2) Tinggilibet and Dambet residents fled hometown following shootings of eight workers
3) Call for investigation into police shooting of protesters in Yahukimo
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1) Two Papuan civilians shot dead during protest, buried by the side of the road as resistance symbols
News Desk March 17, 2022 4:19 pm
The head of the Meek Tribe, Mathias Suu (black and brown batik shirt) together with the Head of the Komnas HAM Papua Representative Office, Frits Ramandey, attended the funeral of Yakob Meklok and Esron Weipsa, which took place in Dekai, the capital of Yahukimo Regency, on Wednesday (16/3/2022) . - Doc. Mathias Suu
Jayapura, Jubi – Two participants of the protest rejecting Papua Province’s expansion in Yahukimo Regency’s capital of Dekai, Yakob Meklok and Esron Weispa, became victims of alleged police brutality and died on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. The bodies were buried by the side of the main road in Dekai as a symbol of public resistance to the central government’s special autonomy and expansion plan for Papua.
Tribal chief of the Meek Tribe Mathias Suu said the victim’s family agreed to bury the deceased at that location, not far from the Meek Tribe’s settlement.
“The family asked for a grave on the side of the main road to becoming a resistance symbol in rejecting the Papua Special Autonomy offered by the central government and regional expansion plan. So that everyone passing by can see the grave of the people murdered for refusing the State’s agenda,” Mathias Suu told Jubi on Wednesday.
Suu said the funeral of Yakob Meklok and Esron Weipsa was held on Wednesday at around 14.30 p.m. local time. According to him, thousands of residents from 12 tribes in Yahukimo Regency attended the funeral.
Previously on Tuesday, a protest erupted in Dekai against the Papua regional expansion plan. The protest went peaceful at first, the protesters took turns expressing their hope to reject the government’s plan to form new autonomous regions or new provinces in Papua. They even negotiated with the police, asking the police to send members of the Yahukimo Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) to hear them out.
However, a number of sources contacted by Jubi said clashes between protesters and security forces occurred after a police officer took pictures of the protesters. The protest escalated into an argument between both parties before people started throwing stones. The police fired tear gas, throwing the crowd into chaos. Just then, gunshots were heard.
The Papua Police confirmed two residents died in the clashes, namely Yakob Meklok and Erson Wipsa. Yakob Meklok died from a gunshot wound under his right armpit. Meanwhile, Erson Wipsa died from a gunshot wound to his back. There were also three people injured in the incident, namely First Brig.
Muhammad Aldi (wound to the head), Itos Hitlay (gunshot wound to the left thigh), and Luki Kobak (gunshot wound to the right thigh). The incident sparked a mass rage wherein the people burned down a number of shophouses and government offices in Dekai.
Yahukimo Regent Didimus Yahuli said his party would push for legal proceedings against the parties involved in the clashes on Tuesday. “We must hold accountable the perpetrators who killed two people and burned public facilities,” said Yahuli. (*)
Reporter: Yuliana Lantipo
Editor: Aryo Wisanggeni G
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2) Tinggilibet and Dambet residents fled hometown following shootings of eight workers
News Desk March 17, 2022 2:57 pm
Jayapura, Jubi – Tensions that occurred after the shooting that killed eight telecommunication workers of PT Palapa Timur Telematika on March 2, 2022, has made the residents of Tinggilibet Village and Dambet Village in Beoga District, Puncak Regency, flee their villages.
Most of them fled to YPPGI Elementary School in Milawak Village, the capital of Beoga.
Chairman of the Puncak Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) Lukius Newegalen confirmed the news about the Tinggilibet and Dambet residents who fled to Milawak. Newegalen said residents had started evacuating to Milawak on March 4, 2022. He said that some displaced people also took shelter at the Beoga District Office in Milawak.
“It’s true, the people have evacuated to the Beoga District Office since March 4. We have not been able to confirm the number of residents who fled to Milawak,” he told Jubi via Whatsapp on Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
“They fled following the shooting between the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) and the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police in Beoga. Moreover, the security forces have also built a military post in their village. The people fear another attack so they try to protect themselves by evacuating,” Newegalen added.
Puncak resident and student activist Pentan Wanimbo said that cases of internally displaced people kept repeating in Puncak whenever there was an escalation of armed conflict in Papua.
He said that until now, the Puncak Regency Administration had not taken the displaced people seriously. “Displaced people in Puncak Regency are scattered in several places.
They fled without getting any attention from the local government. The government must take this case seriously,” said Wanimbo. (*)
Reporter: Hengky Yeimo
Editor: Aryo Wisanggeni G
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3) Call for investigation into police shooting of protesters in Yahukimo
Suara Papua – March 17, 2022
Papua Human Rights Solidarity Concern activists hold posters at Komnas HAM – March 16, 2022 (WhatsApp)
Elisa Sekenyap, Jayapura – Papua Human Rights Solidarity Concern has reported the shooting of 10 Papuan civilians in Yahukimo regency – which occurred during a rally opposing the creation of new autonomous regions (DOB) in Papua – to the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM).
Speaking in Jakarta after filing the report on Wednesday March 16, former political prisoner (tapol) Ambrosius Mulait explained that the report had been accepted by the Komnas HAM complaints division.
Mulait said that the report includes a chronology of the police shooting of protesters and the number of victims.
It is because of this that they are urging Komnas HAM to immediately form an independent team to investigate the death of two protesters and eight others who suffered both serious and minor injuries because of the shooting.
"We are also pushing for the perpetrators be punished, because the actions committed by police against the 10 civilians in Yahukimo were illegal. We are also urging Komnas HAM to immediately write to President Jokowi [Joko Widodo] asking him to halt the discussions on carving up Papua and West Papua [provinces], because the consequence of this has been to claim many victims in Yahukimo", he asserted.
According to the group, the creation of new provinces in Papua is not urgent, especially since for the Papuan people, upholding their dignity should be done through dialogue.
In addition to this, the group said it deplored the arbitrary actions by the authorities in Papua because following the shooting and clash in Dekai, the regional capital of Yahukimo, internet and cell phone access was suddenly cut off.
"This had the consequence of making it difficult to obtain information on the situation in Dekai, yet the public has the right to obtain information from the region. So once against we urge Komnas HAM to immediately write to President Jokowi asking to allow access for national as well as international journalists to report on events in Yahukimo and Papua in general", said Mulait.
Also in the report, he said, was a call for Komnas HAM to write to the TNI (Indonesian military) commander and the Kapolri (Indonesian police chief) asking them to withdraw the excessive number of organic and non-organic troops from Yahukimo regency and Papua in general.
This is because the military approach has never resovled the problems in Papua.
They also called for the Papua regional police chief (Kapolda) and the Yahukimo district police chief (Kapolres) to be removed from their posts because they were negligent in carrying out the mandate of Law Number 9/1998 on the right to freedom of expression which is interpreted in Indonesian Police Chief Regulation Number 9/2008 on implementing standards and human rights principles in police duties.
"The death of civilians in Yahukimo represents negligence on the part of the Forkompimda [Regional Leadership Communication Forum], so the Papua Kapolda, the Yahukimo Kapolres and the Yahukimo regent must be held accountable", the group said.
After submitted the report with Komnas HAM, the group handed over a coffin as a symbol of the grief felt over the shooting of the 10 protesters in Dekai.
Similar calls were also made by the families of the victims in Dekai who urged the Yahukimo regency government, law enforcement agencies and Komnas HAM to fully investigate the incident. They also asked that the perpetrators be held responsible and tried in a court of law.
[Translated by James Balowski. Slightly abridged due to repetition. The original title of the article was "Komnas HAM Diminta Selidiki Sepuluh Korban Demo Tolak Pemekaran di Yahukimo".]
Source: https://suarapapua.com/2022/03/17/komnas-ham-diminta-selidiki-sepuluh-korban-demo-tolak-pemekaran-di-yahukimo/
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