Threats against Bintang Papua journalists reported by JUBI
JUBI, 2 June 2012Jayapura: According to several journalists working in Serui, Yapen district in Papua, including a journalist from Bintang Papua, they had been warned against publishing information about a demonstration that took place there on 29 May. Bintang Papua has expressed its regrets about this information regarding what the police had done. Journalists have the right to report what happened regarding incidents like this.
The chief editor of the newspaper, Daud Sony said in response to a query from JUBI: ‘I have just received information from Seo, our contributor in Serui. He said that the terror and threats made by the police were highly regrettable .This is now the era of reform and space should be given to anyone to exercise the right of response, including journalists.’
The Bintang Papua journalist who was in Serui had rung JUBI to tell them about intimidation and terror by the local police after they had sent a report about a demonstration by Wadapi inhabitants to the Yapen Legislative assembly, DPRD regarding the arrest of John Nuntian. ‘We were accused of inciting discord by circulating this report, but we had already sought and received confirmation from the police.
In addition to Seo, another journalist, Ulis Makabori reported that he had been intimidated by the police for reporting information about the demonstration. Ulis wrote a detailed report about happened during the demonstration.
Article 4 para (1) of Press Law 4/1999 states: ‘The freedom of the press is guaranteed as a basic right of all citizens, The press shall be free of any attempt to prevent , prohibit or use other means to prevent the population from receiving information.
Bintang Papua, 3 June 2012The chairman of the MRP (Majelis Rakyat Papua), Timotius Murib, has urged the police in Papua to investigate who it was who shot a German citizen. In many of such cases, he said, the explanation given is that something like this is the work of an unidentified person (OTK). The police have been unable to reveal the identity of people responsible for shootings in Timika, in Puncak Jaya and even in the city of Jayapura.
Murib said that it was very regrettable that such cases in three different places in Papua have not be solved. The police are the ones who are in the best position to investigate these shooting incidents, but the fact is that despite the police being in possession of all the necessary equipment, those responsible have not been found.
It is not enough to get witnesses who say that the person responsible for these incident had fuzzy hair. ‘Getting statements like this from witnesses is far from adequate for the police to solve these cases.’
He said that it was essential for the police to investigate this latest shooting as quickly as possible, especially because the newly-elected governor of the province is soon to be installed and this should not happen while Papuan people are burdened by a sense of fear and uncertainty.
A similar view was expressed by Yusman Conoras of the ALDP, the Alliance for Democracy in Papua. ‘The police are the ones who know better than anyone what needs to be done to investigate this case.
One of the main duties of the police is to ensure that people feel safe, but at present, people in Jayapura feel very fearful when shooting incidents like this occur and even try to find their own solution.’This could be by deciding not to leave their homes for fear of something happening.or not going out in the evening.’
It is for the police to investigate this shooting incident and to do everything to ensure the people feel safe.
West Papuan human rights activist, Sebby Sambom has declared that the Indonesian government has armed a group of civilian personnel in Papua which have been armed armed in order to carry out actions like the shooting of a foreign visitor, in order to damage the reputation of Papuan people in the outside world.’
He said that the shooting of the German, Dietmar Pieper, was part of a political conspiracy of the Indonesian government to undermine international opinion regarding the People people, claiming that the perpetrator of the shooting was by someone from the OPM or its armed wing, Tentara Pembebasan Papua.
‘The government has decided upon this conspiracy, now that the international community is paying greater attention to Papua, as was the case at a UN session on 23 May this year. The shooting was clearly the work of a Papuan who is now in the pay of the Indonesian government,’ said Sambom, who has spent time in prison as a political prisoner.
This can be proven, he said, by the fact that the Indonesians have armed some indigenous Papuans who have now decided to ally themselves with the Indonesians. He also drew attention to the emergence of other pro-NKRI groups in Papua such as the Barisan Merah Putih – the Red-and-White Brigade – which is trying to stir up conflict in Papua.
‘I have proof of the fact that some Papuans have been armed by the government. I have in my possession the licences of some Papuan people who own guns and I am willing to show this evidence to someone from media or to the general public,’ he said.
This is all part of attempts being made to discredit the struggle of the Papuan people in the eyes of the international community.
Sambom said that it was very important to exert presure pressure on the Gernan govermnet to adopt a firm stand with regard the shooting of one of its citizens here on Indonesian territory. ‘The German government should press for an independent team to be set up to investigate who was responsible for this shooting,’ said Sambom.
Jayapura: The steps being taken at present by the police to set up a special team to investigate the shooting of the German, Dietmar Pieper, 56 years old, means that nowhere is safe in Papua, either in the towns or in the interior, said the director of ALDP, the Alliance for Democracy for Papua, Latifa Anum Siregar.
She said that when shootings or acts of violence occur in Papua, the police get busy setting up special teams to deal with the incident. But what is needed is that the police should set themselves a time limit of one week for the investigation. ‘If they fail to reach a conclusion within two weeks, they should be open about it and tell the public that they are unable to solve the problem.
The fact is that not a single case of shooting or violence has ever been solved in Jayapura, Waena, the destruction by fire of an Avanza vehicle at the Waena cemetery and other cases such as those in Buper, Skyland or Nafri.
She said that when the police fail to solve incidents in mountainous areas such as Puncak Jaya , they always complain about difficulties at the site, the lack of witnesses or of evidence. These complaints have even been made about incidents that occurred in daylight hours, in the town centre, where there is no problem of access.
There have been many cases in the towns but not one of the them has been solved, nor has the motive ever been revealed, she said.
She also said that when the recent shooting incident occurred, there were several witnesses who could have been asked to make statements, and it is not difficult to identify people by such characteristics as whether they have straight or curly hair.
‘If we go back ten years to the time when Theys E;uay was murdered, there were plenty of witnesses.’
In a case like the present one involving a foreigner who was visiting Indonesia, it is clearly the responsibility of the state, in this case the police, to handle the case.
Some people have been saying that a ballistics expert should be brought from Germany to check on the provenance of the projectile that is still embedded in the victim’s body but Indonesia has all the necessary specialist equipment to do this. The police have it and Densus 88 also have it, as was clear at the time of the shooting of Opinus Tabuni on 9 August, 2009
‘The problem is not whether they have the necessary equipment but whether they are willing to undertake the investigation and discover who it was who did the shooting.So, all the talk that is going on at present should stop because it only benefits the police and those who were responsible are only too happy when all this chatter goes on. ‘There are intel agents everywhere so it would be very strange if they were not able to solve this case.’
Some people are urging the police to solve this case to avoid any international speculation about Papua being a place where terrorists are active. The police claim that the only place where disturbances occur is in Puncak Jaya and not in Jayapura City.But the fact is that such shooting incidents are happening frequently all over Papua, she said.
‘If these incidents are localised in Puncak Jaya but can also occur at any time in cities, this means that nowhere in Papua is safe, either in the interior or in the towns.’
Intensification of Indonesian security force repression on Papuan non-violent activists and ordinary villagers is allegedly occurring across Yapen Island, in response to escalating demands for freedom from violence, according to credible human rights sources on the island.
A massive raid has also been carried out by Australian-trained Detachment 88 and Kopassus special forces of the Indonesian National Army (TNI) early on May 29 on the jungle headquarters of the Yapen branch of the pro-independence National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM) near the village of Wadapi, Angkaisera district, Yapen.
Yapen Island – in yellow
Local human rights workers have told West Papua Media that many houses had been set on fire after the midnight raids and
weapons were discharged repeatedly by the combined Indonesian military and police force under the command of the Head of
Police (Kapolres) in Serui, Royce Harry Langie S.IK MH, and the District Military Commander (DANDIM), Letkol Inf Tornado. No confirmed reports of any shooting victims have come to light thus far, however West Papua Media has received credible claims that civilians who fled from the raids into the night may have sustained gunshot injuries from Indonesian troops firing into
houses, though this cannot be confirmed independently.
Reports that local police and military commanders have begun to call in major military reinforcements from across Indonesia are increasing fears of an imminent military assault on local villagers, causing many civilians to flee to forest for safety, human rights sources have told West Papua Media.
Forces from the pro-independence National Liberation Army (TPN-OPM) on Yapen have responded to fears of “all out war” between pro-independence and Indonesian occupation forces and have called for calm, ordering all TPN-OPM taskforces active in the area to not respond with violence to Indonesian brutality, citing concerns for the safety of local villagers, according to local independent local media source Warta Papua.
Local human rights sources have reported to West Papua Media that troops from the Police special forces Brimob and Detachment 88, backed up by Kopassus and Kostrad (Strategic Reserve) troops from Citanjung (Kopassus headquarters in Jakarta) and from Cenderawasih Battalion in Jayapura.
Additionally, Kopassus and Kostrad troops from the notorious Kapuas district, Kalimantan battalion of Kopassus have been deployed with the other units in many villages, in Wadapi, Wanampompi & Sasawalast and several other unnamed villages in the Angkaisera district. “We are very worried, as the addition of troops from Borneo… are known as army troops who are very sadistic in torturing civilians,” a local human rights worker told West Papua Media via SMS.
The joint taskforce troops have claimed to the TNI-owned Cenderawasih Post that they have broken a major TPN guerrilla base, however the only weapons seized were a traditional hunting poison blowpipe, a handful of traditional hunting spears, bows and arrows, two parang knives (used for preparing food), and two banned Papuan Morning Star flags. These items can be found in almost any rural dwelling in Papua, especially where residents have to supplement their food with animals from the forest.
Several other items were also seized, including cooking and farming equipment, and two 15 year old broken computer printers, which the TNI claimed was proof of a TPN headquarters.
Two men have been arrested and are currently being interrogated by Kopassus and D88 intelligence officers, with the TNI boasting that they are being intensively processed at the Yapen Police HQ in Serui. Local human rights sources have expressed grave fears for the safety of the detained men, amid credible fears that they will be subjected to harsh interrogation techniques and torture by the Australian trained and funded Kopassus and D88 officers. At this stage no legal representation has been afforded to the detainees, with one identified as Wanampompi man John Nuntian. There is also believed to be an unkown number of ordinary villagers who have been detained, and their whereabouts and status is currently unknown.
As the raids were occurring, several hundred TPN/OPM fighters have taken to the forests, and the TNI Dandim, LtKol Tornado, has told Cenderawasih Post that the campaign is intensifying to eradicate all those who are resisting the Indonesian military. He says that the estimated 230 fighters will be hunted down and the his forces will remain to conduct lightning sweeps on any village that gets named in intelligence investigations. These sweeps have traditionally subjected all its targeted villages to collective punishment, including mass burnings of houses and collective detention, acts clearly defined as war crimes.
Local sources have been unable to get a precise number of Indonesian combat troops occupying Papuan villages in Yapen, but credibly estimate to be upwards of two battalions of active combat personnel spread across twelve villages (at least 3000 combat personnel from standard battalion strengths – WPM), including specialists from Detachment 88.
Detachment 88 is fully funded by the Australian Federal Police, but the Australian government claims it is not funded to conduct operations against “separatist” or pro-independence forces, despite many documented cases of this occurring repeatedly in Papua. The Australian government has so far refused to make any sanction against the use of these forces in human rights abuses in Papua, instead increasing the budget and equipment it provides to D88.
Telephone communications with sources on the island have been sporadic, raising fears that security forces are restricting the phone network ahead of a major assault, making these reports difficult to verify independently by West Papua Media. However this activity is consistent with a more aggressive approach taken by Indonesian occupation forces against Papuan independence sentiment.
Indonesian police on Yapen have come under fire for their consistently brutal policies toward Papuan people. On May 1, thousands took to the streets to call for the expulsion of the Kapolres, Royce Harry Langie, and DANDIM, Letkol Inf Tornado, for atrocious behaviour, human rights violations, and violations of the Code of Conduct with the Indonesian military and police regulations.
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