Police fail to provoke violence as demo in Manokwari ignores protest ban
January 18, 2013
by West Papua Media editorial and stringers
Well over 1000 people engaged in a colourful and vibrant demonstration calling for West Papuan independence on Manokwari on January 17, despite Indonesian police banning the march and the display of the Morning Star Papuan Independence flag.
Amid worries of a security crackdown and violence from Indonesian security forces, organisers of the rally reported a generally peaceful event, with participants well-disciplined against reacting over severe intimidation tactics, preferring instead to use music, drumming and free expression to get their message across.
Organised by activists from the former Federated Republic of West Papua, the Manokwari protest saw several groups of singers, dancers and drummers converged at the Sanggeng sports stadium, marching 7 kilometres to the church at Elim Kwawi over four hours. They were shadowed at all times by at least police to secure the action is over 200 police personnel, 2 truckloads of soldiers, 8 armed motorcyclists, and an extra truckload of elite Dalmas Riot Police (a unit that includes personnel from the Detachment 88 anti-terror group funded by Australia).
To the shouts of “Merdeka!” (Freedom!), and accompanied by 4 groups of drummers and 2 flute bands, over 100 banned Morning Star flags were flown during the march, held high by mama-mama, youth, children and students. Sources at the march reported to West Papua Media that spirits were high amongst participants due to the music and dancing.
Speaking from Washington DC, Herman Wainggai, FRWP’s representative to the United Nations, said in a statement that “Over the years, peaceful demonstrators in West Papua have been terrorized, imprisoned and killed by Indonesian military police. Edison Waromi, one of West Papua’s human rights defenders, has been imprisoned for more than 14 years, and we were imprisoned together for two of those years. West Papuan activists Edison Kendi and Yan Maniamboy currently are threatened with 20 years in prison for organizing a nonviolent rally in support of the United Nations’ International Day of the World’s Indigenous People in New York in August 2012.”
Wainggai repeated the demand “that Indonesia immediately and unconditionally free all West Papuan political prisoners and end its military occupation of West Papua. We also request that the UN Special Rapporteur, who is scheduled to be in Indonesia in January, visit West Papua and meet with imprisoned political leaders of the Federated Republic of West Papua, such as President Forkorus Yaboisembut, Prime Minister Edison Waromi, and others.”
International solidarity actions were held outside the Indonesian Embassy to the United States in Washington DC, and also in the Solomon Islands, and Melbourne, Australia.
Rexy Roses, from the new Solomon Islands for West Papua solidarity group, called upon the Indonesian government to immediately release West Papua and Malukan political prisoners, and to respect their rights to free expression.
“More than 50 years of tyranny and immeasurable human rights abuses suffered by the Indigenous people of West Papua at the hands of the occupying Indonesian Military forces is more than too much to bear, it is time now time for dialogue and negotiations to end violence in West Papua and to allow for a peaceful referendum. This year 2013 is going to be a very challenging year and we will make sure that the cries of the indigenous Melanesian people of West Papua be heard in every corners of Melanesia, the Pacific and beyond, it is time for change, together lets stand for the change we want to see in West Papua and Maluku, ” Rexy stated.
Police attempt to provoke trouble
Organisers of the rally had notified Indonesian Police of their rally but the Chief of Police in Manokwari forbade the rally from going ahead, contrary to the rights of peaceful expression guaranteed to West Papuan people under the now discredited (but still active) Special Autonomy legislation of 2001. However, according to reports from witnesses and our stringers, police stood by and allowed participants to gather, instead focussing their attention on the seizure of Morning Star Flags.
Upon an attempt to formally raise the Morning Star on flagpoles, police moved in and attempted to seize flags, however organisers led by West Papua National Authority Executive Governor of Region II Manokwari Markus Yenu negotiated with police, who allowed the mass to continue after receiving assurances that no flag raising would occur again. However, outside Biryosi petrol station, police seized flags from a young man, escalating into a tense situation due to the hostility between individual police officers and the youth.
According to West Papua Media’s stringer at the protest, ” the journey became increasingly tense as Police officers began intimidation by beginning to walk ahead (faster) than the rear of the masses,” whilst in riot gear, using a common riot police tactic of dispersal.
“The Massa (collective group) felt that a scenario was being created by Indonesian police to disrupting the peaceful demonstration and provoke violence. This situation occurred precisely around Copal Sanggeng Manokwari. However our koorlap (Koordinator Lapangan or field coordinator) were able to ensure massa discipline and not be provoked by friction generated by these police officers,” one field coordinator, who cannot be named, told West Papua Media.
The Rally dispersed peacefully around 3.30 pm local time after speeches by West Papua National Authority, Federated Republic of West Papua, and other activists, followed by prayers, with no reports of further intimidation of participants from security forces.
In Yapen meanwhile, security force intimidation and the arrest of seven activists on January 16 in Mantembu village by an Indonesian Army (TNI) unit, prevented the planned demonstration from taking place in Serui town. Reports received by West Papua Media from human rights sources early in the day described a tense atmosphere with several hundred heavily armed police and army patrolling key protest gathering point. Unconfirmed reports claimed that a joint police and army unit blockaded roads outside Mantembu village and threatened violence on any potential protest participants.
WESTPAPUAMEDIA
Related articles
- Arrests in Mantembu, Yapen ahead of major demonstrations (westpapuamedia.info)
- Herman Wainggai: Open letter to the President of Indonesia on eve of demos in Papua (westpapuamedia.info)
- Manokwari Riots: Human rights investigation Report (westpapuamedia.info)
- Police shooting of escaped political prisoner sparks Manokwari riots (westpapuamedia.info)
- Violence and intimidation of journalists in Papua in 2012 (westpapuamedia.info)
- What Kind of Solidarity for West Papua? A response to Martin Pelcher’s article ‘Fear, Grief and Hope in Occupied West Papua’ (westpapuamedia.info)
- LP3BH-Manokwari calls for dialogue between Papua and Indonesia (westpapuamedia.info)
- Release All West Papuan Political Prisoners (femonymous.com)
What Kind of Solidarity for West Papua? A response to Martin Pelcher’s article ‘Fear, Grief and Hope in Occupied West Papua’
What Kind of Solidarity for West Papua? A response to Martin Pelcher’s article ‘Fear, Grief and Hope in Occupied West Papua’
by Jason MacLeod
DISCUSSION PAPER
In a recent article, ‘Fear, Grief and Hope in Occupied West Papua’, author activist Martin Pelcher issued a thought provoking challenge to international advocates working in solidarity with West Papuans. Pelcher, who is predominately speaking to ‘White’, ‘Western’ activists, argues that a recent surge in state violence against Komite Nasional Papua Barat (KNPB – the West Papua National Committee) is cause for re-evaluating international solidarity for West Papua. Pelcher wonders whether Western support for Papuan freedom might be counter-productive. While there is much in Pelcher’s article that I agree with I think Pelcher lets Western solidarity activists – and by extension governments and transnational corporations who support the Indonesian government’s continued occupation of West Papua – off too lightly. Reflexivity is essential but we need to ensure that Western activists do not avoid responsibility for challenging the way Western governments and corporations fuel violence and exploitation in West Papua. Solidarity activists can take comfort in the fact that a broad spectrum of Papuans[1] are also asking for international support in ways that respect and strengthen their own agency.
Pelcher’s piece is an invitation to dialogue. It has already generated much conversation. The call to make that conversation more public, or visible amongst growing international solidarity networks, has been picked up by the West Papua Advocacy Team in the United States and also by the Faith Based Network for West Papua who encouraged people to respond to Pelcher’s article. This piece is a response to that invitation and written with the desire to continue the conversation.
Pelcher’s original argument
Western support for a free West Papua taps into deeply embedded Indonesian narratives of western imperialism. Pelcher writes that this is not just lingering nationalist hurt over the loss of East Timor. Even progressive Indonesian activists support West Papua’s continued integration into Indonesia. Notice, for example, Indonesian Friends of the Earth’s (WALHI) recent failure to publicly support their representative in West Papua, Fanny Kogoya when she was forced into hiding because of her links to KNPB. Indonesian citizen support for the occupation is a tremendous source of power for the state that helps the state maintain and justify military aggression.
Although attacks on KNPB have received more coverage – in what is still a grossly under-reported struggle – other groups also continue to be targeted by the state. Papuan political prisoners in jail represent both highlanders and islanders and a broad diversity of political groups. Political organisations aside from KNPB who also pursue independence include the Federal Republic of West Papua, West Papua National Authority, AMP (Aliansa Masyarakat Papua), AMP-PT (Aliansa Masyarakat Papua – Pegunungan Tengah), DEMAK (Dewan Masyarakat Koteka), Sonamapa (Solidaritas Nasional Mahasiswa Papua Barat), FNMPP (Front Nasional Mahasiswa Pemuda Papua Barat), West Papua National Youth Awarenesss Team (Westpanyat), AMAK (Aliansa Masyarakat Anti-Kekerasan), ParJal (Parlamen Jalanan), Garda and others. Activists in other parts of the country like Fak-Fak, Manokwari, Yapen, Merauke and elsewhere have also been hit by the repressive force of the Indonesian state. Even groups that eschew an overt political agenda, preferring to expand the contours of freedom through campaigning for basic rights, are routinely harassed by the state. They include civil society groups like Elsham Papua, Dewan Adat Papua, Bersatu untuk Keadilan, Foker LSM, Jubi, Kontras, the churches and others. Some human rights defenders have had to periodically relocate themselves and their families to Jakarta to protect themselves from intimidation and threats.
Papuans also consider the TPN-PB (Tentara Pembebasan Nasional – Papua Barat), or National West Papuan Liberation Army – which consists of a decentralised network of groups based around attachment to clan, tribe, and geographic area – an important part of resistance to the Indonesian state. But in terms of numbers, activities and effectiveness the TPN-PB are marginal players. Members of the armed struggle are routinely co-opted by the state to further the Indonesian security services own aims, whether that is about protecting vested private business interests – mostly in logging, mining and extortion – or pursuing national security objectives designed to weaken and destroy the Papuan independence movement.
The random and brutal nature repression by the Indonesian state means that citizens not actively involved in the freedom movement routinely become victims of state violence. In his article Pelcher focuses on KNPB but alludes to the fact that the whole of Papuan society is caught up in the same repressive net. Papuans live with this foreboding sense that they, their family members or their friends could be targeted at any time.
In seeking to explain the state repression in West Papua Pelcher reminds us that the Indonesian nation was formed and defended in the context of a long, and relatively recent, anti-imperialist struggle against the Dutch. Nearly two decades after Indonesian nationalists declared independence in 1945 Sukarno launched a military invasion to wrest back control of what he called the “Dutch Puppet State”. For this reason, as well as for the fact that West Papua’s inclusion into the Indonesian archipelago reinforces a multi-ethnic, multi-religious Indonesian identity, West Papua’s inclusion in the Unitary Republic of Indonesia is a source of tremendous pride for the overwhelming majority of Indonesians, including left wing activists. This view is deeply entrenched. The fact that the Indonesian political elite also gained control of bountiful supply of valuable natural resources was simply icing on the cake. Western narratives of Papuans nonviolently fighting for democracy, rights and national liberation against a brutal military occupation are rendered immediately suspect, tapping into what many Indonesians believe is a ‘hidden agenda’ by the West. The narrative of a Papuan led anti-colonial resistance struggle does not easily fit with the dominant Indonesian view that they liberated Papua. Instead sympathetic Western portrayals of the Papuan struggle are re-cast and attached to ulterior motives. Pelcher:
Western support for East Timorese independence – and signs of such support being extended to West Papua – have been easy to frame [by the Indonesian press] as vehicles for the West’s neo-imperial manipulation and pursuit of the region’s abundant mineral and petroleum resources. The more Western advocates succeed in focusing global attention on the plight of Papuans under Indonesian rule, the more the Indonesian security establishment can deploy the spectre of a “foreign intervention” (like the UN’s intervention in East Timor) to mobilize Indonesian public opinion behind its harsh policing measures.
One of the reasons why Pelcher’s article is so challenging is that he writes to us as an insider, as a fellow solidarity activist, who is searching his conscience for answers to the question ‘what to do?’, and in doing so prompting us to search our own conscience. And it is not as if the issues he raises have gone away. Since Pelcher wrote the article attacks against KNPB have gotten worse. The Indonesian state has all but “declared war” on the pro-independence civilian based organisation. At the time of writing 22 leaders had been summarily executed by the security forces. Scores have been arrested. Much of the leadership has been driven underground and into exile … but KNPB maintains it’s politically defiance stance. The group’s leader, Victor Yeimo continues to insist that KNPB is committed to resolute nonviolent resistance and will not back down from its call for a referendum.
So what should international advocates do? Pelcher has more questions than answers. He acknowledges that Western advocates are increasingly putting Papuan human rights on the international community’s agenda. Pelcher also recognises the work of Papuan human rights defenders and their allies in Jakarta who have raised questions about the Indonesian security forces use of summary justice instead of legal means to investigate acts of violence. However, the dominant story in the Indonesian media supports a police narrative that pins “the blame on the student activists of KNPB as well as the wider network of underground Papuan nationalist resistance.” The central question Pelcher raises in his article is how can international advocates generate global solidarity against injustice in West Papua without strengthening the state’s pretext for terror?
Papuans are the drivers of the struggle
I agree with Pelcher that Papuans are the drivers of the struggle. The more Papuans rise up and collectively and nonviolently resist the occupation the more the legitimacy of the Indonesian government’s continued aggression in West Papua is strained; the more likely more people outside Papua will stand in solidarity with them, and the more effective that solidarity is likely to be. Papuans are the primary architects of their own liberation. While external solidarity is important it will always be secondary to movements for change inside the country. We need critical reflection about the role of external solidarity. As well as reinforcing the way the security forces frame Papuan resistance as a foreign led plot, at times international solidarity action has tended to tap into unrealistic Papuan beliefs about the willingness and ability of the international community to assist Papuan freedom goals. Although solidarity in other parts of Indonesia and international solidarity outside Papua is necessary to support Papuan freedom goals, by itself it will never be sufficient. We need solidarity that is respectful; solidarity that strengthens collective action that is led by Papuans. We need less solidarity action and rhetoric that fosters dependency, passivity and false hopes that outsiders will save the Papuans. They cannot. They will not. As Benny Giay, the moderator of the Papuan church once said, “Papuans are the captains of their own lives.”
South-South solidarity
Pelcher is not arguing against solidarity; he is asking what kind of solidarity might be most useful to the Papuan’s struggle for freedom. Some solutions are implicit in his article, others Pelcher is more forthright about. In particular, Pelcher calls for more “south-south” solidarity as a necessary corrective to White Western perspectives.
Two types of South-South solidarity are particularly important. The first is solidarity from Pacific Island countries, particularly the Melanesian countries. Why should other states worry about what is happening in West Papua when Pacific Island countries in general, including Australia and New Zealand, and the Melanesian nations in particular, say and do little to support West Papua? The voice of Melanesian citizens and governments are essential to mobilizing greater international support. If the Papuans continue to push for an independent state they will need the support of other states but that goal, if it eventuates, is a long way off. Independence is even less likely without the active support of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Fiji).
Secondly, there is much valuable learning that can happen between Papuans and other peoples who are resisting occupations and struggling for self-determination. Recently I had the privilege of witnessing a learning exchange between West Papuans and Burmese who shared notes about how to work nonviolently for democracy, rights and liberation in a repressive context. Papuans have learnt much from their colleagues in East Timor and Aceh. Imagine if there were more venues where focused learning could take place. Spaces where West Papuans could meet with people from other self-determination struggles who have successfully enlarged the contours of freedom: East Timorese, South Sudanese and Kosovars. Imagine too if Papuans could exchange strategies and tactics with people who are still struggling for self-determination: Palestinians, Tibetans, Saharawi’s from Western Sahara, Nagas, Kanaks (people from the French colony of New Caledonia), people from Mahoi Nui (Tahiti and French Polynesia), Bougainvillians, the Kurds and other indigenous peoples caught in the grip of the state.
Solidarity between Papuans and Indonesians
I also agree with Pelcher that solidarity with progressive Indonesians is also essential. This is something that both Papuans and their transnational allies could cultivate more. People like Budi Hernawan, Andreas Harsono and Eko Waluyo are providing leadership here. They hold out a challenge to other Indonesians who care about democracy, human rights, and social and environmental justice.
There is a strategic paradox to wrestle with here. Many Papuans opposes the Indonesian state but they also need the support of ordinary Indonesians to secure greater freedom. This is because Jakarta depends less on Papuans to maintain the occupation than on sustaining domestic support for an Indonesian state that includes West Papua at all costs. In brief, Papuans need Indonesian allies. However, when Papuans exclusively appeal to indigenous identity and Christianity, frame their grievances around historical injustices, and communicate their aspirations in ways that emphasise independence, they unwittingly limit their ability to mobilize support from other Indonesians who are overwhelmingly nationalist and Muslim. As a result, Papuans reduce their chances of winning over a key influence on the Indonesian government: the Indonesian people.
This highlights the conundrum for Papuan activists. There is a perception that working for intermediate objectives means selling out the long-term goal of independence. Yet to build Indonesian support for greater political freedom in West Papua and to put pressure on the Jakarta government requires framing campaigns around intermediate objectives like: freedom of expression; open access to West Papua for journalists, diplomats, NGOs, tourists, and others; democracy; environmental protection; corruption; sustainable development; economic justice, civil rights, universal access to education and health services; accountable government; and human rights. This does not mean giving up on larger goals like independence. As one senior Papuan leader recently said to me: “the struggle for basic rights is not the enemy of independence”. It means taking a longer view about building political power.
Campaigns for more limited strategic objectives can simultaneously strengthen Indonesian democracy and build Papuans’ international reputation—developments that will leave Papuans in a better position to realize larger aspirations. This is a strategic challenge. Papuans need to use collective action frames that resonate with different audiences at different times, define intermediate demands, and time mobilization to achieve short-term objectives, but in ways that leave the movement in a stronger position to achieve their ultimate goal: full political freedom.
In this way a new Papua gets built on an inclusive vision and a deeper articulation of the multiple meanings of merdeka (freedom). People like John Rumbiak and Benny Giay urge that this vision needs to include not only diverse Papuan tribes, but also Indonesian migrants, another source of the Indonesian government’s power in West Papua. Mobilization through an exclusive Papuan identity and through a single focused demand for independence framed exclusively in opposition to Indonesia will create a fragile unity, perhaps liable to break down under stress and less capable of carrying through an agenda for democratic transformation.
Non-partisanship
There are other areas where Pelcher and I agree, particularly his implicit argument for solidarity that is non-partisanship. It is clear from his article that Pelcher is close to the radical highland independence youth movement, KNPB. This is a group that I also sympathise with. However, Pelcher does not exclusively take sides. He also writes about the leadership of the Federal Republic of West Papua currently imprisoned for determined, unapologetic and nonviolent acts of insurrection. Pelcher articulates the challenges the movement for freedom in West Papua poses not only to the Indonesian state but also to transnational capital in West Papua. We need more activists like Pelcher who can reach out to the different parts of the movement and in doing so make more space for unity from inside the movement and solidarity from outside.
Where we disagree: the paradox of repression
While I agree with Pelcher’s analysis about how Western support for freedom in West Papua can tap into Indonesian suspicion that there is a foreign plot to access West Papua’s resources I disagree with his conclusions. I think Pelcher is mistaken in his understanding of the dynamics of repression. I also think that part of our role as solidarity activists is to continually emphasize that the struggle is being led by Papuans and that role of outsiders is to support their efforts and amplify their voices. I don’t think that solidarity by Westerns is the cause of repression, even though the state will use whatever means they can to justify their repression.
One of the reasons why the Indonesian government is employing repression against KNPB and other resistance groups – including sanctioning extrajudicial killing – is because they fear the growing power of organised nonviolent resistance against the state. Kopassus’ (the Indonesian Special Forces) own intelligence analysis of the Papuan freedom movement, leaked by Alan Nairn and the West Papua Project from the University of Sydney, reveals that the armed struggle is not a threat because they ‘hardly do anything’.
One of the reasons the armed struggle does not “do anything” – or rarely engages in military action – is because it is hard to recruit people to join the armed struggle. Guerrilla fighters often live difficult lives isolated in the jungle and mountains. The TPN does also not have a state sponsor, and while it will be extremely difficult for the state to destroy the TPN militarily, the TPN will also never be able to out gun or outnumber the Indonesian military. The use of violence to achieve political goals also favours fit young men and involves high levels of commitment and risk. Few Papuans are willing to risk their lives joining an armed struggle that has little prospect of success.
According to the Indonesian military nonviolent resistance is “much more dangerous” because they have “reached the outside world’’ with their ‘obsession’ with ‘merdeka’ (the independence/ freedom struggle) and persist in “propagating the issue of severe human rights violations in Papua,’ i.e. ‘murders and abductions that are done by the security forces.’’
Stopping Papuans who are organising to win freedom is easier if the movement uses violence or if the Indonesian government can convince outsiders that Papuans are engaged in armed struggle. If Papuans respond – or are seen to be responding – with violent action the Indonesian government will be able to frame their actions as terrorism and threats to national sovereignty. This allows the Indonesian government to justify their use of violence against the movement. Action that physically harms others or threatens other people reduces support from third parties. Even if third parties are sympathetic to the goals of the movement the majority of people will question the legitimacy of using violence who tend to view armed movements as extremists. Innocent villagers from the rural areas are particularly vulnerable to disproportionate violent retaliation by the security forces because few journalists, church workers and human rights groups are present and able to hold the security forces accountable through human rights reportage.
The purpose of state violence is to inflict pain but to do so in ways that lessen the likelihood that repression will generate moral outrage and consequently, more political mobilisation. The Indonesian government wants to stop people coming together to press for rights and freedom and they are prepared to use any means necessary. In one sense, therefore repression – if it occurs when the movement is growing in numbers and power – can be interpreted as success; that the opponent recognises the growing strength of the movement.
There is no guarantee of success for any liberation movement. But using nonviolent action increases the likelihood of success and provides more opportunities for large numbers of people to participate in the struggle. The consistent use of disciplined and collective mass nonviolent action over time will is more likely to prompt ordinary Indonesians to question the occupation and even divide their loyalties. That is why nonviolent discipline is so important. The Papuan freedom movement needs to encourage ordinary Indonesians to question what their government is doing. It also needs to carry out actions that encourage and enable more support from domestic and international third parties.
If the Indonesian state continues to use violent repression against Papuans, which it is doing at the moment and is likely to continue to do, the Papuan freedom movement needs to be prepared. The evidence from studies of liberation movements around the world, including from places where repression is more severe than in West Papua, shows that repression can backfire. The most important thing that helps make repression backfire is that repression becomes visible to outside audience and gets interpreted as an injustice in ways that promote moral outrage. Solidarity activists, working in cooperation with Papuan activists, have a big role to play with this. Inviting outsiders like PBI, diplomats, journalists and others to witness and report on both state violence and nonviolent resistance can also help.
There are a range of other things movements can do. Tactically they can emphasise actions that are low risk and high participation. Movements can also build decentralized network structures coordinated by a shared vision, shared goal and a shared strategy. These kinds of structures are more resilient than hierarchical structures because they encourage collective leadership, support tactical innovation and help protect more visible leaders who may be targeted by the state.
People inside and outside West Papua need to raise the political and economic costs of the Indonesian government not negotiating with the Papuan freedom movement. Make no mistake – we need militancy, but militancy of a determined, disciplined nonviolent kind. Papuans are already acting in this way. We need more outsiders to get behind them. One of the reasons the Indonesian government has not engaged in dialogue is because it is not worth them investing political capital in doing so. In other words the conflict in West Papua has not become enough of a problem for them, both domestically and internationally. The conflict has to become more costly economically for transnational capital in West Papua. Papuan activists and the solidarity movement need to use nonviolent methods to compel the Indonesian and foreign governments, and transnational capital to sit at the table in ways that take control of how the struggle is portrayed. We need to understand that the role of repression is to stop Papuans demanding freedom and rights. We need to find ways to continue to support Papuans who live with the tension between the risk of making change and keeping safe. But we also need to be realistic; there is no path in life that does not involve suffering. That is particularly true for those committed to struggling for liberation in the midst of the Indonesian government’s occupation of West Papua. To a much lesser extent that is true for solidarity activists. We need more people like Pelcher who travel inside Papua, get close to Papuan activists struggling for freedom, and provide practical support and moral solidarity to unarmed resistance at some risk to themselves.
Waging the struggle in three domains
It is foreign governments that help supply the Indonesian military and police with arms. It is the Australian and U.S governments that train and arm Detachment 88, the counter intelligence police force that has no qualms about using extra-judicial killing as a form of conflict management. It is unchecked transnational companies that are fueling conflict in West Papua.
In situations where one’s own government supports the Indonesian’s government’s occupation of West Papua the role of solidarity activists is fourfold: first, to nonviolently resist our own government’s support of Indonesian state violence; second, to find ways to support nonviolent resistance in West Papua; third, to make both the human rights violations by the Indonesian state and the nonviolent resistance by the Papuans more visible and more audible; and fourth, to communicate both these to ever expanding audiences who can mobilise on behalf of the Papuans.
I think solidarity activists, including Western activists, need to be more active not less. My own view is that the job of international solidarity activists is to work in collaboration with Papuans to raise the political and economic costs of the Indonesian government’s occupation. And because the Indonesian government depends on support of ordinary Indonesians, foreign governments and transnational capital as well as West Papuans to maintain the occupation we need a stronger movement that wages nonviolent conflict inside West Papua, inside Indonesia and in the societies of the Indonesian government’s international allies. When it comes to West Papua, people inside and out need to generate more conflict, not less. We then need to find nonviolent ways to resolve that conflict that support justice and peace. That does not equate with supporting or being involved with political violence.
What kind of international solidarity for West Papua?
So what kind of international solidarity is needed for West Papua? I think those of us in Western countries that have been ‘armed’ with wealth and opportunity need to use our privilege ethically. Elites in countries like the Netherlands, the U.S and Australia created the problem in West Papua. These countries continue to benefit politically and economically from the situation. That creates a moral imperative for Australians, Dutch, German’s, English, Irish, Scots, U.S citizens and others to act in solidarity with the Papuans. We need to care just as much about decolonization and liberation as Papuans do.
I want to suggest seven things international Western solidarity activists can do.
Firstly, we need to be committed to supporting the struggle through nonviolent means, not just for moral reasons, but primarily because nonviolent resistance is more effective. It allows more people to participate in the struggle, it is more likely to win over uncommitted third parties and it is more likely to blunt the political effectiveness of the Indonesian government’s use of violence to repress the movement.
Secondly, we need more people like Pelcher who visit West Papua. West Papua is isolated internationally. Personal face to face relationships help deepen people’s commitment to accompanying Papuans in their struggle for peace and justice, sensitise them to the issues and provide the means for getting information out. Quantitatively more ties between Papuans and sources of outside support and qualitatively stronger relationships between Papuans, Indonesians and outsiders that are orientated towards respectfully assisting Papuan goals help maximize the likelihood that Papuans will realize their desire for freedom.
Thirdly, and related to the second point, we need more people who learn Indonesian. While many Papuan activists are doing their bit to break down West Papua’s isolation by learning English we also need more people who take the time to learn Indonesian and make long-term commitments to the struggle. Again Pelcher is an inspiration in this regard.
Fourthly, if and when we are invited by Papuans to do so, we can provide technical support to assist nonviolent struggle. Building a strong and secure communications network and increasing strategic capacity is particularly critical.
Fifthly, we need to target the Indonesian government’s external sources of power located in our own countries of origin. We need more U.S’ers to target the way their government and the way Freeport exports terror and exploits West Papua. We need others to target other corporations like BP, Rio-Tinto and logging companies who exploit West Papuan resources and foster economic and environmental injustice. We need more citizens to challenge and disrupt their own government’s willingness to arm and train the Indonesian military and police.
Sixthly, and lastly, we need to build relationships with and collaborate with progressive Indonesian activists and support and work with Papuan activists to do the same. Indonesia will never be a free and equitable society while West Papuans are denied their right to decide their future; while they live in poverty, while their resources are plundered, while foreign journalists are locked out, while political prisoners continue to languish in jail, while the Indonesian security forces continue to use torture with impunity, and while Papuans are denied the right to free speech.
Seventh, Pelcher makes the point powerfully that we all – Papuans, Indonesians and international allies – need to find ways to recast the story that the struggle in Papua is violent and foreign led and that solidarity with West Papua is anti-Indonesian and imperialist. That story is false. It serves vested corporate and military interests, both in Indonesia and in the offices of governments and boardrooms of transnational corporations. We need new memes that recast the story. The struggle in West Papua is a nonviolent anti-occupation struggle for justice, human rights and democracy. West Papua is Indonesia’s Palestine.
West Papua needs more friends and more solidarity from the West, not less. We especially need to continue with the solidarity when the Indonesian government uses ruthless repression in an attempt to silence the Papuan movement for freedom.
I want to leave the last word on solidarity to KNPB chair, Viktor Yeimo. Recently arrested for leading a nonviolent action in West Papua, Yeimo issued a clear invitation to solidarity. Paraphrasing Ché Guevara Yeimo wrote: “when your heart trembles at oppression you are a friend of ours”.
In the spirit of Yeimo’s request may Papuans find that the numbers and commitment of their friends growing daily.
[1] This includes religious leaders, traditional leaders, women, students, academics, NGO activists, human rights defenders as well as members of resistance groups. Notable exceptions like Franzalbert Joku and Nick Messett, who actively support the Indonesian government’s position, notwithstanding.
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Herman Wainggai: Open letter to the President of Indonesia on eve of demos in Papua
by Herman Wainggai
January 17, 2013
Open letter to the President of Indonesia:
I write with the support of the people of West Papua, New Guinea, pro-democracy activists around the world and defenders of the rights of West Papuans, to say that the global support for democracy and freedom, and the end of 50 years of military colonization by Indonesia for will be exercised firmly and peacefully.
Peaceful demonstrations are planned for January 17, 2013 at the Embassy of Indonesia in Washington DC, Los Angeles, as well as in Manokwari, West Papua, Yapen Waropen, Papua, and Australia and the Solomon Islands to demand freedom for West Papuan political prisoners.
Today, people around the world are watching the peaceful demonstration in West Papua, where most are people are ready to take to the streets with music, dancing, and their demand that Indonesia free West Papua political prisoners.
Over the years, peaceful demonstrators in West Papua have been terrorized, imprisoned and killed by Indonesian military police. Edison Waromi, one of West Papua’s human rights defenders, has been imprisoned for more than 14 years, and we were imprisoned together for two of those years. West Papuan activists Edison Kendi and Yan Maniamboy currently are threatened with 20 years in prison for organizing a nonviolent rally in support of the United Nations’ International Day of the World’s Indigenous People in New York in August 2012.
We demand that Indonesia immediately and unconditionally free all West Papuan political prisoners and end its military occupation of West Papua. We also request that the UN Special Rapporteur, who is scheduled to be in Indonesia in January, visit West Papua and meet with imprisoned political leaders of the Federated Republic of West Papua, such as President Forkorus Yaboisembut, Prime Minister Edison Waromi, and others.
Herman Wainggai
Former political prisoner and visiting scholar at George Mason University
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Arrests in Mantembu, Yapen ahead of major demonstrations
West Papua Media
January 16, 2013
Local human rights and independent media sources have reported that an Indonesian Army (TNI) unit has arrested seven non-violent activists in Serui on January 16, ahead of major planned demonstrations.
The raid on the heavily targeted village of Mantembu, on Yapen Island, was carried out at 0830 am local time by Kostrad Unit of Indonesian Army led by Corporal Gidion Karubaba, arrested the seven for allegedly “supporting Papuan independence”, according to local human rights sources.
The names of the arrestees are:
1. Yohan Ayum,
2. Lamkiur Ayum,
3.Penina Pangkurei,
4. Oki Warkawani,
5. Mambiwa Wandamani,
6. Simeon Ayum,
7. Isak Warkawani.
No information was received if those arrested were subjected to mistreatment during their arrest, however Mantembu has been long targeted with extreme brutality by Indonesian security forces seeking to quell pro-independence sentiment. Regular raids and house burnings are arbitrary conducted, and the village has seen one of the highest rates of oppression of any single village in Papua.
The ex-political prisoner Yawan Wayeni, who was disembowelled, taunted and left to die whilst being filmed by Brimbob paramilitary police in Mantembu in 2009, has his death seen by the world on a Youtube video that galvanised awareness of the systemic brutality of the Indonesian occupation forces.
The arrests came the day before large demonstrations for Papuan basic rights were to be held on January 17 in Yapen and Manokwari, organised by activists from the Federated Republic of West Papua alternative government.
Westpapuamedia
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Manokwari Riots: Human rights investigation Report
Report of Human Rights Investigation by Monitoring Team from LP3PH (Institute for Research and Development of Legal Aid), Manokwari, as assembled from various local sources and members of the victim’s family.
December 6, 2012
Wednesday 5 December 2012, the weather was overcast without rain, seeming to restrain the usual busy activities of the local population, government and private company staff, white and blue collar workers, market traders, farmers, fishers, schoolkids and students, plus the security forces: army, police and intelligence.
From early morning the atmosphere was tense: from about 07.00 to 09.oo [Papua time] groups of local people could be seen moving to blockade various major road intersections in Manokwari Town. Primary official routes like Jl. Yos Sudarso, [near Sanggeng in front of the Bank Mandiri, Bank BRI and Bank Papua complex] as far as the three-way intersection on Jl. Merdeka & Jl. Gunung Salju [Makelew Fanindi complex] were blocked by mobs using wood, old tyres set on fire, tables, and tree branches, all thrown on the road. Various intersections of roads heading out to the residential areas of Fanindi beach [beside the Swissbel Hotel], Arkuki [beside the Bahagia store], Sanggeng market, and Jl. Serayu Sanggeng were blockaded by a populace brewing with anger.
While the atmosphere in Manokwari has been tense there has never been any trouble between groups in civil society or between the local community and the security forces. Several witnesses said that ‘people are very emotional, they are making these protests because of the shooting of Timo Ap’. The police secretively shot and killed Timo Ap, and then took his body to his house in Wirsi, Manokwari.
- Demainus Waney [red circle] in the hands of authorities after demanding the crowd to break up using a loudhailer
- Timo AP’s coffin is returned to the people by the Police
- The atmosphere at Jl. Siliwang in front of the West Papuan Governor’s office: many street traders’ sites have been smashed and burned.
- The victim Timo Ap has been bandaged around the chin after death [rigor mortis]
- Mrs Nelestin, the victim’s aunt, opens the victim’s clothing to show his wound.(LP3PH)
- Several news sources in Manokwari reported that the victim had been shot in the head, however it is clear there is no injury to his head.
- A wound has been stitched in the stomach where the victim was shot
All Photos: LP3PH/West Papua Media
Chronology
A chronology of events has been put together as follows, from various civilian sources including the family of the victim Timotius Ap:
1) More than 3 days ago the victim Timotius Ap, grandson of the late Timotius Ap, [former area head of Wirsi complex in West Manokwari], returned from Java to Manokwari: in Java he had been staying with family and working as a Marine;
2) Timo Ap returned home to Manokwari with his wife Iwanggin;
3) Timo was rarely present at the Wirsi house, he was mostly elsewhere due to being on the DPO [Wanted List], related to various cases that the Police accused him of;
4) On Tuesday, 4 December 2012, as morning was turning to midday, Timo Ap was hanging out with his friends at Wirsi and wanting to eat areca nuts [?] but after eating them, his friends cannot account for his whereabouts;
5) By the evening of 4 December, at around 09.00 Papuan time [21.00?] Timo was received and treated at the Dr Azhari Hospital [Navy Hospital] Manokwari;
6) Around 10.00 [22.00?] Papuan time on 4 December, a friend of the family brought a message to Timo’s aunt Nelestin Ap, to ‘please come to the hospital to see Timo, whether he is still alive or already dead’. So then Timo’s aunt and other relatives hurried to the Navy Hospital but on the way they passed police and medical vehicles taking Timo’s corpse home to his grandmother’s house at Jl. Simponi Rindu, Wirsi, West Manokwari;
7) On arriving at the house, there was only the victim’s grandmother, in her 70’s, living alone. She had no idea that her grandson’s body was being brought to her house. ‘The employees bringing in the corpse said nothing at all to the grandmother’, and then those employees just left the coffin there and went off;
8) After several minutes the aunt and several of the victim’s loved ones arrived, or came back from the hospital and cried hysterically upon seeing the body wearing only underpants and a clean T-shirt that he had been dressed in. His friends said that he had no other clothes apart from the clean T-shirt and underpants he had been dressed in. At the hospital he had been wrapped up in bandages around his chin and neck as though he were injured, but there appeared to be no injury to his neck, chin or head in general. His only wound was discovered to be on his stomach near the centre, where a surgical incision to remove the projectile [bullet] had been stitched up.
9) By 11.30 the news had started to spread widely, that the victim Timo Ap had been shot dead by Police, and the local community began arriving to pay their respects and condolences.
10) In the morning at about 06.00 [Papua time] various family members began blockading the route into Wirsi [Jl. Simponi Rindu]. Blockades then spread to various road junctions in Manokwari, while the local daily paper MEDIA PAPUA released in its Headline news that Timo Ap had been shot dead by the OPNAL [Professional Operations Team] of Polsek [Police sector] Manokwari town at Maripi beach, South Manokwari district at about 16.00 Papua time. This was due to his opposing the officers with an improvised pistol; he was killed with a shot to the head;
11) From around 07.00 to 09.00, Papua time, the community closed off the main roads of Mankwari such as Jl. Yos Sudarso, Jl. Merdeka, the route to Sanggeng settlement, Jl. Siliwangi, Jl. Soedjarwo Condronegoro [?], Jl. Gunung Salju [heading to Ambun];
12) At the same time, activities in Manokwari came to a complete standstill. The business centre, Hadi department store, Orchid Swalayan, the market, stalls and shops were closed en masse by their owners. Offices also shut their doors – the Manokwari Regency Government office of West Papua province, schools, banks: from early this morning until mid-morning as this report is written;
13) At 10.00 Papua time, large groups began violent action, smashing shops along the length of Jl. Yos Sudarso and Jl. Merdeka as far as Jl. Siliwangi. Tens of buildings along the road suffered quite serious damage, and many cars and motorbikes were wrecked by the mob;
14) Around 12.00, as the mob moved towards the town centre right in front of the West Papuan governor’s office, patrols of Brimob [mobile brigade], Dalmas Polres [area police] backed up with Indonesian Army forces were seen closing off the intersection that the crowd wanted to pass;
15) A local man, Demianus Waney held a megaphone in front of the security forces, asking the crowd to disperse and go home…. ‘I say go home’… said Demianus Waney….. but hearing those words, the crowd became more worked up. In the process of their demonstrations against Demianus Waney, a number of buildings, restaurants owned by transmigrants around the harbour and PT Pelni [national shipping line] became targets of their anger;
16) The police, Brimob and TNI [Indonesian army] started to rush forward but were stopped by an attempt at negotiation by a priest, who said he had been the victim’s priest [i.e. Timo Ap who had been shot and killed]. However at the same time Demianus Waney said that every avenue had been tried already, inviting the armed forces to action;
17) The security forces then moved forward to break up the crowd. The police, Brimob and soldiers using trucks, paddy-wagons and Barracuda vehicles moved rapidly to take over the main road that had been controlled by the mob;
18) Around 13.00, Papua time, the situation had become calm and back to normal.
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BREAKING NEWS: KNPB LEADER VICTOR YEIMO AMONG ARRESTS ON DECEMBER 1 FLAGRAISING DAY
BREAKING NEWS
West Papua Media
December 1, 2012
(Jayapura) Indonesian security forces have arrested several people in West Papua today as demonstrations were held to commemorate the 51st anniversary of the original declaration of West Papua’s independence.
Victor Yeimo, the Chairman of the West Papua National Committee, has been confirmed as being arrested by police, according to independent witnesses and direct communication with his brother. It is currently unknown if Yeimo was arrested by the Australian funded and trained Detachment 88 counter-terror unit, who had committed to hunt Yeimo.
Several other people have been confirmed arrested jointly by Indonesian military (TNI) and police outside the headquarters of TNI battalion 752 at Expo Waena. The two confirmed detainees are Usman Yogobi and Alius Asso, according to West Papua Media stringers at the scene. More names will be provided as soon as confirmed.
Major rallies were also held in Melbourne (Australia), and were planned to be held in Sorong, Nabire, Fak Fak, Manokwari, Wamena,, Timika and Serui. Information from these rallies have not yet been forthcoming.
More to come – please stay tuned.
WESTPAPUAMEDIA
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Update on Manokwari police beating of journalist Oktovianus Pogau
Statement/ Media safety briefing from Oktovianus Pogau, SuaraPapua.com
October 27, 2012
I (Oktovianus Pogau, a journalist at suarapapua.com and a freelancer for The Jakarta Globe) will report on a beating that I experienced, perpetrated by police in Manokwari, West Papua.

Journalist Oktovianus Pogau (Photo: Andreas Harsono)
On the 24th October, 2012, at around 16.00 Eastern Indonesian Time, I was accompanied by three journalists, two from Cahaya Papua (Duma Sanda and Patrick Tandilerung) and one journalist from Tabloid Noken (Jo Kelwulan) to Manokwari police station to meet with the Chief of Police for Manokwari, AKBP Agustinus Supriyanto S.Ik, as had been arranged on the evening of Tuesday (23/10) with the officer.
The Chief of Police had initially stated that he was not aware if members of the force had beat up journalists, then, when many journalists from Jakarta began to call the station inquiring about the incident, Supriyanto became adamant that there were no beatings of journalists by police.
Then, continued Supriyanto, 5-10 minutes later at around 20.00 Eastern Indonesian Time, there was a brief message from me to his phone (whereas I sent him an SMS at 13.29 WIT, 30 minutes after the beating) which stated that there had been a beating and that my neck had been strangled while I was covering an action by Komite Nasional Papua Barat (KNPB) (National West Papuan Committee) on Tuesday 23/10 in front of Kampus Universitas Negeri Papua (Unipa) (Papuan State University) which was supporting an international lawyers meeting in London.
Then, the Chief of Police conveyed himself as the supervisor and manager of all the police in Manokwari, Papua Barat, and didn’t question that the media publish (when shown the news headlines in Cahaya Papua which detailed the violence perpetrated by members of the police force against me) news about the aforementioned incident.
Supriyanto said that the relationships between all journalists in West Papua, particularly in Manokwari, is really good, and because of this, he personally regrets the incident of the beating, and in fact, was surprised that a member of the force would do something like this to a journalist.
Supriyanto said that he wished to offer a personal apology for the incident. He also said that there was also a possibility that the incident occurred because the police didn’t realise I was a journalist, and that they were also carried away with the emotion of the moment.
Because of this, the Chief of Police firmly requested that I identify the men responsible for the incident so they could be subject to due legal processes, as in line with my request.
However, Supriyanto also suggested that the case didn’t have to be resolved amicably, that is, to be resolved by making peace with the offenders. According to the chief of police, it could be a rather difficult process to find the offenders, as there were many members in the force, and certainly no-one would be honest, but he said again that it depended on me.
After the chief of police opened this conversation, he gave us all the chance to talk. Duma Sanda explained that there was an issue of freedom of the press, in which the work of journalists is universal, meaning, it doesn’t mean that just because I didn’t live and become a journalist in Manokwari, I didn’t have the right to cover the demonstration by KNPB.
Duma also firmly requested that the Chief of Police teach the men to respect the profession of journalism, and also to respect journalists like myself. And, to make himself clearer, Duma also requested that the Chief listen to a chronological account of the beating I experienced.
I introduced myself (officially) to the Chief of Police. I told him about my work writing news for the paper Papua Pos Nabire and Tabloid JUBI during high school, about writing several columns in Tabloid Suara Perempuan Papua, the newspaper Bintang Papua, along with Papua Pos Nabire. And I conveyed to him that I’d also covered stories for The Jakarta Globe and that this is still continuing, and then that I established suarapapua.com as an online media outlet.
I explained to the Chief of Police in chronological order the incident of the beating (you can read my previous email). After this, I conveyed a number of important issues to the Chief of Police that have to be understood about the incident of the beating.
I said that firstly, his men had violated the article KUHP on disorder; secondly, the men had violated article UU Kebebasan Pers 1999 (UU on Freedom of the Press 1999) by preventing the work of a journalist; thirdly the UU anti-discrimination; and fourthly, Intelligence didn’t have the authority to capture let alone beat someone and certainly they violated their work code.
Because of this, I requested that the problem not be resolved amicably/peacefully, but should be followed up through a more direct process of law. I said that it was important that the police officers be aware, and law enforcement officers should be an example, that if there are officers who are at fault, then they have to be punished as criminals so that the public can know.
Oktovianus Pogau
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End the violence against Papuan journalists: Oktovianus Pogau
A statement issued by Pantau Foundation and Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
Jakarta (23 October 2012):- Police today attacked a journalist covering a rally organised by the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in Manokwari in West Papua. Oktovianus Pogau, a reporter with Suara Papua and a contributor to the Yayasan Pantau, was beaten by five policemen while trying to take pictures of police use of excessive violence against the KNPB demonstrators in front of the State University of Papua, Manokwari. Pogau had displayed his press card, but some police did not stop the beating. He sustained injuries to his face.
The security forces had attempted to stop the rally but the KNPB activists went on with the demonstrations.
In Jayapura, police dispersed thousands of demonstrators using the water cannon and tear gas. In Manokwari, five people were reportedly shot but it is still not clear their conditions.
In 2011, two journalists were killed in Papua, eight were kidnapped and 18 attacked. Foreign journalists are required to apply for special permits to enter and cover stories in Papua since Indonesia took over the administration of West Papua in 1963. Only three news organizations, including BBC, obtained the permits last year.
Pantau Foundation and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance condemn the attacks against the media, especially in Papua where activists, human rights defenders and journalists are frequently targeted for their work. Since October, two veteran human rights defenders, respectively from Wamena and Jayapura, have moved out of Papua due to serious threats against them.
We call on the police to:
1. Respect the rights of citizens to freedom of expression;
2. Ensure the safety of Oktovianus Pugao;
3. Stop all forms of violence against journalists;
4. Arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of violence.
We also call on the Indonesian government to:
1. Open up Papua to international journalists and human rights monitors; and
2. Guarantee the rights of all journalists working in West Papua to ensure they can work free of violence, hindrance or intimidation from any members of the security forces
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CRACKDOWN ACROSS PAPUA: OCTOBER 23 KNPB DEMO UPDATES
UPDATE
WESTPAPUAMEDIA.INFO
1400 WEST PAPUA TIME OCTOBER 23, 2012
CURRENT SITUATION UPDATES:
Two demonstrations held; 1 in Waena, one at Taman Imbi. Jayapura is spread out across a wide area.
Taman Imbi event was banned by police, so majority of folks moved to Waena or went home after seeing police show of force.
Confirmed from Waena, Jayapura dispersal this morning: 5 arrests including Misael Maisini, Chairman of Front Pepera. Tear Gas and Water Cannon used, while KNPB were holding rally at the site of former KNPB leader Mako Tabuni’s assassination by Densus 88 troops in June. Outside the Perunas 3 Housing complex (Yakuhimo dormitory) that was raided last night by joint TNI/Police force hunting for KNPB activists. Rally due to end soon, please stay tuned.
Police arrest KNPB activists in front of Manokwari uni campus, beaten, & taken into police trucks, according field journo Oktovianus Pogau.
Oktovianus Pogau of SuaraPapua.com was badly beaten by five Indonesian police today while covering KNPB demo outside State University of Papua, Manokwari. Pogau showed press card but still beaten. His lips were bleeding. – via Andreas Harsono.
Independent sources confirm that KNPB peace demo forcibly broken up by hundreds of armed riot lice from Kapolres Manokwari, at 0930 West Papua Time.
Manokwari, latest unconfirmed reports: 3 Wamena men shot dead instantly, 2 critically wounded and in hospital, by massive TNI/Polri hunting party that has raided the Highland dormitories at the State University of Papua, searching for KNPB activists who have dispersed in terror, according to informants in Manokwari. Unconfirmed Reports that 2 Indonesian men on Motorbikes, believed to be undercover Special Forces or Intelligence officers, have been shot with bow and arrow allegedly from highlanders. Witnesses dispute if it was in retaliation for earlier shooting deaths, or was self-defence during raid – difference of less than a minute. Raids are currently ongoing, reports of hundreds of people being rounded up by Indonesian security forces shutting down KNPB demos. Developing story – please stay tuned.
Confirmed names of four Wamena victims of Manokwari UNIPA raid by TNI/Polri: – 1 critically injured man is now dead:
1. Eduard Wantik
2.Edy Peyon
3.Maikel sama
4.Melkias Wanagau
BIAK
Unconfirmed reports of arrests in Biak at KNPB demo. Currently verifying.
Police reportedly dismantle stage for KNPB rally at Tambarui Complex, Fakfak. Demo banned, no reports yet of violence.
Communications have been cut, last reports of entire 756 Battalion and all police on streets preventing any one from gathering. Grave fears for Wamena civilian safety.
More to come – please stay tuned
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Indonesian police fire shots, tear gas after 100s of Morning Star flags fly at peaceful demo in Manokwari
By West Papua Media and local sources
October 4, 2012
Over a thousand people who had gathered in Manokwari on Tuesday (2/10) to demonstrate in support of the independence movement in Papua were attacked by police who fired tear gas and live ammunition in the air, after hundreds of banned Morning Star independence flags were unfurled.
The rally, called by the West Papua National Authority (WPNA) under the auspices of the national Federal Republic of West Papua (NRF-PB), was to show support for an observer mission to the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York by WPNA diplomat Herman Wainggai, and to reject the failed implementation of Special Autonomy (OTSUS) in West Papua.
A pamphlet released by the WPNA Governor Markus Yenu explained that the rally was to ”address the increase in OTSUS presence and UP4B as a form of “development”, which only extends Papua Political Status by affecting (increasing) marginalization and duping people of Papua, in all aspects of life on the land of Papua.” It also said that “Papuan People should be sold on (support) the terms of independence and sovereignty (as per the) results at the KRP III (3rd Papuan People’s Congress of 2011).”
The rally was held at Sanggeng sports stadium from about 10 am local time, where about 700 people were joined by a long march of about 300 demonstrators who proceeded towards the town. Banned Morning Star flags, which were hidden whilst the rally was under guard at Sanggeng stadium, were provocatively unfurled in their hundreds during the march, and police reacted quickly and brutally at 1039 local time.
West Papua Media stringers at the rally reported that Brimob paramilitary police stormed the gathering, firing their weapons both in the air allegedly with live ammunition and at rally participants with rubber bullets. Three tear gas canisters were also fired into the crowd to disperse them, and police conducted a baton charge at around 1045am. Witnesses however claimed that security forces, including soldiers from the Indonesian army (TNI) were firing indiscriminately, however no live gunshot wounds have so far been reported. However, several live bullet casings were recovered by West Papua Media stringers.
Scores of demonstrators were savagely beaten, with several reportedly seriously injured by Brimob police who were seizing the 150 Morning Star flags. Several of these included elderly people, who tried to intervene whilst Police were brutally beating a speaker named Zet Tata. Ibu Pendeta (a Priest’s wife) Mathelda Maniani – one of the rally speakers - , Ibu Anis (75 years old), Petu Worabay, Vebi Wanma and Edo Kamesfle were all beaten by police. Zet Tata reportedly sustained serious injuries but his condition in currently unknown.
3 rally participants remain unaccounted for, though sources on the ground have unverified reports that they were taken by Police, and grave concerns are held by WPNA activists for their safety. The names of those disappeared are unknown at this stage.
After the brutal intervention by police to seize the Morning Star flags, demonstrators dispersed, but regrouped to hold another long march in defiance of police and close the rally peacefully at 1pm.
westpapuamedia
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Indigenous Papuans Arrested for the Celebrating the UN International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
by West Papua Media team
9 August 2012
UPDATED: 2300 West Papua Time
On the International Day of the Indigenous Peoples, Papuan people took to the streets to celebrate their continued survival as indigenous people, and called for an end to the Indonesian government’s occupation of their land. Demonstrations took place in Manokwari, Serui, Baliem, Jayapura and various other locations around West Papua.
Although the United Nations declaration of 2012 as the year of ‘Indigenous Media, Empowering Indigenous Voices’ communicated a sense of optimism to First Nations people around the world, indigenous Papuans continue to experience a media blackout and silencing of indigenous voices by the Indonesian military. Despite the repression of Papuan voices this report demonstrates that local indigenous media activists continue to find ways to circumvent Indonesian government censorship and control of the press.
According to local sources a few days prior to the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, the head of Police in Yapen Island, Roycke Harry Langie, officially issued a letter rejecting a request for Papuans to celebrate the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People’s in Serui. In defiance of the Police refusal indigenous Papuan leaders in Serui proceeded to organise their planned celebration.
At around 9:00am (West Papua local time) on August 9, 2012 the combined forces of Brimob (Police Mobile Brigade), Densus 88 and TNI (Indonesian Army) blocked off access to Mantembu District and destroyed several houses.
Local stringers sent SMS messages to West Papua Media that at Anotaurei junction in Mantembu district, peaceful demonstrators were confronted with shots fired into the air by the police. A local source reported that sixteen shots were fired – six to the air and ten at human targets. The shoting generated fear and panic amongst the people and forced many, including local villagers to seek refuge in the nearby jungle.
At midday Australian time, West Papua Media team rang the Head of Police, Roycke Harry Langie but the call was redirected to an interrogation squad spokesperson (Reskrim), Mr Waluyo, who denied that any shots were fired and stated that no arrests had been made.
Despite police claims West Papua Media continued to get reports from several people in Serui who confirmed that eleven people had been arrested including a seven months pregnant woman, Ratna Semboari, who is a Member of State Council of Yapen of the Federated Republic of West Papua, an Indonesian-banned independence organisation. A witness told West Papua Media by phone conversation that Ms Semboari was pushed forcefully into BRIMOB truck and fell very hard on her belly.
Sopina (Yosina) Pangkurei, the wife of Daud Abon, governor of Saireri of the Federated Republic of West Papua was also arrested, despite also being 8 months pregnant. Activists told West Papua Media that she stood in agony as she watched the security forces destroy her house. Local stringers report that police took a printer, a laptop and four banners declaring that ‘The indigenous Papuans also support indigenous people’s birthday.’
Other people arrested in Serui are:
- Edison Kendi – Deputy governor of Saireri of the Federated Republic of West Papua
- Sopia Kayani – Member of State Parliament of Federated Republic of West Papua
- Yosina Pangkurey, wife of Daud Abon.
- Hendrikus Warmetan – State secretary of Saireri of Federated Republic of West Papua
- Ruben Bonai – Member of State Parliament Federated Republic of West Papua
- Yan Piet Maniambo – Member of State Parliament of Federated Republic of West Papua
- Matius J Pedai – Head of Regency of Mamberamu under Federated Republic of West Papua
- Bram Wainarisi – a local activist
- Elia Karma
- Arnelda Kayane
- John Paririe
- Daniel Kandipi – a local activist
- Beni Yobi – a local activist
At time of writing, Kayani, Waremtan, Wainarisi and Maniambo had been released from arrest.
After the release of the arrested women, Mrs. Yossi Pangkurey (28 yrs) told another West Papua Media stringer that after they were arrested by a joint military-police apparatus in the village of Anatourei, they were immediately taken to the Police HQ of Yapen island. Police officers immediately separated the men and women, with all the women in one room to undergo interrogation. Male police officers, who claimed to the detainees that they were acting on the orders of chief of Yapen police Roycke Harry Langie, forced all the arrested women to strip and conduct the interview semi-naked, dressed only in their underwear under assumption of imminent sexual assault, according to the women.
In Manokwari, the celebration was held in front of the Papuan Tribe Council office with up to twelve Morning Star flags flying high in defiance of laws banning the West Papuan national flag. Many other people held smaller flags. Local stringers report that a thousands paraded around Manokwari town. Heavily armed Security forces attempted intimidation on the protest, and confiscated the Morning Star flags but people proceed to continue the march peacefully.
Slideshow: Images from the demonstration in Manokwari, August 9, 2012 (Photos: West Papua Media stringers)
Meanwhile, in Jayapura, the Baliem Valley and other locations across Papua, celebrations were carried out under strict police supervision. In Jayapura the police prevented Papuan protesters from marching. However, protesters proceeded to the Council of Papuan Customary Chiefs to continue the celebration.
In the central highlands celebrations were also held at the Council of Papuan Customary Chiefs despite provocation by police, who according to local stringers surrounded the event in full combat gear. A Lani highland chief told West Papua Media by SMS that “the reason the police tried to stop the demonstrations was that they were held by ‘unregistered’ groups.”
What this means,” he continued, “is that the Indonesian Government does not respect human rights and universal freedoms.”
Related articles
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- KNPB leader Mako Tabuni shot dead by Aust-funded Indonesian Detachment 88 troops; riots in Jayapura (westpapuamedia.info)
- Flag-flying across West Papua planned for 1 July; Police are ready to respond (westpapuamedia.info)
- Two nonviolent activists arrested for pleading for international community to ‘Save Papua from Genocide and Grievances’. (westpapuamedia.info)
- Papuans allege Australian trained D88 personnel shot dead Mako Tabuni (westpapuamedia.info)
Protest demands expulsion of Yapen police and military chiefs for brutal policies
from the West Papua Media team
May 23, 2012
After tens of thousands of Papuans staged mass rallies across West Papua in May 1, 2012, a radical change of tactics by Indonesian security forces has ignited fears in the civilian population throughout the region, according to Papuan peace and justice activists. Serui, the main town on Yapen Island (off the north coast of Papua) has become a “hot spot” for major military and police operations using intimidation and terror tactics against the local Papuans, local sources told West Papua Media on Wednesday.
On May 23, a peaceful demonstration organised by activists from Manokwari (on the mainland) and Serui was held to express people’s concern about intensifying Police brutality against civilians.
This month, many unconfirmed reports from local activists have documented a steady increase in fear and trauma by the civilian population across Yapen Island stemming from security operations. Mass rallies have been held to protest the situation but according to organisers, the rallies – expected to number thousands of participants – were not well attended because the extreme violent confrontational policies of the security forces caused many people to stay home due to fear. Unconfirmed reports from local stringers told West Papua Media that for several days leading up to the demonstrations, shots were fired at night to threaten the locals.
The rally organisers were not permitted to rally but the demonstrators audaciously braved police threats to express their concerns, according to sources in Serui. Before the rally began at 9am local time, a joint-force Indonesian Police and Army (TNI) conducted a search/interrogation operation, targeting every Papuan who passed through from Mantembu to the gathering place.
Despite heavy security blockades in place preventing many from attending, the demonstration proceeded smoothly from 10am to 1pm local time with up to 1000 people defying Indonesian occupation forces threats of violence..
Amongst the demonstrators, Selpinus Waroy (30) was arrested after the police took his mobile phone and found images and video footage of prior mass rallies. Police told the organisers that he was to be released by 7pm local time but Waroy had not been released when the article went to press.
The West Papua Media team telephoned Kapolres (Serui Police Chief) Roycke Harry Langie several times for comment, but the Kapolres said that he was not convinced that the call was made from Australia but instead was from Indonesia. He refused to comment on any questions and hung up.
Marthen Manggaprouw, one of the organisers of the peaceful demonstration, expressed his deepest concern about the Indonesian security forces’ ongoing vicious conduct.
“Even though, the Indonesian military and police continue to intimidate us; continue to terrorize us; we will continue to raise our voices and exercise our democratic right through peaceful means to show the security forces to learn about respecting Papuans as human beings and not animals.”
The demonstrators called for the DPRD office in Yapen District to seriously consider the Indonesian Police’s atrocious behaviour and expel the Head of Police, in Serui Regency, Royce Harry Langie S.IK MH, and the District Military Commander (DANDIM), Letkol Inf. Tornado, for violations of the Code of Conduct with the Indonesian military and police regulations.
They also demand the recognition of the Federated Republic of West Papua, declared at the Third Papuan’s Congress, October 19, 2011 and called for the immediate release of all political prisoners, and release of the ‘Jayapura Five.’
westpapuamedia

![Demainus Waney [red circle] in the hands of authorities after demanding the crowd to break up using a loudhailer](http://westpapuamediaalerts.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/heboh_manokwari5.jpg?w=150&h=87)






![The victim Timo Ap has been bandaged around the chin after death [rigor mortis]](http://westpapuamediaalerts.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/foto0071.jpg?w=150&h=112)















