Month: May 2012

Protest demands expulsion of Yapen police and military chiefs for brutal policies

from the West Papua Media team

May 23, 2012

After tens of thousands of Papuans staged mass rallies across West Papua in May 1, 2012, a radical change of tactics by Indonesian security forces has ignited fears in the civilian population throughout the region, according to Papuan peace and justice activists.   Serui, the main town on Yapen Island (off the north coast of Papua) has become a “hot spot” for major military and police operations using intimidation and terror tactics against the local Papuans, local sources told West Papua Media on Wednesday.

On May 23, a peaceful demonstration organised by activists from Manokwari (on the mainland) and Serui was held to express people’s concern about intensifying Police brutality against civilians.

This month, many unconfirmed reports from local activists have documented a steady increase in fear and trauma by the civilian population across Yapen Island stemming from security operations.  Mass rallies have been held to protest the situation but according to organisers, the rallies – expected to number thousands of participants – were not well attended because the extreme violent confrontational policies of the security forces caused many people to stay home due to fear.  Unconfirmed reports from local stringers told West Papua Media that for several days leading up to the demonstrations, shots were fired at night to threaten the locals.

The rally organisers were not permitted to rally but the demonstrators audaciously braved police threats to express their concerns, according to sources in Serui.  Before the rally began at 9am local time, a joint-force Indonesian Police and Army (TNI) conducted a search/interrogation operation, targeting every Papuan who passed through from Mantembu to the gathering place.

Despite heavy security blockades in place preventing many from attending, the demonstration proceeded smoothly from 10am to 1pm local time with up to 1000 people defying Indonesian occupation forces threats of violence..

Amongst the demonstrators, Selpinus Waroy (30) was arrested after the police took his mobile phone and found images and video footage of prior mass rallies.  Police told the organisers that he was to be released by 7pm local time but Waroy had not been released when the article went to press.

The West Papua Media team telephoned Kapolres (Serui Police Chief) Roycke Harry Langie several times for comment, but the Kapolres said that he was not convinced that the call was made from Australia but  instead was from Indonesia. He refused to comment on any questions and hung up.

Marthen Manggaprouw, one of the organisers of the peaceful demonstration, expressed his deepest concern about the Indonesian security forces’ ongoing vicious conduct.

“Even though, the Indonesian military and police continue to intimidate us; continue to terrorize us; we will continue to raise our voices and exercise our democratic right through peaceful means to show the security forces to learn about respecting Papuans as human beings and not animals.”

The demonstrators called for the DPRD office in Yapen District to seriously consider the Indonesian Police’s atrocious behaviour and expel the Head of Police, in Serui Regency, Royce Harry Langie S.IK MH, and the District Military Commander (DANDIM), Letkol Inf. Tornado, for violations of the Code of Conduct with the Indonesian military and police regulations.

They also demand the recognition of the Federated Republic of West Papua, declared at the Third Papuan’s Congress, October 19, 2011 and called for the immediate release of all political prisoners, and release of the ‘Jayapura Five.’

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Sharp increase in international concern about Papua

Indonesia’s human rights record reviewed at UN Human Rights Council

TAPOL press release

London, 23 May 2012 – Today, Indonesia’s human rights record was reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council during the 13th session of the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland. Concerns about human rights in Papua increased sharply since the last review in 2008, with a significant number of member states raising concerns about freedom of expression, human rights defenders and political prisoners in the region.

“While Indonesia today said it is using a ‘welfare and development’
approach in Papua, the continued presence of thousands of troops and
dozens of political prisoners suggests otherwise,” said Paul Barber,
Coordinator of TAPOL.

TAPOL and United for Truth (Bersatu Untuk Keadilan, BUK) submitted a
report to the review process, making recommendations to improve the
human rights situation in Papua by ending the stigmatisation of
peaceful political activity, repealing repressive legislation and
releasing political prisoners.

Concerns raised by TAPOL based on inputs from local NGOs were picked
up by a number of Member States during the review. Switzerland and
Mexico were among those States questioning Indonesia’s worrying human
rights record in Papua, joined by regional neighbours New Zealand and
Japan. The United States called for action on Indonesia’s repressive
treason laws, backed by Canada and Germany who further called for the
release of peaceful political prisoners.

While Indonesia today announced that it intends to issue an invitation to the Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, Mr Frank La Rue, it was unclear whether he would be guaranteed free access to the Papua provinces.

Restrictions on access for foreign media and civil society were
challenged by a number of States including France and Australia, while Germany called for immediate access for the ICRC, who were ejected from Papua in 2010.

“The international community has today sent a clear message to Indonesia that the human rights situation in Papua is totally unacceptable,” noted Barber. “With increasing regional and international engagement on the issue, the pressure is on for Indonesia to provide a meaningful response.”

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Police who shot Papuans in Degeuwo must be arrested, says Imparsial

JUBI, 22 May 2012

The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor, Imparsial in Jakarta has urged the police in Papua to arrest those members of Brimob, the police elite force who shot five Papuans in Location 45, while they were engaged in panning for gold in Degeuwo on Wednesday 16 May.

The director of Imparsial Poengky Indarti furthermore said that the involvement of Brimob in this matter was a violation of the regulations, and even more regrettable was the fact that people had been shot and wounded, one of whom had died.

She said that Brimob is a force which was set up to handle major conflicts, not to deal with minor infringements like unauthorised panning of gold, and to face the possibility of attack from abroad. Brimob is regarded as para-military.

The five men who were shot and hit on Wednesday were: Melianus Abaa, 40 years old,who was shot from behind, the bullet penetrated his chest and he died as a result; Lukas Gegepa, 30 yrs, who was shot in the stomach, Alpius Kegepa, who was shot in the right arm, Amos Kegepa, 30 yrs, who was hit in one of this legs,  The fifth man who was shot was Yulianus Wegepa, who was shot in the back.

Translated by TAPOL

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High Cort upholds three-year sentences for Forkorus and his colleagues

JUBI, 11 May 2012

The High Court in Papua has decided that Forkorus and his co-defendants should be sentenced to three years, in accordance with the verdict declared at the trial on 16 March.

The defence lawyer of the five men, Gustaf Kawer said that the High Court’s decision had simply affirmed the verdict of the district court which had given the men sentences of these years each.

He said that the High Court’s decision was conveyed to the five men today. Kawer also said that the articles in the Criminal Code which had been used to condemn the men had not been considered by the High Court. ‘They simply handled the case as a priority and in so doing confirmed the three-year sentence.’

He went on to say that this is the kind of political error that is commonplace in this country.

The five men have been given two weeks to decide whether they want to appeal to the Supreme Court, the highest court of appeal, following the counter-appeal made by the Prosecutor to the Jayapura district court.

The prosecution did not make any mention of the basis used for laying the charge of treason against the five men. Even so, the High Court judges simply expressed their agreement  with the demand for sentence that had been made by the prosecutor., nor did they say anything about the time the crime was perpetrated.

Dominikus Sorabut and Edison Waromi were hand-cuffed at the end of the Third Papuan People’s Congress on 19 October, 2011. They, along with the other two were jointly charged with treason and for having proclaimed the establishment of the Federal State of West Papua and appointing Forkorus Yaboisembut as its president.and Edison Waromi as its prime minister.

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Indonesia urged to pay close attention to the situation of Forkorus and his colleagues

JUBI, 11 May 2012

Indonesia has been urged to pay close attention to the health and well-being of Forkorus and his colleagues who are now being held in Abepura Prison and to make sure that their conditions are being regularly monitored.

Yan Christian Warinussy, the executive-director of LP3BH, the legal aid NGO in Manokwari  said  that this monitoring should be done on a daily basis, bearing in mind that people in many countries are very concerned about how they are faring in prison. ‘What I mean is that people in several countries that are friendly with Indonesia are watching and monitoring the situation closely.This also includes international human rights NGOs as well as UN agencies.  This relates to the legal guarantees required by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Indonesia’s Human Rights Law 39/1999.’

He said that special attention is being shown in the USA, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, the European Union, France and New Zealand.

He also said that he had received inquiries  as well as strong statements from all these countries.. They all say that they are paying close attention to the need to safeguard the security and peace of mind of Forkorus and his colleagues; this includes such agencies as Tapol and Amnesty International,

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