1) Peaceful demo Demand Release 76
Prisoners of Papua , Police Arrest 2 Students
2) Protestors call for the release of
Papuan political prisoners in Indonesia
3) REGION: International day of action to free West Papuan prisoners
4) Komnas HAM forced to assess
presidential hopefuls
5)
London: Protest to call for the release of Papuan Political Prisoners
6) Activists call for release of West
Papuan 'political prisoners'
7)
INDONESIA: Police officers in Nabire assault three Papuans over a petty fight
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A google translate of article in Majalah Selangkah. Be-aware google translate can be a bit erratic.
Original bahasa link at
1) Peaceful demo Demand Release 76 Prisoners of Papua , Police Arrest 2 Students
Author : Yermias Degei | Wednesday, April 2, 2014 23:24 Viewed : 145 Comments : 0
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Illustration . Photo : www.antara - sulawesiselatan.com
Jayapura , STEP MAGAZINE - City Police ( Police ) arrest 2 students Jayapura Papua , Alfares Kapisa ( 25 ) and Yali Wenda ( 20 ) in a peaceful demonstration that was held Prisoner Solidarity Student Care ( Political Prisoners ) University of Papua in front of gate of Paradise ( Uncen ) Waena , Jayapura , on Wednesday ( 02.04.14 ) .
The demonstration was held students from various colleges in Jayapura in order to request the release of 76 Papuan Prisoners languishing in a prison in the Papua .
Alfares Kapisa , medical students and colleagues Yali Uncen Wenda were arrested in the forced dissolution by armed police in front of the gate Uncen at around 10:30 local time .
Furthermore , these two students were taken to Papua Jayapura Police Station for interrogation .
" We're at the Police . Their two ( Alfares Kapisa and Yali Wenda : red ) is being interrogated . Alfares got intimidated until the wounds on the left cheek . Disbursement of blood makes her alma mater jacket filled with blood . Similarly Yali Wenda wounds in the head , "said human rights activist Papua , Elias Petege to majalahselangkah.com this afternoon via cell phone .
No Access to Meet
Coordinating Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence ( KontraS ) Papua , Olga Helena Hamadi and Pastor Dora Balubun has been in the Police around 18:30 local time at the request of colleagues and the 2 students . However , their arrival in vain . They do not get access to see 2 students .
To majalahselangkah.com , via short message , Olga says , " Say no visible anywhere . Then , I phone the police chief , but he said they again check so it can not meet . I be surprised , too, when they two are not in the crease , there possibility 2 students can be at . "
" We do not dberi access to meet , so we went home . Fact , we came here at the request of his friends and two parents of these students , " said Olga .
Related arrests and the access restrictions , majalahselangkah.com contact the Head of the Papua Police spokesman , Senior Commissioner Drs Sulistyo Pudjo , but the phone is off . Forced , majalalahselangkah.com send a short message to confirm , but up to this writing there has been no reply .
Until this story was written , Alfares Kapisa and Yali Wenda still detained in the Jayapura Police Station . ( Yermias Degei / MS )
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2) Protestors call for the release of Papuan political prisoners in Indonesia
2 Apr 2014
Around 100 protestors demonstrated today (2 April) outside the Indonesian embassy in London to call for the unconditional and immediate release of all Papuan political prisoners.
Seventy-six of the protestors were handcuffed and had their mouths taped shut to represent the 76 political prisoners currently being held in Indonesian prisons.
The protest was organized by Tapol, Survival International, Amnesty International and the Free West Papua Campaign.
According to data from Papuans Behind Bars, the number of political arrests more than doubled in 2013 compared to the previous year, and reports of torture and ill treatment of political detainees have increased. West Papua’s tribal people continue to be arrested for peaceful activities and are often charged with treason or incitement, which can carry lengthy prison sentences.
A demonstration today in West Papua about political prisoners was dispersed by the police who fired warning shots. Two students have been arrested.
Wiki Meaga was arrested in November 2010 while he was on the way to the funeral of a relative who had become ill after being tortured by the police. Meaga and eight other Papuans were accused of raising the banned Morning Star flag before they left their village in the Papuan highlands. It is believed that they were tortured after their arrest. Six of the men were found guilty of ‘treason’ and sentenced to eight years imprisonment. The fate of the other three men is unknown.
Dominikus Surabut, a Papuan activist, writer and documentary film maker who was arrested in 2011 sent a message to the protestors in London, saying: "I can’t be with you in person today because I am in jail, but my soul and my spirit are with you. United and strong we will overcome."
Nixiwaka Yawanawá, a Yawanawá Indian from the Brazilian Amazon, who joined Survival International to speak out for indigenous rights also participated in the protest. He said: "As an Amazon Indian I can understand the Papuans’ fight for freedom and justice. The Papuan tribes have suffered racism and violence at the hands of the Indonesian government for over 50 years; this inhumane action has to stop immediately."
Indonesia has occupied Papua (the western half of the island of New Guinea) since 1963, and more than 100,000 Papuans are believed to have been killed since then.
Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today: "This is an excellent example of why the current vogue amongst some American ‘popular science’ writers for claiming that the ‘peaceful’ state pacifies ‘violent’ tribes is nonsense. Indonesia’s occupation of West Papua has only been secured through the killing and torture of tens of thousands of tribespeople, who object to their new colonisers. It is one of the world’s longest-standing, and under-reported, gross violations of human rights."
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3) REGION: International day of action to free West Papuan prisoners
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Item: 8538
AUCKLAND (Pacific Media Watch / Radio Australia / Radio NZ International / Free West Papua Campaign): Protesters have taken to the streets and the gates of Indonesian embassies in West Papua, Australia and New Zealand as part of Global Day of action to free West Papuan prisoners.
At least four protests took place today on the global day. Indigenous Papuans and Malukans continue to be arrested for peaceful activities such as raising the Papuan Morning Star flag or attending demonstrations and public events that express dissent.
Radio Australia reported today that there was "growing community awareness about the human rights abuses by the Indonesian military in West Papua", while Radio New Zealand International said a protest had taken place in Wellington.
Radio Australia reported today that there was "growing community awareness about the human rights abuses by the Indonesian military in West Papua", while Radio New Zealand International said a protest had taken place in Wellington.
According to RNZI, Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty, said the New Zealand government must do more to free the prisoners.
"The very least New Zealand could do is call on Indonesia to set these prisoners free, they are not criminals, they are political prisoners who should be set free, and New Zealand should stop funding the training programme for the police in West Papua instead of which, where they should be calling on Indonesia to stop the human rights abuses" Delahunty told RNZI.
West Papua Independence Media reported that a protest had happened in Port Numbay/Jayapura, the capital city of West Papua, while in Melbourne, a demonstration was planned for Tuesday evening, to call for the release of the 77 Papuan and Malukan Political Prisoners held in Indonesian prisons.
Ian Okoka, a Melbourne-based Papuan independence activist, said: “Papuans are losing their right to freely express themselves and many have fled to the jungle for fear of being put in jail.
"Papuans who are seeking independence for Papua through peaceful means are facing threats of arrest and violent intimidation by security forces. Often those arrested, are charged with treason or incitement which can carry lengthy prison sentences."
The West Papuan democratically elected Prime Minister, Edison Waromi, is also in prison. Shortly after the 2011 Third Papuan Congress, Indonesian soldiers stormed the congregation and arrested Waromi along with President Forkorus Yaboisembut.
In March 2012 Waromi, along with four others, known as the “Jayapura 5”, were put on trial for treason and are currently serving a three-year sentence.
Waromi today released a message from prison calling on the United Nations to "prioritise West Papua on its agenda and mediate the political status of West Papua between Indonesia and West Papua" and for Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and TAPOL to conduct investigations into human rights violations in West Papua.
Waromi also called for "real action to end the republic of Indonesia’s colonial occupation of West Papua".
West Papua Independence Media reported that a protest had happened in Port Numbay/Jayapura, the capital city of West Papua, while in Melbourne, a demonstration was planned for Tuesday evening, to call for the release of the 77 Papuan and Malukan Political Prisoners held in Indonesian prisons.
Ian Okoka, a Melbourne-based Papuan independence activist, said: “Papuans are losing their right to freely express themselves and many have fled to the jungle for fear of being put in jail.
"Papuans who are seeking independence for Papua through peaceful means are facing threats of arrest and violent intimidation by security forces. Often those arrested, are charged with treason or incitement which can carry lengthy prison sentences."
The West Papuan democratically elected Prime Minister, Edison Waromi, is also in prison. Shortly after the 2011 Third Papuan Congress, Indonesian soldiers stormed the congregation and arrested Waromi along with President Forkorus Yaboisembut.
In March 2012 Waromi, along with four others, known as the “Jayapura 5”, were put on trial for treason and are currently serving a three-year sentence.
Waromi today released a message from prison calling on the United Nations to "prioritise West Papua on its agenda and mediate the political status of West Papua between Indonesia and West Papua" and for Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and TAPOL to conduct investigations into human rights violations in West Papua.
Waromi also called for "real action to end the republic of Indonesia’s colonial occupation of West Papua".
Maire Leadbeater of West Papua Action Auckland said the number of political arrests in Indonesian-controlled West Papua had more than doubled in 2013 compared with the previous year, and reports of torture and ill-treatment of political detainees had also increased.
Joe Collins of the Australia West Papua Association of Sydney said the Indonesian government must release all West Papuan political prisoners unconditionally as a sign of good faith to the West Papuan people.
"A number of articles in the Indonesian Criminal Code such as article 106 is used to stigmatize West Papuans as separatists when in fact all they are doing is using their democratic right to freedom of expression. We call on the Indonesian government to amend or repeal those articles of the Indonesian Criminal Code that have been used to imprison West Papuans for their legitimate peaceful activities" Collins said.
Joe Collins of the Australia West Papua Association of Sydney said the Indonesian government must release all West Papuan political prisoners unconditionally as a sign of good faith to the West Papuan people.
"A number of articles in the Indonesian Criminal Code such as article 106 is used to stigmatize West Papuans as separatists when in fact all they are doing is using their democratic right to freedom of expression. We call on the Indonesian government to amend or repeal those articles of the Indonesian Criminal Code that have been used to imprison West Papuans for their legitimate peaceful activities" Collins said.
The solidarity groups reported that other demonstrations would be held in London, The Hague, Edinburgh and West Papua.
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4) Komnas HAM forced to assess presidential hopefuls
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) will take an active role in assessing the human rights records of presidential and vice presidential candidates contesting the 2014 election, to encourage the country’s eligible voters to choose pro-human rights leaders in July.
The commission will gather leaders from each of the political parties contesting the upcoming elections at a meeting at its headquarters in Central Jakarta on Thursday to thoroughly discuss the parties’ human rights platforms. Komnas HAM also plans to demand a commitment from each of the parties to address the country’s many unresolved human rights violation cases.
“It can be predicted that all the political parties will normatively say that they uphold human rights. However, we want to carefully examine their respective stances on critical issues, from the protection of minority groups in the country to the resolution of past human rights violations, which have so far been ignored,” Komnas HAM commissioner Roichatul Aswidah said on Monday.
Roichatul, who is also the leader of Komnas HAM’s team on the settlement of past human rights violations, highlighted the urgency of a thorough assessment of parties’ human rights platforms, as well as their presidential hopefuls, particularly as the issue of human rights was often portrayed as a form of “foreign intervention”.
“The 1945 Constitution includes human rights values. Thus, it cannot be denied that human rights are an important issue for the next president, whoever that person may be, to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights values in the country,” she said.
“It is crucially important to make sure that whoever is elected president has a comprehensive and thorough understanding of human rights values and, most importantly, has not been involved in human rights violations,” she emphasized.
Komnas HAM revealed its decision to actively examine presidential hopefuls after several NGOs launched similar initiatives.
Komnas HAM newly elected chairman, Hafid Abbas, had previously insisted that the institution would refrain from assessing the human rights records of presidential candidates, despite calls from rights activists, arguing that it was not Komnas HAM’s duty to do so.
“It is not included in the mandate granted to us by the law. Under my leadership, Komnas HAM will not comply with rights campaigners’ demands,” Hafid said recently.
Hafid’s predecessor, Siti Noor Laila, had also stated that assessing the human rights records of presidential hopefuls would only engage Komnas HAM in “practical politics”, which according to Siti, should be avoided in order to maintain the commission’s neutrality.
Rights campaigners suspected that Komnas HAM’s hitherto reluctance to conduct a hands-on assessment of presidential candidates’ human rights track records was due to infighting within Komnas HAM, interpreted as an attempt to weaken the rights institution.
Their suspicions increased following the revelation that the wife of Komnas HAM’s current leader was a legislative candidate for the Gerindra Party, whose patron, Prabowo Subianto, has been named the party’s presidential candidate.
Prabowo, a former head of the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus), has been accused of ordering the torture and kidnapping of activists during the May riots in 1998, which triggered the fall of then-president Soeharto’s New Order regime. Nine of the activists were released alive; but many others from the era are still missing and presumed dead.
In 2003, Komnas HAM released the results of an investigation, which found that Prabowo and Wiranto, chairman and presidential hopeful of the Hanura Party, as well as several other military officials, were responsible for human rights abuses committed during the 1998 riots. Wiranto was at the time commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI).
Komnas HAM submitted its findings to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), which has so far refused to take further action, arguing that Komnas HAM’s findings lacked evidence.
Roichatul gave her assurances that Komnas HAM’s involvement in assessing presidential hopefuls was not intended to “smear” certain individuals, particularly Prabowo and Wiranto, as some might suspect.
“They will quickly defend themselves, and it is their right to do so. However, their names will never be disassociated from those incidents unless the government follows up on Komnas HAM’s findings. It is urgent to clarify what actually happened,” she emphasised.
The commission will gather leaders from each of the political parties contesting the upcoming elections at a meeting at its headquarters in Central Jakarta on Thursday to thoroughly discuss the parties’ human rights platforms. Komnas HAM also plans to demand a commitment from each of the parties to address the country’s many unresolved human rights violation cases.
“It can be predicted that all the political parties will normatively say that they uphold human rights. However, we want to carefully examine their respective stances on critical issues, from the protection of minority groups in the country to the resolution of past human rights violations, which have so far been ignored,” Komnas HAM commissioner Roichatul Aswidah said on Monday.
Roichatul, who is also the leader of Komnas HAM’s team on the settlement of past human rights violations, highlighted the urgency of a thorough assessment of parties’ human rights platforms, as well as their presidential hopefuls, particularly as the issue of human rights was often portrayed as a form of “foreign intervention”.
“The 1945 Constitution includes human rights values. Thus, it cannot be denied that human rights are an important issue for the next president, whoever that person may be, to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights values in the country,” she said.
“It is crucially important to make sure that whoever is elected president has a comprehensive and thorough understanding of human rights values and, most importantly, has not been involved in human rights violations,” she emphasized.
Komnas HAM revealed its decision to actively examine presidential hopefuls after several NGOs launched similar initiatives.
Komnas HAM newly elected chairman, Hafid Abbas, had previously insisted that the institution would refrain from assessing the human rights records of presidential candidates, despite calls from rights activists, arguing that it was not Komnas HAM’s duty to do so.
“It is not included in the mandate granted to us by the law. Under my leadership, Komnas HAM will not comply with rights campaigners’ demands,” Hafid said recently.
Hafid’s predecessor, Siti Noor Laila, had also stated that assessing the human rights records of presidential hopefuls would only engage Komnas HAM in “practical politics”, which according to Siti, should be avoided in order to maintain the commission’s neutrality.
Rights campaigners suspected that Komnas HAM’s hitherto reluctance to conduct a hands-on assessment of presidential candidates’ human rights track records was due to infighting within Komnas HAM, interpreted as an attempt to weaken the rights institution.
Their suspicions increased following the revelation that the wife of Komnas HAM’s current leader was a legislative candidate for the Gerindra Party, whose patron, Prabowo Subianto, has been named the party’s presidential candidate.
Prabowo, a former head of the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus), has been accused of ordering the torture and kidnapping of activists during the May riots in 1998, which triggered the fall of then-president Soeharto’s New Order regime. Nine of the activists were released alive; but many others from the era are still missing and presumed dead.
In 2003, Komnas HAM released the results of an investigation, which found that Prabowo and Wiranto, chairman and presidential hopeful of the Hanura Party, as well as several other military officials, were responsible for human rights abuses committed during the 1998 riots. Wiranto was at the time commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI).
Komnas HAM submitted its findings to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), which has so far refused to take further action, arguing that Komnas HAM’s findings lacked evidence.
Roichatul gave her assurances that Komnas HAM’s involvement in assessing presidential hopefuls was not intended to “smear” certain individuals, particularly Prabowo and Wiranto, as some might suspect.
“They will quickly defend themselves, and it is their right to do so. However, their names will never be disassociated from those incidents unless the government follows up on Komnas HAM’s findings. It is urgent to clarify what actually happened,” she emphasised.
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5) London: Protest to call for the release of Papuan Political Prisoners
photos at
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6) Activists call for release of West Papuan 'political prisoners'
Updated 2 April 2014, 14:36 AEST
From London to Auckland, there's growing community awareness about the human rights abuses by the Indonesian military in West Papua.
Peaceful campaigns such as "Rize of the Morning Star " use music and social media to keep the momentum going.
Isabelle Genoux discussed the fine line between culture and politics with West Papuan independence advocate Ronny Kareni at the "Rize of the Morning Star photo exhibition" at the Contemporary Pacific Arts Festival recently held in Melbourne.
Presenter: Isabelle Genoux
Speaker: Ronny Kareni, West Papua independence advocate
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7) INDONESIA: Police officers in Nabire assault three Papuans over a petty fight
April 2, 2014
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-047-2014
2 April 2014
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INDONESIA: Police officers in Nabire assault three Papuans over a petty fight
ISSUES: Arbitrary arrest & detention; inhuman & degrading treatment; police violence; torture
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Dear friends,
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-047-2014
2 April 2014
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INDONESIA: Police officers in Nabire assault three Papuans over a petty fight
ISSUES: Arbitrary arrest & detention; inhuman & degrading treatment; police violence; torture
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Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the attack by members of the Mobile Brigade of the Nabire District Police on three Papuans in Nabire. The Papuans were attacked following a petty dispute between them and the officers at Kalibobo futsal pitch. One of the Papuans was stabbed in his back with a bayonet whereas two others were taken to the police station. One of them was stabbed with a bayonet in his left eye brow.
CASE NARRATIVE:
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