1) Indonesia: Papua’s Sweet Potato Tradition Attempts Comeback

2) Minister refuses to name  political figure in Freeport  negotiation - 3) Indonesia and the absent witness of 19654) Statement to Busnis and Human Right Conference in UN HRC Geneva——————————————————————————————————————————————————
http://www.benarnews.org/english/news/indonesian/sweet-potato-11132015141043.html1) Indonesia: Papua’s Sweet Potato Tradition Attempts ComebackVictor Mambor 2015-11-13

Residents of Kimbim Village in Jayawijaya district, in Indonesia’s Papua province, harvest sweet potatoes in their backyard, Nov. 4, 2015.

Community leaders are trying to revive sweet potato cultivation in the highlands of central Papua, where consumption of this nutritious staple has been all but replaced by the rice-eating culture that dominates most of Indonesia.

Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are popular among peoples of the Pacific Islands because the plant can thrive in extreme weather.

In the Lapago and Meepago tribal areas of Papua – Indonesia’s easternmost province – generations have relied on sweet potatoes as a food staple. In Meepago, it is called “nota,” while in Lapago, it is “mbe” or “hipere.”  Most Papuans call sweet potatoes “petatas.”

Nobody knows when sweet potatoes were first cultivated in Papua’s mountainous areas, but people in Wamena (Lapago) or Paniai (Meepago) claim the plant has been around since their ancestors settled the region.

Sweet potatoes, however, fell out of favor in Papua when former Indonesian President Suharto launched a campaign to make Indonesia self-sufficient through rice production. As a result, the Papuan tradition of eating petatas faded and local people became assimilated into a rice-eating culture that dominates most of Indonesia.

Wamena resident Kiloner Wenda recalls how local teachers used to tell students that those who ate sweet potatoes would not succeed in life.

“When I was still in elementary school, my teachers always said if I eat sweet potatoes, I will be stupid. Then every time our parents served sweet potatoes during meal times in our honai [Papuan traditional house], we doubted whether we should eat them,” Kilonar told BenarNews.

“We always found a way to eat rice. Our parents found out somehow, and they worked harder to earn more money to buy us rice, although it was difficult for them as farmers.”

But that was decades ago. Now, the government provides subsidized rice to villagers. Kilonar said the subsides spoiled people, causing many to leave farming.

“It is tragic. When the world has been carrying out efforts in diversifying foods, our people decided to turn to consuming rice,” he said.

Campaign supports sweet potato consumption

In addition, soaring transportation costs in Papua have made it hard for farmers to sell their sweet potatoes in villages and cities. Seven years ago, a campaign began to encourage farmers in Jayawijaya district to bring their crops to appointed collection points.

Kiloner set up a collection point in Kimbim village.

He collected, weighed, assessed and transported the sweet potatoes to the nearby city of Wamena, hoping to sell off the petatas. Over the next few days, he distributed the sales proceeds to the farmers.

The effort changed people’s views on sweet potatoes.

“Now we have more money for the kids to go to school,” Maria Asalokobal, of Kimbim village, told BenarNews. “We usually planted the crop only to feed the family and cattle.”

Petatas deeply rooted in culture

In the Baliem Valley, farming is a way of life passed down from generation to generation.

“And sweet potatoes to the people of Baliem is as important as the people themselves. The plant does not just contain high nutrients, but also traditional values. Educational values were taught and passed to kids from their parents on farms where sweet potatoes are cultivated,” Kiloner said.

“Parents taught everything about life, including ethics, morals and family education.”

In 2009, Asalokobal, chief of the tribe in the Assologaima area, gave 10 hectares (24.7 acres) for people to start cultivating sweet potatoes again, because he worried about the future of his tribe and its traditions. The changes, he said, have happened so fast.

“The subisidized rice program still goes on. That makes villagers lazy to start farming again. They decided to stay in big cities. I still own a vast [piece of] land. I will let them farm sweet potatoes because that’s the way we live, the people of Baliem,” he said.

——————————————————http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/11/14/minister-refuses-name-political-figure-freeport-negotiation.html2) Minister refuses to name  political figure in Freeport  negotiation - Erika Anindita, thejakartapost.com, Jakarta | National | Sat, November 14 2015, 5:09 PM - 

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said has refused to reveal the name of the politician who used the names of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla in connection with PT Freeport Indonesia’s contract extension.

"Today's topic is the Dewie Yasin Limpo case. This isn't a proper forum to mention a name, I will reveal it in the proper forum later," Sudirman said, after being questioned by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators in Jakarta on Friday.

Sudirman was questioned as a witness relating to lawmaker Dewie Yasin Limpo’s graft case. She has been accused of accepting bribes for allegedly facilitating a company's successful tender for a micro-hydro power plant project in Papua.

Previously, Sudirman said that a powerful political figure had tried to "sell" the name of President Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla. The politician, according to Sudirman, persuaded him to immediately extend the PT Freeport contract that will expire in 2021.

Many called on the minister to immediately reveal the name of the politician to end the controversy. (bbn)

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3) Indonesia and the absent witness of 1965

 Adam Henry 10 November 2015, 12:30pm

Why is it seen as appropriate for Australia to support and celebrate the perpetrators of one of the great mass killings of the

 20th Century — before, during and after the event, asks Dr Adam Hughes Henry. …

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/indonesia-and-the-absent-witness-of-1965,8363 

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4) Statement to Busnis and Human Right Conference in UN HRC Geneva

Oral Statement of Indonesia Focal Point to The First Session of The Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on TNCs and Other Business Enterprises With Respect To Human Rights - Panel V, July 8, 2015

Excellency Madam Chair,

My name is Wensislaus Fatubun, Papuan Indigenous human rights defender, from International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID). This statement is supported by Indonesian Focal Point on Legally Binding Treaty Initiative and Fransiscans International. And we are also part of Treaty Alliance and Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power.

We welcome the position of the Government of Indonesia who voted in favor of the resolution 26/9 on the process of the treaty. We also recognize its effort to have dialogue with civil society, we remain critical on its policy on development project in Papua which fails to protect the human rights of the indigenous Papuans

In 2010, the government launched a program of food development and large-scale energy, called MIFEE (Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate) in Merauke, southern part of the province of Papua. The government allocated land and forest area of 2.5 million hectares for mega development projects in food and energy, based on large capital corporations, plant export commodities, modern technology. Increasingly, big companies (Transnational Corporations) are interested in investments, such as Korindo Group, LG Internasional, Daewoo Internasional, Wilmar Internasional. They controlled the indigenous people land. To date, there were 36 companies that obtain “ permit of location” covering an area of 1,586,979 hectares.

On acquiring the land, those companies employs different ways which could enforce an issue of "legal" establishment, and imposing manipulation and confiscation against local peoples. It is estimated that more than 50,000 people, including people of Malind and of Yeinan, indigenous people of Papua in coastal area and in inland Merauke. They affected and threatened directly of those giant project. The biggest threat is public loss of rights and access to land, loss of livelihood and important living place, damage and loss of ecological environment and the destruction of social and cultural life. Social and political situation experienced by Papuans indigenous are still poor, marked by limitations and lack of freedom in the opinion and association, the violence out of court with the involvement of military personnel military/police, intimidation, manipulation and restriction of information is still happening. The operation of transnational corporations in MIFEE impose a redefinition of law, with limit which can only be exercised by themselves.

The transnational corporations domination are capable of affecting the creation of global and national economic model of development which eventually resulted in the unequal development system through the model of the structure of international relations that create human rights violations at the national level. In the past, Transnational Corporations creates colonialism, followed later, developmentalism in the post-colonial era, and now creating a neo liberalism. Creation of a model of economic development that in turn leads to a capital violence on Human Rights.

However, in the development of the economic model of the 21st century, due to the formation pattern of relations in international law which encourage the harmonization of the laws and regulations of national legislation with international treaties that want to ensure the provision of market access and investment protection of transnational corporations, have led to the loss of state responsibility in upholding human rights protection.

Refered to the statement of UN Experts published On June, 2015, related to the adverse impact of free trade agreements and international investment towards human rights5: “They state that FTAs and Investment Protection Agreements have an impact on the deterioration on the

promotion and protection of human rights. Even FTAs and investment protection agreement also negatively affect the democratic system of international order and justice. And undoubtedly, they also mentioned that the existing dispute resolution mechanisms in bilateral investment treaties and FTAs have raised the risk of the regulatory function of the State to protect Human Rights. The Experience of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) demonstrates that the regulatory function of many States and their ability to legislate in the public interest have been put at risk.

Regarding to the obligation of the State to guarantee the respect of Human Rights by TNCs:

1. States must ensure that all forms of policies, laws, and legislation has already
   contained provisions on human rights protection.
2. States must ensure the national economic development plan do not violate Human
   Rights of the people, particularly the indigeneous people.
3. States must ensure that trade and investment agreements do not constrain their
   ability to meet their human rights obligations.
4. State must ensure that there is continuous dialogue with all state holders and the
   affected communities, including indigenous peoples, in any development projects.
5. State should willingly and ably perform their duty to promote and protect human
   rights.
6. Within the framework of Vienna Convention on Law on Treaties, state should
   develop an international framework for national and extraterritorial obligation.

Thank you Madam Chair. 

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