Category: Uncategorized

KINGMI Church makes its aspirations known to President

Bintang Papua, 21 July, 2011

KINGMI Church writes to SBY

Jayapura: The chairman of the Synod of the KINGMI Evangelical Church Dr Benny Giay, has written to President Yudhoyono to explain the church’s aspirations, in response to a statement by the Cenderawasih military commander, Major-General Erfi Triassunu who alleged that the church was set up to get as much money as possible from the government in order to fund its political campaign for independence.

Following a prayer meeting, the prayer co-ordinator Rev Domminggu Pigay read out the aspirations, watched by Dr Benny Giay and other victims of stigmatisation as separatists.

Dr Giay later put the sheets of paper with the aspirations written on
them on the ground in front of the office of the DPRP – provincial
legislative council. There were not many local people around to witness the event as they had returned to their homes about 200 meters away.
Yunus Wonda, deputy chairman of the DPRP, said he had facilitated the
meeting in order to get clarifications from the military commander.
‘This is a long struggle and needs to support of the whole KINGMI
congregation,’ he said.

Dr Giay, as leader of the KINGMI Church, said he had made their
aspirations known to the President publicly, in response to the
statement made in Arpil by Major-General Triassunu, which had been
disseminated to all the local military commanders, and made public in
the media on 7 July.

Dr Giay’s letter to the President made a number of points, one of which rejected all efforts to drive public opinion in the direction of
reducing the right of religious bodies to become political
organisations, or identifying the church as the OPM. ‘We reject the
efforts by the government which have been under way for a long time to see everything connected with the churches from a political perspective.’

‘They fail to see,’ the statement said, ‘that it is the role of the
church to strengthen friendship and solidarity for those who suffer and are excluded.’

He said that the Synod was nothing like what the government and the
military commander imagine. ‘We reject being called OPM which we regard as being a trick to extinguish the church’s role as a prophet in the Land of Papua.

He appealed to the President to stand by his pledge to ensure that
that Papua is a place of tranquillity not only for newcomers from
elsewhere but also for the indigenous Papuan people.

[Abridged in translation by TAPOL]

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ETAN Urges Secretary Clinton to Condition Security Assistance to Indonesia on Rights


Contact: John M. Miller, etan@etan.org,+1- 917-690-4391

July 20 – As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton travelled to Bali, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) urged her to condition U.S. security assistance to Indonesia on real improvements in human rights by Indonesia government and genuine accountability for violations of human rights.

“The restoration of assistance to Indonesia’s notorious Kopassus special forces announced a year ago should be reversed,” said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. “Kopassus training was meant to be the carrot to encourage respect for rights. There is no evidence it has done so. U.S. law bars cooperation with military and police units with such egregious human rights records. The U.S should set an example by following it’s own law.”

On the eve of Secretary Clinton’s visit, ETAN issued the following statement:

In her February 2009 visit to Indonesia, Secretary of State Clinton praised democratic reforms since the fall of the U.S.-backed Suharto, saying “Indonesia has experienced a great transformation in the last 10 years.” While Indonesia has made progress since the dark days of Suharto, crimes against humanity and other violations of human rights continue. U.S. policy has largely focused on narrow strategic and economic interests that have little to do with the well-being of the Indonesian people. Meanwhile, progress has stalled. Human rights remain under threat. The military continues to find ways to maintain its influence. The pleas of the victims of human rights crimes in Timor-Leste, Aceh, West Papua, and elsewhere in the archipelago are ignored. Senior figures responsible for the worst abuses prosper.
In recent years, the U.S. has provided substantial assistance to both the Indonesian military and police. This assistance is said to come with lessons on human rights. The human rights lessons are not being learned. People see the police as abusers, not protectors and military impunity prevails. Indonesia’s security forces are learning is that U.S. will assist them no matter how they behave.

Over the past year, horrific videos and other reports of torture, the burning of villages and other crimes offer graphic proof that the people of West Papua and elsewhere continue to suffer at the hands of military and police. Soldiers prosecuted for these and other incidents receive light sentences. Just this past week, four civilians, a women and three children, were wounded when Indonesian troops shot into a hut in the Puncak Jaya area of Papua.

As many as 100 political prisoners remain jailed: prosecuted and jailed for the peaceful expression of opinion. In many regions, minority religious institutions are persecuted, often with the active or tacit assistance of local security officials. Vigilante groups, like the Islamic Defenders Front, seek to enforce their own extra-legal version of morality, again with the backing of officials. Journalists, human rights defenders and anti-corruption activists are threatened and occasionally killed. The organizers of the 2004 poisoning of Indonesia’s most prominent human rights lawyer, Munir, remain free and seemingly above the law.

In recent years, the U.S. has provided substantial assistance to both the Indonesian military and police. This assistance is said to come with lessons on human rights. Lessons that are not being learned. People see the police as abusers, not protectors and military impunity prevails. Indonesia’s security forces are learning is that U.S. will assist them no matter how they behave.

We urge the U.S. to condition its security assistance on an end to human rights violations and to impunity. The U.S. should heed the recommendation of Timor-Leste’s Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste (CAVR), which urged nations to “regulate military sales and cooperation with Indonesia more effectively and make such support totally conditional on progress towards full democratisation, the subordination of the military to the rule of law and civilian government, and strict adherence with international human rights, including respect for the right of self-determination.” Indonesia does not yet meet this standard.

The U.S., as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, should work to establish an international tribunal to bring to justice the perpetrators of human rights crimes committed during Indonesia’s 24-year occupation of Timor-Leste. This would provide a measure of justice to the victims and their families and serve as a deterrent to future human rights violators. A tribunal is supported by the many victims of these crimes and by human rights advocates in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, the U.S., and elsewhere.

Finally, we urge Secretary Clinton to apologize to the peoples of Indonesia and Timor-Leste for U.S. support for the Suharto dictatorship. Her visit offers the U.S. a chance to decisively break with past U.S. support for torture, disappearances, rape, invasion and illegal occupation, extrajudicial murder environmental devastation. Clinton should offer condolences to Suharto’s many victims throughout the archipelago and support the prosecution of those responsible.

ETAN was founded in 1991 to advocate for self-determination for Indonesian-occupied Timor-Leste. Since the beginning, ETAN has worked to condition U.S. military assistance to Indonesia on respect for human rights and genuine reform. The U.S.-based organization continues to advocate for democracy, justice and human rights for Timor-Leste and Indonesia. For more information, see ETAN’s web site: http://www.etan.org.

see also West Papua Advocacy Team Writes Secretary of State Clinton on Indonesian military operation in Puncak Jaya

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Indonesian Army: Gunmen Kill Indonesia Soldier in Papua

FYI –

MEDIA NOTE:  West Papua Media has not received any INDEPENDENT confirmation from either human rights, church or TPN sources of this contact, despite communication.  In light of this, and in light of allegations of significant human rights abuses and killings of non-combabtants and civilians during this operation, it is wise to to treat military claims as unverified an not credible, unless they agree to allow independent international monitoring into the combat area.

The Associated Press
July 21, 2011

Army: Gunmen Kill Indonesia Soldier in Papua

An army officer says unidentified gunmen have ambushed Indonesia
soldiers and killed one of them in the easternmost province of Papua.

The chief army officer in Papua says soldiers are still searching for
the gunmen. Maj. Gen. Erfi Triassunu said the ambush Thursday morning
happened outside a village in the hilly district of Puncak Jaya.

Triassunu said the victim was a first private killed by a shot to his
head. No information was available on the other soldiers.

The attack occurred one day after a military tribunal indicted three
low-ranking soldiers for killing a civilian in Puncak Jaya last year.

Papua is a former Dutch colony incorporated into Indonesia in 1969
after a U.N.-sponsored ballot. A small, poorly armed separatist
movement has battled for independence ever since.

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Freeport employees want human rights violator sacked

JUBI, 18 July 2011Following the violation of human rights that were perpetrated by personnel working for Freeport Indonesia,  there have been calls for the perpetrator, Nurcahyo to be sacked by the company.

‘We dont want that person to go on working here because he is bound to continue with his habits of discrediting indigenous Papuans.  We have experienced these things because of some trivial mistakes. Does the company want a repetition of recent actions,’ said one worker who didn’t want his name to be identified, when asked to confirm the action.

The matter was said to be closed after the person concerned was given a second warning.  For some of the staff, a very simple thing can result in the worker being sacked without mercy.

It appears that the person involved in this latest case is a superintendent  working at the Marine Section of the company named Nurcahyo who committed these human rights violations which are forbidden within the company. When there is clear evidence that someone has committed such things, that person is immediately sacked. Yet in this case, the man in charge of the human rights department, SemiYapsawaki, was simply given a second warning.

There have been many cases like this, according to JUBI, which recently triggered a strike at the company.

‘We want this person to be sent home because this is not the first time that he behaved in such a way. We hope that the management will take action against this person who can cause further major problems  in the workforce,’ said this source.

Attempts to contact the management, including the Manager, Juarsa, were not successful as he did not respond on his hand phone.

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Faleomavaega receives Humanitarian Award for Defense of Human Rights in West Papua

Washington, D.C. —FALEOMAVAEGA RECEIVES HUMANITARIAN AWARD FOR DEFENSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN WEST PAPUA

Congressman Faleomavaega announced today that the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) has named him the 2011 recipient of the John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award.  Faleomavaega was presented the award on Thursday July 7, 2011.

In honoring Faleomavaega, WPAT stated:

The West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) is pleased to announce that it is awarding the 2011 “John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award” to the Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D-AS), a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Congressmember Faleomavaega has been an articulate and effective advocate for the defense of human rights in West Papua, and has long worked for a peaceful resolution of the serious problems confronting Papuans.

His extensive knowledge regarding West Papua and his manifest sincerity and good will have enabled him to draw on the respect accorded him by his Congressional colleagues and members of successive Administrations to alert them and the U.S. public more broadly to justice, good governance and development concerns in West Papua.

On September 22, 2010, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment, Congressmember Faleomavaega convened the first hearing in the history of the U.S. Congress to include testimony from West Papua’s traditional and religious leaders. The hearing, Crimes Against Humanity: When Will Indonesia’s Military Be Held Accountable for Deliberate and Systematic Abuses in West Papua, also included testimony from scholars and administration officials from the U.S. Departments of State and Defense.

Driven by a sense of personal responsibility to carry forward the work of his Samoan relatives who are buried in West Papua and in honor of all those who have lived the struggle, Congressmember Faleomavaega continues to do all he can to hold the Indonesian government accountable so that a better way forward may be found for and on behalf of the people of West Papua.

Past recipients of the award include Carmel Budiardjo (UK) and TAPOL (2008); John M. Miller (U.S.) and the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) (2009), and Andreas Harsono (Indonesia) of Human Rights Watch (2010).

The award includes a plaque and a financial prize which Congressmember Faleomavaega has directed be donated to a charity selected by him. The award is named in honor of Papuan John Rumbiak, a renowned champion of human rights and founder of WPAT.

“I am humbled by this award,” Faleomavaega said.  “I do not feel worthy of it, and this is why I have donated the prize money to the Papuan Customary Council (Dewan Adat Papua) in honor of the men, women and children of West Papua who are the true heroes.”

“Over the years, the men, women and children of West Papua have suffered at the hands of Indonesia’s brutal military and police forces.  In fact, Indonesia’s military has committed indisputable crimes against humanity through the murder, torture and rape of more than 100,000 West Papuans.”

“It should also be noted that Freeport Mining company, now located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, was the first foreign company to do business with Indonesian President Suharto, one of the most brutal dictators of the 20th century.  Freeport’s association with Suharto led to Freeport operating the Grasberg mine in West Papua — one of the biggest gold and copper mines in the world.”

“With little regard for the people of West Papua, Freeport has callously stripped West Papua of its natural resources and pays Papuan workers less than $1.80 per day, or about $0.20 cents per hour.  Papuan workers went on strike in protest saying their counterparts working for other units of Freeport operations around the world are paid approximately $15 per hour.  All Papuan workers are asking is to be paid at about $3 per hour.”

“To put this in perspective, the CEO of Freeport was paid almost $40 million in 2010 alone.  In my opinion, this kind of disparity is shameful.  An American company should know better, and do better.  And until Freeport makes it right and stops exploiting Papuan workers, I will make my views known on the House floor for the sake of history and for the sake of the American public in hopes that Freeport will one day be held accountable for the environmental and economic horrors it has wrought in West Papua.”

“For history’s sake, I also want to commend past winners of the John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award, including Carmel Budiardjo, the 2008 winner, who founded and has chaired TAPOL since the 1970s.  TAPOL (which means political prisoner in Indonesian) is a small UK-based NGO that campaigns for political prisoners and for human rights in general in Indonesia and East Timor.  Carmel Budiardjo was herself a political prisoner, in the late 1960’s at the time that the dictator Suharto came to power.  She was imprisoned for three years and then founded TAPOL upon returning to the UK in 1971.  She won the ‘Right Livelihood Award’ in 1995 and has several times been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.  Carmel is now 86 but still very active.”

“John Miller and the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, the 2009 winner, has long been involved in human rights advocacy in East Timor and Indonesia.  John Miller is the National Coordinator for ETAN.”

“Andreas Harsono, the 2010 winner, is an Indonesian journalist and human rights advocate who in 2010 worked closely with Human Rights Watch, particularly on West Papua.  He is still associated with HRW but also is an independent journalist and human rights advocate.”

“I also commend my good friend, John Rumbiak, a West Papuan human rights advocate, who has worn out his life in the service of his fellowman.  I wish John a speedy recovery, and my thoughts and prayers are with him.”

“Once more, I thank WPAT for the work it is doing to champion the cause of West Papua, and I share this honor with all those engaged in the struggle,” Faleomavaega concluded.

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