Saturday, August 31, 2013

1) TNI soldier shot to death in Papua


1) TNI soldier shot to death in Papua

2) West Papuans arrested at prayer session for Freedom Flotilla
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http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/90501/tni-soldier-shot-to-death-in-papua

1) TNI soldier shot to death in Papua

Sat, August 31 2013 19:38 | 99 Views
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - At least one member of the Indonesia Military (TNI) was shot to death while patrolling in the Tinggineri area, Papua, on Saturday.


The information from TNI noted that the patrol was attacked by an armed group and identified the casualty as First Private Andre.

Meanwhile, Commander of XVII Cendrawasih Military Regional Command (Kodam), Major General Christian Zebua, said his agency was still investigating the shooting incident.

"I am on duty in Jakarta. However, we still collect data from Tinggineri relating to the shooting incident," Zebua told ANTARA here on Saturday.

The incident occurred when security personnel conducted a patrol in Tinggineri, where the armed group attacked the soldiers.

The officers managed to evacuate the body of the slain soldier from Tinggineri to Tingginambut, a distance of four kilometers.

The TNI has not confirmed whether it would evacuate the body to Mulia or Wamena using land or air transportation. (*)
Editor: Heru
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2) West Papuans arrested at prayer session for Freedom Flotilla
Indonesian police charge four with treason after pro-independence 'morning star' flag is raised


Four West Papuan community leaders who attended a church meeting to pray for activists aboard the West Papua Freedom Flotilla are to be charged with treason and could be given long jail terms, it emerged on Friday.
The flotilla is sailing from Australia to draw attention to human rights abuses under Indonesian rule and plans to land in the coming weeks in the West Papuan town of Merauke.
West Papuans Apolos Sewa, 53, Amandus Mirino, 56, Samuel Klasjok, 60, and Yohanes Goram, 53, were detained and interrogated for 24 hours in the Sorong police station before being released at 10pm on Thursday night.

"On Wednesday we had a mass prayer session to welcome the Freedom Flotilla from Australia," Goram told Guardian Australia on the phone from Sorong in West Papua's west. "The police arrived and arrested us at about 6pm."
Goram said the group had been questioned about their activities and asked whether they wanted independence from Indonesia.
"We said, 'yes, we do.' We told them, 'We will struggle for independence from Indonesia because we are different from you, and because of the history between our people. More than 200,000 of our people have been killed by your military in the last 50 years, and ours are the poorest provinces in Indonesia.' "
The four were told by police that they would be charged with treason but were released on condition that they report to Sorong police station twice a week.
The charge carries a long jail term in Indonesia.
Goram said the group had been treated well during their 24-hour detention. "I think they treated us kindly because of international attention," he said.
The head of police at Sorong, Harry Goldenhard, confirmed the charges to Guardian Australia and said the four had been arrested after the banned "morning star" flag was raised following the church service.
"We asked that this activity be stopped and requested that those responsible go to the police headquarters, where they would be asked to give an explanation," he said on the phone from Sorong.
"After a 24-hour investigation we determined that the suspects … are subject to articles 106 and 110 of the criminal code on treason."
The case will be referred to the public prosecutor.

Friday, August 30, 2013

1) Papua DPRD dismisses speaker


1) Papua DPRD dismisses speaker 

2) MRP has the authority to scrutinise election candidates
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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/08/30/papua-dprd-dismisses-speaker.html-0
1) Papua DPRD dismisses speaker 

The Jakarta Post | The Archipelago | Fri, August 30 2013, 8:48 AM
Papua provincial council (DPRD) speaker John Ibo has been dismissed from office and as a council member following a special plenary session led by DPRD vice speaker Junus Wonda in Jayapura on Thursday.

The plenary session was held after the council received letters from the Golkar Party’s Central Executive Board (DPP) and the Papua Regional Executive Board (DPD) on the periodical replacement of a Golkar Party DPRD member. 

“The plenary session was held to follow up on the letters from Golkar on the replacement of a DPRD member from the party named John Ibo,” said Papua DPRD Vice Speaker Junus Wonda. 

“The outcome of the plenary session was later handed over to the governor, who will send a letter to the home minister to issue a decision letter on the replacement,” he added.

Ibo, who held the position of Papua DPRD speaker, has been replaced by Dar Tabuni , formerly Papua DPRD Commission D vice chairman.

Ibo was sentenced by the Jayapura Corruption Court to 22 months imprisonment and fined Rp 50 million in January this year in a graft case involving Rp 2.5 billion (US$238,000).



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2) MRP has the authority to scrutinise election candidates
Bintang Papua, 27 August 2013

Jayapura: The Second Deputy Chairman of the Majelis Rakyat Papua (MRP), Engelberta Kotorok, said that as a cultural agency, the MRP  has the powers to summon leaders of the district administrations in Papua.

'The task of the MRP is to protect the basic rights of the indigenous Papuan people and in doing so, we work in accordance with clear principles, all of which are also regulated by various laws. This is why we have been granted the power  to scrutinise candidates, both their personal characters and the related political party.'

She went on to say that Law 21/2001 stipulates that the KPU (Election Commission}must pass on the names of the candidate pairs to the MRP but this is not happening, as a result of which the MRP has been unable to carry out its responsibilities in accordance with the law.'

This is also the case with the election of deputy district heads. 'And we also have this authority according to the the stipulations  in Article 20 of the law which states that the MRP has the authority to summon candidates who are nominated for election to the leadership of local districts. This also applies to appointments in the police force and the army. It is within our powers to explain our views.'

She was speaking in connection with elections being held in three districts of Papua, Biak, Mimika and Waropen. 'The law clearly stipulates that  we as members of the MRP have the authority to summon the Governor, the district leaders and the mayors  as well as members  of the DPRP as well as the members of the Election Commission (KPU) who are responsible for organising the elections.

'If it turns out that the election results do not conform with the stipulations in  Law 21/2001 on Special Autonomy, we have the right to summon and question those concerned .'

[Translated by TAPOL]
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Thursday, August 29, 2013

1) Solomons prime minister says Indonesia will meet all trip costs



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Posted at 16:40 on 29 August, 2013 UTC
The prime minister of Solomon Islands has defended his recent visit to Indonesia, saying it was a breakthrough moment and benefits will come over time.
Gordon Darcy Lilo has faced strong criticism from civil society groups which allege he lied when he claimed the trip was paid for by Indonesia when in fact several hundred thousand dollars had been provided by the Solomons’ government.
The Solomon Star reports Mr Lilo as telling local media that it misinterpreted his explanation last week.
He says while his government met some of the costs he expects these to be reimbursed by Jakarta.
He says he only agreed to the trip if Jakarta allowed a Solomon Islands delegation to also visit the Papua region.
Mr Lilo says he was told it was the first time Indonesia’s president had accepted such a request.

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2) New Pacific islands development bloc takes on Australian dominance

11:19 August 26, 2013

Analysis – By Kalinga Seneviratne in Singapore
A new Pacific islands forum will seek to challenge the dominance of Australia and New Zealand in a regional body. The new grouping’s approach is being billed the “Pacific Way”, and also the “green and blue” way for its commitment to environmentally sustainable oceans as well as land.
The new Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) challenges the Pacific Island Forum (PIF), a 16-member inter-governmental organisation which includes 14 Pacific Island countries plus Australia and New Zealand.
The PIF is headquartered in Fijian capital Suva. Fiji itself was suspended from the PIF in 2009 after naval commander Voreqe Bainimarama grabbed power in a coup in 2006 and refused to hold elections.
Bainimarama, now prime minister of Fiji, said at the launch of the PIDF earlier this month that people “have largely been excluded from the decision-making process,” and that the PIDF would do it differently.
“It has been no secret that Commodore Bainimarama has great distaste for the Pacific Islands Forum, especially over the hypocritical way that the Forum has treated Fiji since the military coup,” says Professor David Robie, director of the Auckland-based Pacific Media Centre.
“Attempts by the Forum to destabilise Fiji have backfired. For all the criticisms of the Fiji regime, there are positive moves to ‘open up’ the region for greater development partnerships with Asia.”
Bainimarama is riding resentment among Pacific island nations that the PIF is dominated by highly-paid Australian, New Zealand and other Western expatriates, trying to impose developed country solutions on Pacific problems.
‘We’re sheltered’
“We’re so sheltered away from the rest of society,” Kiribati President Anote Tong said in an interview with Radio Australia. “We’re a club of our own in retreat and away from questions from people demanding answers.”
At closed-door PIF meetings, leaders usually come dressed in suits, while at the PIDF meeting they were all dressed in the colourful short-sleeve Pacific-style, or bula, shirts, and all discussions were in open forum.
For the first time in a major Pacific Island forum, business, church and civil society leaders sat alongside national political leaders, and spoke at the same forums. Such interaction is being projected as a “Pacific Way” of consultation.
The PIDF is gaining support, Dr Robie told Inter Press Service in an interview.
“Bainimarama achieved a coup in successfully getting Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to the PIDF in spite of Australian attempts to prevent him going. Having the East Timorese leader there was an important bridge for Asia-Pacific relations.”
The launch of the PIDF reflects new realities in the region, where Australia and New Zealand no longer have a stranglehold on aid handouts.
In the past decade, China and many other Asian countries have begun to give aid to and invest in the region. The PIDF meeting was funded by grants from China, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Wide representation
The leaders of the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Nauru attended the meeting along with the deputy prime minister of Vanuatu and the Vice-President of Micronesia. Senior ministers from most other Pacific nations and territories also attended.
While Australia and New Zealand sent observers to the meeting, special envoys came from China, Russia and a range of countries such as Chile and Cuba. Government ministers were sent to represent the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.
A clear division between Melanesian and Polynesian nations of the Pacific seems to have opened up, with leaders of Polynesian countries like Samoa, Tahiti and French Polynesia boycotting the meeting.
Polynesians are believed to be a mixture of Malay and Taiwanese who moved into the South Pacific islands more than 3,000 years ago. Melanesians are of Papuan stock, and are believed to have moved from parts of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to other Pacific Islands like Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu more than 4000 years ago.
The Polynesian nations have a tendency to side with Australia and New Zealand in regional affairs, but Melanesian nations make up about 90 percent of the Pacific Islands population, and the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) is an influential grouping in the region.
Australia blocked Commodore Bainimarama taking over the leadership of the MSG spearhead group within the PIF in 2010 – a decision that seems to have backfired.
“MSG is the real economic powerhouse of the Pacific and is a serious challenge to the old Forum (largely dominated by the Polynesian islands and Australia and New Zealand),” Dr Robie says. “And now the PIDF is a new threat.”
Pacific perspectives
In an interview with IPS from Suva, executive director of the Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO), Emele Duituturaga, said many now expected the PIDF to give more value to Pacific expertise and to be founded on Pacific perspectives.
“More importantly the governing and secretariat structures will include all sectors, especially civil society, which the PIF has been overlooking,” she said.
“The new organisation should ensure that the process and structures that are put in place are inclusive,” she added.
“It will be a mistake for the governments to just set it up and expect us to go along with it.”
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3) ‘The Act of Killing’ to Be Released for Free Online in Indonesia
By Ethan Harfenist on 4:05 pm August 29, 2013.

Director Joshua Oppenheimer will make his acclaimed documentary on Indonesia’s 1965 communist purge “The Act of Killing” available as a free download in the hopes that the controversial film, which was previously only seen in underground screenings, will reach a wider domestic audience.
“We did not release the film immediately online, because we wanted a national conversation to develop,” the director said. “We wanted people to see the film together, to experience it together, to discuss it together. After all, the 1965 genocide is a shared history — it belongs not to individuals, but to Indonesia as a nation, and to humanity as a collective aspiration.
“Now that the national discussion has begun, now that more people have probably seen it in screenings than ever would have attended a regular cinema release, it is time to ensure all Indonesians, across the archipelago, can access the film.”
The chilling documentary made waves at film festivals worldwide and, after a series of secret viewings, has spurred interest at home in a period of Indonesian history many would be happy to forget. The film focuses on Anwar Congo and Adi Zulkadry, two Medan-based preman, or “gangsters,” who re-enact their brutal roles in the mass killings that left more than 500,000 dead nationwide. The self-described thugs play themselves and their victims, addressing their violent history through the lens of popular American films in the disturbing, and often surreal, documentary.
While Indonesia’s Film Censorship Board (BSF) has not banned the film, “The Act of Killing” (“Jagal”) was not officially released in domestic theaters. The documentary will be posted for free online by Drafthouse Films and Vice on September 30 in commemoration of the failed coup attempt blamed on the PKI that eventually sparked the massacres.
The film’s wider availability will hopefully foster a larger discussion on the events that served as a prelude to then-president Sukarno’s fall and push the Indonesian government to address the mass killings head-on, Oppenheimer said.
“The film has come to Indonesia like the child in ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes,’ pointing at the king and saying ‘Look, the king is naked,’” he said. “Everybody knows that Indonesian democracy suffers from corruption, thuggery, apathy and the rule of fear… Everybody knows they were being lied to in school, at least at some level.
“Hopefully, the film will continue to help open a space for people to finally discuss the problems they long have known about, if only unconsciously, but been too afraid or uncomfortable to address. That is, after all, the function of art: not to show us things we did not know, but to give us the courage and the language to reflect upon our most painful truths.”
The film attempts to describe in detail a time that many in Indonesia have largely chosen to forget, and it has drawn comparisons to Hannah Arendt’s seminal work on Adolph Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem and the theory of the “banality of evil” for its almost disturbingly normal portrayal of wicked men seemingly unaware of the volume of their deeds.
Despite its subject matter, Oppenheimer doubted Indonesia would block the online release of the film.
“The problem is that if the BSF were to ban the film formally, it becomes a crime to hold any screening,” he said. “If it’s a crime to screen the film, that becomes an excuse for paramilitary and preman groups, as well as the military itself, to physically attack screenings… [but the film's] support has been fairly high-profile.
“There would be consequences if the government were to openly ban the film — it would send a signal to the whole world that Indonesia has no commitment to freedom of expression, and consequently cannot be considered a genuine democracy.”
Andreas Harsono, an Indonesian researcher with international NGO Human Rights Watch, welcomed the free release and called it a necessary step in the archipelago’s healing process.
“It is very important for Indonesians to know about [the mass killings],” he said. “Legally, it is difficult to prosecute those involved in the killings because they happened almost 50 years ago. But it provides a good perspective about what happened at the time.
“I think that it’s normal for the country to start acknowledging these events now. If you look at Germany’s experience after World War II, it took the country decades to truly reflect on its actions and acknowledge what really happened.”
Olin Monteiro, a writer and an activist for women’s rights who organized a screening at the office of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) last year, also embraced the release, but urged Indonesians to continue to discuss the film’s content.
“[Viewings] should be followed by conversations and exchanges of knowledge [as they were during the screenings], so people can more readily accept the film’s messages,” she said. “There are a number of people who are not ready to accept a film like this.
“Some people in Indonesia aren’t mature enough to see it or do not have an adequate understanding of human rights issues. There is the possibility that some people could take it the wrong way.”
The 1965 massacres are still a controversial issue in Indonesia and are steeped in a history of New Order-era whitewashing, latter-day conspiracy theories and refusal by many of the organizations allegedly involved to accept blame for the deaths. When the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), the author of a report on the mass killings, urged the Attorney General’s Office to investigate what it called evidence of gross human rights violations, the law enforcement agency declined, saying the testimonies of 349 eyewitnesses was not substantial enough to warrant legal action.
The nation’s coordinating minister for political and security affairs Djoko Suyanto showed little interest in meeting calls for an official government apology, stating “we can’t just apologize without looking at what really happened in the 1965 incident.”
An eye-opening book on the killings by historian John Roosa titled “Pretext for Mass Murder: The September 30th Movement and Suharto’s Coup d’Etat in Indonesia,” was officially banned until the decision was overturned by the Constitutional Court, Andreas said. The release of “The Act of Killing,” will mark another small step toward the nation’s acknowledgement of its past sins, he added.
“I’d like to see politicians in areas that experienced the brunt of the killings to make known whatever information they have about that era,” he said. “I’d like to see public acknowledgments of the killings in the forms of monuments and photos on the streets of Jakarta, of Surabaya, of Denpasar, like they have in Berlin for the Holocaust.
“Such things would allow Indonesia to move forward and move on from its tradition of self-denial.”
— Additional reporting by Abdul Qowi Bastian

Media release-OPEN letter to Pacific Islands Forum Leaders re West Papua


Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
Media release, 29 August 2013

OPEN letter to Pacific Islands Forum Leaders re West Papua

AWPA has written an open letter to the PIF leaders asking that they discuss the human rights situation in West Papua at the  upcoming  Pacific Islands Forum in  Majuro.

Joe Collins of AWPA said, we would like the Forum Leaders to follow the example of the MSG leaders who at their summit in Noumea, raised concerns about the human rights abuses in West Papua in their official communiqué. They also recognised the right of the West Papuan people to self-determination.

We note that in recent years the PIF has dropped concern about the human rights situation in West Papua from its agenda and West Papua has not been mentioned in the official PIF Communiqué as it has in the past. Time to put it back on.


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OPEN letter to Pacific Islands Forum Leaders



29 August 2013


Dear Pacific Islands Forum leaders, 

I am writing to you concerning the issue of West Papua. We understand that you are well aware of all the issues of concern in West Papua and will not go into great detail about all the human rights abuses that were committed by the Indonesian security forces since the last Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) summit in the Cook Islands.
However, since the last PIF meeting, the situation in West Papua has deteriorated further. AWPA uses the name “West Papua” to refer to the whole of the western half of the Island of New Guinea.  However, “West Papua” at this time is divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua.

On the 1 May 2013, Papuans commemorated the 50th anniversary of the administrative transfer of Papua to Indonesia. Peaceful demonstrations went ahead despite a ban issued by Indonesian authorities in contravention of the right to free expression and assembly. Police opened fire on demonstrators killing three, seriously injuring others and arresting leaders. When civil society groups gathered on 13 May to peacefully demand accountability, more arrests were made. At least 30 demonstrators were arbitrarily arrested in Timika, Sorong, Biak, Abepura and Jayapura. As recently as 10 June a rally called by civil society organisations was banned and a number of those taking part arrested.

In relation to the crackdown on the 1 May, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay raised her concerns stating,

“These latest incidents are unfortunate examples of the ongoing suppression of freedom of expression and excessive use of force in Papua,” and  “I urge the Government of Indonesia to allow peaceful protest and hold accountable those involved in abuses.

Amnesty International in its annual report for 2013 also stated in relation to West Papua that “Indonesian security forces, including police and military personnel, were accused of human rights violations in Papua. Torture and other ill-treatment, excessive use of force and firearms and possible unlawful killings were reported. In most cases, the perpetrators were not brought to justice and victims did not receive reparations”. 

The U.S. Department of State's Annual Country Reports on Human Rights for 2012 on Indonesian stated 
The suppression or abridgement of the rights of religious and ethnic minorities was a problem. The government applied treason and blasphemy laws to limit freedom of expression by peaceful independence advocates in the provinces of Papua, West Papua, and Maluku and by religious minority groups. Official corruption, including within the judiciary, was a major problem.

All governments want stability in our region however AWPA believes that the actions of the security forces in West Papua could lead to the very instability that governments want to avoid.

We note that at the MSG Summit in Noumea, the MSG raised concerns about the human rights abuses in West Papua in their official communiqué. They also recognized the right of the West Papuan people to self-determination.


We note that in recent years the PIF has dropped concern about the human rights situation in West Papua from its agenda and West Papua has not been mentioned in the official PIF Communiqué as it has in the past.

However, In light of the ongoing human rights abuses in West Papua, AWPA urges the PIF Leaders;
                       
To discuss the human rights situation in West Papua at the 44rd Pacific Islands Forum in   Majuro, The Republic of the Marshall Islands and to acknowledge these concerns in the official communiqué.

To request permission from the Indonesian Government to allow a PIF fact finding mission to West Papua to investigate the human rights situation in the territory.
                       
To grant observer status to genuine representatives of the Melanesian people of West Papua who are struggling for their right to self-determination.   We believe that the time is now right to bring representatives of the Melanesian people of West Papua back into the Pacific community.

The West Papuan people have been calling for dialogue with Jakarta for years and AWPA believes the PIF can play an important role in helping facilitate such a dialogue between genuine representatives of the West Papuan leadership and the Indonesian Government. The PIF should place pressure on Jakarta to resolve West Papuans’ issues of concern. Otherwise we will see increasing conflict in West Papua which in turn could affect the region.


Yours sincerely
 Joe Collins
Secretary
AWPA (Sydney)