2) Pro-independence activists say Papuans won't take part in elections
3) Golput the most sensible choice for West Papua: Filep Karma
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1) Demonstration Papuan People ask KPK to stop intimidating Papuan Governor
Published 2 hours ago on 15 February 2019
Jayapura, Jubi – Thousands of members of People’s Alliance for Papua Defence and civil servants of Papua Provincial Government conducted a peaceful demonstration asking the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to not intimidate the Papuan Governor following the alleged persecution incident in Borobudur Hotel, Jakarta.
Carrying banners “Papuans have united to refuse all forms of intimidation against the Papuan Governor” and “Stop Criminalisation against the Papuan Governor”, thousands of protesters gave orations in front of the Governor Office Building located in Jalan Soa-Siu Dok II, Jayapura on Wednesday (13/2/2019).
The mass coordinator Benyamin Gurik claimed the Central Government has a big scene to pulling down the governor by using the issue of corruption. “This intimidation scenario has been played (by the central government) since the governor’s prior administration. They tried multiple strategies to defeat the governor. Of course, as citizens, we are very upset. Because we knew that Governor Lukas Enembe has a sincere heart and high-commitment to build Papua,” he said.
Gurik also thought that because of his determination of every policy he made, it made some people feel unease because they could no longer manipulate the budget because now everything should be executed according to the rules.
“Because of his strictness, Papua was able to receive the unqualified opinion upon the financial report from the Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK)” he said.
“And also because of him, we can get 10 per cent of Freeport share. Shortly, under his leadership, many people in the central government are not able to steal from Papua. Therefore, they will do anything to stop him,” he continued.
Earlier, Stefanus Roy Rening, the attorney of Papuan Provincial Government, asked the KPK to stop the criminalisation against the Papuan provincial officials and using the issue of persecution against their two officers to cover their failure in a sting operation or ‘Operasi Tangkap Tangan’ in Borobudur Hotel.
“This (persecution) happened because of something, and the KPK must reveal this transparently, fairly and openly to the public. They have to reveal what has been done by their officers in the Borobudur Hotel which triggered this incident,” said Roy.
“Now the KPK attempts to switch the issue of the failed sting operation with the persecution of their officers. I think it’s not fair because what has happened is because they are not professional to misuse their power and authority and use the law to scare the people,” continued Roy.
Until this news is writing, the protest is continuing peacefully and causes traffic congestions in some streets such as Jalan Sam Ratulangi and Soa-Siu Dok II. Meanwhile, hundreds of police officers stand by along the road and location where the demonstrators gathered. (*)
Reporter: Victor Mambor
Editor: Pipit Maizier
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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2) Pro-independence activists say Papuans won't take part in elections
CNN Indonesia - February 13, 2019
Jakarta -- The Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) and the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) say that the West Papuan people will not take part in the 2019 presidential and legislative elections.
This is because they accuse the Indonesian government of illegal political practices in Papua, of failing to uphold the rights of the Papuan people and because both presidential candidates have a bad track record on Papua.
"Indonesia is a state which since the declaration of the Trikora operation on December 19, 1961 has conducted illegal political activities in the territory", said FRI-WP spokesperson Surya Anta at the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) offices in Central Jakarta on Wednesday February 13.
"Because of this we are taking a position and declaring that we will not take part in the 2019 presidential or legislative elections", he said.
Anta explained that what they mean by the territory of West Papua is an area which extends from Numbai to Merauke, Raja Ampat to Baliem and Biak Island to Adi Island.
The groups also believe that the contestants in the 2019 election are the same as those in previous elections where candidates are only interested in garnering votes from the Papuan people.
However there has been no effort by the legislative, presidential or vice presidential candidates to uphold the rights of the West Papuan people.
Speaking in the same vein, Student Struggle Center for National Liberation (Pembebasan) National Collective Secretary General Samsi Mahmud said that the Papuan people are not interested in the 2019 elections.
Aside from Indonesia's illegal political activities, according to Mahmud none of the political parties is articulating the wishes of the Papuan people and the elections are only aimed at maintaining the practice of colonialism.
"[The elections] are a tool for the colonial government to put local power holders in place to safeguard their interests", said Mahmud.
AMP member Erepul Sama meanwhile said that there is no difference between the two presidential candidates, incumbent President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, particularly in their handling of human rights violations.
"Prabowo himself has a bad track record in Papua such as the Mapenduma incident. But this doesn't mean that Jokowi is any better", said Sama.
"Jokowi has allowed human rights violations to occur again and again, for example in the bloody Paniai case which has still not been resolved", he added.
Aside from declaring that they will not take part in the 2019 elections, the FRP-WP and the AMP made three other demands: that West Papuans be given the right to self-determination, that all organic and non-organic troops be withdrawn from Papua and that journalists be given free access to Papua. (ani/arh)
Notes
Operation Trikora was declared by Indonesian founding President Sukarno in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on December 19, 1961. It was an Indonesian military operation aimed at harassing and forcing the Dutch out of Netherlands New Guinea in 1961-62 rather than one intended to suppress a nascent independence movement.
The Mapenduma operation was a botched rescue operation in the remote Mapenduma area of West Papua led by then Kopassus commander Prabowo Subianto in 1996 to secure the release of World Wildlife Fund researches taken hostage by the Free Papua Movement. The attempt ended in a military attack on Geselema village resulting in the death of up to eight civilians.
On December 8, 2014, barely two months after Widodo was sworn in as president, five students were killed and 17 others seriously injured when police and military opened fire on a group of protesters and local residents in the town of Enarotali, Paniai regency. Shortly after the incident Widodo personally pledged to resolve the case but four years into his presidency no one has been held accountable for the shootings.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Golput, Aktivis West Papua Tuding Jokowi Prabowo Sama Saja".]
Source: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20190213141116-32-368892/golput-aktivis-west-papua-tuding-jokowi-prabowo-sama-saja?
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INDOLEFT News service
CNN Indonesia - February 13, 2019
Jakarta -- The Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) and the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) say that the West Papuan people will not take part in the 2019 presidential and legislative elections.
This is because they accuse the Indonesian government of illegal political practices in Papua, of failing to uphold the rights of the Papuan people and because both presidential candidates have a bad track record on Papua.
"Indonesia is a state which since the declaration of the Trikora operation on December 19, 1961 has conducted illegal political activities in the territory", said FRI-WP spokesperson Surya Anta at the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) offices in Central Jakarta on Wednesday February 13.
"Because of this we are taking a position and declaring that we will not take part in the 2019 presidential or legislative elections", he said.
Anta explained that what they mean by the territory of West Papua is an area which extends from Numbai to Merauke, Raja Ampat to Baliem and Biak Island to Adi Island.
The groups also believe that the contestants in the 2019 election are the same as those in previous elections where candidates are only interested in garnering votes from the Papuan people.
However there has been no effort by the legislative, presidential or vice presidential candidates to uphold the rights of the West Papuan people.
Speaking in the same vein, Student Struggle Center for National Liberation (Pembebasan) National Collective Secretary General Samsi Mahmud said that the Papuan people are not interested in the 2019 elections.
Aside from Indonesia's illegal political activities, according to Mahmud none of the political parties is articulating the wishes of the Papuan people and the elections are only aimed at maintaining the practice of colonialism.
"[The elections] are a tool for the colonial government to put local power holders in place to safeguard their interests", said Mahmud.
AMP member Erepul Sama meanwhile said that there is no difference between the two presidential candidates, incumbent President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, particularly in their handling of human rights violations.
"Prabowo himself has a bad track record in Papua such as the Mapenduma incident. But this doesn't mean that Jokowi is any better", said Sama.
"Jokowi has allowed human rights violations to occur again and again, for example in the bloody Paniai case which has still not been resolved", he added.
Aside from declaring that they will not take part in the 2019 elections, the FRP-WP and the AMP made three other demands: that West Papuans be given the right to self-determination, that all organic and non-organic troops be withdrawn from Papua and that journalists be given free access to Papua. (ani/arh)
Notes
Operation Trikora was declared by Indonesian founding President Sukarno in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on December 19, 1961. It was an Indonesian military operation aimed at harassing and forcing the Dutch out of Netherlands New Guinea in 1961-62 rather than one intended to suppress a nascent independence movement.
The Mapenduma operation was a botched rescue operation in the remote Mapenduma area of West Papua led by then Kopassus commander Prabowo Subianto in 1996 to secure the release of World Wildlife Fund researches taken hostage by the Free Papua Movement. The attempt ended in a military attack on Geselema village resulting in the death of up to eight civilians.
On December 8, 2014, barely two months after Widodo was sworn in as president, five students were killed and 17 others seriously injured when police and military opened fire on a group of protesters and local residents in the town of Enarotali, Paniai regency. Shortly after the incident Widodo personally pledged to resolve the case but four years into his presidency no one has been held accountable for the shootings.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Golput, Aktivis West Papua Tuding Jokowi Prabowo Sama Saja".]
Source: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20190213141116-32-368892/golput-aktivis-west-papua-tuding-jokowi-prabowo-sama-saja?
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INDOLEFT News service
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3) Golput the most sensible choice for West Papua: Filep Karma
CNN Indonesia - February 15, 2019
Jakarta -- Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) researcher Aisah Putri Badriati is surprised that neither presidential candidate has raised the issue of West Papua in first presidential debate on January 17.
Puput, as his usually called, suspects that this is because of the two candidate's track records, neither of which has a clean record on human rights (HAM) in the land of Papua.
"I the case of number one [President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo] for example, he promised to resolved HAM violations but to this day there has been no clarity. In the case of the second [Prabowo Subianto], we already know about his involvement is in HAM violations", said Badriati during a discussion organised by Amnesty International Indonesia at the Aryaduta Hotel in Jakarta on Thursday February 14
Badriati actually thinks that a discussion on Papua will only emerged during the second debate on Sunday February 17. This is because economic issues will be one of the topics in the debate.
But even if the issue is raised, Badriati suspects that the discussion will just be on economic problems in Papua.
"It [should] not just be about the failure of development but there are three other [important] aspects, namely marginalisation, political history and HAM violations", said Badriati whose research focus is on Papua.
Filep Karma, a Papuan pro-independence figure who also took part in the discussion, said that golput [white group, to abstain from voting] is the most sensible option. According to Karma, both presidential candidates are a bad as each other.
Aside from the two candidate's track records, both of which are bad, Karma also feels that it is difficult to trust the outcome of elections in Papua.
"Our experience has been that even if we don't go to the TPS [polling station], the vote [turnout] will still be 100 percent", said Karma laughing heartily.
Karma also said that the elections which he has experienced and witnessed in Papua are often marked by violence. This he said has not changed from one regime to the next.
"For me, no matter who is elected it will have no benefit for us as Papuan people. Because what we are faced with is the barrel of a gun. That's what happens", said Karma.
Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid said that in his view neither presidential candidate has a clear mission or vision on how to improve the situation in Papua.
During the presidential election (pilpres) campaign so far, Hamid has not seen the Widodo or the Prabowo camp take up the issue of resolving human rights cases or putting an end to violence and discrimination in Papua as an important agenda item.
There were a number issues on Papua which according to discussion participants were important, such as an appreciation of Papuan identity, affirmative policies, the protection of human rights, women, the unresolved implementation of Special Autonomy, the eradication of corruption and a moratorium on natural resource development.
"From what we can see, both from Jokowi-Ma'ruf as well as Prabowo-Sandi, is there has been no discussion on this", said Hamid.
In order to take the Papua issue further, Hamid pledged to submit the recommendations of the forum to the two presidential election campaign teams.
The discussion forum, which was titled "Taking up the Papua Question in the 2019 Pilpres", was attended by quite a large number of national and Papuan social figures.
They included LIPI's coordinator for Papuan studies Adriana Elizabeth, lawyer and Papua Democracy Alliance director Latifah Anum Siregar, Ombudsman commissioner Ahmad Suaedi, the daughter of former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, Inayah Wahid, as well as West Papuan figures such as former political prisoner Filep Karma, Papua Kemah Injili Church Sinode chairperson Reverend Benny Giay and United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) executive director Markus Haluk. (bin/pmg)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Isu Papua yang Tenggelam dan Golput Pilpres 2019".]
Source: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20190214202730-32-369429/isu-papua-yang-tenggelam-dan-golput-pilpres-2019
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INDOLEFT News service
CNN Indonesia - February 15, 2019
Jakarta -- Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) researcher Aisah Putri Badriati is surprised that neither presidential candidate has raised the issue of West Papua in first presidential debate on January 17.
Puput, as his usually called, suspects that this is because of the two candidate's track records, neither of which has a clean record on human rights (HAM) in the land of Papua.
"I the case of number one [President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo] for example, he promised to resolved HAM violations but to this day there has been no clarity. In the case of the second [Prabowo Subianto], we already know about his involvement is in HAM violations", said Badriati during a discussion organised by Amnesty International Indonesia at the Aryaduta Hotel in Jakarta on Thursday February 14
Badriati actually thinks that a discussion on Papua will only emerged during the second debate on Sunday February 17. This is because economic issues will be one of the topics in the debate.
But even if the issue is raised, Badriati suspects that the discussion will just be on economic problems in Papua.
"It [should] not just be about the failure of development but there are three other [important] aspects, namely marginalisation, political history and HAM violations", said Badriati whose research focus is on Papua.
Filep Karma, a Papuan pro-independence figure who also took part in the discussion, said that golput [white group, to abstain from voting] is the most sensible option. According to Karma, both presidential candidates are a bad as each other.
Aside from the two candidate's track records, both of which are bad, Karma also feels that it is difficult to trust the outcome of elections in Papua.
"Our experience has been that even if we don't go to the TPS [polling station], the vote [turnout] will still be 100 percent", said Karma laughing heartily.
Karma also said that the elections which he has experienced and witnessed in Papua are often marked by violence. This he said has not changed from one regime to the next.
"For me, no matter who is elected it will have no benefit for us as Papuan people. Because what we are faced with is the barrel of a gun. That's what happens", said Karma.
Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid said that in his view neither presidential candidate has a clear mission or vision on how to improve the situation in Papua.
During the presidential election (pilpres) campaign so far, Hamid has not seen the Widodo or the Prabowo camp take up the issue of resolving human rights cases or putting an end to violence and discrimination in Papua as an important agenda item.
There were a number issues on Papua which according to discussion participants were important, such as an appreciation of Papuan identity, affirmative policies, the protection of human rights, women, the unresolved implementation of Special Autonomy, the eradication of corruption and a moratorium on natural resource development.
"From what we can see, both from Jokowi-Ma'ruf as well as Prabowo-Sandi, is there has been no discussion on this", said Hamid.
In order to take the Papua issue further, Hamid pledged to submit the recommendations of the forum to the two presidential election campaign teams.
The discussion forum, which was titled "Taking up the Papua Question in the 2019 Pilpres", was attended by quite a large number of national and Papuan social figures.
They included LIPI's coordinator for Papuan studies Adriana Elizabeth, lawyer and Papua Democracy Alliance director Latifah Anum Siregar, Ombudsman commissioner Ahmad Suaedi, the daughter of former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, Inayah Wahid, as well as West Papuan figures such as former political prisoner Filep Karma, Papua Kemah Injili Church Sinode chairperson Reverend Benny Giay and United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) executive director Markus Haluk. (bin/pmg)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Isu Papua yang Tenggelam dan Golput Pilpres 2019".]
Source: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20190214202730-32-369429/isu-papua-yang-tenggelam-dan-golput-pilpres-2019
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INDOLEFT News service
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