Papua Not on Agenda in Bali, In Spite of Activists’ Concern

1. ) Papua Not on Agenda in Bali, In Spite of Activists’ Concern
2. ) RI: No discussion of Papua at ASEAN Summit
3. ) Despite political reform, Indonesia abuses persist
4. ) Freeport often incites tension, violence in Papua: Komnas HAM
5. ) 2 Shootings Near Papua Mine, 1 Freeport Worker Injured
6. ) 8 People Killed in Weekend Clash: Papua Activists
7. ) Legislator slams TNI operations in Papua*
   

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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/papua-not-on-agenda-in-bali-in-spite-of-activists-concern/479010 *1) Papua Not on Agenda in

Bali, In Spite of Activists’ Concern* *Jakarta Globe *| November 16, 2011* * * Nusa Dua, Bali. *Despite calls by prominent rights groups, the 19th Asean summit and the sixth East Asian Summit will not discuss the conflict in Papua because it is an Indonesian internal problem, a minister said on Wednesday.

"The problems in Papua are domestic in nature and they have nothing to do with Indonesia’s participation in Asean cooperation,” Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, told state news agency Antara after presiding over the Sixth Meeting of the Asean Political-Security Community Council.

"Whatever happens in Papua is Indonesia’s problem and will be solved internally.”

Human rights group Amnesty International has urged the Australian and American governments to discuss Papua during the East Asian Summit. US President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard are expected to attend the summit and meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"The Asean meeting is very important for the international community, including the US and Australian governments, to pressure Indonesia to overcome the human-rights violations in Papua,” Josef Benedict, an Amnesty International spokesman, was quoted by Australia’s The Age daily as saying on Tuesday.

New York-based Human Rights Watch also urged an immediate investigation into the violence in Papua.

"The Obama administration’s deepening relationship with Indonesia means being frank about Indonesia’s serious human rights challenges,” Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement sent to the Jakarta Globe. "Indonesian government indifference to mob violence against religious groups and brutality by soldiers against peaceful protesters are good places to start.”

The activists were referring to the recent spate of violence in the restive Papua region, including a violent dispersal of the pro-independence Papuan People’s Congress in Jayapura on Oct. 19 that left six people dead and dozens injured.

The West Papua Advocacy Team and East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, Australia-based groups that support Papuan activists, have also sent an open letter to Obama to "consider the challenges and opportunities posed by the US-Indonesia relationship more realistically than you have up to now.”

"In the past, US restrictions and conditions on security assistance have resulted in real rights improvements in Indonesia. Your administration should learn from this history,” the letter said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was set to arrive in Bali together with Obama, said in Hawaii last week that Washington had "very directly raised our concerns about the violence and the abuse of human rights [in Papua].”

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2) RI: No discussion of Papua at ASEAN Summit

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 11/16/2011 6:15 PM A | A | A | Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto said the Papua issue would not be discussed at the 19th ASEAN Summit and the 6th East Asia Summit, due to it being an internal issue that is to be resolved internally. "It is an internal problem, it has nothing to do with the pattern of ASEAN cooperation,” he said on Wednesday, as quoted by Antara news agency. Meanwhile, the human rights organization Amnesty International urged Australia and the United States to discuss the Papua issue during the summit. Amnesty International condemned the ban on foreign media and foreign organizations in Papua. "We have credible reports of violence involving the use of weapons by the Indonesian security forces,” Josep Benedict of Amnesty International said on Tuesday, as quoted by The Age. ------------------------------ http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/11/16/despite-political-reform-indonesia-abuses-persist.html

3) Despite political reform, Indonesia abuses persist

Michael Holtz, Associated Press, Papua | Wed, 11/16/2011 5:58 PM A | A | A | Indonesia, hosting President Barack Obama and other world leaders this week, has earned praise for democratic reforms achieved since longtime dictator Suharto was ousted a decade ago. A man serving 15 years in prison for raising a flag wants the dignitaries in Bali to know how far the nation still has to go.

In remote corners of the archipelago, dozens of demonstrators have been killed in recent months, and anti-government activists continue to be thrown in jail for peacefully expressing their views. There are least 100 political prisoners, most in Papua and the Molucca islands, many of whom complain of being tortured.

"Indonesia says, 'We're brothers, we're equal,' But you see? It's meaningless," said Filep Karma, a prominent political prisoner with nine years left on his sentence for raising a pro-independence flag. He said he has endured severe beatings by guards who mock him for his Christian faith and spit out insults like "dog."

The 52-year-old spoke to The Associated Press on Oct. 23 from a location that he insisted remain secret, after he was granted a brief reprieve from prison to get medical attention.

Outside, convoys of troops rumbled down the road and soldiers stood on street corners with rifles dangling from their shoulders. Inside, others in the room nervously checked doors and windows.

Overall, Indonesia has made great strides in democracy and human rights since Suharto's day. Sweeping reforms have freed up the media, wiped repressive laws off the books and led to the direct election of leaders in the predominantly Muslim nation, making it a potential model for Egypt and other Arab Spring countries.

Obama arrives in Indonesia for the East Asia Summit on Thursday. To the U.S., the nation of 240 million where Obama spent part of his childhood is a potentially powerful counterweight to China's growing military and economic influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

The U.S. has launched an aggressive wooing campaign, ending a ban last year on working with an Indonesian special forces unit accused of some of the worst atrocities during East Timor's '90s-era independence struggle. The ban, hugely embarrassing to Jakarta, was the final obstacle to normalizing military ties.

Abuses continue, however, in areas including Papua, where the government has struggled to put down a low-level insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, most at the hands of the military, according to rights workers.

"It's Indonesia's dirty little secret that they still put people like Filep Karma behind bars," said Elaine Pearson of the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The international community shares some of the blame, she said, because of its eagerness to present the nation as a democratic success story.

Since late July, 34 people have been killed in Papua and five have been arrested and charged with treason, which carries a maximum sentence of life, according to police and rights workers.

Days before Karma's interview, security forces broke up a pro-independence gathering in the nearby town of Abepura, opening fire on the crowd and beating participants with batons and rattan canes. Three people were killed and dozens injured.

Bambang Sulistyo, a spokesman for Indonesia's legal and security affairs ministry, said Papuans enjoy the same rights as everyone else to stage rallies, protest or hold a congress. But the government will not tolerate any movement to separate from Indonesia or provocative acts like raising a flag known as a symbol of separatist group.

For that reason, he said, the gathering in Abepura was illegal.

"It was deliberately provocative," Sulistyo said, adding that police fired several warning shots to control the crowd. Authorities are still investigating the circumstances around the deaths of the three civilians.

Karma and others who have been imprisoned complain of severe abuse.

"They treat us like animals," said Yusak Pakage, a Papuan activist who was arrested in 2004 for killing a government official during a protest, a crime he says he didn't commit.

Pakage was blinded in his right eye after being brutally beaten by jail guards, and was released from prison after accepting a conditional pardon last year.

Liberti Sitinjak, current chief at Abepura prison, denies that inmates are beaten or otherwise abused.

On Monday, 50 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent Obama a letter urging him to raise the issue of abuses in Papua with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his visit. But during his own Indonesia trip last month, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that the U.S. will keep an watchful eye on rights abuses, but largely supports the government's strong stance against the separatist movement.

Papua is the most remote region in Indonesia and the last to be relinquished by its Dutch colonial masters a half century ago. It was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-sponsored ballot of tribal leaders that has been widely dismissed as a sham.

Activists are regularly given 10 years or more in jail for anti-government rallies, unfurling banners or raising pro-independence flags, while soldiers who commit abuses have received much less time, if any. Even those captured on video burning genitals of one suspected separatist in Papua last year and running a sharp knife across the neck of another were sentenced to just a few months for "disobeying orders."

The seeds of dissent were sown into Karma - who comes from an upper-class family of civil servants - in 1965 when Indonesian soldiers arrived at his home just after midnight and kicked in the door. He was 6 at the time.

"They were shouting, 'Wake up! Wake up!' as they overturned furniture, smashed everyone in sight," said Karma.

"It hurt, deep in my heart," he said. "This is where it began for me. I started to believe if Papua didn't get away from Indonesia, we'd all spend the rest of our lives suffering."

Even so, he remained largely removed from the independence movement until 1998, when he got involved in nationwide protests that eventually helped sweep Suharto from power. It was only after taking part in flag-raising ceremony in his hometown of Biak in July that year that it dawned on him that Papua might not benefit from the dramatic changes yet to come.

He was injured in both legs when Indonesian troops opened fire at a rally, and was thrown in jail for a year on charges of sedition.

His second arrest, the one he's now serving time for, came in 2004. His Christian faith was openly ridiculed in court, and his 15-year sentence was three times what prosecutors had demanded.

Karma's daughter, Audryne Karma, said the blood-drenched head of a dog was dropped off on the doorstep of his lawyers, with a note attached: "We will kill Karma."

"We thought that the Indonesian authorities, wary of martyring my father, would grant him an early release," she wrote in a letter that appeared last month in The Wall Street Journal. "Instead, they transformed a humble civil servant into an icon of political persecution."

Some longtime observers remain hopeful, however, that momentum is shifting and that Karma could be freed early.

"There's a sort of critical mass of key players who are coming together behind the issue," Eben Kirksey, author of an upcoming book about the Papuan independence movement, said of Karma.

Karma has rejected several offers to be set free, saying he will accept nothing short of unconditional release.

"I also want an apology to the people of Papua," he said, "because many civilians have been killed by Indonesian soldiers."

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4) Freeport often incites tension, violence in Papua: Komnas HAM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 11/16/2011 5:05 PM A | A | A | The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) states that mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia (FI) has often incited tension and violence in Papua. "PT FI has often become the source of problems in the province, creating heated tension and unnecessary violence between the locals and company management,” Komnas HAM chief Ifdhal Kasim said during a meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday as quoted by tribunnews.com . Komnas HAM deputy chief Ridha Saleh echoed the statement, saying that Freeport has always been cited as the source of the problems in the province in every meeting with Papuan church leaders. "They said that PT FI had taken too much from Papua but had given nothing in return,” he said. Ridha added that PT FI had also never acknowledged Papuan special autonomy. Adding that, "It only wants to acknowledge the central government as its working partner.”

-------------------------------- http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/2-shootings-near-papua-mine-1-freeport-worker-injured/478933 *5) 2 Shootings Near Papua Mine, 1 Freeport Worker Injured* *Farouk Arnaz* | November 16, 2011

One Freeport McMoRan employee was injured during one of two shooting incidents near the US mining giant’s Grasberg mine in Timika, Papua, police said on Wednesday.

"This afternoon, there were two shootings in Timika,” National Police spokesman Saud Usman said.

"The first one occurred on Mile 51 — there was shooting directed toward security officers of Freeport’s mine. There were no victim in this shooting, the only damage was to the body of the car [they were in].”

The second shooting occurred at Mile 57, Saud said, when an unknown assailant fired on a Freeport-owned vehicle. An employee riding in a trailer behind the vehicle was wounded in the attack.

"An employee of Freeport was shot and wounded in his neck as [the bullet] went through his helmet,” Saud said. "He is hospitalized in Tembagapura hospital.”

Saud said that police had no leads thus far.

"The evidence is also limited as we could only get the projectile from the body of the victim and the cars,” he said. "There is no other [evidence].”

There have been several shootings near the Freeport mine area recently as a contentious strike between miners and the company has entered its third month with no sign of resolution in sight.

--------------------------------- http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/8-people-killed-in-weekend-clash-papua-activists/479008 *6) 8 People Killed in Weekend Clash: Papua Activists* *Banjir Ambarita* | November 16, 2011

*Jayapura.* Police said on Wednesday that a clash with a small armed group in a gold mine during the weekend was believed to have left one person dead, but activists claim the death toll could be as high as eight.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said local police had clashed with the armed group believed to be headed by Salmon Yogi at the Tayaga-Baya Biru gold mine in the district of Paniani, Bogobaida subdistrict, on Saturday morning.

"They were out to attack the mining location and police were only there to prevent them. An armed clash could not be avoided,” Wachyono said.

He said that on Nov. 11, the owner of the gold mine, Boy Rakinaung, received a letter from a group demanding payment of Rp 40 million ($4,400) and giving him 14 days to pay it. The letter was then provided to the police, who acted on the information.

This was why, Wachyono said, seven members of the Baya Biru police had stood guard at the Tagaya bridge before dawn on Saturday morning.

At around 7:30 a.m., a group of armed men appeared, heading toward the mine, and gunfire was exchanged. One member of the group was shot and is believed to be dead.

Salmon is a leader of one of the factions of the Free Papua Organization (OPM), which has been sustaining a low-intensity, uncoordinated and badly armed pro-independence guerilla in Papua since the 1960s.

"The identity of the victim who got shot is unknown because he then fell into the river and his body was swept away by the strong currents. A search to locate the body is still ongoing,” Wachyono said.

Matius Murib, deputy chairman of the Papua chapter of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said the shooting incident had left eight people killed.

"We have the evidence and we will soon conduct an on-site identification,” Matius said, adding that the reason for the shootings remained unclear.

He identified the victims as Matias Tenouye, 30; Simon Adii, 35; Petrus Gobai, 40; Joel Ogetai, 30; Benjamin Gobai, 25; Marius Madai, 35; Matias Anoka, 40 and Yus Pigome, 50.

"This is a serious human rights violation and the state should be accountable,” he said.

John Gobay, a respected figure in the Paniai district, said that he had also heard eight people were killed in the incident.

"This case should be comprehensively investigated by an independent team because the police often blames the OPM as triggering the problem,” he said.

Komnas HAM chairman Ifdhal Kasim called on Wednesday for the government to reduce the number of security personnel, police and soldiers deployed in Papua to help alleviate the tension in the area and create a sense of security for the local people.

He said that reducing the number of security personnel would also lower the potential for mistreatment and abuse of the local people.

"The addition of reinforcement troops will only have an excessive impact on the potential of human rights violations taking place,” Ifdhal said.

Security personnel in Papua have been accused of involvement in a series of human-rights violations, especially against civilians. The accusations include the shooting of participants at a pro-independence meeting near Jayapura last month that left six people dead.

Haris Azhar, a coordinator of human rights group Kontras, said that in the past two months the police were linked to 18 cases of violence and torture, and Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) members were linked to 40.

He also questioned ongoing military operations in Papua despite not having sought the approval of the House of Representatives as required by law.

---------------------------------- http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/11/16/legislator-slams-tni-operations-papua.html *7) Legislator slams TNI operations in Papua* The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 11/16/2011 7:39 AM * * A member of the House of Representatives accused the government of conducting illegal military operations in poverty-stricken Papua, which has seen a spike in violence involving security officials.

The deputy chairman of the House’s Commission I, Maj. Gen. (ret) T.B. Hasanuddin, said in a House meeting with researchers from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) on Tuesday that at no time had the President, or even the Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Affairs minister, been involved in the decision-making concerning military operations in Papua. "If we refer to the 2004 Indonesian Military [TNI] Law, however,” he argued, "military operations to handle separatist movements should have a ‘political affirmation’, meaning [those operations] should first seek approval from the President and the House.”

"The only ones involved in discussing [military operations in Papua] were the TNI commanders who were in charge over there.”

The government has repeatedly denied there have been any military operations in Papua, although the military often collaborated in security operations overseen by the National Police. TNI spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul told The Jakarta Post that the TNI’s tasks in Papua merely consisted of "defending the borders and assisting the police in upholding domestic security”.

"What Pak Hasanuddin said was right: that all military operations require approval from the President and the House,” Iskandar said. "But in reality, there were never any military operations in Papua. Our tasks there were purely to defend the RI-New Guinea border and assist the police if they so requested.”

The House’s Commission I, which oversees defense, foreign affairs and information, summoned the LIPI researchers, who have conducted intensive research on Papua and helped develop the so-called "Papua Road Map” in 2008, to help solve the recent escalating violence in the country’s easternmost region. The House also planned to summon the head of the Unit for the Acceleration of Development in Papua and West Papua (UP4B), Lt. Gen. (ret) Bambang Darmono, Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto, as well as representatives from human rights watchdogs, such as the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

In the hearing with LIPI, Hasanuddin urged the TNI to halt their military operations, and he suggested there be a ceasefire in Papua as a solution for the worsening conflict in the province.

"If there are still military patrols, raids, or ‘sweepings’ against indigenous Papuans, such as what happened in Jakarta recently, I can guarantee 100 percent that any efforts to start peace talks will not be welcomed by the local Papuan population.”

LIPI researcher Muridan Satrio Widjojo also slammed the police and TNI
operations in Papua, describing both branches of the security forces as the "main actors” behind the continuing conflict.

"There should be a thorough evaluation of the deployment of police and TNI personnel to Papua,” Muridan said. (sat)

ENDS

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