Year: 2011

Churches push for Jakarta-Papua dialogue

JUBI: 15 February 2011 

Speaking on behalf of the United Baptist Churches in Papua, the Rev. Socrates Sofyan Yoman   said since it is clear that OTSUS (Special Autonomy) in Papua is a failure, they will be pressing for a dialogue between the Papuan people and the central government, mediated by an international party.

‘A dialogue is the dignified way forward for the two sides,’ he said.

He said that the implementation of the OTSUS law had only resulted in oppression and discrimination  of the indigenous Papuan people while promoting the interests of the political elite in their efforts to press forward with their mission to strengthen the Indonesian state in the pursuance of its claim that Papua is an integral part of Indonesia.

‘We have repeatedly said that we reject OTSUS and will not compromise on this, unless the government is willing to enter into dialogue, mediated by a neutral body,’ he said.

‘We cannot sleep at night for thinking about the ever-worsening sufferings of  the Papuan people and we will continue to struggle for this with our last drop of blood.’

He said that he was currently visiting Jakarta to undertake diplomatic efforts in favour of dialogue.

‘We are pressing for dialogue as the way to solve the root of the Papuan problem and so as to ensure that the conflict with the Indonesian state does not continue endlessly, as well as for our mutual benefit,’ he said.

[A photograph alongside this item includes three Papuan leaders, Dr Beny Giay, Socratez Yoman and a third person who face we cannot identify.]

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Police urged to say who shot Miron Wetipo

JUBI: 17 February 2011

A lawyer in Jayapura, Gustaf Kawer, has called on the police to be transparent and explain what happened to Miron Wetipo, who was being held in the Abepura Prison. He was shot dead by the police/TNI and Densus 88 during a sweeping operation and searches being undertaken by BTN Puskopad (an army unit).

‘The police must be transparent and explain publicly what happened to Miron Wetipo. All the more so since Miron was not the person who was behind the shooting in Nafri. The police should tell his family and the general public what happened,’ said Gustaf Kawer. He also said that it was important for the name of the peron responsible for the shooting to be made public so as not to cast suspicion on the whole of the police force.

‘They must have the courage to say who it was in the security forces who shot Wetipo. They cannot ignore this case because it involves a violation of human rights that must be resolved,’ he said.

Miron Wetipo was shot dead by forces of the police/TNI and Densus 88 while they were on sweeping operations and were searching the home in the location of BTN, Puskopad, in the district of Abepura, Jayapura, Papua. He was also thought to be a leader of the OPM and was involved in the shooting that occurred inNafri Kampung on Sunday, 27 November 2010.

[The article includes a photo of a poster saying: ‘Who is it who murdered Miron Wetipo’.

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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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