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1) Police arrest 15 Papuan students at peaceful May Day rally in Jakarta
By Yogi Ernes in Jakarta
Indonesian police have seized 15 Papuan students among scores arrested at a May Day rally in central Jakarta on the ground that they did not have a permit to demonstrate.
“Yes, 15 people were secured and taken to the Metro Jaya regional police [headquarters]. They wanted to protest without a permit,” said Metro Jaya regional police spokesperson Senior Commissioner Yusri Yunus.
The students were arrested yesterday as they marched past the US Embassy on Jl Medan Merdeka Selatan in central Jakarta. They were taken to the Metro Jaya headquarters.
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According to Yunus, when they were questioned by officers at the location, the Papuan students were unable to produce a permit for the action.
Yunus said that the 15 students were not carrying any suspicious objects and because of this they had now been sent home.
“We’ve now sent them home. Earlier we just collected data on them,” said Yunus.
The rallies in Jakarta were centred on the Horse Statue area.
Thousands took to streets
Thousands of workers from various different trade unions took to the streets to convey their aspirations.
The workers took up a number of demands, one of which was cancelling the Job Creation Law which they say harms workers.
CNN Indonesia reports that up to 300 people were arrested in rallies near the Horse Statue and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) offices in central Jakarta.
The figures on the arrests were obtained by summarising statements made by police up until the May Day actions ended at 5.05 pm.
The first arrests were the 15 Papuan students.
Following this, police arrested 12 anarchists.
Senior Commissioner Yunus said that the group was arrested as they wanted to join protesting workers in front of the ILO office.
“12 young anarchists were arrested,” said Yunus.
Yunus said they were arrested because it was suspected that they wanted to “create a riot” during the labour protests.
“As is usual with them there were suspicions they wanted to create a riot, so we secured them, we questioned them”, said Yunus.
Thirty students from the Indonesian Association of Catholic Students (PMKRI) were also arrested.
Central Jakarta District police deputy chief Assistant Superintendant Setyo Koes Hariyanto said the students were arrested as they tried to incite chaos by setting fire to tyres.
Women protesters arrested
In Medan, North Sumatra, CNN Indonesia reports that Medan metropolitan district police (Polrestabes) arrested 14 protesters seven women and seven men – the from the People’s Resistance Alliance for the Destruction of Tyranny.
Medan Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) labour and urban poor division head Maswan Tambak said there were no grounds for the repressive action by police against the peaceful protest.
In addition, the protesters did not violate covid-19 health protocols.
Protesters from the Medan People and Workers Accumulation of Anger Alliance (AKBR) acused rogue police officers of intimidating and sexually harassing them.
“There were police who recorded demonstrators by sticking their mobile phones in the face of women protesters. It really wasn’t ethical, and we consider that threatening,” said the founder of Women Today (PHI), Lusty Ro Manna Malau.
“The actions of these rogue police cannot be allowed to become normalised.”
Translated by James Balowski for Indoleft News. The original title of the article was “Polisi Amankan 15 Mahasiswa Papua di Demo Hari Buruh di Jakarta”.
AKARTA, May 2 (Jakarta Post/ANN): The government’s recent decision to classify armed criminal groups (KKB) in Papua and West Papua as terrorists has been met with fierce criticism from rights groups and a local administration, which all feared that it would only make things worse in the restive regions.
Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said the designation showed the government's failure to address the root of Papua’s problems and could lead to more human rights violations in the country's easternmost provinces rather than helping the Papuan people.
“Based on our monitoring, military and police personnel allegedly often justify the killing of Papuan people by claiming that they were members of the Free Papua Movement [OPM] or ‘armed criminal groups’ without providing clear evidence -- claims that are often denied by local residents and church leaders, ” he said in a statement.
“The [new] ‘terrorist’ label will only serve as further justification for such terrible human rights abuses.” Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) director Sidney Jones said it was "not a wise move” that could fuel further discrimination for Papuans.
“Papuans already feeling stigmatized by being labeled separatists will feel even more alienated by being labeled terrorists, ” Jones said.
In response to the decision, Papua Governor Lukas Enembe demanded the central government conduct a comprehensive review taking into account the potential social, legal and economic effects of such a move.
He reiterated the Papua administration’s demand for the central government to tone down its heavy-handed approach in tackling problems in the province.
“We want the security approach in Papua to be conducted in a more humane [manner], with an exchange of words and ideas, not an exchange of bullets, ” he said.
He also urged the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police to thoroughly assess the armed groups’ strength, location and characteristics to avoid civilian casualties or wrongful arrests.
Indonesia has been widely criticized for adopting a hard approach, characterized by mass deployment of its security forces, in resolving tensions in Papua and West Papua.
Experts have said that this approach had failed to effectively address the root causes of the violent conflicts that have claimed the lives of both armed combatants and unarmed civilians in the regions.
Amnesty International Indonesia recorded at least 47 cases of alleged unlawful killings by security forces in West Papua and Papua between February 2018 and December 2020 that claimed the lives of 80 people, and five cases with seven victims in the first four months of this year.
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairman Ahmad Taufan Damanik said the commission was “concerned” that the labeling could escalate tensions and block the path toward a peaceful resolution of the conflicts in the provinces.
Recently, coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD announced the updated list of terror groups, which included KKB, amid heightened tensions in Papua.
He said that the TNI would assist the police on the front lines in the fight against the separatist groups and would avoid harming other Papuans.
The declaration came days after the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) head in Papua, Brig. Gen. I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha, was shot dead in a confrontation with rebels on April 25, prompting President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to order the TNI and the police to arrests members of the rebel group this week.
While Mahfud did not make specific references to any rebel group, it was speculated that the announcement was referring to the armed wing of the OPM, the National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNPB), which claimed responsibility for the April 25 attack.
Jaleswari Pramodhawardani of the Executive Office of the President said the decision only came after careful deliberation that also “looked into input and analysis from stakeholders inside and outside the government over recent brutal acts in Papua that targeted civilians, including students, teachers and customary leaders”.
She said the government would ensure that the label would only apply to individuals or groups that conduct activities categorised as terrorism under the 2018 Terrorism Law.
The law defines terrorism as the use of violence or threats of violence that can trigger widespread terror or fear, cause mass casualties or disrupt or damage vital strategic objects and public or international facilities, using ideology, politics or the disruption of security as motives.
Jaleswari said that the immediate priorities of the government were to stop the recent terror acts and restore security in the region. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
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