Tag: yapen

TPN in Yapen arrest local Indon police chief for abuses on civilians

March 18, 2013

from West Papua Media, with local sources in Yapen

Ongoing repression on peaceful dissent and acts of torture on civilians by Indonesian police (Polri) in Yapen has drawn a sharp reaction from West Papuan pro-independence guerrillas, who have captured and carried out an arrest of the local Police chief for human rights abuses committed under his watch.

Details have emerged from the remote island district that the North Yapen Sector Chief of Police (Kapolsek), Bripka (Chief Brigadier) Saimima, was apprehended in Yobi village outside Serui just after 9pm local time on Wednesday March 13 by a small group of men led by local pro-independence West Papua National Liberation Army (Tentara Pembebasan Nasional or TPN) commander Ferdinand Worabay.

Local human rights sources have reported that the action, which is being treated as a hostage taking action by Indonesian security forces, was carried out as a lawful arrest under international law for crimes committed under the Kapolsek’s command, and is being claimed by TPN sources as a legitimate assertion of both Papuan sovereignty and the rule of law on alleged human rights abusers.

The apprehension of Bripka Saimima was carried in retaliation for his alleged involvement in continual violence against Papuan community members, carried out by Indonesian police officers on duty in the Yapen archipelago, according to TPN spokespeople.

There are unconfirmed reports from local human rights sources that at least 100 heavily armed police have been sent into the area to free Bripka Saimima.  It is believed that a tense stand off between the highly mobile guerrillas and heavily armed police and army is continuing, though heavy exchanges of gunfire were reported in the area from 9.15 pm Thursday night (local time).

More unconfirmed reports on March 17 claimed that the Kapolsek has been freed after three days in TPN custody , though further details have yet to surface, and no reports of attacks on civilians have been received at time of writing.  Most armed assaults by Indonesian security forces result in significant civilian casualties.

The captured police officer, Saimima, is well known in Yapen for his alleged human rights abuses.  Whilst under the command of notorious torturer, the former Yapen Police Chief Roycke Henry Langie, Saimima was allegedly involved at a command level in the systematic torture, arbitrary arrests and repression of local nonviolent activists and civilians, including the brutal torture and disappearance of political activist Lodik Ayomi in October 2012.

According to TPN sources, another reason for his apprehension is the detention and torture carried out by Polres Yapen officers against members of the TPNheld at the Polres Yapen station.

Local activist sources have told West Papua Media that the demands surrounding the release of Saimima are nothing more than basic bail conditions for any criminal suspect.  It is not known if Worabay’s men have demands to hand over Kapolsek Saimima to human rights prosecutors, an unlikely tactic given the lack of trust Papuan people have for human rights violations being successfully or honestly prosecuted under Indonesian law.

However, Worabay has attached clear political demands to the arrest.   Worabay claimed responsibility for the arrest of the Kapolsek of North Yapen, telling West Papua Media stringers by phone that the objective of the hostage taking was to demand the release of all Papuan political prisoners in all prisons in Indonesia, including particularly a local activist Decky Makabori, who is imprisoned in Sarmi Polres.

Worabay also demanded that both Polri and the Indonesian Army (TNI) immediately halt the violence in Puncak Jaya, Paniai, Wamena and other districts, and for the Indonesian government to “immediately enter into dialogue with the transitional Government of West Papua.”

“If these demands are not responded to seriously in order to be resolved …. there will be effects on the situation which will be worse,” Worabay told WPM stringers.

Meanwhile, at 5am on March 15 in a separate incident on Jalan Pasir Putih (White Sands Road) in the Serui sea village, an exchange of gunfire occurred between police and members of Rudy Orarei’s local TPN Yapen unit.  The TPN unit were surrounded and ambushed by three members of the Brimob from Yapen police headquarters, but Rudy Orarei returned fire from his house, according to local sources.  Two police were injured in the shootout, with Orarei reportedly fleeing the police cordon into the bush.  The area remains tense under heavy police occupation, according to witnesses.

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Herman Wainggai: Open letter to the President of Indonesia on eve of demos in Papua

by Herman Wainggai

January 17, 2013

 

Open letter to the President of Indonesia:

I write with the support of the people of West Papua, New Guinea, pro-democracy activists around the world and defenders of the rights of West Papuans, to say that the global support for democracy and freedom, and the end of 50 years of military colonization by Indonesia for will be exercised firmly and peacefully.

Peaceful demonstrations are planned for January 17, 2013 at the Embassy of Indonesia in Washington DC, Los Angeles, as well as in Manokwari, West Papua, Yapen Waropen, Papua, and Australia and the Solomon Islands to demand freedom for West Papuan political prisoners.

Today, people around the world are watching the peaceful demonstration in West Papua, where most are people are ready to take to the streets with music, dancing, and their demand that Indonesia free West Papua political prisoners.

Over the years, peaceful demonstrators in West Papua have been terrorized, imprisoned and killed by Indonesian military police. Edison Waromi, one of West Papua’s human rights defenders, has been imprisoned for more than 14 years, and we were imprisoned together for two of those years. West Papuan activists Edison Kendi and Yan Maniamboy currently are threatened with 20 years in prison for organizing a nonviolent rally in support of the United Nations’ International Day of the World’s Indigenous People in New York in August 2012.

We demand that Indonesia immediately and unconditionally free all West Papuan political prisoners and end its military occupation of West Papua. We also request that the UN Special Rapporteur, who is scheduled to be in Indonesia in January, visit West Papua and meet with imprisoned political leaders of the Federated Republic of West Papua, such as President Forkorus Yaboisembut, Prime Minister Edison Waromi, and others.

Herman Wainggai

Former political prisoner and visiting scholar at George Mason University

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Arrests in Mantembu, Yapen ahead of major demonstrations

West Papua Media

January 16, 2013

Local human rights and independent media sources have reported that an Indonesian Army (TNI) unit has arrested seven non-violent activists in Serui on January 16, ahead of major planned demonstrations.

The raid on the heavily targeted village of Mantembu, on Yapen Island, was carried out at 0830 am local time by Kostrad Unit of Indonesian Army led by Corporal Gidion Karubaba, arrested the seven for allegedly “supporting Papuan independence”, according to local human rights sources.

The names of the arrestees are:
1. Yohan Ayum,
2. Lamkiur Ayum,
3.Penina Pangkurei,
4. Oki Warkawani,
5. Mambiwa Wandamani,
6. Simeon Ayum,
7. Isak Warkawani.

No information was received if those arrested were subjected to mistreatment during their arrest, however Mantembu has been long targeted with extreme brutality by Indonesian security forces seeking to quell pro-independence sentiment.  Regular raids and house burnings are arbitrary conducted, and the village has seen one of the highest rates of oppression of any single village in Papua.

The ex-political prisoner Yawan Wayeni, who was disembowelled, taunted and left to die whilst being filmed by Brimbob paramilitary police in Mantembu in 2009, has his death seen by the world on a Youtube video that galvanised awareness of the systemic brutality of the Indonesian occupation forces.

The arrests came the day before large demonstrations for Papuan basic rights were to be held on January 17 in Yapen and Manokwari, organised by activists from the Federated Republic of West Papua alternative government.

Westpapuamedia

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AMNESTY STATEMENT: Security forces block peaceful demonstration in Papua

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENTIndex: ASA 21/031/2012
10 August 2012

Indonesia: Security forces block peaceful demonstration in Papua

Amnesty International calls for an independent and impartial investigation into reports that police used unnecessary and excessive force to disperse a peaceful demonstration in Papua province commemorating International Day of the World’s Indigenous People on 9 August 2012.

If the investigation finds that the security forces committed human rights violations, then those responsible, including persons with command responsibility, should be prosecuted in proceedings which meet international standards of fairness, and victims provided with reparations.

At least seven people were arbitrarily arrested during and after the demonstration and are being held at the Yapen District police station. They should be released immediately and unconditionally if they have been arrested solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression.

Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) and military from the 1709 District Military Command (Kodim) led by the Yapen District Police Chief blocked hundreds of peaceful protesters as they marched on the morning of 9 August 2012 in Serui, Yapen Island.

According to local sources, the Indonesian security forces then fired their guns into the air to disperse the protesters, causing many to flee in fear. At least six protesters were arbitrarily arrested during the demonstration and some were reportedly beaten by security forces during their arrest. The police then travelled to Mantembu village to arrest one of the demonstration organizers, a local political activist. When they could not find him they arrested his wife, who is reportedly eight months pregnant.

The actions of the security forces fly in the face of statements made by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in February 2012 that he wanted an end to repressive actions by the military and police in Papua.

The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are guaranteed in Articles 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Indonesia is a state party. Moreover, these rights are protected under Indonesia’s Constitution. However, Amnesty International has documented dozens of other cases of arbitrary arrest and detention in past years of peaceful political activists in Papua.

Amnesty International continues to receive credible reports of human rights violations committed by the security forces in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, including torture and other ill-treatment, unnecessary and excessive use of force and firearms by the security forces and possible unlawful killings. Investigations into reports of human rights violations by the security forces are rare and only a few perpetrators have been brought to justice.

During a 2008 gathering to commemorate International Day of the World’s Indigenous People in Papua, peaceful demonstrator Opinus Tabuni was discovered dead with a bullet wound clearly visible in his chest, after police opened fire at the crowd. Despite a police investigation, to date no one has been held to account for his death.

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Gillard must raise West Papua with SBY in Darwin visit: AWPA

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
PO Box 28, Spit Junction, NSW 2088
Media release 1  July 2012

Aust PM to meet Ind President in Darwin. Should raise West Papua

Background 

1st Indonesia-Australia Annual Leaders’ Meeting – Joint Communique

http://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/1st-indonesia-australia-annual-leaders-meeting-joint-communique


————————————–


Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)

PO Box 28, Spit Junction, Sydney, Australia 2088

The Hon Julia Gillard MP

Prime Minister

Parliament House

Canberra

ACT 2600

 

1 July 2012

Dear Prime Minister,

On behalf of the Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) in Sydney, I am writing to you concerning the deteriorating  human rights situation in West Papua.

In the past two months there has been a large number of shooting incidents in West Papua by unknown assailants. The Indonesian security forces have tried to blame the attacks on the Free Papua Movement (OPM) however, the OPM has denied involvement in the attacks.

What is not in doubt is the attack on the village of Honai Lama, a sub-district of Wamena in the Baliem Valley by the  Indonesian security forces in which one person has been reported killed and up to 17 wounded and a large number of houses set on fire. There have also been reports that the military and police on Yapen Island have conducted military operations in villages looking for  peaceful political activists which the security forces  claim are so-called separatists. These military operations are creating a population living in fear from the security forces.

The security forces in West Papua have been targeting peaceful activists including members of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB). In one horrific incident the security forces killed Mako Tabuni, deputy chairman of the KNPB. The police claimed he was armed and resisting arrest but witnesses said he was not armed and shot by men in plain clothes from a passing car. 
 Some media reports have also said the Australian trained Detachment 88 was also involved in the killing.

As you will be meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the 2nd Indonesia-Australia Annual Leaders` Meeting in Darwin in the next few days, we urge you to raise our concerns about the attacks against the civilian population by the Indonesian security forces in West Papua.

We note that in the official communiqué from the inaugural Indonesia-Australia Annual Leaders’ Meeting in Bali in November 2011, the statement that the two countries would work together on

“the promotion of democracy, good governance, human rights, the rule of law and capacity building”.

and on the defence relationship

“Reinforcing our comprehensive security cooperation, both leaders directed senior officials of both countries under the Security Cooperation Consultation Group to review existing cooperation, and to coordinate and set priorities under the Plan of Action of the Lombok Treaty.  Both leaders also further encouraged the finalisation of the Defense Arrangement as a basis for an enhanced defence cooperation between the two countries”.

In the wake of increased violence in Papua it would appear that the Indonesian Government is failing in its attempts to bring democracy, good governance, human rights and the rule of law to the territory.

As Australia helps train the Indonesian military and in particular Detachment 88, we have to accept some responsibility for the Indonesian security forces behavior in West Papua.

I urge you to raise the human rights situation in West Papua with the Indonesian President asking that he control the security forces in West Papua and urging him to order the security forces to return to their barracks as a way of avoiding further escalation of an already tense situation.

Yours sincerely

Joe Collins

AWPA (Sydney)

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