Text of H.R. 2410: Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011

By WPNews Jun 16, 2009, 19:31

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HR 2410 RH
Union Calendar No. 69
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2410
[Report No. 111-136]
To authorize appropriations for the Department of State and the Peace Corps for fiscal years 2010 and 2011, to modernize the Foreign Service, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 14, 2009

Mr. BERMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
June 4, 2009
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 14, 2009]

EC. 1123. WEST PAPUA.
(a) Findings- Congress finds the following:
(1) West Papua was a former Dutch colony just as East Timor was a former Portuguese colony just as Indonesia was a former colony of the Netherlands.
(2) In 1949, the Dutch granted independence to Indonesia and retained West Papua.

(3) In 1950, the Dutch prepared West Papua for independence.
(4) However, Indonesia, upon achieving independence, demanded the entire archipelago including the Dutch holding of West Papua and the Portuguese controlled territory of East Timor.

(5) In 1962, the United States mediated an agreement between the Dutch and Indonesia. Under terms of the agreement, the Dutch were to leave West Papua and transfer sovereignty to the United Nations after which time a national election would be held to determine West Papua’s political status. But almost immediately after this agreement was reached, Indonesia violated the terms of the transfer and took over the administration of West Papua from the United Nations.

(6) Indonesia then orchestrated an election that many regarded as a brutal military operation. In what became known as an ‘act of no-choice’, 1,025 West Papua elders under heavy military surveillance were selected to vote on behalf of more than 800,000 West Papuans on the territory’s political status. The United Nations Representative sent to observe the election process produced a report which outlined various and serious violations of the United Nations Charter. In spite of the report and in spite of testimonials from the press, the opposition of fifteen countries, and the cries of help from the Papuans themselves, West Papua was handed over to Indonesia in November 1969.
(7) Since this time, the Papuans have suffered blatant human rights abuses including extrajudicial executions, imprisonment, torture, environmental degradation, natural resource exploitation and commercial dominance of immigrant communities and it is now estimated that more than 100,000 West Papuans and 200,000 East Timorese died as a direct result of Indonesian rule especially during the administrations of military dictators Sukarno and Suharto.
(8) Today, the violence continues. In its 2004 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices the Department of State reports that Indonesia ‘security force members murdered, tortured, raped, beat and arbitrarily detained civilians and members of separatist movements especially in Papua’.
(9) In response to international pressure, Indonesia has promised to initiate Special Autonomy for West Papua.
(10) Considering that East Timor achieved independence from Indonesia in 2002 by way of a United Nations sanctioned referendum, Special Autonomy may be an effort to further disenfranchise a people who differ racially from the majority of Indonesians.

(11) West Papuans are Melanesian and believed to be of African descent.
(b) Reports-

(1) SECRETARY OF STATE- For fiscal year 2010, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the 1969 Act of Free Choice, the current political status of West Papua, and the extent to which the Government of Indonesia has implemented and included the leadership and the people of West Papua in the development and administration of Special Autonomy.

(2) PRESIDENT- For each of fiscal years 2010 and 2011, the President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that contains a description of the extent to which the Government of Indonesia has certified that it has halted human rights abuses in West Papua.

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2410/text