KNPB Occupy Theys Eluay's grave to call for Referendum
Information received from KNPB: Several hundred KNPB activists are currently occupying the gravesite of murdered independence hero Theys Eluay at Waena, near Jayapura in West Papua.
SMS messages say that the activists are paying homage to Eluay as they continue to publicly call for REFERENDUM to genuinely determine the status of West Papua according to the universally recognised basic human right of self-determination.
They are also seeking an immediate audience with the visiting US Ambassador to Indonesia, Cameron Hume.
As the grave is on the land belonging to family of the late Chief Eluay, the police do not have a right to remove the activists. However, it is not known if the Police are likely to follow the law or disperse the peaceful occupiers.
Please stay tuned for updates.
westpapuamedia.info
ROGUE TRADERS The murky business of merbau smuggling in Indonesia
http://www.eia-international.org/cgi/reports/reports.cgi?t=template&a=204
EIA (Environmental Investigation Agency)
05 August 2010
ROGUE TRADERS The murky business of merbau smuggling in Indonesia
A detailed expose of some of the key players behind Indonesia’s illegal timber trade.
FILE DOWNLOADS
Rogue Traders
PDF File [1.99 MB] DOWNLOAD
Military commander: Papua wont be free as long as the army remains there
Bintang Papua, 20 July 2010
Jayapura:
The military commander of the Cenderawasih Military Command,
Major-General Hotma Marbun, said that the aspirations of some groups of
people to secede from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia -
NKRI – will never be achieved as long as the Indonesian army remains in
Papua.
‘As long at the army is in Papua, there will be no merdeka,’ he told the
press, after attending a meeting.with the governor.
The two-star general said that as long as the army remains there and
pursues its state duties in accordance with its assignment from the
state and the mandate from the Indonesian people to safeguard the
territorial integrity of the NKRI, the territory of Indonesia will
remain whole.
He referred to an incident when shots were fired against the security
forces as well as against civilians in Mulia, the district of Puncak
Jaya, which resulted in a number of casualties; regardless of whether
this was an act of subversion, security in the region is still the
responsibility of the police force, while the army only has a supporting
role.
‘If the incident is an act of subversion whatever their objectives, it’s
a different matter, as there may be orders from the centre, if the aim
is to achieve meredeka, but there wont be any such thing as merdeka
until such time as we are ordered by the president to leave Papua and
then the army will go home and the police will go home. Then it will be
up to them to get merdeka or whatever they like,’ he said.
He was speaking during a recent visit to Puncak Jaya.
He said that conditions in the district of Puncak Jaya, especially in
Tingginambut, which is often referred to as the base of an armed
movement, have gradually been restored to normal.
Asked whether he thought that there would be no more shooting in Puncak
Jaya, the commander said the army can provide no guarantee that the
actions of the armed group have come to an end. ‘They are just a group
of individuals; they have got hold of weapons without a licence.’
He went on to say that the only citizens who may possess weapons are
people in possession of a licence. Anyone possessing weapons withough
permission will be arrested by the police. ‘Even members of the army are
not all permitted to take out their weapon unless they are on duty or
involved in special activities.’
Tingginambut is still the responsibility of the police which means that
the army has only a supporting role, the commander said.
Indonesian forces & protestors fill West Papuan Parliament
Article in The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/forces-protesters-fill-west-papuan-parliament/story-e6frg6so-1225889989044
MORE than 300 Indonesian police and soldiers, together with armoured vehicles, were occupying the West Papuan parliament last night.
West Papuan analyst Camellia Webb said as many as 20,000 people took part in an initial rally in Jayapura on Thursday, making it the biggest rally since the fall of Suharto in 1998. About 4000 continued to occupy the parliament building last night.
Radio New Zealand reported that up to 50,000 people had taken part in the initial protest.
An upper house of tribal leaders, the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP), voted last month to reject Papua’s autonomy status, introduced in 2001 after the fall of the Suharto military dictatorship in Jakarta.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian government’s military campaign to control the rebellious province may have been inadvertently aided by a report from the International Crisis Group, which blamed the resistance movement for a spate of violent incidents, according to a Sydney University study.
The authoritative report by the Brussells-based ICG was followed by punitive operations by the Indonesian military in the Papuan highlands, which brought “grave consequences” for civilians in those areas.
“The ICG report strengthens the Indonesian government’s position that they are fighting violent guerillas in West Papua rather than a legitimate, popularly backed resistance movement, and the ICG’s views have been echoed in international reporting on the conflict,” says a paper by the university’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies.
The Sydney University study, written by Jim Elmslie and Camellia Webb, a PhD candidate, says evidence relied on by the ICG included selective quoting from Indonesian tabloid press reports, hearsay and discredited interrogation testimonies.
The authors did not interview the person they identified as the main actor in these events, Victor Yeimo.
The ICG report characterises the resistance movement, the West Papua National Committee and Mr Yeimo as militantly radical, promoting the use of violence for achieving the political goal of a referendum on Papuan independence.
The authors said they found the WPNC to be “primarily a media and information clearing house that expresses mainstream views held by a wide spectrum of Papuan civil society and political organisations”.
The ICG’s Jakarta analyst, Sidney Jones, said last night the Sydney University report was “more political polemic than serious criticism”.
“For all its efforts to discredit our findings, its sources are limited to pro-independence voices,” Ms Jones said.
“We interviewed all sides, including members of the KNPB, the OPM, the police, church leaders, pro-independence activists, adat (customary) leaders, NGOs, detained student leaders and government officials.
Ms Jones added: “We know the report was controversial, in part because many, including the Sydney researchers, believe that all of Papua’s problems are attributable to outsiders and it is heresy to suggest that any responsibility be attributed to Papuan groups themselves. The reality is far more complex.”
The ICG report held the WPNC responsible for several recent acts of violence in West Papua.
These include an attack on the police station in Abepura in April last year, arson at the Cenderawasih University in Abepura in the same month and killings around the Freeport mine since June last year through to January.
