesia" and some useful articles should be retrieved.
