In Memoriam Father Neles Kebadabi Tebay - ‘a pioneer’

In Memoriam Father Neles Kebadabi Tebay - ‘a pioneer’

Jayapura, 21 April 2019 

Theo van den Broek 

The mass of funerary wreaths on the way up to the High school for Theology and Philosophy (STFT) where Fr Neles Tebay has been laid to rest is impressive. All layers of the society are represented, the government (local as well as national), the religious institutions, the NGOs, the security forces and great variety of persons and just ordinary people. No doubt left that the man who died at the age of 55 after fighting a devastating bone cancer has touched the heart and mind of a lot of people. 

Here at the STFT he is back at the place where he has been lecturing from 2007 to 2019. To prepare for that he studied in the Philippines (Ateneo Jesuit) 1995-1998 and in Rome (Pontificia Universitas Urbaniana) 2000-2006. While he was at the STFT during 1998-1999, before leaving for Rome, Father Neles shared the experience of the relative short ‘spring-time’ in Papua after President Suharto was forced to step down and all of a sudden ample room was given to free expression of opinion and aspirations in Papua. Also churches responded to that change with giving more explicit attention to human rights issues and local aspirations and speaking up clearly via its Secretariat for Justice and Peace (SKP) in the Catholic Church and the Institute for Study of Human Rights (Elsham), very much connected with the Protestant Church. 

Father Neles joined in with these developments as they challenged his own interest of looking for a way to overcome the often paralyzing socio-political problems in Papua. At his ordination as a catholic priest in 1992 in his home-community in Waghete, where he was born in 1964, the elders of the indigenous community handed him a ‘name with a mission’, Kebadabi, which means: ‘pioneer’, ‘someone who opens up the way’. Within that mission, the recent attention to human rights and related issues in Papua was very appealing to him. 

Although he left for Rome in 2000, he nursed a close relationship with SKP and followed developments in Papua. Including landmark events such as the second Papua Congress that proclaimed so loudly the deep aspiration of the Papuan People to become independent. Including also the inspiring effort made during a SKP-organized workshop ‘Building a Culture of Peace moving towards Papua Land of Peace’ in 2002 that involved representatives of almost all the sections of the Papua-society to give more meaning to what “peace” in Papua should stand for concretely. The workshop delivered a rather comprehensive understanding of “Peace” touching very concrete aspects such as: harmony-unity, truth and justice, feeling secure, welfare, participation of all, solidarity and tolerance, recognition and self-esteem, information and communication. At the same time a motto got popularized, “Papua Tanah Damai” (Papua Land of Peace) under which the various sides could join in and 

meet each other. Fr Neles followed closely these developments and made them an active part of his own agenda. 

As interest in Papua was also growing in the European community, Fr Neles became one of the main resource-persons invited to share his insights in the complex situation of Papua in various international conferences and workshops. Over a couple of years he – often in cooperation with SKP and Elsham in Papua - was able to create an impressive network of contacts and international understanding and sympathy for the situation in Papua. And, not surprising, the doctoral dissertation concluding his missiology study in Rome carries the title: “The reconciling Mission of the Church in West Papua in the light of Reconciliation and Repentance”. 

Back in Papua (2007) he continued his journey as ‘a man with a mission’. In January 2010 the “Papua Peace Network” (JDP) was set up by a number of activists and Father Neles was named the coordinator for Papua, while Bapak Muridan S. Widjojo, research staff of LIPI (Indonesian Institute for Study and Research) was asked to coordinate the lobbying at the central government level in Jakarta. Developing its agenda JDP provided the motto “Papua Land of Peace” and its ‘comprehensive peace concept’ with a more operational structure and strategy. At the same time they used the results of a study by LIPI, “Papua Road Map: Negotiating the Past, Improving the Present and Securing the Future” (2008) as an analytical base. JDP’s aim can be summarized in just one word: dialogue! In just very simple words: ‘if we just stick to our respective “absolute conditions”, for Indonesia the indisputable political status of the Republic and for the Papuans the demand for independency, we only will stay in a paralyzing deadlock, no way out and finally everything will get lost. We have to open up, we have to look for the truth together and to recognize each other to find a dignified way. Sitting down together and dialoguing truly and honestly will be the sole way towards a solution that meets our human standard of dignity and mutual respect’. 

Under the inspiring leadership of Father Neles, JDP organized consultation-meetings all over Papua, gathering Papuan communities, and at a later stage also reaching out to migrant communities, to discuss openly the situation in Papua and ‘what to do?’ The message was spread in Papua and many people started talking enthusiastically about the dialogue as a solution, while also intensive and very demanding lobbying took place in the centre of the national government in Jakarta, where Bapak Muridan accompanied Father Neles to win the heart and minds in the circle of policy-makers, including a listening ear of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. 

Also a wider public was reached by Fr Neles via his writings in the various local and national papers. His way of writing was appealing because it put complex matters in simple language while respectfully addressing anyone who might have a different opinion. He put ‘another Papua’ on the national map, different from what most of readers used to encounter in the national mass-media. Part of his extraordinary personality was Father Neles’ capacity to communicate with just anybody, from the President to his beloved people in the village. 

The results of the consultation all over Papua were put together during a “Peace Conference” in Papua in August 2011. This conference got ample support by the central goverment in Jakarta and was therefore promising as an important step in the right direction. The conference delivered an overview of indicators for peace in Papua, identified per sector of attention (economy, health, education, socio-cultural, security and politics). A handy and comprehensive Roadmap for Peace in Papua, ready to be used! 

At the end of the Peace Conference and looking to the road ahead, initial remarks were made on how to select the participants for the very much hope-for dialogue. This part proved very sensitive and made some observers from Jakarta rather nervous, asking themselves: are we talking about a dialogue, or are we involved in a process of independency? This uncertainty translated into a lesser involvement of the central government in the further process, its participation decreased significantly leaving Father Neles and the whole JDP-team in a rather difficult position. But they never lost the conviction that they were moving in the right direction: bringing the various stakeholders together to find a solution together, no matter how sensitive the issues to be discussed might be. 

A special event in Papua, the Third Papua Congress in October 2011, indirectly pressed again to look for dialogue. The Congress declared its independency as a Papuan Nation and doing so the participants were confronted with a very brutal reaction by the security forces. Some were killed and scores of people were beaten up and taken to the police station. The leaders were put in jail. This brutal action by the security forces triggered a heavy reaction nationwide, including very much nationally respected people who started questioning Indonesia’s policy in Papua, and started calling for a dignified approach to solve problems in Papua. Renewed interest in the dialogue surfaced clearly. Father Neles together with JDP’s efforts had evidently made their mark. Nine consecutive explorative meetings were hold gathering representatives from Papua with representatives from the central government during 2012-2014. Main aim: to get familiar with each other, creating mutual trust and insight in respective policies. Although an official summary of the results has been formulated, the impact of these meetings has been rather limited, partly because there was too much change in persons/representatives of the central government, and therefore no continuity reached or secured. 

In the meantime Father Neles’ relentless commitment and struggle for a peaceful solution in Papua, which was already monitored quite intensive by partners in Europe, also gained attention in Asia. In 2013 Father Neles received South Korea’s prestigious Tji Hak-soon Justice and Peace Award. This international recognition probably challenged the Indonesian authorities to give more substantial room to the dialogue with the Papuan people. 

At the same time some other developments challenged the popularity of the dialogue pushed for by Father Neles. The developments around internationalization of the ‘Papua-problem’ that materilalized in and after 2013 and which resulted in a strong support by Pacific island states, in uniting the political struggle via a representative body named United Liberation Movement West Papua (ULMWP) and in opening up a discussion on Papua on international forums such as the UN and European Union. These developments didn’t go unnoticed by the indigenous Papuan community and slowly expectations raised high. These expectations were less connected with a dialogue, but more with backing up the agenda of the National Commission West Papua (KNPB) and the related international movement, a call for a new referendum on Papua’s political status. Within this context the presence of human rights violations, including being jailed, beaten up and even killed - the fate of quite some KNPB members - became a kind of ‘sacrifice needed’ and ‘taken for granted’ as the price to be paid. 

Calling for peace and dialogue in this new context slowly became a very difficult and complex mission. And once in a while Father Neles was labeled as ‘being in the other camp’ or even mistrusted. Nevertheless Father Neles -and this characterizes him very much- never got discouraged and continued his call against the use of violence and his fight for the dialogue as the only dignified way towards a peaceful solution. It included also a meeting 

with the President in August 2017, where once again he had a chance to explain the need of a dialogue-process. 

The President looked for some constructive steps towards a solution of the Papua-problem, and set up a national commission for dialogue chaired by Father Neles by the end of 2017. The commission was meant to start a ‘sectoral dialogue’, a dialogue on the concrete problems in some specific sectors, i.e. health, education, good governance, and economy. However, certain sectors were explicitly excluded from the mandate of the commission: no discussion on the political and security sector. Although very disappointed about this exclusion, after consulting with the JDP-team Father Neles accepted the nomination by the President as chair of the commission. Some of his friends were not pleased with his decision and told him so. Father Neles respected the difference of opinion and argued that ‘once again there was a small opening, an opportunity and that opportunity should be used in the process for the full and true dialogue he always has in mind. Indeed, not ideal, but a strategy that hopefully leads to more room for opening up the problems in the sectors not yet included in the current offer’. 

Father Neles has struggled relentlessly to find a dignified solution to the problems. This is what people have seen and made him a pioneer who was pointing in the right direction. He has met with support and resistance in the process and has appreciated both, not forcing his opinion, but sharing. A spokesman for the National Commission West Papua (KNPB) voiced it in his own way: “Kebadabi (the pioneer) passed away. He left us the peaceful road to end the problems in Papua without killing the struggle of the Papua People”. 

His consistent struggle, his never decreasing trust and optimism, his disarming warm laugh and high competence have made him the man who is accepted and loved by so many people, the man who was hoped for to become the first Papuan bishop in Papua, and the man who will be missed dearly. The Papuan People are extremely proud of him, as expressed during funeral speech by his old teacher, Phillipus Degei: “we, a very traditional indigenous Papua community, often looked down at, we, we delivered this great person to Papua, Indonesia and the world”. 

Listening to all the people present during the ceremonies around his passing away and funeral, one extraordinary conclusion stands out indisputable: people recognize in Father Neles’ life and struggle their own ‘dream and aspiration’: being recognized and living in peace, peace, peace! That aspiration/dream is embodied in Father Neles and makes him the man to be followed, now and tomorrow! 

Jayapura, 21 April 2019 

Theo van den Broek 

http://www.humanrightspapua.org/news/31-2019/431-in-memoriam-father-neles-kebadabi-tebay-a-pioneer

Build the campaign for a genuine act of free choice for West Papua

https://socialism.com/fso-article/fifty-years-is-too-long/

Build the campaign for a genuine act of free choice for West Papua

Fifty years is too long 

MAY 2019

Earlier this year the United Liberation Movement for West Papua served a petition on the UN High Commission for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, demanding a fresh independence vote for West Papua. The petition, which has more than 1.8 million signatures, will be raised at the General Assembly in September. The Melanesian peoples, who’ve lived in West Papua for tens of thousands of years, continue to campaign resolutely for their independence and urgently need support. 

Lines on a map. European control and exploitation has left a terrible legacy right across the Pacific — not least in West Papua where the people continue to resist. The island of New Guinea was divided by colonialism, setting each half of the island on different courses. 

The Dutch began their colonial plunder of the vast region they called the East Indies in the 16thcentury. Their arrival sparked centuries of wars and disturbances as distinct nations across the archipelago asserted their independence against the colonisers. The western half of the island of New Guinea was formally claimed as a Dutch colony in 1898. 

In the aftermath of Japanese occupation during World War 2, Indonesians fought a 4-year war of independence, freeing themselves from Dutch colonial rule in 1949. But the Dutch hung on to West Papua, whose people desired independence as part of a unified Papua New Guinea. Indonesia had other ideas about the resource-rich region. In 1962, at the height of the Cold War, the U.S., keen to discourage Indonesia from getting too close to the Soviet Union, supported West Papuan integration into Indonesia. Australia, which until then had supported independence, performed a foreign policy backflip, and the West Papuans were the collateral damage. 

Under orders from the UN and the U.S., the Indonesian government attempted to give integration some legitimacy through the “Act of Free Choice” in 1969. This was a vote with 1,025 hand-picked West Papuans — less than 0.2 percent of the population. Surrounded by Indonesians, they voted unanimously to remain part of Indonesia. Outside, those who chanted “Sandure! Sandure!,” which means “Freedom! Freedom!,” were hauled away in vans. It is 50 years since this sham vote: far from a free choice, it widely referred to as the Act of no choice.  

No time to waste. The situation is desperate for the people of West Papua, who have no political freedoms and are routinely harassed, jailed and even brutally killed for organising. Media access is restricted. Although the province is the richest in Indonesia, the West Papuans are the poorest. Huge corporates — including BP, with its massive Tangguh gas field, and the Freeport gold and copper mines — funnel out profits while leaving behind environmental devastation. There’s a two-tier health system, and life expectancy for the Melanesian population is low. State violence against women, including sexual violence, is rife. As part of a program of Indonesianisation, the state acts to wipe out indigenous language and culture, and provides generous incentives for people from Java to settle in West Papua. In 1960, non-Melanesians were less than 2.5 percent of the population, but today Melanesians are becoming a minority in West Papua. This is indeed slow-motion genocide.

Representatives of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua in Australia have launched a petition to the Australian Senate, demanding that it instructs Australia to vote in support of the upcoming independence referendum for West Papua. Get behind this effort now! 

Change.org petition: Add West Papua to the UN Decolonization List at the 2019 General Assembly

Add link: www.change.org/p/gillian-bird-add-west-papua-to-the-un-decolonization-list-at-the-2019-general-assembly

1) West Papua treason trial adjourned until Thursday

2) School, homes in Sorong, West Papua, inundated by floods

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https://eng.jubi.co.id/west-papua-treason-trial-adjourned-until-thursday/

1) West Papua treason trial adjourned until Thursday

Published 4 hours ago on 30 April 2019 By pr9c6tr3_juben

Papua, Jubi – The trial of three West Papuans charged with treason has been adjourned until tomorrow.

Prosecutors in Timika’s district court were due to call on witnesses on Tuesday to give evidence against Yanto Awerkion, Sem Asso and Edo Dogopia.

But a lawyer for the men, Veronica Koman, said the prosecution failed to bring the witnesses to the hearing, which the judges had called for.

The defendants are also scheduled to be questioned during the proceedings.

Meanwhile, a civil lawsuit Ms Koman has filed against Indonesian police for its occupation of a Papuan independence group’s headquarters continues today in Timika.

Ms Koman is seeking $US80,000 in damages sustained to the West Papua National Committee’s (KNPB) Timika secretariat when police forcibly took control last December. (*)

 Source: RNZI

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https://en.antaranews.com/news/124548/school-homes-in-sorong-west-papua-inundated-by-floods

2) School, homes in Sorong, West Papua, inundated by floods

10 hours ago

Sorong, West Papua (ANTARA) - Floods, arising from continual torrential downpour since Sunday, have inundated numerous homes and a school in Sorong, West Papua Province.

Local resident Andy noted here, Monday, that parts of Sorong City did get inundated during the rainy season.

Those bearing the maximum brunt of the floods were residential areas on Jupiter and Sungai Maruni streets,

Tens of homes on Meltai Street and an area on Sapta Taruna Street were submerged in floodwaters reaching heights of an adult's knee.

An elementary school building located on Melati Street also got submerged.

Andy has appealed to the Sorong administration to solve the problem of recurrent flooding in the city.

In the meantime, floods recently struck parts of Indonesia. Flooding, brought on by unremitting heavy downpour in Bengkulu Province, Sumatra, on April 26, 2019, claimed 29 lives, rendered 13 missing, and led to the displacement of 12 thousand people.

In Jakarta, floods wrecked havoc in 32 areas in the South, East and West Jakarta municipalities.

In South Jakarta, the flood-stricken areas comprised Pengadegan, Rawajati, Cikoko, and Kebon Baru. In East Jakarta, floods struck Cawang, Balekembang, Cililitan, Kampung Melayu, and Bidara Cina. In West Jakarta, Kembangan Utara was flooded.

The Jakarta flooding claimed the lives of two residents and resulted in the displacement of 285 households comprising 2,258 people, who are currently seeking refuge at 12 locations in South and East Jakarta.

Intense rains in Bogor, the upstream area of Jakarta, led to flash flooding in Jakarta, as the Ciliwung River overflowed its bank on Thursday evening. The water levels in Ciliwung reached between 220 and 250 cm.

The Social Affairs Ministry and Jakarta Social Affairs Office established 11 public kitchens and deployed 218 rescue team members to assist victims of flooding that struck the capital city on Thursday, April 26, 2019.

The public kitchens were set up in Cililitan, Balaekembang, Cawang, Kebon Baru, Bidara Cina, Pejaten Timur, Rawajati, and Pengadegan in East and South Jakarta, among other things, Social Affairs Minister Agus Gumiwang remarked here, Sunday.

The public kitchens churn out 10,558 food parcels each day.

The Social Affairs Ministry has set aside Rp608,640,000 to handle the impact of flooding in Jakarta, including Rp15 million each for two Jakarta residents, who lost their lives in the flooding.

Floods also inundated several hundred homes in Musi Banyuasin District, South Sumatra Province, after nonstop heavy rainfall since Saturday.

Reporter: Ernes B Kakisina, Fardah
Editor: Sri Haryati

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Ruling today for Polish man accused of treason in West Papua

https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/388006/ruling-today-for-polish-man-accused-of-treason-in-west-papua

Ruling today for Polish man accused of treason in West Papua

RNZI 1.08 pm today

Judges in Indonesia's Papua region will today rule on the case of a Polish man who allegedly supplied arms to Papuan rebels.

Prosecutors have demanded ten years for Jakub Skrzypski, who was arrested in August last year and charged with treason.

Last week, the Wamena City Court heard that Jakub Skrzypski had planned to procure weapons for the West Papua Liberation Army, according to a copy of a response she gave on Thursday.

The rebel group is at the centre of an armed war with Indonesian security forces in Papua's central Highlands.

Public prosecutor Febiana Wilma Sorbu said Mr Skrzypski had tried to help the Liberation Army form an independent state from Indonesia.

Mr Skrzypski and his lawyer have maintained he was a tourist who had met with the rebels but was not involved in selling arms.

Judges will hear final arguments today before reaching a verdict.

In a separate case before the Timika City Court, witnesses will today present evidence in a civil lawsuit seeking $US80,000 from Indonesian police for damages sustained to the West Papua National Committee's (KNPB) Timika secretariat when police forcibly took control last December.

Police have argued in court that they have lawfully been looking after the secretariat as a seized good, according to Veronica Koman, a lawyer who filed the lawsuit.

1) West Papuan leader who advocated compromise dies

2) ‘It opened my eyes’: the Indonesian woman fighting for West Papuan rights

3)  Papua Highlands emergency school roll grows

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1) West Papuan leader who advocated compromise dies

RNZI 6:04 pm today 

Johnny Blades Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific 

A former West Papuan independence campaigner who became an Indonesian government supporter, Franzalbert Joku, has died in Jayapura.

Mr Joku, who controversially advocated autonomy for Papua within Indonesia rather than independence, died yesterday aged 66 after illness linked with heart disease and kidney failure.

He was a prominent landowner from Sentani and formerly the spokesman for the Papua Presidium Council which galvanised momentum in the West Papuan independence struggle at the turn of the century.

But the 'Papua Spring' was short-lived, while the Presidium lost ground after Indonesian military special forces assassinated its charismatic leader Theys Eluay.

Although a key supporter of Eluay, Franzalbert Joku eventually threw his support behind the Special Autonomy Status which Indonesia granted Papua in 2001 in response to the demands for independence.

After fleeing Indonesian rule in his homeland as a younger man, Mr Joku returned for good in 2008.

He became a frequent representative of Indonesia's government on West Papua matters at regional fora such as the Melanesian Spearhead Group and the Pacific Forum.

A gifted orator with extensive links in the region, Franzalbert Joku came to the conclusion that independence was not a realistic option, and that Papuans should focus their energies on being part of the Indonesian state.

"Now I say this without meaning to undermine my brothers and sisters who are still out there in the jungle or in other countries advocating outright independence," he told RNZ Pacific in 2015.

"I just look at the issues and try to place them within the context and try to look at what options are within the realm of possibilities."

Mr Joku's shifting of allegiances has made him a distrusted figure among many in the West Papuan independence movement.

But when asked last year in his last interview with RNZ Pacific about whether Papua should have independence, Mr Joku said a "deeper look at the issues" was required.

"Independence, for some of us, doesn't mean an instant action of declaring a sovereign nation," he said.

"I think it's more a value. In order to find that value of freedom, of being independent, it is a continuing process.

"I differ between being an independent, sovereign nation of Papua, than being free and well-off economically, socially within a government structure that is in existence today," he explained.

"Like in any other political processes, you can never win outright. You always end up with political compromise."

"Special Autonomy, however imperfect and incomplete it may be, is an acceptable political compromise, and we need to grab hold of it earnestly, and make it serve our interests.”

https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/388032/west-papuan-leader-who-advocated-compromise-dies

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2) ‘It opened my eyes’: the Indonesian woman fighting for West Papuan rights

Helen Davidson   Mon 29 Apr 2019 10.44 AEST Last modified on Mon 29 Apr 2019 13.24 AEST  

Lawyer Veronica Koman has been called a traitor and faced death threats as part of her legal battle to hold Indonesia’s police to account

West Papuan activist Victor Yeimo and Indonesian lawyer Veronica Koman at the United Nations in New York. Photograph: Veronica Koman

An Indonesian human rights lawyer is among those taking the Indonesian police to court on behalf of all West Papuans, in an unprecedented civil case over what she claims is the illegal takeover of an activist group’s headquarters.

Veronica Koman is part of a legal coalition bringing the civil suit which is the first of its kind, and although it focuses on one particular incident, is seen as a landmark case in the fight for West Papuan independence from Indonesia.

The case – she is pursing police for more than $100,000 in damages over their raid of an activist group’s headquarters on New Year’s Eve – has come at a personal cost.

Koman, who is based in Indonesia but travels to West Papua to represent those charged with separatism-related crimes, told the Guardian her work has led to abuse and death threats.

At a December rally she and others were pelted with rocks by fellow Indonesians, and she became the specific target of anti-separatist protests, sending her into hiding. “It was pretty rough … people were screaming at me: ‘you traitor, you are funding this separatism’,” she said.

Koman said she used to be “very nationalistic” when she was working as a legal aid officer in Jakarta. But when she learned of the shooting deaths of four schoolchildren by Indonesian authorities in December 2014 she became involved in public demonstrations and met West Papuan independence activists.

“Once I heard about the 2014 killings case and I started to learn more about West Papua… and it really opened my eyes. That’s my mission now, to expose what’s happening in West Papua.”

“I learn bravery and resilience from the West Papuan people. It really changed my life – how I see it, and how I see resistance.”

Koman and other local West Papuan lawyers are representing an activist group called the National Committee for West Papua (KNPB) in the legal claim against the Mimika branch of Indonesia’s Papua police over the New Year’s Eve raid. “Hundreds of fully armed police and military came at 6am,” Koman said of the raid. She is also representing people charged with treason offences and alleges several were seriously injured and showed signs of “excessive force” by police.

Koman said KNPB had become a “hub” for the local community, running social programs, prayer meetings, and mediating tribal disputes. “They were sleeping in the headquarters – it’s not just people discussing independence all the time.”

The Papuan regional police said they were taking over the building as a joint security post with the military and say they were within their rights to seize control of the building because it belonged to the local government, which had given it to the local community. Authorities have also said the land belonged to Freeport, the operator of the nearby Grasberg gold and copper mine.

Koman and the KNPB dispute this, saying they have written evidence from the Amingme customary owners that the land was given to them.

It is difficult to gain a true picture of the struggle. Foreign media is banned from entering West Papua, and misinformation is common. “Indonesian security forces tend to underplay what is happening – the numbers etc – while West Papuan’s tend to overplay,” Koman says.

However she believes the majority of it comes from Indonesia, which she says engages in “total distortion”.

“That’s why I understand [Indonesians’] way of thinking – I was one of them,” she said. “We in Jakarta don’t hear about the human rights violations.”

Around the time of the raid on the Timika headquarters, authorities arrested several activists as part of treason investigations, later charging three, whom Koman represented at a trial last week.

“They’re facing up to 20 years of imprisonment for treason, for ridiculous reasons – for praying and wanting to hold their traditional ceremony,” she said.

A second trial sees two KNPB members charged with “disobedience against authority”, which carries prison sentences of up to two years, she said.

The trials come amid a months-long escalation in the long-running civil conflict, after separatist militants attacked a construction site, killing at least 17 people.

The militants claimed all those killed were Indonesian military, but Indonesia said they were civilian construction workers, and launched a crackdown on the region, which continues. On Friday, Indonesian authorities said two soldiers had been injured in an ambush by rebels.

Indonesian authorities have also alleged election organisers in Papua were attacked by armed militia.

The court is expected to make a decision on the civil case in coming weeks.

Indonesia’s representatives in Australia have been contacted for comment.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/29/it-opened-my-eyes-the-indonesian-woman-fighting-for-west-papuan-independence

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3)  Papua Highlands emergency school roll grows

12:44 pm today 

Volunteer education services continue for West Papuan children displaced by ongoing conflict in the Highlands.

Nduga regency has been the focal point of fighting between the West Papua Liberation Army and Indonesia's military.

The military increased its operations in the region after the Liberation Army massacred at least sixteen road construction workers in early December.

Since then, dozens of people have been killed and many injured in ongoing exchanges, sending local communities fleeing to the bush.

Over two thousand villagers fled to Wamena in neighbouring Jayawijaya regency.

The Humanity Volunteer Team of Nduga has been helping displaced communities in Wamena with food, health and education needs.

The team's co-ordinator, Ence Florian, said the emergency temporary school which the team established for displaced children continued to grow.

"At the beginning we started with 320 students from Nduga, but now we have 730 students from Nduga."

Mr Florian, who is also executive secretary of the Lotus Heart Foundation of Papua, said the students were from fifteen elementary schools, five secondary schools, and one high school

He said that the displaced villagers were struggling to find shelter, but in some cases they were able to stay with relatives or friends in the neighbouring regency.

"There are some houses where there are about fifty people in one house," Mr Florian explained.

According to him, there are also about 700 displaced Papuans in Lanny Jaya regency.

Meanwhile, in the latest bout of fighting in Nduga, two Indonesian soldiers were shot last week and hospitalised in Mimika regency.

https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/388004/papua-highlands-emergency-school-roll-grows

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1) Indonesia's Papua Issue in Focus with High-Level Court Review

1) Indonesia's Papua Issue in Focus with High-Level Court Review

2) Eco-bricks, a solution to reduce plastic waste

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https://thediplomat.com

The Diplomat

1) Indonesia's Papua Issue in Focus with High-Level Court Review

Lawyers are challenging Indonesia’s incorporation of the region into its territory a half-century ago.

By Associated Press April 27, 2019

Lawyers are challenging Indonesia’s incorporation of the volatile Papua region into its territory in 1969 with a judicial review at the country’s highest court.

A spokesman for a group of 15 Papuan lawyers, Agus Sumule, said Thursday the “Act of Free Choice” referendum violated Indonesia’s Constitution because it was conducted in a way that grossly violated the human rights of Papuans.

The 1969 referendum, supervised by the United Nations, was carried out in an atmosphere of heavy intimidation and only 1,026 hand-picked Papuans were allowed to vote on whether their region should be part of Indonesia. The vote was unanimous in favor.

The referendum was also backed by the United States, which in the Cold War era was eager to maintain warmer ties with Indonesia following massacres of communists and leftists in 1965 that shifted the country into the Western-allied fold.

Sumule said the process of developing the judicial review was started two years ago but was only submitted to the Constitutional Court on April 12 due to financial reasons such as the expense of traveling from the remote region to Jakarta.

“We talked to various circles of Papuan society before the lawsuit was submitted. They all supported this legal step,” Sumule said.

But the Constitutional Court case has revealed fault lines in the Papuan independence movement. The West Papua National Committee, which advocates independence from Indonesia, said in a statement that only a second referendum of indigenous Papuans held under genuine international oversight can decide whether they become a nation.

“The legal and political status of West Papua must be resolved through a peaceful, democratic and final referendum under international supervision,” said Victor Yeimo, a leading member of the group.

Indonesia restricts foreign media from reporting in its two easternmost provinces, West Papua and Papua, where an insurgency has simmered since Indonesia occupied the former Dutch colony in the early 1960s.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said the Papua issue is “finished.”

“For us, Papua cannot be discussed anymore. Papua has been recognized internationally with the U.N.’s decision as part of Indonesia’s territory,” he said.

Reported by the Associated Press.

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https://eng.jubi.co.id

2) Eco-bricks, a solution to reduce plastic waste

Published 2 hours ago on 27 April 2019 By pr9c6tr3_jube

Nabire, Jubi – It was a lovely Monday noon (April 14th, 2019) when a group of the youth was gathering in the front yard of Bentot Yatipai’s house. Chatting and laughing, these young people, who are members of Amoye Youth Community, were busy cleaning and cutting papers and plastic waste, then putting it into plastic bottles. They were making ‘eco-bricks’.

Amoye Youth Community was established in 2006 to support young people who are passionate about motorbike at that time. As time goes by, the group started to think about their contribution to their environment. So they began to go around cleaning and collecting plastic waste from some particular locations in town, encouraged local people to donate their plastic waste and initiate a recycling program.

This group’s initiative, said Amoye youth community leader Bentot Yatipai, is a response towards insufficient waste management by the local government. “We conduct social activities, environmental awareness and educational campaign. Waste management is our top priority. Total our members now are 200 coming from several motorcycle clubs,” he said.

According to Yatipai, despite the lack of waste management by the local government, people are also so aware of their surroundings. “Our neighbourhood is still messy. People still not aware about hygiene, healthy environment and its prevention. This is why we initiated the recycling program,” said Yatipai.

However, his group does not set a particular schedule of making eco-bricks due to their other activities. The community members could gather at any time, particularly on weekend or holiday.

“Almost every Sunday they come for gathering. They understood their task and already knew what to do. Collecting waste, wash it, cut it and put the cutting plastics into bottles,” he said.

In addition to being environmentally friendly, eco-bricks also have economic value, to produce chairs, tables or photo booths, for example. “We want to start this program by inviting residents to donate plastic waste and separate their garbage,” he said.

“We don’t know the exact number of plastic waste we received, but it is quite a lot, as many people in Nabire collect waste from other residents from other regencies,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lukas Mote said he is interested in joining the Amoye Community because he thinks it has a useful contribution to the environment, health and education. “I am interested in joining because it offers many programs and accommodates members for sharing,” said Mote.

As a capital town of Nabire Regency, Nabire is geographically strategic as it becomes an entrance of the central highland area which consisting of many regencies. However, the demographic explosion has led this regency to a problem of waste disposal management.

From 2016 to 2018, it predicted that the town produced 350-400 m3 of waste per day and this number estimated continuously increases. Some locations such as Pasar Karang, Kalibobo and Terminal Oyehe are full of waste and dirty because it uses as the temporary waste terminal (TPS). Furthermore, people do not separate garbage and plastic waste.

A resident Handayani tells she often throws her domestic waste in a temporary disposal site located in the traditional market at night. According to her, Nabire is still dirty. Therefore, she asks the local government of Nabire to stipulate the regional regulation to regulate sanitation.

“If there are regulation and fine, Nabire must be clean and comfortable,” she said.

Meanwhile, Nabire Environment Office does not have a database about daily waste produced. Officers only pick up the garbage from the temporary disposal waste to the waste terminal (TPA)

In regards to this, the secretary of Nabire Environment Office Yohanis Ramandai said the office does not have a tool to estimate how much garbage produced per day. His office is only responsible for managing the garbage, including collecting, transporting and disposing of at the waste terminal.

In 2018, around IDR 100 million has been budgeted for waste management, including the cost for fuel, vehicle maintenance and meals for cleaning service officers. “Meanwhile, for 2019, IDR 1 billion budget has been submitted to regional working plan but not been approved yet,” said Ramandey.

In regards to Amoye Youth Community, Ramadey appreciates their action in reducing plastic waste. “I truly appreciate them. We might invite them to collaborate in reducing waste,” he said. (*)

Reporter: Titus Ruban

Editor: Pipit Maizier

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1) Attorneys question public prosecutor’s indictment of ten-year sentence against their clients

2) Neles Tebay: a champion of peace in Papua

3) Pacific Forum summit to be held mid-August

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https://eng.jubi.co.id

1) Attorneys question public prosecutor’s indictment of ten-year sentence against their clients

Published 4 hours ago on 26 April 2019 By pr9c6tr3_juben

Wamena, Jubi –Legal representatives of Jakub Fabian Skrzypski and Simon Magal, Latifah Anum Siregar and Aloysius Renwarin, question the indictment of public prosecutor against their clients in a defence trial conducted in Wamena District Court on Tuesday (23/4/2019). In the prior lawsuit, the state prosecutor charged their clients with a ten-year sentence.

Simon Magai’s lawyer, Aloysius Renwarin, said based on the testimonies of all witnesses presented by the public prosecutor, there is no statement reveals Magai’s involvement in this case. Even all witnesses did not understand about his status in this trial.

“He (Simon) did not involve in the activities related to attacks and all sort of things that accused on him. Therefore, we ask the panel of judges to make a fair decision, and he will be free from the charges,” Renwarin told reporter after the trial.

The accusation that his client has violated the treason article does not make sense,” said Renwarin, because Simon did not commit a violation against the state. He only communicated with defendant Jakub Fabian Skrzypski via social media app. Therefore, there is no evidence showing the attack on the country or destroyed place due to an attack. So this not meets the criteria of treason crime.

“Ten-year sentence without strong legal fact, as well as trial facts including evidence and eight witnesses that reveals Simon’s involvement in this treason court, does not make sense,” he continued.

Meanwhile, legal attorney of Jakub Fabian Skrzypski, Latifah Anum Siregar, considered that two of ten witnesses presented in the previous hearing was able to categorise as non-valid witnesses because they were not seeing, listening or witnessing when the incident occurred, or these witnesses considered as those who heard news from someone else.

She also questions why only Jakub Fabian Skrzypski accused against the treason article because of his meeting with some people from an illegal organisation as revealed in the court by Edward Wandik.

“Before Jakub met with KNPB who accused against the country, committed a crime, the fact is many people or other organizations have met or published books or articles, made a video or youtube channel related to this group. But they are not arrested or take to the court,” said Anum Siregar.

Furthermore, said Anum, in the meeting at the KNPB Secretariat both in Jayapura and Timika, Jakub was not alone. He came with other people, but why those people not being charged with the treason article?

“From what we stated in the defence trial, the treason articles charged against my client was not proven, including Article 106, 87 and 55 paragraph (1). Therefore all charges against Jakub Fabian Skrzypski was not fulfilled and therefore was not proven legally and convincingly according to the law,” she said.

The next trial session will conduct in Wamena District Court on Thursday (04/25/2019) to schedule a hearing of the prosecutor’s disclosure to the defense trial. (*)

Reporter: Islami Adisubrata

Editor: Pipit Maizier

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https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/neles-tebay-a-champion-of-peace-in-papua/

2) Neles Tebay: a champion of peace in Papua

April 26, 2019 

Dr Richard Chauvel is an honorary fellow at the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne.

Father Neles Tebay, who died of cancer in Jakarta on 14 April, was a champion of peace in Papua. Born on 13 February 1964 in Godide, in the western highlands of Papua province, Neles was a leading Catholic intellectual, who founded the Papua Peace Network in 2010 and was the head of the Fajar Timur School of Theology in Jayapura. He earned his doctorate at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome.

 

Neles was widely admired across a broad range of Papuan leaders, from former Golkar legislator Simon Morin, to Victor Yeimo, spokesman for the pro-independence National Committee for West Papa (KNPB).

 

Those who worked closely with Neles in the peace and human rights movements held him in the highest regard, respect and affection. Latifah Anum Siregar, one of the key figures in the Papua Peace Network, remembered his humour, commitment and consistency in the struggle for peace, despite the many difficult situations he faced.

 

Interviewed just before the presidential elections, Anum noted that, with Neles’ passing, a chapter in the history of the struggle for peace had closed. “Tomorrow there will be new presidential elections, but the president for Papua as a land of peace is Father Neles”, she said.(link is external)

 

Dr Adriana Elisabeth, Neles’ principal research partner at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), noted Neles’ capacity to listen to the opinions of others before deciding his own views, which he would then pursue tenaciously. Neles recognised the political elite in Jakarta were reluctant to engage in dialogue, but he sought to convince the vested interests in Jakarta that dialogue was the way to resolve the problems(link is external)in Papua.

 

Neles set out his approach to bring peace to Papua in his 2009 book, Dialog Jakarta-Papua: Sebuah Perspektif Papua, written to complement LIPI’s Papua Road Map.(link is external)He started from the understanding that the violence, which had persisted in Papua since Indonesia took over administration in May 1963, had not resolved the conflict but rather exacerbated problems, adding to the number of victims, mostly Papuans in isolated communities.

 

Neles asserted that the Indonesian government had not consistently implemented the Special Autonomy Law of 2001, with the consequences that Papuan trust in the Indonesian government and international support for Indonesian sovereignty in Papua had both declined.

 

Neles recognised that the Indonesian government regarded its sovereignty in Papua as final and non-negotiable – harga mati. While many Papuans, particularly the Free Papua Organisation (OPM), considered that independence for Papua was the only solution, Neles’ approach was to keep the focus on creating Papua as a land of peace.

 

He advocated three phases of dialogue – internal dialogue among indigenous Papuans, dialogue between Papuans and non-Papuan residents in Papua, and dialogue with the Papuan diaspora – leading to a dialogue between Papuans and the Indonesian government.

 

In July 2011, Neles and the Papua Peace Network organised a Papua Peace Conference with the slogan “Let’s Make Papua a Land of Peace”. The conference was opened by then Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Djoko Suyanto, and seemed to have had the endorsement of the government.

 

The gulf between the expectations of the government and the aspirations of the 600-800 Papuans who attended was evident when Brigadier General Indra Hidayat, representing the Indonesian Military (TNI), ended his speech by exclaiming “Papua!”, to which the audience responded “Merdeka!” (Independence!).

 

With Neles as facilitator, the conference produced a declaration reflecting the values of Papuan nationalism. It appointed five exiled pro-independence figures as negotiators and called for international mediation. The conference turned out to be more a reaffirmation of Papuan national aspirations than an attempt to convince the government to forego its reliance on military force and seek a resolution through dialogue.

 

In November 2011, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced his government’s willingness to conduct a dialogue with Papuans. This announcement was followed by meetings of the president with Papuan church leaders in December 2011 and February 2012. Neles attended the latter meeting.

 

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo demonstrated his interest in Papua and commitment to resolve the conflict during the 2014 campaign and with his early visits as president. Yet, early in his administration, Jokowi was dismissive of dialogue. He thought as he had talked to community and religious leaders and heads of local government that was enough. “Isn’t that dialogue?” he said.(link is external)“There is no longer a problem in Papua. What’s dialogue for?”

 

In August 2017, however, Jokowi seemed to revive the dialogue approach at a meeting with Papuan traditional and religious leaders. The dialogue approach was recast as “Sectoral Dialogue”. The “sectors” identified were education, health, forestry and other sectors of the economy and society. There was no mention of the political, human rights, economic and historical issues that were central to the dialogue approach earlier advocated by Neles and the Papua Peace Network.

 

Jokowi appointed Neles, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto, and Teten Masduki of the Presidential Office, to coordinate the dialogues. Whatever the merits of the Sectoral Dialogue approach may have been, little happened after the August meeting. One factor was that Neles insisted on a written mandate from the president, arguing that without one there was no basis to work.(link is external)

 

Indeed, within a couple of months of the meeting with Jokowi, Neles reverted to his earlier approach to dialogue, arguing that with the government’s experience of successful negotiated settlements in Aceh, Ambon and Poso, a dialogue with the armed resistance, as partner rather than enemy,(link is external)could address the five decades-old conflict in Papua.

 

With both Yudhoyono and Jokowi there were moments when dialogue seemed part of the government’s agenda. Neles understood from the beginning that there was great aversion to dialogue with Papuan leaders, but he underestimated how entrenched that opposition was.

 

The killing of construction workers in December 2018 on Jokowi’s signature infrastructure project, the Trans Papua Highway, and the military operations that followed, confirmed Neles’ argument that the security approach exacerbates rather than resolves Jakarta’s problems in Papua.

 

In response to the death of Neles, Jokowi expressed his condolences(link is external)and sent a generous bouquet of flowers. Perhaps a second Jokowi administration might be able to distance itself from the supporters of the status quo in Papua.

 

The struggle to convince a re-elected Jokowi government to abandon its dead-end policies will be much more difficult without the faith, vision and determination of Neles Tebay.

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https://www.radionz.co.nz/

3) Pacific Forum summit to be held mid-August

11:15 am on 25 April 2019 

This year's annual Pacific Islands Forum summit is to be held in Tuvalu in mid-August, earlier than the scheduled September meeting.

Tuvalu has asked the meeting be brought forward because of a clash with national elections in early September.

The Pacnewsagency said the proposed dates of 12-16 August have been approved by the Forum Officials Committee.

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