The Round Table Conference (KMB) which took place in Den Haag, Netherlands, from 23 August to 2 November 1949, and was attended by representatives from the Republic of Indonesia, the Netherlands, and the BFO – representatives of various countries created by the Dutch in the Indonesian Archipelago – was very fiercely held.

Additionally, the problem of West Papua has emerged. The Dutch felt they had more rights over the territory in the eastern part of the archipelago.

It’s certain that the Republic of Indonesia firmly refused it. So this dispute dragged on, until on October 19 1961, the Dutch formed the Papua National Committee.

Military power was built more massively at the same time. The Netherlands displays its flag along with its warships.

Obviously this is increasingly inviting a strong reaction from the Government of the Republic of Indonesia. Then on December 19 1961, President Ir. Soekarno read out the matters formulated by the National Defense Council, namely the People’s Tri Command or Trikora in the Yogyakarta square.

In the morning, in Yogyakarta’s North Square, Bung Karno delivered three Trikora contents in front of hundreds of thousands of people from Yogyakarta and outside the Yogyakarta area.

Bung Karno strenuously emphasized that the Red and White flag must be raised in West Irian (Papua). Then this great leader mobilized the people to take back West Irian.

The content of Trikora which has always inspired us to date is to fail the puppet state of Papua, raise or flag, “Sang Saka Merah Putih” in Papua, and prepare ourselves for general mobilization.

Then Soekarno with high-ranking Indonesian officials on March 6 1961, formed the Kora-1 Army Corps and General Soeharto became its commander.

The name of this unit has changed several times, from Army General Command (Tjaduad) to Army Strategic Command (Kostrad).

On December 11, 1961, the Indonesian government also formed the National Defense Council (Depertan).

These historical traces confirm that Papua has been full of struggle in the bosom of our mother earth. The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) is fixed, the Papua problem has been resolved.

If in the recent days Papua’s problems have arisen again with the actions of the Armed Criminal Group (KKB), then this nation must not remain silent.

Moreover, the group (KKB) has a motive to separate Papua from the Republic of Indonesia, of course a firm action must be taken. Don’t let their motives become stronger and spread terror, crime and violence so rampant.

KKB (Armed criminal group)’s Crimes

The Armed Criminal Group (KKB) or the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Organization (TPNPB-OPM) is again committing crimes.

TNI Commander Admiral Yudo Margono, as released in a press release on 18 April 2023, emphasized that the number of TNI soldiers who died in the attack in Nduga, Papua was one person. Meanwhile, there are 4 other soldiers still in the process of being searched.

The attack carried out by an armed criminal group on a task force from the 321/Galuh Taruna Infantry Raider Battalion occurred in Mugi-Mam District, Nduga, Papua Pengunungan on April 15 2023.

They also expelled residents in Mambak Sugapa Village, Intan Jaya, to clear out their village and the motive is that they were going to war with the TNI-Polri security forces.

Terrorist acts are often carried out by them in various regions in Papua. In their attacks, they often issue propaganda and one of them is slander against TNI-Polri troops.

A number of incidents show how adept they are at spreading terror, both against civilians and the TNI and Polri, as if mocking the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia in conditions that are impossible and full of polemics.

In historical records, an armed criminal group on February 16 2021, in Boega, carried out torture using a machete (slashing) on the back of the neck of a victim named Dejalti Pamean.

On April 8 2021, there was a shooting that killed a teacher named Oktovianus Rayo.

On April 9, 2021, they carried out a shooting that killed a teacher named Jonatan Renden. Then on April 11 2021, they set fire to Beoga 1 Public High School, and on April 13 2021, they also burned down the house of the Principal of State Middle School 1, Junaedi Sulele.

National Police Chief Gen. Pol Listyo Sigit Prabowo in a working meeting with Commission III of the DPR, Wednesday (12/4/2023), stated that throughout 2022 there have been 101 actions carried out by armed criminal groups in the Land of Papua.

This act of terror resulted in 104 victims, 52 died and 52 people were injured.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, they are skilled at sneaking into the walls of Human Rights (HAM). So the authorities are faced with a dilemma. After all, they are a number of Indonesian citizens too.

In this sense, basically the State has an obligation to guarantee the human rights of its citizens.

However, the State also has the right not to tolerate human rights violations committed by its citizens.

Armed criminal groups always use violence and threats, and cross the boundaries of humanity. The state has the right to impose punishment.

However, taking into account that the State has the obligation to guarantee the human rights of its citizens, of course the State must not crush it so hastily.

The path that the State has taken is a soft approach and a hard approach. It is hoped that the conflict in Papua can be resolved without causing casualties. However, they continue to act –spreading terror, violence and crime.

Armed Criminal Group separatist motives

Separatist roots in Papua emerged on July 26 1965, which was marked by a battle between the Free Papua Organization (OPM) and the apparatus of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

The sparks of a separatist movement in Papua began to grow. Then came the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) and the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).

So in general these movements are currently grouped into the Papuan Separatist Group (KSP).

Then they committed violence against civilians, TNI-Polri officers, using lethal weapons, categorized as an Armed Criminal Group.

In 2022, as many as 21 people will become victims. Meanwhile, throughout 2021, at least 18 people died, including the most shocking incident being that the Head of the Papua Regional State Intelligence Agency, Major General TNI Posthmous I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha was shot dead.

The separatist group has long wanted to be independent and stand on its own. They don’t just commit ordinary crimes, but there is a great desire behind every criminal action so far.

The change in the term from the Free Papua Organization to the Armed Criminal Group is intended to change the paradigm of dealing with separatists in Papua. If one group is caught, they will be detained for criminal reasons.

They also have motives for Papua to secede from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. This definition is the ideas and motives of the separatist movement. It could be that at first this motive arose because of feelings of injustice, so this disappointment was expressed with resistance.

Even so, there are motives that cannot be simply ignored, that there are foreign parties who want certain areas to be annexed, as well as personal and group interests. Interests are often identified with economic and political indications.

Certainty in calling separatists

When TNI General (Ret.) Ryamizard Ryacudu was served as Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia in the Kabinet Kerja, as reported by kemhan.go.id, he emphasized that the Armed Criminal Group in Papua was a group that wanted Papua to secede from the Republic of Indonesia. This means they can be called a separatist movement.

“Armed criminal groups have become separatist groups that threaten the integrity of the country,” he said after attending a lecture on defending the country at the Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School, Jombang, Friday (15/03/2019).

There is something worth investigating that the longer their weapons are getting more sophisticated and better. This indication should not be underestimated. On April 11 2023, an armed criminal group’s ammunition warehouse was uncovered after Egianus Kogoya’s subordinate, Yomce Lokbere or YL, was arrested by a joint TNI and Polri team.

Yomce is known to have been involved in the burning of the Susi Air plane and holding pilot Capt Philip Mark Mahrtens as hostage.

The question is: where did they get the weapons? Is it from the “outside” being smuggled in, or seizing weapons from the security forces?

What is certain is that apart from having weapons, this group has a foreign policy campaign agenda to voice Papuan independence to foreign embassies.

Basically, as a whole, the constellation of the involvement of secret agents of foreign countries in separatist movements can occur in this part of the world, so in Indonesia this is also very likely to happen.

Therefore, the secret operations he launched were nothing more than part of foreign interference – this is also nothing new in the history of national civilization.

The purpose of foreign involvement is clear, this is to secure their geostrategic interests – both regarding geopolitical and geoeconomic interests.

Underlying these things, besides playing the role of strengthening regional influence, it also provides “assistance”. This help as a binding tool.

This problem becomes a dilemma and is dangerous when “groups” of people in the country are willing to accept this assistance.

They don’t care about national security. It becomes even more dangerous when they receive assistance from foreign countries to establish a new country.

Judging from this, it is not impossible that if foreign interference through covert operations takes place, it is in the interests of certain parties or separatists.

Networks between nations are utilized to the maximum extent possible, which makes it possible for this unit to spread influence to strengthen geostrategic, geopolitical and geoeconomic interests.

Separatist groups are the most preferred groups to embrace for these purposes.

All of this is to be used as a “safeguard” for foreign interests, and at the same time to become a miraculous weapon which strengthen the position of anti-government or anti-state groups.

Security Geostrategy

Indonesia is a multiracial, multiethnic and multicultural country in the world. The 4th most populous in the world with a total of 274,790,244 people in 2022.

Also as the largest archipelagic country in the world with an area of 1,904,570 km², with 17,504 islands, it is the 6th most island country in the world.

With such a geostrategy, Indonesia needs strong geopolitics to install a capable defense and security system. For this reason, it is also necessary to pay attention to the principles and principles of National Defense.

From here we are simultaneously advancing in harmony to realize that resilience can be freely implemented, so that resilience in the ideological, political, economic, socio-cultural and military fields meets continuity.

The people see that continuity is necessary for the strength and sovereignty of the nation. The mandate at the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution also provides such a mission and vision, which is based on the strength of the nation.

Thus defense and security are built to detect, confront, and destroy external threats that throw away the sovereignty of the nation and state.

Defense and security which are directed against threats – from within and from abroad – originate in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution which contains Pancasila.

Then to know the degree, it is necessary to estimate the vulnerability and capacity in all areas of national life, which is realized based on the supreme source of Pancasila.

The process of integrating defense and security that is taking place is also based on Pancasila. This is in order to be able to combine and coordinate the differentiation and characteristics of each Force, in accordance with the growth in the revolution.

This situation fully guarantees the strengthening of the National Defense, which is the determining factor for the rise and fall of the State.

(Prof. DR. Drs. Ermaya Suradinata, SH, MH, MSI, is the former Director General of Social and Political Affairs of the Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs, Chancellor of IPDN, Governor of Lemhannas RI, and currently the Expert Council for Geopolitics and Geostrategy of BPIP RI.)