Author: westpapuamedia

Independent Journalism from West Papua to the World

KontraS Papua: Press release on Recent Problems in Abepura Prison

KontraS (Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence) Papua, SKPHP (Solidarity of Victims of Human Rights Violations in Papua) and the Lawyers Team

The Department of Law and Human Rights and Abepura Prison must take responsibility Legal Processes will not solve the problems in Abepura Prison.

The clarification made to the media by the public relations department of the Police Force in Papua, Police Commissioner Wahchyono, that Buchtar Tabuni, Filep Karma, Dominggus Pulalo, Alex Elopere and Danny Lopez Karubaba are now suspects is incorrect because their status should be as witnesses in a criminal case in which acts of violence were perpetrated against certain individuals and material goods, as stipulated in Article 170 of the Criminal Code.

The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) Papua and their lawyers believe that the legal procedures now being taken by the Provincial Police Force in Papua regarding Buchtar Tabuni and his associates reflect a failure of the Department of Law and Human Rights and the Abepura Prison to create feelings of tranquillity among prisoners being held in Abepura Prison.

It should be noted that on 3 December 2010, five inmates escaped from the prison, as a result of which one of the inmates, Wiron Wetiipo was shot and fatally wounded but we have not yet received any information about the legal procedures that are now in progress.

This is not the first time that inmates are reported to have escaped from the prison. This should be the focus of attention revealing as it does that conditions in the prison are not in order as they have resulted in the prisoners making an escape from the prison.

It is not right for the Department of Law and Human Rights and the
prison authorities to take account only of the consequences but they should also consider the causes of these developments. In our opinion, the legal process will not be able to solve the problems
in the prison because, as stated by FORDEM in its statement of 14
December 2010 which was reported in the daily newspaper, Bintang Papua, the Director of Abepura Prsion along with fourteen members of his staff should face charges for committing acts of violence against the prisoners as this would uphold the principle of equality before the law. If legal procedures are only to be taken against Buchtar and his
associates, this is unfair and could have unfortunate consequences.

Therefore KontraS Papua and the team of lawyers make the following demands:

1. The Indonesian Minister of Law and Human Rights and the District Head of the Department of Law and Human Rights should take measures that are more appropriate in order to provide an atmosphere of tranquillity for the prisoners and should not focus primarily on legal procedures to resolve these problems.
2. The District Head of the Department of Law and Human Rights and the prison authorities should be transparent in explaining what actually happened so as to avoid creating a variety of perceptions in the community.
3. The Provincial Legislative Assembly of the Province of Papua
should also get involved in solving the problems in the prison, for the sake of accountability towards the community as a whole.

The five persons facing charges are:

Filep Jacob S Karma
Buchtar Tabuni
Alex Elopere
Dominggus Pulalo
Danny Lopez Karubaba

The charges against them are all as stipulated in Article 170 of the Criminal Code.

[Translated by TAPOL]

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British Deputy Prime Minister raised ‘grave concerns’ over human rights and restricted press access to West Papua during meeting with Indonesian Government officials

It has emerged that the British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has raised concerns to the highest levels of the Indonesian Government about the ongoing human rights abuses being committed in West Papua, and the restricted access granted to foreign journalists to the region.

The Deputy Prime Minister made representations to Indonesian ministers during the Asia-EU summit in October.

During an exchange in the House of Lords in the British Parliament on 16th December, a prolonged exchange took place between several Lords regarding reported human rights abuses by the Indonesian military in West Papua and the denial of access to the region for foreign journalists. Many of them urging the British Government to take a stronger line against Indonesia. (view exchange here)

The situation in West Papua and human rights abuses in the region have steadily risen in the public consciousness in the UK in the past few years, part due to the campaigning efforts of exiled independence leader Benny Wenda. Earlier this year the British Prime Minister David Cameron described the Papuan peoples plight under Indonesian colonial rule as a ‘terrible situation’ leading to celebrations throughout West Papua that a Western leader had recognised their situation publicly. More recently, footage was broadcast on national news broadcaster Channel 4, showing Indonesian troops torturing Papuans, leading to pubic outrage in the UK and further representations from the UK Government.

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President of Senegal – “West Papua is now an issue for all black Africans”

The President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade,  has become the first African leader to publicly back West Papua‘s bid for independence, stating that ‘West Papua is now an issue for all black Africans’.

His comments came last week during a conference in Senegal’s capital Dakar, attended by Benny Wenda, a West Papua independence leader who was granted political asylum by the British Government in 2003.

Benny Wenda addressed the audience, telling them about the situation in West Papua and his own struggle to bring independence to his homeland.
Following his address he presented the President with a Papuan headdress, and was warmly embraced by him. The President then addressed the audience, urging all African nations to take attention to the West Papua issue and do whatever they can to help.

Senegal is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa with a population of over 15 million. The current President was re-elected to power in 2007.

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Wikileaks – Indonesian intelligence official organised assassination of human rights activist

Article from Human Rights First

Among the handful of bombshells one can find in the cables that went back and forth between the U.S. State Department and embassy staff in Jakarta is this: the U.S. is apparently aware of evidence linking a high level Indonesian security official to the assassination of Munir Said Thalib, one of Indonesia’s most outspoken human rights activists.

Munir was poisoned in 2004 as he flew from Jakarta to Amsterdam. While a handful of people thought to be responsible for the murder have been charged in his death, the “masterminds” – as the cables refer to them – of the assassination are not in prison.

According to reports about the cables, recently released by Wikileaks, Indonesian police have a witness who claims that, “former [Indonesian Intelligence] chief Hendropriyono chaired two meetings at which Munir’s assassination was planned.” A witness at those meetings told Indonesian police that “only the time and method of the murder changed from the plans he heard discussed; original plans were to kill Munir in his office.”

But as the cables make clear, the witness – like others with first-hand knowledge of the killing – is unwilling to testify in the case because he fears for his safety.

”A breakthrough on who ordered the murder would presumably require someone with inside information to take an extraordinary risk in testifying, and would require protection,” the cables say. “Nonetheless, the police seem to have been given orders to show progress on the case, likely due to international attention.”

Separate cables also detail the backroom discussions that led to the recent resumption of U.S. military assistance to Kopassus, the Indonesian special forces who are alleged to have committed serious human rights violations in Aceh, Papua, East Timor, Jakarta and elsewhere.

The cables lay out an argument for re-engaging with the special ops community despite their rights record, by suggesting that closer military ties would encourage further reform of Indonesia’s military. The cables also report that Indonesian officials threatened to derail President Obama’s November, 2010 visit to Indonesia if the ties to Kopassus were not renewed. (Indonesian officials vehemently deny that this threat was ever made.)

But taken as a complete body of work, the cables make clear that Washington is keen to make more friends than enemies in Jakarta. State Department officials devote the majority of their key strokes to considerations such as:  “U.S. economic interests” in a country that has grown the largest economy in Southeast Asia; “counter-terrorism cooperation” in a country where Islamic extremists have found refuge and carried out attacks; and the relationship between Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Chinese, who are also investing heavily in their ties to Indonesia.

All this suggests that activists who want to see accountability for Munir’s death are going to have to continue to pressure officials in Jakarta and Washington for further action on the case. Now that there is public evidence that the Indonesians (and the Americans) are aware of evidence against Hendropriyono, it has become even harder for officials to close the books on this tragic killing.

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Wikileaks revelation – Indonesia threatened to derail a visit to Jakarta by President Barack Obama unless he overturned Kopassus ban

article in the Sydney Morning Herald – reprinted for media information only

NDONESIA threatened to derail a visit to Jakarta by President Barack Obama this year unless he overturned the US ban on training the controversial Kopassus army special forces.

Leaked US State Department cables reveal that the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, privately told the Americans that continuing the ban – introduced in 1999 because of Kopassus’s appalling human rights record – was the ”litmus test of the bilateral relationship” between the US and Indonesia.

Six months later the US agreed to resume ties with Kopassus, despite fierce criticism from some human rights groups and American politicians about Jakarta’s failure to hold officers to account for their role in atrocities.

The cables, made available exclusively to the Herald by WikiLeaks, detail US concerns about Indonesia’s failure to prosecute the military personnel responsible for murder and torture during the conflicts in East Timor and Aceh.

But they also reveal that US diplomats in Jakarta believed that Dr Yudhoyono’s demands should be met to ensure that Indonesia’s military and security services would protect US interests in the region, including co-operation in the fight against terrorism. It was also argued that closer military ties would encourage further reform of Indonesia’s military.

The Indonesian leader’s call to lift the Kopassus training ban is described in a January cable from the US embassy in Jakarta.

”President Yudhoyono (SBY) and other senior Indonesian officials have made it clear to us that SBY views the issue of Army Special Forces (KOPASSUS) training as a litmus test of the bilateral relationship and that he believes the … visit of President Obama will not be successful unless this issue is resolved in advance of the visit.”

The US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, said in July that the US needed to renew links with Kopassus ”as a result of Indonesian military reforms over the past decade, the ongoing professionalisation of the TNI [army], and recent actions taken by the Ministry of Defence to address human rights issues”.

An expert on the Indonesian military, the Australian Defence Force Academy associate professor Clinton Fernandes, said the cables appeared to show that members of Congress such as Patrick Leahy – author of the 1999 ban on training with Kopassus – ”have not been told the real reason for Mr Obama’s decision, which was to provide photo opportunities for the President”.

”The decision to renew links shows contempt not only to the victims of gross human rights violations but to members of the US Congress,” Professor Fernandes said.

US diplomatic cables from the past four years reveal that Jakarta’s intense lobbying to lift the Kopassus ban was largely supported by the US embassy in

Jakarta, which cited the Australian military’s ties with Kopassus as a reason to lift the ban. An April 2007 cable says that ”our Australian counterparts often encourage us to resume training for Kopassus”.

But numerous cables also detail serious US concerns about resuming ties. In October 2007, the embassy told Washington that ”Indonesia has not prosecuted past human rights violations in any consistent manner.

”While we need to keep Indonesia mindful of the consequences of inaction on TNI accountability, Indonesia is unlikely to abandon its approach. We need therefore to encourage the Indonesian government to take alternative steps to demonstrate accountability.”

Another 2007 cable details US concern about the appearance at a Kopassus anniversary celebration of Tommy Suharto, the notorious son of the former president who served several years in prison for arranging the killing of a judge who convicted him of fraud.

In May 2008 the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, was briefed by US diplomats that ”the key impediment to expanded engagement remains the failure of the GOI [Indonesia] to press for accountability for past human rights abuses by security forces”.

The cable welcomes Indonesia’s continuing military reforms but noted they were not ”the same as putting generals behind bars for past human rights abuses”.

Last last year, about six months before the US lifted its Kopassus ban, a senior US official, Bill Burns, told Indonesian counterparts that ”engagement with Kopassus continued to be a difficult and complex issue, particularly as there remained many in Washington, including in Congress, with serious concerns about accountability for past Kopassus actions”.

But the US cables also reveal the Jakarta embassy’s efforts to water down the background screening that Indonesian military officers must undergo if they undertake training in the US.

The US embassy is also revealed in another cable as heavily playing down a report by Human Rights Watch last year that alleged Kopassus soldiers had committed recent human rights abuses in Papua. The embassy calls the report unbalanced and unconfirmed and says the abuses detailed do not appear to ”meet the standard of gross violation of human rights”.

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