Tag: Detachment 88

Papuans allege Australian trained D88 personnel shot dead Mako Tabuni

Breaking News

West Papua Media

 21:00 (WPB) 14 June 2012

As tensions across West Papua ratchet up in the wake of the execution of KNPB leader Mako Tabuni, senior Papuan leaders accuse Australian and U.S trained Detachment 88 of being behind the slaying.

Domi Surabut, a senior Papuan Tribal Council leader from the Central Highlands sent West Papua Media the following message by sms at 21:35 tonight (AEST): “Mako Musa Tabuni was shot dead by Densus 88 with three bullets. Twice in the thigh and once in the stomach. His corpse is still being held at the Bhayangkara Police Hospital. His death will cause blood to flow. Please pray and urge peaceful intervention in Papua.”

As of 21:30 tonight the Indonesian police are still refusing to release his body to Tabuni’s family saying that they will bury him themselves.

As outrage builds church, tribal and independence leaders from the nonviolent movement are urging their followers to maintain discipline fearing that a violent reaction will give the TNI and Indonesian police all the justification they need to crush the independence movement.

In a text circulating around activist circles Selphius Bobii, a political prisoner writes “The killing of Tabuni is part of a scenario to destroy the Papuan struggle’s commitment to a peaceful path and push Papuans towards violence. So let’s control ourselves. Don’t get caught in this scenario which will only weaken our peaceful struggle that right now is echoing across our country and up to the UN.”

As armoured personnel carriers, water cannons and heavily armed troops position themselves around the streets of Jayapura tonight that commitment will be sorely tested.

WPM 22:00 (AEST) 14 June 2012

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Papua could soon become an Emergency Zone

Bintang Papua,
13 June 2012

Leaders of two of the main churches in Papua, the Kingmi Church and the Alliance of Baptist Churches in Papua, say that many of their church members are now afraid to leave their homes in the evening.

The chairman of the Baptist Alliance, the Revd Socratez Sofyan Yoman said that the efforts by the Papuan people to transform West Papua into a zone of peace are being obstructed by certain forces. The recent series of shootings is turning Papua into an Emergency Zone.

According to the Rev. Socrates, the core of the conflict in Papua is greed on the part of those who violate human rights.  The Indonesian government is dealing with the situation in Papua by strengthening the repressive security forces, the TNI and the police, while  paying no attention  to the health and educational needs of the Papuan people.

‘The government  continues to split the province up into more districts in order to be able to increase the number of the security forces,’ he said.

The actions of the government could result in the emergence of youth groups who will fight for the aspirations of the Papuan people by peaceful means. Rev Socrates urged the Indonesian government to enter into discussions as soon as possible with  representatives of the Papuan people in order to create a permanent state of  peace in Papua as a way of reducing the the process of radicalisation of the young people which is further promoted by acts of violence and the neglect of human rights abuses.

He also called  upon the international human rights institution of the United Nations  to do what it can to help reduce the crimes being committed in Papua. He called upon his own congregation to remain vigilant and do everything they can to preserve an atmosphere of peace and prevent the actions of those who  are trying to make the conditions worse.

The Rev. Benny Giay said that the people live in a sate of fear because of the situation in Jayapura that has developed in the past two months and said that the there is no end to the shootings even though the city of Jayapura is more controllable than mountainous regions such as Puncak Jaya  and Timika

With regard to the recent statement by the chief of the intelligence agency BIN that the people doing the shooting have come from the mountains, the Rev. Giay said that the BIN agency chief should take action to arrest the people responsible for the shooting instead of raising new issues which do nothing help to clarify the situation.

He also said that the  policies being pursued by the government such as setting up the UP4B (development unit) are not rooted among the Papuan people. ‘The Papuan people  cannot understand the policies that the govrnment is pursuing. The central and provincial governments should respond to what the Papuan people have been yearning for for years. ‘Only the Papuan people can know what conditions are necessary for the sustenance of their lives.

[Translated by TAPOL]

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KNPB leader Mako Tabuni shot dead by Aust-funded Indonesian Detachment 88 troops; riots in Jayapura

Breaking News
West Papua Media

June 14, 2012

Angry scenes have reportedly erupted in Jayapura and across West Papua after officers from the Australian- funded and trained Detachment 88 counter-terror troops shot dead the secretary-general of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), Mako Tabuni, during a botched arrest attempt while he was chewing betel nut at a kiosk in Abepura, West Papua early on Thursday morning.

According to credible independent church human rights sources in Jayapura that spoke to witnesses in Waena, Mako Tabuni was shot and wounded by heavily armed Indonesian police as they stormed

image
Mako Tabuni as he lie dying in Jayapura (KNPB/ westpapuamedia)

the area outside the student dormitories at the Cenderawasih University Abepura.

Mako Tabuni.

Senior members of KNPB have told West Papua Media that Tabuni had been walking with friends to buy and eat Betel Nut from a kiosk near the university.  After he separated from his friends, they heard gunshots. and  they saw a white Avanza car drive up and ambush Tabuni, according to his friends.  Tabuni was shot at least six times, according to both witnesses and journalists in Jayapura.

image
Mako Tabuni as he lie dying in Jayapura (KNPB/ westpapuamedia)

Police took Tabuni to the police hospital in Jayapura, where he reportedly died from his wounds soon after arrival.  The Kapolres (police chief) has told media outlets including West Papua Media via SMS that Tabuni was killed because he resisted arrest and attempted to seize the weapons from the Detachment 88 troops.   According to the It has been confirmed independently that the Australian-funded and trained Detachment 88 troops were in command of the arrest operation.  Tabuni was unarmed at the time of his arrest, which is a violation of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.

KNPB contacts report that a combined team of military and POLRI, BRIMOB, Detachment 88, and Intelligence officers are raiding dormitories of Papuan students in Abepura, chiefly those of highland origin students who are the traditional support base of the KNPB.    In this sweep, security forces have confiscated books, bags, clothing, computers, phones, and cameras.  Security forces are also conducting searches across Abepura, Jayapura, Kotaraja, Waena, Sentani and several other places.  Many students have been severely beaten and arrested in dormitories in Waena and Asrama by over six companies of Indonesian army (TNI) and Police. KNPB sources have expressed fear that the students, already beaten severely and taken to Rusunawa police centre, will be tortured and possibly killed by occupation forces.

Supporters of Tabuni have reacted angrily and have taken to the streets and are allegedly burning houses belonging to military and police in the Ruko, Waena and Abepura areas, in an eerie reversal of the June 4 rampage by Indonesian soldiers in Wamena.

Security forces are reportedly on the streets with orders to shoot rioters dead on sight, and the situation is described as extremely tense.  It is not clear if those who have caused property damage are in fact  members of the pro-independence movement, or are undercover Indonesian intelligence officers.

A senior highland human rights activist in Jayapura, whom West Papua Media cannot identify for safety reasons, told West Papua Media that the entire Papuan population is living in a state of constant trauma and fear due to the escalation of Indonesian repression.

“Pro-Independence activists and Papua human rights workers have become the operating target of the (ongoing)shootings, not to mention all the KNPB activists the security apparatus are seeking,” said the source.

“Finally, I spoke with three of our members hiding in the suburbs.  If the Indonesian security forces are still after us, then they would not want or like it if we had entered the woods and hid,” he said.

” To step into the forest is for avoiding premature death.”

Papuan activists are calling for urgent international attention to the rapidly deteriorating humans rights crisis in West Papua.  A senior KNPB activist has begged: “In this case our nation is pleading for UN Intervention to be done now, because Indonesia is planning to kill all us Papuans.”

More to come

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District chief criticises brutal actions by soldiers

JUBI, 6 June 2012

The bupati  (head) of the district of Jayawijaya, Jhon Wempi Wetipo, has expressed his deepest regret  at brutal actions taken by members of the 736 Wamena battalion  who went on the rampage, damaging a number of government facilities, following the death of a soldier who had been set upon by local people.

He said that the correct way to respond to the attack of one of their colleagues  was to hand the case over to the police for the matter to be handled in accordance with the law.

‘I very much regret what happened in Honai Lama, seeing it spread to the city. Facilities that have been built by the government should be guarded by forces of the state, not destroyed,’ he said.

‘What is the purpose of such actions? It means just destroying things that have been built with money from the people’.

He said that the various government authorities  in the district  will hold a meeting to discuss what needs to be done in this matter. The facilities that were destroyed included some offices and a shopping mall that had only just been built.

He said that the attacks on members of the security forces  had occurred after local people were infuriated because two men on a motorbike knocked down  a young child.

One of the soldiers who was attacked has since died  after a stab pierced his heart. The other soldier is in a critical condition afer been stabbed in the chest.

Following the atack on the soldiers,  dozens of their colleagues went on the rampage in the town of Wamena and the situation became uncontrollable. ‘Even the police were unable to do anything.’

[Translated by TAPOL]

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BREAKING NEWS: INDONESIAN ARMY ON BRUTAL RAMPAGE ACROSS WAMENA AFTER SOLDIERS KILLED FOR KILLING BOY IN CAR ACCIDENT

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6 2012,   (2230 WEST PAPUA TIME)

BY WEST PAPUA MEDIA WITH LOCAL SOURCES.

CURRENT DEVELOPING SITUATION: CREDIBLE AND CONFIRMED REPORTS ARE EMERGING FROM WAMENA DETAILING RAMPAGE BY INDONESIAN TROOPS FROM KOSTRAD BATTALION 756; 

Summary:

  • Two members of Indonesian army battalion 756 kill small Papuan boy in car accident;
  • Local residents attack soldiers for killing child, kill two soldiers;
  • TNI and Police are now setting fire to houses, shops and kiosks;
  • Reports of indiscriminate firing and major casualties; 
  • Major exodus as thousands of residents flee Wamena;
  • Local human rights workers fear repeat of Bloody Wamena 2000;
  • Australian supported Detachment 88 unit allegedly involved in rampage.


A bloody and brutal rampage by Indonesian security forces is currently underway in Wamena, in the Baliem Valley of West Papua, after two soldiers were killed for running down a small boy in Wamena on Wednesday afternoon.

At time of writing, up to 500 houses have allegedly been set alight by soldiers from Battalion 756 Mim Anesili Wamena, and kiosks and shops have been hit with flamethrowers in the suburbs of Honailama and Sinakma. Live ammunition is being fired indiscriminately according to local human rights sources, who claim that “scores” of people have been brutally beaten and shot by rampaging soldiers. Exact casualty figures have not been able to be confirmed, however unconfirmed claims are circulating that 13 people have been shot dead so far.

Unverified photo claimed to be of Indonesian Brimob police and Australian-supported Detachment 88 counter-terror patrol outside Honailama after the first shootings by rampaging TNI battalion 756 soldiers. June 6, 2012. (West Papua Media local source)

The situation unfolded on Wednesday afternoon in the outlying village of Honailama when two members of Kostrad (Strategic Reserve) battalion 756, identified as Pratu Ahmad Saifudin and Pratu Ahmad Saelan, were driving a car at speed through Honailama, and hit a young boy (as yet unidentified) who was playing at the roadside. The soldiers were alleged to have been careless, and enraged villagers – including clan members of the boy – dragged the soldiers from the car and beat them to death.

Upon hearing of the beatings, the entire army battalion (1500 combat troops) was mobilised onto the streets of Wamena, and according to witnesses, have opened fire indiscriminately at any Papuan person. The battalion is also being supported in a search and cordon operation by the entire Wamena Brimob police commando battalion, and also officers from the Australian-trained and funded Detachment 88 counter-terrorist group. All elements of the Indonesian security forces present in Wamena are participating in the rampage operation, amid unconfirmed reports of hundreds of arrests.
Local sources are reporting that the carnage is so intense that smoke is filling the entire Baliem Valley and covering the town.

A witness has spoken to the West Papua Media team and confirmed the situation in Wamena. “It happened in front of my house in the compound I live. Soldiers have shot and hit people. The army beat innocent people who know nothing and did not understand why. This is really a violation of human rights. My house was stoned and the glass window was shattered into pieces,” the witness, who asked not to be named, told West Papua Media via SMS.

Human Rights sources in Wamena are saying that local people are terrified that the Indonesian army actions look like they will eclipse the “Bloody Wamena” incident of 6 October 2000. That incident saw hundreds of people wounded and at least 38 people shot dead or dying from injuries inflicted by Indonesian torture in the aftermath of a flag-raising incident.
According to Sebby Sambon, a Wamena-native human rights worker said, “Some friends called me a few hours ago top say that the TNI and POLRI are shooting local peoples in every place in the town of Wamena. Some Papuans civilians (have been) killed by TNI and POLRI two hours ago (about 7pm Wamena time – WPM). We hope UN and all UN member states keep their attention on the situation. “
Sambon also said that TNI and POLRI forces are also burning local houses both in and outside the town of Wamena.
This is a developing situation – please stay tuned to West Papua Media newswire.

Media note: Photos and video of this ongoing situation are currently being sourced, and West Papua Media will upload links for general distribution, on condition of credit to West Papua Media, when it becomes available. Donations to cover costs would be appreciated if broadcast.

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