Wednesday, March 31, 2021

1) Calling Papuan armed groups terrorists won’t solve unrest: Watchdogs


2) Protesters say racism against indigenous Papuans flourishing in Indonesia

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1) Calling Papuan armed groups terrorists won’t solve unrest: Watchdogs ]
Tri Indah Oktavianti The Jakarta Post 
 Jakarta   /   Wed, March 31, 2021   /  03:43 pm


Police and military personnel attend a joint antiterror exercise held by the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police at the East Java Police’s Mobile Brigade headquarters in Malang, East Java, on May 18, 2020.(Antara/Ari Bowo Sucipto)



Last week, Indonesia’s handling of insurgencies in Papua took a new turn, eliciting a strong response from rights watchdogs and experts. 

The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), a state institution that had previously taken mostly precautionary and rehabilitative approaches to countering violent extremism, pitched the idea of designating armed criminal groups (KKB) linked with Papuan separatists as terrorists.

BNPT chief Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar told lawmakers at a hearing that these groups had been using violence to spark conflict and instill fear among civilians, suggesting that such activities could be regarded as acts of terror. 
BNPT was “proposing discussions” with relevant ministries and state agencies to ascertain whether it was possible to designate these groups as terrorist organizations, he said.


For the most part, lawmakers agree with the agency and support a hard approach to unrest and conflict in Papua. Romo Muhammad Syafi’i, a Gerindra Party legislator who sits on House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs, said acts of terrorism in Indonesia were not only disruptions of public order but also threatened “sovereignty, unity and national defense”.

House Deputy Speaker Azis Syamsuddin of Golkar said the KKB redesignation plan was a political approach that could ease the tension brought about by Papuan separatism, tribunnews.com reported. 

Read also: Police arrest suspects, ramp up security after Makassar bombing


But critics have said the proposal undermines many non-security aspects that can help authorities remedy the lack of trust that residents of Papua have in them.

Amnesty International Indonesia (AII) executive director Usman Hamid said, “[The redesignation] won’t do anything to help end the numerous human rights violations and abuses suffered by the Papuan people, many of which are suspected to be at the hands of state security forces.”

Indonesia has been widely criticized for the cycle of violence in its easternmost provinces, and certain countries have openly backed Papuan separatists. Experts say the unrest is the consequence of outdated, security-oriented attitudes toward Papuan issues.


For nearly 60 years, this hard approach, characterized by the mass deployment of military and police forces, has not led to long-lasting peace in Papua. Despite the heavy presence of forces, conflict has continued to occur, killing both armed combatants and unarmed civilians.

 Read also: Experts advise watchfulness as Papua Police confirm one ’terror’ arrest


Adriana Elizabeth, an Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher with expertise on Papua, said the heavy-handed military approach would only further complicate attempts to “break the cycle of violence”. “Changing out the label of separatism for terrorism won’t resolve the core problems in Papua, which include racial discrimination, poor access to public service facilities, human rights violations and the debate surrounding Papua’s history of integration,” she told The Jakarta Post last Thursday.


Adriana called on the government to pursue a political solution to the problem of separatism but said that if it did designate KKB as terrorists, the state had an obligation to make clear to the general public – both national and international – what its motives were. 

Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) chair Asfinawati has compared the BNPT’s proposal to that of the Myanmar military junta, which considers civilian protesters and dissenters terrorists.


She said she feared that once KKB were stigmatized as terrorist groups, there may no longer be any room for dialogue, as terrorist groups are normally subject to dismantling. 

“The case of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) showed that two-way dialogue could be very effective at resolving conflict. So why is the government turning to a militaristic means of solving conflict in Papua?” Asfina said.


The government announced on Tuesday that it would not seek to renew Papua’s special autonomy (otsus) status, which is set to expire in November after two decades in force. 


Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD said that only the disbursement of special autonomy funds would continue and noted that they could even increase.


“[But] the law itself won’t be extended,” he said during a workshop with the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) on the management of otsus funds for Papua and West Papua. 

Read also: Papuan special autonomy after nearly two decades: Scholars and religious groups weigh in



The special autonomy law has been a bone of contention among Papua experts, who insist that the government has largely failed to achieve the objectives laid out therein – political compromise, conflict resolution and development – especially with regard to gross human rights violations and the region’s contentious history. 

The head of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Ahmad Taufan Damanik, has said that while physical infrastructure development was being aggressively pursued by the government, this approach was not accompanied by a cultural approach that could bring the central government closer to the people of Papua.

He suggested that security operations be transformed into “welfare operations” to address the complexity of issues. “Komnas HAM is deeply concerned about the idea that KKB [is to be called] as a terrorist organization. This will make it even harder to take a peaceful approach to Papua,” Taufan said recently, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Mahfud acknowledged that the state’s development drive in Papua had not been effective, due in part to the dire security situation, the prevalence of corruption and the lack of integration among government programs. 

Read also: After 19 years of special autonomy, trust between Jakarta and Papua in tatters

The minister did not address the terrorism designation plan but said the government was working to solve a number of pending issues. He asserted that the question of Papuan integration into Indonesia had long been laid to rest and was final. “It is inviolable and [the government] will maintain it at all costs. Whether social, economic, political or financial – we will defend it,” Mahfud said in a statement. 


After being incorporated into Indonesia through the controversial United Nations-sponsored 1969 Act of Free Choice referendum, Papua and West Papua have been caught in persistent violence between armed groups loosely associated with the Free Papua Movement (OPM), which seeks independence, and Indonesian security forces.

According to Amnesty, at least 49 cases of suspected unlawful killings by security forces occurred in Papua and West Papua from February 2018 to March 2021, resulting in 83 casualties. The fatal shooting of Papuan pastor Yeremia Zanambani in Intan Jaya regency last year, which the military has been accused of being responsible for, has created another a major rift with Papuans and has posed an extra security challenge. 

Human rights watchdogs and activists have long called on the government to demonstrate a commitment to justice for Papuan people by prosecuting the military personnel suspected to be behind Yeremia’s death.

However, the case has yet to be brought to court and the investigation has seen little progress.



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2) Protesters say racism against indigenous Papuans flourishing in Indonesia

Suara Papua – March 31, 2021

Reiner Brabar, Sorong – Scores of activists from the Papua People's Solidarity Against Racism (SPMR) held a free speech forum in front of the Elin traffic light intersection in Sorong city, West Papua province.

The action was held to oppose racism against indigenous Papuans which is flourishing and rooted in the minds of Indonesian people. They urged the Indonesian government to immediately investigate cases of racism against indigenous Papuans (OAP).

"The contempt towards OAP is not something that has only happened recently in Indonesia. It has been happening for a long time but the Indonesian state continues to protect the perpetrators without acting firmly against them", said action coordinator Apey Tarami following the action on Monday March 29.

According to Tarami, the racist attitudes shown towards Papuan soccer player Patrik Wanggai is just one more note in a long record of racism in Indonesia which has befallen the Papuan people.

"The state protects the perpetrators of this flourishing racism. This is evidence of continued racism against Papuans this year. Meanwhile there no clear legal actions are taken even though it's reported to the police", said Tarami.

Tarami noted other cases which have occurred such as those against former rights commission member Natalius Pigai and the recent racist threats against Papuan students in Malang, East Java, by the Malang police chief (Kapolresta) as concrete examples of how the state protects the perpetrators.

Ando Sabarafek meanwhile said that each time there is a racist incident against Papuans it is always resolved by an apology through the mass media, but this does not heal the spiritual injury suffered by Papuans.

"The Malang Kapolresta must be sacked. Firm action must be taken against the perpetrators of racism against Patrik Wanggai though social media. An apology can never heal the hearts of Papuan people", he asserted.

The activist from the group Kaki Abu also called on the Indonesian government to immediately give the Papuan people the right to self-determination as a democratic solution to heal the hearts of the Papuan people.

"The NKRI [Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia] is a racist state. Papuan independence is the best solution so that the Papuan people will be free to determine their own future. As long as the Papuan people are under Indonesian [rule], racism against Papuans will continue to flourish and never disappear from the face of the earth and the character of the Indonesian people", he said in conclusion.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Rasisme Terhadap OAP Tumbuh Subur di Indonesia".]

Source: https://suarapapua.com/2021/03/31/rasisme-terhadap-oap-tumbuh-subur-di-indonesia/

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Tuesday, March 30, 2021

1) ULMWP confident for West Papua to become MSG member


2) West Sepik administration fumes over handling of Papua border crossers 
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1) ULMWP confident for West Papua to become MSG member 
By Len Garae  Mar 31, 2021 Updated 4 hrs ago



                                  ULMWP Executive supports West Papua full membership of MSG



The Executive Committee of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) has welcomed the Melanesian Spearhead Group Virtual Meeting with Port Vila MSG Secretariat and remind them of their sacred responsibility to make West Papua a full member of MSG.

Speaking at its urgent meeting on the PMC Presbyterian Church premises before yesterday, ULMWP Chairman Pastor Alan Nafuki and all members of his Committee present unanimously agreed to remind the MSG Leaders of the importance of elevating West Papua to its God-given status of full membership of MSG.

The call comes on the heels of an exclusive interview given by Vanuatu’s former Roving Ambassador, Barak Sope who said, then Prime Minister Father Walter Lini (now deceased), pioneered the original Melanesian member countries of Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomons to become the first ever member countries of MSG in Port Vila, before they convinced Fiji to join them.

Sope says at the time he was First Secretary of Foreign Affairs while Father Lini was also Minister of Foreign Affairs along with being Prime Minister. “For those that do not know and keep making false statements regarding Vanuatu and the MSG, Father Walter Lini and his Government initiated the idea which explains why the MSG Secretariat along with ULMWP are located in Port Vila”, Sope said.

In the latest development on the heels of Sope’s interview, ULMWP wishes to express its confidence that the MSG Chairman, Prime Minister Bob Loughman, would speak in the same spirit of MSG vision as the catalyst against colonialism and continuing human right abuse of Melanesians in West Papua, to enable West Papua to become a full member of MSG.

Furthermore, West Papua Struggle Leader and Global Campaigner Benny Wenda, has contacted ULMWP by telephone this week, to confirm his interest to visit Port Vila to discuss the importance for West Papuans not to visit Port Vila on a tourist visa but a longer stay, since the ULMWP International Head Office is located in Port Vila.

The ULMWP Executive have endorsed such an arrangement.



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2) West Sepik administration fumes over handling of Papua border crossers 
By APR editor -  

By Jeffrey Elapa in Vanimo, PNG

The West Sepik administration is not happy with the way illegal border crossers are being handled by the Indonesian and Papua New Guinean consular officials in Jayapura amid the worsening covid pandemic crisis.

Administrator Conrad Tilau said the provincial administration had now withdrawn its support and involvement in anything to do with border crossers due to the hike in covid-19 pandemic cases in the province.

He said the total covid-19 cases in West Sepik had increased to 336 and it was a concern for the provincial administration.

Tilau said the border crossing was one transmission pathway and the provincial administration was concerned that an isolation centre had not been established in the province.

He said the issue of border crossing was a major concern for his administration, particularly with the surge in the covid-19 cases, and illegal activities along the border.

Tilau said the border crossing into Indonesia was an illegal activity that needed Indonesian authorities to deal with them using their laws instead of sending perpetrators back to Papua New Guinea and creating more problems.


“Border crossing is still going on unnoticed and those crossers are conducting illegal activities and they should be subject to the Indonesian laws,” he said.

‘Poses more risk to PNG’
“For the PNG Consular [officials] in Jayapura to send back those illegal border crossers poses more risk to the country.

“They are illegally in Indonesia so they should be subject to Indonesian laws instead of deporting them to PNG and creating more problems like the increase in covid-19 pandemic cases.”

Tilau said the provincial administration was involved in the exercise along the border when covid-19 first entered the country in 2020 but since then it had stopped its support.

“When we tested the first case in 2021, we said no repatriation but the consular-general got approval from the Pandemic Controller [Police Commissioner David Manning] to send those people back; we do not have an isolation centre in Vanimo to deal with border crossers infected with covid-19,” he said.

‘Indonesia should help PNG’
“Indonesia should help PNG amid the surge in sovid-19 cases.

“What kind of bilateral relationship is this?

“PNG and Indonesia must cooperate to protect their borders from covid-19 and … illegal activities.

“The provincial government and provincial administration have withdrawn our involvement.”

He urged the national government, through the Pandemic Controller, to fund a covid-19 isolation centre in Vanimo given the surge in infections and movement of people along the border.

Meanwhile, the Pandemic Controller has issued a travel restriction along PNG’s international borders.

Jeffrey Elapa is a PNG Post-Courier reporter.

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Papua prone to illegal border crossers due to illegal routes

 



Papua prone to illegal border crossers due to illegal routes 
 2 hours ago


Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - Several illegal routes in the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea's land border areas have made Papua Province prone to illegal border crossers, according to an immigration officer.

Residents living along the Indonesia-PNG border areas are among the illegal border crossers, Head of Papua Province's Immigration Office Novianto Sulastono stated.

"Referring to reports, there are several illegal routes inside the Indonesia-PNG border areas," he noted in a press statement that ANTARA quoted here on Monday.

The administrative areas of Jayapura City and the districts of Keerom, Pegunungan Bintang, Merauke, and Boven Digoel lie along the Indonesia-PNG land border.

The immigration authority face difficulties in stopping the arrivals of undocumented border crossers and inflow of illegal goods, including illicit drugs, he pointed out.

Border crossers include smugglers of marijuana reportedly from PNG. This cross-border drug trafficking case should be tackled through a collective endeavor, he affirmed.

Last year, the Papua Immigration Office recorded that 116 foreign nationals had faced legal sanctions and were deported.

"Some 99 of the 116 immigration violators are PNG citizens, while 17 others comprise 14 Chinese nationals, two South Korean nationals, and one US citizen," he remarked.

Currently, Papua Province has immigration offices in Jayapura, Merauke, Timika, and Biak as well as 10 active immigration checkpoints and two cross-border posts, he stated.

Drug smugglers from PNG have become a serious threat to Papua Province.

On March 22, 2021, for instance, the Papua police apprehended two PNG citizens for smuggling marijuana packages into the Indonesian province.

The suspects are identified as Tom Klame, 33, and Gadafi Kuentaw Waropo, 18.

Klame was arrested in the Polimak 1 neighborhood area of Jayapura City, while Waropo was arrested in Many Island of Jayapura Selatan sub-district, Jayapura. Domestic and transnational drug dealers perceive Indonesia as a potential market on account of its vast population and millions of drug users.

The nation has been dragged into a state of emergency over narcotics trade and abuse, with drug trade in the country valued at nearly Rp66 trillion.

Data indicates that people from all societal levels are falling prey to drugs in the country, irrespective of their socio-economic and professional backgrounds. Related news: PNG citizen arrested in Papua over cross-border marijuana smuggling
Related news: Jayapura Immigration Office deports 30 Papua New Guinea nationals

EDITED BY INE

Reporter: Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto

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Monday, March 29, 2021

1) West Papua liberation army or TPNPB: Criminals, terrorists, or freedom fighters?


2) OPM isn’t a ‘terrorist group’ – the Indonesian state is, says Wenda 
3) Interfaith communities should exercise restraint: MUI-Papua office 
4) Japan vows to help Papua send native students to Fukuoka 
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1) West Papua liberation army or TPNPB: Criminals, terrorists, or freedom fighters?





                            TPNPB Paniai Commander Demianus Magai Yogi (holding the megaphone) - Jubi/Dok

News Desk March 29, 2021 6:06 pm

West Papua No. 1 News Portal | Jubi

Jayapura, Jubi – The people who choose to fight for the freedom of Papua Land, or internationally known as West Papua, with guns have been called criminals by the Indonesian government. Recently, it wanted to call the people “terrorists”. But who are they?

 

Armed groups who demanded West Papua’s independence from Indonesia have existed for decades. The seeds of rebellions grew in the 1960s, the decade when the Dutch and Indonesian governments got into a long and convoluted negotiation to get what we know now as Papua Land or West Papua. The process did not involve many Papuans, and this has been the source of protest and anger among some native Papuans.
May 1, 1963 was the day when the United National Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) handed over West Papua into Indonesia’s hands

In West Papua, the government and pro-government institutions celebrated every May 1 as the day when Indonesia came out a victor over the Dutch colonizers. For some native Papuans, May 1, 1963 was the beginning of Indonesia’s occupation in West Papua.

 

 

In 1965, the group declared Free Papua Movement (OPM) and in July 1965, former soldiers of Papuan Volunteer Corps, which was formed by the Dutch, attacked Indonesian military and police posts in Kebar district in Tambrauw Regency.

 

Since then, armed groups affiliated to OPM have fought the Indonesian government to demand separation.

 

Narrative wars

 

Indonesian government, however, did not acknowledge these fighters as part of the Free Papua Movement. Over the years, they had several labels to call the armed groups. Nowadays, the fighters are under the command of West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), a group the government calls an “armed criminals group”. The Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police had also called them “armed criminals separatists group”.

 

In the last few years, they were mulling over another label: terrorists. The idea surfaced again last week, when the head of National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) spoke at the House of Representatives in March 2021 to put TPNPB into the terrorists category.

 

How a history is told, however, is always the privilege of the victor and the powerful.

 

‘Think again’

 

The director of Democracy Alliance for Papua, Latifah Anum Siregar, said on March 25, 2021 that the government should be careful in labelling TPNPB as terrorists. “I think, pardon my blunt words, the government has run out of ideas on how to deal with TPNPB,” she said.

 

 

She acknowledged that the definition of terrorism in the Law No. 5/2018 on terorrism crimes, was very general, allowing everyone to be called a terrorist. But to label TPNPB as terrorists, the government should think carefully, she said.

 

“We know that TPNPB/OPM has different characteristics with terrorists. TPNPB/OPM had one purpose, aspiration to achieve political sovereignty. That’s one difference,” she said.

 

Terrorist groups, on the other hand, only fought for their own personal or group’s goal.

 

She also said the location of TPNPB’s operation was only in Papua Land, which is different than terrorist groups.

 

“TPNPB/OPM does not have a personal goal, they fight for bigger cause, which is [Papuans] political sovereignty,” she went on.

 

Latifah, who was part of Papuan Peace Network, said she condemns violence against civilians but she said TPNPB did not attack civilians randomly. They usually killed civilians when they believed they were the military and the police spies.

 

She said there was a definition in the terrorism law that terrorists attacks were targeted at random people, not selected.

 

Papua Legislative Council member, Laurenzus Kadepa, said the government had been at their wits’ end in dealing with TPNPB, so they proposed the terrorism label.

 

He believed that the label would prompt questions from several parties, including international communities.

 

He suspected that Indonesian government wanted to dampen the support of some foreign countries toward Papuans’ fight for independence because no country would ever support terrorists.

 

“Meanwhile, if the Indonesian government let the TPNPB be known as OPM, many countries would support it, because they saw it as part of human rights,” Kadepa said.

 

Earlier, the executive director of United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP), Markus Haluk, challenged Indonesian government to answer honestly, “who are the real terrorists in Papua Land?”

 

The deputy coordinator of the advocacy department at the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Arif Nur Fikri, said the very general definition of terrorism were a threat to many people because the government could use their own interpretation on who were the terrorists.

 

He said Kontras had criticized the general definition since the deliberation of the revisions to the law.

 

“This time, TPNPB is the one that perhaps would be called terrorists. Tomorrow? Who knows,” he said.

 

‘Won’t be a solution for Papuans’

 

Executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, Usman Hamid, said classifying TPNPB as terrorists would not end the human rights violations against Papuans, especially those perpetrated by the security personnel.

 

The terrorist label, he said, could also be a pretext to silence freedom of expression and assembly in Papua.

 

 

National Commission for Human Rights officer, Amiruddin Al Rahab, said he acknowledged that violence had taken many lives in Papua, but labeling TPNPB as terrorists was not a solution, said Amiruddin.

 

He promised to talk to BNPT about its plan.

 

He said the best solution for Papuans was to uphold human rights and make sure everyone respect human rights.

 

Reporter: Arjuna Pademme
Editor: Angela Flassy

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2) OPM isn’t a ‘terrorist group’ – the Indonesian state is, says Wenda 
By APR editor -  March 28, 2021

Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

Indonesia has been accused of a ‘disgraceful attack on the people of West Papua’ by considering listing the pro-independence militia Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) as a terrorist organisation.

The exiled interim president of the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP), Benny Wenda has condemned the reported move by Jakarta, saying Papuans are generally in support of the OPM struggle for a free and independent West Papua.

“In reality, Indonesia is a terrorist state that has used mass violence against my people for nearly six decades,” Wenda said in a statement.

The ULMWP statement said the people of West Papua were forming their own independent state in 1961.

“On December 1 of that year, the West New Guinea Council selected our national anthem, flag, and symbols. We had a territory, a people, and were listed as a Non-Self-Governing Territory by the UN Decolonisation Committee,” Wenda said.

“Our flag was raised alongside the Dutch, and the inauguration of the West New Guinea Council was witnessed by diplomats from the Netherlands, UK, France and Australia.

“This sovereignty was stolen from us by Indonesia, which invaded and colonised our land in 1963. The birth of the independent state of West Papua was smothered.

Launched struggle
“This is why the people of West Papua launched the OPM struggle to regain our country and our freedom.”

The ULMWP said that under the international conventions on human rights, the Papuans had a right to self-determination, which legal research had repeatedly shown was “violated by the Indonesian take-over and the fraudulent 1969 Act of No Choice”.

“Under the 1960 UN Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, we have a right to determine our own political status free from colonial rule,” Wenda said.

“Even the Preamble to the Indonesian constitution recognises that, ‘Independence is the natural right of every nation [and] colonialism must be abolished in this world because it is not in conformity with Humanity and Justice’.”

Indonesia’s anti-terrorism agency wanted to designate pro-independence Papuan movements OPM and KKB as “terrorists”.

“Terrorism is the use of violence against civilians to intimidate a population for political aims. This is exactly what Indonesia has been doing against my people for 60 years. Over 500,000 men, women and children have been killed since Indonesia invaded,” said Wenda.

“Indonesia tortures my people, kills civilians, burns their bodies, destroys our environment and way of life.

‘Wanted for war crimes’
“General Wiranto, until recently Indonesia’s security minister, is wanted by the UN for war crimes in East Timor – for terrorism.

“A leading retired Indonesian general this year mused about forcibly removing 2 million West Papuans to Manado – this is terrorism and ethnic cleansing. How can we be the terrorists when Indonesia has sent 20,000 troops to our land in the past three years?

“We never bomb Sulawesi or Java. We never kill an imam or Muslim leader. The Indonesian military has been torturing and murdering our religious leaders over the past six months.

“The Indonesian military has displaced over 50,000 people since December 2018, leaving them to die in the bush without medical care or food.”

Wenda said ULMWP was a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), “sitting around the table with Indonesia”.

“We attend UN meetings and have the support of 84 countries to promote human rights in West Papua. These are not the actions of terrorists. When 84 countries recognise our struggle, Indonesia cannot stigmitise us as ‘terrorists’.

OPM ‘like home guard’
“The OPM back home is like a home guard. We only act in self-defence, to protect ourselves, our homeland, our ancestral lands, our heritage and our natural resources, forests and mountain.

“Any country would do the same if it was invaded and colonised. We do not target civilians, and are committed to working under international law and international humanitarian law, unlike Indonesia, which will not even sign up to the International Criminal Court because it knows that its actions in West Papua are war crimes,” Wenda said.

“Indonesia cannot solve this issue with a ‘war on terror’ approach. Amnesty International and Komnas HAM, Indonesia’s national human rights body, have already condemned the proposals.

“Since the 2000 Papuan People’s Congress, which I was a part of, we have agreed to pursue an international solution through peaceful means. We are struggling for our right to self-determination, denied to us for decades. Indonesia is fighting to defend its colonial project.”


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3) Interfaith communities should exercise restraint: MUI-Papua office 
 11 hours ago
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Papua has called on interfaith communities to exercise restraint following a church bombing attack in Makassar City on Sunday.

"Let us place trust in the police to handle this case. It is so dangerous if it is kept unresolved," MUI-Papua Office Head Syaiful Al Payage stated.

Payage denounced the suicide bombers, who blew themselves up at the Catholic church's gate on Sunday morning, as the attack was not justifiable on any grounds.

"We are optimistic that the National Police would solve the case and hunt those responsible for the bombing attack down," he stated.

Payage highlighted the importance of the police's successful crackdown on the perpetrators to ensure that congregations can perform their religious rituals in a secure and comfortable manner.

In tackling the rising threats of extremists' ideology, the MUI-Papua Office head suggested to the Ministry of Religious Affairs to strengthen preventive measures through education.

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a church on Kajaolalido Road in the Baru neighborhood area of Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi Province, on Sunday.

The couple attempted to enter the church compound but to no avail after security guards stopped them at the gate when a Palm Sunday Mass service had recently concluded.

Some 20 people, including churchgoers and the church's security guards at the gate, got injured in the blast.

The suicide bombers, who reportedly belong to a JAD network, died shortly after conducting their attack by using a pressure cooker bomb at about 10:30 a.m. local time.

Since 2000, Indonesia has become the target of terrorist attacks, and the spread of radicalism and terrorism continues to threaten the nation.

ANTARA highlighted the repeated incidents of assaults by suspected terrorists and armed Papuan rebels on civilians and security personnel in 2020.

On May 22, 2020, for instance, notorious armed rebels reportedly shot at two medical workers -- Almalek Bagau and Eunico Somou -- from the Wandai Health Center in Intan Jaya District, Papua Province, while they were delivering drugs for COVID-19 patients.

In another incident on June 1, 2020, a lone wolf assaulted Brigadier Leonardo Latupapua, a policeman of the Daha Selatan police precinct in South Kalimantan Province. Latupapua succumbed to grave injuries following the early morning attack.

On June 21, 2020, a man unexpectedly attacked Second Brigadier Hanif Ariyono, a driver of Deputy Chief of Karanganyar Police Commissioner Busroni's official vehicle, with a machete in Karanganyar District, Central Java Province. 
Related news: Media should steer clear of counterproductive news on church bombing

Related news: Communities should not panic following church suicide bombing: Police


EDITED BY INE

Reporter: Hendrina DK, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

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4) Japan vows to help Papua send native students to Fukuoka 
 6 hours ago

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - The Japanese government has hinted that it is ready to help native Papuans take their graduate diploma in agricultural studies in Fukuoka Prefecture.

Japan is committed to making the Papua provincial government's vocational program successful, said Education Attaché at the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta, Takahashi Yusuke.

As of this year, there are six native Papuans opting for higher education in Fukuoka, he informed in a press statement that ANTARA received in Jayapura on Monday.

The Japanese government's support would cover the administrative processes for immigration and cooperation, and Japanese language and cultural training, Yusuke said.

On behalf of the Japanese government, he praised the Papua provincial administration's scholarship scheme for native Papuans studying in Fukuoka.

The provincial government has made the right decision to send native Papuan students to Fukuoka to pursue vocational programs at universities, he remarked.

Fukuoka is one of the Japanese cities whose agricultural sector is well-developed, and its universities are listed in the world class groups, he said.

In Japan, the number of international university students from Indonesia is large enough, he said. But, the figure is expected to go up, including students from Papua, he added.

Meanwhile, assistant director of the Japan Foundation, Hiruta Mari, said she would help make the vocational program for native Papuan students a success.

The Japan Foundation would provide Papua’s scholarship recipients with Japanese language teaching materials and language training with trainers, she informed.

Secretary of the Papua Human Resources Development Agency's (BPSDM's) team for educational cooperation, Karsudi, had visited the Japanese embassy in Jakarta recently.

The visit was aimed at following up on the cooperation in human resources development with the government of Japan's Fukuoka Prefecture, Karsudi said.

During the visit, BPSDM team members also met with representatives from the Japan Foundation to get information on the Japanese language and the cultural education program, he added.

Under the Papua provincial government's scholarship scheme, 60 native Papuans would be sent to Fukuoka to pursue graduate diplomas in agricultural studies, he said.

The native Papuan students would be trained at Japanese universities in the prefecture so they can gain expertise in agriculture, he added. (INE)

Related news: Papua exploring cooperation with Japan to develop human resources
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EDITED BY INE

Reporter: Hendrina DK, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto

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