1) Prosperity eludes all despite 20 years of special autonomy: community

2) Murder of Intan Jaya pastor part of series of violence: Komnas HAM 

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https://en.antaranews.com/news/159205/prosperity-eludes-all-despite-20-years-of-special-autonomy-community

1) Prosperity eludes all despite 20 years of special autonomy: community  

17th October 2020

Several participants of a meeting in Wamena, Jayawijaya District, Papua Province.(ANTARA/Marius Frisson Yewun)

Wamena, Papua (ANTARA) - Yali Hubula tribal community members in Jayawijaya District, Papua Province, asserted that the central government-granted special autonomy implemented over a span of two decades had failed to usher in prosperity for Papuans.

Highlighting this reality, Head of the Committee for the Yali Hubula Tribal Community Simon Surabut told participants of a meeting in Wamena on Friday that the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) and Papua Province's legislative body should be transparent regarding the fact.

During the 20-year-long implementation of special autonomy in Papua Province, prosperity remained a distant dream for all components of Papuan communities. On the contrary, various problems had surfaced, including serious damage to natural resources, Surabut noted.

Seconding Surabut's view, Kiname Yikwa, a local church leader, opined that the real benefits of the vast amounts of special autonomy funds disbursed by the central government to Papua Province had failed to reach all members of communities.

Consequently, disappointment was rife over the special autonomy granted despite huge fund disbursal, Yikwa pointed out.

The disappointment was echoed by Dolina Yogobi, a local feminist, who claimed that several Papuan women had failed to derive real benefits of the special autonomy funds, so they had refused their continuation in future.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri’s administration had passed a law on special autonomy in the provinces of Papua and West Papua in 2001 to guarantee Papuans the right to manage their own region politically, economically, and culturally.

The law also stipulated the allotment of special autonomy funds, valid for a period of two decades.

As the transfer of funds will end in 2021, the House of Representatives has included the deliberation of Papua's special autonomy status on this year's National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) priority list.

A Papuan youth figure urged Papua's groups to support the continuation of the special autonomy status granted to Papua and West Papua to guarantee sustainable development in all sectors of life in both provinces.

In conversation with ANTARA in Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province, on Aug 11, 2020, Tanus Komba opined that rejecting the continuation of the law on special autonomy (Otsus), passed in 2001, was not a solution.

Komba concurred on a deliberation on revising this special autonomy law instead of rejecting it based on its vital role in driving regional development in public sectors, such as health, education, and infrastructure.

The Papuan youth figure asserted that the special autonomy status granted by the central government to Papuans reflected Indonesia's care for its people.

"We must be proud of it since only Papua and Aceh have been granted this privilege. Hence, we must support it," Komba noted.


Related news: In quest of peaceful resolution to Papua conflict


Related news: Need joint action from authorities, people on Papua violence: lawmaker Close
EDITED BY INE

Reporter: Marius FY, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

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https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/10/18/murder-of-intan-jaya-pastor-part-of-series-of-violence-komnas-ham.html

2) Murder of Intan Jaya pastor part of series of violence: Komnas HAM 

Alya Nurbaiti The Jakarta Post

Jakarta   /   Sun, October 18, 2020   /   11:02 am 

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has stated that the fatal shooting of Pastor Yeremia Zanambani in Hitadipa district, Intan Jaya, Papua is not a standalone incident, but rather a part of a series of violence occurring across the regency throughout this year. 

The commission launched an independent investigation into the incident, which did not work with the government-sanctioned fact-finding team (TGPF) that was formed by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD.

 “The murder of Pastor Yeremia is not a standalone case; there was a series of events leading to it,” Komnas HAM commissioner Choirul Anam, who leads the investigation team, said during a press briefing on Saturday. “We have collected information and supporting evidence, but we will examine it first with experts in order to make a solid conclusion,” he went on to say. 

Read also: Intan Jaya pastor’s family ‘reluctantly’ signs investigation report 

Frits Ramandey, a Komnas HAM representative in Papua, said at least 18 other cases had preceded the shooting of the priest. 

“The pattern and character of the cases in several districts in Intan Jaya are similar to [Yeremia’s] case, where there were both civilian and security personnel casualties,” Frits said. 

During the press briefing, Choirul also questioned the security governance in the regency, due to the high number of incidents during a short span of time across the regency. 

He added that during their visit to Papua, the commission members had received a letter from the Papuan Council of Churches demanding the government stop sending troops to Papua. “They wish for a peaceful rather than a security approach as the latter only brings violence and discomfort to the Papuans,” Choriul went on to say. Moreover, the commission received objections from the manager of a school in Hitadipa over the use of a school building as a military post, which hindered 100 students from studying in their classroom. 

Choriul said Komnas HAM had reported the concerns to the Office of the Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Affairs Minister. The commissioner said the Komnas HAM investigation team had gathered sufficient information, including a crime scene reconstruction of the incident, which would help them to reveal what had happened and name people implicated in the case. Yeremia, the head of a theological school in Hitadipa and a pastor in the Imanuel Hitadipa congregation of the Indonesian Evangelical Christian Church (GKII), was shot dead on Sept. 19. 

Many claimed that an Indonesian Military (TNI) soldier shot him dead, while the military denied the allegations and was pointing fingers to the Papuan armed group. 

Read also: Papuans doubtful over govt team to probe shootings 

Minister Mahfud later formed a joint TGPF to investigate the case as well as similar cases in Intan Jaya. Komnas HAM, however, was not included in the team. “Our findings and recommendation are independent and not related to the TGPF. 

We hope the government will listen to us because we are taking a human rights approach,” Chorul said, adding that Yeremia’s family put hope on the commission to seek justice. 

The government-sanctioned TGPF said it had completed its investigation on Saturday. Benny Mamoto of the National Police Commission (Kompolnas), who leads the field investigation unit, said Mahfud would announce the investigation results on Monday. 

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