Tag: Forkorus Yaboisembut

Statement from 5 Makar accused at KP3 treason trial

STATEMENT BY FIVE PAPUANS WHO WENT ON TRIAL IN JAYAPURA ON 30 JANUARY 2011[This hand-written statement is signed by the five Papuans who went on trial in Jayapura on 30 January 2012, and is translated in full by
Carmel Budiardjo, TAPOL]

Fully understanding and conscious of our basic human rights as Papuans of the negroid race, part of the Melanesian race who live in the land of the country of West Papua, inheritors from our ancestors, we herewith firmly declare  that WE FIRMLY REJECT THE TREASON TRIAL AND OTHER SUCH TRIALS that has been mounted against the five of us, and we speak on behalf our colleagues and the entire nation of the Papuan people of the Nation of West Papua.

We call for an understanding of this declaration, a declaration of independence, in accordance with the principles of PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW, a law which should be lawfully accepted. And in this case, this declaration will bring us substantial  happiness if it gains the recognition of the international community.

In order to gain substantial and dignified recognition from the international community, we have requested our international team of lawyers to  notify and register  our legal status along with the question of the annexation of the TERRITORY OF THE STATE OF WEST PAPUA at the International Court, with the Secretary-General  of the United Nations, Amnesty International and all member states of the United Nations, as well as other competent authorities.

We herewith categorically state that we are not prepared to make any statements or answer any questions that are based on the laws and accusations of treason by  the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, during the current trial for treason. It is very clear indeed that this is a matter between two nations and two states, that is to say, between the Papuan nation and the Indonesian nation, between the Federal State of West Papua  and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

The following are the reasons for our rejection of the trial for treason or any such trial:

[NB: The copy of the statement which we have received jumps at this point from page 2 to page 4 which suggests that the copy we have is incomplete.]

1.    Our struggle and the struggle of those who have gone before us and the nation of West Papua  and all members of the Papuan people up to the present day is a struggle for the restoration of independence and sovereignty of the Papuan Nation as one of our most basic political rights.

2.    Bearing in mind that the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia annexed and continues to annex, the people and nation of the Papuan people since the TRIKORA command which was proclaimed by the former president of Indonesia, President Sukarno on 19 December 1961 in the city of Jogyakarta and which was followed up by  the Indonesian military, from 1962 to the present day, by a variety of measures aimed at preserving the annexation.

3.    Our struggle is not aimed as damaging or destroying any country in the world.

4.    We do not intend to damage or destroy the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

5.    We feel that our dignity has been defiled, that our basic political  rights have been violated in our country, West Papua, which we inherited from our ancestors.

6.    No one, for whatever reason, has the right to make accusations against us or to convict us in a treason trial or any such trial. This is because we have become the subjects of our own laws  as citizens of the nation and state of the Federal Republic of West Papua.

7.    Based on the values of basic human rights, of democracy and the following universal laws:

a. The  first article in the Preamble to the1945 Constitution  of the Republic of Indonesia.
b. Article15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations adopted on 10 December, 1948.
c. Article 1, para 1 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted as UN Resolution 2200 (xxi) which has been in force since 23 March 1976,.
d. The Declaration on Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in UN Resolution 1514 (xv) on 14 December 1960.
e. The basic principles of decolonisation , namely possidetis juris and the legal succession of the state to the colonial territories  of the  Dutch East Indies (Dutch Papua) since 19 October 1961.
f. ILO Convention No. 169, 1989 on the Rights of Indigenous and Tribal People.
g. The UN Declaration on the basic rights of indigenous peoples of 13 September 2007.
h. The Papuan Independence Manifesto of 19 October 1961 adopted by the Papuan National Committee.
i.  Stipulations adopted by the Grand Congress (MUBES) of the Papuan people in 2000.
j. The Eleven Recommendations of the Second  Papuan Peoples’ Congress and Indigenous Papuan People  in 2010.
k. The decisions of the Second Papuan Peoples Congress in 2000.
l.  The decisions of the Third Papuan Peoples Congress of 2011.

8.    The Statement by the Indigenous Papuan People and the Papuan people is a truth based on analytical and practical categories. The analytical category means that the indigenous P apuan people are the Papuan nation, a negroid race of the Melanesian race, located in the South Pacific. Whereas the practical category is a political statement which was enunciated in the Manifesto of Papuan Independence of the Papuan National Committee on 19 October 1961 in Hollandia, the State of West Papua.

9.     We democratically restored the independence and sovereignty of the Papuan people on 19 October 2011, at the Third Papuan Peoples  Congress with the establishment of the Federal Republic of West Papua  which was announced by the DECLARATION OF THE PAPUAN NATION IN THE STATE OF WEST PAPUA.

10.    The government of the Republic of Indonesia and the governments of all other members of the United Nations, should without discrimination recognise and respect the democratic processes of the Papuan people at the Third Papuan Peoples Congress on 19 October 2011 in the form of the Declaration of the West Papuan Nation and State.

11.     The application of the treason law against the Papuan people must be categorised as a violation of the basic and legal political rights of the Papuan nation.

We hereby call on to the Honourable Judges in this forum to annul the trial held in order to accuse us of TREASON and make similar charges against us. The solution to the independence of the Papuan nation which is our most basic political right must be sought by means of international mechanisms between the Federal Republic of West Papua and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, mediated by the United Nations.

In order to regulate the transfer  of sovereign powers from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia to the Federal Republic of West Papua, we intend to initiate a new phase of cooperation  based on the principles of democracy,  justice, peace, mutual respect and dignity. As is customary between independent and sovereign nations and states on Planet Earth.

Herewith our statement of REJECTION OF THE TRIAL BEING HELD TO ACCUSE  US OF TREASON AND SIMILAR CHARGES.

Jayapura, 30 January 2012

Signed:

1. Forkorus Yaboisembut, President of the Federal State of West Papua.
2. Edison G. Waromi, SH, Prime Minister of the Federal State of West Papua.
3. Agust M. Sananai Kraar, SIP,human rights activist/staff
4. Selpius Bobii, activist/staff
5. Dominikus Subarat, activist/staff

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Makar accused reject charges, and Indonesian jurisdiction over Papua in adjourned trial (Photo Report)

January 31, 2012

By Nick Chesterfield from West Papua Media with local sources

(Jayapura) The treason trial against the leaders of the Third Papuan People’s Congress in Jayapura was adjourned on Monday until February 8, after a short hearing that Indonesian authorities moved at the last moment preventing many supporters from attending.

The five defendants, President of the Federated Republic of West Papua (FRWP)  Forkorus Yaboisembut, Prime Minister Edison Waromi, together with Congress organisers Selpius Bobii, Dominikus Sorabut and Agus Sananay were charged with makar or treason under Article 106 of KUHP (the Indonesian Criminal Code) for their declaration of an independent West Papua at the close of the Third Papuan People’s Congress on October 19 last year.

Papuan leaders accused of treason on trial in Jayapura, January 30, 2012

The historic Congress was violently broken up by Indonesian security forces using live fire and excessive violence, with at least seven people killed, hundreds beaten and tortured, despite official permission for the event to be held.  Indonesian security officers involved were given minor disciplinary sanction, with most perpetrators of violence enjoying complete impunity despite footage of the Indonesian security force violence being broadcast internationally.

Initial reports from witnesses inside the trial early in the day claimed that the team of judges argued with the defence legal team about the need to know the political position of the defendant’s, despite the fact that in a treason trial this would be self-evident.  Yaboisembut and Waromi then fundamentally rejected the charges against them, arguing that their actions were not treason“.

Forkorus Yobeisembut (Jakarta Globe)

According to Forkorus as reported by the Jakarta Post, “What we have been doing is seeking our own independence. Thus, we have cheated no one,”.  Forkorus argued that Indonesian occupation of his homeland was the real issue, and that ”this problem is not the problem of separatism and rebellion or treason”.  Both Forkorus and Waromi said that the issue of Papua should be tried in international courts as the Indonesian state did not have jurisdiction over Papua.

Forkorus Yaboisembut (Jakarta Globe)

in a short statement sent to West Papua Media, the defendant’s legal team said that the judge asked Forkorus and the accused understood the indictment.  “He answered that, yes, he understood what the prosecutors read but did not understand the charges of treason against them.”

“Forkorus then asked for time to read a statement to the assembly to process the rejection of the  law, (the request of) which was then approved by a judge.   Our attorneys will do the rebuttal (exception) to the indictment dated 8th February 2012,” according to the legal team led by Hamadi.

(Photo: Efraim Joteni)

Bintang Papua reported that another one of the lawyers for the accused, Gustaf Kawer,said that up to 32 lawyers from across Papua and Indonesia had offered pro-bono defence of the treason accused.  He said: ‘I am convinced that  the large number of lawyers who are attracted by the case is a good sign  of interest in the need to find a solution to the problem of Papua.’

Forkorus Yaboisembut and Edison Waromi media interview after trial.(Photo: Efraim Joteni)

The Panel of Judges hearing the trial are Chairman of the Jayapura District Court of Class IA, Jayapura, Papua, Jack John Octovianus, SH. MH,;  assisted by I Ketut Nyoman S, SH. MH. Syor Mambrasar, SH. MH. Orpah Marthina, SH. and Willem Marco Erari, SH.

Outside the court hearing, almost 400 hundred heavily armed riot police and a similar number of Army and Kopassus personnel were guarding the courthouse venue from dawn (0600) with close to a dozen armoured assault vehicles, mounted with heavy machine guns, according to participants.

Protest in support of West Papuan leaders in trial for treason (Photo: Efraim Joteni)
Protest in support of West Papuan leaders in trial for treason (Photo: Efraim Joteni)

Participants in the protest claimed to West Papua Media via SMS that security forces were acting in a heavy-handed manner, describing their actions as “wild and aggressive”.    “This display of armour  makes thousands of ordinary people in Jayapura traumatized and afraid to come to action,” said Jack Wainggai, the spokesman for the Prime Minister of the FRWP, Edison Waromi, on trial for treason today.  Organisers had aimed for several thousand people to attend, but amid heavy  Indonesian security that discouraged solidarity protests by West Papuan supporters of the defendants, only 500-600 braved the heavy armour and “state intimidation” outside the court.

Protest in support of West Papuan leaders in trial for treason (Photo: Efraim Joteni)
Brimob outside makar trial (Photo: West Papua Media)
Brimob outside makar trial (Photo: West Papua Media)
one of almost a dozen armoured vehicles securing outside court venue Jan 30 2012 Jayapura (Photo: West Papua Media)

Despite promises by Indonesian authorities that the trials would be open, the presiding judges secretly started proceedings at 8.30 am before supporter could arrive.   In a press statement before the trial, Bintang Papua reported that Olga Hamadi of Kontras Papua said, “The five men will face charges under Article 106 of the Criminal Code for subversion. Based on past experience, there are concerns regarding security during the trial which will be open to the public, meaning that anyone wishing to attend the trial will be able to do so.”  Hamadi urged all present to restrain themselves and ensure that conditions surrounding the trial are conducive.

Speculation has mounted amongst local observers that the trial may be moved from Jayapura to metropolitan Indonesia to reduce any potential political flashpoint it will cause amongst pro-independence forces in Papua, with the prosecutor’s office formally warning of such a move should unrest occur.   Conversely though, any shift would create more opportunities for international observers to be present at the trial, a basic condition called for by the defence and international human rights monitors.

After the adjournment, the few hundred that did attend were able to disperse peacefully without an Indonesian security force crackdown, but tension still remains high in Jayapura as armed troops are still deployed on the streets the following day.

Elsewhere in Papua, solidarity actions were held with the treason trials against the Congress leaders.   In Manokwari, orations were held calling for international peacekeepers to be deployed to protect West Papuan people from Indonesian state violence.  Calls were also made in Manokwari  for neutral international mediators for dialogue between Jakarta and the Federated Republic of West Papua.

Westpapuamedia.info

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West Papua : Where is our freedom and justice? Trial on Monday

http://hermanwainggai.blogspot.com/2012/01/west-papua-where-is-our-freedom-and.html

Opinion

by Herman Wainggai

On October 16-19, the Third Papuan Congress held historic meetings in Abepura, Jayapura in which the largest representative majority ever of West Papuans voluntarily united and participated as members of the nascent Federated Republic of West Papua within our civil society. However, on October 19th, while nearing the completion of the public declaration of our independence, the Indonesian military became violent and arrested hundreds of nonviolent West Papuans, including President Forkorus Yaboisembut and Prime Minister Edison Waromi of the Federated Republic of West Papua.

Congressional Hearings on West Papua, September 22, 2010 From left : Salmon Yumame, Forkorus Yaboisembut, Eni Faleomavaega, Edison Waromi and Herman Wainggai

Over the years I have worked alongside many activists and political leaders including Filep Karma, Forkorus Yaboisembut, Jacob Rumbiak and others. For instance, Edison Waromi is a colleague of mine who has spent his life as a nonviolent political activist working for West Papua’s freedom. He has made tremendous sacrifices in his personal life including numerous incarcerations within the substandard conditions of Indonesian prisons in Papua.

Edison’s prison history began in 1989 when he was imprisoned for twelve years; In 2001 he was jailed for six months; and in 2002 we were incarcerated together for two years. For Edison this amounts to 14 1/2 years in the past 23 years of his life. Now he is currently serving another 15 year prison sentence resulting from his arrest in October. The convictions for these political incarcerations are typical iterations of subversion; In the meantime he will continue to serve his 15 year sentence with nary a complaint, even with the awareness that his due process will likely be denied.

My hope is that I will see the day when West Papuans are no longer defined by their repression and victimization, but rather by their strength, courage, and tenacity to fight for justice.

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Forkorus Yaboisembut rejects charge of treason

Bintang Papua, 16 December 2011
Abridged in translation
After spending 56 days in  police custody,  Forkorus Yaboisembut along with four others, has finally been charged with treason. He is now being held in Abepura Prison.

The charge was strongly rejected by Gustav Kawar as one of their legal team. They say that police interrogators insisted that the five men be  charged even though  the police would need first to consider the incident in which they were involved right from the start.

Before the Papuan Peace Congress was held, the committee sent a letter of notification  to the police  requesting  permission for the congress to be held, and had also sent a letter to the minister for legal, political and security affairs  requesting him to be the keynote speaker at the congress, which the minister had agreed to, and had instructed the director-general of the ministry to open the congress.

‘How can this be said to be treason when there have been letters received from the police and the minister?,’ said the lawyers.

Even though the police interrogators have said that the documents for the trial are now complete, the lawyers will make a formal complaint, stressing that  what their clients had done was to express their opinions which is guaranteed  under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights .

The lawyer said that their client(s)  had not yet signed any documents relating to the trial.Yet even so, the police interrogators consider that the documents are complete and have been submitted to the prosecutor’s  office..

He said that  usually when someone is charged with treason, there should have been an attack, but the Congress proceeded  peacefully  and came to a conclusion according to the aspirations of the Papuan people  who want to exercise their right to self-determination and to set up a state of West Papua.

When Forkorus and  his colleagues arrived at the prosecutor’s office, they were sent straight for interrogation by the prosecutor, Maskel Rombolangi, and were accompanied by their lawyer, Anum Siregar, and there was a request that the men should be held in custody  at the detention centre of the police.  This was firmly rejected by Selpius Bobii, accompanied by Domingus Serabut. Things then became quite tense . The five accused  were taken to the prosecutor’s office in Jayapura  for proceedings to continue.

‘We dont yet know whether they will be sent back to police custody,’ said the lawyers.

Gustav Kawar said that the five accused are: Forkorus Yaboisembut, Edison Waromi, Selpius Bobii, Domingus Sarabut and Agus Krat who have been charged under Article 106  with treason and for incitement under article 160 of the Penal Code. After the Congress, the five men and Gat Wenda  were arrested by the police after they had been involved in proclaiming the State of West Papua on 19 October in Abepura. At the sime time, three members of PETAPA, were killed. The first charge could result in sentences of twenty year or life , while the second charge can lead  to a six-year sentence.

One of the lawyers of Forkorus, Anum Siregar said that since 7 December, they had refused to be interrogated on the basis of an international covenant and rejected the charge of treason . Anum Siregar said that her clients had refused to be held at the police detention centres because they did not feel safe there and moreover, their families had not been permitted to visit them. The detained men said that they would prefer to be held at Abepura Prison because their families would be able to visit them and they felt safer there.

When the men met a reporter from Bintang Papua,  they said had been ill and had be treated violently , They also rejected medication provided by the police  and wanted to be treated by doctors at the general hospital. Finally, the men were handed over to the authorities at Abepura Prison  and they have been given medical check-ups.

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West Papuan leader urges peaceful defiance in the lead-up to December 1st

Papuan Leaders take a sit in floor of Papuan Police Prison. From left to right each of them; Edsison Waromi SH (Prime Minister), Forkorus Yaboisembut S.Pd ( President Republic Federal State of West Papua), Dominikus Surabut ( Aktivist)), Gad Wenda (Aktivist ), Agus Senandy Kraar (Aktivist ) and Selpius Bobii (Chair of Orginizing Commettee of Third National Papua Congress). (Photo: West Papua Media)

30 November 2011

Exclusive interview by Alex Rayfield (New Matilda) with West Papua Media

The President of the Federal Republic of West Papua may be behind bars, he may have been savagely beaten by the Indonesian police, but he has not been silenced. From his 5×4 meter cell in the bowels of the Jayapura Police Station – quarters he shares with five other Papuans also charged with rebellion against the Indonesian state – Forkorus Yaboisembut recently issued a rousing call to action smuggled out of prison.

“To all the Papuan people” Yaboisembut writes, “don’t be afraid to celebrate December 1st, whether you do so simply, or as part of large gatherings. Do not be afraid because we, the Papuan people, do not intend to destroy any country; we only wish to defend our political rights.”

Our interview, the first – clandestine – interview with Western media, may be constrained by time and space, but I can picture the tribal elder from previous meetings. He is a quietly spoken man, late in years but strong and alert. He walks tall, sits up straight and dresses neatly in long dark pants; polished slip-on shoes and patterned but subdued crisply ironed business shirts. His short hair and longish grey beard gives him the look of an Old Testament prophet, grandfatherly if you like.

It is painful to think that he when he was arrested on October 19 he was tortured so badly that he could barely sit down – or stand. Dominikus Surabut, from the West Papua Council of Customary Tribal Chiefs, who was detained with the man who is now the President of the Federal Republic of West Papua and who was also badly tortured, tells me that when Mr Yaboisembut was arrested the Police beat him mercilessly with a rifle butt, raining blows down on his head and crashing their weapons into his solar plexus. In a widely published Indonesian language account of the arrest, a religious leader said that an Indonesian soldier was ready to shot him dead but was urged not to by a policeman.

West Papuan’s political rights, Mr Yaboisembut says, are inalienable. “Whether you take the United Nations founding document, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Political Rights or even the Indonesian Constitution as your starting point, Papuans have the right to self-determination.”

Forkorus Yaboisembut S.Pd and , Edison Waromi,SH

“The preamble to the 1945 Indonesian Constitution mentions expressly, that independence is the right of all Nations, and because of this colonialism must be swept away, it is consistent with the principles of justice and humanity. Consequently, the people of Papua cannot be blamed in accordance with any law for wanting to celebrate their national day.”

These ideas, the same ideas that inspired Indonesians to liberate themselves from Dutch rule, are igniting the imagination of entire generation who yearn to be free. What makes Mr Yaboisembut’s ideas even more extraordinary is that he is urging an insurrection that grounded in what he calls “human dignity”.

“December the first 2011, is the fiftieth anniversary of when Papuans first raised the Morning Star flag. It is our golden anniversary, the year of God’s liberation” he says evoking the images of the ancient Jewish custom of Jubilee – of freeing captives and erasing debts. “It must be celebrated in an atmosphere of peace, safety and calm”.

“To Papuans, I therefore say, do not carry out acts of terror, intimidation or commit violence of any kind towards anyone, for whatever reason, whether they are Papuan or migrants.

“Do not be afraid,” Mr Yaboisembut repeats, “God is with us.”

Papuan leaders are standing infront; Forkorus Yaboisembut S.Pd, Edsison Waromi SH .behind Dominikus Surabut, Gad Wenda, Agus Senandy Kraar and Selpius Bobii (Photos: West Papua Media)

“The roots of our oppression is political” says Mr Selphius Bobii, Chair of the Committee of the Third Papuan Congress, who also shares a cell with Mr Yaboisembut and Surabut. “The annexation of our country by Indonesia and the acquiescence of the international community has resulted in state sanctioned human rights violations and creeping genocide.”

Those arrested on October 19 in the wake of the Third Papuan Congress are not backing down from the declaration of independence. “We are committed to using people power, diplomacy and the law to achieve our rights” Bobii tells me.

Dominikus Surabut says that he and the other prisoners are refusing to sign police statements charging them with “rebellion” (makar) under sections 106 and 110 of the Indonesian Criminal Code.

“We have done nothing wrong” Surabut says. “We have a political right to declare independence. We do not seek to destroy Indonesia or any other country. On the contrary, it is the Indonesia state that has attacked us.”

How can it be, they rhetorically ask, that the Indonesian police get written warnings for killing Papuans when Papuan activists nonviolently exercising their rights to freedom of expression are beaten and jailed?

Is this the same country that Obama and Gillard lauded for being a beacon of democracy?

In a widely published letter in support of Papuan political prisoners Human Rights Watch says that the articles under which the six Papuan political prisoners arrested after the Third Papuan Congress have been charged “are a legacy from the Dutch colonial era”. Charging nonviolent activists with rebellion is “in violation of the Indonesian Constitution, Articles 28(e) and 28(f) which respectively afford “the right to the freedom of association and expression of opinion,” and “the right to communicate and obtain information for the development of his/her personal life and his/her social environment, and shall have the right to seek, acquire, possess, keep, process and convey information by using all available channels.”

The charge of rebellion is also inconsistent with Indonesia’s international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which Indonesia ratified in 2006, a point which the jailed Papuan leaders make repeatedly to me. Besides, the Papuan leaders sigh, we have been left with no other option. “Special Autonomy has totally failed and even the MRP, a state institution convened a meeting which came up with eleven recommendations, one of which was to hold the Third Papuan Congress.”

Outside their police cell, in the streets of the cities and towns of West Papua, in the cloud covered mountains and on the coconut palm fringed coasts a new political consensus is emerging. This consensus has been forged not through endless meetings of the Diaspora, nor in stillborn discussions with political elites in Jakarta, nor in the conference halls of NGO deliberations, but in the furnace of political action. It is simply this: that West Papua must be free.

After the Congress three overlapping political groupings have emerged: the Papuan Peace Network who is calling for political dialogue, the West Papua National Committee who demands a referendum, and the Papua Congress leaders (supported by a loose alliance made up of the West Papua National Authority, the Council of Customary Papuan Chiefs, the Presidium Dewan Papua, and the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation).

The killings of nonviolent Papuans by the Indonesian police and military on October 19 have divided ordinary Indonesians, flushing out ultra-nationalists and their racist discourse, and outraging political moderates longing for a different kind of future than the one left to them by former dictator Suharto.

Inside Papua the massacre appears to be having a unifying effect, although Papuan politics remains complex affair. The West Papua National Committee who opposed the Congress later marched in support of the six political prisoners. Father Neles Tebay, respected intellectual and leader of the Papua Peace Network has intensified the demand for political dialogue. It is a call that has been supported by Yaboisembut and others. “All Papuans, wherever they are must respect the dialogue process democratically initiated through the Papuan Peace Conference and the Papuan Peace Network” wrote Mr Yaboisembut in a message smuggled out of prison.

Whether the Indonesian police and military act in a similarly dignified manner, or not, remains to be seen.

As I write this a long-term Papuan human rights activist sends me this message: “there’s an increase of military patrol of soldiers around Jayapura Township.” Some put the numbers as high as forty thousand. Reports are filtering in of troop surges in Sorong, Paniai (where gunshots have been heard), the border region and Jayapura.

“The atmosphere here is quiet but eerie” my friend writes. We are all waiting to see what December 1 will bring.

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