Author: westpapuamedia

Independent Journalism from West Papua to the World

News Flash: 2 Papuan civilians shot dead in military raid on village in highlands

Two West Papuan civilians were shot dead during an independence day raid on their village by the Indonesian military.

The raid, at 1:30am this morning was on the village of Bolakme, Wamena. The same village was the target of burnings last year by the military.

The 2 civilians confirmed dead so far are Asli Wenda and Elius Tabuni. We understand some others have suffered life threatening injuries. All villagers from the surrounding areas have now fled to forests and remain in hiding.

More news on the situation as we get it.

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KNPB Congress: “West Papua must unite for Referendum”

 

KOMITE NASIONAL PAPUA BARAT [KNPB]
WEST PAPUA NATIONAL COMMITTEE
==================================================
Pers Release

We inform to all the international media, the international community
and to all the observers of the West Papua problem that KNPB (the West
Papua National Committee) has held the I Congress in the Kampung
Harapan, Jayapura on 19 untill  November 22 2010. This congress was
attended by delegation from territories and the consulate from various
elements that were combined in KNPB.

The first Kongres of  KNPB produced the resolution that became the
attitude and the commitment of all the participant, that: the Focus of
the KNPB Program was to finish up the status of West Papua through the
process of politics and the law. To push the process of the resolution
legally and politics, KNPB nationally reduced the political program and
the organisation. Firstly, the Political program of  KNPB is  to achieve
the goal of the West Papua, that is Independent in a manner Politics
went through the most democratic rout that is the Referendum. Secondly,
the Organisation program that is KNPB as the media pushed the formation
of the Nasional of West Papua Council as the body representative, at the
same time as the symbol of the association in driving the struggle
through to the formation of the temporary Government post the
referendum.

Better scrutinised and understood the discussions whole in the congress
that was held, the forum for the congress of the I Komite Nasional Papua
Barat [KNPB] produced resolutions that were unity of the attitude and
the resolve from all over delegation of the Papua people from the
committee's territories and delegations of the organisation of the
struggle, that is:
1.	Immediately to finish up the West Papua politics status through the
referendum route as the most democratic solution and
2.	Immediately carried out the internal strengthening of the struggle
for the nation of West Papua through the association and the repairing
in the defence of the military, civil and the International diplomat in
the political and organisation program of KNPB.
3.	We urge the defence of the military to immediately unite and carry
out the repairing in order to pushes the agenda towards the referendum.
4.	We urge to all the elements of the struggle to immediately pushed the
formation of the Nasional Council as the symbol of the national
association towards the solution to the referendum in the problem
resolution of West Papua.
5.	Immediately stopped the debate and mutual conflicts between the
foreign diplomat and immediately to unite in works of the campaign and
diplomacy in order to pushes the process of the resolution through the
law and politic route.

This congress also succeeded in choosing the central management for,
where Buchtar Tabuni was chosen again with the unanimous vote to
continue to become General Chairman of  KNPB, whereas Mako Tabuni became
Vice Chairman of KNPB. General Secretary was filled up by Agus Trapen
and Danny Wenda. Whereas the national Spokesperson was Jefri Tabuni and
Victor F. Yeimo was chosen to be the Internasional Spokesperson.

This this resolution was passed towards organised internal the struggle
headed the nation goal of West Papua namely nation independence of West
Papua.
“We Must End”

Sinceraly,

Victor F. Yeimo
International spokesperson
(+6281384553160)
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URGENT APPEAL FOR DONATIONS TO SUPPORT WEST PAPUA MEDIA WORK

 

(not for publication as a press release)

December 1 2010

Dear Friends and Colleagues,
as the silly season of spending on stuff approaches, we are asking you to spare a thought for those being dispossessed in West Papua, and to help their voice become their weapon by giving a gift to West Papua Media Alerts.  West Papua Media can only exist with the support of people who believe in change, like yourself.  Please visit westpapuamedia.info and click on the “donate”  button, or you can go directly to our Paypal donations page.  For those who prefer not to use Paypal, Bank Details are at the end of this appeal.

Currently in West Papua, after decades of brutal oppression by the Indonesian occupation, Papuan people are skilling up and speaking out, alerting the world to the ongoing situation in Papua and helping create change on the ground.They have embraced the opportunities of citizen media to advance their struggle, and are reporting to the world their previously unreported stories of how they are surviving constant Crimes Against Humanity.  For the last few months West Papuan people across all sectors of society have been holding unprecedented mobilisations to reclaim their land.  But they need your help to broadcast their call to action.

West Papua Media Alerts, now online, was started to provide a professional service to international media interested in covering the issue of West Papua,  the moves of the Papuan people to end human rights abuses, to hold the Indonesian security forces to account for their systematic human rights abuses, and to bring unreported Papuan issues to the front page.  We have been taking a leading role in the hard work  in raising the profile of West Papua this year, with significant investigations that have broken several major stories this year, and we have gained deep trust from the people of Papua in reporting their stories.

We have established very close working relationships with key international media organisations, and have been doing much quiet behind the scenes work as well as several very public coups.  A few examples include:

  • the sourcing, verification and release of deeply shocking leaked videos of Indonesian military brutality;
  • Joint investigation with Fairfax media on the abuses conducted by the Australian trained and funded Detachment 88 “counter” terror unit of the Indonesian military and police in Maluku;
  • Reporting the murder of journalists in West Papua by members of the Indonesian security forces;
  • Intensive coverage and media capacity building for the June/July mass actions of West Papuan people rejecting Special Autonomy and calling for independence;
  • Fixing and organising for many international journalists working undercover in West Papua;

Some of our real time work has assisted directly in the prevention of mass acts of violence by the Indonesian security forces, such as our coverage and media advocacy fixing of the July 8-9 occupation of the  regional Parliament House.  With less than ten minutes before the deadline for dispersal of the 2 day rally of over 45,000 people, the Indonesian security forces were forced to back down due to a BBC report, organised by West Papua Media Alerts, that brought international attention the crisis situation.   Extensive international diplomacy occurred in that 15 minutes, together with the extreme discipline of the mass protest, forced Indonesian security to back down.  That is just one example of the power of a real time media tool such as  West Papua Media Alerts to avert disaster and save lives.  Help keep us effective well into 2011.

Once again, you can donate by clicking to our Paypal site:
or by visiting westpapuamedia.info and clicking on the Donate button at the top right of the page;

This has primarily been self funded, and our well has run dry.  Several of our members can no longer contribute funding as they have to pay for medical costs associated with overwork.  We are at the stage that without funding soon we will have to review our operations.  Please help now to allow us to continue, we can only survive with your help.

This work  comes at a cost.  After the release of the torture videos, West Papua Media was the first of five organisations subjected to a massive, organised Distributed Denial of Service cyber-attack, which investigating agencies have classified as an act of cyber-terrorism.  We have had to spend a great deal of time and money to make our systems resistant to further acts of aggression. However, these attacks only increased our resolve to keep working harder to expose Indonesian abuses in Papua

In 2011, West Papua Media is conducting groundbreaking citizen and human rights media safety and investigations training, and is also seeking to engage and support many more Papuan journalists to tell their peoples story to the world.  Simply to break even and cover our immediate costs for this work, we have an initial target of A$6000 while we search for ongoing funding for this groundbreaking project. your contribution will help secure major and safe citizen media development outcomes for West Papuan people.

Once again, you can donate by clicking on the link below:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=ACBNBWT6XA4KJ or by visiting westpapuamedia.info and clicking on the Donate button at the top right of the page;

or (if you are in Australia) by depositing directly into the following Bank Account:
Bendigo Bank
BSB:  633000
Account Number:  140780594

If you are from outside of Australia and wish to do a bank transfer, please contact us directly at wpmedia_admin@riseup.net .

The development of West Papua`s own media voice is something which needs your support.  Please help us to help West Papuan people make their voice their weapon.

With deep appreciation and solidarity,

Nick Chesterfield,
on behalf of West Papua Media.

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Video Testimony of Torture Victim Tunaliwor Kiwo

Video Testimony of Kiwo

(Subtitle – English)

From Dewan Adat Papua via EngageMedia.org

In this video West Papuan farmer Tunaliwor Kiwo recounts the details of his torture by Indonesian soldiers on May 30 2010. Indonesian soldiers arrested Kiwo and his neighbor Telangga Gire on May 30 in Papua’s Puncak Jaya regency. This video was shot on October 23, 2010 and released by the Papuan Customary Council. Kiwo describes the torture he suffered for 2 days before escaping from the soldiers on June 2.

 

Related content

* News Item Transcript of Kiwo’s Torture Testimony (English)
* Video Torture of Tingginambut men (Papua) – English Subtitles
* Video Video Testimony of Kiwo (Subtitle – Bahasa Indonesia)
* News Item Transcript: Tunaliwor Kiwo Testimony (Bahasa Indonesia)
* Video Kiwo Testimony, High-res, no subtitles

Full Description

After the public release of the torture video the Indonesian government promised to investigate but now claims it cannot identify the perpetrators and is dragging it’s feet on taking action.

In the 10-minute torture video previously released to the public on October 18, soldiers are seen kicking Kiwo’s face and chest, burning his face with a cigarette, applying burning wood to his penis, and placing a knife to Gire’s neck. Indonesia is party to the UN Convention Against Torture and has strict obligations to promptly investigate and prosecute all incidents of torture and to ensuire that victims and witnesses are protected against all ill-treatment or intimidation as a consequence of any complaint or evidence given.

Copyright 2009, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. dewanadatpapua. (2010, November 19). Video Testimony of Kiwo (Subtitle – English). Retrieved November 23, 2010, from EngageMedia Web site: http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/dewanadatpapua/videos/kiwotestimony_en.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License

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Bintang Papua: Rejection of OTSUS intensifies DPRP should convene plenary session

[All items abridged in translation]

Bintang Papua, 1 November 2010

Rejection of OTSUS intensifies
DPRP should convene plenary session

The rejection of OTSUS, the Special Autonomy Law of 2001,  has intensified  with a demonstration outside the office of the regional legislative assembly, the DPRP calling for it to convene a plenary session to discuss  the eleven recommendations adopted recently by the MRP which included the rejection of OTSUS.

‘We declare that the OTSUS law adopted in 2001 has resulted in no significant  improvements in the living conditions of the Papuan people, and we state that OTSUS has failed.’

The chairman of Pepera PB, Selpius Bobii said that OTSUS provided for a system that sides with the Papuan people, and which protects and empowers them. But in the nine years since the enactment of the law, not a single special regulation as required under the law has been adopted. There have been inconsistencies between the attitude and the actions of the central government.

The chairman of the Customary Youth  of Papua, Wilson Uruway, presented a joint statement to the deputy chairman of the DPRP who was urged to make a statement in response. He said that all the aspirations of the people submitted to the assembly had been discussed. Those concerning the central government would be quickly forwarded to the government in the same way that the eleven recommendations of the MRP has been forwarded.

The joint statement was supported by a large number of groups and NGOs.

Hardly any of the OTSUS funds  has not been used in ways that would assist and help indigenous Papuans but had been misdirected as ‘fictive funds’. The central government was accused of thwarting the MRP at all levels of its activities, as a result of which it has be incapable of struggling for the rights of the Papuan people.

Among the indicators of the problem was the tardiness in adopting special regulations – Perdasi and Perdadus – regarding management of the administration and  for economic development. Dualism between provincial and districts administrations has occurred in their adoption of different regulations

Before demonstrating in front of the DPRP, the crowd gathered at Expo Waena, where they waited for a group from Sentani Customary Council to join them.

One speaker called on the government  to speak out against acts of intimidation, threats and killings of Papuans perpetrated by the TNI/Army and the Police.

A group led by the chairman of DAP Forkorus Yaboisembu arrived at the DPRP travelling on several trucks.

The demonstration was surrounded by two special Brimob units and members of the local police. Nevertheless, the action proceeded peacefully

—————————

Historic Papua day commemorated

Bintang Papua, 19 November 2010

19 November 1969  is a historic day for the Papuan people, a day regarded as been sacred by many sections of the people struggling for independence. On this day in 2010,  groups gathered to recall the historic event when the  Papuan issue was discussed in the US Congress, although it did not clearly stated that the US Congress fully supports Papuan sovereignty.

At a gathering held to socialise the events at the US Congress, Wilson Waimbo Uruwaya  announced that they would hold a peaceful demonstration calling for the peaceful solution of Papua’s status which was discussed by the UN General Assembly in 1969.

Wilson said that all elements of the Papuan struggle were united in their determination to socialise the results of the US Congress on which occasion, a discussion took place about crimes against humanity and the need to seek a solution to the difficult problems that were being faced by the Papuan people to the present day.

The discussions in the US Congress which had occurred for the first time have taken the Papuan people a step forward in their history of struggle.

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