Tag: Papua

Prof. Ikrar Nusa Bhakti: Papua has become a Military Training Ground

JUBI, 10 November 2011

Papua has become a Military Training Ground

The senior Indonesian political commentator, Professor Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, said that the Indonesian military is keen to defend Papua as a military training ground. This is because, apart from Aceh, Papua is the only other natural place that is suitable for this purpose.

‘If Papua goes on being defended for this purpose, it is quite immoral,’ he said during a discussion at the Tembaga Hotel in Timika.

‘My reasoning is quite simple, because this not only turns the Papuans into enemies of the military or police but also provides the opportunity for outsiders to conduct what people refer to as humanitarian intervention. This could start with their just levelling criticisms but if things get “too ferocious”, the responsibility to protect principle can be used by these external forces.

‘And do you know what responsibility to protect means? It can easily be used as a shield for countries like the US or European countries to go ahead and do whatever they like in a country which they regard as being attractive economically or politically.’

Other countries where this has happened were, he said, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and Egypt. So, the problem is: why has the government allowed the process to happen and not do what any government ought to be doing?

All this, he said, makes him, as a political commentator, ask whether it is not too hasty to accuse the OPM of being behind everything that is occurring in connection with Freeport. ‘It is also going too far for the Minister-Coordinator for Legal, Political and Security Affairs to say that the only one who can reach a solution for the land of Papua is God Almighty!’ That is to say, if this quotation in Metro TV and TV One is indeed correct. ‘Why is this so? According to me, the Minister-Coordinator should stop doing this. Why? Because, as I have already said, although the Papuan question is quite complex, it is not really all that difficult! In other words, there’s no need for all this shooting – bang, bang, bang – to happen because if we invite them (the Papuans) to hold talks, that is exactly what they want, isn’t it?’

Professor Ikrar then drew attention to the views of some Papuan leaders such as the minister of shipping, Freddy Numberi who has urged everyone not to regard the question of NKRI as being ‘harga mati’ (the bottom line).

Ikrar went on to say that Numberi is not the only one; there is also Professor Dr Yuwono Sudarsono, the former minister of defence who once said that NKRI is not something ‘indisputable’. Independence for the Papuan people is not ‘harga mati’ but ‘harga hidup’, in other words something that can be negotiated. ‘If Papuans have ever said that independence is ‘harga mati’, I cannot understand why the central government just follows suit.’

According to Prof. Ikrar, in politics there is no such thing as ‘harga mati’. Why do people also talk about a bargaining position’. This applies too to all those political experts who are to be heard in discussions on television.

This is why Prof. Ikrar who has on several occasions been asked for his opinion about the Papuan question, has said that he supports what Dr. Neles Tebay, the (Papuan) writer, has said who has proposed dialogue as the way to solve the Papuan problem.

Ikrar went on to say that Dr Tebay has spoken about the three components who bear arms, calling on them to put an end to their activities which are only causing difficulties for the people in Papua.But this means that on the side of the people, they need to reach agreement among themselves about who will be the
spokesperson for the Papuan people. ‘Don’t do what happened in the case of a peace seminar that was once held, which led to the appointment of all people from abroad.’

‘I think that the government should also open the way for dialogue because at the first stage, there will surely be some people who keep on shouting,’ Prof. Ikrar said in conclusion.

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Thousands of West Papuans demand Referendum in Jayapura 14 Nov 2011

Several thousand West Papuan people took the streets in Jayapura on November 14 to  calling for a Referendum to demand their right of self determination.

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In another show of mass civil resistance since the brutal crackdown by Indonesian security forces on the 3rd Papuan Peoples Congress,  the demonstration organised by the West Papua National Committee also called for the Government of Indonesia to take responsibility for its increased unjustified violence towards West Papuan people.

Indonesian police attempted to block the march, but protestors pushed through peacefully to continue to the offices of the DPRP, the provincial parliament building.

Demoted former Papuan Police chief Iman Setiawan attempts show of force (Reuters)

Protest organisers earlier expressed grave fears that security forces would attempt to repeat the violence on unarmed and peaceful protestors, but international monitoring and effective citizen media on the ground contributed to the restraint shown by security forces.

Participants rejected dialogue or talk with Jakarta until violence ended and maintained their position that a referendum was the only just pathway towards fulfilling Papuan rights.

“Give us the space for a referendum so that we can choose what we want.  We don’t want dialogue doing the bidding of UP4B, or other policy of Special Autonomy;  We don’t need money, we don’t need to be with  Indonesia, let us be free on our land,” said speakers, referring to the Special Development unit set up by Indonesian President Yudoyhono to dilute Papuan calls for independence.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4jVXagcUlM]

“The Papuan people have asked for an immediate referendum for self-determination. We reject any dialogue with Jakarta,” protest coordinator Mako Tabuni said.

“The referendum is non-negotiable.”

Mass Action Jayapura, 14 Nov 2011 (Af Wensi)
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Shocking video confirms Indonesia’s brutal suppression of West Papuan rally ahead of US visit

16 November

The shocking footage shows Indonesian soldiers beating West Papuans
The shocking footage shows Indonesian soldiers beating West Papuans
© SBS TV/West Papua Media

Alarming video of Indonesian forces shooting, beating and kicking civilians at a peaceful rally in West Papua has emerged ahead of a US visit to the region.

Ten people are believed to have died when Indonesian security forces broke up the rally of independence activists last month.

Watch footage of the attacks (©SBS TV/West Papua Media,WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT):

Indonesia’s brutal attack on West Papuan rally
Shocking scenes of Indonesia’s brutal suppression of a West Papuan rally on October 19 2011©SBS TV/West Papua Media

The video comes ahead of a visit to Bali by the US President and Secretary of State, for a regional summit. The US has applauded its ‘new partnership’ with Indonesia, but only last week Hillary Clinton criticized its human rights abuses.

The disturbing footage was smuggled out of West Papua exactly one year after scenes of Indonesian soldiers torturing Papuan mencaused worldwide revulsion.

These latest clips allegedly show a local police commander giving the order to break up the rally on the outskirts of Jayapura – and the brutal and unprovoked violence that ensued.

Victim is found after Indonesia's violent crackdown on West Papuan Congress
Victim is found after Indonesia’s violent crackdown on West Papuan Congress
© Tapol/Down to Earth/West Papua Media

Indonesian security forces, many in plain clothes and wearing crash helmets, are seen randomly firing their weapons and arresting scores of people, many of whom are punched, kicked, beaten or forced to crawl along the ground.

Reverend Benny Giay from West Papua says violence has escalated since the Congress was dispersed. ‘I think maybe this is the Indonesian military and police’s response to the international pressure.  The response is that they are being sent to Papua to kill, terrorize and abduct Papuans, but please do keep on the international pressure. Please tell people what is happening here for the sake of our future, our lives, our culture, our identity and our very existence.’

West Papua has been ruled by Indonesia since 1963, and more than 100,000 civilians are believed to have been killed during its occupation.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘Indonesia’s brutal occupation of West Papua is a catalogue of some of the worst human rights abuses and violations of tribal peoples in recent times. Hillary Clinton should use her visit to the country to highlight the horrific violence that Indonesia is wreaking on all those who dare to oppose its rule.’

Note to Editors:

A Survival campaigner who has been to West Papua is available for interview.

More clips are available for download from West Papua Media

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Open Letter to President Obama from West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) and East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN)


Contact: John M. Miller, +1-718-596-7668; mobile: +1-917-690-4391, john@etan.org

Ed McWilliams, +1-575-648-2078, edmcw@msn.com

President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500

November 15, 2011

Dear President Obama,

We urge you to seize the opportunity of your imminent return to Indonesia to consider the challenges and opportunities posed by the U.S.-Indonesia relationship more realistically than you have up to now.  Your Administration urgently needs a policy that addresses the problems created by the Indonesian security forces’ escalating violations of human rights and criminality and its failure to submit to civilian control. The recent 20th anniversary of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in Dili. East Timor (Timor-Leste), when hundreds of peaceful protesters were massacred by Indonesian troops wielding U.S. supplied weapons, reminds us that a lack of accountability for past crimes — in Timor-Leste and throughout the archipelago — keeps those affected from moving on with their lives, while contributing to impunity in the present.

Indonesian military and police forces continue to operate without any accountability before the law. Only in rare instances are individual personnel brought before military tribunals for crimes against civilians, often because of international pressure. Prosecution is woefully inadequate and sentencing, in the rare instance of conviction, is not commensurate with the crime.

Indonesia’s security forces, including the Kopassus special forces and U.S.-funded and -trained Detachment (Densus) 88, continue to employ against civilians weaponry supplied by the U.S. and to use tactics developed as result of U.S. training. In West Papua, these security forces have repeatedly attacked civilians, most recently participants in the October 16-19 Congress and striking workers at theFreeport McMoRan mine. Those assaulted were peacefully asserting their right to assemble and freedom of speech. At the Congress, combined forces, including regular military units, Kopassus, the militarized police (Brimob) and Detachment 88, killed at least five civilians, beat scores more, and were responsible for the disappearance of others.

Moreover, in the central highlands of West Papua, these same forces regularly conduct so called “sweeping operations,” purportedly in search of the very small armed Papuan resistance. These operations have led to the deaths of many innocent civilians and driven thousands from their village into forests where they face life threatening conditions due to inadequate access to shelter, food and medical care.

Indonesian military and police forces continue to operate without any accountability before the law. Only in rare instances are individual personnel brought before military tribunals for crimes against civilians, often because of international pressure. Prosecution is woefully inadequate and sentencing, in the rare instance of conviction, is not commensurate with the crime. Several videoed incidents of military torture of civilians — widely discussed during your November 2010 visit to Indonesia — concluded in just such failures of justice. The concept of command responsibility is rarely considered in the military tribunals.

International monitoring of these developments in West Papua is severely hampered by Indonesian government restrictions on access to and travel within West Papua by foreign journalists, diplomats, researchers, and human rights and humanitarian officials. The International Committee of the Red Cross remains barred from operating an office in West Papua. Indonesian journalists and human rights officials face threats and worse when they try to monitor developments there.

Elsewhere in Indonesia, too many times security forces have stood by or actively assisted in attacks on minority religions, including deadly attacks on Ahmadiyah followers.

The Indonesian security forces — especially the military — are largely unreformed: it has failed to fully divest itself of its business empire, its remains unaccountable before the law, and continues to violate human rights. These forces constitute a grave threat to the continued development of Indonesian democracy. The upcoming national elections in Indonesia present a particularly urgent challenge. The Indonesian military is in position to pervert the democratic process as it has in the past. The military has frequently provoked violence at politically sensitive times, such as in 1998 when it kidnapped tortured and murdered democratic activists.  For many years it has relied on its unit commanders, active at the District, sub-District and even village level to influence the selection of party candidates and the elections themselves. The territorial command system is still in place.
In the past, U.S. restrictions and conditions on security assistance have resulted in real rights improvements in Indonesia. Your Administration should learn from this history.

Given this threat to democracy and to individuals posed by Indonesian forces, it is essential that the U.S. employ the significant leverage that comes from Indonesia’s desire for U.S. security assistance and training to insist on real reforms of Indonesian security forces. Rhetorical calls for reforms are clearly insufficient. These exhortations have manifestly not worked and readily brushed aside. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s recent expression of “concerns about the violence and the abuse of human rights” in Papua were dismissed by a spokesperson for Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono , who called the escalating rights violations “only isolated incidents.”

In the past, U.S. restrictions and conditions on security assistance have resulted in real rights improvements in Indonesia. Your Administration should learn from this history and quickly suspend training for those units whose human rights records and impunity are especially egregious, as required by the Leahy law. We specifically urge you to end plans to re-engage with Kopassus and to end assistance to Detachment 88. These actions would demonstrate U.S. Government seriousness in pursuit of real reforms of the security forces in Indonesia.

Sincerely,

Ed McWilliams for WPAT

John M. Miller for ETAN

see also


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Neles Tebay welcomes the readiness of the government to enter into dialogue with Papua

Bintang Papua, 9 November 2011Jayapura:  Pastor Neles Tebay, co-ordinator of the Papua Peace Network has stated today that he has received information that the central government is willing  to have a dialogue with the Papuan people. He said that the offer from the goverenment, by the Minister-Coordinator for Politics and Law  to enter into construction communications with the Papua people was welcome.

‘We Papuan people should welcome the constructive communications being offered by the government, as the way to resolve all the crucial problems in Papua. Even though it is not entirely clear,  the willingness  to communicate with the Papuan people is a sign of good will and means that the government is very concerned about Papua.’

However, he said that the government must explain to the Papuan people what it means by constructive communications, and what form the government intends this to take. Are there phases through which this will pass This needs to be clarified.

We have only been hearing recently about Constructive Communications without it being made clear what this means. This needs to be brought within the context with the perception of the Papuan people for entering into dialogue between Jakarta and Papua.

He said that a meeting should be held with the Papuan people who want dialogue. In such a meeting, it should be possible to clarify the substance of a Jakarta-Papua Dialogue and Constructive Communications. This meeting should discuss the format of dialogue and the format of constructive communication that would be acceptable to both sides.

He expressed his optimism that there will be a resolution to the problem for the Papua people.

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