Tuesday, June 30, 2020

1) Gus Dur’s Yenny Wahid says flying Morning Star flag not an act of treason


2) Lawmaker wants social, cultural factors considered in Papua treason cases
———————————


1)  Gus Dur’s Yenny Wahid says flying Morning Star flag not an act of treason

Kompas.com – June 26, 2020




Miniature Morning Star flags seized at by airport security at Rendani Manokwari Airport – September 2, 2019 (Kompas)

Devina Halim, Jakarta – Wahid Foundation Director Yenny Wahid believes that flying the Morning Star flag is not an act of makar (treason, subversion, rebellion) and that the Papuan people have a special right to use regional symbols as enshrined under law.
Wahid revealed this during a virtual discussion titled Papuan student protest actions against discrimination end in makar trials, on Thursday June 25.
“I think that everyone [here] agrees that what’s called flying the Morning Star flag is not makar”, said Wahid.
Wahid explained that under Law Number 35/2008 on Special Autonomy for Papua Province – which was enacted before Papua was split into Papua and West Papua provinces – stipulates that Papuans can have a regional symbol in the form of a flag.
“Article 2 says that Papua has a special right to use a regional symbol. In this case the [Morning Star] flag is a cultural symbol from Papua”, said Wahid.
Article 2 Paragraph 2 reads;
“Papua province can have a regional symbol as a grand banner and cultural symbol for the splendor of the identity of the Papuan people in the form of a regional flag and regional anthem [but] which cannot be positioned as a symbol of sovereignty.”
She then linked this with what was once said by her father, Indonesia’s forth president the late Abdurrahman Wahid or Gus Dur.
“Put simply as Gus Dur said, what’s called a soccer club even has a flag, moreover certain sub-ethnic communities in Indonesian society do of course have the right”, she said.
In her view, there is no problem with flying the Morning Star flag as long as it is not seen as a political flag. Despite this, the flying of the flag is still seen as an act of makar by the police.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Yenny Wahid Nilai Pengibaran Bendera Bintang Kejora Bukan Aksi Makar”.]

———————-


2) Lawmaker wants social, cultural factors considered in Papua treason cases

Kompas.com – June 29, 2020
Tsarina Maharani, Jakarta – House of Representatives (DPR) Commission III member Taufik Basari from the National Democratic Party (Nasdem) has criticised the sentences demanded by the Balikpapan state prosecutor in a recent case of alleged makar (treason, subversion, rebellion) over the Morning Star flag being flown by Papuans.
This is because the sentences handed down by the judges at the Balikpapan District Court against seven Papuan defendants on June 17 were far lighter than those demanded by the prosecution.
“The sentences demanded were very high, but it turned out that the sentences were far [lower] than those demanded”, said Basari during a working meeting with the Attorney General at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday June 29.
Basari has asked Attorney General ST Burhanuddin to conduct an evaluation of the Balikpapan prosecutor’s sentence demand.
Basari says that there are many aspects which should be considered by prosecutors, especially in cases related to makar as a result of flying the Morning Star flag.
Basari cited cultural and sociological aspects that must be considered. “A non-legal approach is important”, he said.
“In the future if there are similar cases, about flying this flag, freedom of expression, Gus Dur’s (former president Abdurrahman Wahid) ideas on flying the flag could be used as a reference”, he said.
Responding to this, Burhanuddin said that his office would evaluate the methods used in formulating sentence demands in cases of alleged makar related to Papuans flying the Morning Star flag.
Burhanuddin said that the AGO does indeed have high standards in prosecuting cases of makar.
Notes
In 2000 Indonesia’s fourth president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid granted special autonomy to Papua – then made up of a single province – and lifted the ban on the Morning Star flag and the “Hai Tanahku Papua” anthem. The “Papua Spring” as it was known ended with the Abdurrahman’s removal by the military and New Order forces in 2001 and his replacement by president Megawati Sukarnoputri who took hardline approach toward any expression of independence. Her successor, president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, restored the ban on the Morning Star flag through a 2007 presidential regulation.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Vonis Terdakwa Kasus Makar di Balikpapan Jauh Lebih Rendah daripada Tuntutan, Jaksa Agung Diminta Evaluasi”.]

Maire Leadbeater: Black Lives Matter inspires West Papuans to hope

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=12343830

Maire Leadbeater: Black Lives Matter inspires West Papuans to hope
30 Jun, 2020 5:00am
 4 minutes to read



Indonesian students hold candles during a protest in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia in October last year. Photo / Albert Ivan Damanik, Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
NZ Herald
 

By: Maire Leadbeater
COMMENT
The global phenomenon that is the "Black lives Matter" movement has rejuvenated indigenous struggles and opened up a new dialogue about the impact of colonialism.
In West Papua it sparked a campaign that may prove to be an important milestone in West Papua's long road to justice. George Floyd's murder coincided with a notorious treason trial of seven Papuan activists, known as the Balikpapan Seven.

Read More

No one could escape the irony that the seven young men were before the court because they had taken part in a 2019 peaceful anti-racism protest. They had been transferred to detention in Balikpapan, Kalimantan, thousands of kilometers from their homes and families for so-called "security reasons".
Dozens of Papuans have been before the courts for their role in an uprising that swept across West Papua and many Indonesian cities last year. The trigger was a racist attack by Indonesian militia and army officers on a West Papuan student dormitory in Surabaya. The violence against the students was documented in videos that showed some Indonesian soldiers repeatedly banging on the gates of the dormitory, and abusing the students with epithets such as "monkeys" and "dogs" while hurling stones and firing teargas canisters.
The military responsible for the violent siege on the Papuan students' dormitory last August have escaped sanction. Just three civilians who took part in the violent attack got light sentences, while more than 50 Papuans and one Indonesian were detained on treason charges in connection with the uprising, all of them involved only in peaceful protest.
Unbelievably, the prosecutors sought sentences of between five and 17 years of prison for the Balikpapan Seven, way higher than the months' long sentences for those who had already been tried for participating in protest. However, this time around the call for their release extended far beyond Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Joining the call were Papuan "elite" figures – politicians, civic leaders and religious figures. And what was novel and truly heartening was the way the issue was taken up by Indonesians. There were support demonstrations in several Indonesian cities, an Indonesian social media campaign "We need to talk about Papua" and some usually silent sectors such as the Indonesian Communion of Churches voiced concern.
New Zealanders joined the global protest on social media and in an open letter call to action to the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Sadly, to no avail.

The outcome was a victory of sorts, since the sentences handed down were of 10 and 11 months, far less than the prosecutors demanded. However, still a shocking travesty. Evidence at the trial revealed that Buchtar Tabuni, a leader of a pro-independence group, was not even present at the demonstrations - he was busy with his family farm. It was Buchtar's third time behind bars for similar "non-crimes". He was sentenced to 11 months. Two students who helped by organising logistics such as transport, sound and security were sentenced to 10 months jail.
Meanwhile, Indonesia continues to respond with a "security" approach – 10,000 additional troops last year and a further 816 sent in recently because of the controversy around the latest treason trial.

Related articles:

 
The litany of abuses against the Papuan people stretches back over more than half a century since they were forced to accept Indonesian rule, their second colonisation following long decades of Dutch rule.
Maire Leadbeater. Photo / Greg Bowker, file
There are not many precedents for the current level of international attention. One that comes to mind happened in the early 1980s when West Papua experienced a kind of cultural revolution. Indigenous anthropologist Arnold Ap formed a music group, Mambesak, and travelled around West Papua collecting songs for preservation.
The traditional music, broadcast on the radio and performed across the country, encouraged a sense of pride and a Papuan identity that transcended tribal barriers. When Indonesia failed to co-opt the movement, Ap became a marked man. However, he was known internationally so his 1984 death from gunshot wounds galvanised global protest.
A conservative Australian journalist, Peter Hastings, said Ap had been murdered because he "personified" indigenous culture.
While Arnold Ap's name and Mambesak music remained at the heart of the Papuan struggle for freedom, the international spotlight moved on.
However, the "Black Lives Matter" movement just grows and grows and, with it, new hope for West Papua.
• Maire Leadbeater is a human rights activist and an organiser with West Papua Action Auckland

--------------------------

Monday, June 29, 2020

1) How we calculated Korindo’s revenues from clearing Papuan rainforest


2) Passenger allowed on Jakarta-Sorong flight despite testing positive for COVID-19

—————————————————-


1) How we calculated Korindo’s revenues from clearing Papuan rainforest  
by The Gecko Project and Mongabay on 29 June 2020


  • A panel convened by the Forest Stewardship Council calculated that Korindo had deprived indigenous communities in Indonesia’s Papua province of $300 million by underpaying for the timber harvested from their lands in the decade from 2007.
  • Korindo dismissed the figure as “pure fantasy” on the grounds that the panel had based its calculations on global market prices, when Korindo actually sold the timber locally. Korindo claimed it had made a loss on the logging operations as it cleared land for plantations.
  • Based on our own calculation, we estimate that since the turn of the century, Korindo exported products worth $320 million using timber harvested as it cleared the rainforest for plantations in Papua.
This article was co-published with The Gecko Project. 
This post details the analysis we carried out to estimate the revenues generated by the Korindo Group from harvesting timber as it cleared rainforest in the Indonesian province of Papua for oil palm plantations. The analysis is cited in an article we published last week based on a year-long investigation into a $22 million “consultancy” payment Korindo made in connection with one of its plantations in Papua.

A $300 million calculation

In December 2017, an independent panel of three forestry experts convened by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the main global group for certifying sustainable wood, traveled to Papua, Indonesia, to investigate allegations made against Korindo.
The FSC had certified two sawmills, a pulpwood plantation concession and a paper manufacturing plant belonging to Korindo. In 2017, Korindo was the subject of a complaint to the FSC by the NGO Mighty Earth, which alleged the group had violated the FSC’s principles by clearing large areas of Papuan rainforest and violating the rights of indigenous peoples there as it established oil palm plantations.
Among its findings, the panel estimated that Korindo had deprived local communities in Papua of $300 million by failing to pay commercial rates for the timber harvested from their lands. In its report to the FSC, the panel wrote that Korindo had made “large profits” because it had paid the Papuans as little as $0.80 for each cubic meter (m3) of timber, which the panel estimated to have an average commercial value of $250 per m3.
Reasoning that Korindo and the government bore equal responsibility for the unfair rates the communities got for their timber, and taking into account the nearly $5 million it said Korindo had spent on social programs in Papua, the panel recommended to the FSC that Korindo should pay the communities $145 million “to compensate for the damages caused to the communities due to underpayment of timber.”
The panel’s full report was never made public. Only a redacted selection of the findings were published in a series of documents. The FSC said it was not able to publish the full report “due to a disagreement with Korindo”. The published findings did not mention the $300 million estimate or the recommendation for $145 million in compensation.
The FSC opted not to expel Korindo from its scheme, instead imposing what it described as “strong measures” to ensure the firm complied with its principles in the future. During the course of our investigation, we reviewed the original report without redactions.

Korindo labels the $300 million figure as “pure fantasy”

In an interview with our reporting team on April 16, Kwangyul Peck, Korindo’s chief sustainability officer, described the $300 million figure as “pure fantasy” and “downright deception.” He said the conglomerate had lost money on the logging operations that took place as Korindo prepared the land to plant with oil palms. He said the panel had erred by applying what he described as the “global price” for timber, when Korindo could only sell the timber “within the region.” In a subsequent email on April 22, he wrote that the panel had “applied the world price for the sales of timber, but it is illegal to sell timber from the plantation land outside of Papua.”
Peck provided what he described as an audit by Deloitte, one of the Big Four accounting firms, that he said provided “proof Korindo did not make $300 million from the sales of timber.” The document showed the sales of timber made by three Korindo subsidiaries that run its oil palm concessions in Papua and the costs they incurred. It showed they made a loss on harvesting and selling timber almost every year.

Local or global price?

Korindo’s plantation companies in Papua sell their timber to Korindo’s own sawmill in the village of Asiki, in southern Papua. This factory, run by a Korindo unit called PT Korindo Abadi Asiki, converts the timber into plywood, and ships it to the global market. A promotional video published by Korindo in 2016 stated that the mill “exports all of its production to the Middle East” and had an annual sales target of $100 million.
As such, the Korindo Group does access global prices for the timber products derived from its plantation concessions in Papua. The profits and losses of the oil palm companies that supply its mill in Asiki, provided by Peck, reflect only one part of the conglomerate’s timber supply chain. They show sales to an affiliated party, not the revenues the group as a whole earns by placing timber products on the market. It is therefore more pertinent to assess Korindo’s revenues based on the price it obtains for the plywood sold to global markets.



Logging and oil palm concessions controlled by Korindo, and other companies, in southern Papua.

Estimating Korindo’s revenues from conversion timber

We set out to establish our own assessment of Korindo’s revenues from “conversion timber,” which comes from the clear-cutting of forests. In its calculation, the FSC panel used prices for unprocessed, or “roundwood,” logs. However, as Korindo first places the timber on a competitive market in the form of plywood, we opted to assess the revenues it would generate from selling that product.
We used data from Korindo (both supplied directly to us and to the FSC panel), the Indonesian government, and satellite analysis carried out by the NGO Aidenvironment, published in its 2016 “Burning Paradise” report. We put further questions to Korindo during this process, and incorporated their responses into our analysis.
Our analysis looked at four factors:
  1. The area of forest cleared by Korindo’s plantation subsidiaries in Papua;
  2. The estimated yield of timber from that area;
  3. The rate at which that timber was converted to plywood;
  4. The price of the plywood when it was placed on the market.

1. How much forest has Korindo cleared?

Korindo supplied data to the FSC panel showing how much land it had cleared in each of its plantation concessions. These figures corresponded with the area of forest cleared in the same concessions estimated in Aidenvironment’s report. Korindo has not disputed these figures. The figures provided to the FSC show the conglomerate cleared 48,902 hectares (121,000 acres) in Papua between 1998 and 2017, when it implemented a freeze on further forest clearing across its palm oil subsidiaries.

2. How much timber was harvested from that area?

The FSC panel estimated that each hectare of forest cleared produced 40.3 m3 of timber. Korindo disputes this figure as too high, on the grounds that the forest in its concessions had already been “logged by other companies for many years.” Korindo told us the actual yield was 16.7 m3 per hectare in the clearance that took place between 2010 and 2017, less than half the figure used by the FSC panel. (Korindo said earlier figures were “difficult to confirm” and therefore could not be provided.)
We reviewed the 2016 wood consumption report, known as an RPBBI, submitted by Korindo’s Asiki mill to the Indonesian government, a 2015 study by the nation’s anti-corruption agency, the KPK, and inventory data from the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s annual statistics book for 2016. Based on these sources, we concluded that the productivity rate used by the FSC was already a conservative estimate.
The ministry estimated logging potential in Papua’s secondary forests of 124.4 m3 per hectare for trees with a diameter of 20 centimeters and over, and 68.1 m3 per hectare for trees with a diameter of 50 cm and over. The 2015 KPK report estimated average commercial timber yields in Papua, when forest is cleared, of 43.5 m3 per hectare from trees above a diameter of 30 cm.
Comparing the 2016 wood consumption report for Korindo’s Asiki mill with the land clearing data provided to the FSC, we found that in that year, Korindo harvested 48 m3 from each hectare of land its plantation companies cleared. (The wood consumption report includes a reference to timber produced by a third Korindo plantation company, but there are no records for land clearing by that company in 2016, so we have excluded it from our calculations).
While some of the area converted by Korindo in this period likely had been degraded by logging, as Korindo claims, there is evidence to suggest that much of it had not. In its “Burning Paradise” report, Aidenvironment estimated that, based on satellite imagery and maps from the forestry ministry, “most” of the area cleared by Korindo’s plantation companies before 2010 was primary forest. Between 2013 and 2016, when clearing accelerated again, 47% of the forest cleared was primary forest, according to Aidenvironment.
We also note that, according to the FSC panel, the figure of 40 m3 was corroborated by Korindo’s staff at its office in Asiki, Papua, in December 2017. As such, we used what seems a conservative figure of 40 m3 per hectare in our calculation.

3. What is the rate of conversion to plywood?

The 2016 wood consumption report for the Asiki mill shows that for every 2.2 m3 of roundwood that went into the mill, it produced 1 m3 of plywood. In our initial calculation, we used the more conservative conversion rate of 2.4 m3 to reflect two things. Firstly, mills often upgrade technology over time to become more efficient, so the Asiki mill may have been less efficient during the earlier part of the period we’re considering. Secondly, the timber being valued is from clear-cutting the forest, which can be less efficient to process as it yields a greater variation in species and diameter size than selective logging, in which only commercially valuable tree species are harvested.
Even so, Korindo disputed this conversion rate as too efficient, on the grounds that its mill was not intended to process the small-diameter timber it had harvested from its plantation lands. Korindo said that between 2010 and 2017, the actual conversion rate was 2.85 m3. To err on the side of caution, we applied this conversion rate in our final analysis.

4. What was the price of plywood when placed on the market?

Korindo told us it exported plywood at prices ranging from $400 and $650 per m3, which comports with records we obtained for exports of plywood from Bade Port in Papua, from which Korindo exports its products. In our final estimate, we used the average export price of $525 per cubic meter of plywood given to us by the conglomerate.

Conclusion

In summary, we used Korindo’s own figures for the area of forest cleared, the conversion rate, and the plywood price, disputing only its assertion about the timber yields from the area cleared. Based on this methodology, we estimated that the timber harvested by Korindo’s oil palm plantation companies in Papua between 2000 and 2017 produced plywood worth $319.9 million. Taken back to 1998, the year Korindo’s first plantation company began clearing forest, the timber harvested from the plantation lands produced plywood worth $360.3 million. We believe this is a conservative estimate, on the grounds that the actual yield may be higher given the preponderance of primary forest in Korindo’s concessions, and the conversion rate we applied.
In its correspondence with us, Korindo estimated that between 2010 and 2017, based on the lower yield figure, its Asiki mill produced plywood worth $141 million. But it said that “considering the high cost of production, labors, logistics and Corporate Social Contribution, among others,” any claim it had made “huge profits” from logging the forest in its oil palm concessions was “not realistic.”
Our estimate represents revenue, not profit, and as such does not take into account Korindo’s processing, administrative, marketing, and logistics costs. However, it does provide context for the compensation paid to Papuan communities for the trees on their lands. If they were compensated at the rate of 12,500 rupiah (approximately $1 over the relevant period) per hectare reported to us and to the FSC panel, they would have been paid a maximum of $1.74 million, across all of Korindo’s oil palm concessions in southern Papua, since 2000. We asked Korindo how much it had paid to Papuans for timber overall, but it declined to answer.
Banner: An aerial view of Korindo’s plywood mill in Asiki village, Papua province. 
FEEDBACKUse this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.
Article published by 

———————————————————————
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/06/28/passenger-allowed-on-jakarta-sorong-flight-despite-testing-positive-for-covid-19.html

2) Passenger allowed on Jakarta-Sorong flight despite testing positive for COVID-19

News Desk The Jakarta Post  
Jakarta   /   Sun, June 28, 2020   /   03:10 pm

A passenger was allowed on a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta to Sorong, Papua, despite having recently tested positive for COVID-19, Sorong health authorities have said.
Sorong Airport Health Office coordinator Farida Tariq said that health officials discovered that the passenger, a 20-year-old student, had tested positive for the disease during a routine health document check conducted when the passengers arrived at Domine Eduard Osok Airport in Sorong on Saturday.
According to the latest government regulations on air travel, all prospective passengers must provide documents showing a negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or rapid test result before being allowed to fly.
The student, a resident of South Sorong regency, traveled to Sorong with a group of 42 other students.
“We checked to ensure that all 43 students had the necessary documents, and one of them [had a document] showing their PCR test result was positive,” Farida said on Saturday as quoted by kompas.com.
She added that the document was issued by a West Java Health Agency laboratory on June 21.
Unsure of how the student was allowed to board the flight, Farida speculated that Soekarno-Hatta International Airport health officials in Jakarta may have been overwhelmed by the large number of passengers that day.
The Soekarno-Hatta Airport Health Office did not immediately respond to The Jakarta Post’s requests for comment.

Farida said there were around 90 passengers on the Jakarta-Sorong flight. All of them have been instructed to undergo self-quarantine for the next two weeks.
“Meanwhile, the 43 students will undergo swab tests at Sorong Pertamina Hospital,” she said.
According to the official government count, Papua is among the provinces hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak outside Java, with 1,670 confirmed cases and seven deaths as of Saturday.
————————————————

Saturday, June 27, 2020

Papua’s Kingmi Church Chair: Do We Have to Change Our Skin Color?



Papua’s Kingmi Church Chair: Do We Have to Change Our Skin Color? 
27 June 2020 14:07 WIB

TEMPO.COJakarta - Chairman of the Synod of Indonesia Gospel Tabernacle Church (Kingmi) in Papua, Rev. Benny Giay regretted the conviction of seven Papuan political prisoners who were tried for treason.
He said the accused were the victims of smoke screen allegations made up to divert the public attention away from the racism incident at the Papuan student dormitory in Surabaya, East Java, August last year. "If the police had moved faster and arrested those who hurled racial slurs in the first place, these seven young Papuans probably wouldn't have been charged with treason," Benny, 65, said during the special interview with Tempo last Thursday, June 18.

On June 17, the Balikpapan District Court's panel of judges declared the seven men guilty and sent them to 10 to 11 months behind bars. Although the sentences are lighter than the five to 17 years sought by the prosecution, the men were still imprisoned for only participating in peaceful anti-racism protests. "The separatism allegation was deliberately made to divert the attention from the racism issue," Benny added.
Benny who served as an expert witness in the trial said that the treason charge was the excess of discrimination, one of the four issues that can be traced to the roots of the conflicts in Papua. "The state must first settle these issues. If Papuans are still obstinate after that, then it's okay to charge them with treason," said the church elder who for decades has fought for the rights of indigenous Papuans.
From his residence in Sentani, Jayapura, Benny spoke to Tempo's Mahardika Satria Hadi via telephone on Tuesday and Thursday, June 16 and 18. The theologian who specialized in social anthropology talked about the history of racism in the land of Papua, the stalled dialog with Jakarta, to his disappointment in President Joko Widodo.
What exactly is the root of racism in Papua?
It has already been spelled out by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences in its book titled Papua Road Map published in 2009. There are four fundamental issues that caused the conflicts in Papua. One of them is discrimination which has been existent throughout the history of Papua ever since the integration began. Propaganda during the period 1961-1962 even said that the Indonesian government came to Papua to elevate the people of Papua to be equal to other ethnic groups of Indonesia. That already is a condescending statement and it reeks of racism. This discrimination that marginalizes the Papuans comes from the state, you see.
What are other factors besides discrimination?
Second, the Indonesian government's failure to develop the economy, health care, and education in Papua. Third, the differing views between Papua and Indonesia regarding the history of Papua's integration. Papuans think that Indonesia came to occupy the Papua land because we are a different country whereas the Indonesian government believes that Papua is its territory. These opposing views on political status will never end. As a result, Papuans continue to fight. Fourth, the military oppression continues even to this day and human rights violations are never dealt with.
What should the central government do to end the conflicts in Papua?
Take care of those four problems mentioned above first. Now we have a difference of opinions. There's a clash of two different cultures like what the Indonesian and the Dutch people had in the past. As long as the state cannot resolve these issues, Papuans will continue to create troubles and end up in jail. This is a vicious cycle. Papuans understand that Papua and Aceh are the same, but they also see starkly different attitudes of the central government (towards the two provinces).
What kind of different treatments did the government give to Aceh dan Papua?
Aceh and Papua are the most resource-rich provinces, but most of the earnings are sent back to Jakarta. Both Aceh and Papua had independence movements: GAM (Free Aceh Movement) and OPM (Free Papua Movement), but the two issues were handled differently. Indonesia managed to dialog and negotiate with Aceh. After negotiations, GAM was no longer considered a separatist group so military oppression wasn't necessary. Papuans now have ULMWP (United Liberation Movement for West Papua). Papuans also want to dialog and negotiate.
What is the problem?
We ask the same question. Do we have to change the color of our skin and hair? Or do we have to change our religion? In Aceh, the GAM flag was allowed to fly. In Papua, if we fly the Morning Star flag, we can be shot or jailed.
Read the full interview in Tempo English Magazine
----------------

Friday, June 26, 2020

1) Miss New Zealand Blasted Over West Papua Comments



2) KOMNAS HAM URGES GOVT TO RATIFY OPTIONAL PROTOCOL

—————————————


1) Miss New Zealand Blasted Over West Papua Comments
by Indonesia ExpatJune 26, 2020

Miss New Zealand 2019 Diamond Langi has claimed to have received unpleasant comments from Indonesian netizens due to her support for the liberation of West Papua.



                                                Miss New Zealand Blasted Over West Papua Comments 


Those who weighed into the situation were not only criticising the campaign that was part of the Black Lives Matter movement; Diamond Langi’s family and friends were also attacked.
Diamond Langi expressed her concern with the problem of discrimination in West Papua. Some time ago, Diamond also uploaded a video about the #FreeWestPapua campaign which seemed to support the liberation of this Indonesian region. Unfortunately, her support has proved controversial among Indonesian netizens.

“I WANT TO BRING AWARENESS TO WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE PEOPLE OF WEST PAPUA, ESPECIALLY WITH THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT NOW,” SAID THE 2019 MISS UNIVERSE PARTICIPANT TO THE COCONET TV.
“I have asked Miss Indonesia, who I met last year in America while competing at Miss Universe, to speak with the Indonesian president to release seven activists found guilty of treason when protesting against racism,” she added.
After uploading the video, Diamond’s Instagram account is now receiving at least 10,000 comments a day which shows a dislike of the #FreeWestPapua campaign.
“They began to harass my family, my close friends, and even the organisations that I work with. Wow, if this happened to me just because I made a post, imagine what happened to people in West Papua,” Diamond said.
Now, Diamond Langi’s social media accounts have all been deleted. “I’ve deactivated some social media for a while, but don’t worry I’ll be back soon,” she said.
Diamond Langi, who now works as a fashion stylist and musician as well as doing modelling, is concerned with social issues and she has a great passion to help people in need. She created a non-profit Organisation called “The Diamond Langi Foundation”.
Source:  Detik
Image: E! News
—————————————-


2) KOMNAS HAM URGES GOVT TO RATIFY OPTIONAL PROTOCOL

TRANSLATOR: DEWI ELVIA MUTHIARINY   
EDITOR: LAILA AFIFA 
25 JUNE 2020 21:22 WIB 


TEMPO.COJakarta - National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) along with a number of institutions agreed to urge the government to immediately ratify the optional protocol to the convention against torture (OPCAT).
“This OPCAT is one of the instruments to ensure the prevention of persecution acts,” said the Komnas Ham’s external deputy chairman Amiruddin in a teleconference on Thursday, June 25.
OPCAT emerged to complement efforts to prevent torture based on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Komnas HAM along with the National Commission of Anti-Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), the Indonesian Children's Protection Commission (KPAI), the Indonesian Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), and Ombudsman was still receiving complaints of torture in detention centers and prisons, as well as the death penalty.
To prevent the practice of persecution from happening, Amiruddin said the five institutions planned to hold dialogues with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Coordinating Ministry for Politics, Legal, and Security Affairs, and the Parliament to develop initiatives to ratify the OPCAT.
“Our efforts to minimize persecution acts can only be achieved together,” Amiruddin remarked.
FRISKI RIANA