2) Call for probe into Manokwari shootings
3) Indonesia: Cargo plane carrying four missing in remote Papua
4) The Fourth Indonesia-Australia Foreign and Defence Ministers 2+2 Dialogue
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Indonesia's Defence Minister has urged Australia to rebuke Pacific Island states who raise issues relating to West Papua in global fora.
Ryamizard Ryacudu met with Australian government representatives including Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in a meeting in Bali where the two countries reaffirmed security ties.
He pressed Australia to pass a message to Solomon Islands that it should refrain from interferring in the internal affairs of Indonesia, including the issue of West Papua.
Solomon Islands' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, in his role as chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, has been vocal about boosting West Papuan representation in the group.
He was also one of seven leaders of Pacific states who spoke out about rights abuses in Papua and on support for Papuan self-determination at last month’s UN General Assembly session.
Ryamizard told media that he had implored Canberra to speak to Honiara on the matter because Australia contributes a big aid package in the Solomons.
Detik News reports the Minister saying Australia has accepted the request.
Ryamizard said friendly countries do not disturb each other by interfering in domestic issues.
He warned that Indonesia will not stay silent when its sovereignty is compromised. He described Indonesia as a tiger that can attack if disturbed.
The Minister urged Australia to pass on the message to Solomon Islands and other Pacific states that they should not invite West Papua to join the MSG.
The MSG accepted the United Liberation Movement for West Papua into the group with observer status last year and is considering whether to elevate it to full membership.
An MSG leaders meeting on the matter is due before the end of the year in Vanuatu.
Indonesia has associate member status at the MSG.
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2) Call for probe into Manokwari shootings
about 1 hour ago
A member of the provincial parliament in Indonesia's West Papua province has called for an investigation into last Thursday's deadly shootings in Manokwari.
Reports from Indonesia said police in the provincial capital allegedly opened fire when rioting broke out in the town, leaving ten people injured and one person dead.
The Papuan parliametarian Dominggus Sani has said that the response by security forces to the rioting, shootng on a crowd, was excessive and needs to be probed.
He has asked Indonesia's President Joko Widodo to look into the incident as it is typical of security forces' treatment of Papuans, where innocent civillians get hurt.
CNN Indonesia reported that additionally, the National Human Rights Commission was expected to conduct an investigation into the Manokwari shootings.
The Commissioner Natalius Pigai indicated he suspected that the shooting by police was conscious and deliberate.
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3) Indonesia: Cargo plane carrying four missing in remote Papua
By Asian Correspondent Staff | 31st October 2016 | @ascorrespondent
INDONESIA has launched a search and rescue operation for a cargo plane that was reported missing in the country’s easternmost province of Papua on Monday morning.
Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo said the Turbo Caribou aircraft, which was carrying four people, lost contact with ground control late Sunday during the flight from the town of Timika to the remote district of Ilaga.
He said no signals have been detected from the plane’s emergency transmitters.
A rescue team has been sent to search for the plane, which was carrying two pilots and two passengers along with goods, including construction materials.
Soelistyo said, however, that bad weather and dense jungle were hampering the search efforts by a rescue plane on Monday.
A spokesperson from Indonesia’s transport ministry was quoted by
Okezone News as saying that air traffic controllers established that the de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou aircraft was missing after failing to regain contact with its flight crew for over an hour.
“At (about) 08.30 Eastern Indonesian Time, Ilaga radio operators attempted to contact (flight) PK-SWW but there was no response and assistance has been requested to aircraft in the Ilaga area to spot the aircraft but until 0.920 hours, there was no information in PK-SWW,” Transport ministry official Bambang Ervan said on Monday.
He said the aircraft was carrying its Chief Pilot Farhat Limi, First Officer (FO) R Fendi Ardianto, Engineer Steven and Flight Operation Officer (FOO) Andi Baringan.
Air travel is an important means of transportation in the jungle-clad mountains of Papua, the country’s most remote region geographically and politically.
However, aviation disasters and mishaps, especially among small aircraft was common in the region due to poor safety records.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
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4) The Fourth Indonesia-Australia Foreign and Defence Ministers 2+2 Dialogue
Joint Communiqué:
- Her Excellency Retno L.P. Marsudi, Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs
- His Excellency Ryamizad Ryacudu, Indonesian Minister for Defence
- The Honourable Julie Bishop, MP, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs
- Senator the Honourable Marise Payne, Australian Minister for Defence
27 October 2016
We, the Indonesian and Australian Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers met in Bali for the fourth 2+2 Dialogue on 27 October 2016. The dialogue was held in a spirit of friendship, openness and a common purpose to strengthen political and security cooperation as envisaged in the Lombok Treaty 2006.
We had a wide-ranging exchange of views on bilateral as well as regional and global issues of shared strategic concern. We also reviewed the progress of bilateral relations that has taken a better shape and grown stronger.
Bilateral Relations
We welcome the coming State Visit of the Indonesia President, H.E. Joko Widodo to Australia in November 2016. We note that the visit signals the vigorous commitment from both leaders to strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between us with the objective of ensuring economic development and prosperity for the well-being of the people, as well as peace and security in the region.
We express support for the commitment of the two leaders during their bilateral meeting in Vientiane, Laos on 8 September 2016 (11th East Asia Summit) to the importance of increasing security cooperation on counter-terrorism. The implementation of the MOU on Combating International Terrorism has been instrumental in intensifying counter-terrorism cooperation through the Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC), including the sharing of intelligence and deradicalisation of extremists.
We also commit to elevate security cooperation in cyber security. In this regard, we welcome the convening of the Inaugural Indonesia-Australia Cyber Policy Dialogue in Australia at the earliest opportunity.
Indonesia and Australia attach great importance to maintaining constructive engagement in the Pacific. We agree to explore possibilities for complementary development cooperation with Pacific countries in practical areas such as good governance, climate change and small and medium enterprises.
In this regard, Ministers underline the importance of holding regular dialogues, and to begin looking at undertaking practical work together to promote economic growth and development in the Pacific. The Ministers task officials to coordinate and implement a complementary program of practical cooperation by the second half of 2017. We reaffirm our commitment to support the chairmanship of Papua New Guinea (PNG) in APEC 2018 through technical cooperation which will be conducted in 2017.
Ministers note the importance of enhancing bilateral maritime cooperation to promote peace, stability and prosperity in our shared maritime domain. Indonesia and Australia are natural maritime partners and will take practial steps to deepen and broaden engagement on maritime issues of mutual interest. Ministers welcome ongoing practical collaboration on maritime security, including the conduct of bilateral coordinated maritime patrols in 2016. Australia commends Indonesia’s role in bringing countries together to address maritime security threats in the region.
Ministers welcome Australia and Indonesia’s joint work to increase defence industry and military modernisation cooperation. Australia’s 2016 Defence White Paper reaffirmed the importance of supporting Indonesia as it modernises its defence forces. Ministers note that leading Indonesian and Australian defence industry members have signed a collaboration agreement to develop a mine-resistant armoured vehicle, based on the Australian Bushmaster design and customised for TNI operational needs.
Ministers welcome the successful hosting of the third Indonesia-Australia Dialogue in Yogyakarta in August 2016. The Dialogue process promotes mutual understanding between our two countries by facilitating productive and interactive discussions between participants with expertise from a broad range of fields including business, science, education and media. Ministers look forward to the fourth Indonesia-Australia Dialogue, to be held in Australia in early 2018.
Cooperation in Regional Forums
Ministers acknowledge Australia’s continuous support for ASEAN. We welcome the outcomes of the first Biennial ASEAN-Australia Summit in Vientiane, Laos in September 2016. Ministers highlight the strength of the ASEAN-Australia Strategic Partnership and its mutual benefits for our region and look forward to the Special ASEAN-Australia Summit to be held in 2018.
We underscore the importance of cooperation in the area of maritime safety and security through regional initiatives such as ASEAN-led forums, and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). Ministers acknowledge Indonesia’s ambition and vision as IORA Chair from 2015-2017 and look forward to the IORA Ministers and Leaders Meeting in March 2017 in Indonesia.
The Ministers express their support for the implementation of the 2015 East Asia Summit (EAS) Statement on Enhancing Regional Maritime Cooperation, including through Indonesia and Australia’s convening of the EAS Maritime Security Cooperation Seminar in Sydney in 2016.
Ministers reiterate their commitment to defence engagement with ASEAN-led frameworks, particularly the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), to build cooperation, trust and transparency. Recognising the pivotal role of United Nations peacekeeping operations in supporting world peace and security, Australia and Indonesia look forward to jointly co-chairing the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations from 2017 to 2020. We further look forward to deepening cooperation on peacekeeping and strengthening peacekeeping cooperation across the Indo-Pacific. We will also continue to make substantive contributions to all other ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Groups to strengthen practical military collaboration in our region.
On the South China Sea, we underline the importance of maintaining peace, security and stability, freedom of navigation in and over-flight above the South China Sea. We underscore the importance for the states concerned to resolve disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We also emphasise the importance of non-militarisation. We note the commitment of ASEAN Member States and China to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in its entirety, and welcome ASEAN Member States and China’s efforts to work towards the early conclusion of an effective Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).
Cooperation in Global Forums
Ministers share the view that cooperation on counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism has been one of the strongest pillars in strengthening cooperation to respond to increasing regional and global security challenges.
We underline our shared views on the growing threat of ISIS, a dangerous terrorist group, that does not represent Islam and its teachings. It is necessary for like-minded countries to work together within their capacity to counter ISIS’s movement worldwide.
As co-chairs of the Bali Process, we discussed common approaches to enhancing our cooperation against people smuggling and trafficking in persons. We applaud the establishment of Bali Process Consultation Mechanism as reflected in the Bali Declaration on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, and look forward to its implementation.
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