This is the 68th in
a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans.
This series is produced by the non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT)
drawing on media accounts, other NGO assessments, and analysis and reporting
from sources within West Papua. This report is co-published with the East
Timor and Indonesia Action Network
(ETAN) Back issues are posted online at
http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm Questions
regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams at edmcw@msn.com.
Summary
The police killing of renowned pro-independence leader Kelly Kwalik is
reminiscent of the Kopassus murder of Papuan leader Theys Eluay and has
prompted calls for an investigation of police conduct. The death of former
President Abdurrahman Wahid, whose Presidency was brought to an end by an
undemocratic show of force by the military, is widely mourned, especially in
West Papua. A formal rendering of the history of Indonesia's annexation of
West Papua published by the U.S. State Department is significantly flawed. A
Papuan forestry official has warned that Indonesian
decentralization/autonomy policies threaten West Papua's forests. A senior
Papuan official condemns the Indonesian Government's failure to protect the
rights of Papuan women who fall victim to development schemers and their
Indonesian military enforcers. West Papua is the epicenter of an HIV/AIDS
crisis.
Contents
Extra-judical Killing of Papuan Patriot Kelly Kwalik
On December 16, 2009 Indonesian police shot Kelly Kwalik. He died
shortly later due to a thigh wound. The Indonesian security force team that
shot Kwalik was composed of members of the notorious Mobile Brigade (BRIMOB)
and the U.S.-funded Detachment 88. That much is clear.
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The immediate police commentary regarding their killing of Kwalik
lends support to those who suspect a police conspiracy to murder
Kwalik.
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The rest is subject to intense discussion and dispute. Kwalik died of his
wound shortly later, apparently due to blood loss. It is not clear that
police took necessary medical action to address, i.e., to tourniquet, the
wound. As a consequence of this apparent inaction the wound proved mortal.
Equally unclear are the circumstances that brought this leading
pro-independence figure into reach of Indonesian security authorities. Less
than two months earlier he had met cordially with senior Indonesian security
authorities at their behest. That meeting has prompted speculation that
Indonesian security authorities lured Kwalik into a trap on the pretense of
another friendly meeting. It was just such subterfuge which lured another
renowned Papuan, Theys Eluay, to his murder at the hands of Kopassus in
2001.
The immediate police commentary regarding their killing of Kwalik lends
support to those who suspect a police conspiracy to murder Kwalik. Police
spokesmen pronounced Kwalik guilty of orchestrating the months of violence
that have jeopardized the operations of the Freeport-McMoran mine. This
claim, offered in apparent defense of the police killing of Kwalik,
contradicted Kwalik's profession of innocence and, more troublingly for the
police, the police's earlier public acknowledgement that Kwalik was not
involved in the crime. Police claims that the dead Papuan leader also was
responsible for the killing of U.S. and Indonesian citizens in a 2002
shooting incident in the same area similarly lack credibility. Initial
police statements at the time and
subsequent exhaustive investigation by
independent researchers
demonstrated that the Indonesian military orchestrated those killings.
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Kelly Kwalik with Australian
journalist Mark Davis in
West Papua.ABC Four Corners photo. |
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The killing of Kwalik was all the more tragic because for many years Kwalik
had honored the appeal of Papuan human rights leaders such as John Rumbiak
who have urged to seek redress of Papuan grievances through peaceful means.
The killing of Kwalik, like the 2001 murder of Papuan leader Theys Eluay by
the Indonesian military (Kopassus) forces has prompted strong criticism from
many quarters. The following December 29 statement by the Indonesian Human
Rights Network, translated in abridged form by Tapol, underscores the
injustice of this killing and the urgency of action by Indonesian President
Yudhoyono to address rogue security force actions in West Papua.
Bintang Papua, 29 December 2009
Human Rights Network Questions Kelly
Kwalik's Involvement
The lack of any firm evidence of the involvement of General Kelly
Kwalik in a series of recent terrorist actions in Timika, Papua has led
the Network of Human Rights Defenders in Papua to call on the President
of Indonesia to take action against members of the security forces.
In a press release issued by Poengky Indarti of Imparsial, Andreas
Harsono of Yayasan Pantau, Muridan Widjojo of LIPI, Amiruddin Ar Rahab
of Activists Concerned about Papua, Markus Haluk of AMPTPI, Miryam
Nainggolan of PPRP and Suryadi Radjab of PBHI, they called on the
President of Indonesia to instruct the Chief of Police of Indonesia, the
Commander of the Armed Forces, the Attorney General and the Minister for
Law and Human Rights to take firm action against all those members of
the security forces who perpetrate acts of violence in Papua.
The Network also called on the Chairman of the Constitutional Court to
take firm action against those who continue to try and sentence Papuans
for giving expression to their basic rights. The government should also
repeal Government Regulation No 77, 2007 [banning the use of symbols]
which is in violation of Law 21, 2001 on Special Autonomy for Papua.
They also questioned allegations of the involvement of Kelly Kwalik
which had resulted in his murder on the grounds that he had offered
resistance to the police when they raided the place where he was
staying, because this was in violation of the law and human rights which
the police are required to uphold.
The Network also said that the case has been further complicated by
police allegations that Kelly Kwalik was responsible for a series of
incidents in the vicinity of PT Freeport between July and October 2009,
although such allegations had been rejected by police-commissioner FX
Bagus Ekodanto. who was the chief of police at the time.
The district police chief said at the time that the OPM was not
responsible for the acts of violence in the vicinity of Freeport, and
that there was no clear evidence implicating Kelly Kwalik.
The members of the Network were deeply concerned that all this has led
to fears among Papuans that acts of state violence could victimise
anyone in Papua, who could be branded with the stigma of separatism and
the OPM.
These allegations also represented a violation of the Papuan people's
right to freedom of expression: they included the dispersal of people
taking part in peaceful actions, the banning of books, the arrest,
detention and incrimination of Papuans, including the murder of Papuans
in the name of the OPM stigma. Such things must stop, they said. These
actions not only violate the rule of law and human rights but also
perpetuate the culture of violence and enhanced the authoritarian nature
of the security forces, which was comparable to what happened during the
New Order of Suharto.
Such developments were taking Papua further and further away from an
atmosphere of peace and the desire of Papuan people to make Papua a Land
of Peace.
see also ETAN/WPAT: Statement
on Killing of Papuan Leader Kelly Kwalik
Former President Abdurahman Wahid,
A Friend of Papuans, Couped by The Military, Dies
Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, died on December 30. Gus Dur was
unique among Indonesian leaders, personally generous, self-effacing and
prepared to act on behalf of those who were victims of the policies of the
Suharto dictatorship and its military. Though long a member of Indonesia's
political elite, he mocked it for its self pretention and corruption. He was
also courageous. During his presidency (October 1999 to July 2001) he sought
to reduce the power of the military over Indonesia's political life. He
fired the military chief General Wiranto who was later indicted by a
UN-supported panel in East Timor for war crimes for his leadership role in
the massacres which the military and its militias carried out in East
Timor. The military exacted its revenge: in 2001, seizing the
opportunity afforded it by a political crisis between the Parliament and
President Wahid over corruption allegations (never proven), the military
ringed the Presidential palace with tanks, guns facing inward. The President
fired then Security Minister Yudhoyono for refusing to declare a state of
emergency, but to no avail. President Wahid became the second president
after President Sukarno to fall to the pressure of the Indonesian military.
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Gus Dur escorted out of
Merdeka Palace after
his impeachment. |
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Papuans will remember Gus Dur as the only senior Indonesian political figure
to befrend them. In a highly symbolic gesture, he celebrated the new
millennium, the 21st century, in West Papua. After meeting with West Papuan
leaders, including Theys Eluay and Tom Beanal, the President issued a formal
decree changing the official name of the province from "Irian
Jaya" to "Papua." Irian
Jaya was the name Suharto imposed after the Indonesia's coercive annexation
of the region. The following June, President Wahid acknowledged the right of
Papuans to use their traditional symbols including their flag, the Morning
Star/Kejora flag, insisting only that it be flown in conjunction with the
Indonesian flag. In a gesture that had both symbolic and real meaning, he
made a substantial, personal financial contribution to the Second Papuan
Conference which convened May-June 2000. That meeting, attended by thousands
of Papuans, set in motion the current peaceful struggle by Papuans for their
fundamental human rights. As a private citizen, Gus Dur also gave support to
Papuans' calls for a dialogue with Jakarta over Papuans many outstanding
grievances.
More than any other Indonesian political figure Gus Dur bequeathed to the
people of the archipelago the vision of a future in which democracy reigns
and human rights are respected.
U.S. State
Department Distorts West
Papua History
In its periodic series of "Background
Notes" regarding Indonesia, the U.S. Department of State in October 2009
provided a deficient and incorrect account of the Indonesian Government's
long-troubled course in West Papua. The
flawed document also ignored other key developments in Indonesian history
including the military's role in the murder of hundreds of thousands of
Indonesian citizens in the late 1960's and Indonesia's invasion of East
Timor.
In a December analysis by the West Papua Advocacy Team and the East Timor
and Indonesia Action Network offered corrections to the flawed account. The
review observed inter-alia that the "Notes" inaccurately portrayed the
electoral fraud through which Indonesia annexed West Papua in 1969 and the
killing of tens of thousands of Papuans by Indonesian security forces from
the Indonesian assumption of administrative control in 1963 to the present.
Jakarta's "Autonomy" Policies for West Papua
Jeopardizes Papuan Forests
A December 14 article
by Nethy Dharma Somba appearing in the Jakarta Post underscored
the threat to the environment in West Papua posed by the current Indonesian
government's approach to "decentralization." The analysis argues that
Jakarta's decentralization policies, and specifically its autonomy
initiative in West Papua ('special autonomy"), pose a direct threat to
Papuan forests. The article cites Papua Forestry Office head Marthen Kayoi
as warning that "(t)he forested areas currently available would unlikely
still be there five to 10 years from now if regional autonomy continues as
it would lead to physical development."
The Papuan official added that while the current area of intact Papuan
forests totaled 31.5 million hectares, only 24 million hectares would remain
based on the current autonomy approach which entails the rapid designation
of new administrative districts and development of infrastructure. In
addition to normal development, there is, the official noted, the constant
threat of illegal logging. (WPAT note: Much of this illegal logging is
carried out by the Indonesian military or under its protection.)
The Papuan official called special attention to the Lorentz National Park
which, despite its national park status, hosts operations by the Freeport-McMoran
copper and gold mining operation. (WPAT comment: Freeport-McMoran
gold mining operations not only extend into the Lorentz. The devastating
consequences of its mining operations in the Timika district also extend to
the Lorentz by virtue of its tailing disposal which spread to the Lorentz
through Ajkwa river system which serves as Freeport's tailings sewer system
into the Afura sea).
The Indonesian Government Fails to Protect Papuan Women's Rights
The leader of the Papuan People's Assembly, Hana Hikoyabi, has bluntly
criticized the role of the military in exploiting and victimizing Papuan
women.
In a December
2 Jakarta Globe report, Hikoyabi noted that women are forced to leave
their homes due to pressures from developers often backed by the military.
"It hurts them so much because they depend on the land to live and eat, find
materials for housing and to cook for their families," Hikoyabi
said, adding that military officers conducting the land clearing activities
had been known to sexually assault Papuan women who refused to move out of
their homes. "They
are raped by the military personnel and suffer deep trauma, which is not
easily healed," Hana
said. "The government has failed to provide either trauma support or legal
aid for these victims of violence and has not done enough to investigate the
cases and punish the perpetrators" she added. "Women's
rights remain abandoned in Papua," Hikoyabi
concluded.
West Papua Suffers Highest Rate of HIV/AIDS
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Prostitution rings,
often run by or protected by security authorities,
have been an important factor in the transmission of
HIV/AIDS in West Papua.
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A December
2 Tempo Interactive report notes
that West Papua continues to suffer the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS. The
Indonesian National AIDS Commission said Papua island still holds the
highest HIV/AIDS rate - at 2.4 percent - compared to any other regions
within the archipelago. Constant Karma head of the commission's office in
Papua Province told media representatives (2/12) that the number of people
with HIV/AIDS in Papua and West Papua Province as of March 2009 was 6,245.
Papua province has 4,745 with HIV/AIDS while West Papua has 1,500. Timika,
the seat of Mimika Regency where the Freepot McMoran's gold mine complex
lies, ranked number four among the cities with highest transmission rate
after Bandung (West Java), Jakarta, and Denpasar. Constant said over 90
percent of HIV/AIDS spreadings in the region were transmitted through sexual
relations, with male sufferers become the main source of transmission.
(WPAT Comment: The Tempo
Interactive report fails to note that prostitution rings, often run by or
protected by security authorities, have been an important factor in the
transmission of HIV/AIDS in West Papua. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in
Timika can in part be explained by the large number of non-Papuan workers
brought to the site by the Freeport McMoran mine, most of whom are not
accompanied by spouses. Freeport's failure to address this problem, a direct
consequence of its employment practices entailing migration of non-Papuans
to West Papua, is only one aspect of the painful Freeport legacy. The widely
noted failure of the Indonesian Government to provide a minimally adequate
health infrastructure in West Papua exacerbates the explosion of HIV/AIDS in
West Papua.)