Tag: Majelis Rakyat Papua

Members of new MRP urged to resign

JUBI, 13 March 2011

The chairman of the West Papua Forum of Democracy (FORDEM), Salmon Yumame, has declared that the leaders of the MRP – Majelis Rakyat Papua – Papuan People’s Assembly – failed to have the courage to acknowledge to the public the mistakes made by the MRP in their commitment to the Papuan people. He accused them of being ‘banci’ or ‘perverts’ for misleading the people.

He said it was highly regrettable that the members of the MRP who had, together with the Papuan people, declared their firm rejection of the Special Autonomy Law 21/2001 which included the creation of the MRP, yet had allowed themselves to be nominated for membership of the second MRP. They had failed to have the courage to withdraw their names, so that the aspirations of the Papuan people could be comprehensively raised with the central government.

He expressed the hope that those who had already been chosen to become members of the MRP and were now waiting to be sworn in would withdraw and would, along with the Papuan people, demand that the central government respond to the eleven recommendations adopted in June 2010.

The recommendations were handed over to the Papuan Provincial
Legislative Assembly, the DPRP. He said that all the problems confronting the Papuan people were contained in those eleven
recommendations.

Salmon said that FORDEM will continue to organise peaceful actions,
press conferences and issue statements to express the aspirations of the Papuan people.

In June last year, the MRP, along with other components of the Papuan people, held a grand consultation which had resulted in the adoption of he 11 recommendations, which included calling for Freeport Indonesia to close down, for a dialogue between the Indonesian government and the Papuan people mediated by a neutral, third party, for the rejection of Special Autonomy and for a referendum.

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Socratez Sofyan Yoman reject the MRP now being set up

JUBI, 15 February 2011

SOCRATEZ: NEXT MRP WILL NOT HELP EASE PEOPLE’S SUFFERINGS

The chairman of the United Baptist Churches in Papua, the Rev Socratez Sofyan Yoman, is of the opinion that the new MRP (Majelis Rakyat Papua -Papuan People’s Assembly) now being formed will only add a new dimension to the suffering of the Papuan people.

‘Please don’t add to the people’s suffering. The Papuan people should be consistent in making no compromises with the members of the MRP now being appointed.’

He said that Special Autonomy (OTSUS) has been rejected by the people which means that the MRP, which is at the heart of OTSUS, will do nothing to protect the interests of the indigenous Papuan people (orang asli Papua) and its presence is not acceptable. He also said that the political elite should not try to utilise the present moment to promote their personal interests and cause further sufferings for the people.

He said that there is no legal justification or reason to continue with
the nomination of the new MRP because most of the churches are not
involved in the process, although some have allowed themselves to be
recruited.

He called on the Papuan people to consistently refuse to get involved in the political process that is now under way. The people’s struggle must stay pure and press for something better.

‘We from the churches will stand by the voice of God’s congregation and continue to consistently reject OTSUS. ‘

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JUBI: PAPUANS URGED NOT STAND FOR MRP

JUBI, 10 February 2011

PAPUANS URGED NOT STAND FOR MRP

The legal aid organisation, LP3BH, has called on Papuans not to agree
to be nominated for a seat on the MRP (Papuan People’s Assembly) in the forthcoming elections. They should also reject the entire nominations process which is now being organised by two agencies, the Kesbangpol and the LMA.

Speaking on behalf of the LP3BH, its executive director, Yan Christian
Warinussy urged Papuans to reject any offers to be nominated for the
MRP. He said that by accepting nominations, Papuans would be indicating that they support the election of a new MRP. If Papuans refuse to be nominated, this will thwart the efforts of the government to continue with the election process.

He said that by adopting such a position, Papuans will be showing that they do not support the efforts currently under way throughout West
Papua to elect members of a new MRP in all parts of the territory.

On 26 January 2011, thousands of Papuans from a variety of communities and churches took part in a demonstration calling on the Papuan provincial council, the DPRP, to halt the election of members of the MRP. The demonstrators called on the DPRP, the central government and the provincial government to respond to the eleven recommendations adopted on 9 June 2010 by the grand assembly of Papuan communities and the MRP.

[These recommendations included the call for a referendum to be held in West Papua, for the Special Autonomy Law 21/2001 to be handed back to the government and for a dialogue between the Papuan people and the Indonesian government. The first MRP was set up in 2006 in accordance with the provisions of this law. Since late last year, there have been many demonstrations in West Papua calling for the ‘return’ of the special autonomy law to the government.]

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Selection of MRP members should stop, say church leaders

Abridged in translation by TAPOL

Bintang Papua,11 January 2011

Given the growing concern about the implementation of Special Autonomy
(OTSUS) as reflected in the decisions of the Grand Assembly of the MRP
and the Papuan Indigenous People held on 9-10 June 2010, several church
leaders have called on the Indonesian president, the governors of the
provinces of Papua and West Papua and the chairmen of the provincial
legislative assemblies to halt the process of selecting members of the
MRP (Majelis Rakyat Papua – Papuan People’s Assembly) until such time as
there are clear answers to the eleven recommendations that were
submitted to the provincial assembly (DPRP) on 18 June 2010, according
to a joint communique by the churches The signatories include the head
of the Evangelical Church, the GKI, Rev. Jemima Krey, the head of the
Kingmi church, Rev. Benny Giay, Rev. Socrates Yoman and the head of the
Pentacostal Church, Rev. Tonny Infandi.

The assembly held in June 2010 which was facilitated by the MRP was an
official forum representing the voice of the Papuan people, well within
the framework of the rule of law in Indonesia. On that occasion, the
Papuan people clearly expressed the view that the OTSUS Law 21/2001 had
failed to result in any improvements in the living conditions of the
Papuan people which is why the Papuan people had returned the law to
Jakarta.

The handing back of the law to the two provincial assemblies occurred in
Jayapura and Manokwari on 18 June 2010, when a deadline of one month was
set for members of the asemblies to hold plenary sessions to respond to
the people’s aspirations, but since that time, neither of the assemblies
had adopted any measures to respond to these demands.

The impression is that the the central government as well as the
provincial assemblies are not in any way interested in taking any
action to improve the implementation of OTSUS, which is in direct
contradiction with the wishes of the Papuan people.

The situation has been further aggravated by current moves to set up a
new MRP, a body that has now been rejected by the Papuan people.

There is even the impression that the central government via the
intermediary of the United Agency of the Papuan Provinces, is about to
create a ‘puppet MRP’ within the framework of the OTSUS law that will be
incapable of granting protection and upholding the basis rights of the
indigenous Papuan people.

Church leaders regard the creation of such an MRP as being in serious
violation of the dignity of the Papuan people. The church leaders
therefore state the following:

Firstly, we respect the aspirations of the indigenous Papuan people as
declared in the decisions of the Grand Assembly on 9 -10 June 2010, that
OTSUS has failed and has been returned to the central government.

Secondly, that the central government and the provincial assemblies
should immediately stop all moves to select members of the MRP until
such time as there are concrete responses to the results of the Grand
Assembly that were made public on 16 June 2010.

Thirdly, we call upon the governors of the Papuan provinces to stop
ignoring the aspirations of the Papuan people and to sit down with the
people to hold comprehensive talks about Papuan aspirations in rejection
of OTSUS, democratically and in a spirit of justice.

Fourthly, we call on the central government to enter in dialogue with
the Papuan people so as to bring to an end the protracted legal and
political uncertainty which has brought despair to the Papuan people
who we lead in this Land of Papua.

Fifthly, we reject all attempts or formulations that spread confusion
about the demand for dialogue between the Papuan people and the
government of Indonesia which has for many years been expressed by the
Papuan people.

Sixthly, we urge the Indonesian government to stop all forms of
intimidation and terror and other repressive measures that are aimed at
stifling critical opinions from our community regarding development
that is now under way in the Land of Papua which has failed to respect
the interests of the common people.

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COALITION OF UNITED PAPUAN PEOPLE FOR TRUTH (KRPBK) CALLS FOR DISBANDMENT OF THE MRP

[BACKGROUND COMMENT: News that preparations are being made for the creation of a new MRP has resulted in a number of comments from groups in Papua, most of which are very hostile to the idea, in view of the widespread dissatisfaction with Special Autonomy and calls for it to be ‘handed back’ The following is one of these comments, translated by TAPOL] 

COALITION OF UNITED PAPUAN PEOPLE FOR TRUTH (KRPBK) CALLS FOR DISBANDMENT OF THE MRP

Jayapura: A large number of  people who are members of the KRPBK took part in a demonstration in Jayapura on Monday 11 January  protesting against the recruitment of members of the Majelis Rakyat Papua (Papuan People’s Assembly).  They called for the MRP to be disbanded without delay because Special Autonomy (OTSUS) has been a total failure.

The demonstration began with a series of speeches outside the office of the MRP, under the guard of security forces from the police and Brimob. The demonstrators then proceeded to the office of the DPRP, the Papuan provincial legislative assembly, to present their demands.

Representatives from several components of civil society in Papua stated their views in a series of speeches. They said that  OTSUS which had bound Papua to Jakarta has been declared a failure by all the Papuan people at the time when they declared that they had handed back the OTSUS law  to the Indonesian government on 12 August and 17 July 2010. This means that there is no question of recruiting members of the MRP. The MRP which was set up as the the cultural voice of the Papuan people within the framework of OTSUS had proved incapable of representing the views of the Papuan people because it turned out to be nothing but a puppet. This means that there is no longer any need for the MRP to continue to exist in Papua.

They also urged the DPRP to implement the eleven recommendations [see below] adopted by the Grand Assembly of the Papuan People in June 2010. They pointed out that there had been no reaction to these eleven recommendations and nothing had changed.

The demonstrators called upon the Euroopean Union, the US and other countries which have made contributions to OTSUS to end their financial support . They also called upon these countries and the international community to push for acknowledgement of the status of Papua as a sovereign state and an independent people.

If these demands are not speedily  implemented, the KPRBK said that it will occupy the offices of the MRP and the DPRP together with a far greater number of  people. This action will take place simultaneously throughout the national territory of West Papua.

The KRPBK demonstration then met the chairman of the Commission A of the DPRP who is also the chairman of the MRP recruitment comittee, Drs Ruben Magai, who explained that the authority to disband the MRP rests with the MPR – the People’s Consultative Assembly of  the Republic of Indonesia – and the matter could not be handled by the DPRP, nor does the DPRP have the authority to respond to the eleven recommendations of the Papuan People.

Ruben Magai also said  that a special committee to evaluate OTSUS had been set up and the evaluation would happen very soon. As for the recruitment of members of the MRP, that is also in progress, together with the selection of the new governor and deputy governor, which is to be carried out by the MRP.

The KRPBK said that they were not satisfied with the response of the DPRP. They read out a statement of their opinion, while at the same time saying that they would refuse to make any written statement to the DPRP about their aspirations  until such time as their demands had been met.

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NB: The eleven recommendations were adopted by the MRP and the Indigenous People of Papua in June 2010 and call among other things for OTSUS to be returned to Indonesia, for an internationally-mediated dialogue with the Papuan people, for the holding of a referendum for Papuan independence, for the demilitarisation of Papua, for an embargo on international assistance for the implementation of OTSUS and for the closure of Freeport.

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