Report from Matius MuribAt around 7.30pm, on Thursday 6 July, a group of four policemen from the elite force Brimob, Papua District, stopped the car in which the chairman of the Baptist Synod, Socrates Sofian Yoman was travelling, together with his wife and their three children, along with Matius Murib, the former deputy chairman of Komnas HAM-Papua. They were on their way home after attending prayers at Kota Raja Luar.The car door was forced open by someone, and another member of Brimob shone a torch.in the face of Revd Yoman.
Matius Murib said: ‘Why have you stopped here? Who are you? Who are you working for? If you aren’t happy about the police, dont behave like this.’
Murib later told the media that apparently they had been followed since they were driving past the town library. The police who had been travelling in a truck pointed their torch at Yoman.
In response to this unacceptable behaviour, he said: ‘I’m sorry. It wasn’t deliberate.’ But within five minutes, the police started pushing the body of this man who is a well-known church leader, while shouting at him.
Matius Murib thought that the police didn’t realise that they were talking to the President of the Synod of the Baptist Church, Revd Socrares Sofian Yoman.
At this point, a senior police officer arrived at the scene to caution the police who were terrorising the President of the Synod. They subsequently withdrew and returned to their barracks.
Matius said that this incident would be reported to the deputy police chief in Papua. ‘Go ahead and report. We aren’t afraid ‘ the four policemen replied. They then withdrew from the scene and left, going in the direction of the police command office in Abepura.
Matius Murib said that he hoped that the chief of police would investigate this case and call to account the four police officers who had behaved so arrogantly towards a well known leader of the Papuan people. The action they had taken was a deliberate act of provocation intended to arouse the feelings of the Papuan people.
‘We call for an end to such acts of terror and violence perpetrated against the indigenous Papuan people.The Papuan people will continue to press for peaceful dialogue between Jakarta and Papua.’
Credible but unconfirmed reports have been received by West Papua Media reporting that a major operation is currently being carried out by a combined force of of Australian trained and armed police and military special forces.
One extra company of Brimob police commandos from Manokwari have been flown in to take part in the raids on the civilian village of Anotaurei on Yapen Island, near the regional centre of Serui.
Witnesses have alleged that a joint-force of Indonesian Army (TNI), Brimob commandos and the elite counter-terrorism force Detachment 88 ( trained and funded by the Australian Federal Police) are intensifying their ongoing “Sweeping” against peaceful political activists and ordinary villagers.
The raid began at 11pm West Papua time in Anotaurei, and witnesses have claimed that 2 trucks, 3 police Avanza SUVs and a Kijang full of armed troops are patrolling and forcing entry in a house-to-house search and cordon operation.
Messages received by West Papua Media have alleged the troops are acting with great violence, and damaging property as they inspect homes, and seizing banned Morning Star banners and flags, sharp tools, kitchen equipment, and “documents” about the Free West Papua movement. These documents include flyers for rallies and pamphlets. Anyone found in possession of these are in danger of arrest, with Activists and human rights advocates expressing grave fears for their safety.
At time of writing the sweep operation is ongoing and likely to target outlying villages. This is a developing story – please stay tuned for more information.
The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor, Imparsial in Jakarta has urged the police in Papua to arrest those members of Brimob, the police elite force who shot five Papuans in Location 45, while they were engaged in panning for gold in Degeuwo on Wednesday 16 May.
The director of Imparsial Poengky Indarti furthermore said that the involvement of Brimob in this matter was a violation of the regulations, and even more regrettable was the fact that people had been shot and wounded, one of whom had died.
She said that Brimob is a force which was set up to handle major conflicts, not to deal with minor infringements like unauthorised panning of gold, and to face the possibility of attack from abroad. Brimob is regarded as para-military.
The five men who were shot and hit on Wednesday were: Melianus Abaa, 40 years old,who was shot from behind, the bullet penetrated his chest and he died as a result; Lukas Gegepa, 30 yrs, who was shot in the stomach, Alpius Kegepa, who was shot in the right arm, Amos Kegepa, 30 yrs, who was hit in one of this legs, The fifth man who was shot was Yulianus Wegepa, who was shot in the back.
By Nick Chesterfield and local sources at Westpapuamedia.info
Special report and update
January 14 2012
Local human rights monitors report from the remote Paniai district of West Papua that Indonesian security forces continue to maintain a “disproportionate” military offensive since early January, intensifying the displacement of tens of thousands of villagers who fled from several weeks of village burnings in December.
Indonesia’s Australian trained Detachment 88 counterterrorism troops and Brimob paramilitary police together with Indonesian army battalions, are continuing to conduct search, capture and cordon missions on the villages in the hunt for the forces of a National Liberation Army (Tentara Pembebsan Nasional or TPN) commander Jhon Yogi.
This is despite Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyhono ordering the immediate suspension of the offensive and withdrawal of all non-organic security forces from Paniai, when meeting with West Papuan church leaders on December 12 at his residence in Bogor, West Java. No firm date for withdrawal was given.
Papua Police spokesman Wachyono, told the Jakarta Globe that 481 Brimob and Densus 88 members deployed in Papua from Jakarta, East Kalimantan and North Sulawesi would leave Papua by January 23. However West Papua Media understands from sources on the ground that these troops will significantly escalate the pace of attacks on civilians in the lead up to the departure. Local human rights sources have further questioned the ability of independent monitoring of this withdrawal when the Indonesian government is continuing to enforce an access ban on media to the area.
Yogi’s forces have consistently avoided capture since the offensive began, despite sustaining significant casualties. This continued escape and evasion has raised pertinent questions from observers on the real aims of the Indonesian security force offensive, in an area that has extensive gold deposits and a brutal history of land use conflict triggered by a lucrative “legal” and illegal gold trade. Several foreign gold mining companies continue to operate in the area during the offensive, and Brimob police and assets, that have been contracted to provide mine security to these companies, are continuing to be utilised in the ongoing offensive.
The systemic excessive force by Brimob and Indonesian security forces working for foreign mining interests are again under the spotlight across Indonesia after Brimob troops were recently caught on video uploaded to Youtube opening fire on a protest on behalf of another Australian gold mining company Arc Exploration in Bima, Sumbawa. At least 3 protestors were killed and 11 seriously wounded as local residents held a non-violent protest against the destruction of their village lands by the gold mine.
Credible information during the Paniai offensive has been incredibly difficult to verify due to the continuing Indonesian government ban on all journalists and foreign observers from coming to the area. Indonesian journalists covering have not been able to access the district either, despite article claiming that they have been present. However, stringers for West Papua Media, human rights monitors from Elsham, church officials, and witnesses have been able to get close to the area to report on the situation, which by all accounts in worsening for civilians. Indonesian security forces however are continuing to block any independent access to the immediate conflict area around the former TPN headquarters of Markas Eduda to verify or rule out human rights abuses, and most reports are still coming from interviews with refugees who have fled from the fighting.
West Papua Media has repeatedly attempted to contact spokespeople for the Indonesian police operating in Paniai, however no replies have been forthcoming.
Church* and Human rights sources have claimed that security forces are continuing to indiscriminately target civilians in the campaign, and have embarked on a policy of village and church burnings. According to detailed reports provided to West Papua Media by investigators, Brimob and D88 troops have burnt down 29 churches, 13 primary schools and 2 junior schools, and 13 villages have been destroyed over the New Year period. The razed villages are spread out across the south and west of Wegamo, and in Ekadide areas.
Local witnesses interviewed by human rights observers have reported that civilian helicopters have again been used in the intensified security offensive, with allegations that two helicopters belonging to mining companies operating in the area have been again used by troops to continue to strafe villages, drop live and gas grenades and ferry troops into the fighting areas. Multiple witnesses confirmed that one of the helicopters was a civilian Squirrel AS355 previously implicated in attacks, and identified formally with a helicopter identification sheet provided to West Papua Media stringers and human rights workers.
According to the report received, around dawn (0600) on the morning of January 1, 2012, A civilian Squirrel (pictured)
The AS355 Squirrel helicopter used by Brimob on December 13, and allegedly used over the New Year Paniai offensive (File: West Papua Media)
helicopter conducted what the report describes as “surgery” (surgical military strikes) on Wege mountain, and was used to ferry troops between White Sands and the now-occupied former TPN headquarters of Markas Eduda. Villagers in the White Sands area have been forcibly evacuated by Brimob troops and are still unable to return.
Hana Degei (37), Jemi Gobai (26), Oktolince Degei (20), Menase Kayame (41), Mabipai Gobai (18), Silpa Kayame (32) all from Dagouto, and Peter Kudiai, a 14 year old school student from Badauwo were all confirmed killed by Brimob and D88 troops in the New Year offensive, adding to the toll of those killed during December’s operations.
In the report, church sources stress that full extent of deaths from the Paniai offensive is still being shrouded by deliberate obfuscation and cover-up from Indonesian security forces. “The full death toll from the armed clashes between Brimob and the TPN we do not know, because our religious and community leaders have been refused access to the Eduda conflict area,” the report states. “Thus, we also have not been able to collect (exhaustive casualty) data which is accompanied by clear facts. Perhaps Brimob forces and TPN knows how many are wounded and dead due to gunshot wounds, (but) all the information is still closed to the public,” the report claimed.
Local sources have also expressed concern for the longer term humanitarian situation across Paniai when and if the offensive finishes, due to the deliberate village burnings. According to both church sources, Brimob and D88 deliberately destroyed and burnt food gardens across the offensive area, and burned down fences designed to keep livestock out. Surviving cattle have been moving freely and have eaten whatever food plants have survived the destruction, stoking fears of starvation for already stressed and displaced local villagers
Together with villages forcibly evacuated as reported in December, over 150 villages are now vacant, displacing at least 9000 civilians.
Indonesian officials have blatantly misrepresented the scale of displacement, claiming that only 1715 were displaced and all those “temporarily evacuated” were being supported at a military controlled “care centre”. This number is failing to take into account those who are in grave fear of the security forces running the “care centre”, and those who are staying with extended families and/or tribal networks. So far the 1715 have not been able to return to their villages, and their conditions at the “care centres” are deteriorating from already grave conditions, according to local observers.
An Indonesian health worker who has been in Enaratoli during the offensive, and who declined to be identified publicly after contacting West Papua Media privately via SMS, described the situation as extremely tense and a human disaster. He also expressed concern, from his observations and conversations with displaced locals, that there seems to be a wider plan from Indonesian security forces for the long-term.
“Everyone here knows that Brimob are in the gold trade across Paniai, doing business for and with both orang bule {white man} and Javanese, and now they are clearing people whose villages are on top of the gold diggings” the health worker told West Papua Media – in English – in an SMS exchange. “This human disaster is happening, and we are part of it, but who has ordered it? Is it just the police looking for golden scrapings, or is someone richer telling them to do it?”
West Papua Media has not been able to fully verify the authenticity of this source’s claimed identity, given the security risks of identifying them publicly speaking out.
The Paniai region has had a long and brutal history of land use conflicts between the Indonesian colonists and local people, mainly stemming from the illegal gold trade.
The church human rights investigations have also reported that all normal community activities in the conflict are have ceased, with those churches and schools not yet burnt by Indonesian security forces closed indefinitely, and local employment has also ceased – further exacerbating the humanitarian disaster in Paniai.
*Due to the danger faced by local church officials from Indonesian security forces in reporting these facts, West Papua Media has made a difficult decision to not identify either the church sources, nor their denomination.
Human rights defenders in Paniai report that searches were recently carried out in the Badauwo, Geko and Kinouv area of East Paniai. Shooting was also heard in the vicinity of Mt Wege.
Local human rights defenders remain adamant that Australian and U.S trained and funded Detachment 88 police and military counter terrorism troops are still involved in the search for John Yogi, the Paniai based commander of the West Papuan Liberation Army (or TPN as it is known in Indonesian).
On Tuesday 20 December in Nabire the Head of Police (Kapolres) in Paniai, Mr Siregar urged John and Salmon Yogi to give themselves up. A local Brimob commander also told local press and community leaders gathered at the Nabire police station that Salmon Yogi had been wounded.
According to a source present at the meeting the Brimob commander said that military operations “would continue until John and Salmon Yogi and the men under their command either surrendered, were arrested or were shot dead”. The police commander also told people not to be scared; that the police would protect them and that they would be still be able to celebrate Christmas.
The Office for Justice and Peace in Paniai reports that Yogi has six men under his control and a total of two firearms. It also believed that the men’s wives and children are also with them.
The town of Enarotali is also not safe. Church leaders report that there has been shooting in Enarotali. The latest gunshots occurred on Tuesday 20 December at 6pm and again on Wednesday 21 December at 1am and 5am. A local church leader told West Papua Media that “local people are scared and in a state of panic”. A woman whose family lives in Enarotali told West Papua Media that her uncle went to the toilet at night and was shot and wounded by a sniper.
Despite the ongoing military operations human rights defenders, church, tribal and community leaders in Paniai are publicly calling for the Indonesian military and police to cease operations.
In relation to the alleged involvement of the Australian mining company Paniai Gold, it has now come to light that there are two gold mining companies operating in the area. Komopa (or Haji ARI – the exact name is still unclear) is believed to be an Indonesian owned company located in the vicinity of the Degeuwo River. Paniai Gold, a wholly owned Australian subsidiary of West Wits, is based on Derewo River.
According to local sources at 2pm on Tuesday 21 December the police again hired a commercial helicopter to carry out military operations. In a report provided to West Papua Media it is stated that the helicopter used on the 21 December was owned by the Haji ARI Company. In the same report it is alleged that the military and police flew over a camp (a blue tent) in the forest and proceeded to shot into the camp from the helicopter.
It is not clear to what extent the two companies share the use of the helicopters used in recent military operations against the TPN, given they allegedly share the same base in Nabire.
There are many unanswered questions about the military operations and extent of Australia’s involvement.
A key question concerns whether Indonesian military and police (including Brimob) providing security services to Paniai Gold were involved in the large-scale military operations against the West Papuan Liberation Army based at Eduda, and to what extent the Australian embassy helped facilitate Paniai Gold’s operations.
And despite Canberra’s denials that Australian and U.S. trained and funded D88 troops are involved in hunting down so-called separatists, there is mounting evidence that this is exactly what D88 are doing in West Papua. Papuan human rights defenders and their supporters continue to argue that Australian and U.S. support for the Indonesian military only help “create more efficient human rights abusers”. Despite this, the Australian government conducts no independent monitoring and evaluation of Australian taxpayer’s money provided to the Indonesian military.
There are also concerns about the role of the local and central government. Papuans are asking questions about who is funding the military operation. What is the role of the local Bupati and local government? Why won’t the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhuyono cease operations when it is clear that ordinary villagers are dying as a result and that Yogi and his men have only two modern weapons between them?
West Papua Media, an independent media outlet working with a local network of citizen journalists, will continue to monitor the situation.
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