Thursday, April 29, 2021

1) KontraS Reveals Adverse Implications of Labeling Papua KKB Terrorist


2) Indonesia ups the ante against OPM, affiliates with terror tag  
3) Fears Papuan civilians will bear the brunt after general killed
4) Nine TPNPB members killed in crossfire: Indonesian police

5) Setara Deems Govt Emotional for Hastily Declares Papua KKB as Terrorists
6) Papuan separatist terrorists must be rooted out: legislator  
7) Military, police should act firmly against armed criminal groups  
8) Armed criminal groups in Papua categorized as terrorists: Government 
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1) KontraS Reveals Adverse Implications of Labeling Papua KKB Terrorist
Translator: Dewi Elvia Muthiariny  
 Editor: Laila Afifa 
29 April 2021 16:31 WIB





TEMPO.COJakarta - The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) assessed that labeling the armed criminal groups in Papua terrorists is an attempt to silence voices that demand justice.

“The label is nothing more than an attempt to silence voices demanding justice in Papua. This will certainly worsen conditions in Papua,” KontraS deputy coordinator Rivanlee Anandar told Tempo on Thursday, April 29.

He opined that it will have implications for the legitimacy of huge military deployment to the region, the power of security forces in responding to the situation in Papua, and the stigmatization of indigenous Papuans (OAP) who voice their rights. “There is also a potential to cause civilian casualties,” he added.

According to Rivanlee, the state should widen its views in responding to the situation in the easternmost province. It is not about the armed conflict that must be responded with a security approach, he argued. “But it is about gaps, access, and welfare in fulfilling basic rights, compared to areas outside Papua".

The KontraS deputy coordinator assessed that the state is ignoring those problems by narrowing the view only from the security sector, let alone labeling KKB as terrorists.

The Indonesian government has today officially labeled the KKB in Papua as terrorists. Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud Md said the labeling was due to the emergence of several acts of terror in the region since early April 2021.

Read: Indonesia Reviewing Whether to Label Papua Armed Groups Terrorist or Not

BUDIARTI UTAMI PUTRI

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2) Indonesia ups the ante against OPM, affiliates with terror tag  
3 hours ago


Five days after the fatal shooting of senior intelligence official Maj. Gen. I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha, the Indonesian government has declared armed Papuan criminal groups, also called “KKB”, as "terrorists".

The decision was announced by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD, at an online press conference in Jakarta on Thursday.

In declaring the armed groups as “terrorists”, the government has referred to the provisions of Law Number 5 of 2018 on Amendments to Law Number 15 of 2003 on Stipulation of Government Regulations in Lieu of Law Number 1 of 2002 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Terrorism.

The law defines terrorists as people who plan, instigate, and organize terrorism, and terrorism as any act motivated by ideology, politics, or security that involves violence or threats of violence, creates a sense of terror or widespread fear, and causes mass casualties or damage or destruction to vital strategic objects, the environment, and public or international facilities.    

"Now, based on the definition stated in Law Number 5 of 2018, acts of the KKB and all the names of its organizations and people affiliated with it are related to terrorism," Mahfud announced.

The Indonesian government's decision, which takes cognizance of a string of violent attacks on unarmed and innocent civilians by KKB members in districts such as Puncak and Intan Jaya over the past few years, is justifiable.

Related news: Military, police should act firmly against armed criminal groups

Over the past few years, armed Papuan groups have often employed hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel and mounted acts of terror against civilians in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak to instill fear among the people.

The recent targets of such acts of terror have included construction workers, motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers, teachers, students, street food vendors, and even civilian aircraft.

On December 2, 2018, a group of armed Papuan rebels brutally killed 31 workers from PT Istaka Karya, who were engaged in the construction of the Trans Papua project in Kali Yigi and Kali Aurak in Yigi sub-district, Nduga district.

The same day, the armed attackers also killed a soldier, identified as Handoko, and injured two other security personnel, Sugeng and Wahyu.

Such acts of violence have continued this year. On January 6, 2021, at least 10 armed separatist terrorists vandalized and torched a Quest Kodiak aircraft belonging to Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) on the Pagamba village airstrip.

On February 8, 2021, a 32-year-old man was shot 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.

In a separate incident on February 9, six armed Papuans fatally stabbed a motorcycle taxi (ojek) driver.

Related news: Motorcycle taxi driver shot dead by unknown gunman in Papua

Then, on April 8, 2021, several armed Papuan rebels opened fire at a kiosk in Julukoma village, Beoga sub-district, Puncak district.

The shooting resulted in the death of a Beoga public elementary school teacher, identified as Oktovianus Rayo.

After killing Rayo, the armed attackers torched three classrooms at the Beoga public senior high school.

On April 9, 2021, armed separatists reportedly fatally shot another teacher, Yonatan Randen, on the chest.

Two days later, nine classrooms at the Beoga public junior high school were set ablaze by an armed group.

And barely four days later, Ali Mom, a student of the Ilaga public senior high school in Beoga sub-district, was brutally killed by armed attackers.

On April 25, 2021, Papuan separatists operating in Beoga ambushed State Intelligence Agency (Papua) chief Nugraha and several security personnel while they were visiting Dambet village.

Following Nugraha's fatal shooting, President Joko Widodo has ordered the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) and the National Police to hunt down and arrest all members of armed separatist and terrorist groups operating in Papua, saying there is no place for them within Indonesian territory.

Related news: President orders military, police to hunt down all armed Papuan groups

All separatist terrorist groups must be rooted out from the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua as they pose a serious security threat, deputy head of Commission III Overseeing Legal Affairs of the House of Representatives (DPR), Ahmad Sahroni, concurred.

However, while conducting law enforcement operations against the armed groups, security personnel must respect human rights, he added.

"The notorious armed Papuan separatist terrorists must be rooted out but, in crushing them, do not abuse human rights because human rights violations can damage Indonesia's reputation," Sahroni cautioned.

The TNI and National Police can conduct law enforcement operations against Papuan separatist terrorists anywhere in Papua and West Papua, but they must observe human rights rules, he reiterated.

Following Nugraha’s death on April 25, 2021, a joint team of army and police personnel from the Nemangkawi Task Force have intensified law enforcement operations against separatist terrorists in Puncak district.

On April 27, 2021, nine Papuan separatist terrorists were killed in a shootout near their Olenski hideout in Makki village, Ilaga Utara sub-district.

The existence of armed Papuan groups is recognized by the Free Papua Movement (OPM) as part of its National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNPB), an armed wing set up to fight against Indonesia for achieving its political goals.

The OPM-TPNPB has repeatedly claimed responsibility for deadly shootings of unarmed civilians and security personnel in different parts of Papua and West Papua provinces.

OPM-TPNPB spokesperson Sebby Sambon has claimed his organization was responsible for Nugraha’s killing, according to a CNN Indonesia report.

Sambom's claim has spurred the Indonesian government to brand the OPM-TPNPB and its affiliates as terrorists. (INE)

Related news: Armed criminal groups in Papua categorized as terrorists: Government

EDITED BY INE

By Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto

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3) Fears Papuan civilians will bear the brunt after general killed

6:41 am today 
Jamie Tahana, RNZ Pacific Journalist
Human rights groups in Papua fear civilians will bear the brunt of any retaliation for the killing of a top Indonesian intelligence official.
Brigadier General I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha, who was the chief intelligence official in Papua, was killed in an ambush by the West Papua Liberation Army in Puncak, in the central Highlands, on Sunday. The independence group has claimed the general's killing.
"He was in the area as part of the operation to restore security and to boost the morale of locals in the region following a series off attacks by separatist and terrorist groups," Wawan Purwanto, a spokesman for the National Intelligence Agency said.

Few details have been given, and verifying details from Papua's interior is always difficult. But it is known that the general was with a small group of soldiers and police officers when he was killed near a church in remote Dambet Village.
In announcing the general's death at a news conference in Jakarta on Monday, Indonesian president Joko Widodo - flanked by his vice-president and heads of the military, police and state intelligence - vowed a military crackdown in Papua.
"I emphasise that there is no place for armed criminal groups in Papua or any other part of the country," Joko said. "I have ordered the military and police chiefs to pursue and arrest members of the armed criminal group."
Bambang Soesatyo, the speaker of the People's Representative Council, one of Indonesia's houses of parliament, later endorsed a crackdown on rebel groups, saying: "Destroy them first, we will discuss human rights later."
It appears calls for a crackdown are being heeded. On Thursday, police in Papua claimed that 10 people - nine rebels and one police officer - were killed in an hours-long gunfight in Puncak district as personnel hunted down those responsible for Gusti's death.
Veronica Koman, a Papuan human rights lawyer based in Australia, said she understood 19 villages near the scene had been cleared by military on Thursday, with villagers forced to flee.
The region has seen an increase in conflict between separatist groups and rebels this month, and the killing of a top military figure is likely to be the catalyst for further escalation. That has human rights groups worried that civilians and the indigenous Papuan population will bear the brunt of the conflict, caught in the fire, crossfire, retaliation and aftermath, as has often been the case in this conflict that has played out for more than 50 years.
"What's dangerous is the comments by Indonesian leaders [and] public officials that encourage retaliation," she said. "It's as if the Indonesian military and police have now licence to kill as they justify their revenge."
Papua takes up the western half of the island of New Guinea and was occupied and annexed by the Indonesians in the 1960s. The regions of Papua and West Papua have a degree of autonomy, but many Papuans have been calling for a referendum on full independence, with separatists waging a low-level insurgency campaign.
Koman said an escalation in violence was not the answer.
"Jakarta should finally try another approach in this conflict," she said. "Even if Jakarta can completely kill the fighters in the jungle, there will a new liberation army created. Sit down and talk to West Papuan representatives in equal footing and dignity.
"At the end of the day it's the civilians again who suffer the most."

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4) Nine TPNPB members killed in crossfire: Indonesian police

 News Desk April 29, 2021 5:30 pm

Jayapura, Jubi – The Papua Police said nine members of The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) were killed in a crossfire in Puncak Regency on Tuesday, April 27, 2021.

 

“According to our field and digital data, nine members of the armed criminal group died,” Papua Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. AM Kamal said during a press conference on Wednesday.
“Armed criminal group”, or KKB in short, is the term used by the Indonesian government to call TPNPB. It recently adds another term for TPNPB: terrorists.

Kamal said that until Wednesday, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the police had not found the bodies of the deceased TPNPB members. He assumed that the bodies had been taken by their friends.

 

 

Further, Kamal said that the armed altercation on Tuesday also prompted the TPNPB to withdraw its troops from Gome District. “Our counterattack repulsed the troops. The TPNPB retreated almost two kilometers from Gome District,” he said.

 

The TPNPB had yet to confirm the police’s statement about nine of its soldiers who died in a firefight.

 

Numerous sources contacted by Jubi on Wednesday reported that the residents of a number of villages in Gome District, North Gome District, Beoga District, and North Ilaga District, had left their hometowns during the armed altercation. As of Wednesday, some of the residents were still too scared to return home.

 

Kamal confirmed that the residents who heard the shooting fled to safer places such as churches. However, he denied there was a displaced people camp in Puncak. “They evacuated to churches, no camp,” he said, adding that the situation had turned normal in Puncak, Ilaga, and Beoga on Wednesday.

 

 

A resident who refused to be named said that the firefight between the TNI and police and the TPNPB on Tuesday had left the people traumatized. In evacuation sites, the food is limited as more residents reportedly took shelter on Wednesday.

 

“The people currently need food and healthcare workers to treat people who are sick. Some of these people have already gotten sick before there were displaced people, ” they said.

 

“The residents of Misimaga Village, Tegelobak Village, and Upaga Village took refuge in the yard of a church in Ninggibome Village, Omukia District. Meanwhile, the people of Gome Village gathered in the Gome Church. The church and the government helped the evacuation process,” they said.

 

Some of the people in North Ilaga District, such as the residents of Mayuberi Village, Maki Village, and Paluga Village, as well as the residents of Mundidok Village in North Gome District, also reportedly left homes.

 

A Jubi source in Beoga said that the TNI and police had arrived at Tinggilibet Village, causing the residents of Tinggilibet and Dambet Village to leave homes and went to Wangbe District.

 

“The people of Dambet and Tinggilibet have left their homes. They are traumatized so they cannot stay in their villages. We cannot confirm the number [of refugees] yet,” they said.

 

Editor: Aryo Wisanggeni G
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5) Setara Deems Govt Emotional for Hastily Declares Papua KKB as Terrorists

Translator: Dewi Elvia Muthiariny  
 Editor: Laila Afifa 
29 April 2021 23:17 WIB

TEMPO.COJakarta - Human rights group Setara Institute deputy chair Bonar Tigor Naipospos deemed that the government was emotional and in a hurry to label the armed criminal group (KKB) in Papua as terrorists. He believed that this decision would not help resolve issues in the country's easternmost province peacefully.

“This emotional action will not necessarily help,” Bonar told Tempo on Thursday, April 29.

He acknowledged that, however, the government’s decision was triggered by the shooting of the Papua Regional Intelligence Agency Chief Brig. Gen. I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha by the rebel group. 

The government, Bonar said, prioritized the use of security forces by adding the KKB to the list of terrorist organizations. He added that the government could just mobilize the Indonesian Military's (TNI) anti-terror joint force or the Joint Special Operations Command (Koopsusgab).

According to him, the government should first evaluate the security operations in Papua because labeling the armed groups as terrorists did not necessarily guarantee the operations’ effectiveness.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud Md earlier declared that armed criminal groups in Papua as terrorists following the series of terror acts since early April 2021.

Read: Papua KKB Labeled as Terrorist; Police Redesign Operation Pattern

BUDIARTI UTAMI PUTRI | ANDITA RAHMA





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6) Papuan separatist terrorists must be rooted out: legislator  
10 hours ago
Jakarta (ANTARA) - All separatist terrorist groups must be rooted out from the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua as they pose a serious security threat, a legislator has said.

However, while conducting law enforcement operations against the armed groups, security personnel must respect human rights, deputy head of Commission III Overseeing Legal Affairs of the House of Representatives (DPR), Ahmad Sahroni, added.

"The notorious armed Papuan separatist terrorists must be rooted out but, in crushing them, do not abuse human rights because human rights violations can damage Indonesia’s reputation," Sahroni said in Jakarta on Thursday.

The Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) and the National Police can conduct law enforcement operations against Papuan separatist terrorists anywhere in Papua and West Papua, but they must observe human rights rules, he reiterated.

Over the past four months, Papua has witnessed several violent attacks by separatist terrorists targeting civilians in districts such as Puncak and Intan Jaya.

The armed groups often employ hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel, and mount acts of terror against civilians to instill fear among the people.

The recent victims of such acts of terror have included motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers, teachers, students, and street food vendors. The separatists have not even spared civilian aircraft.

On January 6, 2021, at least 10 armed separatists vandalized and torched a Quest Kodiak aircraft belonging to Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) on the Pagamba village airstrip.

On February 8, 2021, a 32-year-old man was shot 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.

In a separate incident on February 9, six armed Papuans fatally stabbed a motorcycle taxi (ojek) driver.

Then, on April 8, 2021, several armed Papuan rebels opened fire at a kiosk in Julukoma village, Beoga sub-district, Puncak district.

The shooting resulted in the death of a Beoga public elementary school teacher, identified as Oktovianus Rayo.

After killing Rayo, the armed attackers torched three classrooms at the Beoga public senior high school.

On April 9, 2021, armed separatists reportedly fatally shot another teacher, Yonatan Randen, on the chest.

Two days later, nine classrooms at the Beoga public junior high school were set ablaze by an armed group.

And barely four days later, Ali Mom, a student of the Ilaga public senior high school in Beoga sub-district, was killed by armed attackers.

On April 25, 2021, Papuan separatists operating in Beoga sub-district ambushed senior intelligence official, Maj. Gen. I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha, while he was visiting Dambet village in Beoga sub-district.

Following Nugraha's fatal shooting, President Joko Widodo ordered the TNI and the National Police to hunt down and arrest all members of armed separatist and terrorist groups operating in Papua, saying there is no place for them within Indonesian territory, including Papua. (INE)

Related news: Military, police should act firmly against armed criminal groups
Related news: Armed criminal groups in Papua categorized as terrorists: Government



EDITED BY INE
Reporter: Imam B, Rahmad Nasution

Editor: Suharto

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7) Military, police should act firmly against armed criminal groups  
10 hours ago
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Coordinating Minister Mahfud MD urged the Indonesian police, military, and state intelligence body to take swift, firm, and measured actions against Papua's armed criminal groups following their categorization as terrorists.

"The government has ordered the Indonesian police, military state intelligence body, and related apparatuses to take swift, firm, and measured actions. As per the law, measured means that the action will not target civilian society," the minister noted during an online press conference at the Political, Legal and Security Affairs Coordinating Ministry in Jakarta on Thursday.

Mahfud noted that any violent act translating to violation of Law No. 5 of 2018 on Amendment to Law No. 15 of 2000 on the Passage of Government Regulation in lieu of Law No. 1 of 2002 on Counter-terrorism, into Law, is categorized as a terror act.

"From the legal aspect, we will soon process it as a terrorist movement to be listed in our agenda of laws," he remarked.

The minister affirmed that the military and police do not need to deploy a large number of personnel to tackle the armed criminal groups in Papua.

"We only face a handful of individuals rather than the Papuan people. Hence, action will be taken in accordance with the law," he remarked.

This means the police, with the military’s assistance, will launch the operations in Papua, he affirmed.

"The law is sufficient, and not much is needed. It is just to coordinate, which according to the president's directive, they must synergize and must not work alone," he explained.

The regional military command chief is mandated to coordinate with the provincial police chief under the guidance of National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo and Indonesian Military Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, he remarked.

Meanwhile, the state intelligence body continues to conduct intelligence activities that are political in nature.

"Political means, for instance, making contact with figures, identifying locations, and cooperating with the Foreign Ministry to conduct diplomacy with Pacific countries or other nations where separatists live in exile," he stated.

Related news: Armed criminal groups in Papua categorized as terrorists: Government

Related news: Fallen warrior laid to rest, fight to restore Papua peace continues
  

EDITED BY INE

Reporter: Syaiful Hakim/Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

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8) Armed criminal groups in Papua categorized as terrorists: Government 
11 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD affirmed that armed criminal groups (KKB) that commit acts of violence in Papua are categorized as terrorists.

Mahfud conveyed the government's stance during an online press conference at the Office of Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Jakarta, Thursday, in connection with the escalation of incidents or violent acts in Papua in the last few days.

Armed civilian groups in Papua are categorized as terrorists, Mahfud remarked, based on the provisions of Law Number 5 of 2018 on Amendments to Law Number 15 of 2003 on Stipulation of Government Regulations in Lieu of Law Number 1 of 2002 on the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Terrorism.

The law states that terrorists are people, who plan, instigate, and organize terrorism.

Meanwhile, terrorism is any act that uses violence or threats of violence that creates a sense of terror or widespread fear that can cause mass casualties and or cause damage or destruction to vital strategic objects, environment, and public or international facilities, with the motive of ideology, politics, and security.

"Now, based on the definition stated in Law Number 5 of 2018, acts of the KKB and all the names of its organizations and people affiliated with it is a terrorist act," Mahfud remarked.

The minister noted that the government seconds the statements put forward by Chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly Bambang Soesatyo, State Intelligence Agency, National Police, and Indonesian Military.

Several community and Papuan traditional leaders, local governments, and members of the Papua Legislative Council (DPRD) that had visited the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs expressed support for the Government of Indonesia to take necessary actions to deal with acts of violence that recently emerged in Papua.

"Hence, what was stated by Chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly Bambang Soesatyo, State Intelligence Agency, National Police, and Indonesian Military as well as Papuan figures who came here was that they (KKB) committed massive brutal killings and violence," the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court stated.

Papua Intelligence Agency Brig. Gen. I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha was earlier shot dead by KKB in Beoga District, Puncak Papua, Sunday (April 25).

Related news: Handling of KKB in Papua strictly measured, upholds human rights
Related news: Nine armed Papuan separatist terrorists killed in gunfight: police
Related news: President orders military, police to hunt down all armed Papuan groups

Reporter: Syaiful H, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Sri Haryati

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