KNPB Wamena activists arrested for distributing rally material

westpapuamedia.info

Information received from sources in Wamena

Today (Wednesday 22 September) at 17:00 in Wamena (Papua time), there were arrests of KNPB Wamena area activists by  Jayawijaya police, who were distributing the call to action for a mass peaceful rally tomorrow (23 September 2010) in Wamena.

(This is a violation of the rights to free and peaceful expression)

Name of KNPB activists pre-emptively arrested:
1. Leonard Logo 23 years.
2 Edo Doga 27 years.

Both activists are currently being held in isolation in punishment cells at Jayawijaya Police HQ.

Please forward this to advocates, and also telephone the following:

  • Jayawijaya police chief, +6285254344334
  • Dandim (Military Commander) Jayawijaya +6296933005.
  • Regent of Jayawijaya district: +6296931085.
  • Polda (Police HQ) Papua +62967-521308,
  • Regional Offices Law and Human Rights in Papua Province. +6296931005.
  • Jakarta offices, Komnas HAM, +6281288899966 and +62967586112, +62213925227
  • Komnas HAM Papua +62967521592
  • Governor Bas Suebu, Papua province, +62967534395

Photos and full report to come

—  westpapuamedia.info

Information received from sources in Wamena

Today (Wednesday 22 September) at 17:00 in Wamena (Papua time), there were arrests of KNPB Wamena area activists by  Jayawijaya police, who were distributing the call to action for a mass peaceful rally tomorrow (23 September 2010) in Wamena.

(This is a violation of the rights to free and peaceful expression)

Name of KNPB activists pre-emptively arrested:
1. Leonard Logo 23 years.
2 Edo Doga 27 years.

Both activists are currently being held in isolation in punishment cells at Jayawijaya Police HQ.

Please forward this to advocates, and also telephone the following:

  • Jayawijaya police chief, +6285254344334
  • Dandim (Military Commander) Jayawijaya +6296933005.
  • Regent of Jayawijaya district: +6296931085.
  • Polda (Police HQ) Papua +62967-521308,
  • Regional Offices Law and Human Rights in Papua Province. +6296931005.
  • Jakarta offices, Komnas HAM, +6281288899966 and +62967586112, +62213925227
  • Komnas HAM Papua +62967521592
  • Governor Bas Suebu, Papua province, +62967534395

Photos and full report to come

WPNA: WEST PAPUANS WANT PAYBACK FROM THE US

MEDIA RELEASE:  WEST PAPUA NATIONAL AUTHORITY, 22 Sept 2010

WEST PAPUANS WANT PAYBACK FROM THE US

Today there are rallies at US Embassies in West Papua, Jakarta, Melbourne and Perth, reminding US Senators in a Congressional Hearing in Washington of Indonesia’s atrocious human rights record in West Papua and the republic’s dismal effort to decentralize, demilitarize or democratize.

West Papuan lawyer, Edison Waromi, who is President of the West Papua National Authority, arrived in Washington this morning to attend the Congressional hearing.

“We West Papuans have a lot of history with the United States” he said. “General MacArthur’s children might not know their father dropped us two thousand guns to fight the Japanese during World War 2. John Kennedy’s children probably don’t want to know their father called us ‘just 700,000 cannibals’ as he artfully bullied the Dutch into relinquishing its colony to the Indonesians. I would of course remind Ellsworth Bunker’s children that their father was the architect of the New York Agreement that enslaved us to the Indonesians. And then there’s Mr Kissinger and the whole Freeport mine business”.

The West Papua National Authority/West Papua National Consensus is in Washington to advise American politicians to support

(1)     The re-insertion of West Papua on the UN Decolonization List

(2)    West Papuans’ inalienable right to self-determination in terms of the recent ICJ ruling on Kosovo

(3)    An international fact-finding and peace-keeping mission to West Papua immediately.

“Ultimately someone has to take responsibility for the 546,000 ‘missing’ Papuans since the beginning of the Indonesian occupation in 1962” said Mr Waromi.

LP3BH Report on Manokwari Shooting Incident

Institute of Research, Analysis and Development for Legal Aid

(LP3BH)
Jl. Gunung Salju No. 18 Fanindi (Bengkel Tan) – Manokwari, 98312
Telp/Fax : (0986) 213160; Po.Box.128 Manokwari, 98301

Report on Manokwari Shooting Incident

As a result of the gun fires shootings that were conducted by Police’s
Mobile Brigade (Brimob) Compy 3 Detachment C Manokwari, on 15 September
2010, Wednesday, 8pm (local West Papua time), at least 2 civilians died
and one woman got serious injuries with broken leg, broken pelvic bone,
and broken jaws. The incident took place in Esau Sesa Street, South
Manokwari, West Papua Province.

According to the local (witness), before the shooting incident happened
there was a traffic accident in Esau Sesa Street, a woman called
Antomina Kowi/Mandacan was hit by a motorcycle (a hired motorbike) at
around 6.30pm. The victim suffered a broken right tight bone, serious
pain on pelvic bone, and broken ribs. The motor cycle was in a high
speed from the direction of Manokwari town towards Arfai district South
of Manokwari. Post-incident, the victim’s family chased the motor’s
driver but he headed to Brimob’s headquarters. The family could not find
the driver they went back and took the victim to Manokwari Public
hospital for medical treatment.
After the incident, the residents were looking for the driver, and one
of the Brimob personnel came alone toward the mob, according to the
witness instead of calming down the people, he created tension. He was
then injured by the angry mob using the machete. Being injured the
Brimob member ran back to his HQ and contacted other Brimob members.
At around 8pm, around a dozen Brimob personnel with fully equipments
went to the crowded people and started shooting brutally against those
civilians, most of the children and adults went hide into the jungle to
avoid the angry Brimob members who seizing the area.
At around 8.20pm, the electricity went off in the whole regency for
about 10-15minutes. A resident who was in Manokwari Public hospital
said, “when the power supply went down totally, there was a car came to
the hospital and drop something, and they took it to the emergency room,
all windows and door were locked by the medical workers, only one
spotlight that lighted up inside the room.
Minutes later, it was heard that there was a death body inside the
emergency room in that hospital. Since the night time to the morning,
Thursday 16 September 2010, there was no relative of the death person
came to the hospital. Around 9am, some of the families came to the
hospital stayed outside the morgue. The dead body then was known as
Naftali Kwan the priest of GPKAI (Christian Fellowship Bible Church of
Indonesia) in Manokwari hinterland.
Around 09.30, the locals found another dead body on the edge of abyss.
The victim was known as Septinus Kwan, male, about 30years old, farmer.
In the same time, another victim a woman was called Arfonika Kwan was
found dying in critical condition in the abyss. She is the wife of the
dead victim Naftali Kwan. The victim was rushed to the public hospital,
she suffered of broken leg, broken jaws, broken pelvic bone. According
to a local, the victim was trying to avoid the angry Brimob and fell
down into the abyss.
At around 10.30am, there was a mass paraded and carried the dead body of
Septinus Kwan toward Manokwari Regent’s office. The mass have 3 demands:
First, Rp30millions compensation to the victims’ families, second that
all Brimob [the National Police’s Mobile Brigade] officers be pulled out
of Manokwari. Third, the land used to built the Brimob’s HQ will be
drawn back as the property of the indigenous people.
Thursday 11am, Manokwari ton became tense, all shops, office buildings,
schools and markets closed. The road was so quite only the sound of
machine guns were heard and a rumor was spread throughout sms/mobile
phones among the residents that there will be a nigh attack, but it was
not existed.

Information and Documention
LP3BH MANOKWARI
Simon LP3BH Manokwari

(Translated by Paula Makabory)

Copy of report with pictures is available at

https://ipahr.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/west-papua-human-rights-report-on-shooting-by-police/

AWPA (Sydney) Urges Moratorium on Australian aid to Detachment 88 torturers

Australia West Papua Association, Sydney
PO Box 28, Spit Junction, Sydney, Australia 2088

The Hon Julia Gillard MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
Canberra
ACT 2600

15  September 2010

Dear Prime Minister,

On behalf of the Australia West Papua Association  (AWPA),  I am writing to you concerning the recent media reports about the torture of activists in Maluku by members of the Indonesian counter-terrorism unit Detachment 88. Detachment 88 also operates in West Papua where they have  also  been accused of human rights abuses. In December 2009  the West Papuan  leader Kelly Kwalik who was of great symbolic importance  to the West Papuan people was killed  by the Indonesian security forces  which included members of  Detachment 88.  We will not go into great detail of the human rights abuses committed by this unit and that of the other Indonesian Special Forces unit,  Kopassus.  These human rights abuses have been documented in numerous reports and the activities of the Indonesian security forces  are well know to the Australian people from their past history in East Timor, Aceh and the ongoing abuses in West Papua.  A recent Human Rights Watch report titled “What Did I Do Wrong?” Papuans in Merauke Face Abuses by Indonesian Special Forces,”  documents a number of cases of West Papuans who were tortured by Kopassus troops.
AWPA and other civil society organisations have written regularly to Australian Governments over many years about our ties with the Indonesian military. We have raised concerns that any aid or training given to the military would be used against the West Papuan people who are struggling for their right to self-determination.

Many of the NGO submissions to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) concerning  the Lombok treaty, also raised  concerns about the past history of  the Indonesian military’s treatment of civilian populations.  Unfortunately these concerns have proven yet again justified in the case of the treatment of activists in West Papua and Maluku.

During the occupation of East Timor by Indonesia, the Australian Government appeared to believe that by continuing ties with the Indonesian military that  the professionalism of the Australian military would  rub off on the Indonesian military.  However, this  proved to be wishful thinking and a complete failure  as  was shown  by the behavior of the Indonesian military at the time of the referendum in East Timor. It is also a failure now.  To quote from the Human Rights Watch Report  “The cases in this report illustrate how violence thrives when a culture of impunity persists in  the heart of what is supposed to be one of Indonesia’s best trained fighting units”.

AWPA is urging you to put a moratorium on the training, funding and any ties between  the Australian military,  Detachment 88 and the special forces unit  Kopassus, until a full inquiry is held into the activities of these units in relation to  human rights abuses in the archipelago.

Yours sincerely
Joe Collins
Secretary
AWPA (Sydney)

CC The Hon Kevin Rudd MP
Minister for Foreign Affairs
The Hon Stephen Smith MP
Minister for Defence
Various human rights organisations

SMH: Activist's death blamed on anti-terrorism squad 'abuses'

Activist’s death blamed on

anti-terrorism squad ‘abuses’

Yusuf Sipakoly ... ‘I have rights to express my opinion.’Yusuf Sipakoly … ‘I have rights to express my opinion.’

JAKARTA: In his last interview, the Malukan political prisoner Yusuf Sipakoly, said: ”I believe the truth will surely arrive, although it walks slowly.”

Mr Sipakoly, who died on Monday, was one of many activists in the eastern Indonesian province to allege gross human rights abuses by Detachment 88, the Indonesian anti-terrorism unit partly funded by Australia.

Sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2007 for possessing a small separatist flag, the Herald spoke to him less than two weeks ago while he was in an Ambon hospital hooked to a dialysis machine.

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”I was tied with nylon [by the Detachment 88 officers] and my head was covered with a bucket,” he said. ”Then they started beating me until I urinated in my underwear …

”Another police officer, not Detachment 88, hit me with a wooden block while another officer hit me all over my body.”

Mr Sipakoly also alleged he was forced to drink hot water infused with carbon paper.

The 52-year-old father’s subsequent kidney and stomach ailments were a result of the mistreatment, he said.

”I didn’t commit subversion; I never carried gun and pointed it at anyone or anything; I never launched any violent attack against the state, but I only wanted to prove that I have rights to express my opinion.”

Although no action was ever taken against those who allegedly beat him, Mr Sipakoly was among 70 people interrogated in 2007 and given long prison sentences.

Another dozen men were arrested last month for planning a peaceful protest and alleged similar abuses.

Yesterday the Indonesian police chief, Bambang Hendraso Danuri, confirmed police would investigate the new claims of torture, highlighted in a Herald investigation this week.

A prominent human rights lawyer, Johnson Panjaitan, said that despite several attempts to raise the alleged abuses with Indonesian authorities, this was the first time they had agreed to launch an investigation into the alleged abuses.

But he said the exercise was pointless unless the investigation was independent and undertaken by the Indonesian government’s human rights and police watchdogs.

“This is an important case,” Mr Panjaitan said.

However, Indonesia’s Co-ordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security, Djoko Suyanto, said he doubted the claims were true.

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