Tag: Makar

Amnesty: ‘Slap on the wrist’ for police violence in Papua is accountability failure

“

These written warnings are a slap on the wrist. They do not provide accountability for the deaths of three people, or for the use of excessive and unnecessary force against a peaceful gathering.

”
Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Director for the Asia-Pacific
Wed, 23/11/2011

 

The fact that eight Indonesian police officers involved in a violent crackdown on a peaceful gathering that left three dead have only been given written warnings, is a failure of human rights accountability, Amnesty International said today.The warnings were given after an internal disciplinary hearing on 22 November found that the officers violated the police Disciplinary Code.On the afternoon of 19 October 2011, police and military units violently dispersed peaceful participants of the Third Papuan People’s Congress, a nationalist gathering being held in Abepura, Papua province.

The bodies of Demianus Daniel, Yakobus Samonsabara, and Max Asa Yeuw were later found near the Congress area.

“These written warnings are a slap on the wrist.  They do not provide accountability for the deaths of three people, nor for the use of excessive and unnecessary force against a peaceful gathering,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director.

Some 300 participants were arbitrarily arrested and ill-treated at the end of the Congress. Most were released the following day but six have been charged and are currently awaiting trial.

Amnesty International has called on the authorities to act on the findings of the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) that rights violations were committed by security forces, and to prosecute those responsible.

“Even though the Indonesian authorities have a responsibility to prosecute human rights violators, this is yet another example of how in Indonesia, human rights crimes committed by police officers never reach civilian courts, but are dealt with through inhouse disciplinary hearings,” said Sam Zarifi.

“Internal disciplinary procedures are for dealing with minor offences, not serious human rights violations.”

Amnesty International also urges the Indonesian authorities to set up an independent police complaints mechanism to deal with human rights violations by police officers.

Current bodies such as the National Police Commission or the National Human Rights Commission do not have the powers to deal effectively with complaints about police abuses, nor to provide reparations to victims.

A Komnas HAM investigation team found a range of human rights violations were allegedly committed by the Indonesian security forces on 19 October, including opening fire on the peaceful Papuan gathering and beating and kicking participants.

It was reported on 7 November that the President’s office had rejected the Komnas HAM findings, stating that the police were still handling the case.

On 22 November, an internal police disciplinary hearing in Jayapura, Papua found the former Jayapura Police Chief Iman Setiawan guilty of violating the Disciplinary Code for “his inability to co-ordinate police officers under his command”.

Seven police officers from Jayapura City were also found guilty of violating the code for not “protecting and servicing the community with the best of their ability” and “degrading the honour and dignity of the state and the police”. They were all each given a written warning.

The disciplinary hearings for the seven police officers were reportedly held behind closed doors.

——————–
Related articles
2

Violent Tactics Backfire In Papua

1 Nov 2011

By Alex Rayfield

waiting

The tough response of the Indonesia armed forces to the Third Papuan People’s congress has strengthened calls for freedom. NM’s West Papua correspondent Alex Rayfield reviews the fallout

If the Indonesian police and military thought shooting live ammunition into a mass gathering of unarmed Papuans would somehow dampen dissent and endear them to Jakarta’s continued rule, they were mistaken. Indiscriminate repression meted out against those gathered at the Third Papuan People’s congress is showing signs of having the opposite effect: widening the circle of dissent inside West Papua and igniting international support outside.

First the Indonesian military and police denied they shot dead peaceful protesters. But that was too difficult to sustain. New Matilda received text messages as soon as the shooting started which were followed by urgent phone calls. Gunfire could be heard in the background.

When it became clear that covering up the shooting would not wash, the Indonesian Chief of Army in West Papua, Erfi Triassunu, admitted opening fire but claimed his troops only fired warning shots. He insisted no one had been hurt. Some of the international media bought the story. With foreign journalists banned from West Papua, some media outlets went to the police and military for confirmation. This is in spite of the fact that West Papua Media, with their extensive network of citizen journalists and local stringers, broke the story, verified it and began filing reports about what happened within a few hours.

A few hours after the shooting, the Indonesian police in West Papua were telling journalists in Jakarta that an attempted coup d’état had taken place and that police had used force to defend the state. The Jayapura Chief of Police, Imam Setiawan, even went as far as saying that members of the Papuan Liberation Army had attacked the Congress.

Setiawan took this line again on Thursday 20 October. In an interview with Bintang Papua, a local Papuan daily, he outlined how he thought police should respond to a gathering of unarmed Papuans expressing their political opinion: “Whoever supports separatism or subversion activity, I will do the same as yesterday. I’ll finish them.”

The language used by Setiawan echoed hard-line nationalists in Jakarta. It follows a deadly trajectory. Cast the Papuans in the worst possible light. Label them as “separatists” — which in Indonesia is the worst kind of criminal, someone who is treasonous, dangerous and violent. From here it was only a short step to imply that those at the Third People’s Congress were using violence to try and seize control of the state. This narrative makes it sound like the police and military were taking evasive action to stop the Papuans storming the Bastille of Indonesian rule. This is pure fantasy.

Initially it was reported that police and the military raided the stage after Forkorus Yaboisembut and Edison Waromi (appointed as President and Prime Minister of the Federal State of West Papua respectively) declared independence. We now know that the attack did not happen until well after the three-day gathering had finished.

After the Declaration of Independence was read around 2.00pm local time, the Congress concluded. The leadership — Yaboisembut, Waromi, Dominikus Surabut, Helena Matuan and a few others left the field to rest in the nearby Sang Surya Catholic Friary in the grounds of the Fajar Timur Theological College where the Congress was being held. Those remaining on Taboria oval (Zaccheus Field) danced the Yospan, a traditional Papuan group dance.

The festivities continued for around 60-90 minutes. We don’t know exactly what the police, military and Brimob soldiers were doing between the time the Declaration was read out and the time the shooting started. Presumably they were discussing what to do. Most likely they consulted commanding officers locally and in Jakarta.

According to Yan Christian Waranussy, a prominent Papuan human rights lawyer, members of the security forces under the command of Police Chief Imam Setiawan arrested Edison Waromi as he drove out of the Fajar Timur grounds on Yakonde Street. Waranussy reports that the police pulled people out of the vehicle and started beating them before pushing them into a police van. Following the arrest of Waromi, Waranussy says the security forces starting firing their weapons into the crowd.

This occurred at around 3.30pm. One of the first killed was 25-year-old Daniel Kadepa, a student at Umel Mandiri Law School. According to those who knew him, Kapeda did not even attend the Congress. He was passing by when the security forces opened fire. Witnesses said that he died from gunshot wounds to the head and back after soldiers fired on him as he was running away.

Video footage obtained by EngageMedia and published by New Matilda shows people hiding in nearby buildings just after the police and military opened fire. In the background you can hear shooting. This is not automatic gunfire. They are single shots. Then there is a pause, followed by more shots. It is as if the shooter is walking around picking people off. There is very little background noise. No screaming or yelling, just an eerie silence … and gunshots.

According to Catholic clergy who witnessed the event, the police, Indonesian military and the the paramilitary Mobile Police Brigade continued discharging their weapons for approximately 25 minutes.

Eyewitnesses report that when the shooting started, Yaboisembut and Surabut were talking and relaxing in the Sang Surya Friary, a few metres from the oval. Then bullets smashed through the window. According to statements obtained by New Matilda people immediately hit the ground and began crawling to safety as the police indiscriminately fired live ammunition and canisters of tear gas into the buildings surrounding the oval.

According to statements obtained by New Matilda, police, military and Brimob personnel ransacked student dormitories, clergy residences and offices. One witness reported an Indonesian security officer yelling “Where are those idiot priests? Why do priests hide criminals?”

Those present also reported security personal using combat knives or bayonets and beating people with truncheons and rifles. At least 300 people were arrested and taken away in army and police trucks where they were detained overnight in the tennis courts at the police station.

We now know that three people were shot dead that day. They are Daniel Kapeda, Max Asa Yeuw, and Yakobus Samansabra. Two others, Matias Maidepa and Yacop Sabonsaba, were allegedly found dead behind the military headquarters in Abepura. According to the Indonesian military sources quoted in the local Papuan press, the victims had been stabbed. In addition, members of the Organising Committee of the Third Papuan Congress allege four other people died, all from gunshot wounds, two from Sorong and two from Wamena.

Six people are still in detention charged with rebellion. According to family members they have all been badly beaten. According to Human Rights Watch and KONTRAS Indonesia (the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence) those still in detention are:

• Forkorus Yaboisembut, chairman of the Papua Customary Council, probably the most prominent pro-independence leader in Papua. When New Matilda interviewed him in West Papua in 2010 and again in 2011 he was regularly receiving death threats. A few people had even come forward and told the local press that they were offered new motorbikes and other inducements if they would help orchestrate a fatal “accident”.

• Edison Waromi, president of the West Papua National Authority. Edison Waromi’s daughter, Yane, was kidnapped and assaulted by the security forces in 2008.

• Dominikus Surabut, secretary of the Papuan Customary Council in La Pago region.

• Selpius Bobii, a social media activist, who organised the Papuan Congress. He initially eluded the police crackdown, but surrendered to police on October 20, accompanied by his lawyers and a Papuan journalist.

• August M. Sananay of the West Papua National Authority.

• Gat Wanda, a member of PETAPA (Defenders of the Land of Papua, an unarmed civilian defence group), charged with possessing a sharp weapon.

It will take some time before the immediate effect of the repression is made clear, but early signs suggest the use of extreme and deadly violence against nonviolent activists has enlarged the circle of dissent inside West Papua and ignited international support outside.

Certainly Church leaders — both Catholic and Protestant — have expressed their outrage. Neles Tebay, a key Papuan intellectual, defended the role of clergy who provided humanitarian protection for those seeking safety. Tebay, who also gave permission for the Committee to hold the Congress in the Theological College grounds, was quoted as saying that he “rejects the use of all kinds of repression in dealing with the problems. Using violence undermines the dignity of all concerned, above all the dignity of the victims as well as the perpetrators.”

Tebay has repeated his call “for all people of goodwill to jointly press for dialogue, for the sake of peace in Papua”.

Political representatives of the Papuan Provincial Parliament, a group that until now has sided with the government on matters of national security, expressed their dismay. Bintang Papua reported that Yan Mandenas, chairman of the Pikiran Rakyat Group in the Provincial Parliament said “the actions of the security forces in dispersing the Congress exceeded all bounds and … were in violation of the law”.

Similar views were expressed by Ruben Magay, chairman of Commission A on Politics and Law of the Provincial Parliament who reportedly urged the chief of police to withdraw his men because the Congress was already over. Magay said that what happened was clearly “a violation” and that “no one was fighting back”.

And while a large group of hard-line nationalists in Jakarta applauded or condoned police and military action, Effendy Choirie and Lily Chadidjah Wahid, both members of House of Representatives Commission I on information, defense and foreign affairs in Jakarta, warned the government that the mounting tension could lead to the province’s separation from Indonesia. In a clear rebuke of Papuan Police Chief Imam Setiawan, the two legislators added “that the government should not blame the Free Papua Movement (OPM) for the shooting but rather the security personnel in Papua”.

Internationally, things have gotten much worse for Jakarta.

United States Congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin condemned the actions of the security forces. So too has Senator Richard Di Natale from the Australian Greens who has urged the Australian Government to suspend military ties with Indonesia. MP Catherine Delahunty from New Zealand has also called for the New Zealand Government to withdraw its training support for the Indonesian police. This is more than words. The United States, Australian and New Zealand Government all provide money, training and material aid to the Indonesian police and military. In this sense we are beginning to see the early signs of what could become an international withdrawal of legitimacy for continued Indonesian repression in West Papua.

Papuan calls for UN intervention won’t happen, at least not in the foreseeable future. And the movement internally still faces serious challenges. But the Congress, the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent shooting has realigned the political landscape. There are now three main political groups, the Congress, the Papuan Peace Network led by Neles Tebay who is calling for dialogue, and the West Papua National Committee who want the giant US/Australian Freeport Mine closed and a referendum on West Papua’s political status. At a fundamental level there is not a lot of difference between these positions. They all point to the need for a political solution to the Pacific’s longest running conflict.

The Indonesian political elite and security forces can no longer pretend that the problem in Papua is economic. Papuans want political freedoms. The Congress made that abundantly clear. It opened with raising the banned Morning Star flag and singing the banned West Papuan national anthem, Hai Tanah Ku, and closed with a Declaration of Independence.

And it wasn’t as if the military or police was unaware of this depth of feeling. When an open peace conference organised by the Papua Peace Network was held in Jayapura last July, Erfi Triassunu, the local Army Chief, took the podium. In attendance were 800 respected Papuan civil society leaders. Triassunu tried to get the audience — who were mostly Papuan — to chant “peace!” in response to his “Papua!”. But as soon as he called out “Papua!” the crowd responded as one with “Merdeka!” (freedom).

Now the Papuans’ cry for freedom is echoing around the world. And it is the Indonesian police, military and their nationalist political allies in Jakarta who are helping amplify it.

Related articles
9

Forkorus and colleagues must be treated fairly, says Komnas HAM

Bintang Papua 26 October 2011Komnas HAM, the National Commission for Human Rights, has urged the police in Papua to respect the rights of the six persons who were arrested following the Third Papuan People’s Congress. The six include Forkorus Yaboisembut, chairman of the Papuan Customary  Council and Edison Waromi, a well-known human rights activist.  RA Ongge, speaking on behalf of the Commission, said they had also called for the release of all the civilians who were arrested by the security forces and the immediate return of possessions that had been seized at the time of their arrest. The police subsequently returned the possessions that had been seized.

Following the creation of a special team to deal with the arrests, Ongge said that they had visited the homes of Daniel Kadepa, Max Sasay and Yacob Samonsabra who had also been arrested, in order to gather information about the killings and other acts of violence that followed the end of the Papuan Congress..The victims said they had been badly treated  for two hours after the end of the Congress.

Forkorus who was able to meet members of Komnas HAM said: ‘As I was being arrested I was beaten and forcibly pushed onto a Baracuda. There was no way I  could resist as the police struck me in the back with their weapons,’ he said, while showing marks on his body. Members of Kontras, Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence were also witnesses to what happened to Forkorus.

Haris Azhar of Kontras  said that the violence against the men who were arrested was a case of gross human rights violations. These acts of violence by members of the security forces against civilians, acting on behalf of the state and using facilities such a vehicles which were state property  could be defined as gross human rights violations.

Members of Komnas HAM also visited other participants at the Congress who had also been taken into custody when many strange things had happened, including the discovery of people who had been killed . These matters have been raised with the chief of police. ‘None of these people offered any resistance when they were arrested,’ said Ridah Saleh of Komnas HAM.

Several sernior officials from Komnas HAM in Jakarta arrived in Jayapura to assist their local team and have met with members of the police force, as an indication of the seriousness with which the events following the Papuan Congress are seen in Jakarta.

Haris Azhar said:  ‘We regard this as an example of the appalling treatment of Papuans by the security forces , an example of their discrimination and suppression.’

Selpius Bobii, a member of the organising committee of the Congress, also told journalists  said none of those arrested were responsible for anything as it was he himself who as chairman of the Congress committee who accepts responsibility for everything that happened during the congress.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the police told journalists that the police were now in the process of investigating the case and were currently interrogating a number of people as well as some witnesses who were on duty with the security forces at the time.

Related articles
6

Neles Tebay calls for an end to repression and suppo

Bintang Papua, 26 October 2011The head of the Theology and Philosophy College, STFT, Pastor Neles Tebay, speaking after the acts of violence which occurred during the Third Papuan Peoples’ Congress, said that the violence had had a significant impact on the victims of the incident. He said that the security forces had entered the residences of the priests as well as the campus without prior permission and started looking for the Congress participants. This had resulted in material and psychological damage for all those who were staying at the STFT campus.

Speaking at a press conference after the event, he said that they were not concerned about the material damage which had been done but were concerned about the use of physical violence against people who had attended the Congress, which had also impacted on the broader community. He said that every effort should be made to ensure that such acts of violence do not occur again any time in the future. He stressed that the entire faculty of the STFT rejects the use of all kinds of repression in dealing with the problems. Using violence undermines the dignity of all concerned, above all the dignity of the victims as well as the perpetrators.

He said that it was very regrettable that the security forces appear to believe that they have the monopoly of the truth about what happened  and believe that the brothers and fathers residing on the STFT complex had acted wrongfully simply because they provided protection  to people who were fleeing and who were in need of protection, in accordance with universal principles in a situation where people’s personal safety was under threat. ‘It is the duty of the brothers and fathers to provide protection to people who are being chased and under threat from the security forces, in accordance with the principle of humanitarianism, and is not in any way connected with political issues.’

Pastor Neles called on Komnas HAM, the National Human Rights Commission, to investigate the acts of violence that occurred at the end of the Third Papuan People’s Congress in order to determine the extent to which basic human rights had been violated.

Recalling the commitment of the SBY government expressed on 16 August 2011 when the President said that  Papua should be handled with the heart, he fully supported  the call for dialogue between Jakarta and Papua. He said that dialogue would  be of tremendous importance not only as a way of ending the violence but so as to ensure that there would be no further repetition of violence in the  Land of Papua.

He called  on all people of goodwill to jointly  press for dialogue, for the sake of peace in Papua. Dialogue would make it possible to identify the problems and reach an agreement on the way to solve the problems in Papua in a way that is free of violence and bloodshed.

He also admitted that he was the one who had given the Congress permission to use the Zakheus Soccer Pitch as the venue of the Congress. He had done so because the Congress had been refused permission to hold the event either in the UNCEN Auditorium or in the Sports Stadium, GOR.

[Translated by TAPOL]

Related articles
2

Theologians & Franciscan Friars about recent post-Congress Indonesian violence affecting their communities

unofficial English translation of the media statement published yesterday (26/10) by the Rector of “Fajar Timur” Catholic School of Philosophy and Theology and the Provincial of the Franciscan Friars in West Papua, Indonesia, in regards to the recent violence affecting their communities.  via ETAN

“WHAT THE CIVITAS ACADEMICA OF ‘FAJAR TIMUR’ SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPY AND THEOLOGY HAVE EXPERIENCED AND SEEN POST THE THIRD PAPUAN CONGRESS”

1.       Wednesday, 19 October 2011, around 9 am, the police, Brimob and the Indonesian army were on guard equipped with armoured vehicle, trucks, along Sosiri Street, Yakonde Street even at the back of “Fajar Timur” School of Philosophy and Theology (STFT). Within those streets the Catholic mission compound is located, including St Paul’s Secondary School and its teachers’ residence, “Nur Jaya” girls’ dormitory, JMJ nuns’ house, staff residence, “Sang Surya” Franciscan friary, “Tunas Harapan” Catholic dormitory, Zakheus football field (where the gathering spot of the congress), Seminary of John Vianney, “Tauboria” dormitory, Inter-diocesan seminary, the campus of Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and Theology, residence of priest staff, a chapel, a dinning hall and other facilities. The deployment of troops without any prior notice to the school made us worried and suspected that the situation would have turned into chaos and we would have been trapped in such circumstances. Therefore, around 10 am, we asked our staff to go home.

2.       Around 11 am, a unit of Indonesian army with heavy guns entered the campus and dormitories (the inter-diocesan seminary) from the hill at the back of the campus. The troops entered our property without asking any permission. They took rest in a multi-purposed hut. Some students gave reactions to them and asked them not to enter the seminary and campus area. So they then left and went back to the hill.

3.       Around 3.30 pm some members of the security services entered the dormitories searching for the participants of the Papuan congress who were running for safety. The security services entered the dormitories of the brothers from the Diocese of Agats. They broke the doors of the study room and bed rooms at the front side, entered and ransacked the computer room while saying, “Take that computer for evidence.” While window glasses were destroyed, another voice said, “Don’t do it. This is the mission complex.” The brothers from the Diocese of Agats were terrified and lying  face down hiding at the front room. A few congress participants who took refuge in the bathrooms were arrested. A harsh voice said, “Run?…get shot!” When the security services wanted to ransack the room at the back where students were hiding, an instruction came out saying, “Enough! Enough! Stop! Back off!” then silence. After waiting for a while, those who were hiding, got out and ran away to the residence of priest staff. When they got there, they realised that one of them was shocked and could not move from his hiding place.

4.       Meanwhile, inside the staff’s study room, Father John Jehuru OSA, Associate Dean and the Rector of Interdiocesan Seminary was stunned when a bullet penetrated his window. He was monitoring the chaos happening in Zakheus football field around 3.30 pm. The bullet razed his glass louvers and curtain, hit the wall, before dropped into a study desk. The bullet and Father John were only separated for about 50-75 cms. The crumbs of the bullet were found.

5.       The security services also entered other dormitories. In the dormitories of the brothers of the Diocese of Manokwari-Sorong, while searching for participants of the congress, they said, “Is it a mission house? Where are those idiot priests? Why priests hide criminals?”

In the dormitory of the brothers of the Archdiocese of Merauke, the security services arrested Agus Alua, a student, who was standing outside when the security services came in. We found a bullet pierced a window but we do not know from which direction the bullet came from. The security services came from the back of the campus with shooting. However, we do not know whether they were the same troops that came ealier at 11 am or not.

6.       Meanwhile in the staff residence, the troops were chasing the participants and threw tear gas. One of the troops entered and found the resident, a woman, lying face down and hiding under the bed. He asked, “Who are you?” and the woman answered, “I’m the resident here!”. “Get out, don’t be afraid” said the security. She came out and wiped her soured eyes saying, “I’m not afraid of you but of your bullets and tear gas”. Then he walked away.

7.       In “Sang Surya” Franciscan friary, many participants took refuge. Mr Forkorus Yaboisembut (the Chair of the Papuan Customary Council) and Dominikus Sorabut, now suspects detained in the police custody, were taking rest after the congress was closed. Father Gonsa Saur OFM, the head of the friary, was taken by surprised when he heard a shooting. He put his Franciscan habit on and came out standing at the stairs that connect the first and the second floor of the friary. Three members of the security forces and some others with plain clothes forced to enter the second level of the house but Father Gonsa denied them. He saw the security services with plain clothes sneaked into the dining room and the front room. They were carrying big guns and pistols. Due to the heavy pressure from the security forces, finally Father Gonsa had to ask those who were hiding to come out. While some of them came out, some others stayed hidding for safety. Father Gonsa asked the security, “You can take them, but don’t beat them.” In front of him, they were not beaten up but once they were out at the road, some of the security services beat them.

Six members of the security forces in plain clothes dragged Mr Yaboisembut and yelled at him. A woman was dragged too out of the friary. One of the security forces tried to penetrate the second level but Father Gonsa asked him to come down. About ten people surrendered but we do not know their identities. They were told to walk by squatting. There were three women among them. Outside the building, many security forces with or without uniform were hanging around with heavy weapons.

8.       In John Maria Vianey’s Seminary of the Diocese of Jayapura, many participants were hiding for safety. The security services searched for the participants and found Father Yan You, the head of the seminary. Three members of the security forces pointed his gun at Father Yan’s head one by one. They said, “You hide them.” He answered, “Kill me, shot me, come on.” Then they smashed the door, entered the room and took those who were hiding. Meanwhile, the brothers convened the participants at the hall. The brothers gave up their bedrooms for the participants for hiding. The brothers put their priest uniform on and protect the participants of the congress but when the security forces entered, some of the participants surrendered and they were taken away. The brothers told the security not to be cruel with the participants. One of the brothers, who tried to help those who were shot, got beaten with a rifle butt on his hand until it was  fractured and with a rubbler baton on his nose until it was bleeding. He had been arrested and detained at the Papua police custody overnight before released on the following day. He is being treated at the intensive care unit at the local hospital.

9.       When the security forces persecuted the crowd and members of the security guards of the Papuan Customary Council (Penjaga Tanah Papua), these people ran through the back of the library and tried to enter the staff room. But they could not make it because it was locked. So they broke two pieces of glass louvers. They ran to the hill but then were stopped with shootings coming from the top of the hill. So they went back to the bushes where they had come from.

Because of this incidence, the “Yerusalem Baru” inter-diocesan seminary and “Fajar Timur” School of Philosophy and Theology were physically and non-physically damaged:
1.       7 doors were ruined, 2 computer units missing, 2 trophies crushed, 2 chairs were broken, 2 sickles and 1 knife were missing, pots of flowers scattered. Window glasses of the dormitory of the Diocese of Merauke was razed with bullet, 2 pieces of glasses louvers of the staff room were smashed, 1 window glass of the staff room was pierced by bullet, window glasses of the seminary office demolished.

2.       One student is being treated in hospital because his face was swollen so there was no difference between his nose and his cheeks.

3.       The brothers remain terrified and worried. They are traumatized because the security services have acted inhumanely.

In regards to this incidence:
1.       We do not ask for compensation for the damaged or missing facilities. The violent acts of the security forces have destroyed the facilities and also infused fear and anxiety among the civitas academica of “Fajar Timur” School of Philosophy and Theology. The building and window glasses can be replaced but it takes a long time to heal fear and anxiety.

2.       We do not ask for compensation for the medical treatment for the brother who is in hospital.

3.       We firmly reject any repressive means to deal with issues because such violent act only undermines the human dignity of victims and perpetrators.

4.       We are deeply concerned that our campus, which is entitled to academic freedom, was penetrated by heavily armed security forces without any permission or prior notice.

5.       We regret that the monopoly of truth by the security forces who assumed the brothers had done something wrong by providing assylums for those who were persecuted by the security forces. We affirm that such an assylum was provided on the basis of the universal humanitarian principle, namely when a person is exposed to a life-threatening situation, s/he has to be given protection and defence. Therefore, the protection provided for the participants of the congress who tried to take refuge from the persecution and threats from the security forces was solely based on the humanitarian principle rather than any political interests.

6.       We appeal to the Indonesian Human Rights Commission (KOMNAS HAM) to investigate the violent incidence post congress to look at how serious human rights abuses have occurred.

7.       Based on the government’s commitment, as expressed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his address to the nation on 16 August 2011, namely “dealing Papua with heart,” we support a dialogue to be done between Jakarta and Papua. This dialogue is highly important not only to stop violence but also to prevent any recurrence of violent acts in Papua. We ask all parties of good will to push the idea of dialogue between Jakarta and Papua.

8.       We ask for supports and solidarity from the members of the Catholic Church around the world to pray and support the implementation of dialogue between Jakarta and Papua for peace of Papua. Because only through dialogue, issues that underpin conflicts in Papua can be identified and proper solutions can also be found without resorting to violence and bloodshed.

Jayapura, 26 October 2011

Rector of “Fajar Timur”  STFT The Provincial of the Franciscans Order in Papua

Father Dr. Neles Tebay, Pr Father Gabriel Ngga OFM, Lic Theol.

Related articles
2

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑