Tag: west papua

Violent Tactics Backfire In Papua

1 Nov 2011

By Alex Rayfield

waiting

The tough response of the Indonesia armed forces to the Third Papuan People’s congress has strengthened calls for freedom. NM’s West Papua correspondent Alex Rayfield reviews the fallout

If the Indonesian police and military thought shooting live ammunition into a mass gathering of unarmed Papuans would somehow dampen dissent and endear them to Jakarta’s continued rule, they were mistaken. Indiscriminate repression meted out against those gathered at the Third Papuan People’s congress is showing signs of having the opposite effect: widening the circle of dissent inside West Papua and igniting international support outside.

First the Indonesian military and police denied they shot dead peaceful protesters. But that was too difficult to sustain. New Matilda received text messages as soon as the shooting started which were followed by urgent phone calls. Gunfire could be heard in the background.

When it became clear that covering up the shooting would not wash, the Indonesian Chief of Army in West Papua, Erfi Triassunu, admitted opening fire but claimed his troops only fired warning shots. He insisted no one had been hurt. Some of the international media bought the story. With foreign journalists banned from West Papua, some media outlets went to the police and military for confirmation. This is in spite of the fact that West Papua Media, with their extensive network of citizen journalists and local stringers, broke the story, verified it and began filing reports about what happened within a few hours.

A few hours after the shooting, the Indonesian police in West Papua were telling journalists in Jakarta that an attempted coup d’état had taken place and that police had used force to defend the state. The Jayapura Chief of Police, Imam Setiawan, even went as far as saying that members of the Papuan Liberation Army had attacked the Congress.

Setiawan took this line again on Thursday 20 October. In an interview with Bintang Papua, a local Papuan daily, he outlined how he thought police should respond to a gathering of unarmed Papuans expressing their political opinion: “Whoever supports separatism or subversion activity, I will do the same as yesterday. I’ll finish them.”

The language used by Setiawan echoed hard-line nationalists in Jakarta. It follows a deadly trajectory. Cast the Papuans in the worst possible light. Label them as “separatists” — which in Indonesia is the worst kind of criminal, someone who is treasonous, dangerous and violent. From here it was only a short step to imply that those at the Third People’s Congress were using violence to try and seize control of the state. This narrative makes it sound like the police and military were taking evasive action to stop the Papuans storming the Bastille of Indonesian rule. This is pure fantasy.

Initially it was reported that police and the military raided the stage after Forkorus Yaboisembut and Edison Waromi (appointed as President and Prime Minister of the Federal State of West Papua respectively) declared independence. We now know that the attack did not happen until well after the three-day gathering had finished.

After the Declaration of Independence was read around 2.00pm local time, the Congress concluded. The leadership — Yaboisembut, Waromi, Dominikus Surabut, Helena Matuan and a few others left the field to rest in the nearby Sang Surya Catholic Friary in the grounds of the Fajar Timur Theological College where the Congress was being held. Those remaining on Taboria oval (Zaccheus Field) danced the Yospan, a traditional Papuan group dance.

The festivities continued for around 60-90 minutes. We don’t know exactly what the police, military and Brimob soldiers were doing between the time the Declaration was read out and the time the shooting started. Presumably they were discussing what to do. Most likely they consulted commanding officers locally and in Jakarta.

According to Yan Christian Waranussy, a prominent Papuan human rights lawyer, members of the security forces under the command of Police Chief Imam Setiawan arrested Edison Waromi as he drove out of the Fajar Timur grounds on Yakonde Street. Waranussy reports that the police pulled people out of the vehicle and started beating them before pushing them into a police van. Following the arrest of Waromi, Waranussy says the security forces starting firing their weapons into the crowd.

This occurred at around 3.30pm. One of the first killed was 25-year-old Daniel Kadepa, a student at Umel Mandiri Law School. According to those who knew him, Kapeda did not even attend the Congress. He was passing by when the security forces opened fire. Witnesses said that he died from gunshot wounds to the head and back after soldiers fired on him as he was running away.

Video footage obtained by EngageMedia and published by New Matilda shows people hiding in nearby buildings just after the police and military opened fire. In the background you can hear shooting. This is not automatic gunfire. They are single shots. Then there is a pause, followed by more shots. It is as if the shooter is walking around picking people off. There is very little background noise. No screaming or yelling, just an eerie silence … and gunshots.

According to Catholic clergy who witnessed the event, the police, Indonesian military and the the paramilitary Mobile Police Brigade continued discharging their weapons for approximately 25 minutes.

Eyewitnesses report that when the shooting started, Yaboisembut and Surabut were talking and relaxing in the Sang Surya Friary, a few metres from the oval. Then bullets smashed through the window. According to statements obtained by New Matilda people immediately hit the ground and began crawling to safety as the police indiscriminately fired live ammunition and canisters of tear gas into the buildings surrounding the oval.

According to statements obtained by New Matilda, police, military and Brimob personnel ransacked student dormitories, clergy residences and offices. One witness reported an Indonesian security officer yelling “Where are those idiot priests? Why do priests hide criminals?”

Those present also reported security personal using combat knives or bayonets and beating people with truncheons and rifles. At least 300 people were arrested and taken away in army and police trucks where they were detained overnight in the tennis courts at the police station.

We now know that three people were shot dead that day. They are Daniel Kapeda, Max Asa Yeuw, and Yakobus Samansabra. Two others, Matias Maidepa and Yacop Sabonsaba, were allegedly found dead behind the military headquarters in Abepura. According to the Indonesian military sources quoted in the local Papuan press, the victims had been stabbed. In addition, members of the Organising Committee of the Third Papuan Congress allege four other people died, all from gunshot wounds, two from Sorong and two from Wamena.

Six people are still in detention charged with rebellion. According to family members they have all been badly beaten. According to Human Rights Watch and KONTRAS Indonesia (the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence) those still in detention are:

• Forkorus Yaboisembut, chairman of the Papua Customary Council, probably the most prominent pro-independence leader in Papua. When New Matilda interviewed him in West Papua in 2010 and again in 2011 he was regularly receiving death threats. A few people had even come forward and told the local press that they were offered new motorbikes and other inducements if they would help orchestrate a fatal “accident”.

• Edison Waromi, president of the West Papua National Authority. Edison Waromi’s daughter, Yane, was kidnapped and assaulted by the security forces in 2008.

• Dominikus Surabut, secretary of the Papuan Customary Council in La Pago region.

• Selpius Bobii, a social media activist, who organised the Papuan Congress. He initially eluded the police crackdown, but surrendered to police on October 20, accompanied by his lawyers and a Papuan journalist.

• August M. Sananay of the West Papua National Authority.

• Gat Wanda, a member of PETAPA (Defenders of the Land of Papua, an unarmed civilian defence group), charged with possessing a sharp weapon.

It will take some time before the immediate effect of the repression is made clear, but early signs suggest the use of extreme and deadly violence against nonviolent activists has enlarged the circle of dissent inside West Papua and ignited international support outside.

Certainly Church leaders — both Catholic and Protestant — have expressed their outrage. Neles Tebay, a key Papuan intellectual, defended the role of clergy who provided humanitarian protection for those seeking safety. Tebay, who also gave permission for the Committee to hold the Congress in the Theological College grounds, was quoted as saying that he “rejects the use of all kinds of repression in dealing with the problems. Using violence undermines the dignity of all concerned, above all the dignity of the victims as well as the perpetrators.”

Tebay has repeated his call “for all people of goodwill to jointly press for dialogue, for the sake of peace in Papua”.

Political representatives of the Papuan Provincial Parliament, a group that until now has sided with the government on matters of national security, expressed their dismay. Bintang Papua reported that Yan Mandenas, chairman of the Pikiran Rakyat Group in the Provincial Parliament said “the actions of the security forces in dispersing the Congress exceeded all bounds and … were in violation of the law”.

Similar views were expressed by Ruben Magay, chairman of Commission A on Politics and Law of the Provincial Parliament who reportedly urged the chief of police to withdraw his men because the Congress was already over. Magay said that what happened was clearly “a violation” and that “no one was fighting back”.

And while a large group of hard-line nationalists in Jakarta applauded or condoned police and military action, Effendy Choirie and Lily Chadidjah Wahid, both members of House of Representatives Commission I on information, defense and foreign affairs in Jakarta, warned the government that the mounting tension could lead to the province’s separation from Indonesia. In a clear rebuke of Papuan Police Chief Imam Setiawan, the two legislators added “that the government should not blame the Free Papua Movement (OPM) for the shooting but rather the security personnel in Papua”.

Internationally, things have gotten much worse for Jakarta.

United States Congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin condemned the actions of the security forces. So too has Senator Richard Di Natale from the Australian Greens who has urged the Australian Government to suspend military ties with Indonesia. MP Catherine Delahunty from New Zealand has also called for the New Zealand Government to withdraw its training support for the Indonesian police. This is more than words. The United States, Australian and New Zealand Government all provide money, training and material aid to the Indonesian police and military. In this sense we are beginning to see the early signs of what could become an international withdrawal of legitimacy for continued Indonesian repression in West Papua.

Papuan calls for UN intervention won’t happen, at least not in the foreseeable future. And the movement internally still faces serious challenges. But the Congress, the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent shooting has realigned the political landscape. There are now three main political groups, the Congress, the Papuan Peace Network led by Neles Tebay who is calling for dialogue, and the West Papua National Committee who want the giant US/Australian Freeport Mine closed and a referendum on West Papua’s political status. At a fundamental level there is not a lot of difference between these positions. They all point to the need for a political solution to the Pacific’s longest running conflict.

The Indonesian political elite and security forces can no longer pretend that the problem in Papua is economic. Papuans want political freedoms. The Congress made that abundantly clear. It opened with raising the banned Morning Star flag and singing the banned West Papuan national anthem, Hai Tanah Ku, and closed with a Declaration of Independence.

And it wasn’t as if the military or police was unaware of this depth of feeling. When an open peace conference organised by the Papua Peace Network was held in Jayapura last July, Erfi Triassunu, the local Army Chief, took the podium. In attendance were 800 respected Papuan civil society leaders. Triassunu tried to get the audience — who were mostly Papuan — to chant “peace!” in response to his “Papua!”. But as soon as he called out “Papua!” the crowd responded as one with “Merdeka!” (freedom).

Now the Papuans’ cry for freedom is echoing around the world. And it is the Indonesian police, military and their nationalist political allies in Jakarta who are helping amplify it.

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West Papua at Boiling Point: Strike at Freeport Mine

Astronaut photo of the Grasberg Mine in Papua ...
Image via Wikipedia

Workers at Freeport McMoran‘s Grasberg mine in West Papua, one of the world’s biggest copper and gold mines, have been on strike since September 15th. Their immediate demand is a large wage increases to bring their salary into line with what the company pays its workers in other countries. The conflict has raged over the past six weeks with unremitting action and brutal repression, bringing the company to its knees at a time when Papua is in turmoil generally.

Several people have already lost their lives around the mine, which has been an ongoing source of tension in West Papua since the 1960s. On Monday 10th October police opened fire on striking miners as they tried to gain access to company premises. One man, Petrus Ayamseba was killed in the incident. Several others were wounded, and one of these, Leo Wandagau, died of his injuries five days later.

There have also been three incidences of shooting along the road that leads to the Freeport mine. Three contract workers were killed in an ambush on Friday 14th October, and then another three men were also killed a week later. Three police officers from the mobile brigade narrowly escaped when their vehicle was shot at on October 26. The perpetrators and their connection with the strike remain unknown. Such ambushes have happened on many occasions in the past in the area. Security forces routinely blame the actions on OPM guerrillas who are fighting for an independent West Papua. However as US-based solidarity group West Papua Action Team explains, “In the past, similar assaults against security and Freeport personnel have been attributed to conflicts among police, military and Freeport security personnel who have long feuded over the division of spoils from extortion practices that target Freeport, as well as conflict over freelance gold-mining efforts by local people.”

The struggle of workers, nevertheless, continues unabated: The strikers have kept up a blockade of the road leading to the mine, with the result that food and medicine supplies have run very low at the mine (although reportedly the local Papuan community near the mine is also suffering from this blockade). The company was also forced to shut production when it discovered that the 60-mile long pipeline carrying gold and copper concentrate from the mine to the port had been sabotaged in several places. Freeport has claimed that it has been able to repair the pipe and resume operations, although on 26th October it had to declare ‘force majure’ meaning that it would not be able to meet its contractual obligations to supply metal concentrates to its customers.

Aside from the shootings mentioned above there have been acts of intimidation from the company. The chief negotiator of the All Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI) which represents the striking workers, Sudiro, was sitting on the verandah of his house when a shot from a silenced gun hit a bowl on a table beside him. He understood this incident as a death threat rather than a direct attempt on his life.

Anger and suspicion in the workers remains high. Duma Tato Sanda, a journalist working for Cahaya Papua, told Papuan newspaper Jubi how he was beaten by the striking workers when he was trying to research a story about an action involving the burning of three Freeport trucks. ‘I said that I was a journalist but nevertheless they beat me and threw stones at me. Luckily, someone came by on a motor-bike otherwise I could have been killed from being beaten by so many people.’ Apparently the workers are reacting to the links which Freeport has made with other journalists, and so see journalists as a threat.

Solidarity actions with the strike have taken place outside of Papua. On the second day of ‘Occupy Jakarta’ protests, the Freeport building in the Indonesian capital was chosen as a focus for the action, and in the US city of Phoenix, activists planned to picket Freeport’s global headquarters on October 28th. In Yogyakarta on the 13th of Octob er and Jakarta on the 26th October there were also demonstrations, but with the demand that the Freeport mine be nationalised. This analysis might fit uneasily with the wishes of many Papuans, who quite clearly identify the Indonesian State as part of the oppression they face, just as much as foreign corporations.

solidarity action in Jakarta

All this is taking place in a moment of intense turmoil for Papuans. At the same time as the actions around Freeport, security forces violently broke up the third Papuan People’s Congress, being held outside Jayapura. With the excuse that the meeting of many thousands of people had decided to call for independence, troops dispersed the crowd using live ammunition. Over the following days six bodies were found in the area. Three-hundred people were arrested, six of which are currently being charged with treason.

Then on the 24th of October, in Mulia in Puncak Jaya two men jumped on the local police chief, Adj. Comr. Dominggus Oktavianus Awes at Mulia airport and used his gun to shoot him dead. The remote Puncak Jaya regency has been the scene of many of the state’s most brutal operations over the past several years, including village burnings, murder, rape and sweeping operations that terrorise the whole community. The Vanuatu-based international spokesperson of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), John Otto Ondawame did not say whether or not this was the work of the OPM, but did make the point that Dominggus had been one of “those who must take responsibility for the series of crimes against humanity in Puncak Jaya.”

Of course the links between the Freeport strike and the wider struggles of the Papuan people for peace and self-determination are not straightforward. But the climate of tension which has put Papua on edge right at the moment surely has its effects on the mineworkers too, as they struggle to make a decent living from this company whose presence in Papua has long been one of the key reasons for the continued militarisation across the whole island, as well as widespread ecological destruction.

Freeport McMoran is a US company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, US,although its Grasberg mine in Papua is operated in a joint venture with UK-Australian Rio Tinto, which recieves 40% of the mine’s profits.

http://hidupbiasa.blogspot.com/2011/10/west-papua-at-boiling-point-strike-at.html

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LP3BH: Police and army chiefs must be held responsible for attacks on Papuan Congress participants

Statement by Yan Christian Warinussy, executive-director of LP3BH/Manokwari

The attack by members of the Indonesian Police/Polri  and the Indonesian Army against partiipants at the Third Papuan People’s Congress on  19 October was a gross violations of human rights because it was perpetrated against ordinary civilians who were unarmed  and were not involved in any acts of resistance.This is abundantly clear from video which I and the LP3BH-Manokwari have in our possession and which have been shown to  government officials and members of the European Parliament as well as to members of the German Parliament last week in Berlin.

The videos clearly show that the attacks that were launched by members of Polri and the TNI were acting under the command of the chief of police in Papua and in Jayapura. There were no acts of resistance whatever by members of the public or by any of the participants at the Congress, including members of the special defence group for the Congress, the PETAPA.

The videos also show a number of persons in civilian clothing, wearing short pants and shirts  who are clearly intelligence agents of the police and the army, who can be seen holding  pistols as well as rifles and who can be seen firing their weapons into the air, and even show some members of the security forces firing in the direction of the large crowd of people who were running away towards the mountains or to places in Abepura, in fear of their lives.

The discovery of six dead bodies following the tragedy of the Third People’s Congress is a clear indication of the use of ammunition being aimed against the mass of people.

As a human rights activist in the Land of Papua, I saw no actions aimed at dispersing the people or attempts to prevent chaos. The Congress was already over and  one hour later, members of the security forces who were under the command of  Police Commissioner Imam Setyawan SIK can be seen trying to prevent a  vehicle which was driving along Jalan Yakonde with the lawyer Edison Waromi on board, which  was damaged by the security forces who pulled the people of the vehicle and started beating them and then pushed them into a  police van to be driven to police headquarters where they are now being held in custody.

Following the arrest of Waromi, the security forces starting firing their weapons and chasing participants of the Papuan Congress as they were leaving the location of that event.

I herewith, as Executive Director of LP3BH/Manorkwari and a human rights defender in the Land of Papua, urge Komnas HAM, to investigate the matter and to bring formal charges against the Papua chief of police and the police chief in Jayapuara, as well as the commander of the 1702 military command in Jayapura  who were in command of the operation to be held fully accountable for the bloody incident that occurred on 19 October 2011

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Breaking News:First Demos since Papuan crackdown to demand Indon take abuse responsibility

WestPapuaMedia.Info

October 31, 2011

(Jayapura) Renewed demonstrations are being held in Jayapura today demanding Indonesia take formal and legal responsibility for ongoing human rights abuses in West Papua, most recently the brutal attack on the Third Papuan People’s Congress (KP3) on October 19.

In the first act of political expression since the violent crackdown by Indonesian security forces on the declaration of the Democratic Republic of West Papua (RDPB) by KP3 participants, local organisers of today’s rally have expressed concern that security forces will again resort to extreme violence to suppress peaceful dissent.

The demonstration, which started at 0900 local time in Waena, near Jayapura, is also demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in West Papua, including those arrested and charged with treason for organising the historic KP3 Congress from October 16-19.

According to witness reports received at the beginning of the march, over 500 police are present with 300 armed riot police and water cannon shadowing the peaceful march.  2 Corps of Brimob (2628-XVII and 2627-XVII0) and 2 SSK (Special Security Company – 150 men each ) of normal police from Polresta Jayapura are attendance, with almost a company of plain clothes police are in attendance, with armoured equipment.  Over four companies of Indonesian army in full battle gear are also present.

Speaking by phone to West Papua Media from Jayapura on Sunday night,  a Prime Ministerial spokesman for the recently declared RDPB transitional government said that “the increased militarisation of Papua is not the solution that we wish for”.  The spokesman further mentioned that Indonesia must allow a platform for us to peacefully express out views in accordance with internationally accepted human rights”.

Rolling civil resistance activities have also been planned across West Papuan towns in coming days, partly to socialise the outcome of the KP3  meetings, and also to up the ante on the Indonesian state to accept the need for political change in Papua, including allowing West Papuan people to exercise their universal human right of self-determination, according to organisers.  Despite brutal tactics, intimidation and nightly terror sweep operations by police and military across Jayapura creating significant tension and fear amongst the local population, people are prepared to stand for their rights and prepared to be arrested.

Over 800 people were arrested by Indonesian security forces after simultaneous premeditated raids on various venues in Jayapura on October 19 after the declaration of an independent West Papua.  Most of the 800 were released, with scores sustaining serious injuries from beatings and torture by security forces. Seven of the leaders of KP3remain in detention having been charged with makar (Rebellion) and Treason, accused by Jakarta of holding a coup d’etat.  Evidence is beginning to emerge that the crackdown was known about in Jakarta before the declaration  was made, though it is unclear at this stage who ultimately authorised the use of extreme force against unarmed Papuan delegates.

Seven victims have been formally named, but local human rights activists claim that 17 people were killed by Indonesian police and soldiers, including  members of the elite Australian-trained and funded Detachment 88 counterterrorism unit.  Over a thousand people are still in hiding, including many with significant untreated injuries meted out by security forces during the simultaneous attacks on Congress .

Organisers of today’s rallies are expecting  several thousand people to attend the event in Jayapuras, starting in Sentani (about 25 km outside Jayapura) and  then via a long march to Waena, to finish outside the DPRP, the Papuan Provincial Parliament.  According to organisers, Jayapura area Police have granted permission for the march and demonstration to go ahead but it is unclear at this stage if a crackdown will occur.

The Indonesian Police Commander for Papua province, Iman Setiawan, held a press conference after the crackdown at KP3 saying that he will “do his duty to defend the integrity of Indonesia” and “destroy”  anyone who would speak of a Free West Papua.  He told the Jakarta Globe on October 21 “Whoever supports separatism or subversion activity, I will do the same as yesterday [forcefully dissolve the 3rd Papua People’s Congress]. I’ll finish [them],”  “So, if there is anyone supporting such movements, I’m ready to die and finish them,” he said. “This is my duty.”

It is unclear whether Jakarta is going to call for restraint of its security forces again, or if they once again will kill people for engaging in peaceful free expression.

This is a developing story that West Papua Media will continue to monitor closely – please stay tuned.

West Papua Media

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NZ Media ‘blindfolded’ over West Papua crisis, say critics

from our partners at the Pacific Media Centre

Forkorus Yoboisembut … elected West Papuan “president” at the last week’s Papuan People’s Congress and arrested by Indonesian forces. Photo: EngageMedia

Friday, October 28, 2011

Item: 7692

AUCKLAND(Pacific Media Watch): As tensions escalate in the Indonesian-occupied Melanesian region of West Papua, there is growing criticism over the lack of information in the mainstream New Zealand media about the troubled area.

Last week, the third Papuan People’s Congress was held in Abepura, on the outskirts of Jayapura. It was a peaceful rally of thousands of West Papuans who had gathered to celebrate their culture, hold talks and elect their representatives.

When the Morning Star flag was raised and cries of “merdeka” (independence) were heard by the strong Indonesian military presence, gunshots rang out and violencefollowed.

Deaths and mass arrests
The newly-elected “president” Forkorus Yoboisembut, chairman of the Papuan Customary Council (DAP), was arrested along with hundreds of others and reports emerged of up to six deaths.

On Monday, Indonesian police chief Adj. Comr. Dominggus Awes was gunned downon the tarmac of Mulia Airport. The People’s Liberation Army of West Papua or OPM, were accused of being involved but have since denied it.

And on a completely separate event, at least seven people have died over the past few weeks during the controversial strike over low wages at the US-owned Freeport McMoRan mine.

So far, only the public broadcaster, Radio New Zealand International, and independent media outlets such as Pacific Scoop have paid any attention. In the international pages of the main newspapers, Europe and other parts of the world have featured, but nothing about our own region.

NZ ‘not part of Pacific’
Dr Steven Ratuva, senior lecturer in Pacific studies at the University of Auckland, says New Zealand likes to consider itself a Pacific country, but can’t, as its interests lie elsewhere.

“There is nothing in terms of media coverage that gives the impression that New Zealand is part of the Pacific,” he says.

“It’s a dilemma that New Zealand is facing – on one level it claims to be a Pacific country but the New Zealand Herald has only one Pacific reporter, and TVNZ the same.”

Dr Ratuva sources his information from places such as West Papua from blogs as well as “internet sources outside the mainstream media”.

He says the main reason is politics.

“The [Pacific Islands] Forum, at the last meeting didn’t want to touch it. Indonesia is a significant player in the region and has links with Australia and New Zealand,” he says.

“Papua New Guinea doesn’t want to acknowledge it, even though it shares a border with West Papua, due to its fears of Indonesia.”

Dr Teresia Teaiwa, senior lecturer in Pacific studies, at Va’aomanu Pasifika Victoria University of Wellington, says mainstream print and television media leave a lot to be desired.

‘Inanely insular’
“If it’s not a major crisis or related to a major crisis, don’t expect it to be covered,” she says.

“I’ve stopped reading mainstream newspapers because of how inanely insular they are.

“I was surprised at how little coverage the Occupy Wall Street movement got in theDominion Post a couple of weeks ago. If a significant first world movement isn’t getting any serious attention in our newspapers, how can we expect informed and engaged journalism on issues in the Pacific Islands from New Zealand media?”

Dr Heather Devere from the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies says New Zealand is inward-looking.

“I do think we are more insular here,” she says.

“I’m not sure that it is so much a concerted effort to ignore rather than a genuine ignorance.”

Journalism education
While others say it is mostly economic pressures on newsrooms, Dr Devere says the issue with media goes back to the education of journalists.

“So many students seem to be attracted to the communication discipline as a chance to be a celebrity rather than an investigative journalist,” she says.

“There is very little content in the training so journalists do not have knowledge about the situations on which they have to report.”

Director of the Pacific Media Centre and journalism educator Dr David Robie is even more critical of the current New Zealand media role in informing the public about events in the region.

He says local media rely too much on international and digital syndications and few journalists dedicated to tailoring international news for a New Zealand perspective.

News judgment ‘parochial’
“There are very few genuine international affairs editors in New Zealand media organisations, specialists in global news who have either done the hard yards themselves as foreign correspondents or have expert background knowledge,” he says.

“So news judgment is often weak and parochial.”

He said it is a shame that New Zealand is shown up by other media organisations abroad.

“It’s extremely embarrassing and it makes a mockery of our claim to be part of the Pacific,” he says. “We really need to up our game.

“When a Middle East-based global news service like Al Jazeera find it important enough to send teams to cover New Caledonia and West Papua, for example, it is an indictment of our own coverage and news values that we fail to match this. I cannot recall the last time that I saw an in-depth TV report in New Zealand on the French Pacific.”

Melanesia loses out
Dr Robie says that most Pacific news published in mainstream New Zealand media is from the Polynesia, while Melanesia and Micronesia are largely ignored.

“It is very rare to see good, in-depth coverage of Melanesian and Micronesian affairs in New Zealand media, with the brave and committed exceptions of Pacific specialists such as Barbara Dreaver on TVNZ,” he says. He also praised Radio NZ International coverage.

“Yet two Melanesian nations are the economic ‘superpowers’ in the region – Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Since the fourth coup in December 2006, there has hardly been any serious journalism about Fiji any more other than extraordinarily biased polemics masquerading as journalism about the regime.

“The country’s censorship law and an inflexible regime don’t make it easy, but far better reporting could still be done in spite of the problems.

“In this context, West Papua barely exists. If even neighbouring Papua New Guinea falls below the radar then there is little hope for West Papua getting fair and informed coverage.”

Australia fares better
In the Australian media, Fairfax’s Sydney Morning Herald has been following the West Papua issue over the last few weeks.

Its coverage has compared with Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat programme. Yet here in New Zealand, no mainstream media has taken it up apart from Radio NZ International.

“I think we are extremely fortunate that there are still a few state-owned broadcasting outfits like RNZI in this country and ABC in Australia that have dedicated Pacific programmes,” says Dr Teaiwa.

“And I’m not sure whether to celebrate or lament this. But often some of the most illuminating stories come from student journalists who have not yet learned to surrender to the wider industry’s demands and values.”

Maire Leadbeater, from the Auckland-based Indonesia Human Rights Committee, and a campaigner for human rights in West Papua, wrote an article in a 2008 edition ofPacific Journalism Review about what she argued was New Zealand’s biggest media blind spot.

If we are unsure that very little has changed in the past three years, perhaps the New ZealandHerald’s approach to West Papua during the Rugby World Cup could clarify the situation:

‘West Papua‘s moment’

CupShorts took CupShorts jnr to Pt Chevalier playground where we bumped into an off-duty Green Party MP. “Why is the media so obsessed with the World Cup?” she asked. “Big issues are being missed. We just had a delegation here from West Papua and there was no press coverage on them at all.”

A fair point. And one that we’re only too happy to remedy. So, for the record, West Papua is currently part of Indonesia (no IRB ranking). However, if they got independence they might someday hope to rival neighbouring Papua New Guinea (rated 46th in the IRB rankings). Good luck to them.”

PMC

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