Tag: Jayapura

Students press for action against widespread corruption in Papua

Bintang Papua, 27 June 2011
PAPUA A PARADISE FOR CORRUPT OFFICIALS

Students urge DPRP to adopt a regulation on combating corruption

Jayapura: Papua is a veritable paradise for people who corrupt the people’s money  while a number of top-level officials behave as if they are beyond the law,’ said Thomas Sugi, chairman of the Students Executive Board of the Faculty  of Law at Cenderawasih University. He was speaking at a demonstration of youth and students outside the  DPRP – Papua Provincial Legislative Assembly.

The students urged the DPRP to draft a regulation, known as a Perdasi, dealing with corruption and stamping it out. It has been estimated that as much as Rp. 28 trillion of OTSUS – special autonomy – funds were embezzled during the eight years from 2002 – 2010 following the adoption of the OTSUS law, according to the findings of the auditing body, BPK published on 18 April 2011.

Sugi said he hoped that such a regulation would act as a dis-incentive for officials of the province  who were thinking of embezzling money that belonged to the people. He said that the students fully support comments made about this problem on a number of occasions by the chief of police of the province, Drs Bekto Suprapto.

But he added that, should the law enforcement agency – the police – be shown to be seeking to protect the corruptors, then they would  press for the adoption of a non-confidence motion in the police chief for failing to keep his promise.

On the same occasion, the chief of police of Jayapura, AKBP Imam Setiawan SIK who had been pressed to support efforts to stamp out corruption in Papua declared that the aims of the demonstration were an inspiration to the law enforcement agencies. He said that they would act with all speed via the judiciary in cases where people in the community alleged that corruption had occurred.and would make regular reports to the general public on the matter.

‘The chief of police of the province also called on local police chiefs at the sub-district level to report at least three cases of corruption a year that were under investigation..’

And for the current year, he said, we would call for at least five cases to be handled.

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Bomb planted outside Law and Human Rights office, no suspects

Westpapuamedia.info

Local media and witnesses in Abepura, near Jayapura West Papua, have reported the discovery of an explosive device planted on Wednesday evening (local time) outside the offices of the Department of Law and Human Rights (KumHAM) office in Kotaraja.

Armed officers from Brimob Gegana, a specialised motorbike based paramilitary bomb squad, reportedly defused and secured the bomb and made it safe.  No injuries were reported.

The bomb had been lying at the front of the office all day, but no-one had thought to report the suspicious package.  Finally in the evening, the Brimob were called by KumHAM staff members.

According to a report by Bintang Papua, two men were seen leaving the sports bag earlier in the day, and then getting on a motorbike and speeding away.

The Department has frequently come under threat for its mandated work in occasional prosecutions of human rights abuses, and most recently was subject to a series of threatening letters and homemade bombs.

According to an SMS sent to West Papua Media by the Serui Regional Police Chief who was in Jayapura at the time (At police HQ), the bomb “was from the Dutch era”.  He did not elaborate on how a Dutch Era bomb came to be planted outside the KumHAM  building.

Bomb threats are frequently the subject of much speculation in Papua, with incidents usually occuring during times of political upheaval by nonviolence forces.  It is usually believed they are the work of Special Forces or Intelligence agencies keen to discredit the anti-violence movement, despite the fact that the independence movement has publicly disavowed itself of such tactics for many years.

During the 2010 Presidential Elections in Indonesia, many bombs exploded in remote areas of Papua, or at police stations or polling booths, and were never sufficiently investigated by Police.

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Statement of deep concern by Coalition of Human Rights Defenders in Papua

Bintang  Papua, 17 June 2011Human rights defenders in Papua very worried

Acts of violence and terror that have been perpetrated against human rights defenders as well as against journalists have led to a  sense of deep concern among human rights NGOs and religious organisations which are members of the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders in the Land of  Papua

The following NGOs held a press conference in Jayapura  on Friday 17 June, to convey their problems:

KomnasHAM- Papua, the Synod of the Kingmi Church in Papua, the Synod of the Baptist Church in Papua, Foker NGO (NGO Working Group) Papua, Kontras Papua, LBH – Legal Aid Institute in Papua, and BUK, United for Truth.

Foremost among the agencies criticised was the TNI, the Indonesian army whose members were involved in a number of acts of violence. They drew attention in particulate to five incidents that had occurred during the past five months in which members of the TNI were involved:

‘Up to June this year, there have been at least five incidents which reflect the  arrogance and random actions perpetrated by members of the TNI,’ said Olga Hamadi, the co-ordinator of Kontras Papua. Others present at the press conference included the Rev. Benny Giay, chairman of the Synod of the Kingmi Church in the Land of Papua, Mathius Murib, representative of Komnas HAM-Papua, Eliezer M, LBH-Papua, Julian Howay of the ALDP, and a number of human rights activists.

They said that the much-vaunted  reforms within the TNI were rarely reflected in the activities of members of the TNI on the ground. ‘Is this what the commander of the TNI was praising so profusely during his recent visit to Papua,’ wondered Rev Giay.

Mathius Murib  said that the incident that occurred in Puncak Jaya a few months ago had drawn a great deal of public attention, nationally as well as internationally. [This refers to the acts of torture against Papuans that were circulated by video.]

‘All their talk about Love and Peace is far from been applied by members of the security forces on the ground. Isn’t it time for them to change their tune?’

They said that the continued occurrence of acts of violence and intimidation by members of the TNI is a clear indication that no actions have been taken against members of the TNI who have violated the law.

‘We are concerned about the impact this is having on the reputation of the Indonesian state and wonder  what is being done to protect the rights of human rights defenders,’ said Olga Hamadi.

She said that in cases where members of the TNI had been involved in acts of violence, all that had happened was that they had been moved sideways. ‘Or, in those instances where they had been taken to court, they had appeared before a military tribunal and the verdicts were often unclear or had had little if any effect.,’ said Peneas Lokbere, co-ordinator of BUK.

The Coalition of Human Rights Defenders in the Land of Papua therefore issued the following statement:

1. Protection is needed for human rights defenders in Papua in carrying out their humanitarian activities throughout the Land of Papua. Such protection can be provided by the introduction of a special law, while at the same time setting up an independent commission at state level for the purpose of monitoring and advocacy as well as taking sanctions against those individuals who commit violence against human rights defenders.

2. As a short-term measure, we regard it as important to set up a special bureau within Komnas HAM to focus on the protection of human rights defenders.

3. In view the many acts of intimidation and violence perpetrated by members of the armed forces, we urge the military commander of  Cenderawasih XVII military command  to take firm measures in the law courts and administration against all violations perpetrated by members of the TNI on the ground.

4. To provide moral guidance  to all officers of the armed forces  as well as disseminate an understanding of human rights so as to ensure that acts of violence  perpetrated by members of the armed forces are not committed against civil society or against human rights defenders in the Land of Papua.

[Translated by TAPOL]

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Numerous problems in Papua since OTSUS was enacted

JUBI. 15 May 2011Since the enactment of OTSUS, the special autonomy law for Papua, a pile of problems have hit Papua. There has been no decline in the number of problems; on the contrary, they have steadily increased.Many buildings have been constructed that are of no benefit to the indigenous population. Take for instance the construction of commercial premises and the fate of Papuan businesspeople. ‘These buildings are for other people,’ said Olga Helena Hamadi, Director of the Commission for Disappearances and the Victims of violence, KontraS, on Saturday.

As for the demands for permanent business premises for Papuan businessmen, they are still struggling for this to happen. Their future is still very much in the air. The kind of premises they have been calling for have not been built by the government. The premises that have been built do not last long even though they have been calling for this since 2004., she said.

OTSUS makes provision for a Commission of Truth and Reconciliation to be set up but all that has happened since OTSUS has been the creation of a National Human Rights Commission which means that human rights violations, acts of violence and shootings are only dealt with by the Komnas HAM. The result is that many cases have got stuck, some of which got no farther than a court hearing. There has been no follow-up.

Furthermore, there has been no proper accounting for OTSUS funds. No procedures are in place to control the use of these funds. There is no accountability because no procedures have been put in place.

She said that all these things point to the failure of OTSUS, which has failed because no procedures have been put in place.

She said that she was making these clarifications because  of a previous news report  that OTSUS had not failed.. ‘We dont agree that OTSUS has not been a failure, because since the enactment of OSUS, a number of problems have emerged.’

Translated by TAPOL

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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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