1) WEST PAPUA
NATIONAL COMMITTEE DEPUTY SHOT IN LATEST PAPUA SHOOTING
2) Riots in Papua After Police Gun Down Independence Activist
3) Police still investigating shooting incidents in
Papua
4) Imparsial criticises police for the
death of Mako Tabuni
5) Papua could soon become an Emergency Zone
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1) WEST PAPUA NATIONAL COMMITTEE DEPUTY SHOT IN
LATEST PAPUA SHOOTING
Thursday, 14 June, 2012 | 18:04 WIB
TEMPO Interactive, Jayapura:Security conditions in the city of
Abepura has worsened following this morning's fatal shooting and rioting by
hundreds involving members of the West Papua National Committee. Going by
initial reports, a man, reportedly shot dead in the melee, was identified as
Mako Tabuni, deputy chief of the West Papua National Committee or KNPB. The
rioting on Thursday morning saw to the burning down of two shops, dozens of
motorcycles and destruction of public facilities in the Perumnas III housing
complex of Waena, Abepura.
A car was also set ablaze. Papua police spokesman Sr. Comr. Johanes
Nugroho Wacaksono said that a detailed briefing on Thursday morning's incident
in Abepura would be provided by police later in the day. Outside of Thursday
morning's fatal incident and another village attack in Wamena on June 7, there
have been at least seven shootings in total - some of them fatal in Jayapura. A
security guard at Cendrawasih University was killed recently and before that, a
German tourist was shot and wounded on May 29. No one has been arrested for
these attacks.
JERRY OMONA
----------------------
2) Riots in Papua After Police Gun Down Independence Activist
June 14, 2012
Angry
residents of Indonesia’s resource-rich Papua island burned cars and shops on
Thursday after an independence activist was shot and killed, police and human
rights activists said. A low-level insurgency for independence has simmered on
Indonesia’s easternmost island for decades.
Mako Tabuni,
deputy of the pro-independence West Papua National Committee (KNPB), was shot
dead while resisting arrest, human rights activist Markus Haluk told Reuters.
Tabuni had
been campaigning for an investigation into a recent spate of shootings.
National
police spokesman Muhammad Taufik said the victim was shot dead in the town of
Waena during a police raid.
“He was armed.
Police asked him to surrender but he didn’t. Police shot at him, hitting his
hip and leg. He died on the way to hospital,” he told reporters.
Haluk told
Reuters that he doubted law enforcement’s explanation of the
incident.
“This is not
law enforcement, this is ridiculous,” Haluk told Reuters by telephone from
Jayapura, the province’s main town.
“Security
forces are using the excuse of law enforcement to shoot, using the classic
excuse of the separatist group stigma,” Haluk said of Tabuni’s killing.
Police
confirmed Tabuni’s death saying he was shot in the hip and leg and died on his
way to hospital.
Independence
activist Benny Wenda released a press statement calling the shooting an
"assassination" and urging the United Nations to
intervene.
"There is
now indiscriminate shooting taking place on the streets of Jayapura, with
residents fleeing in fear. On behalf of my people, I am urging the
international community to wake up and help us. We urgently need a UN
peacekeeping force to be put in place and sent to the region. My people are
danger in the hand of the Indonesian Military and Police," Benny said in
the press statement.
News of the
killing brought people out onto the streets of Jayapura and some of them
torched shops and vehicles. Television footage showed police inspecting burned
out buildings and smoldering cars.
“People were
angry after they heard that their leader or friend was arrested and burnt
several motorcycles, cars and three houses,” security minister Djoko Suyanto
said.
He added that
four people had been arrested in the past two weeks over a spate of violence in
the region, including the fatal shooting of a German tourist late last month.
They included
KNPB head Bukhtar Tabuni, who was released from prison last year after serving
three years for organizing a 2008 rally, according to police.
Police said
the group was suspected of organizing protests in recent months that have left
shops and public facilities in several Papuan cities badly vandalized, but it
has denied responsibility.
Pro-independence
rallies and displaying separatist symbols are considered treason in Indonesia,
and protests in Papua, a former Dutch colony on the western half of New Guinea
island, have ended in bloody clashes with police.
Jakarta
annexed Papua in 1969 in a self-determination referendum widely regarded as a
sham and continues to keep a tight grip on the region through its military and
police to quell a decades-long insurgency by poorly armed rebels.
Reuters/AFP
------------------------------------
3) Police still investigating shooting incidents in
Papua
Thu, June 14 2012 21:28 | 169 Views
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - National police chief General
Timur Pradopo stated the police were still investigating the shooting incidents
in Papua.
"A number of shooting incidents at several locations
in Papua, starting May 22 through June 10, 2012, are still under investigation.
All incidents that have violated the law are still being investigated by the
police," he said on the sidelines of a meeting with House Commission III
here on Thursday.
Timur added the police had already conducted an inquiry to
identify the perpetrators behind the shooting incidents.
He said three people had been arrested for breaking the
law, namely burning cars and shooting German national Dietman Pieper.
"The three people who have been arrested by police in
Papua are, identified by their initials, BT, JT and C," Timur added.
"From them, we can collect information and conduct
further investigation," he explained.
Timur said the police received help from intelligence and
local people while investigating the cases.
He stated the investigation so far had already led to a
target. "When arresting one of the suspects, Mako Tabuni, the police had
to shoot another suspect who tried to grab a police officer`s gun," Timur
said.
"On the scene, the police found a rifle containing 18
bullets," he added.
"The police have not yet found any evidence
suggesting that foreign parties were involved in the shooting incidents. But
again investigation is still ongoing," he noted.
(T.R024/H-YH/INE/KR-BSR/S012)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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4)
Imparsial criticises police for the death of Mako Tabuni
JUBI, 14 June
2012
Imparsial, the
Indonesian Human Rights Monitor, has expressed its deep regret at
the action by the police who shot Mako Tabuni, the chairman of KNPB, the
National Committee of West Papua, resulting in his death.
The executive
director, Poengky Indarti said that if the police suspected that Mako Tabuni
was involved in recent acts of violence , they should have acted in accordance
with the provisions of the Criminal Code
'It is
extremely regrettable that the police shot Mako Tabuni, as a result of
which this activist died,' she said.
She went on to
say that the police would have needed evidence in order the conduct an
investigation. and if they did have such evidence in this case, Mako Tabuni
should have been taken into custody and treated as a suspect.
'The procedure
would then be for the police to summon the person in question for
interrogation. He can only be detained if there is reason to fear that he
may abscond or commit a further crime.
A person can
indeed be arrested if he is caught red-handed. But bearing in mind that this
was not the case, the action by the police in arresting and shooting Mako
Tabuni was a violation of the criminal procedural code, KUHAP.
'Even if he
had resisted, the security forces should not have taken action that resulted in
his death. If he had offered resistance with a sharp weapon or with a firearm,
the police should have first warned him of the consequences, and if forced to
shoot, they should have made sure that this would not cause any fatal
injuries.'
The Imparsial
executive-director said that it was also very regrettable that the
death of Mako Tabuni had made the situation in Jayapura worse than ever.
The response to his death by members of the KNPB has resulted in the situation
in Jayapura becoming very tense indeed. 'We urge the security forces to take
greater care in handling a case like this, and they should always act in
accordance with the provisions of the law.'
The failings
of the police can only result in the situation getting worse, reinforcing the
occurrence of further acts of violence and causing the people to feel even more
insecure.
[Translated by
TAPOL]
------------------------------------
5) Papua could
soon become an Emergency Zone
Bintang Papua,
13 June2012
Leaders of two
of the main churches in Papua, the Kingmi Church and the Alliance of Baptist
Churches in Papua, say that many of their church members are now afraid to
leave their homes in the evening.
The chairman
of the Baptist Alliance, the Revd Socratez Sofyan Yoman said that the efforts
by the Papuan people to transform West Papua into a zone of peace are being
obstructed by certain forces. The recent series of shootings is turning Papua
into an Emergency Zone.
According to
the Rev. Socrates, the core of the conflict in Papua is greed on the part of
those who violate human rights. The Indonesian government is dealing with
the situation in Papua by strengthening the repressive security forces, the TNI
and the police, while paying no attention to the health and
educational needs of the Papuan people.
'The
government continues to split the province up into more districts in
order to be able to increase the number of the security forces,' he said.
The actions of
the government could result in the emergence of youth groups who will fight for
the aspirations of the Papuan people by peaceful means. Rev Socrates urged the
Indonesian government to enter into discussions as soon as possible with
representatives of the Papuan people in order to create a permanent state
of peace in Papua as a way of reducing the the process of radicalisation
of the young people which is further promoted by acts of violence and the
neglect of human rights abuses.
He also called
upon the international human rights institution of the United Nations
to do what it can to help reduce the crimes being committed in Papua. He
called upon his own congregation to remain vigilant and do everything they can
to preserve an atmosphere of peace and prevent the actions of those who
are trying to make the conditions worse.
The Rev. Benny
Giay said that the people live in a sate of fear because of the situation in
Jayapura that has developed in the past two months and said that the there is
no end to the shootings even though the city of Jayapura is more controllable
than mountainous regions such as Puncak Jaya and Timika
With regard to
the recent statement by the chief of the intelligence agency BIN that the
people doing the shooting have come from the mountains, the Rev. Giay said that
the BIN agency chief should take action to arrest the people responsible for
the shooting instead of raising new issues which do nothing help to clarify the
situation.
He also said
that the policies being pursued by the government such as setting up the
UP4B (development unit) are not rooted among the Papuan people. 'The Papuan
people cannot understand the policies that the govrnment is pursuing. The
central and provincial governments should respond to what the Papuan people
have been yearning for for years. 'Only the Papuan people can know what conditions
are necessary for the sustenance of their lives.
[Translated by
TAPOL]
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