These are the main points of the 76-clause draft special autonomy law for Papua, delivered to Indonesia's president and parliament by the governor of Papua province, J P Salossa, on 16 April 2001:
- The 'indigenous inhabitants' of Papua are Melanesians, different to most Indonesians. An indigenous Papuan must have at least one Papuan parent
- Special autonomy applies to the (indivisible) province of Papua (rather than to more local regencies, as in Indonesia's regional autonomy laws)
- Papuan provincial parliament to consist of two chambers: an indigenous upper house consisting of equal numbers of customary, religious and women representatives, and a lower house for political party representatives (both national and local)
- Besides the Indonesian symbols of state, Papua to have its own flag, symbol and anthem
- Papua to have powers of government in all areas except international political relations, external defence, monetary policy and the supreme court
- Papua can conduct international relations in the areas of trade and investment, culture and technology, and may open international offices for that purpose. All Indonesian treaties affecting Papua subject to Papuan approval
- Numbers and placement location of Indonesian military (TNI) in Papua to be subject to deliberation by Papuan parliament and government
- Papua to have its own police force, which will 'coordinate' with the national police
- Papuan provincial government to control all taxation resources, and will then hand 20% of that to Jakarta
- Governor (who must be indigenous) to be appointed by the Papuan provincial parliament, and s/he is to be responsible to that parliament, as well as (in his/ her capacity of national representative) to the Indonesian president
- Papuan parliament to determine the provincial budget together with the governor
- Other institutions to include a legal supervision commission consisting of experts, and an independent human rights commission
- Papua to have the right of self-determination if a special historical commission decides that integration with Indonesia was illegal under international law; similarly if Indonesia alters its 1945 constitution in such a way as to disadvantage Papua
- Besides the regular courts there will be a human rights court and a customary court
- Victims of human rights abuse due to integration with Indonesia have a right to compensation and rehabilitation
- Papua guarantees religious freedom and supports various religions on a 'proportional' basis
- Indonesian and English to be the language of education
- Transmigration to be stopped
- Economic policy to be ecologically sustainable, and sensitive to local and customary needs
- This autonomy law will be a Papuan constitution and will come into effect over a five-year transition period; once law, it can only be changed by a Papuan referendum