17 May 2013

A Papuan member of the Indonesian parliament, DPR-RI, Diaz Gwijangge said that he believes the the recent incident in the District of Aimas, Region of Sorong, West Papua on 30 April when two people were killed had been engineered.

‘I believe that this incident was stage-managed and unfortunately it led to the deaths of two Papuans and has attracted international attention. The action seems not to have proceed as intended and resulted in the death of two Papuans which has attracted international intention.These days, Papua is under the international spotlight; this is a fact that cannot been denied,’ he said.

He also questioned the decision that investigation into the Aimas incident would be conducted by the police. In his opinion, the investigations should be conducted by an independent organisation so as to ensure that everything is above-board and people do not think that something is being concealed.

‘Why should the institution which was involved in the incident be the ones to conduct the investigation? It is necessary to ensure that the investigations are properly carried out and are seen to be fair so as to ensure that nothing is being concealed. It seems to me,’ he said, ‘that there is an attempt to hide something. We have Komnas HAM, (the National Human Rights Commission) and other organisations or the churches which could handle this case. Why have they not been involved?’

He also said he was not convinced that a Bintang Kejora, a Morning Star Flag, had been found, belonging to the local community as well as a membership card, which the police were claiming as evidence, during their sweepings in the area, as the police are claiming.

‘These can easily be said to have been found during searches that took place during the sweeping because no one else was involved in the investigations.. How do we know that this is true? It is just the old refrain  and the local people are the ones who get blamed.’

He went on to say that once again, some Papuans have been killed. Such an occurrence is not going to solve the problems in Papua. On the contrary, it will only mean that  the situation in Papua continues to get international attention.

‘We must find a solution that is beneficial for all sides. Killing Papuans is not going to solve anything. The security forces are only drawing attention yet again to the human rights violations that are occurring in Papua,’ he said.

Translated by TAPOL

Comments on the U.S. Department of State’s Annual Country Report on Human Rights for 2012 Concerning Indonesia/West PapuaBy Ed McWilliams (West Papua Advocacy Team) with John M. Miller (ETAN)

 

The U.S. Department of State annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012 includes a detailed review of Indonesia. As in past years, this portion of the Report devotes significant attention to developments in West Papua. The heavy focus on the region, which comprises only one percent of the Indonesian archipelago’s population, underscores the reality that human rights violations and impunity continue at very high levels in West Papua. (Please note we refer throughout to the western half of the island of New Guinea as West Papua. This is how people in the region commonly refer to the area that includes the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua.)

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Problems that afflict West Papua are also evident elsewhere in the archipelago, such as encroachment on indigenous lands, media intimidation, and violations of human rights by the military and police.

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While this critique focuses on West Papua, we note that human rights violations continue throughout the archipelago. Problems that afflict West Papua are also evident elsewhere in the archipelago, such as encroachment on indigenous lands, media intimidation, and violations of human rights by the military and police. Issues of restrictions on freedom of assembly also affect religious minorities outside West Papua. (Ongoing attacks on freedom of religion are addressed in a separate Department of State report.)

Efforts to challenge impunity and to establish accountability for past human rights crimes continue to fail. An “ad hoc tribunal to investigate and prosecute the disappearance of human rights activists” in 1997-98 has yet to be established. Prosecutors have so far rejected Komnas HAM findings that the government’s anti-Communist purges of 1965 and 1966 “which included killing, extermination, enslavement, eviction or forced removal of the population, the deprivation of personal freedom, torture, rape, and enforced disappearance, constituted a crime against humanity.” The truth commission and human rights courts authorized by the 2006 law on Aceh have yet to be established. Accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Indonesian forces in Timor -Leste or West Papua do not appear on either the Indonesian agenda and are not mentioned in the State Department report’s Indonesia chapter.

Fundamental Rights

The report is generally comprehensive and accurate, with some exceptions. However, the report continues to ignore the gravest, most systematic abuse afflicting West Papuans: The failure of the central government to provide essential fundamental health, education and other services to the West Papuan people. This policy of deliberate neglect severely affects Papuans, especially those in rural areas, as reflected in all national and international development indices. Statistics, including those of the Indonesian government, consistently identify West Papua as suffering the worst health , education and development levels in the archipelago and more generally in all of Southeast Asia. It is Indonesia’s poorest region.

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The Department of State’s failure to acknowledge this fundamental violation of Papuan economic, social and cultural rights renders this annual report incomplete.

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The obligation of governments to provide essential services to their populations is clearly set out in international agreements and covenants to which the Government of Indonesia is signatory or otherwise obligated. These include the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (Articles 25 and 26), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Papuans have been systematically marginalized in their own land by this policy of neglect and the “transmigration” policy through which the Indonesia government sponsors and subsidizes migration from elsewhere in the archipelago. The Department of State’s failure to acknowledge this fundamental violation of Papuan economic, social and cultural rights renders this annual report incomplete.

Women face special challenges, and the report says, “Women in many regions of the country, particularly in Papua, complained about differential treatment based on gender.”

The report also fails to acknowledge that for five decades, West Papua has not been afforded its right to self-determination. U.S. government was deeply involved in the international community’s acquiescence in Indonesia’s 1963 takeover of the territory and its 1969 annexation through the fraudulent “Act of Free Choice.” The U.S. itself is culpable in the denial of this fundamental right.

The Business of the Security Forces

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“The [Indonesian official] claims that the Indonesian Military (TNI) has far more troops in Papua than it is willing to admit to, chiefly to protect and facilitate TNI’s interests in illegal logging operations,” says one cable.

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The report’s Executive Summary misleadingly contends that “security forces reported to civilian authority” during 2012. Indonesian security authorities, in particular the Indonesian military, in reality are not fully subordinate to civilian authority. The Indonesian military maintains streams of revenue that enable it to operate outside the government budgetary process. These include legal and illegal businesses directly controlled by the military and its extortion of civilian businesses. This rogue behavior persists despite Indonesian law which required the military to divest itself of its businesses by 2009. Military businesses interests are especially extensive in West Papua where often illegal logging operations and the extortion of domestic and foreign businesses, such as the mining giant Freeport McMoran have continued for years.

State Department reports made available through Wikileaks demonstrate its full awareness of the military’s role in illegal logging: “The [Indonesian official] claims that the Indonesian Military (TNI) has far more troops in Papua than it is willing to admit to, chiefly to protect and facilitate TNI’s interests in illegal logging operations,” says one cable. Other cables report Freeport officials acknowledging that they “make payments directly to the commanding officers responsible for security at the mine.”

Impunity

More importantly, the Indonesian military, particularly the Indonesia Special Forces (Kopassus) and the U.S.-funded and trained Detachment 88, continue to enjoy broad impunity for criminal behavior, notably violations of human rights. Military personnel are not subject to civil criminal prosecution or civilian courts for their abuse of civilians. Rather, in those cases which draw public attention, low- and mid-level military personnel may be subjected to military investigation and prosecution in military court. Invariably, the defendants are either absolve the accused or render light sentences.

This reality is particularly apparent in West Papua which suffers under a very large military presence and where human rights violations, as noted in the State Department Report, are extensive. As a consequence of this broad impunity for security force abuse of human rights and other criminality, the criminal justice system fails to inhibit continuing abuses. While the State Department report acknowledges civil society criticisms of “the short length of prison sentences imposed by military courts.” The U.S. government should speak out more forcefully for a change in jurisdiction.

Political Prisoners

The Executive Summary highlights the Indonesian government’s application of “treason and blasphemy laws to limit freedom of expression.” However, in the body of the report (in the section on Freedom of Speech and Press) the Report avoids direct criticism of the government, referring only to allegations by NGOs and others that “government application of treason laws in cases of peaceful calls for separatism in Papua limited the rights of individuals to engage in speech deemed to be proseparatist.”

The report, citing NGO reports, says that “between June and September, authorities arrested more than 60 people in Papua for flag-related offenses.” Most were briefly detained before their release. Several Papuans continue to serve long prison terms for raising the banned morning star flag. Political prisoners from the Malukus continued to serve long sentences for raising a banned flag.

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U.S. security assistance must be curtailed, absent an end to such egregious human rights violations and credible prosecution and sentencing of the perpetrators of these crimes among Indonesia’s military, police, and “anti-terror” forces.

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Access

The report clear acknowledges that the “government continued to restrict foreign media, NGOs, and government personnel from traveling to the provinces of Papua and West Papua by requiring them to request permission to travel through the Foreign Ministry or an Indonesian embassy. The government approved some requests and denied others ostensibly for reasons regarding the safety of foreign visitors.” This should have been highlighted at the top in the Executive Summary. These restrictions clearly affect the ability of the U.S. government to verify and follow up on reports of human rights violations in the territory. The restrictions have been the subject of criticism by the U.S. Congress, to whom the report is directed.

Torture and Killing

The Executive Summary does highlight “killings by security forces, abuse of prisoners and detainees, harsh prison conditions,” problems that are especially common in West Papua. The body of the report, while including details of security force operations in rural areas of West Papua, does not acknowledge the extraordinary abuse associated with ongoing assaults on rural communities by security forces conducting “sweeping operations.” These operations are inherently abusive of human rights. Civilians are frequently forced to flee into surrounding mountains and forests where many become ill and die due to a lack of access to food and medical care.

The report commendably details specific examples of harsh prison conditions and extrajudicial killings such as that of Mako Tabuni. The report usefully includes the June military assault on a neighborhood in Wamena during which 767th battalion soldiers burned 87 Papuan homes. “[A]uthorities had not arrested or disciplined any members” by the end of the year, the report says.

Under the heading of “Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment” the report notes that the Indonesian government failed to assure full accountability of security officials for torture, which remains “commonplace in police detention.” The NGO Commission on the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has reported that 98 of 243 victims of torture between July 2011 and June 2012 were in West Papua.

The State Department also reports that Indonesian authorities required “jailed Papuan independence activist Filep Karma to raise the money” for his own medical care. And that during 2012 other such activists such as Forkorus Yaboisembut receive prison terms for peaceful protest.

Indigenous Rights and Land

In one of its strongest critiques, the report speaks plainly about the systematic denial
of rights to Papuans:

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During the year indigenous persons, most notably in Papua, remained subject to widespread discrimination, and there was little improvement in respect for their traditional land rights. Mining and logging activities, many of them illegal, posed significant social, economic, and logistical problems to indigenous communities.

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“During the year indigenous persons, most notably in Papua, remained subject to widespread discrimination, and there was little improvement in respect for their traditional land rights. Mining and logging activities, many of them illegal, posed significant social, economic, and logistical problems to indigenous communities. The government failed to prevent companies, often in collusion with the local military and police, from encroaching on indigenous peoples land. In Papua and West Papua, tensions continued between indigenous Papuans and migrants from other provinces, leading to several killings of migrants in the restive provinces.”

The Report similarly offered a detailed critique of government policies targeting the land rights of indigenous people. We note that Papuans are among the principal victims in this regard:

As the government did not recognize indigenous people, it also did not recognize indigenous lands. The government did recognize some communal ownership rights. However, access to ancestral lands continued to be a major source of conflict throughout the country. Large corporations and government regulations displaced people from their ancestral lands. Some land-rights NGOs asserted that ineffective demarcation of land led to denying individuals access to their own land. Central and local government officials reportedly extracted kickbacks from mining and palm oil companies in exchange for land access at the expense of the local populace. Land-rights advocates reported receiving threats from government and private parties after publicizing these issues. The government program of transferring migrants from the crowded islands of Java and Madura diminished greatly in recent years. However, communal conflicts often occurred along ethnic lines in areas with sizeable transmigrant populations.

see also

• Read the West Papua Report
• Groups Call on U.S. to Condemn Indonesian Attacks on Peaceful Demonstrations in West Papua
• West Papua Advocacy Team Urges Unrestricted Visit by UN Special Rapporteur
• U.S.-Indonesia Security Assistance

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2012 Recipient of the Order of Timor (Ordem Timor)

John M. Miller, National Coordinator
East Timor & Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)
Phone: +1-718-596-7668   Mobile phone: +1-917-690-4391
Email: etan@igc.org Skype: john.m.miller Twitter: @etan009
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15 May 2013

A human rights solidarity group in Papua, SPP-HAM declared that the action that took place on Monday, 13 May was clearly a call for justice  with regard to human rights violations which occurred in West Papua . But even so, the action was banned by the police.

As has been earlier reported, actions to Commemorate  the 1 May which Papuan activists regard marking the 50th anniversary of West Papua’s annexation by the Republic of Indonesia occurred in a number of places.

The Indonesian security forces, (TNI and Police) took repressive and brutal  action against these actions which occurred in a number of places, such as Sorong, Fak-Fak, Biak, Nabire and Timika.

Wim Rocky Medlama, spokesman for KNPB (National Committee of West Papua) said: ‘The Indonesian security forces are clinging firmly to the controversial claim that Papua had returned to the fold of the Motherland and therefore, the authority of the Republic of Indonesia in Papua cannot be questioned and cannot be challenged.’

He said that on the evening before annexation day, 1 May 2013, a tragic incident  occurred which resulted in the loss of life. This was when the security forces launched an attack on Papuan people in the complex in Aimas, Sorong. ‘During this attack a number of people were injured, two of whom died – Abner Malagawa (20 years old) and Thomas Blesia (28 years old) died after being hit by a bullets. Furthermore a woman, Salomina Klambin (37 years old) was also shot and subsequently died after attempts by doctors at Sorong hospital to remove bullets from her body failed.

‘In response to the repressive actions of the Indonesian security forces  in various parts of Papua on 1 May and the tragic incident in Aimas Sorong, a number of Papuan activists in Jayapura, including young people and students, held meetings  in order to coordinate their actions in several places in the vicinity of Abepura.. These meetings were focussed on efforts to take joint action about the bloody incident in Aimas, Sorong.

As a result of these meetings  which were attended by activists from a number  of organisations, they reached agreement to respond to the repressive actions by the security forces against the Papuan people in Sorong and other places by organising human rights solidarity actions.

‘These solidarity actions would take the form of  issuing press statements and meeting journalists, which would then be followed up by holding mass demonstrations outside the offices of the MRP, the DPRP and the Governor’s office.’

After considering various levels of coordination, they decided that the action would take place on 13 May. The solidarity team would send a letter of notification of their intention to the chief of police in Jayapura and to the local chief of police. The letter was sent on 10 May,

The letter to the police contained the names of several  people who were responsible for these actions. They were: Yason Ngelia and Septi Maidodga as representatives of the BEM-MPM Uncen (Cenderawasih University), Bovit Bofra as the chairman of Garda-P (Democratic Papuan People’s Movement), Victor Yeimo as chairman of the KNPB, and Marthen Manggaprouw as the representative of the West Papuan National Authority WPNA).

Later that day, these meetings were followed up by further coordination between the activists who were involved in the planned solidarity action.

One day after the announcement reporting their intention to carry out this action, a representative of the police force in Papua from the intelligence and security staff (Intelkam) phoned to say that those responsible for the action should meet the director of Intelkam regarding the planned action. Bovit Bofra and Yason Ngelia as representatives  responded to the summons at police headquarters in the centre of Jayapura on 11 May at 9am where they met  the director of Intelkam, Chief Inspector Yakobus Marzuki. During this tense and difficult meeting, the director of Intelkam asked them to explain the action that was being planned.

‘In addition to questioning the names of several groups which were involved in the solidarity action whose existence has not been registered, they also complained about the politicisation of the situation because it could potentially be disruptive for the population.’This was because the announcement of the planned action talked about a ‘humanitarian tragedy ‘ in Sorong in which Papuan civilians had fallen as victims.

The use of the word ‘tragedy’ in the announcement was, according to the police, groundless and completely unacceptable. This was because the actions taken by the security forces were fully in accordance with legal procedures that are in force in the Republic of Indonesia. According to the police officer, there were indications that the people mentioned would be damaging national stability by organising an action on 13 May. Following the issuing of a  statement, the director of Intelkam issued a letter refusing permission for the action that was planned for 13 May.

But the only name that was mentioned in the police letter rejecting (the action) was that of Victor Yeimo, the chairman of the KNPB whereas the announcement of the intention to take action mentioned a number of other names from various different organisations that were not registered.

The Director of Intelkam also referred to the position adopted by the governor of Papua, Lukas Enembe, who said that taking such an action would only disrupt development in Papua.

In response, Bovit and Yason explained their position regarding the lack of permission by the police and clarified their intention to go ahead with the action. But this discussion revealed many differences and led to a bitter argument that lasted for twenty minutes.

Because no agreement was reached,  Bovit and Yason stated their firm commitment that, in accordance with the agreement (between the organisations), the action planned for 13 May would go ahead.

However, the director of Intelkam, said that the police had not given permission for the action to go ahead, and if it did, all those responsible as well as those who took part would have to face the consequences which included the likelihood of legal action.

Translated by TAPOL

SPP-HAM  – Solidarity for Upholding Human Rights – organised an action today in Jayapura Town in order to call upon the State to accept responsibility  for the death of three civilians in Aimas, Sorong district and for the arbitrary arrest of three civilians in Sorong, Biak, Mimika and Jayapura.on 30 April and 1 May this year.The action began at 8.30am outside the Cenderawasih University (UNCEN) in Waena and the UNCEN Campus  in Abepura as well as outside the Cultural Expo  in Waena district of Heram, Jayapura Town.The action was forcibly disbanded by units of the Police  (Brimob Dalmas Polresta and Polda Papua) and four people who were taking tpart n the action were arrested..They also tortured a student from UNCEN. The arrests and torture occurred in front of the UNCEN bus station.

Click to view slideshow.

The four people who were arrested and tortured were:

1) Victor Yeimo, 30 years old (Responsible for the action)
2) Marthen Manggaprouw, 30 years old (Responsible for the action)
3.) Yongky Ulimpa 23 years old, a participant in the action.
4)  Elly Kobak 17 years old, a participant in the action.
5) Markus Giban, a student at UNCEN, 19 years old who was beaten with a rifle butt which broke his right hand and who is now being treated in the Abepura General Hospital.

The participants were forcibly dispersed for  not having permission from the police. On the previous day, 8 May, the committee of SPP-HAM had sent a request to the  police stating that the action would be peaceful  (00/SP/PAN-SPHAM-UTSN/V/2013) but the request was turned down on the grounds that the Solidarity Movement has no statutes of association (AD/ART) and has been registered at the Kesbangpol Agency of the Province of Papua.

We regard this reason as being groundless because the SPP-HAM is not a permanent organisation but simply a humanitarian solidarity group which was set up by human rights activists in response to the 1 May Tragedy when three civilians were killed, so there was no need to  register with the Police (Kesbangpol). Furthermore, the police action was a restriction of people’s rights of assembly and expression which are guaranteed in the 1945 Constitution Article 28, para E sub 3 and sub 8, and which are also regulated in Law 9/1998 on the freedom of expression to state one’s opinion in public, in particular Articles 1 and 2.

The forcible dispersal of the action on that day and the arrest of 4  human rights activists is but a small portrayal of the clamp down on democracy by the repressive and oppressive government. This is not the first time that such a thing has happened; it has become a regular feature of police behaviour. This proves that there is no space for democracy  in Papua.

The reality of democracy  represents a setback in the fifteen years of reformasi in Indonesia. Reformasi in Indonesia cannot progress if the space for democracy in Papua is closed. Out of respect for basic human rights and the advancement of democracy in Papua and in Indonesia, we members of NAPAS (National Papuan Solidarity) call upon and urge the government:

1:    To end the forcible dispersal and arbitrary arrest of human rights activists and students.

2:    To release the four civilians who were arrested today.

3.     To open up the space for democracy for the Papuan people to grant permission for a special rapporteur from the United Nations  to carry out investigations in Papua  as well as giving access to national and foreign journalists.

NAPAS also strongly condemns the abysmal commitment of the government and State to the principles of Basic Human Rights , especially to the Papuan people. Papua is today  the face of democracy in Indonesia , as well as the face of the Indonesian Government  towards the Papuan peope.

Jakarta, 1 May 2013

National Papua Solidarity (NAPA)

Zely Ariane. Co-ordinator