Federal Republic of West Papua is registered at the UN

JUBI, 2 March 2012At the latest hearing of the trial of Forkorus Yaboisembut, Forkorus  announced that  the proclamation of the Federal Republic of West Papua had been registered with the UN Security Council in order to receive international recognition. This happened on 26 February, said Edison Waromi, the prime minister of the Federal Republic of West Papua, in response to questions from the judge at the trial.He also announced that they had received an acknowledgement from the secretariat of the UN. The registration of the Federal Republic at the UN has been recorded under No Rr.827567846 BT, he told the court.

Forkorus also confirmed this, and went on to say that the Papuan people should work together to get recognition of the Federal Republic and should stop calling for a referendum or for dialogue. ‘Let us focus on getting international recognition,’ he said .

‘Very soon, there will be a country that will recognise our independence and our people should prepare themselves to support this,’ said Forkorus without mentioning which country he had in mind.

Hariyadi Wirawan, an international observer connected with the University of Indonesia, said: ‘This move is intended to get international recognitions because the problem of West Papua has never being solved. What is being demanded for West Papua would follow the scenario of the independence of Kosovo which succeeded in gaining recognition of its independence with the help of an international institution.’

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.

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

UN Declares Indonesia’s Detention Of Filep Karma A Violation Of International Law, Calls For Immediate Release

In response to a petition filed by Freedom Now and Hogan Lovells LLP, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has issued its opinion that the Government of Indonesia is in violation of international law by detaining Filep Karma. The Working Group calls on the Government of Indonesia to immediately release the human rights advocate.

Mr. Karma is a prominent Papuan human rights advocate and former civil servant arrested on December 1, 2004 for raising the Papuan Morning Star flag at a political rally in commemoration of Papuan independence from Dutch rule. Although Mr. Karma has explicitly denounced the use of violence, he was convicted for crimes of hostility against the state and sedition in a trial that fell far below international standards of due process. He now languishes in prison serving a fifteen-year sentence, despite health concerns and calls for his release by numerous NGOs and government officials. In August, 2011, 26 members of the U.S. Congress urged President Yudhoyono to release Mr. Karma. Forty members of Congress signed a similar letter in 2008. This week, President Obama will be in Indonesia attending the 2011 ASEAN Summit—which takes place November 17-19 in Bali—where many hope such human rights discussions will take place.

Freedom Now Executive Director Maran Turner stated: “The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has found Indonesia’s actions a clear violation of international law. Mr. Karma is a nonviolent advocate who was arrested for his views and convicted in a trial marred by judicial bias, denial of appeal without reason, and intimidation tactics. I urge President Obama to raise Filep Karma’s case with President Yudhoyono and to call for Indonesia’s compliance with the UN opinion by releasing Filep Karma.”

The United Nations Working Group determined that Mr. Karma’s arrest was due to his exercise of the fundamental rights of freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association. According to the UN, provisions used to convict and detain Mr. Karma—including declaring “feelings of hate”—were “drafted in such general and vague terms that they can be used arbitrarily to restrict the freedoms of opinion, expression, assembly and association.” Such a detention violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a multi-party treaty by which Indonesia is bound, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Working Group also censured the Government of Indonesia for violating Mr. Karma’s right to a fair trial.

The opinion concluded by calling the Government’s attention to broader human rights violations in Indonesia, for which Filep Karma’s situation is emblematic, stating, “The Working Group will remind The Republic of Indonesia of its duties to comply with international human rights obligations not to detain arbitrarily, to release persons who are arbitrarily detained, and to provide compensation to them.”

Freedom Now, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works to free prisoners of conscience, and Hogan Lovells LLP, an international law firm, welcome the UN’s decision. They call on the Indonesian government to uphold its commitments under international law and immediately release Mr. Karma.

Source: Freedom Now

The Wire (NZ): Police Brutality in West Papua – The Fight For Independence

The Wire

MP3 Police Brutality in West Papua – The Fight For Independence

MP3, 12m25s, 2.8MB, first broadcast 21 October 2011

95bFM (New Zealand)

The Wire

MP3 Police Brutality in West Papua – The Fight For Independence

Nick Chesterfield, the editor of West Papua Media Alerts joins Lucas to discuss reports of Indonesian police killing and seriously injuring peaceful protesters in the West Papua region.

The Wire Police Brutality in West Papua – The Fight For Independence MP3, 12m25s, 2.8MB, first broadcast 21 October 2011

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑