1) President to Kick Off Development Projects in Year-End Papua Trip

2) Indonesia yet to See Freedom of Expression: Kontras

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http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/president-kick-off-development-projects-year-end-papua-trip/

1) President to Kick Off Development Projects in Year-End Papua Trip

By : Jakarta Globe | on 7:37 PM December 25, 2015

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo is scheduled to inaugurate a number of development projects in Papua during his year-end visit to Indonesia’s easternmost region.

The president will be in Papua and West Papua from Dec. 29 to 31, after attending the national Christmas celebration in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, on Dec. 28.

In Wamena, the seat of Papua’s Jayawijaya district, the president will inaugurate a new office building for the local government, under construction since 2013 at a total cost of Rp 150 billion ($11 million), according to district secretary Yohanes Walilo, as quoted by Antara on Friday.

Joko will also kick off a project to expand Wamena’s airport, which will allow it to accommodate larger aircraft like the Boeing 737. The project is being funded by the central government.

In Merauke, Indonesia’s easternmost city, on the border with Papua New Guinea, Joko is scheduled to attend the inauguration of a 10,000-hectare plantation.

Maj. Gen. Hinsa Siburian, the military commander for Papua, told Antara separately that Joko would spend New Year’s Eve in Waisai, the seat of West Papua’s Raja Ampat district, a world-renowned diving and marine tourism site.

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HTTP://EN.TEMPO.CO/READ/NEWS/2015/12/26/055730827/INDONESIA-YET-TO-SEE-FREEDOM-OF-EXPRESSION-KONTRAS

SATURDAY, 26 DECEMBER, 2015 | 17:38 WIB

2) Indonesia yet to See Freedom of Expression: Kontras

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that the state had misused laws on the freedom of expression and the liberty of association and assembly.

“The laws and policies that guarantee those rights have been used to control public’s freedom of expression,” Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar at his office on Saturday, December 26, 2015.    

Over the last year, Kontras recorded 238 incidents violations related to freedom of expression. Kontras revealed that police had dominated the list of the violations with 85 cases, followed by public officials with 49 cases, non-governmental organizations with 31 cases, military with 17 cases and universities with 5 cases. West Java has been the region with the highest number of violations (41 cases).

According to Haris, police had conducted demonstration arbitrary arrests, persecution, bans on media coverage, and bans on hijab. Meanwhile, public officials were involved in bans on activities, media, and websites on behalf of radicalism eradication efforts.

In addition, Kontras also highlighted an article on libel against the President that was planned to be included in the Criminal Code revision. Haris said that the policy did not clearly define the libel against the President.

“It also violates the rights to express opinion, input and criticism in a democratic country,” Haris added.

The data, collected by Kontras, was in line with reports published by two International human rights institutions, namely Freedom House and World Justice Project. Freedom House ranked Indonesia as “partly free”.

 

EGI ADYATAMA

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