Tag: Merauke

News from Papua: Filep Karma refuses offer of remission; Census time: huge increase in population of Papua

Articles from Bintang Papua, 17 August 2010
Abridged in translation

While prisoners everywhere will await anxiously for the moment when they
may receive remission of their sentence, this is not the case with a
prisoner charged with ‘makar’ (treason).

Filep Karma (who is serving a 15-year sentence) has once again rejected
the government’s offer of a remission. He made his decision known in a
two-page letter addressed to the minister for law and human rights,
Patrialis Akhar.

At a place in the prison where he was able to make contact with
journalists, he said that he rejects all offers of remission.

‘I consider that I am not guilty of anything. The mere expression of my
democratic rights is not allowed. Yet, in Jakarta, when someone sticks a
photo of the president on the backside of a buffalo, this is not
considered to be a crime.’

He said he would also refuse any offer of clemency.

In the opening paragraph of his letter copies of which are addressed to
26 other addressees including the Indonesian president and Amnesty
International, he said:

‘I, the undersigned, declare in full consciousness of what I am doing
and free from any pressure from any quarter, that I have rejected the
efforts by the government since 2005 to grant me remission by the
department of law and human rights and I shall do so into the
foreseeable future for as long as I continue to have the status of
political prisoner conferred by the Republic of Indonesia.’

He went on to say that this was being done as an act of protect against
all manner of actions by the authoritiesof the Republic of Indonesia in
violation of the Pancasila philosophy and the 1945 Constitution.

As is known, the national day 17 August is always an occasion for the
authorities to grant remission, and on this occasion, it included the
release of fourteen convicted prisoners being held in Abepura Prison
while 115 prisoners were granted remissions of between two and six months.

The remissions were granted in a ceremony led by the law and human
rights minister and the deputy governor of Papua, Alex Hasegam when the
remission letter was given to each of the prisoners in question.

On the same occasion, one prisoner, Filep Karma, who was neatly
dressed, managed to come forward holding a morning star flag in his
hand. But this had nothing to do with being granted remission; it was to
move a sack of garbage to a truck.

—————————–

Huge increase in population of Papua

The population of the province of Papua has now reached 2,851,999, which
represents a far greater percentage increase than the national increase
of 1.49 percent.

[The report in BPapua refers throughout to the ‘province of Papua’,
presumably meaning this this does not include what is now the province
of West Papua.]

This was announced by the head of the Statistics Bureau of the province
of Papua who said that this was still a provisional announcement
because there would be further announcements about the composition of
the population including ethnicity, migration as well as the number of
births and deaths.

Another official of the bureau said that the huge increase was partly
due to having started from a low base, so the percentage increase
appears to be very high. In addition, he said, the census in 2000 was
far from being complete because the political situation at the time was
very tense, with on-going demands for a referendum and independence for
Papua, with the result that some districts were unable to carry out the
census.

He said that the number of males was in excess of the number of females,
with a recorded difference of 13 percent.

The place with the greatest densisty is Jayapura with 278 persons per
square kilometre followed by Biak with 58 persons per square kilometre..
Mamberamo has the lowest density of all, with only one person per square
kilometre.

[Comment: We can only await the promise of more detailed information
about the ethnic composition of the population, bearing in mind the
reported regular arrival of in-migrants from other parts of Indonesia.
It could very well be that the point has been reached at which Papuans
now account for a minority of the inhabitants, a trend that can only
increase with the recent launch of the MIFEE project in Merauke. TAPOL]

30% of Papua's forests destroyed; 3,100 kms of road to be built across Papua

Bintang Papua
6 August 2010

Jayapura: Already 30 percent of Papuan forests have been destroyed according to Benja Viktor Mambai, director of WWF Sahul Jayapura, speaking at a seminar in Jayapura. This means that close attention needs to be paid to the impact of future development projects.

‘While this means that 70 percent of Papuan forests are still preserved, this can be seriously affected if care is not taken,’ he said. He also spoke about the incomparable richness of Papua’s forests, its rich flora and fauna , the importance of the environment within the forests as well as their social and cultural aspects.

He said that research was going on to discover yet more unknown species in Papua.

‘Given the richness of its natural resources, we need not be afraid of development but the most important thing is to ensure that development takes account of these social and cultural factors as well as sustainability.’

He said that sustainability of the forests must keep in mind the sustainability of the social and cultural factors.

[Comment: These words were spoken on the eve of the launch of the MIFEE project which will profoundly affect the sustainability of the way of life of Papua’s indigenous inhabitants, as pointed out in a press release issued today by TAPOL and Down to Earth.]

—————————-

Bintang Papua, 8 August 2010

Plan to build 3,100 kms of road
Jakarta: The public works department of the Indonesian Republic is planning to build 3,100 kms of road across the province of Papua,according to Diaz Gwijangge, member of Commission X of the Indonesia parliament.

‘Many parts of the province are very isolated,’ he said, ‘added to which is the fact that because of the topography, many places are inaccessible either by air, sea or land.’

He said that if the government in Jakarta is serious about developing Papua to the level achieved in other parts of the country, building roads is part of the solution.

He told Bintang Papua that the main focus of the road building programme will be on ‘strategic’ roads.

He went on to say that besides the lack of infrastructure, Papua was also very much behind other parts of the country in the availability of education and health facilities and in empowering the local communities. All these are matters to which the central government should pay proper attention, he said.

He went on to say that Papua has enormously rich natural resources which make a huge contribution to the Indonesian state. ‘Yet, unfortunately, the people of Papua living in poverty and physical isolation. These are serious matters that must be attended to by Jakarta.’

Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto explained that what meant by ‘strategic roads’. was roads that link the main centres of economic activity. ‘The products of the province can be exported through the ports of Merauke or Jayapura.

[Comment: It would be interesting to know the extent to which the Indonesian state depends on the revenue and dividends received from the Freeport mining of Papua’s copper and gold while cmmunities in the vicinity of the mine were forced to leave their land to make way for the company’s operations, with little to show for it in terms of their standard of living. TAPOL]

Journalist murdered in West Papua, spreading fear amongst Papuan media.

Sources: FOKER LSM and Kompas
Ardiansyah Matra’is, a journalist working for Merauke TV, was found dead near the Gudang Arang river in Merauke, Papua, on Friday morning. Ardiansyah had been reported missing for two days.

He worked as a stringer for TV station Anteve and as a reporter for Papua’s Rajawali daily before joining Merauke TV.

Jojo, the chief editor of Rajawali daily, told news portal Kompas.com that journalists in Papua have been receiving death threats through text messaging over the past week.

“The SMS messages said that journalists in Papua would be killed and there would be no action from the police and the military. Several journalists had lodged a report with the Merauke Police about the death threats [they received],” Jojo said.

One text message reads: “To cowardly journalists, never play with fire if you don’t want to be burned. If you still want to make a living on this land, don’t do weird things. We have data on all of you and be prepared for death.”

Statement from FOKER LSM
Slightly abridged by Pro Papua

We are saddened to inform you that Adriansyah Matrais a member of Foker (Forum Kerja Lembaga Sosial Masyarakat, NGO working forum) has died under suspicious circumstances.

Adriansyah worked as a journalist for the Foker bi-weekly tabloid JUBI (Jujur Bicara, Honest Talk) and Merauke TV. He was initially declared missing in Merauke Regency, Papua Province on 28 July when his motorbike and helmet were found on a bridge near the River Maro. On 30 June the naked and handcuffed body of Adriansyah was discovered in the Gudang Arang River.

In an attempt to reduce the level of threats and improve the personal security situation of Adriansyah, people advised Adriansyah to cease his investigations in Jayapura Regency, Papua Province and return to his home in Merauke Regency, Papua Province.

During the period of increased intimidation, Adriansyah had been investigating financial irregularities in funding for improvements in Mandala Stadium (Jayapura Regency, Papua Province), in the plans to build a bridge over Yotefa Bay as part of a ring road for Jayapura (Jayapura Regency, Papua Province) and in the provision of electricity to Enggros Island (Jayapura Regency, Papua Province), as well as following up on unresolved human rights cases in Papua and investigating illegal logging in Keerom District, Papua Province.

In the week before the disappearance Adriansyah had become increasingly paranoid about his personal movements, according to his wife.

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