Tag: west papua media alerts

Press Release issued by the Papuan People’s Coalition for Truth (KRPBK)

Press Release issued by the Papuan People’s Coalition for Truth (KRPBK)
[Received by TAPOL on 12 January 2011]

OTSUS (Special Autonomy) is a catastrophe, which is the most appropriate
word to to describe the role f the Indonesian Republic in binding
together Papua and Jakarta with their offerings to quell the the Papuan
people’s calls for MERDEKA.

We all know that since the enactment of OTSUS, the blood of the Papuan
people has been shed more than ever before, in all corners, in the
mountains, the valleys, along the coasts and in the cities.The
aspirations of the people have been stifled by legalistic measures that
have put the rights of the people behind bars. The stigma of separatism
is being increasingly stoked up and linked to the struggling Papuan
people. The Papuan people are being marginalised in their own homeland.

We still remember 15 August 2005 when the entire people came out onto
the streets throughout the territory of the Land of Papua, calling for
OTSUS to be handed back to the Indonesian government, but the fact is
that the Indonesian government doesn’t care about this. OTSUS continues
to be imposed by force with a series of actions that are destroying the
lives of the indigenous Papuan people. One such action was the
establishment of the MRP (Majelis Rakyat Papua) which was said to be
the cultural representative of the Papuan people, but was deliberately
created as a toothless institution.

On 8 – 9 June 2010, the Papuan people held a Grand Assembly (MUBES)
which adopted eleven recommendations as their solemn and most important
agreement. We all agreed that these eleven recommendations were born
out of the desperation of the Papuan people because of the tricks by
Jakarta.

On 17 July 2010, mustering all their forces, the Papuan people came out
onto the streets to hand back OTSUS and to demand that the Indonesian
government immediately implement the eleven recommendations of MUBES.

But the government has been struck by forgetfulness. Official agencies
such as the provincial assembly (DPRP) and the governors have simply
ignored these demands. In order to safeguard their hold over the Land of
Papua, an OTSUS Evaluation Committee was set up which has been rejected
by the people. An Indonesian-style agency, the Lembaga Masyarakat Adat,
was set up as a counter-weight to the Dewan Adat Papua (Traditional
Council of Papua). A committee for the recruitment of members of the
MPR was set up under the control of the Kesbangpol (a government agency
the name of which we cannot identify) to recruit members of the MRP.
These measures were taken to safeguard the election of the governors and
deputy governors of the provinces of Papua and West Papua, bearing in
mind that it will be up to the MRP to decide who are chosen to become
the governors and deputy governors.

The recruitment of the members of the MRP , based on a special
regulation, is now in progress in various parts of the territory and
will be completed shortly.

On 10 January 2011, a ministerial meeting was held in Jakarta to set up
two MRPs and on 18 January, the recruitment of the members of the MRPs
will be finalised, their names will be made public and they will be
sworn in on 31 January 2011.

All these facts show clearly that the Indonesian government, the DPRP
and the governors of the provinces of Papua and West Papua have violated
the wishes of the Papuan people. OTSUS, the offering made by Jakarta to
the Papuan people, has been rejected by the Papuan people who demand
that their political status should be established as a sovereign nation
and state.There can be no compromise this for would only lead the
Papuan people to many long years of suffering in their own homeland.

As the people of this homeland, what more can we do to continue with our
resistance? The only word is RESIST!

The Papuan People’s Coalition for Truth (KRPBK) demand the following:

1. That the establishment of the second MRP should be halted because
this does not conform with the wishes of the Papuan people who have
already rejected OTSUS.

2. To call on donor countries to immediately end their contributions to
OTSUS funds via the Indonesian government because OTSUS has failed.

3. The DPRP should immediately convene a plenary session to decide on
its response to the eleven recommendations made public by MUBES on 8 – 9
June 2010.

4. That the Lembaga Masyarakant Adat created by the government should be
dissolved because it does not represent the indigenous peoples in the
seven traditional regions of the Land of Papua.

5. That the Papuan conflict should be resolved immediately by granting
the Papuan people the right to self-determination.

The eight components of the KRPBK are:

Osama Usman Yogobi. KRPBK

Musye Weror, Students Council of UNCEN

Marthen Agapa, Coordinator of Parjal

Jack Wanggai, National Authority of West Papua

Simon Alua, chairmaan of AMPTPI.

Petrus Rumbiak, Papuan Youth

Alius Asao, SHDRP

Selpius Bobii,chairman of the Pepera Front

13

DAP leader rejects police moves to question him

Bintang Papua, 11 January 2011

Forkorus Yaboisembut, the chairman of the Papuan Indigenous Council, DAP
has reported that two members of the police force came to visit him at
2pm the previous day, saying that they wanted to take him to Jayapura
police headquarters to question him about a case of bribery in
connection with attempts to kill him some time ago.

Speaking by phone to Bintang Papua, Forkorus said that he was confused
by the police officers’ visit because, according to him, the case they
wished to discuss had been resolved in a collegial fashion within the
kampung. He said that there had been some misunderstandings between
himself and some of his grandchildren but the matter had been resolved
peacefully in November 2010. If the police now intend to investigate the
matter, this would be quite wrong because the matter had already been
resolved within the family.

‘There is no need for the police to investigate the matter,’ said
Forkorus, ‘because I have already told the media that the matter has
been resolved.’ He said that the money involved had already been
returned to its rightful owners within the family. The incident had
occurred when one of his grandchildren, under the influence of drink,
had made threatening remarks against him.

The local chief of police has denied that they had made any attempt to
take Forkorus in for questioning.

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Selection of MRP members should stop, say church leaders

Abridged in translation by TAPOL

Bintang Papua,11 January 2011

Given the growing concern about the implementation of Special Autonomy
(OTSUS) as reflected in the decisions of the Grand Assembly of the MRP
and the Papuan Indigenous People held on 9-10 June 2010, several church
leaders have called on the Indonesian president, the governors of the
provinces of Papua and West Papua and the chairmen of the provincial
legislative assemblies to halt the process of selecting members of the
MRP (Majelis Rakyat Papua – Papuan People’s Assembly) until such time as
there are clear answers to the eleven recommendations that were
submitted to the provincial assembly (DPRP) on 18 June 2010, according
to a joint communique by the churches The signatories include the head
of the Evangelical Church, the GKI, Rev. Jemima Krey, the head of the
Kingmi church, Rev. Benny Giay, Rev. Socrates Yoman and the head of the
Pentacostal Church, Rev. Tonny Infandi.

The assembly held in June 2010 which was facilitated by the MRP was an
official forum representing the voice of the Papuan people, well within
the framework of the rule of law in Indonesia. On that occasion, the
Papuan people clearly expressed the view that the OTSUS Law 21/2001 had
failed to result in any improvements in the living conditions of the
Papuan people which is why the Papuan people had returned the law to
Jakarta.

The handing back of the law to the two provincial assemblies occurred in
Jayapura and Manokwari on 18 June 2010, when a deadline of one month was
set for members of the asemblies to hold plenary sessions to respond to
the people’s aspirations, but since that time, neither of the assemblies
had adopted any measures to respond to these demands.

The impression is that the the central government as well as the
provincial assemblies are not in any way interested in taking any
action to improve the implementation of OTSUS, which is in direct
contradiction with the wishes of the Papuan people.

The situation has been further aggravated by current moves to set up a
new MRP, a body that has now been rejected by the Papuan people.

There is even the impression that the central government via the
intermediary of the United Agency of the Papuan Provinces, is about to
create a ‘puppet MRP’ within the framework of the OTSUS law that will be
incapable of granting protection and upholding the basis rights of the
indigenous Papuan people.

Church leaders regard the creation of such an MRP as being in serious
violation of the dignity of the Papuan people. The church leaders
therefore state the following:

Firstly, we respect the aspirations of the indigenous Papuan people as
declared in the decisions of the Grand Assembly on 9 -10 June 2010, that
OTSUS has failed and has been returned to the central government.

Secondly, that the central government and the provincial assemblies
should immediately stop all moves to select members of the MRP until
such time as there are concrete responses to the results of the Grand
Assembly that were made public on 16 June 2010.

Thirdly, we call upon the governors of the Papuan provinces to stop
ignoring the aspirations of the Papuan people and to sit down with the
people to hold comprehensive talks about Papuan aspirations in rejection
of OTSUS, democratically and in a spirit of justice.

Fourthly, we call on the central government to enter in dialogue with
the Papuan people so as to bring to an end the protracted legal and
political uncertainty which has brought despair to the Papuan people
who we lead in this Land of Papua.

Fifthly, we reject all attempts or formulations that spread confusion
about the demand for dialogue between the Papuan people and the
government of Indonesia which has for many years been expressed by the
Papuan people.

Sixthly, we urge the Indonesian government to stop all forms of
intimidation and terror and other repressive measures that are aimed at
stifling critical opinions from our community regarding development
that is now under way in the Land of Papua which has failed to respect
the interests of the common people.

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Civil and political rights violations will continue to occur in Papua

Bintang Papua, 4 January 2011

Civil and political rights violations will continue to occur in Papua

In this year of 2011, violations of civil and political rights [will]
still continue to occur in Papua, with such incidents as demonstrations,
shootings, torture, hostage-taking, killings and so on, which result in
conflict between the law enforcement agencies and civil society,
according to a human rights observer, Yusack Reba.

He said that freedom of expression is regarded by law enforcement
agencies as treasonous actions or separatism.

He said that there were two irreconcilable positions. According to the
state, every person is guaranteed the constitutional right to freedom
of expression, and there is nothing about people not being able to talk
about freedom. But according to the Criminal Code, expressions of
opinion are seen as being acts of separatism, which is treated by the
authorities as being a threat to the territorial integrity of the state.
As a result, the law enforcement agencies dont regard this as
expressing an opinion but as an act of treason.

He said that when people express their opinions in the provincial
legislative assembly (DPRP), this is not seen as an attempt to change
the philosophy of the state.

There is nothing in law that prohibits people from giving expression to
their aspirations but when such expressions go in the direction of
wanting independence, that enters into a diffrent legal framework. ‘But
if this is done peacefully and in a well-behaved manner, this is quite
legal and acceptable. If these are handled according to a different
procedure, human rights violations will be perpetrated in the form of
shootings, torture, and other actions.

He said that for the Papuan people, there are numerous instances of
human rights violations but they are not seen as being within the legal
framework and are not handled according to the rule of law, such as for
instance the Abepura case and other major cases which were not handled
by a proper court process.

‘This is why Papuan people have no confidence in the law as regards
actions to deal with human rights violations.

———————-

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Buchtar Tabuni and friends are still in police custody

[Slightly abridged in translation by TAPOL]

Bintang Papua, 30 December 2010

Buchtar Tabuni and friends are still in police custody

Jayapura:

Two convicted prisoners charged with treason [makar], Buchtar Tabuni and Filep Karma, along with three other prisoners, Dominggus Pulalo, Alex Elopere and Lopes Katubaba are still in police custody. Buchtar and the others are in police custody and face charges of causing damage and incitement in Abepura Prison on 3 December 2010.

Confirming this in a press release on the security situation at the end
of 2010, Police Inspector-General Bekto Suprapto said that although
Buchtar and his colleagues were convicted prisoners and already serving sentences in Abepura Prison , they now had the additional status of facing new charges. ‘This means that their sentences will certainly be increased,’ he said. (sic)

The police chief said that with their removal from Abepura Prison,
conditions at Abepura Prison had improved. It was much easier now to
keep control of the prisoners in Abepura than it was when Buchtar and
the others were there, he was quoted as saying. ‘We have received
reports that the prison inmates are easier to control, they are more
obedient and now do as they are told, whereas before they were not easy to control.’

He said this was an indication that Buchtar and the others had been
inciting the other prisoners to be disobedient.

Asked about the number of prisoners who had escaped from the prison, he said that they were all on the wanted list [DPO] and their capture was the top priority for 2011 but he did not mention the number of prisoners involved. According to information from other sources, at least fifty prisoners have escaped from the prison.

He said that Buchtar and the others would face several new charges such as causing damage (Article 170) and incitement (Article 160), and could face up to seven years in prison.

When Bintang Papua requested permission to take photos of Buchtar and his friends in police custody, this was refused. The police officer said that this would only infuriate the general public.

As previously reported, Buchtar and his friends [allegedly] caused
damage after an inmate Wiron Wetipo disappeared from the prison and was shot dead by a joint patrol of the police and the army, while they were raiding a house in Tanah Hitam which is suspected as being the
headquarters of the OPM/TPN.

On hearing that Wiron had been shot dead, the six persons [not five
which is the number of names given in this article] now face charges for causing damage and inciting the other prisoners.

Filep Karma is serving a 15-year sentence while Buchtar is serving three years. The other prisoners are serving sentences of two or three years.

[Note how this senior police has no doubt that Buchtar and Karma will
be found guilty of the new charges they face. Such is the rule of law in Indonesia. – TAPOL]

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