Updates: Police Officer Dies After Setting Himself on Fire

HEADLINES:

1) Police raid separatist group outpost

2) The Thinker: See No Prisoners?

3) Papua Police Officer Dies After Setting Himself on Fire

4) Dead Officer Once Attempted to Burn Down Papua Police HQ: Spokesman

5) TNI to add troops along land border

6) Freeport Indonesia workers to return to work Sat

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/14/police-raid-separatist-group-outpost.html
1) Police raid separatist group outpost
The Jakarta Post | Wed, 12/14/2011 9:37 AM

The Paniai Police have confiscated a cache of weapons after searching a reported outpost of the Free Papuan Movement (OPM).
“We have garnered an OPM flag, 53 bullets, a firearm, a machete, three laptops, binoculars and bulk of documents belonging to the OPM, among other things,” National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said on Tuesday as quoted by tempo.co.

A police officer, Chief. Brig. Supono, was hospitalized after he was shot in the leg during the hours-long shootout between police and the OPM, Boy said.
OPM spokesman Leo Yeimo said that at least 20 people were injured during the raid, including OPM members, sympathizers and several civilians.
“The police all of the sudden burned down our houses. We didn't have much option other than to fight back,” he said. (dic)

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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/the-thinker-see-no-prisoners/484522

2) The Thinker: See No Prisoners?
Carmel Budiardjo | December 14, 2011

According to Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, there are no political prisoners in Papua — only criminals who have broken the law. This is troubling news for Papuans such as Filep Karma, Forkorus Yaboisembut and others who are currently behind bars for expressing their beliefs.

Djoko’s statement late week is especially puzzling in light of an internal government document, titled “List of Political Prisoners Across Papua,” that was leaked earlier this year to Tapol. The document lists 25 Papuans detained for treason and related offenses. In addition to the government’s own records, numerous NGOs based in Jakarta and Papua, as well as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Tapol, all hold extensive data on political prisoners in Papua the put the number even higher.

According to Djoko, if organizations like Amnesty International consider the individuals in question to be political prisoners, this is only their perception, whereas from the point of view of national law they are criminals.

But this is not about perception; it is a question of international laws and standards to which Indonesia is an adherent. In the event that Indonesia’s national laws contravene these standards, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, then those national laws must be amended lest Indonesia stand in violation of its obligations. This has long been the position of Papuan civil society, whose calls for a judicial review of the treason laws that are used to criminalize freedom of expression (in particular Article 106 of the Criminal Code) have been growing louder over the past year.

What senior Indonesian officials can all agree on is that they will not tolerate treason, and this has been clearly expressed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, military officials, senior police officials and lawmakers alike. However, an increasing number of elements within the government and judiciary recognize the need to develop a more finely nuanced understanding of treason that does not violate universal rights and international law.

In October 2010, Mahfud MD, the chairman of the Constitutional Court, joined the debate by arguing that demonstrations and treason are not the same thing. Expressing one’s aspirations is entirely legal in accordance with Indonesia’s human rights laws, he said, adding, “Why should we be scared of things like demonstrations? During reform in 1998, we all struggled so that activities like this could be carried out freely.”

The violence and arrests following the Third Papuan People’s Congress in October sparked a lively public debate about the issue of freedom of expression in Indonesia, and Frits Ramandey, secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, rejected the view that the meeting was treasonous. He challenged the police to take a broader view: “If we consider there to be an element of trying to form a new country, or to separate oneself from a legally valid country, then there has to be a military occupation to seize territory. In this case they didn’t seize anything, they just wanted to make a peaceful announcement. … That is not treason.”

It is not only Indonesians who are concerned for the fate of the country’s political prisoners. During a 2008 review of Indonesia by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, the Netherlands, Canada and Ireland all expressed concerns about Indonesia’s use of treason laws to suppress freedom of expression. The UN’s judgment on arbitrary detentions went still further, ruling that the detention of Filep Karma, who was detained in 2004 and is serving a 15-year sentence for his connection with a peaceful flag-raising ceremony, is illegal and calling for the release of political prisoners.

In just five months’ time Indonesia is up for review at the Human Rights Council again. International concern about the issue is growing stronger all the time as the number of demonstrations in Papua continues to increase and the list of political prisoners grows longer.

In a democratic Indonesia, it is simply no longer appropriate to lock people up when they say things that the government does not like, and as the Jakarta-Papua dialogue initiative suggests, there are alternative ways to engage with Papua. If Indonesia is to move on from its painful past, it should heed the calls to release political prisoners and repeal anti-democratic laws that criminalize the freedom of expression. Only then will Djoko Suyanto truly be able to say that political prisoners no longer exist in Indonesia.

Carmel Budiardjo is a senior campaigner at Tapol, a Britain-based organization that works to promote human rights, peace and democracy in Indonesia.

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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/papua-police-officer-dies-after-setting-himself-on-fire/484598

3) Papua Police Officer Dies After Setting Himself on Fire
Banjir Ambarita | December 14, 2011

Jayapura. Less than a week after a student activist set himself on fire near the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, another man has immolated himself, this time a police officer in Papua.

On Tuesday, Brigadier Yosef Resubun, a member of the Yapen Islands district police, set his own room at the police dormitory in Serui, the district capital, on fire after dousing it with kerosene at 7:45 p.m., Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said.

Yosef stayed in the burning room and died in the blaze.

“It is true that there was a police member who set himself on fire, but concerning the motive and the chronology, they are still unclear,” Wachyono said.

The fire also charred 15 other rooms in the dormitory, but there were no other casualties.

Wachyono said that the other occupants of the dormitory had managed to flee unharmed. The fire was extinguished about an hour later by a fire truck and with the help of local residents.

“That is about all the info that we have so far,” Wachyono said.

On Dec. 7, Sondang Hutagalung, a final-year law student at Bung Karno University, set himself on fire in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta. Sondang died at a hospital on Saturday.

Although the motive for his act remains unclear, Sondang’s death has been interpreted by many as a protest against government or society more broadly.

There has been no shortage of events out of restive Papua in recent months that might provoke protest. Armed separatists are allegedly behind a series of deadly attacks on police officers, while violent government crackdowns on pro-independence rallies have brought condemnation from human rights groups.

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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/dead-officer-once-attempted-to-burn-down-papua-police-hq-spokesman/484644

4) Dead Officer Once Attempted to Burn Down Papua Police HQ: Spokesman
Banjir Ambarita | December 14, 2011

It has been revealed that the officer who died after setting himself and part of a police dormitory in Serui, Yappen Islands, Papua, on fire had a history of mental illness and had previously attempted to set fire to the provincial police headquarters, Papua Police confirmed on Wednesday.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono told the Jakarta Globe that the officer, Brig. Yosef Resubun, had once attempted to burn down Papua Police Headquarters in Jayapura, though he was caught lighting papers.

He said Yosef was detained for 21 days, during which time he was examined psychologically.

‘’When arrested, his mental condition was checked and it was discovered that he had a mental disorder, though it was not permanent.”

Wachyono said the officer was transferred to Yapen Islands Police.

“He was transferred because in addition to attempting to set the police headquarters on fire, he also had a mental disorder,” he said, “Throughout his time in Serui, he had been under surveillance, but sadly he set himself on fire.”

Asked whether the depression was due to heavy work pressures, Wachyono said the incident was still under investigation.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/14/tni-add-troops-along-land-borders.html

5) TNI to add troops along land borders

The Jakarta Post, Gorontalo | Wed, 12/14/2011 11:23 AM

The Indonesian Military says it will shift strategy and deploy troops from Java to areas near the nation’s borders as part of a defense rethink.
“The troops will be deployed to border areas, from Aceh and Kalimantan to Sulawesi and Papua,” Col. Sigit Priyono, the chief of the Defense Ministry’s State Defense Policy Development unit, said in Gorontalo on Wednesday, antaranews.com reported.

Sigit said the ministry was shifting from a “Java-centric” focus to responding to potential security and defense threats across the nation.
“Currently, the troops in Java outnumber those on the borders, which are more prone to security and defense disturbances,” he said.

Java is the most densely militarized province in Indonesia, with 1 soldier for every 0.8 square kilometers, as opposed to 1 soldier per 7 square kilometers in Sulawesi, 8 square kilometers in Sumatra, and 27 square kilometers in Kalimantan and Papua.

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http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/12/14/reutersworld/20111214130031&sec=reutersworld
Wednesday December 14, 2011

6) Freeport Indonesia workers to return to work Sat

JAKARTA (Reuters): Striking workers at Freeport Indonesia will return to work on Saturday after agreeing to a pay deal to end a three-month dispute that has paralyzed output at the world's second-biggest copper mine, a union official said on Wednesday.

Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc and the union are expected to sign a deal within days, which will include a pay rise of 37 percent over two years to end Indonesia's longest-running industrial dispute, the union has said.
"The firm has asked us to mobilize workers back to work on December 17 and we have agreed as part of the pay deal," union field coordinator Hengki Binur told Reuters.

The deal was meant to be signed on Tuesday but has been delayed, showing the timetable for the return of workers could also be pushed back. The level of benefits for workers and whether strikers should be penalized are seen as potential sticking points that could delay an agreement.

"We want one other condition -- we want a guarantee from Freeport and its units that the workers who have joined the strike will not get any problem when they return to work," said Binur.

Freeport's CEO Richard Adkerson has been in Jakarta in recent weeks to help negotiate a deal with the union. The company, which has said it is losing 2 million pounds of copper and 3,000 ounces of gold in daily production, declined to comment on the pay talks.

The strike action has helped support copper prices, which have been pushed lower on worries about weak global demand, so a resumption in output could be bearish for prices. Benchmark copper in London fell 0.9 percent on Wednesday.
The strike in Papua has been running since mid-Sept, and the firm declared force majeure on its exports from Grasberg in October, freeing it from contractual obligations.

Even after workers return, it is likely to take some days to ramp up production, and longer to resume shipments since the firm needs to repair a sabotaged pipeline that takes metal concentrate from the mine to its port.
The firm's operations have been crippled by attacks on pipelines, employees and blockades by workers and spear-wielding local tribesman that have cut off its food and fuel supplies in a remote region with few roads.

Binur said that the road blockades imposed since October will also be lifted once the pay agreement is made.

The union initially pushed for a pay rise to as much as $200 an hour, versus current pay of $2-$3 an hour. It steadily dropped its demands in recent weeks to around $7.50 an hour, a level still deemed "excessive" by Adkerson.
The pay agreement is closer to the 35 percent rise offered by the company in recent weeks.

Freeport Indonesia has 23,000 workers at its Grasberg operations. Many are Christian and have been worried they would not be able to afford to celebrate Christmas due to the strike, since they are not getting paid, leading to a greater push for a deal in the past week.

The strike has been the highest profile stoppage among several worker pay protests in Indonesia -- signs of growing unrest over rising costs and a sense that the country's economic success is not being shared by all.

ENDS

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