December 17, 2009 Comments 6
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The shooting of one of West Papua's independence leaders, Kelly Kwalik, has opened up new opportunities for a negotiated resolution to that troubled territory's long-running problems. Kwalik was one of two senior commanders of the Free Papua Organisation's National Liberation Army (OPM/TPN), and had a reputation as being among the OPM hardliners.
However, despite recent Indonesian army claims, he was not behind a recent spate of shooting near the enormous Freeport gold and copper mine, a claim that was accepted by local police.
Kwalik's death came after an informer told another group of police that he was behind the shooting, and where he was hiding. In an attempt to arrest him, police shot Kwalik in the leg. However, he died in hospital, in circumstances that remain unclear.
Kwalik led the more militant of two groups of separatist fighters in West Papua and orchestrated a number of kidnappings and attacks in the 1980s and '90s. However, in recent years, Kwalik had joined with the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, an umbrella organisation of pro-independence groups seeking a negotiated settlement to West Papua's issues, and had not been militarily active.
Kwalik denied involvement in the recent shootings near the Freeport mine, which have left three people dead and briefly closed the mine, as well as a deadly ambush on US teachers in 2002. Suspicion for these attacks has focused on a dispute between the Indonesian army (TNI) and the Indonesian national police (Polri) over the division of spoils for protecting the mine site, which is one of the largest in the world.
As Indonesia's Government has moved to gradually wind back the involvement of the TNI in domestic affairs, it has increasingly handed over to the police responsibility for internal security. However, as a lucrative source of corrupt income, the TNI has opposed this shift of responsibility, and has been at pains to establish a case that the police are unable to deal with security issues.
In classic protection racket-style, if a security problem does not exist, it is created. If the police are capable of looking after the situation, create a situation that is beyond their control.
Kwalik's death will have little material impact on West Papua's separatist movement, given his own relatively hard-line position and the movement's shift towards seeking a negotiated settlement. However, his death may indicate to many younger activists that the Indonesian Government's security forces remain too concerned with their own welfare to place trust in them.
However, the death of Kwalik, as a hardliner, may also allow the West Papua Coalition an opportunity to streamline its internal negotiating position. The question will be, in his second and final term of office, whether Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is serious about taking up the option of negotiation.
Professor Damien Kingsbury has been appointed to a personal chair in the School of International and Political Studies at Deakin University.
Source: theage.com.au
Friday 25 December 2009
West Papua: Dialogue Needed Between NZ and Jakarta
10:21 December 24, 2009Pacific Press Releases 0 comments
Press Release – Indonesia Human Rights Committee
The Indonesia Human Rights Committee is calling on Prime Minister John Key and Foreign Minister Murray McCully to support the calls for dialogue to avert further tension and violence in West Papua. Human Rights Committee,
23 December, 2009
Media Release: Call for NZ support for dialogue in the wake of death of West Papuan leader.
The Indonesia Human Rights Committee is calling on Prime Minister John Key and Foreign Minister Murray McCully to support the calls for dialogue to avert further tension and violence in West Papua. Since the death of resistance leader, Kelly Kwalik on December 16, the territory has experienced an outpouring of grief and anger within the Papuan community.
New Zealand has successfully promoted and supported dialogue for Bougainville and can now be a credible advocate for peace and dialogue again, but action needs to be taken urgently.
Rt Hon John Key,
Prime Minister,
Parliament Buildings,
Wellington
Hon Murray McCully,
Parliament Buildings,
Wellington
Dear Mr Key and Mr McCully,
The Indonesia Human Rights Committee is deeply concerned about the possibility of escalating conflict in West Papua in the wake of the death of OPM (Free West Papua Movement) leader, Kelly Kwalik. We believe that an internationally mediated dialogue between Papuan representatives and the Indonesian Government is now imperative.
We call on the New Zealand Government to publicly back negotiation and dialogue as the path to peace in West Papua.
Kelly Kwalik died after he was shot by the Police Mobile Brigade and the anti-terror force Detachment 88 on December 16. He is reported to have died after being taken to hospital but the circumstances of his death have not been made clear.
Since Kelly Kwalik’s death there has been an outpouring of grief and anger within the West Papuan community, including considerable tension around the funeral arrangements and burial site. Requests for the nationalist ‘Morning Star’ flag to be flown at the time of the funeral were turned down, but his coffin was defiantly draped in the flag. There have been pro-independence demonstrations and calls for the Freeport McMoran mine to be closed, by Papuan customary leaders. Kelly Kwalik and his people were dispossessed by the mine and many believe that Freeport was indirectly responsible for his death.
The Timika Catholic Bishop John Philip Saklil, who led the service, said that Kelly Kwalik was a patriot who had dedicated his life to the land of Papua. It is widely acknowledged that in recent years Kelly Kwalik had turned from armed struggle to the pursuit of dialogue with Indonesia and support for a Zone of Peace.
Despite some claims in the Indonesian media, we believe that it is not credible that that Kelly Kwalik was responsible for the lethal attacks in the Timika area in this year and in 2002. The deaths in 2002 of 3 teachers including 2 Americans, have been subject to independent human rights investigations which indicate that the military was involved in these attacks. Not long before his death, Kelly Kwalik met with security officials and denied that he had any involvement in this year’s attacks in the mine area. We understand that the police supported his claims, refuting earlier comments from the military of OPM involvement in the attacks.
We believe that the West Papuan people and the rest of the world want answers to questions relating to the method and reasons why Kelly Kwalik died. There are also unanswered questions about the fate of those arrested at the time of the shooting
of Kelly Kwalik, especially as one the five arrested was a ten year old boy.
But most importantly, we believe that West Papua’s Pacific neighbours, including New Zealand should now join the call for the Indonesian Government to respond to the demands of the West Papuan people for peaceful dialogue. There must be a just and open process to address deep grievances including the marginalisation of the indigenous people and decades of documented cases of police and military killings and brutality. West Papua also experiences desperate health circumstances, an epidemic of HIV/Aids and rampant deforestation and environmental destruction.
It is time for New Zealand, which successfully supported peaceful negotiations for another Melanesian territory, Bougainville, to take up the cause of peace and dialogue again.
Yours sincerely,
Maire Leadbeater
(for the Indonesia Human Rights Committee)
ENDS
Press Release – Indonesia Human Rights Committee
The Indonesia Human Rights Committee is calling on Prime Minister John Key and Foreign Minister Murray McCully to support the calls for dialogue to avert further tension and violence in West Papua. Human Rights Committee,
23 December, 2009
Media Release: Call for NZ support for dialogue in the wake of death of West Papuan leader.
The Indonesia Human Rights Committee is calling on Prime Minister John Key and Foreign Minister Murray McCully to support the calls for dialogue to avert further tension and violence in West Papua. Since the death of resistance leader, Kelly Kwalik on December 16, the territory has experienced an outpouring of grief and anger within the Papuan community.
New Zealand has successfully promoted and supported dialogue for Bougainville and can now be a credible advocate for peace and dialogue again, but action needs to be taken urgently.
Rt Hon John Key,
Prime Minister,
Parliament Buildings,
Wellington
Hon Murray McCully,
Parliament Buildings,
Wellington
Dear Mr Key and Mr McCully,
The Indonesia Human Rights Committee is deeply concerned about the possibility of escalating conflict in West Papua in the wake of the death of OPM (Free West Papua Movement) leader, Kelly Kwalik. We believe that an internationally mediated dialogue between Papuan representatives and the Indonesian Government is now imperative.
We call on the New Zealand Government to publicly back negotiation and dialogue as the path to peace in West Papua.
Kelly Kwalik died after he was shot by the Police Mobile Brigade and the anti-terror force Detachment 88 on December 16. He is reported to have died after being taken to hospital but the circumstances of his death have not been made clear.
Since Kelly Kwalik’s death there has been an outpouring of grief and anger within the West Papuan community, including considerable tension around the funeral arrangements and burial site. Requests for the nationalist ‘Morning Star’ flag to be flown at the time of the funeral were turned down, but his coffin was defiantly draped in the flag. There have been pro-independence demonstrations and calls for the Freeport McMoran mine to be closed, by Papuan customary leaders. Kelly Kwalik and his people were dispossessed by the mine and many believe that Freeport was indirectly responsible for his death.
The Timika Catholic Bishop John Philip Saklil, who led the service, said that Kelly Kwalik was a patriot who had dedicated his life to the land of Papua. It is widely acknowledged that in recent years Kelly Kwalik had turned from armed struggle to the pursuit of dialogue with Indonesia and support for a Zone of Peace.
Despite some claims in the Indonesian media, we believe that it is not credible that that Kelly Kwalik was responsible for the lethal attacks in the Timika area in this year and in 2002. The deaths in 2002 of 3 teachers including 2 Americans, have been subject to independent human rights investigations which indicate that the military was involved in these attacks. Not long before his death, Kelly Kwalik met with security officials and denied that he had any involvement in this year’s attacks in the mine area. We understand that the police supported his claims, refuting earlier comments from the military of OPM involvement in the attacks.
We believe that the West Papuan people and the rest of the world want answers to questions relating to the method and reasons why Kelly Kwalik died. There are also unanswered questions about the fate of those arrested at the time of the shooting
of Kelly Kwalik, especially as one the five arrested was a ten year old boy.
But most importantly, we believe that West Papua’s Pacific neighbours, including New Zealand should now join the call for the Indonesian Government to respond to the demands of the West Papuan people for peaceful dialogue. There must be a just and open process to address deep grievances including the marginalisation of the indigenous people and decades of documented cases of police and military killings and brutality. West Papua also experiences desperate health circumstances, an epidemic of HIV/Aids and rampant deforestation and environmental destruction.
It is time for New Zealand, which successfully supported peaceful negotiations for another Melanesian territory, Bougainville, to take up the cause of peace and dialogue again.
Yours sincerely,
Maire Leadbeater
(for the Indonesia Human Rights Committee)
ENDS
Saturday 12 December 2009
Big win for West Papuan refugees
IT’S nearly four years since 43 refugees made world headlines after paddling an outrigger canoe from their West Papuan homelands to Australia.
Now living in public housing estates in North Melbourne, Collingwood and Richmond, the group reunited last week to celebrate West Papuan Independence Day by thrashing local police officers in a soccer match.
One of the boat people, 26-year-old Adolf Mora, said they also marked the occasion by raising the West Papuan flag and singing their national anthem.
“If we did that in West Papua then we get killed straight away because the (Indonesian) army will go looking for us,” Mr Mora said.
As well as earning the group political asylum in Australia, their courageous five-day sea voyage sparked a diplomatic row between the governments of their adopted nation and Indonesia, which annexed West Papua in 1969.
While Indonesia officially granted West Papua autonomy in 2001, there have been numerous reports of the Indonesian army murdering indigenous residents since then.
“That’s why we left because there is no justice or freedom and no standing for your rights. That’s why we climb into a boat to Australia where it is free for us,” Mr Mora said.
What they thought would be a one-day journey soon turned into a nightmare for the group, aged between three and 48, when the motor on their canoe stopped just off the coast of West Papua.
With no food or even a compass for navigation, they spent the next five days relying on rainwater for energy as they paddled and sailed the 25m boat for 300km through stormy seas until they reached the tip of Cape York on January 18, 2006.
“Everyone thought we would disappear and we would all die, but it looks like the gods had made the rain to give us energy and wind to give us direction,” Mr Mora said. Soon after their arrival, the group was sent to Melbourne and in January this year they were granted permanent residency.
Mr Mora lives at the Collingwood high-rise flats and has found a job working to help other refugees and migrants for Fitzroy-based charity Brotherhood of St Laurence.
Leading Sen-Constable Danash Schneider from the Victoria Police multicultural liaison unit watched on last week as Victoria Police’s prized soccer team was beaten 5-2.
“The police team are all pretty good players but these West Papuans were half our size and twice as fast so we were left pretty stunned,” he said.
Resource:
http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/big-win-for-west-papuan-refugees/
Now living in public housing estates in North Melbourne, Collingwood and Richmond, the group reunited last week to celebrate West Papuan Independence Day by thrashing local police officers in a soccer match.
One of the boat people, 26-year-old Adolf Mora, said they also marked the occasion by raising the West Papuan flag and singing their national anthem.
“If we did that in West Papua then we get killed straight away because the (Indonesian) army will go looking for us,” Mr Mora said.
As well as earning the group political asylum in Australia, their courageous five-day sea voyage sparked a diplomatic row between the governments of their adopted nation and Indonesia, which annexed West Papua in 1969.
While Indonesia officially granted West Papua autonomy in 2001, there have been numerous reports of the Indonesian army murdering indigenous residents since then.
“That’s why we left because there is no justice or freedom and no standing for your rights. That’s why we climb into a boat to Australia where it is free for us,” Mr Mora said.
What they thought would be a one-day journey soon turned into a nightmare for the group, aged between three and 48, when the motor on their canoe stopped just off the coast of West Papua.
With no food or even a compass for navigation, they spent the next five days relying on rainwater for energy as they paddled and sailed the 25m boat for 300km through stormy seas until they reached the tip of Cape York on January 18, 2006.
“Everyone thought we would disappear and we would all die, but it looks like the gods had made the rain to give us energy and wind to give us direction,” Mr Mora said. Soon after their arrival, the group was sent to Melbourne and in January this year they were granted permanent residency.
Mr Mora lives at the Collingwood high-rise flats and has found a job working to help other refugees and migrants for Fitzroy-based charity Brotherhood of St Laurence.
Leading Sen-Constable Danash Schneider from the Victoria Police multicultural liaison unit watched on last week as Victoria Police’s prized soccer team was beaten 5-2.
“The police team are all pretty good players but these West Papuans were half our size and twice as fast so we were left pretty stunned,” he said.
Resource:
http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/big-win-for-west-papuan-refugees/
Terror, resistance and trauma in West Papua
Pacific Scoop
By Budi Hernawan OFM
Papua recently attracted the attention of the international community, and in particular of Australia, when Australian citizen Drew Grant was killed in a shooting incident in the early morning of 11 July 2009 in the Freeport Mining area in Tembagapura, Papua (The Jakarta Globe, 13 July 2009).
This killing ignited a series of violent acts in the world largest gold and copper mine site.
Police are yet to provide an explanation of the incident. The shooting immediately sparked speculation in the public and international media forcing a highly-ranked representative of the Indonesian Government to provide a public statement. On 16 July the Minister of Defence, Yuwono Sudarsono, claimed that a ‘rogue element’ in the military might have been involved in the shooting (ABC News, 16 July 2009).
Despite the lack of strong evidence, the police arrested and detained 9 civilians on 20 July 2009 and charged them with murder, even though the unidentified gunmen continued to engage in acts of shooting (The Jakarta Post, 12/8/09). This story sounds familiar for many Papuans, recalling memories of a similar incident in August 2002, when one Indonesian and two American teachers were shot dead in an ambush at the Freeport Mining site.
Such an incident might represent the spectre of terror that marks the landscape of Freeport mining area (Ballard 2002) and has shaped memoria passionis of the Papuans as a whole. As a response to the repeated terror, the Papuans expressed their opposition to be continuously blamed as a scapegoat.
In a rarely issued public statement dated 15 July 2009, Kelly Kwalik, the leader of the Organisasi Pembebasan Papoea Merdeka (OPM) in the Timika area, expressed his strong denial that he or his group was involved in the attack in any way (Kwalik 2009).
This act illustrates the resistance aspect in Papua that responds to prolonged oppressive mechanisms that sacrifice Papuans. Over time, terror and resistance have become a dialectic that leaves the Papuans traumatised and forms an unbreakable cycle. This current pattern of terror needs to be understood within Papua’s broader historical context and the legacy of the region’s early history.
This paper does not intend to provide an in-depth examination of Papua’s history. Rather, it aims to reflect on the prolonged terror, resistance movements and trauma that have characterised Papua to date. Yet in order to do so, we need to trace the historical context, including in particular the transfer of this area to Indonesian administration on 1 May 1963 by the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA), under Article XII of the 1962 New York Agreement.
The paper begins by summarising the key arguments that scholars suggested underpinned the power struggle between Indonesia and the Netherlands. Secondly, it discusses the establishment of control mechanisms that have resulted in a dialectic of terror and resistance. Thirdly, it briefly explores trauma as an impact of the dialectic of terror and resistance.
Click here to read the full report into this issue.
Budi Hernawan OFM is a PhD Candidate at the Regulatory Institutions Network, Australian National University. The author is a Franciscan friar who previously worked for ten years at the Office for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Church in Jayapura, West Papua, Indonesia.
ENDS
http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2009/12/terror-resistance-and-trauma-in-west-papua/
By Budi Hernawan OFM
Papua recently attracted the attention of the international community, and in particular of Australia, when Australian citizen Drew Grant was killed in a shooting incident in the early morning of 11 July 2009 in the Freeport Mining area in Tembagapura, Papua (The Jakarta Globe, 13 July 2009).
This killing ignited a series of violent acts in the world largest gold and copper mine site.
Police are yet to provide an explanation of the incident. The shooting immediately sparked speculation in the public and international media forcing a highly-ranked representative of the Indonesian Government to provide a public statement. On 16 July the Minister of Defence, Yuwono Sudarsono, claimed that a ‘rogue element’ in the military might have been involved in the shooting (ABC News, 16 July 2009).
Despite the lack of strong evidence, the police arrested and detained 9 civilians on 20 July 2009 and charged them with murder, even though the unidentified gunmen continued to engage in acts of shooting (The Jakarta Post, 12/8/09). This story sounds familiar for many Papuans, recalling memories of a similar incident in August 2002, when one Indonesian and two American teachers were shot dead in an ambush at the Freeport Mining site.
Such an incident might represent the spectre of terror that marks the landscape of Freeport mining area (Ballard 2002) and has shaped memoria passionis of the Papuans as a whole. As a response to the repeated terror, the Papuans expressed their opposition to be continuously blamed as a scapegoat.
In a rarely issued public statement dated 15 July 2009, Kelly Kwalik, the leader of the Organisasi Pembebasan Papoea Merdeka (OPM) in the Timika area, expressed his strong denial that he or his group was involved in the attack in any way (Kwalik 2009).
This act illustrates the resistance aspect in Papua that responds to prolonged oppressive mechanisms that sacrifice Papuans. Over time, terror and resistance have become a dialectic that leaves the Papuans traumatised and forms an unbreakable cycle. This current pattern of terror needs to be understood within Papua’s broader historical context and the legacy of the region’s early history.
This paper does not intend to provide an in-depth examination of Papua’s history. Rather, it aims to reflect on the prolonged terror, resistance movements and trauma that have characterised Papua to date. Yet in order to do so, we need to trace the historical context, including in particular the transfer of this area to Indonesian administration on 1 May 1963 by the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA), under Article XII of the 1962 New York Agreement.
The paper begins by summarising the key arguments that scholars suggested underpinned the power struggle between Indonesia and the Netherlands. Secondly, it discusses the establishment of control mechanisms that have resulted in a dialectic of terror and resistance. Thirdly, it briefly explores trauma as an impact of the dialectic of terror and resistance.
Click here to read the full report into this issue.
Budi Hernawan OFM is a PhD Candidate at the Regulatory Institutions Network, Australian National University. The author is a Franciscan friar who previously worked for ten years at the Office for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Church in Jayapura, West Papua, Indonesia.
ENDS
http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2009/12/terror-resistance-and-trauma-in-west-papua/
Road Blocked for Papuan Autonomy
The Indonesian state’s promise of empowerment to Papuans has proved inadequate. A new focus is needed, says Charles Reading for openDemocracy.
By Charles Reading for openDemocracy.net
In the easternmost provinces of Indonesia, the first day of December each year has come to represent the day when those calling for a separate Papuan state take to the streets and make their voices heard. The date holds historical significance: it was on 1 December 1962 that the Dutch allowed the Papuan Bintang Kejora (morning star) to fly next to their own flag as a step to preparing Papua - the eastern half of New Guinea, the second largest island in the world - for independence. But in 1969, Indonesia annexed Papua (formerly also known as West Papua or Irian Jaya) through the vehicle of a controversial referendum. Since then, 1 December has become a focal point for Papuan resentment towards the Indonesian state.
This year was no different. 1 December 2009 was marked by demonstrations, flag-raisings, bouts of repression and nervous police ambiguously applying the law in the name of state security. At the same time, there is something misleading about seeing the Papuan cause (as parties on both sides of the divide tend to do) mainly through the lens of an ethnic Papuan nationalism or of a civic Indonesian nationalism. For the talk of nationalism, as of states and ideologies, tends to distract attention from the more immediate realities of social, political and economic disempowerment. These are vital triggers of protest against the Indonesian state and its regulations, and provide a valuable if neglected guide to the condition of the Papuan struggle.
The failure of reform
Indonesia’s Otonomi Khusus (special-autonomy law, known colloquially as otsus) of 2001 aimed to address the structural problems faced by Papuans. Eight years on, an increasing number of Papuans believe that it has failed to deliver. A group of Papuans were arrested on 16 November 2009 in Jayapura for raising the Bintang Kejora flag - an illegal act that can incur up to fifteen years’ imprisonment, according to a presidential regulation of 2008 that bans separatist symbols - for handing out flyers condemning the flaws of the otsus law. More widely, otsus has moved from a proposed solution to the deprivations faced by many in Papua to the heart of people’s disillusion. Why then has it proved incapable of delivering on its promise?
When the Otonomi Khusus was first implemented, Papuans hoped it would concentrate on developing the territory, relieving poverty, guaranteeing to Papuans demographic and cultural representation in their own politics, and addressing the human-rights atrocities of the “new order” era under Indonesia’s former president, Suharto. Its scope covered many of the demands made by the Papua Presidium Council in the early years of Indonesia’s reformasi transition period - with the exception of independence itself. Yet, almost immediately, its impact was hampered both by a reluctance of the state-security forces to change their security-centric ideology and by a neglect of the process essential to implementing it.
True, otsus has increased the amount of funds transferred from Jakarta to Papua’s two provincial governments (to an estimated at Rp 20 trillion [$1.7 billion] per year) - more than any other region in the country. Yet the two provinces are still listed as the poorest in the country; the World Bank and Indonesia’s central board of statistics estimate that 37% of the population live below the poverty-line. In the absence of adequate regulation of how funds are allocated, much of the money ends up in political pockets or in Indonesia’s notoriously corrupt construction industry.
The current Papuan provincial governor, Barnabas Suebu, has managed to distribute some of the wealth to the village level through his Rural Development Strategic Programme (RESPEK); although the usefulness and transparency of doling out lump-sums to village heads, rather than (for example) investing in education or health facilities, is questionable.
Otsus also requires cultural and political representation of indigenous Papuans, through the creation in 2005 of the Majelis Rakyat Papua (Papuan People’s Council [MRP]) and the reserving of eleven seats for indigenous Papuans in the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Papua (Papuan provincial parliament). But the actual ability of the MRP to promote cultural laws has been limited; and on 29 October 2009, on the fourth anniversary of the council’s inauguration, student protesters in Jayapura denounced its ineffectiveness and demanded that it be disbanded. So far, otsus has been incapable of becoming a vehicle for Papuan political empowerment.
In addition, a “unity and reconciliation” law passed in 2000 by the Indonesian parliament’s upper house provided for a truth-and-reconciliation commission (TRC) that would examine past human-rights abuses by the Indonesian security forces in Papua and other regions throughout the archipelago). This has still not been established, and the military and police remain covered in a cloak of impunity. With no checks and balances or self-criticism by the Indonesian security forces, Papuans are vulnerable to extortion and abuse of power by underpaid soldiers and police personnel.
The Indonesian army chief-of-staff George Toisutta stated on 12 November 2009 that a new military command will be set up in West Papua province (the northwest peninsula of the territory) in addition to the Cenderawasih regional command in Papua province). This inevitably will lead to an increase in troops stationed in remote areas who are able to abuse their power and cause misery for many citizens.
A new focus
Perhaps most disturbing of all about the years 2001-09 in Papua is that, despite a huge flow of funds into the region, little educational and health infrastructure has been created. The governor’s annual promises to grant free access to both these primary services have not been fulfilled. Children living in rural areas (and even parts of Jayapura) often attend understaffed schools that lack basic infrastructure, including electricity. Meanwhile, access to basic medicines and treatment is difficult at best; hospitals work amid frequent power-cuts, a lack of doctors, and shortages of up-to-date medicines. A lack of health education is prevalent, with HIV/Aids becoming a problem amongst the indigenous Papuan population. The provincial governments’ approaches to HIV/Aids - including a plan (soon abandoned) to install microchips in all HIV/Aids sufferers so their movements could be tracked - do little to educate people appropriately to the dangers.
These problems facing the people of Papua highlight the need to look beyond state-centric and historic debates revolving around Papuan independence or Indonesian security-ideology, and focus more on the material and development challenges faced in the region. There is a tendency, in Papua and comparable situations, to romanticise or denounce agencies of resistance; it may be more valuable to examine the everyday structures that lead to the economic, social and political disempowerment of an indigenous population. This in turn could become part of a much needed dialogue about how the people of Papua can partake in the future of their homeland.
Charles Reading is an openDemocracy contributor.
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?ots591=4888CAA0-B3DB-1461-98B9-E20E7B9C13D4&lng=en&id=110353
By Charles Reading for openDemocracy.net
In the easternmost provinces of Indonesia, the first day of December each year has come to represent the day when those calling for a separate Papuan state take to the streets and make their voices heard. The date holds historical significance: it was on 1 December 1962 that the Dutch allowed the Papuan Bintang Kejora (morning star) to fly next to their own flag as a step to preparing Papua - the eastern half of New Guinea, the second largest island in the world - for independence. But in 1969, Indonesia annexed Papua (formerly also known as West Papua or Irian Jaya) through the vehicle of a controversial referendum. Since then, 1 December has become a focal point for Papuan resentment towards the Indonesian state.
This year was no different. 1 December 2009 was marked by demonstrations, flag-raisings, bouts of repression and nervous police ambiguously applying the law in the name of state security. At the same time, there is something misleading about seeing the Papuan cause (as parties on both sides of the divide tend to do) mainly through the lens of an ethnic Papuan nationalism or of a civic Indonesian nationalism. For the talk of nationalism, as of states and ideologies, tends to distract attention from the more immediate realities of social, political and economic disempowerment. These are vital triggers of protest against the Indonesian state and its regulations, and provide a valuable if neglected guide to the condition of the Papuan struggle.
The failure of reform
Indonesia’s Otonomi Khusus (special-autonomy law, known colloquially as otsus) of 2001 aimed to address the structural problems faced by Papuans. Eight years on, an increasing number of Papuans believe that it has failed to deliver. A group of Papuans were arrested on 16 November 2009 in Jayapura for raising the Bintang Kejora flag - an illegal act that can incur up to fifteen years’ imprisonment, according to a presidential regulation of 2008 that bans separatist symbols - for handing out flyers condemning the flaws of the otsus law. More widely, otsus has moved from a proposed solution to the deprivations faced by many in Papua to the heart of people’s disillusion. Why then has it proved incapable of delivering on its promise?
When the Otonomi Khusus was first implemented, Papuans hoped it would concentrate on developing the territory, relieving poverty, guaranteeing to Papuans demographic and cultural representation in their own politics, and addressing the human-rights atrocities of the “new order” era under Indonesia’s former president, Suharto. Its scope covered many of the demands made by the Papua Presidium Council in the early years of Indonesia’s reformasi transition period - with the exception of independence itself. Yet, almost immediately, its impact was hampered both by a reluctance of the state-security forces to change their security-centric ideology and by a neglect of the process essential to implementing it.
True, otsus has increased the amount of funds transferred from Jakarta to Papua’s two provincial governments (to an estimated at Rp 20 trillion [$1.7 billion] per year) - more than any other region in the country. Yet the two provinces are still listed as the poorest in the country; the World Bank and Indonesia’s central board of statistics estimate that 37% of the population live below the poverty-line. In the absence of adequate regulation of how funds are allocated, much of the money ends up in political pockets or in Indonesia’s notoriously corrupt construction industry.
The current Papuan provincial governor, Barnabas Suebu, has managed to distribute some of the wealth to the village level through his Rural Development Strategic Programme (RESPEK); although the usefulness and transparency of doling out lump-sums to village heads, rather than (for example) investing in education or health facilities, is questionable.
Otsus also requires cultural and political representation of indigenous Papuans, through the creation in 2005 of the Majelis Rakyat Papua (Papuan People’s Council [MRP]) and the reserving of eleven seats for indigenous Papuans in the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Papua (Papuan provincial parliament). But the actual ability of the MRP to promote cultural laws has been limited; and on 29 October 2009, on the fourth anniversary of the council’s inauguration, student protesters in Jayapura denounced its ineffectiveness and demanded that it be disbanded. So far, otsus has been incapable of becoming a vehicle for Papuan political empowerment.
In addition, a “unity and reconciliation” law passed in 2000 by the Indonesian parliament’s upper house provided for a truth-and-reconciliation commission (TRC) that would examine past human-rights abuses by the Indonesian security forces in Papua and other regions throughout the archipelago). This has still not been established, and the military and police remain covered in a cloak of impunity. With no checks and balances or self-criticism by the Indonesian security forces, Papuans are vulnerable to extortion and abuse of power by underpaid soldiers and police personnel.
The Indonesian army chief-of-staff George Toisutta stated on 12 November 2009 that a new military command will be set up in West Papua province (the northwest peninsula of the territory) in addition to the Cenderawasih regional command in Papua province). This inevitably will lead to an increase in troops stationed in remote areas who are able to abuse their power and cause misery for many citizens.
A new focus
Perhaps most disturbing of all about the years 2001-09 in Papua is that, despite a huge flow of funds into the region, little educational and health infrastructure has been created. The governor’s annual promises to grant free access to both these primary services have not been fulfilled. Children living in rural areas (and even parts of Jayapura) often attend understaffed schools that lack basic infrastructure, including electricity. Meanwhile, access to basic medicines and treatment is difficult at best; hospitals work amid frequent power-cuts, a lack of doctors, and shortages of up-to-date medicines. A lack of health education is prevalent, with HIV/Aids becoming a problem amongst the indigenous Papuan population. The provincial governments’ approaches to HIV/Aids - including a plan (soon abandoned) to install microchips in all HIV/Aids sufferers so their movements could be tracked - do little to educate people appropriately to the dangers.
These problems facing the people of Papua highlight the need to look beyond state-centric and historic debates revolving around Papuan independence or Indonesian security-ideology, and focus more on the material and development challenges faced in the region. There is a tendency, in Papua and comparable situations, to romanticise or denounce agencies of resistance; it may be more valuable to examine the everyday structures that lead to the economic, social and political disempowerment of an indigenous population. This in turn could become part of a much needed dialogue about how the people of Papua can partake in the future of their homeland.
Charles Reading is an openDemocracy contributor.
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?ots591=4888CAA0-B3DB-1461-98B9-E20E7B9C13D4&lng=en&id=110353
Border in Papua Disputed
Thursday, 10 December, 2009 | 14:20 WIB
TEMPO Interactive, TIMIKA:Around 200 residents of Ugimba, Paniai regency in Papua, yesterday insisted that the Mimika Regent resolve the issue concerning the border between Mimia and Paniai regencies.
Those who claimed to be the owners of the communal land rights of the Grassberg area have demanded compensation for PT Freeport Indonesia’s mining operations.
They also insisted the Mimika regional government resolve this issue with the Papua governor using customary laws.
“This has been discussed with Mimika regent,” said one protestor, Samuel Tabuni.
The Mimika regent, Klemen Tinal, said the government was ready to facilitate a meeting between Ugimba residents and the Papua governor.
When the Mimika Regency was set up in 2000, the residents of Ugimba were included in the Mimika Regency area.
However, most of the residents still acknowledge that they are part of Paniai regency, Sugapa District.
TJAHJONO EP
TEMPO Interactive, TIMIKA:Around 200 residents of Ugimba, Paniai regency in Papua, yesterday insisted that the Mimika Regent resolve the issue concerning the border between Mimia and Paniai regencies.
Those who claimed to be the owners of the communal land rights of the Grassberg area have demanded compensation for PT Freeport Indonesia’s mining operations.
They also insisted the Mimika regional government resolve this issue with the Papua governor using customary laws.
“This has been discussed with Mimika regent,” said one protestor, Samuel Tabuni.
The Mimika regent, Klemen Tinal, said the government was ready to facilitate a meeting between Ugimba residents and the Papua governor.
When the Mimika Regency was set up in 2000, the residents of Ugimba were included in the Mimika Regency area.
However, most of the residents still acknowledge that they are part of Paniai regency, Sugapa District.
TJAHJONO EP
Human rights award to Indonesian priest working among Papuan rebels
by Mathias Hariyadi
Fr Johannes Jonga has been a parish priest in Keerom district since 2001. The area has been the scene of clashes between pro-independence fighters and the army. He has helped rebels and local civilians alike against abuses by the military and multinationals. The president of the Indonesian Human Right Commission praises his for doing his work despite “threats from the military.”
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Fr Johannes Jonga Pr, a 51-year-old Indonesian priest, won the 2009 Yam Thiam Hien Award, a national prize that goes people who have shown an outstanding commitment to peace, human rights and human dignity. A diocesan priest from Jayapura, Father Jonga is being recognised for his work on behalf of the population of Papua Province.
Originally from Manggarai, the clergyman has been parish priest at Saint Michael’s Church in Waris since 2001. The small town in Keerom district lies on the border with Papua-New Guinea.
This has meant that Father Jonga has had to deal with the consequences of the conflict between the Papua Independence Organisation (Organisasi Papua Merdeka or OPM) and the army since the start of his mission.
In Papua, Indonesia’s easternmost province, OPM separatists have been demanding independence from Indonesia.
For many pro-independence fighters, Keerom district is a safe haven just before the border with independent Papua-New Guinea.
Father Jonga has met many of those on the run from the Indonesian military. He has helped them without consideration for their politics and has joined local populations in pressing claims against soldiers and multinationals that violated their rights. He has become a thorn in the side of the military.
Today, Ifdhal Kasim, president of the Indonesian Human Right Commission and member of Yap Thiam Hien Award jury committee, said that Father Jonga deserves the prize for his “service to local people” against threats from security officials, mostly when Papua was still officially classified as a “war zone” by the Indonesian military because of sporadic action by the OPM.
Fr Johannes Jonga has been a parish priest in Keerom district since 2001. The area has been the scene of clashes between pro-independence fighters and the army. He has helped rebels and local civilians alike against abuses by the military and multinationals. The president of the Indonesian Human Right Commission praises his for doing his work despite “threats from the military.”
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Fr Johannes Jonga Pr, a 51-year-old Indonesian priest, won the 2009 Yam Thiam Hien Award, a national prize that goes people who have shown an outstanding commitment to peace, human rights and human dignity. A diocesan priest from Jayapura, Father Jonga is being recognised for his work on behalf of the population of Papua Province.
Originally from Manggarai, the clergyman has been parish priest at Saint Michael’s Church in Waris since 2001. The small town in Keerom district lies on the border with Papua-New Guinea.
This has meant that Father Jonga has had to deal with the consequences of the conflict between the Papua Independence Organisation (Organisasi Papua Merdeka or OPM) and the army since the start of his mission.
In Papua, Indonesia’s easternmost province, OPM separatists have been demanding independence from Indonesia.
For many pro-independence fighters, Keerom district is a safe haven just before the border with independent Papua-New Guinea.
Father Jonga has met many of those on the run from the Indonesian military. He has helped them without consideration for their politics and has joined local populations in pressing claims against soldiers and multinationals that violated their rights. He has become a thorn in the side of the military.
Today, Ifdhal Kasim, president of the Indonesian Human Right Commission and member of Yap Thiam Hien Award jury committee, said that Father Jonga deserves the prize for his “service to local people” against threats from security officials, mostly when Papua was still officially classified as a “war zone” by the Indonesian military because of sporadic action by the OPM.
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