2) One child killed, one wounded in clash in Indonesia's Papua; hundreds flee
Jayapura, Jubi – The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) said that the Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel who allegedly shot dead Nopelinus Sondegau, a two-year-old child, and injured a six-year-old named Yoakim Majau, did so because they were upset for failing to shoot the opponents.
“The TNI shot a two-year-old child named Nopelinus Sondegau and Yohakim Mazau who was six years old because they could not contain their anger after their comrade was shot by us,” said TPNPB General Operations Commander Gusby Waker in a written statement received by Jubi on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021.
“[The TNI] operate without distinction of status. The shootings of small children, priests, and women have happened many times in Papua,” he added.
Previously, Papua Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ahmad Kamal confirmed there were children victims in a crossfire between the TNI and TPNPB on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. “It’s true, we received a report that a child died from gunshot wounds on Tuesday in Sugapa,” Kamal said on Wednesday, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
From the report, the two children were in the house with their parents when they got shot. Yoakim Majau, who was injured, was taken to Mitra Masyarakat Hospital in Timika for treatment. (*)
Reporter: Abeth You
Editor: Kristianto Galuwo
Asia Pacific
2) One child killed, one wounded in clash in Indonesia's Papua; hundreds flee
Reuters
2 minute read.
October 29, 20219:30 PM AEDTLast Updated 10 hours ago
Oct 29 (Reuters) - A child was killed and one wounded in Indonesia's easternmost Papua region, a security spokesman said, in a rare flare up in an old insurgency when government forces clashed with separatist insurgents.
The separatists have waged a low-level campaign for independence in the resource-rich region for decades, saying a 1969 vote overseen by the United Nations that brought the former Dutch colony under Indonesian control was illegitimate.
Indonesia rejects that.
Authorities said in a statement on Thursday that separatists shot at a police station and a military post in the area of Intan Jaya, and the security forces fired back.
"In the shooting, two kids and their parents were doing an activity around their house, so they became the target of armed criminals," Ahmad Mustofa Kamal, spokesman for joint military and police forces in Papua, said in the statement, confirming one child was killed and one wounded.
Sebby Sambom, a spokesman for the Papuan separatists, said the joint forces killed the child in the gunfight on Tuesday. The authorities did not say what day the clash occurred.
Neither Sambom nor Kamal gave more details of the casualties but the Suara Papua news portal said the child who was killed was aged two and the one who was wounded was six.
Father Yustinus Rahangiar of the nearby Bilogai Catholic church told Reuters that about 800 villagers took refuge in a church amid fears of more violence.
"They're confused as to where to get food, especially the women. It's confusing, tense, and scary. Where can they go?" he said.
Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of some 270 million people, for decades faced campaigns for independence or autonomy in different regions but the Papuan confrontation is the last main one the government is dealing with.
Mining companies, keen to exploit the region's abundant mineral resources, also keep a close eye on security.
Chief Security Minister Mahfud MD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since 2010, there have been 190 unlawful killings of civilians by security forces in the Papua region, according to rights group Amnesty International, 95 of whom were killed between 2018 and 2021.
Authorities invariably reject such accusations and say the security forces uphold rights.
Editing by Robert Birsel Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Jayapura, Jubi – The Papuan Customary Council has criticized all parties who speak on behalf of the Indigenous Papuan people and ask PT Freeport Indonesia to build a copper smelter in Papua.
The council also questions those who ask the company to prioritize Indigenous Papuans to work at Freeport’s new smelter in East Java.
Dominikus Surabut, head of the Papuan Customary Council, said that according to the results of the Extraordinary Conference held in Lapago recently, the request to build a smelter in Papua and prioritize Papuans as Freeport’s workforce were not aligned with the “Papuans Stop Selling Land” and “Protect Papuan Forests and Humans” campaigns.
Instead, Surabut said, such requests paved the way for new investments that could threaten the existence of Indigenous Papuans. The Indigenous People in Papua have consistently pushed the “Papuans Stop Selling Land” campaign, as well as the “Protect Papuan Forests and Humans” campaign since 2001.
“If Papuans agree to build a smelter in Papua, that means agreeing to investment,” Surabut told Jubi on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021.
Previously, Papuan People’s Council (MRP) chairman Yoel Luiz Mulait said on Tuesday that his party would write to the central government, to ask for a special policy to prioritize Indigenous Papuans working in the smelter currently being built by Freeport in East Java. Mulait said he received information that the smelter would employ 40,000 employees.
According to Mulait, Indigenous Papuans have been affected by PT Freeport Indonesia’s mining activities in Mimika Regency the most, and therefore, must get an allocation of work opportunities of up to 50 percent of the total workers who will be employed by the smelter.
“We will ask so that from the 40,000 vacancies, it will be for 20,000 Papuans and 20,000 non-Papuans. [The proposal] will go through a plenary [meeting] first to make it valid,” said Mulait. (*)
Reporter: Benny Mawel
Editor: Aryo Wisanggeni G
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.