3) Indonesia denies claims by Papuan students over education setback
1) ‘A SAFE AND PEACEFUL LIFE IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US’: STORY OF CHILDREN OF PAPUA INDEPENDENCE FIGHTERS (PART 1)
News Desk January 31, 2022 2:39 pm
Some residents of Intan Jaya who fled to Nabire, Wednesday (10/3/2021). - Jubi/Abeth You
Jayapura, Jubi – “From east to east”, a phrase that pretty much describes the struggle of the children of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) and the Free Papua Organization (OPM) members who choose to continue their parents’ battle. For them, the wish to liberate Papua has always been there. And it is the same with the children of victims of human rights violations in Papua.
Demianus Magai Yogi, the son of Tadeus Yogi, a member of the TPNPB in Paniai Regency, chose to follow in his father’s footsteps to take up arms. He is now a TPNPB combatant because he witnessed his family being victims of violence by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police.
“My father, Tadeus Magai Yogi, led the Papuan independence movement since the early 1970s, until his last breath on January 9, 2009,” said Demianus. “A safe and peaceful life is impossible for us children TPNPB soldiers,” he added. He accepted it as a consequence of his parents’ struggle.
“Our lives cannot be separated from the terror and intimidation toward Tadeus Yogi, his wife, and their children. Even Tadeus Yogi died from being poisoned. While my mother died due to illness, the police often chased after her, of course, she was tired and her health deteriorated because of that,” said Demianus.
Even after his father died, Demianus said that he, his brothers, and his sisters continued to experience intimidation, terror, and being targeted by the security forces. Seven of his siblings had died during the long conflict that occurred in Paniai.
“Kristianus Yogi was shot by the Cassowary Team in Ugapuga in 1997. Paul Yogi died at the TPNPB Eduda Headquarters in 2002. Debora Yogi died at Eduda Headquarters in 2005. Salmon Yogi was shot by the TNI/police at the Eduda Headquarters in 2013. Leo Yogi was shot by the TNI/police in Nabire in 2015. Antonius Yogi was drugged by the TNI/police around Ugi, East Paniai District, in 2017. Yosina Yogi was shot by the TNI/police in Pugo, Paniai,” he said.
Demianus said that the people involved in killing his brothers and sisters were never tried and punished, just as the perpetrators of human rights violations in Papua were never tried and punished. “It’s not just us, almost all OPM children always get this kind of treatment. Either they are tortured, or they are killed,” he said.
Demianus said the Indonesian government continued to show a colonial character and had never enforced the laws that they made themselves. “There will never be justice for us, for all the suffering we went through,” he said.
Unlike Demianus, Jimy Hilsom Hiluka—the son of former political convict Linus Hiluka, who was found guilty of being involved in the burglary of the 1702/Jayawijaya Military District Command’s weapons warehouse in Wamena on April 3, 2003—chose not to take up arms. However, he did not deny that he had dreamed of a free Papua.
Jimy was 16 years old when he witnessed his father being arrested by the security forces. He also saw his grandfather shot dead by the security forces. “I witnessed the security forces arrest my father and shot my grandfather. At that time, my father did not run into the forest and was arrested at our house in the Muliama District, Jayawijaya Regency on May 27, 2003,” he said.
After Linus Hiluka was arrested, Jimy and his siblings lost a father figure. Jimy was disappointed because the government ignored them and did not fulfill their basic rights as victims of the armed conflict in Papua. “When my father was arrested, I felt sad and disappointed with the Indonesian government. Who will take care of us? What will our future be? But God is good, we can finish college,” he said.
Jimy said that the government should have paid attention to the children of political prisoners, as well as families of victims of human rights violations and extrajudicial killings by security forces. According to Jimy, the government did not even see the children of TPNPB soldiers as citizens with basic rights that must be guaranteed and met by the State. In fact, the government has never provided restitution, rehabilitation, or trauma healing for TPNPB children.
“The government has taken lives, amputated parental custody of their children. Even though the parents are detained, the rights of the victims must still be fulfilled. If there is omission like what my brothers and I have experienced, if children victims of human rights violations are abandoned by the State, it will only backfire for Indonesia,” he said.
Jimy said the Indonesian government seemed to view the children of TPNPB soldiers or OPM figures as enemies. “But as a child of former political prisoner and OPM leader, I realize that this is a consequence that must be accepted. I have no option but to carry on with this life path,” he said.
Reporter: Hengky Yeimo
Editor: Aryo Wisanggeni G
2) Volunteers school Papua's marginalized children
Teaching Papua Movement seeks to raise the education standards of Indonesia's easternmost province
Ryan DagurRyan Dagur, JakartaPublished: January 31, 2022 03:58 AM GMT
Stories from Jayapura street vendors who didn’t have time to tend to their children's education inspired Agustinus Kadepa and his colleagues to think about taking concrete steps to help those children in the capital of Indonesia's Papua province.
"Because those mothers are busy making a living, they barely have time to take good care of their children," he said.
Many of these children fall behind in school compared to other children of their age.
"Even though they have reached the final grade of elementary school, many cannot read, write and count," the 31-year-old lay Catholic said. "Besides that, there are also those who then quit school and wander the streets."
This sorry situation moved him and his colleagues — students, activists and civil servants — to discuss solutions.
"In the course of time, we finally agreed to take concrete steps by pioneering what we call the Teaching Papua Movement," Kadepa said.
There is no special place that is used as a learning location. Some use the churchyard, some use people's homes
The movement, which was launched in Jayapura in 2013, started by opening a reading park iwhere they invited children to gather to be taught how to read, write and count.
The children were divided into three groups, ranging from those who could not read at all, those who had a little more understanding and those who were fluent.
They also provide a wide selection of reading materials obtained from donors including volunteers, NGOs and the local church.
“We do a lot of activities every afternoon after formal schooling. Initially, only 24 children attended, but gradually it continued to grow,” Kadepa said.
The movement has reached five districts in Papua province — Jayapura, Nabire, Paniai, Dogiyai and Deiyai — with 24 learning centers managed by 72 volunteers.
“There is no special place that is used as a learning location. Some use the churchyard, some use people's homes,” said Kadepa, who graduated from Jayapura’s Cenderawasih University.
Aleks Giyai, 31, one of the volunteers who is now working in Jayapura, said they not only reached out to children but also to parents and community leaders.
"We consider that attention to education must be a shared concern," he said.
“Therefore, in places where we are present, we always approach traditional leaders and church leaders first. We give them an understanding that what we are doing is not in our interests but for the future of the Papuan children.”
Meanwhile, they always emphasize to parents that education is the key to Papua's progress.
Giay said their goal is to spread this movement throughout Papua. "We can't just rely on the government, as well as formal schools, even though the government budget for education is very large," he said.
Each year, about 20 percent of Papua’s special autonomy fund goes to education. During 2020, funds for education reached 2.09 trillion rupiah (US$145 million) of the 6.99 trillion in special autonomy funds for two provinces — Papua and West Papua.
However, the easternmost region is still consistently ranked the lowest in the human development index of 34 provinces, one of which is the level of education.
If this change is not followed by a movement to raise awareness about the importance of education, then we Papuans will continue to be marginalized in our land
The Central Bureau of Statistics also shows that 476,534 (34.58 percent) of the school-age population in Papua have no education. The area is also experiencing a shortage of 20,147 teachers from elementary to high school levels.
Giay said from the start they had been operating on the basis of voluntarism without any financial support from the government. "If we get help, it's because there are donors who spontaneously help," he said.
Kadepa said the thing that strengthened them to keep moving was that many children wanted to continue their schooling. Some who were assisted by them have now become volunteers.
He hopes that their small steps can bear fruit with the emergence of intellectuals fighting for Papua.
"We hope there will be a successor generation for figures like Father Neles Kebadabi Tebay and Reverend Benny Giay," he said, citing two highly respected Papuan Church leaders.
Father Tebay was a lecturer, writer and head of the Papua Peace Network who died in 2019, while Reverend Giay was a prominent figure and chairman of the Synod of the Kemah Injili Church.
Kadepa said Papua is facing many problems such as human rights violations and marginalization accompanied by expansion in various sectors by outsiders.
"If this change is not followed by a movement to raise awareness about the importance of education, then we Papuans will continue to be marginalized in our land,” he said.
Asia Pacific Report newsdesk
The Indonesian government has denied claims by an umbrella group representing Papuan students on scholarships abroad that it is “assassinating” the provincial programme supporting studies in New Zealand and several other countries.
An open letter last week signed by the presidents of the International Alliance of Papuan Student Associations Overseas (IAPSAO) headed “Do not disturb and hinder [us] — leave us [to] study in peace” declared that funding policy changes created under the controversial new autonomy statute would impact on their education.
The IAPSAO open letter was also signed by the presidents of five affiliated Papuan student associations around the world.
- READ MORE: Papuan students abroad ask the Indonesian government to ‘be responsible’ – Tabloid Jubi
- Global Papuan student body condemns Jakarta’s disruption of study funds
Student sources said that at least 125 Papuan students — 41 of them studying in New Zealand — had been ordered home under a new policy reallocating education funds.
Some Papuan students studying in Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United Sates were also affected, the alliance said.
But the recently appointed Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand and the Pacific, Fientje Maritje Suebu, said in a letter to Asia Pacific Report today that the repatriation of students was based on a “thorough assessment” begun in 2017 by the provincial government of Papua over their achievements at their respective educational institutions.
“On 5 January 2022, the provincial government of Papua informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the planned repatriation of 98 students – 51 students in the US, 5 students in the Philippines, 3 students in Canada and 39 students in New Zealand,” she said.
593 students on Papua scholarship
The recalled students were part of a total of 593 students receiving the “Papua Autonomy Scholarship”.
The ambassador said the repatriation decision did not impact on students who remained “on-track” with their studies abroad.
The assessment was also conducted to “ensure that other eligible students from Papua province” would have the same opportunity to study.
Ambassador Suebu said there were no budget cuts for Papuan autonomy funds, including for education.
She said the government was “committed to ensuring the fulfilment of the right to education and capacity building for all Indonesian citizens, including through the provision of scholarships to pursue academic degrees overseas”.
She criticised “those elements who shamelessly manipulate the situation of Papuan students abroad for their own deceitful political agenda”.
The ambassador also criticised Asia Pacific Report over publishing the “baseless account” by the students, a criticism rejected by the APR editors who said the news website was one of the very few news portals that consistently gave comprehensive and fair coverage on West Papuan and human rights affairs in the region.
The editors also pointed out that the ambassador failed to acknowledge either the students’ open letter or their concerns.
The IAPSAO open letter was signed by the presidents of the Papuan Students Association in Oceania, Papuan Students Association in the United States of America and Canada, Papuan Students Association in Russia, Papua Students Association in Germany and the Papua Students Association in Japan.
Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Mahfud MD is asking people to stop urging the government to resolve nine cases of gross human rights violations which occurred before 2000.
Mahfud said that cases which occurred before 2000 are not under the authority of the government, but rather the House of Representatives (DPR). This refers to Article 43 of Law number 26/2000 on a Human Rights Court.
"Sisters and brothers, the resolution [of cases] which occurred before Law Number 26/2000 was issued are now under the DPR's jurisdiction. So don't pressure the government any more to resolve human rights violations before 2000", said Mahfud in giving greetings to an online discussion on Thursday January 27.
Mahfud cited the nine cases of gross human rights violations before 2000 as being the September 30 Movement (the 1965 mass killings), the mysterious shootings of petty criminals (1983-1985), the Talangsari massacre in East Lampung (1989), the forced disappearance of activists (1997-1998), the May riots in Jakarta (1998) and the Trisakti student shootings (1998).
Then the Dewantara incident or Krueng Geukueh tragedy, the torture of 65 witnesses during the incident at the Rumoh Geudong in Aceh and the killing of black magic practitioners in Banyuwangi, Jember and Malang (1998-1999).
Mahfud said in order to resolve human rights violations which occurred before 2000 the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) must hand the case files over to the DPR. Then the DPR can decide whether or not the president should form an DPR can say it can human rights court.
"Komnas HAM will hand them over, then the DPR will discuss the evidence and the possibility [of trying the case] from various angles. Then the DPR can say it can then the president will be instructed to form an ad hoc human rights court", he said.
"That is what must be done if you want to hold a trial involving human rights violations before 2000", he said.
Nevertheless, Mahfud conceded that there are four cases of gross human rights violations which occurred after 2000 which are the government's responsibility.
The four case are the Bloody Waisor incident in Papua (June 13, 2001), the Jambo Keupok Tragedy in South Aceh (2003), and the Wamena (2003) and Paniai cases (2014) in Papua.
"So the problems which occurred after [2000] are indeed the responsibility of the current government. The National Human Rights Commission submits them to the government, then the government follows up on it", he said.
As has been reported, out of the four gross human rights violations which occurred after 2000 only one has reached the criminal investigation stage at the Attorney General's Office, namely the Bloody Paniai incident.
Bloody Paniai was an incident which occurred on December 8, 2014. At the time, local people were holding a protest action over an assault by TNI (Indonesian military) members against a youth at the Karel Gobai Square in Enarotali, Paniai. (yla/DAL)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Mahfud soal HAM Berat Sebelum Tahun 2000: Jangan Desak Pemerintah Lagi".]
Indonesia faces challenges: A “flawed” (but persistently robust) democracy, endemic corruption, stubbornly high levels of national income disparity and poverty, with many of Indonesia’s 70 million poor or near poor further disadvantaged by grossly inadequate per capita health outcomes.
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