Category: Translated by WPM

TPN OPM denies surrender of 100 members in Puncak Jaya

December 23, 2013

Bintang Papua

(apologies for the delay in publication due to skeleton volunteer translators over Christmas)

JAYAPURA – The Puncak Jaya armed wing of the Free Papua Organization ( OPM ) through the Secretary General Anton Tabuni, has denied the claims of Puncak Jaya regent Henock Ibo that 100 OPM members Papua led by Goliath Tabuni have come down from the mountain to join the community.

Through mobile phone contact to Bintang Papua on Sunday 22/12, Anton Tabuni stressed that what is presented by Henock Ibo is false.  “That’s not true and nonsense , what hundred people ? These statements are irresponsible, we are all at our headquarters, ” Anton said .

” What was delivered was a political sham that does not make sense , and not rational at all, we under the command of Gen. Goliath Tabuni are fighters, we are not like the officials who  tried to come under favour of the president and claim that Goliath and Anton Tabuni have given up.  It’s nonsense, ” Anton said .

Anton also questioned the total of 100 people who was mentioned. “How could the number be exactly be 100 people? What’s this?  We have fought for more than 50 years and had a lot of sacrifice, so there ‘s no turning back.  This is just propaganda, there is no reason for us to give up, not that, ” he said .

Previously , the Puncak Jaya regent also claimed that the 100 people who surrendered would be trained to become members of Civil Service Police Unit or municipal police in Mulia, Pincak Jaya. (bom/don/l03 )

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Bobii: Indonesian Armed Forces, the main Anti-Peace Agents in Papua

By Selpius Bobii  writing from Abepura State Prison, Jayapura

 Opinion

December 24, 2013

Every religion teaches values of goodness and kindness and has teachings that are intended to create happiness and peace on this earth and in eternity.  We hear so many people speak of the importance of peace, but the reality is that it’s not that simple to realise peace in our everyday lives. In the Papuan province of Indonesia it feels like peace is so far from becoming a reality for the indigenous people who live there.

Of late the Cenderawasih XVII Military Commander in West Papua has been coining the phrase “Peace is beautiful” and yet at the same time the Indonesian Armed Forces continue to be the number one culprit committing acts of violence and humanitarian atrocities against the indigenous people of Papua.  Behind the mask of these sweet words the Armed Forces are clearly acting very much against the creation of peace in Papua.

 Peace can be realised in a place when every person, every group, every faction, respects the rights of others; and this extends to nations and tribes. Where each is able to exercise their rights and at the same time fulfils their obligations towards others. It seems however in Papua that the realisation of peace is something that’s incredibly difficult to achieve, with the root cause of that being the lack of recognition of the very basic political rights of the people of Papua by all three Indonesia, the USA and the United Nations (UN).

(UN)involved in Papua's desire for Peace; very involved in its atrocities (Photo: Public domain)
(UN)involved in Papua’s desire for Peace; very involved in its atrocities (Photo: Public domain)

With the USA and UN’s active support throughout the entire process of annexation of Papua into Indonesia in the 1960’s, they indeed played a part in the actions of violence and atrocities against the indigenous people of Papua.  They achieved their goal of making Papua into ‘the kitchen of the world’, opening it to the many international companies that have been stripping Papua of its rich natural resources ever since. It was not to end at the annexation of Papua, as they have continued these last more than 50 years to support Indonesia’s hold on Papua which in turn keeps the door open for exploitation of the land.  There have been various forms of aid and in particular joint programs in security and defence, which of course are critical to Indonesia’s continued domination of Papua.

The Indonesian Armed Forces have by intention made Papua into a centre of conflict, but for what end?  In so doing they create a situation where the indigenous people can be paralysed, can be annihilated and the world just keeps quiet, with Indonesia saying they are dealing with the conflict. The result?  Papua remains permanently part of Indonesia and its natural resources can be exploited with ease by international parties.

Let’s not be fooled that the partnerships going on between Indonesia and other nations of the world in the areas of security and defence are aimed at peace building and protecting the people of the region as claimed. Nothing could be further from the truth! The reality is they have quite the opposite goal! The Indonesian Armed Forces are the main agents intentionally creating violence, bondage and theft of natural resources, discrimination, marginalisation, injustice, terror, intimidation and humanitarian atrocities against the indigenous peoples of the land of Papua. Their military and civilian operations both overt and covert are intended to slowly but surely annihilate ethnic Papuans.

The many forms of both visible and hidden violence and humanitarian atrocities undertaken by the state of Indonesia against indigenous Papuans are intended to stifle the political aspirations of Papuans for independence and at the same time annihilate the people. In the face of this continued violence against their people the indigenous peoples of Papua continue to express their opposition to the many human rights violations by peaceful and dignified means, primarily by means of peaceful demonstration. Yet even the narrowest space for a voice calling for democracy has been blocked by the Armed Forces in recent times, especially by the Provincial level of Indonesian Police.  The Provincial Police are known for their practice of taking advantage of occasions when there are peaceful demonstrations to create conflict and to terrorise, torture, kill, arrest and imprison Papuans who struggle peacefully for change.  Indonesia’s Armed Forces are constantly manipulating activities of the Struggle to create incidents of violence. Nevertheless Papuans continue to struggle peacefully in keeping with their decision at the 2000 2nd National Papuan Congress.

And so in the midst of all this, now it is Christmas. Where all parties in Papua hear of the message of ‘the coming of the King of Peace’.  A message that reminds humanity that Jesus Christ came to bring peace to this earth.  A message that starts to have real meaning only when entire communities of humans make space to allow for peace in their hearts.  To that end let’s all prepare our hearts with simplicity, faithfulness, honesty and love for one another. We are each one of us reminded by the message of Christmas.

It is dearly hoped that the message of Christmas will also touch hearts and bring awareness to those who are committing the many forms of violence against indigenous Papuans. That there might be a commitment to bring an end to all forms of oppression towards indigenous Papuans and to enter into dialogue between Jakarta and Papua with a neutral facilitator. To reach that end we need to be ready and willing to humble our hearts, to be faithful, honest and to act in love. Only in that way can we bring peace to the land of Papua.  We are all called to bring an end to the latent conflicts in Papua and to create peace, no matter who we are and wherever we may be.

Peace and joy at Christmas to all and throughout 2014!

Footnote:

  1. 1.       The Dutch previously tried to prepare Papua to become an independent nation whilst still under their control, with those preparations reaching a peak on 1 December 1961. However less than a month later on 19 December 1961 Indonesia by a political and military invasion marked by what’s known as Trikora (a three prong command which demanded the dismantlement of the “puppet” Papuan state created by the Dutch; the raising of the Indonesian Red and White flag over Papua; and preparation for a general mobilisation in Papua) succeeded in annexing Papua into the Indonesian Republic.

Selpius Bobii is the  General Chairperson of Front PEPERA & is a Papuan Freedom Political Detainee imprisoned in  Abepura State Prison, Jayapura, Papua, for another Christmas.

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Bobii: Manufactured Scenario resulting in Death of a Papuan Warrior

Statement

18 December, 2013

 by Selpius Bobii

The death of General Danny Kogoya of the National Liberation Army of the Free Papua Movement (TPN / OPM) on 14 December 2013 in the border town of Vanimo PNG was not a natural death but rather a death caused by a scenario that was created by the Indonesian Armed Forces.

On 2 October 2012 Kogoya was invited by someone to meet them at the Banana Leaves Hotel in Entrop, Jayapura. Once there he and his companions were besieged by Indonesian Armed Forces who shot and disabled Kogoya by shooting one of his feet, even though  he had shown no resistance and had no intention of fleeing.

His foot was amputated at the Police Hospital Bhayangkara without being allowed to have a family member present.  Only a few days after the operation he was taken to the Police District Command Headquarters to undergo interrogation, despite having just experienced a most traumatising injury followed by a major operation. Throughout the time he was held by the Armed Forces he did not receive adequate medical attention.

When taken before the court an almost unheard of situation occurred, with the extension of time for Kogoya and his companions’ cases to be processed as applied for by the public attorney, actually expiring before the judges had reached their decision.  With the result that Kogoya and his companions were released under the law on 10 May 2013, even though they had been previously charged under the extremely serious charge of treason (makar).

Following their release, Kogoya fled over the border to the town of Vanimo in PNG to seek safety and treatment for his foot. According to the General Chairperson of the National Committee of West Papua (KNPB) Victor Yeimo, the results of the medical examination at the Vanimo Public Hospital showed remaining symptoms suggestive of possible poisoning.  This has led to suspicions by some that Kogoya may have been intentionally given a highly toxic chemical at the time his foot was amputated at the Indonesian Armed Forces hospital,  that has such an effect on the body organs that it kills the body slowly (1).

Finally on 14 December General Kogoya died due to the combined causes of an infection of his amputation wound as well as kidney failure.

The Indonesian Armed Forces clearly did not want Kogoya to die in custody which would have attracted attention. The circumstances point to the Armed Forces having interfered with the matter of the legal provision for an extension of time a person can be detained up to the time the court passes sentence.  As it is suspected that the processing of Kogoya and his companions cases in the Jayapura court were intentionally delayed so that the period they could be legally detained would expire before the panel of judges had handed down criminal sentence, thereby creating a scenario whereby the prisoners would be released avoiding General Kogoya dying in custody.

It is a rare occurrence indeed for Papuans who have been arrested and accused of treason, to be subsequently released due to the expiry of the period approved by the courts for them to be detained  before there is a sentence handed down by the courts. Usually if the time approved is about to expire or has just expired and the judges still haven’t handed down their decision, the authorities and the prison authorities work together to arrange an  further extension of time.  In the instance of the late Eko Berotabui and his associates for example in 2006 when the period he could be detained prior to the courts ruling had expired and the family and lawyers were pressuring for his release, the prison  and authorities worked together to issue a new document extending the period he could be detained.  Similar circumstances also arose in the case of Filep Karma and associates in 2005 with the prison and authorities working together to detain him on the stated basis of awaiting the decision regarding criminal cases. However in the case of Danny Kogoya there was distinctly something else going on.

It is strongly suspected that the Indonesian authorities created a set of circumstances to hide their covert killing of the Papuan independence warrior General Danny Kogoya. This is not the first time the Papuan community has seen such methods applied to hide the Indonesian Armed Forces killing of Papuan liberation warriors. Such means are extremely cruel and amount to a most evil inhumane act against a human being.

The organisation Front PEPERA:

  1. Demands that the Republic of Indonesia (RI) take responsibility for the death of General Danny Kogoya.
  2. Demands that RI cease killing indigenous Papuans by both overt and cover means.
  3. Calls on the International Solidarity community to lobby RI and the United Nations to treat exhaustively the problem of the legal and political status of West Papua.

 Footnote.:

  1. 1.      The majority of the Papuan indigenous community is convicted that poisoning is being frequently used by the Indonesian forces in Papua against the indigenous community.

 Selpius Bobii is General Chairperson of Front PEPERA and is a Papuan Freedom Political Detainee held in  Abepura Prison, Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia

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POLICE ACCUSED OF USING OTHER PRISONERS FOR THE ILL-TREATMENT OF YASON NGELIA

From our partners at Tabloid Jubi

by Benny Mawel

December 15, 2013

 

Aksi Pengalangan Dana Pegobatan Yazon
Raising money for treatment for Yazon Ngelia (Photo:Jubi/Mawel)

 

Jayapura,15/11— The Student Representation Council of the Politics and Civil Faculty at Cenderawasih University (DPM-FISIP-UNCEN) harshly condemns the parties responsiblefor  the imprisonment of Yason Ngelia, Chairman of the Executive Student Body (BEM) of the FISIP department, in Jayapura. Yason’s current condition brings a flood of disappointment as he is not in a good (physical) state as a result of the imprisonment.

The parties responsible for the imprisonment of Yason are the Papuan Governor and the Papua People Assembly.  The Cenderawasih University, with the involvement of 29 lecturers, have written an academic draft of the Special Autonomy Plus for Papua (or called for a Special Autonomy Papuan Government (for Papuans to run the provincial government). However, an individual student has reported he was physically abused by Yason which led to his arrest.

The recognition of the abuse against the student is the reason police have detained Yason, which led to the refusal of the students’ draft Otsus Plus.  Yason’s struggles to protect Papuan People from murder is systematically criminalised by the government through the acts of the police.

“The rector does not yet appear to be handling this problem,” said Septi Medoga, the head of the Student Representation Council of FISIP at Cenderawasih University to a reporter in front of the university gate in Waena-Abepura in Jayapura. (12/12)

The individual who claimed to be a victim of abuse from Yason, according to Septi, has never wanted to meet with members of BEM FISIP who want to solve this problem internally. “The student doesn’t want to meet with us.” He said.

Until today, according to Septi, Yason’s physical condition is declining rapidly as a result of his incarceration. “The police are using three other prisoners to beat Yason. His right temple has ruptured, his cheeks are bruised, his bones are broken and his back has been kicked hard,” said Septi, who spoke with Yason when he visited him in jail. This beating occurred on 20th November 2013 in the detention room of the police station in Jayapura.

Yason’s condition is rapidly deteriorating and he has not yet received any medical treatment. “We assess this to be neglect from the police, the e university, and of those who claim to be a victim of abuse from Yason, those who have dragged him behind bars” said Septi.

Because of this situation, Septi has taken the initiative to lead his friends to raise funds for the medical treatment Yason needs. “We will give the funds raised to Yason to give him the medical treatment he needs.” Early demonstrations occurred in front of the Cenderawasih University gates on Thursday. (12/12)

The fundraising will go from Monday (16/12) and will be placed at various central locations, like Expo taxi terminal, Abe Circle, and other universities in Jayapura.

The right to medical treatment is a fundamental human right for Yason, regardless of his status as a suspect. Septi is urging the Papua Emergency Health Unit (UP2KP) to take a step towards helping Yason. “We ask for Dr Alo Giyai to lend a hand to check Yason’s condition” he said.

When we asked about Yason’s release, Septi claims the head of BEM FISIP should be freed today, but the reason why not is still unclear. “The power of the law to send a letter of suspending the detention on 24th November, then until today there is still no reply from the police” he said.

Meanwhile, Pontius, the coordinator of fundraising for Yason’s medical treatment, hopes his activist friends from GEMPAR will stop demonstrations demanding for Yason’s freedom by blocking the gates of the universities, because this will slow down the process for his release. “Friends, please demonstrate without blocking the gates to campus, if they are kept shut, Yason’s release will take longer” he said.

This is definitely an internal problem that only the rector has no intention of solving a problem as trivial as this. “I am amazed with us having this institution. This institution has the authority to solve this problem alone, however the rector is hiding from it” said Pontius.

Editor : Victor Mambor

Translated by West Papua Media Translation team

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Key OPM Figure Danny Kogoya dies from injuries from Densus 88 shooting

danny kogoya in vanimo
Danny Kogoya. Photo: Liam Cochrane/ ABC

From our partners in Jayapura, MAJALAH SELANGKAH,  with additional reporting from West Papua Media

December 16, 2013

A well known figure in the armed wing of the Papuan Independence Organisation (Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM)) Danny Kogoya, is reported to have died at a location in PNG close to the Indonesian PNG border on Sunday (15 December 2013).

A contact for majalahselangkah.com in Jayapura explained that Kogoya died as a result of an infection in his right leg, which had been amputated following being shot  when arrested by Police in Jayapura at the Dani Hotel in Entrop Jayapura on 2 September 2012.

Police at the time said Kogoya was attacked due to him being a suspect in a shooting at Jayapura and was shot in the foot when trying to flee through the back of the hotel. Following being shot he was taken to the police hospital (Bhayangkara) at Kotaraja for acute medical treatment.

He was then detained in a cell at the Jayapura Police Headquarters, after which he was moved to the Abepura Prison. He faced the State Court (Class I.A) in  Jayapura for suspected involvement in the abovestated shooting but was eventually released by the law.

Once released he went to Camp Victoria (an OPM Camp) close to the border between PNG and Indonesia. Whilst there a member of the governing forces in the border region sent a photo of Kogoya to the police in Jayapura, resulting in him being yet again threatened with arrest. So finally he fled to PNG.

The journey to PNG led to an infection in the wound where his foot had been amputated, so he was given traditional treatment in the forest of PNG. At that time he was quoted by the ABC as having urged the leaders of the OPM who had gathered at Camp Victoria, to continue the struggle to separate from Indonesia.

“ My foot has been cut-off because I am a member of the OPM and I personally urge for independence (for Papua). Papua must be independent of Indonesia” stated Danny Kogoya to the ABC.

Kogoya’s Body to be Taken Home

Activist Matius Murib wrote on Facebook  that it was planned for the body of the late Danny Kogoya to be taken back to Papua to be buried. He stated that coordination and administrative requirements to enable that had already been arranged.

“In relation to the plan to send the body of a Papuan activist Danny Kogoya from Vanimo, PNG back to Jayapura city this date (16/12/2013), technical coordination at the border and the arranging of administrative matters, protection and family to receive the body at Vanimo have already been organised and the family have guaranteed security in regards to the order of things and also that all will run smoothly” noted Murib on Facebook.

He requested the Police to not enter the area in the vicinity of the funeral home at Kamkey Abepura. Journalists have been banned from joining the funeral ceremony from the time of the funeral procession, at the funeral home and until the end of the funeral proceedings.

On Tuesday afternoon, stringers for West Papua Media had reported that heavily armed police and army had deployed in their hundreds around the home area of Kogoya outside Jayapura, escalating an already tense situation.  Our sources have also reported that no protest actions are planned, amid intelligence agencies actions to focus on a propaganda campaign discouraging local residents from commemorating Kogoya’s death.  According to our stringers, present in Jayapura, this campaign of broadcasts and public announcements is threatening the use of force if any mourning “crosses over to support pro-independence”.

The situation is being monitored closely, and may escalate.  For urgent updates, please see our Twitter feed @westpapuamedia .

(AE/GE/IST/MS/WPM)

(Translated by West Papua Media)

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