Jayapura, Jubi – The Manokwari Sorong Diocese Catholic Church has recently persuaded the displaced people of Maybrat to return to their hometown in Kisor Village. However, they are still traumatized following what happened in Kisor on September 2, 2021, when, after the attack on Kisor Military Post, police officers especially the mobile brigade acted repressively against civilians while chasing the perpetrators of the attack.
Pastor Izaak Bame of the Manokwari Sorong Diocese told this as a response to the appeal of West Papua Governor Paulus Waterpauw to the Maybrat Regent to send the Maybrat displaced people home. Some of them are even still taking shelter in Maybrat forests.
Bame said the church also longs for the Maybrat community to return home. But the church regretted that there was no guarantee for the safety of the people, and it meant that the situation was not ideal for these people to return as they were still traumatized.
“It turns out that they experienced police brutality before. After the Kisor incident, wherein a mobile brigade member was killed, the security forces searched for the perpetrator but in the process, they also tortured the community, seized people’s belongings, and even arrested some people who had nothing to do with the murder in Kisor Military Post,” he told Jubi via WhatsApp on Thursday, August 25, 2022.
“As a Pastor, I would like to convey to the Governor that the Maybrat displaced people may return to their hometowns on the condition that there is a written agreement to immediately withdraw all Indonesian Military [TNI] and Police personnel in Maybrat Regency. The agreement must be stamped and signed by the [West Papua] Governor, [Maybrat] Regent, and the TNI and police, as well as the church as community representatives,” Bame added.
Bame said the local government must also guarantee the continuation of the teaching and learning process for the children of Maybrat. “Education is important for their future. We also urge that health workers be placed in the hometowns of the displaced people, especially in the center of the District capital,” he said.
He further asked the security forces not to interfere with priests, pastors, or church officials. “Please do not disturb the Church officers who are serving the people in the villages of the South Aifat and the Greater East Aifat,” he said. (*)
Jayapura, Jubi – If you look at the mangroves in Papua New Guinea from Vanimo in north-westernmost PNG to the provinces of East Sepik and Madang, you can see that their mangroves are thriving well. Even though there is nickel mining in East Sepik’s capital of Wewak, the mangroves are left untouched.
The West Papuan say the fish there are still tame and know no bait. No wonder the Ambai fishermen of West Papua who went fishing at Wewak successfully found and sold fish there.
In contrast, the mangroves in West Papua’s Youtefa Bay are disappearing at an alarming level. The loss of mangrove forests will greatly affect fish stocks in the Pacific Ocean. This is because mangroves are spawning grounds for various types of fish, snails, shellfish, and molluscs.
Researcher and head of the Fisheries Studies at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences John D Kallor told Jubi recently that mangrove forests in Youtefa Bay are already “sick”. “The loss of mangrove forests will lead to declining fish species in Youtefa Bay,” he said.
A resident of Injros Village, Nico Meraudje, told Jubi that bubara or bobara, mackerel, skipjack and goropah (grouper) fishes now rarely enter Youtefa Bay. “Only bulanak (bluespot mullet), samandar (rabbitfish), and squid that still remains in Youtefa Bay but there are just a few of them,” he said.
“We used to be able to see skipjack fish entering Youtefa Bay but now it is gone,” Nico added.
Similarly, a study by Cenderawasih University’s Public Health Sciences lecturer Hazmi in 2014 concluded that fish and shellfish in Youtefa Bay had been polluted with heavy metals such as lead.
“This condition is exacerbated by the behavior of residents who throw garbage directly into the four rivers that flow into Youtefa Bay. Moreover, Youtefa Bay is different from Hamadi beach which is directly exposed to the waves that garbage can be carried away by the current,” Hazmi told Jubi.
Hazmi said that when he conducted his research in 2014, Youtefa Bay was not as shallow as it is today. “In my study, I found that the water, fish, shellfish, and even the urine of residents around Youtefa Bay already contained heavy metals due to pollution,” he said.
Meanwhile, mud sediments that continue to enter Youtefa Bay are expected to worsen metal pollution in the waters.
Destruction of mangroves and fish stocks
The destruction of mangroves in Youtefa Bay, combined with the sedimentation that has made the lagoon even shallower, has damaged the habitat of fishes. It is no wonder that Papuan fishermen often go to the water borders of PNG, where there is still plenty of fish that are easy to catch.
The arrest of Indonesian fishermen in Papua New Guinea is not something new. But it is none other than a result of the decreasing fish stock in Papua waters. Fishermen go to the neighboring country’s waters as the fishing ground is not far, only 4-7 miles from the mainland.
The Antara news agency reported on June 7, 2019, that PNG police had arrested five Indonesian fishermen illegally fishing in the West Sepik province of PNG.
“It is true that five fishermen from Jayapura were arrested and currently detained in Vanimo,” Indonesian Consul in Vanimo Abraham Lebelauw said at that time.
Other than in Vanimo, Indonesian fishermen from Wakatobi were also arrested in southern PNG’s Daru Province for crossing the border and fishing there illegally. Among the fishes often caught there are the Chinese snapper, white snapper and kuro fish (threadfin).
Watchdog Destructive Fishing Watch (DFW) Indonesia recently received a report that one Indonesian-flagged fishing vessel had been arrested by PNG marine authorities. According to DFW Indonesia data, from May 2020 to November 2021, there have been six arrests that involve 34 Indonesian fishermen and crew. They were detained and tried in Papua New Guinea.
The latest incident is last week when PNG marine authorities chased three fishing boats from West Papua, resulting in the death of the captain of Calvin 02 fishing boat, who got shot in the neck. Two other vessels, Arsila 77 and Baraka Paris fishing boats were detained by the PNG authorities. (*)
Reiner Brabar, Sorong – The Greater Sorong Papua People's Petition (PRP) is continuing to hold actions protesting the formation of new autonomous regions (DOB) in the territory of West Papua. The latest action was held in front of the Elin Sorong traffic lights on Thursday August 23.
During a break in the action, Greater Sorong PRP Coordinator Apey Taramy said that that the PRP continues to hold to the principle of opposing any kind of unilateral policies by the Indonesian government.
"The Papuan people, from Sorong to Merauke, the people who are oppressed and colonised, continue to firmly oppose any and all policies forced [onto Papuans] from Jakarta. Whether it is Otsus [Special Autonomy] or regional expansion, which is supported by the local political elite or a handful of Papuan figures, who have a mission to perpetuate the oppression of the Papuan people", said Taramy.
It is no longer a secret, said Taramy, that their hidden agenda, which has been known from the start, is a mission to control and exploit Papua's natural resources (SDA).
"Otsus and the creation of these new provinces have been forced through to pursue their agenda in the interests of investment, their political interests, in the interests of controlling Papua. All of this is nothing more than to exploit Papua's natural resources", he explained.
According to Taramy, the action is a follow up to earlier protests and is being held to respond to a visit to West Papua by the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission II to gather views related to deliberations on the Draft Law on the Creation of South-West Papua Province (PBD) at a meeting with the governor and greater Sorong regional leadership on August 23 which is being held at the Lambert Jitmau building in Sorong city.
"We can see that one of the regions included in the expansion of the PBD province, namely Maybrat, there is no other more pressing interest, other than the appointment of acting regent Bernath Rondonuwu who is not an original son of Maybrat, except for natural resources that are ready to be exploited. 78,000 hectares of cement mining land in Mare, timber in Aifat, and the potential of nickel in the South Ayamaru region are valuable assets for capitalists whose existence has been protected for exploitation in the near future", he said.
Taramy also suspects that the Home Affairs Minister's appointment of Rondonuwu is none other than an effort by the Indonesian governed to exploit natural resources in Maybrat regency.
Several speakers at the action reiterated the Papuan people's opposition to the creation of new provinces in Papua. Natex, one of the demonstrators, said that the Indonesian government does not have any good intent in developing Papua, except to exploit its natural wealth. "Jakarta's plan is so ruthless and terrifying", said Natex.
The Greater Sorong PRP read out a statement of demands at the action:
- Revoke the draft law on the creation of South-West Papua Province.
- Revoke the revisions to the Special Autonomy Law.
- Reject the creation of new autonomous regions anywhere in the territory of West Papua, including the creation of PBD province.
- Immediately give Papuans the right to self-determination as a democratic solution for the Papuan people.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Sikap Tolak DOB dan Otsus Terus Berlanjut".]
Source: https://suarapapua.com/2022/08/27/sikap-tolak-dob-dan-otsus-terus-berlanjut/
Markus You, Nabire – The process of uncovering the alleged gross human rights violations that took place in the Bloody Paniai case on December 8, 2014, has failed to reveal the senior officer who allegedly gave the command to shoot into the crowd, which resulted in five people being killed and 11 others being injured.
Papua human rights activist and lawyer acting on behalf of the families of the victims of the Paniai tragedy, Yones Douw, says that declaring a single suspect in the case demonstrates the state's intent to protect human rights violators.
The determination of a sole suspect by the Attorney General completely goes against the testimonies of witnesses who revealed that a senior officer was involved in the bloody tragedy at the Karel Gobai Square in Enagotadi, Paniai.
According to witness testimonies, the shooting took place after there was an order to shoot.
"Witnesses revealed that in front of the people, the military officer who was on duty at the time give the order to shoot because they suspected that the long-march by a social organisation had been infiltrated by a third party. There was a command from a superior [officer], [but] there is only one suspect. That's illogical. Do they want to hide the other perpetrators? The state must be honest and open in uncovering the bloody Paniai case", Douw told Suara Papua in Nabire on Friday August 26.
Douw said that IS, a retired TNI (Indonesian military) officer who has been declared as the sole suspect in the case, is unknown to the various parties that have conducted investigations into the case in the Paniai regency.
"The suspect IS, who was declared as a defendant in the Paniai case, who entrusted him with this role? Because we didn't find his name in the bloody Paniai case. The determination of the suspect is not in line with the facts on the ground", he explained.
IS is a retired TNI member who at the time of the incident was a liaison officer with the Paniai District Military Command (Kodim).
Douw believes that right from the start the legal proceedings onto the Paniai case have demonstrated the unfairness, untruthfulness and dishonesty of law enforcement officials.
It is because of this that the families of the victims, the victims and the witnesses in the Paniai case have refused to attend the trial at the Makassar Human Rights Court in South Sulawesi.
"The indictment of just one suspect isn't in line with the facts on the ground. The families of the victims are very angry", he said.
He also believes that the Paniai trial in Makassar will just be a farce and for image building which will in fact not provide a sense of justice to the victims and the families of the victims.
"We as the families of the victims believe that the hearings into the Paniai case are simply to project a good image in the eyes of the international community, because it doesn't fit with the factions on the ground", said Douw.
Laurenzus Kadepa meanwhile, a member of the Papua Regional House of Representatives (DPRP) Commission I, says that the position of the victims and the families of the victims in refusing to attend the hearings in Makassar have to be understood as a form of disappointment with the state which aside from taking too long to address the case has only indicted a single suspect.
In a press release received by Suara Papua, Kadepa asked that the position taken by those refusing to attend the hearings, which are scheduled to be held this month, not be ignored.
"No matter what, the voices of the victims and the victim's families must be heard by the state, in this case the Attorney General of the Republic of Indonesia", said Kadepa.
An Amnesty International Indonesia report published in 2018 titled, Don't bother, just let him die – Killing with impunity in Papua, stated that the Paniai tragedy took place when hundreds of Papuans protested near the local police and military headquarters in response to an assault by military personnel on 11 Papua children the day before, on December 7, 2015, in the Ipakiye Village, around one kilometre from the Paniai Regional House of Representatives (DPRD).
The protest action by the hundreds of people, which was accompanied by the throwing of stones and wood in the direction of the sectoral police (Polsek) and sub-district military command (Koramil) offices, was greeted by bullets being fired in the direction of the crowd. Four people died on the spot and 11 others were injured.
A number of local residents told the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) that they saw the police shooting one of the demonstrators at close range, even after they had fallen to the ground.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Aktivis HAM Soroti Negara Lindungi Pelaku Tragedi Paniai Berdarah".]
Source: https://suarapapua.com/2022/08/26/aktivis-ham-soroti-negara-lindungi-pelaku-tragedi-paniai-berdarah/
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