2) Pacific leaders call for climate action at the UN and raise concerns over militarisation
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https://www.abc.net.au/radio-australia/programs/pacificbeat/wpapua-latest/13552662
1) Human rights lawyer warns that violence in West Papua is at its worst since Suharto era
By Nick Fogarty on Pacific Beat
A group of activists, academics and lawyers are calling for diplomatic intervention from Australia in response to Indonesia's recent actions in the contested provinces of Papua and West Papua.
Deadly violence has been on the rise in the region in recent weeks, with health centres and Indonesian military posts attacked, and thousands of villagers displaced.
The escalation comes as one leading West Papuan activist, Victor Yeimo, remains in hospital where he is suffering from drug-resistant tuberculosis, which means that his trial, where he stands accused of treason, has been put on hold.
Amnesty International claims there have been at least 56 unlawful killings in the region since February last year, while the United Liberation Movement has said the deaths of four Indonesian soldiers at a military post in Maybrat was retaliation, after the Indonesian government attempted to clear West Papuans from their land.
Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman said the military retaliated in turn by raiding villages and displacing thousands of people.
"West Papua is at its worst since Suharto era. The armed conflict has never before been this large. It's so bad that international humanitarian law is now being applied to the situation, " Ms Koman has told an Amnesty International Forum.
Her views are shared by the lobbyists who are calling on the Australian government to talk to Jakarta and push for assurances that unlawful killings will be investigated, while Amnesty wants Canberra to reconsider its policy on including members of the Indonesian security forces in joint police and military training exercises.
Meanwhile lawyers acting for Victor Yeimo, the General Secretary of the West Papua National Committee, are concerned that he may not recover from TB. The pro-independence activist has been on trial since late August accused of treason and incitement by providing information on human rights in West Papua to the international media.
The Indonesian authorities have been accused of denying Mr Yeimo access to medical care, prompting the UN Special Rapporteur, Mary Lawlor, to demand that the situation is rectified.
Mr Yeimo's treatment "...appears to form part of a pattern of retaliation against defenders of human rights in Papua and West Papua," Ms Lawlor said.
https://abcmedia.akamaized.net/radioaustralia/radioaustralia/audio/202109/pba-2021-09-22-wpapua-latest.mp3
Pacific Island leaders used their time at the UN General Assembly to call for climate action and highlighted concerns over militarisation in the region.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape called on the big carbon emitters to own up and apologise to victims of climate change including small islands developing states.
"Leaders of the big carbon emitting nations must lead the global effort to rebalancing the environmental equilibrium," he said.
Dr Tess Newton Cain of the Pacific Hub at the Asia Griffith Institute said climate action was a common thread as Pacific nations prepare for the UN Climate Summit in November.
“They wanted to see more commitment to the Green Climate Fund and other climate financing mechanisms, but also, the means of accessing that money,” she said.
Beyond climate change, Dr Cain said Pacific leaders also made mention of the threat of conflict as a result of geo political tensions between US and China in the region.
“Solomon Islands Prime Minister Sogavare made quite a strong statement saying ... he was very concerned and that his country did not want to see militarization in the region,” she said.
Vanuatu’s Prime Minister also called on world leaders to back a United Nations human rights visit to Indonesia’s disputed provinces of Papua and West Papua.
https://abcmedia.akamaized.net/radioaustralia/radioaustralia/audio/202109/pba-2021-09-27-pac-leaders-un.mp3
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Youth and Sports (Kemenpora) distributed an additional financial assistance of around Rp831 billion for the National Sports Week or PON Papua, and the XVI National Paralympic Week (Peparnas). The source of the financial assistance is from the State General Treasurer's Chart of Accounts (BA BUN).
The additional funds were given along with a cooperation agreement between the Kemenpora and the PON and Peparnas Grand Committee at the Kemenpora Auditorium on Monday. A total of Rp 715 billion will be allocated for PB PON, while PB Peparnas will be allocated Rp116 billion.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Zainudin Amali, explained that the increase in the budget was after a request from the Chairman of PB PON Papua and the Governor of Papua, Lukas Enembe, to President Joko Widodo. The government also reviewed the budget proposal.
The Ministry of Finance approved additional funds of Rp1.4 trillion for PON Papua and Rp175 billion for Peparnas Papua. “The process is indeed long because we have to be careful regarding administration. I especially give a message to the Ministry of Youth and Sports for the Papua PON, successful achievements, implementation and administration," Amali said on Monday, September 27, 2021.
Regarding the difference in the amount signed in the cooperation agreement and the budget approved by the Ministry of Finance, Amali explained that some budget submissions still require administrative completeness.
"So what was signed earlier was the complete administration. Why do we do that, because we are just a passing place. So this is not managed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Funds from the finance ministry, from BA BUN are directly channeled through PB PON and Peparnas," he said.
Amali assessed that the success of the host Papua's achievement in PON, must be followed by the success of the implementation. He wants PB PON and Peparnas to be able to provide the best service to contingents from various provinces in the country. "You have to make a sense of comfort and security so that no one returning from Papua has a bad impression. I hope that PB PON will carry out that and definitely can," said Amali.
In addition to the success of achievements and implementation, Amali wants the committee to be able to make the entire administrative process run transparently, especially regarding reports and the use of state finances in these activities.
"That's why, we invited the presence of the Deputy Attorney General for Intelligence, the Director of Corruption Crimes at the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency, to make us calm, but be careful. We don't want to be witnessed by Jamintel and Dirtipikor Polri but then our work is reckless, "said Zainudin Amali.
Read: Indonesian Minister Assures PON Papua Security
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"According to the regulation, spectators can only fill a maximum of 25 percent of the venue capacity. In addition, they must have received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine,” he stated at a virtual press conference, accessed via the ministry's YouTube channel from here on Monday afternoon.
“Currently, the Health Ministry, along with the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, military, and police, is expediting vaccination coverage with a target of over 70 percent until the end of September 2021 in all host regions of XX Papua PON,” the minister noted.
Furthermore, the committee must anticipate the crowds at the opening ceremony as well as sports matches, he said.
During the press conference, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin urged all stakeholders to ensure that spectators watching the games live at the venue are in good health.
"We are coordinating to ensure the utilization of the PeduliLindungi app as well as manual health screening equipment that can make sure that the spectators are healthy and are not going to create a new COVID-19 cluster at the event," he said.
The ministry, the PON organizing committee, the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, and the Papua Health Office are coordinating this task, he informed.
Meanwhile, Secretary of the Youth and Sports Ministry Gatot S. Dewa Broto said that the move to restrict spectators by the committee is in keeping with the international standard on visitor arrangements.
Related news: Papua PON: People cheer Torch Relay in Biak Numfor
"The opening of the XX Papua PON must be organized to avoid creating crowds. Our strategy is almost similar to the one implemented at the opening of the 2012 London Olympics," he said.
The committee will not only limit the number of spectators, but also the privileges of the participating athletes and officials, he said.
According to first deputy chairman of National Sports Committee, Major General (Retd.) Suwarno, the national sporting event began a few days ago although the official opening will take place on October 2, 2021.
"Currently, about 30 percent of the total participating athletes and officials have arrived in Papua," he informed.
The XX Papua PON organizing committee has urged all visitors to conduct self-isolation -- either in groups or independently, he said.
"Once arriving in Papua, an examination is carried out through the PeduliLindungi app as well as a COVID-19 swab antigen test before the visitors enter their lodgings," he disclosed.
Later, if any visitor feels unwell while participating in the event, a COVID-19 antigen or PCR test will be carried out, he said.
Should the result come out positive, the person will be treated at the isolation center provided by the committee, he added.
"The same protocols will be conducted while departing," he said.
Related news: Papua PON: Ministry, local govt prepare facilities for media persons
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