Month: February 2011

Ferdinand Pakage needs medical treatment, says SKPHP

JUBI, 17 February 2011

Peneas Lokbere, the chairman of SKPHP HAM Papua (Solidarity for the Victims of Human Rights Violations in Papua) has declared that they will continue to press for medical treatment for Ferdinand Pakage, a political prisoner, who is suffering from a badly damaged eye which has blinded him in one eye.

‘We will continue to fight for treatment after he was struck in the eye by an official of the Abepura Prison. This caused his eye to bleed and he is now not able to see any more with this eye.’

Lokbere said that what he really needs is a new eye but since this is not at present realistic, he must immediately get medical treatment to cure his current condition. In fact, Pakage’s family want him to have an eye transplant.

At present SKPHP is working closely with his family for the prison authorities to speed up medical attention to his condition. He said that they have been pressing for this since last year, when they sought permission for him to go to Jakarta, but the director of the prison, Liberti Sitinjak, said he would not allow the prisoner to leave Jayapura.

‘In 2010, Ferdinand heard a doctor at the General Hospital in Dok II say that he needs to have an operation in Jakarta. The doctor said that his eye was badly damaged and that even if he does get medication in Jakarta, he will continue to be blind.’

Ferdinand Pakage is a victom of the bloody UNCEN case which occurred on 16 March 2006. Actually, he knew nothing about what happened during that incident. When the incident was over, he left his house whereupon he was arrested and handcuffed by the police. He was accused of being involved in the killing of several members of Brimob when they were surrounded by a number of people.

After he was transferred to Abepura, he was tortured and struck by three prison warders: Alberth Toam, Victor Apono and Gustaf Rumaikewi. It was Alberth Toam who hit him in the face with a key. This struck him in the right eye which began to bleed.

He is currently being held with narcotics prisoners in the district of Jayapura.

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DAP: Transmigration harmful to local people

JUBI,16 February 2011

Responding to a report that the government plans to send more
transmigrants to Papua, the chairman of DAP, Dewan Adat Papua, Forkorus Yoboisembut said this was a serious matter because it would turn the Papuan people into a minority, as well as triggering conflict.

‘As the representative of the adat (traditional) people in Papua, I
reject the transmigration programme which fails to safeguard the
position of the local people,’ he said. It is reported that the government has allocated Rp 600 billion to pay for the transmigration of people from Indonesia to a number of places in Indonesia regarded as being ‘under-populated’, including Papua.

‘I hope the central government will consider this matter carefully
because the transmigration programme to Papua has already resulted in the marginalisation of the indigenous people at a time when a lot of
development work is going on.’

Forkorus said that the location of transmigrants in many places in
Papua has made it difficult for the local communities to preserve
their own culture and lifestyles. Development of more luxurious
lifestyles intensifies the marginalisation of the little folk. In addition, with the government’s attention being focused on the transmigrants, feelings of envy emerge because the local people do not get the same degree of attention.

He also said that the transmigration programme under way in Papua
undermines Papuans’ sense of being masters in their own homeland because the vast majority of those now running the economy are non-Papuans. Papuans are not yet able to compete with the newcomers in economic affairs and this is something the government needs to give serious attention to.

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Prisoners’s lawyer concerned about health of her client in Nabire Prison

JUBI, 15 February 2011
Latifa Anum Siregar, the lawyer acting for the prisoner, Kimanus Wenda, has written to the authorities calling for her client to be moved from Nabire Prison to Jayapura in order to receive the medical attention he needs.
She said that he is suffering from a tumour. She said she had written to the provincial office of the law and human rights ministry on 4 February when she explained that Kimanus Wenda had been undergoing treatment for a long time, facilitated by the medical personnel in Nabire Prison who have now said that he must be operated on at the earliest opportunity.

However because of the lack of medical equipment available in Nabire and for family reasons, Kimanus Wenda should be moved to Jayapura where he would have the support of his family and a lawyer during medication and the operation. She has asked the Nabire Hospital to issue a letter calling for him to receive medical treatment and to be operated on in Jayapura.

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WOMEN SAY: DEPUTY GOVERNOR MUST KEEP HIS PROMISE

WOMEN SAY: DEPUTY GOVERNOR MUST KEEP HIS PROMISE

Bintang Papua, 8 February 2011

Hundreds of women traders (known as mama-mama) visited the office of the governor of the Papua province to demand that the deputy governor, Alex Hesegem keep the promise he made to give them assistance in the form of capital. The women stayed in the hall of the governor’s office, demanding to meet the deputy governor. After waiting for two hours, they were eventually able to meet him.

He said he was happy to enter into dialogue with the women but things became tense when they persisting in demanding that he keep his promise. He responded by saying that this would certainly be done, I can do it tomorrow.’

But he asked he women to draw up a list of their names because another official insisted that anyone receiving half a million rupiahs would have to pay a fee of five thousand rupiahs. This is reportedly the reasons why the capital has not yet been provided. Some women said that they had no objection to paying this fee.

‘This problem has been going on for two years, and we have been going back and forth to the governor’s office, but all the time they keep telling us to go somewhere else.’

She said that she hoped that after supplying the list of women, the
matter will be resolved because they were worn out, going back and forth about this.

The issue dates back to 2007 when the deputy governor held an open
house. When the mama-mama went there to meet the officials, they
requested help in the form of half a million rupiahs for each one of
them yet to this very day, they have not received anything.

[COMMENT: This just shows the problems Papuan people continue to
encounter in order to secure for themselves a role in engaging in trade
and business in Papua. TAPOL]

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AJI has urged press to monitor rights violations in Papua

JUBI, 11 February 2011
The chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in
Jayapura, Victor Mambor, has called on the press in Papua to regularly
monitor cases of human rights violations in Papua.

‘Reports written in the media about these violations are helpful to
organisations that fight for the rights of the victims of violations,’
he said, during a speech at a workshop on the Papuan perspective
regarding human rights violations.

He stressed the importance of the role of the press in reporting the
human rights situation in Papua because this can help reduce acts of
repression against the civilian population.

‘Reports about human rights in Papua are only available from NGOs active
in the field, and these are frequently quoted in reports that appear in
the media,’ said Mambor. He also stressed the importance in ensuring
that these published reports are accurate and credible. It was also
important, he said, for journalists to provide the appropriate
references so as to make it easier for others to investigate the
violations that occur.

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