1) Local officials call for schools and hospitals to be re-built in Tingginambut

1) Local officials call for schools and hospitals to be re-built in Tingginambut

 2) Papuan activist suffering psychological problems in Abepura Prison

 3) Papuan Peace Network meets Norwegian ambassador

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1) Local officials call for schools and hospitals to be re-built in Tingginambut

Bintang Papua, 13 September 2013

Jayapura: The District of Tingginambut, Puncak Jaya in the central highlands is widely known to be the region where the opposition group led by the civilian, Goliat Tabuni is based. Several recent incidents have occurred in the area which have led to the deaths of members of the security forces as well as civilians in this highland area.  These incidents have completely paralysed  all the development activities in the area which are desperately needed.

The head of the district, Julius Tabuni, in an interview with Bintang Papua on 10 September, said  'The people here believe that far too little attention is being paid to the needs of the district because development projects have come to a complete halt. The people are very afraid about their personal safety and prefer to stay together in their 'honai'. [the name of the huts in which most Papuans live.]

He said that everything in the area is paralysed. There are no schools nor are any hospitals functioning  All the schools have been burnt to the ground which means that none of our children are getting any education, from primary to secondary level. He stressed the need for the government to pay attention to the need for schools at all levels and for the necessary infrastructure. to be attended to.

Security problems have until now made it impossible to re-build the schools we need as well as restore the medical centres, he said.

He said that the people here could do the necessary construction work themselves, provided that their personal safety can be guaranteed . He stressed the need for the police and the army to refrain from disrupting these activities by continuing their operations against the group which is in opposition to the government.The Goliat Tabuni group is known to have its base in one of the kampungs in the region.

Julius Tabuni said that since he had taken over as head of the district, the situation has improved and it was possible to celebrate the anniversary of 17 August this year  [the declaration of Indonesia's independence.] without being disrupted by the opposition group.

The deputy chairman of the regional legislative assembly, Yunus Wonda, also  said that security problems were the key factor preventing the necessary developments from taking place.

The chairman of Commission A of the legislative assembly said  that the security forces should stop their operations against opposition groups , which is obstructing the building work that is needed here. 'It's best to leave them alone,' he said. He also appealed to those groups  which are based in the forests not to do anything that might prevent the people from building the schools and hospitals which are needed in the area.

The chairman of Commission E of the legislative assembly also stressed the need for schools and hospitals to be built because all this work has been obstructed for a very long time..

[Translated by TAPOL]

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 2) Papuan activist suffering psychological problems in Abepura Prison

JUBI, 13 September 2013

According to information from a reliable source and SMSs which were circulating on Thursday last week, a Papuam political prisoner named Boas Gombo who is Abepura Prison, Jayapura, has been suffering from psychological problems because of the maltreatment which he  has frequently experienced.

'Boas was taken into custody after a Morning Star flag  that he was holding was pulled down on the West Papua-PNG border in February this year. He has been suffering from mental problems  as a result of the violence to which he was subjected at the time of his arrest. He has since been subjected to maltreatment by the authorities or by other people and may have been hit in sensitive parts of his body.' the source said.

At present he has been isolated from the other prisoners and moved to a cell where he is on his own, without the company of any other prisoners.

Olga Hamadi, the co-ordinator of KontraS Papua, confirmed this information when it was checked with her.

'I have received the same information but I need to check it with the authorities in Abepura Prison,' she said.

Translated by TAPOL

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 3) Papuan Peace Network meets Norwegian ambassador

[Apologies for delay in posting this article]

JUBI, 11 September 2013

The co-ordinator of the Papua Peace Network, in a meeting with the Norwegian ambassador, said  that what they are working for is the creation of peace in Papua.

Father Neles Tebey told the ambassador, Stig Traavik: 'All we want to do is  to create a situation of  peace, to turn West Papua into a land peace.'

The Network was one of the organisations which the ambassador was very eager to meet so ad to hear about the Network's programme of work and its strategy in the struggle for peace.

The meeting with the ambassador was also attended by several members of the Network, including non-Papuans, customary groups and women, all of whom made positive and useful contributions to the discussion.

One of the women attending the meeting was Miriam Ambolon  who said that she had decided to become part of the Network  because working for peace was extremely important. She said that the Papuan people have experienced  many human rights violations and were subjected to many forms of discrimination which made it very difficult indeed to them to maintain peace in the territory.

'Recently, we all came together  to have a discussion about the need for dialogue. There was a great deal of fear among us that we might be branded as separatissts but despite this,  our strong desire for peace made us more all the more determined to discuss the need for peaceful dialogue.'

Translated by TAPOL