Month: December 2011

West Papuan Conflict Begs Political Solution

(note: West Papua Media assisted with this piece)

Originally published by InterPress Service at http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106215
Analysis by Catherine Wilson

SYDNEY, Dec 14, 2011 (IPS) – The Indonesian government’s offer of development for West Papua, following the crackdown by security forces on a pro-independence meeting in Jayapura in October, is unlikely to succeed in the absence of political dialogue and calls for self-determination are expected to continue. 

For half a century, the indigenous population of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua in western New Guinea, who are ethnically and culturally related to Melanesians of the neighbouring Pacific Islands, have campaigned for the self-government first initiated as Dutch colonial rule ended in the early 1960s.

The First Papuan People’s Congress in 1961 was part of decolonisation but thwarted by incorporation of the territory into Indonesia after the United Nations-supervised ‘Act of Free Choice’ on the political future of West Papua in 1969 was apparently manipulated to guarantee a majority vote for integration.

The granting of Special Autonomy in 2001, following the Second Papuan Congress, failed to improve the social and economic status or political freedoms of West Papuans.

The Third Papuan Congress led by Selpius Bobii, Papuan Chair of the National Committee for West Papua (KNPB), was convened in Abepura, Jayapura, with approximately 5,000 attending despite the heavy presence of Indonesian security forces.

At the close of the congress on Oct. 19, and following declaration of an independent West Papua, violence broke out as security officers triggered guns to disperse the crowd, fired tear gas and arrested approximately 300 participants.

Indonesian human rights organisation, Kontras, reported evidence of security forces committing “killings, arbitrary arrests, torture and deeds of other inhumane and excessive use of force” against congress participants, while those arrested suffered “acts of violence in the form of beatings with wood, the barrels of guns and were kicked and beaten.”

Six delegates are now dead and the six who remain arrested, including Selpius Bobii, Forkorus Yaboisembut, Chair of the Papuan Customary Council, and Edison Waromi, president of the West Papua National Authority, are charged with treason.

Large pro-independence demonstrations across the provinces over the past year have been galvanised by escalating frustration at ten years of failed Special Autonomy, impunity of human rights abuses by security forces and the government’s promotion of Indonesian migration to Papua and West Papua, resulting in an indigenous demographic minority.

Concurrently the movement has been boosted by the Vanuatu Government’s decision in 2010 to include support for West Papuan Independence in its foreign policy and a high profile International Lawyers for West Papua conference in Britain in August.

Camellia Webb-Gannon, West Papua project co-ordinator, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney, explained: “The central government has failed to pass crucial legislation that would have allowed Special Autonomy to be fully implemented.

“The splitting of West Papua into two provinces undermined Special Autonomy and started the process of ‘pemekeran’ through which Papua and West Papua are being administratively fragmented and thus weakened. Many of the freedoms promised under Special Autonomy, such as the right to fly the (separatist) Morning Star flag, have since been revoked.”

While the government also devolved responsibility for substantial revenues from the giant Freeport-McMoRan-owned Grasberg copper and gold mine in Timika, which generates 50 percent of Papua’s GDP, the province has the lowest human development index in Indonesia.

“Although Papua and West Papua are awash with funds flowing back from the centre, the extent of corruption at the provincial and local administrative levels mean that most of this money never makes its way to the projects and people that need it most,” said Webb-Gannon.

Special Autonomy funds prop up elite corruption and perpetuate military rent-seeking behaviour as there is inadequate restriction on and monitoring of these funds, Webb-Gannon added.

While Indonesia fears secession could lead to national disintegration, ‘makar’ treason laws criminalise separatist demonstrations and the government benefits substantially from the province’s natural resources.

Indonesia has emerged as a strong democracy since the end of the militaristic Suharto regime in 1998, but the power of the armed forces remains extant and their role in human rights abuses, corruption and extortion largely immune to challenges from the state or civil society.

Human Rights Watch reports that: “New allegations of security force involvement in torture emerged in 2010, but the military consistently shields its officers from investigations and the government makes little effort to hold them accountable. Nor was there any progress on a bill before parliament that would give civilian courts jurisdiction to try soldiers accused of committing abuses against civilians.”

Illegal activities of the Indonesian military (Tentara Nasional Indonesia) or TNI in the Papuan provinces includes drug smuggling, prostitution, trade of tropical birds, legal and illegal logging operations, gambling and extorting payments from local villagers.

Corruption watchdog, Global Witness, also revealed in 2005 payments of millions of dollars to the TNI from the Freeport mining company for security services at the Grasberg mine, where recent violent confrontations between the TNI and workers, who have been striking since Sep. 15 over pay grievances, resulted in the death of a miner in mid-October.

Now the Indonesian government has announced the Unit for the Acceleration of Development in Papua and West Papua will be fast tracking development, overseeing allocation of autonomy funds and initiating dialogue with local civilian groups.

Neles Tebay, a priest with the Catholic Diocese of Jayapura, who is campaigning for peace talks, said: “The West Papuan people have not been treated as human beings and the trust has been broken. Trust between the Indonesian government and Papuan people will not be easy.”

Tebay believes that the Indonesian president should appoint a special envoy to initiate political dialogue with West Papuan political representatives.

Positive government pronouncements currently overlook the main demand of the Third Papuan Congress Declaration, namely termination of Indonesian occupation.

“In Timor, a referendum led to the transformation of the peoples’ aspirations and this is what many of the current generation of activists in West Papua are pushing for,” Webb-Gannon said.

(END)

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Greens: Reports of villages razed, homes torched in West Papua

Reports of villages razed, homes torched in West Papua

http://richard-di-natale.greensmps.org.au/content/news-story/reports-villages-torched-west-papua

Senator Richard Di Natale, Greens spokesperson for West Papua, has expressed his concern at reports of the razing of villages and forced evacuations in the Paniai region of West Papua yesterday during a campaign by Indonesian security forces against local members of the Free Papua National Liberation Army.

Though the area is not open to journalists, reports from human rights organisations suggest that Brimob paramilitary police and elite counter-terrorism troops from Detachment 88, consisting of units armed, trained, and supplied by the Australian Government, were deployed.

“It is very worrying to hear of dozens of villages being torched and helicopters dropping large numbers of Indonesian ground troops into the Paniai region,” said Senator Di Natale.

“If these reports from the region are accurate they indicate a very heavy handed military presence.

“Australia and the rest of the world is watching West Papua right now after the recent violent crackdown at the West Papua People’s Congress. This is yet another very concerning move by the Indonesian military in a region where human rights and democratic freedoms are not being upheld.”

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Pacific Church Leaders call for West Papua’s Independence

From Vanuatu Daily Post

December 13, 2011
The Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) is calling for the independence of West Papua and her people from Indonesia.

In a statement that was endorsed by the church leaders at their recent meeting in Samoa, they declared that, “beginning in 2012, we will celebrate a day of freedom in support of our brothers and sisters in Maohi Nui, Bougainville, New Caledonia, West Papua and peoples who yearn to be free. We call on the Secretariat of the PCC to designate such a day.”

PCC’s Acting General Secretary Reverend Francois Pihaatae said this designated day will be discussed in details during the staff planning retreat in early January of next year.

“The Pacific Conference of Churches is committed to the decolonisation of the Pacific region. We stand beside people under colonial rule and walk with them in their journey towards a future of their own choosing. It is unacceptable that in this day and age we continue to accept the existence of colonies in the Pacific region,” Rev. Francois said.

Rev. Francois is calling on church members in the Pacific to join hands and pray about the situation in West Papua.

“Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we believe that true worship is about true commitment for the good of others. Let’s walk with the people of West Papua through our prayers and ask God to provide them with comfort and protection in this very difficult time they are facing.”

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Massive Indonesian offensive displaces thousands in Paniai as helicopters attack and raze villages

Wednesday December 14, 2011

SPECIAL REPORT By Nick Chesterfield at West Papua Media, with local sources

Thousands of people have reportedly fled in terror from a large area in Paniai, West Papua as a massive combined Police and military offensive attacked villages on December 13, attempting to break armed resistance from pro-independence guerrillas.

Credible human rights sources are claiming up to 20 local people have been shot dead by Indonesian security forces around the jungle centre of Markas Eduda, during a brutal operation that is reported to have razed 26 villages, and caused over 10,000 people to flee to the relative safety of Enaratoli.

Over four full strength combat battalions of Indonesian army (TNI) Kostrad commandos from Battalion 753, Brimob paramilitary police, and elite counter-terrorism troops from Detachment 88 – all units armed, trained, and supplied by the Australian Government – were deployed in a cordon to surround the headquarters of the Paniai Free Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM), under the command of General Jhon Yogi.

Urgent text messages were received reporting an attack on Markas Eduda by Brimob and the TNI. According to people in Paniai and those close to sources near Markas Eduda, by 13:30 local time the base had been surrounded by troops. At 14:05 local time a Paniai based contact reported to West Papua Media that the TNI and Brimob had entered Eduda and surrounding hamlets and proceeded to torch homes. Ground and air attacks (by helicopter) were both reported.

In a massive escalation to constant military operations that have been carried out across Paniai since April 2011, Indonesian forces dropped ground troops by helicopters into 26 villages surrounding the TPN headquarters.

An office of a non-government “Peace and Justice Secretariat” was amongst those burnt to the ground in Eduda.

Helicopters were used repeatedly before and during the attack, with a witness reporting via SMS that t upon sunrise at 0615 local time helicopters began strafing the villages in the operation area and firing teargas upon local residents. Local sources claimed that Indonesian troops fired live grenades, “bombs” and tear gas from the helicopters while storming the villages surrounding Eduda.
Unconfirmed reports described the helicopters as firing live rounds and also dropping fuel onto traditional huts which were then set on fire.

Combined forces of the military, police, BRIMOB and Detachment 88 were ferried by further helicopters into 14 locations around the headquarters, and proceeded to clear every village. Multiple contacts were reported throughout the day from both sides, and heavy fighting was occurring from resistance forces.

According to credible reports from local sources, by the close of Tuesday, Police failed to arrest any member of the OPM led by Yogi, and the Eduda headquarters were still controlled by the TPN / OPM. However reports of a heavy gun battle with troops and police Mobile Brigade was still evident as night drew close. However unconfirmed reports stated that seven helicopters were landed on the Eduda parade ground and had occupied the village, but TPN forces had retreated to the forest.

One Indonesian police officer is confirmed dead from after ongoing firefights with TPN troops, and and another seriously injured. Human rights sources have also claimed that the TPN sustained casualties, though the number or condition is unknown at this stage.

Independent West Papuan journalist Oktavianus Pogau was also in close contact with local witnesses. Yustinus Gobay, a villager Paniai who spoke with Pogau via phone, said he hold grave fears for casualties. “At OPM place we still do not know, but chances are there definitely are a lot of victims, because they were attacked from the air by helicopter,” explained Gobay.

At least 130 named villages in the Military Operations Area (Daerah Operasi Militer. DOM) have been reported by credible local human rights sources as being abandoned by residents. As each village has a minimum of four large families (min 40 people), with many housing up to ten families each (80 people), a simple demographic extrapolation indicates that between 5400 and 10800 Paniai villagers have had to flee the military operations. (Full list of villages follows report).

Church sources have reported that the refugees are seeking shelter in the Enaratoli area and are relying on traditional kinship reciprocities. No food, sanitation or medical aid has been made available by any government agency to give relief to this large number of internally displaced people.

“We do not know how long the war between the military / police and the TPN / OPM will continue,” Gobay told journalist Pogau. “We have fled our homes due to fear, and the attention of the local government doesn’t exist,” said Gobay

Local residents have expressed grave fears via SMS to West Papua Media that the current operations are designed by the Indonesian security forces as a “final push to push us over the edge of genocide, to make Orang Asli (Indigenous people) spent and murdered, fast and quick”.

Messages sent to West Papua Media from multiple sources claimed that “State of Indonesia is considered a country hostile to humanity and is implementing Terrorism Program in Papua since May 1, 1963”, referring to the date of invasion by Indonesian forces.

Since 7 December, civilians from the villages and around Dagouto and Eduda have been progressively evacuated, with no regard for welfare, by security forces. Many were housed in a multipurpose hall Uwatawogi Enarotali. This evacuation was carried out at the request of Chief of Police, Secretary of Paniai District and Commander of the Special Team Gegana Brimob, to broaden the battlefield between the TPN and the Mobile Brigade. Paniai Civilians became increasingly restless and frightened, and had little access to food or basic needs, their starving even more pronounced.

According to human rights sources, security forces have been constantly targeting remote communities that inhabit the foothills along the West-East mountain range which extends from the Grasberg to Cape Dagouto-Lake Paniai.

Local leaders led by the Chairman of the Regional Indigenous Council (DAD) in Paniai, Jhon Gobay, complained earlier this month to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) in Jakarta about the unrest and violence against citizens in the district due to the presence of members of the Police Mobile Brigade from Paniai.

During the meeting, DAD Paniai firmly ask the President and Chief of Police to immediately withdraw troops from Mobile Brigade Paniai district. Gobay said the situation of occupation has caused many people becoming victims of security force harassment due to the stigma of being OPM attached to the citizens of Papua, especially in the Paniai District.

The President of the Federated Republic of West Papua, Forkorus Yaboisembut, speaking from his cell in Jayapura where he is awaiting trial on treason charges, appealed to the United States and international community to urge Indonesia to show respect for human rights and democracy in West Papua.

The situation is ongoing and developing and West Papua Media will continue to closely monitor events.

Please urgently help us continue this work.  @westpapuamedia working tirelessly to end impunity in Papua with effective journalism. But we need your help  – PLEASE DONATE NOW wp.me/P1aPlR-116

Full list of villages burnt and attacked by Indonesian security forces:

  1. Muyadebe,
  2. Kegomakida,
  3. Bokowa,
  4. Uwamani,
  5. Kugitadi,
  6. Badauwo,
  7. Obaikebo,
  8. Woubutu,
  9. Yagiyo,
  10. Gekoo,
  11. Tokou,
  12. Bibida,
  13. Odiyai,
  14. Papato,
  15. Timida,
  16. Kopo,
  17. Uwibutu,
  18. Madi,
  19. Ipakiye,
  20. Nunubado,
  21. Awabutu,
  22. Kogekotu,
  23. Bobaigo,
  24. Iyaitaka,
  25. Toputo,
  26. Aikai
  27. Puteyato.

Full list of villages forcibly evacuated by Indonesian Security forces:

  1. Dagouto,
  2. Kopabutu,
  3. Obaiyoweta,
  4. Odimaa,
  5. Touwomuti,
  6. Kubiyai,
  7. Jikawapa,
  8. Bubugiwo,
  9. Dei,
  10. Dukubutu,
  11. Tamugauwo,
  12. Deba,
  13. Kaidoutadi,
  14. Obaipugaida,
  15. Ekauwiya,
  16. Kagama,
  17. Waigei,
  18. Dokukiyaida,
  19. Eyagitaida,
  20. Okonobaida,
  21. Tegiye,
  22. Baguwo,
  23. Geitapa,
  24. Nakuwago,
  25. Pogeidimi,
  26. Iteuwo,
  27. Kopabaida,
  28. Kenepugi,
  29. Kenegei,
  30. Kagokadagi,
  31. Debamomaida,
  32. Tegougi,
  33. Iyobado,
  34. Muyabado,
  35. Wegou,
  36. Dinubut,
  37. Ayagogei,
  38. Momabaida,
  39. Waimaida,
  40. Pugaitapuda,
  41. Wopakagouto,
  42. Duwadide,
  43. Watimato,
  44. Kugaimapa,
  45. Etogei,
  46. Diyagepugi,
  47. Wauka,
  48. Wagibutu,
  49. Utoupagouda,
  50. Bamaida,
  51. Togogei,
  52. Ganiyakato,
  53. Kegowauto,
  54. Kotemomo,
  55. Dauwagu,
  56. Putapugi,
  57. Onagekaa,
  58. Ibouwagu,
  59. Epogoumuti,
  60. Katuwobaida,
  61. Akoubaida,
  62. Danetakaida,
  63. Detai,
  64. Yumauwo,
  65. Uwagi,
  66. Tagipige,
  67. Makadimi,
  68. Bogobaida,
  69. Namutadi,
  70. Nawipauwo,
  71. Bebiyagi,
  72. Tuka,
  73. Ipouwo,
  74. Abatadi,
  75. Kobebaida,
  76. Kobetakaida,
  77. Yagapa,
  78. Wetamuti,
  79. Kogada,
  80. Emaidimida,
  81. Emai,
  82. Tagiya,
  83. Debaiye,
  84. Tuguwai,
  85. Kagokotu,
  86. Widimeida,
  87. Bumabado,
  88. Ogeida,
  89. Bumaida,
  90. Pagimoutadi,
  91. Deta,
  92. Yonaibutu,
  93. Biyamoma,
  94. Komoubutu,
  95. Dogiyo,
  96. Pagimomakida,
  97. Ayaigo,
  98. Duwagikotu,
  99. Kagupagu,
  100. Togowa,
  101. Wodebapugi,
  102. Kebo,
  103. Manataidagi,
  104. Kobeyuwonotaida,
  105. Ukadeya,
  106. Giyaimani,
  107. Iyeimoma,
  108. Pougo,
  109. Paiyogei,
  110. Kedege,
  111. Yagai,
  112. Detauwo,
  113. Deyatei,
  114. Kotopo-Obano,
  115. Muye,
  116. Mogoya,
  117. Dimiya,
  118. Epouto,
  119. Podida,
  120. Watai,
  121. Yawei,
  122. Keniyapa,
  123. Pugobado,
  124. Kagamade,
  125. Touyetadi,
  126. Waidide,
  127. Pagubutu,
  128. Kopai,
  129. Wooge,
  130. Duma Dama
  131. and others.
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Rajawali Group opens 10,000 ha for sugar beet in Paniai

JUBI, 9 December 2011
Abridged in translation by TAPOL

The Rajawali Group plans to open up 10,000 hectares in the district of Malind, Paniai for a sugar beet plantation. In preparation for the planting, seeds have already been brought from West Java after undergoing tests.

The manager of the Rajawali Group Abdul Wahab said that the seeds are currently being prepared in readiness for planting. The process should take six months but because of the heat in the past few months, it may take eight months.  Some of the seeds have dried up because of the heat.

The planting of sugar beet is planned to begin in 20112 but difficulties have arisen because of the unrealiability of some of the contractors. They are busy at the moment with construction work and road building which may require some adjustments.

Wahab also said that a factory will be built in 2012 and it is hoped that by 2014, the crop will have been harvested and we are able to produce red sugar. ‘This is the target for the company and it must be realised,’ he said.

COMMENT by Tapol

The item just posted about the Rajawali Group’s opening up of 10,000 hectares of land for the production of sugar beet in Malind district of Paniai fails to raise the issue of who holds proprietary rights over the land which the company plans to ‘open up’ for beet.

There is no indication about whether there are people who are now living on the land or whether it is an area where the Malind people hunt or fell trees to build houses or for fuel to cook their everyday meals.

Did Rajawali seek the permission of local communities that live on or use the land that the company plans to use for a beet plantation? Were the local communities who, we may assume, use the land for their homes or livelihoods, ever consulted about the use of the land or offered compensation? What will happen to people who currently live on this land? Will they be evicted or paid compensation for the seizure of their land?

Using the land for the cultivation of beet will require a considerable input of labour. Where will these labourers – and their families – come from? Will this require the influx of labour from outside Papua, thus shifting the demographic composition in favour of migrants from other parts of Indonesia and further intensifying the marginalisation of the Papuan people?

TAPOL

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