Tag: treason

Forkorus: Independent Papua will come in a matter of days

Bintang Papua, 28 February 2012Jayapura: The trial of Forkorus Yaboisembut which is now under way  in Jayapura has not lessened Papuan calls for Merdeka – independence. On the contrary, people are intensifying their calls for independence and secession from Indonesia. Forkorus is even saying that a free West Papua will come into being in a matter of days. This was clear from the speech he made after the hearing that was held today. They also said prayers together.

As he and others left the courthouse, they burst into song, and Forkorus said in a speech that it would not be long before West Papua would be free and no longer part of Indonesia. The Republic of Indonesia will have to recognise the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of West Papua  and withdraw all its troops from the Land of Papua.

The hearing was held to hear the testimony of more witnesses.  But some of the witnesses did not turn up and the prosecutor asked the permission of the judge to read out their statements, although the five defendants said that this was unacceptable because the witnesses should first be sworn in. Nevertheless, the prosecutor was allowed to read out a statement by one of the witnesses, Hans Makabory, 39 years old, a civil servant who witnessed the events on 19 October, following the end of the Third Papuan Congress.

In the statement, he said that as he went onto the field (where the congress had been held). [See note below.] He stood behind a barrier  and watched the large crowd running round the field. He intended to go home but the pathway to his house had been closed so he returned to the field so as to leave through a gateway from the field. He said that crowd continued to run round the field. Some members of the security forces pushed him back onto the field and then dragged him to police headquarters.

He said that the Congress had agreed to establish the Federal Republic of West Papua which would be a state independent of Indonesia.

A statement by another witness, Linus William  Waprawiri, said that he was standing behind the tent where the congress had been held and heard that the chairman of DAP, Dewan Adat Papua, Forkorus  said that people should not fly the Morning State flag at that moment but should do so on 1 December, the anniversary of the West Papua state, when the flag would be flown everywhere throughout the territory.

The witness said that he supported the Third Papuan Congress and West Papua had won its freedom since 1961, with the support of the Dutch.

Another witness, Bernard Done said in his statement that the Papuan people have the right to self-determination. He said that the Congress had been held to establish the Federal Republic of West Papua and had elected Forkorus as its President.

Th next hearing of the trial will be held on 2 March.

[Note:The original intention was for the Third Papuan Congress to be held at Cenderawasih  University or another building in Jayapura. But the authorities had denied permission for these venues to be used. This despite the fact that permission had been given for the Congress to take place. It had even been agreed that a senior official of Indonesian Department of the Interior would deliver the opening address of the Congress. Having been denied a venue, the Congress organisations decided to hold the Congress in the open air, in a field normally used for sports events.]

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24 Feb Update on Forkorus trial: Testimony from witness

Bintang  Papua, 24 February 2012 

One of the witnesses to appear in the trial, Eliezer Awom told the court that the declaration of establishment of the Federal Republic of West  Papua had come about as a result of pressure from the Papuan people, as had been expressed during the Third Papuan Congress which was held in October last year.

Eliezer Awom was the only one of nine witnesses who were due to testify at the hearing. The other witnesses did not turn up.

Awom reminded the court that the Third Papuan Congress had been attended by around four thousand people.

The witness described the decision that was taken at the conclusion of the Congress and the subsequent arrest of Forkorus, along with a number of other people, including the witness himself. He insisted that the Congress was a manifestation of the wishes of the Papuan people and said that the Congress which had taken place and had been given official permission to take place. He said that the Congress had agreed to the establishment of the Federal Republic of West Papua and had elected Forkorus Yaboisembut as the President of the Federal Republic, along with Edison Waromi as its prime minister.

He described how Forkorus made his statement very public through loudspeakers and that two hours later, the security forces had started shooting the participants  in order to force them to disperse. He described the banners that had been unfurled at the Congress and insisted that they were simply restoring the Federal Republic of West Papua, and that West Papua belongs to the West Papua people.

Around 400 people were taken into custody at the time, many of whom were subjected to maltreatment such as kicks and punches by the security forces.

Forkorus and the other four Papuans who are on trial with him confirmed that what the witness said in court was true.

He said that the declaration should be sent to the United Nations in order for the Federal Republic of West Papua to obtain formal recognition from the international community.

As with previous hearings, security forces were out in force around the courthouse.

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Witness testimonies at Papuan treason trial

The sixth hearing of the trial of Forkorus Yaboisembet and his four colleagues took place on 21 February at which seven witnesses for the prosecution were called to give evidence. According to the executive-director of the LB3PH, Yan Christian Warinussy, six of the seven of the witnesses were members of the police force who  had been involved in the attack against the Third Papuan Peace Conference (KRP-III) on the third day of the event, 19 October 2011.Six of these witnesses were unable to answer questions from the chief prosecutor regarding the declaration that was allegedly read out at the end of the  conference nor could they say whether the five defendants had been involved in a criminal conspiracy to set up the Federal Republic of West Papua.One of the witnesses who had been summoned was Drs Alfons Rumbekwan, a member of the Majelis Rakyat Papua. Speaking for the defence team, Olga Helena  Hamadi said that this person should not testify at the trial because the majelis of which he is a member is the cultural body of the indigenous Papuan people. Since the trial was related to the political aspirations of the Papuan people, his appearance might cause a conflict between the MRP and the Papuan people. It was agreed that Drs Rumbekwan  would not be called to give testimony.

According to a lengthy report of the hearing in Bintang Papua, the police witnesses appeared not to know the defendants and were unaware of the declaration by Forkorus calling for the re-establishment of the Federal Republic of West Papua.

According to Bintang Papua, for example, the first witness, Lambertus Limbong Sattu, a member of the Jayapura City police force who reportedly told the hearing that he did not know the identity of one of the accused, Agustinus Sananay Kraar, when he pulled him into the police vehicle but only knew his name after they reached police headquarters. He told the court that he had not seen the document proclaiming the establishment of the Federal Republic of West Papua but confirmed that there was a banner  on which were inscribed with the words: ‘Let Us Affirm the Basic Rights of the Papuan Indigenous People, Today and in the Future’.

The second witness, Aamet Mahu told the court that he was in the vicinity of the venue of the KRP-III  on 19 October 2011 and was there on orders to handle security of the conference.

The defence team of the five defendants said that all the testimony given on that day in court was in way related to the charges in the indictment.

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Forkorus: international community must acknowledge the political rights of the people of West Papua

JUBI, 14 February 2011’The President of West Papua, Forkorus Yaboisembue has called on the international community which has raised the issue of basic human rights  to give evidence of its recognition of the political rights of the West Papuan people. If they fail to do this, he said, it means that the Papuan people are merely the colonial possession of a foreign power, while the world is only concerned with human rights, which, he said, is nonsense.

‘We call  upon the international community to discuss the issue of the right to self-determination, whereas this right of the Papuan people is being trampled underfoot. He was speaking after the court in Jayapura rejected the demurrer of the defendants submitted by the legal team of the Papuan defendants, Forkorus Yaboisembut, Edicon Waromi, Dominikus Surabut, Selpius Bobii and Agust Kraar.

Forkorus said that the international community has remained silent about the basic right of the Papuan people to self-determination, while it concerns itself only with the issue of human rights. The concept of human rights without any further evidence means that the international community is only toying with the problem, while there is plenty of evidence. Talking about human rights  while claiming that if these rights are recognised for all nations, this will be the way to safeguard peace in the world.’ This, he said, is utter nonsense.’

The international community, the USA, the European Union and the United Nations,never talk about the basic right of the Papuan people, who are campaigning all over the world and to other colonised people; this is is nothing more than empty talk.

Forkorus said that the world must give real proof of the concept of human rights by taking into account the importance of the political rights of the people of West Papua. The international community must prove its commitment to human rights because the Papuan people are bound by their right to speak out. This is an issue that lies deep in the hearts of all people including the people of West Papua. [The word used here is kesulungan the precise meaning of which escapes me, C Budiardjo]

‘When I say that I am a West Papuan, what then do you say? No one can force me to do anything. I have the absolute right to be a West Papuan.’

Edison Waromi who was standing beside Forkorus when he made this statement, said that the right of kesulungan [unchallengability ?] is recognised in the Bible to which the Papuan people are devoted. Quoting Verse 32, (8) of Deuteronomy in the Bible he said:  ‘It is God who determines the territory of all people’ which means that something determined by God cannot be challenged.’ The territory of West Papua  belongs to the people of West Papua.

When this was said, the crowd outside the courthouse cheered and applauded.

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Statement from 5 Makar accused at KP3 treason trial

STATEMENT BY FIVE PAPUANS WHO WENT ON TRIAL IN JAYAPURA ON 30 JANUARY 2011[This hand-written statement is signed by the five Papuans who went on trial in Jayapura on 30 January 2012, and is translated in full by
Carmel Budiardjo, TAPOL]

Fully understanding and conscious of our basic human rights as Papuans of the negroid race, part of the Melanesian race who live in the land of the country of West Papua, inheritors from our ancestors, we herewith firmly declare  that WE FIRMLY REJECT THE TREASON TRIAL AND OTHER SUCH TRIALS that has been mounted against the five of us, and we speak on behalf our colleagues and the entire nation of the Papuan people of the Nation of West Papua.

We call for an understanding of this declaration, a declaration of independence, in accordance with the principles of PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW, a law which should be lawfully accepted. And in this case, this declaration will bring us substantial  happiness if it gains the recognition of the international community.

In order to gain substantial and dignified recognition from the international community, we have requested our international team of lawyers to  notify and register  our legal status along with the question of the annexation of the TERRITORY OF THE STATE OF WEST PAPUA at the International Court, with the Secretary-General  of the United Nations, Amnesty International and all member states of the United Nations, as well as other competent authorities.

We herewith categorically state that we are not prepared to make any statements or answer any questions that are based on the laws and accusations of treason by  the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, during the current trial for treason. It is very clear indeed that this is a matter between two nations and two states, that is to say, between the Papuan nation and the Indonesian nation, between the Federal State of West Papua  and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

The following are the reasons for our rejection of the trial for treason or any such trial:

[NB: The copy of the statement which we have received jumps at this point from page 2 to page 4 which suggests that the copy we have is incomplete.]

1.    Our struggle and the struggle of those who have gone before us and the nation of West Papua  and all members of the Papuan people up to the present day is a struggle for the restoration of independence and sovereignty of the Papuan Nation as one of our most basic political rights.

2.    Bearing in mind that the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia annexed and continues to annex, the people and nation of the Papuan people since the TRIKORA command which was proclaimed by the former president of Indonesia, President Sukarno on 19 December 1961 in the city of Jogyakarta and which was followed up by  the Indonesian military, from 1962 to the present day, by a variety of measures aimed at preserving the annexation.

3.    Our struggle is not aimed as damaging or destroying any country in the world.

4.    We do not intend to damage or destroy the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

5.    We feel that our dignity has been defiled, that our basic political  rights have been violated in our country, West Papua, which we inherited from our ancestors.

6.    No one, for whatever reason, has the right to make accusations against us or to convict us in a treason trial or any such trial. This is because we have become the subjects of our own laws  as citizens of the nation and state of the Federal Republic of West Papua.

7.    Based on the values of basic human rights, of democracy and the following universal laws:

a. The  first article in the Preamble to the1945 Constitution  of the Republic of Indonesia.
b. Article15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations adopted on 10 December, 1948.
c. Article 1, para 1 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted as UN Resolution 2200 (xxi) which has been in force since 23 March 1976,.
d. The Declaration on Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in UN Resolution 1514 (xv) on 14 December 1960.
e. The basic principles of decolonisation , namely possidetis juris and the legal succession of the state to the colonial territories  of the  Dutch East Indies (Dutch Papua) since 19 October 1961.
f. ILO Convention No. 169, 1989 on the Rights of Indigenous and Tribal People.
g. The UN Declaration on the basic rights of indigenous peoples of 13 September 2007.
h. The Papuan Independence Manifesto of 19 October 1961 adopted by the Papuan National Committee.
i.  Stipulations adopted by the Grand Congress (MUBES) of the Papuan people in 2000.
j. The Eleven Recommendations of the Second  Papuan Peoples’ Congress and Indigenous Papuan People  in 2010.
k. The decisions of the Second Papuan Peoples Congress in 2000.
l.  The decisions of the Third Papuan Peoples Congress of 2011.

8.    The Statement by the Indigenous Papuan People and the Papuan people is a truth based on analytical and practical categories. The analytical category means that the indigenous P apuan people are the Papuan nation, a negroid race of the Melanesian race, located in the South Pacific. Whereas the practical category is a political statement which was enunciated in the Manifesto of Papuan Independence of the Papuan National Committee on 19 October 1961 in Hollandia, the State of West Papua.

9.     We democratically restored the independence and sovereignty of the Papuan people on 19 October 2011, at the Third Papuan Peoples  Congress with the establishment of the Federal Republic of West Papua  which was announced by the DECLARATION OF THE PAPUAN NATION IN THE STATE OF WEST PAPUA.

10.    The government of the Republic of Indonesia and the governments of all other members of the United Nations, should without discrimination recognise and respect the democratic processes of the Papuan people at the Third Papuan Peoples Congress on 19 October 2011 in the form of the Declaration of the West Papuan Nation and State.

11.     The application of the treason law against the Papuan people must be categorised as a violation of the basic and legal political rights of the Papuan nation.

We hereby call on to the Honourable Judges in this forum to annul the trial held in order to accuse us of TREASON and make similar charges against us. The solution to the independence of the Papuan nation which is our most basic political right must be sought by means of international mechanisms between the Federal Republic of West Papua and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, mediated by the United Nations.

In order to regulate the transfer  of sovereign powers from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia to the Federal Republic of West Papua, we intend to initiate a new phase of cooperation  based on the principles of democracy,  justice, peace, mutual respect and dignity. As is customary between independent and sovereign nations and states on Planet Earth.

Herewith our statement of REJECTION OF THE TRIAL BEING HELD TO ACCUSE  US OF TREASON AND SIMILAR CHARGES.

Jayapura, 30 January 2012

Signed:

1. Forkorus Yaboisembut, President of the Federal State of West Papua.
2. Edison G. Waromi, SH, Prime Minister of the Federal State of West Papua.
3. Agust M. Sananai Kraar, SIP,human rights activist/staff
4. Selpius Bobii, activist/staff
5. Dominikus Subarat, activist/staff

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