2) BREAKING: Freeport Indonesia’s Chief Maroef Sjamsuddin Resigns
3) Freeport Indonesia boss resigns
4) LP3BH Executive Director meets the Ambassador of the USA
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Published On anuary 18 2016 Posted by PNG Today
1) West Papua independence leaders plan to open an office in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Their leader Jacob Rumbiak arrived in Honiara on Friday to further discuss the intention with local supporters.
A member of the Solomon Islands Solidarity Group for West Papua Lily Chekana told the Sunday Star an office space was already allocated for West Papua.
She said the office was located inside the headquarters of Guadalcanal Province at Kukum, east Honiara.
Chekana also added a plot of land in Honiara had been set aside for the West Papua office.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has been a staunch supporter of the West Papua independence cause.
As chair of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), he ensured West Papua was accorded observer status at the MSG summit held in Honiara last year.
West Papuan leaders were welcomed by their local supporters on arrival at Henderson Airport on Friday.
Their leader Jacob Rumbiak arrived in Honiara on Friday to further discuss the intention with local supporters.
A member of the Solomon Islands Solidarity Group for West Papua Lily Chekana told the Sunday Star an office space was already allocated for West Papua.
She said the office was located inside the headquarters of Guadalcanal Province at Kukum, east Honiara.
Chekana also added a plot of land in Honiara had been set aside for the West Papua office.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has been a staunch supporter of the West Papua independence cause.
As chair of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), he ensured West Papua was accorded observer status at the MSG summit held in Honiara last year.
West Papuan leaders were welcomed by their local supporters on arrival at Henderson Airport on Friday.
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2) BREAKING: Freeport Indonesia’s Chief Maroef Sjamsuddin Resigns
Freeport Indonesia CEO Maroef Sjamsoeddin. (Antara Photo/Widodo S. Jusuf)
By : Muhamad Al Azhari | on 8:30 PM January 18, 2016
Updated at 9:30 p.m. to add details, quotes from government official
Jakarta. Maroef Sjamsuddin, President director of Freeport Indonesia, the local unit of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan, has resigned, a spokesman told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.
Riza Pratama, spokesman at the Indonesian miner, confirmed the resignation through text message to the Jakarta Globe.
Earlier, the Jakarta Globe received an internal memo, believed to be sent by the US Freeport McMoRan's president Richard Adkerson, which said Robert Schroeder, a director and executive vice president at Freeport Indonesia, has been appointed as interim to assume Maroef's management responsibilities.
Riza has yet to reply to an enquiry from the Jakarta Globe on the interim appointment.
Freeport Indonesia — which operates Grasberg, one of the biggest copper and gold mines in the world — has recently been embroiled in a major political scandal, after Maroef reported claims to Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said that then-House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto had attempted to extort the mining giant.
Setya allegedly requested a stake in the company's divestment plan, estimated to be worth billions of dollars, in exchange for "high level" lobbying to allow the miner to seal contract extensions before its concession ends in 2021.
Reuters reported on Jan. 14, quoting an energy ministry official, that Freeport Indonesia has submitted a divestment price to the Indonesian government for an additional stake in the company.
Freeport Indonesia is required to sell a 10.64 percent stake of the giant Grasberg copper and gold complex in Papua island to the Indonesian government as part of the process to secure permits to operate beyond 2021.
The US parent valued its Indonesian asset at $16.2 billion, Bambang Gatot, the ministry’s director general of coal and minerals, was quoted by Reuters as saying.
He added that the divestment offered to the Indonesia government was worth $1.7 billion.
Bambang told reporters on Monday that the government will respond to the offer within 60 days of it being made, and that agreeing on the price isn't an "easy thing" to do.
The ministry will report to the finance ministry and in the case of the central government passing interest in the offered shares, it will be offered to state-owned enterprises.
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3) Freeport Indonesia boss resigns
Ayomi Amindoni & Anton Hermansyah, thejakartapost.com, Jakarta | World | Mon, January 18 2016, 10:43 PM
PT Freeport Indonesia president director Maroef Sjamsoeddin resigned from his position on Monday, Freeport Indonesia spokesman Riza Pramata has confirmed.
"That's correct. He resigned today," Riza told thejakartapos.com on Monday night.
According to a memorandum sent to Freeport Indonesia employees on Jan. 18, Maroef explained that his resignation was because his employment contract as Freeport Indonesia president director had expired.
Although Freeport McMoran offered him an extension on his contract, Maroef—who was associated with Freeport recording scandal involving former House of Representatives speaker Setya Novanto—decided not to remain with the company and tendered his resignation.
"I have handed in my resignation as the president director of PT Freeport Indonesia," Maroef stated in a written statement.
Before serving as Freeport Indonesia president director, Maroef was State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy head from 2011 to 2014. On Jan. 7 2015, he left the agency to take the helm of Freeport Indonesia, replacing Rozik B. Soetjipto.
Maroef was appointed directly by the chairman of the board of Freeport-McMoRan, James Robert Moffett, who also resigned from his position last month.
Along with Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said, Maroef testified in front of the House's ethics council in hearings on the case, which ended with Novanto's resignation as House speaker. (ags)
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4) LP3BH Executive Director meets the Ambassador of the USA
On Sunday 17th January 2016, I had the opportunity of meeting His Excellency, Ambassador Robert Blake of the USA when he was on a visit
to Manokwari.
At the meeting which lasted about 45 minutes, Ambassador Blake asked me about the views of my organisation, the LP3BH. Ambassador
Blake asked me about the general situation in West Papua and recent developments as well as the human rights situation here in West Papua
and he also wanted to know about the policy of President Joko Widodo towards Papua and West Papua.
I told the Ambassador that the situatiion here continues to be highly unsatisfactory in view of the many cases of human rights
violations, none of which had been dealt with in a court of law. I referred in particular to the various laws and regulations that
were now in force, such as Law on Human Rights 39/1999 and Law 26/2000 on Human Rights Courts. In addition, I drew his attention to Law
21/2001 on Special Autonomy for the Province of West Papua, as amended by Law 35/2008.
I referred in particular to a number of cases of grave human rights violations such as the Wasior Case (2001), the Wamena Case (2002), the
Paniai Case (8th December (2014), the Tolikara Case (2015) when eleven civilians were shot and wounded, whereas none of these cases has been
dealt with in a law court. Ambassador Blake was very concerned about all these incidents and
the failure up to the present day by the Government of Indonesia to deal with any these cases.
Ambassador Blake said that his government would guarantee that all those who had ben responsble for these violations would be excluded
from any its governmental programmes related to education and human rights.
Speaking as a lawyer and a Human Rights Defender, I submitted a written report to Ambassador Robert Blake, hoping that this would be
handed over to the US Government. I also told Ambassador Blake that these matters were now being
seriously considered by various governments which were members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and members of the Pacific Islands
Forum. I drew his attention to the fact that the United Liberation Movement for West Papua had been gratned obsever status by the MSG
in June 2015.
The result of all this was that these various regional state groups had pressed for a fact-finding human rights mission to be sent to
West Papua and Papua.
I also expressed the opinion that all these serious cases should be considered by the Government of the USA as the only way to strengthen
democracy and peace throughout the Land of Papua.
With regard to the security situation in the Land of Papua, I stressed that the security forces now based in the Land of Papua
should be instructed not to used firearms to handle the situation in the Land of Papua.but to deal with these incidents with peaceful
means, instead of using the force of arms. I also urged the US Government to exert pressure on the Government
of Indonesia, under President Joko Widodo to respond to the peaceful moves that had been taken by Papuan NGOs to resolve the social
conflicts in the Land of Papua.
Peace
Yan Christian Warinussy, Executive-Drector of the LP3BH, Institute for
Research, Investigation and the Delopment of
Legal Aid, Recipient of the John Humphrey Freedom Award, 2005, Canada.
Translated by Carmel Budiardjo, Recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, 1995.
to Manokwari.
At the meeting which lasted about 45 minutes, Ambassador Blake asked me about the views of my organisation, the LP3BH. Ambassador
Blake asked me about the general situation in West Papua and recent developments as well as the human rights situation here in West Papua
and he also wanted to know about the policy of President Joko Widodo towards Papua and West Papua.
I told the Ambassador that the situatiion here continues to be highly unsatisfactory in view of the many cases of human rights
violations, none of which had been dealt with in a court of law. I referred in particular to the various laws and regulations that
were now in force, such as Law on Human Rights 39/1999 and Law 26/2000 on Human Rights Courts. In addition, I drew his attention to Law
21/2001 on Special Autonomy for the Province of West Papua, as amended by Law 35/2008.
I referred in particular to a number of cases of grave human rights violations such as the Wasior Case (2001), the Wamena Case (2002), the
Paniai Case (8th December (2014), the Tolikara Case (2015) when eleven civilians were shot and wounded, whereas none of these cases has been
dealt with in a law court. Ambassador Blake was very concerned about all these incidents and
the failure up to the present day by the Government of Indonesia to deal with any these cases.
Ambassador Blake said that his government would guarantee that all those who had ben responsble for these violations would be excluded
from any its governmental programmes related to education and human rights.
Speaking as a lawyer and a Human Rights Defender, I submitted a written report to Ambassador Robert Blake, hoping that this would be
handed over to the US Government. I also told Ambassador Blake that these matters were now being
seriously considered by various governments which were members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and members of the Pacific Islands
Forum. I drew his attention to the fact that the United Liberation Movement for West Papua had been gratned obsever status by the MSG
in June 2015.
The result of all this was that these various regional state groups had pressed for a fact-finding human rights mission to be sent to
West Papua and Papua.
I also expressed the opinion that all these serious cases should be considered by the Government of the USA as the only way to strengthen
democracy and peace throughout the Land of Papua.
With regard to the security situation in the Land of Papua, I stressed that the security forces now based in the Land of Papua
should be instructed not to used firearms to handle the situation in the Land of Papua.but to deal with these incidents with peaceful
means, instead of using the force of arms. I also urged the US Government to exert pressure on the Government
of Indonesia, under President Joko Widodo to respond to the peaceful moves that had been taken by Papuan NGOs to resolve the social
conflicts in the Land of Papua.
Peace
Yan Christian Warinussy, Executive-Drector of the LP3BH, Institute for
Research, Investigation and the Delopment of
Legal Aid, Recipient of the John Humphrey Freedom Award, 2005, Canada.
Translated by Carmel Budiardjo, Recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, 1995.
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