Friday, June 15, 2012

1) Media release-Australia must act on violence in West Papua: Greens


1) Media release-Australia must act on violence in West Papua: Greens
2) Police Detain 3 People Over Papua Attacks
3) Riots in Jayapura as police shoot dead Papuan activist
4)Activist slaying sparks riot in Papua
5) Papua Sees Four Major Problems


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1) Media release-Australia must act on violence in West Papua: Greens
15 Jun 2012 | West Papua
Australian Greens spokesperson for West Papua, Senator Richard Di Natale, called on the Government to urge Indonesia to put an end to the violence in West Papua.
 
“We are very concerned by reports of escalating violence in West Papua over the past two weeks,” said Senator Di Natale.
 
“The Greens are deeply saddened to hear of the killing of Papuan leader, Mako Tabuni, by Indonesian police yesterday.

The Greens extend their condolences to Mako Tabuni’s family and solidarity to the people of West Papua whose human and democratic rights continue to be violated.
 
“We also have reports of a number of shootings over the past two weeks, including that of a visiting German-born man, a primary school teacher and a public servant, and many others without any clear identification of who is committing these crimes. It is vital that justice is brought to those perpetrating violence.”
 
Conflict between Indonesian security forces and Papuans in the town of Wamena have reportedly led to more than 70 homes being torched by police and indiscriminate gunfire directed at Papuan people, causing at least 2 deaths and leaving at least 11 people with serious injuries. It is reported that hundreds of people have fled into the nearby mountains and jungle.
 


“The Australian Government must urge Indonesia to end the violence immediately and enter into a peaceful dialogue with the Free West Papua movement.
 
“It is vital that West Papua is opened up to journalists so that we can gain information about what is happening in this region, only a few hundred kilometres from our Australian border. We must also push for access to be given to much-needed aid organisations so that basic care can be provided to those affected by the conflict.”
 
Media contact: Andrew Blyberg 0457 901 600
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2) Police Detain 3 People Over Papua Attacks
June 15, 2012
National Police Gen. Timur Pradopo said on Thursday that police had detained three people allegedly behind recent attacks in Papua.

The suspects — BT, JT and C — are accused of burning cars and of shooting Dietmar Pieper, a German tourist who was on vacation with his wife when he was shot three times on May 29.

“From the three persons that have been detained, [we] could develop a further investigation,” Timur said in Jakarta on Thursday on the sidelines of his meeting with lawmakers.

“Violence, shootings in several locations in Papua, from May 22 to June 10, 2012, all are being investigated by the National Police.”

He said police were working hand in hand with the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) and local people.

One civilian recently shot to death by police officers, Mako Tabuni, was also accused of being one of the perpetrators.

Timur said the police had to shoot him because he had attempted to grab an officer’s weapon.

“Investigation at the crime scene found that he had a firearm with 18 bullets with him,” Timur said.

Antara
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3) Riots in Jayapura as police shoot dead Papuan activist
Nethy Dharma Somba and Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura/Jakarta | Fri, 06/15/2012 8:45 AM

Death and destruction: Police officers are at the scene of a riot that broke out in Jayapura, Papua on Thursday following the killing of West Papua National Committee deputy chairman Mako Tabuni by police officers who had attempted to arrest him. Several shops and vehicles were burned in the incident. (Antara/Anang Budiono)

Papuans ran amok in Jayapura on Thursday, setting dozens of vehicles and buildings ablaze after a prominent independence activist was shot dead by police while resisting arrest.

Speaking at the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday, National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said that Mako Tabuni, the deputy chairman of the National Committee for West Papua (KNPB), was killed after he grabbed a weapon from an officer attempting to arrest him and fled.

Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Bigman L. Tobing provided a similar account, claiming that police officers scuffled with Tabuni as they attempted to detain him.

Eyewitnesses, however, told a different story. According to the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), whose representatives interviewed people who saw the shooting on the scene, Tabuni was suddenly and unexpectedly shot by a gunman in one of several cars on the street as he walked alone near the Perumnas 3 housing complex in Waena.

Several men appearing to be police officers in civilian clothes and carrying pistols and rifles, then exited the cars. Moments later, another gunshot was heard, according to the eyewitnesses.

Tabuni fell and was taken away by the armed men in one of the vehicles, Kontras said.

According to the police, the officers took Tabuni to Bhayangkara Police Hospital nearby, where he died about an hour later.



The police were attempting to arrest Tabuni for his alleged involvement in the recent spate of shootings and attacks in Papua recently, including the shooting of German tourist Pieter Dietmar Helmut on a beach in Jayapura on May 29.

Following Tabuni’s death, a crowd assembled on Jayapura’s streets and later went on a rampage. Witnesses said some of the rioters were carrying machetes.

“These people got mad after learning that their leader had been arrested and killed,” Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto said.

Four civilians were injured in the mayhem, according to the police. “One of the victims lost an arm,” Bigman said. Twenty-five motorcycles, four cars, and five shops were reportedly burned.

“The situation was chaotic. I fled Waena after seeing so many people carrying machetes,” Yonas, a public minivan driver, said.

Timur said that police officers and Indonesian Military (TNI) troops eventually brought the riot under control.

KNPB leader Buchtar Tabuni, who is reportedly not related to Mako, was arrested by the Papua Police on June 8 for allegedly organizing violent rallies in Jayapura. 



The National Committee for West Papua has consistently pushed for a referendum on Papuan self-determination. Mako has frequently told the media that neither he nor the KNPB supported the use of violence in pursuing their goals.

The riots broke out just two days after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told members of his Cabinet that the violence that has racked the province was “small-scale”.

Violence in Indonesia’s easternmost region has escalated recently. Seventeen people, including several TNI members, have been killed in different places in Papua in the past month.

Sita W. Dewi and Margareth S. Aritonang contributed reporting.
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4) Activist slaying sparks riot in Papua
Jefrey Pattirajawane, Associated Press, Jayapura | Fri, 06/15/2012 2:23 PM
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Rioters angry over the killing of an independence activist by police set fires and killed one person in Indonesia's restive Papua province before hundreds of security forces restored order, the police chief said Friday.
Mobs stabbed an onlooker to death, injured four other people and burned five shops, four cars and more than 20 motorbikes on Thursday, hours after they learned police had shot and killed Mako Tabuni, the deputy chairman of the National Committee for West Papua.
Shops were closed Friday, and many people were afraid to leave their homes.

"It is safe and quiet now. There are many troops on the streets," said Papua police chief Maj. Gen. Bigman Lumban Tobing. He said police detained three people and seized several handmade bombs, machetes, arrows, separatist flags and documents during a raid in a student dormitory in Jayapura.
A low-level insurgency in the province remains an extremely sensitive issue for the government, which restricts access to foreign journalists, human rights workers and academics, making it difficult to verify claims of abuses.
Tobing said Tabuni was shot Thursday morning when police tried to arrest him near Waena housing complex in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province. He said Tabuni fought back and grabbed a weapon from an officer before he was shot, and that he died hours later at a hospital.

Tobing said Tabuni was suspected in a recent spate of attacks in the province. He said 16 people, including seven soldiers and police, have been killed in different places in Papua since last month. Four were pro-independence activists.
Human Rights Watch, however, says the military is responsible for some of the violence. The New York-based group said the government is failing to adequately investigate the killings, and is preventing rights monitors and journalists from going to Papua to see for themselves.
"Allowing full access to the province for U.N. rights experts and the press could curtail the rumors and misinformation that often fuel abuses," Elaine Pearson, Human Rights Watch's deputy Asia director, said in a statement Wednesday.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has conceded that Indonesian security forces have overreacted at times but said the attacks were "on a small scale with limited victims."

Tobing said that following Tabuni's death, a crowd of protesters went on a rampage in Jayapura, many of them were carrying machetes and arrows. Police said most of those injured or killed in Thursday riot were settlers from elsewhere in Indonesia.

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5) Papua Sees Four Major Problems
“The situation helps raise suspicion among the Military/Police over the Papuans,”
JUM'AT, 15 JUNI 2012, 12:32 WIB
Anggi Kusumadewi, Mohammad Adam
VIVAnews – Riot broke in Waena District, Jayapura, Papua, on Thursday, June 14. The rioters protested against the arrest of the Deputy Chairman of West Papua National Committee, Mako Tabuni.  They set fire on motorcycles, cars, and homes. 
Police arrested Mako Tabuni for allegedly helming the group which had perpetrated a series of mysterious shootings in the province. 
“The group is had done the shootings over some Indonesian Military personnel, Police members, and Civil Servants,” said Coordinating Minister for Political, Justice and Human Rights Affairs, Djoko Suyanto.
The riot in Waena District took place almost one week after the visit of Commission I of the House of Representatives in Jayapura. The event also occurred only two days after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed the Indonesian Military Commander and the Indonesian Police Chief to take Security Recovery Operation in Papua, on Tuesday, June 12. 

In response to the issue, Deputy Chairman of Commission I, Tubagus Hasanuddin, said the escalating situation in Papua does not only center on security issues.  
“There are greater problems in Papua that must be addressed through comprehensive and integrated efforts,” said Hasanuddin to VIVAnews. He cited four major issues which had surfaced in Papua. 

First, there was failures in implementing special autonomy, especially in the fields of economic welfare, health, and education; second, the existence of discrimination and marginalization towards indigenous Papuans; third, the trauma felt by some

Papuans as a result of unresolved past repressive actions by law enforcement. 
“Fourth, there are different perceptions on Papua’s integration into Indonesia through the Act of Free Choice in 1969,” said Hasanuddin.   
Hasanuddin revealed that within the past 18 months, 30 cases of shootings have come to pass in Papua.  
“This situation helps raise suspicion among the Military/Police over the Papuans,” he said.   
“However, I’m concerned that the Security Recovery Operation will only lead to new turmoil,” said Hasanuddin.  

Meanwhile, Chief of National Police, General Timur Pradopo, called on the people of Papua, especially in Jayapura, to remain calm.  
“Jayapura and its surrounding area are under the control of the Regional Police and the Military Command and the intelligence,” Timur said.


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