Jayapura, Jubi – In the trial of the alleged treason against the seven Morning Star bearers – all of whom Papuan – on Thursday, July 7, 2022, the Public Prosecutor presented one of the police officers who arrested the seven defendants on December 1, 2021, Endriko Ary Setiawan.
Papuan Regional Police member Endriko Ary Setiawan (fourth from left) explains evidence of alleged treason in the case files of 7 Morning Star raisers during a trial at the Jayapura Penitentiary in Jayapura City, Thursday (7/7/2022). – Jubi/Theo Kelen
The seven defendants are Melvin Yobe (29), Melvin Fernando Waine (25), Devion Tekege (23), Yosep Ernesto Matuan (19), Maksimus Simon Petrus You (18 ), Lukas Kitok Uropmabin (21), and Ambrosius Fransiskus Elopere (21). A panel of judges led the trial at the Jayapura District Court, chaired by RF Tampubolon with member judges Iriyanto T and Thobias B.
On Thursday, a follow-up hearing on the alleged treason case took place at the Abepura Penitentiary in Jayapura City. Endriko Ary Setiawan said he did not know the regulation that forbids the Morning Star flag-raising. Endriko said he arrested Melvin Yobe and his friends upon taking orders from their superiors.
“I heard the Morning Star was banned. But I’m not aware if there is a regulation about it. I don’t know about the regulation, I just follow the order,” said Endriko responding to questions from the lawyer of the defendants.
Melvin Yobe and his friends were arrested last year when they were marching in front of the Papua Police Headquarters. At that time, Endriko was on watch, and heard a bunch of people screaming “Free Papua”. “One person shouted, ‘Papua’, then the other answered ‘freedom’,” said Endriko.
Endriko stated that Melvin Yobe and his friends also brought a banner with the Morning Star picture on it. Endriko said he recognized it was the Morning Star because he had seen it on the news.
He then reported the matter to his superior, Chief Brig. Didik Hermawan. “‘I saw the Morning Star, Sir,’ I told him,” Endriko recounted his report to Didik.
According to Endriko, Didik continued his report to First Insp. Barnabas F Simbiak who, at that time, was at the Papua Police Integrated Police Service Center (SPKT). Not long after, Endriko received an order to pursue and capture Melvin Yobe and his friends.
Endriko and the other four police officers arrested Melvin Yobe and his friends carried the Morning Star flag tied to a branch. They also carried banners that read “Self Determination for West Papua, Stop Militarism in West Papua” and “Indonesia Must Immediately Open Access for the Investigation Team of the UN Human Rights Commission to West Papua”. Endriko admitted he did not know the meaning of the former as it was written in English. “It was written in English, I didn’t know what it was,” he said.
Endriko then took the seven defendants to the Papua Police SPKT. After that, staff from the Papua Police General Criminal Investigation Directorate came and took Melvin Yobe and his friends. “I chased them, brought them to SPKT, then they were picked up by the Criminal Investigation Unit,” said Endriko.
Endriko thought that the Morning Star flag represented the aspirations of Melvin Yobe and his friends to separate themselves from Indonesia. He also said he often heard shouts of “Free Papua” during protests in Jayapura City. However, when the defendants’ lawyer asked Endriko if he thought Papua would become independent immediately after the people raised the Morning Star, he replied it would not happen that way.
Other than presenting Endriko, the Public Prosecutor also presented Didik Hermawan, Endriko’s superior. Didik confirmed that he received Endriko’s report about people marching while carrying the Morning Star flag and a banner with the Morning Star picture.
Didik reported the matter to his superior, Barnabas F Simbiak, then received orders to chase the Morning Star raisers. “I asked Mr. Simbiak, ‘Commander, what should I do?’ He told me to chase them,” said Didik.
Didik testified he knew the Morning Star from the colors and symbols. He said that the Morning Star was the flag of the Free Papua Organization (OPM). However, he said he only learned that the flag was banned. “At first, I didn’t know it was banned because I’m new here, I just came to Papua,” he said.
When asked what regulation explicitly prohibits the Morning Star, Didik said that he was only carrying out orders from his superiors and that he had just served in Papua. “At the time, I was confused. I was ordered to chase, so I chased. I am new to Papua,” he said.
During the trial, the panel of judges gave Melvin Yobe and his friends the opportunity to question the two witnesses. Melvin Yobe asked whether their arrest was according to the procedure, and both police officers claimed that the arrest was according to the procedure. (*)
West Papuan women protesting the creation of new provinces in Manokwari on International Women's Day this year. Photo: VeronicaKoman/Twitter
Indonesian security forces massacred scores of people in Biak, West Papua, 24 years ago on July 6, 1998. The victims included women and children who had gathered for a peaceful rally. They were killed at the base of a water tower flying the West Papuan Morning Star flag.
The flag was raised above the water tower near Biak’s harbour on July 2. Activists and local people gathered beneath it, singing songs and holding traditional dances. As the rally continued, many more people in the area joined in and numbers swelled to 500.
Security forces attacked the demonstrators a few days later, massacring scores of people. Others were rounded up and later taken out to sea where they were thrown off naval ships and drowned. No Indonesian security force member has been charged or brought to justice for the human rights abuses committed against the peaceful demonstrators.
According to the Papuan Institute for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy (Elsham Papua) eight people died, three went missing, four were severely injured, 33 mildly injured, and 150 people arrested and persecuted during the Biak massacre. Elsham Papua also reported that 32 bodies were found in the Biak waters around that time.
Elsham Papua also reported that the Australian government knew of the massacre, but failed to condemn the Indonesian military. Shortly after the massacre, Australian military attaché and intelligence officer, Dan Weadon, visited Biak from Jakarta, where he was stationed at the Australian embassy.
Weadon was handed photographic evidence by West Papuans on Biak, according to the report. The photos were distributed to his superiors within the department of defence, but never saw the light of day. New evidence obtained under Freedom of Information suggests they have since been destroyed by the defence department, despite consistent calls for a proper investigation into the atrocity.
Australian West Papua Association’s (AWPA) Joe Collins said: "It’s tragic that the Australian government helped cover up a massacre in West Papua and even now are still reluctant to raise the issue of human rights abuses in West Papua with Jakarta. The message for West Papuans is that they will not receive much support from Canberra in their struggle for justice under Indonesian rule, at this stage. This is not to take away from the many individual parliamentarians and Senators who do raise concern about the human rights situation in the territory.”
The 51st Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is being held in Fiji from July 11‒14. West Papua is on the PIF agenda and AWPA hopes the abuses in West Papua will be raised with Indonesia — a forum dialogue partner.
Collins said: “The situation in West Papua continues to deteriorate with ongoing armed clashes between the Indonesian security forces and the West Papua National Liberation Army. The security forces have cracked down on peaceful demonstrations against the decision to create three new provinces in the territory, arresting and beating many of the demonstrators. The decision to create more provinces is a divide and rule tactic by Jakarta. More provinces mean more security forces and will only lead to more human rights abuses.
“There are also large numbers of internal refugees created by the military operations in Nduga and the Maybrat Regency over the past years.”
The creation of new autonomous regions in Papua continues to be opposed by indigenous communities that see it as Jakarta’s ploy to gain tighter control over a region tarnished by violence.
They fear it will further discriminate against them and escalate conflict in the resource-rich area where the population, mostly Christian, live in poverty due to discriminatory politics.
For years the region’s resources have been plundered and the people treated with disdain, with only the churches and civil society groups supporting them.
At the end of June, Indonesia's parliament unanimously passed a bill on the formation of three new provinces: South Papua, Central Papua, and Papua Mountains. Papua province is to be split, while West Papua remains. Thus, the region will now have five provinces. The government even mulled adding two more provinces, Southwest Papua and North Papua.
While administrative expansion usually brings joy to other parts of Indonesia, the opposite is the case in Papua. They oppose it for various reasons. They see it as a political gambit by the central government desperately seeking to gain firmer control over the restive region.
Soon after the bill was passed, the Papua People’s Council condemned the government and parliament. Council chairman, Timoteus Murib, accused the Joko Widodo administration of intentionally splitting Papuans to conquer them.
The split is seen more as a political move to narrow room for the armed separatist movement rather than improve conditions for local people. Some churchgoers admitted that only a handful of people, a few local elites, were consulted about the process.
Nevertheless, the establishment of new provinces will likely expand the scope of Catholic Church services in Papua. Currently, it has four dioceses and an archdiocese. This new development may lead to the creation of more dioceses.
It will also open doors for more non-native Papuans to come in which could pose a threat to locals.
Papua’s human resources index remains the worst in the country. It means that only a small number of them are qualified for crucial posts in the new bureaucracies. Most of the jobs will be snapped by non-native Papuans who are better educated.
Local people are worried that with mediocre skills they will not only fail to get good jobs but also be outnumbered. In the end, it will increase the level of unrest and violence when the non-natives have an inadequate understanding of the local socio-cultural context.
Papua province has a population of around 3.4 million. Splitting it into four autonomous units will mean that each province will have less than a million people on average.
The sending of non-native soldiers and police officers is quite intimidating. It prolongs the trauma of Papuans. In the past two years over 46,200 soldiers and police officers were deployed in security operations in Papua, according to the Institute of Human Rights Studies and Advocacy (Elsham). Their presence failed to resolve anything.
Separately, the National Human Rights Commission recorded 1,182 cases of violence in Papua during the 2020-2021 period, nearly half — 480 — were related to police shootings and torture.
Apart from threats from separatists and police violence, Papuans also fear the creation of new administrative regions will result in the extinction of social cohesion, even eliminating family bonds among people.
Now that the government cannot reverse its decision to form new provinces the challenge is to allay people’s fears their establishment is a tool to weaken Papuans and disengage them from independence activities.
There must be concrete action to prove that the government has good intentions to end the conflict in Papua and improve people’s lives.
Training should be provided to young Papuans to enable them to take charge of important jobs within the newly established regions.
The government should refrain from sending more troops to Papua. Above all, there’s been distrust between the Papuans and the central government. The government must take the opportunity to start building trust among Papuans, by working closely with civil, religious, and tribal leaders, as well as Papuan women and youths.
It’s all necessary to address the root causes of conflict.
*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.
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