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Bahasa Indonesia version
West Papua Report
June 2010
This is the
73rd 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 West Papua Advocacy Team editorially notes that
Papuans are welcoming the June visit of President Obama to Indonesia with the
hope that the administration will seek to build a new U.S.-Indonesian
relationship not based on military and commercial interests but rather founded
on common respect for human rights and democracy. That hope fuels Papuan beliefs
that such a transformation in the U.S. perspective could bring about fundamental
change in their plight, an increasingly desperate situation in which the U.S. is
historically complicit. A military ultimatum to a
rebel leader in the Papuan central highlands and thus far small scale military
operations there are raising fears of a massive "sweeping operation" when the
ultimatum expires in June. Initial reports indicate that operations may have
begun ramping up at the end of May. In the past such operations have uprooted
thousands of civilians and led to many civilian deaths.
Leading U.S. legislators have strongly cautioned the U.S.
administration against resuming training and other
assistance to the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus). Those forces are among
the most prominent violators of human rights,
especially in West Papua. Also in the U.S. Congress, Congressman Patrick Kennedy
has launched a resolution in the U.S. Congress which expresses the sense of the
House of Representatives regarding the human crisis facing Papuans. The
resolution, now gaining support in the U.S. House of Representatives, calls on
the Government of Indonesia to address human rights concerns, including the
abuse of detainees. An editorial by a senior official
in Human Rights Watch has again called attention to extraordinary abuse of
prisoners in West Papua and decried the unaccountability of the abusers.
Indonesian authorities have again prevented international journalists from
documenting peaceful civil dissent in West Papua. An Amnesty International
report is strongly critical of the Indonesian government's continued repression
of dissent noting in particular the use of torture against peaceful
demonstrators. The Indonesian government is moving
forward with plans for a massive "food estate" in the Merauke area of West
Papua. The plan has drawn strong criticism from Papuan and international
observers concerned that the government-organized in-migration of very large
numbers of non-Papuans to work in the estate will further marginalize Papuans,
amounting to what could be described as creeping genocide. Environmentalists
have also voiced concern about the destruction of vast stretches of forest and
peatland which will significantly increase carbon emissions.
Contents
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The incompleteness of "reformasi" is reflected in today's Indonesia, where a
powerful and unaccountable military continues to play the role of enforcer
for a corrupt elite which colludes with international corporate interests
for profit. U.S. government/corporate political and economic support for the
old corrupt elite and especially for the ousted dictator's military have
been an important constraint on democratic progress in Indonesia.
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Editorial - West Papua Advocacy Team
The Audacity of Hope In West Papua
President Obama's upcoming visit to Indonesia presents an opportunity for the
American leader to inaugurate a new U.S.-Indonesian relationship, heralding what
could be a key Asian Pacific partnership. But such a transformation of a
long-troubled relationship will require a fundamentally new basis for that
relationship. Through the administrations of nine U.S. Presidents, the
U.S.-Indonesian relationship has been shaped by the self-serving ambitions of
U.S. strategic defense planners and U.S. corporations. U.S. military planners
and corporate interests, for decades, allied with a brutal dictator and his
corrupt entourage in an amoral bargain that traded U.S. political and military
support for Indonesian allegiance to the West in the Cold War and Indonesian
willingness to serve as a platform for corporate exploitation of its vast
natural resources.
A people's campaign demanding "reformasi" succeeded in 1998 in ousting the
brutal Suharto dictatorship, but failed to reform the corrupt elite-based
system, backed by an abusive military which continues in power. The
incompleteness of "reformasi" is reflected in today's Indonesia, where a
powerful and unaccountable military continues to play the role of enforcer for a
corrupt elite which colludes with international corporate interests for profit.
U.S. government/corporate political and economic support for the old corrupt
elite and especially for the ousted dictator's military have been an important
constraint on democratic progress in Indonesia.
Nevertheless, the popular democratic reform movement, despite intimidation, has
scored important gains. Largely democratic elections have empowered Presidential
administrations which have broadened freedoms and given vocal if not always
substantive support to popular calls for respect for human rights and military
reform and accountability.
This progress is strikingly absent in one part of the Indonesian archipelago. In
West Papua, the old Suharto Dictatorship rules still apply. Security forces
rampage through rural areas in purported search of armed militants but in the
process displacing thousands of civilians. Popular dissent in West Papua is met
with the "security approach" through which security forces use Dutch colonial
and Suharto era laws and regulations to criminalize free speech and peaceful dissent. Peaceful demonstrators are
imprisoned for years on charges of "subversion" or
"treason" for peacefully displaying the Papuan "morningstar" flag or for
challenging the 1969 "Act of Free Choice" annexation of West Papua, widely
viewed abroad as coerced and undemocratic. Critics of the central Government's
policies are labeled as "separatists" and subjected to extra-legal security
force intimidation or incarceration in facilities which the UN and other human
rights monitors have described as health and even life threatening. The Suharto
era policy of "transmigration," through which millions of Indonesians
were transferred from one archipelago island to
another, creating generations of social conflict between the migrants and local
peoples, has been re-initiated in West Papua. As in the past, people on the
receiving end of these policies suffer the unreimbursed seizure of property and
economic and political marginalization. New oil palm and food "estates" pose the
prospect of accelerated destruction of forests and, ultimately, transformation
of Papuans into a powerless minority within their own homeland.
Papuans see in the visit of President Obama, an innovative leader who is himself
a member of a racial minority, hope for change in what has been over four
decades of privation and abuse. They are keenly aware that the U.S. conspired in
the transfer of their homeland to Indonesian control under the aegis of the
infamous 1969 "Act of Free Choice." They are also aware that U.S. corporations
have been among the most destructive of their natural resources and that the
U.S. long backed some of the most abusive elements of the Indonesian military,
notably the special forces or "Kopassus."
Their hope that President Obama, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, might bring
fundamental change to their plight rests on the simple but powerful expectation
that this President will seek to establish a new relationship with Indonesia,
based on respect for human rights and genuine democratization. It is an
audacious hope.
New Bloodshed in Papuan Central Highlands
Tensions are again intensifying in Mulia area in the Papuan Central Highlands
region of Puncak Jaya. On May 21, unknown personnel attacked Indonesian military
(TNI) near Yambi, 75 kms from Mulia. That attack followed a May 17 TNI attack on
a purported base of the Papuan Independence Organization (OPM) near Goburuk
village in which one alleged local leader was killed. The spokesperson
for the police, Senior Commander Agus Rianto, claimed that the victim was shot
while trying to escape. Although Rianto claimed the victim had been involved in
an earlier OPM attack, the police spokesperson appeared to contradict himself by
noting that the body of the victim was being held for identification.
This violence follows the killing of three construction workers in April,
purportedly carried out by the OPM. Separately, Papuan human rights defenders
have reported that the Indonesian military have been launching sweep operations
during the third week of May in the Tingginambut district. According to the
report, homes in three villages have been burnt, two people killed, one woman
raped, and all livestock in the three villages killed by Indonesian military.
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In the past such sweep operations have forced
civilians to abandon their villages and seek shelter either with relatives
or in the surrounding jungles where food shortages and lack of medical care
have led to illness and death. Such sweep
operations often continue for months, disrupting local trade and preventing
villagers from tending local gardens. Security forces
have also prohibited humanitarian relief
operations from reaching the besieged civilian populations.
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Indonesian security authorities have given the local OPM commander Goliat
Tabuni until June 28 to surrender to authorities. Papuans in the area have
expressed fear that the Indonesian military (TNI) will launch broader "sweep
operations" on or soon after that date on the pretext of searching for Tabuni's
OPM personnel. In the past such sweep operations have forced civilians to
abandon their villages and seek shelter either with relatives or in the
surrounding jungles where food shortages and lack of medical care have led to
illness and death. Such sweep operations often continue for months, disrupting
local trade and preventing villagers from tending local gardens. Despite
desperate circumstances, security forces have also prohibited
humanitarian relief operations from reaching the besieged civilian populations.
Local officials, without offering evidence, speculated that "intellectual
activists" could have inspired the alleged OPM attacks. Puncak Jaya District
Chief ("Regent") Lukas Enembe claimed that government efforts to win the support
of the local community against the pro-independence forces had been unsuccessful
because "activists" had "provoked" the community. Such claims, in the past, have
been used to justify military pressure on NGO, church and other personnel in the
area.
Note: As this report was being finalized there were reports from West Papua
of Indonesian military attacks in Jambi, Sinak Ilu and Tingginambut districts in
the Puncak Jaya. Although details in this initial reporting are lacking, the
accounts from West Papua indicate that seven people have been killed in these
military operations which include military use of rockets, bazookas and
grenades.
Prominent U.S. Senators and Congresspersons
Urge No Assistance to Kopassus
Thirteen U.S. Congressional leaders, including Chairs of the Senate and House
Foreign Affairs Committees, have written to
Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of Defense Gates
strongly urging
caution with regard to purported Administration plans to resume U.S. cooperation
with the Indonesian Special Forces or "Kopassus." The May 13 letter stated
plainly: "we do have serious concerns with the Administration's intention to
reengage with Unit 81 of the Indonesian Special Forces, known as Kopassus." The
letter questioned the Indonesian military's "willingness to cooperate with the
United States and Indonesian civilian justice institutions in permanently
removing human rights violators from military ranks and in holding senior
officers accountable for past abuses." The senior legislators also expressed
doubts about the effectiveness of the "vetting process" which allegedly would
screen out individual human rights violators from any U.S. programs.
The letter called into question Indonesian government assurances regarding
Kopassus reform and insisted that the Administration engage with the Congress
before any final decision is taken. It called for "prior consultation with
Congress before engagement with Kopassus and an annual review ... to ensure that
our assistance meets the requirements of U.S. law and fulfills our broader
interests."
The unusually strong Congressional reaction to the prospect of U.S. military
assistance to Kopassus coincides with persistent criticism of the proposal from
U.S. and
Indonesian NGOs who,
inter alia, have noted the June 2009 Human Rights Watch report "What
Did I Do Wrong" which detailed Kopassus abuse of Papuan civilians. The
letter also has prompted a statement from Papuan elders that strongly commends
the U.S. Congress for its May 16 letter.
New Congressional Resolution on "Crisis in Papua
and West Papua" Gaining Support
Congressman Patrick Kennedy has launched
a resolution in the U.S. Congress
expressing the sense of the U.S. House of Representatives regarding the
"Human Rights Crisis in Papua and West Papua. The resolution, now working
its way through Congress, calls on the Government of Indonesia to report to
the international community specific progress made regarding:
(A) the end of abuse of those detained by authorities in Papua and West
Papua and prosecution of those guilty of that abuse;
(B) actions taken by the Government of Indonesia to improve conditions of
incarceration, especially in Papua and West Papua;
(C) measures taken to protect the right of its citizens to peaceful assembly
and association as well as the freedom of speech and specifically symbolic
speech, such as raising banners or flags;
(D) compatibility of Indonesian law that criminalizes peaceful political
dissent and conflicting Indonesian commitments concerning the rights to
freedom of speech and assembly guaranteed by international covenants to
which Indonesia is a party, to include the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights; and
(E) provision to or access to detention facilities in West Papua by
recognized human rights monitoring institutions, including the International
Committee of The Red Cross; and
(2) the Government of Indonesia should allow an independent, third party
human rights organization to review prison conditions with special attention
to Papuan inmates and on the basis of that review, formulate a series of
recommendations to the Government of Indonesia that would facilitate prison
and legal reforms especially to
(A) address deficits in facilities, personnel training, and procedures for
the purpose of improving the humanitarian treatment of those detained;
(B) formulating procedures, including judicial reform and legal remedies to
ensure that prison authorities face appropriate punishment for mistreatment
of those detained; and
(C) encourage reform of the Indonesian criminal code and sentencing
procedures to ensure that they reflect Indonesia's commitments under
international undertakings and Indonesia's own legal obligations to protect
fundamental human rights, including the rights to freedom of speech and
peaceful assembly and association.
Leading International Human Rights Voice Decries
Thuggery in Indonesian
Prison
In a
May 18 piece appearing in the Jakarta Globe, Elaine Pearson, Human Rights
Watch's Asia chief, wrote a scathing commentary that focused on the brutality
that persists in Indonesia's prisons.
Pearson drew specifically on a recent rampage by guards at a prison in West
Papua. In early May, a government move to replace the widely condemned
brutal Abepura (West Papua) prison warden Ayorbaba led to a rampage by
prison guards who severely beat prisoners. HRW and others had specifically
condemned Ayorbaba for his failure to control prison guards who have beaten
prisoners, in some instances causing permanent injury. In a widely condemned
incident, Ayorbaba has prevented prisoner of conscience from obtaining
urgently needed medical attention.
Ayorbaba's much delayed removal was finally prompted by a recommendation by
the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission (Komnas Ham). Pearson
emphasized that while welcome, Ayorbaba's removal was insufficient to
address the gravity of the crimes that have transpired under his watch. He
and others who have violated human rights - and Indonesian law - should be
prosecuted. Pearson also called for the Indonesian government to allow the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to resume its visits to
prisons in West Papua. The Government expelled the ICRC from West Papua in
April 2009.
Human Rights Watch has been a perceptive and persistent observer of the
human rights environment in West Papua. Its fact-based analyses and
recommendations have an important audience in Washington and
internationally.
Press Freedom Again Under Assault in West Papua
The Indonesian Government has
detained and expelled two French journalists from West Papua.
The two were detained May 26 while filming a peaceful political protest in
the Papuan capital, Jayapura (aka Port Numbay). Indonesian authorities said
neither of the two journalists had the special permits required for foreign
journalists to work in West Papua. Indonesia prohibits foreign journalists
from working in West Papua without a special permit. The practice has been
roundly criticized internationally, including by members of the U.S.
Congress, human rights organizations and others.
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We are condemning the government move to
keep the journalists from doing their work. There should not be any
limitation to what the reporters can or cannot cover as long as it does not
violate press laws," Victor Mambor, chairman of the
Papua chapter of the Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI)
said.
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One of the French journalists, Baudoin Koenig, protested the Indonesian
action noting, "I completely complied with all the rules and have all the
necessary documents," he said, adding that he had a valid journalist visa
and a foreign journalist press card issued by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
Indonesian journalists have joined in criticism of this latest example of
constraints on press freedom in West Papua. Victor Mambor, chairman of the
Papua chapter of the Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI),
said the
government had crossed the line. "We are condemning the government move to
keep the journalists from doing their work. There should not be any
limitation to what the reporters can or cannot cover as long as it does not
violate press laws," he said.
Indonesian efforts to obscure the behavior of its officials, notably its
security officials, have also extended to diplomats, who must notify the
government of plans to go to West Papua. The Indonesian government, in April
2009, expelled the International Committee of the Red Cross from West
Papua, after that Nobel Peace Prize laureate visited a prison in West Papua.
Amnesty International Report
Amnesty International's annual report shed light on continued violence and
discrimination targeting Indonesia's minority and religious groups. The
report
included an account of police excesses in West Papua where, it said, "Police
torture was widespread during a series of arrests, interrogations and
detentions." It also noted in West Papua, "Security forces also allegedly
committed unlawful killings."
According to the report, the
Indonesian government continued to repress basic democratic rights, and
Indonesia has limited freedom of expression detaining 114 people in 2009
(throughout Indonesia) for public statements or demonstrations of dissent. The
Amnesty report assessed: "The overwhelming majority
[of those detained] were peaceful political activists who were sentenced to
terms of imprisonment for raising prohibited pro-independence flags in Maluku or
Papua."
Amnesty International also noted that those who sought to defend the rights
of others were often themselves the targets of abuse. It reported that the
government continued to intimidate and harass human rights activists and
that "at least seven [human rights defenders] faced criminal defamation
charges." It concluded that "most past human rights violations against
[human rights defenders], including torture, murder and disappearances, have
remained unsolved and those responsible have not been brought to justice."
"Food Estates" in West Papua Raise Fears of Systematic Marginalization
A study compiled and released by Septer Manufandu of Papua NGOs Cooperation
FORUM includes a highly skeptical review of plans for a "food estates" to be
created in the area of Merauke. The report, only the latest of a series of
negative reviews, underscores the consequences for Papuans of a migration of
vast numbers of non-Papuans into the area to work the estates.
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The incompleteness of "reformasi" is reflected in today's Indonesia, where a
powerful and unaccountable military continues to play the role of enforcer
for a corrupt elite which colludes with international corporate interests
for profit. U.S. government/corporate political and economic support for the
old corrupt elite and especially for the ousted dictator's military have
been an important constraint on democratic progress in Indonesia.
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The fate of Papuans who now inhabit and work the targeted land according to
the report is dire with expectations that they will be pushed aside to make
way for newcomers and "development," as had been the plight of Papuans in
the past. The Government itself has estimated that as a consequence of the
"estate" project in Merauke, the local population could grow from a current
figure of 175,000 to 800,000, most of these presumably non-Papuan migrants.
Reputable Papuan NGO's have calculated inflows of migrants as a result of
central government-planned 'development" projects in West Papua will grow to
millions, easily overwhelming the Papuan population of approximately two
million. Papuan Governor Suebu has spoken of his concern about uncontrolled
migration into Papuan territory and has urged the local Parliament to
explore legislation that would impose some degree of control over the
influx.
The Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) is but the first of
seven such food-producing estates being planned for West Papua. It will
encompass an area of 1.6 million hectares. Thus far, 32 companies have
expressed an interest in investing in the project, and six of these have
already been granted licenses.
The Estate was also the subject of sharp criticism by the Aliansi Masyarakat
Adat Nusantara (AMAN) which delivered a statement April 23 to the UN
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples in New York.
The
statement, endorsed by 26 Indonesian and international NGOs, noted in part:
"This kind of large-scale business in Indigenous Territories, without
their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) will only exacerbate the human
rights situation, leading to forced evictions and other human rights
violations." The statement included several recommendations, among these
that "the Government of Indonesia invite the UN Special Rapporteur on the
Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples and
the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Food, to visit and to make a
report concerning the situation of Indigenous Peoples in Merauke and West
Papua in general, affected by MIFEE and other business development."
Although the Forestry Ministry has said the project would utilize "idle
forestlands in Merauke," environmentalists worry that the projects would add
to massive deforestation and harm efforts to cut carbon emissions. In this
context, the estates could jeopardize an international agreement between
Indonesia and Norway intended to protect forestlands. The Governments of
Norway and Indonesia in late May
signed an agreement that requires Indonesia
to desist from destruction of forests and peatland in exchange for a $1
billion grant from the Norwegian government.
WPAT Comment: WPAT fears that these planned food estates will deprive
Papuans of their traditional resources for hunting and fishing and destroy
the very basis of their livelihoods. This would follow the pattern of other
such "development' schemes, most notoriously the Freeport McMoran copper and
gold mine, which has displaced thousands of Papuans and has destroyed vast
stretches of pristine forest. The mine has transformed an entire river
system, the Ajkwa, into a disposal system for mine tailings, in the process
destroying vast stretches of trees and polluting the riverine environment.
The massive influx of government-organized, non-Papuan migrants to this
"estate" in Merauke, and to other planned "development" projects could
fundamentally alter the Papuan-migrant balance in West Papua. Considering
the massive migration envisioned in the government planning, the projects
could hasten the impact of past government policies and actions that have
had the effect of a creeping genocide that relegates Papuans to a
politically and economically disempowered minority status in their own
homeland. Investors, particularly foreign investors, complicit in this
planning could incur significant responsibility for such an outcome.
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