Summary of events in West Papua for February -13 March 2017
West Papua raised at UN
It was encouraging to see the Pacific
Countries again raise the West Papuan issue at the UN. Ronald K Warsal, the Minister of Justice and Community Development in
Vanuatu critised Indonesia at the 34th
Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (1
March 2017) over the human rights situation in West Papua. He was speaking on
behalf of a
coalition of seven Pacific countries Islands, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Palau,
Marshall Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. In concluding his
statement the Minister said, “as I close, we believe that
challenges of West Papua must be brought back to the agenda of the United
Nations”. The Vanuatu Minister’s statement on UN Web TV at
http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/watch/general-segment-8th-meeting-34th-regular-session-human-rights-council/5343167470001 and ULMWP’webpage https://www.ulmwp.org/vanuatu-minister-justice-addresses-un-human-rights-council-behalf-seven-pacific-nations
In its right of reply Jakarta rejected the
allegations made by the Vanuatu and basically said Vanuatu should look at its own
human rights violation and abuses against the people of Vanuatu, such as
violence against women, corporal punishment against minors and appalling prison
condition.
The Pacific Islands Association of NGOs
(PIANGO) executive director, Emele Duituturaga said about Jakarta’s attack on
Vanuatu,
“Their
response was to resort to divide and conquer by picking on Vanuatu and then
again offering to help Vanuatu with its alleged human rights issues in response
to the Pacific coalition’s request to treat a member of the Pacific family –
West Papua - with respect and dignity,” Duituturaga said. She said the Pacific
Islands Coalition on West Papua (PICWP) of which PIANGO is a member of would
not be requesting the UN to send special rapporteurs into West Papua if they
didn’t have enough evidence to prove that West Papuans were suffering. “Indonesia
plays an important role in Pacific stability and peace, their contribution to
the region is widely known and appreciated. Pacific governments and civil
society would not just as easily undermine such an important relationship.” “
However, when there is overwhelming evidence that thousands of
West Papuans who are Pacific Islanders have lost their lives as they tried to
raise alternative views in the governance of their resources with state
authorities and even to motivate seven Pacific countries to form a coalition on
West Papua, Indonesia must realise it can no longer afford to feign innocence at
the UN.”
http://www.pina.com.fj/index.php?p=pacnews&m=read&o=12337836258bcbb9c5fb880ee4092f
Indonesian President visits Sydney
Indonesian President visits Sydney
The Indonesian President visited Sydney on
the 25-26 February. As usual talks were about trade and security and to shore
up a minor break in military ties between the two nations. No talk of the human
rights situation in West Papua at the Sydney meeting. Supporters of West Papuan in
Sydney protested during Jokiwi’s visit.
Gathering outside the Channel 7 studies in Martin Place, supporters then marched to the Sydney DFAT offices and on to the Sydney Town Hall. Speakers including West Papuan representative Lewis Prai spoke out about the Lombok Treaty, the military and the plundering of the resources of West Papua. Photos of Sydney protest at
Gathering outside the Channel 7 studies in Martin Place, supporters then marched to the Sydney DFAT offices and on to the Sydney Town Hall. Speakers including West Papuan representative Lewis Prai spoke out about the Lombok Treaty, the military and the plundering of the resources of West Papua. Photos of Sydney protest at
A week after the Indonesian President visited Sydney, Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop went to Indonesia to
attend the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) leadership summit in Jakarta. The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) was
celebrating its 20th Anniversary and Indonesia is the current chair. AWPA
called on the Prime Minister to raise the issue of human rights violations in
West Papua. http://asiapacificreport.nz/2017/03/05/awpa-calls-on-turnbull-to-raise-west-papua-right-violations-with-jakarta/
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to visit West Papua
The SMH (7 March) reported that “The
sensitive topics of Papua and the impact of the worst oil spill in the history
of Australia's offshore petroleum fields have been raised in talks
with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Indonesia. The Indonesian
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan said the
"openness of Papua" had been discussed and revealed Ms Bishop had
agreed to visit the province later this year.”
The United Liberation Movement for West
Papua has cautiously welcomed the news that Australia's Foreign Minister is to
visit Indonesian-ruled Papua region this year. While Ms Bishop's visit is not being described as a human rights
fact-finding mission, the Liberation Movement says it is important that other
governments find out more about the situation in Papua (RNZI 8 March).
Free West Papua mural on Cavenagh St in Darwin painted over
KIERAN
BANKS, NT News March 12, 2017 1:15pm
A
FINAL protest to save a mural dedicated to the persecuted women of West Papua
failed to prevent the piece of cultural art from being destroyed.
The
mural, a sign of friendship between indigenous Australians and West Papuans,
was half painted over last week. The
remainder of the mural was covered yesterday morning and protester Cindy Watson
said 10 people tried to save the artwork, to no avail. The
mural was painted on a brick wall at the intersection of Cavenagh and Bennett
streets in June 2015 but Ms Watson said “pressure” from Indonesia to remove it
had been strong ever since. She said it was particularly disheartening to lose
the mural on the day Darwin marched for International Women’s Day.
Cindy
Watson holds up a West Papua flag while painters behind her paint over the Free
West Papua mural on Cavenagh St. PICTURE: Ivan Rachman
“Whilst
there’s a lot to celebrate with the things that women have achieved, there’s a
lot to still struggle for and right on this day the remainder of an Aboriginal
and West Papua friendship mural was wiped out,” she said. “We
wanted the mural to stay. It was not only a symbol of friendship, it was a
piece of art, cultural art, and under pressure publicly from Indonesia it was
completely wiped out.”
Ms
Watson said more needed to be done to help the women of West Papua. “We
are working on more murals and on International Women’s Day we need not only to
celebrate but we need to stand up for the voiceless people and that is the
women of West Papua.”
---------------------------
Photo of original mural below. From ABC report 8 Jun 2016
Freeport Indonesia
There
has been an ongoing dispute between Jakarta and Freeport.
The Jakarta Post
reported (8 March) that the prolonged contractual
dispute between the government and PT Freeport Indonesia, had prompted the
giant miner to temporarily
suspend production which
resulted in weakening economic growth in Papua especially in the mining
sector. In the report the Bank of Indonesia’s assessment had projected that
Papua would see economic contraction in the second trimester. This is a result
of the declining performance in the mining sector due to the dispute. Whatever
the outcome of the negotiation, Papua’s economy will be affected,” Joko
Supratikto, the head of Bank Indonesia’s Papua representative office, said on
Wednesday. “Overall, economic growth in Papua in 2017 is predicted to stand between
3 and 3.5 percent year on year,” he said in the provincial capital of Jayapura. Last year, Papua saw 9.21 percent economic
growth, higher than the national figure of 4.95 percent. Mining contributed to
42 percent of the growth, he added.
Several Papuans dance during a
demonstration of Freeport workers in front of the Energy and Mineral Resources
Ministry in Jakarta on Tuesday. They demand the government and Freeport find
settlement as soon as possible so the mining company can resume
operations.(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
Freeport’s
Indonesia’s president director Chappy Hakim resigned just three months
after his appointment as the mining giant's top executive in February.
The Jakarta Post (13 March) reported that the National Commission on Human Rights
(Komnas HAM) will conduct an audit on PT Freeport Indonesia following the
government’s decision to assign the body an advisory role during a settlement
with the company over a contractual dispute.
A Jakarta Globe factbox on Freeport at
Factbox: Indonesia's Huge Papua Mine Run by
Freeport Long a Source of Friction
Church-backed coalition calls on Indonesia to open access to West Papua
Members of a church-backed coalition have
called on Indonesia to open access to West Papua for international journalists,
independent observers, human rights organizations and the International Red
Cross (ICRC). The
call came at an international consultation hosted by the World Council of
Churches (WCC) with the International Coalition on Papua on 22 February at the
Ecumenical Centre in Geneva. Peter Prove, director of the WCC’s Commission of
the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) quoted from the WCC general
secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, who visited West Papua in 2012 saying he
was fully behind his statement after the visit.
“We
support the struggle for human rights of the people of Papua. We urge an end to
the ongoing violence and impunity.
“We
support the call for social and economic justice through serious dialogue and a
concrete political process that seeks to address root causes of the present
problems,” Tveit had said.
The Rev. Francois Pihaate, general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches based in Fiji, said the churches in the region are very concerned about violence in Papua. “How can we as churches be ignorant of what is going on outside our own world? That is why we as churches are concerned,” said Pihaate. https://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/news/church-backed-coalition-calls-on-indonesia-to-open-international-access-to-west-papua
Rev. Francois Pihaate, general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches. Photo: Peter Kenny/WCC
Australian Diggers disciplined
The Australian Defence Force has disciplined officers involved
in the tense defence brawl with Indonesia over West Papua. In January, the
head of the Indonesian armed forces, General Gatot Nurmantyo, announced that he
had suspended military co-operation with Australia, a decision that it
appeared he made unilaterally. He said the reason he made the decision was
because one of his Kopassus special forces officers found “hurtful” teaching
material while training at the SAS’s Campbell Barracks in Perth. He said the
material suggested that West Papua, which Australia recognises as part of
Indonesia, should be independent and other material mocked Indonesia’s founding
principles, known as the Pancasila. The Defence
Department yesterday confirmed army personnel involved in either creating or
distributing the materials that caused the controversy had been disciplined. “As a result of the investigation, the individuals involved in the
incident have been subject to formal administrative action and the Australian
Army has taken the management action necessary to address the matter,” the
department said in a statement. (The Australian March 3, 2017).
Vale Eni
Faleomavaega
Condolences to his family and friends
Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin was American
Samoa's representative to the United States Congress. He died on the 22 February 2017. He was a good
supporter of West Papua.
Del. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D-AS) at 2010 Congresional Hearing on West Papua.Photo by John M. Miller/ETAN.
A tribute to Eni Faleomavaega by Ed McWilliams at http://etan.org/news/2017/03faleo.htm
Names
released of four West Papuans charged with treason
RNZI 13 Feb. 2017
The
names of four political activists charged by Indonesia with treason in West
Papua have been released by the human rights advocacy group Amnesty
International. Hiskia Meage, Emanuel Ukago,
Panus Hesegem and William Wim are members of the pro-Papuan independence
organization, the West Papuan National Committee and were among 70 people who
were arrested while demonstrating in North Sulawesi Province in December.
The
rally was part of 14 simultaneous demonstrations across Indonesia in support of
the United Liberation Movement for West Papua becoming a full member of
Melanesian Spearhead Group. Amnesty said 528 people were arrested nation-wide
on 19 December but most were released without charge the following day. Committee
members Hosea Yemo and Ismael Alua were also charged with treason for
organising the rallies. Amnesty said the men remained in detention for
exercising their right to peaceful assembly and should be considered prisoners
of conscience.
West
Papuan claims Australia deported him to PNG
RNZI 23
Feb. 2017A West Papuan English teacher, who escaped
persecution to an Australian island in the Torres Strait, claims he was
deported to Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby. The man, who wants to
keep his identity a secret, said he fled the West Papuan regency of Merauke,
where he was trying to help a group of Papua New Guineans detained by
Indonesian police.
In 2006, Indonesia withdrew its ambassador
from Australia after it refused to extradite a group of West Papuan asylum
seekers. The man said Australian authorities agreed to deport him to PNG. "I
said to them I don't want to go back. Not only is my life in danger, but my
friends, my family. Everyone close to me is in danger. If they found out me
everyone will be in danger," he said. The man said he was currently in a
refugee camp in Port Moresby where he was waiting for PNG authorities to
determine his refugee status.
KPK raises possiblity of ‘collusion’ in Papua road project
Jakarta
|Post Sat, March 4, 2017
The
Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is looking into the possibility of
naming another suspect in a graft case related to the Jayapura road
construction project that implicates Michael Kambuaya, the head of the Papua
Public Works Agency. The anti-graft body said it had uncovered alleged
collusion among the parties involved in the project. “During the [ongoing]
investigation, investigators uncovered alleged collusion committed by parties
involved in the project,” KPK spokesperson Febri Diansyah told journalists on
Friday. He further said the investigation revealed an alleged mark-up in the Rp
89 billion (US$6.68 million) construction project, for which the state suffered
Rp 42 billion in losses, or almost a half of the value of the project. “There
are indications that the project is 40 percent overvalued. Around 10 to 15
percent from the total mark-up [the deduction from the real and perceived value
of the project] was distributed to local officials,” Febri said. He further
said the corruption case violated the rights of Papuans to enjoy the full
benefits of infrastructure development. Financed by the 2015 revised regional
budget, the project involves a 24-kilometer road connecting Kemiri and Depapre
in Jayapura. (mrc/ebf)
Korindo has violated deforestation ban,
NGO reveals
By Vaidehi Shah Thursday 16 February 2017
Controversial Korean conglomerate Korindo pledged to
stop clearing forests until it had conducted proper sustainability assessments,
but campaign group Mighty has gathered evidence to show that Korindo has broken
its promise. It has barely been two months since Korean-Indonesian
conglomerate Korindo bowed to demands from environmental
activists and announced a
moratorium on forest clearing in its palm
oil concessions, but campaigners claim that the company has already broken
that promise. Through satellite images
obtained on 13 January 2017—about a month after Korindo’s moratorium announcement—United
States based non-governmental organisation Mighty found that Korindo was
preparing to clear about 1,400 hectares of forest in an area that it had
promised to stop clearing until the land had undergone proper audits to assess its conservation
value. Full report at http://www.eco-business.com/news/korindo-has-violated-deforestation-ban-ngo-reveals/
Papua’s Bird of Paradise under threat, says
WWF
RNZI 27
Feb.2017
Environmental
group World Wildlife Fund is warning that the Bird of Paradise is at threat,
particularly in Indonesia's Papua province.
The
group says the bird is considered sacred by Papuan tribes but it is increasingly
becoming the target of illegal trading, taxidermy and poaching.
It
is advocating an eco-tourism approach, including bird watching, to help
conserve the bird's population and provide value ot local communities.
WWF
spokesperson in Papua, Andhiani Kumalasari, said efforts must be made to save
the bird before it's too late.
"We
must conserve the birds of paradise so the next generation - your children,
your grandchildren, can still look directly [at] or find the birds of paradise
in the forest - not in a book or on the internet or a picture - or just a story
from their parents or grandparents or something like that."
Andhiani
Kumalasari says the bird's habitat, native forests, must also be protected if
it is to survive.
Govt speeds up development in Papua
6 March 2017
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government of
Indonesia will continue to speed up the development in Papua and West Papua
provinces, according to Communication and Informatics Minister Rudiantara. "Hence,
the public will realize that the government is serious about the progress of
development in Papua and West Papua," Rudiantara remarked in a media
discussion on "Indonesia Centrist Vision: Equality in Papua," here on
Monday.
The minister noted that access to the
Internet in Papua and West Papua is around 300 kilobytes/second, much slower
than that in Jakarta with 7 gigabytes/second. "In addition, the cost of
Internet access to Papua and West Papua is 65 percent more expensive compared
to Jakarta," the minister noted.
Therefore, Rudiantara added that the
government is currently developing the Palapa Ring projects in areas that
cannot be reached by telecommunication operators. The Palapa Ring, one of
Indonesias priority infrastructure projects for the 2016-2019 period, aims to
accelerate the growth and distribution of telecommunication network across the
country. With an undersea fiber-optic cable network stretching across 13
thousand kilometers and an onshore network of nearly 22 thousand kilometers,
the Palapa Ring project is expected to provide high-speed broadband Internet
access to the entire people living in urban and rural areas. According to the
minister, the project demonstrates that the government of President Joko Widodo
(Jokowi) is serious about establishing cooperation with investors for
infrastructure development in the country.
The Palapa Ring project -- divided into
three sections of west, central, and east Indonesian region -- is the first
cooperation in the telecommunication sector under the availability payment
method scheme initiated by the Ministry of Finance. Of the three Palapa optical
fiber ring projects, the west section will link areas in the provinces of Riau,
Riau Islands, and Natuna Island with total optical fiber cable length of 2
thousand kilometers.
The central section will cover Kalimantan,
Sulawesi, and North Maluku, with an optical fiber cable length of 2.7 thousand
kilometers.
The third or east section will cover 35
districts/municipalities in four eastern Indonesian provinces of East Nusa
Tenggara, Maluku, West Papua, and Papua. "The east section of Palapa Ring
project will have a total optical fiber cable length of 8,454 kilometers with
the total value of Rp5.1 trillion," Rudiantara remarked in Jayapura,
Papua, on Thursday. Rudiantara visited Papua recently to promote the Palapa
Ring projects east section to the local government. He underlined that the
project aims to meet the publics infrastructure needs in the telecommunications
sector, particularly in the eastern region of Indonesia, and to offer faster
Internet access to the region.
(Uu.O001/INE/KR-BSR/B003)
Opinion
pieces/reports/press releases/upcoming events etc.
Up coming
Photos from around the world showing support for the Pacific Coalition for West Papua’s UN address
Up coming
‘PUNKS FOR WEST PAPUA’ DOCUMENTARY
Screening
dates
Tuesday 14 March – PSA House, Sydney
5.30-7.30pm, Free Entry. https://www.facebook.com/events/166526500520190/
Friday 17 March – ANU Food Co-op,
Canberra
7pm, Free Entry. https://www.facebook.com/events/446769479047835/
Thursday 22 March – Croation Wickham
Sports Club, Newcastle*
6pm, Free Entry. https://www.facebook.com/events/377488502637607/
Thursday 23 March – 4Pines Brewery,
Brookvale
7pm, Free Entry. https://www.facebook.com/events/1855094611423486/
Proceeds go to The United Liberation
Movement Of West Papua.
A chance to wear a West Papuan
T-shirt or carry a WP flag
Palm
Sunday Rally
Sydney
for
2017 is being organised by a broad coalition including church groups, unions,
refugee rights groups and community organisations.
Theme:
Deliver a clear message calling for an end to the politics of division and for
our political leaders to welcome refugees, close the detention camps on Manus
Island and Nauru and bring the refugees to Australia.
Sun.
9 April 2017 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Location
Hyde Park North, Sydney
Starting
from Hyde Park North, then march to First Fleet, Circular Quay
Remember West Papua - ANZAC Day Demo
Public · Hosted by Free West Papua Campaign Sydney
and Free Papua
Movement Australia
Photos from around the world showing support for the Pacific Coalition for West Papua’s UN address
Sign
the petition
A simple action to support West Papua is to sign the
petition. Over 20,000 people have signed so far.
Media release-AWPA calls on the
Australian PM to raise West Papua with Jakarta
Urgent
Action: Prisoners of Conscience Could Face Life in Prison (Indonesia: UA 35/17)
Shirking Matilda: The Realpolitik Case for Australian
Recognition of West Papua http://www.brownpoliticalreview.org/2017/02/shirking-matilda-realpolitik-case-australian-recognition-west-papua/
INDONESIA: Government unwilling to resolve past human rights
abuses
Amnesty International State of the World Report 2016/2017
COUNTRY REPORT INDONESIA 2016/2017
Environmental costs,
benefits and possibilities:
Q&A with anthropologist Eben Kirksey
PT
Agriprima Cipta Persada clears the Mahuze Kewamese Clan’s Ancestral Forest.
Will changes to Indonesia’s mining law
hurt or help the environment?
AWPA Jan update
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