1) Indonesia defends policies in West Papua 2) Papua Police Searching for Gunman in Paniai Shooting 3) TNI, police join forces to deal with unrest

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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/02/201321174145567896.html 1) Indonesia defends policies in West Papua

Senior official says claims of brutality by security forces in province are exaggerated. Last Modified: 01 Feb 2013 18:56

Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a senior advisor to Indonesia's vice-president, has defended her government's policies in West Papua, an autonomous province of Indonesia. She told Al Jazeera that claims Indonesian security forces in the province have engaged in brutality have been "exaggerated". "Since 2005, the Indonesian government has changed the policy towards West Papua from focusing on security to a prosperity approach," Anwar said. "We know the government has worked very hard to promote a better welfare, democracy and more protection for human rights in all parts of Indonesia." She also said that Jakarta does not allow journalists to work in West Papua because of security issues stemming from conflicts among opposition groups there. Anwar was responding to an Al Jazeera investigation into the freedom struggle of breakaway groups in West Papua.

Source: Al Jazeera

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http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/papua-police-searching-for-gunman-in-paniai-shooting/568999

2) Papua Police Searching for Gunman in Paniai Shooting
Farouk Arnaz | February 01, 2013

Police in Indonesia's restive Papua province are searching for a man who shot a motorcycle driver in the neck on Thursday in Tigi Timur, in the district of Paniai. 

"We are still looking into the identity of the perpetrator. The shooter was a passenger of the motorcycle taxi and the name of the victim is Bahar, 28, who was shot in the neck," said Sr. Com. Agus Rianto, the head of the National Police general information department, on Friday. 

Bahar was left injured after the bullet went through his cheek and is currently being treated in a hospital in Paniai. 

Agus said that according to preliminary investigations, a man demanded Bahar take him to Enarotali for Rp 50,000 ($5.15), claiming that he wanted to buy motorcycle parts. 

However, halfway along the trip, the passenger shot the driver from behind using a hand gun. 

The perpetrator then ran into the forest while a passing truck driver took the victim to hospital.

"The motive is yet unclear because the motorcycle of the victim was not even taken," Agus said. 

Paniai is known as one of the strongholds of armed separatist groups in Papua.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/01/30/tni-police-join-forces-deal-with-unrest.html

3) TNI, police join forces to deal with unrest

Ina Parlina and Margareth S. Aritonang, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Wed, January 30 2013, 9:39 AM

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Paper Edition | Page: 1

In what could be seen as a follow-up to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s new security regulation, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police struck a deal on Tuesday to allow for the military to play a greater role in dealing with communal conflicts.

The TNI and the police signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will allow the military to deploy its personnel to areas deemed to have a high risk of conflict without requiring the consent of the police or officials in the affected regions.

“Every time a military commander thinks that he needs to deploy his troops to an area that has a potential for conflict, he will be able to do so,” TNI commander Adm. Agus Suhartono told a press conference at the TNI headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Agus said that the measure would be more effective in preventing conflicts. “This is crucial so that every time the police need our help, we will be able to provide it in time,” he said.

In such cases, the military personnel will be under the command of the TNI but if it is the police who call for military assistance, the police will be in charge of the operation and pay logistical costs. Agus pledged that in any deployment military personnel would uphold human rights and troops violating human rights would face court martial.

National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said that under the MoU security problems could now be quickly resolved as the TNI had a legal framework within which to work. There previously was no legal basis for the military to assist the police.

“We require personnel to handle situations such as demonstrations and [communal] conflicts fast,” he said. “Under the MoU we can now request military assistance.”

On Monday, Yudhoyono issued Presidential Instruction No. 2/2013, a new regulation aimed at better coordinating efforts to handle communal and social disputes.

The instruction will allow the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, home minister, attorney general, chief of police, National Intelligence Agency head, National Counterterrorism Agency head and local leaders to have a line of coordination to effectively handle security problems.

Rights groups have criticized the issuance of the new regulation saying that existing laws could be effectively used to deal with communal conflicts.

On Tuesday, rights activists aimed their criticism at the TNI-police agreement. Coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Haris Azhar said that the MoU could create a chaotic management of security that could lead to more human rights violations.

Haris said that the mechanism for military assistance should be regulated by a law, instead of an MoU.

“Because it is an MoU, it is as if the police and the military want us to think that other institutions should not be involved in its deliberation, including civic groups and the House of Representatives,” he said.

Al Araf of rights watchdog Imparsial was concerned over possible abuse of the MoU. “After the presidential instruction, now the MoU. Don’t make ground rules that only provide a blank check for the military to deal with security problems; it’s dangerous,” he said on Tuesday. (han)

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