2) Papuan fugitive dies shortly after arrest
3) Taparu in Kamoro socioculture
4) Jayapura indigenous school pays attention to children’s rights
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1) Indonesian Police Extend Detention of Polish Man Accused of Papua Rebel Links
Victor Mambor and Tria Dianti Jayapura, Indonesia
2018-09-19
Indonesian lawyer Latifah Anum Siregar (left), accompanied by two colleagues, talks to client Jakub Fabian Skrzypski (right) at police headquarters in Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia’s Papua province, Sept. 19, 2018.
Courtesy Alliance for Democracy of Papua (ALDP)
A Polish national who was arrested last month on suspicion of helping separatist rebels in Indonesia’s Papua province has denied that he took part in a conspiracy to overthrow the government, his attorney said Wednesday, as police extended his detention for 40 days for further investigation.
Police arrested and detained Jakub Fabian Skrzypski, 39, in Papua’s Wamena regency on Aug. 26, accusing him of conspiracy to supply weapons to the rebels.
“He rejected all the accusations,” Skrzypski’s lawyer, Latifah Anum Siregar, told BenarNews. “He rejected the conspiracy charges.”
Latifah said her client had “never campaigned for the Papuan separatists nor did he support Papuan independence.”
“He has never been involved in any military training and is not an arms dealer or any such thing. He has never owned weapons or ammunition,” she added.
Skrzypski could face life or 20 years in prison, if found guilty, Latifah said, describing the accusations as “reckless.”
Latifah said she last met Skrzypski on Friday, and described her client as “depressed.”
Papua is one of Indonesia’s poorest regions despite its rich natural resources. It has been the scene of a low-level armed separatist conflict since the 1960s. Human rights groups have accused security forces of committing rights abuses during counter-insurgency operations.
Police have said that Skrzypski, despite being a foreigner, could be charged with involvement in a conspiracy to overthrow the government.
“We are still delving into the case,” national police spokesman Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo said, adding that the Pole would eventually be tried in Papua.
Dedi said Skrzypski was not a journalist and had only posted stories about Papua on Facebook and other social media networks.
“He’s just an ordinary tourist, but he communicated with the Violent Criminal Group and offered to supply weapons and ammunition, but that has not happened and chances of that happening are slim,” Dedi said, using the law enforcement term for the rebel group.
“He also told stories about Papua to his compatriots back in Poland in the hope that they would go viral,” he said.
Dedi said Skrzypski had received consular assistance from the Polish embassy in Jakarta. The embassy did not respond to an email sent by BenarNews.
Last week, the police spokesman told reporters that police seized hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a mobile phone and documents, which included information about the types of weapons and ammunition needed by the Free Papua Movement (OPM) rebel group.
Foreign journalists have been largely banned from reporting from Papua, with the government citing concerns for their security for the restrictions.
Other arrests
In a separate development, security forces in Papua’s Mimika regency arrested eight people during a raid on the headquarters of a local pro-independence organization, the National Committee for West Papua (KNPB) on Saturday, police said.
The raid followed the arrest of a man who allegedly had 153 rounds of ammunition at the Mimika airport near the Freeport gold and copper mine, Dedi said.
KNPB campaigns for a referendum on self-determination in Papua.
Police have also arrested a man named Simon Magal for communicating with Skrzypski through his mobile phone.
The London-based human rights group, Tapol, said Magal was preparing to leave for Australia to start his post-graduate studies there.
“Arresting Simon on accusations of treason because he met Jakub and talked to him on Facebook is excessive,” Tapol coordinator Adriana Sri Adhiati said.
Adriana said the arrest of Skrzypski and Simon could undermine Indonesia’s efforts to strengthen its democracy.
New military units planned for Papua
On Wednesday, Usman Hamid, Amnesty International’s Indonesia director, told a parliamentary hearing that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo should make good on his promises to solve cases of human rights violations in Papua. These included the shootings of high-school students during a rally in Paniai regency in 2014, which killed four people.
According to Amnesty, at least 95 people were killed in 69 cases of extrajudicial killings in Papua in recent years, but only 25 cases were investigated.
“Our findings show that police and soldiers have used excessive force, used firearms and deployed excessive numbers of personnel, resulting in the death of 95 people," Usman told lawmakers.
Meanwhile earlier this month, Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) chief Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto told a parliamentary hearing that new military units would be established in the eastern parts of the country, including Papua.
The military is proposing 107 trillion rupiah (about U.S. $7.2 billion) for the 2019 budget, including 1.5 trillion rupiah to “create new organizations in the eastern regions, namely South Sulawesi, Sorong (West Papua province) and Papua,” Tribunnews.com quoted the armed forces chief was quoted as saying.
He said the money would be used to build physical infrastructure, such as office buildings, housing for soldiers and harbors. In May, the military inaugurated four new units in Sorong.
Military officials in Jakarta could not be reached immediately for comment.
In Papua, a member of the province’s representative council, Laurens Kadepa, rejected the military’s plans.
“The plan is not making sense. Many Papuans in the villages are still traumatized by the presence of the military,” he said.
A Wamena resident, Peter John Jonga, told BenarNews that Papuans should have a say in the plans.
“If there’s a special unit, Papuans won’t accept it because they feel that they will be watched more closely and lose their freedom,” he said.
Ahmad Syamsudin in Jakarta contributed to this report.
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2) Papuan fugitive dies shortly after arrest
1:54 pm on 19 September 2018
A Papuan fugitive has died shortly after being arrested by police in Merauke
Yudas Gebze was arrested on Thursday last week after three months on the run from police after he attacked a man.
The Jakarta Post reported Mr Gebze died in hospital after resisting arrest.
His family say he was tortured by police, and today staged protests in Merauke.
Photos show family members holding placards saying "Papuans are not animals" and blaming the state for not protecting people.
Papuan media report an autopsy found open wounds and abrasions.
Police deny the allegations.
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3) Taparu in Kamoro socioculture
Published 21 hours ago on 19 September 2018 By admin
Mimika, Jubi – Each clan in Kamoro has ‘taparu’ or a specific location as a place to find food sources when they encircle rivers and mangroves in the lowland estuary of Mimika District.
A Dutch anthropologist J Power states ‘taparu’ is a local terminology emphasizing the relations of land and its inhabitants. “There are also the names of surrounding neighborhoods taken from the ancestral names,” as written in a book “Taparu Fratri of Mimika-Kamoro ethnic groups in Hiripau Village, East Mimika District, Mimika Regency”, by Dessy Pola Usmany et al. from the Ministry Education and Culture Directorate General of Culture Papua Cultural Value Conservation Center, 2013.
‘Taparu’ itself is more related to groups who inhabit within this region or surrounding environment as Kamoro people always encircle the river and sago forest for catching fish or gathering food. Everyone knows their own ‘taparu’.
‘Taparu’ in Kamoro language means the land, while Sempan people call it ‘se iwake’. If someone wants to mark the land he passes in gathering food, he solely adds the prefix ‘we’ such as tumamero-we and efato-we in Omawka village.
Similarly, people in Nawaripi village also do the same. Their areas are including Tumukamiro-we, Viriao-we, and Iwiri-we. All of these names reflect the relationship between the land and inhabitants.
Meanwhile, like the majority of Kamoro people, Ojibwa people believe in the power of their late patrilineal clan that depicted in the symbols of animals. The anthropologists call these symbols with totems which mean a belief that embodies a symbolic representation of society.
Unfortunately, today taparu also face the severest challenges of sedimentation due to tailings of mining activity that cause the silting of river and discolouration of Mollusca habitat in the estuary of Mimika District. (*)
Reporter: Dominggus Mampioper
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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4) Jayapura indigenous school pays attention to children’s rights
Published 21 hours ago on 19 September 2018 By admin
Sentani, Jubi – Director of Indigenous School of Jayapura District Origen Monim stated that he would pay attention to the rights of children studying at his school as it stands in an area declared as a child-friendly village.
“We have a guide about what indicator of a child-friendly village is, which was given by the Head of the Women Empowerment and Child Protection Office. So it would be our concern,” said Monim in Sentani on Tuesday (09/11/2018).
He further explained that the indigenous school runs their activities every day, from 14:00 to 16:30 Papua time, and a speedboat provided to pick up students to school.
“So far we operate independently. In the future, we would also try to provide snacks or additional food for children in Khandei class, namely for those aged 8-13 years,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the Head of Women Empowerment and Child Protection Office of Jayapura District, Maria Bano confirmed on the guide of the child-friendly village that already implemented in the Indigenous School of Jayapura District.
“Children from formal school continue their learning activities there, in the indigenous school, which encourage children playing and having fun with their friends. Because at their age, children need to observe their environment and people around them,” said Bano. (*)
Reporter: Engel Wally
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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