The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) plans to open a government branch office in the neighbouring Papua New Guinean capital of Port Moresby along with diplomacy offices to be based in Europe and the United Kingdom.

In a New Year message from interim president Benny Wenda, he has confirmed a strategic office reshuffle around the world.

“The headquarters will be based inside West Papua, and the international office in Port Vila,” he said in the statement.

• READ MORE: Other West Papua reports

“We are opening a government branch in Port Moresby, and our diplomatic coordination offices will be based in the UK and Europe.

“This is another step in our long road to reclaiming the sovereignty stolen from us by Indonesia in 1963.

“With the formation of our constitution, provisional government, cabinet and Green State Vision, all Indonesian laws in West Papua are over.”

Wenda said the Indonesian presence was “totally illegal, and totally redundant”.

“With our clandestine government departments operating within our borders, all West Papuans and Indonesian migrants working under our jurisdiction are now governed by the ULMWP,” said Wenda.

Presidential demands
The West Papua military wing and any organisation affiliated to the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, the West Papua National Parliament, or the Federal Republic of West Papua — the three constituent organisations within the ULMWP — were automatically considered part of the provisional government.

“Everyone must respect our constitution, whether you are inside West Papua or part of our international solidarity networks. The world must trust us and our constitution — we want peace for all in the region and internationally, and to democratically govern ourselves,” Wenda said.

“I encourage all NGOs, churches and religious leaders, every West Papuan inside and in exile, to unite and pray for the provisional government. Support everyone within the government working to end our long suffering and complete our 60 year struggle.”

Wenda said the demands to the Indonesian President in 2022 remained those that had been first issued during the West Papua Uprising in 2019:

1. Hold a referendum on West Papuan independence;
2. Allow international supervision of any referendum;
3. Allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights into West Papua in accordance with the demand of 84 UN member states;
4. Withdraw all troops from West Papua, including the 21,000 additional troops deployed since December 2018, and end the Indonesian military’s illegal war;
5. Release all political prisoners, including Victor Yeimo and the “Abepura Eight”; and
6. Allow all international journalists and human rights, humanitarian and monitoring groups into West Papua to visit internally-displaced people in Nduga, Puncak, Intan Jaya, Oksibil, Maybrat and elsewhere.

“In 2022, we will redouble all efforts in our long struggle for the liberation of our nation,” Wenda said.

“We will peacefully bring an end to this bloodshed.”

Malang city district police chief (Kapolres) Senior Commissioner Leonardus Simarmata has been reported to the Indonesian police’s professionalism and security affairs division (Propam) over alleged racial slurs when securing an International Women’s Day (IWD) rally by Papuan students on March 8.

The report was registered by the Greater Jakarta Papua Student Alliance (AMP) in the name of Arman Asso at the national police headquarters Propam.

The report was registered as Number SPSP2/815/III/2021/Bagyanduan dated March 12, 2021.

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“Today we Papuan students officially reported Malang Kapolres Pak [Mr] Leonardus Simarmata for issuing an instruction and statement which was very racist and discriminatory against Papuan students in Malang city”, said AMP lawyer Michael Hilman at the Propam building in Jakarta yesterday.

Hilman explained that Simarmata made the racist remark during a protest action held by the Papuan Solidarity Movement with the People (Gempur) in the East Java city of Malang on March 8.

At the time, the protesters were taking up themes about women’s rights and opposing the extension of the Papua Special Autonomy Law (Otsus). The protest was later marred by a scuffle between students and police.

It was at that time that Simarmata is alleged to have made the racist statement which was seen as deeply offensive to the Papuan people.

“The racist remark deeply hurt our feelings as Papuans, where as a senior [official] who should promote human rights and provide proper security services for demonstrations he instead made a statement which was very, very racist,” said Hilman.

The racial remark or words expressed by Simarmata were, “Shoot, just shoot, [spilling] the blood of [Papuan] students is halal [permissible under Islam]. Shoot, just shoot”.

According to Hilman, the remark has inflamed Papuans in all corners of the county.

“We are concerned that this could spread like the 2019 incident in Surabaya. This is the same as what was done by police in Surabaya,” Hilman said.

“So we are concerned that it will go viral on every social media group and it has already gone super viral and had responses on WhatsApp groups, this has to be reported so it doesn’t spread in Papua.”

Note
The storming of a Papuan student dormitory in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya in September 2019, which was proceeded by racist slurs by ultra-nationalist groups and security personnel which went viral on social media, led to widespread and sometimes violent anti-racist protests across West Papua.

Translated by James Balowski of IndoLeft News. The original title of the article was “Kapolres Kota Malang Dilaporkan ke Propam Atas Dugaan Ujaran Rasial Terhadap Mahasiswa Papua”.

A court in East Kalimantan has found seven Papuans guilty of treason in separate trials for their involvement in antiracism protests in Jayapura, Papua, in 2019, despite calls from human rights defenders for authorities to drop all charges against them.

The Balikpapan District Court sentenced Buchtar Tabuni, an executive of pro-Papuan independence group United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), yesterday to 11 months of imprisonment.

Meanwhile, Cenderawasih University student union head Ferry Kombo, as well as Irwanus Uropmabin and Hengki Hilapok, both students of the University of Science and Technology (USTJ), were sentenced to 10 months in prison.

READ MORE: Indonesian court issues guilty verdicts in West Papua trial

The punishment handed down by the court was far from the demands of prosecutors, who sought 17 years of imprisonment for Buchtar, 10 years for Ferry and 5 years for both Irwanus and Hengki.

Two other defendants in the case, namely Agus Kossay and Stevanus Itlay from the National Committee of West Papua (KNPB), were sentenced to 11 months of imprisonment after prosecutors had demanded 15 years.

Meanwhile, USTJ student union head Alexander Gobai was sentenced to 10 months in prison. The prosecutors had sought 10 years of imprisonment for him.

“We are given a week to think about whether we will file an appeal or not. We will discuss further with the seven political prisoners and figure out if they can accept [the verdicts],” Emanuel Gobay, one of the defence lawyers, told The Jakarta Post.

West Papua Uprising
The seven students and activists were involved in Jayapura protests widely known as the Papua Uprising in August last year following a racially charged incident targeting Papuan university students living in a dormitory in Surabaya, East Java.

“Your Excellencies, it’s not that I am objecting the 11 months sentence, but my consience says that I am innocent,” said Buchtar Tabuni.

He was not involved on the West Papua Uprising last year at all due to different political opinion. pic.twitter.com/2n2EuxKoSo

— Veronica Koman (@VeronicaKoman) June 17, 2020

The students were physically and verbally attacked by security personnel and members of local mass organisations, who accused them of refusing to celebrate Indonesia’s 74th Independence Day.

Security personnel reportedly banged on the dormitory’s door while shouting insults like “monkeys”, “pigs” and “dogs”.

Jayapura, West Papua today (17/6/20) pic.twitter.com/BC82P3yp2F

— Veronica Koman (@VeronicaKoman) June 17, 2020

The protests in Jayapura started out peacefully but later turned violent, resulting in dozens of injuries and several buildings being damaged. The seven activists were arrested in Jayapura and were moved for trials in Balikpapan earlier this year for security reasons.

The trials have been met with an outcry from the public and from activists, with many demanding that authorities drop all charges, as they argued that the Papuans involved in the rallies had only been exercising their right to protest over racism against them.

Over the past three days prior to the verdicts scheduled for Wednesday, rallies carried out by students and young people demanding the defendants’ release took place in various cities across the country.

Human rights activists have lambasted the arrests and charges against the Papuans, saying that acts of treason and reactions against racism were two different things.

They also argued that perpetrators of racism against Papuans, including hoax spreaders and verbal attackers, had been charged with less than a year of imprisonment.

‘Racism under justice system’
“Despite the leniency, the verdicts still reflect racism under Indonesia’s justice system. No matter what happens, West Papuans ‘must’ be found guilty by Indonesian courts, especially in treason and incitement cases,” Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman said on her Twitter account.

Koman told the Post that, during the antiracism protests last year, 86 Papuans were arrested and charged with treason. Some were immediately released, leaving 56 to be processed legally.

Some of the 56 Papuans have been sentenced to prison and recently been released, including Surya Anta and Ariana Elopere, who were spotted among the crowd during Monday’s rally in front of the Supreme Court building in Central Jakarta.

“There was no political intervention, because those who are now released have fully served their sentences,” Koman said, adding that 23 of 36 Papuans still being detained would face their first hearing in Fakfak, West Papua, later this week.

Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said he deeply regretted the court rulings against the seven Papuans engaging in peaceful protests, arguing that such a decision showed that the state failed to uphold human rights for Papua.

“Although the verdicts were much lighter than the demand of prosecutors, the seven prisoners of conscience should not have been arrested, imprisoned and prosecuted from the start.

“They should be released will all charges dropped,” Usman said in a statement.

“In the era of president BJ Habibie, East Timorese political prisoners or prisoners of conscience were released. President Jokowi himself even freed five Papuan prisoners of conscience at the beginning of his first term,” he said.

On June 2, the Jayapura District Prosecutor’s Office issued 33 pages containing charges against the defendant Irwanus Uropmabin.

In the document, the Public Prosecutor concluded that Irwanus Uropmabin was proven to have violated Article 106 in conjunction with Article 55 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code, and stipulated a five-year prison sentence for the defendant.

READ MORE: Seven more people in Indonesia detained for ‘treason’

Irwanus is a student activist who was arrested on August 29, 2019, for participating in an anti-racism protest in West Papua in September last year.

In the demonstration, he was appointed as the security coordinator.

Papuans Behind Bars reported that Irwanus, along with six other political prisoners, were moved from Mako Brimob Jayapura to BalikPapan Class IIB East Kalimantan prison on October 4, 2019.

The transfer violated the Criminal Procedure Code.

Accused of ‘being the brains’
On the same day, the Public Prosecutor also read out charges against Buchtar Tabuni, a leader of “National Parliament of West Papua” accused of being the brains behind the Papua Uprising of 2019.

Despite maintaining his innocence of involvement in organising the Uprising, Tabuni has been charged with Articles 106, 110, and 160 of the Criminal Code, including treason charges.

The District Prosecutor’s office has demanded 17 years imprisonment for Buchtar Tabuni.

Tabuni is a prominent leader who has been repeatedly imprisoned for peaceful protests demanding independence for West Papua.

He has been repeatedly tortured by the Indonesian authorities during these imprisonments. This latest detention is his third.

“These sentences are excessive and at best an attempt to make examples out of West Papuan political activists who are simply trying to exercise their civil and political rights,” said TAPOL in a statement.

“These rights are protected by international principles as well as Indonesia’s national Constitution.

“West Papuans have been denouncing the injustice of these heavy sentences, as the racist perpetrators in Java who triggered the mass protests were either freed or only sentenced to 5, 7, and 10 months imprisonment.”

A panel of judges at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) has granted a lawsuit filed by civil society groups against the Indonesian government’s decision to impose an internet blackout during weeks of protests in Papua and West Papua provinces last year, declaring that such a move violated the law.

The petitioners – the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet) and the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), among other groups – filed a lawsuit against President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the Communications and Information Ministry in January.

They said the blackout, which officials argued was put in place to prevent fake news from spreading, was flawed in authority, substance and procedure.

READ MORE: Blackout lacks ‘substance, procedures’: Jokowi sued over govt-imposed internet ban in Papua

“The court declares [the internet blackout] was a violation of the law by government bodies or officials,” the presiding judge said reading the verdict during the hearing yesterday, as reported by YLBHI activist M Isnur through his Twitter account, @madisnur.

The judges argued the government had imposed the internet blackout without the prior declaration of a state of emergency; therefore, violating the 1959 State of Emergency Law.

The bench said the government failed to prove during the trial that Indonesia was in a state of emergency that required authorities to shut down the internet.

Judges also said any decision that limited people’s right to information should be made in accordance with the law and not merely based on the government’s discretion.

Use Criminal Code for fake news, says bench
The government initially claimed that its move to shut down internet access across Papua was in line with the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law. However, judges said the law could only be enforced to block access to electronic information and documents violating the law, not the entire internet.

The bench also argued that fake news should be handled by using provisions in the Criminal Code or blocking the accounts spreading such false information, rather than shutting down internet access.

The petitioners lauded the court for the verdict. “The verdict also opens the possibility for affected parties to sue the government and ask for compensation,” Isnur tweeted.

The government throttled back internet access in parts of the country’s easternmost provinces on August 19, 2019 between 1 pm and 8:30 pm shortly after widespread protests escalated in the regions in response to incidents of racial abuse suffered by Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java.

According to the lawsuit, the government imposed a blackout between August 21 and September 4, affecting 29 cities and regencies in Papua and 13 cities and regencies in West Papua.

• Indonesia’s Jokowi must apologise for internet throttling amid last year’s unrest