Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
AWPA Update No 5/ 2021
The trial of West Papuan political prisoner Victor Yeimo started in Jayapura this week, now adjourned to 31 August. Victor was arrested on the 9 May 2021 and faces a number of charges including treason because of his peaceful role in the anti-racism protests on the 19 August in 2019. He is accused of violating Articles 106 and 110 of the Criminal Code on treason and conspiracy to commit treason. He is being held at the Mako Brimob Prison in Jayapura.
There is also concern for Victor’s mental health. The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Papua’s head, Frits Ramandey, said his group had visited the former KNPB chairman three times and was concerned for Yeimo's psychological condition as he is being kept in isolation at the Mobile Brigade Command Headquarters.
Yeimo’s lawyer, Gustav Kawer, has reported that repeated requests from the legal team for his client to undergo a comprehensive health check-up were denied, although he had complained of chest pain and coughed up blood.Yeimo is being detained at a facility run by the Mobile Brigade police unit and his lawyer said that Victor is lodged in a cell with minimal lighting and poor air circulation.
AWPA letter to Australia Foreign Minister concerning Victor.
Amnesty International has also called for the release of Victor and people can sign an Amnesty petition at https://action.amnesty.org.au/act-now/indonesia-release-peaceful-anti-racism-protester-victor-yeimo
Interim President Wenda: Victor Yeimo must be immediately released
https://www.ulmwp.org/interim-president-wenda-victor-yeimo-must-be-immediately-released
New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that officials have raised concern with Indonesia over the case of a West Papuan political prisoner.
RNZ Pacific 27 August 2021. https://www.ulmwp.org/interim-president-wenda-victor-yeimo-must-be-immediately-released
Victor Yeimo is held in high esteem by the Papuan people and on the 16 August large demonstrations took place throughout West Papua calling for his release and also protesting against racism against the Papuan people. The security forces cracked down on the peaceful rallies. In Jayapura, police forces backed up by water cannons dispersed demonstrators at numerous locations and a march led by the West Papua Council of Churches’ moderator Rev Benny Giay was stopped by the security forces. In the town of Dekai in the Yahukimo Regency, one protestor was shot and 48 arrested.
Peaceful protesters supporting the Papuan People's Petition rejecting the plan to renew Special Autonomy in Papua and against racism confront Indonesian police yesterday. Image: Unikab Bongkar
Tragically, Ferianus Asso died of his injuries.
Shooting victim Ferianus Asso being transported to hospital – August 16, 2021 (Istimewa)
48 arrested, one shot after police break up rally in Papua’s Yahukimo regency
AI release 20 August 2021 -INDONESIA: PAPUAN PROTESTERS SHOT, BEATEN AND RACIALLY ABUSED BY SECURITY FORCES – NEW RESEARCH https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/08/indonesia-papuan-protesters-shot-beaten-and-racially-abused-by-security-forces-new-research/
Biak massacre
6th July also marked 23 years since the Indonesian security forces massacred scores of people in Biak, West Papua.
In Surabaya Papuan students took to the streets to remember the Biak Massacre
Rally coordinator Ever Walela said that even after 23 years, the Indonesian government had never tried the alleged perpetrators of the Biak massacre. Such impunity has only been perpetuating rights violations and exploitation of natural resources in Papua.
Jubi report
Papuan students held a peaceful rally in East Java's Surabaya to commemorate the Biak massacre occurred on July 6, 1998. Courtesy of the Papuan Students Alliance.
Indonesian police crack down on West Papuan demos
From RNZ Pacific report 15 July 2021
Fresh demonstrations by West Papuans have again been stopped by armed Indonesian police who arrested dozens of people
The demonstrations are the latest in a series of protests by West Papuan students, churches and customary representatives opposed to the Indonesian government's plans to extend Special Autonomy provisions in the two Papuan provinces.
Many West Papuans claim they have not been involved in consultations about the plans for the future administration of their region, while police have repeatedly prevented public discussions about the issue in some parts of Papua region.
Yesterday, three student-led demonstrations were held in the Papua provincial capital, Jayapura, before armed police arrived and forcefully stopped the mobilisations. Several Papuan students from the University of Cenderawasih in Jayapura were injured.
As well, police arrested 23 students and activists with the Petisi Rakyat Papua group, an organisation with 112 civil society, student, customary and church representatives that has been co-ordinating public mobilisations in relation to Indonesia's plans for Papua………..
Amnesty International Indonesia Condemns Arrest of 14 Papua University Students
Translator: Ririe Ranggasari Editor: Laila Afifa 10 August 2021
Victor Yeimo was arrested by the Nemangkawi Task Force on May 9 this year under charges of treason based on his speeches and activism during the 2019 anti-racism peace rally in Jayapura. Victor was accused of violating Articles 106 and 110 of the Criminal Code on treason and conspiracy to commit treason, and is being held at the Mako Brimob Prison of the Papua Police.
Responding to the arrest of the 14 Cendrawasih University students, Amnesty International Indonesia deputy director Wirya Adiwena said that the students should be protected and facilitated—not arrested and treated like criminals. "Like Victor, these Uncen students are only using their right to exercise freedom of expression, assembly and association, to peacefully speak their minds," said Wirya. Wirya urged the Jayapura Police to release the students immediately, and respect their freedom of expression. Wirya also called for Victor Yeimo to be released because there was no credible evidence that he violated any internationally recognized law. In its press release, Amnesty International Indonesia stated that it did not take any position on the political status of any province in Indonesia, including a call for independence. The right to freely express opinions in peaceful manners must be protected.
Read: KontraS Laments Use of Excessive Force by Authorities in Papua SRIRAHMA
It is not our wish: Thousands of Papuans reject new special autonomy law
Jubi News Desk July 19, 2021
Jayapura, Jubi – As many as 714,066 Papuan people and 112 organizations joined in the Papuan People Petition have rejected the newly passed Special Autonomy (Otsus) Law, which revised 18 articles from the 2001 Otsus Law and added two new articles, claiming the law is not the solution to Papua’s problems nor does it reflect their true wish...........
https://en.jubi.co.id/not-our-wish-papuans-reject-new-special-autonomy-law/
New deal, old approach
Editorial - The Jakarta Post".
Editorial board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta ● Wed, July 21, 2021
The unanimous House of Representatives decision last week to endorse the revised Papuan Special Autonomy Law shows, yet again, the propensity of the Jakarta elite to dictate the future of the territory, despite persistent calls to honor local demands.
This “new deal” is not likely to end violence in the resource-rich provinces, which stems in large part from Jakarta’s refusal to settle past human rights abuses there. On paper, the revision offers some of the substantial changes needed to help Papuans close the gap with the rest of the nation. For example, it extends special autonomy funding for Papua and West Papua to 2041 and increases its amount from 2 percent to 2.25 percent of the general allocation fund, with a particular focus on health and education....
https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2021/07/20/new-deal-old-approach.html
Australia trained Indonesian police officer accused of West Papua violence
Tue 3 Aug 2021 by Marni Cordell
‘We will chop them up’: an Indonesian police chief implicated in alleged human rights abuses against a group of West Papuan activists was trained by Australian Federal Police
Charles Sraun was chatting with five friends at a house in Merauke, the easternmost city of the disputed Indonesian territory of West Papua, when police stormed the building. The 39-year-old health worker says he and his friends, all members of a pro-independence organisation called the National Committee for West Papua, were beaten with batons, made to lie face down and some forced to undress, before being cable-tied and bundled into the back of a vehicle belonging to the Indonesian paramilitary police unit, Brimob. When questioned later about the alleged mistreatment, the officer in charge of the operation, the Merauke police chief Untung Sangaji, reportedly told local media: “In future if there are further acts of treason I will shoot them in the legs … They have insulted the Indonesian nation. Never mind mistreatment, I will shoot them dead if ordered to shoot them … If necessary, we will chop them up.” When the six were locked up in a police cell later that day, it was clear to Sraun that one of them, Kristian Yandun, was badly injured………………….
NGO study shows economic interest behind illegal military operations in Intan Jaya
Jubi News Desk August 24, 2021
TNI soldiers patrol around Bilogai - Sugapa riding a civilian truck. Jubi/Victor Mambor.
Jayapura, Jubi – The past three years have seen an unending illegal deployment of Indonesian military forces in the central highlands of Papua, internationally known as West Papua, which has triggered an escalated armed conflict between the military and the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), as well as violence against civilians. Spatial analysis reveals how military and police posts are located around the mining areas, whose concessions are identified as connected with the generals.
A group of NGOs comprising the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), WALHI Papua, Pusaka Bentala Rakyat, the Papua Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Papua), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Greenpeace Indonesia, the Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM), and Trend Asia has recently launched their study which shows the relationship between mining companies and military deployment in Intan Jaya Regency. The illegal operation in Intan Jaya has added to the series of state violence in West Papua. At least ten percent of the population of Intan Jaya’s capital district of Sugapa were displaced in early 2021, including 331 women and children. In April, the Indonesian government labeled the TPNPB, the Free Papua Organization (OPM), and any armed group affiliated with the TPNPB and OPM as terrorists, adding even more troops to Papua under the pretext of combating terrorism. “The unclear status of the security situation in Papua continues to provide an opening for the state to build military posts and deploy more forces. While in fact, it is clear that the security approach never solves systemic problems in Papua, which is lack of access to primary needs, damage to natural resources, and violation of civil liberties,” said KontraS researcher Rivanlee Anandar.
Intan Jaya is one of four districts in the central highlands of Papua where the new Military District Command (Kodim) has been established. The Intan Jaya Kodim is located in Sugapa. It is not known how many military personnel, both organic and non-organic, are in Papua, particularly in the central highlands. The Papuan Legislative Council (DPRP) even said that it was difficult for them to obtain data and information regarding the number of non-organic troops sent to Papua every year. According to the DPRP, even Papua Governor Lukas Enembe did not know the number.........
https://en.jubi.co.id/economic-interest-behind-illegal-military-operations-in-intan-jaya/
Vaccine resistance in West Papua as Covid-19 rages
8:30 pm on 30 July 2021 Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific Journalist
As with much of Indonesia, the country's eastern-most provinces of Papua and West Papua are struggling to contain the spread of Covid-19, with the Delta variant on the loose.
In their latest update, health authorities in Papua province reported 33,826 confirmed cases of the virus to date, as well as 794 known deaths. In West Papua province, there were 18,027 confirmed cases and 278 deaths. Earlier this week, the Papua provincial health spokesman Silvanus Sumule spoke to media outside a hospital in downtown Jayapura, explaining that hospital capacity had passed 100 percent, while they're short on oxygen tanks for Covid patients.
Patients were being treated in corridors or outside the building, the sort of desperate scenes being experienced across Indonesia, which has become the latest epicentre of the pandemic in Asia, with over 3.2 million cases and 90-thousand deaths from Covid.
But the health system in Papua is weaker than most other parts of the republic, adding to fears that the virus is on track to cause devastation in indigenous Papuan communities.
A human rights adviser to the Papuan People's Assembly, Wensi Fatubun, said that with the Delta variant rampaging through communities, Papua's provincial government sought a full lockdown for the month of August. "So the local government announced for the lockdown. But the national government doesn't want Papua province locked down, but use different restrictions on community activities."
With Jakarta having overruled Papua's local government on the matter, the onus goes on how people respond to the restrictions on gatherings as well as safety measures. But adherence to these basic measures has been mixed in Papua during the pandemic.
"We are really worried with Covid-19. If it go to the remote areas, we don't know, maybe many many indigenous Papuans will die, because there's not enough doctors, nurses, and also health facilities," Fatubun said. Across Jayapura, there's been a spate of burials in recent days - another sign of the surge in Covid-19 cases, which could be significantly higher than official statistics show.
'Many Papuans are dying'
To avert the death rate growing more out of control, the national government of Joko Widodo is focussing on efforts to vaccinate as many people as possible in the coming weeks and months.
So far around 22 percent of the eligible population of 208-million have had at least a first dose of the vaccine, and around 10 percent have had two doses.
The moderator of the Papuan Council of Churches, Reverend Benny Giay said many West Papuans were resisting the vaccine rollout, chiefly because of the role of Indonesian security forces who he said indigenous Papuans often mistrust. "In the past few months, in several districts, it's the military and police who accompanied medical teams who go promoting the vaccines. But people turn them away. It's very difficult to convince the people," he said. Given the ongoing violent conflict between Indonesian security forces and West Papuan independence fighters, as well as decades of human rights abuses and racism against Papuans, Reverend Giay said the resistance was understandable.
"The reality here is that they've gone through this crisis and violence, and the government is involving military and police to be part of this and we don't like that."
Reverend Giay wants his people to get vaccinated, and is urging people to not be dissuaded by misinformation propagated on social media. He suggested outside help is required. "Many Papuans are dying. We've been calling international community for help - maybe International Red Cross, maybe a humanitarian intervention to convince our people (to get vaccinated)."
This proposal is highly unlikely to be accepted by Indonesia's government which has long restricted outside access to Papua. Jakarta continues with a business-as-usual approach in the remote eastern region, and is sticking to its plans for Papua to host the Indonesia National Games in October which will bring in many people form other parts of the country.
Vale Carmel Budiardjo
AWPA offers its condolences to the family and friends of Carmel Budiardjo who passed away peacefully on the morning of Saturday 10th July.
Carmel Budiardjo campaigns for the release of West Papuah political prisoner, Victor Yeimo. Photo: Supplied (In RNZ report)
TAPOL mourns the passing of our inspirational founder Carmel Budiardjo
11 JUL 2021 by Tapol
Carmel Budiardjo, TAPOL’s founder and driving force for many decades, passed away peacefully on the morning of Saturday 10th July.
She will be greatly missed by all of us in TAPOL and in the wider TAPOL family, the extensive network of people whose lives were touched - and sometimes transformed - by her passionate and determined campaigning for human rights, justice and democracy in Indonesia, East Timor, Aceh and West Papua. For many of us she was a great mentor as well as a beloved friend.
TAPOL stands for 'tahanan politik' or 'political prisoners' in Indonesian. Carmel, a British citizen then living in Indonesia, was imprisoned without trial in Indonesia following former President Suharto’s rise to power in 1965. An Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, Carmel was released after three years’ imprisonment and she returned to the UK. In 1973 she founded TAPOL to campaign for the release of the tens of thousands of political prisoners following the 1965 atrocities and in support of the relatives of the hundreds of thousands who were killed. Carmel was determined to raise international awareness of those atrocities and injustices in which many western countries, including the UK, were complicit in their attempts to halt what they saw as the rise of communism.
Over the next three decades, TAPOL's work broadened to encompass wider issues of human rights, peace and democracy in Indonesia, including in Aceh, East Timor and the contested territory of West Papua. Wherever possible, and despite the extreme repression of the New Order regime, we built close relationships and collaboration with the very brave human rights defenders and pro-democracy campaigners there. In 1995, Carmel received the Right Livelihood Award, after being nominated by the International Federation for East Timor.
With awareness growing also of the environmental damage being wrought by the regime on nature and local communities, in 1988 Carmel helped set up a sister organisation, Down to Earth, to fight for ecological justice. Later, in 2007, Carmel and TAPOL were also founder members of the London Mining Network, established to support communities harmed by London-based mining companies.
As Indonesia became more democratic during the 2000s, we increasingly turned our attention to the region of West Papua. There, human rights violations have continued, largely out-of-sight and un-discussed within Indonesia as well as internationally. For TAPOL’s international work on West Papua, Carmel also received the John Rumbiak Human Rights Defender Award and was honoured as an 'Eldest Daughter of Papua' by leaders of West Papuan civil society in 2011.
TAPOL is still today very much as Carmel set it up: a small organisation/network of committed staff, volunteers and collaborators, all aiming for a big impact. We remain committed to her ideals of promoting justice and equality across Indonesia, and are deeply grateful for all that she contributed and taught us. Our thoughts and sincere condolences for this huge, sad loss go to Carmel’s family in particular, but also to all those across the globe who knew and loved her.
Film: ‘Carmel and the story of TAPOL’ by Sanne Van Den Berg, Su Lin Lewis, Barbara Patilla and Jonnie Kinder, 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3kdrMXXE0o Book: ‘Suharto’s Gulag: Surviving Indonesia's Military Rule: A Western Woman's Memoirs’, by Carmel Budiardjo, Cassell Global Issues, 1996. Contact: info@tapol.org
Opinion pieces/media releasers/reports etc.
Interim President: Indonesia must be suspended from UN HRC over systematic racism
Scars of Papua conflict weigh on Indonesia's vaccine drive
For Indonesia’s restive Papua region, will Biden’s human rights focus bring any change?
Escapades in Papua: Understanding JAD’s Attempts in Indonesia’s Easternmost Province
Why we’re not more moved by what’s happening in West Papua?
https://en.jubi.co.id/why-were-not-more-moved-by-whats-happening-in-west-papua/
Open season again for Indonesian military trolls and ‘fake news’ campaign on West Papua
Land dispute in the construction of four National Games venues
https://en.jubi.co.id/land-dispute-in-the-construction-of-four-national-games-venues/
The New York Agreement was a betrayal of the West Papuan people
https://awpasydneynews.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-new-york-agreement-was-betrayal-of.html
Dangerous Papua Games
https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2021/07/30/dangerous-papua-games.html
Indonesian lawmakers pass controversial bill to reshape West Papua
PAPUA report 2021, 1 – 15 Agust (In Bahasa)
https://awpasydneynews.blogspot.com/2021/08/papua-report-2021-1-15-agust-in-bahasa.html
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