1) Security forces in Papua anticipating increased danger from OPM

1) Security forces in Papua anticipating increased danger from OPM

2) Papua Police beef up security prior to OPM anniversary

3) A song for the morning star and a people living on belief

4) OPM Claims Responsibility for Fatal Attack on Police in Papua

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http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/85912/security-forces-in-papua-anticipating-increased-danger-from-opm

1) Security forces in Papua anticipating increased danger from OPM

Sat, December 1 2012 00:37 | 71 Views

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Security forces in Papua are anticipating the possibility of increased danger from separatist group Free Papua Movement (OPM) ahead of the group`s anniversary on December 1.

"Usually, ahead of the day (the anniversary), OPM creates trouble in order to show that it is still active. Therefore, security forces there have taken anticipatory and preventive measures," National Intelligence Agency (BIN) Chief Marciano Noorman told the press here on Friday.

"There have been activities like ambushes in the past few days," he said.

"We refer such cases to the relevant security authorities, the regional police command, the regional military command, and the governors" so they can take the right actions to overcome and anticipate such eventualities," Noorman explained.

He said no reinforcements had yet been sent there because the "existing forces are still effective".

NationalPpolice Chief General Timur Pradopo stated that he had already ordered police units in Papua to anticipate potential security problems ahead of the terrorist group`s anniversary.

"Everything has been put in place. So we are ready for any kind of action that might be necessary," he added.(*)

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/30/papua-police-beef-security-prior-opm-anniversary.html

2) Papua Police beef up security prior to OPM anniversary

The Jakarta Post, Jayapura | Archipelago | Fri, November 30 2012, 3:24 PM

A- A A+

The Papua Police have strengthened security ahead of the Free Papua movement’s (OPM) anniversary, which falls on July 1 but is often celebrated on Dec. 1.

Papua Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. I Gede Sumerta said Friday that police would deploy two-thirds of the officers stationed in Papua to “anticipate the activity of pro-Papua liberation supporters”.

Sumerta was quoted by Antara as saying that the Papua police had sought the help of around 100 Brimob officers.

Sumerta said that the police would allow mass prayers but would not tolerate any Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag-raising. The flag is illegal and involvement in flag-raising ceremonies is a crime.

December last year, four people were arrested in connection with a flag-raising ceremony in Timika. Other Papuans chose to gather for mass prayers in Sentani, Jayapura to observe the 50th anniversary of what they called the freedom of Papua.

Clashes occurred in other parts of the region prior to and during the celebrations. (lfr)

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http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/a-song-for-the-morning-star-and-a-people-living-on-belief-20121130-2amws.html

3) A song for the morning star and a people living on belief

Date

December 1, 2012

Category

Opinion

Martin Flanagan

Sports Writer for The Age

WHEN West Papuan Ronny Kareni came to Australia nine years ago, he could speak pidgin English but not English. Now he has a degree in international relations and can quote, in Italian - from an opera by Verdi - a line that he translates as ''My country is beautiful but lost …''

Today at noon, outside the State Library of Victoria, Ronny Kareni will raise the flag of the Morning Star in recognition of its first raising 51 years ago with the agreement of the Netherlands, then the colonial power in West Papua.

Kareni was one year old when, in 1984, his mother smuggled him and his sister across the border from West Papua into Papua New Guinea. His father stayed to be part of the armed struggle against the Indonesian forces securing the province for Indonesia, as they have since 1962.

The family built a shelter on a beach with logs cut from the jungle and a roof thatched with palm leaves. His mother made doughnuts and bread on her open fire and tried to sell them at local markets. There were days with no food. Then Ronny started school and found he was the only child speaking Bahasa Indonesian.

He was 19 when he came to Australia to study at Damascus College in Ballarat under a program organised by the Sisters of Mercy and West Papuan leader-in-exile Jacob Rumbiak. Kareni says he was welcomed into the Damascus College community. Money was raised to cover his fees, his uniform, his books. He found Australians friendly, open-minded and, on the subject of West Papua, disappointingly ignorant. Some people thought West Papua was in Africa when it is Australia's closest neighbour, as far away as Warrnambool from Melbourne.

Kareni, who has had several jobs with bodies such as Multicultural Arts Victoria, now works full-time for the West Papuan cause. I ask him why he does it. ''Because if I don't,'' he says, ''who will?'' Kareni says West Papuans formed 96 per cent of the population of their country when the Indonesians arrived. They now number less than half and the Indonesian authorities exercise, in his words, a ''culture of impunity'' in their dealings with them.

Kareni is a political man with a political message. He argues that, as a result of the Third Papuan People's Congress in Jayapura last year, West Papuans now have an elected leadership to begin round-table negotiations with Indonesia and a third party such as the United States. He doesn't rule out West Papua remaining part of Indonesia but says: ''There must be recognition of our rights as indigenous people to live freely, without repression and intimidation.'' The Indonesian authorities arrested 300 delegates to the Third Papuan People's Conference. The bodies of two others were found shot. Kareni's father had his skull fractured.

Saying armed struggle ''is not effective'', Kareni advocates non-violent activism and believes his people will win their freedom. His belief comes from his faith in the Christian God, from the Bible being the story of a dispossessed people, and from the strength of West Papuan culture. ''Our message is in our songs. Our songs are our message.'' He is part of a West Papuan band called Tabura, named after the shell blown like a horn to bring people together.

But I say, ''You're relying on the rest of the world to act on your behalf. What if they don't?'' ''Then I would have to question God,'' he replies after a pause. ''I would say, why have you created us and placed us in West Papua and allowed this to happen to us?'' Then he adds, ''If there is one West Papuan left, the cause of West Papuan freedom will continue.''

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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/opm-claims-responsibility-for-fatal-attack-on-police-in-papua/559087

4) OPM Claims Responsibility for Fatal Attack on Police in Papua
Robert Isidorus & Arientha Primanita | November 30, 2012

Jayapura. An official with the Free Papua Movement (OPM) claimed responsibility on Friday for the recent killing of three police officers in the Papua district of Lanny Jaya, refuting an earlier disavowal made by other OPM members.

“OPM did the shootings. I led the shootings,” Purom Okiman Wenda, the head of the Pirime branch of OPM, told the Indonesian news portal tempo.co on Friday.

Purom said hundreds of OPM members began the attack when they saw First Brig. Jefri Rumkorem preparing to raise the red-and-white flag of Indonesia in the front yard of the Pirime Police precinct office in Lanny Jaya at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

They immediately shot and killed him, before some of those assembled proceeded to enter the police outpost, where they shot First Brig. Daniel Mukuker. He added that they then found the police chief, Second Insp. Rofli Takabesi, hiding under a bed, fatally shooting him as well.

“We’re the pure OPM. We’re not Goliat Tabuni who only sits idly. We will continue to move,” Purom said.

Goliat, the chief of the OPM branch in Puncak Jaya, a neighboring district, on Thursday denied that his organization was responsible for the attack.

“Those were not us [OPM] in Lanny Jaya,” said Goliat, who was echoed by his secretary-general, Anton Tabuni.

Purom further said there were thousands of OPM members in Lanny Jaya, ready to launch more attacks.

Meanwhile, police said they had captured six men allegedly involved in the attack on the Pirime Police station.

Adj. Sr. Comr. I Gede Sumerta Jaya, a Papua Police spokesman, said five of the six suspects were arrested in Muaragame, in the subdistrict of Piramid, on Thursday, with the other detained in Pirime. The Pirime suspect was shot in the leg for wielding a machete in an attempt to resist arrest.

“During the [Tuesday] attack, they carried the Bintang Kejora [Morning Star] flag, so they can also face charges of subversion,” Jaya said.

According to Jaya, police are still searching for five others implicated in Tuesday’s violence.

The five arrested in Muaragame were captured at a house believed to be a local OPM coordinating post. Police said they found one West Papua banner, 989 member cards, several flags, including those of the United States, Britain and Papua New Guinea, cell phones, a laptop and various books on the OPM and war strategies, as well as a diary.

The attackers, who police say numbered about 50, also took three firearms from the police post.

In Jakarta, State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman said the attack was part of the OPM’s efforts to demonstrate its existence ahead of the group's Dec. 1 anniversary.

Police said they were beefing up security in Papua and West Papua ahead of anniversary commemorations.

Suara Pembaruan, JG & BeritaSatu

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1) Criminal gang behind Papua police attacks

2) HIV/AIDS victims feared to continue to increase in Mimika

3) Keating’s Timor and Carr’s Papua

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/30/criminal-gang-behind-papua-police-attacks.html

1) Criminal gang behind Papua police attacks

The Jakarta Post | Archipelago | Fri, November 30 2012, 8:14 AM

A- A A+

A criminal gang, led by a man identified only by the initials RM, is alleged to be behind several attacks on the police in the Papua central mountain range area, including the recent murder of three officers at Pirime police precinct.

“We have identified the perpetrators. RM is the leader. Based on our investigations, the gang has launched attacks in several areas in Papua,” said Papua Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw on Thursday.

Waterpauw said his team managed to arrest one gang member during a shootout between the police and the gang in Pirime on Wednesday. The shootout occurred when Papua police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian visited the crime scene. Waterpauw said dozens of gunmen attacked the police entourage, but the police managed to return fire.

‘’The gang member was shot and he is being treated at Wamena hospital, but we have not yet been able to question him due to the severity of his wounds,” said Waterpauw. “The [Pirime] attack is considered as a regular crime. It’s not categorized as a separatist attack,” he added.

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http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/85893/hivaids-victims-feared-to-continue-to-increase-in-mimika

2) HIV/AIDS victims feared to continue to increase in Mimika

Fri, November 30 2012 11:13 | 87 Views

Timika, Papua (ANTARA News) - The number of HIV/AIDS victims in Mimika, Papua is feared to continue to increase in the coming years, the Yayasan Peduli AIDS Timika (YPAT) said. 

Father Bert Hagendoorn OFM, the director of the foundation, which helps treat HIV/AIDS victims in the area, said the number of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus infection) /AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) cases in Mimika has increased at a high rate .

The number of victims is expected to increase with the high mobility of people in Mimika and growing number of new residents in Timika, Father Hagendoorn said .

"The number of visitors to Timika and or new residents in the city grew fast and they are not aware of the existence of the disease in Timika," he told ANTARA news agency here on Friday. 

According to data from the AIDS Control Commission (KPA) of Mimika, in 2012 alone there were 367 new HIV/AIDS cases in the regency of Mimika. 

The number of HIV/AIDS cases since the first time the disease was found in the regency in 1996, has continued to increase reaching 3,190 kasus by September this year. 

In the April-September period in 2012 , there were an additional cases of 239 or an average of 39 cases per month.

Sexual intercourse accounted for 236 of the new case in Mimika. 

Father Hagendoorn called for more intensive campaigns to stop the spread of the disease. 

He said there are already many organizations and agencies involved in the battle against HIV/AIDS in Mimika, but most of the organizations and agencies fail to support each other. 

He said since the first time the disease was found in Mimika a number of organization active in battling HIV/AIDS were eager to establish a KPA to serve as a coordinating body for the organizations. 

Later, however, the Mimika KPA has become more interested in projects rather than in coordinating efforts to eradicate the disease and save the people , he said. 

"We are very disappointed with the fact," he said. 

Father Hagendoorn also criticized attempt to politicize HIV/AIDS issue in Mimika and to take business advantage of the condition such as by organizing football matches to raise fund supposedly for HIV/AIDS control. 

He said YPAT has organized Youth Event Against AIDS Dance for Life held last week to commemorate the World`s AIDS Day on Dec. 1 involving youths including school students in Timika. (*)

Editor: Heru

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HTTP://WWW.EUREKASTREET.COM.AU/ARTICLE.ASPX?AEID=34348

THE MEDDLING PRIEST

3) Keating’s Timor and Carr’s Papua

FRANK BRENNAN NOVEMBER 29, 2012

On Sunday, I was travelling through the idyllic rural north of Bali, listening on my iPod to Paul Keating's riveting 2012 Murdoch Lecture in which he spoke about the 'enormous time and attention' he gave as Prime Minister between 1991 and 1996 to the development of a bilateral relationship with Indonesia.

He said, 'I think I grasped, perhaps more than any of my predecessors, the singular importance to Australia and to its security, of the vast archipelago to our immediate north. I understood that the advent of General Soeharto's New Order government had brought peace and stability to our region.'

I warmed to Keating's self adulation until he went on to describe 'the preoccupation of the Australian media with the events in Balibotwo decades earlier' and how he was 'determined to establish a new and durable basis for our relationship with Indonesia other than the one we had which saw everything through the prism of East Timor'. This seemed to me far too simplistic.

Our elected leaders in the 1970s and '80s when visiting Jakarta were right to raise human rights concerns about East Timor. They, like our Indonesian counterparts, were quite capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time. It was not as if it was a choice between human rights concerns and the building of a bilateral relationship.

A bilateral relationship posited on a self-imposed ban on human rights discussion would be a very perverted relationship for a robust democracy like Australia boasting adherence to the rule of law and best international practice in human rights protection.

The Keating over-simplification could be relegated to academic history but for its resurgence in recent remarks by Foreign Minister Bob Carr who earlier this month told the ABC: 'There are Australians ... who take an interest in the notion for more autonomy for Papua but I remind them that you'd be doing a disservice to the Indonesian population of those two provinces if you held out any hope that Australia could influence the cause of events.'

I beg to differ. We could be doing a great service to our Indonesian neighbours if we took seriously our capacity for respectful dialogue about the need for greater autonomy in the provinces of Papua.

Think back to the 1991 Santa Cruz Massacre in Dili. While Keating was commencing his strategy of downplaying human rights violations in East Timor, journalist Max Stahl was able to smuggle out film of the massacre which shocked the world. Many Australians for the first time asked how this could be happening on our doorstep, and how we could permit it to go unchecked.

Joel Hodge in Resisting Violence and Victimisation: Christian Faith and Solidarity in East Timor identifies this as 'a major turning point for the international community ... Showing the innocence of the victims at the hands of the violent Indonesian state was central in the appeal of the East Timorese to the conscience of the international community — an appeal which eventually overcame 'the logic of force'.'

I first visited East Timor a year after the Dili massacre at the invitation of Bishop Carlos Belo. At that time it was almost impossible for foreigners to gain access. At the end of my visit, Bishop Belo invited me to a party with significant Timorese leaders. He and ex-governor Mario Carrascalao cornered me and asked what I would say about the situation in East Timor upon my return to Australia.

They said I must speak, but under no circumstances should I speak about the possibility of independence. They thought independence very unlikely, and were concerned that talk of independence would only exacerbate the discontent of young Timorese who then risked further adverse attention by the Indonesian military.

They told me I should speak about the need for three things: a decreased military presence, greater cultural autonomy, and enhanced protection of human rights.

On my return to Australia I stuck to this script. Some Australians, especially church people supportive of the Timorese cause, were critical. They pointed out that I had the opportunity to see first-hand the situation in East Timor and that I needed to acknowledge the moral case of the Timorese for independence.

My response was that if the cause for independence was frustrated, it was not my blood nor any other Australian blood that would be spilt, but rather that of the Timorese. I saw myself as having no option but to follow the wise counsel of respected Timorese leaders.

I remain of the view that East Timor would not have become independent but for the Indonesian financial crisis, the enigma of President Habibie and the Indonesian misinterpretation of John Howard's referendum suggestion. There is no failsafe prediction of the political future. Prudent advocacy demands that we be attentive to the voice of those whose future it is, those who will suffer the consequences.

It'd be churlish to question Keating's reflections unless there was risk of the mistake being repeated. I do think more autonomy, reduced military presence and greater human rights protections are achievable for Papuans; and that, despite Carr's comments, principles can be espoused respectfully in any healthy bilateral relationship.

Dismissing suggestions that Australia might play a role in urging greater autonomy for the Papuans, Carr said: 'Indonesians have been very sensitive to human rights implications of law and order activity in the Papua provinces. I ask those idealistic Australians who might entertain some other arrangement, what would be the cost in terms of our friendship with Indonesia and of our budget of a different arrangement. It's inconceivable.'

While I do think Papuan independence is inconceivable, greater autonomy is not, and it ought not be. President Yudhoyono said early this year that he was willing to have dialogue with Papuans to solve the longest unresolved conflict in our region. Australia should put its weight behind any dialogue initiative. Now is the time for such a stand because Yudhoyono will leave office in two years. His successor might not be open to the same path.

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Fr Frank Brennan SJ is professor of law, director of strategic research projects (social justice and ethics), Australian Catholic University, adjunct professor at the College of Law and the National Centre for Indigenous Studies, Australian National University. This article is taken from Fr Brennan's speech last night at the launch of Joel Hodge's Resisting Violence and Victimisation.
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Flag raised also on Petersham Town Hall

AWPA (Sydney) would also like to thank all at Marrickville  Council for their support in allowing the Morning Star Flag to fly on their Petersham  Town Hall on 

Friday 30 November in celebration of  West Papuan National day or National flag day. 

West Papuan Flag raising at Leichhardt Town Hall 30 Nov 2012

AWPA (Sydney) would like to thank all at Leichhardt Council for their support in allowing the Morning Star Flag to fly on Leichhardt Town Hall on Friday 30 November in celebration of West Papuan National day or National flag day.

In particular we would like to thank the Mayor of Leichhardt  Darcy Byrne and  Councillor Craig Channells for personally assisting with the flag raising

as well as our supporters .

Leichhardt Town Hall-30 November 2012

1) Australia's evolving position on West Papua

2) Papua Police Killing Still a Mystery

3) Security personnel, armed group involved in shootout in Papua

4) About 50 assailants kill three Indonesia police in West Papua

5) West Papuan flag raising in Sydney Friday 30 Nov/Sat 1st Dec

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/world-commentary/australias-evolving-position-on-west-papua/story-e6frg6ux-1226526868765

Australia's evolving position on West Papua

• BY:TOM CLARKE 
• From:The Australian 
• November 30, 2012 12:00AM

VARIOUS solidarity gatherings will be held around the world this weekend to mark the 51st anniversary of the first raising of West Papuan "morning star" flag - an act that continues to attract a 15 year prison sentence in Indonesia.

While Australian protests and awareness raising concerts are likely to attract only modest numbers, there are signs that both the Australian public and politicians are becoming increasingly concerned with the human rights situation in the province.

Indeed, while growing public sympathy for Papuan cries for "merdeka", the Bahasa word meaning freedom or independence depending on the translation, is unlikely to translate into any official support for Papuan sovereignty any time soon, there are signs that Australian political leaders are prepared to take a more principled stance on human rights in the province than previously.

To Bob Carr's credit, he is possibly Australia's first foreign minister to directly acknowledge the escalating problems in Papua and call on Indonesia to respect human rights.

Disappointingly though, Carr continues to frame his answers to questions about Papua in terms of the budgetary impacts of "upsetting" Indonesia. Taking a principled stance in defence of basic human rights should not be influenced by budget and trade concerns. He has also unhelpfully attempted to characterise anyone with concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in Papua as being "pro-independence". (For the record the Human Rights Law Centre does not have a position on the topic of independence; our focus is purely on the promotion and protection of human rights.)

Carr's circumspect approach is contrasted by the forthright, and most welcome, comments made by Attorney General, Nicola Roxon, while in Indonesia recently for a series of meetings on issues of law and justice. Roxon told the ABC that Australia's recognition of Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua would not stop the Government from registering concern about the situation there. She went on to say Australia is firmly committed to making sure that any abuses or alleged abuses by security forces in Papua are properly investigated and punished.

At the other end of the spectrum within Government ranks is Defence Minister Stephen Smith who, when announcing a new defence co-operation agreement with Indonesia, said he has "no concerns" about the human rights situation in Papua.

Smith's "head in the sand" approach is particularly alarming given it came only weeks after the ABC's 7.30 program aired evidence that an Indonesian counter-terrorism unit, which receives extensive training and support from the Australian Federal Police, has been involved in torture and extra-judicial killings in West Papua.

Meanwhile, a 'parliamentary friends of West Papua' group recently established by the Greens, has attracted cross party support. The group's most recent meeting was attended by Labor, Liberal, DLP and independent MPs. This is a positive sign that at least some members of each party recognise that Australia can maintain good diplomatic relations with Indonesia while taking a principled stand and defending human rights at the same time.

During a recent visit to Australia, Indonesia's Vice Minister of Law and Human Rights, Denny Indrayana, told students at Melbourne Law School that freedom of political participation, together with a free and independent media, were two fundamental pillars of democracy.

He is right of course. However, the reality is that Jakarta's commendable democratic reforms of the last decade have not made it to West Papua. Despite the fact that Indonesia ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 2006, human rights are severely curtailed in Papua. Protests are routinely and forcibly shut down. Political activists and bashed, jailed or killed. Papuans do not enjoy many of the basic freedoms that other Indonesians have gained.

Australian politicians can and should be more proactive in encouraging their Indonesian counterparts to ensure human rights are enjoyed throughout the entire Republic.

There is no reason why Carr could not challenge Indonesia's effective media ban and insist that Australian journalists be allowed to travel to and report from West Papua.

Further, a complete review of Australia's relationship with Indonesia's military and security forces is urgently required to ensure we are in no way aiding or abetting human rights abuses, directly or indirectly, through our support of Indonesia's elite counter-terrorism unit, Detachment 88.

And finally, Carr should utilise Australia's unique position in the region, along with our new position on the UN Security Council, to play a leadership role in bringing the world's attention to the problems in West Papua.

For too long Australia supported the pro-military and anti-reform remnants of the Suharto regime. Now we have an opportunity to better align ourselves with the mainstream Indonesian human rights movement that recognises that the problems in West Papua do not have a military solution.

Tom Clarke is a spokesperson for the Human Rights Law Centre. (www.hrlc.org.au) He is on twitter: @TomHRLC

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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/papua-police-killing-still-a-mystery/558755

2) Papua Police Killing Still a Mystery

Jayapura/Biak/Kupang. The bodies of three officers killed during an attack on a police post in Papua’s Lanny Jaya district on Tuesday were sent to their hometowns on Wednesday as police continue searching for answers in the case. 

The body of First Brig. Jefri Rumkorem was buried by his family in Jayapura, the provincial capital, while that of First Brig. Daniel Makuker was flown from Jayapura Airport to his hometown in Biak Island in Papua’s Biak Numfor district. 

The body of Second Insp. Rolfi Takubessy, the head of the Pirime police post that was attacked and burned down by unknown perpetrators, was flown to Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara. 

Large numbers of mourners turned out in all three locations. In Jayapura, hundreds of people attended Jefri’s burial, while in Biak, police said they wanted to bury Daniel with full police honors in the local heroes’s cemetery, but were still in talks with the family about their plans. 

In Kupang, members of Rolfi’s family said they first saw the news about his death on the Internet, and only after repeated calls to the Papua Police did they receive confirmation about the incident. 

Albinus Takubessy, the victim’s younger brother, said Rolfi last spoke to the family on Sunday. He said he been transferred to the Pirime post four weeks earlier, and had left his wife and four children behind in Jayawijaya, the Lanny Jaya capital. 

The three men were killed during an attack by around 50 people on their remote police post on Tuesday morning. 

Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian, the provincial police chief, said on Tuesday that the attackers hacked the officers to death before setting the police post on fire. 

A fourth officer, First Brig. M. Gosali, managed to flee to the neighboring Tiom police post and returned with nine other officers. In the ensuing fight, two of the attackers were killed, while the rest fled into the nearby forest with four handguns stolen from the Pirime police post. 

Police have still not been able to identify the attackers or their motive, but say they suspect the Free Papua Organization (OPM), a separatist group. However, Goliat Tabuni, the commander of the local OPM branch, has denied his group’s involvement in the attack. 

The incident comes just days before the OPM marks the 49th anniversary of its founding this Saturday.SP/Robert Isidorus, Banjir Ambarita & SP/Yoseph Kelen | November 29, 2012

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/29/security-personnel-armed-group-involved-shootout-papua.html

3) Security personnel, armed group involved in shootout in Papua

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Archipelago | Thu, November 29 2012, 8:34 PM

A- A A+

Police and military personnel engaged in a gunfight on Wednesday with an unidentified armed group in Indawa village, Lany Jaya, Papua, while en route to Pirime to investigate a recent attack against a police post.

No casualties were reported following the incident.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said on Thursday that the shootout lasted two hours and ended when the armed group fled to nearby mountains.

Boy said the incident began when a group of 90 security officers, led by Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian, came across 50 or so people who were allegedly carrying firearms.

When the officers attempted to approach them, they started firing their guns at the officers, he added.

Boy said that when the armed engagement ended, the security forces continued their journey to Tiom district. “The police decided not to chase after the attackers because it was already dark and they were not familiar with the environment,” he said as quoted by kompas.com.

Dozens of armed people reportedly attacked and burned down the Pirime police station, which resulted in the deaths of three officers -- including Pirime police chief Second Insp. Rofli Takubesi -- and left two officers seriously injured. (cor/swd)

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From 

The Southeast Asian Times online

4) About 50 assailants kill three Indonesia police in West Papua
From News Reports:
Jayapura, November 30: An estimated 50 assailants - armed with both modern weapons and traditional bows and arrows — killed three Indonesia police officers during an attack on the Pirime police station in the highland Lanny Jaya regency early Tuesday.

“The four officers were overwhelmed,” the Associated Press quotes Indonesia Papua police spokesman Gede Sumerta Jaya as saying.
The dead officers were listed as overseer of the Pirime police district, Second Inspector Rofli Takubesi; Brigadier Jefri Rumkoren and First Brigadier Daniel Makuker.

A fourth unidentified officer was reported to have fled and was missing.
More than two dozen members of the elite police mobile brigade were now searching for the attackers who took two rifles and a pistol before torching the station and fleeing into the jungle, said the police spokesman.
Indonesia Papua Regional Police Command Inspector General Tito Karnavian was leading the investigation of the violence.

The attack was a prelude to the 51st anniversary of the former Dutch colony’s declaration of independence on December 1, 1961 before it was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 as the result of a disputed United Nations-sponsored ballot. 
Newly-appointed Inspector General Tito Karnavian replaced 23 of 29 regency police chiefs in West Papua earlier this month.

The reshuffle followed the replacement of Brigadier General Lumban Tobing with Chief Inspector General Tito Karnavian as West Papua Police chief on Friday, September 21. 
Inspector General Tito Karnavian described that the new appointments support of the fight against rampant corruption in West Papua.

“There are many regency police chiefs who have held their current positions for a long time, while at the same time there are many young and clever officers who have to be given a chance,” he said.
“Our focus is on the rotation of office, but in every briefing they will be continuously reminded to help the fight against corruption.
“There is a lot of money being allocated for Papua and West Papua, but the fact is that most Papuan people, especially those inland and in remote areas, still live in poverty. There must be something wrong, so the police branches have to focus on uncovering allegations of fund misuse,” he said.
The Australia Federal Police provides money for Detachment 88 although the national government insists the money is not used for against “separatist” or pro-independence forces. 
The Southeast Asian Times------------------------------------------

Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)

Media release-29 November 2012 

5) West Papuan flag raising in Sydney- Friday 30 November

AWPA thanks both Leichhardt and Marrickville councils for their support in raising the West Papuan flag on their town halls again this year for West Papuan national flag day.

Joe Collins of AWPA said the support of local councils is very important  in helping  raise awareness of the human rights situation in West Papua in local communities.

It is also of concern that the police chief of the district of Mimika has called on the people to 'remain calm' as1 December approaches and  that they “should avoid getting involved in activities that tend towards subversion such as flying the Morning Star flag”.

Joe Collins said “it is of great concern that simply raising a flag can be classed as subversion. The outlawing of the raising of a flag is in direct contravention of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) “

Article 19.2 states:

2.Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

As the 1st is a Saturday and councils are closed the councils will raise the flag on Friday the 30 November 

Leichhardt will raise it 8am on Friday the 30 Nov. 

Leichhardt Municipal Council, 7-15 Wetherill Street Leichhardt  

Marrickville will at its Petersham Town Hall at 11.30am on Friday 30 November

Petersham Town Hall. 107 Crystal Street  Petersham NSW 2049

Background

West Papuan National Flag Day.  1st December

The 1st of December is West Papuan National Day or National flag day .  Fifty one years ago on the 1st of December 1961, in the then Dutch colony of West New Guinea, The West Papuan flag, called the Morning Star was flown for the first time officially beside the Dutch Tricolor.  At that ceremony, as the Morning Star flag was raised, Dutch and Papuan military and police saluted and accompanied by a marine band playing the national anthem, “My Land Papua”. The Dutch were finally about to give the West Papuan people their freedom. However it is one of the great tragedies that at their moment of freedom it was cruelly crushed and West Papua was basically handed over to Indonesia in 1963. After 6 years administration of the province, Indonesia held a sham referendum called the “Act of Free Choice” under UN supervision.  Only 1025 handpicked voters, one representative for approximately every 700 West Papuans were allowed vote, and under coercion, voted to "remain with Indonesia. The Papuans call this the  “act of no choice

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On Saturday 

1st December Indonesian Consulate

From Anthony Craig

Assistant State Secretary DLP NSW

I have organised a protest outside the Indonesian consulate for Saturday Dec 1 from 0830 – 1000 am. This protest will be a bipartisan and would welcome other groups and political parties to attend. 

This will be a peaceful non violent protest.

 

Saturday December 1, 2012, is the fiftieth anniversary of West Papua's independence. On this day in 1961 West Papuans were granted their freedom by the Dutch – they raised a new national flag and sang a new national anthem.”

0830 meet outside Indonesian consulate Maroubra