1) Refugees and
rebels set to dominate Rudd’s PNG visit
2)
MSG aims ‘to restructure the Pacific landscape’
Summit supports Kanak and West Papuan self-determination
3)
KALOSIL’S AGENDA New Vanuatu PM’s top priorities
4) PNG Extradition Treaty
forces political activists to flee
5) Moderate quake hits
Papua
6) View Point: After Geneva: ‘Makar’, tolerance
and reporting rape
7) Warinussy proposal
regarding solving the West Papuan problem
8) Actvists want proper attention to
be given to the medical needs of political prissoners
9) A Human Rights Tragedy 15 years
ago is still Ignored by the Indonesian State
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1) Refugees and rebels set to dominate Rudd’s PNG visit
As Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd lands in Port Moresby to meet with his Papua New Guinean counterpart Peter O'Neill, several conundrums are set to tax his mind and diplomatic skills.
Front and centre of the talks will be containing Australia’s escalating refugee crisis due to the currency this issue has with the Australian electorate. There’ll be other issues on the table as well, such as PNG’s health system and how Australia can help there.
But one problem testing Rudd’s mettle, however, has little sway with the Australian public, but is of huge significance to Indonesia: the resurgent support across the Pacific for thebeleaguered inhabitants of West Papua. Given Indonesia’s importance to Australia this means that the West Papua issue concerns us as well.
Papua New Guinea has always been a fascinating country and rather hard to comprehend for itinerant diplomats. Having simultaneously a booming economy (thanks to the mining and petroleum industries) and many aspects of a failed state, PNG defies simplistic analysis.
While Port Moresby is full of cranes, construction sites and brand new Toyota LandCruisers, the schools and aid posts in the bush – where some 80% of people still live – are falling apart and severely under-resourced in staff and materials. By some measures literacy is even falling. Yet there is a sense of optimism, especially amongst PNG’s elite, that the country has a bright future and is, as they say: “a mountain of gold floating in a sea of oil”.
There are serious problems to be sure. Epidemic rates of HIV-AIDS; rampant corruption; massive deforestation; mining operations that spread environmental devastation; aburgeoning population growing at one of the fastest rates on the world; entrenched violence against women; huge economic inequality and creeping land alienation under the Special Agricultural Leases are just a few.
PNG is also suffering the effects of climate change. Therecent flooding of the Sepik River is the biggest in living memory and has caused the destruction of houses that survived previous floods. But these problems are unlikely to be focused on other than in the AusAID conversation checklist. As a nation with a long history of providing PNG with aid and advice – which is only sometimes taken – Australia will continue to address these issues in a methodical and sometimes successful way.
The contemporary points of concern are more recent in origin: the saga of the Manus Island refugee camps and the sudden re-emergence of West Papua. The “Manus Solution” for Australia’s refugee crisis was dusted off and restarted under the previous Gillard government’s attempts to stem the flow of boat people.
The hope that the Manus policy would create such harsh conditions for asylum seekers that other prospective boat people would be put off making the hazardous journey was dashed almost as soon as the camps re-opened. The sheer number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia overwhelmed the system and filled the Manus Island camps quickly, but showed no sign of abating under the hoped-for deterrent effect.
Responding to domestic criticism in Australia and widespread discontent with the Manus Island refugee facilities in PNG,women and children have now been removed from the camps and sent to better conditions in Australian facilities. The government would now like Manus to become the regional processing centre for refugees, still retaining its disincentive role but working in conjunction with the PNG government.
Serious money will be spent upgrading and running Manus in an effort to mitigate domestic and international criticism and enable Australia to conform to its obligations under the various international agreements and protocols the government has signed.
This gives considerable bargaining power to the PNG government. Australia needs its co-operation to progress with these plans and will have to finesse the deal with concessions and enhanced aid. Perhaps Australia will even make it easier for PNG nationals to gain entry visas to this country: a common complaint amongst our Pacific neighbours.
The other issue where PNG holds considerable bargaining power is West Papua. Long a dormant, even dismissed, issue, the conflict on the western half of the island of New Guinea is entrenched, but has suddenly come to the fore of regional politics. For instance, the recent Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) meeting in Noumea was dominated by the spectre of West Papua.
Expatriate West Papuan independence groups have formally asked for membership of the MSG. For once, their requests are being taken seriously. This is due to a variety of factors such as the increasing knowledge of the murderous conflict from the internet, the better organisation of the West Papuan groups themselves, a more receptive audience amongst the new generation of Pacific leaders and an escalation of the conflict in West Papua itself, where violent demonstrations and unsolved killings are now commonplace.
It is widely accepted how sensitive the West Papua issue is for Indonesia, which vigorously maintains its claim of sovereignty over the region. Indonesia is deeply troubled by the growing internationalisation of the conflict and is actively engaged in countering support for the West Papuan cause in the Pacific countries – especially Vanuatu, but also in PNG and Australia.
When Rudd met with Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week it was Rudd who raised the issue of West Papua. Rudd pledged support for economic development in the region, presumably to improve the lot of the West Papuans in the hope that they might moderate their calls for independence.
Membership of the MSG by a West Papuan group would hugely boost their campaign and be a massive blow to Indonesian, and by extension, Australian diplomacy. MSG membership would give the West Papuans access to take their case to the United Nations and to garner support in African and Caribbean countries. Currently, the membership issue is pending: it has been put aside to allow – at Indonesia’s invitation –, government officials from the MSG countries (PNG, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Fiji) to visit West Papua to see the situation for themselves.
West Papua’s pending membership of the MSG therefore gives the Pacific countries – especially PNG as the biggest and most powerful member – great bargaining power in their dealings with both Australia and Indonesia. Therefore, this issue, and talks over the Manus Island facilities will feature heavily in Rudd’s brief visit to PNG. They are the areas in which PNG diplomats can exert pressure over the whole gamut of interactions the two countries share.
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http://www.islandsbusiness.com/2013/7/politics/msg-aims-to-restructure-the-pacific-landscape/
2) MSG aims ‘to restructure the Pacific landscape’
Summit supports Kanak and West Papuan self-determination
By Nic Maclellan
As the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) celebrates its 25th anniversary, last month’s MSG Summit in New Caledonia showcased renewed purpose and a range of initiatives by the largest islands nations. The outgoing MSG chair, Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, told the summit: “I believe that MSG solidarity has never been stronger. We are taking bold steps to restructure the landscape of the Pacific to better suit the needs and aspirations of our people. We are opening up possibilities and creating opportunities that other regional organisations have not .” The five MSG members include Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, together with the Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS), the coalition of parties calling for independence in New Caledonia.
The issue of self-determination in New Caledonia and West Papua was highlighted on the 19th summit agenda (with Bougainville likely to raise its profile in the coming years). MSG leaders also addressed initiatives in regional co-ordination, environment policy and trade between Melanesian nations. Vanuatu Prime Minister Moana Carcasses Kalosil proclaimed: “I am proud that the MSG Trade Agreement is the only active trading agreement in our region,” in sharp contrast to the drawn-out PACER-Plus and EPA trade negotiations.
With Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu trading duty-free under the MSG Trade Agreement since January 2013, the summit discussed increased inter-island labour mobility and the concept of an MSG Stock Exchange to facilitate the movement of capital across MSG borders. Leaders received the report of an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) led by Fijian statesman Kaliopate Tavola, looking at the successes and challenges of the past, and mapping priorities for the MSG’s future. The increased profile and partnerships of the sub-regional organisation were highlighted by Fiji’s Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, who stated that the MSG is poised to take “a quantum leap” into the future. Behind the public expressions of solidarity, however, there were also tensions that will cause ongoing challenges for Peter Forau, Director-General of the MSG Secretariat in Port Vila. A notable absence from the summit was PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato, who were leading a large delegation of ministers, officials and businesspeople to Indonesia. Their presence in Jakarta as the MSG debated West Papua shows the priority given to relations with PNG’s powerful neighbour. Even though PNG Deputy Prime Minister Leo Dion and Ambassador to Fiji Peter Efeare carried Port Moresby’s views into the summit, O’Neill’s absence was noticeable on several occasions, including the closing ceremony where Papua New Guinea was not represented.
Fiji too has stronger ties to Jakarta, after it exchanged ambassadors with Indonesia and welcomed the Asian power as an observer as Suva hosted the previous MSG summit in 2011. To the disquiet of some delegates, Fiji arrived with a roadmap to drive the West Papua debate, following a meeting held in Nadi in early June between Prime Minister Bainimarama and Djoko Suyanto, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Legal, Political and Security Affairs and a former commander of Indonesia’s armed forces. Bainimarama received a warm welcome at the opening ceremony, winning applause for his role as MSG chair over the last two years. However, some participants expressed concerns over Fiji’s flawed transition to parliamentary elections. In a public lecture, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare stated that the political situation in Fiji continues to test MSG solidarity “with a real risk of a chasm developing between MSG members if we are not careful.”
Solidarity with the Kanaks
As one of the signatories to the original MSG Agreement, Somare attended the summit as a guest of honour. He was joined by Vanuatu’s Ham Lini, representing the family of the late Walter Hayde Lini (the summit communique announced a Jubilee Scholarship Scheme in the name of the MSG’s founding member, who led Vanuatu to independence in 1980). Former President of French Polynesia Oscar Manutahi Temaru was also received with plaudits after he lost the battle but won the war—losing the recent election to long-time rival Gaston Flosse but finally achieving his goal of re-inscribing Maohi Nui on the United Nations’ list of non-self-governing territories. Temaru’s call for self-determination in the French Pacific echoed across the week—the central feature of the summit was the proud re-affirmation of MSG support for the FLNKS and the Kanak independence struggle. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Matignon-Oudinot Accords, which ended the armed conflict that raged across New Caledonia between 1984 and 1988. The MSG too celebrates 25 years since it was founded in March 1988, jafter years of co-operation between Melanesian leaders in support of Kanak independence. Today, representatives of the Kanak movement sit alongside opponents of independence in the multi-party government of New Caledonia. But the FLNKS continues to look for solidarity from neighbouring Melanesian countries as a key element of their campaign for decolonisation. In order to link with local Kanak communities, the MSG summit was spread across all three provinces in New Caledonia, with senior officials meeting in the northern town of Pweedi Wimia (Poindimie), foreign ministers gathering on Lifou in the Loyalty Islands, while the final summit opened in the southern capital Noumea. In Lifou, Caroline Machoro-Reignier of the FLNKS took over as chair of the MSG Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM). She is the first woman to hold the post and noted: “This appointment is a sign Melanesian women are ready to take their place as leaders.” Under its Parity Law, New Caledonia’s electoral system is designed to ensure that half the elected members of the provincial assemblies and Congress are women—a far cry from other Melanesian nations where women are barely represented in national parliaments.
FLNKS spokesperson Victor Tutugoro will serve as MSG chair over the next two years, taking the role at a crucial time. After elections in May 2014 for New Caledonia’s three provincial assemblies and Congress, the incoming parliamentarians must decide whether to proceed to a referendum on self-determination before 2018. The MSG summit opening was broadcast live on local TV and radio, but detailed newspaper coverage was sparse and local politics intruded. Calédonie Ensemble leader Philippe Gomes, who serves as New Caledonia’s representative in the French National assembly, unsuccessfully lobbied the French Foreign Minister to refuse a visa to Fijian PM Bainimarama. The Speaker of New Caledonia’s Congress Gerard Poadja, a member of Gomes’ anti-independence party, also boycotted the signing of an agreement between the Congress and the MSG Secretariat in Port Vila (The agreement includes 25 million French Pacific francs for the secretariat, and was initiated and signed by the Deputy Speaker of the Congress Roch Wamytan, who previously served as MSG chair in 2001).
FLNKS spokesperson Victor Tutugoro will serve as MSG chair over the next two years, taking the role at a crucial time. After elections in May 2014 for New Caledonia’s three provincial assemblies and Congress, the incoming parliamentarians must decide whether to proceed to a referendum on self-determination before 2018. The MSG summit opening was broadcast live on local TV and radio, but detailed newspaper coverage was sparse and local politics intruded. Calédonie Ensemble leader Philippe Gomes, who serves as New Caledonia’s representative in the French National assembly, unsuccessfully lobbied the French Foreign Minister to refuse a visa to Fijian PM Bainimarama. The Speaker of New Caledonia’s Congress Gerard Poadja, a member of Gomes’ anti-independence party, also boycotted the signing of an agreement between the Congress and the MSG Secretariat in Port Vila (The agreement includes 25 million French Pacific francs for the secretariat, and was initiated and signed by the Deputy Speaker of the Congress Roch Wamytan, who previously served as MSG chair in 2001).
Some anti-independence leaders called for the FLNKS to be replaced by the Government of New Caledonia as the official MSG representative. But New Caledonia’s President Harold Martin told ISLANDS BUSINESS he was happy to work under the current arrangement. “Since the 2007 Forum in Tonga, I’ve been saying that the government of New Caledonia would like to represent our nation as a full member of both the Forum and the MSG,” he said. “But we’re in the Pacific and it takes some time. Unlike my predecessor, I am quite reserved on this matter and we await the decision of the FLNKS about when the government could take a greater role in the MSG.”
Debate over West Papua
The other high profile issue was West Papua, with the FLNKS formally inviting the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL) to attend the summit. A five-person delegation led by WPNCL Vice President John Otto Ondawame and Secretary-General Rex Rumakiek arrived to lobby support of their bid for MSG membership, after a formal application was lodged with the MSG Secretariat last March. Other activists from the “Federal Republic of West Papua”, led by Jacob Rumbiak, also arrived in the New Caledonian capital, while Indonesia sent a large delegation to press its case, including former independence activists Franz Albert Joku and Nick Messet. With PNG and Fiji officials and ministers highlighting the “sensitive” and “complex” nature of their relationship with Indonesia, the FLNKS and Vanuatu expressed stronger public support for the West Papuan cause. “If this issue came up today within the MSG, it’s because the FLNKS requested it,” Machoro-Reignier said. “We asked the representatives of West Papua to come to New Caledonia to explain the situation to us. “We cannot just leave the issue aside, with all the exactions, the violations of human rights that West Papua is suffering.”
Earlier this year, the new government in Vanuatu led by Moana Carcasses Kalosil overturned close ties with Jakarta established by former Prime Minister Sato Kilman. In his address to the summit, Carcasses stated that West Papua’s cries for freedom “have been bluntly denied by many rich and wealthy countries including the United Nations for many decades...so I say that we as brothers must stand up for them. The epicentre of support for the advocacy for West Papuan self-determination must begin in this region, Melanesia.” After extensive debate and lobbying in the corridors, MSG leaders agreed to defer a decision on the West Papua membership application until after an official visit to Jakarta and Jayapura later this year. Fiji will lead the MSG ministerial mission, which must report back to the leaders within six months. In Lifou, Vanuatu Foreign Minister Edward Natapei told ISLANDS BUSINESS that his government accepted the consensus decision on the mission.
“Our reaction follows the majority in the meeting. It seems we are outnumbered, so we have to comply with the majority. I’m happy with that decision,” he said. “What we want is some timelines to ensure this issue is going to be dealt with within this year.”
WPNCL’s Ondawame expressed disappointment that the membership application was delayed, arguing that the Indonesian government and military would work to stage-manage the MSG mission. However, he said he valued the opportunity to address the summit plenary and highlighted positive commitments by the MSG leaders.
In unprecedented language, the final communique supported “the inalienable rights of the people of West Papua towards self-determination” and criticised “human rights violations and other forms of atrocities relating to the West Papuan people.”
Indonesia’s case was not helped by a breach of protocol during the leaders retreat at Escapade Island Resort. Members of the Indonesian delegation travelled by boat to the island where MSG leaders were meeting. A member of the delegation confirmed to ISLANDS BUSINESS that the incident had taken place, but described it as an “unfortunate step” after the delegation “possibly tried to communicate with the leaders—but I think they chose the wrong time.”
Beyond the high-profile debates, the summit covered a range of issues including reports from the March 2012 MSG Environment and Climate Change Conference and the May 2012 MSG Trade Ministers Meeting. Leaders agreed to draft legal text for a third phase of the MSG Trade Agreement, to extend negotiations beyond trade in goods into services and investment. The leaders signed agreements affecting justice and legal relations between MSG member countries, including a Memorandum on Police Co-operation, a Treaty on Custody and Child Maintenance and a Treaty on the Enforcement of Foreign Judicial Rulings. They also endorsed the concept of an MSG Department of Peace-Keeping Operations (DPKO).
Drawing on his expertise as a former foreign minister and ambassador, Tavola was named as an MSG High Level Representative for the next two years. Tavola told ISLANDS BUSINESS he was awaiting a formal terms of reference, but said: “It’s obviously a kind of roving ambassadorial role. The High Representative will work on instructions and mandate from the leaders, especially to promote what the MSG is all about, increase the partnerships that MSG can have with other development partners and donors and address the possibility of the MSG accessing some of the European Development Fund (EDF) allocations.”
MSG leaders old and new came away from the summit with renewed purpose, with Somare calling on member states to employ their size and strength to the service of the region: “An MSG without the Pacific is the weaker, just as a Pacific without the MSG is the poorer.”
THE MELANESIAN DREAM
By: Makereta Komai, PACNEWS
Looking ahead to the next 25 years, the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) wants to stamp its mark as a solid political sub-regional entity that effectively responds with confidence and authority on issues impacting its members and the Pacific at large.
To do so, the sub-regional bloc will promote itself as an ‘enhanced sub-regional’ group, casting its net wider to include the international community in its list of friends and partners. This bold vision is captured in a 47-page report of the Eminent Person’s Group led by Fiji’s Kaliopate Tavola. As Tavola puts it, “The rebranding builds on the current status of the group, with an enhanced role that reaches out within the Pacific region and globally.”
“We have explained in the report mechanisms by which the MSG can reach out. That way the MSG can provide leadership and create initiatives for other Pacific Islands Countries so that we can share some of these benefits with other Pacific Islands Countries. “Given the growing prominence of the MSG as a sub-regional group, the plan is to also look beyond regional borders.
“We are looking at improving our bilateral relations. We want to take advantage of the fact that we are now a legal entity under the UN. We want to take full advantage of that to secure more developmental assistance. “At the sub-regional level, the MSG will seek partnership with existing sub-regional groupings in the Pacific. “The MSG can have partnership with the Polynesian Leaders Group (PLG), which has just been established. The Micronesians have also established their grouping and over many years now we’ve had the Smaller Islands States in existence.
“We have to be more strategic in the way we choose the subjects for our co-operation. We have proposed two important issues of fisheries and climate change for instance,” said Ambassador Tavola. After two months of exhaustive consultation with member countries in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and FLNKS in New Caledonia, the group last month presented to MSG Leaders in Noumea a new direction for the MSG, where the organisation sees itself as a sub-set of Pacific regionalism, without any aspiration to become a regional organisation in competition with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. Instead, it wants to ‘consolidate its opportunities, readjust and learn from lessons drawn from both the mistakes and strengths of other groups.’ These opportunities lie in ‘reaching out to the rest of the Pacific and beyond, as an extension of its Melanesian inclusiveness’.
The MSG will establish an outreach programme to the rest of the Pacific as an honest expression of its serious demonstration of its international citizenship responsibilities, said the EPG report. Part of this re-branded strategy includes working closely with the emerging Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF). PIDF, from August this year will replace the Engaging with the Pacific, a Fiji Government initiative to bring all Pacific Islands Countries together to discuss common issues of mutual interest. The EPG admits the establishment of PIDF is reconfiguring Pacific regionalism. “Taking a long-term and strategic view of Pacific Islands Countries (PICs) and Pacific Small Islands Developing States (PSIDS) and their interests in the global context whose landscape is changing constantly, PIDF offers the best strategic advantages.
“PIDF presents the golden opportunity for the PSIDS to speak with the same voice and unity of purpose on global issues that are confronting humanity today. “Regionally, the MSG will strengthen co-operation with regional organisations. “The MSG will seek areas of synergies and collaboration, avoiding duplication.” The EPG recommends that the MSG Secretariat concludes co-operation agreements with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), similar to the agreement made with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).
Melanesian Dream
From their consultations, the EPG found the Melanesian renaissance of the last 25 years has been a learning process that has engendered a collective sense of camaraderie and tour de force that has given birth to a new dream. “This is the dream of being united under the banner of a new vision with clear outcomes to which we can claim ownership, of readiness to take a quantum leap into the future, of restoration that we want to clean and improve our image and change how others regard us, of enterprise that ‘we can do it’ and that we do not have to wait around for someone else to tell us what to do and how to do it.
To realise this dream, the MSG must be serious about being a regional and global player of note. “The group should make all its decisions binding so that decisions are followed up, implemented with relevant policies and resource allocation, monitored and evaluated. The MSG constitution must be amended to reflect this appropriately and national law reform carried out to ensure proper legislation and national structures are in place for the delivery of government services. The Melanesian Dream is founded on a sense of maturity and premise that the current generation of MSG Leaders has the singularity of purpose to leave a legacy.
In the parting words of one of the founding fathers of Melanesia, the Grand Chief, Sir Michael Somare, “MSG has come a long way from its humble beginnings in Goroka. We certainly have not reached the ‘promised land’ that our people deserve and expect us to deliver.” The Kanaky people’s dream of emancipation has not been realised yet, said Somare. As the MSG moves forward, he appealed to the more well-endowed members of the MSG to be prepared to make sacrifices and ‘forego certain benefits for the common good and long term solidarity of MSG.’ “The willingness to extend a helping hand must continue to guide MSG’s approach to regional co-operation, said Somare. At the end of the 19th Summit of MSG Leaders in Noumea, there was a general feeling of optimism that the Melanesian sub-regional group is on course to take that quantum leap of faith into the future.
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3) KALOSIL’S AGENDA New Vanuatu PM’s top priorities
By Samisoni Pareti
West Papua’s struggle for independence has found a supporter in Vanuatu’s newest Prime Minister Moana Carcasses Kalosil.
The Tahitian-born politician but naturalised Vanuatu citizen not only pushed to get the Indonesian province to be admitted as a member of the powerful Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), he also directed his deputy and foreign minister Edward Natapei to review the aid assistance agreement his predecessor entered into with Indonesia. If he has his way, Kalosil would not be buying time by calling for a review of that agreement; he would have canned it on his first day in office.
In an interview with ISLANDS BUSINESS on a recent visit to Fiji, the Vanuatu leader admitted he runs a coalition government and would need to be mindful of the views of the other groups that make up his cabinet. “Indonesia is a big, powerful country that can help our economy,” said Kalosil. “I’m saying as Prime Minister, I want this issue of West Papua to be heard. “I want them to be part of MSG, to be members, and I am going to try to make sure they do become members because it is important for us.”
Kalosil didn’t get his way at last month’s Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) meeting in New Caledonia however.
Leaders of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, the FLNKS of New Caledonia and Fiji opted to defer any decision on West Papua’s membership until a MSG delegation of Foreign Ministers visited Jakarta and West Papua at the invitation of the Indonesian Government. Support for the West Papuans who are seeking independence from Indonesia is part of Kalosil’s 100-day plan in office.
“Declaration of support for full membership of MSG for West Papua” was number 32 on the list of 68 things he wanted his Council of Ministers to implement before his 100 days in office is up. Excluding weekends, those days will be up by September. Kalosil spoke strongly of his support for West Papua when he flew into Fiji in May to attend a special session of the Group of 77 plus China. “Vanuatu stands firmly behind the struggle of West Papua and we all know that the founder of Vanuatu, the late Father Walter Lini, stood up very strongly on this matter with other leaders. I am just continuing that struggle.
“For the last 20 years, I have been an advocate and very strongly behind the struggle of West Papua. “I have been travelling the world a lot, I paid my own ticket to promote and speak out on the issue of West Papua. “I have nothing against Indonesia, no, no. I have a lot of Indonesian friends, and I like them very much. “But I believe someone has to speak up about human right issues over there. This is something we cannot turn a blind eye to. I mean they are part of our brotherhood.” Kalosil sounds optimistic but he knows the stakes are high. His country has already entered into a bilateral aid assistance agreement with Indonesia, which is already enjoying observer status within the MSG.
PNG, the leading MSG member, has always been reluctant to back the West Papua cause because of its policy of keeping peace with its neighbour, Indonesia. Fiji is likely to take its cue from Waigani. Very mindful that he took office last March on the back of the support of a loose coalition of other political groupings in addition to his own Green Party, Kalosil seems to have a strategy on how to keep his coalition and government intact.
“I am writing a letter to all political parties so that we could sit and discuss frankly the future, to shape the political future of Vanuatu and strengthen stability. “Some say we should take the model of PNG to introduce an integrity bill. “The problem is that our constitution does not permit that. We have in our constitution the freedom of movement and choice, and that is paramount.
“You can’t stop anyone moving from here to there. It’s the same for a member of parliament. If he is elected from this political party and decides to move to the other group, we can’t do anything about it.” So does he feel his government is going to last, or will it suffer the same fate as those before him? “Many times a prime minister will form a government promising a few things. But when he doesn’t deliver, this is the time backbenchers will move. I don’t make promises. I have a reputation for yes means a yes, and no is a no.” The Vanuatu leader touched on a wide range of matters in the interview with ISLANDS BUSINESS and they include:
• MSG Trade
“The trade agreement is good but we need Vanuatu to benefit more from it and I’m working on it. Unfortunately, we don’t have much to export. “We have organic beef...this is something we are negotiating with the Fiji Government and how we can get our private sector to promote our beef industry in Fiji. So this is something we can share. And vice versa. I have had a meeting with Fijian businessmen to promote doing business in Vanuatu. “We want to see how we can help each other in trade.”
• Kava
“The funny thing is people in Fiji are taking our kava and exporting it as ‘Made in Fiji’ label. I think seriously we need to be more open in our discussions, to have systems in place. Otherwise Vanuatu does not benefit from this trade agreement. But we will find solutions. There are always solutions. There’s the saying that there are many ways to skin a cat, so we have to find ways in which Vanuatu can benefit too.”
• Economic Participation of ni-Vanuatu
“What we are promoting now is partnership with ni-Vanuatu. I can say for 23 years, ni-Vanuatu were mere spectators in the economy of Vanuatu. Now we want them to be actors, to be part of the economy. That is a part of my government’s 100-day plan. We want to impose in some sectors the 51% ownership rule by ni-Vanuatu.”
• Tourism Investments
“Forty percent of our GDP comes from tourism. We need to open up far-flung provinces like Torba to tourism, so we have decided to upgrade the airport over there to take ATR 72 planes.”
• G77
“I must say the north has given us their way of life where success is based on money. Now the question is, ‘do we in the south want to follow that way of life?’ “We can see today that the world is suffering because of that model; do we need $1 billion in our bank accounts, is that the way of life we want? “Do we need 20 trucks? Do we need 10 houses?”
• Climate Change
“We can’t change climate. When I was on the island of Torba, that’s a province in the remote north of our country, a chief told me, ‘You see Prime Minister, my house was over there 20 years ago.’ Pointing to the sea, some 800 metres. ‘Please do something about it.’ I couldn’t answer him. I didn’t have any answer. And that’s the challenge we in the Pacific are facing at the moment.”
• West Papua
“We should really speak out and do something about it. It’s like you watch TV and you watch people suffering and being killed, and you sit there, eating and just say ‘oh la la.’ “That’s not good if you don’t do anything about it. It’s become so common to see on TV that people are suffering that we don’t care. Well, Vanuatu does care.
• Government Stability
“The challenge for any prime minister is to keep stability and support. Many prime ministers have tried through dialogue to put a system in place that revises/changes the voting system in parliament. So may be our voting system is not a true representative of the voters. May be this is something we should look into.”
• Holding Council of Ministers’ Meeting in the Provinces
“What happened at that first (cabinet) meeting was that we interacted with the people. We had the chance to listen to women leaders, youth leaders, chief leaders and church leaders to discuss issues directly with members of my cabinet, interact with us and tell us what they want from their government. Not only that, we brought donors to become part of the interactive discussions, and the private sector as well. I told the Chamber of Commerce that I wanted them to be there. ‘We want to work with you because you are the ones who are going to tell us what sort of policies that will grow the economy.”
• Diplomatic Appointments
“I want an audit of each of our missions. There was also a law that was amended called the Passport Act. It was amended in 2011. It allowed non-citizens to hold diplomatic passports of Vanuatu. We will amend that in July so that non-citizens cannot hold a diplomatic passport. One has to be a citizen of Vanuatu in order to qualify. This will stop the sale of Vanuatu diplomatic passports. We have 187 diplomatic passports that were, well I would not say sold, but were given away and I have charged the Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs to look into the matter and come back with some propositions about how we can develop further missions abroad in a way that respect international law and our own laws in Vanuatu.”
• Illegal sale of public land
“First ,we are doing a stock-take of public sales that were done since 2010. I was in government then and I remembered that the Council of Ministers had directed that no public land should be sold to anyone without the prior consent of the Council of Ministers. But in spite of that directive, the Minister for Land then continued to sell public land. We believe these sales were illegal and we have charged our new minister of land to inform these people that they can voluntary return these lands, we will reimburse their money, or they will face the consequence by taking them to court. And we will not only institute civil proceedings but criminal charges as well.”
-----------------------------------------------
4) PNG Extradition Treaty forces political activists to flee
Liam Cochrane reported this story on Sunday, July 14, 2013 07:13:00
SIMON SANTOW: Last week, the ABC's stand-in PNG (Papua New Guinea) correspondent Liam Cochrane made a trip to the far north-west of Papua New Guinea to meet a rebel commander of the Free Papua Movement.
Indonesia keeps foreign media out of the disputed provinces of Papua and West Papua, so the best way to get first hand information is either to sneak in illegally or to try and meet activists as they take refuge across the border.
Liam took the legal option, and here is his report.
LIAM COCHRANE: The four-wheel-drive had been bouncing along a logging road for about an hour when my contact, the go-between to the West Papua rebel commander, turned to me in the back seat and said: "Leon" - which is close enough - "Leon, I need to ask you one question."
I thought, 'Ah, this is the point where he sounds me out about my politics and what I think of the West Papuan movement.'
I readied myself for a diplomatic, neutral answer.
"Leon", he said, "Where can I buy guns?"
I had to laugh and explain I really wasn't the right person to help him procure weapons. I explained I was an independent journalist and my value to him was in getting the story in international media.
That story had two main elements - meet Danny Kogoya, a commander of the Free Papua Movement's militant wing, and visit a base near the border where I'd been told 200 armed men were taking refuge.
The news angle was an extradition treaty recently signed by Papua New Guinea and Indonesia that PNG's opposition argued could be used to send back activists and fighters like Danny Kogoya.
Two weeks ago I'd never heard of Danny Kogoya, but an article in the local paper told of his arrest last September, during which he was shot in the leg. He was jailed, released and then, he says, threatened with re-arrest. So he fled across the border.
The one thing missing from the story was the fact that Danny Kogoya's shot-up leg had been amputated below the knee - to be exact, the story said he was "nursing a deep cut and a fractured leg", which I guess is technically correct.
Mr Kogoya was extremely happy to see a foreign journalist. He didn't speak English and I didn't speak Indonesian, but he hugged for a long time when we first met.
And later he kept shaking my hand and smiling broadly as we sat in the back seat.
In the tray of the vehicle were six young men, unarmed but acting as out security as we made our way to the border. At most stops, Danny and I had to stay inside the car behind the tinted windows to avoid attracting attention.
At one roadside market however, I was allowed out and the go-between sliced open a coconut - a welcome drink in the hot sun.
Most of the men bought bunches of betel nut, the mild stimulant that stains teeth dark red and they chewed and spat the red liquid out for the rest of the journey.
(Engine noise)
When we finally got to Camp Victoria, a few kilometres inside Papua New Guinea's border with Indonesia, the place was empty and the grass was knee high.
It was only then explained to me that the 200 fighters said to be under Danny's command had been sent out on long patrols across Indonesia's Papua province. They were said to be fanning out to help with the annual July 1 ceremonies that mark the anniversary of a declaration of independence that has not become a reality on the ground.
On this day, July 1, it's common for activists to raise the Morning Star flag, the symbol of the West Papuan independence movement that is banned in Indonesia. In the past, flag-raising ceremonies have attracted brutal retribution from Indonesian authorities.
But at Camp Victoria there was no flag, no guns, and no fighters.
This was quite a let-down.
For years, people have questioned just how strong the Free Papua Movement's military wing really is and this trip was supposed to be a chance to meet rebel fighters without breaking the law and sneaking across the border.
But I still had Danny Kogoya, the one-legged commander, and so I got busy setting up for an interview.
(Danny Kogoya speaking in foreign language)
DANNY KOGOYA(translated): I want Jacob Prai and those in Swedish…
LIAM COCHRANE: It was hard going.
Many of my questions were probing the level of support for Danny's cause and trying to get a sense of whether there was any change in strategy, considering the lack of tangible results in previous decades.
It was perhaps not the kind of advocacy journalism Danny was used.
Many of Danny's answers were variations of, "I want independence for West Papua", or things like "we need to come together and join hands for the freedom of West Papua".
And I had a growing feeling that my translator, a supporter of the West Papua movement, was embellishing Danny's answers and giving me what he thought I wanted to hear.
Towards the end of the interview, one of his translations went for about four times as long as Danny's response and involved a grisly accusation of cannibalism that didn't seem to have much to do with the question I'd asked.
Light was fading and we wrapped it up, heading to a local village for a communal meal of rice and instant noodles before heading to bed with promises of a military ceremony at 6am sharp.
Throughout the night, the village drunkards had a party in full swing, and music blared until dawn. Nobody told them to be quiet; nobody wanted to be on the wrong side of a drunk man's bush knife.
By morning, the overgrown Camp Victoria had been given a makeover thanks to three commandeered machetes and there was a flag pole in the centre of the clearing flying the Morning Star flag.
Perhaps not surprisingly for this part of the world, the 6am show of arms was a little ambitious. The main problem seemed to be convincing people to display their hidden guns in front of the camera, because carrying weapons in public is illegal in PNG.
After five hours of delays, the ceremony started.
(People talking)
The bush camp filled with more than a hundred people and around 30 men, women and children lined up dressed in a colourful assortment of ceremonial dresses.
There were grass skirts and white face paint on some of the women; some men had headdresses fashioned from bright green leaves and several had long necklaces made of shells and bone.
Six men had homemade rifles.
(Commander issuing parade orders)
Someone suggested the men fire off a round for the benefit of the cameras, but it turned out nobody had any bullets.
I whispered to the go-between, "How are you going to fight the Indonesians without any bullets?"
He just smiled but another man who spoke some English volunteered to get in front to the camera and explain their lack of ammo was exactly why the world should pitch in and send them military equipment.
Time was well and truly up. I was running late for my security check-in with the ABC to confirm all was well.
In fact, none of the security issues that I'd envisaged had been a problem. The only slight moment of concern was when the security guys in the tray of the car started arguing on the trip back. It had something to do with who had chipped in money to buy beer and who was chosen to sit in the back seat, inside the car, once we dropped Danny Kogoya off at his safe house.
(Engine noise)
The trip ended well and the story was on TV and radio a few days later.
SIMON SANTOW: Liam Cochrane reporting there.
Indonesia keeps foreign media out of the disputed provinces of Papua and West Papua, so the best way to get first hand information is either to sneak in illegally or to try and meet activists as they take refuge across the border.
Liam took the legal option, and here is his report.
LIAM COCHRANE: The four-wheel-drive had been bouncing along a logging road for about an hour when my contact, the go-between to the West Papua rebel commander, turned to me in the back seat and said: "Leon" - which is close enough - "Leon, I need to ask you one question."
I thought, 'Ah, this is the point where he sounds me out about my politics and what I think of the West Papuan movement.'
I readied myself for a diplomatic, neutral answer.
"Leon", he said, "Where can I buy guns?"
I had to laugh and explain I really wasn't the right person to help him procure weapons. I explained I was an independent journalist and my value to him was in getting the story in international media.
That story had two main elements - meet Danny Kogoya, a commander of the Free Papua Movement's militant wing, and visit a base near the border where I'd been told 200 armed men were taking refuge.
The news angle was an extradition treaty recently signed by Papua New Guinea and Indonesia that PNG's opposition argued could be used to send back activists and fighters like Danny Kogoya.
Two weeks ago I'd never heard of Danny Kogoya, but an article in the local paper told of his arrest last September, during which he was shot in the leg. He was jailed, released and then, he says, threatened with re-arrest. So he fled across the border.
The one thing missing from the story was the fact that Danny Kogoya's shot-up leg had been amputated below the knee - to be exact, the story said he was "nursing a deep cut and a fractured leg", which I guess is technically correct.
Mr Kogoya was extremely happy to see a foreign journalist. He didn't speak English and I didn't speak Indonesian, but he hugged for a long time when we first met.
And later he kept shaking my hand and smiling broadly as we sat in the back seat.
In the tray of the vehicle were six young men, unarmed but acting as out security as we made our way to the border. At most stops, Danny and I had to stay inside the car behind the tinted windows to avoid attracting attention.
At one roadside market however, I was allowed out and the go-between sliced open a coconut - a welcome drink in the hot sun.
Most of the men bought bunches of betel nut, the mild stimulant that stains teeth dark red and they chewed and spat the red liquid out for the rest of the journey.
(Engine noise)
When we finally got to Camp Victoria, a few kilometres inside Papua New Guinea's border with Indonesia, the place was empty and the grass was knee high.
It was only then explained to me that the 200 fighters said to be under Danny's command had been sent out on long patrols across Indonesia's Papua province. They were said to be fanning out to help with the annual July 1 ceremonies that mark the anniversary of a declaration of independence that has not become a reality on the ground.
On this day, July 1, it's common for activists to raise the Morning Star flag, the symbol of the West Papuan independence movement that is banned in Indonesia. In the past, flag-raising ceremonies have attracted brutal retribution from Indonesian authorities.
But at Camp Victoria there was no flag, no guns, and no fighters.
This was quite a let-down.
For years, people have questioned just how strong the Free Papua Movement's military wing really is and this trip was supposed to be a chance to meet rebel fighters without breaking the law and sneaking across the border.
But I still had Danny Kogoya, the one-legged commander, and so I got busy setting up for an interview.
(Danny Kogoya speaking in foreign language)
DANNY KOGOYA(translated): I want Jacob Prai and those in Swedish…
LIAM COCHRANE: It was hard going.
Many of my questions were probing the level of support for Danny's cause and trying to get a sense of whether there was any change in strategy, considering the lack of tangible results in previous decades.
It was perhaps not the kind of advocacy journalism Danny was used.
Many of Danny's answers were variations of, "I want independence for West Papua", or things like "we need to come together and join hands for the freedom of West Papua".
And I had a growing feeling that my translator, a supporter of the West Papua movement, was embellishing Danny's answers and giving me what he thought I wanted to hear.
Towards the end of the interview, one of his translations went for about four times as long as Danny's response and involved a grisly accusation of cannibalism that didn't seem to have much to do with the question I'd asked.
Light was fading and we wrapped it up, heading to a local village for a communal meal of rice and instant noodles before heading to bed with promises of a military ceremony at 6am sharp.
Throughout the night, the village drunkards had a party in full swing, and music blared until dawn. Nobody told them to be quiet; nobody wanted to be on the wrong side of a drunk man's bush knife.
By morning, the overgrown Camp Victoria had been given a makeover thanks to three commandeered machetes and there was a flag pole in the centre of the clearing flying the Morning Star flag.
Perhaps not surprisingly for this part of the world, the 6am show of arms was a little ambitious. The main problem seemed to be convincing people to display their hidden guns in front of the camera, because carrying weapons in public is illegal in PNG.
After five hours of delays, the ceremony started.
(People talking)
The bush camp filled with more than a hundred people and around 30 men, women and children lined up dressed in a colourful assortment of ceremonial dresses.
There were grass skirts and white face paint on some of the women; some men had headdresses fashioned from bright green leaves and several had long necklaces made of shells and bone.
Six men had homemade rifles.
(Commander issuing parade orders)
Someone suggested the men fire off a round for the benefit of the cameras, but it turned out nobody had any bullets.
I whispered to the go-between, "How are you going to fight the Indonesians without any bullets?"
He just smiled but another man who spoke some English volunteered to get in front to the camera and explain their lack of ammo was exactly why the world should pitch in and send them military equipment.
Time was well and truly up. I was running late for my security check-in with the ABC to confirm all was well.
In fact, none of the security issues that I'd envisaged had been a problem. The only slight moment of concern was when the security guys in the tray of the car started arguing on the trip back. It had something to do with who had chipped in money to buy beer and who was chosen to sit in the back seat, inside the car, once we dropped Danny Kogoya off at his safe house.
(Engine noise)
The trip ended well and the story was on TV and radio a few days later.
SIMON SANTOW: Liam Cochrane reporting there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/89843/moderate-quake-hits-papua
5) Moderate quake hits Papua
Sun, July 14 2013 13:20 | 57 Views
Bandarlampung, Lampung Province (ANTARA News) - A moderate quake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale hit Nabire, Papua province, on Sunday at 11.43 West Indonesian Time (WIB).
According to information from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the quake was centered 3.35 degrees southern latitude and 135.90 degrees eastern longitude at a depth of 72 kilometers.
Earlier on July 2, a magnitude 6.2 quake hit Central Aceh and Bener Meriah districts in Aceh province. About 33 people were killed, 33 missing, and 92 others injured seriously and 352 lightly because of the quake.
The quake also left 5,516 houses damaged heavily, 2,750 moderately and 5,593 lightly. It also damaged 77 government office buildings, consisting of 48 heavily, 20 moderately and nine lightly, 136 mosques, consisting of 36 heavily, 25 moderately and 75 lightly, and a general hospital and tens of public health service posts.
(Reporting by Budisantoso Budiman/translating and editing by Amie Fenia Arimbi)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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6) View Point: After Geneva: ‘Makar’, tolerance and reporting rape
This week the UN scrutinized Indonesia for the first time regarding its reports on civil and political rights, eight years after we ratified the international covenant on the issue. Well before the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, our constitutional amendments progressed dramatically with clear state guarantees on non-derogable rights including the freedom of expression, of association and assembly.
In Geneva in Switzerland, the UN Human Rights Committee heard both the government’s report and that of NGOs. Both reports lauded Indonesia’s progress since the end of the New Order in 1998, mainly regarding legal reform, although the NGO report was naturally more critical.
At the end of July, the committee will list its recommendations, and we can expect lots of work to do. Especially as the committee seemed unsatisfied with the answers of the government delegation on all our unresolved rights violations, from the murder of activist Munir to the harassment of the gay community.
For now let us look at how we deal with specific human-rights issues. Three cases come to mind — the Bloody Biak (Biak Berdarah) tragedy of July 6, 1998, when at least eight Papuans were shot dead following the hoisting of the Morning Star flag, a symbol of resistance, in the coastal town of Biak Numfor. Over a 100 were reportedly detained and dozens remain missing from this incident, the 15th anniversary of which was recently commemorated.
Second, Wednesday’s statement by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, that Indonesia is a tolerant country.
And third, the alleged rape of a journalist, whose claims the police suspect are untrue.
Biak Berdarah is one of many such unsolved crimes — so many that not even survivors’ testimonies of being tortured, raped and subjected to appalling sexual abuse, have been enough to lead to further investigations or accountability. A “Citizens’ Tribunal” at the University of Sydney on July 6 may have been the last resort for survivors seeking to gain some recognition.
Yet participants in the mock tribunal (biak-tribunal.org) expect the usual backlash — that the event will be dismissed as just another effort by a few Papuans seeking global attention for their cause for independence, with the help of nosy Australians. It was the Papuans’ own fault for violating the law on subversion or makar, many Indonesians may say.
A similar mindset explains the indifference to the many other violent incidents in Papua, whether there is a flag ceremony or not. Rights to freedom of expression, of opinion and freedom of association and assembly sound alien here when it comes to condemning makar. Of course the racial difference of Papuans to most Indonesians worsens the stigma.
Subversion — for which the penalty is death — is sacriledge to the national sense of harmony; that we are all one happy nation after the sacrifices in gaining independence. Papuan claims that the UN-supervised 1969 referendum was rigged, are considered mere propaganda by activists.
That civil and political rights include the right to express the wish for freedom and separation from the state, is unthinkable to many steeped in one black-and-white version of history. So our security forces have a virtually free hand in Papua, as they did in former East Timor and Aceh.
Other Indonesians assume they are hunting suspected traitors to the united Republic. Few questions are asked, similar to the 1960s witch-hunt of communists.
The second recent landmark in our human rights’ record is the statement by Suryadharma that we are a “tolerant” nation. He said that between 1977 and 2004 Indonesia saw an increase in mosques of 64 percent, while Christian churches increased by 131 percent, Catholic churches 152 percent, Hindu temples 475 percent and Buddhist temples 368 percent. Thus, he asked, why is everyone ranting about a few Ahmadis and Shiites driven out of their homes? It was the Muslim majority whose beliefs were being disturbed by their deviating principles, he said.
Yet the discrimination and violence against minorities — with perpetrators only getting a slap on the wrist — contradicts the minister’s description of Indonesia as “a country that respects its pluralistic society”.
Everyone is free to worship yet Jakarta allows local bans on minority faiths, based on the 1965 Blasphemy Law.
Of course the problem is not really legal misunderstandings, but the battle by conservative Islam seeking legal and formal recognition at the national and local level. Anyone needing their votes displays empathy to their aspiration to make their version of Islam the dominant religious code.
The third case further highlights the work we still have to do — the coverage of the reporter who allegedly lied to police that she was raped last month, in order to cover up an affair. The media has largely swallowed the police line of the woman cheating on her “tearful” husband.
She only sustained light bruises, the police said, possibly from a beating and forceful groping by her lover. Such alarming coverage shows the media has not progressed much in its understanding of the right to safety and freedom from violence.
The coverage is overpowered by the public morality code — that a woman can only be a victim if she is a “good” woman, and it serves her right if she isn’t. This powerful morality code discourages women from reporting violence inflicted by boyfriends and husbands. Not to mention female victims in hotbeds of “treason”.
The deeply ingrained beliefs of makar, “deviant beliefs” and a morality code defined by a male-dominant, conservative culture, are not unchangeable — if we can overhaul the attitude that it is acceptable to dismiss or tread on fellow citizens, torture or kill them, when they “defy” the dominant codes of nationalism, religion and morality.
The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.
In Geneva in Switzerland, the UN Human Rights Committee heard both the government’s report and that of NGOs. Both reports lauded Indonesia’s progress since the end of the New Order in 1998, mainly regarding legal reform, although the NGO report was naturally more critical.
At the end of July, the committee will list its recommendations, and we can expect lots of work to do. Especially as the committee seemed unsatisfied with the answers of the government delegation on all our unresolved rights violations, from the murder of activist Munir to the harassment of the gay community.
For now let us look at how we deal with specific human-rights issues. Three cases come to mind — the Bloody Biak (Biak Berdarah) tragedy of July 6, 1998, when at least eight Papuans were shot dead following the hoisting of the Morning Star flag, a symbol of resistance, in the coastal town of Biak Numfor. Over a 100 were reportedly detained and dozens remain missing from this incident, the 15th anniversary of which was recently commemorated.
Second, Wednesday’s statement by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, that Indonesia is a tolerant country.
And third, the alleged rape of a journalist, whose claims the police suspect are untrue.
Biak Berdarah is one of many such unsolved crimes — so many that not even survivors’ testimonies of being tortured, raped and subjected to appalling sexual abuse, have been enough to lead to further investigations or accountability. A “Citizens’ Tribunal” at the University of Sydney on July 6 may have been the last resort for survivors seeking to gain some recognition.
Yet participants in the mock tribunal (biak-tribunal.org) expect the usual backlash — that the event will be dismissed as just another effort by a few Papuans seeking global attention for their cause for independence, with the help of nosy Australians. It was the Papuans’ own fault for violating the law on subversion or makar, many Indonesians may say.
A similar mindset explains the indifference to the many other violent incidents in Papua, whether there is a flag ceremony or not. Rights to freedom of expression, of opinion and freedom of association and assembly sound alien here when it comes to condemning makar. Of course the racial difference of Papuans to most Indonesians worsens the stigma.
Subversion — for which the penalty is death — is sacriledge to the national sense of harmony; that we are all one happy nation after the sacrifices in gaining independence. Papuan claims that the UN-supervised 1969 referendum was rigged, are considered mere propaganda by activists.
That civil and political rights include the right to express the wish for freedom and separation from the state, is unthinkable to many steeped in one black-and-white version of history. So our security forces have a virtually free hand in Papua, as they did in former East Timor and Aceh.
Other Indonesians assume they are hunting suspected traitors to the united Republic. Few questions are asked, similar to the 1960s witch-hunt of communists.
The second recent landmark in our human rights’ record is the statement by Suryadharma that we are a “tolerant” nation. He said that between 1977 and 2004 Indonesia saw an increase in mosques of 64 percent, while Christian churches increased by 131 percent, Catholic churches 152 percent, Hindu temples 475 percent and Buddhist temples 368 percent. Thus, he asked, why is everyone ranting about a few Ahmadis and Shiites driven out of their homes? It was the Muslim majority whose beliefs were being disturbed by their deviating principles, he said.
Yet the discrimination and violence against minorities — with perpetrators only getting a slap on the wrist — contradicts the minister’s description of Indonesia as “a country that respects its pluralistic society”.
Everyone is free to worship yet Jakarta allows local bans on minority faiths, based on the 1965 Blasphemy Law.
Of course the problem is not really legal misunderstandings, but the battle by conservative Islam seeking legal and formal recognition at the national and local level. Anyone needing their votes displays empathy to their aspiration to make their version of Islam the dominant religious code.
The third case further highlights the work we still have to do — the coverage of the reporter who allegedly lied to police that she was raped last month, in order to cover up an affair. The media has largely swallowed the police line of the woman cheating on her “tearful” husband.
She only sustained light bruises, the police said, possibly from a beating and forceful groping by her lover. Such alarming coverage shows the media has not progressed much in its understanding of the right to safety and freedom from violence.
The coverage is overpowered by the public morality code — that a woman can only be a victim if she is a “good” woman, and it serves her right if she isn’t. This powerful morality code discourages women from reporting violence inflicted by boyfriends and husbands. Not to mention female victims in hotbeds of “treason”.
The deeply ingrained beliefs of makar, “deviant beliefs” and a morality code defined by a male-dominant, conservative culture, are not unchangeable — if we can overhaul the attitude that it is acceptable to dismiss or tread on fellow citizens, torture or kill them, when they “defy” the dominant codes of nationalism, religion and morality.
The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.
--------------------------------------------------------------
7) Warinussy proposal regarding solving the West Papuan problem
Statement by Yan Christian Warinussy, Executive-Director of LP3BH
I would like to propose an alternative solution to the problem of Papua.
Besides the need for dialogue, which is being vigorously promoted by the Papuan people for a solution to their problem with the help of the Papuan Peace Network, the LP3BH -Manokwari wishes to offer a different approach, which would be via legal means.
In addition to this being a peaceful solution, it would also be within the constitutional framework, that is to say, based on the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.
The legal procedure would mean looking at every single law that is discriminatory towards the indigenous Papuan people, as well as every regulation which is discriminatory in the sense of eliminating or marginalising the Papuan people from their basic human rights or which violates the basic rights that should be available to the Papuan people for their protection and for obtaining work for their livelihood.
In addition, the Papuan people should be able to challenge any legal instrument or law that violates their rights as citizens of the Republic of Indonesia, for their legal protection both in Indonesia and universally.
One thing that we think is very logical is for the Papuan people to think about using legal means to challenge the exploitation of their natural resources which are now being exploited by foreign companies such as Freeport in Tembagapura and British Petroleum in Bintuni Bay.
One move that is being considered by the LP3BH together with other civil society organisations is to take action through the Working Forum of NGOs throughout the territory of West Papua to call for a Judicial Review by the Constitutional Court of the article in the Indonesian Constitution relating to treason (makar).
The LP3BH considers that taking action through legal procedures would also mean raising the issue of the right to self-determination and taking action against the countries which were involved in the events between 1961 and 1963 - The Netherlands, the United States and the Republic of Indonesia, the violation of which is taking extremely seriously by the United Nations.
Translated by TAPOL
I would like to propose an alternative solution to the problem of Papua.
Besides the need for dialogue, which is being vigorously promoted by the Papuan people for a solution to their problem with the help of the Papuan Peace Network, the LP3BH -Manokwari wishes to offer a different approach, which would be via legal means.
In addition to this being a peaceful solution, it would also be within the constitutional framework, that is to say, based on the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.
The legal procedure would mean looking at every single law that is discriminatory towards the indigenous Papuan people, as well as every regulation which is discriminatory in the sense of eliminating or marginalising the Papuan people from their basic human rights or which violates the basic rights that should be available to the Papuan people for their protection and for obtaining work for their livelihood.
In addition, the Papuan people should be able to challenge any legal instrument or law that violates their rights as citizens of the Republic of Indonesia, for their legal protection both in Indonesia and universally.
One thing that we think is very logical is for the Papuan people to think about using legal means to challenge the exploitation of their natural resources which are now being exploited by foreign companies such as Freeport in Tembagapura and British Petroleum in Bintuni Bay.
One move that is being considered by the LP3BH together with other civil society organisations is to take action through the Working Forum of NGOs throughout the territory of West Papua to call for a Judicial Review by the Constitutional Court of the article in the Indonesian Constitution relating to treason (makar).
The LP3BH considers that taking action through legal procedures would also mean raising the issue of the right to self-determination and taking action against the countries which were involved in the events between 1961 and 1963 - The Netherlands, the United States and the Republic of Indonesia, the violation of which is taking extremely seriously by the United Nations.
Translated by TAPOL
-------------------------------------------------------------
8) Actvists want proper attention to be given to the medical needs of political prissoners
JUBI, 5 July, 2013
An activist in basic human rights, Baguma had urged the Indonesian Government, specifically the Regional Office for Law and Human Rights, to pay proper attention to the health conditions in the Abepura Prison, with regard to the political prisoners.
'Jefrai Murib was transferred to Abepura Class IIA prison to be treated for a stroke in Dian Harapan Hospital , but the prison took the decision to treat him by electronic procedures only.'
According to Baguma who is an activist working with BUK (United for Truth), Jefrai Murib is not getting the treatment and control in accordance with the procedures that have been recommended by the doctors. Sometimes he is taken to the hospital for treatment only two days in a week, depending on the official who should accompany him or he is not taken for treatment because of the lack of transportation.
''The right side of the prisoner is completely paralysed.'
Baguma said that the neurologist at the Dian Hospital said that Jefrai had had a very severe stroke which means that his treatment will take a very long time indeed.. The doctor recommended that he should be treated at the Dian Harapan Hospital but the prison authorities said that the transfer and treatment would be much too expensive.
Baguma said: 'We hope that the medical professionals will pay proper attention to the health conditions of the political prisoners . The prisoner is great pain and is unable to move his right arm. He said that it is very difficult for him even to go to the toilet.'
Translated by TAPOL
An activist in basic human rights, Baguma had urged the Indonesian Government, specifically the Regional Office for Law and Human Rights, to pay proper attention to the health conditions in the Abepura Prison, with regard to the political prisoners.
'Jefrai Murib was transferred to Abepura Class IIA prison to be treated for a stroke in Dian Harapan Hospital , but the prison took the decision to treat him by electronic procedures only.'
According to Baguma who is an activist working with BUK (United for Truth), Jefrai Murib is not getting the treatment and control in accordance with the procedures that have been recommended by the doctors. Sometimes he is taken to the hospital for treatment only two days in a week, depending on the official who should accompany him or he is not taken for treatment because of the lack of transportation.
''The right side of the prisoner is completely paralysed.'
Baguma said that the neurologist at the Dian Hospital said that Jefrai had had a very severe stroke which means that his treatment will take a very long time indeed.. The doctor recommended that he should be treated at the Dian Harapan Hospital but the prison authorities said that the transfer and treatment would be much too expensive.
Baguma said: 'We hope that the medical professionals will pay proper attention to the health conditions of the political prisoners . The prisoner is great pain and is unable to move his right arm. He said that it is very difficult for him even to go to the toilet.'
Translated by TAPOL
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9) A Human Rights Tragedy 15 years ago is still Ignored by the Indonesian State
JUBI, 6 July, 2013
KontraS Papua, Bersatu untuk Kebenaran (BUK) and Elsham have issued a joint statement saying that the Indonesian State has shown no interest in the Tragic Bloody Incident which occurred in Biak fifteen years ago, on 6 July 1998.
The Bloody Biak Incident was a humanitarian tragedy in which the local people were the victims simply for peacefully unfurling the Morning Star Flag at the top of a 35 metre water tower near the Biak Harbour,' said Nehemia Yarinap, the secretary of BUK.at a press conference in the KontraS office in Jayapura.
He said that the peaceful action in which between 500 and 1,000 people took part ended in arbitrary arrests, maltreatment, torture and other dreadful things. The attack resulted in about 250 casualties, of whom eight were killed, three disappeared and many heavily wounded people were taken to Makassar for treatment, while 33 people were taken into custody, some 150 people were maltreated and 32 bodies were later found.
Every year since 1998 there have been significant developments in Indonesia with regard to human rights and human rights bodies have been set up such as under Law 39/1999 on Human Rights and Law 28/2000 on Human Rights Courts as well as Law 9/1998 on Freedom of Expression.' Nehemia Yarinap said.
Olga Hamadi of KontraS also said that the government had ratified a number of international covenants such as the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the Covenant Against Torture, and had agreed to the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission.
'However, the Biak Tragedy and other grave human rights violations have not been part of these developments because the state has done has done nothing to acknowledge the victims of that tragedy,' said Olga Hamadi, the Director of Komnas Ham - Papua.
Olga Hamadi said that the fact that the Indonesian State has failed to acknowledge the many victims of that bloody incident is clear proof of that.
Translated by TAPOL
KontraS Papua, Bersatu untuk Kebenaran (BUK) and Elsham have issued a joint statement saying that the Indonesian State has shown no interest in the Tragic Bloody Incident which occurred in Biak fifteen years ago, on 6 July 1998.
The Bloody Biak Incident was a humanitarian tragedy in which the local people were the victims simply for peacefully unfurling the Morning Star Flag at the top of a 35 metre water tower near the Biak Harbour,' said Nehemia Yarinap, the secretary of BUK.at a press conference in the KontraS office in Jayapura.
He said that the peaceful action in which between 500 and 1,000 people took part ended in arbitrary arrests, maltreatment, torture and other dreadful things. The attack resulted in about 250 casualties, of whom eight were killed, three disappeared and many heavily wounded people were taken to Makassar for treatment, while 33 people were taken into custody, some 150 people were maltreated and 32 bodies were later found.
Every year since 1998 there have been significant developments in Indonesia with regard to human rights and human rights bodies have been set up such as under Law 39/1999 on Human Rights and Law 28/2000 on Human Rights Courts as well as Law 9/1998 on Freedom of Expression.' Nehemia Yarinap said.
Olga Hamadi of KontraS also said that the government had ratified a number of international covenants such as the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the Covenant Against Torture, and had agreed to the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission.
'However, the Biak Tragedy and other grave human rights violations have not been part of these developments because the state has done has done nothing to acknowledge the victims of that tragedy,' said Olga Hamadi, the Director of Komnas Ham - Papua.
Olga Hamadi said that the fact that the Indonesian State has failed to acknowledge the many victims of that bloody incident is clear proof of that.
Translated by TAPOL
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