As I remember, the Indonesian people won independence from the Dutch in 1949, but the Dutch held on to their former colony West New Guinea for reasons unknown. The Dutch were one of the more repulsive colonial powers in South East Asia, and utter frigging cowards who shafted Australians and other allies in places like Ambon in WWII. (I like visiting Netherlands, btw. Lovely country.)
With Indonesian President Sukarno demanding that Dutch New Guinea be part of Indonesia, the Dutch prepared for independence. (Kind of how the UK government ignored democracy in their drug smuggling pirate haven Hong Kong until it was time to give it back to China when they threw in a bit of self-determination to the locals to screw things up.)
Clueless United States "diplomat" Elsworth Bunker came up with the New York Agreement, which eventually paved the way for Indonesia's takeover of West New Guinea.The New York Agreement aimed to “set out a semblance of international involvement and fair process: first temporary UN administration, then full Indonesian control and finally some opportunity for ‘self-determination’, which would involve the United Nations.”
It was a farce - the so-called Act of Free Choice held in 1969 is known to West Papuans as the Act of No Choice.
Australia was probably the last country to hold out, but finally caved in to the New York Agreement.
With the short term memory of goldfish, the Dutch seem (like the Portugese in East Timor) to blame Australia and New Zealand for the mess. And ignore the vile, paternalist, massacre-ridden past of their centuries of colonialism.
It's not a matter of finding the bastard responsible for the horrible fate foisted on West Papua. It's not just one bastard. You have a host of options to choose from.
