Tag: indonesia

Military commander: Papua wont be free as long as the army remains there

Bintang Papua, 20 July 2010

Jayapura:

The military commander of the Cenderawasih Military Command,
Major-General Hotma Marbun, said that the aspirations of some groups of
people to secede from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia –
NKRI – will never be achieved as long as the Indonesian army remains in
Papua.

‘As long at the army is in Papua, there will be no merdeka,’ he told the
press, after attending a meeting.with the governor.

The two-star general said that as long as the army remains there and
pursues its state duties in accordance with its assignment from the
state and the mandate from the Indonesian people to safeguard the
territorial integrity of the NKRI, the territory of Indonesia will
remain whole.

He referred to an incident when shots were fired against the security
forces as well as against civilians in Mulia, the district of Puncak
Jaya, which resulted in a number of casualties; regardless of whether
this was an act of subversion, security in the region is still the
responsibility of the police force, while the army only has a supporting
role.

‘If the incident is an act of subversion whatever their objectives, it’s
a different matter, as there may be orders from the centre, if the aim
is to achieve meredeka, but there wont be any such thing as merdeka
until such time as we are ordered by the president to leave Papua and
then the army will go home and the police will go home. Then it will be
up to them to get merdeka or whatever they like,’ he said.

He was speaking during a recent visit to Puncak Jaya.

He said that conditions in the district of Puncak Jaya, especially in
Tingginambut, which is often referred to as the base of an armed
movement, have gradually been restored to normal.

Asked whether he thought that there would be no more shooting in Puncak
Jaya, the commander said the army can provide no guarantee that the
actions of the armed group have come to an end. ‘They are just a group
of individuals; they have got hold of weapons without a licence.’

He went on to say that the only citizens who may possess weapons are
people in possession of a licence. Anyone possessing weapons withough
permission will be arrested by the police. ‘Even members of the army are
not all permitted to take out their weapon unless they are on duty or
involved in special activities.’

Tingginambut is still the responsibility of the police which means that
the army has only a supporting role, the commander said.

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West Papuan people preparing for fresh wave of independence protests demanding referendum

Bintang Papua

The chairman of the KNPB, the National Committee of West Papua, Buchtar Tabuni has told the press that his organisation is preparing to consolidate and mobilise large numbers of people to occupy town centres across West Papua to draw international attention to the cause and, making the following demands:

Pepera, the Act of Free Choice is unlawful and must be handed back. A referendum should be held as soon as possible. International Parliamentarians for West Papua, the IPWP, and International Lawyers for West  Papua, the ILWP, together with the Vanuatu government should facilitate efforts to challenge the legal and political status of West Papua at the UN. And the KNPB wants to mediate the referendum by the people.

‘This is the most democratic way forward,’ he said, ‘as the way leading to independence. The idea to hold a referendum came from the Majelis Rakyat Papua, the Papuan People’s Council.’

He said that the referendum is the middle way towards resolving the West Papua conflict. The pepera occurred in the 1960s, with a huge amount of manipulation, violating basic international standards.

At the present moment, this matter is before the international community, a move to convince the UN to understand the illegality of Papua’s status as part of the Indonesian republic, NKRI. The IPWP and the ILWP were set up to press for these issues to be taken to the UN, and its members have been lobbying governments in their respective countries.

The process has been promoted by the Vanuatu parliament and government which have agreed to take the issue to the UN, namely to the International Court of Justice, and seek an opinion about the political status of West Papua. Similar pressure is under way by the governments of the PNG and the UK. [Comment: There is little evidence at the moment that this statement is true.]

The  process needs to be supported by the mass of the Papuan people, solidly demanding a referendum. The international community is beginning to underrstand what the Papuan people want while Jakarta is closing its eyes and doing nothing to seek a solution, even though thousands of people have demonstrated in support of the decisions of the MRP.

Papuans need to recognise that Indonesia is a colonial power which cannot be expected to find a solution by means of a referendum.

On 2 August, a campaign will begin to point out that the pepera took place at a time of brutal military repression in Papua. This will be the moment when the Papaun people’s  rejection of pepera will become part of a national campaign throughout the territory of West Papua.

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.

BBC News quotes Indonesian police chief threatening to use live ammo

Imam Setiawan, Jayapura’s police chief, told the BBC police are ready to disperse the protesters with force. He admits his officers could even use live ammunition but only as a last resort.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia_pacific/10565860.stm

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