Tag: Papuan people

Police urged to publicise the photo of Mako Tabuni’s bag

JUBI,  26 June 2012

The Papuan people are still very concerned about the shooting of Mako Tabuni on 14 June. Alius Asso, chairman of the Nayak Asrama  in Abepura, has called on the police to publicise the photo they took of Mako Tabuni at the time of the killing, which shows the bag that he was carrying at the time.

‘We want the security forces to show us the photo of the bag he was carrying. This is very crucial because the police have alleged that Tabuni had a pistol and bullets in his bag.’

The photo was taken as Tabuni was standing eating a snack at Perumnas III Waena, Asso said: ‘This is very strange  How would he have got hold of a  pistol and bullets? It is up to the police to prove this,’ he said.

He also denied that Mako Tabuniwas was in any way responsible for the shooting of a German at Base G and for the series of shootings that occurred at the time. ‘What proof do the police have of this? They should have arrested Tabuni and questioned him instead of shooting him dead.’

Asso went on to say that Mako Tabuni was not a terrorist. On the contrary he was involved in the struggle of the Papuan people.

It should be recalled that the police told journalists that they had been forced to shoot Tabuni because he was trying to resist as they arrested him. They also alleged that they found sixteen .38 calibre bullets in his bag.

 

Translated by TAPOL

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Jakarta-Papua dialogue should be held quickly, says commentator

JUBI, 22 June 2012

In the view of the political commentator Frans Maniagasi, the Indonesian government should hold a dialogue with the Papuan people as quickly as possible, in line with the policy of the Papuan Peace Network (JDP). He said this is very urgent indeed because Papuan lives are continuing to be lost.

‘The dialogue for which Pastor Neles Tebay has been working must be held as quickly as possible, ‘ he said, during a ceremony marking environmental day in the province of Papua.

He said that more and more Papuan lives are being lost, stressing that this has been going on for a very long time, since the 1960s.

The dialogue should discuss the emancipation of the  Papuan people. ‘This is a struggle for emancipation,’ said Maniagasi, who recently published a book called ‘Papua’s Future: Freedom, Special Autonomy and Dialogue.’

He said he realised that  the various stages of dialogue would encounter many difficulties because of the  problems among the Papuan people themselves.’The Papuan people consist of a number of tribes and cultures.’

But he said that these  differences could be overcome. ‘The question is – do we want to work together or not? ‘The most important thing is for us to sit down together, to discuss and to work together to push for the dialogue.’

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World Council of Churches raises questions about the situation in Papua

JUBI, 20 June 2012A number of things that have been happening recently in West Papua have drawn the attention of the World Council of Churches  The secretary-general of the Council, the Revd Olav F. Tveit, headed a delegation which visited the offices of the Provincial Province of Papua to seek information about the questios of justice, peace and the welfare of the Papuan people.

The assistant for Economic Affairs and Development, Drs Ellya Loupatty said that the WCC delegation had met with representatives of the provincial government to discuss a number of issues that have emerged in the provinces of Papua, among others, welfare, justice and peace.

‘I met them along with the chief of staff of XVII-Cenderawaih, Major-General Daniel Ambaat, to put forward our views on a number of issues, such a the people’s welfare, justice and matters related to peace in the area,’ he told journalists. He said that the delegation had also raised the question of the environment, in connection with the felling of Papuan forests.

He said that all the questions had been responded to very well. ‘We also spoke about education and health issues in Papua.’.

Asked about the response of the delegation, Revd  Tveit  had expressed the hope that all matters would be handled professionally and in accord with the dignity of the human being. They were happy to encourage the churches to participate along with the government in every way possible to improve the standard of living of the  Papuan people. The church representatives had also spoken about issues of justice. which we listened to.’

He went on to say that the churches delegation raised some questions about recent events, which we as members of the provincial government explained. He said that issues about justice had also been raised  which we listened to, and explained that they were being dealt with according to our future programmes. ‘We also explained that matters related to security and order were being handled by the police force.’

[Comment: Could this be the opening move for the World Council of Churches to devote some serious attention to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Papua? TAPOL]

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Law student says that Papuans don’t feel safe anywhere

JUBI, 21 June, 2012

A Papuan who is currently studying law in Jayapura said that because of all the vertical and horizontal (conflict) problems, the Papuan people cannot feel safe anywhere in their homeland which is now under Indonesian control.Sani Dominggus said : There is nowhere here where Papuans can feel safe, whether they are intellectuals or wealthy people, they are always regarded with suspicion.’

He said that the fact is that the security forces in Papua always treat Papuan people without the slightest sense of humanity and always handle them with the use of their firearms. ‘None of the personnel of the security forces behave towards Papuan people along ethical lines. All they do is shoot people.’

He said that this system of extreme repression has resulted in Papuan people never feeling safe. ‘How do they think we can live like this? Even when I just want to go for  a walk,  I dont feel that it is safe to do so There is always the feeling of being under threat.’

A clear example of this is that Mako Tabuni was unaccountably shot by the police. ‘How can the police say that he resisted the police? There were no plans to hold a demonstration, so why was he shot?’

‘If Mako Tabuni was regarded as a threat to the Indonesian state, the government should have used legal procedures. This would mean that he is sent a summons, then a second summons, and then a third one.But none of this happened. This means that when the police shot him dead, this was a gross violation.  of human rights.’

He went on to say that the arrest of Buchtar Tabuni did not occurr in conformity with legal procedures. The way the police behave has nothing to do with ethics, all they know is how act with brutality.towards everything that happens in Papua.’

He said that this will never help to solve the Papuan problem. ‘Everything that the government does only reinforces the independence aspirations of the Papuan people.’

‘The murder of Mako will only result in the emergence of more Makos,’ he said. He also said that the government should be putting into  practice the provisions of the Law on Special Autonomy for Papua such as for instance Article 2 which provides for regional symbols and for the existence of local political parties.’

[Translated by TAPOL]

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Kontras believe there is speculation around the shooting of Mako Tabuni

Bintang Papua, 20 June 2012

Kontras Papua, SKPKC and BUK believe that there has been speculation about the killing of Mako Tabuni on 14 June. Mako Tabuni was shot by police from the Papua regional police in the Perumnas III Waena area. KontraS Papua said that the shooting was carried out not only by the regional police, but there was also involvement of Special Detachment 88 Anti-terror Police (Densus 88) who are suspected of carrying out undercover activities in Papua. Kontras and SKPKC have already gathered a number of facts from the field, including meeting a number of witnesses who directly saw the shooting of Mako Tabuni. The witnesses in question stated that the deceased, Mako Tabuni, was shot whilst he was standing eating betel nut in front of a kiosk in Perumnas III Waena, when the first black Avanza car drew up, followed by a Silver Avanza and a blue Daihatsu. A person got out of the blue Daihatsu and immediately shot Mako Tabuni to death on the spot. After shooting him dead, Mako was rushed to the Bhayangkara Hospital in Kotaraja. The question is why did the police take Mako to the Bhayangkara Hospital after shooting him, when in Waena, Dian Harapan Hospital is closer to the scene of the incident? Furthermore, Mako was shot and brought to Bhayangkara Hospital without the knowledge of his family, and during the journey he lost a lot of blood. This raises the suspicion that the police quickly used formalin, so that once Mako’s family requested an autopsy, the medical team at Bhayangkara Hospital could say that it was not possible to do an autopsy because he had already been formalined. Kontras Papua, represented by Peneas Lokbere, said that the actions of the police in shooting Mako Tabuni showed that the police were incapable of acting professionally to announce who was responsible for the acts of violence and human rights violations which had happened recently. “We condemn the perpetrator, the person who ordered the killing, and all those involved in the shooting of Mako Tabuni,” he said.

According to Peneas, Mako Tabuni did not behave like someone involved in violent shootings, and throughout the shootings he had been going about his normal activities, going out of his house as usual, and going to campus. “He’s a genuine guy, he didn’t do anything,” added Peneas. It was said that the Papua regional police are telling a lot of lies in public during the aftermath of the shooting of Mako Tabuni.

Kontras and SKPKC said that the shooting of Mako Tabuni should receive the attention of the president of the Republic of Indonesia, and the president must withdraw all troops from the land of Papua – both organic and non-organic – and stop trying to rationalise the numbers of military and police in Papua.

Because the shooting of Mako Tabuni was carried out by the Papua regional police, the Provincial Head of Police in Papua must end the sweepings, arrests, attacks and criminalisation of students, and stop seizing items from them, such as laptops which contain their theses, mobile phones, and other items which have been seized from student dormitories.

The Provincial Head of Police must also stop sweepings of civilians and form an independent team to investigate the shootings in the land of Papua, including the murder of Mako Tabuni. Peneas and two staff from SKPKC – Bernand and Frans Making – called on the Head of Police to stop all efforts to destroy and scapegoat the pure struggle of Papuans to demand justice and truth, in accordance with criminal law, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. (Ven/don/I03).

Translated by TAPOL

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