1) Navy HQ agrees to upgrade Nabire Naval Post to naval base

2) Tribunal says Indonesia responsible for genocide in 1965

3) 1965 tribunal pushes for justice despite govt’s resistance

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http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/105811/navy-hq-agrees-to-upgrade-nabire-naval-post-to-naval-base

1) Navy HQ agrees to upgrade Nabire Naval Post to naval base

Rabu, 20 Juli 2016 22:04 WIB | 

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) Headquarters has agreed to upgrade a naval post in Nabire in Papua province to the level of a naval base, Commander of the Jayapura Naval Base X, Brigadir General Heru Kusmanto said.

Preparations to upgrade the naval post to a naval base have been started, he stated here on Wednesday, adding, "Several personnel have been sent to Nabire and they have begun to prepare everything." 

However, no exact date has been set to inaugurate the naval base, he added. 

Asked about plans to also upgrade the Sarmi naval post into a naval base, he disclosed that his side had originally proposed to upgrade both the two naval posts. However, the TNI AL Headquarters only agreed to upgrade the Nabire naval post. 

The Sarmi naval post will likely be upgraded after the inauguration of the Nabire naval base, he informed, adding that Merauke and Sorong naval bases, which previously belonged to the jurisdiction of the Jayapura naval base, have been already inaugurated.

The Jayapura naval base X itself oversees the north waters of Papua, he said. 

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/07/20/tribunal-says-indonesia-responsible-for-genocide-in-1965.html

2) Tribunal says Indonesia responsible for genocide in 1965

Liza Josephine The Jakarta Post

Jakarta | Wed, July 20 2016 | 10:08 pm

The International People’s Tribunal on the 1965 Crimes Against Humanity (IPT 1965) concluded on Wednesday that the Indonesian government had committed acts of genocide, as stipulated in the 1948 International Genocide Convention, during the 1965 communist purge, which reportedly led to the death approximately 500,000 people.  

"The facts brought before the tribunal by the prosecution include acts that fall within those enumerated in the Genocide Convention," said Presiding judge Zakeria Yacoob at the IPT, as he read out the tribunal’s final report via a video presentation recorded from Cape Town, South Africa. 

Yacoob said Indonesia was bound by the 1948 Genocide Convention under international law.

He said the acts committed by the state had targeted a significant and substantial section of the Indonesian nation, which should have been protected according to the Genocide Convention.

Yacoob further said such acts were conducted with the "specific intent to annihilate or destroy that section in whole or in part”.

The conclusion comes as an "unexpected" addition from the nine count indictment against the government on human rights violations presented by prosecutors at the hearing held last year at the Hague from Nov. 10 to Nov. 13. 

"In the beginning, we did not bring charges on genocide. But as it turns out, along the way, elements of genocide were found based on Article 1 of the 1948 Genocide Convention," IPT 1965 coordinator Nursyahbani Katjasungkana said.

Nursyahbani expressed satisfaction over the tribunal’s conclusions although they were not legally binding in terms of extending justice or compensation to the victims. However, she said human rights violations committed by the state could be sanctioned Law No. 26/2000 on Human Rights Tribunals.

"Of course, this depends on the Indonesian government taking advantage of this opportunity," Nursyahbani said. 

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said the government would not apologize to the victims and survivors of the 1965 purge, or their families, because Indonesia had its own legal system. (ebf

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/07/21/1965-tribunal-pushes-for-justice-despite-govts-resistance.html

3) 1965 tribunal pushes for justice despite govt’s resistance

Liza Josephine The Jakarta Post

Jakarta | Thu, July 21 2016 | 01:12 pm

Members of the International People's Tribunal on the 1965 crimes against humanity in Indonesia (IPT 1965) are resolved to pursue justice over the genocide of the 1965 anticommunist purge and will submit the tribunal’s hearing results that were published on Wednesday to the Indonesian government, the IPT coordinator has said.

"The verdict will be conveyed to the Attorney General’s Office [AGO], Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly and the Foreign Ministry's human rights department, as well as to the Office of the Presidential Staff and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in a meeting, which was previously promised by former presidential spokesman Johan Budi," IPT 1965 coordinator Nursyahbani Katjasungkana said on Wednesday during a presentation of the final report from the tribunal.

Conclusions from the hearing, which was held last year in The Hague from Nov. 10 to 13, have listed a set of recommendations to the Indonesian government in addressing past crimes against humanity that took place throughout the anti-communist purge in 1965, which had allegedly killed approximately 500,000 people. The document calls on the government to formally apologize to the victims and their families, provide compensation to them and to investigate and charge the perpetrators of the crimes. 

Nursyahbani said she would also submit the recommendations to the House of Representatives’ Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, to discuss follow-up action plans and the possibility of organizing a judicial hearing. 

On April 17 next year, Nursyahbani said, the report on the implementation of human rights in Indonesia would be reviewed in the Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. "This also will be an opportunity for us to submit the IPT 1965 verdict as a non-governmental report from Indonesia," Nursyahbani said.  (ebf)  

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