1)
Video-Catherine Delahunty's motion in NZ Parliament re media freedom in West
Papua
2) Two policemen
dead, four rifles missing in Papua
3) Papua
Military command ready to help overcome armed groups
4) Old song, a
new singer: will Jokowi’s reign bring liberation for West Papua?
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1) Video-Catherine Delahunty's motion in NZ Parliament re media freedom in West Papua
http://www.inthehouse.co.nz/video/34268
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http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/95089/papua-military-command-ready-to-help-overcome-armed-groups
2) Papua Military command ready to help overcome armed groups
Rabu, 30 Juli 2014 17:16 WIB | 280 Views
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - The chief of the Papua Regional Military Command, Major General Christian Zebua, has expressed TNIs (military) readiness to assist the police in dealing with armed groups that have been causing restlessness in the region.
"We are ready to offer our services in overcoming the armed groups that have recently attacked civilians as well as security personnel," he said to ANTARA News here.
He said he condemned the shooting incidents involving the groups in the Papua inland regions.
Regarding the form of assistance the TNI will provide, he said that as the situation is still under civil order status, he would only prepare personnel who could be used immediately in case they were required by the police.
The TNI will remain behind the police and support every action they carry out, he affirmed.
He said personnel in Wamena had been made available to be embedded in the police force.
In the last two months, four people including two police officers had been killed by civilian armed groups in the region.
They had carried out attacks in Tingginambut, district of Puncak Jaya, and Tiom, district of Lanny Jaya.
(Reported by Evarukdijati/E006/H-YH/INE/KR-BSR/A014)
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3) Two policemen dead, four rifles missing in Papua
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura | Archipelago | Tue, July 29 2014, 5:09 PM
Two police officers from the Pirime police office in Lanny Jaya district, Papua, were shot and killed on Monday by a group of armed insurgents in Nugume Village. The two policemen were among eight police officers en route to meet citizens of Maki village.
The eight policemen were riding in the same car when they were ambushed by a group of men, allegedly led by Puron Wenda, in a region near the village of Nugume. The two officers who died in the ensuing firefight were identified as Second Brig. Alex Numberi and First Brig. Heskia.
“The insurgents also took four rifles before the car took off down the street and fell into a steep ravine,” Papua police spokesman Sr. Comr. Pudjo Sulistyo said.
The bodies of the fallen officers have been sent to their families for burial. (dic)
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4) Old song, a new singer: will Jokowi’s reign bring liberation for West Papua?
Outgoing Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono maintained the status quo with West Papua during his two terms in office, but West Papuans are hoping president-elect Joko Widodo’s rule will be different, writes Ron Kareni.
With last week’s release by the Indonesian government of five West Papuan political prisoners and more foreign media shining a light on the deteriorating human rights situation in West Papua, Indonesia is under increasing pressure to open the region to the outside world.
The Indonesian constitution and international law supports the idea of exercising rights to peaceful protest without prosecution, but Indonesia’s arbitrary detention of peaceful political activists in West Papua contradicts this. Many West Papuans have been and continue to be jailed for so-called “crimes” and sentenced to three to 15 years — such as Filep Karma, who peacefully raised the outlawed Morning Star flag in 2004 and was convicted of treason for 15 years, and Forkorus Yaboisembut and Edison Waromi, who were among the five released last week, jailed in 2011 on convictions of “subversion“ for reading out a “declaration of independence” from Indonesia.
The crime of subversion, which accounts for so many West Papuans still incarcerated, is an old Dutch law reconstituted by Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia, on May 1, 1963 — the day the United Nations gifted the territory and people of West Papua to Indonesia. Many West Papuans — and sometimes even their relatives — are arrested by Indonesian authorities for simply attending political demonstrations, being politically active or joining political organisations, or for engaging in civil resistance activities.
The searing indictment on Indonesia’s policies and military practices shows at least 71 political prisoners (on record) still behind bars. The ongoing exploitation of the Indonesian constitution de-legitimises and censors pro-independence groups and maintains offensive restrictions on West Papua’s freedom of assembly and expression.
Outgoing Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s two terms in office have proven Jakarta’s impeccably futile policy on West Papua. The stalemate continues, with West Papua’s statehood facing a political climate of inaction, denial and marginalisation, with unprecedented challenges of increased division of regencies, increased convictions for corruption to undermine the struggle for self-determination and inadequate action on a culture of impunity.
Well-placed Indonesians in Jakarta claim Yudhoyono believes West Papua should be free but doesn’t want to stand charged with violating his state’s long-standing policy of “territorial integrity”. Jacob Rumbiak, a West Papuan academic who spent years in jail with Waromi, said: “The Indonesian state demands absolute loyalty from its citizens, and its institutions have always been charged with defending its territorial integrity. In the service of those imperatives, anything the international community would consider illegal has always been quietly legalised.”
Although Rumbiak believes Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s President-elect, will be as bound by centralism and territorial integrity as previous presidents, most civil society groups in West Papua welcome Jokowi’s win and his ambitious campaign declaration to allow foreign journalists into the region. The big challenge awaiting Jokowi is tackling the underlying grievances of West Papua’s political status and international pressure on human rights abuses. Until these are addressed, the common saying in West Papua remains: “An old song sung by a new singer”.
Rumbiak was speaking from the Federal Republic of West Papua office in Melbourne Docklands, opened last month by Yarra councillor Amanda Stone. “West Papuans have always rejected the New York Agreement that rendered us Indonesian. It was drawn up by foreigners — principally the US, Netherlands, Indonesia, and Australia … and set up the genocidal conditions for Melanesian West Papuans that are now, finally, being reported on,” he said.
Rumbiak added, “The state we raised in 2011 is what West Papuans have determined they want. It stands on UN principles, not the machinations of a few unprincipled foreign governments. That’s why so many Australians are paying the rent on our office in Docklands — they believe in us, and the future of West Papua.”
Peter Woods, a supporter of West Papua who regularly visits the country, insists Australia’s national interest — and relationship with Indonesia — would be better served if Australian politicians address rather than ignore the Federal Republic of West Papua. “East Timor is a good example. Indonesia’s illegal occupation was eventually overthrown by the East Timorese people and the good citizens of the world, but accommodated by successive Australian governments. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to be isolated in the region again. Australia should use its position in the UN Security Council to undo the travesty wrought upon West Papuans 52 years ago.”
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