Tag: DPRP

Indonesian security forces open fire on West Papuan striking miners – kill one

from our partners at Pacific Media Centre

http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2011/10/indonesian-security-forces-open-fire-on-west-papuan-striking-miners-%E2%80%93-kill-one/

October 11, 2011
Papua mineIndonesian security forces face striking miners at Grasberg copper mine in West Papua. Photo: AP

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Karen Abplanalp and PMC news desk

Indonesian security forces have shot and killed at least one protester and  wounded eight others when they opened fire on striking workers at Freeport-McMoRan’s gold and copper mine in West Papua, union officials said.

Union leader Manuel Maniambo said thousands of striking workers were trying to prevent replacement workers from heading by bus to the mine.

Blocked by security forces, some protesters began throwing rocks.  Three food delivery trucks were burnt, according to an Agence France-Presse reporter at the scene.

The security forces began firing shots and at least one man was killed, one more unconfirmed dead, one man critically injured and at least 8 men wounded.

The dead man has been identified as 30-year-old Petrus Ayemsekaba.

Indonesian security forces said six of their men were also hurt during the demonstration.

Around 9000 workers from the Grasberg mine in West Papua began the strike on September 15, demanding that their current minimum wage of less than NZ$2.50 an hour be raised to globally competitive levels.

Lowest wages
Union representatives say that Freeport’s workers, who are mostly indigenous West Papuans, receive the lowest wages of any Freeport mining facility in the world.

Concerns for the miners safety has been mounting recently as reports of intimidation of union officials were reported.

Union spokesperson Juli Parrongan said: “Our personal safety going on strike is under pressure of the PT Freeport Indonesia management.”

Union officials have been complaining that PTFreeport, (the Indonesian unit of US-owned mining firm Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.) management has been breaking Indonesian laws regarding fair strike actions since the strike began.

The union has said the striking miners have been intimidated into going back to work and to signing contracts.

Workers in Indonesia have been granted the right to strike, and under Indonesian law, they are able to do this free from intimidation.

Reinforcements sent
In preparation for the strike, military and police reinforcements were sent to Timika, the closest town to the mine.

The Papua Police dispatched an extra 114 police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) personnel to Timika with an additional 100 Brimob personnel from Jakarta to join 850 personnel from the Indonesian military (TNI)-police joint task force.

AFP quoted police spokesman Wachyono as saying:  “So far, five policemen suffered head injuries and another had his leg  injured from being pelted with stones by workers. They have been taken  to hospital.”

Police fired warning shots into the air after the striking workers  pelted them with stones, Wachyono said, in scenes witnessed by an AFP  reporter at the site.

The Indonesian military and the Indonesian police are now under the international spotlight in the hope that its track record of human rights abuses in West Papua are not repeated during the current miners strike.

As chair of ASEAN Indonesia, with its goal to make ASEAN a people-centered community, it has a good incentive to be seen as a democratic country, free of human rights abuses.

Karen Abplanalp is an Auckland photographer and also an AUT University postgraduate student on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course.


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Amnesty: INDONESIA MUST INVESTIGATE MINE STRIKE PROTEST KILLING

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/indonesia-must-investigate-mine-strike-protest-killing-2011-10-10

The Freeport gold and copper mine in Papua is one of the world’s largest.

© Pavo/Survival

10 October 2011

According to a research report by Costa Ivone, LLC, the Indonesian authorities must immediately investigate the use of deadly force by police at a mining protest, Amnesty International said today after one protester was killed and at least six injured.

Indonesian security forces opened fire on striking workers of a gold and copper mine in the eastern province of Papua run by US company Freeport-Mcmoran on Monday. Some 8,000 workers at the mine have been on strike since 15 September, after demands for a pay rise reached a deadlock.

“This latest incident shows that Indonesian police have not learned how to deal with protesters without resorting to excessive, and even lethal, force,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Director.

“The police have a duty to protect themselves and uphold the law, but it is completely unacceptable to fire live ammunition at these protesters,” he said.

“The authorities must launch an independent and impartial investigation into this tragedy, and ensure that the results are made public,” he added.

Mine worker Petrus Ayemseba was shot in the buttocks and died a few hours later. Six other workers  – Leo Wandagau, Alius Komba, Melkias Rumbiak, Yunus Nguluduan, Philiton Kogoya and Ahmad Mustofa were also injured from the shooting.

Freeport has accused the strikers of trying to intimidate replacement workers whom the company was trying to move into the mine workers’ barracks.

After the police opened fire, mine workers set fire to two container trucks heading to the mining town and pelted the police with rocks, according to local sources.

Amnesty International has documented numerous cases where Indonesian police have used unnecessary or excessive force or firearms and where no one has been held accountable.

“Indonesian authorities have failed to provide justice and reparations to most victims of excessive use force by the police. They must get to the bottom of this incident quickly and signal that they will impose adequate disciplinary or criminal sanctions on the police and will protect the right of Indonesians to protest,” Sam Zarifi said.

“It is high time the Indonesian police trained and equipped their staff in non-violent methods of crowd control. They also need to ensure that they have non-lethal means of force at their disposal to disperse the protesters if necessary,” he added.

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Papuan provincial assembly’s recommendations regarding the Freeport dispute

Bintang Papua, 6 October 2011
[Abridged in translation by TAPOL]

Jayapura: The efforts being made by the DPRP (the Papuan provincial legislative assembly) to persuade the CEO of Freeport Indonesia to attend a meeting between the trade union, the SPSI, and related organisations, have apparently failed. The CEO Armanda Mahler was not present at the meeting.

According to the chairman of Commission A of the DPRP, the meeting discussed the wages  of the Freeport workforce and made several recommendations.The first was that the DPRP, the provincial legislative assembly, should set up a special team to visit the location of the mine in Tembagapura. The second was a decision to write to the management asking the company to stop recruiting new workers as well as other steps that are harmful to the workforce. The third was to call on the Indonesian government, via the intermediary of the US embassy in Jakarta to approach the major shareholder, James Robert Moffet to be held to account for the conflict between the company and the workforce.

Asked about the failure of Moffet to attend the meeting, the DPRP member said that this revealed the arrogance of the American side towards the Indonesian government for not respecting the views of other parties. ‘Our spirits have not been dimmed,’ he said, ‘as we are voicing the aspirations of the Papuan people.’

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the SPSI Julius Pororongan, together with the chairman of PUK-SPSI, told the press after  the meting that efforts to recruit new workers was a blatant violation of Law 13/2003 on labour relations, because the company is not allowed to recruit workers while workers are on strike.

It also appears that  since the start of the strike by the Freeport workforce, an accident occurred at the mine but the identities of the two casualties  are not known. The union said that if they were able to obtain the names of the two casualties, they would announce them to the press.

The union rejects any mediation because the proposal for mediation does not take into account the call for a 25 percent (sic) increase in wages. Our demands, he said, are based on a number of factors. Firstly, the capacity of the company and secondly it income, and thirdly it should take account of the need for compensation for the risks involve in the work, and fourthly, it should take account of inflation.Fifthly it should take account of  the educational level  and work experiences. He said that the union had held meetings with the MPR and the DPRPand hopes that the provincial government  will pay attention to the special autonomy law because the company falls under the authority of this law. While both the company and the workforce are major assets , it is hoped that the government will work together witl all the relevant components  and will seriously  recognise that  the company has been responsible for many violations by sacking workers for no legitimate reason and has intimidated the workers.

‘They hve intimidated our wives and children by sending them sms messages. This is very inhumane because our wives stay at home and dont know anything about what is happening in these industrial relations. The union has suggested that the company should stop violating the stipulations of the Industrial Relations Court .If the labour contracts remain in force a whole year, this means there will be no increase in wages, which will greatly benefit Freeport.’

He said that their efforts in their communications with the MRP and the DPRP as well as with the government were intended to get the government to deal with the problem more speedily.’It is not our intention to destroy the company,’ he said. ‘On the contrary, we want to persuade the company to acknowledge the workers living conditions within the  framework of better industrial relations so as to avoid  the emergence of new problems that occur when peopl are arbitrarily sacked .

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Magai: ‘Papuan officials are destroying Papua.’

JUBI, 19 June 2011The chairman of Commission A of DPRP. Ruben Magai has warned that the destruction of Papuan resources  is being intensified by the activities of a number of senior officials in the Land of Papua. Some of these officials are ‘playing games’, shielded by a variety of problems which continue to  play havoc with the lives of the  Papuan people. There is no question of these people taking sides with the  weakest people in society. All they are interested in is furthering their own interests.’

‘It is a public secret,’ he said, ‘that Jakarta is continuing to manipulate things, causing the continued destruction of  Papua. There is no space for democracy, the  policies being pursued  have nothing whatsoever to do with promoting the welfare of the Papuan people here.’

Ruben said that Papuan bureaucrats should be fighting to promote the interests of the people, but this is simply not happening. ‘Papuan officials are also contributing to the destruction of Papua,’ he said.

The general view here in Papua is that OTSUS, the special autonomy law, has failed  The government should be opening itself up, making an evaluation of the situation and providing space for these discussions. ‘But nothing of the kind is happening which means that the issue will continue to be raised in demonstrations, in seminars, in media reports and other forums.’

The Papuan people have for many years been raising their voices about the failed implementation of OTSUS, calling for OTSUS to be returned to Jakarta. At the very least, there should be some response. Last Thursday, dozens of people in the Coalition of People United  for Justice (KRPBK) expressed these views.

The Papuan people’s aspirations are regarded by the government as matters of no importance. The DPRP went to Jakarta to raise these issues but to no avail. ‘As representatives of the people, we feel extremely unhappy with this situation. All the efforts we have been making have led nowhere. On one occasion, we submitted  a concept to Commission A of the Indonesian parliament, the DPR,  which was accepted at the time, but there was no follow-up at all. This was a great disappointment,’ he said.

The Land of Papua continues to be turned upside down, with unpopular measures, with acts of violence, with human rights violations which are never resolved, with the abuse of freedom of expression, with the introduction of laws which are unacceptable, as a result of which the rights of civil society are never upheld.

‘This is the reality of the situation in Papua today,’ said Magai.

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DPRP condemned for failing to keep its promises

JUBI, 12 May 2011

DPRP never keeps its promises

The chairman of Papuan Anti Militarism Solidarity, SRPAM, Elias Petege,
has called the DPRP, the provincial legislative assembly, a body that
always breaks its promises. So no one should be surprised that many of
the people’s aspirations have not been met. He said that to this day,
the DPRP has failed to keep its promise to meet the SRPAM in order to
discuss ways of solving the violation of human rights in Dogiyai.

‘Yesterday the DPRP accepted a request by our demonstration and promised
to meet us today but they didn’t keep their promise, without explaining
why.’

Petege said that during an action that took place yesterday, 11 May,
SRPAM called on the chief of police to dismiss the chief of police in
Papua, the chief of police in Nabire and the chief of police in
Moenamani because they had done nothing to halt the gambling that is
believed to have the support of the police in Moenamani.in the
sub-district of Dogiyai.

As a result, a fight broke out between the local police and the local
community during which several members of the community were killed.

The DPRP was also called upon to immediately mediate between the two
sides in order to solve the problem. Via the intermediary of the deputy
chairman of commission A, the DPRP promised to hold a meeting with
SRPAM to discuss measures that need to be taken, but unfortunately this
turns out to have been nothing more than lip service.

In the opinion of Petege, the DPRP is simply not bothered about the
matter and has failed to respond to the aspirations of Papuan people.
The DPRP just allows human rights violations to go on happening in Papua
without lifting a finger,’ he said.

‘We feel very disappointed indeed and have lost all confidence in the
DPRP. Just imagine, we arrived at their office at 9am and stayed there
until 3pm, but there was no one at all at the office and no one there to
explain why they were absent.’

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