2) EMERGENCY SITUATION in West Papua. Indonesian military attacks West Papuan village.
3) Police, TNI Pursue of Armed Men in Papua
4) Hostilities continue in Nduga, Papua
5) Papuan leaders protest Indonesian attack on village
6) A guide to understanding the Freeport divestment deal
7) Freeport remains tight-lipped on fate of furlough workers
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1) Papuans ask police to withdraw from Nduga
Nethy Dharma Somba
Jayapura | Fri, July 13, 2018 | 05:54 pm
A number of prominent people in Nduga, Papua, has ask the Papua Police to withdraw the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) from Alguru in Kenyam, Nduga regency, Papua, following a shootout between the police and unknown armed assailants.
On Friday, Samuel Tabuni, a prominent youth group member in Nduga, said he was waiting on Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar to fulfill his promise to withdraw Brimob. He added that the shootout had made villagers scared and many were fleeing to Kenyam, the regency’s downtown area.
Tabuni said he and priest Lipius Biniluk, the head of the Papuan Interfaith Forum (FKUB), visited Boy to deliver the request. “He promised to withdraw his troops from Alguru to Kenyam.
“The people don’t feel comfortable living in the kampung [village] with the sound of shooting. They have been very traumatized by the shootouts,” he added.
On Thursday, Nduga Deputy Regent Wentius Miniangge told Antara that the police and Indonesian Military (TNI) had launched an air strike on Wednesday without telling the local authorities about it.
“We did not give you permission and then you just fire from the air. Whose rules were you following? We did not invite you here,” Miniangge told Antara.
The troops suspect that Kampung Alguru is a hotbed for what they call an armed criminal group.
The Papua Police claimed that the helicopter had been dropping food in Nduga when unknown armed assailants shot at it.
The TNI and the police hunted for the armed assailants in Alguru after a Twin Otter aircraft carrying election material and Brimob personnel was fired on by unidentified assailants on June 25, two days before local elections.
Pilot Ahmad Abdillah Kamil, 27, was shot in the back.
The police claimed that the armed assailants also attacked civilians, killing three people and injuring a 6-year-old boy.
Tabuni said the police could not solve the conflict with the armed assailants, believed to have connections to groups demanding Papuan independence, with violence because it would only generate more deaths.
He added that the government had given Papua special funds, but money would not solve the political conflict, which began in the 1960s. “If you don’t solve the problem at its roots, Papua will remain like this,” he said, adding that dialogue would be better.
“Today, Papuans feel uncomfortable living in this big house called the United State of the Republic of Indonesia [NKRI] because we have unfinished problems,” he added.
On Friday, Papua Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. A.M. Kamal said the situation in Nduga was under control. “Residents have resumed their daily activities and many have begun to trade again.” (evi)
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From Free West Papua Campaign
2) EMERGENCY SITUATION in West Papua. Indonesian military attacks West Papuan village.
JULY 13, 2018
EMERGENCY SITUATION in West Papua. There are now many reports of rockets being fired from Indonesian military helicopters at West Papuan villages in the NDUGA area of West Papua. Villagers are traumatised and have fled to the forest.
There are many conflicting reports. This is one of the areas of West Papua where the occupying Indonesian government bans international journalists, making it difficult to get news out quickly.
We will update when we get more news.
ULMWP Spokesperson Jacob Rumbiaks Statement. https://www.ulmwp.org/ulmwp-spokesperson-says-west-papua-na…
Email kate@freewestpapua.org to get direct updates and interview requests.
Thank you
Thank you
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3) Police, TNI Pursue of Armed Men in Papua
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said the police and TNI are coordinating to pursue the group of armed men that have attacked a number of places in the province. Boy also said he had contacted local governments.
"I have met with the Regent of Nduga, the Governor of Papua, and the Cendrawasih Commander," Boy said on Thursday, July 12.
Boy denied assumptions that the police and the TNI failed to arrest the armed men who took over Angguru Village in Nduga last November.
The group is suspected to be behind a number of attacks ahead of June's regional heads elections, including shooting at airplanes carrying Brimob officers in Timika.
On July 6, armed men shot at Brimob officers when they were securing Kenyam Airport, causing the death of two policemen and the district chief of Torere.
On Wednesday, July 11, another shooting happened, this time in Nduga, Papua. A group of men shot at a helicopter that was carrying food for security personnel.
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4) Hostilities continue in Nduga, Papua
2:51 pm on 13 July 2018
Indonesian security forces in Papua province have engaged in more gunfire exchanges with an armed wing of the Free West Papua Movement.
Hostilities in Nduga regency were sparked two weeks ago during regional elections when three people were killed in an attack on police at the local airport.
A faction of the West Papua National Liberation Army, or TPN, claimed responsibility for that attack, following which about 100 police deployed to Nduga to take up the pursuit.
According to Indonesian state media reports, assailants referred to by Indonesian authorities as an armed criminal group on Wednesday fired at a police helicopter while it was dropping food at Alguru in Nduga.
Alguru is a rural village controlled by the TPN, according to Papuan media outlets including Tabloid Jubi who reported that shots were fired from the helicopter.
The Regent of Nduga, Yarius Gwijangge, said the pursuit of the armed Papuan group by Indonesian security forces was ongoing but that there had been no casualties from the latest exchanges.
However he has asked police not to shoot from the air because it was feared this could lead to civilian casualties
Meanwhile, the incumbent governor of Papua province, Lukas Enembe, has been re-elected after the conclusion of regional elections.
According to the Jakarta Post, Mr Enembe won with around 1.9 million votes or around 67.54 percent.
Indonesia's ruling Democratic Party of Struggle had earlier supported Mr Enembe's challenger in the election, John Wempi Wetipo.
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5) Papuan leaders protest Indonesian attack on village
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Papuan leaders have protested an Indonesian military and police operation against separatists they say endangered the lives of villagers in the remote easternmost province.
Yairus Gwijangge, head of the Nduga region, said security forces fired on Alguru village with helicopter sorties on Wednesday, attempting to root out independence fighters they believed were based there.
“Thank God there was no reports of casualties, but we regret that they did not warn us before launching the attacks,” Gwijangge told The Associated Press.
“It caused panic among villagers,” he said, adding he had complained to both the army and police paramilitary forces. “The forces have to be withdrawn,” he said.
Yunus Wonda, the head of Papua province’s parliament, condemned the operation and on Friday called on security forces to leave the occupied village. Villagers were “traumatized,” he said.
An Amnesty International investigation released earlier this month said Indonesia’s police and military are responsible for at least 95 unlawful killings in Papua and West Papua provinces since 2010, including targeted slayings of activists.
A local police chief, Yan Pieter Reba, said security forces were responding to attacks last month by gunmen that killed paramilitary police and civilians.
“These conditions forced police to take law enforcement measures, hunting down and arresting the perpetrators,” he said.
He denied local media reports that four helicopters were used in the operation. The helicopter sorties were “clearing a path” for delivery of supplies to forces, he said.
A pro-independence insurgency has simmered in the formerly Dutch-controlled region since it was annexed by Indonesia in 1963.
Indonesian rule has been frequently brutal, and indigenous Papuans, largely shut out of their region’s economy, are poorer, sicker and more likely to die young than people elsewhere in Indonesia.
Gwijangge’s deputy, Wentius Nimiangge, said the attack was unjustified and casualties were unknown because villagers had fled, state news agency Antara reported.
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6) A guide to understanding the Freeport divestment deal
Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman
Jakarta | Sat, July 14, 2018 | 07:08 am
On Thursday, four Indonesian ministers gathered to witness the signing of an agreement between state-owned mining holding group PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) and Freeport-McMoran (FCX), the owner of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI).
Under the agreement, Indonesia will take control of 51 percent of Freeport Indonesia’s equity, and hence hold a majority stake in the company that operates the world’s largest gold mine, the Grasberg mine, in Papua. The signing was the culmination of years of negotiations, preceding the current administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, and a tug-of -war between Indonesia and the American company
The presence of four ministers at the signing was an indication of the economic and political importance of the deal to the Jokowi administration. But it is not yet a done deal, as officials have liked to claim. The agreement requires the two parties to conduct further negotiations to finalize the details of the divestment. The government expects to finish ironing out the details sometime in August.
Here is your guide to understanding the seemingly never-ending negotiations, and why it matters for Indonesia to cement the deal as soon as possible:
Freeport’s footprint in Indonesia
Freeport-McMoran has operated in Indonesia since it signed its first contract in 1967 in a deal that was good for 30 years. In 1997, it received an extension for its operation until 2021. The two contracts in essence covered mining for copper, with gold and silver treated as associated resources found alongside copper ores.
Both contracts were signed during the regime of president Soeharto. The first contract in 1967 was widely hailed as a landmark moment, symbolizing the ushering in of Indonesia’s open-door policy to foreign investment under the pro-Western Gen. Soeharto, who had just taken over power from the socialist-leaning Sukarno a year earlier.
Developing the mines deep in the mountainous jungles of Papua required huge initial investment to build core infrastructure, including roads, housing and power plants, as well as preparing the pool of workers. In return for this investment, Freeport received generous tax breaks.
Freeport’s first phase of operations exploited the Ertsberg Mountain in Mimika regency. Once the mountain was flattened, Freeport turned to mining the adjacent Mt. Grasberg, which turned out to contain even larger reserves. Freeport is looking to mine the large gold reserves underground, assuming the latest agreement holds.
Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that the reserves at the world’s biggest gold deposit and second-largest copper mine are worth about $14 billion. Freeport-MacMoran’s operations in Indonesia accounted for 47 percent of its operating income in 2017, according to Bloomberg.
Freeport’s huge profits have been a source of contention with long-standing criticism that the tax and royalty revenues paid to the Indonesian government represent only a pittance of its true income. Indonesia’s 9.36 percent stake in PTFI, as stipulated in the 1991 contract of work (CoW), also does not amount to much, particularly as Freeport has at times withheld paying dividends. For example, PTFI paid Rp 1.4 trillion in dividends in 2017 after three years of failing to make any payments, according to the Finance Ministry.
Freeport has also attracted controversy for the environmental and social impacts of its operations in the heart of Papua. Last year, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) came out with a damning report claiming that Freeport had caused $13 billion in environmental damages.
Wind of change for Freeport
In 2009, Indonesia passed the Coal and Mineral Mining Law, or Law No. 4/2009. The law requires all foreign mining companies to divest 51 percent of their shares to the Indonesian government, state-owned or regional-owned enterprises or private Indonesian companies within 10 years of the start of operation.
Freeport has managed to work its way around the regulation by indicating that it is operating under a CoW, which is good until 2021.
In January 2017, the government issued a new regulation requiring all mining contracting companies to switch to special mining permits (IUPK) in order to export products in the form of concentrates, which is one step above ore but still not refined.
Freeport refused to fully comply, arguing that the IUPK was not a nailed-down scheme because the stipulations, including the taxation scheme, could change according to changes in government regulations.
In February 2017, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry issued PTFI an IUPK saying the company had finally agreed to the terms, paving the way for the divestment deal signed on Thursday.
Series of agreements
In August 2017, following pressure from the government to divest its shares in PTFI, Freeport-McMoran’s top management agreed to increase Indonesia's share in PTFI to 51 percent, as well as to develop a smelter and increase Indonesia's revenue from PTFI's tax and royalty payments.
The Indonesian government chose state mining holding company Inalum to become the majority shareholder in PTFI.
However, questions remain regarding the price tag and how Inalum will pay for its stake in Freeport. Inalum president director Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Thursday that the company would have to pay $3.85 billion in August and that it had already secured loans from 11 banks.
What are the benefits of majority ownership in Freeport?
Bisman Bakhtiar, the executive director of the Center for Energy and Mining Law (Pushep), said it was time for Indonesia to take control over the huge gold reserves in Papua, as 50 years had passed since PTFI began operations.
“Too much of our resources have been exploited. Surely after 50 years, we have the capability to operate it ourselves,” Bisman told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Indonesia will reap the largest share of the profits and dividends, which in the past had almost entirely gone to PTFI. The government will also continue to enjoy taxes, royalties as well as a cut of the revenue.
“There are many ways to maximize the benefits from PTFI for the people, and divestment is one of them,” he said.
However, Bisman urged the government to ensure that Indonesia benefited from the next phase of negotiations to finalize the divestment deal.
“Even though we will finally become the majority owner in August, we need to look at the tax, royalty and revenue sharing arrangements. Are they better or not?” (emb/evi)
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7) Freeport remains tight-lipped on fate of furlough workers
Reporter: antara 17 hours ago
Timika, Papua (ANTARA News) - PT. Freeport Indonesia remains tight-lipped on the status of the company`s furlough workers, who had been laid off since April 2017 in Timika, Mimika District, Papua.
When contacted by ANTARA from Timika on Thursday, Vice President Corporate Communication of PT. Freeport Indonesia Riza Pratama was reluctant to comment on this issue.
Pratama`s comments were sought to seek clarity on whether the former workers will be re-employed by Freeport by sending an SMS or WhatsApp message.
However, in fact, no heed was paid to the request.
In fact, Pratama did not respond to the cell phone call from ANTARA.
Earlier on Tuesday, the manpower ministry, Papua provincial manpower office, and Mimika district manpower office had mediated between PT. Freeport Indonesia and representatives of the company`s former employees.
"Several months ago, we received a request from Freeport for recruitment of around 500 new workers in the first batch, and in the second batch, the number to be recruited will be higher," he revealed.
On the occasion, representatives of the manpower ministry, Papuan provincial manpower office, and Mimika district manpower office wanted Freeport to re-employ the workers, who had been laid off since April 2017.
In the meantime, Ruth Paulus of the Papuan manpower office regretted Freeport`s policy to recruit new employees, but the company was reportedly reluctant to re-employ the fired workers on the pretext of efficiency.
(E002/B/INE)
(T.SYS/B/KR-BSR/C/S012)
When contacted by ANTARA from Timika on Thursday, Vice President Corporate Communication of PT. Freeport Indonesia Riza Pratama was reluctant to comment on this issue.
Pratama`s comments were sought to seek clarity on whether the former workers will be re-employed by Freeport by sending an SMS or WhatsApp message.
However, in fact, no heed was paid to the request.
In fact, Pratama did not respond to the cell phone call from ANTARA.
Earlier on Tuesday, the manpower ministry, Papua provincial manpower office, and Mimika district manpower office had mediated between PT. Freeport Indonesia and representatives of the company`s former employees.
"Several months ago, we received a request from Freeport for recruitment of around 500 new workers in the first batch, and in the second batch, the number to be recruited will be higher," he revealed.
On the occasion, representatives of the manpower ministry, Papuan provincial manpower office, and Mimika district manpower office wanted Freeport to re-employ the workers, who had been laid off since April 2017.
In the meantime, Ruth Paulus of the Papuan manpower office regretted Freeport`s policy to recruit new employees, but the company was reportedly reluctant to re-employ the fired workers on the pretext of efficiency.
(E002/B/INE)
(T.SYS/B/KR-BSR/C/S012)
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