1) Open season again for Indonesian military trolls and ‘fake news’ campaign on West Papua
SPECIAL REPORT: By David Robie
It is open season again for Indonesian trolls targeting Asia Pacific Report and other media with fake news and disinformation dispatches in a crude attempt to gloss over human rights violations.
Just three months ago I wrote about this issue in my “Dear editor” article exposing the disinformation campaign. There was silence for a while but now the fake letters to the editor – and other media outlets — have started again in earnest.
The latest four lengthy letters emailed to APR canvas the following topics — Jakarta’s controversial special autonomy status revised law for Papua, a brutal assault by Indonesian Air Force military policemen on a deaf Papuan man, and a shooting incident allegedly committed by pro-independence rebels – and they appear to have been written from a stock template.
- READ MORE: Outrage over Indonesian officers for stomping on disabled Papuan teen’s head
- ULMWP calls for suspension of Indonesia from UN rights council over assault on deaf Papuan
- Indonesian military duo to be punished for attack on deaf Papuan
- Other West Papua human rights reports
And they all purport to have been written by “Papuan students” or “Papuans”. Are they their real names, and do they even exist?
The latest letter to Asia Pacific Report, dated July 30, was written by a “Paulus Ndiken” who claims:
“I’m a native Papuan currently living in Merauke, Papua, Indonesia. I would like to address your cover story about Indonesia apologises for ‘excessive force’ against deaf Papuan man.
“One day after the incident, the Indonesian Air Force had detained and punished severely 2 members … that had roughly apprehending [sic] Esebius Bapaimu in Merauke, Papua province.”
Dubious reputation
The letter linked to Yumi Toktok Stret, a website with a dubious reputation with accuracy. The report was sketchy and the correct name of the assaulted man, according to reputable news media and Papuan sources, is actually Steven Yadohamang.
“We regret that this kind of rough-housing [sic] happened on the street,” wrote correspondent “Ndiken”, “but we, as Papuans, [are] also glad to know that these perpetrators have received sound punishment …
“Responding to the unfortunate events, the Indonesian netizens had asked for the Indonesian military to immediately take action against the guilty party and were glad that the institution had addressed the people’s concern in a very fast manner.”
A more nuanced and accurate article was written for Asia Pacific Report by Brisbane-based West Papuan academic Yamin Kogoya who compared the “inhumane” assault to the tragic killing of George Floyd in the United States after a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes as he lay face down in the street on 25 May 2020.
Wamebu” … “a native West Papuan living in Merauke”, said on June 29 he would like to bring our attention to West Papua, “which has been painted as if the whole island is in conflict, when actually [there are] only a few small areas [that] were invaded by the Free Papua terrorists that had been exposed to enormous violence.
“I would like to assure the world that there [is] nothing like a full-blown war.”
In the lengthy letter about an incident on June 4 when four civilians were killed in a shooting and two were wounded, “Wamebu” provided alleged details that are likely to have been provided by military sources and at variance with actual news reports at the time.
‘Spike’ over special autonomy
“Yamkon Doleon”, a “student from West Papua and currently studying in Yogyakarta, Indonesia” wrote on July 19 that there had been “a spike in the topic of Papuan special autonomy in social media and also [in] a few international media”.
Launching into a defence of the new Special Autonomy for Papua law for the governance of the two Melanesian provinces of Papua and West Papua for the next two decades – adopted by the House of Representatives in Jakarta last month without consultation with the Papuans, “Doleon” wrote:
“The Special Autonomy itself is a law that guarantees every Papuan to be the leader of their region, to have free education, free health service, and a boost I [the] economy … So which article is not in favour of the people?”
The writer makes no mention of the heavy militarisation of Papua in recent months, the repeated allegations of human rights violations, or the rejection of the Special Autonomy law by the Papuan people.
In a comment about the spate of Indonesian troll messages to some media outlets, West Papua Media Alerts said:
“INDONESIAN INTELLIGENCE BOTS, GO AWAY. YOU ARE BEING BANNED AND REPORTED AND DELETED EVERYTIME YOU POST, SO GO AWAY.”
The engaged media advocacy and news service continued: “It is clear we are telling the truth, otherwise you wouldn’t have to spend so much money trying to counter it with a transparent influence exercise. Go home, invaders.
“Friends, there are literally over a hundred sock accounts using random Anglo names, and the same script response. These accounts all come from the BIN-run FirstMedia in Jakarta, and were all created after March 2.
Report fake accounts
“If you see a comment, please click through on the account name, click the 3 dots and report them as a fake account and going against community standards. We will obviously delete and ban these fake accounts.”
Meanwhile, the London-based Indonesian human rights watchdog Tapol has strongly condemned the two Air Force military policemen who severely beat the disabled man, Steven Yadohamang, in Merauke, Papua, on 27 July 2021.
Video footage which has been widely shared on social media, shows the two personnel beating up a man and crushing his body into the ground and stamping on his head.
Tapol said in a statement: “It is clear from the footage that Yadohamang does not possess the capacity to defend himself against two individuals who appear to be unconcerned with possible consequences.”
A similar incident in Nabire took place the following day, said the statement. A West Papuan man, Nicolas Mote, was suddenly smacked on the head repeatedly during his arrest despite not resisting.
“The incident follows a spate of previous violent incidents committed by the security forces against civilians in West Papua province and is likely to raise further questions about what purpose increasing numbers of military personnel
are serving in West Papua,” Tapol said.
Although the Air Force had apologised, it had suggested that the two military policemen, Second Sergeant Dimas Harjanto and Second Private Rian Febrianto, alone should bear responsibility for the incident, said the watchdog.
‘Pattern of violence’
“They, and the Indonesian media, have described the soldiers as ‘rogues’. This assessment is not consistent with a pattern of violence committed against civilians that has been allowed to go unpunished in recent months and years,” Tapol said.
“Indeed, had there not been such indisputable visual evidence of security force violence, it is entirely possible that the incident would not now be subject to further investigation by the authorities.
“But despite facing punishment, the perpetrators are likely to only to receive light sentences because they will be tried in military courts.”
Following the end of the New Order period, civilian politicians were not pushing for military personnel to be tried in civilian courts.
Since 2019, there had been a steady build-up of military and police personnel in the two provinces of Papua and West Papua, said Tapol.
“Deployments and security force operations have increased further since April 2021, when the Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security, Mahfud MD, designated the armed resistance movement, TPNPB, as a ‘terrorist’ group.
“West Papuans and Indonesians have raised concerns that the designation would further stigmatise ordinary West Papuans.
“We would also highlight that in West Papua there are significant underlying problems with institutionalised racism by the authorities.”
Tapol called on President Joko Widodo and the House of Representatives of Indonesia to finish the post-Suharto agenda of reforming the military to combat a culture of impunity over human rights violations in West Papua.
From West PAPUA Action Team Australia FP page
THE Prime Minister is being urged to support action on human rights violations in West Papua when he meets with Pacific Islands Forum leaders this week.
Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission has called on Scott Morrison to ensure that he and other Pacific leaders back a United Nations human rights mission to West Papua as they did at the leaders retreat in Tuvalu in 2019.
Pacific Islands Forum leaders are expected to meet virtually this Friday, August 6.
“The deployment of thousands of extra troops to the Papuan Highlands in the last couple of years has resulted in killings of civilians and the displacement of tens of thousands of people as they flee from military sweeping operations in their villages,” Mr Arndt said.
“In the same period, many demonstrations and meetings have been broken up by Indonesian police and participants beaten and arrested.
“As recently as last week, a deaf man in Merauke was beaten by two soldiers for no good reason.”
Mr Arndt said he welcomed the Australian Government’s commitment to regularly raised concerns with the Indonesian Government about human rights violations.
“However, we are concerned that either removing West Papua from the PIF agenda or a weakening of the existing strong commitment to address human rights abuses will remove pressure on the Indonesian Government at a time when the situation in West Papua is worsening,” he said.
Mr Arndt said that the Commission had maintained close contact with indigenous Catholic priests, Protestant leaders, human rights defenders and survivors and families of victims of human rights violations in West Papua.
“We have also engaged with many Australian MPs and senators as well as a number of government ministers in an effort to build support for a UN mission,” Mr Arndt said.
“We encourage Australians to contact their local MP, their state senators, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and the Minister for International Development and the Pacific this week to urge them to maintain support at the Pacific Islands Forum for a UN human rights mission to West Papua.”
West Papua Vice Governor Muhammad Lakotani welcomed the arrival of hundreds of new oxygen tanks and items of personal protective equipment (PPE) donated by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) in Rendani Airport Manokwari, Tuesday.
The oxygen tanks and PPE supplies were flown from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport Jakarta on an Indonesian Air Force aircraft, with a stopover in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
"Today, the province officially accept the oxygen tanks and PPE donations from the BNPB, handed over by the Kasuari XVIII Regional Military Chief to the West Papua provincial authority," Vice Governor Lakotani said.
The BNPB donations fulfilled most demands for oxygen and PPE supplies from local hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients at West Papuan hospitals, he said.
Related news: BNPB dispatches mask and oxygen assistance to West Papua
"The new supplies would also be distributed to West Papua cities and districts, proportional with their needs," he added.
Abdul Muhari, Acting Head of Disaster Data, Information, and Communications Centre of the BNPB, in a press statement on Tuesday, stated that the oxygen tanks and PPE supplies for West Papua are to assist the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in the province.
He added that the total 150,000 masks consist of 30,000 medical masks, 15,000 KF-94 masks, 50,000 medical child masks, 5,000 INA fabric masks, and 55,000 fabric masks for children.
Related news: KONI completes first phase of vaccination of Papua PON athletes
"Besides new mask supplies, the BNPB is also assisting the province by sending 50 oxygen tanks, 50 oxygen concentrators, 1,000 medical gloves, 1,000 medical T-Well, and 10,000 antigen rapid tests," Muhari stated.
Based on the West Papua Province COVID-19 Handling Task Force data, the total number of COVID-19 cases is 18,900 positive cases, as of Monday, August 2, which increased by 118 people from the previous day.
The recovery rate in the province is 84.4 per cent, with current recovered cases at 16,035 people, an increase of 517 people from the previous day. COVID-19 death cases in the province has reached 290 patients.
Related news: West Jakarta: Places of worship double up as vaccination centers
Related news: Navy rolls out vaccinations for Labuan Bajo residents
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.