2) OPM proposes ceasefire to help contain spread of Covid-19 in West Papua
3) National Games in Papua in limbo as COVID-19 worsens
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1) Indonesian Forces Kill 2 Suspected Papuan Rebels
Ronna Nirmala Jakarta 2020-04-10
Government security forces in Indonesia’s Papua province killed two suspected separatist rebels and arrested another during a raid on their hideout, a police spokesman said Friday.
The raid by a joint team of police and soldiers on Thursday in Mimika regency followed the arrest of six people suspected of delivering supplies to insurgents, Papua police spokesman Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said.
Those killed and arrested were members of a rebel faction linked to the March 30 killing of a New Zealander who worked at the nearby Grasberg gold and copper mine operated by U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan Inc., he said.
“Decisive action has been taken against armed criminals who carried out the shootings at the PT Freeport Indonesia office complex in Kuala Kencana,” Kamal said in a statement to BenarNews.
“During the gunfight, two members of the armed criminal group died and one person with the initials I.S. was arrested,” Kamal said, referring to the killings of the rebel suspects.
New Zealand national Graeme Thomas Wall was the lone fatality, and two other Freeport employees, both Indonesians, were injured in last week’s attack. Hendrik Wamang, a commander of the
West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), said his group was responsible for the shootings.
Kamal said police confiscated homemade weapons, 162 bullets, dozens of arrows, bows and three Morning Star separatist flags after Thursday’s raid.
A TPNPB spokesman, Sebby Sambom, cast doubt on police claims about that the Mimika incident involved his group.
“According to preliminary reports we have received, those killed and arrested were civilians,” Sebby told BenarNews.
“But we will wait for confirmation from the TPNPB leadership in Timika,” he said, referring to the Mimika regency’s capital city.
No response to ceasefire offer
This week, the rebel group proposed a ceasefire with Indonesian forces to allow both sides to focus on the coronavirus pandemic.
Sebby said his group was willing to implement a ceasefire provided that the Indonesian government withdrew troops and police reinforcements from the province.
There has been no response from Indonesian authorities to the offer, which followed an appeal by United Nations Secretary-General of António Guterres, he said.
“If Indonesia does not want to take up our offer, there’s no problem. We were following the call of the U.N. secretary-general and that is a plus for the TPNPB in the eyes of the international community,” Sebby said.
He said if there was no ceasefire agreement, his army would continue with attacks on various targets, including Freeport Indonesia.
“A large influx of refugees to neighboring Papua, New Guinea, will be inevitable because these areas are becoming increasingly insecure,” he said.
Papua and West Papua, a region on Papua Island at the far eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago, has seen a low-level separatist conflict since the 1960s.
The region was rocked by weeks of violence in August and September 2019 after news about allegations that security forces on Java Island had mistreated Papuan students ignited mass protests. The unrest left more than 40 people dead.
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2) OPM proposes ceasefire to help contain spread of Covid-19 in West Papua
Surara.com – April 8, 2020
Agung Sandy Lesmana and Ria Rizki Nirmala Sari – The Free Papua Organisation (OPM) is offering a ceasefire in the midst of the corona virus pandemic. The option of a ceasefire however must also be agreed to by the Indonesian government by withdrawing all non-organic troops from Papua.
West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) and OPM spokesperson Sebby Sembom has confirmed reports of the offer. He also emphasised that the option of a ceasefire must be agreed to by the government by ending military operations in Papua and withdrawing non-organic troops.
“Yes, it’s true and if Indonesia withdraws all non-organic military from Papua. Because the fact is that the TNI-Polri [Indonesian military-Indonesian police] are currently mobilising troops in large numbers and conducting military operations in Ndugama, Lani Jaya, Timika, Tembagapura and Oksibil in the star mountains (Pegunungan Bintang) regency”, said Sembom when contacted by journalists on Wednesday April 8.
As a broad outline, the option of a ceasefire offered by the OPM must also be accepted by the government with an agreement not to conduct military operations in the Island of the Cenderawasih as Papua is known.
Sembom has also issued a written release by OPM-TPNPB Chairperson Jeffrey Bomanak which was written from the OPM-TPNPB Victoria headquarters on Wednesday.
In the release, Bomanak said that the OPM-TPNPB will also support the fight against the Covid-19 epidemic which they see as threatening human life.
Bomanak explained that the war between the OPM and the Indonesian military is still continuing particularly at several vital points such as the Freeport mining area in Tembagapura, Timika.
Armed contacts are also still taking place in Intan Jaya, in the Ndugama III Defense Command Area (Kodap) in the Star Mountains as well as the OPM-TPNPB Victoria headquarters. The government is said to still be increasing troop numbers.
“And the OPM-TPNPB respects the energy of countries which have a commitment to fight the Covid-19 global epidemic such as Papua New Guinea, Australia and East Timor so the OPM-TPNPB has had to issue this statement and commitment so that Indonesia does not act carelessly in military operations which will spread the corona virus to other countries”, wrote Bomanak.
Bomanak also wrote that the OPM-TPNPB is making this offer and commitment openly to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo as a way of realising the international guidelines issued by the United Nations to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
“So the OPM-TPNPB is asking Indonesia to respect the good intentions of the UN and the OPM-TPNPB for the sake of humanity and global justice”, said Bomanak.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Syarat Tarik Militer di Papua, OPM Tawarkan RI Gencatan Senjata saat Corona”.]
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3) National Games in Papua in limbo as COVID-19 worsens
Ramadani Saputra
The Jakarta Post Jakarta / Fri, April 10, 2020 / 07:49 am
The fate of the first-ever National Games (PON) to be held in Indonesia’s easternmost province this year hangs in the balance, as it appears likely that the PON will become the latest major sporting event to be adversely affected by COVID-19.
Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali said his office was scrutinizing every aspect of the Games ahead of a planned consultation meeting with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, emphasizing that only the leader could determine whether or not it will run as planned.
The Games, to be held in Papua for the first time ever, are scheduled to run from Oct. 20 to Nov. 2, with athletes from across the country to compete in 37 sports in Jayapura city and Jayapura, Mimika and Merauke regencies.
“We are currently looking into the input from various sides, including the House of Representatives Commission X,” Zainudin said in a teleconference on Tuesday.
“The main thing that we are considering is how long the pandemic might last.”
COVID-19, classified by the World Health Organization as a pandemic, has entered more than 200 countries worldwide, infecting more than 1.4 million people and causing over 80,000 deaths. It has had a particularly devastating effect on the sporting world, causing big events such as the 2020 Olympics Games and the Wimbledon Grand Slam to be postponed.
In Indonesia, most sporting events have been canceled or pushed back, including soccer and basketball leagues.
The House Commission X overseeing education, sports, tourism and the creative economy asked the government to postpone the Games because of the coronavirus. The chairman of the commission, Syaiful Huda, said the Games could be delayed until 2021.
“There are many sporting events at the regional and international levels that have been postponed due to COVID-19, like the Tokyo Olympics and the Euro Cup. So there’s nothing wrong with postponing the PON to 2021,” Syaiful said as quoted by tempo.co.
Syaiful, a National Awakening Party (PAN) politician, also said that the current circumstances were not conducive to the construction of several unfinished sporting venues in the host province.
“Based on the latest information, there are still several venues that aren’t ready yet, so their development needs to be sped up,” Syaiful said. “If the airports and ports are closed, this means construction materials can’t be transported to Papua, which disrupts the building process.”
The Papua administration began closing airports and ports across its 29 cities and regencies in March 26 to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Some local leaders have asked for the Health Ministry’s permission to impose large-scale social restrictions in their respective regions.
Papua Governor Lukas Enembe sent a letter to President Jokowi earlier this week asking to reconsider the timeline of the Games, saying the disease had affected preparations for the quadrennial event, kompas.com reported.
In his letter dated April 7, Lukas reported that while 85 to 90 percent of the venues were ready, he was worried the remaining tasks would be disrupted in the coming months due to a rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region.
As of midday on Thursday, the official government tally of confirmed infections in Papua was 38 with two deaths.
Minister Zainudin said the decision of whether to postpone the Games could go either way.
“Right now, the regional administration is focusing its efforts on containing the spread of COVID-19,” he said, explaining that a deadline on making a decision would be determined after consulting the President.
The ministry had yet to tally up the costs it would bear should Jokowi decide to postpone the Games to 2021, Zainudin said, and it was already dealing with a very busy schedule next year, with at least six international events to prepare for.
The ministry allocated Rp 500 billion (US$30.7 million) of its Rp 1.7 trillion budget for PON preparations. It is currently reallocating funds to assist with the government’s COVID-19 response.
If you want to help in the fight against COVID-19, we have compiled an up-to-date list of community initiatives designed to aid medical workers and low-income people in this article.
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