Jayapura – Asia Pacific Report https://asiapacificreport.nz Independent Asia Pacific news and analysis Sat, 25 Nov 2023 10:32:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Veteran West Papua independence leader elected ULMWP president https://asiapacificreport.nz/2023/11/25/veteran-west-papua-independence-leader-elected-ulmwp-president/ Sat, 25 Nov 2023 10:32:22 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=94963

RNZ Pacific

Veteran West Papua independence campaigner Benny Wenda has been elected as president of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).

The ULMWP held its first ever congress in Jayapura this week, which was attended by 5000 indigenous West Papuans from all seven regions.

The congress was called in response to the ULMWP leaders’ summit in Port Vila where the leaders’ announcement that they had unilaterally dissolved the ULMWP provisional government angering many.

“The ULMWP has officially restored the term ‘provisional government’ which had been removed through the unconstitutional process that took place at the ULMWP Summit-II in Port Vila, Vanuatu [in August],” UNMWP congress chairman-elect Buchtar Tabuni said.

At the meeting, Reverend Edison Waromi was elected as prime minister and Diaz Gwijangge, S. Sos as head of the Judiciary Council.

Tabuni said that the appointment of executive, legislative and judicial leadership as well as the formation of constitutional and ad hoc bodies would be for five years — from 2023 until 2028 — as stipulated in the ULMWP constitution.

Honoured by election
Wenda, who is based in the United Kingdom and well-known across the South Pacific, stepped down as ULMWP leader and Menase Tabuni was appointed as president.

Menase Tabuni’s election was planned for ULMWP to maintain its presence and solidarity with the Papuan people on the ground.

“We must do this from within West Papua as well as campaigning in the international community,” he said at the time.

Wenda said he was honoured to have been elected as the ULMWP president at this “historic congress” in Port Numbay (Jayapura).

He said he and Reverend Waromi took their mandate from the people very seriously and together they would continue to work to free their people.

“I have always represented the people of West Papua, but true representation comes from election,” he said in a statement before the election.

“The people are demanding a choice, and we must listen.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

]]> Papuan ‘women’s forest party’ boosts culture in mangrove haven https://asiapacificreport.nz/2023/10/02/papuan-womens-forest-party-boosts-culture-in-mangrove-haven/ Sun, 01 Oct 2023 23:32:02 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=93888 Jubi News in Jayapura

The Indonesia Art Movement has collaborated with the Monj Hen Wani Community and environmental advocates in Papua to organise the “Arumbay Tonotwiyat” — the Women’s Forest People’s Party.

The event took place beneath the lush canopy of Enggros village’s mangrove forest Abepura District, Jayapura City last weekend.

Arumbay Tonotwiyat was a multifaceted celebration that blended art, culture and environmental conservation.

This gathering was a tribute to nature and the preservation of cultural heritage.

It was also a commitment to fostering harmony between humanity and the natural world.

Rumah Bakau Jayapura, Kampung Dongeng Jayapura, Forum Indonesia Muda Jayapura, Sangga Uniyap, and representatives from Cenderawasih University and ISBI Tanah Papua, and Papua Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) supported the event.

The “forest party” engaged a wide range of participants, including children, teenagers, and adults.

Beach clean-up
The event started with a beach clean-up initiative at Cibery Beach, organised by Petronela.

This cleanup effort was a “demonstration of environmental love”, said the organisers.

It acknowledged the persistent issue of marine debris washing ashore during the rainy season.

Children who participated in the Arumbay Tonotwiyat cultural and environmental event in Jayapura
Children who participated in the Arumbay Tonotwiyat cultural and environmental event in Jayapura. Image: Jubi News

Following the cleanup, participants were treated to a tour of Youtefa Bay, where they witnessed a performance by children from Tobati-Enggros village.

This performance depicted the story of a mangrove forest tainted by garbage and waste originating from Nafri Village, Hamadi Beach, and the Acai River.

Subsequently, the participants were guided to the Women’s Forest in Enggros, an area accessible only to women.

Here, women sought food sources to meet their household needs while also sharing their domestic concerns.

Women’s Forest ‘off-limits’
The Women’s Forest is off-limits to men and any breach of this custom incurs penalties, typically in the form of jewelry or other items.

Mama Ani — “Mother Ani” — explained that men were not permitted to enter the forest while women were foraging for food, as women in the forest swam naked.

Within the mangrove forest, women typically gathered clams, crabs, shrimps, and fish as sources of sustenance.

However, men can enter the forest in the absence of women, usually in search of dried mangrove wood for firewood.

Orgenes Meraudje, the former head of Enggros Village and a prominent community leader, said women also visited the Women’s Forest to share their domestic experiences.

However, these stories remained within the forest, not to be brought back home.

For the women of Enggros-Tobati beach, the forest holds sacred significance, and they foraged unclothed for their household necessities.

Protecting Women’s Forest
Yehuda Hamokwarong, a lecturer at Cenderawasih University who attended the event, stressed the importance of protecting the Women’s Forest.

“The forest served as an educational hub, imparting knowledge and survival skills to Enggros-Tobati women, encompassing practical skills, ethics, and morals,” she said.

“The Women’s Forest represented not only the lungs of the world but also a profound emblem of feminine identity.”

In addition to the Women’s Forest, there is a designated area called “para-para”, a sort of hall exclusive for men, and women were prohibited from entering.

Any woman entering this area would face customary fines.

Republished with permission.

]]> Senior MSG official calls for Melanesia to remain neutral in geopolitical battle https://asiapacificreport.nz/2023/08/22/senior-msg-official-calls-for-melanesia-to-remain-neutral-in-geopolitical-battle/ Tue, 22 Aug 2023 10:04:47 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=92110 By Kelvin Anthony, RNZ Pacific journalist in Port Vila

The Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat’s Director-General, Leonard Louma, says the Pacific region continues to be the centre of geopolitical interests by global superpowers.

The 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit is taking place in Port Vila this week– the first full in-person meeting since the covid pandemic.

The prime ministers of Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and the president of the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) of New Caledonia are confirmed to attend the leaders’ session on Wednesday.

Louma said the battle for influence “impels the region to take sides, but it does not protect Melanesia and the region”.

“There are some who would like us to believe that taking sides in that geopolitical posturing is in our best interest. May I hasten to add, I tend to defer — it is not in our best interest to take sides,” Louma said.

Vanuatu's deputy prime minister Matai Seremaiah, left, and MSG director general Leonard Louma at the opening of the 22nd MSG Leaders's Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Port Vila. 21 August 2023
Vanuatu’s Deputy Prime Minister Matai Seremaiah (left) and MSG Director-General Leonard Louma at the opening of the 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Port Vila yesterday. Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony

The director-general also took aim at MSG member countries for not moving with “urgency” on issues that have been on the Leaders’ Summit agenda.

“Certain decisions also made by leaders and the foreign ministers of past continue to languish on the shelf and there seems to be no real sign of a desire to implement.”

Free trade
Louma said the MSG Free Trade Agreement had “somehow been tethered to other training and commercial arrangements”.

“Our enthusiasm to cooperate appears to have waned. We need to rejuvenate this enthusiasm and appetite for industrial cooperation that once was the hallmark of MSG,” he said.

Vanuatu’s Foreign Minister Matai Seremaiah has urged Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea to sign up to the trade agreement which has already been signed by Fiji and Solomon Islands.

Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau told RNZ Pacific he shared the concerns of his deputy on the issue of the free trade agreement.

“Vanuatu must adhere quickly. If you look at the theme of the meeting it’s about being relevant and being relevant means that we’ve got got to participate as a core group so that we can advance all our interests together,” he said.

Leonard Louma said the MSG needed to make concessions where it was needed in the interests of MSG cohesion.

“The nuclear testing issue in the Pacific could not have proceeded the way we had proceeded without MSG taking a strong position on it.”

Melanesian Spearhead Group flags
The Melanesian Spearhead Group flags . . . will the Morning Star flag of West Papua be added? Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony

Declarations
On Monday, MSG Secretariat officials said there were up to 10 issues on the agenda, including West Papua.

In his opening statement at the Foreign Minister’s session on Monday, Seremaiah said there were two key draft declarations that would be put for the leaders’ consideration.

The first one would be on climate action and “urging polluters not to discharge the treated water in the Pacific Ocean,” he said.

“Until and unless the treated water is incontrovertibly proven to be safe to do so and seriously consider other options.”

The second was a declaration on a MSG region of peace and neutrality, adding that “this declaration is aimed at advancing the implementation of the MSG security initiatives to address national security needs in the MSG region, through the Pacific way, talanoa or tok stori and binded by shared values and adherence to Melanesian vuvale, cultures and traditions”.

West Papua
This year’s agenda also includes the issue of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) application to become a full member of the sub-regional body.

The movement is present at the meeting, as well as a big delegation from Indonesia, represented by its Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs.

However, neither Seremaiah nor Louma made any mention of West Papua in their opening statements.

West Papua observers and advocates at the meeting say the MSG is like a “custom haus or nakamal” for the Melanesian people.

They say Vanuatu has the opportunity to make this more than a “normal MSG” if it can be the country that gets the MSG Leaders’ Summit to agree to make the ULMWP a full member.

West Papua delegation at the 22nd MSG Leaders' Summit pre-meeting in Port Vila. 21 August 2023
The West Papua delegation as observers at the 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit pre-meeting in Port Vila yesterday. Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

]]> 20 people wounded in Indonesian police crackdown on Papua protest https://asiapacificreport.nz/2023/08/16/20-people-wounded-in-indonesian-police-crackdown-on-papua-protest/ Wed, 16 Aug 2023 05:48:41 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=91893 Asia Pacific Report

At least 20 people were wounded when police used batons, water cannon and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who joined rallies in Indonesia’s West Papua region on the 61st anniversary of an agreement that made the territory part of Indonesia, news agencies report.

The US-brokered 1962 New York Agreement allowed Indonesia to annex the Christian-majority region after the end of Dutch colonial rule, according to a report in the UCA News.

Riot police attacked peaceful demonstrators in three locations near the provincial capital Jayapura yesterday, alleged Emmanuel Gobay, a Catholic and an official of the Papua Legal Aid Institute.

The demonstrators called on the international community to review the agreement and take action to end ongoing violence and repression in the region, said the report.

“In fact, they only held peaceful demonstrations,” said Gobay, who joined one of the rallies.

He stated that more than 20 people were beaten, with one of them later being treated in hospital.

“One person was seriously injured and was immediately transported to the hospital for treatment,” he said.

Listening to speeches
Videos and photos obtained by UCA News showed police attacked with water canons and fired tear gas while people were listening to speeches from leaders of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), the protest organiser.

Gobay said that although the authorities viewed the KNPB as a “separatist — pro-independence — group “they should have the right to express their opinion” as guaranteed in the nation’s constitution.

“Moreover, they submitted an official letter notifying police about the programme beforehand,” he added.

He condemned the use of water cannon and tear gas on demonstrators.

These should only be for anarchic demonstrations — “not peaceful demonstrations,” he said.

A West Papuan protester brutally beaten by Indonesian police
The bloodied face of a protester brutally beaten by Indonesian police yesterday. Image: Tabloid Jubi

Gobay alleged that police committed criminal offences by torturing and beating protesters, and called on the Papuan police chief to immediately prosecute the perpetrators so that there was a deterrent effect, said the UCA News report.

Father Bernard Baru from the Jayapura Diocese’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission said that this repressive action was a repetition of the discriminatory treatment of Papuans by the state.

Brutal police action ‘normal’
“In Papua, police actions like this are considered normal. This only deepens discrimination against Papuans,” he said.

Police officials were not available for comment.

KNPB spokesman Ones Sahuniap issued a statement to condemn the police brutality and claimed those who were beaten suffered serious head injuries and bled profusely.

Suhuniap said the police used rattan and batons to beat and break up the demonstration.

The KNPB simultaneously held demonstrations in Papua and in other parts of Indonesia, asking the United Nations to review the 1962 New York Agreement.

During the rallies, KNPB leaders called the New York Agreement “a violation of human rights of Papuans” sponsored by Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United States and the United Nations.

Not party to agreement
As per the agreement, later added to the agenda of UN General Assembly, the Netherlands agreed to transfer the control of West Papua New Guinea to Indonesia, pending an UN-administered referendum.

The Papuans were not party to the agreement and it paved the way for the 1969 Act of Free Choice, an independence referendum favoring Indonesian rule in Papua whuch was largely regarded as a sham.

Indonesia’s annexation of Papua and use to force to crush dissent sparked an armed pto-indeoendence movement.

Thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced due to the conflict in the easternmost region in the past decades.

]]> 4 die, 700 forced to flee as earthquake hits Papuan capital Jayapura https://asiapacificreport.nz/2023/02/11/4-die-700-forced-to-flee-as-earthquake-hits-papuan-capital-jayapura/ Fri, 10 Feb 2023 22:33:21 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=84392 Jubi News

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 hit Papua’s capital city Jayapura on Thursday afternoon, killing four people, injuring at least five and forcing 700 to flee, emergency officials said.

The shallow earthquake with an epicenter of 10 km deep and located at coordinates 2.60 south and 140.66 east struck at 3.28pm.

Officlals said at least five houses were damaged by the earthquake — three of them heavily and two moderately.

In addition, a cafe collapsed and fell into the sea, while the building of Jayapura’s Dok 2 Hospital, two churches, a mosque, and a hotel were also damaged.

The earthquake collapsed the top part of the Cendrawasih University postgraduate building.

The Jayapura Mall building in the city centre also suffered cracks on one side of the building, and the roof of the 4th floor collapsed.

“As an effort to handle the disaster emergency, the Jayapura City Disaster Management Agency together with the Papua Province BPBD and related agencies have set up emergency tents, provided evacuation sites, public kitchens and basic support for the evacuees,” spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.

“The urgent needs are emergency tents and generators for electricity.”

Republished with permission.

]]> Papua’s Jubi chief editor awarded Indonesian Pogau prize for courage https://asiapacificreport.nz/2023/02/03/papuas-jubi-chief-editor-awarded-indonesian-pogau-prize-for-courage/ Thu, 02 Feb 2023 22:15:46 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=83999 RNZ Pacific

Journalist Victor Mambor, who is the chief editor of the West Papuan newspaper and website Jubi, has received the Oktovianus Pogau Award from the Indonesian-based Pantau Foundation for courage in journalism.

The foundation’s Andreas Harsono said Mambor’s decision to return to his father’s homeland and defend the rights of indigenous Papuans through journalism, as well as being steadfast in the face of “intimidation after intimidation”, made the jury agree he was a courageous journalist.

Late last month a bomb exploded outside Mambor’s home in Jayapura in an apparent planned attack and he has faced other incidents of intimidation.

Mambor suspected it was related to Jubi’s coverage of the murder and mutilation of four indigenous Papuans in October 2022, which led to four soldiers being charged with “premeditated murder”.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

]]> Yamin Kogoya: Arrest of Papuan governor Enembe condemned as illegal Jakarta ‘kidnap’ https://asiapacificreport.nz/2023/01/13/yamin-kogoya-arrest-of-papuan-governor-enembe-condemned-as-illegal-jakarta-kidnap/ https://asiapacificreport.nz/2023/01/13/yamin-kogoya-arrest-of-papuan-governor-enembe-condemned-as-illegal-jakarta-kidnap/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2023 13:33:05 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=82827 ANALYSIS: By Yamin Kogoya

Following months of legal limbo and a health crisis, Papua Governor Lukas Enembe was arrested this week by the country’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in a dramatic move condemned by critics as a “kidnapping”.

At noon on Tuesday, January 10, Governor Enembe was dining in a local restaurant near the headquarters of Indonesia’s Mobile Brigade Corps, known as Brimob.

After the arrest the Brimob transported him directly to Sentani Theys Eluay airport — an airport named in honour of another prominent Papuan leader who was callously murdered by the same security forces in 2002, not far from where the governor was arrested.

Governor Enembe was immediately flown to Jakarta to arrive at the Army Central Hospital (RSPAD), Gatot Soebroto, Central Jakarta, reports Kompas.com.

In what seems to be a cautiously premeditated arrest, Jakarta targeted Governor Enembe while he was alone and without the support of thousands of Papuans who had barricaded his residence since September last year.

Once the news of his arrest was leaked, supporters attempted to gather in Sentani at the airport, but they were outnumbered by heavy security forces. A few protesters were shot, and several were injured, with one protester dying from his injuries.

1 shot dead, several wounded
Papua Police Public Relations Officer Kombes Ignatius Benny Prabowo said when contacted by Tribunnews.com in Jakarta: “Yes, it is true that someone was shot dead on Tuesday.”

Among those who were shot were Hemanus Kobari Enembe (dead), Neiron Enembe, Kano Enembe, and Segira Enembe.

Surprisingly, they share the same clan names of the governor himself, indicating that only his immediate family were informed of his arrest.

Hemanus Kobari Enembe paid the ultimate price at the hand of Jakarta’s calculated planning and arrest of Papua’s governor.

The crisis began in September 2022, when Governor Enembe was named a suspect by the KPK and summoned by Brimob after it accused him of receiving bribes worth 1 million rupiah (NZ$112,000). This amount was then escalated into a rush of accusations against the governor, including a new allegation that the governor had paid US$39 million to overseas casinos, disclosing details of his private assets such as cars, houses, and properties.

Governor Lukas Enembe arrested
Governor Lukas Enembe . . . ill, but heavily guarded by the BRIMOD police after his arrest. Image: CNN/APR

Voices of prominent Papuan figures
A prominent Papuan, Natalius Pigai, Indonesia’s former human rights commissioner, was interviewed on January 11 by an INews TV news presenter regarding these extra allegations.

“If that’s the case,” Pigai replied, “then why don’t we use these wild extra allegations to investigate all the crimes committed in this country by the country’s top ministerial level, including the children of the president, as a conduit for investigating some of the crimes committed by his office in this country?

“Are we interested in that? Why just target Governor Lukas?”

Papuan Dr Benny Giay
Papuan Dr Benny Giay . . . his view is that the arrest of Governor Lukas Enembe serves the “interests of the political elite” in Jakarta. Image: Jubi screenshot APR

Papuan public intellectual Dr Benny Giay was seen in a video saying that the arrest of Governor Enembe by the KPK in Jayapura was to serve the interests of Jakarta’s political elite, whom he described as “hardliners” in relation to the power struggle to become number one in Papua’s province.

According to him, Governor Lukas Enembe was a victim of this power struggle.

Dr Socrates Yoman, president of the West Papua Fellowship of Baptist Churches, described the arrest as a “kidnapping”. He said the governor had been arrested illegally, without following any legal procedures — and neither the governor nor legal counsel was informed of his arrest.

According to Dr Yoman, Governor Enembe is ill and in the process of recovering from his illness. Thus, this pressure exerted by the state through the military and police violated Governor Enembe’s basic rights to health and humanity.

The behaviour of the state through BRIMOB constituted a crime against humanity or a gross violation of human rights because the governor was arrested during lunchtime without an arrest warrant and while he was unwell, he said.

“The governor is not a terrorist — he was elected Governor of Papua by the Papuan people.

“This kidnapping shows that the nation or country has no law. The country is controlled by people who have lost their humanity, opting instead for animalistic rage and a senseless lust for violence.

“Our goal is to restore their humanity so that they can see other human beings as human beings and become whole human beings,” said Dr Yoman.

The governor’s health
The governor’s health has deteriorated since he was banned from traveling to Singapore for regular medical aid since September last year.

The November 2022 letter from the Singaporean doctors appealing for Governor Enembe's medical evacuation
The 23 November 2022 letter from the Singaporean doctors appealing for Governor Enembe’s medical evacuation . . . ignored by the Indonesian authorities. Image: APR screenshot

Last October, Governor Enembe received two visits from Singapore medical specialists who have been treating him for a number of years.

Despite these visits, his health has continued to deteriorate, which led Singapore’s medical specialists to send a letter in November to authorities in Indonesia requesting that the governor be airlifted to Mount Elizabeth hospital.

The letter from Royal Healthcare in Singapore said:

“We have treated Governor Lukas remotely with routine blood tests, regular zoom consults and monitoring of his glucose and blood pressure levels since November 1, 2022. However, his condition has deteriorated rapidly the last week. His renal function is at a critical range (5.75mg/dl), and he may require dialysis sooner than later. His blood pressure is hovering 190-200/80-100 increasing his risk of morbidity and mortality. He has been advised on immediate evacuation to Singapore with direct admission to Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital.”

The letters were ignored, and the sick governor was arrested and taken to a hospital in Jakarta, where he had previously refused to go.

Governor Enembe had previously written to KPK requesting that he receive urgent medical treatment in Singapore. Papuan police chiefs and KPK members were asked to accompany him, but this did not happen.

On November 3, 2022, Firli Bahuri, Chairman of KPK, visited the governor at his barricaded residence in Koya Jayapura, Papua, in what appeared to be a humane approach.

But what happened on Tuesday indicates that KPK had already decided to arrest him and take him to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta — almost 4500 km from his home town.

Many Papuan figures who go to Jakarta return home in coffins. Papuan protesters did not want their leader to be taken out of Papua, partly due to this fear.

Despite these protests, letters, and requests, Jakarta completely disregarded the will of the people and of the governor himself.

The plot to kidnap Governor Enembe appears to have been well planned over a period of four months since September, providing enough space for the situation in Papua to calm down and allowing the governor to leave his barricaded house alone without his Papuan “special forces”.

It was during the lunch hour of noon on Tuesday that KPK targeted him in a cunningly calculated manner.

Governor’s image in social media
Governor Enembe is portrayed in the Indonesia’s national narrative as a representative of the so-called “poor and backward” majority of Papuans, while portraying him as a man of a lavish lifestyle, owning properties and cars, and with great wealth.

Comments on social media are flooded with a common theme — portraying Papua’s governor as a “criminal”, with some even calling for his “execution”.

Some social media comments emerging from those fighting for West Papua’s liberation are echoing these themes by claiming that Governor Enembe’s case has nothing to do with the Free Papua Movement– his problem is with Jakarta only as he is a “colonial puppet ruler”.

It is true that Lukas Enembe is governor of Indonesian settler colonial provinces. However, Papuans have failed to understand the big picture — the ultimate fate of West Papua itself.

What would happen if West Papua remains part of Indonesia for the next 20-50 years?

Our failure to see the big picture by both Papuans and Indonesians, as well as the international community, is a result of Jakarta fabrication that West Papua is merely a national sovereignty issue for Indonesia. That is the crux of that fatal error.

The isolation of the governor from the rest of the Papuans as a “corruptor” and other dehumanising labels are designed to destroy Papuans’ self-esteem, stripping them of their pride, dignity, and self-respect.

The images and videos of the governor’s arrest, deportation, handcuffing in Jakarta in KPK uniform, and his admission to the military hospital while surrounded by heavily armed security forces are psychologically intimidating to Papuans.

Through brutal silence, politically loaded imagery has been used to convey a certain message:

“See what has happened to your respected leader, the big chief of the Papuan tribes; he is no longer a person. Jakarta still has the final say in what happens to all of you.”

Papuans are facing a highly choreographed state-sponsored terror campaign that shows no signs of abating.

For Papuans, the new year of 2023 should be a time of hope, new dreams, and new lives, but this has been marred once again by the arrest and kidnapping of a well-known and popular Papuan figure, as well as the death of a member of the governor’s family on Tuesday.

As human miseries continue to unfold in the Papuan homeland, Jakarta continues to conduct business as usual, pretending nothing is happening in West Papua while beating the drum of “development, prosperity, and progress” for the betterment of the backward Papuans.

With such prolonged tragedies, it is imperative that the old theories, terminologies, and paradigms that govern this brutal state of affairs be challenged.

A new paradigm is needed
The very foundation of our thinking between West Papua and Indonesia must be re-examined within the framework of what Tunisian writer, Albert Memmie, described as “coloniser and colonised”, when examining French treatment of colonised Tunisians, who emerged concurrent with Franz Fanon, the leading thinker of black experience in white, colonised Algeria.

The works of these thinkers provide insight into how the world of colonisers and colonised operates with its psychopathological manipulations in an unjust racially divided system of coloniser control.

These great decolonisation literature treasures will help Papuans to connect the dots of this last frontier to a bigger picture of centuries of war against colonised original peoples around the world, some of which were obliterated (Tasmania), able to escape (Algeria), or escaped but are still trying to reorganise themselves (Haiti).

Therefore, the coloniser and colonised paradigm is a useful mental framework to view Jakarta’s settler colonial activities and how Papuans (colonised) are continuously being lied to, manipulated, dissected, remade and destroyed — from all sides — in order to prevent them from uniting against the entity that threatens their very existence.

The real culprits in West Papua and proper Papuan justice
Most ordinary Papuans are unable to gain access to information regarding who exploits their natural resources, how much they are making, who receives the most benefits and how or why.

But Jakarta is too busy displaying Governor Enembe’s personal affairs and wild allegations in headline news — his entire existence is placed on public display, as an object of humiliation, just as the messianic Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross in order to convince Galilean followers that their beloved leader failed.

Let us not forget, however, that it was this publicly humiliated and crucified Jesus who forever changed the imperial world order and human history.

If true justice is to be delivered to colonised Papuans, then Papuans must put the Dutch on trial for abandoning them 60 years ago, and then hold the United Nations and the United States responsible for selling them, to Indonesia, 60 years ago.

In addition to arresting all international capitalist bandits that are exploiting West Papua under the disguise of multinational corporations, Indonesia should also be arrested for its crimes against Papuans, dating back over 61 years.

However, the question remains… who will deliver this proper justice for the colonised Papuans? Jakarta has certainly set itself on a pathological path of arresting, imprisoning, and executing any figure that appears to be a messianic figure to unite these dislocated original tribes for its final war for survival.

Yamin Kogoya is a West Papuan academic/activist who has a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University and who contributes to Asia Pacific Report. From the Lani tribe in the Papuan Highlands, he is currently living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

]]> https://asiapacificreport.nz/2023/01/13/yamin-kogoya-arrest-of-papuan-governor-enembe-condemned-as-illegal-jakarta-kidnap/feed/ 1 Amnesty condemns mass arrests of West Papuans on Human Rights Day https://asiapacificreport.nz/2022/12/11/amnesty-condemns-mass-arrests-of-west-papuans-on-human-rights-day/ Sun, 11 Dec 2022 10:27:18 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=81474 Amnesty International

Amnesty International Indonesia and Amnesty International Australia have condemned the repression used against the people in West Papua when they were commemorating Human Rights Day yesterday — December 10, which marks the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Indonesian authorities made 116 arrests and injured at least 17 people during multiple forced dispersals of rallies in the lead up to and during December 10 in four regencies across West Papua.

“We are appalled to hear about these mass arrests. Many were arrested when the rally had not even started,” Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said.

“This shows Indonesian authorities’ utter disregard of West Papuans’ right to peaceful assembly.

“Criminalising them for simply peacefully exercising such right will only breed further resentment and distrust. That discriminatory treatment against them has to stop,” said Hamid.

“People all over the globe commemorated Human Rights Day. The fact that West Papuan people could not enjoy the same right, shows that there is a human rights emergency in West Papua.”

Amnesty International Australia national director Sam Klintworth said: “Australia needs to demand accountability from Indonesian authorities, especially as they are recipients of so much Australian aid.”

23 arrested in Wamena
On December 8, 23 people in Wamena were arrested for several hours when they were distributing leaflets for people to join the Human Rights Day rally.

On December 10, forced dispersals and mass arrests took place in Wamena and Jayapura.

In Jayapura, 56 people were arrested and at least 16 people were known to be injured during forced dispersals in multiple locations.

In Wamena, 37 people were arrested and at least one person was injured when the multiple rallies were forcibly dispersed.

Also on December 10, a rally in Sorong was forcibly dispersed, and the protest in Manokwari was blocked by police.

Most of the protesters were members of the West Papua National Committee (Komite Nasional Papua Barat – KNPB), a peaceful grassroots organisation campaigning for the right to self-determination.

Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Indonesia has ratified through Law No. 12/2005, explicitly guarantees the right of any person to hold opinions without interference.

Freedom of peaceful assembly is also guaranteed under Article 21 of the ICCPR.

Amnesty International does not take any position regarding political status within Indonesia, including calls for independence.

However, the organisation believes that the right to freedom of expression includes the right to peacefully advocate for independence referenda, or other political positions.

]]> Indonesian police arrest Buchtar Tabuni and two Papuan ‘ministers’ https://asiapacificreport.nz/2022/10/21/indonesian-police-arrest-buchtar-tabuni-and-two-papuan-ministers/ Fri, 21 Oct 2022 10:18:07 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=80216 Asia Pacific Report

Indonesian police have arrested Buchtar Tabuni, one of West Papua’s most important liberation leaders, along with three other United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) ministers, reports the movement in a statement.

“Indonesia are once again suppressing freedom of expression and assembly in West Papua, in an attempt to crush our spirit and commitment to our struggle,” said interim president Benny Wenda.

Buchtar Tabuni is chair of the West Papua Council, and a member of the ULMWP Council Committee. His arrest was confirmed by police.

He was arrested with Bazoka Logo, Minister of Political Affairs, and Iche Murib, Minister of Women’s and Children’s Affairs, said the statement.

The trio were arrested at Tabuni’s house in Jayapura, following an annual ULMWP meeting, and interrogated at a nearby police station.

“What is their crime? What possible justification can there be for this crackdown? This was after a peaceful meeting at a private residence,” the statement said.

“The right to assembly is a basic human right, enshrined in the constitutions of countries around the world, including Indonesia.”

Buchtar Tabuni
Buchtar Tabuni . . . arrested outside his Jayapura home after a peaceful meeting. Image: ULMWP

Sharing information
The National Parliament of the ULMWP meets annually to share information on events in their regions and discuss the situation of the struggle.

“West Papuans have the right, under international law, to peacefully mobilise for our independence,” Wenda said.

He called on anybody concerned by the arrests to to express their disgust to the Jayapura police chief.

Wenda said the arrests were in breach of basic principles of international diplomacy and human rights.

Both the ULMWP and Indonesia are members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, a regional political forum.

“We sit around the table together as equals. Imagine if British police arrested a Scottish parliamentarian following a peaceful meeting in their own home — there would be international outcry.

“This is the brutal reality of Indonesia’s colonial occupation.”

Tabuni targeted
The statement said this was not the first time Tabuni had been targeted by the Indonesian state.

Tabuni has spent much of his life behind bars, and was previously arrested and charged with treason for his involvement in anti-racism protests in 2020.

“This is political persecution: the harshness of Buchtar’s treatment is due only to his position as a respected leader of the independence struggle,” said Wenda.

“History tells us that there is no such thing as a fair trial for West Papuans in Indonesia. Victor Yeimo is still gravely ill in prison, where he has been held on spurious treason charges since May 2021.

“We urgently need the assistance of all international solidarity groups and NGOs — you must pressure your governments to help secure Mr Tabuni’s release, and all other West Papuan political prisoners.

Wenda said that the ULMWP demanded that Indonesia immediately release him with Bazoka Logo and Iche Murib.

Freedom ‘essential’
“Their freedom is essential in order to keep the peace,” he said.

According to Tabloid Jubi, Jayapura City police chief Senior Commander Victor D. Mackbon had confirmed that his office had arrested Buchtar Tabuni.

He said Tabuni was arrested to “clarify the activities” held at his home.

“Buchtar Tabuni’s arrival is to clarify his community gathering activities,” said Commander Mackbon.

Indonesian police repression in Jayapura
Strong arm tactics by Indonesian police at a peaceful Jayapura home meeting. Image: ULMWP
]]> Indonesia’s new plans for Papua can’t hide its decades of failures https://asiapacificreport.nz/2022/06/22/indonesias-new-plans-for-papua-cant-hide-its-decades-of-failures/ Wed, 22 Jun 2022 09:00:20 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=75485 ANALYSIS: By Aprila Wayar and Johnny Blades for The Diplomat

A plan to create three new provinces in the Papua region highlights how Jakarta’s development approach has failed to resolve a long-running conflict.

In April of this year, Indonesia’s Parliament approved a plan to create three new provinces in Papua, the easternmost region of the archipelago.

Government officials have described the creation of the new administrative units as an effort to accelerate the development of the outlying region, which has long lagged behind the other more densely populated islands.

But Papua’s problem isn’t a lack of development — it’s a lack of justice for West Papuans.

In the plan to subdivide Indonesia’s two most sparsely populated provinces — Papua and West Papua — many people sense a kind of “end game” strategy by Indonesia’s government that is expected to worsen the long-running conflict in Papua, something countries in the region can ill afford to ignore.

The province plan comes in the twilight of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s second and final term in office, a term marked by an escalation of violence between fighters of the pro-independence West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) and the Indonesian security forces.

Jokowi has ordered huge military operations in the central regencies of Nduga, Puncak Jaya, Intan Jaya, Maybrat and regions near the border with Papua New Guinea (PNG).

1960s armed wing
The TPNPB is the armed wing of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM), or Free Papua Movement, which was created in the 1960s by so-called West Papuan freedom fighters.

They opposed the Indonesian Army, which had begun occupying parts of West Papua after the Dutch withdrew in 1962, even before the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority had completed its period of mandated administration in 1963.

After Papua officially joined Indonesia in a 1969 UN referendum that many Papuans view as flawed, the OPM grew rapidly in the late 1970s, with fighters joining its ranks across West Papua. Their operations mainly consisted of attacking Indonesian patrols.

In 1984, when a West Papuan insurgent attack sparked large Indonesian military deployments in and around the capital Jayapura, the subsequent brutal sweep operations triggered a mass exodus of around 10,000 Papuan refugees to PNG.

At the time, when questioned in Jakarta about the impacts of military operations in Papua, a leading Indonesian Foreign Ministry official shrugged it off and stated that the government was introducing colour television in Papua and was doing its best to accelerate development there.

Nearly 40 years later, with the Papuan conflict reaching a new pitch of tension, the government’s narrative has barely changed.

Conflict continues at the cost of mass displacement in Papua’s highlands. Human rights bodies have stated that intensified bursts of fighting between TPNPB guerrillas and the Indonesian army since late 2018 have displaced at least 60,000 Papuans.

Figures hard to verify
Exact figures remain difficult to verify because Jakarta still obstructs access to the region for foreign media and human rights workers. Since the Indonesian takeover of Papua in the 1960s, West Papua’s history has been marked by persistent human rights abuses.

In recent years, the UN Human Rights Commissioner has repeatedly pressed for access to the region, without success.

In April, Jokowi’s cabinet, including Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian, a former police chief, and fellow hardliner Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, introduced a draft for a long-anticipated creation of three new provinces — Central Papua, South Papua, and Central Highlands Papua –– in addition to the two existing provinces of Papua and West Papua.

This initiative has met with strong opposition from indigenous Papuans. Well before the recent cabinet decision, Papua’s provincial Governor Lukas Enembe warned against it, fearing new provinces could pave the way for more transmigrants and more problems for Papuans, although in recent days he has reportedly offered qualified support for dividing Papua based on customary territories.

He was not alone in speaking up. On May 10, thousands of Papuans from the Papuan provinces and in major cities in other parts of Indonesia took to the streets to protest Jakarta’s creation of extra provinces.

Protests were met head on by heavy security forces responses including the use of water cannons and detention. Papuans were frustrated because their views had not been incorporated in Jakarta’s decision making.

As Emanuel Gobay, director of the Papua Legal Aid Institute, told The Diplomat, the region’s Special Autonomy Law, passed in 2001, requires the central government to conduct a public survey starting from the village level to the head of districts where the expansion will be carried out.

“The central government has introduced the planned expansion policy on its own initiative, without any aspirations from the grassroots communities,” Gobay explained.

Delineated history
For years, the Indonesian government has characterised West Papua as being backward in terms of social and human development, claiming that it needs Indonesian help to advance.

Certainly, poverty has been a problem in Papua, but that’s not unique across the republic. Yet, for decades Papua was effectively isolated by central government, often leaving the public in the dark about what has been going on there.

The social media age has lifted the lid on Papua a little, stirring international attention intermittently. As part of Jakarta’s response, social media bots have been deployed across the internet, spreading state propaganda and targeting human rights workers, journalists, or anyone drawing attention to Papua.

The bots say everything is good in Papua, look at all the development happening, 3G internet, roads. In a sense, it’s true that infrastructure development has increased in recent years.

Compared to neighbouring PNG, Papua and West Papua provinces are well developed in terms of basic services and roads. But it’s not necessarily the sort of development that Papuans themselves want or need.

The lack of a genuine self-determination process in the 1960s remains a core injustice that holds Papua back. Since then, thousands of indigenous Papuans have lost their lives in what is considered one of the most militarised zones in the wider region. Some research puts the death toll as high as 500,000.

One of them was Theys Eluays, a tribal chief who became a figurehead for Papuan independence aspirations and a strong critic of the first plan to divide Papua into two provinces, until he was assassinated by members of the Kopassus special forces unit in 2001.

Military elite have major interests
Indonesia’s political elite and military establishment have extensive interests in Papua’s abundant natural resource wealth. The new provincial divisions would enable more opportunities for the exploitation of these resources, largely for the benefit of people other than Papuans themselves.

The new provinces would be merely the latest in a series of delineations imposed on Papua by others, a process that runs from the marking of the western half of New Guinea as a Dutch colony in the 1880s, to the contentious transferal of control of the territory to Indonesia in the 1960s, to Jakarta’s subsequent reconfigurations of the province, especially after the enactment of the Special Autonomy Law in response to Papuan demands for independence.

The plan for further subdivisions did not emerge overnight. It has been mooted for decades by Indonesia’s powerful Golkar party as a way to cement sovereign control of the restive eastern region. In the 1980s, proposals for dividing Irian Jaya, as it was then known, into as many as six provinces were fleshed out at national seminars on regional development and gained interest from elites in Jakarta.

Even in these early seminar discussions, Papuan representatives warned that provincial splits could have a negative impact on local indigenous communities, whose interests were clearly not represented in provincial subdivision plans.

Although the idea of provincial expansion in Irian Jaya ended up on President Suharto’s desk, it hadn’t got off the ground by the time he stepped down in 1998.

During the subsequent tenure of President B.J. Habibie, Papuan tribal and civil community leaders were among the “Team of 100″ Papuans invited to the presidential palace for a dialogue, during which they asked for independence. Habibie told the Team to go home and rethink its request.

During the term of President Abdurrahman Wahid, the spiritual leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Islamic organisation, West Papuans were granted the concession of being able to raise the banned Papuan nationalist Morning Star flag, on the condition that it be hoisted two inches beneath the flag of the Indonesian republic.

The administration of the next president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, initiated a law that granted Papua Special Autonomy status and created a second province, West Papua (Papua Barat) — the first splitting of provinces.

Local resentment
Since Papua became a part of the Republic of Indonesia, Jakarta has introduced various laws aimed ostensibly at improving the welfare of indigenous Papuans. These have overwhelmingly been met with suspicion and skepticism by the Papuans.

Special Autonomy is widely regarded by Papuans to have failed on the promise to empower them in their own homeland, where they instead continue to be victims of racism and human rights violations, and their indigenous culture is increasingly threatened.

Due to large scale exploitation of Papua’s natural wealth, Papuans have been losing access to the forests, mountains, and rivers which were essential to their people’s way of life for centuries.

International companies such as Freeport McMoRan, Rio Tinto, BP, Shell, and multinational oil palm players operate here in commercialising Papua’s mineral, gas, forestry and other resources. There is little consideration about the sustainability of indigenous customs, which has only added to the long list of Papuan grievances.

Now that Jakarta is drawing more administrative lines through this cradle of native rainforest and immense biodiversity, Gobay expects new provinces to have three major impacts.

“First, it will create an environment for more land grabbing. Either through the granting of mining permits to foreign exploration companies or through the construction of other additional government enterprises on customary land,” he said.

“Secondly, marginalisation of Papuans on their own land would only increase,” he added.

Thirdly, he expected a rise in human rights violations.

The Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP), a cultural protection body born from the Special Autonomy Law, has filed for a judicial review of the provincial subdivision plan with Indonesia’s Constitutional Court, and asked the House of Representatives in Jakarta to postpone the New Autonomous Region Bill for Central Papua, South Papua, and Central Highlands Papua.

The court is expected to hold a hearing in the next month.

Minorities in their own land
The provincial split is bound to accelerate the steady reconfiguration of Papua’s demographics.

“If we make a rough estimate, almost 50 percent of the population of West Papua is not indigenous anymore,” said Cahyo Pamungkas of the Jakarta-based National Research and Innovation Agency.

He noted that transmigrants from other parts of Indonesia not only dominated Papua’s local economy but also its regional politics. For instance, there remain only three native Papuan representatives out of 21 legislative members in Merauke district, where some 70 percent of the population are non-Papuans.

Pamungkas also disputed the recent claims of Indonesia’s coordinating minister for legal, political and security affairs, Mahfud MD, that 82 percent of Papuans supported the proposed province splits.

“The survey should have been opened to the public. Who were interviewed and how many respondents participated? What was the survey method?” he asked, adding that such misleading statements are likely to foster additional distrust in the government.

So too can repeated arrests of young Papuans for exercising their democratic voice. Esther Haluk, a democratic rights activist from Papua, was arrested by security forces during the May 10 protests.

“New provinces will pave the way for more new military bases, new facilities for security apparatus. More military, more opposition, more human rights violations. This is like reinstating the Suharto era all over again in Papua,” she said.

Sectarian tensions
Sectarian tensions between indigenous Papuans and Indonesian settlers remain a tinderbox, particularly since major anti-racism protests in 2019. A disturbing factor in the deadly unrest around those protests was the role of pro-Indonesian militias, recalling the violence-soaked last days of Timor-Leste prior to its independence in 2002.

More transmigrants could pave way for more conflict in Papua, and more conflict could potentially justify more military deployment, which adds to the climate of persistent human rights abuses against Papuans.

Haluk said newly arrived migrants are often favored by officials in being able to take up local privileges such as jobs within the public service and government, especially if they have relatives already in Papua. Many have also been able to buy land.

“This is a real form of settler colonialism, a form of colonization that aims to replace the indigenous people of the colonised area with settlers from colonial society,” she said. “In this type of colonialism, indigenous people are not only threatened with losing their territory, but also their way of life and identity that’s been passed down to them from generation to generation.”

Regional implications
By exacerbating conflict in West Papua, the provinces plan could also prove problematic for neighbouring countries, none more so than PNG. Through no fault of its own, PNG has long been lumped with spillover problems from the conflict in West Papua, including the movement of arms and military actors across the two regions’ porous 750km border, refugees fleeing from Indonesian authorities, and the displacement of village communities in the border area.

The covid-19 pandemic also showed that when things get bad on the western side of the border, the problem spreads to PNG, beyond the control of either government.

PNG leaders have cordial exchanges with Indonesian counterparts but the Melanesian government is all too aware of the power imbalance when it comes to the elephant in the room, West Papua.

PNG’s Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua, who has previously travelled to Jakarta as a member of high-level government delegations, attested to the limited options available to PNG for addressing the West Papua crisis.

“PNG has no capacity to raise the issue,” Kua said. “We can express our concern and our grief and disappointment over the manner in which the Indonesian government is administering its responsibilities over the people of West Papua.

“However there’s nothing much else we can do, especially when larger powers in our region like Australia remain tight-lipped over the issue. Of what constructive value would it be for PNG to venture into that landscape without proper support?”

He added: “So we are very guarded about what we say, because there’s no doubt about the concern that we have in this country.”

Refugees there to stay
Kua says many West Papuans who came across the border as refugees are there to stay: “We don’t complain about that. We just feel that this part of the country is theirs as much as the other side of the island is theirs.”

PNG’s policy on West Papua, where it rarely exercises a voice, has left it looking weak on the issue. The most vocal of the leading political players in PNG, the governor of the National Capital District, Powes Parkop, says that for too long, PNG government policy on West Papua has been dictated by fear of Indonesia and assumptions that make it convenient for leaders to not do anything about it.

While PNG hopes the West Papua problem will go away, Indonesia’s government is also burying its head in the sand by portraying West Papua’s problems as a development issue.

“It’s a human rights issue and we should solve it at that level. It’s about the right to self-determination,” Parkop said.

“PNG holds the key to the future peaceful resolution of Papua. If we rise above our fear and be bold and brave by having an open dialogue with the Indonesian government, I’m sure we’ll make progress.”

Following upcoming elections in PNG, a new government will take power in early August. It’s unwise to bet on the result, but former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is one of the contenders to take office, and he, more than incumbent James Marape, has been able to project PNG’s role as a regional leader among the Pacific Islands.

He is also one of the few to have expressed strong concern about human rights abuses and violence against West Papuans.

‘Hope government will be brave’
“I hope the new government will be brave enough and have a constructive dialogue with Indonesia’s government so we can find a long-lasting solution,” Parkop said.

“As long as Indonesia and PNG continue to pretend it won’t go away, it will only get worse, and it is getting worse.”

Parkop added that because of the huge economic potential of New Guinea, “the future can be brighter for both sides if the problem is confronted with honesty”.

According to Kua, Indonesia’s government made a commitment to empowering Papuans to run their own territory within the structure of the Republic, a pledge which should be honored. Regional support would help encourage Indonesia in this direction.

“Australia, New Zealand, PNG, those of us from the Pacific all have to stand united until some other wholesale answers are found to the plight of the people of West Papua,” he said. “The interim relief is to continue to press for increased delegated powers to (Papua). So they have more and more say about their own destiny.”

The Papuan independence movement has managed to gain a foothold in the regional architecture, most notably with the admission of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) to the Melanesian Spearhead Group regional bloc, whose founding aim is the decolonisation of all Melanesian peoples. But Indonesia’s successful diplomatic efforts in the region have provided a counterweight to regional calls for Papuan independence.

However, 2019 saw a rare moment of regional unity when the Pacific Islands Forum, which is made up of 18 member countries, including French territories New Caledonia and French Polynesia, resolved to push Indonesia to allow the UN Human Rights Commissioner access to Papua to produce an independent report on the situation.

Human rights unity stalled
Then the pandemic came along and the matter stalled.

“Following that, the Pacific Island states who are members of the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific bloc) supported the same resolution at (its) General Assembly in Kenya,” said Vanuatu’s opposition leader Ralph Regenvanu, who was foreign minister at the time of the Forum resolution. Since then, he said, there had been “nothing explicit.”

Papua remains of great concern to Pacific Islanders, Regenvanu explained, noting that Indonesia’s plan for new provinces was set to cause “accelerated destruction of the natural environment and the social fabric, more dissipation of the political will.”

The Papua conflict has fallen largely on deaf ears in both Canberra and Wellington, each of which is hesitant to jeopardise its relations with Indonesia. Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Jakarta soon after coming to power last month, showing that the country’s relationship with Indonesia is a priority.

But as the conflict worsens in neighboring West Papua, Australia’s involvement in training and funding of Indonesian military and police forces who are accused of human rights violations in Papua grows ever more problematic.

Under Albanese, Canberra is unlikely to spring any surprises on Jakarta regarding West Papua, but neither can it ignore the momentum for decolonisation in the Pacific without adding to the sense of betrayal Pacific Island countries feel towards Canberra over the question of climate change.

Major self-determination questions are pressing on its doorstep, both in New Caledonia, where the messy culmination of the Noumea Accord means the territory’s future status is uncertain, and in Bougainville where 98 percent of people voted for independence from PNG in a non-binding referendum in 2019.

Ratifying the referendum
PNG’s next Parliament is due to decide whether to ratify the referendum result, and while political leaders don’t wish to trigger the break-up of PNG, they know that failure to respond to such an emphatic call by Bougainvilleans would spell trouble.

While in Parkop’s view Bougainville and West Papua are not the same, there are lessons to be drawn from the two cases.

“In the past PNG has been looking at (Bougainville) from the development perspective, and we have tried so many things: changed the constitution, gave them autonomy, gave them more money, and so on.

“It did not solve the problem,” he said. “And now in PNG, it’s a reckoning time.”

He added: “So the Indonesians have to come to terms with this. Otherwise if they only see this as a development issue, they will miss the entire story, and it can only get worse, whatever they do.”

Much is riding on the Bougainville and New Caledonia questions, and fears that China could step in to back a new independent nation are part of the reason why Australia would prefer the status quo to remain in place, and probably the same for West Papua and Indonesia.

The 2006 Lombok Treaty between Indonesia and Australia, which prohibits any interference in each nation’s sovereignty, makes it hard for Canberra to speak out. But it could also play into China’s hands if Australia and New Zealand keep ignoring the requests of Pacific Island nations about West Papua.

Opportunities for resolution
Means of resolving the Papua conflict exist, but they aren’t development or military-based approaches. And as far as Jakarta is concerned, independence is out of the question.

Professor Bilveer Singh, an international relations specialist from the National Singapore University, told The Diplomat in 2019 that West Papuan independence was a pipe dream. Internal divisions among the Papuan independence movement are identified as a barrier.

The head of the ULMWP, Benny Wenda, sought to address this with decisive leadership by declaring an interim government of West Papua last year, but the move was criticised by some key players in the movement.

While Papua is unlikely to be another Timor-Leste, Singh wrote, an Aceh or Mindanao model with greater autonomy would be more achievable. Furthermore, Jakarta could allow Papuans to hoist their own colors under Indonesian sovereignty.

Declaring tribal areas as conservation regions is an option, too. More significantly, Papua could also become a self-governing state in free association with Indonesia, like the Cook Islands and Niue are with New Zealand, or even follow the model of Chechnya in Russia.

To be able to manage their own security and governance, and allow their culture to thrive, would answer a lot of Papuans’ grievances. A non-binding independence referendum, as PNG has allowed for Bougainville, would be a good starting point.

If Papuans are as content with Indonesian rule as Jakarta claims, a referendum would be instructive.

Meaningful dialogue necessary
At the very least, in a bid to stop the conflict, meaningful dialogue is necessary. Jokowi has reportedly given approval for Indonesia’s national human rights body to host a dialogue with pro-independence factions, including those residing abroad.

Leaders of the TPNPB and ULMWP have indicated they are interested in a dialogue only on condition that it is brokered by a foreign, neutral third party mandated by the UN.

The Papuans aren’t in a position to dictate such terms, unless international pressure weighs into the equation. They are however also highly unlikely to stop resisting Indonesian rule while their sense of injustice remains.

“The Papuan conflict is not about colour television or 3G internet, it’s about indigenous dignity and a stand against militarism,” Haluk said.

As well as drawing new lines on the map, the plan for more provinces in Papua draws a new line in the sand, beyond which the conflict in Indonesia’s easternmost region will become much more intractable.

No amount of development will stop this until Jakarta shifts its thinking on how to address the region’s core problem. The opposite of poverty isn’t wealth, it’s justice.

Co-authors and journalists Aprila Wayar (West Papua) and Johnny Blades (Aotearoa New Zealand) are contributors to The Diplomat. Republished with permission by the authors.

]]> Pressure mounts on Jakarta for dialogue, not brutal ‘war on Papua’ https://asiapacificreport.nz/2021/12/01/pressure-mounts-on-jakarta-for-dialogue-not-brutal-war-on-papua/ https://asiapacificreport.nz/2021/12/01/pressure-mounts-on-jakarta-for-dialogue-not-brutal-war-on-papua/#comments Tue, 30 Nov 2021 15:03:03 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=67021 By David Robie

Pressure is mounting on Indonesia to back off its brutal and unsuccessful military strategy in trying to crush West Papuan resistance to its flawed rule in “the land of Papua”.

Critics have intensified their condemnation of the intransigent “no negotiations” stance of authorities as West Papuans mark their national day today on 1 December 1961 when the banned Morning Star flag of independence was raised for the first time.

The TNI (Indonesian military), the Polri (Indonesian police) and the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) have been locked in a conflict since Jakarta ordered a crackdown in May following a declaration of resistance groups as “terrorists”.

Many groups have raised their criticism of Jakarta’s flawed handling of its two colonised Melanesian provinces, Papua and West Papua. Recent developments include:

‘Path of violence’
Pastor Benny Giay, a member of the Papua Council of Churches, says the Indonesian government is still choosing the path of violence in dealing with the armed conflict.

The council has come to this conclusion based on its experience of how conflicts in Papua have been handled in the past and the recent situation, involving six regencies in Papua — Intan Jaya, the Bintang Mountains, Nduga, Yahukimo, Maybrat and Puncak Papua.

“Based on past experience and the most recent facts, we concluded that the Indonesian government is still choosing the path of violence in dealing with the Papua conflict,” said Pastor Giay, according to CNN Indonesia.

Giay said that as a consequence of many years of armed conflict, at least 60,000 Papuans had fled into the forests or neighbouring regencies.

He and three other pastors view this as part of what could not be separated from the politics of “systematic racism”.

They suspect that “buzzers” — fake internet account operators — are being used by Indonesian intelligence and pro-government groups.

These buzzers, said Pastor Giay, continued to spread hoaxes and news containing anti-Papuan views based on racism against the Papuan people.

‘Prolonged suffering’
The Papua Council of Churches is calling for the United Nations Human Rights Council (Dewan HAM PBB) to visit Papua to see the humanitarian crisis directly – “the prolonged suffering of Papuans for the last 58 years.”

The council also wants the Indonesian government to put an end to its racist policies.

Pastor Giay and his fellow pastors have demanded that President Widodo be consistent about a statement he made on September 30, 2019, agreeing to dialogue with the ULMWP.

“Mediated by a third party [in a similar way] as took place between the Indonesian government and the GAM (Free Aceh Movement) on August 15, 2005,” said Pastor Giay.

Deputy Presidential Chief of Staff Jaleswari Pramodhawardani has reportedly said that the government was managing the security situation in Papua and West Papua provinces in “accordance with the law”.

This was conveyed in response to a UN report in intimidation and violence against human rights activists in Papua, says CNN Indonesia.

ELSHAM Papua open letter
Open letter of protest from ELSHAM Papua. Image: Screenshot APR

Open letter of protest
On November 15, ELSHAM Papua sent an open letter to President Widodo protesting about the presence of non-organic troops in Papua and West Papua provinces. It says this has resulted in the deaths of many civilian victims as well as members of the TNI, Polri and the TPNPB, according to Suara Papua.

Each time an armed conflict happened, the first casualties were mothers and children — along with the elderly — who were forced to seek shelter and were suffering, ELSHAM said.

“What is happening at the moment, once again shows that the state has been negligent in protecting its citizens,” it said.

“It should be the responsibility of the state to protect its citizens as mandated by the preamble to the 1945 Constitution — that the state is obliged to protect everyone regardless of their birthplace in Indonesia.”

The open letter asked the government to withdraw all non-organic troops from Papua, for the TNI, Polri and TPNPB troops to restrain themselves, and for both warring parties to prioritise respect for human rights.

The letter also declared that security forces should not become the “accomplices of business interests and companies” in Indonesia — and instead be the protectors of ordinary people and “good” law enforcement officials.

The open letter was supported by 24 civil society organisations which work in human rights, justice and the environment.

Media conference by Catholic leaders in Papua
Media conference by Catholic leaders in Jayapura, Papua. Image: Suara Papua

Catholic leaders protest
On November 11, some 194 Catholic leaders in Papua called for an end to Indonesian military operations.

Speaking on behalf of the priests, Father Alberto John Bunai said the government had been ecstatic over the success of the recent 20th National Games in Papua, but the people were “deeply saddened by the suffering of God’s communities” in Nduga, Intan Jaya, Puncak, Kiwirok and Maybrat.

“To solve the root of the problem, what is needed is dialogue and reconciliation in a dignified manner,” Father Bunai said at a “moral call” media conference in Waena, Jayapura.

It was the church’s duty to articulate the “cries of God’s communities” who had no voice, Father Bunai said.

“The government must halt the ongoing military operations which have resulted in the killing of civilians, violence and people being displaced in several parts of Papua.”

]]> https://asiapacificreport.nz/2021/12/01/pressure-mounts-on-jakarta-for-dialogue-not-brutal-war-on-papua/feed/ 1 Police arrest spectator at Papua Games for wearing Morning Star T-shirt https://asiapacificreport.nz/2021/10/07/police-arrest-spectator-at-papua-games-for-wearing-morning-star-t-shirt/ Wed, 06 Oct 2021 22:34:36 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=64388

By Maria Baru in Sorong, West Papua

Brother Frater Anton Syufi of the Papua’s Order of Saint Augustine (OSA) has been arrested by the Jayapura city district police for wearing a banned Morning Star (BK) independence flag T-shirt while watching a soccer match between Papua and East Nusa Tenggara at Indonesia’s National Games at Mandala Stadium.

This was conveyed by Frater Kristianus Sasior, also from the OSA, who assisted Brother Syufi at the Jayapura district police.

Syufi, who was arrested at 4 am last Sunday and detained until 7 pm, was finally released at 10 pm because police did not find any other issues to charge him with.

Morning Star flag
The Morning Star flag of West Papua … outlawed. Image: SIBC

“The police said he was detained because he wore a BK T-shirt. The police said that he was disturbing the Papua PON XX [20th National Games], said Brother Sasior.

“There is a prohibition on wearing things with the BK design. Brother Frater Anton did not [show] it intentionally because he was wearing two layers of clothing.

“When his favourite team won he jumped up and down and opened his outer shirt so police saw the costume underneath with the BK design.

“He was summoned and taken to Jayapura city district police. The police said they were still waiting for the head of the intelligence unit to arrive so we were [also] still waiting”, explained Sasior when contacted by Suara Papua by phone from Sorong.

A similar story was conveyed by Evenisus Kowawin who said that Syufi was detained for wearing the Morning Star T-shirt while watching the soccer match.

“Frater Anton was arrested because he wore a BK shirt. Police saw the shirt then dragged him out, interrogated him then took him to the district police. He’s currently still at the police [station],” explained Kowawin.

Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. Slightly abridged due to repetition. The original title of the article was “Pakai Baju Bintang Kejora Nonton Pertandingan PON, Seorang Frater Ditahan Polisi di Jayapura”.

]]> Papua region hosts Indonesia’s national games amid rise in independence struggle https://asiapacificreport.nz/2021/10/04/papua-region-hosts-indonesias-national-games-amid-rise-in-independence-struggle/ Sun, 03 Oct 2021 23:50:50 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=64271 By Victor Mambor in Jayapura

A major national sports event opened in Papua at the weekend, with officials hoping it will showcase the Indonesian government’s commitment to developing the province and reassure the public that the region is safe despite an active and escalating pro-independence insurgency.

The National Games, an event held once every four years, were scheduled to take place last year but were postponed because of the covid-19 pandemic.

The games opened on Saturday and run until October 15 in Jayapura, the provincial capital, and three regencies.

Billy Mambrasar, a Papua-born adviser to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, said the government hoped the games would help boost the economy of the deeply impoverished region.

“The National Games in Papua, as Pak Jokowi hopes, will be successful not only in terms of sporting events and organisation, but also in creating a multiplier effect,” he told reporters.

Mambrasar said he had travelled across Papua to ensure that Papuan small businesses were involved in organising the games.

Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali said the people of Papua were already benefitting economically from the games.

‘Economic impact’
“It has brought an economic impact on the communities,” Zainudin said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website.

“People sell T-shirts and souvenirs. Moreover, the situation here is under control.”

Papua won the right to host the games in 2014, outbidding Bali and Aceh provinces. A total of 7039 athletes and officials have descended on Papua for the country’s biggest sporting event, in which competitors are competing for medals in 56 sports.

The games are being held at venues in Jayapura City and three regencies – Jayapura, Merauke and Mimika. Some events, including esports, began last week.

The director of the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) expressed optimism that the games would proceed without incident, saying the insurgency was “hundreds of kilometers away”.

“The military and police have taken necessary security precautions, so we are optimistic that all events will go well,” Boy Rafli Amar said in a video interview with detik.com.

More than 21,000 police and soldiers had been “deployed to prevent any security and public order disturbances,” national police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo said.

‘Safe and smooth’ hope
“What we hope is that the games will run safely and smoothly, while covid-19 remains under control,” Listyo told reporters after visiting sport venues in Papua on Thursday.

The areas where the games are being held are generally peaceful. But violence linked to the insurgency has broken out in other parts of the region that comprises Papua and West Papua provinces, and which makes up the western half of New Guinea Island.

In September, suspected rebels set fire to public buildings, including a health clinic and an elementary school in Kiwirok district, after security forces killed an insurgent during a gunfight, police said.

A 22-year-old nurse died after falling into a ravine while trying to flee the scene of the attack. One of her colleagues survived after being stabbed.

A policeman and a soldier were also killed in clashes with rebels.

The insurgency has simmered for decades in the Papua region, but violence has intensified in the past three years.

In April, the government designated pro-independence rebels as “terrorists” after insurgents ambushed and assassinated an army general who headed the regional branch of the National Intelligence Agency. The killing prompted Jokowi to order a crackdown.

Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who will officially inaugurate the National Games, buys Nokens – traditional Papuan bags – from a craftswoman in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia, Oct. 1, 2021. [Courtesy President Joko Widodo’s official Facebook account]

Lukas Enembe Stadium
The Lukas Enembe Stadium – named after the governor of Papua province – and the Papuan National Games complex in Jayapura. Image: Tribun News

Some local businesses unhappy
Jayapura Regent Mathius Awoitauw said the games could be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“The National Games are a matter of pride for Papuans, because it is extraordinary to have been entrusted to host it,” he said.

But some local businesses, including members of the Chamber of Papuan Indigenous Entrepreneurs (KAPP) and the Papuan Coffee Community, said they had been left out.

“We have had several meetings with the games’ organisers but there has been no progress,” Meky Wetipo, KAPP’s executive director, told BenarNews.

“We hope that they can entrust us with providing 3 tonnes of skipjack tuna, several tonnes of carrots, and fruit. But all these things are being done by government agencies.”

Denny Yigibalom, a coffee farmer and owner of the TIYOM coffee brand, said he had met with local lawmakers to discuss cooperation between coffee farmers and the games’ organisers, but there had been no further communication.

Makers of noken, traditional Papuan bags, said they were disappointed not to have been enlisted to provide souvenirs for the games, said Cintya Warwe, the manager of the Papua Women’s Market.

Noken purchase promise
“During a meeting at the end of August with the women of the Meepago noken community, the women complained because the organisers had promised to buy 5000 nokens. But this has not happened,” Cintya told BenarNews.

She said she heard news that the games’ committee wanted to buy 25,000 fake nokens from outside Papua to be used as mementoes.

However, some indigenous small businesses are taking part in the events by setting up tents to sell handicrafts outside the new Lukas Enembe Stadium, which cost nearly $1 million to build and is named after the serving governor of Papua.

Individual residents have also been allowed to set up stalls outside the stadium and sell handicrafts and betel or areca nuts, which are traditionally consumed raw by Papuans and people in neighboring Papua New Guinea.

In Merauke, women from the Marind tribe are selling handicrafts, including bags, hats, wallets, bracelets, necklaces, and bows along the city streets.

“Sales are worth up to 3 million rupiah (U.S. $210) a day. Bags, wallets and hats are the most popular. Most of the buyers are contingents from outside Papua,” said Maria D. Keimawu, leader of a small businesses association.

Covid-19 concerns
The provincial government, meanwhile, has taken measures to prevent the spread of covid-19 during the games, including by ramping up vaccinations and limiting the number of people who can enter the main stadium to fewer than 10,000, officials said.

“Gatherings of large numbers of people, even with strict health protocols, should be cause for concern,” said Masdalina Pane, a member of the Indonesian Association of Epidemiologists.

She said cases spiked after the recently completed Tokyo Olympics and the European football championship.

Yunus Wonda, the games’ chief organiser, said more than 50 percent of people in the areas that host the games had received at least on dose of a vaccine.

“We will make sure that everyone entering the venue have been vaccinated, that’s the main requirement,” he said, referring to the opening ceremony at the Lukas Enembe Stadium.

Victor Mambor is editor of Tabloid Jubi and a contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

]]> Detained West Papuan activist at risk of ‘dying in jail’, UN expert warns https://asiapacificreport.nz/2021/09/22/detained-west-papuan-activist-at-risk-of-dying-in-jail-un-expert-warns/ Wed, 22 Sep 2021 01:27:32 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=63874 Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

A United Nations expert has urged Indonesia to provide proper medical care to a Papuan independence activist to “keep him from dying in prison”, after reports emerged that his health had deteriorated, reports The Jakarta Post.

Victor Yeimo, 39, the international spokesman for the West Papua National Committee, was arrested in Jayapura in May.

He has been charged with treason and inciting violence and social unrest in relation to the pro-independence protests that swept the region for several weeks in 2019. Yeimo has denied the charges.

His trial went ahead in August despite repeated requests from his lawyer for a delay on medical grounds.

“I’ve seen it before: States deny medical care to ailing, imprisoned human rights defenders, which results in serious illness or death,” said Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

“Indonesia must take urgent steps to ensure the fate does not await Mr. Yeimo.”

Political trial adjourned
The human rights watchdog TAPOL reports that Yeimo’s political trial was adjourned by the District Court of Jayapura on 31 August 2021 until he was declared physically fit by the hospital.

On the same day, the court also dismissed his pretrial motion, challenging his arrest and detention for violating criminal procedural law, on the grounds that the main trial had begun.

Victor Yeimo was finally hospitalised on August 30 despite the court having issued an order to hospitalise him since the evening of August 27.

The prosecutors defied the court’s order, which caused uproar among the public.

Papuan leader Victor Yeimo
Accused Papuan activist Victor Yeimo … his health has been a concern since the beginning of his detention in May 2021. Image: Foreign Correspondent

Dozens of people protested in front of the prosecutors’ office and their residence on August 28.

Hundreds of people protested again at the prosecutors’ office on August 30 before the prosecutors finally honoured the court order and took Yeimo to hospital.

Victor Yeimo’s health has been a concern since the beginning of his detention in May 2021.

Health deteriorated
His health deteriorated as he was placed in isolation and did not receive proper food or any medication.

Yeimo’s lawyers repeatedly asked that he be treated but were denied the request by the authorities. He was afforded only perfunctory medical tests on August 10 and 20.

During his first and second hearings, he told the court that he had never been told the results of these tests and had never been given any medicines or prescriptions.

He pleaded for help to the judges.

The prosecutors, having withheld the medical results stating that Victor Yeimo must be hospitalised, finally shared the medical results dated August 20 with Victor Yeimo’s lawyers on August 26.

On the same day, the court issued an order for Victor Yeimo to be treated at the hospital from 9 am to 6 pm the following day.

The prosecutors only appeared to take him to the hospital at 4 pm. At the hospital, Victor Yeimo pleaded to stay, but was dragged out by armed police despite still being on a drip.

At 11 pm, the court issued an order for Yeimo to be hospitalised.

Crackdown on peaceful protests
Peaceful protests demanding Victor Yeimo be released in seven cities across Indonesia during the period of 15 to 30 August 2021 were subjected to excessive use of force resulting in the death of protestor Ferianus Asso in Yahukimo, 104 arrests, and 40 people who were known to have been injured.

Those arrested have all been released. Internet freedom watchdogs found that the internet in Jayapura was shut down for three hours at around the time of Victor Yeimo’s trial.

Following TAPOL’s submission a week after Victor Yeimo’s arrest, the United Nations  Special Rapporteurs questioned the Indonesian government on the matter on June 30. The document was made public on August 31.

“We regret the government of Indonesia’s response which has distorted the facts. UN Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights Defenders, the Right to Freedom of Assembly, the Right to Health, and Anti-Racism yesterday have issued a press release calling for Indonesia to provide Victor Yeimo with ‘the basic care he so desperately needs’, said TAPOL.

“The UN experts also concluded that his prison conditions may have amounted to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”

Given the gravity of the situation and the treason charges that Yeimo is facing, TAPOL said it would provide a summary of each of his trial sessions so that they could be properly and transparently monitored.

“We would encourage international organisations and interested experts to actively monitor his trial once it has been resumed,” TAPOL said.

]]> Medical treatment for Victor Yeimo after police break up Papua protest https://asiapacificreport.nz/2021/09/03/medical-treatment-for-victor-yeimo-after-police-break-up-papua-protest/ Thu, 02 Sep 2021 22:07:43 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=62931 By Hengky Yeimo in Jayapura

Papuan activist Victor Yeimo has been receiving medical treatment in hospital following a police crackdown on a protest in the provincial capital Jayapura demanding that he be released from detention to be treated for illness.

Hundreds of protesters had gathered at the Papua chief public prosecutor’s office on Monday to demand that West Papua National Committee (KNPB) spokesperson Yeimo be released from detention to be given hospital treatment.

Yeimo’s detention was finally deferred on Monday afternoon and he was taken to Jayapura public hospital for treatment.

The protesters arrived from the direction of Abepura, Jayapura city. They arrived at the chief public prosecutor’s office and began giving speeches on the street leading into the office.

In speeches, the demonstrators demanded that chief public prosecutor Nikolaus Kondomo immediately defer Yeimo’s detention.

Yeimo is currently being tried at the Jayapura District Court in a criminal case related to anti-racist demonstrations in Papua in 2019.

On Friday, August 27, the panel of judges, presided over by Eddy Soeprayitno S Putra, with judges Mathius and Andi Asmuruf, ruled that Yeimo’s detention be deferred and that he receive medical treatment because he was ill.

Demand for treatment
The rally at the prosecutor’s office on Monday was because Yeimo had still not been released from detention. They demanded that the prosecutor release Yeimo immediately and allow him to be treated.

The police had already closed the main gate to the office and prohibited the protests from entering the grounds. About 1 pm police forcibly broke up the rally which was coordinated by the KNPB.

A number of protesters were injured, including Gad Holanue, Varra iyaba, Hengki Giban, Leti Soll, Egenius Tebay and Jufri Dogomo. Three protesters — Soleng Soll, Beni Orsa and Bayage — were arrested by police.

Papua Regional House of Representatives (DPRP) member John NR Gobai said he deplored the police actions. Gobai, along with DPRP member Laurenzus Kadepa, had been accepted by the court as guarantors for Yeimo to be released and treated in hospital.

“I was blocked by police, then I was pulled away by the demonstrators. I wasn’t able to get in and convey my wishes,” Gobai said.

A Regional Representatives Council (DPD) member from Papua, Herlina Murib, was also barred from entering the office.

“We hope that the police will not repeat this inhuman attitude which was shown by blocking us and removing people who wanted to convey their aspirations. This violates the law”, Murib said.

Second demonstration
The demonstration at the prosecutor’s office on Monday was the second one held by activists demanding that Yeimo be allowed to receive hospital treatment.

Protesters had also gathered at the prosecutor’s office on Saturday, August 28, because the prosecutor was seen as ignoring the court’s ruling that Yeimo receive treatment.

Because the prosecutor’s office was empty on Saturday, the protesters went to the prosecutor’s private residence where they again called on Kondomo to immediately postpone Yeimo’s detention.

However, Kondomo refused the request, saying Yeimo could only be released on Tuesday, August 31.

About 3.20pm on Monday, Yeimo was finally allowed to leave the Papua regional Mobile Brigade command headquarters detention centre and was taken to Jayapura public hospital. The ambulance transporting Yeimo was escorted by two police patrol cars and three black minivans.

Around 20 police officers escorted Yeimo to the hospital. Public prosecutors Adrianus Tomana and Valerianus Dedi Sawaki were also present at the hospital.

Advocate and lawyers
Yeimo was accompanied to the hospital by advocate Emanuel Gobay and a number of other lawyers, Laurenzus Kadepa and John NR Gobai along with Yeimo’s wife and mother.

Speaking to Tabloid JUBI at Jayapura hospital, Tomana said the medical examination was in accordance with the court’s ruling. Tomana stated that how long Yeimo’s detention will be deferred would depend on the examination and the doctor’s diagnosis.

“How long the deferment will be depends on the results of the doctor’s examination. If the doctor declares that he is well, then we will revoke the deferment, and Yeimo will be returned to his detention cell,” he said.

Translated by James Balowski for Indoleft News. The original title of the article was “Minta Victor Yeimo dikeluarkan dari tahanan, massa di Kejati Papua dibubarkan polisi”.

]]> Protest call at prosecutor’s home to demand hospital care for Yeimo https://asiapacificreport.nz/2021/08/30/protest-call-at-prosecutors-home-to-demand-hospital-care-for-yeimo/ Mon, 30 Aug 2021 11:16:12 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=62729 By Dwi Bowo Raharjo and Ria Rizki Nirmala Sari in Jayapura

West Papua National Committee (KNPB) diplomacy commission head Kobabe Wanimbo has appealed to the Papuan people to picket the private residence of the chief public prosecutor in the controversial treason trial of an activist who is seriously ill.

The appeal was made to support a demand that KNPB international spokesperson Victor Yeimo be transferred from the Mobile Brigade command headquarters (Mako Brimob) detention centre to a hospital because his health has further deteriorated.

Yeimo was arrested by security forces because of his alleged link to riots in Papua in 2019.

Since he has been detained, however, his state of health has become critical.

“[His illness] is because of a consequence of his lungs and a chronic [ailment]. Moreover, the doctor has advised that Victor Yeimo must be treated in hospital,” said Wanimbo in a media release received by Suara.com at the weekend.

Although his state of health has worsened, the prosecutor handling his case is said not to care.

Yeimo was forcibly taken back to the Papua regional police Mako Brimob detention centre after earlier being treated at the Jayapura public hospital in defiance of a court ruling.

Hospital treatment ruling
The court ruling on August 26 in Yeimo’s case instructed the prosecutor to postpone Yeimo’s detention and prosecution so that he could be treated at a public hospital in Jayapura.

Moreover, the chief public prosecutor was also ordered to place Yeimo in detention only after his health had improved.

KNPB members and other activists went to the chief public prosecutor’s private residence in the Doc 2 area of Jayapura city to demand that permission be immediately granted for Yeimo to receive medical treatment.

The KNPB also appealed to all Papuan people to gather at the prosecutor’s residence to support the demand.

“We will remain here making this demand of the prosecutor — immediately transfer Victor Yeimo to hospital to obtain treatment for him,” said Wanimbo.

Translated by James Balowski for Indoleft News. The original title of the article was “KNPB Datangi Rumah Kepala Kejati Papua, Tuntut Izinkan Victor Yeimo Dibawa ke RS”.

]]> Open letter from Papua: Indonesian state creates stalemate of injustice https://asiapacificreport.nz/2021/08/17/open-letter-from-papua-indonesian-state-creates-stalemate-of-injustice/ Tue, 17 Aug 2021 05:40:35 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=62052 OPEN LETTER: By Pastor Dr Socratez S. Yoman

The reality is that we now live under an Indonesian ruler who is anti-democratic, anti-justice, anti-freedom, anti-peace, anti-equality and anti-humanity. This is the real reflection of the face of the colonial rulers of Indonesia.

The Indonesian rulers have lost their conscience, common sense, and have no creativity or innovation because it is has now been proven that the approach of using violence through the state apparatus is their way to solve the problems of injustice and crimes against humanity in Papua.

The state itself has created a stalemate and is now creating new problems that are increasingly complicated and spiralling out of control.

The incident which took place on August 16, 2021, when Rev Dr Benny Giay, chair of the Kingmi Synod in Papua and also moderator of the West Papua Council of Churches (WPCC) was refused entry to the Papuan People’s Representative building is a very embarrassing incident for the Indonesian police.

Is this the face of the Indonesian police — they blockaded a church leader who wanted to pray at the office of the Papuan People’s Representatives and also the blockaded a peaceful demonstration of the Papuan people?

The breaking up of the West Papuan National Committee (KNPB) demonstration to demand the release of Victor Yeimo in Jayapura and in Yahukimo on August 16, 2021, which reportedly killed one person, shows that the police are not only unprofessional and uneducated, but that they are also violent and criminal.

This kind of cruelty and violence by the security forces has led to an increase in the Papuan people’s distrust of Indonesia.

I strongly condemn the security forces in Yahukimo who killed one person in Yahukimo and wounded the chairman of KNPB, Agus Kossay, and several KNPB members in Jayapura.

Ita Wakhu Purom, Monday, August 16, 2021. Reverend Dr Socratez S.Yoman, MA, is president of the Alliance of West Papuan Baptist Churches.

]]> Lawyer Veronica Koman joins calls to free Papuan activist Victor Yeimo https://asiapacificreport.nz/2021/08/11/lawyer-veronica-koman-joins-calls-to-free-papuan-activist-victor-yeimo/ Tue, 10 Aug 2021 12:34:03 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=61720 Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

Lawyer and human rights activist Veronica Koman has spoken out about the worsening health of Papuan activist Victor Yeimo who has been detained at the Mobile Brigade command headquarters detention centre (Rutan Mako Brimob) for the last three months, reports Suara Papua.

“Victor Yeimo will not be safe if he remains behind [the bars] of a colonial prison. Colonialism will continue to demand political sacrifices,” wrote Koman on her Facebook on Monday.

Koman said that Yeimo’s imprisonment is part of the colonisation of the Papuan people’s dignity which had been going on for decades.

“The imprisonment of Victor is a problem of trampling on the West Papuan people’s dignity: The West Papuan people aren’t allowed to fight racism, the West Papuan people aren’t allowed to speak about self-determination — even in a peaceful manner,” she wrote.

Koman believes that moving Yeimo, who is in a weak condition, to Abepura prison is the same as moving him from one “tiger’s den” to another.

“The Abepura prison is over-capacity, so it’s a nest of covid-19. Because of this, [we must] unite in the demand: Release Victor Yeimo right now!” said Koman.

Yeimo, who is the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) international spokesperson and spokesperson for the Papua People’s Petition (PRP), was arrested by police in the Tanah Hitam area of Abepura in Jayapura city on May 9.

He was detained at the Papua regional police headquarters before being transferred to the Brimob detention centre.

Since his arrest there have been ongoing calls for his release from the charges against him. The charges and lack of access to lawyers and family are considered not to be in accordance with the law.

Because of this, the government of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is being urged to immediately release Yeimo along with all Papuan students and people from prisons in Indonesia.

“Victor Yeimo is not the perpetrator of racism. He is in fact a victim of racism. He was not involved in the [August-September 2019] riots in Jayapura city.

“Why after three months is he still being held at the Papua Brimob? His health is deteriorating. We are asking that he be released immediately from prison,” said Sam Gobay, who is on the management board of the Mee ethnic group traditional council in Mimika regency.

From information received by Gobay, Yeimo’s health had deteriorated drastically.

“There is no access to healthcare for Victor Yeimo. He’s ill, he’s not being allowed treatment. He also isn’t being given food. All access is restricted.

“What is the plan for Victor Yeimo? We’re asking for Victor’s immediate release”, he said.

The arrest of detention of Yeimo is seen as part of curbing democratic space and even an effort to criminalise Papuan activists.

“What kind of legal basis is there for the state to discriminate against Victor Yeimo. He is not a perpetrator of racism, let alone labeling him as committing makar [treason, rebellion, sedition].

“Everyone knows that Victor Yeimo was not involved in the demonstrations which ended in riots in Jayapura city,” said Gobay.

“The Papuan people are urging Bapak [Mr] Jokowi to immediately urge the Indonesian police chief and the Papuan regional police chief to release Victor Yeimo from the Brimob detention centre,” said Gobay.

A similar statement was made by KNPB general chairperson Agus Kossay in a press release on Monday.

The KNPB is urging the Papuan regional police and the Papua chief public prosecutor to immediately release Yeimo. According to Kossay, Yeimo had been detained without legal basis and his health continued to deteriorate.

“For the sake of humanity and the authority of the Indonesian state, immediately release Victor Yeimo and all Papuan independence activists who have been arrested without [legal] grounds, evidence or witnesses. The Papuan people are not the perpetrators of racism,” said Kossay.

KNPB spokesperson Ones Suhuniap, meanwhile, said that if Yeimo was not released then the KNPB would call on all Papuan people and all KNPB activists to get themselves arrested by police.

He also believes that the Papua regional police and the prosecutor’s office have violated Indonesian law.

“Victor Yeimo must be released for the sake of the law because based on the KUHP [Criminal Code] the 60 day period of detention has already passed, but the addition of 30 more days detention for Victor Yeimo violates the law itself,” said Suhuniap.

Earlier, Yeimo’s lawyer Emanuel Gobay, who is from the Papua Law Enforcement and Human Rights Coalition (KPHHP), urged the Papuan and Jayapura chief prosecutors to respond to their call to transfer Yeimo from the Brimob detention centre to Abepura prison.

This call, according to Gobay, is based on the fact that Yeimo had been incarcerated at the Brimob detention centre since May 10 and his rights as a suspect had not been met.

“When the prosecutor questioned Victor Yeimo in relation to matters that he wished to convey, Victor asked to be transferred from the Rutan Mako Brimob to the Abepura prison in consideration of meeting his rights as a suspect.

“Victor argued that since the start of his detention at the Papua regional police Mako Brimob he has been neglected because of the Mako Brimob’s standard operating procedures. Also because of his psychological condition as a result of being left alone in a stuffy cell which could endanger his health,” explained Gobay.

Unfortunately, said the director of the Papua Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), the prosecutor failed to respond professionally to Yeimo’s request.

“The Papua chief public prosecutor [must] immediately instruct the Papua chief public prosecutor supervising prosecutor acting as the Jayapura chief public prosecutor supervising prosecutor to examine the prosecutor who received the dossier of the suspect in the name of Victor F Yeimo which was not conducted in accordance with the instructions of Article 8 Paragraph (3) b of Law Number 8/1981,” he said.

Also, the head of the Papua representative office of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia has been asked to supervise the Jayapura district attorney’s office in its implementation of Yeimo’s rights as a suspect which is guaranteed under Law Number 8/1981.

This call was made after the Papua regional police investigators handed Yeimo’s dossier over to the Jayapura district attorney’s office on August 6.

Translated by James Balowski for IndoLeft News. Abridged slightly due to repetition and for clarity. The original title of the article was “Ini Pendapat Veronica Koman Terhadap Kondisi Victor Yeimo”.

]]> A belated Papua Christmas morning story from Nduga’s internal refugees https://asiapacificreport.nz/2021/01/02/a-belated-papua-christmas-morning-story-from-ndugas-internal-refugees/ Fri, 01 Jan 2021 18:43:16 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=53437 By Benny Mawel in Jayapura

“Merry Christmas, 25 December 2020,” says the graffiti displayed in the yard of the Nduga student dormitory in the study city of Jayapura.

Hundreds of eyes stared at the writing, then they moved forward lighting Christmas candles.

“We want Christmas light,” said Arim Tabuni, a senior student who attended the joint event.

Arim is one of Nduga’s students. He looked thin, like never before. Now he walks slowly and bent a little.

“I was sick but came to light a candle. We want to continue to ignite the light of truth in our hearts,” he said softly, with a slight frown.

He is still sick from the beatings of Indonesian security forces when he broke up a peaceful student demonstration in Jayapura city. The assault was inflicted on him on 2 May 2016.

Beside him, Bheny Murib sat down, occasionally staring at the theme. He ignored his turn to light the candle. He just sat there until the event was over.

Stories of refugees
Apparently, Murib was mumbling stories of refugees in Nduga. He has lost the momentum of the joys of Christmas since 2018. Parents, younger siblings, and brothers left their house to the forest to neighbouring districts such as Lanny Jaya, Puncak, Asmat, Yahukimo and Jayawijaya (Wamena).

He remembered house, honai (traditional house of indigenous West Papuans), the church is quiet. There is no puff of burning smoke celebrating Christmas together in the church yard.

Nduga students from various study cities cannot go home on holiday like before.

“We wanted to celebrate Christmas with our parents at home, but these two years have all disappeared,” said Murib.

To remember that, Nduga students in Jayapura celebrate Christmas in the dormitory yard.

“Usually there is a large dormitory hall but today it is on this courtyard,” he said, looking at the baby Jesus Christmas manger lying down.

it reminded him of the birth of children in Nduga. Mothers were forced to give birth in forests and caves.

Birth in the forest
Gelina Lilbid is one of the names of the women she remembers giving birth in the forest.

Lilbid is the wife of an uncle. Gelina gave birth on her way to flee from Yigi, Nduga, to Kyawagi, Lanny Jaya and on to Wamena.

Murib told the story of the birth of a child who was named Pengungsiana Kelenea.

According to the story of Gelina Lilbid: “I gave birth to a child in the middle of the forest on 4 December 2018.

“A lot of people thought my son was dead. It turned out that my child was still breathing.

“My child is sick, has difficulty breathing and has a cough with phlegm. It was very cold in the forest, so when we walked again, I felt that my baby had not moved.

“We thought he was dead. The family had given up. A family asked me to throw my child away because it was thought he was dead.

“But I still love and carry my child. Yes, if you really die, I have to bury my child properly even in the forest.

“Because I kept carrying my baby, my brother made a fire and heated the tree leaves, and the heated leaves he stuck them all over my baby’s body.

“After the brothers put the heated leaves on the fire, my baby breathed and drank breast milk. We went on a trip.

“We were very scared because the TNI continued to shoot at our hiding place. We continued to walk in the forest, and we searched for a cave that we could hide in.

“I was carrying my child having just arrived from Kuyawagi, Lanny Jaya Regency in Wamena. We have been in Kuyawagi since the beginning of December 2018.

“Before going to Kuyawagi, we lived in the forest without eating enough food. We are very hard and suffering on our own land,” said Murib recounting Gelina Lilbid’s story.

Refugee babies fleeing
Refugee babies have fled with their parents, now in Jayawijaya (Wamena) district, since 2018. Refugees are now two years old in December 2020.

There were two other children who were born on the way to the evacuation. Their names are Wene Kelenea and Larinus Kelenea.

Wene is a word in the language of the Lani tribe, Yali and Huwula which means story, news, problems, confrontations, conflicts with one another.

If the names are sorted into Wene, Larinus, Refugees. Because of the confrontation and conflict, they had to flee.

He said his family were in refugee camps, children had to be born on the evacuation trip. It just passed. Everyone looks silent, takes it for granted, as if there is no conflict.

“When will the Indonesian government, churches and the United Nations pay attention to our human rights,” he said.

“If they cannot respect human rights, cannot take care of the fate of the Nduga people, all parties must admit that the Nduga people want to take care of themselves.”

“Stop military operations in the Nduga region and give the West Papuan nation sovereign rights,” wrote the Nduga students, among the flickering candles on their dormitory grounds.

This article was translated by a Pacific Media Watch correspondent from the original report.

]]> TNI accused of attacking, arresting Papuans after traffic row – girl dead https://asiapacificreport.nz/2020/11/08/tni-accused-of-attacking-arresting-papuans-after-traffic-row-one-dead/ Sat, 07 Nov 2020 18:59:31 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=52184 By Alya Nurbaiti in Jakarta and Benny Mawel in Jayapura

Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers reportedly attacked and arrested civilians at a dormitory and nearby houses in Jayapura after a traffic accident and a quarrel between two dorm inhabitants and a soldier.

Human Rights Lawyers Association for Papua (PAHAM Papua) director Gustav Kawer said the TNI personnel’s action was a crime and a violation of human rights because it was committed outside TNI jurisdiction to arrest people and beat people.

Cenderawasih Military Command spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Reza Nur Patria confirmed both the traffic accident and the raid but did not confirm the attack.

“During the quarrel, a member of [Infantry Battalion 751] was assaulted. The soldiers then searched the people who were responsible for the assault and detained five people for questioning,” he said.

Colonel Patria added that, following the internal probe at Army Infantry Battalion (Yonif) 751 headquarters, the five people were sent to Jayapura Police for further investigation.

“The soldier who was a victim of beatings has also reported to the police,” he said.

“If any [TNI] member is proven to have violated the law, he will be sanctioned in accordance with the law,” said the colonel.

On Wednesday night, a soldier on a motorbike allegedly hit another motorbike, on which Meky Suhuniap and Olun Yoal, both Soloitma dorm inhabitants, were riding in Sentani, near the dorm.

The three got into an argument before other residents in the location hit the soldier and seized his motorcycle as a guarantee so that the soldier would pay for the damage.

According to PAHAM Papua, at 11 pm more than 50 members of Yonif 751 in Sentani raided the Soloitma dorm, bringing weapons such as bayonets and swords. The soldiers allegedly hit residents, destroyed doors and took residents’ motorcycles.

Teenaged girl kicked, died
One of the residents, 18-year-old Demisian Kobak, was reportedly kicked, even though she had said she was not involved in the quarrel and had told the soldiers she was sick. She was then taken to the hospital for treatment but died the next morning.

“A girl [Demisian] was lying sick in her bed when the soldiers kicked her. She died on Thursday,” PAHAM Papua director Kawer told The Jakarta Post.

Moreover, the Yonif 751 Sentani members also allegedly attacked eight other people during the raid – Edi Kobak, Nation Suhuniap, Nus Suhuniap, Simson Suhuniap, Mince Kobak, Laura Yoal, Pinet Bahabol and 2-year-old Yotam Kobak.

The soldiers then took six of them to the headquarters for investigation, PAHAM Papua stated.

“Edi Kobak was kicked, hit in the face and struck on the head with a gun’s muzzle. Penet Bahabol received the same treatment while his hands were tied. As a result, both Edi and Penet sustained bruises to their bodies and faces and were bleeding at the head,” PAHAM Papua lawyer Yohanes Mambrasar said.

After a few hours, the soldiers transferred the six Papuans to the Jayapura Police. At 2 am Thursday, police sent them home.

Kawer of PAHAM said the soldiers had allegedly violated Article 351 of the Criminal Code on maltreatment or physical abuse and Article 38 of TNI Law No. 34 2004 on the soldier?s code of conduct.

PAHAM Papua called on the Jayapura Police to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators and demanded that the TNI hold civil court cases and dismiss the TNI members that committed the alleged crimes.

Alya Nurbaiti and Benny Mawel are reporters for The Jakarta Post.

]]> Papua governor takes birds-of-paradise off the market https://asiapacificreport.nz/2017/06/28/papua-governor-takes-birds-of-paradise-off-the-market/ Tue, 27 Jun 2017 12:12:30 +0000 https://asiapacificreport.nz/?p=22791 By Asrida Elisabeth and adapted by Basten Gokkon 

In an attempt to conserve the birds-of-paradise for which the region is famous, Papua Governor Lukas Enembe has banned the use of their body parts in anything other than traditional ceremonies.

Hunting has helped push some paradise birds — members of the family Paradisaeidae — to the brink of extinction.

Historically, indigenous groups on Indonesia’s half of New Guinea island — composed of the Papuan and West Papua provinces — have used the birds’ colourful feathers in their rituals and traditional dress.

Meanwhile, others turn their parts into souvenirs, sold to tourists or handed out by local officials at events.

Last November, a university student in Papua sparked an outcry after she posted pictures of herself holding a dead bird-of-paradise, known locally as cendrawasih, and a hunting rifle.

Governor Enembe enshrined the ban in a circular letter, a mechanism typically used to support existing laws.

The provincial administration plans to issue a regulation specifying the consequences for violating the ban, according to Papua Regional Secretary Hery Dosinaen.

Raids on stores
Until then, the government will use the circular to raid stores selling products made from real bird-of-paradise parts.

In addition to raising awareness about the animal’s protected status, the policy is expected to give Papua’s creative industries a nudge by turning craftspeople onto artificial bird parts.

Alex Waisimon, who runs birdwatching tours out of Jayapura, the provincial capital, welcomed the ban: “Cendrawasih is a bird from paradise that God created for us to protect together.”

But he recognised a greater threat than hunting — the destruction of the birds’ forest habitat.

Indonesia’s rapid deforestation has long been concentrated on Sumatra and Borneo islands in the archipelago country’s west. But forest loss in the Papua region is on the rise.

Korean-Indonesian conglomerate Korindo is one firm expanding there. The oil palm planter was recently the subject of a NGO report that said it was responsible for 30,000 hectares of deforestation and nearly 900 fire hotspots since 2013.

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has said it is investigating the company.

Republished from Mongabay with permission under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence.

  • WWF calls for conservation
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