2) BIN Forms Papua Peace Task Force
3) Search for truth continues 50 years after Indonesia’s purge
4) Govt will not apologize for 1965 communist purge: Minister
5) Papua Legislator Rejects Proposal to Allow Central Government to Issue All Mining Permits
6) Government seeking right way to settle human rights cases
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http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/285742/tonga's-pm-highlights-papua-issue-at-un
1) Tonga’s PM highlights Papua issue at UN
Updated at 7:28 am today
Taking centre stage at the United Nations General Assembly, the Tongan Prime Minister has urged the world to take action on the human rights situation in Indonesia's West Papua region.
Elements of the ethnic Melanesian population in West Papua are struggling for independence.
But Indonesia's reaction to their push for autonomy has sparked international concern about human rights abuses by military forces.
Tonga's Prime Minister Akilisi Pohiva told the UN general assembly that the world community has a moral obligation to get involved.
“United Nations has a duty to closely follow up this West Papua case and necessary action be taken to stop these brutal and inhumane activities.”
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http://tabloidjubi.com/en/2015/09/29/bin-forms-papua-peace-task-force/
2) BIN Forms Papua Peace Task Force
Jakarta, Jubi – The State Intelligence Agency (BIN) will form a team called the Papua Peace Task Force to resolve the problems in Papua peacefully, its chairman Sutiyoso said.
“BIN will put forward a peaceful settlement, therefore we are forming the Papua Peace Task Force,” said Sutiyoso, at Gedung Nusantara II, Jakarta on Monday (28/09/2015).
He explained that the Task Force is composed of representatives from BIN and also involves some members of the Army Special Forces (Kopassus) who have stayed for long in Papua.
According to him, separatism can be ended by prioritizing the fulfillment of public welfare in the region.
“We talk about separatism in Papua and Aceh (the Meeting with Commission I). So the discussion is not finished but it is clear that it must be serious in handling with separatist, “he said.
“We talk about separatism in Papua and Aceh (the Meeting with Commission I). So the discussion is not finished but it is clear that it must be serious in handling with separatist, “he said.
He explained separatist movements are everywhere and it could kill the apparatus or civilian.
According to him, the action of separatism in Papua is in small groups and spread out.
“In Papua, there are small groups but spread out and it should be taken seriously,” he said.
“In Papua, there are small groups but spread out and it should be taken seriously,” he said.
However, the persuasive approach must be prioritized by the Indonesia government, he said.
He further said that if the approach is neglected by the separatist group, we then must take action accordingly.
He added the budget proposed by BIN amounting to Rp3.7 trillion for 2016, including earmarked for operations in various regions.
He believes that Commission I will fight for the submission of the budget to bolster the performance of the agency.
“With the funds, although it is not ideal, but given enough space to do more, “he said. (*)
“With the funds, although it is not ideal, but given enough space to do more, “he said. (*)
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3) Search for truth continues 50 years after Indonesia’s purge
Pat Walsh | 30 September 2015
Like Tony Abbott before him, Malcolm Turnbull is slated to make Jakarta one of his first overseas ports of call as prime minister. His visit will occur as calls grow louder in Indonesia and elsewhere for the truth to be told about the massacres of up to 1 million Indonesians 50 years ago this October.
Many now regard that bloodletting as one of the worst excesses of the second half of the 20th century. At the time, however, it was accepted in Australia (and in the West more generally) as legitimate collateral damage in the cut and thrust of the Cold War, and was played down in the Australian media.
Harold Holt, the Liberal Prime Minister of the day, expressed his pleasure that '500,000 to 1 million communist sympathisers (had been) knocked off'.
It is assumed, therefore, that Canberra did not then protest the massive miscarriage of justice and international law that occurred, or call for accountability. It can now compensate in a small way for that silence, and for its selective waiving of the recently developed Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by making public what it knew at the time.
Whether or not the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was behind the murder of six senior generals by army commandos (the '30 September Movement') early on the morning of 1 October 1965 is still contested. It is clear, however, that General Suharto used the crisis to take over the army and announce his intention 'to annihilate the 30 September Movement', which he equated with the PKI — the army's main rival for power in the fading days of the Sukarno regime.
The army began a grisly purge using, it is said, lists of names provided by the CIA. It then mobilised the community to seek out and liquidate anyone who was communist — whether or not they were involved in the 30 September murders — or Indonesians said to be communist (a label that I know to be extremely rubbery, having once been told that I was one).
No charges were laid or trials conducted. Decapitated bodies were dumped in rice fields, canals and forests across Indonesia, particularly Java and Bali. Perpetrators acted with impunity and sometimes in the belief that they were doing the right and patriotic thing. The terror of the period is brilliantly captured in Joshua Oppenheimer's film The Act of Killing (see video above).
In addition, a staggering 1.5 million Indonesians were detained by the Suharto regime. During my first visit to Indonesia in 1968, I witnessed some of them crowded into cells in an old Dutch prison in Yogyakarta. The Jesuit with me whispered that many said they were Catholic.
My preconceptions about 'communists' were challenged again when, during the same visit, I bought an exquisitely moulded statue made by a political prisoner in Bandung. Why was someone so gifted being trashed, I wondered?
In his heartbreaking but sometimes beautiful memoir The Mute's Soliloquy, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who spent 12 years in prison without charge, describes what happened as 'cannibalism'; a nation fed on itself while the world watched in silence or, in some instances, dare I say, celebrated.
Many thoughtful Indonesians believe it is both timely and beneficial to address the issue now. In a 2012 report on the period, Indonesia's human rights commission found that what happened were crimes against humanity. The eminent Jesuit public intellectual, Fr Franz Magnis-Suseno, says 'it is high time that victims are acknowledged'.
The government has announced the formation of a non-judicial 'reconciliation committee' but, unhappy with such half measures, an Indonesian led International People's Tribunal will conduct its own examination of the period in The Hague in November. The issue will also feature at this year's Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali.
Some will argue that the killings were 'necessary evil' for the greater good of saving Indonesia from communism, forgetting perhaps that the region hosts several communist regimes today. Others will say, what's the point of revisiting this dark period?
The point, I believe, is manifold. It is to restore the dignity and name of many fine human beings who were denied due process and dehumanised in countless ways. It is to reflect on the enormous cost to Indonesia of dictatorship, a rampant military, a compliant Muslim and Catholic community, the impoverishment of Indonesia's civil society and cultural and intellectual life by the trashing of many of the country's best and brightest, and the reduction to servile timidity of a generation.
It is also to weigh up the incalculable cost of impunity. If the violence had been seriously challenged, would Indonesia have dared invade Timor-Leste a few short years later or take over West Papua during the same period in the way it did?
Pat Walsh will launch his book Stormy With a Chance of Fried Rice: Twelve Months in Jakarta (KPG) at this year’s Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali.
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4) Govt will not apologize for 1965 communist purge: Minister
thejakartapost.com, Jakarta | National | Wed, September 30 2015, 8:07 PM
The government will not apologize to the victims of the 1965 communist purge and instead will focus on reconciliation, said Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.
According to Luhut, the government is currently looking for a suitable reconciliation format in accordance with Indonesia's recent condition.
He added that the reconciliation process would not be easy, especially since most of the historical figures had died."What we need to do right now is keep [the victims'] children and grandchildren [safe] from being burdened by history," said Luhut on Wednesday as quoted by tempo.co.
In addition to the 1965 purge of members and sympathizers of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), there are still several severe human rights-related cases that have not yet been resolved, including the 1984 Tanjung Priok tragedy, the 1989 clash in Lampung, the disappearance of political activists between 1997 and 1998, the 1998 Triksati shootings, the May 1998 riots and the 1998 Semanggi 1 and 2 incidents.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has established a reconciliation team to resolve some of the alleged violations of human rights. (kes)
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5) Papua Legislator Rejects Proposal to Allow Central Government to Issue All Mining Permits
LNG Tangguh’s area – suplied
Jayapura, Jubi – Papua Legislators sharply disagreed over the draft revision of the Law on Mineral and Coal Mining (Mining Law) which provides for all mining permits to be issued only by the central government.
A member of the Papua Legislative Council of Commission IV on Mining, Thomas Sondegau, urged Jakarta to stop dominating and taking all benefits from local wealth.
There must be a policy that gives provincial governments to also have the right to issue mining rights in the region.
“The draft revision of the Mining Act should also give benefit to the local government, especially in issuing permits and sharing. For Papua, we want Papua province also gets benefits and it could be 80 percent profit sharing for Papua, “ he said on Monday (28/09/2015).
“The draft revision of the Mining Act should also give benefit to the local government, especially in issuing permits and sharing. For Papua, we want Papua province also gets benefits and it could be 80 percent profit sharing for Papua, “ he said on Monday (28/09/2015).
According to him, in Papua there is Special Autonomy Law, so there needs to be more powers for the Papua provincial government in issuing mining permits.
“Give local government the authority. It is not true and we do not agree that a permit mining will only be issued by the central government. Natural resources are in Papua and why only the central government must issuing a permit? “he questioned.
“Give local government the authority. It is not true and we do not agree that a permit mining will only be issued by the central government. Natural resources are in Papua and why only the central government must issuing a permit? “he questioned.
Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) began drafting Revised Law on Mineral and Coal Mining (Mining Law). Not only initiative of the Parliament, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will also provide inputs to the Draft Mining in point by point.
Head of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Energy, Susyanto said, although draft Mining is an initiative of the House. However, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources also will prepare the draft.
“It is being drafted and discussed point by point. We use team independent to assess those points, “said Susyanto last week.
“It is being drafted and discussed point by point. We use team independent to assess those points, “said Susyanto last week.
He said, the important point is to change the Act 23 of 2014 mining permits in each region because colliding with the current Law Mining.
In Law 23/2014 regulated, licensing Mining Permit (IUP) carried out by the Provincial Government. While the Mining Law could grant permission through the county. (Arjuna Pademme/ Tina)
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6) Government seeking right way to settle human rights cases
Rabu, 30 September 2015 21:50 WIB | 381 Views
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government is seeking the right way to settle past cases of human rights violations by gathering inputs from several sources and organizations involved in the advocacy of human rights, a minister stated here, Wednesday.
"It is still being processed (together with) Komnas Ham (National Commission on Human Rights), and we are also asking for views from our colleagues in Kontras (Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence). All stakeholders in the country must sit down to settle them. So, there is nothing to hide here," Yasona Laoly, the justice and human rights minister, stated at the presidential palace complex.
He noted that human rights cases to be settled would not only be the ones related to the 1965 coup attempt but also those related to the Trisakti, Semanggi, and other incidents.
"The process is ongoing. These are very big cases --- Trisakti, Semanggi, forced elimination of individuals, the 1965 incident --- all of them must be settled in the right way," he pointed out.
"We are still seeking the right way. We certainly do not want to continue carrying the burdens of the past. We wish to make peace with the past, and so, we must also make peace with ourselves. We are a great nation. We must not continue to carry the burdens of the past," stated Coordinating Minister for Political, Security and Legal Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan while seconding Minister Laolys views.
He affirmed that the government continued to seek the right way to settle all the cases.
"What will be the right way? We must be clear first. However, there will never be, I repeat, there will never be a term, like the one spreading outside, that the government would tender an apology to the PKI (former communist party). There will be no such thing, and we have never thought about it. I am involved in the reconciliation process. I can ensure you there is nothing like that. We are still seeking the right way, the right wording, for the settlement of eight big cases as there were victims from both sides. There cannot be victims on only one side," he added.(*)
"It is still being processed (together with) Komnas Ham (National Commission on Human Rights), and we are also asking for views from our colleagues in Kontras (Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence). All stakeholders in the country must sit down to settle them. So, there is nothing to hide here," Yasona Laoly, the justice and human rights minister, stated at the presidential palace complex.
He noted that human rights cases to be settled would not only be the ones related to the 1965 coup attempt but also those related to the Trisakti, Semanggi, and other incidents.
"The process is ongoing. These are very big cases --- Trisakti, Semanggi, forced elimination of individuals, the 1965 incident --- all of them must be settled in the right way," he pointed out.
"We are still seeking the right way. We certainly do not want to continue carrying the burdens of the past. We wish to make peace with the past, and so, we must also make peace with ourselves. We are a great nation. We must not continue to carry the burdens of the past," stated Coordinating Minister for Political, Security and Legal Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan while seconding Minister Laolys views.
He affirmed that the government continued to seek the right way to settle all the cases.
"What will be the right way? We must be clear first. However, there will never be, I repeat, there will never be a term, like the one spreading outside, that the government would tender an apology to the PKI (former communist party). There will be no such thing, and we have never thought about it. I am involved in the reconciliation process. I can ensure you there is nothing like that. We are still seeking the right way, the right wording, for the settlement of eight big cases as there were victims from both sides. There cannot be victims on only one side," he added.(*)
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