1) NZ parliamentary committee gets West Papua briefing

2) Indonesia must step up focus on human rights, says Amnesty

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http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/345669/nz-parliamentary-committee-gets-west-papua-briefing

1) NZ parliamentary committee gets West Papua briefing

5:42 pm today 

A New Zealand parliament select committee has heard there is currently no pathway for West Papua to be put on the UN decolonisation list.

New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials at a parliamentary select committee briefing on West Papua, 7 December 2017 : Michael Appleton, Unit Manager, Pacific Regional Division; Stephen Harris, Divisional Manager, South East Asia Division; Ben King, Acting Chief Executive/Deputy Secretary Americas and Asia Group; Phillip Taula, Divisional Manager, United Nations, Human Rights and Commonwealth Division. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith

The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee was today briefed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about West Papua, following an earlier hearing in June.

A committee member, government MP Louisa Wall, asked about a recent petition to the UN from the indigenous people of Indonesian-ruled Papua region seeking re-inscription with the Decolonisation Committee, or C24. West Papua had been on the list in the early 1960s before being removed when Indonesia took control of the territory.

Ministry officials said that for West Papua to be added to the list again there first needed to be a resolution in the UN general assembly.

"The problem at the moment is there's actually no pathway back for it to go to the C24 if it's blocked by the C24 - Indonesia (which is a member of the C24) would need to agree," said Stephen Harris, the Divisional Director of South and South East Asia Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

But Ms Wall said West Papua was a "growing and emerging issue in the Pacific", suggesting it would increasingly demand a concerted response by New Zealand.

"How interested are we in the Pacific Island interest in the emancipation of Papua? Because it's not going to go away. I can see resolutions in the Pacific islands Forum soon that want us as a block of sixteen countries to be doing something possibly putting an application so they can be added to this non-self governing territory list."

However, Mr Harris said sentiment on this issue amongst Pacific Island countries was "quite varied".

"There is not a block of sixteen Pacific Island countries who think the same on this."

He said that reports about Indonesia's official reaction to some of the expressions of political voice in Papua were "disturbing".

According to Mr Harris, New Zealand tended to register its concern about human rights abuses at the ministerial level.

"Since June there has been an upwelling of public unrest that I mentioned with the armed insurrection in a couple of villages in Papua. At the same time there's been redoubling, I think, by the Inodnesian president Joko Widodo to try and invest more of his personal political capital in to progress there."

Mr Harris said that human and social indicators showed that Papuans generally lagged behind people in other parts of Indonesia by a long way.

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https://asiapacificreport.nz/2017/12/07/indonesia-must-step-up-focus-on-human-rights-says-amnesty/

2) Indonesia must step up focus on human rights, says Amnesty

By PMC Editor - 

  

December 7, 2017

By Sheany in Jakarta

With its official launch in the country set for today, Amnesty International Indonesia has emphasised the need for the government to step up focus on human rights issues and warned that neglecting human right violations can impede the country’s growth.

Speaking at a press conference in Menteng, Central Jakarta, the chairman of the board for Amnesty International Indonesia, Todung Mulya Lubis, said that despite progress in democracy, political life and the economy, Indonesia still needed to pay more attention to human rights issues.

“There’s still plenty that must be done to resolve past human rights violations […] Indonesia won’t have smooth progress if those remain unresolved, it will always obstruct the way,” Todung said.

The London-based organisation hopes to push Indonesia to be a global player in upholding human rights with its local chapter.

“Amnesty International Indonesia wants to urge Indonesia to take a global role in the human rights movement. That’s one of our dreams,” said Monica Tanuhandaru, one of the board members.

She emphasised that economic development in Asia, Southeast Asia and Indonesia would be “meaningless without justice of human rights.”

However, as the world bears witness to changing political dynamics across the globe, it is no longer solely the role of the government to ensure protection of human rights. Rather, it should be the product of a collective act from all members of society.

“[The] state is becoming weaker and weaker. Efforts to uphold and protect human rights must be done by civil society, but this doesn’t mean that we deny the existence of the state,” Todung said.

Uniting all movements
Amnesty International Indonesia hopes to “unite all human rights movements that are present in Indonesia,” especially as it aims to urge the government to resolve human rights violations.

For decades, the Indonesian government has provided little clarity on how it will address past human rights violations, including violations allegedly committed in 1965 and 1998, as well as those resulting from conflicts in Papua, West Papua and Timor-Leste.

Promises that these violations will be duly addressed was popular among candidates during the country’s last presidential campaigns, but real commitments to human rights from the current administration seem to have been overridden by priorities on other aspects, such as the economy and infrastructure development.

Sidarto Danusubroto, a member of the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres), said that telling the truth in Indonesia was “not a simple process” and would likely require a long time.

While the government has programmes for human rights, it was facing “economic issues” that must be resolved, he said.

“I’m afraid that if the government also has to resolve past human rights violations, current programmes for the economy will weaken,” Sidarto said.

Countries like South Africa and Chile, Sidarto said, had “built their memories of human rights” through museums.

‘Dark past’
He reflected on the importance of these countries being able “to admit their dark past without the need to hide,” and expressed his hopes that Indonesia would eventually get there.

“I hope, one day, we’ll get there – where we don’t have to be ashamed to speak of our dark past,” Sidarto said.

Amnesty International Indonesia will launch its #JoinForces initiative on December 7, coinciding with the 517th Kamisan – a silent protest in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta – as a form of solidarity to the protesters who have been demanding that the Indonesian government solve past cases of human rights abuses.

This had been initiated by friends and family members of 1998 student activist victims every Thursday afternoon for the past 10 years.

The organisation will also host simultaneous events across Indonesia between today and December 10, including in Bandung (West Java), Solo (Central Java) and Makassar (South Sulawesi).

The initiative is focused on combating growing “scapegoat” politics and the rise of negative populism that the organisation said had “undermined the basic rights of minority groups.”

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