Press conference of the Council of the Church of Papua in Jayapura, the capital city of Jayapura Regency, Thursday (25/11/2021). - Jubi/Benny Mawel
Jayapura, Jubi – The Papuan Church Council conveyed on Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021, some of its findings related to the escalated armed conflict in six regencies in Papua and West Papua, namely Intan Jaya, Bintang Mountains, Nduga, Yahukimo, Puncak, and Maybrat.
The council said that the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police continued to sweep in civilian settlements looking for members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB). As a result, many civilians in the six regencies fled to the forest or neighboring regency, to avoid any contact with the security forces.
“More than 60,000 people have been displaced. Many children and mothers have been victims and died while in the evacuation camps,” said chair of the Synod of West Papua Baptist Churches Rev. Sokrates Sofyan Yoman while reading the appeal of the Papuan Church Council along with other council representatives, namely Synod of Evangelical Churches in Indonesia ( GIDI) chair Rev. Dorman Wandikbo, GKI Synod in Papua chair Rev. Andrikus Mofu, and the moderator of the Papuan Church Council, Rev. Benny Giay, who is also a member of the evangelical KINGMI Papua Church.
The Papuan Church Council said that in the second week of October, security forces allegedly dropped bombs in Pelebib Village, Kiwi Village, Delpem Village, and Lolim Village, which caused 5,000 residents tooke refuge in nearby forests and villages, some even crossed into neighboring Papua New Guinea (PNG).
The attack on the Military Post in Kisor District, Maybrat Regency by the TPNPB on Sept. 2 resulted in four TNI members being killed. Following the incident, the TNI sent additional troops to Maybrat and displaced at least 2,768 people.
Data from the Papuan Church Council said that the TNI and police followed up by arresting 34 civilians, 31 of whom were detained. Eight people were later named suspects in the attack on the Kisor Military Post. Of the eight people named as suspects, five are university students, four are children, one is a teenager, and three others are adults.
Among the 23 residents who were detained and then released, there were also 11 children and a baby. The total number of children who have been victims of violence and arrested by the security forces regarding the attack on Kisor is 17.
“We also received a report that one person died in the evacuation camp. A total of 15 members of congregations of GKI and 11 Catholic chapelries could not return to their villages. The villages around Aifat are empty,” said the council.
Armed conflict also occurred in Yahukimo right after the security forces deployed troops there. The soldiers arrested and shot Senat Soli, one of the TPNPB leaders. He was shot in the leg and died at the Bhayangkara Hospital, a hospital belonging to the Papuan Police on July 27.
TPNPB members in Yahukimo then attacked TNI members on Nov. 20. During the attack, soldier First Sgt. Ari Baskoro died and Capt. Arfiandi Sukamto injured.
Meanwhile in Puncak, armed conflict occurred from the beginning of the year until today. The Papuan Church Council recorded 16 civilians were victims of shootings and killings. At the same time, there were also victims among the TNI and police, as well as members of the TPNPB. As a result of this conflict, around 3,000 people from more than 23 villages in Puncak left their homes.
Ever since the TPNPB shot dead Papua intelligence chief Brig. Gen. I Gusti Putu Danny Nugraha Karya in Puncak’s Beoga on April 25, the TNI and police have been continuously adding troops in the area. These soldiers even occupy several government offices and churches.
“We received reports from the congregation that the security forces took items from residents’ houses, which have left empty as the people fled. The report says they sold them in Ilaga,” said Rev. Yoman.
Meanwhile, armed conflict in Nduga has occurred since December 2018 and still going. Over the past three years, 47,000 members of the congregation have been displaced. The Papuan Church Council recorded 295 civilians died. Apart from being shot by the security forces, most of them died during the evacuation due to the unavailability of food and medicine.
The Papuan Church Council asked the United Nations to step into the Papua conflict. “We ask the Human Rights Council of UN to come to Papua, to firsthand see the situation of the Papuan people’s suffering of 58 years,” Rev. Yoman said.
The council also asked President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to solve Papua conflict by taking a similar approach when resolving an armed conflict with the Free Aceh Movement in 2005. The council urged Jokowi to fulfill his commitment in 2019 to meet the pro-Papuan independence group, the United Liberation Movement for West Papua. (*)
Reporter: Benny Mawel
Editor: Aryo Wisanggeni G
Jayapura, Jubi – Dozens of women gathered and joined worship at the Graha Sara building in Jayapura City, to celebrate the Day of the Women’s Fellowship of the Church in Asia, as well as to start the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence on Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021.
Secretary of the Papuan Injili Christian Church’s (GKI) Synod in Papua, Rev. Daniel Kaigere, conveyed in his speech that to reduce and stop violence, it must be started from oneself, and then in the family. “It has to be from the closest environment first before the wider ones. Psalm is really talking about building the foundation in families first, then in the nation and so on,” he said.
Kaigere appealed to every foundation and church structure under the GKI Synod to create and develop education programs to battle gender-based violence. According to him, a lack of education is one of the factors leading to violence against women. Therefore, he said, education played a role in reducing the number of violence against women.
Kaigere said that when children lack education, resulting in them lacking skills, it would make them feel less confident and see other people as enemies.
He stressed that the church should encourage an education model that focuses on skills and ensuring that it is low-cost. “Because [a high cost] is one of the factors inhibiting our children from completing their education,” he said.
After the worship, the JPIC staff of the GKI Synod in Tanah Papua, Rev. Magdalena Kafiar, explained to the congregation that the 16 Days of Activism was a global movement. She further told about the history behind the 16 Days of Activism and emphasized that the campaign was important and worth every attention by everyone in Papua.
“This campaign is also important for us in Papua because violence is real, it is still happening in Papua. Not only domestic violence but also violence in the workplace, and even more severe, state violence,” said Rev. Kaviar, saying that cases of displaced people due to armed conflicts continued to occur today in several regencies such as Nduga, Puncak, Intan Jaya, and Maybrat.
“Our humblest prayer at this time, we hope that mothers, children, the elderly, and all civilians in conflict areas can sleep peacefully, can return to their homes in peace, and are not afraid to do activities as usual again,” she said. (*)
Reporter: Yuliana Lantipo
Editor: Aryo Wisanggeni G
Jakarta, Jubi – Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Andika Perkasa met National Police chief Gen. Listyo S Prabowo at the Police’s headquarters in South Jakarta on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, to discuss about Papua conflict.
According to Andika, the meeting was necessary so that there would be no overlapping of tasks between the TNI and police in Papua.
The TNI commander said that in the near future, he would go to Papua and announce the strategy to deal with Papua conflict.
“Yes, we for sure [discussed about the strategy to secure Papua]. Hopefully, I will go to Papua next week and announce [the strategy] there. Papua was the main topic in our meeting just now,” said Andika, as quoted by Antara.
He said the meeting discussed the strategy to stop the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNP) without war, as Andika previously conveyed during his fit and proper test at Commission I of the House of Representatives before being appointed commander.
However, Andika also seemed to bother that some countries in the Western Pacific “occasionally question Papua’s sovereignty even though the United Nations has determined that Papua is legitimate a part of Indonesia,” he said.
Meanwhile, National Police chief Gen. Listyo said a paradigm shift was required in handling armed conflicts, such as in Papua, Poso, and other places.
“It depends on how we change the paradigm at handling armed conflicts such as in Papua, Poso, and others,” said Listyo. He added that both the police and the TNI must continue to strengthen cooperation in carrying out their duties to maintain security and order in the community. (*)
Editor : Edi Faisol
"Fakfak has 'satu tungku tiga batu' (three stones in one furnace) motto symbolizing the city as a melting pot of three major religious groups that continue to live in peace with each other in Fakfak till now," the Presidential Staff Office's Deputy IV Expert Staff, Ali Mochtar Ngabalin, noted in a written statement received in Jakarta on Friday.
The three major religious groups in Fakfak -- Muslims, Protestants, and Catholics -- have equal standing in the city and are committed to maintaining mutual respect despite ethnic groups, religious, or social status differences, he remarked.
"This local wisdom has been inherited by the older generation to the succeeding generation that is committed to maintaining it," Ngabalin stated.
The expert staff pointed out Fakfak residents' success in maintaining harmony amid different religious and ethnic groups as a good example of religious moderation in Indonesia, particularly as a concrete example to promote religious moderation instead of only providing its theoretical basis.
"Fakfak District is an example of local wisdom success to defuse potential conflicts that may occur in a region," he stated.
Ngabalin highlighted that the success of Fakfak to maintain harmony amidst religious and ethnic groups as well as differences in social status must be emulated in other regions in Indonesia.
"The differences in terms of the religious and ethnic groups, as well as social status could never justify the division in society," the expert staff emphasized.
Designation of the district as an exemplary region for religious moderation is pending further discussion with the Religious Affairs Ministry, he added.
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