Tag: colonialism

Members of new MRP urged to resign

JUBI, 13 March 2011

The chairman of the West Papua Forum of Democracy (FORDEM), Salmon Yumame, has declared that the leaders of the MRP – Majelis Rakyat Papua – Papuan People’s Assembly – failed to have the courage to acknowledge to the public the mistakes made by the MRP in their commitment to the Papuan people. He accused them of being ‘banci’ or ‘perverts’ for misleading the people.

He said it was highly regrettable that the members of the MRP who had, together with the Papuan people, declared their firm rejection of the Special Autonomy Law 21/2001 which included the creation of the MRP, yet had allowed themselves to be nominated for membership of the second MRP. They had failed to have the courage to withdraw their names, so that the aspirations of the Papuan people could be comprehensively raised with the central government.

He expressed the hope that those who had already been chosen to become members of the MRP and were now waiting to be sworn in would withdraw and would, along with the Papuan people, demand that the central government respond to the eleven recommendations adopted in June 2010.

The recommendations were handed over to the Papuan Provincial
Legislative Assembly, the DPRP. He said that all the problems confronting the Papuan people were contained in those eleven
recommendations.

Salmon said that FORDEM will continue to organise peaceful actions,
press conferences and issue statements to express the aspirations of the Papuan people.

In June last year, the MRP, along with other components of the Papuan people, held a grand consultation which had resulted in the adoption of he 11 recommendations, which included calling for Freeport Indonesia to close down, for a dialogue between the Indonesian government and the Papuan people mediated by a neutral, third party, for the rejection of Special Autonomy and for a referendum.

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Papuan churches call for dialogue mediated by third party

Bintang Papua, 11 March 2011

The leaders of a number of churches in Papua have called on the central government to hold a dialogue with indigenous Papuans, stressing that it should be mediated by a neutral third party and held without conditions.

A press release issued by Rev. Benny Giay of the KINGMI Church, Rev
Socratez Sofyan Yoman of the Alliance of Baptist Churches in Papua and the deputy chairman of the GKI Synod, Drs Elly D. Doirebo said:

We church leaders in Papua hereby announce to our congregations and to the general public that we have informed the central government about our rejection of OTSUS (Special Autonomy law) for two consecutive weeks (13-18 February and 28 Feb-3 March). We need to convey a number of important facts as follows:

First, the failure of OTSUS has been acknowledged not only by the
Papuan people but also by the executive and legislature of the central
government, as well as by foreign diplomats and civil society figures
who we met in Indonesia who have been paying close attention to the
development of the Papuan people.

A number of government functionaries who we met at the centre have
blamed government leaders in the Land of Papua as being responsible for the failure of OTSUS.

We do not believe that this is true. The failure of OTSUS reflects the
lack of political will and seriousness on the part of the central
government to do anything to promote the development of the Papuan
people. We made this clear in the Theological Declaration of Papuan
Churches on 26 January 2011 when we said that the central government has failed to promote the development and welfare of the indigenous Papuan people.

Second, bearing in mind that all sides recognise that OTSUS has failed, we continue to urge the government at the centre as well as in the Land of Papua to immediately announce that the swearing in of a second-term MRP will be abandoned because it lacks aspiration and has no firm legal basis. We regard the efforts now being made by the central and regional governments to set up a second-term MRP as arrogant and as a move to force through their will which can only intensify the conflicts between the Papuan people and the Indonesian Government.

Third, we continue to be guided by the people of the Lord who continue to urge the Indonesian government to hold a dialogue with the Papuan people facilitated by a neutral third party, without conditions.

We are well aware that the government of President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono was successful in the dialogue it held with the Acehnese
people and that the same can be achieved with the Papuan people.

Dialogue is the most dignified, peaceful and democratic way which has
been widely accepted by the international community as the model for the resolution of conflicts that have occurred in other parts of the country.

Fourth, we reject the creation of UP4B, the Unit for Accelerating
Development in Papua and West Papua, as well as all talk about
‘Constructive Communications’, the aim of which is to conceal the
failure of OTSUS and to obscure the Papuan people’s demand for dialogue.

There should be prior consultation with the Papuan people about all
measures taken by the state for Papua which should be the result of
agreement between the government and the Papuan people.

Fifth, We reject all acts of intimidation and violence perpetrated by
the state in order to silence freedom of expression and democracy in the Land of Papua, such as the stabbing of the journalist Banjir Ambarita.

We therefore urge the police to carry out a thorough investigation of
that stabbing incident and to proceed with the case through legal
channels, in order to give the victim as well as the community in
general in the Land of Papua a sense of peace and justice.

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FYI Open letter to Vice -President Boediono ( who is visiting Australia) concerning human rights and political prisoners in West Papua

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
PO Box 28, Spit Junction, Sydney, Australia 2088
Ph/fax 61.2.99601698 email: bunyip@bigpond.net.au

Open letter to Vice -President Boediono

Vice -President Boediono,
C/- Indonesian Consulate
Perth , Western Australia

9 March 2011

Dear Vice -President Boediono,

On behalf of the Australia West Papua Association (Sydney), I am writing to you concerning the human rights situation in West Papua[1].

We are concerned that the human rights situation in West Papua has continued to deteriorate in the past year. One incident in particular highlighted the worsening human rights situation and that was the shocking video footage of West Papuans being tortured by Indonesian soldiers. The video showed several men in military fatigues torturing two Papuans. The soldiers in the video threaten the two men with sharp weapons and pressed a burning bamboo stick against one of the men’s genitals. The torture of the men prompted a wave of international criticism with human rights organisations around the world condemning the actions of the Indonesian military. This incident was not an isolated incident.

A number of military operation also took place in the Puncak Jaya region in the past year and these operations leave the local people traumatised and in fear for their lives. Security forces conduct regular sweeps in the area to pursue members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) and many reports have pointed out that the security forces have great difficulty distinguishing between what they term separatists and the general public. In further evidence of human rights abuses another report accused the police of burning down the village of Bigiragi in the Puncak Jaya district. The report said that 16 Mobile Brigade officers had burned the village to the ground on October 11. The report said that at least 29 homes were destroyed in the incident leaving at least 150 people homeless. In September 2010 the House of Representatives (DPR) Law Commission deputy chairman, Tjatur Sapto Edy lamented the military operations in the Puncak Jaya Regency following a report by the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM). Tjatur said there should be no more military operations and such approaches are no longer suitable in a democracy. A report by Komnas HAM’s Papua chapter revealed 29 cases of rights abuses occurred in Puncak Jaya regency from 2004-2010, including the torture and rape of villagers in March 2010 by law enforcers.

AWPA is also concerned about the large number of political prisoners in West Papua, the majority jailed merely because the were involved in peaceful demonstrations where their national flag, the Morning Star was raised.

In July 2007, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional articles 154 and 155 of Indonesia’s Criminal Code, commonly known as the “hate sowing” (Haatzai Artikelen) offenses. Articles 154 and 155 criminalized “public expression of feelings of hostility, hatred or contempt toward the government” and prohibited “the expression of such feelings or views through the public media.” These articles have been used to target activists, students, and human rights defenders to try and silence political discussion and limit free expression in Indonesia.

A series of articles from 1999 to 2002 refer to the Human Rights Bill of 1999 . The law concerning protection of human rights of political prisoners is referred to in Article 4 of Law 39 in the Indonesian Constitution in 1999. In that same Law 39 in Article 6 , paras 1 and 2 particular mention is made of protection of rights of Indigenous people, including land rights.

Republic of Indonesia legislation number 39 of 1999 concerning human rights
Article 4
The right to life, the right to not to be tortured, the right to freedom of the individual, to freedom of thought and conscience, the right not to be enslaved, the right to be acknowledged as an individual before the law, and the right not to be prosecuted retroactively under the law are human rights that cannot be diminished under any circumstances whatsoever.
Article 6
(1) In the interests of upholding human rights, the differences and needs of indigenous peoples must be taken into consideration and protected by the law, the public and the Government.
(2) The cultural identity of indigenous peoples, including indigenous land rights, must be upheld, in accordance with the development of the times.

AWPA urges the Indonesian Government to release all West Papuan political prisoners imprisoned under these laws (contrary to Indonesia’s constitution) as a sign of good faith to the West Papuan people.

Yours sincerely

Joe Collins
Secretary
AWPA (Sydney)

[1] AWPA (Sydney) uses the name “West Papua” to refer to the whole of the western half of the Island of New Guinea

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Socrates Yoman rejects govt’s move to set UP4B

JUBI, 7 March 2011

The Papuan leader, Socratez Sofyan Yoman, the leader of the Alliance of Baptist churches in Papua, is reported to have expressed his lack of
confidence in a new unit that is to be created by the government to
resolve a range of problems in Papua.

The UP4B – Unit Percepatan Pembangunan Papua dan Papua Barat (Unit to Accelerate Development in Papua and West Papua), is to be set up by the government to handle a number of political problems as well as the human rights situation in Papua.

‘We reject the UP4B because it will not solve the problems in Papua,’ he said. ‘The central government should hold a dialogue with the Papuan people, mediated by a neutral international party.’

He said that the UP4B was no different from other mechanisms that have been created by Indonesia to deal with the situation in Papua, all of which have failed. This new body is not the way to solve to the
situation in Papua and can only make things worse, he said

The problems in Papua can only be resolved by seeking to understand the roots of the problem.

‘There should be no more moves by the Indonesian State to deceive the Papuan people. The government should immediately take concrete action to deal with the roots of the conflict,’ he said.

He said that he was aware that the Indonesian government was at present working with several agencies to make preparations for the creation of the UP4B which is expected to be set up in the month of March.

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New NGO in Papua set up to scrutinise investments

JUBI, 4 March 2011

A new NGO, called Lembaga Investasi Proyek Kemanusiaan (LIPK) – the Institute for Humanitarian Investment Projects – has been set up to scrutinise all new companies intending to operate in Papua. The chairman of the NGO is Manase Ugedy Degey.

Degey said: ‘When a new company wants to come here, we will investigate the investments involved to ascertain whether they are beneficial to the people or not and whether they are beneficial to the traditional owners of the land where the company intends to operate.’

He said that the LIPK will not be political but will focus its attention
on new companies intending to invest in Papua. It will focus attention
on helping the development of the communities, he said The company’s obligation shall be regularly scrutinised on the basis of frequent investigations.

‘We will seek to make the communities a part of the policy of the
company in question. This is because many of the companies that are now operating in Papua have been very disruptive for the people.’

He said that the LIPK will work closely together with academics in order
to carry out joint investigations. ‘We intend to publicise the NGO’s
activities in tertiary institutions, in order to conduct investigations
with them.’

According to data gathered by JUBI, the LIPK will focus its attention
on companies wanting to invest in natural resources as well as companies
wanting to invest in human capacity building..This means that it will be
focusing on a wide range of investments, he said.

Companies involved in natural resources will include agriculture,
plantations, irrigation and water management, mining, marine projects,
fishing, industrial projects, and cattle breeding. ‘We will at all times
undertake our investigations on the basis of the likely benefits for the
citizens themselves.’

The LIPK was founded by notary public act in May 2005. It has been set
up in accordance with government regulation No 18/1986.

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