Month: April 2012

Filep Karma referred to Jakarta hospital with a suspected colonic tumour: NKRI refuses to pay

from West Papua Media’s correspondent at Abepura Prison (with Eds)

April 16, 2012

Filep Karma referred to Cikini hospital in Jakarta

Papuan political prisoner Filep Karma, in prison for 7 years on treason charges after raising the banned Morning Star independence flag, has been referred to Cikini hospital in Jakarta for three months to undergo medical treatment.

However he must undergo treatment in Jakarta, because Dock 2 hospital in Jayapura lacks colonoscopy equipment to diagnose the condition of Filep Karma. Healthcare in Papua is poorly funded and supplied, if at all, and health workers are rarely paid properly.

Hospitalised in Jayapura’s Dok 2 hospital since 2008, FIlep Karma has been gaoled in atrocious conditions and subjected to early routine torture by Indonesian security forces and prison officers, including beatings causing internal injuries.  His health has been declining since 2008 due to numerous hunger strikes and illness caused by prison conditions in Abepura prison.

Karma has been complaining of a lump in his gut over the last 3 years. Since an operation was performed on 2 November 2011, Karma has continued to pass significant blood in his stools.

Karma has been referred by the Dok 2 Head of Trauma to the Department of Surgery Specialist, Dr D. Arnold, Sp.B (K) BD, in Cikini. Filep had already been undergoing treatment in Jakarta separately for his prostrate. On 13 April 2012, Dr Hidayathu Samawi, the general practitioner in Abepura prison, called Karma to his rooms. Dr Hidayathu said that Karma must provide a letter of permission from the family to consent to the treatment of Jakarta, and the Letter to commit the family to bear the full cost of treatment and transport to Jakarta.

Karma in this case ask for the Abepura Prison to issue a letter that the prisons are not able to bear the cost of treatment in Jakarta, but Dr. Hidayathu said that the prison would not certify its refusal to bear the cost of treatment in Jakarta.

During prison visiting hours at Abepura, Filep Karma told West Papua Media’s correspondent, “I was detained by the State of Indonesia, for 15 years, why are they unable to bear the cost of my treatment in Jakarta.  My case in July 2010, it was the same, treatment not covered by the State.  Abepura prison officials alone cannot issue a statement that they can’t afford the cost to Jakarta, yet I hardly have the foundation (strength) to have resort to outside solidarity as my only choice to help me for medical expenses to Jakarta,” said Karma.

The Indonesian government has an obligation to provide adequate healthcare to political prisoners.  According to Amnesty International, under Indonesian Government Regulation No. 32/1999 on Terms and Procedures on the Implementation of Prisoners’ Rights in Prisons, all medical costs for treatment of a prisoner at a hospital must be borne by the state, also in accordance with the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (Principle 24) .

In late February, in response to a petition filed by Freedom Now, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued its opinion that the Government of Indonesia is in violation of international law by detaining Filep Karma. Amongst many other international voices, the Working Group called on the Government of Indonesia to immediately release the human rights advocate.

westpapuamedia


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TAPOL letter to David Cameron

13 April, 2012

 

Rt Hon David Cameron, MP.

Prime Minister,

10 Downing Street

London SW1

 

Dear Mr Cameron,

TAPOL has been closely following your visit to Indonesia this week. We note that you praised Indonesia as a ‘Democracy (which) offers hope to the Muslim World’. You were also quoted as saying that you had decided ‘to relax controls of arms exports to Indonesia … as a sign of Indonesia’s democratic maturity’. Your delegation to Indonesia included representatives from several British arms manufacturers.

 

I would remind you that two years ago in an article on West Papua in The Daily Telegraph you were quoted as describing ‘the plight of the tribespeople as a terrible situation’. This is a valid description of what has been happening in the past few years.  Bearing that in mind, we would reasonably have expected you to use the occasion of your visit to Indonesia to express concern about the situation in West Papua.

 

The sufferings of the Papuan people are to a great extent due to operations by the Indonesian military, TNI, which has been conducting ‘sweep operations’, including several now underway in the Central Highlands of West Papua. Whole communities have been attacked and homes destroyed, along with churches, traditional meeting centres and public buildings. Such assaults, purportedly aimed at eliminating the poorly-armed Papuan resistance, have forced villages to flee their homes in search of security in nearby forests where they are cut off from their livelihoods and face the possibility of starvation and disease.

 

Allow me to draw your attention to certain other recent incidents and developments. According to data collected by TAPOL, since 2008 at least 80 Papuans have been arrested and charged with  ‘treason’ or related offences simply for peaceful actions such as raising the Papuan  Morning Star Flag. They have been imprisoned for terms ranging from 10 months to six years.  Under Article 106 of Indonesia’s Criminal Code, anyone found guilty of treason can face a sentence of up to 20 years or life. Among those now incarcerated is Filep Karma, a civil servant, who was arrested in December 2004, convicted of treason and sentenced to fifteen years in jail.

 

In October 2011, the Third Papuan People’s Congress was held in Jayapura, attended by hundreds of people. The Congress proceeded peacefully for three days. However, as the participants were dispersing after the final session on 19 October, police and army troops rounded up hundreds of the participants. Without provocation, the troops opened fire and killed three people. The fact that no-one has been held accountable for the killings is indicative of the impunity enjoyed by security forces personnel.  By contrast, five Papuan leaders who were taken into custody following the Congress were put on trial, found guilty of treason and last month sentenced to three years in prison. This exemplifies the severe restrictions on the right to free expression experienced by the Papuan people.

 

We call upon you to acknowledge that such acts of repression and human rights violations against unarmed civilians should never occur in a democratic country.

 

We further call upon you to take account of all of these facts and urge you not to  allow the sale of military equipment to Indonesia to proceed.

 

We hope that your government will use its close relationship with the Indonesian government to urge it to end to the practice of charging peaceful Papuan demonstrators with treason and press the Indonesian Government to release all those now serving sentences for peaceful political activities.

Yours sincerely

Carmel Budiardjo

 

 

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While the military accuse the OPM of recent shootings, others call for investigations

{This article delicately skirts around the facts of inconsistencies on the military and police versions of the Trigana Air shootings.  It is widely suspected that the “unknown persons” responsible for the shootings – as is mainly the case in Papua – are not the OPM at all, but military sniper units.  see https://westpapuamedia.info/2012/04/09/doubts-grow-of-opm-responsibility-for-puncak-jaya-aircraft-shooting/ }
Bintang Papua, 13 April 2012

According to a statement by the commander of the Cenderawasih  military command, the OPM -Organisasi Papua Merdeka – was responsible for the recent shooting of the Trigana plane at the Mulia Airport, Puncak Jaya. This means that it is necessary for the OPM to be involved in trying to identify  the basic problems surrounding the acts of violence in Puncak Jaya.

The co-ordinator of the Jaringan Damai Papua, JDP, (Papuan Peace Network), Dr Neles Tebay said it is necessary to involve the OPM, not only in order to bring to an end events that have been occurring recently as well as in the past, but also to seek a way of preventing such events from happening again. He was speaking following a meeting between the OPM and the government, and insisted that agreements that had been reached at that meeting should be adhered to.

‘A strategic solution  can be put in place for the long term, bearing in mind that responses to events up to now have been re-active; for instance, when distubances occur, troops are deployed and after tranquillity  has been restored, the troops are pulled back. That might be a good way to tackle things but is it only for the short term,’  he said.

He pointed out that the recent shooting in Puncak Jaya was the second time that shots had been fired. The first time was when a TNI helicopter was shot at, though on that first occasion, the plane shot at was a commercial plane.’

‘Such incidents have been occurring frequently in the recent past, which means that if the government wants to solve the problems in Puncak Jaya , it should recognise the fact that previous problems have not been solved.’

In view of this, the JDP offers two solutions to end the shootings in the region. In the short term, this would mean restoring peace and tranquillity to the area, but the second solution would require the involvement of various stakeholders, including the central government, the provincial government, the TNI and the police, bearing in mind that the military commander has already declared that the OPM was responsible.

The JDP co-ordinator said that these shooting incidents have been occurring at a time when no dialogue is taking place while also taking into account the fact that not only civilians but also members of the security forces have been among the victims.

‘Moreover, there has been no transparency  on the side of the security forces about the results of their investigations. Were projectiles involved and if so, what kind of projectiles. Such things have never been explained to the general public.’

Dr Tebay also said that these shooting incidents had delayed local elections which are under way. ‘If these incidents are not resolved, it could also cause delays in the supply of essential goods for the population,’ he said.

Violence should not be answered with violence.

A member of the Papuan Customary Council, Fadel Alhamid said that violence should not be answered by violence as this can only result in yet more violence. He said that nothing was yet known about who was responsible for the  initial violence; was it the TPN/OPM or unidentified persons?  This only goes to show that the security approach is not the right way to improve the situation in Puncak Jaya. ‘In response to acts of violence, sweepings occur, but such operations spread fear  among the people, who then flee their homes and go into the forests. A more persuasive approach is needed, and this requires the collaboration of all elements in society.’

This means involving political bodies, the churches, customary groups all  of which should be actively involved, bearing in mind that the security approach has a direct impact on the civilian population. If everyone gets together, it should be possible to work out who was responsible for the shooting.

He went on to say that the security forces should carry out its investigations in greater depth so as to discover those elements that are behind the shootings.If it turns out to have been the OPM, there is a way out of the problem. But if unidentified persons are involved, we must be able to find out who they are, what their interests are in  Puncak Jaya and in the Central Highlands such as in Timika, while similar investigations should be conducted with regard to the TPN/OPM.

[Slightly  abridged translation by TAPOL]

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ABC Radio: ‘Free West Papua’ message at Bluesfest

11 April, 2012

Pro-West Papuan activists took the Byron Bluesfest stage to spread their message of wanting independence from Indonesia

[audio http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/local/northcoast/201204/r924346_9630149.mp3]

The Byron BluesFest got a little political this year when thousands of people yelled out the words ‘Free Papua’ during one of the headline performances.

Blue King Brown used their show to highlight the issues facing Indigenous Papuans wanting independence in the Indonesian-run country.

Pro-West Papuan activists took to the stage with dance and drumming and then did something unimaginable in West Papua and in fact illegal in Australia – they waved the West Papuan flag.

The dance duo was Ronnie Kareni and Sam Roem and they were joined by Papuan drummer Airileke Ingram.

Sam was one of a canoe-load of West Papuans who made it to Australian shores in 2006.

He then applied for asylum in Australia.

ABC north coast journalist Elloise Farrow-Smith spoke with Sam and Ronnie before they took to the Bluesfest stage.

rizeofthemorningstar.com

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THE MOMENTUM BUILDS: Thousands shout out support for Free West Papua at East Coast Blues & Roots Festival

Press Release – Wednesday April 11, 2012
As momentum for the Free West Papua campaign continues to grow and gain attention throughout the international community, Australians continue to show mounting support for their fellow human beings and closest neighbours, West Papua. Another historic showing of undeniable support for human rights and justice in West Papua came at Blue King Brown‘s East Coast Blues and Roots Festival performance on Sunday 8th April, 2012 where thousands threw up their fists in a passionate display of solidarity and unanimity that the issues facing West Papua need to be promptly addressed by the Australian Government and the international community and that human rights is deserved to all people and we as nation have a responsibility to do whatever we can to ensure that is what’s happening.
It is through signing the petition and your sharing and reposting of images like this that we as a community can help expose the dark truths behind the oppression of West Papua and no longer allow these human rights abuses to be hidden in the darkness, our mutual knowledge on the issues is a light that has bravely begun to shine through, and it is only with your support that we will continue to see that light shine brighter and eventually, the unhindered Rize of The Morning Star for a FREE WEST PAPUA.
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