Tag: DAP

DAP: Papua on the brink of genocide

JUBI, 4 March 2011

The chairman of DAP, the Papuan Traditional Council, Forkorus
Yaboisembut, is reported as saying that the process of elimination of
the Melanesian Race which is currently turning the indigenous Papua
people into a minority in their own homeland does not yet fall within
the definition of genocide. But it is the intention of the Indonesian
State to bring the indigenous Papuan People to the brink of genocide.

‘It cannot be said that, according to the definition of genocide, that
is what is happening, but the situation is moving in that direction,’ he
said.

He said that the growth in the indigenous population has not increased
at all, as compared with what has been happening in Papua New Guinea.

‘At the time of Papua’s integration into the Republic of Indonesia, the
indigenous population (Orang Asli Papua or OAP) numbered around 800,000, whereas in PNG it was 900,000.’

Since then, the population of PNG has increased to 7.7 million or more,
which is out of all comparison with the growth of the OAP who now number 1.8 million. If there had been no discriminatory measures against the OAP, this would have grown to 6 million. This lower growth is partly also due to several government programmes, such as the Family Planning Programme and the transmigration programme. Added to this is is spread of HIV/AIDS which is undermining the growth potential of indigenous Papuans.

On top of all that, he said, from 1969 until the fall of Suharto in
1998, Papua was a Military Operations Zone (DOM). And now what it
happening is the continual violation of human rights.

He accused the Central Statitics Bureau (BPS) of publishing data that
does not conform with the reality in Papua. He said that this data
serves the interests of the Indonesian state while victimising the OAP.

‘The BPS ‘s intention is to show that there is no such thing as genocide occurring in Papua, They have even been claiming that the indigenous Papuans still comprise the majority in this part of the country.

He also referred to the UN Convention on Genocide which defines genocide as the intentional, systematic elimination of an ethnic group

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DAP: Transmigration harmful to local people

JUBI,16 February 2011

Responding to a report that the government plans to send more
transmigrants to Papua, the chairman of DAP, Dewan Adat Papua, Forkorus Yoboisembut said this was a serious matter because it would turn the Papuan people into a minority, as well as triggering conflict.

‘As the representative of the adat (traditional) people in Papua, I
reject the transmigration programme which fails to safeguard the
position of the local people,’ he said. It is reported that the government has allocated Rp 600 billion to pay for the transmigration of people from Indonesia to a number of places in Indonesia regarded as being ‘under-populated’, including Papua.

‘I hope the central government will consider this matter carefully
because the transmigration programme to Papua has already resulted in the marginalisation of the indigenous people at a time when a lot of
development work is going on.’

Forkorus said that the location of transmigrants in many places in
Papua has made it difficult for the local communities to preserve
their own culture and lifestyles. Development of more luxurious
lifestyles intensifies the marginalisation of the little folk. In addition, with the government’s attention being focused on the transmigrants, feelings of envy emerge because the local people do not get the same degree of attention.

He also said that the transmigration programme under way in Papua
undermines Papuans’ sense of being masters in their own homeland because the vast majority of those now running the economy are non-Papuans. Papuans are not yet able to compete with the newcomers in economic affairs and this is something the government needs to give serious attention to.

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Statement from Forkorus Yaboisembut, Chair of the Papuan Customary Council to West Papua Media Alerts by sms on 12 January 2011:

Statement from Forkorus Yaboisembut, Chair of the Papuan Customary Council to West Papua Media Alerts by sms on 12 January 2011:

“Problems of mutual suspicion between families [created as a result of reports of a plan to kill Forkorus Yaboisembut] have been resolved peacefully.

Whether the security forces are involved in plots to kill me or not remains to be seen.”

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DAP leader rejects police moves to question him

Bintang Papua, 11 January 2011

Forkorus Yaboisembut, the chairman of the Papuan Indigenous Council, DAP
has reported that two members of the police force came to visit him at
2pm the previous day, saying that they wanted to take him to Jayapura
police headquarters to question him about a case of bribery in
connection with attempts to kill him some time ago.

Speaking by phone to Bintang Papua, Forkorus said that he was confused
by the police officers’ visit because, according to him, the case they
wished to discuss had been resolved in a collegial fashion within the
kampung. He said that there had been some misunderstandings between
himself and some of his grandchildren but the matter had been resolved
peacefully in November 2010. If the police now intend to investigate the
matter, this would be quite wrong because the matter had already been
resolved within the family.

‘There is no need for the police to investigate the matter,’ said
Forkorus, ‘because I have already told the media that the matter has
been resolved.’ He said that the money involved had already been
returned to its rightful owners within the family. The incident had
occurred when one of his grandchildren, under the influence of drink,
had made threatening remarks against him.

The local chief of police has denied that they had made any attempt to
take Forkorus in for questioning.

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Video Testimony of Torture Victim Tunaliwor Kiwo

Video Testimony of Kiwo

(Subtitle – English)

From Dewan Adat Papua via EngageMedia.org

In this video West Papuan farmer Tunaliwor Kiwo recounts the details of his torture by Indonesian soldiers on May 30 2010. Indonesian soldiers arrested Kiwo and his neighbor Telangga Gire on May 30 in Papua’s Puncak Jaya regency. This video was shot on October 23, 2010 and released by the Papuan Customary Council. Kiwo describes the torture he suffered for 2 days before escaping from the soldiers on June 2.

 

Related content

* News Item Transcript of Kiwo’s Torture Testimony (English)
* Video Torture of Tingginambut men (Papua) – English Subtitles
* Video Video Testimony of Kiwo (Subtitle – Bahasa Indonesia)
* News Item Transcript: Tunaliwor Kiwo Testimony (Bahasa Indonesia)
* Video Kiwo Testimony, High-res, no subtitles

Full Description

After the public release of the torture video the Indonesian government promised to investigate but now claims it cannot identify the perpetrators and is dragging it’s feet on taking action.

In the 10-minute torture video previously released to the public on October 18, soldiers are seen kicking Kiwo’s face and chest, burning his face with a cigarette, applying burning wood to his penis, and placing a knife to Gire’s neck. Indonesia is party to the UN Convention Against Torture and has strict obligations to promptly investigate and prosecute all incidents of torture and to ensuire that victims and witnesses are protected against all ill-treatment or intimidation as a consequence of any complaint or evidence given.

Copyright 2009, by the Contributing Authors. Cite/attribute Resource. dewanadatpapua. (2010, November 19). Video Testimony of Kiwo (Subtitle – English). Retrieved November 23, 2010, from EngageMedia Web site: http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/dewanadatpapua/videos/kiwotestimony_en.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License

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