1) Indonesia must address human rights violations, says CSW
2) KontraS reports on continuing deaths and injuries in Papua
3) Asking Aid for Housing, No Responses
4) Airsoft gun owners to report to Papua cops
5) SBY to receive honor from UK Queen
1) Indonesia must address human rights violations, says CSW
Christian Solidarity Worldwide is urging the Government to raise concerns over religious intolerance and other human rights violations in Indonesia when the country's president visits the UK on Wednesday.
In a letter to David Cameron and William Hague, CSW calls for pressure to be put on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to protect the rights of religious minorities and defend the rule of law.
In particular, the organisation raises concerns over the forced closure of churches in Indonesia, including churches that have secured legal permission.
The Jakarta Globe newspaper reported last week that nine churches and six Buddhist temples had been closed down as a result of intense pressure from local Islamist groups.
The GKI Yasmin church in Bogor and HKBP Filadelfia church in Bekasi were both closed by the local mayor amid pressure from extremists, despite the courts ruling that the churches should remain open.
"This is a rule of law issue, not simply a religious freedom issue," the letter states.
The organisation further warns that Indonesian democracy could be undermined if human rights violations in West Papua are not addressed.
It wants to see the Indonesian president follow the recommendations of the Papua Road Map and enter into dialogue with the Papuans.
Andrew Johnston, CSW’s Advocacy Director, said the president's visit was an important opportunity to deliver clear messages about human rights.
He said: "Indonesia’s remarkable transition from authoritarianism to democracy over the past decade and its tradition of pluralism and religious harmony deserve to be recognised, but these achievements are being increasingly undermined by rising Islamist extremism, violence against religious minorities, discriminatory laws which are open to abuse, particularly the blasphemy laws, regulations governing the construction of places of worship, regulations relating to the Ahmadiyyah Muslim community and the abuses perpetrated by the Indonesian military in West Papua.
"During this visit, the British Government should raise these concerns as a matter of priority, and urge the President to take action to protect and promote human rights and curb religious extremism and violence.”
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2) KontraS reports on continuing deaths and injuries in Papua
Jubi, 29 October 2012
KontraS, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence has drawn the conclusion that from January to October this year, 107 people have been injured as a result of acts of violence.
The commission also stated that as many as 81 acts of violence occurred in Papua.Thirty-one of these people died as a result of their injuries. A spokesperson for KontraS, Sri, said that KontraS believes that since January this year, scores of acts of violence have engulfed Papua.
In a press release issued on 26 October, she said that at least thirty-one people had died and 107 people had been injured.
This press release was issued in Jakarta together with several other NGOs, including NAPAS, BUK and YAPHAM. The NGOs were keen to draw attention to the current situation in Papua which is becoming increasingly tense.
KontraS believes that there are serious restrictions to democracy in Papua .
'It is a serious challenge for civil society to criticise the policy being pursued by the government,' said KontraS
A Papuan activist n Jakarta, Martin Goo said that the continuing suppression of democracy in Papua has triggered a number of conflicts in Papua. There has also been an intensification of acts of terrorism which, he said, were being perpetrated by certain groups who are against the people's struggle for justice,
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via Tapol From Sorak
[New source of information about Papua. The text is un-edited as
received in English]
3) Asking Aid for Housing, No Responses
30 July 2012 <http://blog.insist.or.id/sorak/archives/1998>
One of villager’s houses in Nasem, built by AMD Program in 1995. After near of twenty years, almost of the houses now already broken and unsuitable for decent life (Photo: KIZITO HERU)
House is an idyllic place for rest. Some of people’s houses in Nasem Village was built 1995 by the national program of Army EnteringVillage (/ABRI Masuk Desa/, AMD –Red.). There are 35 units of houses built at the time. Half of them now are weakening, especially the walls and roofs. Other half almost broken and not suitable anymore for decent life. We have frequently asking help from local government, i.e. the Regent of Merauke, the Regency House of Representatives, and the Regency Office of Social Welfare. In the House of Representatives, in their annual session to discuss the Regency Annual Budget of Fiscal Year 2011, we have submitted our request directly to the Speaker of the House, Mr. Leo Mahuze. Unfortunately, no responses at all until today.
* *Martinus Adupi Balagaize*, Villager of Nasem, District of
Naukenjerai, Meruke.
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4) Airsoft gun owners to report to Papua cops
The Jakarta Post | Archipelago | Mon, October 29 2012, 8:11 AM
The Papua Police and the Papua chapter of the Indonesian Shooting Association (Perbakin) want airsoft gun owners to register their guns following reports of hundreds of unauthorized airsoft guns in the province.
John Rouw, head of Perbakin’s local chapter, said that the association and the police had only issued permits for several dozen airsoft guns, while other airsoft guns in Papua had been registered in other provinces.
It is illegal to keep an airsoft gun that has been registered in another province, he said. “Based on our data, there are 500 unlicensed airsoft guns across Papua.”
John raised this issue following complaints from residents threatened by men with airsoft guns.
“We received a report that an airsoft gun owner threatened a resident with his weapon. Many airsoft gun owners also carry their guns everywhere. This has been a security issue,” he said.
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Comment by Tapol on article
[COMMENT:This is an insult for all Indonesians who have suffered for so many years at the hands of the SBY government and previous Indonesian governments which have done nothing to bring perpetrators of grave human rights crimes to justice. TAPOL]
5) SBY to receive honor from UK Queen
Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | World | Mon, October 29 2012, 7:16 PM
The award is the highest rank of one of the oldest orders of British chivalry, whose previous recipients include world leaders such as former US President Ronald Reagan, former French President Jacques Chirac and Turkish President Abdullah Gül, presidential foreign affairs spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said on Monday.
“There will be no special ceremony to bestow the award. The Queen will only show it to the President in a display room after lunch on [Wednesday] Oct. 31,” he told reporters.
Yudhoyono, First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and their entourage will depart from Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force base in East Jakarta to London on Tuesday.
Yudhoyono has been included in the Queen’s guest list in the celebration of Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee. The invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to Yudhoyono was directly given by Prime Minister David Cameron when he visited Indonesia in April.
President Yudhoyono and his entourage will stay at Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the Queen and her family.
In London, Yudhoyono will have another bilateral meeting with Cameron. He will also be meeting with other top figures such as the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles; British Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg and Opposition Leader Ed Miliband.
Yudhoyono will also lead the second meeting of the High Level Panel on the Post-Millennium Development Goals. Yudhoyono, Cameron, as well as Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson are co-chairs of the panel.
The panel’s meeting in London will be the second after the first held on the sidelines of the UN’s 67th General Assembly session in New York, last month.
Yudhoyono’s UK visit will mark 33 years since the visits of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip to Indonesia.
On Nov. 3, Yudhoyono and his delegation will leave London for Vientiane, Laos, to attend the 9th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).
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RNZI Posted at 01:37 on 29 October, 2012 UTC
Papua New Guinea’s foreign and immigration minister, Rimbink Pato, says he is yet to determine whether PNG will accommodate the about 9,000 refugees from Indonesia’s Papua region.
Many fled decades ago amid a crackdown on separatists.
The issue was raised by the opposition’s Sam Basil as PNG is about to get some of the asylum seekers who Australia wants to process abroad.
Mr Basil has asked what the status is of the West Papuans based on the Human Rights Convention, the United Nations Refugee Commission and PNG’s own laws.
Mr Basil also wanted to know if the refugees from Indonesia will be allowed to become citizens.
The minister says the matter will be looked in the overall context of PNG’s policy.
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A leading member of Hasmi denied the organization is a terrorist group and that it had targeted the U.S. and Australian Embassies in Jakarta.
Published: Oct. 29, 2012 at 6:30 AM
JAKARTA, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A leading member of Hasmi denied the organization is a terrorist group and that it had targeted the U.S. and Australian embassies in Indonesia.
Indonesia's anti-terrorist police Detachment 88 made 11 arrests last week, alleging the group is a terrorist outfit that was planning to plant explosives in and around the embassies.
But The Jakarta Post reported a "leader" of Hasmi -- the shortened name for Haraqah Sunni for Indonesian Society -- said the organization is an educational religious society only.
"Hasmi is a non-violent organization and we focus on preaching," Adi Mulyadi, a leader of the group, told the Post.
"We don't know yet whether the suspected terrorists are our members or not. All I know is that the group will immediately expel any members who practice violence," Adi said.
Last week police raided houses in Jakarta, Bogor, Madiun and Surakarta (Solo) on Java and reportedly found bombs, detonators and ammunition.
National Police spokesman Inspector General Suhardi Alius said the bombs were intended to be detonated in Jakarta at the U.S. and Australian embassies, the U.S. Consulate in Surabaya, eastern Java, and the headquarters of the National Police Mobile Brigade in Semarang, central Java.
"The Hasmi group is a new group and we are still investigating its link with the old groups," Alius, said.
Also targeted was the Jakarta headquarters of PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of global mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc., which has headquarters in Phoenix.
Freeport owns 90 percent of one of the largest open pit gold and copper sites, the Grasberg Mine in the restive province of Papua on the island of Papua.
The western half of the rugged and forested island has the two Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. The eastern half is the country of Papua New Guinea.
The Grasberg mine, which employees upward of 19,000 people, has been hit by strikes as well as violence aimed at managers.
In October, the mine's owners said they could no longer guarantee supplies because of a strike by workers, believed to be led by the separatist Free Papua Movement.
Papua and West Papua -- together about the size of Spain -- are the poorest regions in Indonesia but extremely rich in natural resources. Separatist Papuan leaders claim few of the region's population get a fair share of the wealth when the resources are exploited, often by international companies,
In August police in the Papua provincial capital Jayapura arrested four suspected separatist rebels after a senior police officer was killed.
Brig. Yohan Kasimatau was shot while washing a police car at the end of an airstrip in Paniai.
Police said they suspect the separatist Free Papua Movement Organization led by Jhon Yogi was responsible for killing, reported Indonesian national news agency Antara.
Security has been tight in the country since commemorations Oct. 12 of the 10th anniversary of the Bali resort bombings and which were attended by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
The more than 200 dead were from 21 countries, including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians and 28 Britons.
In June a court in Jakarta has handed down a 20-year jail sentence to a man accused of helping to make the bombs used in Bali.
Hisyam bin Ali Zein, also known as Umar Patek, helped mix chemicals for making the bombs planted at Paddy's Bar and the Sari Club in the resort of Kuta.
Pakistani authorities arrested Patek in January 2011 in Abbottabad -- near where U.S. Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden -- and extradited him to Indonesia in August.
The 20-year sentence for Patek -- a member of the banned terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah and also wanted by the United States and the Philippines -- was less than the life-in-prison demanded by prosecutors, a report by Antara said at the time.
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