2) Solomon Islands and Indonesia strengthen development co-operation
3) Criminalisation remains serious threat for activists, human rights defenders
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1) 'We demand proof, not promises': Papuans urge Jokowi to bring justice to Paniai tragedy
Benny Mawel The Jakarta Post
Jayapura / Mon, December 9, 2019 / 03:12 pm
University students and human rights activists staged a rally on Sunday in Sorong, West Papua, demanding that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo fulfill his vow to settle a human rights violation case in Paniai, Papua.
Five people, including four high school students, were allegedly shot and killed by Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers on Dec. 8, 2014, during a protest in Paniai.
Five years later, demonstrators gathered at the Sorong urban park and put up leaflets that read, “We demand proof, not promises”.
They called for the prosecution of those responsible for the shooting.
“Papua does not need [more] security [personnel]. Papua only needs justice,” protesters chanted during the rally, demanding that the government show respect to Papuans “as human beings”.
Jokowi promised to uphold justice and resolve the case in a speech delivered at a Christmas celebration in Papua’s provincial capital of Jayapura on Dec. 27, 2014, said Ambrosius Klangit, the field coordinator of Sunday’s protest,.
Papuans and the victims’ families have since waited for Jokowi to fulfill his promise, he added.
Klangit expressed concerns that instead of upholding his commitment to resolving the case, Jokowi’s administration seemed to be responsible for more human rights violations over the past five years.
“If [the government] has exploited natural sources [in Papua], they should respect Papuans’ rights to ownership and life,” Klangit said.
The Paniai shooting is among the cases of human rights violations in Papua — including the 2001 Wasior and 2003 Wamena case — that Jokowi has vowed to settle since his first term in office.
Activists and the victims’ families, however, have repeatedly criticized the government for making what they see as sluggish efforts to take action.
Papuan human rights lawyer Yohanes Mambrasar argued that the government actually had the tools to resolve the Paniai case, citing a 2000 law that stipulates that rights abuse cases committed after the year 2000 should be resolved through the human rights court.
“Therefore, there is no reason not to settle [the case],” he told reporters on Sunday.
Yohanes said settling the Paniai case could be a barometer of Jokowi’s willingness to resolve other human rights violations in Papua.
“When one talks about the development of Papua, one also talks about the settlement of rights abuse cases,” he said, “If [Jokowi] cannot solve the cases, Papuans can also measure Jokowi’s capability to develop Papua.”
Although five years have passed since the incident, Papuans are still pinning their hope on new Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD — a well-known legal expert — to help them.
“A lot of people are depending on [Mahfud],” Yohanes said. (sau)
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2) Solomon Islands and Indonesia strengthen development co-operation
6:31 pm on 9 December 2019
Solomon Islands and Indonesia have moved to strengthen ties through increased trade and investment opportunities.
That was formalised in a development cooperation framework agreement signed by both countries last week, on the sidelines of the 12th Bali Democracy Forum.
The Solomon Star newspaper reported Solomons Foreign Minister, Jeremiah Manele, expressing his appreciation for the agreement saying it would encourage more co-operation with Indonesia.
Also signed in Bali was a separate grant agreement for the construction by Indonesia of a multi-purpose futsal stadium in Honiara, to be used when Solomon Islands hosts the Pacific games in 2023.
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3) Criminalisation remains serious threat for activists, human rights defenders
Jawa Pos – December 8, 2019
Muhammad Ridwan – Becoming an activist, especially a human rights defender, often means confronting the law. Human rights defenders are not exempt from the treat of criminalisation.
The threat of criminalisation was revealed from data compiled by the Civil Society Coalition for the Protection and Defense of Human Rights (HAM).
The Coalition recorded that between January 2014 and November 2019 there were 73 cases of violations against human rights defenders. These violations were dominated by the criminalisation of human rights defenders.
Indonesian Human Protection Foundation (YPII) Advocacy Division Head Ainul Yaqin said that criminalisation has become a form of terror against human rights defenders. Meanwhile the majority of perpetrators who violated the rights of human rights defenders were the police with 27 cases.
“So far there has been no serious effort [to address this] by the state. Particularly from the police in solving cases of violence against HAM defenders in Indonesia. So, the pattern of violence against defenders is unfortunately the same and continues to reoccur”, said Yaqin in the Cikini area of Central Jakarta on Sunday December 8.
Yaqin explained that the forms of criminalisation experienced by activists included intimidation, violence disguised as ordinary crimes by unidentified individuals, the hacking of social media accounts and mobile phones and the criminalisation of human rights defenders.
Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Deputy Chairperson for Advocacy, Era Purnama Sari, said that most of the reports on the criminalisation of human rights defenders are never pursued by police. According to Sari, this is caused by the lack of independence on the part of the Bhayangkara corps (as the police are known) in following up on reported cases.
“If looked at, the pattern of cases of threats against HAM defenders are the criminalisation of actors who fight for agrarian rights, and the criminalisation of freedom of expression on social media when it is critical of the government. The majority of these cases of criminalisation are never followed up [by police]. No need to follow it up, just except it [they say]”, said Sari.
Sari believes that the lack of independence on the part of police has occurred as a consequence of regulations which fail to side with human rights defenders. One of these is National Police Chief Regulation (Perkapolri) Number 3/2019.
“One of the norms in the Perkapolri states that police can provide security for vital national objects and specific objects. [The term] specific objects is very broad in meaning. Then this security is embodied in cooperative agreements with corporations. It’s this which becomes the entry point for the police to provide security to companies”, said Sari.
Sari is therefore asking that a number of regulations be reevaluated. The aim being to provide support for human rights defenders who are criminalised because there has yet to be a single court ruling against perpetrators of attacks on human rights defenders.
“To this day there has been no court ruling which we could read and analysed related to attacks against HAM defenders, both our NGO [non-government organisation] friends as well as farmers who defend human rights”, said Sari in conclusion.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Kriminalisasi Masih Jadi Ancaman Bagi Aktivis Pembela HAM”.]
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