2) Hundreds of Papua students participate in D4L
3) OPM to hold 4-day festival from 26 - 30 November. Calls on security forces not to intervene
4) Is West Papua being split up to marginalise the Papuan people?
5) Acting governor on the importance of Culture to the Papuan People
6) Toward a more relevant Australia (Part 1 of 2)
6) Toward a more relevant Australia (Part 1 of 2)
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1) Analysis: Whither human rights in Indonesia?
Photo: Alimander/Flickr
Protesting for human rights accountability
| 1965-1998 rights abuses unaddressed | |
| Rights violations in Papua | |
| Ahmadis persecuted |
Data from local NGO Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) estimates more than one million people suffered rights abuses between 1965 and 1998 that took place largely under President Suharto’s military rule, which ended in 1998 with his forced resignation.
“We have an unusual situation in this country. You have all these human rights violations but as things stand, no-one has been found guilty in a human rights court,” said Haris Azhar, co-ordinator of Kontras.
In 2000 the Indonesian parliament created human rights courts to hear and rule on cases concerning gross violations of human rights. Over 12 years, 12 cases have come before the country’s four human rights courts, with no resulting convictions.
Enforced disappearances
In the tumultuous run-up to the country’s first steps towards democracy in 1998, university students challenging the military regime began disappearing.
Mugiyanto, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name, was detained in 1998.
“I was blindfolded and then held, tortured and interrogated for about four days by the military’s special forces. Then they handed me to the police, and they put me in a local prison for three months. I was then released when the leadership changed,” said Mugiyanto, who chairs the Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI).
In May 1998 President Suharto stepped down and was replaced by then Vice-President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie.
Mugiyanto said a total of 23 students disappeared, with nine (including him) later released. Thirteen remain missing, including Ucok Siahaan, who was a 22-year-old university student whose family still awaits news.
“He visited us several times [in 1998] and each time, he told us to stock up on food and supplies because the political situation in Jakarta was out of control,” said his father, 65-year-old Paian Siahaan. “In May he telephoned us and said not to go out of the house. He said if anything bad happened, just go to the mosque.”
His family has not heard from him since.
“We are angry with the government,” said Paian. “They always said they would help us establish what happened, but nothing has been resolved…
Photo: Mark Wilson/IRIN |
| The parents of Ucok Siahaan are still waiting |
State brutality in Papua
In recent years activists have reported human rights abuses in the country’s remote Papuan region, where a separatist conflict has simmered for decades.
The resource-rich region (3,000km east of Jakarta and including the provinces of Papua and West Papua) has the lowest level of human development of Indonesia’s 33 provinces.
Penihas Lokbere from Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province, said he is one of 105 people arrested by the police in 2000 in the university town of Abepura, about 10km from Jayapura.
According to Human Rights Watch, a group of unidentified people attacked a police post in Abepura, killing two policemen and a security guard.
“The police wanted to retaliate,” said Lokbere. “They came to our dormitory while we were sleeping and arrested us. They didn’t ask any questions.”
Along with his fellow students, Lokbere was imprisoned for three days, where he said he was tortured, handcuffed and beaten with a metal crook. Until now, no one has been convicted.
A 2012 joint report of the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ITCJ) and the Jayapura-based Institute of Human Rights Studies and Advocacy (ELSHAM), recorded nearly 750 rights violations against Papuans from 1960-2012, including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and killings.
Paul Mambrasar, a representative of ELSHAM said the actual number of violations may be much higher. “Many of the victims are not ready to speak about what happened. The provinces of Papua are militarized and people are worried if they give information, they will be terrorized by the military or the police.”
The Papua region has had decades-long separatist tension related to the stalled implementation of a special autonomy arrangement (granted in 2001); communities’ lack access to natural resource wealth such as gold, copper and timber; and there have been security crackdowns on political demonstrations.
Josef Roy Benedict, Amnesty International’s Indonesia campaigner based in London, said ongoing human rights violations in the region are in part due to a culture of impunity there.
“Police officers tend to be punished only for disciplinary offences, often in closed-door proceedings, while offences by the military are dealt with through the military court system, which lacks independence and impartiality,” said Benedict.
Persecution of Ahmadis
Data from the Jakarta-based NGO Setara Institute calculated nearly 130 violations of religious freedom nationwide from January to June 2012. Most happened in West Java against minority religious groups such as the Ahmadiyah, an Islamic sect that shares many Sunni beliefs with some 500,000 adherents nationwide.
In February 2011 a 22-year-old Ahmadi, Ahmad Masihuddin, was visiting a village outside Jakarta when an Islamic fundamentalist group, which does not recognize Ahmadis as Muslim, attacked Ahmadiyah followers in the village.
| We just want to know what happened to our son. If he is gone, we want to find his remains and lay them to rest in the family graveyard |
It was only when Masihuddin called out to his assailants that he was a Muslim that the attack stopped. "They thought I was one of them, a Sunni," he said. Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam in Indonesia.
Three of Masihuddin's friends were killed in the attack. Perpetrators were sentencedto 3-6 months in prison, which Masihuddin said was not commensurate with the crime.
Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, director-general for human rights at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, acknowledged the sentences were too lenient and suggested that law enforcers need to do more to protect minorities.
“On the ground there are now fundamentalist groups that blatantly threaten minorities,” she said. “The police have difficulties containing these groups, but they must try to deal with this violence.”
In 2008 the government issued a joint ministerial decree banning Ahmadis from disseminating their beliefs on the basis the reformist movement “deviated” from mainstream Islam in its teachings.
Hard-line groups have used the decree to justify attacks against Ahmadis, but Harkrisnowo said the decree was issued to protect Ahmadis.
“They aren’t allowed to publicly assemble for their own protection because if they do, they may incite violence against them,” she said.
But even without assembling for worship, they are still attacked, said Malik Saifurrahman, an Ahmadi from the island of Lombok some 1,200km east of Jakarta. Since 2002, his family house has been destroyed on four separate occasions - before it was completely burnt down in 2006.
"There were many attacks on houses, and about 300 Ahmadis were forced to move," said Saifurrahman, who added he did not know the identity of the attackers.
"I have now moved to Jakarta for study, but my family lives in a government refuge in Mataram [created] for Ahmadis who have had their homes burned down,” he said. "At first the government provided us with food and water, but now that has stopped."
Harkrisnowo said she did not know whether the authorities will re-house displaced Ahmadis.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom's 2012 report recorded that at least 50 Ahmadiyah places of worship have been vandalized and 36 forcibly closed since 2008, even though the Indonesian constitution guarantees freedom of religious expression.
But guaranteeing this constitutional freedom has been difficult for the state , said Harkrisnowo. “The central government needs to be more firm on this issue.”
Legal wrangling
The National Commission on Human Rights - known locally as Komnas HAM - is an independent, government-appointed commission to monitor violations, advocate on behalf of victims and launch abuse inquiries. The attorney-general’s office then investigates the allegations, except for those that took place before 2000, which are handled by an ad-hoc human rights court set up by presidential decree.
Kontras’s Azhar said Komnas HAM has recommended seven cases for government investigation through ad-hoc courts - all were rejected.
Harkrisnowo said lack of prosecutions for human rights abuses thus far is not due to lack of political will, but rather too-scant evidence.
“In each case, officials have looked at whether there is sufficient evidence, or whether there have been any errors made in terms of legal procedure, and each time have decided that no one can be found guilty,” she told IRIN.
Efforts to create other legal mechanisms to prosecute human rights abuses have stalled.
Next steps
The country’s Constitutional Court declared a 2006 law on Truth and Reconciliation unconstitutional because of a provision that made victim reparations conditional on amnesties being issued to perpetrators. The government is attempting to pass a new law.
Indonesia is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and has ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
But it has yet to sign or ratify the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the International Criminal Court in 2002.
Harkrisnowo said the government is preparing to ratify both the Rome Statute and the International Convention on Enforced Disappearances.
mw/pt/cb
Theme (s): Governance, Human Rights,
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
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http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/85803/hundreds-of-papua-students-participate-in-d4l
2) Hundreds of Papua students participate in D4L
Mon, November 26 2012 15:55 | 140 Views
Jayapura (ANTARA News) - A total of 410 students from 13 schools in Jayapura, Papua, participated in the `Dance for Life` (D4L) program on Saturday to welcome the upcoming World AIDS Day on December 1, 2012.
The caretaker of the Papua chapter of Indonesia Family Planning Association (PKBI) and the manager of Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights program, Robby T, said that the D4L program was organised by the PKBI, in collaboration with the Papua Youth Forum, World Population Forum, the provincial health department and the UNICEF.
Robby noted that the main objective of the D4L program is to control the spread of HIV and AIDS in Papua, and to increase the local community`s awareness of the dangers of these lethal diseases.
Furthermore, he said that during the D4L program, students performed creative dances and took part in a paining competition on HIV and AIDS, to make the local community aware of the deadly diseases.
Meanwhile, Andre Susanto said that the aim of the World Population Forum in Papua is to increase the students' awareness of the dangers of HIV and AIDS.
"Through the D4L program, we want to give students and teenagers as much information as possible about HIV, AIDS and reproductive health, so that they can share this knowledge with their friends," he stated.
(O001/INE/o001)
The caretaker of the Papua chapter of Indonesia Family Planning Association (PKBI) and the manager of Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights program, Robby T, said that the D4L program was organised by the PKBI, in collaboration with the Papua Youth Forum, World Population Forum, the provincial health department and the UNICEF.
Robby noted that the main objective of the D4L program is to control the spread of HIV and AIDS in Papua, and to increase the local community`s awareness of the dangers of these lethal diseases.
Furthermore, he said that during the D4L program, students performed creative dances and took part in a paining competition on HIV and AIDS, to make the local community aware of the deadly diseases.
Meanwhile, Andre Susanto said that the aim of the World Population Forum in Papua is to increase the students' awareness of the dangers of HIV and AIDS.
"Through the D4L program, we want to give students and teenagers as much information as possible about HIV, AIDS and reproductive health, so that they can share this knowledge with their friends," he stated.
(O001/INE/o001)
Editor: Suryanto
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From Tapol
3) OPM to hold 4-day festival from 26 - 30 November. Calls on security forces not to intervene
Bintang Papua, 4 November 2012
Jayapura: The OPM, Organisasi Papua Merdeka, the Papuan Liberation Movement, plans to hold a West Papuan Democracy Festival or Summit Conference of the TPN/OPM from 26 - 30 November in Tingginambut, Puncak Jaya, Papua and has called on the security forces of Indonesia to stop all acts of violence and shootings while the festival is under way.
The commander of the OPM, Goliat Tabuni, whose headquarters is in Tingginambut said that they had called on the security forces to avoid doing anything that would disrupt the event. 'The security forces should not come here to Tingginambut and should do nothing to disrupt the event while it is in progress.' He also said that during the event he would be confirmed as the Supreme Commander of the OPM. 'Besides discussing the struggle of the OPM, I will be confirmed as the supreme commander of the OPM.'
He said that in order to ensure that the event proceeds peacefully, they have sent letters to the chief of police in Puncak Jaya and the deputy police chief of Papua requesting permission for the event.The letters were sent in order to notify the authorities about the event and in order to ensure that it proceeds without disruption. He also said that all OPM groups from Sorong to Merauke have been invited as well as sympathisers.
The chief of police has confirmed by phone that he has received notification of the intention to hold the event which was sent by a courier from Goliat Tabuni. He confirmed that the police had been asked not to disrupt the event from beginning to end
Asked about his response to the event, the chief of police refused to comment. 'We have been asked not to interfere' was all that he would say.
[Translated by Tapol]
Jayapura: The OPM, Organisasi Papua Merdeka, the Papuan Liberation Movement, plans to hold a West Papuan Democracy Festival or Summit Conference of the TPN/OPM from 26 - 30 November in Tingginambut, Puncak Jaya, Papua and has called on the security forces of Indonesia to stop all acts of violence and shootings while the festival is under way.
The commander of the OPM, Goliat Tabuni, whose headquarters is in Tingginambut said that they had called on the security forces to avoid doing anything that would disrupt the event. 'The security forces should not come here to Tingginambut and should do nothing to disrupt the event while it is in progress.' He also said that during the event he would be confirmed as the Supreme Commander of the OPM. 'Besides discussing the struggle of the OPM, I will be confirmed as the supreme commander of the OPM.'
He said that in order to ensure that the event proceeds peacefully, they have sent letters to the chief of police in Puncak Jaya and the deputy police chief of Papua requesting permission for the event.The letters were sent in order to notify the authorities about the event and in order to ensure that it proceeds without disruption. He also said that all OPM groups from Sorong to Merauke have been invited as well as sympathisers.
The chief of police has confirmed by phone that he has received notification of the intention to hold the event which was sent by a courier from Goliat Tabuni. He confirmed that the police had been asked not to disrupt the event from beginning to end
Asked about his response to the event, the chief of police refused to comment. 'We have been asked not to interfere' was all that he would say.
[Translated by Tapol]
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4) Is West Papua being split up to marginalise the Papuan people?
24 November 2012
Jayapura: The many proposals for West Papua to be split up into separate autonomous provinces is provoking a variety of responses. Some say that it is a good move provided there is careful selection, while others fear that splitting up the territory will lead to the marginalisation of the indigenous Papuan people, and turn them into mere spectators in their own country.
Member of the provincial legislative assembly Melkias Yeke Gombo said that splitting u the territory must first and foremost be beneficial to the indigenous Papuan people.'It must lead to improving the welfare of the Papuan people and not result in their becoming mere spectators,' he said.
Any decision to split up the territory should occur because it is what the community itself wants and not be taken to serve the interests of a clique of the political elite.
'The chief reason for any decision to split up the territory should be to raise the level of welfare and should be based on the consideration that the human resources in the area in question are better served in terms of developing the area in question. The fact is, he said, that the territories that have been split up have simply turned the Papuans into mere spectators, he said, making it impossible for them to do anything at all in advancement of their own interests.
He also said that splitting up the territory should not result in the creation of little kings who rule the new regions and who forget about serving the interests of the indigenous Papuan people.
'This will only create difficulties for the Papuan people. What should happen, he said, in that it should provide maximum good for the people as the area being served is diminished in size.
The Minister of the Interior, Gamawan Fauzi described the moves to split up the territoy as 'progress' although he accepts that there is room for improvement. 'This is based on the evaluation of the results of splitting the territory up so far, over a period of three years. He said that there has been some progress although there is room for improvement. According to the minister, there needs to be improvements in the basic infrastructure to comply with the standards reached in other parts of the country.
He admitted that the building of roads and bridges in Papua as being far behind what has been achieved elsewhere in the country.
Prior to this statement, a decision was taken to split up two regencies in the Province of West Papua, namely the Arfak Mountain Regency and the South Manokwari Regency He said that these regions had been turned into new autonomous regions at the same time as the creation of new autonomous regions had been created in North Kalimantan.
[Comment: As is evident, indigenous Papuans see the move to split up their territory as a way of turning them into minority groups, bereft of any political power to determine their own future and indeed to secure their right to self-determination which has been denied to them since the fraudulent 'act of free choice '.]
[Translated by TAPOL]
Jayapura: The many proposals for West Papua to be split up into separate autonomous provinces is provoking a variety of responses. Some say that it is a good move provided there is careful selection, while others fear that splitting up the territory will lead to the marginalisation of the indigenous Papuan people, and turn them into mere spectators in their own country.
Member of the provincial legislative assembly Melkias Yeke Gombo said that splitting u the territory must first and foremost be beneficial to the indigenous Papuan people.'It must lead to improving the welfare of the Papuan people and not result in their becoming mere spectators,' he said.
Any decision to split up the territory should occur because it is what the community itself wants and not be taken to serve the interests of a clique of the political elite.
'The chief reason for any decision to split up the territory should be to raise the level of welfare and should be based on the consideration that the human resources in the area in question are better served in terms of developing the area in question. The fact is, he said, that the territories that have been split up have simply turned the Papuans into mere spectators, he said, making it impossible for them to do anything at all in advancement of their own interests.
He also said that splitting up the territory should not result in the creation of little kings who rule the new regions and who forget about serving the interests of the indigenous Papuan people.
'This will only create difficulties for the Papuan people. What should happen, he said, in that it should provide maximum good for the people as the area being served is diminished in size.
The Minister of the Interior, Gamawan Fauzi described the moves to split up the territoy as 'progress' although he accepts that there is room for improvement. 'This is based on the evaluation of the results of splitting the territory up so far, over a period of three years. He said that there has been some progress although there is room for improvement. According to the minister, there needs to be improvements in the basic infrastructure to comply with the standards reached in other parts of the country.
He admitted that the building of roads and bridges in Papua as being far behind what has been achieved elsewhere in the country.
Prior to this statement, a decision was taken to split up two regencies in the Province of West Papua, namely the Arfak Mountain Regency and the South Manokwari Regency He said that these regions had been turned into new autonomous regions at the same time as the creation of new autonomous regions had been created in North Kalimantan.
[Comment: As is evident, indigenous Papuans see the move to split up their territory as a way of turning them into minority groups, bereft of any political power to determine their own future and indeed to secure their right to self-determination which has been denied to them since the fraudulent 'act of free choice '.]
[Translated by TAPOL]
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5) Acting governor on the importance of Culture to the Papuan People
JUBI, 23 November 2012
The acting governor of the province of Papua, Constan Karma has stressed the importance of culture for the Papuan people because it is only by means of culture that the Papuan people and indeed the Indonesian people can secure their respective aspirations for a better future.
'Culture is strategic because it is the result of the process of continuous dialogue between people and their creator, between people among themselves and between people and their environment Culture secures the identity and self-esteem of a people, it represents the very essence of our existence as a nation,' said Karma, addressing the opening session of a seminar on the establishment of ISBI, the Indonesian Institute of the Arts and Culture in the land of Papua on Friday, 23 November.
He expressed strong support for ISBI, which is in accordance with the stipulations of the special autonomy law, 21/2001. The law states that the indigenous Papua people are one of the ethnic people who make up the Melanesia race, and one of the many ethnic groups of Indonesia, with its great variety of cultures, history, traditional ways of living and languages.
'Papua is not isolated,' he said, 'but is part of an ever changing world and we need to show our commitment to the humanisation of Papuan men and women, for the creation of a new Papua which is just, peaceful and prosperous'.
With regard to the curriculum of ISBI, the acting governor said he hoped that it would teach the theory and practise of culture in Papua, in the same way that these subjects are taught in similar places of study elsewhere in the world. He was very proud that here in the most easterly part of the country, ISBI would make a contribution to the advancement of culture and identity in the country.
The theme of the seminar is ' Promoting Local Uniqueness through the Establishment of ISBI'.
[COMMENT: Let us remember on this occasion the life and death of Arnold Ap, the Papuan cultural worker, anthropologist and musician, founder of the Mambesak Group of Musicians, who devoted himself to promoting the Papuan cultural identity and who was killed for doing so by Indonesian special forces on 26 April 1984.]
The acting governor of the province of Papua, Constan Karma has stressed the importance of culture for the Papuan people because it is only by means of culture that the Papuan people and indeed the Indonesian people can secure their respective aspirations for a better future.
'Culture is strategic because it is the result of the process of continuous dialogue between people and their creator, between people among themselves and between people and their environment Culture secures the identity and self-esteem of a people, it represents the very essence of our existence as a nation,' said Karma, addressing the opening session of a seminar on the establishment of ISBI, the Indonesian Institute of the Arts and Culture in the land of Papua on Friday, 23 November.
He expressed strong support for ISBI, which is in accordance with the stipulations of the special autonomy law, 21/2001. The law states that the indigenous Papua people are one of the ethnic people who make up the Melanesia race, and one of the many ethnic groups of Indonesia, with its great variety of cultures, history, traditional ways of living and languages.
'Papua is not isolated,' he said, 'but is part of an ever changing world and we need to show our commitment to the humanisation of Papuan men and women, for the creation of a new Papua which is just, peaceful and prosperous'.
With regard to the curriculum of ISBI, the acting governor said he hoped that it would teach the theory and practise of culture in Papua, in the same way that these subjects are taught in similar places of study elsewhere in the world. He was very proud that here in the most easterly part of the country, ISBI would make a contribution to the advancement of culture and identity in the country.
The theme of the seminar is ' Promoting Local Uniqueness through the Establishment of ISBI'.
[COMMENT: Let us remember on this occasion the life and death of Arnold Ap, the Papuan cultural worker, anthropologist and musician, founder of the Mambesak Group of Musicians, who devoted himself to promoting the Papuan cultural identity and who was killed for doing so by Indonesian special forces on 26 April 1984.]
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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/26/toward-a-more-relevant-australia-part-1-2.html
6) Toward a more relevant Australia (Part 1 of 2)
When I was the prime minister of Australia, I gave enormous time and attention to the development of bilateral relationships, most notably with Indonesia. 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.
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