Tag: freeport

Uranium exploration could harm indigenous population

Tabloid JUBI, 31 August 2010

Uranium exploration could harm indigenous population

The chairman of the Papuan Customary Council (DAP), Forkorus Yoboisembut is concerned that the explorations into uranium now being conducted by Freeport in the Timika region are failing to take the interests of the indigenous people into account and could result in having a negative impact on their welfare.

These explorations, which have already been under way for eight months are not transparent. ‘We have made strong representations to the company that these exploration can be harmful to the customary groups,’ he said.

To ensure that the local communities do not have any objections regarding the exploration of uranium, the investors and the government should co-ordinate with the traditional owners (of the land).’ There is a need for transparency by the investors about how long the explorations will be conducted and what the local communities will receive in payment,’ he said.

The amount of uranium thought to be present in the Freeport mine is far higher than the minimum rate of 83 ppm (parts per million), whereas the economically viable minimum universally accepted is 1,000 ppm

‘I think that the investors and the government need to be more open towards the local communities about the benefits and disadvantages of the exploration of uranium that is now under way,’ he said.

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STATEMENT BY THE WEST PAPUA ADVOCACY TEAM REGARDING THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S DECISION TO RESUME COOPERATION WITH THE INDONESIAN SPECIAL FORCES (KOPASSUS)

STATEMENT BY THE WEST PAPUA ADVOCACY TEAM REGARDING THE U.S. GOVERNMENT’S DECISION TO RESUME COOPERATION WITH THE INDONESIAN SPECIAL FORCES (KOPASSUS)

The decision of the Obama Administration to begin “gradual and limited” engagement with the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) ignores more than a decade-old, bi-partisan, bi-cameral Congressional consensus opposing assistance to that organization.

Opposition to U.S. military cooperation with Kopassus is based on that unit’s undisputed record of human rights abuse, criminality and unaccountability before the law. U.S. Administration claims that the organization has recently adopted a reform course is belied by credible independent reporting that Kopassus continues to abuse human rights with impunity. A June 2009 Human Rights Watch report detailed Kopassus abuse of civilians in Merauke in the troubled province of West Papua.

Administration claims that those Kopassus personnel “convicted” of human rights abuse have been removed from the organization ignores the reality that the impunity enjoyed by Kopassus personnel for decades has ensured that only a handful of Kopassus personnel have ever faced justice in a credible criminal court. In a rare example of judicial action, seven Kopassus officers were convicted of the 2001 murder of the leading Papuan political figure, Theys Eluay. Of the seven convicted of what the judge in the case termed a “torture-murder,” all remain on active duty after serving brief sentences (the longest being three and one half years imprisonment). Six left Kopassus but one remains in the organization.

Administration assurances that any Kopassus candidate for U.S. training will undergo “vetting” by the State Department ignores past failures of the State Department to screen out Kopassus rights abusers and criminals.

The Administration announcement correctly notes that since the fall of the dictator Suharto, with whose military the U.S. military maintained close ties, Indonesia has been on a democratic course. But the Administration fails to acknowledge that the gravest threat to ongoing democratic progress is the Indonesian military which continues to evade civilian control. Despite 2004 legislative requirements that the military divest itself of its vast empire of legal and illegal businesses by 2009, the military retains this source of off-budget funding.

Kopassus and other military personnel continue to enjoy impunity before the law for human rights abuse and criminal activity including people trafficking and drug running as acknowledged in past U.S. State Department human rights reporting.

The Indonesian military, and particularly Kopassus and intelligence agencies continue to repress peaceful protest, most notably targeting the people of West Papua. The military, especially Kopassus, but also the U.S.-funded “Detachment 81” and the militarized police (BRIMOB), routinely intimidate, threaten and accost Papuans who non-violently resist denial of fundamental rights, illegal expropriation of their lands and marginalization. Military and police units have repeatedly conducted purportedly anti-rebel “sweep operations” in the remote Central Highlands forcing thousands of villagers into the forests where they suffer lack of food, shelter and access to medical care. Twenty percent of Kopassus personnel (approximately 1,000 personnel) are stationed in West Papua.

The U.S. Administration’s decision to resume cooperation with the most criminal and unreformed element of the Indonesian military removes critical international pressure for reform and professionalization of the broader Indonesian military. It signals to Indonesian human rights advocates who have born the brunt of security force intimidation that they stand alone in their fight for respect for human rights and genuine reform in Indonesia.

contact: Ed McWilliams, edmcw@msn.com, +1-575-648-2078

Freeport Mine in West Papua secretly producing uranium

News items from Bintang Papua, abridged in translation

Shocking news has been received about Freeport-Indonesia, namely that this company which operates one of the largest copper mines in the world has for the past eight months been secretly producing and exporting the most sought after mineral, uranium, which is the basic requirement for nuclear reactors and for the production of nuclear weapons.

This is in breach of its contract of work, which covers the mining of copper, whereas the mining of other minerals such as the mining of gold, coal and non-petroleum products was made public during the 1990s.

‘This is clearly a case of theft because the mining of uranium is not mentioned in the contract of work,’ Yan Mandenas, chairman of the Pikiran Rakyat group in the Papuan provincial legislative council, DPRP. told Bintang Papua.

‘We are closely following the mining of uranium with the help of informants within the Freeport company as well as in the district administration, and from NGOs and  the general  public,’ said Mandenas.

Mandenas said that since Freeport is located within the territory of the province of Papua, the government of West Papua and the DPRP cannot take any action against this massive company.

‘It is very difficult for us to enter the area because of the highly complex bureaucracy, while the products are transported through pipes.’  Nevertheless, the DPRP is using all resources as its disposal  to keep an eye on the company.

It should be recalled that the conflict between Iran and America which is now before the UN Security Council is focused on Iran’s possession of uranium. As is known there are two functions for uranium, one for peaceful purposes and one for the production of nuclear bombs.

Attempts to contact the manager for corporate communications of Freeport, Budiman Moerdijat were not successful.

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