Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
AWPA Update No 1/ 2022
15 January 2022
Welcome to our first update in 2022. Happy New Year to all.
There has being no improvement in the situation in West Papua. In fact, the situation is deteriorating with security force operations over the past years creating large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs). The media in Indonesia usually blame the OPM for all armed attacks but it should be remembered that the mainstream media are quoting official security force spokespeople in reference to these attacks. There are many actors involved in West Papua but the truth will always come out through local media and the people in the territory. However, these attacks lead to military operations causing local people to flee in fear of their lives. Incidents of intimidation and torture of Papuan activists and human rights defenders have occurred and the Papuan people face racism and discrimination on a daily basis. The resources of West Papua continue to be exploited by Jakarta.
ULMWP ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF WEST PAPUA INTERIM GOVERNMENT
News Desk January 13, 2022
Wamena, Jubi – According to the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), the fact that there is a ratification process of West Papua’s constitution, the formation of the ULMWP interim government, and the establishment of a number of interim government offices in various countries, has made Indonesia’s presence in Papua illegitimate.
Such a statement was conveyed by the interim president of the ULMWP, Benny Wenda, through the head of the ULMWP office in West Papua, Markus Haluk, in a release received by Jubi on January 12, 2021. “I would like to wish a happy new year to all supporters and sympathizers of West Papua around the world, diplomatic friends in Vanuatu, OACPS countries, PIF, and others. During our fight for justice and independence, your help has given us strength in continuing our struggle,” Haluk said.
At the beginning of 2022, his party officially announced several main offices and branches of the ULMWP both in West Papua and foreign countries. “ULMWP interim government offices around the world. The head office is based in West Papua, and the international office is located in Port Vila,” he said, adding that his party was also opening representatives of the Port Moresby and the Office for the Coordination of Diplomacy in the UK and Europe.
“This is the next step in the long journey of reclaiming the sovereignty stolen from us by Indonesia in 1963,” Haluk continued. He said, the formation of West Papua’s constitution in 2020, followed by the formation of the interim government, the cabinet, and the launch of the Green State Vision, made “all Indonesian laws in West Papua automatically come to an end”.
“Thus, Indonesia’s presence becomes completely illegitimate and excessive,” he said.
Haluk said there were no longer differences or divisions in the interim government. All fighting parties in Papua, be it the military wing of West Papua, the National Coalition for the Liberation of West Papua (KNPB), or the National Parliament of West Papua have all become constituents in the ULMWP.
“They are all integral part of the interim government. Therefore, each party should respect our constitution, whether you are in West Papua or part of an international solidarity network,” he said. He hopes that the world believes in him and the constitution of the interim government. “We want peace for all in our region and internationally, and to organize our lives democratically,” he said. To all NGOs, churches, religious leaders, and every West Papuan including those in exile, the ULMWP urges to unite and pray for the interim government.
The interim government of ULMWP made six demands: (1) Hold a ballot for self-determination for West Papua, (2) Allow international supervision for the referendum, (3) Allow the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights to visit West Papua in accordance with the demands of 84 UN member states, (4) Withdraw all troops from West Papua, including 21,000 additional troops deployed since December 2018, and end the illegal war carried out by the Indonesian military, (5) Release all political prisoners, including Victor Yeimo and ‘Abepura Eight’, (6) Allow access to journalists and international human rights organizations to monitor West Papua and visit internally displaced people in Nduga, Puncak, Intan Jaya, Oksibil, Maybrat, and others.
Markus Haluk said the peaceful struggle in West Papua for self-determination would never stop. “We will peacefully demand our rights and dignity. The Papuan people must hold the ‘knife of justice’ and stand up for their rights,” he told Jubi. (*)
Reporter: Benny Mawel Editor: Syam Terrajana
West Papuan National Flag Day. 1st December
The Morning Star was raised in West Papua and around the world including in Indonesia by supporters of the West Papuan struggle for self-determination on the 60th anniversary of the first offical flying of the West Papuan flag on the 1st December in 1961.
On the 1st December in 1961, the Morning Star flag (the West Papuan National flag) was flown for the first time officially beside the Dutch Tricolor. The Dutch were finally about to give the West Papuan people their freedom. However it is one of the great tragedies that at their moment of freedom it was cruelly crushed and West Papua was basically handed over to Indonesia in 1963.
Sixty years later, the West Papuan people are still struggling for their right to self-determination. Supporters around the world on the 1st December raise dthe West Papuan flag in a show of support for the West Papuan people.
In Jayapura 8 students were charged with treason for raising the West Papuan flag
AFP Jayapura ● Fri, December 3, 2021 Authorities in West Papua detained and charged eight students with treason on Thursday for raising the banned Morning Star flag used by supporters of independence for the restive province, police said.........
Amnesty International called for the immediate release of the students
AI . Desember 3, 2021
Indonesia: Immediately release Papuan students charged with treason
Eight Papuan students who have been detained and charged with treason by police for peacefully expressing their political opinions on 1 December must be immediately released, Amnesty International Indonesia and Amnesty International Australia said today. Police often arrest Papuans for peaceful political expression on 1 December, as it is a date that many Papuans consider their Independence Day. This year, 34 people were arrested, 19 protesters were injured, and protests in two cities were forcibly dispersed. “No one should be detained simply for peacefully expressing their political opinions,” Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid. “Papuans in particular are often detained and charged by law enforcement for this reason. Moreover, Papuan protesters are frequently attacked by counter-protesters under the police’s watch. Repressive actions such as these will only create further distrust among Papuans and make improving the human rights situation in the region even more difficult.” “We call on Indonesian authorities to release all Papuans detained simply for exercising their right to freedom of expression,” Amnesty International Australia National Director Sam Klintworth said. “The Australian government must exercise due diligence on its assistance to Indonesian security forces to ensure that it is in compliance with human rights standards.”
Background……..
https://www.amnesty.id/indonesia-immediately-release-papuan-students-charged-with-treason/?fbclid=IwAR1bRuAfEuxKdR68sFdpF0XNwJ2IQuSQUNdDfkA7Nih_UOJoXIMAAZ7cbnI
In Jakarta
Papuan protesters commemorate December 1 at Horse Statue in Central Jakarta – December 1, 2021 (CNN) https://www.indoleft.org/news/2021-12-01/papua-rally-in-jakarta-marks-december-1-with-calls-for-referendum-troop-withdrawal.html
In Bali
A protest action by the Bali City Committee Papua Student Alliance (AMP-KKB) and the Indonesian People's Front for West Papua (FRI-WP) in the Balinese provincial capital of Denpasar on Wednesday December 1 ended in a clash with a social organisation (ormas) called the Nusantara Garuda Patriots (PGN).
The AMP-KKB said that 12 of its members were injured during the clash. "Based on our data from the AMP there were 12 of our comrades (who suffered injuries). Some were kicked by the PGN, and then there were comrades who were hit by rocks", said AMP-KKB Chairperson Yesaya Gobay when contacted by Detik.com on Wednesday.
AMP and FRI-WP commemorate December 1 in Denpasar, Bali – December 1, 2021 (Istimewa)
https://www.indoleft.org/news/2021-12-01/nationalist-thugs-attack-papuan-students-at-december-1-rally-in-bali-12-injured.html
In Ambon – A demonstration by scores of Papuan students commemorating 60 years of West Papua independence in the city of Ambon, Maluku province on Wednesday December 1, ended in chaos after it was forcibly broken up by police.
The police finally succeeded in forcing the demonstrators back, who appeared to be wearing clothing and accessories with the Morning Star flag on them.
and across Australia and the Pacific
In Fiji. The staff of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre in Suva raised West Papua's Morning Star outside their office calling for West Papua’s freedom and right to self-determination.
In Sydney, thanks to the Inner West Council for supporting the Raising of the Morning star flag on the 1st December on its Leichhardt Town Hall. Also to Jamie Parker, member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. David Shoebridge who raised the flag and is a Greens member of the New South Wales Legislative Council and to former Green Sen Lee Rhiannon and the West Papuan supporters in Sydney who attended.
The Community Union Defence League - Sydney and Australian Communist Party also raised the Morning Star at the Indonesian consulate in Sydney
A good round up of the various flag raising (with photos) in ABC News Bahasa article https://www.abc.net.au/indonesian/2021-12-01/bendera-bintang-kejora-berkibar-serentak-di-australia/100665586
Update on situation of IDPs from Suru-Suru, Yahukimo Regency – Human rights defenders say 4,695 indigenous Papuans displaced, seven dead
27.12.2021 in 2021
Human rights defenders have collected first-hand information on the situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Yahukimo regency. They fled their villages after members of the West Papuan National Liberation Army (TPNPB) killed one military member and injured another one during an attack on the military post in the Suru-Suru district on 20 November 2021. According to information received, 4,695 indigenous Papuans from 13 villages in the Yahukimo regency have fled their homes. The IDPs have sought shelter in 15 temporary camps in the forest where they have no access to sufficient food, healthcare and education services (see photos below). Seven IDPs have reportedly died since being displaced (see table on bottom), while sixteen women have given birth without medical attention.
Many healthcare and education facilities in the Suru-Suru district closed since the attack on the military post. Observers declared that two primary schools, two secondary schools and two health centres in Suru-Suru have been abandoned. The health workers and teachers have left the district.
Most of the IDPs are members of the Papuan Tabernacle Church (Kingmi Papua). Kingmi Papua called upon the central and local Government to provide relief goods, healthcare services to the IDPs and open access for humanitarian organisations and United Nations Human Rights observers to the conflict-affected regencies Yahukimo, Maybrat, Pegunungan Bintang, Nduga, Intan Jaya and Puncak.
More than 60,000 indigenous Papuans have reportedly been internally displaced over the past three years, most of which have not returned to their homes due to the ongoing heavy security force presence in the conflict areas. The central Government continues to deploy security forces to West Papua whilst turning a blind eye on the civilians affected by the security force operations. Human rights organisations have repeatedly called upon President Jokowi to enter into dialogue with the independence movement to seek a peaceful solution to the long-standing conflict in West Papua.
Photos of IDPs in multiple camps in the forest, taken by human rights defenders in the Yahukimo Regency……….
West Papua Land Rights Fund.
This is the fundraising campaign I have launched to set up the West Papua Land Rights Fund. This short video describes the clearances of Indigenous People in the highlands of West Papua. While the content is intense it is not graphic but includes video of recent military operations. https://youtu.be/NNNZQ-OrPMI
The fund will be held by the Australian law firm Xenophon Davis and will be used to support legal advocacy for Customary Rights.
https://chuffed.org/project/west-papua-land-rights-fund
Please support the fund and promote the project in your network.
Yours faithfully, Matthew Jamieson
West Papua conflict deepens, questions over regional response
14 December 2021. Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific
Armed conflict in West Papua continues to claim lives, displace tens of thousands of people and cause resentment at Indonesian rule. But despite ongoing calls for help, neighbouring countries in the Pacific Islands region remain largely silent and ineffectual in their response.
This year, Indonesia's military has increased operations to hunt down and respond to attacks by pro-independence fighters with West Papua Liberation Army which considers Indonesia an occupying force in its homeland. Since late 2018 several regencies in the Indonesian-ruled Papuan provinces have become mired in conflict, notably Nduga, Yahukimo, Intan Jaya, Puncak Jaya, Maybrat as well as Pegunungan Bintang regency on the international border with Papua New Guinea.
The ongoing cycle of violence has created a steady trickle of deaths on both sides, and also among the many villages caught in the middle. Identifying the death toll is difficult, especially because Indonesian authorities restrict outside access to Papua.
However, research by the West Papua Council of Churches points to at least 400 deaths due to the conflict in the aforementioned regencies since December 2018, including people who have fled their villages to escape military operations and then died due to the unavailability of food and medicine. "We have received reports that at least 60,000 Papuan people from our congregations have currently evacuated to the surrounding districts, including some who have crossed into Papua New Guinea," Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman, the President of the Fellowship of Baptist Churches of West Papua, explained.
The humanitarian crisis which Yoman described has spilled over into Papua New Guinea, bringing its own security and pandemic threats to PNG border communities like Tumolbil village in remote Telefomin district. Rev Yoman and others within the West Papua Council of Churches have made repeated calls for the government to pull back its forces. They seek a circuit-breaker to end to the conflict in Papua which remains based on unresolved grievances over the way Indonesia took control in the 1960s, and the denial of a legitimate self-determination for West Papuans. But it's not simply the war between Indonesia's military and the Liberation Army or OPM fighters that has created ongoing upheavals for Papuans.
This year has seen more arbitrary arrests and detention of Papuans for peaceful political expression; treason charges for the same; harassment of prominent human rights defenders; more oil palm, mining and environmental degradation that threatens Papuans' access to their land and forest; a move by Indonesian lawmakers to extend an unpopular Special Autonomy Law roundly rejected by Papuans; and even a terror plot by alleged Muslim extremists in Merauke Regency in Papua's south-east corner.
Not only the churches, but also Papuan customary representatives, civil society and the pro-independence movement have been calling for international help for many years, particularly for an intermediary to facilitate dialogue with Indonesia towards some sort of peaceful settlement. The groups have expressed frustration about the way that Jakarta's defensiveness over West Papua's sovereignty leaves little room for solutions to end conflict in the New Guinea territory. On the other hand, Indonesian government officials point towards various major infrastructure projects in Papua as a sign that President Joko Widodo's economic development campaign is creating improvements for local communities.
Despite the risks of exacerbating the spread of Covid-19 in Papua, Indonesia recently held the National Games in Jayapura, with President Widodo presiding over the opening and closing of the event, presenting it as a showcase of unity and development in the eastern region. "The president and vice president of Indonesia while in Papua did not discuss the resolution of the protracted Papua conflict. They turned a blind eye and heart to the Papua confict," said Rev Yoman.
Beyond the gloss of the Games, Papuans were still being taken in by authorities as treason suspects if they bore the colours of the banned Papuan Morning Star flag.
Regional response
At their last in-person summit before the pandemic, in 2019, Pacific Islands Forum leaders agreed to press Indonesia to allow the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights into Papua region in order for it to present them with an independent assessment of the rights situation in West Papua. Advocating for the UN visit, as a group in the Forum, appears to be as far out on a limb that regional countries - including Australia and New Zealand - are prepared to go on West Papua. However even before 2019, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights office had already been trying for years to send a team to Papua, and found it difficult securing Indonesia's approval. That the visit has still not happened since the Forum push indicates that West Papua remains off limits to the international community as far as Jakarta is concerned, no matter how much it points to the pandemic as being an obstacle.
The question of how the Pacific can address the problem of West Papua is also re-emerging at the sub-regional level within the Melanesian Spearhead Group whose full members are PNG, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia's Kanaks.
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua is looking to unlock the voice of its people at the regional level by applying again for full membership in the MSG, after its previous application had "disappeared". The ULMWP's representative in Vanuatu, Freddy Waromi, this month submitted the application at the MSG headquarters in Port Vila.
The organisation already has observer status in the MSG, but as Waromi said, as observers, they don't have a voice at the table. "When we are with observer status, we always just observe in the MSG meeting, we cannot voice our voice out. "But with the hope that we become full member we can have a voice in MSG and even in Pacific Islands Forum and even other important international organisations.”
Indonesia, which is an associate member of the MSG, opposes the ULMWP's claim to represent West Papuans. "They're still encouraging them (the MSG) not to accept us," Waromi said of Jakarta. He said the conflict had not abated since he fled from his homeland into PNG in 1979, but only worsened. "Fighting is escalating now in the highlands region of West Papua - in Nduga, in Intan Jaya, in Wamena, in Paniai - all those places, fighting between Indonesian military and the National Liberation Army of West Papua has been escalating, it's very bad now."
Vanuatu is the only country in the Pacific Islands region whose government has consistently voiced strong support for the basic rights of West Papuans over the years. Other Melanesian countries have at times raised their voice, but the key neighbouring country of PNG has been largely silent. The governor of PNG's National Capital District, Powes Parkop, this month in parliament lambasted successive PNG governments for failing to develop a strong policy on West Papua. He claimed that PNG's long silence on the conflict had been based on fear, and a "total capitulation to Indonesian agression and illegal occupation".
"We have adopted a policy that is shameful and unethical," he said of PNG's 'friends to all, enemies to none' stance. "How do we sleep at night when the people on the other side are subject to so much violence, racism, deaths and destruction? "When are we going to summon the courage to talk and speak? Why are we afraid of Indonesia?"
Parkop's questions also apply to the Pacific region, where Indonesia's diplomatic influence has grown in recent years, effectively quelling some of the support that the West Papua independence movement had enjoyed.
Time is running out for West Papuans who may soon be a minority in their own land if Indonesian transmigration is left unchecked. Yet that doesn't mean the conflict will fade. Until core grievances are adequately addressed, conflict can be expected to deepen in West Papua. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/457863/west-papua-conflict-deepens-questions-over-regional-response
A safe haven for conflict-scarred Papuan children
Franciscan Bishop Leo Laba Ladjar of Jayapura sits with children evacuated from a conflict zone in Intan Jaya district, Papua, during a Christmas celebration at the Hawai Daughter of Mercy Orphanage in Sentani on Dec. 27. (Photo: Screengrab from video on the orphanage's Facebook account)
In the midst of the ongoing conflict in Indonesia’s Intan Jaya, the district experiencing the worst violence in Papua, dozens of children have been rescued by a priest and taken to a Catholic-run orphanage. They are being cared for at the Hawai Daughter of Mercy Orphanage in Sentani on the outskirts of Jayapura, the provincial capital run by the Congregation of the Little Sisters of Saint Joseph. Onike Belau, one of them, tried to hold back tears as she told Franciscan Bishop Leo Laba Ladjarof Jayapura how she and her friends had to leave their village early last month, leaving behind their displaced parents.
"In our village, the war continues, between Papuan [freedom fighters] and Indonesian [security forces]," the elementary school student told Bishop Ladjar, who met them at the orphanage during a Christmas event on Dec. 27 that was streamed online. She said this situation, plus their schools being burned down, left them with no other choice but to leave their village. "I'm happy to finally be here," she said.
Yulistisina Belau, another child, also told how violence in her village had disrupted their lives. "My mother died when I was little, my father is old," she said, crying.
"Meanwhile, there are still many children who are neglected because of this conflict. Their lives are languishing, their education is also neglected"
Haltingly, she said people in her village were afraid to live there, so many had taken refuge in the local church. The children managed to get out of the village thanks to Father Yeskiel Belau.
From Baitapa, their remote village in the highlands, they flew by small plane to the port in Nabire and then sailed across Cenderawasih Bay for 24 hours to reach Jayapura. It was the first time they had left their village. On Dec. 3, they arrived at Jayapura Harbor, where they were greeted by Sister Alexia Eva, the orphanage’s coordinator.
The orphanage, founded in 1992 by Dutch-born Franciscan priest Nico Syukur Dister and Belgian-born nun Sister Maricen, has become a foster home for at least 700 Papuan children who have been helped to have a formal education. The latest intake are civilians who have become victims of a protracted armed conflict between Papuan separatists and Indonesian security forces. Emanuel Gobay, director of the Papua Legal Aid Institute, said they were "part of a small group that was lucky to get help from the Church." “Meanwhile, there are still many children who are neglected because of this conflict. Their lives are languishing, their education is also neglected,” he said. According to an activist group, the Papuan People's Solidarity Against State Violence, about 50,700 people have been displaced due to violence since 2018, mostly women and children. At least 307 have died during this time.
In Intan Jaya, it said, the conflict that has intensified over the last year has forced at least 5,850 people to flee, 32 people have died, and five people are listed missing. Victims included a two-year-old child who died and a six-year-old child who was seriously injured after being shot. Gobay said this situation means Papua’s next generation could have serious problems in the future. “Watching their parents suffer, leaving their homes behind, of course, thoughts of revenge emerge,” he said.
"When they sit down and hear a loud bang or noise, their reaction is to hide"
He also criticized the government, saying it has shown little commitment to helping civilians, especially the children. "The children are being helped because of the goodness of the Church, but state institutions should be caring for them," he said. Children in conflict areas receiving protection and assistance are guaranteed by the Convention on the Protection of Children and the Child Protection Law, he said. "In this context, the state is ignoring the rights of children in the Papua conflict," he said. Sister Alexia said she feels the impact the experience of violence has had on the children.
"When they sit down and hear a loud bang or noise, their reaction is to hide," she said. She said the orphanage is trying to occupy their minds with other things and enhance self-development by keeping them busy by cleaning up after themselves, taking care of the garden and the local environment, as well as studying.
Discipline, said Sister Alexia, will be the foundation for their independence when they grow up. During his recent visit to the children, Bishop Ladjar tried to offer them hope after hearing their stories. The bishop told them that he and other religious leaders were seeking peaceful solutions to the conflict affecting them. “They [the protagonists] don't realize that the victims are all of you. Everyone is affected by it," he said. "We are not talking nonsense that there are victims. You are among many victims, but you were able to escape from the violence, but there are still many other children who cannot eat and cannot go to school because of this conflict.”
WCC video interview describes human rights crisis in West Papua
January 13, 2022 by World Council of Churches
During a World Council of Churches (WCC) video interview, Peter Prove, WCC director of International Affairs, talks about the human rights and humanitarian situation in West Papua.
Video
(WCC) West Papua – the Indonesian provinces comprising the western half of the island of New Guinea – has been a longstanding focus of WCC’s concern. In the recent interview, Prove indicates that concern for the indigenous Papuan population of these provinces is increasing “as a result of the persistent and quite serious human rights and humanitarian situation in the region, which the Indonesian government has frankly failed to address and correct.”Recalling the history of the so-called – and still disputed – “Act of Free Choice” whereby West Papua was integrated into Indonesia in 1969, Prove notes that Jakarta’s failure to fulfil its promises to the Papuan people has resulted in increased local opposition to Indonesian rule. “What we have seen over decades is a very high level of human rights violations,” including extrajudicial killings, denial of the freedoms of expression and assembly and many other violations, says Prove.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, “the incidences of serious human rights violations have actually increased,” says Prove.
The WCC and its partners work together to monitor civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights in the region.
he increased militarization of the Indonesian government’s response has exacerbated the situation, despite promises of dialogue with the indigenous Papuan people, says Prove “These are promises that have been made at the political level but have been unfilled,” he says. Violence against peaceful protestors has escalated, he says. “Many of the killings, many of the beatings, many of the forced disappearances take place in the form of that sort of response to such protests,” Prove observed, describing heavy-handed military and police actions in West Papua. Moreover, people fleeing from conflict-affected areas are not receiving the help they need from national authorities, and international humanitarian agencies are allowed little or no access to the territory, Prove adds. “The Indonesian authorities most certainly need to address the longstanding, continuing and escalating human rights crisis in the region,” concludes Prove.
by the World Council of Churches. https://pres-outlook.org/2022/01/wcc-video-interview-describes-human-rights-crisis-in-west-papua/
ARMED CONFLICT IN SIX REGENCIES IN PAPUA AND WEST PAPUA: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR Jubi News Desk November 26, 2021
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
The KNPB will continue its peaceful and dignified struggle for freedom in 2022
Suara Papua – January 1, 2022
Jayapura – West Papua National Committee (KNPB) spokesperson Ones Suhuniap says that the KNPB is committed to continuing the struggle and resistance against Indonesian colonialism by peaceful and dignified means. "In 2022, we will continue resisting by peaceful and dignified means to reject all forms of violence and crimes. To open peaceful space in order to resolve the roots of the Papua problem", Suhuniap told Suara Papua on December 28 last year in Jayapura city, Papua.
Suhuniap explained that the struggle of the Papuan nation to escape from Indonesian colonialism is in the hands of the Papuan nation. So the KNPB will be with the people of the Papuan nation in resisting and struggling for the future of the Papuan nation so that it can be free from Indonesian occupation and colonialism. "There is no other way to escape from Indonesian oppression, occupation and colonialism in West Papua except by the ordinary Papuan people themselves rising up and fighting for themselves and their nation", he asserted.
Suhuniap is calling on all components of the people and the Papuan nation to listen to each other, unite and advance to strengthen the mutual struggle for the Papuan nation's future.
He is also calling on the Papuan nation to see and oppose the theft of their land, the environment, economic rights, the right to education, the right to health and their political rights. "We call on all the people of the West Papua nation to build a political force and refuse to submit to the colonialists. The KNPB will be alongside the people of the Papua nation in their struggle", he said.
Furthermore, the people of the Papua nation must be aware that the motherland inherited from our ancestors is being stolen, robbed and taken over by the colonialists, and must take a position and stand of resisting all forms of oppression and colonialism. "We are all aware that the land inherited from our ancestors is occupied by colonialists who oppress and colonise us. This demonstrates that we are finished, we are vanishing consciously and slowly in our own country", he said.
In addition to this, said Suhuniap, after occupying us and pursuing a colonialist program in the land of West Papua, the Indonesian colonial government continues to send troops, continues to carry out military operations and kill innocent civilians. "Not only that. All the time they are killing the civilian owners of the land of Papua. They are also occupying and colonising. Sending troops in huge numbers. Then labeling the Papuan people as terrorists when we fight for our self-respect and to defend our country from the (Indonesian) colonialists. We must rise up, unite and resist", he reiterated.
Suhuniap added that the KNPB is the people of the Papuan nation. So the KNPB will continue to mobilise with and fight alongside the people. "The people are the KNPB and the KNPB are the people. We will continue to mobilise together with the people to retake our rights for as long as it takes. The Indonesian colonial government must understand that we are not fighting to forcibly take away the rights inherited from the ancestors of the nations of Java, Batak, Sulawesi and so forth. This motherland is owned wholly by the Papuan nation. Not the Javanese nation. So we are struggling and fighting to retake the rights and inheritance of our ancestors which have been stolen by Indonesian colonialism", asserted Suhuniap. The KNPB, said Suhuniap, is with the people of the Papuan nation in fighting by peaceful and dignified means. In 2022 the struggle must be continued as an agenda of the people and a priority agenda for every single Papuan person. "The aim is to immediately restore ourselves, our families, ethnic groups and the Papuan nation. Restore ourselves before the God Jesus, so that he can lead the body of the Papua nation to freedom from oppression by other countries which are possessed by evil powers", he said.
Suhuniap also hopes that Indonesia will repent and acknowledge its crimes against the Papuan nation and allow the Papuan nation to determine its own future.
"So aside from the Papuan people as individuals from their respective families, ethnic groups and nation restoring themselves before God, [we] urge Indonesia restore itself from its historical crimes and evil intent at this time", he concluded.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Jubir KNPB: Kami akan Teruskan Perlawanan dengan Damai dan Bermartabat".]
VERONICA KOMAN JOINS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA, CONTINUES VOICING PAPUAN RIGHTS
Jayapura, Jubi – Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman has officially joined rights NGO Amnesty International Australia as a strategic campaigner lead. Her main role is to serve as a liaison between the organization, state officials, politicians, and ambassadors in Australia.
Koman said she would tackle human rights issues in Australia and the international community. Despite joining the Australian-based NGO, Koman said she would continue advocating for the rights of the Papuan people. “Because the level of human rights violations in Papua is already on a global scale. So, of course, I will not leave it behind,” she told Jubi on Thursday, December 16, 2021.
According to Victor Mambor, a senior Papuan journalist and a friend of Koman, Koman’s joining with Amnesty International Australia is very good for her because as a human rights defender, Koman needs an organization that can protect her. “Especially with the terror against her parents and family that has happened several times, she needs the help of an organization based in where she lives now,” said Mambor.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights defenders Mary Lawlor issued a statement in Geneva requesting Indonesia to immediately stop threats and intimidation against Veronica Koman, who is currently in exile in Australia. Koman faces several charges in Indonesia including allegations of spreading false information aimed at inciting ethnic hatred. Koman along with Victor Mambor, Victor Yeimo, Wenislaus Fatubu, and Yones Douw are the five human rights activists named in the UN Secretary-General’s 2021 report. Koman and her family in Indonesia have faced intimidation over Koman’s reporting on Papua, the report said. “I urge the Indonesian government to drop the charges against Veronica Koman, immediately investigate threats and acts of intimidation against her, and bring the perpetrators to court,” Lawlor said. (*) Reporter: Hengky Yeimo Editor: Syam Terrajana
AWPA Letter to FM concerning Veronica Koman's parents
https://awpasydneynews.blogspot.com/2021/11/awpa-letter-to-fm-concerning-veronica.htm
West Papua independence movement re-submits for full MSG membership
An application by the United Liberation Movement of West Papua to become a full member of Melanesian Spearhead Group has been re-activated.
Last year, the ULMWP announced itself as a provisional government in exile for West Papua, as it pushes for a referendum on independence from Indonesia.
The acting Director-General of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, George Hoa'au (left) receives a contribution to the MSG Secretariat from the ULMWP representative Freddie Waromi. Photo: MSG Secretariat
Several years ago, the ULMWP applied for full membership status at the sub-regional grouping whose full members are Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia's FLNKS Kanaks movement. However its official representative in Vanuatu, Frederick Waromi, said he has had to re-submit the ULMWP's application, after their earlier file went missing. The file disappeared while Yamena Yauvoli from Fiji was the director general of the MSG secretariat. Vanuatu's Prime Minister Bob Loughman is about to assume chairmanship of the MSG and it has been suggested this would be the right time to admit the ULMWP as a full member.
The strong support that successive governments in Vanuatu have given West Papuans' self-determination aspirations was mentioned during the recent speech of the Interim President of Provincial government of ULMWP, Benny Wenda, on West Papua Day, 1st December, the anniversary of the former Dutch New Guinea's declaration of independence in 1961. Wenda said that with Vanuatu's help, the movement had made tremendous progress since its inception in 2014 in an historic unification summit of all the various main West Papuan political groupings hosted in Port Vila. A year after the summit, the ULMWP was granted gained observer status in the MSG, a breakthrough in regional recognition of the West Papuan independence movement. In 2019, 18 countries in the Pacific Islands Forum and 81 countries in the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States recognised the West Papuan struggle and called for the United Nations High Commissioner for the Human Rights to be allowed into West Papua.
"We continue to support Vanuatu and other Pacific states to get the resolutions at the Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly," Wenda said during his official West Papua Day speech last week.
He said it was time for the people of Indonesia to recognise their struggle and their right to form an independent nation just like them from Dutch colonialism years ago.
Wenda said he guaranteed Indonesians who were currently living in West Papua that it was their home too. "I am asking Indonesia government to recognise our call to peacefully end this. We don't want to see any bloodshed anymore. That is why we are now coming together to form this provisional government. "You don't need to worry about independent West Papua. We will be a peaceful neighbour for a long time to come. "We are asking peacefully, not with the bullet, not with the bomb or bloodshed but through a peaceful international mechanism," said Wenda. Indonesia, which is an associate member of the MSG, opposes the ULMWP's claim to represent West Papuans, and has ruled out holding a referendum.
PNG govt urged to take stronger stand on West Papua
RNZ Pacific 3 December 2021
Papua New Guinea's government has been urged by a prominent MP to develop a stronger policy on West Papua.
Powes Parkop, the governor of PNG's national capital, said the government shouldn't keep ignoring the crisis in the neighbourng Indonesian-controlled half of New Guinea.
In a series of questions in parliament to Foreign Minister Soroi Eoe, Parkop described the government as having done little to hold Indonesia to account for decades of human rights abuses in West Papua. "Hiding under a policy of 'Friends to All, Enemy to None' might be okay for the rest of the world, but it is total capitulation to Indonesian agression and illegal occupation.
"It is more a policy of seeing no evil, speaking no evil and to say no evil against the evils of Indonesia," Parkop said.
Aside from supporting calls by the Pacific Islands Forum for Jakarta to allow a UN Human Rights Commissin team to visit West Papua, PNG's government has not raised concern about the escalating conflict in the neighbouring region, particularly near the international border.
The 1986 Treaty of Mutual Respect, Friendship and Cooperation between PNG and Indonesia firmly established Indonesian sovereignty over West Papua, which is now divided into two provinces. The treaty also provided for reciprocal respect for territorial integrity. However, decades of unresolved political conflict in West Papua has had major spillover impacts on PNG. The common border region has been exploited for trafficking drugs, guns, contraband and illegal labour. While indigenous communities on both sides have traditional crossing rights, thousands of West Papuans have melted into PNG seeking refuge from the excesses of the Indonesian military
Many Papua New Guineans feel sympathy for the plight of West Papuans, whose homeland's incorporation into Indonesia in the 1960s remains controversial and the cause of ongoing armed conflict. However, Parkop said the PNG government's long silence on the denial of West Papuans' right to self-determination has been based on fear, and was not the morally correct approach. PNG's Prime Minister James Marape raised a point of order over Parkop's questioning, saying parliament's standing orders didn't allow questions challenging government policies by making inferences and assumptions. Furthermore, Eoe said a statement on the government's policy would be forthcoming after discussion in cabinet.
TAPOL releases video on torture and prosecution of displaced minor from Maybrat
"LK and Systematic State Violence in Papua" 30.12.2021 in 2021
TAPOL and Kaki Abu Legal Aid Institute (LBH Kaki Abu) released a video entitled “LK dan Pusaran Kerasan di Papua (LK and Systemic State Violence in Papua)” on 29 December 2021. The campaign video calls for the release of 14-year-old LK, a child accused of having broken the law (ABH) in Maybrat, #WestPapua. LK was subjected to torture and forced to undergo an unfair trial. TAPOL encourages viewers and human rights observers to call on the court to free LK unconditionally and call on the Indonesian Government to provide justice for all victims of violence in West Papua.
LK himself testified he was staying in the village of Susumuk as the attack against the Kisor military post occurred. LK, YA and MS deny any wrong doing or involvement in the attack. The three minors were arrested in the Kokas Village along with three (2 adults, 1 minors) other internally displaced Papuans on 28 September 2021. The lawyers argue that the arrest, prosecution and sentencing of LK also resulted from many criminal procedure breaches during the law enforcement process. Police officers reportedly tortured the arrestees. Their hands were tied, and their eyes blindfolded with tape. Police officers beat and electrocuted the detainees, stapled their ears and forced them to lick their blood from the floor.
On 3 December 2021, judges of the Sorong district court found LK, guilty of murder and sentenced him to eight years imprisonment. The lawyers have appealed against the verdict. Two other minors, YA and MS, will still have to stand trial in relation to the attack against the Kisor military post, where four soldiers were killed. Lawyers representing the defendants in court called upon the Indonesian Judicial Commission and Child Protection Commission to monitor the trials and ensure that all state actors follow criminal procedure and juvenile justice provisions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3iDbnElSGs
Punishment persists for Polish political prisoner in Papua
Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific Journalist 9 December 2021
A Polish man imprisoned by an Indonesian court in 2018 after visiting West Papua as a tourist remains languishing in a cell in Papua's remote interior with limited help from the government of Poland, and no compassion from Jakarta. Jakub Skrzypski is serving a seven-year sentence for treason after being arrested in West Papua where Indonesian prosecutors accused him and a local man, Simon Magal, of having consorted with Papuan pro-independence activists to plot against the state in what bore the markings of a show trial.
The first foreigner to be found guilty of an attempt to overthrow Indonesia's government, Skrzypski was initially sentenced to five years in prison, and Magal for four years, although two more years were added to the Pole's sentence after an unsuccessful appeal.
Skrzypski, who denies the treason charges, has been incarcerated in Wamena in the highlands of Papua province. Concerns about his deteriorating health have been raised by human rights defenders. Skrzypski's request for a transfer to elsewhere in Indonesia has come to nothing.
The European parliament recognised Skrzypski as a political prisoner, but its call two years ago for his transfer back to Poland also fell on deaf ears in Jakarta where the national government continues to restrict outside access to West Papua.
"The authorities try to isolate me as much as possible. First they sent me to Wamena. In here, they keep me in a small police cell, not in the proper prison," Skrzypski told RNZ Pacific in communication through his lawyer who visited him in November. Skrzypski didn't deny he had met peaceful pro-independence activists in West Papua. But given the widespread discontent with Indonesian rule among West Papuans, it would be difficult to be in the region and not meet an indigenous person with active aspirations for independence. "Their intentions are clear," Skrzypski said of Indonesian authorities. "Their case against me is so weak and ridiculous. Can't believe they succeed. Because opposition is so weak."
Previous cases of foreigners being charged in Papua that involved Swiss and French citizens arrested and detained in Papua resulted in swift intervention by their respective governments, and their release. According to Skrzypski, this was because they had "powerful governments behind them". He said two Polish consular officers in Indonesia had been helpful to him with simple practical things within their reach. "But the real diplomatic pressure can come only from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And they're shy. A petition to the Polish government to take action, prepared by my friends, got refused with a lame reason," he explained.
Meanwhile, Skrzypski acknowledged that imprisonment had taken a toll on him.
"Overcrowding is a problem. But that's everywhere. Cigarette smoke, noise and erratic behaviour of detainees under stress. All this has a bad impact on me. But what can be done? Only people with money or connections get anywhere."
Provided he survives the full sentence, Skrzypski indicated he would write a book about his experience, but said he hoped he wouldn't get assassinated or disappeared like Munir Said Thalib the Indonesian human rights activist who exposed Indonesian military violations in East Timor before being poisoned with arsenic on a flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam in 2004, or Mark Worth the Australian journalist and film-maker who died in West Papua in 2004 just two days after the ABC announced his documentary, Land of the Morning Star, would be screened across Australia. Skrzypski's case highlights both the Indonesian government's sensitivity over the independence struggle in West Papua and the ineffectual way in which the international community has dealt with it. But he's not the only one in jail in Papua on spurious charges of treason.
There are at least dozens of Papuan political prisoners in Indonesian jails, a list which could soon grow as eight students were charged with treason after involvement in a demonstration last week marking the 60th anniversary of a West Papuan declaration of independence.
Papuan People’s Petition calls for release of advocate Victor Yeimo
The Papuan People’s Petition — “Petisi Rakyat Papua” — has called on the Indonesian government to release detained human rights advocate Victor Yeimo and to revoke the special autonomy law (version 2). Yeimo, international spokesperson of the National Committee of West Papua (KNPB), was arrested by the Indonesian police in Tanah Hitam, Abupura-Jayapura. He was serving as spokesperson of the Papuan People’s Petition. Yeimo is a prisoner of the Papua High Prosecutor’s Office and is currently being treated at the Jayapura Regional General Hospital Dok II. Victor Yeimo
Previously, he was detained in the detention cell of the Mobile Brigade Headquarters in Kota Raja Jayapura, Papua. Yeimo has been receiving treatment at the hospital because of public pressure both nationally and internationally over serious concerns for his declining health.......
Papuan distrust poses big challenge to Indonesian military
UCA News reporter, Jakarta Published: January 13, 2022
One day in 1969, not long after it was decided Papua was to become part of Indonesia, Yones Douw's family were forced to flee from security forces.
It happened after his uncle, Mika Kayame, was shot dead in Paniai by Indonesian security forces, who accused the teacher of spying for the Netherlands following a referendum called the Act of Free Choice that saw 1,025 men and women vote unanimously for Indonesian control in Papua.
Because his now 82-year-old father, a Protestant pastor, knew he could suffer the same fate, he and his family fled.
The experience and subsequent violence have spurred him to fight for the rights of Papuans. "Since childhood, we have lived under the military. The situation is not improving but worsening," he said.
Under the Nemangkawi approach, 67,000 Papuans were displaced. How many more will become victims of this new policy?
Indonesian military operations in Papua began in 1961 when the region was still under Dutch control and continue to this day amid ongoing resistance from separatists such as the West Papua Liberation National Army.
As part of the plan, 3,000 Papuans will be recruited into the police and army this year.
For Douw and other activists and observers, instead of making Papua a better place, this policy will change nothing as the essence is the same — more troops in Papua.
"Under the Nemangkawi approach, 67,000 Papuans were displaced. How many more will become victims of this new policy?" he asked.
Father John Bunay, coordinator of the Papua Peace Network, agreed.
"Why are civil matters such as teaching and raising livestock not left to more competent people? The duty of the army and police is to maintain security. Doesn't being a teacher, for example, need properly trained teachers?" he asked.
"Papuans loyal to Indonesia will be set against the Free Papua Organization and anti-Indonesian indigenous Papuans," he told UCA News, alluding to the recruitment of indigenous Papuans to become police and soldiers.
Those they call separatists or rebels are people who have a legitimate right to express opinions and disapproval of Indonesia
Father Baru said the failure of many previous military operations should be sufficient reason to look for other solutions.
Touching on concerns often voiced that dialogue could lead Papua to secede from Indonesia, he said, "first we will solve problems that make Papuans want to separate."
Supriatma said the Papua problem is a political one that must be resolved through negotiations.
https://www.ucanews.com/news/papuan-distrust-poses-big-challenge-to-indonesian-military/95691#
PAPUAN GROUPS CONTINUE VOICING OPPOSITION TO SPECIAL AUTONOMY LAW
News Desk January 6, 2022 3:14 pm
Jubi TV – As many as 113 civil society organizations members of the Papuan People’s Petition (PRP) have once again voiced their rejection against the Papua Special Autonomy (Otsus) Law, which was amended in July 2021. The PRP emphasized that the Papua Otsus Law had been imposed by force by Jakartan elites without hearing and taking into account the voices and demands of the Indigenous Papuan people.
“The PRP has collected the signatures of the Papuan people in Papua, Indonesia, and the international community for the petition. The wave of protests by the people continues to rise from 2019 to 2021,” said Jefri Wenda, the national spokesperson for the PRP during a press conference in Jayapura on Wednesday, January 5, 2022.
The rejection of Otsus has led to the arrest and imprisonment of activists in numerous cities in Papua, including PRP international spokesperson Victor Yeimo. According to Wenda, the Papuan People’s Petition has reached 718,179 supporters who voted against the Otsus Law. “The fact that the state forced the continuation of Otsus cannot be separated from the passing the Omnibus bill on job creation into law. They serve the interests of capitalists, colonialists, and the military in Papua,” said Wenda.
On July 15 last year, the House of Representatives passed the new Papua Special Autonomy Law. The new regulation extended the allocation of autonomy funds for Papua until 2041 and increased the funds from 2 to 2.25 percent.
The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) in its latest report said that the amended Otsus Law also revised eighteen clauses in the previous law and added two new provisions. In short, the amendments brought about three fundamental changes to Papuan autonomy: a weakened provincial authority, greater fiscal control from the central government, and a reconfiguration of political representation for Indigenous Papuans. Under the 2001 Special Autonomy Law, provincial governors and legislators have the authority to allocate Special Autonomy funds, sign off on key central government policies relating to Papua including infrastructure projects, and approve the creation of new provinces and districts. However, the new law authorizes the central government to channel Otsus funds directly to cities and regencies, without going through the province first. The provincial government can now only provide recommendations to the central government. The new law also stipulates a list of indicators that must be used as the basis for distributing Otsus funds between local governments. This includes the overall population, the indigenous Papuan population, the level of development, and construction costs.
IPAC mentioned that the unilateral amendment to the Special Autonomy Law has the potential to create new conflicts. “Seeing the protests over these amendments, it appears that there is a risk of creating new ‘hotspots’ for violent mobilization,” said Sana Jaffrey, the director of IPAC. Jaffrey added that President Jokowi should use his political capital to build consensus on implementing the new law if he wants to succeed.
However, the PRP views Otsus as a product of a conspiracy between the Papuan elite and the Jakarta elite. The policy does not at all accommodate the views of the Indigenous Papuans. The House’s decision to pass the Otsus bill into law does not make Papuans as Otsus has, in fact, failed to provide welfare for Indigenous Papuans throughout the years.
The Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police, and the State Intelligence Agency continue to deploy their personnel to Papua to date. The exploitation of natural resources such as the Wabu Block, agriculture in Keerom and Yahukimo, oil palm plantations in Merauke, Nabire, Sorong, and other areas are getting bigger. This fact contradicts the guarantee of welfare for Indigenous Papuans that is Otsus. “The Omnibus Law, the Special Autonomy Law, and all laws that were forced to be enacted are for the benefit of investors. International and national corporations are backed by a very large number of security forces,” said Jefri Wenda. Therefore, the PRP, said Wenda, remains in its stand of rejecting the Papua Special Autonomy Law. “The PRP will guard the people of West Papua in fighting for the right to self-determination in a peaceful and democratic manner. We will also continue raising the Papuan People’s Petition for the third stage,” he said. “The PRP also urges the unconditional release of our international spokesperson Victor Yeimo and all the West Papuan political prisoners,” Wenda added.
To this day, Victor Yeimo, who is in police custody, is still undergoing treatment at the Dok II Jayapura Hospital. He had to undergo intensive treatment for six months because of his lung illness, which had been exacerbated by the lack of air and sunlight in his detainment room. He was alleged for treason in the antiracism protests in Papua and West Papua in 2019 which, Yeimo himself said, he did not attend. “Victor had to take eight pills and two injections of medication every day for six months,” said Emanuel Gobay, Victor Yeimo’s attorney. (*).
PAPUA NEEDS MORE THAN 30,000 TEACHERS, ESPECIALLY IN RURAL AREAS Jubi News Desk January 4, 2022
Jayapura, Jubi – The number of active teachers in Papua is very lacking, especially in areas where the population is predominantly Indigenous Papuan. Agriculture lecturer of University of Papua Agus Sumule said the distribution of teachers in Papua was not equal, with fewer teachers in areas where Indigenous Papuan lived, compared to areas inhabited by non-Papuan people. In Papua Province, the shortage of teachers includes 7,038 elementary school teachers, 3,973 junior high school teachers, 1,217 high school teachers, and 1,162 vocational teachers. This shortage is aggravated by the number of teachers who will retire, which is 1,250 people. Meanwhile, in West Papua Province, there is a shortage of 2,313 elementary teachers, 1,429 junior high teachers, 747 high school teachers, 514 vocational school teachers, while 504 teachers will retire. “It is estimated that the shortage of teachers is more than 30,000,” said Sumule.
Sumule said that until 2019, the number of teachers actively teaching were the least in Jayawijaya, Cental Mamberamo, Yahukimo, Yalimo, Nduga, Tolikara, Lanny Jaya, Bintang Mountains, Paniai, Deiyai, Dogiyai, Intan Jaya, Puncak Jaya, and Puncak. In these areas, there is a shortage of 427 kindergarten teachers, 4,076 elementary teachers, 1,916 junior high teachers, 917 high school teachers, and 430 vocational school teachers. “Such a phenomenon shows that many teachers who are placed by the government in these areas are absent from their assignments. A UNICEF study in 2012 showed that 30 percent of teachers in Papua and West Papua were absent from teaching,” said Sumule. He went on to say that teacher education programs were needed more than ever to address the shortage of teachers in Papua.
“On the other hand, the government must also attend the need of other functions such as administrative staff, librarians, information technology specialists, and improve school infrastructures such as school buildings, offices, electricity, toilets, clean water, and internet networks,” he said.
According to Sumule, those who are trained to become professional teachers should be young Indigenous Papuans who meet the requirements and recruited from areas that lack teachers. The recruitment process must also involve religious and traditional institutions. Thus, teachers are truly the people who have a calling to teach, and they will feel at home working in the field as classroom teachers, community teachers, and “congregational” teachers.
A teacher named Felisa said there were actually many people willing to teach in the interior of Papua. However, there must be security guarantees for the teacher.
“Actually, many people want it but sometimes our efforts are not appreciated. We want to be present in the interior but who can survive the terror? We don’t want to return to our hometown with only names,” she said. Felisa told a story of when she taught at Inpres Suntamon Elementary School in Yahukimo Regency in 2018. She was contracted through the Smart Indonesia Foundation program. She and her other five friends only lasted a year teaching there. “At that time, suddenly there was a group of people who plotted to expel us when the leader in the area was not there,” she said.
According to Felisa, during the year she served to teach in Yahukimo, the people were very kind and friendly. The people often brought them vegetables and sweet potatoes. However, due to security reasons, Felisa and her friends decided not to return to teaching at the school. Felisa currently teaches Counseling Guidance at YPPK Teruna Bakti Junior High School in Waena. “They (the community in Yahukimo) asked us to come back but we did not because we were afraid something bad would happen to us,” she said. (*) Reporter: Theo Kelen. Editor: Syofiardi https://en.jubi.co.id/papua-needs-more-than-30000-teachers-especially-in-rural-areas/
PAPUA’S FORESTS OF 700,000 HECTARES HAVE BEEN DAMAGED
Jubi News Desk December 14, 2021
Jayapura, Jubi – In the past ten years, 700,000 hectares of Papua’s forests have been damaged, Forest and Plantation Campaign Manager of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) Uli Arta Siagian said. Siagian said that according to Global Forest Watch records, the largest forest destruction occurred in Merauke Regency, where an area of 112,000 hectares of forest was damaged due to various permits for land clearing for oil palm, industrial plantation forests, and food barn programs. Most of the forest destruction outside Merauke is caused by various investment permits in Papua.
Natural forests in Papua and West Papua provinces are one of the “lungs of the earth”, with an area of 33.7 million hectares, or the equivalent of 81 percent of the land. However, natural forests in the two provinces have become targets of forest clearing for oil palm, industrial plantation forests, and food barn projects. “In Papua and West Papua, the palm oil cover alone has reached 158,821 hectares,” said Siagian in the workshop titled “Impacts of Deforestation and Climate Change on International Communities and Indigenous Peoples” in Jayapura City on Saturday, December 11, 2021.
As a result, Siagian said, at least 161,114 indigenous peoples who live and depend on forest products have lost their livelihoods and hunting grounds. Deforestation also results in the extinction of animals and plants, causing global warming and climate change. Climate change triggers extreme weather that causes floods and landslides. “When the environment is damaged, the rights of [indigenous] people are revoked. We need a policy from the government that restores people’s rights,” he said.
He further said the state must immediately restore the rights of indigenous peoples in Papua to occupy their customary forests. This can be done through the passing of the Indigenous Peoples Bill into law, issuing policies that protect the indigenous people and their living spaces. The government, he said, should also conduct environmental audits and evaluate various forest clearing permits. “Stop giving permits for large-scale expansion in the name of growth and development,” he said.
Workshop participant Erlina complained about the massive destruction of forests in Papua. She said forest ecology and biodiversity students have lost their learning forests in Jayapura City. Erlina, who is a student at the Cenderawasih University’s Biology Department, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, said that students had to go all the way to Sentani to learn about plants. “Because the learning forests in the campus environment have been replaced with buildings. We students have to take a long trip to study plants,” she said. (*)Reporter: Theo Kelen Editor: Aryo Wisanggeni G
Opinion pieces/media releasers/reports etc.
Peace, Prosperity Elude Indonesia’s Papua Region, 20 Years into Special Autonomy https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/indonesian/peace-prosperity-11192021162156.html
Who runs the mines in Papua? https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2021/november/1635685200/zacharias-szumer/who-runs-mines-papua#mtr
Indonesia and the Papua Issue: Resolution Increasingly Unlikely https://thediplomat.com/2021/11/indonesia-and-the-papua-issue-resolution-increasingly-unlikely/
Yamin Kogoya: 60 years ago, Indonesia invaded West Papua with guns. 60 years later, they’re still ruling with guns
West Papua: An Island in Peril
https://www.independent.com/2021/12/24/west-papua-an-island-in-peril/
Some photos from the COP26 Global Day of Action for Climate Justice in Sydney https://awpasydneynews.blogspot.com/2021/11/some-photos-from-cop26-global-day-of.html
Papuan rebel fights a war without weapons from a land without food https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2021/12/20/papuan-rebel-fights-a-war-without-weapons-from-a-land-without-food.html
Winning the hearts and minds of Papuans
https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2021/12/21/winning-the-hearts-and-minds-of-papuans.html
Will Defence Minister raise West Papua with Jakarta?https://awpasydneynews.blogspot.com/2022/01/will-defence-minister-raise-west-papua.html
PAPUA 2021 1 – 15 Desember. In Bahasa https://awpasydneynews.blogspot.com/2021/12/papua-2021-1-15-desember-in-bahasa.html
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