West Papua Headlines

Headlines:

1) Fearing police, 500 villagers take refuge in Paniai
2) No more cops to Papua: police chief
3) Police probe Papua mine murders
4) Indonesia urged to respect human rights in Papua
5) Papuans Report National Police Chief to Human Rights Commission
6) Govt Urged to Release Papuan Political Prisoners
7) Police arrest another suspect over Papua police officer`s attack

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/07/fearing-police-500-villagers-take-refuge-paniai.html

1) Fearing police, 500 villagers take refuge in Paniai

Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/07/2011 9:26 PM

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About 500 inhabitants of Dagouto village in Paniai Regency, Papua, have opted to leave their homes and seek refuge following the deployment of 150 Mobile Brigade officers to their area, Paniai tribe council chief John Gobai said Wednesday.

'Our people have become refugees at Uwatawogi Hall in Enarotali, Paniai, for several weeks. They are now afraid they may not be able to celebrate Christmas at home,' John told reporters at the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

John, along with four other Paniai people, was at the commission to complain about the presence of police officers in the area, which they said 'exacerbated the security situation.'

The National Police has increased its numbers of personnel in the regency following several deadly shootings, reportedly claiming the lives of eight traditional miners working on the Degeuwo River, near Dagouto, last month.

Later reports revised the number of victims to only one villager.

A former lawmaker who is also a Paniai patron, Ruben Gobai, said the situation in the Dagouto area had returned to normal, and that the presence of Mobile Police Brigade officers was unnecessary.

Komnas HAM commissioner Ridha Saleh said his team would ask National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo for clarification of the deployment of police personnel to the Dagouto area.

'The government has repeatedly pledges not to use a security approach to address issues in Papua. But this may have been empty rhetoric,' Ridha said.

Violence has been escalating in Papua since the Third Papuan People's Congress was held from Oct. 16-19 in Abepura, Jayapura, when police and military officers forcefully dispersed the event, seizing both organizers and participants of the congress, and shooting and injuring countless congress participants in what was largely described as a completely unnecessary display of police brutality and violence.

Numerous unidentified gunmen shooting civilians in Papua have been reported in the past two months, with dozens, including four police officers, being killed.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/12/07/no-more-cops-papua-police-chief.html

2) No more cops to Papua: police chief

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/07/2011 3:58 PM

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The National Police will not send more officers to Papua, despite the province being plagued with security problems in recent days, a top official says.

National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said on Wednesday in Jayapura that the police would continue to secure Papua but added that this could not be carried out solely by the authorities, with public participation also required.

Three policemen were killed at two different events earlier this month. Jayapura police Second Brig. Ridwan Napitupulu was shot dead by an unknown gunman on Dec.1. He died after suffering injuries when he was assaulted on his way to Nimbokran district, Jayapura.

On Dec. 3, unidentified gunmen shot and killed Second Brig. Ferianto Kaluku and Second Brig. Eko Afriansyah, two members of a National Police Mobile Brigade special operations unit (Brimob) in Wondegobak village, Puncak Jaya, kompas.com reported.

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3) Police probe Papua mine murders

Rights activists accuse security personnel of killings, but government blames independence movement.
A series of unsolved murders on the private property of one of the world's biggest gold and copper mines in Indonesia's far east has left nine people dead since September.

Government authorities blame fighters belonging to an armed Papua independence movement for the killings, but human rights activists accuse security personnel of committing the murders.

Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen reports on the controversy with exclusive footage she obtained from West Papua, which bans foreign journalists from entering.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2011/12/201112794630736416.html

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http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/asiapac/stories/201112/s3386096.htm

4) Indonesia urged to respect human rights in Papua

ZARIFI: The meeting was actually at the invitation of President Yudhoyono, who asked to meet with Amnesty International to discuss the situation in Papua obviously as a result of increasing international attention as well as rising tension within the province. It was a very open and frank discussion. We disagreed on several points, but I think important we agreed on the Indonesian government's stated commitment to respect and to improve respect for human rights and the rule of law in Papua. So in that regard we view it as a very important first step.

LAM: So Sam, run through for us the key issues, the key concerns that you raised with Mr Suyanto?

ZARIFI: At the initial level and what was promising was an agreement from the Indonesian government with the notion of implementing the special autonomy law of 2001, which includes demands for economic as well as political development in Papua and the coordinating minister really articulated the government's very strong commitment to implementing that. Where we focused was...Amnesty raised really three points with the government, one was a request for the release of political prisoners, that is people who are in detention for non-violent activities, such as raising a flag. We also asked for accountability for violations of human rights in the province. There has been an increase in violence and including at the coordinating minister's admission some violations by security forces. We haven't really seen the proper and proportional disciplining for those. We've seen some administrative sanctions, for instance, imposed on police accused of use of excessive and in fact lethal force, so we really pushed for serious accountability. And finally we asked for the government to put in place some of the commitments it made in 2001 in Papua, including the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a special human rights court to address the grievances of the Papuan people.

LAM: Well, I understand that Amnesty also brought to the attention of the minister its claim that 90 peaceful activists have been detained in Papua. What was the minister's response to this?

ZARIFI: Just to clarify, it 90 political prisoners in Papua and Maluku and I think in fact most of them are in Maluku. This is very clear under international law, activities such as raising a flag or non-violently and peacefully advocating for reform, including calls for independence, cannot be the basis of detention. The minister took on board what we said, but he pointed out that under Indonesian law, such activity is criminal. I suppose it's best to say that we agreed to disagree. We pointed out that the criminal law in Indonesia as it stands violates Indonesia's commitments under the covenant of civil and political rights, which Indonesia has ratified and we left the list with the coordinating minister, along with our call that all those political prisoners be released at this point with 2012 coming up in Indonesia, there is really no justification for any political prisoners to be left in Indonesia. I think it's a matter of law, but simply as a matter of Indonesia's politics and international standing, the notion of having political prisoners in Indonesia is unacceptable.

LAM: And just briefly Sam Zarifi, as you say, the meeting was initiated by the Indonesian government. So do you think that while the political will is there at the centre in Jakarta, that this does not always necessarily translate to the military on the ground?

ZARIFI: Well clearly, there does seem to be a new impetus in Jakarta for addressing the situation in Papua without resorting to military means. We really encourage that. I think the examples set in Aceh has been promising and I think that is very much in the Indonesian government's mind. We've requested that improvements in human rights be part of the benchmarks for this non-military approach. We're convinced that this will work better, more quickly and more efficiently than any military response and we were encouraged by the coordinating minister's commitment that they would move away from a military response right now.

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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/papuans-report-national-police-chief-to-human-rights-commission/483298

5) Papuans Report National Police Chief to Human Rights Commission
Agus Triyono | December 07, 2011
Papuans from the Paniai district on Wednesday reported National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) for deploying 140 brigade mobile police officers to their district.

Residents said troops have been in Paniai since Nov. 2, 2011. The troops have caused locals unrest by 'sweeping' ordinary people while looking for Free Papua Organization (OPM) members. John NR Gobai, the Customary Council Head of Paniai, said that troops often took people's belongings forcefully during home searches.

'Moreover, with the reason of searching for OPM members that they accuse of stealing their guns, they shot ordinary people [Matias Tenouye],' John said after submitting the report to Komnas HAM. 'He's just a gold digger, not member of OPM.'

Ridha Saleh, a member of the commission, said that he would request an explanation from the National Police chief regarding the report.

'We will ask for an explanation from him for the reason for deploying the troops,' Ridha said. 'It did not only happen in Paniai, but also in Freeport's area.'

If the report is true, Ridha said the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs Djoko Suyanto and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono failed to fulfill their promises.

'The government has committed to solve the Papua problem with a peaceful approach, not violence,' he said. 'If these cases reported are true, it means they [Yudhonoyono and Djoko] failed [to keep their promises]. This shows that what they said could not be implemented in reality.'

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http://www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2011/12/07/brk,20111207-370434,uk.html

6) Govt Urged to Release Papuan Political Prisoners
Wednesday, 07 December, 2011 | 19:04 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Amnesty International is urging the Indonesian government to include human rights agenda in resolving issues in Papua issues. The organization's senior research advisor, Issabel Arradon, said the government must obey the International Convention of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which has already been ratified by the Indonesian government.

'The government must assure that restrictions to freedom of expression and peaceful gatherings do not exceed the standards set in the convention," said Issabel in Jakarta yesterday.

Amnesty International yesterday met with Coordinating Minister for Political, Justice and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto to discuss human rights reinforcement in Papua. Amnesty urged the government to immediately release Papuan political prisoners to fulfill the government's commitment to civil rights.

It also urged the government to implement the Special Autonomy Law by establishing a human rights court as well as truth and reconciliation commission. 'Amnesty insisted the government guarantee access for journalists and international organization activists to visit and conduct research in Papua,' said Issabel.

International Center for Transitional Justice's senior advisor, Usman Hamid, supported Amnesty's demands. He said that releasing political prisoners was the right move to show commitment to build dialogue with the Papuan public. 'Without the decision to release political inmates, efforts to build dialogue will not be conveyed' he said.

Amnesty International's data showed that at least 90 political inmates are detained in Papua and Maluku prisons due to their non-violent pro-freedom activities. Filep Karma, a Papuan who was detained due to his opinion of a "prisoner of conscience' is now doing 15 years in Abepura prison in Papua.

Usman said that if the government impeded journalist and activists from seeing the condition in Papua first hand, it would lead to more suspicion. The government should facilitate foreign organizations, particularly the UN's rapporteurs who wanted to monitor the condition in Papua, he said.

'With a pro-active attitude, suspicions over human rights violations in Papua will decrease,' he said.

IRA GUSLINA | RIRIN AGUSTIA | SUNUDYANTORO

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http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/78264/police-arrest-another-suspect-over-papua-police-officers-attack

7) Police arrest another suspect over Papua police officer`s attack

Wed, December 7 2011 23:49 | 140 Views

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Police have arrested another suspect in the attack case of second brigadier Ridwan Napitupulu in Jayapura, Papua, on Thursday (December 1).

"JT, the suspect, was arrested yesterday in Jayapura," National Police Head of Public Relations Division Inspector General Saud Usman Nasution said here on Wednesday.

Police are still chasing another suspect involved in the case that has been put in the wanted list.

"The three other suspects who have been arrested have been detained," he said.

The three suspects who have been detained are Thomas Tarko, Yonathan Tarko and Jhon Calvin Tarko. They are charged against Articel 214 paragraph 2 and 2e of the Criminal Code.

JT is a group member in Nimbokrang and their motive for attacking two police officers was not yet known, he said.

Second Brigadier Ridwan died at Bhayangkara Hospital in Jayapura on Monday at around 00.35 hours.

Ridwan and his colleague Chief Brigadier Dian Budi Santoso were ambushed and attacked that night in Berap, Demta while conducting patrol in the area.

While trying to run for safety in the river Ridwan was caught and later tortured. Seeing his colleague`s condition Dian then climbed up the river where he was hiding by holding on a sago tree and carried his colleague away to a residential area for help.(*)

ENDS

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