Academic condemns lack of NZ coverage of West Papua crisis

Police arrest a man after breaking up a pro-independence Morning Star flag-raising ceremony in Timika, Papua province, on December 1. Photo: Muhammad Yamin / Photoblog

Sunday, December 4, 2011

ADELAIDE (Pacific Media Watch): A media academic specialising in Asia-Pacific affairs condemned New Zealand news coverage on West Papua and other Melanesian issues at a journalism education conference in Australia this week.
Professor David Robie, director of AUT University’s Pacific Media Centre presented a paper called “Creative Commons and a Pacific media ‘hub’” in which he offered four recent case studies, including a scathing criticism of NZ media coverage about the Freeport mine strike and brutal crushing of a peaceful Papuan People’s Congress by Indonesian security forces with the loss of up to six lives in October.

“The barriers to free reporting are perhaps a contributing factor to the almost negligible reporting in New Zealand news media of West Papuan issues, apart from occasional snippets about the Freeport mine,” he said at the annual Journalism Education Association of Australia (JEAA) conference in Adelaide.

“A major exception has been Radio New Zealand International, which with very limited resources compared with its Radio Australia cousins, doggedly provides coverage on the legacy of armed struggle in West Papua and Bougainville.

“A major problem is that for the international community the issue of West Papua is ‘settled’ and it is accepted as being an internal problem for the Indonesian authorities rather than an issue of ‘decolonisation’.

Although the so-called 1969 Act of Free Choice had been a “stage-managed sham” by Indonesia after it had invaded the former Netherlands colony bordering Papua New Guinea and was widely condemned as the “Act of No Choice”, most media in Australia, NZ and the Pacific currently virtually ignored the issue, he said.

It was left to international news media agencies to report on developments in West Papua – often from at a distance and their reports failed to gain much traction in the media of the region.

‘Shameful’ reporting
“It is shameful that the NZ and regional news media fail to cover the ongoing human rights atrocities and disturbances with the seriousness they deserve,” he said

“The ongoing West Papua crisis is a greater threat to Pacific security than the Fiji issue.”

In a content analysis of a two-week period between the start of the military crackdown on October 19 until November 2, 2011, it was found that Pacific Scoop published 66 percent of the total of 99 news stories carried by main NZ news media websites about the West Papua crisis.

Pacific Journalism Review published a media freedom report by Dr Robie and Pacific Media Watch contributing editor Alex Perrottet in the October edition which strongly covered West Papuan media issues.

(cc) Creative Commons

Indonesians open fire as Papuans raise outlawed flag

December 5, 2011 3

Flag raisers in Timika to go on trial + Three persons accused of torturing police declared suspects.

Bintang Papua, 2 December 2011

Flag raisers in Timika to go on trial
Three persons accused of torturing police declared suspects

.[The article is illustrated by a photo of the chief of police in Papua, Police Inspector-General BL Tobing waving a small poster.]

Jayapura: Five people who were involved in a Morning Star flag-raising incident in Minika are due to go on trial, while the police say they are interrogating another five people to be called as witnesses, according to the public relations chief at a press conference in Jayapura on Friday.

The five were named as: Larius Dolame, Norbertus Timang, Marel Magai, Eli Maiseni and Marinus Pigai. The five are being interrogated by the police in Mimika, and the following items of evidence have been seized: one wooden pole, two Morning Star flags and a knife.

The day before, at around 11am, hundreds of people gathered on Timika Field to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Papuan Independence. According to the police, they did not have a permit to do so, or to hold prayers in celebration of the the anniversary.

As the crowd assembled, they unfurled one flag on the pole, and used another two flags in a dance and to run round the field. According to the police, there were no casualties during the security operations there.

{ Note: West Papua Media has a list of names of people who have sustained gunshot wounds – they are: Fero (Veronika) Anggaibaik; Viktor Wamang; Alpinus Uawang; Jemago Elas; and Hilary Piligame}

{in A separate incident} Police identified three persons as suspects for torturing a member of the police force in the district of Nimbokrang, Jayapura. The police chief told journalists on Friday that 15 people had been traken into custody, of whom three have been declared suspects and will go on trial before a court. They will face charges under Article 214, para 2 of the Criminal Code for resisting state officials while on duty, facing a possible five-year sentence. The three were identified by their initials, TT, YT and JKT. and are currently in police custody.

The director of the Bhayangkari Hospital told journalists that police officer Napitupulu was in a stable conditions. ‘His condition has improved. Yesterday an arrow that had pierced his thigh was removed and injuries on his face had been cleaned.’

The police chief said that the security situation in Papua after 1 December was conducive, especially as the month of December is when the Christian community will be celebrating Christmas.

According to Markus Haluk, chairman of the Association of Highland Students , AMPTI, six people were injured by gunshots and were being treated at Timika Caritas Hospital . However this was denied by the public affairs spokesman of the police of Papua. ‘No one was shot,’ he said. ‘On the contrary, five of our members were wounded,’ he claimed.

December 5, 2011 1

Troops burn down churches and villages in Puncak Jaya

by Westpapuamedia.info

December 4, 2011

According to credible local sources in Puncak Jaya, Indonesian troops razed a civilian village while conducting a massive offensive against National Liberation Army guerrillas of Goliat Tabuni.

Undercover local human right sources have claimed that at 1530 local time on December 3, that two platoons from the “Coconut” brigade of Gegana Brimob anti-terrorist police, set fire to a church, houses, and guard houses in the village of Wandenggobak.

Brimob Gegana is a specialised highly mobile bomb and anti-terrorist unit that receives funding, arming and training by the Australian Government, and is trained by the Australian Federal Police at the joint Australia-Indonesian Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation. Standard weaponry used by Gegana include the AusSteyr rifle, manufactured by Australian Defence Industries. It is not known if the flamethrowers used to burn down the church were amongst those supplied by Australia.

The church burning against civilians occurred as reprisal for an attack by Tabuni that left two Brimob officers dead earlier in the day. Gegana Brimob police officers Bripda Ferly and Bripda Eko were killed, with Bripda Syukur being treated for minor thigh grazing.

Civilian casualties have been reported, though not verified at this stage. It is not known if villagers were in any of the buildings, or seeking shelter in the church at the time it was razed by Indonesian police.

These reports are based on contact with two regular and established credible sources. The usual standard for claiming fact verification for West Papua Media is our three independent source rule, but we are still awaiting further detailed reports from the area. Papuan, Indonesian and international journalists have been banned from the area in Puncak Jaya where the offensive is occurring which has been informally declared as a Military Operations Area (Daerah Operasi Militer/ DOM)

The offensive has allegedly started after the guerrilla forces of Tabuni allegedly launched attacks on military targets on December 1, after a massive nonviolent flagraising ceremony in Tingginambut.

However, other credible sources in Wamena have sent appeals saying that Tabuni is close by Wamena. “After General Tabuni started war on December 1 … Our international highlanders are feeling deeply traumatised … ordinary people are starting to arm themselves with traditional weapons on the streets”, a translated SMS message sent to West Papua Media early on December 4 claimed.

The situation is tense at time of writing. Please stay tuned for further developments.

Related articles:

Breaking News: REPORTS OF MAJOR TNI OFFENSIVES IN PUNCAK JAYA AND PANIAI (westpapuamedia.info)

December 4, 2011 8

Breaking News: REPORTS OF MAJOR TNI OFFENSIVES IN PUNCAK JAYA AND PANIAI

BREAKING NEWS
SATURDAY DECEMBER 3

2100 Papua time.

by westpapuamedia.info

UNCONFIRMED REPORTS: INDONESIAN ARMY LAUNCHES SIMULTANEOUS, MASSIVE OFFENSIVES AGAINST WEST PAPUAN ARMED FIGHTERS.

UNCONFIRMED reports have been provided to West Papua Media detailing simultaneous and massive Indonesian military offensives that have been launched against National Liberation Army/Free Papua Movement (TPN/OPM) armed struggle guerrilla units in Puncak Jaya and Paniai districts, just two days after security forces were restrained by international attention and nonviolent movement discipline from taking threatened brutal crackdown actions on peaceful flagraisers.

In Puncak Jaya – in the sub-district of Tingginambut – reports to West Papua Media from credible sources have claimed that at least one full battalion of Kostrad soldiers (1500 combat soldiers), plus two companies of Kopassus special forces who were deployed to Yakuhimo and Wamena ahead of the December 1 demonstrations and flagraisings, were launching a full-scale military assault on villages in the highlands. Local human rights sources have also claimed heavy weaponry, artillery, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft are being used in the assault, greatly increasing the risk for civilian casualties to occur.

Significant exchanges of fire have been reported from Tabuni’s forces, and according to unconfirmed reports, casualties have been sustained on both sides.

The villages around Tingginambut have been subject to regular and ongoing full-scale military punishments and raids in the hunt for the TPN forces of Goliat Tabuni, who has carried out regular attacks against Indonesia security forces personnel.

The reported offensive comes after video was released showing Tingginambut hosted a ceremony raising the banned Morning Star on December 1 attended by over a thousand local people. Local human rights sources have claimed via SMS that a major offensive against Tabuni had been prepared for several weeks, but that TNI were waiting for a mass act of civil nonviolent resistance to occur in order to extend an offensive against civilians in villages that are sympathetic to the Free Papua guerrillas.

Meanwhile, In the Paniai district to the west of Puncak Jaya, reports are also filtering out that a simultaneous assault is occurring on the Paniai/Enarotali TPN/OPM units of Jhon Yogi. Local sources in Paniai have indicated that a mixed battalion of Army and paramilitary police Brimob troops are currently trading heavy gunfire with Yogi’s forces. No information is available on the amount or nature of casualties at this stage, however the assault is taking place in a populated area of farmers gardens.

Further updates to come.

ANY JOURNALISTS OR HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORS THAT CAN ASSIST IN MAKING ENQUIRIES INTO THESE REPORTS WOULD BE PROVIDING A CRITICAL SERVICE. PLEASE CONTACT WEST PAPUA MEDIA at editor@westpapuamedia.info or +61450079106 IF YOU GET ANY UPDATES. THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY.

—

December 3, 2011 14

Indonesia Pressured Us: PEPERA (Act of “free” Choice) 1969 Testimony

by Papuan Voices [Merauke] — via EngageMedia.Org

Dec 01, 2011

Witnesses talk about what really happened during West Papua’s (supposed) Act of Free Choice (or in Indonesian Penentuan Pendapat Rakyat, PEPERA), in July 1969. The testimonies reject the Indonesian government’s claim that the people of Papua willingly voted to be integrated with Indonesia. They say people were intimidated, tricked and even killed during the process. Mama Rosa Tambaib was the woman who read out the PEPERA statement of integration, and Elias Yos Moiwend helped the Indonesian Armed Forces to socialise PEPERA to villagers.