Tag: Wamena

Densus 88 sweeps force hundreds to flee from Baliem Valley villages

Sweeps engineered to justify annihilation of Papuan resistance by Australian-funded troops:  Churches

by Nick Chesterfield, with Westpapuamedia stringers

October 15, 2012.

Special Investigation

Amid an intensification of armed security sweeps against West Papuan clanspeople around Wamena, Church leaders in West Papua have condemned Indonesian security forces for falsely engineering conditions to justify eliminating Papuan civil resistance to Jakarta’s colonial rule.

Credible reports continue to be received of an ongoing security sweep against highland villages that has reportedly resulted in hundreds of civilians fleeing to take refuge with pro-independence guerrillas in the mountains several days walk from Wamena.

Activists from the pro-independence West Papua National Committee (KNPB) are reportedly being targeted in a worrying crackdown against free expression.   Carloads of heavily armed police and soldiers are cruising around the districts surrounding Wamena, pouncing on any civilians suspected of having affiliation to the KNPB, according to church sources in communication with West Papua Media stringers.

KNPB sources have expressed great fear that the latest offensive by Indonesian security forces against their members is an attempt to wipe out the Papuan people by eliminating their ability to organise acts of peaceful free expression and to campaign for a referendum to determine Papua’s future.

A joint taskforce led by officers from the Australian funded counter-terror unit Detachment 88, together with soldiers from the notorious Wamena based Army (TNI) Battalion 756, and Police paramilitary Brimob Gegana alleged bomb “disposal” officers have joined the sweep, which initially targeted the villages of Wesagaput, Tulem, Jibama and Jbele, outside Wamena.

“Residents have sought refuge and are temporarily displaced from their homes as a result of a meeting by district office of Jayawijaya and the TNI/POLRI police who carried out raids, and accused local activists for planting a bomb in a house at Jalan Irian. The situation is described as tense and locals are in grave fear,” a pastor who has fled to the hills with the residents told West Papua Media by SMS on October 10.

Repeated attempts over the weekend by West Papua Media to contact the Jayawijaya police commander, and the new Papua Police Commander, former Densus 88 chief Tito Karnavian, have gone unreplied.

It is not known the strength of the taskforce, but unconfirmed reports have claimed up to two Satgas companies are involved, totalling at least 200 armed troops.  Historically police and military raids against villages in the Baliem Valley have resulted in signficant human rights abuses, village burnings and repeated incidents of brutality and torture (some infamously captured on mobile phones and leaked via YouTube).

Messages sent late on Thursday night from the pastor explained “We are now in the jungle, two other crew are still the main target by the security forces and they are still in Wamena town.”  The source described how his own, and KNPB members, photos have been displayed on Wanted posters (Daftar Pencarian Orang, DPO) across a small airstrip and the main market of Wamena town.  The pastor has joined with the residents in order to provide a measure of protection and communication, and to be on hand for any negotiations.

He continued, in Wamena “the security presence (is) blocking the airstrip, market and the surrounding area and makes it difficult for us to send fast reports.”  The pastor reported that on October 10, he and KNPB members who were attempting to file human rights reports were chased by a military vehicle.  It was an “Avanza with fully armed military personnel, I believed to be Densus 88,  which forced us to flee into the into the jungle with some documents. At the moment, kaka with other committee members in the jungle and soon kaka will be without reception. Please pray for us.”

It is believed that the villagers have fled to the protection of National Liberation Army guerrillas further in the hills, a long utilised last resort in an area that has been subject to generations of significant human rights abuses by the Indonesian military.

The villages being targeted are the home villages of KNPB members arrested in brutal raids by Detachment 88 and TNI troops on September 29.  The activists led by Simon Dabi, the Baliem KNPB chairman, are still under arrest by Detachment 88 counter-terror officers, controversially accused of involvement in a bombing campaign that has been widely blamed by church sources to be the work of Indonesian special forces new force – the shadowy “unknown persons” that are never investigated properly by Police.  It is feared by most observers that the activists will not receive any chance of a fair trial, as no international observers are allowed.

According to human rights sources in Wamena, the raids have occured after Indonesian intelligence agents interrogating the arrested KNPB activists accused them of hiding bomb making materials in their clan members’ houses.  Church sources in Wamena who have had contact with the detainees have reported to West Papua Media that Densus 88 interrogations appear to have focussed on the connection between KNPB and UK-exiled Papuan highland leader Benny Wenda, and have targeted members of the extended Wenda clan for specific repression.

“Targeting indigenous people based on their blood and clan relations is a clear violation of human rights, and has nothing to do with proper police work,”  said a senior church leader in Wamena to West Papua Media‘s stringer.  “The situation in Wamena is now incredibly dangerous for anyone thought to support KNPB,”  he said.

Further reports emerged overnight claiming that more KNPB activists were arrested over the weekend in Wamena, however these reports have not been able to be verified.

Church sources have departed from their usually restrained language, and have vehemently condemned the current operation as a conspiracy by security forces to justify slaughter of West papuan people opposed to Indonesian violence.

A statement by the Moderator of the Papuan Baptist Church, Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman, demanded security forces immediately cease their engineering of bombings in Papua.

“The case of the bombings that occurred in two place (at the Honorary Council Workspace Jayawijaya on 1 September, and Wamena traffic police at Jalan Pos Irian on 18 September) are a Really Big Lie by Indonesian police.  False allegations that security disturbances were carried out by the people of Papua, more specifically KNPB in Wamena, in our opinion is untrue.  Major public fraud like this is unacceptable to the conscience and sense of logic,” said Rev. Yoman.

Rev Yoman explained that “Crimes Against Humanity in the form of police lying is part of a huge security operation and mission of the Government of Indonesia in Papua,” and included the murder of Moses Mako Tabuni on June 14, 2012 by Detachment 88. “The whole process by security forces is very embarrassing to us and disturbs our conscience, but at the same time really damages the reputation of the security forces in the eyes of the people of Papua, the Indonesian people and the international community.”

Sofyan Yoman outlined an 8 point scenario of the motivations for Detachment 88 to conduct these raids, when they know that Papuan people have nothing to do with thee terror tactics.

The operation aims are as follows, Yoman said:

“1. Destroy the peaceful struggle of God’s people in Papua who demand justice and respect for the dignity and fundamental rights of Indigenous Papuans;

2. Knocking out all the pillars of the struggle of the people and the nation of Papua, demanding a peaceful dialogue between the Indonesian government and the Papuan People be unconditionally mediated by a neutral third-party… that continues to gain sympathy and support of the international community,  academics, humanitarian workers and the people of Indonesia;

3. Creating a sense of fear, silence, dilemma and trauma of the Papuan people to not take the fight against Crimes Against Humanity committed by the TNI and the police defending sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia from 1961 to 2012;

4. Destroy the peaceful struggle of West Papua National Committee (KNPB), which has been the voice of the suffering of the people of God in the Land of Papua.

5. Justifying (menjastifikasi) the construction of more military and police bases in the Land of Papua;

6. Confirming the presence of Detachment 88 in Papua, to pursue and kill civilians by utilising separatist stigma and treason (makar) charges against Papuan people.

7. Build the image to the international community that the violence and crimes against humanity in Papua are (caused by) Indigenous Papuans and KNPB (instead of the Indonesian colonial system).

8. And of course, the security forces to obtain additional funding from the budget or Papua province and district / city on the grounds of security control area and the State.”

The sweep is also occurring in other parts of Papua currently.  Detachment 88 officers on October 14 arrested a former senior National Liberation Army figure Gidi Wenda outside Sentani, near Jayapura.  Several police Avanza cars full of armed Densus 88 officers made the raid at a house behind the headman’s office at 3am, according to human rights sources.  Wenda has not been heard from since, nor seen at the Police HQ, and relatives are concerned for his safety.

Despite the crackdown, KNPB activists have vowed to continue to engage in free expression, and call for the international community to prevent Indonesia from killing more Papuan people.  “We will demand the United Nations to immediately send a team of observers to our territory, because from day-to-day, we are getting (sic) extinct under Indonesian military operations, just as we demand the right of self-determination which has been guaranteed by international law,” KNPB Chairman Victor Yeimo said in a statement released on October 15.

Mass rallies have been planned across Papua on October 24, which are likely to meet with significant repressive measures by Indonesian security forces.

“We will continue to demand our rights even the world seems concerning with the political economy of the occupiers and oppressors,” said Yeimo.  “Many of our activists have been killed, imprisoned and intimidated under Indonesian rule, and we will not give up until our demands are heard by the world,” he noted.

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7.30 Report (ABC): West Papua arrests highlight Australian Detachment 88 links

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 04/10/2012

Reporter: Hayden Cooper

An Australian-funded police unit in West Papua has again been implicated in a crackdown on the region’s independence movement.

(Note:  Syndicated here as this story was produced by ABC with the assistance of West Papua Media, after we originally broke this story at https://westpapuamedia.info/2012/10/01/wamena-arrests-as-australian-funded-anti-terror-troops-conduct-raid-amid-increasing-repression-on-knpb-political-activists/ )

Transcript

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: An Australian funded counter-terrorism unit in West Papua is facing new accusations of abusing its power in the troubled Indonesian province.

The notorious squad known as Detachment 88 has launched a fresh crackdown on independence activists, in the wake of an expose by this program in August.

Eight men have been detained and accused of bomb-making.

Separatist leaders claim the explosives were planted and they’ve been framed to justify the squad’s activities.

Hayden Cooper has this report.

HAYDEN COOPER, REPORTER: Jayapura, West Papua is a city marred by violence and tension, where independence leaders have been arrested, beaten, killed. And where police have been confronted by unruly and angry demonstrations.

When 7.30 travelled to the province in August, the crackdown on the independence movement was already severe, resulting in several deaths, including of this man, independence leader Mako Tabuni, shot in this street, witnesses say, by the Australian trained and funded police unit Detachment 88.

ERSON WENDA, RELATIVE (last month, voiceover translation): Clearly, it was them who killed him because we saw them shoot him and take him to their hospital.

HAYDEN COOPER: Since then, the crackdown has worsened. Victor Yeimo succeeded Tabuni as leader of the West Papuan National Committee, KNPB. This week, he sent this video to 7.30.

VICTOR YEIMO, CHAIRMAN, KNPB: We are the non-violent activists in West Papua. We will fight for our right of freedom according to the peaceful means in West Papua. We demand our right of self-determination to a referendum to be held in West Papua by UN peacefully and democratically.

HAYDEN COOPER: But the Indonesian authorities don’t believe his claim of non-violence and they’re pursuing KMPB like never before. In June, Indonesian soldiers went on a rampage in the highlands town and KNPB stronghold of Wamena, and now in a new development, police have raided the homes and offices of KNPB members in the area. Last weekend eight were arrested and witnesses say once again Detachment 88 was involved.

VICTOR YEIMO: When they arrest the KNPB brothers in Wamena, we saw Detachment 88 with one car, and another car with police, joined in by TNI.

HAYDEN COOPER: Indonesian police accuse the eight KNPB members arrested of making bombs and claim to have found explosives during the raid. Victor Yeimo rejects that and says his group is being framed as terrorists to justify Detachment 88’s presence.

VICTOR YEIMO: This is how Indonesia is now making a scenario with the terrorist issue in West Papua. As you know that in West Papua we never know how to make a bomb, how to create bomb.

HAYDEN COOPER: Some international observers and West Papuan advocates back that view

CAMMI WEBB-GANNON, SYDNEY UNI: I don’t think that the KNPB has any reason to be making bombs because they believe in a peaceful approach to pursuing independence. They want a referendum on independence in West Papua.

HAYDEN COOPER: In West Papua the Institute for Human Rights Advocacy, known as ELSHAM, has studied the arrests and suspects the explosives recovered by police were part of an elaborate set-up.

CAMMI WEBB-GANNON: They don’t have the capacity to gain the materials, so ELSHAM has actually said that the materials were probably planted in the KMPB members’ houses where they found the explosives and that’s not an unusual thing for security forces to do.

HAYDEN COOPER: The weekend raids follow the appointment of a new police chief in Papua, Brigadier General Tito Karnavian. His background as the former head of Detachment 88 generates serious unease among some Papuans, despite his assurances of a new inclusive approach.

CAMMI WEBB-GANNON: They will be opposed to his former role as the head of Densus 88, and as a police chief this just – it doesn’t seem to mesh with his new approach of working – to win the hearts and minds of Papuans.

RONNY KARENI, WEST PAPUAN EXPATRIATE: I have no doubt there’ll be definitely more crackdowns on KNPB members and those who are very active and very vocal in pursuing and calling for independence for West Papua, and that is for sure, that that’s one thing that Jakarta is aiming to shutting down political activists in West Papua.

HAYDEN COOPER: Ronny Kareni is one of many West Papuans living in Australia. He uses music to promote the independence cause on behalf of his friends at home.

RONNY KARENI: Every day, like, I got SMS coming through my phone and then the information is that their lives are under intimidation and they always live in state of fear and they’re being followed and it’s sad, but this is the reality in West Papua.

HAYDEN COOPER: 7.30 put several questions to the Indonesian Government but received no reply. Attempts to contact the new Papuan police chief were also unsuccessful.

As for Victor Yeimo, he is pushing for the release of the eight activists arrested on the weekend, and with his supporters here, he’s pressuring Australia to rethink its funding for Detachment 88.

RONNY KARENI: The Papuans will be pretty much living like prisoners in our own land where our movement, what we do, will be censored, will be monitored, will be followed, and as I said, there’s no room for democracy at all.

LEIGH SALES: Hayden Cooper reporting.

Original URL http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3604232.htm

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TPN denies involvement in “unknown persons” terror plot in Wamena

 

 

from West Papua Media

October 4, 2012

A commander from the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN) has categorically denied any responsibility or involvement in an alleged bombing campaign against security force targets in Wamena and Jayapura, joining a chorus of Papua observers raising doubts about the Indonesian police allegations against pro-independence activists

Troops from the Indonesian army (TNI) and Australian-trained Detachment 88 counter-terror unit conducted a violent raid on September 29 against activists from the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in Wamena, arresting 8.  The eight have been charged with various offences, including  possession of explosive devices and Makar (treason).

Citizen journalists from SuaraPapua .com made contact with the Commander of the Kodap (Liberation Command Area) I  of TPN, Colonel David Darko on Tuesday (2/10) afternoon, who confirmed the bombs in  Jayapura, Wamena and throughout Papua, had no connection to the TPN OPM.

“So (the) TPN OPM states assertively, that we are not responsible for any action with bombs, because OPM is not a terrorist organisation, but an organisations of national struggle for Papua, (and for) basic rights to self-determination as any other nation on earth, ” Darko told SP.  He said it was a struggle for the liberation of the people, and “The struggle by TPN-OPM is dignified and with  full responsibility for the rights of the national struggle,” he said.  This unequivocal statement, according to David Darko, is to give notice to all parties not to associate the OPM with bombs or terror.

The non-violent activists were allegedly arrested in connection with a small bomb blast at a Wamena police station.  Detachment 88 anti-terror police claim they found explosive materials at the KNPB offices, but human rights observers across Papua have suggested the police themselves planted the materials and questioned the truthfulness of police claims.

Ferry Marisan, the director of the Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy in Papua (Elsham) told the Jakarta Globe, “It [the evidence] must have been fabricated by police, they placed the explosives in the office so the police would have a reason to arrest them.”

Victor Yeimo, the international spokesperson for KNPB currently in hiding after threats of arrest for subversion,  ridiculed the police assertion that the arrested activists were involved in the attack on the police station, or in making or using bombs, or engaging in acts of terror.  “West Papuan people are not involved with these bombs, and still do not know how to make bombs,”  Yeimo told West Papua Media on September 30.  KNPB has previously and publicly pledged its commitment to non-violence, saying that it is committed to the use of “civil power”

Members of the KNPB have also been subject to an escalating wave of repression by Indonesian security forces across Papua, since the beginning of an anti-violence civil resistance campaign earlier in 2012, in response to a series on mysterious “unknown persons” (OTK) shootings that had killed over 20 people since 2011. These shootings, widely believed across Papuan civil society to be the work of Kopassus Indonesian special forces creating violence to be used as a pretext for a declaration of martial law, peaked with the brazen daylight execution by Detachment 88 officers of KNPB Jayapura Chairman Mako Tabuni on June 6 this year.

Papuan civil society sources have claimed by SMS and email to West Papua Media that the current campaign of bombings and explosions is connected to the October visit of Indonesian President, General Yudhoyhono, to the UK.  SBY, as the president is known, is believed to be signing off on major defence deals with UK arms corporations, and will be pressing for increased anti-terror cooperation.  SBY is also being targeted currently by human rights activists connected with the KNPB in the UK, who have offered a GBP£50,000 bounty for a citizen’s arrest of the Indonesian President for Crimes Against Humanity.  Civil society sources believe that the campaign of crackdown of KNPB activists accused of terror acts is being orchestrated to shut down Papua rights campaigning in the UK.

The TPN Commander Darko stated that the TPN was not allied with the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in any political or organisational sense. “We also had nothing to do with the Committee at all as we are different from them,” Darko told SP.

The new Papua Police Chief,  Inspector General Tito Karnavian – the former head of Detachment 88, conceded the TPN-OPM claim to not engage in terrorist bombings, but said to wait for the court process.

“This case is being handled, and let us see it in court. Whether they are involved or not. Let the court decide, ” he said.  Honesty awaited the court because the reverse case would cause turmoil with the grassroots people of Papua, Karnavian explained to assembled journalists.

However, with Papua still closed to international journalists or independent human rights observers, few West Papuan activists believe that the flawed court system in Papua will be able to deliver a legitimate and fair trial.

 

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Wamena arrests as Australian-funded anti-terror troops conduct raid amid increasing repression on KNPB political activists

by West Papua Media

September 30, 2012

Unconfirmed photo from Sep 29 Detachment 88 raid on KNPB in Wamena (Supplied/KNPB)

Troops from the Indonesian army (TNI) and Australian-trained Detachment 88 counter-terror unit conducted a major raid on Saturday against activists from the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in Wamena, according to several credible sources in the West Papuan highland town.

The raid on the secretarial office of KNPB Baliem Region at the Potikelek complex in Wamena, just before 6pm on Saturday night, resulted in the arrests of 8 KNPB members. Sources reported to West Papua Media that at least two platoons each of TNI, D88 and regular Police (arriving in 2 trucks, 11 vehicles and 14 motorbikes) were involved in the raid, with many detainees being subjected to brutal beatings and on-the-spot interrogations by security forces according to independent witnesses.

According to Simon Dabi, the Baliem region chairman of KNPB, the troops “said tomorrow they will return and burn the hut.”

“We are not aware of the reason for the arrests, but there’s a possibility it could be connected to a scenario that’s been created to make out KNPB activists to be terrorists, by connecting us to the recent bombing in Irian Road, Wamena,” explained a clearly exasperated Dabi, relayed through KNPB sources.

Those confirmed arrested are:

• KNPB Secretary General (Baliem Region) Janus Wamu (aged 26);

• Eddo Doga (aged 26);

• Irika (Ribka) Kosay (aged 19);

• Jusuf Hiluka (aged 52);

• Yan Mabel (aged 24);

• Amus Elopere (aged 22);

• Wioge (Nata) Kosay (aged 18);

• Melianus Kosay (aged 29);

Grave fears are currently held for the safety of the detainees, who were taken for interrogation to the Wamena Regional Police headquarters under the command of Jayawijaya Regional Police Chief Arivin. Simon Dabi told stringers that the arrest was carried out arbitrarily and without proper legal procedure and those arrested “are at present in an unsafe situation”.

West Papua Media repeatedly attempted to seek comment from the operation commander Kapolres Arivin, and written questions were submitted to clarify details of the raid, however, Arivin hung up twice upon answering and then switched his phone off.

The Papua-wide General Chairperson of KNPB, Victor Yeimo, also urged the Chief of Jayawijaya Regional Police to release the KNPB members. “I have just telephoned direct but the phone was unanswered, so I was only able to send an SMS to the Head of Regional Police to insist that the 8 young ones I am responsible for, be immediately released as their action (in arresting the 8) is uncivilized and improper” asserted Yeimo.

Yeimo ridiculed the police assertion that the arrested activists were involved in the attack on the police station, or in making or using bombs, or engaging in acts of terror.  “West Papuan people are not involved with these bombs, and still do not know how to make bombs,”  Yeimo told West Papua Media.  KNPB has previously and publicly pledged its commitment to non-violence, saying that it is committed to the use of “civil power”

KNPB members have reason to be concerned for the safety of their colleagues. On September 23, 6 local youth members of KNPB were arrested, tortured and beaten in arbitrary arrests following an apparently suspicious death of an Indonesian colonist, and then all released without charge. “Having done no wrong, KNPB activists are constantly being chased, arrested, intimidated and killed by NKRI (the Indonesian state),” said Yeimo.

Members of the KNPB have also been subject to an escalating wave of repression by Indonesian security forces across Papua, since the beginning of an anti-violence civil resistance campaign earlier in 2012, in response to a series on mysterious “unknown persons” (OTK) shootings that had killed over 20 people since 2011. These shootings, widely believed across Papuan civil society to be the work of Kopassus Indonesian special forces creating violence to be used as a pretext for a declaration of martial law, peaked with the brazen daylight execution by Detachment 88 officers of KNPB Jayapura Chairman Mako Tabuni on June 6 this year,

After his appearance on a major report on Australia’s ABC TV describing the tactics of the Detachment 88 state terror campaign against Papuan non-violent activists, Victor Yeimo, found himself with other KNPB members on the Daftar Pencarian Orang (Wanted persons list) in a clear retaliation for speaking out to the international community.

In recent weeks, many non-violent activists engaging in peaceful acts of political expression across Papua have been targeted by security forces including those from D88.

Saturday’s so-called “anti-terror” raid in Wamena is the first major raid since the former head of Detachment 88 Tito Karnavian was appointed as the new police chief in West Papua. Karnavian loudly promised a new “hearts and minds approach” to reducing violence across Papua, and “vowed to take a grassroots approach to stopping the violence”. However, according to Papuan activists across the occupied territory, it seems that the only approach is the intensification of repression of grassroots people.

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State must safeguard the health of political prisoners, says Parjal

 

JUBI, 19 July 2012
[Comment: Just see how many Papuans are serving life sentences or twenty years. TAPOL]Papuan Street Parliament says state must guarantee the heath of tapols

Jayapura, 19 July, 2012

The  Papuan Street Parliament (Parjal) insists that it is the responsibility of the Indonesian government  to safeguard the right to life of Papuans who are still behind bars.

Yusak Pakage, the spokesperson of Parjal, said that as a former political prisoner himself, he knows that prisoners suffer many difficulties as a result of the use of violence. ‘The state should be responsible for medical treatment and for the prisoners’ right to life,’ he said.

The director of the district office of the Department of Law and Human Rights , Daniel Biantong announced last January that there were 23 Papuan political  prisoners, of whom 16 were being held in Wamena prison, three were being held  in Biak and  two  in Abepura. The two in Abepura were Philip Karma [usually spelt Filep] and Samuel Yaru.

Those being held in Biak are Numbuga Talenggu and Yafrai Murib who are both serving life sentences, while Kimanus Wenda and Linus Hiluka  in Nabire prison have been sentenced to 20 years and in Biak, Apotnagolik E. Lokobal has been sentenced to 20 years.

Other tapols who are serving sentences of  20 years are Kanius Murib who is being held in Wamena, while Samuel Yanu  who is being held in Abepura is serving a sentence of three years.

‘Because I  have myself spent time in prison in Wamena, I have a sense of solidarity with these political prisoners. It is the duty of the state to help them,’ he said.

[Translated by TAPOL]

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