Tag: Papua

Australian Nurses Demand Release of Jailed Nurses in West Papua

Media release

ANF demands release of jailed nurses

29 March 2011

The Australian Nursing Federation is calling for the immediate release of five nurses in West Papua who have been jailed by the Indonesian government for taking industrial action.

ANF acting federal secretary Yvonne Chaperon said eight nurses and midwives were originally detained by the criminal investigation unit of the Papuan police in Jayapura for their involvement in industrial action. Five nurses remain in jail.

“The nurses and midwives at the DokII Hospital in Jayapura were promised an incentive payment over a year ago and were suddenly informed on 30 December 2010 that the local authority had rescinded the decision to pay them. This led to a decision by the nurses and midwives to take industrial action and the subsequent detention and interrogation of five nurses.”

Ms Chaperon said the Australian Nursing Federation, representing over 200,000 nurses and midwives nationally, condemned the excessive response by the Indonesian Government.

“These nurses and midwives were exercising a democratic right to take industrial action in response to a decision that was made without reason or warning to withhold an incentive payment they had been promised more than a year ago,” Ms Chaperon said.

“We stand united with our colleagues in West Papua and call for their immediate release. They must be allowed to return to their homes and families without the threat of further intimidation or harassment.”

Media enquiries: Cathy Beadnell 0400 035 797

The ANF, with over 200,000 members, is the professional and industrial voice for nurses, midwives and assistants in nursing in Australia.  For more information, go to www.becausewecare.org.au.

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AJI Papua Presses Police About Lack of Progress Over Stabbing

Media information FYI

The Jakarta Globe
Sunday, March 27, 2011

AJI Papua Presses Police About Lack of Progress Over Stabbing

The Papua chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists has
expressed frustration with the sluggish pace of police investigations
into the stabbing of local journalist Banjir Ambarita.

“The investigation is taking too long, that is why we are monitoring
the case closely,” said Viktor Mambor, chairman of the Papuan branch
of the alliance also known as the AJI. “We are going to do something
to pressure the police, like hold a protest rally.”

“The new [Papua] police chief was once in Densus [the National
>Police’s counterterrorism unit], investigating a case like this should
be easier than capturing terrorists,” he said.

Banjir, a freelance reporter and contributor to the Jakarta Globe, was
attacked in Jayapura by two men on a motorcycle as he was riding his
own motorcycle home shortly after midnight on March 3.

The Jayapura Police’s detective unit questioned Banjir on Friday, more
than three weeks after the stabbing. “Because Banjar Ambarita’s
condition has improved, we formally asked him for information in
relation to the stabbing,” said First Adj. Insp. Widodo, an officer in
the unit. “A total of 37 questions were posed and were answered well.

“We have already questioned five witnesses, but we have yet to find a
lead,” he added.

Viktor said the AJI appreciated the police’s efforts but said: “Even
though they are working quite well in carrying out their job, this does not guarantee that they are taking the case seriously.”

Poengky Indarty, director of external relations at rights group Imparsial, said that as a defender of human rights in Papua, it was
vital that Banjir be protected.

“Until today, the perpetrators responsible for the violence have not
been identified,” she said. “We urge the Papuan Police to make every
effort to catch the offenders and legally process them.”

She said Banjir had provided police with information to make a sketch
of his attackers. “We want them to investigate based on this sketch
and look into police officers who may be involved in the case,” she
said.
Nurfika Osman

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Pastor Neles Tebay on promoting dialogue between Jakarta and Papua

JUBI, 25 March 2011

Pastor Neles Tebay, co-ordinator of the Papua Peace Network – JDP – who has been focusing on promoting dialogue between Jakarta and Papua said that the provincial governments of Papua and West Papua have not yet reached agreement about the agenda of such a dialogue.

‘They have not yet issued statements officially supporting Jakarta-Papua dialogue. Even though they have not yet reached agreement, we will continue to promote dialogue,’ he said.

He said that the governments have not yet adopted a position towards dialogue because it is seen as being a separatist move and in
opposition to what the Indonesian state is working for.

He said that he respects this viewpoint. Any individual who works for
the government who expresses support for the idea of a Jakarta-Papua dialogue is in danger of losing his job because he is likely to be seen as a separatist.

‘Anyone working for the government who expresses support for a dialogue places himself in danger and could lose his job,’ he said.

Even so, he said, the JDP which was created in order to promote the idea of dialogue will continue to popularise the idea in various parts of Papua.

The JDP was set up in January 2010 and has 32 members who come from a number of organisations and institutions in Papua. However, they are not representing their respective organisations. ‘They are each working on a personal basis and doing their work on the basis of their personal inclinations,’ he said.

——————–

JUBI, 25 March 2011

Jakarta-Papua Dialogue is not the solution

Many people seem to think that a dialogue between Jakarta and Papua will result in a solution to Papua’s problems, but the JDP does not see
dialogue as being the solution.

The co-ordinator of the JDP, Pastor Neles Tebay, said whilst it is not the solution, dialogue would bring together the two disputing sides, the Papuan people and the Indonesian government, to discuss the various problems that are being faced but have not been solved. The aim would be to discuss the problems and agree to the best possible solution.

”No solutions have yet been found to a number of problems and the aim of pushing for dialogue is to try to find solutions to these problems.’

Pastor Tebay said that so far, he has visited twelve districts in Papua
to hold consultations with people there. The districts he has visited so
far include Merauke, Biak, Enarotali, Timika, Wamena and Sorong.

He has also visited some other countries to discuss the question of
dialogue including PNG, Vanuatu and Australia where he met Papuans in a number of cities. Everywhere he went, he encountered a lot of enthusiasm over the idea of finding a peaceful solution by means of dialogue between Jakarta and Papua.

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Medical staff take their complaints to the DPRP and to the govt in Jakarta

Bintang Papua, 23 March 2011

The secretary of the provincial administration of Papua has been
reported to the police by nurses and midwives who work at the hospital for his deceitful actions towards the medical staff and for conveying false information to the public. He had promised to pay monthly ‘incentives’ to the staff throughout 2010 but this has failed to
materialise.

Hundreds of nurses and midwives demonstrated outside the office of
provincial legislative assembly, the DPRP and outside the office of the
provincial governor.

The lawyer, Anum Siregar told the press that the provincial secretary ,
Constan Karmadi, had deceived the public when he promised as long ago as December 2010 that incentives would be paid as promised, describing it at the time as a ‘Christmas present’.

The medical staff are planning to make a formal complaint against the
provincial secretary to the Administrative Court, pointing out that
Instruction 125/2010 has been issued for the payment of the incentives, only to be cancelled out by a later instruction that withdrew any such payments.

Letters have also been sent to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono , as well as to Vice-President Budiono about all this as well as about the
arrest of five nurses and midwives who work at the general hospital, or
alleged incitement in bringing other members of the profession out on
strike, which resulted in a breakdown in the provision of services at
the hospital. The arrested nurses are now being treated as ‘suspects’.

The lawyer said that the hospital authorities had acted in violation of
the regulations and in a very irresponsible way.

When a journalist from Bintang Papua approached the director of DokII
hospital, Dr, Maurits Okasaray, for a comment on this situation as he
was seen leaving the police criminal investigation unit, he refused to
say anything, remarking only that the question should be put the police authorities who are investigating the matter.

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The Observatory: Indonesia: Brutal attack against journalist Banjir Ambarita

URGENT APPEAL- THE OBSERVATORY

IDN 001 / 0311 / OBS 049

Attack

Indonesia

March 25, 2011

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint
programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has received new
information and requests your urgent intervention in the following
situation in Indonesia.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources of the brutal
attack against Mr. Banjir Ambarita, journalist, after the publication of several of his articles in the local newspaper Bintang Papua of Jayapura, Papua province, and in the Jakarta Globe, denouncing sexual abuses committed by police officers in Jayapura.

According to the information received, on March 3, 2011, Mr. Banjir
Ambarita was riding his motorcycle in front of the Jayapura Mayor?s
office, when two unknown men on a motorcycle reportedly approached him, stabbed him twice in the chest and stomach and fled. As he began to bleed, Mr. Banjir Ambarita drove to the nearby police station. Police officers took him to the Marthen Indey Hospital in Aryoko, Jayapura, where he underwent surgery. He has reportedly recovered since then.

The Papua Regional Police and the Jayapura Police have set up a joint
force to investigate the case, but to date, perpetrators remain unknown.

Mr. Banjir Ambarita had recently written articles in the Bintang Papua and in the Jakarta Globe about two alleged rape cases involving the police.

In the first article, he had written that four police officers and three
civilians allegedly raped and tortured a 15 year old girl in February
2011, in Biak, Papua province. The last article, dated February 27,
2011, covered a second case in which three police officers forced a
woman detainee to perform oral sex on them from November 2010 to January 2011 at the Jayapura Police Detention Centre in Papua province. The media coverage of this incident led to the resignation of the Jayapura’s Police Chief, Mr. Imam Setiawan, and to the sentencing to 21 days of jail for the officers involved.

The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about the attack on Mr. Banjir Ambarita, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning his
denunciation of human rights violations, and urges the authorities to
ensure his protection and to promptly investigate into the
above-mentioned facts.

Actions requested:

The Observatory urges the authorities of Indonesia to:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological
integrity of Mr. Banjir Ambarita, as well as all human rights defenders
in Indonesia;

ii. Carry out a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial
investigation into the above-mentioned events, the result of which must be made public, in order to prosecute and try the perpetrators of these violations before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal;

iii. Conform in all circumstances with the provisions of the Declaration
on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly, in particular:

– Article 1, which states that ?Everyone has the right, individually or
in association with others, to promote the protection and realization of
human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels;

– Article 6, which provides that: “Everyone has the right, individually
and in association with others: (a) to know, seek, obtain, receive and
hold information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms (?);
(b) freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms”;
(c) to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters”,

– Article 12.2 which provides that “The State shall take all necessary
measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of
everyone, individually and in association with others, against any
violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence
of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;

iv. Ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and with international and regional human rights
instruments ratified by Indonesia.

Addresses:

  • HE. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Republic of Indonesia, Presidential Palace, Istana Merdeka, Jakarta 10110, Indonesia; Fax: +6221 345 2685/526 8726
  • Mr. Gamawan Fauzi. Minister of Home Affairs, Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara No. 7, Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia, Fax +62 21 385 1193 / +62 21 384 6430, Email: pusdatinkomtel@depdagri.go.id⁢mailto:pusdatinkomtel@depdagri.go.id>
  • Mr. Patrialis Akbar, Minister for Justice and Human Rights, Department of Justice and Human Rights, Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Kav No. 4-5, Kuningan – Jakarta Selatan 12950, Indonesia,
    Fax: + 62 21 525 3095/ 310 4149/ 522 5036,
    Email: rohumas@depkehham.go.id
  • Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights, Jl. Latuharhary No 4B, Menteng, Jakarta Pusat 10310, Indonesia, Fax : +62 21 392 5227, Email: info@komnasham.go.id
  • Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia in Geneva, Rue de Saint-Jean 16, Case Postale 2271, 1211 Geneva 2, Suisse, Fax: +41 22 345 57 33, Email: mission.indonesia@ties.itu.int
  • Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia to the Kingdom of Belgium, Boulevard de la Woluwe 38, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium, Fax +32 27 72 82 10, Email: primebxl@skynet.be

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Indonesia in your
respective countries.

***
Geneva-Paris, March 25, 2011

* *

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this
appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, an OMCT and FIDH venture, is dedicated to the
protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete
support in their time of need.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

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