Part 5: Colonial powers, church and UN in Indonesia - By Radha Rajan

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In this part we will see the complicit role played by the UN. RR THE

UNITED NATIONS AND THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

 

The UN comes into being in 1945 and ironically, the UK, Australia and

Netherlands, the principal wreckers of the independence of Indonesia in

August 1945, are founding members of the UN and signatories to the UN

Charter. The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945,

in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on

International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. The

Statute of the International Court of Justice is an integral part of the

Charter. What does the UN Charter say?

 

WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in

our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and

 

To reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth

of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations

large and small, and

 

To establish conditions under which justice and respect for the

obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law

can be maintained.

 

Considering that the actions of Britain, the Netherlands and Australia

in 1945 and 1946, as occupational forces in Indonesia, was aimed at the

singular objective of reversing the independence of Indonesia and

reverting it to Netherlands colonial control and administration, the UN

remained remarkably sang-froid at the brazen violation of its Charter by

the three founding member countries. The best that the UNSC could do in

1947, after two years of Netherlands and British and Australian

atrocities against the Indonesian people, and after the `police

action' by the Netherlands colonial government in violation of the

Linggajati agreement, was to timidly call for cease-fire on August 1,

1947. The UN does not declare the continuing presence of the Dutch in

Indonesia or the continuing British control of the Malay province or

British Malaya, to be illegal and violative of the UN Charter. It calls

for cease-fire instead as though Indonesia is a party to the hostilities

instead of being the victim of continued western and colonial

aggression.

 

Instead of asking the Netherlands to withdraw from Indonesia immediately

and unconditionally and instead of asking the United Kingdom to withdraw

from British Malaya, the UN sets up a `good offices commission'

in October 1947 to find a `settlement' in Indonesia.

`Settlement' effectively made the Netherlands a legitimate party

in the negotiations. This was to legitimise colonialism and legitimise,

in the process, the refusal by European colonial powers to withdraw

unconditionally from their colonies. The ambivalence of the UN in

dealing with violations by powerful western nations had a lesson for our

leaders at the time. This is the second lesson we failed to learn and

continued to repose faith in the UN to deal effectively with

Pakistan's aggression and occupation of Indian territories in 1947.

 

THE UN-BROKERED RENVILLE AGREEMENT

 

On January 17, the Renville agreement under UN auspices draws a

ceasefire line favorable to the Dutch. As per this agreement, the Dutch

will hand back Java, Sumatra and Madura to the Republicans, recognize

Indonesia's independence but keep the federal states created by the

Dutch during their `police action' from out of the Republic.

Just as the Princely states in India were kept out by the British from

independent Union of India, the UN kept these states artificially

created by the Dutch, from out of the Indonesian republic with the

bizarre condition that the republic would allow them the choice of

integration or secession!

 

The Dutch ignore the Renville agreement, and continue to create

Dutch-controlled states in the areas occupied by them during the police

actions. The representatives of the 13 federal states thus created,

agree to constitute themselves into the United States of Indonesia. In

December1948, one year after signing the Renville agreement, and one

year after its active violation, the Dutch formally inform the UN that

they will not negotiate further with the Republic and that they

considered further talks with the republic to be `futile'. A few

days later they officially declare the end of the Renville agreement and

launch the second police action to remove the Republicans from

Yogyakarta too. The Dutch arrest Sukarno and Hatta and exile them to

North Sumatra and assume total control of all Indonesia.

 

UN-BROKERED ROUND TABLE CONFERENCE

 

The UN calls `for end to hostilities' on 24th December, 1948 and

on 28th January 1949, demands release of republican leaders and

independence for Indonesia by July 1, 1950. The UN yet again does not

demand immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Dutch from

Indonesia but gives the Dutch fifteen months to plan their withdrawal

and more ridiculously, asks them to negotiate terms for independence

with the republicans.

 

The Indonesians are forced to sit across the table with their aggressors

in The Hague for a Round Table Conference in August 1949 to negotiate

their independence. November 2, the terribly iniquitous Hague Agreement

is the result of the Round Table Conference: " Republik Indonesia

Serikat " is supposed to have the crown of the Netherlands as a symbolic

head, Sukarno as President, and Hatta as Vice-President. It consists of

15 Dutch-created states plus the original Republic. Sovereignty is to be

transferred by December 30. Dutch investments are protected, and the new

government is responsible for the billion-dollar Netherlands Indies

government debt. The Dutch also get to keep Irian Jaya.

 

The UN actually sanctions continued occupation by a colonial aggressor

in a part within a sovereign, independent state. The UN is responsible

for leaving the Dutch thorn in Irian Jaya inside the body politic of

Indonesia.