Tag: Paniai

BRIMOB Paniai severely beat teacher Yulian Yeimo

November 28, 2011

(ENAROTALI, Paniai, West Papua)  In another display of arbitrary brutality against civilians, members from the increasingly notorious Indonesian paramilitary police unit Brimob last Thursday severely beat a local teacher without cause.

Yulianus Yeimo, 46, a teacher from Paniai was beaten  at 15:00 local time on 24 November by Brimob officers at Kogekotu / awabutu field in Enarotali, Paniai, Papua.   Police Officers fractured Yeimo’s nose and jaw from repeated blows with rifle butts.  The injuries caused by the Mobile Brigade officers caused severe bleeding, with his tongue almost severed by blows from the rifle butts.

West Papua Media has verified the photograph as genuine, and consistent with injuries reported.  Local sources have reported that Brimob and military officers are constantly raiding houses, taking away traditional hunting wepons and gardening tools such as axes, machetes and knives.  According to the same sources, this has made work and finding firewood for cooking impossible.  Many people have fled into the surrounding hills for shelter, fearful of continued arbtitrary violence from Indonesian security forces.

Combined operations throughout the Paniai district by Indonesian police and army since July have displaced several thousand local people, with many unable to find food or effective shelter in the mountains.

The district is subject to increasing tension, so please stay tuned to westpapuamedia.info for further updates.

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Sweepings by security forces in Paniai spread anxiety among the civilian population

JUBI, 17 November 2011

The deployment of army and police forces including Brimob has spread anxiety and fear among the people in Paniai during the past week.

‘We haven’t left our homes for the past week, people are being questioned by the army as well as the police along a number of roads,’ said one person who lives in the area. ‘We have done nothing wrong but they have been going from house to house and this has made us very afraid.’

Following the searches in the houses of ordinary people, the military in Paniai confiscated bows and arrows, axes, knives and other sharp things belonging to the local people. The Justice and Peace Secretariat (SKP) in Dekenat, Timika, reported that not only had sharp implements been confiscated. ‘People’s homes have been searched very roughly indeed. In some cases, doors and windows have been badly damaged. This is very strange indeed because there are no problems with the local people so why are they behaving like this,’ said Father Oktopianus Pekei, co-ordinator of SKP Dekenat.

Some of the homes that have been badly damaged are in Kampung Kogekotu, Gakouda, Madi and elsewhere in the area. ‘The destruction has been encouraged by Brimob, Kelapa 2 Unit, Jakarta,’ he said, referring to the fact that there has been an increase in the number of Brimob troops deployed in the area in the past week.

SKP also regretted the arrogant behaviour of the Indonesian military. ‘Why is it that equipment used in people’s households, things for chopping up vegetables in the kitchen, or for building new homes, or for cutting down wood to burn in their houses are all being confiscated?’

Father Pekei said that the church would make public its support for the concerns of the people. ‘When things like this happen, the church cannot stay silent. This is all about the people’s right to life, the family and the vulnerable people in our society. This is the voice of the church,’ he said.

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Call for Brimob persnnel to be withdrawn from Paniai

JUBI, 16 November, 2011

The shooting which is believed to have resulting in the deaths of eight local residents in Bayabiru who were illegally panning for gold in Degeuwo in the district of Bogobaida, Paniai, took place three days after Brimob troops arrived in Enarotali from Timika. Full details of the incident along with a chronology and the reasons for the shooting are not yet known.

‘If this is true, no one can accept what happened. We herewith demand that the Brimob troops be withdrawn from Paniai,’ said Yakobus Dumupa, a member of the MRP, the Majelis Rakyat Papua.

The chairman of the Paniai district Customary Council (Dewan Adat Daerah Pania)i, John NR Gobai, asked in a press release what was the reason for sending 120 Brimob troops to Paniai where the security situation can be described as conducive. ‘We are seeking an explanation about this from the local Brimob chief as well as the chief of police in the district.’ He said that the Brimob troops that had been deployed to Enarotali had for the first three days caused a great deal of anxiety and trauma among the local people.’There needs to be some campaigning and advocacy from the NGOs and we need to set up a fact-finding committee to prove that this is true,’ he said.

‘Someone must take institutional responsibility for what happened. This is not just a matter of some rogue member of the unit. If there is no response from the institution itself, then the people will have to make an issue of this. The MRP will set up its own team to investigate the shooting of eight local people.’ he said.

He strongly condemned the brutal action that of the security forces in Bayabiru, Degenwo.It happened at a time when a number of things had occurred that require special attention from the government.’These serious violations of human rights are putting a heavy strain on efforts to hold a dialogue between the Papuan people and the central government, And they suggest that it is the TNI and the police who are the ones who are the separatists the ones who are trying to cause disunity within the NKRI.’

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TPN/OPM warned of deadline for return of two weapons

Bintang Papua, 6 September 2011The executive committee of the Synod of the KINGMI Church in the Land of Papua has responded to the threat issued by the police force in Paniai that failure to hand back two firearms by the end of Wednesday, 7 September  would mean that the police will launch hunt and search operations against the TPN/OPM led by John Yogi.

According to the KINGMI Church, these search operations  against John Yogi who is alleged to have seized the weapons, could result in possibly hundreds or even thousands of casualties of innocent people among the civilian population, said Dr Benny Giay.

The deputy chairman of the Papuan branch of the National Human Rights Commission, Matius Murib, also had a meeting with Ruben Magai, the chairman of commission A of the DPRP about the issue.

Dr Benny Giay of the KINGMI Church called on Commission A of the DPRP to provide the opportunity for local leaders and churches to hold discussions with John Yogi and his comrades. The reason for doing so was that, according to reports from local communities in Paniai, everyday life in Paniai has been paralysed and many local inhabitants  have fled their villages in a state of trauma, havng heard about the forthcoming operations against the TPN/OPM. ‘We call upon Commission A and the chief of police to do everything possible to prevent casualties among the civilian population,’ he said.

Meanwhile, the Rev. Albert Kesya, said that plans to launch search operations against the TPN/OPM had been made public at a time when the congregation were involved in Spiritual Camping in Madi Kampung, Enaro,sub-district of Paniai. on 26 July. which is not far from the location where the headquarters of the TPN/OPM is believed to be based. Even so, Brimob forces in Panai had attacked and seized many things, including thousands of bullets (the figure given in the article is 40,000), Rp 50 million, twelve hand phones, ten bows and arrows, and a Yamaha motorbike.

Deputy chairman of the National Human Rights Commission in Papua, Matius Murib, said the government and the security forces need to pay attention to three things.  There can be no justification for anyone among the authorities or the population to use violence and cause  casualties among the population. ‘Such actions,’ he said, ‘were rejected by human rights organisations around the world, bearing in mind that  Indonesia has ratified  covenants against the use of violence. and the loss of lives. Secondly, the local population needs to hold negotiations with the TPN/OPM. Whatever the situation, people like John Yogi  and his group can be expected to listen and to understand.’

‘There is no need to set a deadline for the launching of operations. Weapons belonging to the state should be in the hands of the state. There can be no justification for launching search operations against the TNP/OPM. There are weapons in the hands of many groups. And there are many weapons in the hands of  people who are not authorised to hold weapons.’

‘People cannot be allowed to do things that will result in victims falling among the civilian population.’ He said that some people can be expected to use weapons as a bargaining point to achieve certain objectives, but trying to force people to return weapons  will never solve the problems.’

Ruben Magai, chairman of Commission A of the DPRP in Papua, called on the chief of police in Papua to use social means, not military means, because the latter will only traumatise the people and make them very afraid.

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Arrival of troops spread panic, say church personnel

Jubi, 23 August 2011
The dispatch of troops by air and land via Nabire has caused panic in Paniai, said a nun working for the Catholic Church in Paniai who did not want her name to be made public.   The people from Paniai had just returned home following a firefight between TPN/OPM fighters and the security forces but left their homes again when they saw heavily armed Brimob troops arriving in the town, she said.

A church official said that some of those who had fled after the shooting had not returned home and their present whereabouts were not known.  ‘We think that some of them have fled to far-away kampungs. and dont want to return to the town which is full of heavily armed troops whose presence is very frightening,’ the official said.   They would only come back when the town had been cleared of the troops.   The church official said they were refusing to come back because they knew that the fighting had been a put-up job and they didn’t want to become casualties.

‘They have very good reason to be afraid,’ the official said, ‘because they know that the security forces have arrested a number of school children from the SMP and SMA [lower and upper middle schools] as well as some other young people. These youngsters were interrogated then ordered to do push-ups.   They were only released, after we went to the police station and asked for them to be released.’

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