2) Government to prioritize holistic development for Papua
3) People not be provoked with rumours on Freeport’s operating area
4) 'Inward-Looking' TNI Oblivious of Contemporary Threats
5) Watchfulness advised in Indonesia’s Papua province as police confirm one ‘terror’ arrest
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1) Shouts calling for release of Jakarta six heard at first treason trial court hearing
CNN Indonesia – December 17, 2019
Surya Anta raises his fist during first treason trial hearing in Jakarta – December 16, 2019 (CNN
Jakarta – Five of the Papua activists taking part in the first court hearing in a treason case at the Central Jakarta District Court on Monday December 16 wore traditional kari-kariheaddresses from the eastern most part of Indonesia.
The five students, namely Issay Wenda, Arina Elopere, Charles Kossay, Ambrosius Mulait and Dano Tabuni could be seen wearing the kari-kari in court.
Indonesian People’s Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) spokesperson Surya Anta meanwhile did not wear traditional Papuan attire, just a plain white shirt instead.
And it was not just kari-kari head dresses that the activists wore during the first hearing on charges of makar (treason, subversion, rebellion) which they attended today.
The political prisoners also adorned their bodies and faces with white patterns drawn from toothpaste as symbols of cultural identity from the land of the Cenderawasih as Papua is known.
“We want to respect this hearing, we want to show our cultural [identity]”, said Tabuni at the Central Jakarta District Court.
Throughout the hearing, the six defendants appeared relaxed and calm. They were supported by a number of students and other Papuan people who attended the hearing.
Visible in the public gallery was Anta’s wife Lucia Fransisca, who is assisting her husband during the trial. The public gallery was full since the start of the hearing.
In addition to this, when Anta and the other defendants exited the court room, shouts calling for the political prisoners to be released immediately could also be heard.
Anta insists that they did not commit treason as claimed by the authorities. He also stated that they did not act in an anarchic manner during a protest in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta on August 28 which resulted in them being arrested by police.
“Don’t stifle democracy by jailing people. We didn’t commit treason. We held a peaceful action”, Anta told journalists in the court room.
The panel of judges at the Central Jakarta District Court postponed the first hearing which was to hear the reading out of the charges against the six Papua political prisoners because the public prosecutor had failed to provide the case dossiers and charge sheets to the defendants by the time the hearing began.
“So we are postponing the hearing until Thursday, the 19th [December 19] to hear the reading of the charges, said presiding judge Agustinus Setya Wahyu Triwiranto as he struck the gavel and ended proceedings.
The team of lawyers representing Anta and the other defendants has yet to receive the case dossiers for all of the defendants. They have only received the charge sheets for Dano Tabuni and Arina Elopere. (mjo/kid)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Topi Kari-kari, Simbol Semangat Aktivis Papua di Sidang Awal”.]
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2) Government to prioritize holistic development for Papua
8 hours ago
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government aspires to persistently build Papua and West Papua in a holistic manner in the next five years through involvement of ministries, agencies, and institutions to expedite integrated development.
"If all agencies are moving on their own programs, it would not be beneficial. We are now optimistic of everything being integrated, although they are utilizing their own budgets," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD stated at a conference on Papua's Development held in Jakarta, Tuesday.
He noted that the Ministry of National Development Planning and the National Planning Agency (Bappenas) had in place a division specifically dedicated to Papua, with the similar applying to the Coordinating Ministry of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs.
He is upbeat about both divisions working under an ”umbrella” to heighten coordination to expedite the development program in Papua and West Papua.
He affirmed that in the next five years, the government had prepared development agendas for both Papua and West Papua that did not solely center around physical infrastructure, but one that also strives to realize public welfare.
Such agendas encompass the development of human resources in line with the local potentials and wisdom in the scope of global challenges, infrastructure development, and regulatory and bureaucratic reforms.
He also highlighted economic transformation that taps into the available natural resources, with support of Papua's quality human resources, and integrated development.
"Papua's development is not merely infrastructure but also in terms of the quality of human resources and improving the quality of native Papuan human resources through education," Mahfud stated.
In a bid to accelerate development and ensure welfare for the Papuans and West Papuans, Mahfud has appealed to Bappenas to focus on holistic transformation and formulate new models to ensure implementation of all programs for development of both areas. Related news: Bappenas composes policy centering on swifter development in Papua
Related news: Papua provincial govt increases investment through infrastructure
EDITED BY INE
"If all agencies are moving on their own programs, it would not be beneficial. We are now optimistic of everything being integrated, although they are utilizing their own budgets," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD stated at a conference on Papua's Development held in Jakarta, Tuesday.
He noted that the Ministry of National Development Planning and the National Planning Agency (Bappenas) had in place a division specifically dedicated to Papua, with the similar applying to the Coordinating Ministry of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs.
He is upbeat about both divisions working under an ”umbrella” to heighten coordination to expedite the development program in Papua and West Papua.
He affirmed that in the next five years, the government had prepared development agendas for both Papua and West Papua that did not solely center around physical infrastructure, but one that also strives to realize public welfare.
Such agendas encompass the development of human resources in line with the local potentials and wisdom in the scope of global challenges, infrastructure development, and regulatory and bureaucratic reforms.
He also highlighted economic transformation that taps into the available natural resources, with support of Papua's quality human resources, and integrated development.
"Papua's development is not merely infrastructure but also in terms of the quality of human resources and improving the quality of native Papuan human resources through education," Mahfud stated.
In a bid to accelerate development and ensure welfare for the Papuans and West Papuans, Mahfud has appealed to Bappenas to focus on holistic transformation and formulate new models to ensure implementation of all programs for development of both areas. Related news: Bappenas composes policy centering on swifter development in Papua
Related news: Papua provincial govt increases investment through infrastructure
EDITED BY INE
“We appeal to people living in Puncak Jaya, Paniai and Intan Jaya to not being provoked. Because this rumour might harm people,” he said.
Also, he said if Freeport’s operating area has crossed the border of the three regencies it would impact on people’s lives. According to him, if the rumours are true, people in Puncak Jaya, Paniai and Intan Jaya might have a similar experience as people of Mimika Regency. Amungme and Kamoro tribes are indigenous tribes who are the most affected by mining activities of PT Freeport Indonesia.
“I think this would be happening upon them [if the operating area of PT Freeport has crossed the border of Mimika Regency],” he said.
Moreover, the Rev. Nikolaus Degey asked those who spread this rumour to stop provoking people in these three regencies. Instead, he encourages them to bring this issue to the court rather than circulating rumours that potentially harm ordinary people.
Meanwhile, the former provincial parliament member and the Chairman of Paniai Customary Council, John NR Gobai, the issue of Freeport’s mining area should be solved before talking about the provincial or regional area split in Papua. It is important to ensure that the establishment of new administrative areas would not raise conflict of interest to get a share of Freeport mining activities.
Gobai said the corporate, indigenous council and the government must sit together to solve this issue. The Government also need to guarantee the future of people.
“If I was questioned, I would say it’s better to solve the mining and land-tenure rights of people living around the company. [If] the company has done all this business in its mining area, they would go. People would never go, they will stay. So it needs a guarantee [for them]” said Gobai. (*)
Reporter: Benny Mawel
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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4) 'Inward-Looking' TNI Oblivious of Contemporary Threats
BY :DIANA MARISKA
DECEMBER 17, 2019
Jakarta. Inward-looking organizational transformation in the military within the last decade may have left Indonesia exposed to contemporary threats of cyber warfare and hindered a peaceful approach in resolving domestic conflicts, according to rights watchdog Imparsial.
"Where defense transformation in Indonesia is going is still very unclear... [mainly] because [what has been done] was not based on any strategic environmental analysis," Imparsial director Al Araf said at a discussion in Jakarta on Monday.
Al Araf pointed out that from 2010 to 2019, the Indonesian Military (TNI) has been very "inward-looking," preferring to focus on its internal affairs rather than making organizational transformations based on current strategic dynamics.
The TNI's most recent attempt at expanding its reach is a good example of this head-in-the-sand approach.
"[The Army] had just created new territorial commands, but there was no real reason [for them to do so]," Al Araf said.
These were the regional military commands Kodam XIII/Merdeka in North Sulawesi and Kodam XVII/Kasuari in West Papua, both officially announced in December 2016.
Al Araf said establishing a new territorial command in Papua is a clear sign that the government prefers a militaristic approach to deal with problems in the province.
Unresolved human rights abuses involving the military in Papua and discriminatory treatmentagainst Papuans in other parts of the country have fueled demand for independence in Indonesia's easternmost province in the past few years.
The moves were also contradictory to the TNI's current minimum essential force (MEF) policy, which was issued in 2010 as part of an effort to revamp its aging weaponry and military equipment.
According to Al Araf, other countries, including Australia and the United Kingdom, have made the decision to organizationally transform their defense units based on current strategic dynamics and threats.
"Australia established its cyber military division in 2017 as a response to contemporary conflict tendencies, while the UK has boosted the size of its cyber warfare army from 2,000 personnel to 8,000 in 2018 to prevent cyber attacks from Russia," Al Araf said.
The lack of outward-looking transformations in the TNI and the absence of a strategic environment analysis could be the weak points for the national defense system.
The Imparsial director said the TNI still has plenty of time to make the organizational transformations since the chance of Indonesia being involved in an open war in the next 15 years seems considerably small.
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5) Watchfulness advised in Indonesia’s Papua province as police confirm one ‘terror’ arrest
Asia News Network | Publication date 16 December 2019 | 20:56 ICT
The fear of active terrorist groups has resurfaced in Indonesia’s Papua province following the arrest of an alleged terrorist and seizure of homemade explosives on December 5 in Sentani district, Jayapura.
National Police spokesman Argo Yuwono confirmed on December 6 that the Papua Police and the police’s counterterrorism squad, Densus 88, had made the arrest.
Papua Police spokesman Ahmad Mustofa Kamal directly confirmed with The Jakarta Post that one terrorist suspect had been arrested, and denied that the police had arrested eight suspects with ties to the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (Jad) as reported in several media.
Ahmad declined to give further details of the arrest, saying that it was part of an ongoing investigation.
Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict director Sidney Jones said that the easternmost province was not an area of focused terrorist activity.
“The recent arrests are linked to members of Jad cells in Bekasi [West Java] and Lampung who fled to Sentani after the rioting at the headquarters of the Police Mobile Brigade [Mako Brimob] in May 2018,” she told the Post on Friday.
Jones added that the alleged Jad members had not conducted any extensive training so far.
However, other experts have cautioned that Papua authorities should remain on the alert, even though the arrest of one suspected terrorist was not particularly alarming, warning that extremist groups could exploit Papua’s sociopolitical volatility and geographical features.
Terrorism expert Al Chaidar told the Post on Friday that migrant communities in the region were vulnerable to radicalisation.
“There are more migrant workers at present [in Papua] and they receive relatively high wages there. At the same time, they’re currently facing a ‘conservative turn’ so they could be lured by Jad’s ideology,” said Chaidar, referring to a general shift in Indonesian society toward a stricter, more conservative religious view.
Another terrorist expert, Noor Huda Ismail, said that he did not have enough evidence to say whether migrant communities were prey to radicalism.
“I still don’t have a strong understanding of whether [the alleged terrorists] are from migrant communities, or if they deliberately went to Papua from other island or something else, because they have not been identified,” he said.
Intelligence analyst Stanislaus Riyanta at the University of Indonesia warned that recent social conflicts in the region could inspire terrorist groups to settle in Papua and use the conflicts to recruit new members.
“Social conflict, such as the one in Wamena, could be a trigger for sleeper cells to go there because the victims in conflicts are residents and negative sentiment toward certain group could be flourishing,” he said.
Chaidar said some Islamic extremist groups had expanded to Papua in recent years.
“Our data shows that [terror groups] have been increasingly moving to Papua since 2017, when [then-coordinating security affairs minister] Pak Wiranto spoke about the presence of terrorist groups in the province. Following his statement, we traced the extremist groups [in Papua] and profiled their members,” he said.
Chaidar added that the Jad was the most prominent Islamic extremist group in the province, while other, smaller terrorist groups were also present in the region.
“In West Papua, there are other small groups that remain unidentified, but they may have links to the Western Indonesia Mujahideen, which has around 16 members. There is also the Free Papua Movement, which should also be counted as a terrorist group,” he said.
Although Islamic extremist groups appeared to be expanding in the province, he said that their membership and the size of their operation remained small.
Besides social instability, the dense jungles of Papua posed a surveillance challenge to security personnel in terms of their difficult access, which also increased the risk that extremist groups were using the jungle as a training ground.
“They’re looking for places to . . . train,” Chaidar said. “That’s why they chose Poso and Aceh before, and they could see Papua the same way because it can’t be accessed easily by security forces.”
To prevent extremist groups from infiltrating the region, the experts urged the government to focus on maintaining stability and peace in Papua through dialogue with local leaders.
“Terrorism is rooted in radical ideologies, which can only be detected by family and close relatives. We used to miss that part. The government should build resistance from within families, within communities,” said Stanislaus.
Huda echoed the statement, saying that taking the social approach was important to prevent social upheaval and radicalism while increasing the role of intelligence operations.
“The police are right to be vigilant because the presence of so many mining companies that use explosives in their operations could be an attraction for some terrorists,” said Jones.
THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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