Tag: Makar

Police fail to provoke violence as demo in Manokwari ignores protest ban

January 18, 2013

by West Papua Media editorial and stringers

Well over 1000 people engaged in a colourful and vibrant demonstration calling for West Papuan independence on Manokwari on January 17, despite Indonesian police banning the march and the display of the Morning Star Papuan Independence flag.

Amid worries of a security crackdown and violence from Indonesian security forces, organisers of the rally reported a generally peaceful event, with participants well-disciplined against reacting over severe intimidation tactics, preferring instead to use music, drumming and free expression to get their message across.

Organised by activists from the former Federated Republic of West Papua, the Manokwari protest saw several groups of singers, dancers and drummers converged at the Sanggeng sports stadium, marching 7 kilometres to the church at Elim Kwawi over four hours.  They were shadowed at all times by at least police to secure the action is over 200 police personnel, 2 truckloads of soldiers, 8 armed motorcyclists, and an extra truckload of elite Dalmas Riot Police (a unit that includes personnel from the Detachment 88 anti-terror group funded by Australia).

To the shouts of “Merdeka!” (Freedom!), and accompanied by 4 groups of drummers and 2 flute bands, over 100 banned Morning Star flags were flown during the march, held high by mama-mama, youth, children and students.  Sources at the march reported to West Papua Media that spirits were high amongst participants due to the music and dancing.

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Speaking from Washington DC, Herman Wainggai, FRWP’s representative to the United Nations, said in a statement that “Over the years, peaceful demonstrators in West Papua have been terrorized, imprisoned and killed by Indonesian military police. Edison Waromi, one of West Papua’s human rights defenders, has been imprisoned for more than 14 years, and we were imprisoned together for two of those years. West Papuan activists Edison Kendi and Yan Maniamboy currently are threatened with 20 years in prison for organizing a nonviolent rally in support of the United Nations’ International Day of the World’s Indigenous People in New York in August 2012.”

Wainggai repeated the demand  “that Indonesia immediately and unconditionally free all West Papuan political prisoners and end its military occupation of West Papua. We also request that the UN Special Rapporteur, who is scheduled to be in Indonesia in January, visit West Papua and meet with imprisoned political leaders of the Federated Republic of West Papua, such as President Forkorus Yaboisembut, Prime Minister Edison Waromi, and others.”

International solidarity actions were held outside the Indonesian Embassy to the United States in Washington DC, and also in the Solomon Islands, and Melbourne, Australia.

Rexy Roses, from the new Solomon Islands for West Papua solidarity group, called upon the Indonesian government to immediately release West Papua and Malukan political prisoners, and to respect their rights to free expression.

“More than 50 years of tyranny and immeasurable human rights abuses suffered by the Indigenous people of West Papua at the hands of the occupying Indonesian Military forces is more than too much to bear, it is time now time for dialogue and negotiations to end violence in West Papua and to allow for a peaceful referendum. This year 2013 is going to be a very challenging year and we will make sure that the cries of the indigenous Melanesian people of West Papua be heard in every corners of Melanesia, the Pacific and beyond, it is time for change, together lets stand for the change we want to see in West Papua and Maluku, ” Rexy stated.

Police attempt to provoke trouble

Organisers of the rally had notified Indonesian Police of their rally but the Chief of Police in Manokwari forbade the rally from going ahead, contrary to the rights of peaceful expression guaranteed to West Papuan people under the now discredited (but still active) Special Autonomy legislation of 2001.  However, according to reports from witnesses and our stringers, police stood by and allowed participants to gather, instead focussing their attention on the seizure of Morning Star Flags.

Upon an attempt to formally raise the Morning Star on flagpoles, police moved in and attempted to seize flags, however organisers led by West Papua National Authority Executive Governor of Region II Manokwari Markus Yenu negotiated with police, who allowed the mass to continue after receiving assurances that no flag raising would occur again.  However, outside Biryosi petrol station, police seized flags from a young man, escalating into a tense situation due to the hostility between individual police officers and the youth.

According to West Papua Media’s stringer at the protest, ” the journey became increasingly tense as Police officers began intimidation by beginning to walk ahead (faster) than the rear of the masses,”  whilst in riot gear, using a common riot police tactic of dispersal.

“The Massa (collective group) felt that a scenario was being created by Indonesian police to disrupting the peaceful demonstration and provoke violence. This situation occurred precisely around Copal Sanggeng Manokwari. However our koorlap (Koordinator Lapangan or field coordinator) were able to ensure massa discipline and not be provoked by friction generated by these police officers,” one field coordinator, who cannot be named, told West Papua Media.

The Rally dispersed peacefully around 3.30 pm local time after speeches by West Papua National Authority, Federated Republic of West Papua, and other activists, followed by prayers, with no reports of further intimidation of participants from security forces.

In Yapen meanwhile, security force intimidation and the arrest of seven activists on January 16 in Mantembu village by an Indonesian Army (TNI) unit, prevented the planned demonstration from taking place in Serui town.  Reports received by West Papua Media from human rights sources early in the day described a tense atmosphere with several hundred heavily armed police and army patrolling key protest gathering point.  Unconfirmed reports claimed that a joint police and army unit blockaded roads outside Mantembu village and threatened violence on any potential protest participants.

WESTPAPUAMEDIA

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Baptist leader calls for unconditional release of Forkorus

Bintang Papua
11 December 2012
The Indonesian government has been urged to free all political prisoners in Papua, including Forkorus Yaboisembut and Filep Karma. On the occasion of World Human Rights Day,  the human rights defender Socrates Sofyan Yoman spoke about the activities throughout 2012 of organisations such Polri (the police force), the TNI (the Indonesian military) and vicious armed civilian groups. He said 90  incidents of violence had been committed by these groups in all parts of Papua during the year so far.’As we celebrate Human Rights Day,’ he said, ‘we defenders  of human rights urge the Indonesian government to take the following actions:

‘Firstly, in accordance with its constitutional responsibility to safeguard its citizens, the government should acknowledge that the way it treats prisoners, convicts and the citizens in general is brutal, inhumane and demeaning. This includes the way it treats Papuan civil society and Papuan political prisoners. Such activities  should be prohibited, along with all practices that violate the law. Torture must be clearly identified  and criminalised. This would be seen as a concrete sign of Indonesia’s commitment to the International Covnention Against Torture which it officially ratified  by enactment of Law 5/1998

Secondly, the government should agree to adopt a policy that recognises Papuan citizens as victims. In those cases where legal processes have been resorted to, rehabilitation not imprisonment should be the method  chosen. The government should also adopt measures to  inform the general public about the many civilian victims in Papua.

His next point was to ensure that whenever the law on treason is used in a court of law, this should be non-discriminatory and concrete action should be taken to put an end to all criminal activities by the security forces, including judges, public prosecutors and all those people who are in charge of the prisons.

Furthermore,  the rights of all Papuan political prisoners must be safeguarded, including ending all illegal detentions. In cases where confessions were made under duress and without the presence of legal counsel, they should not be accepted as evidence in a court.of law.

The government should create mechanisms for people to be able to initiate charges. Such mechanisms should be available everywhere and in all places of detention and imprisonment.And in cases where charges are brought by detainees, this must be followed through by independent investigations by law-enforcement institutions as well as the National Human Rights Commission.

His next point  was to urge the National Human Rights Commision, the National Commission to End Violence Against Women and the Ombudsman  of the Indonesian Republic, to establish a mechanism  for a fully independent National Protection Unit to visit all places of detention, especially places of detention where persons charged with treason (/makar/) or other political prisoners  are being held as part of the state’s responsibility to act in accordance with the Anti-Violence Optional Convention.

The seventh point was to press the Indonesian government to enter in peaceful dialogue on the problem of Papua, mediated by a third party, one of the aims of which would to end torture and other forms of violence throughout the Land of Papua.

The eighth point was to press the Indonesian government to invite  the UN Special Rapporteur against Torture and Arbitrary Detentions to visit Papua.

The ninth point was to press the Indonesian government  to allow foreign journalists to visit Papua.

The tenth point was that the Indonesian government should accept responsibility for incidents of gross violations of human rights such as the incident in Abepura on 7 December 2000, the Wasior 2001 incident, the Wamena  2003 inicident and other incidents that have already been investigated by the  National Human Rights Commission, and to ensure that  the results of these investigations  are considered at the human rights court and dealt with in accordance with the principles of justice.

With regard to the role of the churches in Papua, it should be acknowledged that their main mission  has been paralysed by the state and governmental system in Indonesia.

Moreover, its prophetic voice is hardly ever heard in Papua, particularly since Papua was integrated into the Indonesian republic by military means and this the integration was preceded by the bloody events surrounding the Act of Free Choice, which continue to the present day.

‘The churches have forgotten or refused to recognise that Christianity arrived in Papua three centuries ago, on 5 February 1855.’

These thoughts were expressed by Socrates Sofyan Yoman during his opening address of the Congress of the Alliance of Baptist Churches in Papua at the Baptist Church in Wamena in October 2012.

He pointed out that his church  has supported the Papuan people with education, religious belief, healthcare and in the economic sphere, and has helped to improve access to the most remote areas by establishing small airfields which cater for small aircraft, with alll the risks this involves.

The church’s  missionaries live in close proximity with the Papuan people and help to foster the dignity of the Papuan people.in sharp contrast to what Indonesia has done since Papua’s integration, when it became a colonial power, a fact that is rarely criticised by the churches.

As a church leader, Yoman said that he not only studies the Bible but also learns from the history of Papua.  He has learned a great deal from this history, in particular the many untruths that have been told.  It is the role of the churches to insist on correcting these untruths, he said

Until now the churches talk about  ‘peace and well being’ but God’s people are continually  stigmatised as treasonous and accused of being part of the OPM.

As a church leader, he rejects all these allegations  and believes that Christians  must reflect of God’s will, as is stated in Genesis 1:26.  For all these reasons, he said in conclusion:

‘I will continue to speak out and will do everything I possibly can to share in the sufferings of God’s people. There is no future for Papua if it continue to remain a part of Indonesia. Papuans cannot live normal lives The churches must speak out about this and integrate themselves with those people whose very identity has been destroyed. It must speak out about  justice, equality  and the freedom  of all humankind regardless of race, ethnicity, culture or religion.

[Translated by TAPOL]

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Indonesian government to act on Papuan political prisoners

via Tapol
5 Dec 2012
Indonesian government to act on Papuan political prisoners
By: KBR68H, translated by TAPOL

Names of 23 Papuan political prisoners submitted to Komnas HAM

3 December 2001

Solidarity for Humanitarian and Human Rights Violations has submitted information regarding 23 political prisoners to Komnas HAM (the National Human Rights Commission).

Earlier, Komnas HAM planned to set up a team to resolve the cases of political detainees and convicted political prisoners in Papua. The spokesman for SKP Papua, Mathius Murib, said that information regarding the prisoners, including their arrest, the time they have spent in custody and their conditions in prison was submitted. He said that in many cases, there was no legal basis for their being charged for treason and that their imprisonment was in violation of their human rights

“We have supplied data relating to a number of prisoners being held in prisons in Papua. Detailing how many prisoners there are and for how many years they have been held. Altogether, we have submitted such information regarding 23 political prisoners. We greatly appreciate this support and the action.”

Earlier on, Komnas HAM planned to set up a team to resolve the cases of political detainees and convicted political prisoners in Papua. The purpose was to review the status of those being held in prison. This would include considering a reduction in the length of their sentences.

To read the article in Indonesian on the KBR68H website, click here.

Komnas HAM is seeking Clemency for Papuan Political Prisoners

4 December 2012

Komnas HAM, the National Human Rights Commission intends to struggle to ensure that all political detainees and convicted political prisoners in Papua are granted clemency or a reduction in sentence.

The chairman of Monitoring and Investigating Human Rights Violations, Natalius Pigai, said that Komnas HAM plans to set up a special team next January to identify the cases of political detainees and convicted political prisoners in Papua, together with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

“This special team will also be entrusted with the task of granting clemency or reduction of sentences for political detainees and convicted political prisoners in Papua. We will be undertaking this in collaboration with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights,” said Natalius.

He went on to say that this special team would do everything possible to improve the general environment and facilities in all the prisons in Papua. This will include ensuring that every tapol/napol receives whatever healthcare is required.

To read the article in Indonesian on the KBR68H website, click here.

Law and Human Rights Ministry to check status of around 20 Papuan political prisoners

4 December 2012

The Ministry of Law and Human Rights plans to check the status of around twenty political prisoners in Papua. This decision follows their intention to resolve the cases of political detainees and convicted political prisoners.

A spokesman of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Martua Batubara, said that those who are serving sentences will be given remissions (a reduction of sentence) in accordance with the law.

As for the Komnas HAM, it can only make recommendations.

“We intend to check in the prisons as well as to check with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights to find out which prisoners are serving sentences and which are prisoners whose cases are still being processed. We don’t know which prisoners they are talking about (gap with question mark perhaps indicating something that is illegible) or whether it is true that Komnas HAM  only has the authority to investigate and then make recommendations to the authorities in charge of the prisoners.”

Previously, Solidarity for Humanitarian and Human Rights Violations in Papua submitted information about 23 political prisoners to Komnas HAM. This was done to complete the information available to Komnas HAM, following a plan to set up a team to resolve the cases of political detainees and convicted political prisoners in Papua. The purpose is for there to be a review of the status of all those who are currently being held in detention. This would also include seeking a reduction in the sentences now being served by all those who are currently being held in prison in Papua.

To read the article in Indonesian on the KBR68H website, click here.

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Indonesia cannot kill our spirit for freedom: West Papuan leader

21 October 2012

Alex Rayfield

West Papuan independence organisation, the West Papua National Committee (known by its Indonesian acronym KNPB) continues to defy the Indonesian security after a series of arrests and attacks on the group in Wamena, Timika and Jayapura.

Speaking from a safe house KNPB Chairman, Viktor Yeimo told West Papua Media that the police were vigorously repressing the group’s right to freedom to organise and right to nonviolently express their political opinion.

“I am in hiding but I have to try and keep organizing. KNPB have plans for peaceful demonstrations in Sorong, Manokwari and Jayapura. The police won’t allow us to make a peaceful action but we will still have a peaceful action.”

Early on Friday morning officers from the Indonesian police and Australian and U.S aided counter-terrorist group Detachment 88 raided KNPB’s Timika headquarters. Four Papuans, Steven Itlay, Chairman of the Timika region, Romario Yatipai, vice-president of KNPB’s parallel parliamentary structure the West Papua National Parliament, Marten Kalolik, and Denias Tekege were arrested. Laptops and cameras were also seized. The arrests in Timika follow raids and arrests of ten activists in Wamena, raids on villages and an attack on a student dormitory in Jayapura last Tuesday. Some of those arrested are teenagers. Others like Simson, a student activist from Jayapura were beaten by the police to extract information.

Virtually the entire KNPB leadership has now gone underground. In addition to Viktor Yeimo, Fanny Kogoya, ex-member of the KNPB central committee who resigned from KNPB after being elected Director of the Papua Desk of Friends of the Earth Indonesia, and Simeon Dabi chairman of the Wamena branch of KNPB are all on the run. Their faces are pasted in the streets of Wamena and Jayapura under the ominous heading, “Daftar Pencarian Orang”, the list of wanted persons. In Fanny Kogoya’s case her only ‘crime’ is that she was a close friend of Mako Tabuni, the KNPB activist killed by Detachment 88 in June.

Indonesian police accuse KNPB of being behind a series of shootings and bombings in West Papua that have rocked the country in recent months. It is an allegation that Yeimo vigorously denies.

“All this evidence is planted so they can justify their attacks. We never had any plan or any program to make acts of terror. We are not a military movement. If we were a military movement we would be the TPN (West Papua National Army) but we are a civilian movement. The Indonesians fear our movement, they want to make a public opinion that we are terrorists so they can kill us.”

Yeimo pauses.

“But they won’t succeed” he tells me quietly. “Indonesia won’t success to stop our movements for the right. Indonesia cannot kill our spirit for freedom.”

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Activist tortured, disappeared in Serui amid round up of non-violent activists

October 21, 2012

West Papua Media

Reports have been received from human rights investigators detailing a torture incident that occurred in Serui on October 17, 2012, under the command of notorious Serui Police Chief Roycke Harry Langie.
Arrests occurred in Serui in the lead up to planned demonstrations commemorating the 1st anniversary of the 3rd Papuan People’s Congress, the brutal crackdown by Indonesian security forces on the event, and the establishment of the self-declared Federated Republic of West Papua.
Those now held as political prisoner in Serui now include:

  • Edison Kendi
  • Yanpiet Maniamboi
  • Jon Niantian
  • Jamal Omrik Manitori

On Wednesday evening after 6:00pm, activist Lodik Ayomi was captured by Police at Serui General hospital whilst visiting his ill father. Whilst Lodik’s father was lying in hospital bed, he watched helplessly with tears as his son was being hand-cuffed, hit with a rifle-butt on the head and dragged out of the hospital, according to human rights investigators.

Mr Ayomi, in his early 30’s, is a father with a child and a political activist. He is listed on the Daftar Pencarian Orang (DPO- Wanted List) by the Police in Serui, alongside with several other political activists who are now in hiding for their safety.  Mr Ayomi was falsely accused by Serui police of an incident in May, which Police claimed to be an ‘attempt-to-shoot’ a police officer at Angkaisera Police station.

Lodik’s one kilometre journey from the hospital to the Police Prison left him with a fractured skull and swollen eyes, and one witness described that “he can’t even open his eyes”.  He was also beaten upon his arrival at the Serui Prison, where a witness saw ten police officers in uniform “push him out of the police car and onto the ground violently with ongoing brutal acts of kicking, punching, and hitting with the butt of their rifle for several minutes.”

Another witness at the prison saw Ayomi couldn’t move whilst he was lying on the ground.  “I thought he was dead, but thankfully, a new officer who just started his shift came for Lodik’s rescue and stop the other officers from hitting him,”  said the witness.  Mr Lodik sustained a fractured skull with three cracks on his head, according tohe witness, who has not been identified for his protection.

The witness saw a “blood-bath all over” and massive swelling on his face and body. He was then physically dragged into his cell and later at 8:15pm, the prison guards allowed four Indonesian intelligence officers, who blind-folded his head in a bag and tortured him.

Before he was dragged away, other inmates could hear him screaming loudly “help, help, help, Lord help me”, for several times.  The inmates heard the interrogators yelled at him to ‘stand-up’ when he fell onto the concrete floor, and continuously kicked him until he was crying and Ayomi was begging for the police officers to “please don’t paralyze my legs, please don’t break my legs”.

After that another five officers came in and took him away into the interrogation room, where he continued to scream for ‘help’, according to witnesses at the prison. He was tortured and interrogated for over six hours, from 8:15pm until 2:00am. He was later put in a septic tank for 2 hours with head blind-folded and hand-cuffed. The other inmates saw him “like a disabled person”.

On Thursday morning, around 8am, he was taken away from the prison and until now, no one knows his whereabouts, including the other inmates.  Grave concerns are held for his safety.
The witnesses who saw the police officers who beat him know the identities of the police officers names. Thee names of the police officers who conducted the beating are:

  • Bripka. Jabal Nur
  • Brigadir. Yusak Sawaki
  • Briptu. Peres Yowen
  • Briptu. Regen Jas
  • Briptu. Berti

with West Papua Media

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