Morning Star flag

The Morning Star flag

The Morning Star flag (Indonesian Bintang Kejora) was a flag used in a supplemental fashion on Netherlands New Guinea (1949–1962) to the Flag of the Netherlands. It was first raised on 1 December 1961, and fell into disuse on 1 October 1962, when the territory came under administration of the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA).

Although the flag is commonly used today by the Free Papua Organization as a nationalist and pro-independence symbol, such an interpretation was disavowed by the Dutch authorities at its creation. Under Papua's Special Autonomy Law ratified in 2002, the flag may be raised in Papua so long as the flag of Indonesia is also raised and it is higher than the Morning Star flag.^[1] The flag consists of a red vertical band along the hoist side, with a white five-pointed star in the center.

History

After territorial elections in January 1961 a New Guinea Council consisting of 28 members were sworn into office by Governor Dr. P.J.Platteel on 1 April 1961 and the Council's inaugurations on 5 April 1961 were attended by Australia, Britain, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand and other Pacific Forum nations with exception of the United States.^{[citation needed]} An emergency session of this Council on 19 October 1961 in response to news that the Hague was considering transferring the West New Guinea territory first to United Nations and then Indonesian administration; the Council appointed a National Committee to draft a Manifesto expressing the desire for independence, and to design a flag and anthem commensurate with this desire. The design of the flag is credited to Nicolaas Jouwe. The full New Guinea Council endorsed these actions on 30 October 1961 and the first Morning Star flag was presented to Governor Platteel on 31 October 1961.

The Dutch authorities rejected the Morning Star flag as a national flag (nationale flag) but accepted it as a territorial flag (landsvlag) on November 18. Wary of Indonesia's reaction, they told the Council not to raise the flag before December, because the status of West New Guinea was still being debated in the United Nations General Assembly. The official raising of the flag took place on 1 December 1961^[2] with National Committee Chairman Mr Inury. Although the Manifesto was not a declaration of independence, and the flag raising did not indicate any transfer of sovereignty, such misconceptions are tacitly encouraged by Papuan nationalists.^[3]

Modern use

Jouwe was a member of the Council, and after the transfer of sovereignty of West New Guinea to Indonesia, he remained in the Netherlands as an advocate of the Free Papua Movement, a militant organization demanding independence from Indonesia. To this day, the Morning Star is flown by advocates in the Netherlands and Vanuatu. Special ceremonies take place on December 1 of each year, to commemorate the first flag raising in 1961. The flying of the Morning Star was a source of controversy over alleged human rights abuses by Indonesian authorities. Two Papuan men, Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage were sentenced to 15 and 10 year sentences respectively for raising the flag in an illegal manner in Jayapura in 2004.^[4][5] Pakage was released in 2010, having served five years of his term.^[6] Karma remains imprisoned and has alleged abuse at the hands of prison authorities.^[5] Amnesty International considered both men prisoners of conscience and named Karma a 2011 "priority case."^[7]

See also

• Coat of arms of West Papua

Sources

• Peter D. King, West Papua & Indonesia Since Suharto: Independence, Autonomy, or Chaos (ISBN 0-86840-676-7), p. 31-32
• Richard Chauvel, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies Working Papers - Working Paper 121: Essays on West Papua, Vol. 2
• West Papua Information Kit - repository of reports and historical records

References

1. ^ Goldsmith, Ben; Brauer, Jurgen (2010). Economics of War and Peace: Economic, Legal, and Political Perspectives. Emerald Group Publishing. p. 101. 
2. ^ http://wpik.org/Src/NYT/19611201.pdf New York Times
3. ^ Chauvel, Richard (2005). "Constructing Papuan Nationalism: History, Ethnicity, and Adaptation". Managing Internal Conflicts in Asia. East–West Center. pp. 25–26. http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS014.pdf. 
4. ^ Richard Chauvel (06 April 2011). "Filep Karma and the fight for Papua’s future". http://inside.org.au/. http://inside.org.au/filep-karma-and-the-fight-for-papuas-future/. Retrieved 18 April 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Rebecca Henschke (3 August 2010). "Papua activist Filep Karma 'abused in prison'". BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10854985. Retrieved 18 April 2011. 
6. ^ "Indonesian Prisoner Yusak Pakage Released!". Amnesty International. 7 July 2010. http://blog.amnestyusa.org/iar/indonesian-poc-yusak-pakage-released/. Retrieved 19 April 2011. 
7. ^ "Filep Karma, Jailed for Raising a Flag". Amnesty International. 2011. http://www.amnestyusa.org/individuals-at-risk/priority-cases/indonesia-filep-karma/page.do?id=1101238. Retrieved 18 April 2011.