2) Attacks on West Papuan protestors condemned by rights group
3) Riau Islands police elite unit's 252 members deployed to Papua
4) Five companies of North Maluku's police personnel ready for deployment
5) Government must better protect Papuan women to avert separatism: Kabes
6) Feminist calls to enforce law against liquor sellers in Papua
7) Jokowi to hold meeting with Papua's eminent figures: Moeldoko
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1) Papua Unrest; Police Name 30 Suspects
31 August 2019 20:27 WIB
Translator: Laila Afifa Editor: Laila Afifa
Riot police officers fire tear gas during a protest in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia, August 29, 2019. The region has been racked by civil unrest for two weeks over perceived racial and ethnic discrimination. Some protesters are also demanding an independence vote - a move ruled out by te security minister on Thursday. Antara Foto/Indrayadi TH
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Papua regional police have named 30 people as suspects of the rallies that turned into riots in Jayapura City and Deiyai Regency.
"Based on the intensive and comprehensive investigation, the investigators found 30 suspects in the incident," said Police Chief of Public Information Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo when contacted on August 31.
The suspects are allegedly the rioters in the Deiyai and Jayapura incident. They are suspected to have harmed public facilities and took provocative measures.
The police are still searching for the individuals involved in the death of a military (TNI) member and two civilians in the riot in Deiyai Regency.
Dedi explained the suspect naming was based on the instruction of President Joko Widodo or Jokowi to not tolerate the rioters.
"Because they carried out acts of rioting, arson, persecution, robbery that disturbed the community."
ANDITA RAHMA
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2) Attacks on West Papuan protestors condemned by rights group
An Australia-based human rights group has condemned the fatal shooting of West Papuan protesters by Indonesian security forces this week.
RNZI 7:13 pm on 31 August 2019
This comes amid widespread protests in cities and towns across Papua region which began almost two weeks ago as anti-racism rallies but have developed into the biggest West Papuan pro-independence demonstrations seen in decades.
Reports filtering out from Deiyai regency have described a large public rally being met with a heavy handed response by Indonesian security forces.
Indonesia's Foreign Ministry said at least two Papuan protestors and an Indonesian soldier were killed in a bloody clash in the regency on Wednesday. However, activists and local media reports claim up to seven protestors died in Deiyai.
A spokesperson for the Institute for Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights, Paula Makabory, has called on the Indonesian president Joko Widodo to stand his security forces down in Indonesia's eastern provinces.
"They are the perpetrators who triggered this conflict at a peaceful demonstration," she said.
Ms Makabory said security forces ridiculed Melanesian locals, calling them "monkeys" before firing on them with tear gas.
When some locals responded with traditional bows and arrows, she explained, the Indonesian military responded with gunfire and killed civilians.
The incident in Deiyei is part of a broader pattern of violence, according to an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Melbourne's Deakin University, Dr Eben Kirksey, who said he had found evidence of 29 extrajudicial killings in the regency in 2018 by Indonesian security forces over the past two decades.
"The United Nations has requested access to West Papua to investigate this long history of killings," Dr Kirksey said.
"The Indonesian government should stop stone walling and grant access to UN Special Rapporteurs."
More than 2,000 extra security forces have been deployed since the beginning of West Papuan uprising 12 days ago.
The government has blocked internet across Papua in what it claims is a necessary anti-disinformation measure. But it is struggling to stop thousands of Papuans taking to the streets to voice their independence aspirations.
In recent days Papua's capital Jayapura has experienced a second wave of large protests which lapsed into rioting by elements of the large crowd involving the burning of the Papuan People's Assembly complex and other buildings.
Papuans also occupied the provincial governor's buildings, with some activists claiming the protestors were trying to shelter from public mobs trying to attack them.
According to Al Jazeera, at least one person has been killed as police fired rubber bullets after residents in Jayapura attacked Papuan protestors.
The residents included owners of kiosks and restaurants who were angry at the protesters and blocked roads to impede the demonstration, as Jayapura descended further into unrest.
One group of residents stopped a car carrying six Papuans from the highlands, dragged them out of the car, before assaulting and stabbing them with machetes and knives.
"West Papua must be opened up to outside world," said Ms Makabory.
She said the remote mountainous region of Deiyai, Paniai, Puncak Jaya and Nduga regencies, should be accessed for independent investigation by the UN Human Rights Commissioner and "especially the UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture and Extra Judicial Killings".
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3) Riau Islands police elite unit's 252 members deployed to Papua
8 hours ago
Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA) - Some 252 personnel of the Riau Islands Police's mobile brigade (Brimob) unit were deployed to Papua and West Papua, Saturday, to join their colleagues earlier dispatched there to help restore law and order.
Apart from offering assistance in the law enforcement mission, the dispatched personnel will also become involved in renovating public infrastructure and facilities that rioters in the provinces had scorched and vandalized, Riau Islands Police spokesman Sen. Coms S. Erlangga stated.
They also joined the humanitarian and health services in line with President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi’s) instructions following rioting in Jayapura, Papua Province’s capital city, on Thursday (Aug 29).
Deputy Chief of Riau Islands Province Brig. Gen. Yan Fitri Halimansyah and Commander of the Riau Islands Province's Brimob Unit Sen. Com. Guruh Arif Darmawan bore direct witness to the deployment of 252 Brimob personnel on early Saturday.
"Let us pray for the good health and safety of all personnel, and our prayers also go out to our brothers and sisters in Papua. May they help maintain the condition to remain conducive," he stated.
A circle of violence broke out in several parts of Papua and West Papua in the aftermath of the Surabaya incident that had triggered public anger among native Papuans.
Over this past week, native Papuans in several parts of the provinces of Papua and West Papua held demonstrations protesting alleged racist slurs against the Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java, on August 16.
On August 19, several thousand people in Manokwari, West Papua Province, and Jayapura, Papua Province, had protested to voice their discontent over alleged racist action against Papuan students in Surabaya and Malang, East Java.
During the rally in Manokwari, a local parliamentary building was set on fire. The demonstrators also torched tires in several parts of the city and main streets.
Related news: Restore security and order in Papua: President
However, National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian stated that normalcy was restored in Manokwari. He also ordered the police chiefs of Papua and West Papua to adopt security measures and avoid the use of excessive force.
On August 29, the indigenous Papuan residents of Jayapura, the capital city of Papua, again staged protests, venting their anger over the alleged racist slurs against their Papuan compatriots in Surabaya, East Java, on August 16, but their rally then turned violent.
The brutal demonstrators went on a rampage, vandalizing and setting ablaze several government buildings. The office of ANTARA, Indonesia's national news agency, in the city was also intentionally damaged by the demonstrators on Thursday.
On August 28, a circle of violence also broke out in Deiyai District, some 500 kilometers away from Jayapura. It ended with the death of an army soldier and two civilians.
As a reaction to the Surabaya incident, on August 22, leaders of several ethnic community-based organizations held a meeting in Biak Numfor District. They deplored the incident that had triggered public ire, expressing their complete rejection of all forms of racism and intolerance against indigenous Papuans. Related news: Jokowi to hold meeting with Papua's eminent figures: Moeldoko
Related news: Feminist calls to enforce law against liquor sellers in Papua
Related news: Government must better protect Papuan women to avert separatism: Kabes
EDITED BY INE
Apart from offering assistance in the law enforcement mission, the dispatched personnel will also become involved in renovating public infrastructure and facilities that rioters in the provinces had scorched and vandalized, Riau Islands Police spokesman Sen. Coms S. Erlangga stated.
They also joined the humanitarian and health services in line with President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi’s) instructions following rioting in Jayapura, Papua Province’s capital city, on Thursday (Aug 29).
Deputy Chief of Riau Islands Province Brig. Gen. Yan Fitri Halimansyah and Commander of the Riau Islands Province's Brimob Unit Sen. Com. Guruh Arif Darmawan bore direct witness to the deployment of 252 Brimob personnel on early Saturday.
"Let us pray for the good health and safety of all personnel, and our prayers also go out to our brothers and sisters in Papua. May they help maintain the condition to remain conducive," he stated.
A circle of violence broke out in several parts of Papua and West Papua in the aftermath of the Surabaya incident that had triggered public anger among native Papuans.
Over this past week, native Papuans in several parts of the provinces of Papua and West Papua held demonstrations protesting alleged racist slurs against the Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java, on August 16.
On August 19, several thousand people in Manokwari, West Papua Province, and Jayapura, Papua Province, had protested to voice their discontent over alleged racist action against Papuan students in Surabaya and Malang, East Java.
During the rally in Manokwari, a local parliamentary building was set on fire. The demonstrators also torched tires in several parts of the city and main streets.
Related news: Restore security and order in Papua: President
However, National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian stated that normalcy was restored in Manokwari. He also ordered the police chiefs of Papua and West Papua to adopt security measures and avoid the use of excessive force.
On August 29, the indigenous Papuan residents of Jayapura, the capital city of Papua, again staged protests, venting their anger over the alleged racist slurs against their Papuan compatriots in Surabaya, East Java, on August 16, but their rally then turned violent.
The brutal demonstrators went on a rampage, vandalizing and setting ablaze several government buildings. The office of ANTARA, Indonesia's national news agency, in the city was also intentionally damaged by the demonstrators on Thursday.
On August 28, a circle of violence also broke out in Deiyai District, some 500 kilometers away from Jayapura. It ended with the death of an army soldier and two civilians.
As a reaction to the Surabaya incident, on August 22, leaders of several ethnic community-based organizations held a meeting in Biak Numfor District. They deplored the incident that had triggered public ire, expressing their complete rejection of all forms of racism and intolerance against indigenous Papuans. Related news: Jokowi to hold meeting with Papua's eminent figures: Moeldoko
Related news: Feminist calls to enforce law against liquor sellers in Papua
Related news: Government must better protect Papuan women to avert separatism: Kabes
EDITED BY INE
