West Papuans 'beaten and had guns held to head' in military operation

Villagers claim they were beaten and interrogated by Indonesian military and police after a recent separatist attack

Source: The Guardian

Villagers in a remote West Papuan town have described being beaten and having guns pointed at their heads during a “terrifying” police and military operation at a local church.

One victim, who spoke to Guardian Australia but asked not to be named because of fear for his safety, said Indonesian police and military officers herded villagers into a church in Dondobaga, in the mountainous Puncak Jaya region of West Papua, early on a Sunday morning and told them they would be killed.

Villagers were woken and ordered to enter the church at 3am, according to the victim. There they were interrogated about their involvement with the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM), threatened and beaten with the butts of rifles, he said.

“At 3am the military woke us up and ordered all of us to enter the church building. At 10am we were ordered to return outside to the churchyard and there we crouched for two hours.

“One by one we … were interrogated in the yard of the church. After two hours [the soldiers] told us, ‘close your eyes’. They were going to shoot [us].”

The victim said the villagers were saved by a military commander who “came from behind and said ‘stop!’”.

“Because of that we were saved.”

“We had closed our eyes as the soldiers were going to shoot.”

“We were … surrounded by soldiers who were using guns,” he said. “We were all terrified.”

The victim said at least 200 police and army personnel were involved in the alleged operation and that seven villagers were arrested. “They were beaten up then taken away to the place of detention at the military post.” Among those detained were a church minister, office workers and local government department bureaucrats, he said.

The victim said he and other villagers were kicked and beaten with rifle butts while detained in the church until midday on Sunday 26 January, and that they remained “very scared”.

 

“The situation is not suitable yet to go into the town. The community is empty. There are five churches and they are also now empty,” he said when Guardian Australia spoke to him on Tuesday.

Two families were also forced at gunpoint to burn down their own houses, he said.

Guardian Australia approached the Indonesian embassy in Canberra about the alleged incidents, but a spokesperson declined to comment.

The chief of Puncak Jaya police, Marselis Sarimin, denied there was a siege at the church and said reports about violent conduct on behalf of the armed forces had been “exaggerated”.

Sarimin said he and other officers were at the church in Dondobaga early on 26 January morning to investigate reports that someone had entered the building carrying a weapon.

He said three people were arrested for questioning during the investigation but they had since been released.

“There were not seven people, they were only three people. The first one was released that day. The second was released the next day. There's no proof of anything that has been said. We released them all,” he told Guardian Australia.

He denied civilians had been beaten and threatened at gunpoint.

“If there are stories around the community that there was torture, it’s lies,” he said. “The news is exaggerated.”

Sarimin said the town had since returned to normal. “The community here is as usual. They hear gunshots but that’s usual here, because there’s a TPN/OPM base here,” he said.

“I have worked in this area for five years now, so I know the reality. There's no problem here.”

The alleged incident took place a day after members of the OPM attacked a local Indonesian military post and stole weapons and set alight a military vehicle. A soldier and a member of the OPM were then killed in a shootout, a local military commander told Indonesian media.

Other reports said three guerrillas were killed in the fighting. 

The OPM, which is waging an armed struggle for independence in West Papua, has claimed full responsibility for last Saturday’s attack on the military post and said the targeting of civilians is unwarranted.

“We carried out all the actions as acts of resistance in Puncak Jaya, to decide our own destiny. It wasn’t the community and church minister who they viciously treated that carried out those acts,” a spokesperson for the OPM, Yunus Enumbi, told West Papuan news outlet Jubi.

“The church leader has never taught us to resist [the Indonesian government]. Those who are carrying out the true resistance are the TPN/OPM. We will not run away. We are at our headquarters. Come if you want and face us,” he said.

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Blood And Tears Continue To Flow In Papua

By Selpius Bobii

SBY President RI

Last week the Indonesian President made a speech which touched on West Papua, but did not mention peaceful dialogue. Imprisoned West Papuan leader Selpius Bobii responds from Abepura State Prison

“We are constantly maintaining welfare and accelerated development approaches in that province [Papua] and are upholding the law and security”. These were the words of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at a speech given at a First Plenary Session of the Indonesian Legislative Assembly and Peoples Assembly on 16 August 2013. (You can read the whole speech here.)

The segment of SBY’s speech regarding Papua made it extremely clear that Indonesia has a totally fixed position regarding Papua, being that “Aceh and Papua are inseparable parts of the Republic of Indonesia”.
To defend Indonesia’s continued hold of Papua, SBY has insisted that three primary approaches be undertaken in Papua: welfare, legal and security approaches. SBY promises that Indonesia is in the process of planning a new "formula" for Special Autonomy will bring about advancements and dignity for Papua. This is what is being put forward by Indonesia as the goals for the draft regulations for governance in Papua known as Special Autonomy Plus.

However the Special Autonomy Plus Regulations have already been firmly rejected by the people of Papua.
Special Autonomy Plus will experience the same fate that the previous Special Autonomy package met, as it failed to protect and respect the basic rights of the people of Papua. Even the most basic right, the right to life of indigenous Papuans to the very land of their ancestors, was not protected by Indonesia under Special Autonomy.

SBY’s statement that Indonesia has “always shown respect for the human rights and for the distinctiveness of the culture of the Papuan community” is a public lie. The reality is that in order to guard the sovereignty and integrity of Indonesia since the 1960s, Papuans have been annihilated both directly and indirectly through a range of planned, systematic and measurable approaches by Indonesia. Must the world allow the people of Papua to be killed by Indonesia through its armed forces in order to guard the sovereignty and integrity of Indonesia?

Isn’t the killing or wiping out of the Papuan people a humanitarian evil that conflicts with the forces of  law and morality? Why do the United Nations (UN) and the other nations of the world allow the people of Papua to be killed so that other nations can prioritize working with Indonesia in a range of sectors?
To achieve Indonesia’s goals SBY is applying both legal and security approaches in the land of Papua. The application of the legal approach falls within the authority of the police. So accordingly they gag freedom of expression in public areas and arrest and arbitrarily imprison Papuan activists. That has been the practice of Indonesia until this time.

The security approach has been placed under the Indonesian military (TNI). Their role is to wipe out, to extinguish the movement for the liberation of Papua within the guise of guarding the sovereignty and integrity of Indonesia.  These two state forces have the full support of the national intelligence (BIN), the Armed Forces Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS), State Intelligence Coordinating Agency (BAKIN) and all the machinery of Indonesias various governance systems (including at executive, legislative and judiciary levels) and support of support groups faithful to Indonesia to bring about these ends in Papua.

In his speech SBY didn’t mention any possibility of trying to bring an end to the problems in Papua through dialogue between Jakarta and Papua.

Indonesia has continuously ignored pressure to enter into dialogue with Papua from a range of parties both within Indonesia and overseas. In fact, dialogue is now a dead end, after SBY froze that possibility by not including it in his state speech. SBY made one closing statement regarding Papua: “Don’t hurt the feelings of the nation of Indonesia, as we don’t hurt the feelings of other nations.”

But what about the feelings of the nation of Papua that have been so "hurt" beyond measure by the military and political invasion of Indonesia with the annexation of the sovereignty of the nation of Papua into Indonesia? What about the "feelings" of the nation of Papua that has continuously been so wounded in struggling to have its right to sovereign independence acknowledged by Indonesia, the United Nations and other countries of the world? What about the feelings of the nation of Papua that has had to sacrifice everything and the human souls that have become victims of this struggle?

The President needs to both question himself and correct himself. The nation of Papua has the very same rights to full independence as the nation of Indonesia. Indonesia should not hurt other nations so that it in turn Indonesia might not be hurt by other nations.

After gaining a better understanding of SBY’s speech on Papua, all parties that have sympathy  for Papua need to stop and ask the question: "Why is Indonesia still hardening its heart and refusing to consider the way of peaceful dialogue to find a dignified solution for the problems in Papua?" We also need to ask in light of the implications of SBY’s speech, what then are the next steps that those of us who care about Papua now need to take?

A few suggestions are offered below:

1) All parties need to carry out an overall evaluation of efforts that have been and are being made  to bring an end to the problems in West Papua. We need to unite and reflect together, then take on a position that will enable us to take the next steps forward together.

2) We need to upgrade our national and international actions to pressure Jakarta to bring an end to the problems in Papua through peaceful negotiations facilitated by a neutral third party.

3) All parties who care about the Papuan situation need to unite their ranks and urge the UN to:

i)  firmly apply tough sanctions against the as a UN member, due to its continual human rights violations and humanitarian evils in the land of Papua.

ii) pressure Indonesia be open to consultations with Papua facilitated by a neutral third party in a neutral location.

4) If Indonesia continues to disregard the urging of the international community and the UN, then the UN should act on its legal and moral responsibility to carry out a humanitarian and security intervention.

This is the path that the nations of the world and UN must take in order to uphold democracy, honesty, peace, justice and truth together and to provide protection and dignified respect for humans in Papua above all other interests.

That the blood and tears of the people of Papua continue to flow without ceasing is a fact. The blood and tears have flowed without ceasing from the time Papua was annexed into Indonesia until now and we well know the same will continue tomorrow. Blood and tears that are shed solely for the liberation of the nation of Papua from the colonial domination by Indonesia and its allies.

Once again let it be stressed that the people of West Papua are not struggling for and do not need those developments offered through Indonesias’s Special Autonomy packages. What the people of Papua need and struggle for is the liberation of the nation of Papua from the colonial domination of Indonesia and its allies.

More Orginal News: https://newmatilda.com/

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Gubernur Papua: OPM Juga Manusia

Gubernur Papua Lukas Enembe

Jakarta - Gubernur Papua, Lukas Enembe mengatakan, masalah Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) merupakan salah satu hal yang ditekankan oleh Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) kepada gubernur di Papua dan Papua Barat, untuk ditangani.

Enembe membenarkan bahwa hingga saat ini OPM memang masih ada. Namun menurut dia, bukan berarti mereka tak bisa diajak berkomunikasi untuk menyamakan kembali tujuan berbangsa dan bernegara.

"Memang ada, saudara-saudara kita yang berseberangan. Tapi sejauh kita bisa mengkomunikasikan, mereka juga manusia," kata Enembe di Kantor Presiden, Jakarta, Senin (29/4).

Tugas tersebut, kata Enembe pula, bukanlah hal yang mudah. Namun, jumlah OPM sendiri diperkirakannya tidak terlalu banyak, dan sebagian besar berada di daerah perkotaan Papua.

"Mereka bisa mendengarkan, dengan pendekatan yang tepat," kata Enembe.

Hal tersebut disampaikan Enembe setelah bertemu Presiden SBY di Kantor Presiden, demi membicarakan antara lain soal otonomi khusus yang diperluas untuk Papua yang disebut Otonomi Plus. 

Konsep Otonomi Plus ini sendiri masih digodok, dan komponennya dirumuskan oleh Kementerian Dalam Negeri (Kemdagri) dan Pemerintah Provinsi Papua.

Sumber: http://www.beritasatu.com/nusantara/110843-gubernur-papua-opm-juga-manusia.html#

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DPD Desak Dubes Australia Tolak Papua Merdeka

Dewan Perwakilan Daerah Republik Indonesia (DPD RI), mendesak Pemerintah Australia untuk komitmen menolak berbagai upaya separatisme di seluruh wilayah Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia (NKRI), termasuk Papua. Paslanya, Papua Merdeka bukan solusi yang tepat dalam meningkatkan kesejahteraan dan memeratakan pembangunan.

“NKRI adalah harga mati untuk Indonesia, maka Papua Merdeka bukanlah solusi yang tepat. Sebagai negara tetangga, Indonesia mengharapkan komitmen Australia untuk mendukung upaya menyejahterakan masyarakat Papua, karena intinya adalah peningkatan kesejahteraan dan pemerataan pembangunan, khususnya di kawasan timur Indonesia” tegas Ketua DPD RI Irman Gusman saat bertemu Duta Besar Australia untuk Indonesia Greg Moriaty di Gedung Parlemen, Senayan, Jakarta, Selasa (4/6/2013).

Irman menyatakan, kendati ia mengharapkan isu separatisme tidak menggangu hubungan bilateral antara Indonesia dan Australia, ia menuntut komitmen Australia untuk tidak memberikan dukungan berbentuk apapun kepada para pejuang kemerdekaan Papua, apakah yang terorganisir dalam Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) atau organisasi lainnya. “Atau organisasi lainnya yang menggunakan baju LSM (lembaga swadaya masyarakat) dengan mengatasnamakan HAM (hak asasi manusia),” tukasnya.

Senator asal Sumatera Barat ini mengatakan, sejauh ini hubungan bilateral Indonesia-Australia berlangsung baik, yang dibuktikan antara lain penandatanganan Traktat Lombok, yaitu perjanjian keamanan kedua negara yang melingkupi beberapa aspek, termasuk kerjasama pertahanan, intelijen, dan maritim. “Traktat Lombok merupakan bukti bahwa Australia berkomitmen penuh terhadap keutuhan wilayah Republik Indonesia, termasuk kedaulatannya atas provinsi-provinsi di Papua.”

Sementara itu, Greg Moriaty mengatakan bahwa Australia mendukung sepenuhnya kedaulatan wilayah Indonesia dan tidak pernah mendukung upaya pemisahan Papua dari wilayah NKRI. “Pemerintah Australia memiliki kebijakan untuk tidak mendukung tindakan makar. Penyataan sikap yang dikeluarkan oleh sejumlah organisasi di Australia, sepenuhnya adalah sikap individu, bukanlah sikap Pemerintah Australia,” jelasnya.

Sebaliknya, Australia terus mengharapkan peningkatan hubungan kerjasama antara Indonesia dan Australia, salah satunya di sektor perdagangan. “Selama ini Indonesia telah banyak membantu Australia, sehingga kini Australia terus mengalami kemajuan dan peningkatan kemakmuran,” tambahnya.

Tidak hanya isu separatisme, pertemuan juga membahas sejumlah hal seperti peningkatan kerjasama Indonesia-Australia di bidang perdagangan dan pendidikan.

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Tangled in Papua’s political tickets - The Jakarta Post

Fifty years ago in May, Indonesia took over administration of what is now known as West Papua. Two years later the Free Papua Movement (OPM) started.

Following the fall of president Soeharto in 1998, some thought the time was right to seek independence.

But how to do it? In the remote province few knew more than the meaning of merdeka (ironically gained from studying Indonesian history), the urge to demonstrate and a symbol.

On Biak Island off the north coast there was political will, but no flag. Activist Filep Karma had seen the Morning Star flag but couldn’t remember details.

Employing a seamstress would have attracted the police, so Karma sprayed blue and red spray paint on a piece of white cloth. This was raised over a water tank at the harbor. A prayer meeting was held. It was a makeshift, amateurish, largely spontaneous and certainly naive protest.

The unarmed demonstrators brandished Bibles and sang hymns. That didn’t stop the military opening fire, apparently because some soldiers had been assaulted.

Karma was shot but survived. He alleged 29 were killed. Witnesses claim bodies were dumped at sea. The Army said just one person died, and the washed up corpses were victims of a giant wave far away.

Also in Biak, was an American doctoral student Eben Kirksey who heard (but didn’t see) the shootings. Had he been able to film the event, as journalists did in 1991 at Dili’s Santa Cruz massacre, the world might have paid more attention.

East Timor is now an independent nation, in part because of the outrage following the Dili killings. But West Papua remains firmly Indonesian, with the support of Western governments. With revolutions in Africa and the Middle East, the problems of the region get little international attention.

In Kirksey’s Freedom in Entangled Worlds we get a book with enough insights to fill in the gaps — but not an objective account.

The Indonesian government’s refusal to let in foreign journalists means that most reports come from partisan sources, including the military. As in Syria, this leaves us wondering who to believe.

The author first encountered Papua in the 1990s when traveling from the US to Jakarta as an exchange student.

During the night refuel the teenager got a whiff of the exotic and mysterious — penis gourds and grass skirts, oppressive heat and the scent of kretek (clove) cigarettes,

Later he returned as an adult planning a thesis on the independence movement and globalization. Instead, he was “drawn into a struggle for freedom […] [becoming] an advocate who accompanied West Papuan activists in political meetings”.

In 2005, he worked in Washington as a human rights advocate. Hardly the language, and position for an even-handed academic.

Nonetheless, Kirksey’s extensive research has been accepted and he’s now a lecturer at Sydney University where he teaches environmental humanities. He’s also become a media commentator on West Papua.

This book proves not all dissertations translate well into mainstream nonfiction. There are plenty of fascinating anecdotes illustrating the cultural complexities and the author’s undercover work, but these have been forced into theoretical moulds and decorated with jargon.

So, we get mixtures of Melanesian myths and magic laced with half understood, or misunderstood stories from the West, guaranteed to engross all, then given equally weird explanations.

To try and make sense of it all he uses extended metaphors drawn from the natural surroundings — jungle roots.

West Papua is quivering with spies. It’s almost impossible to do anything or meet anyone without being observed and reported to intelligence, so activists and Kirksey have taken great risks to garner information.

The man is no dilettante. He spent three months with one tribe — speaks Indonesian and Logat Papua and interviewed 400 people; impressive no doubt and so is his lack of arrogance. His achievement is “not a monograph with pretensions to completeness [but] a story of compromises situated within multiple entangled worlds”.

 A tangled world indeed. The layers over traditional beliefs have included Dutch colonialism, WWII, fundamentalist Christianity, academic analysis, capitalism, massive mineral exploitation and military oppression.

The missionaries introduced hopes of the Messiah’s return. The Allied armies’ cargo brought proof of the riches beyond the mountains that could appear out of the sky given the right mantra.

Instead, ironically on Christmas Day 1971, Freeport arrived to dig a giant hole and take away the province’s riches. What were the poorly educated and uninformed (or misinformed) Papuans to make of it all?

That so many have mastered the complexities of international business and politics, and aroused global concerns about exploitation and alleged human rights abuses is a tribute to their abilities, tenacity and courage.

There are signs of hope. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is reported to be pushing for a “development through compassion” solution before he leaves office next year.

One way would be to listen to the Papuans’ grievances, ranging from dispossession, through torture and murder, enough of their dreadful plight articulated in this book to warrant action that doesn’t involve violence.

The danger is that Kirksey’s book will be considered antagonistic by the military, restricting a peaceful and just settlement of this suppurating wound infecting Indonesia’s relationship with the rest of the world, and particularly Australia.

Published: The Jakarta Post 

Freedom in Entangled Worlds: West Papua and the architecture of global power.Eben Kirksey - Duke University Press 2012 - 322 pages

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