Sunday, September 29, 2019

1) MUI deplores brutal killings of innocent civilians in Papua's Wamena


2) Four men in Papua's Oksibil subdistrict nabbed for burning kiosks
3) UN bans Benny Wenda to enter UN general assembly: Nick Meset
4) ‘Exodus’ students in Papua: It’s not us starting the riot

5) Indonesian Military Establishes Three New Joint Regional Defense Commands

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https://en.antaranews.com/news/133752/mui-deplores-brutal-killings-of-innocent-civilians-in-papuas-wamena

1) MUI deplores brutal killings of innocent civilians in Papua's Wamena
8 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) Secretary General Anwar Abbas deplored the brutal killings of innocent civilians and destruction of properties during deadly rioting that broke out in Wamena, the capital city of Jayawijaya District, Papua Province, on Sept 23.

"The rioters' brutal acts of violence have claimed so many lives of innocent civilians," Abbas said in a press statement commenting on Wamena's deadly rioting made available to ANTARA in Jakarta on Sunday.

Wamena's deadly rioting occurred during a rally that native Papuan students staged on September 23.

Thirty three people, including a medical doctor, were killed, while at least 77 others sustained injuries due to the riot that had also forced several thousands of residents, mostly non-native Papuans, to take refuge to the local military and police compounds.

Related news: Deployment of two TNI aircraft to evacuate riot victims in Wamena

Most of the dead and the wounded were non-native Papuans who had been assaulted by rioters brandishing machetes and arrows. Many of them migrated to Papua from their hometowns in such provinces as West Sumatra and South Sulawesi to make a living.

According to National Police Spokesman, Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo, the masterminds of this deadly riot are allegedly members of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB).

In response to the deaths of so many innocent civilians in Wamena's deadly rioting, Anwar Abbas expressed his deepest condolences and appealed to the government to take stern legal actions against those responsible for those brutal acts of violence.

He also urged the government to resolve the Papua problems comprehensively so that all members of both native and non-native Papuan communities could again live in peaceful coexistence.

Related news: Four men in Papua's Oksibil subdistrict nabbed for burning kiosks

In connection with Wamena's rioting, Papua Police Chief Inspector General Rudolf A. Rodja said earlier that it might have been fueled by the proliferation of hoaxes through social media platforms that incited public ire among Wamena's residents.

Several local media reports revealed that the Wamena riot was instigated by hoaxes pertaining to a teacher's racist slur against native Papuan students.

In August, a wave of violence also broke out in several parts of Papua and West Papua in the upshot of the Surabaya incident that had triggered public ire among native Papuans.

Native Papuans in various parts of the provinces of Papua and West Papua held demonstrations to protest alleged racist slurs against the Papuan students in Surabaya on August 16, 2019.

Related news: Kalla dismisses Papuan referendum proposal by Pacific nations at UNGA

Related news: Paramedics working in Papua need security guarantee: IDI
 
Reporter: Prisca TV, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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2) Four men in Papua's Oksibil subdistrict nabbed for burning kiosks
8 hours ago

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - The Indonesian military and police personnel in Pegunungan Bintang District, Papua Province, have arrested four men for their alleged involvement in the burning and destruction of several kiosks in Oksibil Subdistrict on September 26.

Two suspects, only identified by their initials as KB, 22, and YD, 23, were nabbed on Friday at around 4:45 p.m. local time, Papua Police Spokesman Sen.Coms.AM Kamal told journalists in Jayapura, the capital city of Papua Province, on Saturday evening.

The police investigators could have apprehended KB after receiving tip-offs that the two suspects were at an Oksibil Airport's new apron while YD, suspected to be the provocateur in the Oksibil incident, was arrested at a different place.

Both KB and YD are currently under the police custody for questioning, he said, adding that YD confessed that he is a member of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in the district who had provoked those burning and vandalizing the shops.

Two other suspects, only identified by their initials YD and BM, had been nabbed earlier, Kamal said.

In response to this crime, Kamal urged local residents to let the police investigators handle the case, to exercise their self control, and to help maintain the city's secure and peaceful condition.

Over these few weeks, a wave of violence broke out in several parts of Papua and West Papua in the upshot of the Surabaya incident, and hoaxes pertaining to a teacher's racist slur against native Papuan students that had triggered public ire among Papuans.

On August 28, for instance, a circle of violence also erupted in Deiyai District, some 500 kilometers away from Jayapura, resulting in the deaths of an army soldier and two civilians.

Related news: Traumatized doctors seek transfer from Wamena following mass murders

On August 29, the indigenous Papuan residents of Jayapura had again staged protests, venting their fury over the alleged racist slurs against their Papuan compatriots in Surabaya, 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.

Then, on September 23, a deadly rioting occurred in Wamena, the capital city of Jayawijaya District, Papua Province, during a rally that native Papuan students staged.

Related news: Police confirm two Ojek drivers gunned down by Papuan separatists

Thirty three people, including a medical doctor, were killed, while at least 77 others sustained injuries due to the riot that had also forced several thousands of residents, mostly non-native Papuans, to take refuge to the local military and police compounds.
Most of the dead and the wounded were non-native Papuans who had been assaulted by rioters brandishing machetes and arrows. Many of them migrated to Papua from their hometowns in such provinces as West Sumatra and South Sulawesi to make a living.

According to National Police Spokesman, Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo, the masterminds of this deadly riot are allegedly members of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB).

In connection with Wamena's rioting, Papua Police Chief Inspector General Rudolf A. Rodja said earlier that it might have been fueled by the proliferation of hoaxes through social media platforms that incited public ire among Wamena's residents.

Several local media reports revealed that the Wamena riot was instigated by hoaxes pertaining to a teacher's racist slur against native Papuan students.

Related news: Transportation minister ascertains Wamena airport safe for aviation

Related news: Kalla dismisses Papuan referendum proposal by Pacific nations at UNGA

Related news: Paramedics working in Papua need security guarantee: IDI
Reporter: Alfian R, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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3) UN bans Benny Wenda to enter UN general assembly: Nick Meset

11 hours ago
Jayapura (ANTARA) - Papuan figure Nick Meset ensured that the UN did not allow Benny Wenda and his entourage to enter the UN General Assembly hall and join a delegation from Vanuatu because he was not a citizen of  that small country.

"It is not true that Benny Wenda has joined the UN General Assembly as a member of Vanuatu's delegation because the UN only allows state representatives to enter the UN General Assembly in New York," Nick Meset told ANTARA on Sunday.

The rules applied by the United Nations are very strict. Only citizens can represent their countries and join the official delegations at the UN General Assembly, Meset remarked.

Nick Meset, who participated in as a member of the Indonesian delegation with Maikel Manufandu, asserted that Benny Wenda and his colleagues were not permitted to enter the hearing.

Related news: Police expose Benny Wenda's involvement in Wamena's lethal riot

Nick Meset, who is currently the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Nauru in Jakarta, cannot represent the country because he is still an Indonesian citizen. As a result, at the United Nations General Assembly, he belonged to the Indonesian delegation.

At the UN General  Assembly in New York, the issues of Papua and referendum were not on the agenda, Meset said, adding that what was spread by that group was not true or hoax.

Because of that, the community members should not get influenced easily by the issues that Benny Wenda and his group's members proliferated, said Meset, who had ever served as the Free Papua Movement (OPM) Foreign Minister.

Nick Meset revealed the riots that occurred in several regions in Papua were caused by Benny Wenda's provocation.

"What is said that the problem of Papua will be discussed at the UN is out-of-date. He and his colleagues had done it years ago," Meset said.

Therefore, the public should not easily be influenced by Benny Wenda's statement because it is a fake promise. 

"Let us together create a sense of security so that the development can be continued in Papua until the people of Papua can really get prospered," Nick Messet stated.

Related news: Wiranto discloses conspiracy involving separatist leader Benny Wenda
Reporter: Evarukdijati/ Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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4) ‘Exodus’ students in Papua: It’s not us starting the riot
Published
 23 hours ago 
on
 29 September 2019





Papua, Jubi – Jubi successfully contacted an exodus student OG on Monday evening (23/9) for interview. After asking Jubi to wait for a second for him charging his phone’s battery, he told the chronology of clash involving the police, students and residents in Expo, Heram Sub-district, Jayapura Municipality, Papua Province.
“I survived because of the help of a woman. She opened her house’s door and let me in after seeing me entered her yard to wash my face after running away from the riot,” he said. There, he also asked permission from the host to charge his phone’s battery to communicate with his friends.
He said that students from the University of Cenderawasih (Uncen), representatives of the Student Executive Board (BEM) of the University of Cenderawih, and members of the Solidarity for Papuan exodus students from different cities have gathered in front of the university’s auditorium since 7 in the morning.
“It is strike solidarity,” he said. The students demand the campus authority to let the auditorium as the post of the exodus students in Jayapura.
Around 10 p.m, students decided to open post there, whereas hundreds of equipped security forces have lined up across the street in front of the auditorium. They are ready to secure the protest.
The auditorium of the University of Cenderawasih located in Abepura is known as ‘Uncen Bawah’, while ‘Uncen Atas’ refers to the university’s compound located in Perumnas 3 Waena.
An hour later, OG said that the police asked the students to leave the campus and already provided buses and trucks to transport them away from the university. “We were forced to disperse. If not, they will arrest us. So, we got on to the trucks and buses that transported us to Expo Waena,” he said.
As he arrived in Expo Waena, he wondered to find the troop of Mobile Brigade was already there. The police also warned the students not to return to their post in Expo Waena.
“Around noon, the joint police and military forces came to dissolve the students,” he said.
However, he said, besides the troop, there was a mob who started attacking the students. “They threw stones and bottles towards us, while the police flung the tear gas. It triggered an outrage among the students, and the clash cannot be avoided,” he said.
Later, OG said the students heard gunfire. So, they disperse to save their life, to escape from the thrown stones and shooting. Some students fled to the campus of the Institut Seni Budaya Indonesia (ISBI) nearby.
“Some did not move and raise their hands because the fear of the lasers pointed to them. Meanwhile, some kept run away to save their female friends. We ran and tried to pass the wire fences,” he said.
He and his friends kept run to the residential areas, and finally were able to hide in a resident’s house. They moved to another location after feeling quite safe and perceived that the police starting to size houses.
“Later on, we heard that the police had shot dead three students, while others were injured and hospitalised in Bhayangkara Hospital, Abepura,” he said.
He also got information that many students arrested by the police. There, the students were grounded, beaten under the sun, and transported to the Police Mobile Brigade Headquarter in Kotaraja, Jayapura City.
“Meanwhile, those who can escape the arrest because of hiding in residents’ houses returned to the post of exodus students. However, we are still trying to contact some students who still lost,” he said.

Uncen Chancellor : No violence occurred in campus
The University of Cenderawasih Chancellor Dr Apolo Safanpo states that mass dissolution in front of the university’s auditorium took place in a persuasive and dialogical manner.
“There is no violence inside the Uncen campus as we can see that the students gathered peacefully in the campus from the early morning till the afternoon. There is no violence because all chancellor’s assistants and deans had a dialogue with them,” he said on Monday evening (23/9).
After having dialogue, he continued, both parties agreed that students should leave the campus to Expo Waena where violence later occurred. So, he questions why has this happened? Who has triggered a clash that was eventually leading to casualties?
“What needs to ask is who was behind this, and why was the situation suddenly heating up? It is just our temporary assumption,” he said.
Moreover, he told a day before the protest; six men were captured through the CCTV trying to light a fire in the rector’s building. “It recorded in the campus’ CCTV that six men had thrown up gasoline and to set fire, but they escaped. They were planning to burn the Uncen,” said the chancellor.
Given that situation, he then asked the Abepura Police Chief to anticipate the unwanted situation and to have a dialogue with the students to avoid violence inside the campus.
“No violence, avoid the clash, this is what I wanted and told the Abepura Police Chief during a dialogue with the students. So, we wanted them to not doing anarchy here, such as burning down the campus or rector’s office or the auditorium. We want the students to do this protest safely and peacefully,” he said.
DPRD Chairperson hopes all parties hold back
The Chairperson of the Papuan House of Representatives Yunus Wonda called all parties to hold back following riots occurred in Expo Waena, Jayapura Municipality and Wamena, Jayawijaya Regency.
Wonda hopes all parties including security forces, communities, pupils and students to hold back and create a safe atmosphere in Papua.
“Do not be provoked to any situations that were ultimately leading to an unsafe condition in Papua. Your success (pupils and students) is the future of this land, the future of Papua,” told Wonda on Monday (23/9).
He also asked the security forces to refrain in facing the protesters. He said the security forces must not shot, which will eventually cause casualties. “Do not let anyone die in the demonstrations. We must keep everything safe and secured by not allowing the protesters to create riots.
But no gunfire should be allowed in addressing protest because weapons are used to protect people,” he said.
Further, he added the situation in Papua would be even more uncomfortable and continued to flare up if there were casualties.
“It’s enough that Papuans continue to be victims in this land. Don’t make a hatred never goes away. The people of Papua would never feel at peace,” he said.
Until today, seventeen civilians reportedly killed while 61 have injured. Many Waena residents, both indigenous and non-indigenous Papuans, decided to flee to safer locations such as the Jayawijaya Police Headquarters, Military Command Base and churches.
Meanwhile, 318 protesters reportedly detained in the Papua Police Mobile Brigade Headquarters in Kotaraja, Jayapura Municipality after the clash in Expo Waena.
According to the Papua Police Chief Rudolf Rodja, hundreds of protesters are now under the police’s investigation. “Until now no one has been named as a suspect because the police’s investigators are still questioning them,” said the chief in Jayapura City on Monday (23/9). (*)
 
Reporters: Kristianto Galuwo, Abeth You, Arjuna Pademme
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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5) Indonesian Military Establishes Three New Joint Regional Defense Commands

SEPTEMBER 29, 2019 
Jakarta. The Indonesian Military established three new joint regional commands on Friday to improve its capacity to deal with potential crises across the archipelago and serve as a more effective deterrent to security threats.
Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Chief Air Marshal Hadi Tjahjono, who appointed the heads of the new regional commands on Friday, said their establishment was based on a 2019 presidential decree, which also provides for the upgrading of 23 military resort commands, or garrisons.
"The threats and challenges Indonesia may face in the future continue to evolve, so it needs to integrate its land, sea and air forces to respond to such threats," Hadi said at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta, as quoted in a statement.
He added that future threats should be anticipated and considered in military planning.
Regional Defense Command I, headed by Rear Adm. Yudo Margono, and based in Tanjung Pindang, Riau, oversees Jakarta, West Java, Banten, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and all provinces on Sumatra Island.
Regional Defense Command II, headed by Air Vice Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo, is based in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, and oversees East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, Central Java, East Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara and all provinces on Sulawesi Island.
Regional Defense Command III, headed by Maj. Gen. Ganip Warsito and based in Biak, Papua, oversees Maluku, North Maluku, Papua and West Papua.
The establishment of the new regional commands, known as kogabwilhan and which combine naval, air and army assets, splits Indonesia's territory into three military zones to provide for more flexibility and allow the TNI to respond faster to security threats.
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