Australian West Papua Support, National Gathering

Australian West Papua Support, National Gathering

The 4th National Gathering of the Australian Coalition of West Papua Support Groups met in Sydney over the weekend of the 11-12 August to discuss and formulate campaigns to highlight the ongoing human rights abuses occurring in West Papua.

The gathering also affirmed their support for the peaceful struggle of the West Papuan people to achieve their right to self-determination. (Article 1. The United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights).

Delegates at the gathering expressed great concern about the deteriorating situation in West Papua and at the systematic campaign by the military and police to intimidate any individual or organisation whom they (the military and police) deem to be separatists.

The gathering also called for the removal and suspension from active duty of Col. Burhanuddin Siagian who is commander of the Jayapura sub-regional military command (Korem 172) in Papua,

Col. Siagian has been indicted twice for crimes against humanity in East Timor and according to a report in the Cenderawasih Post on 12 May 2007, Col Siagian threatened to destroy anyone who betrays Indonesia: "If I meet anyone who has enjoyed the facilities that belong to the state, but who still betrays the nation, I honestly will destroy him".

Since Col. Siagian made his statements there has been a marked increase in intimidation throughout West Papua and Indonesia and an increase in the number of civilian killings by security forces. There has also being an increase in (and reappearance of) civilian militias and an escalation in the intimidation of human rights defenders and church workers.

Lombok treaty, In relation to the Lombok treaty, the gathering also condemned the ties with the Indonesian military to which this treaty commits us . The military are the core of the problem in West Papua and it is in the interest of the military to provoke and prolong conflict in in order to prove that they are needed to maintain law and order and control so called separatists groups. As the Indonesian military receive approximately only 45% of their budget from the government, they must raise the rest themselves. Much of this is done through illegal means such as illegal logging, mining, prostitution and offering to provide so called security to international companies such as the Freeport copper and gold mine.

However, the gathering has noted that the treaties committee has recommended that there be "an increase in transparency in defence cooperation agreements to provide assurance that Australian resources do not directly or indirectly support human rights abuses in Indonesia" and "The Committee recommends that the Australian Government encourage the Indonesian Government to allow greater access for the media and human rights monitors in Papua.

However, unless these recommendations are actually incorporated into the treaty it will just be paying lip service to these concerns.

We note that no mention was made of exchange of health information in the treaty e.g. in case of bird flu or similar epidemics nor of medical support .

Health Health in West Papua continues to be a matter of major regional and international concern. West Papua has half of all the diagnosed cases of HIV AIDS in Indonesia (at 20 times the rate of the rest of Indonesia) Malaria remains endemic , and tuberculosis, including new drug resistant strains is increasing. Infant mortality rates are over 100 per thousand live births and are amongst the highest in the world. (Half of the infant deaths are due to Malaria). Maternal mortality rates is rising in many areas, due to malnutrition and increasing HIV AIDS infections. The WHO states that female literacy is the greatest protector against maternal mortality . However Papua has the seventh highest rate of illiteracy in Indonesia, with 200,000 people aged 12 to 45 years unable to read. In addition, more than 350,000 people over the age of 45 and living in rural areas in Papua cannot read and write.

TNI has not reformed Numerous reports including the US State Department's 2005 Human Rights report has stated that "Security forces continued to commit unlawful killings of rebels, suspected rebels, and civilians in areas of separatist activity, where most politically motivated extrajudicial killings also occurred", and an article in the Jakarta Post "military remains above the law, says rights watchdog" dated 27 December 2006, also reports that the military have made no progress in reforming itself. There have been a number of military operations in the highland regions of West Papua in the past year and particularly in the Puncak Jaya region. These operations caused thousands to flee to the bush for their safety and seriously disrupted the livelihood of the local people.

Militia groups The increase in activity of militia groups in West Papua and Indonesia is of particular concern.

At the beginning of July West Papuan students held protests in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta rejecting special autonomy and protesting the Indonesian government's decision to ban Congressman Faleomavega from visiting West Papua. In response to these demonstrations the Indonesian police, military and local government in Yogyakarta teamed up with Islamic militias and hardline nationalist groups to intimidate West Papuan activists. According to local West Papuan activists, statements issued by the Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders Front) and Front Anti-Komunis Indonesia (Indonesian Anti-Communist Front) have been made threatening West Papuan students.

These acts of intimidation of West Papuan students and NGO organisations by the security forces is causing increasing tension and instability in West Papua. It signifies a systematic campaign to target what appears to be separatists groups by the security forces and a return to the hardline policy of the Suharto years.

Other militia groups operating in West Papua including the Laskar Jihad group. Although it was reported that they disbanded after the Bali bombings members of the group have remained in West Papua. Other groups include the Satgas Merah-Putih (Red and White Task Force) and the Front Pembela Merah Putih (Red and White Defenders Front). None of these groups could operate with out the knowledge and consent of the military. They military have also created a false OPM (Free Papua Movement) to instigate incidents so the military can use such incidents to crack down on so called separatists groups.

Being aware of the Indonesian military's appalling human rights abuses and their involvement in illegal resource extraction, the National Gathering of the Australian Coalition of West Papua Support Groups calls on the Australian government to urge the Indonesian government to control its military who are one of the major causes of conflict in West Papua and order them to return to barracks where in a true democracy, they belong.

ENDS

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