2) Platoon commander of Tembagapura’s armed criminal group found dead
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1) We say ‘don’t make native Papuans suffer’, and they call us separatists: Legislator
West Papua No. 1 News Portal | Jubi
News Desk March 2, 2021 4:03 pm
Yunus Wonda, the chairman of Papua's parliament (DPRP)Yunus Wonda, the chairman of Papua's parliament (DPRP) Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Johnny Blades
Jayapura, Jubi – Papua Legislative Council deputy speaker, Yunus Wonda, said the legislators who use their constitutional rights to voice native Papuans’ concerns to the central government were often labeled as “separatists” by “some offended people”.
He did not identify the “offended people” but he mentioned they were “rogue people” or in Indonesian, “oknum”, within the government.
On the internet, trolls and bots often scoured for social media posts that expressed concerns for native Papuans’ sufferings. The trolls would call these people “provocateurs”, “traitors” that should be arrested.
Wonda said, for example, when a Papuan legislator said they rejected the plan to establish new provinces in Papua province, or when a legislator asked the central government to open a room for a dialogue with Free Papua Organization (OPM), some would call the legislators separatists.
“When we in the Papua Legislative Council speak, we are accused of being separatists or top figures in the Free Papua Organization. They accused us of provoking people to demand Papua to be independent [from Indonesia],” said Wonda on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.
Wonda said the statements they made were actually a solution for Indonesia to help resolve problems in Papua.
“We talk to give a solution to the state. But sometimes the [central government] perceived it wrongly. We are called rebels against the state. But we know, we are actually implementing the Constitution,” he said.
He said the state itself was not the one in the wrong, but the “oknum” or rogue people who claimed they spoke on behalf of the state, he went on.
In a recent discussion, the head of Humanity Team for Papua, Haris Azhar, said the government needed to explain what was the criteria of their accusation.
When someone talked about Papua or demanded peaceful resolution to conflicts in Papua Land, they would be vulnerable to attacks that accused them of being part of the Free Papua Movement.
“It happens not only to those in Papua but also outside Papua. Such accusation was a political move, one sided. But the state or the government had refused to answer what was the criteria for accusing someone a separatist,” Haris said.
Read also: Why special autonomy cannot bring improvement to Papuans and why it cannot overcome separatism?
Haris also said there was no clear explanation what was the government criteria for accusing someone of being part of the “criminal armed group”, the jargon the government used, or part of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB).
The Indonesian Military (TNI) several times shot native Papuans and rushed to announce to the public that the person was a member of TPNPB. They never retracted the accusation even though the TPNPB denied it.
In two cases in October 2020 in Intan Jaya, for example, the TNI publicly accused Agustinus Duwitau and Rufinus Tigau as members of the TPNPB. Officials at the Timika Diocese of the Catholic Church denied the TNI’s claim but TNI never retracted their statement.
“No one could explain. Such accusations is just one-sided. This is something they intentionally perpetuate,” Haris went on. Haris said the stigma was a tool to control those who spoke up and to provide a justification of more military deployment to Papua.
“That is what’s happening. More deployment to fight OPM, to control OPM, to protect people from OPM,” he went on.
Editor: Dewi Wulandari, Evi Mariani
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2) Platoon commander of Tembagapura’s armed criminal group found dead
18 hours ago
Timika, Papua (ANTARA) - Ferry Elas, 35, a platoon commander of the Joni Botak-led armed Papuan criminal group, was found dead at Mile 53 in Tembagapura Sub-district, Mimika District, Papua, on Monday.
Elas' death was confirmed based on the outcome of a police and military probe at the crime scene, Mimika Police Chief Adjunct Sen. Coms. I Gusti Era Adhinata stated here on Tuesday.
Police and military investigators found similarities between the dead man's physical appearance and a photo of Elas available on the security agency's database.
Several photographs stored in the dead man's mobile phone corroborated the truth that he was Elas, he remarked.
Elas was identified as a platoon commander of the Free Papua Organization's (OPM's) Kalikopi armed group in Tembagapura Sub-district, led by Joni Botak, he stated.
Based on his criminal records, Elas got involved in a spate of terror acts, including abduction, theft, and shooting, he remarked.
On February 22, 2020, he abducted a teacher and stole the teacher's mobile phone in Jagamin Village, Adhinata pointed out.
This deceased criminal was also involved in a shooting on a security post in the Opitawak neighborhood area in March last year, he stated.
Elas joined a declaration of re-grouping of armed criminal groups in the remote Pegunungan Tengah area in Ilaga Sub-district, Puncak District, on August 1, 2019.
He actively joined the armed criminal groups operating in Tembagapura to launch acts of terror in the sub-district's area last year, he stated.
The Indonesian province of Papua has borne witness to a spate of violence, with armed Papuan groups in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak targeting civilians and security personnel over the past two years.
Intan Jaya recorded its bloodiest month in September 2020, with notorious armed groups launching a series of attacks in the area that resulted in the killings of two soldiers and two civilians and inflicted injuries to two others.
Armed Papuan groups have continued their acts of terror during the New Year. On January 6, 2021, some 10 armed Papuans vandalized and torched a Quest Kodiak aircraft belonging to the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) at the Pagamba Village airstrip.
The armed groups often employ hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel, while they unleash acts of terror against civilians to stoke fear among the people.
On February 8, 2021, an armed rebel reportedly shot a 32-year-old man at close range in Bilogai Village, Sugapa Sub-district.
The victim, identified by his initials as RNR, sustained gunshot wounds on the face and right shoulder and was taken to the Timika Public Hospital in Mimika District on February 9.
On February 9, 2021, six armed Papuans fatally stabbed a motorcycle taxi (ojek) driver.
The 40-year-old driver, identified as Rusman HR alias Aco, was reportedly stabbed on a street near Ilambet Village in Ilaga Sub-district, Puncak District.
The local police reported that the driver sustained serious stab wounds on the back while attempting to escape his attackers and died of exsanguination.
Related news: Call to avoid any provocative move echoed in Papua's Mimika
Related news: Search efforts continued to locate missing soldier in Papua's Mimika
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Elas' death was confirmed based on the outcome of a police and military probe at the crime scene, Mimika Police Chief Adjunct Sen. Coms. I Gusti Era Adhinata stated here on Tuesday.
Police and military investigators found similarities between the dead man's physical appearance and a photo of Elas available on the security agency's database.
Several photographs stored in the dead man's mobile phone corroborated the truth that he was Elas, he remarked.
Elas was identified as a platoon commander of the Free Papua Organization's (OPM's) Kalikopi armed group in Tembagapura Sub-district, led by Joni Botak, he stated.
Based on his criminal records, Elas got involved in a spate of terror acts, including abduction, theft, and shooting, he remarked.
On February 22, 2020, he abducted a teacher and stole the teacher's mobile phone in Jagamin Village, Adhinata pointed out.
This deceased criminal was also involved in a shooting on a security post in the Opitawak neighborhood area in March last year, he stated.
Elas joined a declaration of re-grouping of armed criminal groups in the remote Pegunungan Tengah area in Ilaga Sub-district, Puncak District, on August 1, 2019.
He actively joined the armed criminal groups operating in Tembagapura to launch acts of terror in the sub-district's area last year, he stated.
The Indonesian province of Papua has borne witness to a spate of violence, with armed Papuan groups in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak targeting civilians and security personnel over the past two years.
Intan Jaya recorded its bloodiest month in September 2020, with notorious armed groups launching a series of attacks in the area that resulted in the killings of two soldiers and two civilians and inflicted injuries to two others.
Armed Papuan groups have continued their acts of terror during the New Year. On January 6, 2021, some 10 armed Papuans vandalized and torched a Quest Kodiak aircraft belonging to the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) at the Pagamba Village airstrip.
The armed groups often employ hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel, while they unleash acts of terror against civilians to stoke fear among the people.
On February 8, 2021, an armed rebel reportedly shot a 32-year-old man at close range in Bilogai Village, Sugapa Sub-district.
The victim, identified by his initials as RNR, sustained gunshot wounds on the face and right shoulder and was taken to the Timika Public Hospital in Mimika District on February 9.
On February 9, 2021, six armed Papuans fatally stabbed a motorcycle taxi (ojek) driver.
The 40-year-old driver, identified as Rusman HR alias Aco, was reportedly stabbed on a street near Ilambet Village in Ilaga Sub-district, Puncak District.
The local police reported that the driver sustained serious stab wounds on the back while attempting to escape his attackers and died of exsanguination.
Related news: Call to avoid any provocative move echoed in Papua's Mimika
Related news: Search efforts continued to locate missing soldier in Papua's Mimika
Close
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