2) Hundreds of residents flee clashes near mine in Indonesia's Papua
3) Candlelight Vigil in Solidarity for Nduga from Sorong Community
4) Verdict reading of three convicted suspects of Deyai’s anti-racism case
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1) Indonesia says 1 soldier killed in ongoing Papua clash
AP Today
TIMIKA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s military said Monday that a soldier was killed in an ongoing clash between security forces and a rebel group near the world’s largest gold mine in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region.
The clashes, which began Feb. 29 near the Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua province, had previously killed a police officer and injured three others. Police said the attackers are believed to be members of the West Papua Liberation Army, the military wing of the Free Papua Organization.
Rebels in Papua have been fighting a low-level insurgency since the early 1960s, when Indonesia annexed the region, which was a former Dutch colony. Papua was formally incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-sponsored ballot that was seen as a sham by many.
Mimika district military chief Lt. Col. Pio Nainggolan said the soldier was hit by a bullet when he was preparing for dawn prayers and died at a hospital hours later.
He said a joint military and police force was hunting “an armed separatist criminal group.”
“We are on the highest alert as instructed to all troops on the ground,” Nainggolan said in a video obtained by The Associated Press.
The mine, which is nearly half owned by U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan and is run by PT Freeport Indonesia, is seen by separatists as a symbol of Indonesian rule and has been a frequent target for rebels.
The current shootout in the mining town of Tembagapura has caused about 2,000 villagers to flee for safety to neighboring Timika city.
Attacks by rebels near the Grasberg mine have spiked in the past year.
The Grasberg mine’s vast gold and copper reserves have been exploited for decades by Freeport-McMoRan, damaging the surrounding environment while providing significant tax income for the Indonesian government.
But indigenous Papuans have benefited little and are poorer, sicker and more likely to die young than people elsewhere in Indonesia.
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2) Hundreds of residents flee clashes near mine in Indonesia's Papua
JAKARTA, March 9 (Reuters) - Nearly 1,000 residents in Indonesia's Papua have taken refuge in the city of Timika after clashes between security forces and separatist rebels in an area near the Grasberg copper and gold mine operated by Freeport-McMoRan Inc, police said on Monday. Papua police spokesman Ahmad Mustafa Kamal said in a statement "an armed separatist group had attacked Indonesian police and TNI (army) personnel" and 917 residents from the Tembagapura district had taken shelter in Timika. The clashes broke out more than a week ago and Kamal said a police officer had died on Feb. 28, while Dax Sianturi, deputy spokesman of the Papua military command, said an army officer had also been killed on Monday in Timika. Sianturi denied a claim in a statement by Sebby Sambom, a spokesman for the West Papua National Liberation Army, a separatist group, that five members of the security forces had been shot dead.
Freeport Indonesia spokesman Riza Pratama said by text message that operations at the mine had not been affected by the latest unrest, but asked employees to report immediately any unusual events.
Indonesia's state-owned miner PT Inalum took control of Grasberg, the world's second-biggest copper mine, in late 2018, though Freeport remains the operator.
The area around the Grasberg mine has suffered outbreaks of violence in recent years with separatists declaring they were "at war" with the police, military and Freeport. There have also been sporadic shootings and ambushes on vehicles travelling on the main supply route to the mine.
Resource-rich Papua, which shares the island of New Guinea with the nation of Papua New Guinea, was a Dutch colony that was incorporated into Indonesia after a controversial U.N.-backed referendum in 1969. The region has since endured decades of mostly low-level separatist conflict. (Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Papua stringer; Editing by Ed Davies and Alex Richardson)
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3) Candlelight Vigil in Solidarity for Nduga from Sorong Community
Published 9 hours ago on 9 March 2020 By Admin1
Candlelight Vigil in Solidarity for Nduga held in Sorong City Park on Friday afternoon (7/3/2020). – Jubi/Yuliana Lantipo
Sorong, Jubi – The rain seems not to interrupt a group of young people in Sorong City, Papua Barat, to raise banners and posters in solidarity for Nduga’s people on Friday afternoon (7/3/2020). This Friday’s candlelight solidarity event has conducted two months ago, started in January 2020.
The event coordinator Leonardo Ijie said the event is a mutual commitment of young people to the humanitarian issue and opened for everyone who concerns about justice enforcement and peacebuilding in the Land of Papua (Papua and West Papua provinces), in particular, what has happened in Nduga.
The recent data released by Papua Behind Bar records that there are 243 civilians died during the military operation in Nduga since 4 December 2018 to 2 February 2020. It includes those who killed by the Indonesian military and police and those who died of hunger and illness.
Furthermore, Ijie, who is also the Secretary of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Kaki Abu observes that the state has neglected the civil rights of Nduga people in various ways, one of which is security.
“Up to this day, the state or even the government is not paying attention to this issue. Now, this (humanitarian) issue starts to disappear from us, especially from indigenous Papuans,” he told Jubi on Friday night during the event.
The candlelight vigil in solidarity for Nduga will continue to hold until the people in Nduga get their rights by allowing the refugees to return to their village without feeling intimidated.
“Today, through this event, we want to tell the world and Nduga people that they are not alone. We are here for them,” said Ijie.
“We are determined to carry out this action until the situation in Nduga turns conducive. We ask the government to subject this issue as a crucial matter. That there is a massive displacement, severe human rights violations in Nduga. It seems there is no humanity out there,” said Ijie.
However, participants attending the event this Friday are less than the previous days. “Perhaps, the rain has made fewer people come,” said Ajie explaining that there was no problem arranging this event so far.
“Usually, there would be two police officers who just come to watch.”
A participant Debby says that his willingness to take part in this solidarity event began with her concern over several human rights violations and violence by state apparatus against Papuan civil society.
“I represent those of other Indonesian regions. I am Muslim and very concerned about what has recently happened in Papua,” said Debby.
In line with Ijie, Debby finds that the neglection by state and government towards the legal settlement of events that had usurped the rights of ordinary people in the Land of Papua.
”It seems the state has tolerated human rights violations in Papua, in Nduga. It made all of us in Papua feeling unsecured, particularly among the migrants who have limited information. It made us suspicious of each other. I come to the solitary for purely voicing peaceful in Papua,” he said.
The candlelight vigil in solidarity for Nduga lasted for approximately an hour. About twenty attending people then dispersed in an orderly manner while the rain is still pouring. (*)
Reporter: Yuliana Lantipo
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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4) Verdict reading of three convicted suspects of Deyai’s anti-racism case
Nabire, Jubi – The panel of judges of the Nabire District Court read the verdict to three defendants of Deiyai’s anti-racism case.
“To the defendants, Stevanus Pigai, Mikael Bukega and Yosias Iyai, who detained since 1 September 2019, the panel decides to give five months and twenty-two days sentence,” said Chair Judge Erents Jannes Ulain when reading the verdict in the Nabire District Court on Friday (6/3/2020).
The verdict refers to Article 160 in conjunction with Article 55 of the Criminal Code.
He further continues that the defendants will immediately free due to their detention period. “We give a chance to the public prosecutor to challenge this decision within seven days, starting today, if he objects it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the defendants’ lawyer Emanual Gobai said they are disappointed with the verdict because it is not consistent with the time of the incident, 28 August 2019.
Gobay asserted that the judges’ argument in elaborating the element of incitement in the case referring to the fact of 26 August 2019, while the incident underlying the case occurred on 28 August 2019.
“The incitement was not proven based on the fact stated in the trial. Yes, the defendants should be free by law, because the incitement was not proven,” he said.
According to him, the fact was in line with the testimony of the expert proposed by the public prosecutor in the trial, who said if one of the criminal elements accused against the defendants could not be proven, therefore the article charged was also not confirmed.
“We also appreciate that the panel of judges for admitting the casualties and injured victims among civilians in this case, including the defendants,” he said.
Furthermore, regarding five months and twenty-two days sentence, he asserted that the judges gave the verdict adjusting the defendants’ detention period. So, they are immediately be released.
“In regards to further legal step on this decision, the legal counsel, defendants and their families will still discuss further,” he said. (*)
Reporter: Abeth You
Editor: Pipit Maizier
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