Thursday, March 31, 2022

5 policemen injured while securing rally in Papua's Nabire

 


5 policemen injured while securing rally in Papua's Nabire  
10 hours ago




Security personnel try to disperse a rally rejecting the formation of a new autonomous region in Nabire on Thursday (March 31, 2022). (ANTARA/HO/Dokumen Pribadi)


Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - Five police officers sustained injuries while securing a chaotic demonstration rejecting the formation of a new autonomous region in Nabire district, Papua province, on Thursday.

Two motorcycle taxi drivers were also injured after demonstrators attacked them, chief of the Papua Provincial Police, Inspector General Mathius Fakhiri, said in Jayapura on Thursday.

The demonstration was one of the rallies organized in five different locations in the city. Fakhiri said that according to the report he received, the demonstration, which earlier ran peacefully, turned chaotic after a demonstrator suddenly tried to attack police officers.

When police officers tried to detain him, other demonstrators pelted stones at them, he added.

The demonstrators also reportedly robbed the motorcycle taxi drivers of their belongings. They reported the incident to the Nabire district police, he informed.

Asked if any of the demonstrators sustained injuries, he said he had not received a report on injured demonstrators.

At least eight demonstrators have been detained and interrogated at the Nabire police station in connection with the incident.

The eight have been identified by their initials as MK, YG, SK, YD, NG, YK, YG, and AG.

Fakhiri said the security situation in Nabire has gradually become conducive. However, police officers are still on standby, he added.

Related news: Bodies of two slain Indonesian Marines evacuated to Timika
Related news: Rights body outlines efforts to resolve Papua armed conflict

Related news: Armed Papuan separatist terrorists again assault workers in Papua

Reporter: Evarukdijati, Suharto
Editor: Sri Haryati

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1) Three die in attacks in Indonesia's Papua

  


2) Papua New Guinea to build closer ties with Indonesia 

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https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7682190/three-die-in-attacks-in-indonesias-papua/ 

1) Three die in attacks in Indonesia's Papua   

By Alfian Kartono  

Updated March 31 2022 - 9:31pm, first published 9:26pm 

 

 

 

A government soldier, his wife and an independence fighter have been killed in two separate attacks in Indonesia's restive Papua province, security officers and a rebel spokesperson say. 

Clashes have escalated in eastern Indonesia's Papua province since last year, when rebels set fire to several schools and killed two teachers in a village in Puncak district. 

 

Attackers from the West Papua Liberation Army, the military wing of the Free Papua Organisation, fatally shot a soldier, killed his wife by slashing her neck, and injured their two children in an assault at a house on Thursday morning in Elelim village in Yalimo district, said Papua deputy military chief Candra Kurniawan. 

The soldier's wife, a midwife who helped indigenous Papuan women give birth, died on the way to a clinic, Kurniawan said, adding that police and military forces were searching for the attackers, who fled into the jungle. 

Rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom confirmed that the group's fighters carried out the attack, saying it was part of their struggle for independence from Indonesia, which they accuse of conducting a genocidal campaign against Papuans. 

Separately, Indonesian security forces on Wednesday fatally shot a local rebel commander, Toni Tabuni, who was resisting arrest in a raid in Nabire district, and arrested another rebel who was with him, Papua police spokesperson Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said. 

He said Tabuni was allegedly involved in at least nine deadly attacks on security forces and civilians, including an Indonesian brigadier general, two teachers and a health worker who worked for a COVID-19 task force. 

Shortly after Tabuni died, rebels set fire to nine classrooms in a school in Intan Jaya district and badly injured two teachers. Sambom said the attack was in retaliation for Tabuni's death. 

"We don't need schools and development organised by Indonesia which is just an image to cover up the killings and genocide in Papua," he said in a recorded message sent to The Associated Press. "We can do it ourselves if Papua is independent." 

Papua, a former Dutch colony in the western part of New Guinea, is ethnically and culturally distinct from much of Indonesia. Conflicts between indigenous Papuans and Indonesian security forces are common. 

Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a UN-sponsored ballot that was widely seen as a sham. Since then, a low-level insurgency has simmered in the region, which is divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua. 

Australian Associated Press 

 

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https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/464364/papua-new-guinea-to-build-closer-ties-with-indonesia 

2) Papua New Guinea to build closer ties with Indonesia 

 

3:51 pm on 31 March 2022   

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape had confirmed his government will finalise up to nine agreements with Jakarta to strengthen its relationship with Indonesia. 

Marape is in Indonesia with a delegation of more than 70 people - mainly representing the business sector - to meet with his counterpart President Joko Widodo. 

He was expected to discuss a proposed partnership with the Indonesian Petroleum company - Pertamina - for alternative sources of fuel among a number of issues on the agenda during the visit which ends on Friday. 

Marape said the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries "will greatly complement Papua New Guinea's future socio-economic agenda and reap tangible outcomes in the immediate to long term." 

But PNG Think Tank Group executive director Samson Komati said Marape had his priorities mixed up. 

"We have all these problems here in the nation and you have the Prime Minister leading a delegation like this when our house is not in order, he is going overseas. It is a very wasteful exercise I think," Komati said. 

Komati said government departments were struggling to carry out their core functions because money allocated to them by the state had not reached them. 


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Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Friday 1st April. West Papua Project at UOW launches a seminar series, 'West Papua Talks',


Friday 1st April at 12pm AEST.
West Papua Project at UOW launches a seminar series, 'West Papua Talks', with the inaugural seminar being given by West Papuan human rights lawyer, Gustaf Kawer. Kawer represents human rights activist Victor Yeimo who stands accused of alleged treason against the Indonesian government. Kawer will discuss the challenges involved in defending human rights under Indonesian occupation.





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Komnas HAM Attempts to Meet Benny Wenda, OPM to End Papua Conflicts

 https://en.tempo.co/read/1576059/komnas-ham-attempts-to-meet-benny-wenda-opm-to-end-papua-conflicts


Komnas HAM Attempts to Meet Benny Wenda, OPM to End Papua Conflicts 

Translator: Dewi Elvia Muthiariny  
Editor: Petir Garda Bhwana 
29 March 2022 12:33 WIB

TEMPO.COJakarta - The National Commission on Human Rights or Komnas HAM is still attempting to meet the commander of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) and the leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Benny Wenda. Meetings are being sought in the midst of the ongoing conflict in Papua.

The head of the Papuan Komnas HAM Representative, Frits Bernard Ramandey, said his side is still trying to hold another meeting with the OPM commander. Learning from experiences in Aceh and Timor Leste, he added, dialogue requires a process, stages, and time.

“We are still making efforts, so there is no certainty yet,” said Frits to Tempo on Monday, March 28.

However, he claimed that communication had actually been done with several OPM leaders in Papua. Long before 2021, Frits also said that he had directly met four OPM commanders in the province.


Previously, Komnas HAM chairman Ahmad Taufan Damanik revealed the plan for a meeting with those Papuan figures on Wednesday, March 23. Ahmad said his side was trying to initiate a peaceful dialogue in Papua, one of which is by meeting with the OPM and Benny Wenda.

Ahmad also confirmed that there were meetings between Frits and the OPM commander. In fact, he said, communications had been carried out to almost all factions in the OPM by Komnas HAM Papua.

However, no agreement has been reached thus far, except for a commitment to continue the communication. Komnas HAM also wanted to hold another meeting in a bid to build trust between the two parties. “We’ll build closeness first,” Ahmad said.

Read: Papua Peaceful Dialogue; Komnas HAM Argues UN Involvement Unecessary

FAJAR PEBRIANTO

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Indonesian Police hand over voluntary contribution to MSG

 


Indonesian Police hand over voluntary contribution to MSG  
13 hours ago




Screenshot - The Indonesian National Police (INP) hand over voluntary contribution to the international organization Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) to help develop regional security strategies, Jakarta, Tuesday (3/29/2022). (ANTARA/INP)


Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian National Police (Polri)  handed over voluntary contribution to the international organization Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) to help develop regional security strategies.

"On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, the Indonesian National Police  (Polri)  is honored to host the Handover Document of Voluntary Contribution from the Polri to the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) to develop the regional security strategy," Head of the International Relations Division of the Indonesian National Police Inspector General Johni Asadoma stated after the virtual event, monitored here on Tuesday.

Asadoma  noted that based on the results of the second MSG Police Ministers' Meeting (PMM) held on March 14, 2017, in Jakarta, representatives involved in the meeting welcomed Polri's initiative to partake in the financial contribution to support the development of the MSG Regional Security Strategy (RSS).

He stated that  Polri was pleased to announce that this initiative could be realized during the handover ceremony of voluntary contribution and the transfer of funds, amounting to US$100 thousand, from the Police to the MSG Secretariat today.

Furthermore, Asadoma noted that  Polri looked forward to collaborating with other RSS members and the Secretariat in utilizing and disbursing the contribution accordingly.

Polri is also committed to hosting the upcoming 4th RSS WG Meeting that had been postponed since 2020 due to the pandemic.

"Polri will work closely with other RSS members and the Secretariat to decide a preferable date sometime in the last week of May 2022 and other appropriate arrangement needed to organize the meeting," he stated.

Given the situation in Indonesia is already in the post-pandemic recovery period, he noted that the Police had still been assessing the possibility of physically holding the fourth RSS WG in Indonesia.

"Polri is of the view that constructive engagement between Indonesia and the MSG will continue to be mutually beneficial and always be cemented by respect and honoring the sovereignty of each member," the general remarked.

Meanwhile, the MSG is an international organization comprising four countries in Melanesia: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, as well as the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front from New Caledonia. 
Related news: Indonesia committed to enhance cooperation with MSG countries
Related news: Indonesia warns MSG members against meddling in other countries` sovereignty
 

Reporter: Katriana
Editor: Suharto

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Monday, March 28, 2022

1) FSC-certified Moorim Paper linked to massive forest clearing in Indonesia’s Papua


2) Papua Police Talk of Obstacles in Arresting Shooter of 8 Workers in Beoga 
3) Papua Peaceful Dialogue; Komnas HAM Argues UN Involvement Unecessary 
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1) FSC-certified Moorim Paper linked to massive forest clearing in Indonesia’s Papua

by Hans Nicholas Jong on 28 March 2022

  • A subsidiary of South Korean paper company Moorim has cleared natural forests a tenth the size of Seoul in Indonesia’s Papua region over the past six years, a new report alleges.
  • The report, published by various NGOs, alleges that the cleared areas consisted of primary forests serving as a habitat for threatened species and a source of livelihood for Indigenous Papuans.
  • Moorim’s Indonesian subsidiary, PT Plasma Nutfah Marind Papua (PNMP), which holds the concession to the land, also allegedly cleared the forests without obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of the Indigenous and local communities.
  • Moorim has denied the allegations, but the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which certifies its paper products as being sustainably sourced, says it has begun assessing the case to determine whether there’s enough substantial information to indicate a violation of its policies.

JAKARTA — An area of natural forest a tenth the size of Seoul has been cleared by a subsidiary of South Korean paper giant Moorim in Indonesia’s Papua region, a new report shows.

The land in question, in the district of Merauke, is part of a concession licensed to PT Plasma Nutfah Marind Papua (PNMP), a Moorim Paper subsidiary that grows pulpwood for making paper. Between 2015 and 2021, PNMP cleared more than 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) of forest for its plantation, according to the report by NGOs including the Environmental Paper Network (EPN), Mighty Earth, Pusaka, and the Korean Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM).

Prior to the start of the clearing, PNMP’s concession was rich in forests. According to Global Forest Watch data, the concession held 54,800 hectares (135,400 acres) of natural forest, including some primary forest, and a further 9,610 hectares (23,700 acres) of other habitats, including savanna and seasonal alluvial wetland.

Together, these forests, swamps and savannas comprise a key biodiversity hotspot, home to 40 species of mammals, 30 reptiles and 130 fishes on the IUCN Red List. Among them are tree kangaroos (Dendrolagus spp.), white cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus), pig-nosed turtles (Carettochelys insculpta) and southern cassowaries (Casuarius casuarius), according to the report.

Moorim, whose paper products sold around the world have Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, said in a written response to the findings of the report that there were no primary forests or peatlands in PNMP’s concession.

Instead, it said PNMP’s concession consists of mainly secondary forest and shrubs.



At-risk forests

PNMP first came to public attention in November 2011, when the Indonesian government granted the company a new concession consisting of both primary dryland forest and secondary forest.

The permit issuance occurred months after then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had imposed a moratorium on clearing primary forests and peatlands in May 2011.

It wasn’t until 2015 that PNMP started clearing the forest in its concession, according to the report. Since then, 6,194 hectares (15,306 acres) of land was cleared in the concession between 2015 and the end of 2021, according to data from forest monitoring platform Nusantara Atlas.

While the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down business activity across entire industries in Indonesia, deforestation in PNMP’s concession accelerated during this period, peaking in the mid-2020, when 1,031 hectares (2,548 acres) were cleared between April and August 2020.

By then, a significant part of primary forest in the concession had been destroyed(around 4,000 hectares, or 9,900 acres), according to Global Forest Watch’s GLAD alerts. The scale of the clearing, combined with the richness of the biodiversity there, makes PNMP “one of the biggest threats to the rainforest in the region,” the NGOs wrote in the report.

Now, the company appears to be targeting the remaining block of primary forests, the report adds. And if the pattern of clearing continues, thousands of hectares of forests might be lost over the next few years.

“The remaining at-risk forest along the Eastern/Southeastern boundaries of the concession is of greatest concern,” the report says.

These forests are being cleared to grow pulpwood trees, typically acacia or eucalyptus, to make paper. For Moorim, many of these paper products are marketed to consumers around the world as being sustainable and ethically sourced, the NGOs said.

“Paper is sold globally as an eco-friendly plastic substitute, yet it is still coming from deforestation and abuse of Indigenous peoples’ rights,” said Sergio Baffoni from the Environmental Paper Network. “We cannot sacrifice the last paradises of the planet for products that end up in the trash bin within a few hours after their first use.”



Indigenous rights sidelined

The report also alleges that PNMP failed to obtain the free, prior and informed consent, or FPIC, of the Indigenous and local communities living around its the concession before starting to clear the forest.

The report identifies the land that the concession sits on as being traditionally inhabited and owned by the Malind Indigenous people who live in the Buepe village. In 2013, while finalizing its paperwork for obtaining the concession, PNMP held meetings with local residents, the report says. But the company didn’t seek consensus for operations over the 60- year span of the concession.

“Instead, it negotiated with one single village, called Sanggase, over 5 hectares [12 acres] of land for a nursery and subsequently further 12 hectares [30 acres] for a demonstration garden — and even then, did not involve the whole community, but only select individuals,” the NGOs wrote in the report.

The Buepe villagers said the company used this agreement with Sanggase to justify its operations in other villages with traditional claims to the land.

The company’s actions prompted protests by the villagers. In 2018, PNMP drafted a memorandum of understanding with the eight clans of Buepe, in which the company promised to compensate the villagers for their timber, build infrastructure, buy food from the villagers, and hire them as workers.

These promises remain largely unfulfilled, however, according to villagers interviewed for the report.

The report adds that the company did hand out some money, but it was piecemeal compensation given sporadically, with no comprehensive plan to address its previous failures. As a result, the villagers remain confused as to the purpose of the money.

“Is it a show of ‘good will,’ or compensation for the harm caused by the company (partial? total?), a rent, a lease or the price for the full extent of the clan’s land inside the concession (which awards the land for 60 years),” the report says. “Meanwhile every year the company bulldozes wider areas of traditional land.”

Moorim said PNMP had completed the payment of compensation as promised in the memorandum, in accordance with local regulations.

“At paying compensation to local residents, each compensation is explained verbally to the clans’ representative and signed in writing,” Moorim said. “As it is illegal if [the compensation] is not paid, so PT PNMP pays full compensation under the relevant laws without omission.”


‘Most of it is dead now’

Regardless of any monetary compensation promised or paid, the clearing of traditional forests has harmed the Buepe villagers, who live principally by foraging, hunting and fishing, according to the report.

They often travel to their customary forests and stay there for weeks or months to collect sago, tubers, wild vegetables, fish and meat, it says.

“For the traditional Malind people, the forest is an irreplaceable source of life,” it says. “When the company cuts down the forests, the villagers are deprived of their main source of food, and must walk hours or even days before reaching a forest still standing in which to hunt, fish and forage.”

Ani Kaize, an Indigenous woman in Buepe, said the villagers had to tend to their sago gardens from far away ever since they lost their ancestral forests.

“The company has cleared the forest, now it’s hard to get wood, bark, to tend to the sago — most of it is dead now, and the sago groves are getting farther away,” she said in an interview for the report.

Losing their ancestral forests also means the Buepe villagers have lost many sacred sites. The NGOs identified seven such sites destroyed in the clearing.

“Local people cannot recognize their places anymore, as their ‘coordinates’ are based on the forest: a tall tree, a turn of the river, a sago bush,” the report says. “Once forests are cut down, traditional geography disappears.”

Moorim has denied the allegation that its subsidiary had destroyed sacred sites, saying PNMP had listened to the Indigenous peoples’ opinion through meetings and agreed that the sacred sites are off-limits for its plantation activities.



FSC investigating

The NGOs have called on PNMP to immediately halt land clearing until the company has identified which parts of its concession holds high conservation value (HCV) and high carbon stock (HCS) forest. They also demanded that PNMP map out any social conflicts and fulfill the FPIC process, including remedying past harm caused by its failure to carry out the latter in full.

The government must also sanction the company, said Franky Samperante, executive director of Indonesian NGO Pusaka, one of the groups behind the report.

“Indigenous peoples are already facing difficulties in meeting their needs for quality food and water, livelihood, harmony, none of which can be replaced with unjust compensation,” he said. “The government must provide sanctions for alleged violations by the company.”

The NGOs also called on the Forest Stewardship Council, which certifies Moorim’s products, to take action against the company and the alleged violations.

“This report shows how a company like Moorim has continued to trash the last rainforests in Indonesia whilst hiding behind the FSC green forestry label,” said Annisa Rahmawati, an environmental advocate at U.S.-based campaign organization Mighty Earth. “The FSC must take swift action against any such company that violates its standards, otherwise the FSC label is just greenwash.”

The FSC said it’s actively assessing the evidence provided by various sources for substantiated information to determine whether there are indications that Moorim and PNMP have violated its Policy for Association.

Under this policy, the FSC can investigate non-certified companies — against whom allegations of being involved in any of six unacceptable activities are made — if they are a part of a certified company through “direct and indirect involvement.”

“In this case, this clause holds up because Moorim Paper owns a majority share of PT PNMP,” the FSC told Mongabay in an email.

However, it added that it hasn’t concluded the preliminary assessment process.

“And hence no decision has been taken on whether we will pursue a Policy for Association violation case against Moorim Paper and PT PNMP at this point,” the FSC said.

In its letter to the NGOs, Moorim said it has “temporarily paused the plantation work from the end of 2021.” This moratorium will remain in effect for the next few months to give civil society groups more time to investigate, according to Moorim.

The NGOs called the moratorium “a good step,” but noted that Moorim hadn’t publicly announced the moratorium or made a public commitment to remediate harm as well. The NGOs said it’s important for the company to take swift action immediately, given the grave threats posed by PNMP’s activities.

“Time is running out to save our climate and the last frontier forests of the earth as well as the people whose lives depend on it,” the NGOs said. “It is time for Moorim to stop hiding under eco-friendly claims.”

Banner image: Escavators in PT. Papua Nutfah Marind Papua concession, June 2021, Image courtesy of Pusaka.

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2) Papua Police Talk of Obstacles in Arresting Shooter of 8 Workers in Beoga 
Translator: Dewi Elvia Muthiariny   
Editor: Petir Garda Bhwana 
28 March 2022 08:33 WIB 

TEMPO.COJakarta - Papua Regional Police confirmed the perpetrators of the shooting that killed eight workers of telecommunication firm PT Palapa Timur Telematika (PTT) in Beoga District have not been arrested yet.

The police spokesman Sr. Comr. Ahmad Musthofa Kamal explained the investigation is still ongoing. The perpetrators are claimed to be members of the armed criminal group.

“We are still investigating it. No one has been arrested yet,” said Ahmad on Sunday, March 27.

He acknowledged that there were a number of obstacles faced by law enforcement officers in revealing the perpetrators. Among them are the lack of road access given the natural conditions in the area and poor communication networks.


“The hills are steep, not all of them have road access and not all areas have a signal,” Ahmad said.

The Papuan Police have also stopped the construction of the base transceiver station (BTS), particularly in areas prone to security disturbances.

He revealed a number of areas in Papua that are prone to security disturbances, namely the Bintang Mountains Regency, Yahukimo, Puncak Jaya, Intan Jaya, and Nduga Regency.

Read: Protest against Papua Division Turns Chaotic; One Policeman Injured

ARRIJAL RACHMAN

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3) Papua Peaceful Dialogue; Komnas HAM Argues UN Involvement Unecessary 

Translator: Ricky Mohammad Nugraha   

Editor: Markus Wisnu Murti 

28 March 2022 16:32 WIB


TEMPO.COJakarta - National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) commissioner Beka Ulung Hapsara said Monday he did not think that plans for a peaceful dialogue to be held in Papua should involve the United Nations (UN). 

“We are not yet looking into [involving the United Nations],” he said on March 28. “We are focusing on maximizing the existing national mechanism and what is mandated in the Komnas HAM." 

His made the comment after the West Papua Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) called on the UN to actively be involved in handling conflicts in Papua after numerous times refusing the Indonesian government’s offer for a peaceful dialogue. 

Komnas HAM, according to Haspara, is currently focusing its efforts on realizing the peaceful dialogue and bringing together influential figures of Papua with government representatives. He insisted that the multiple problems in Indonesia’s most eastern region can be solved internally.


The human rights watchdog’s efforts to broker a peaceful meeting between the Free PapuaMovement public and religious figures has started since last year at the Komnas HAM representative headquarters in Papua. 

Komnas HAM believes it is capable of holding this peaceful dialogue as the organization received an A accreditation from the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GAHNRI) based at the UN Geneva office.

Read: Papua Police Talk of Obstacles in Arresting Shooter of 8 Workers in Beoga

ARRIJAL RACHMAN 

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Sunday, March 27, 2022

1) Amnesty continues campaigning for Papuan inclusion despite 'militia’ protest


2) Bodies of two slain Indonesian Marines evacuated to Timika  
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https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2022/03/18/amnesty-continues-campaigning-for-papuan-inclusion-despite-militia-protest.html

1) Amnesty continues campaigning for Papuan inclusion despite 'militia' protest
News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta   ●   
Fri, March 18, 2022 



Paramilitary' protesters: People claiming to be members of a Jakarta-based militia hold up posters featuring a photograph of Usman Hamid, the executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia (AII), during a protest on March 17, 2022 at AII headquarters in Central Jakarta. (The Jakarta Post/Amnesty International Indonesia)



In the wake of a protest on Thursday by members of a militia who surrounded the Central Jakarta headquarters of Amnesty International Indonesia (AII), the human rights group continued its efforts in lobbying the government to conduct a full investigation into human rights abuses in Papua. 

Amnesty also called on the administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to include Papuan people in any discussions on the easternmost province’s special autonomy status. 

AII executive director Usman Hamid has called on the Jokowi administration to postpone enacting the Special Autonomy Law on Papua, which the House of Representatives amended late last year.

"The Constitutional Court is reviewing the legality of the new law. So, it is better for the government to delay the implementation of the law until the court issues its final verdict," said Usman. 

On Thursday, hundreds of protesters claiming to be members of Laskar Merah Putih (red-and-white paramilitary), staged a protest at Amnesty headquarters. Some protesters carried flyers bearing Usman's photo and called him a traitor, demanding that the government expel the international human rights group from the country.

 "I am deeply concerned over this protest. It reminds me of militaristic [methods] of the New Order regime to silence human rights activists and groups," Usman told The Jakarta Post on Thursday afternoon.


Earlier in the week, at least two protesters were killed and several others were wounded in Papua on Tuesday, when a demonstration against a plan on administrative reforms turned violent. 

The protesters accused the central government of excluding Papuans in its plan to create new provinces in the region, fearing that the planned reform would be used as a pretext to tighten the government’s control over Papua. Other protests opposing the plan have also sprung up across Papua and Jakarta.



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https://en.antaranews.com/news/222037/bodies-of-two-slain-indonesian-marines-evacuated-to-timika

2) Bodies of two slain Indonesian Marines evacuated to Timika  
11 hours ago

Jayapura (ANTARA) - The bodies of two Indonesian Marines who were shot dead by armed terror group members were evacuated from Kenyam, the capital of Nduga District to Timika, Papua Province.

"That's right that the bodies of the two personnel of the Marine Battalion-3 who died in a shootout with the KKB (armed criminal group) on Saturday (26/3) evening, were evacuated to Timika, at around 8.30 a.m. local time by helicopter," Nduga District Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Komang Budhiarta told ANTARA, here Sunday. .

The fallen Marines were Lt. Muhammad Ikbal and Private Marine Wilson Anderson Here, he said.

Based on some reports , the terror group led by Egianus Kogoya attacked the Mupe Task Force Post in Kwareh Bawah , by throwing GLM grenades, on Saturday at around 5:45 p.m. local time. The armed terrorists attacked the post from two directions.

The attack also injured eight Marines who were later evacuated to Marines post in Kenyam.

The situation in Kenyam was relatively safe following the shootout although gunshots were heard early Sunday morning, Budhiarta said in response to Antara's question.

"People prefer to stay at home," he added.
Related news: One dead, nine hurt in armed attack on Nduga's navy post
Related news: Armed Papuan separatist terrorists again assault workers in Papua

 

Reporter: Evarukdijati, Fardah
Editor: Suharto


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