2) West Papua: Indonesia troops arrested for killings
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https://en.jubi.id/timika-murder-family-of-victims-search-bodies-without-help-from-police/
1) Timika murder: Family of victims search bodies without help from police
Murder And Mutilation By TNI Personnel - News Desk
30 August 2022
Demonstration of families of victims of murder and mutilation in Timika. This action was carried out at KM 11, Wania District, Mimika Regency, Monday (29/8/2022) - IST
Jayapura, Jubi TV – Following the murder of four Papuans in Timika, Mimika Regency – Arnold Lokbere, Rian Nirigi, Elemaniel “Leman” Nirigi, and Atis Tini, the family of victims said they searched for the bodies without the help of the police, Indonesian Military (TNI), or Mimika SAR team. The family has been searching for the victims ever since they went missing on August 22, 2022.
“We reported them missing but there was no movement from the police or the SAR team. So we were looking for the victims ourselves,” said Pale Gwijange, cousin of the late Arnold Lokbere, during a protest with other victims’ families at KM 11, Wania District, Mimika Regency on Monday, August 29.
Gwijange regretted the mass media coverage that said the police searched for the murder victims when in reality they did not, not until Monday at least.
“Until today, there is no such thing as police or SAR team searching for victims’ bodies. The two bodies that have been found were found by the people and the family. We regret the false narrative in the media,” he said on Monday.
Gwijange said that four days after his cousin went missing, the people of Tipagu village in Timika found Arnold Lokbere’s body in the river. The body was found with no head and no legs. The day after, Gwijange and other victims’ families found the body of Leman Nirigi not far from where Arnold’s body was found. Leman was also found with no head and legs.
“The other two, Irian Nirigi and Atis Tini, have not been found until now,” said Gwijange.
The victims’ families said the murder was a gross human rights violation
and demanded President Joko Widodo, the TNI commander, and the National Police chief be held responsible for the killings.
“It was a premeditated murder. We do not accept the death of our family members. They are all civilians. They had nothing to do with the armed groups,” Gwijange said, adding that there was an attempt to eliminate evidence by burning the car used by the victims, in addition to mutilating the victims’ bodies before drowning them in the river.
Papua Police spokesman Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said the killings might be related to a weapons trade as one of the four victims was linked to an armed group.
“From the results of the investigation, one of the victims namely Leman Nirigi is a sympathizer of an armed group led by Egianus Kogoya who are actively looking for weapons and ammunition in Mimika Regency,” Kamal said, as quoted by Benar News.
However, Gwijange said, the four victims were all civilians. Three victims were residents of Nduga Regency while Atis Tini lived in Timika.
Amnesty International Indonesia said law enforcers must investigate the murder case thoroughly and transparently. “Law enforcement authority must ensure that all perpetrators are prosecuted fairly,” said Amnesty International Indonesia deputy director Wirya Adiwena in a written statement on Monday.
Wirya said TNI members suspected of being involved in the killings must be tried in a public court instead of military courts or only face internal sanctions. Amnesty, said Wirya, urged the authorities to ensure that there is no impunity in this case.
Separately, Gustaf Kawer, a Papuan human rights lawyer, said the killings were a shame to the Indonesian government, which was currently talking about resolving human rights violations. President Joko Widodo has talked about establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission but sadistic killings and mutilations keep occurring in Papua.
“We doubt the state’s commitment to resolving human rights violations because even though the president and the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs have pledged to resolve human rights cases, the security forces continue to kill Papuans. It is very dilemmatic for us Papuans to trust that the state will resolve human rights violations in the Land of Papua,” Kawer said.
Two suspected murderers are TNI
Papua Police General Criminal Investigation director Sr. Comr. Faisal Ramadhani said the four residents were allegedly killed and mutilated by three civilians and six TNI members on August 22 at SP 1 Mimika Baru District. The motive for this murder, police said, was a robbery by deceiving the victims to buy AK 47 and FN firearms.
The six TNI members allegedly involved in the murder were Maj. Inf HF, Capt. Inf DK, Chief Pvt. PR, First Pvt. RAS, First Pvt. RPC and First Pvt. R. Meanwhile, the civilians allegedly involved were Andre Pudjianto Lee aka Jeck, Dul Umam, and Rafles. The three civilians have been arrested and named suspects.
XVIII/Cenderawasih Military Command head of Information Lt. Col. Kav Herman Taryaman said that the six TNI soldiers were now being investigated by Subdenpom Timika.
Meanwhile, XVII/Cenderawasih Military Command chief Maj. Gen. Teguh Muji Angkasa said Pomdam XVII/Cenderawasih had detained the six army.
“TNI Commander Gen. Andika Perkasa and Army Chief of Staff [KSAD] Gen. Dudung Abdurachman have ordered the Army Military Police [Puspomad] to investigate this case thoroughly. We are committed to upholding the law and will impose strict sanctions for those proven guilty,” said Teguh. (*)
Four West Papuan civilians were brutally murdered and their bodies dumped in a river in the Pigapu-Logopon Village in the Mimika Regency on August 22.
According to the Australia West Papua Association, the victims were residents of neighbouring Nduga district where there are regular clashes between the Indonesian security forces and the Free Papua movement.
Residents from the local village found four mutilated bodies in sacks in a nearby river, according to media reports.
Three civilians and six Indonesian soldiers accused of involvement in the killings have been arrested, according to one media report.
AWPA condemned the killings. AWPA spokeperson Joe Collins told Green Left: “Although six elite troops who are accused of involvement in the killing were arrested, it should be remembered that it’s rare for Indonesian security forces to be put on trial for human rights abuses in West Papua. Those that are usually receive very light sentences.”
When four Kopassus troops were convicted in 2001 for killing West Papuan resistance figure Chief Theys Eluay, they only received a two-year sentence. The Commander in Chief of the Indonesian army at the time said the soldiers should be considered “heroes”, said AWPA.
Collins said: "Australia is involved in training and aiding the Indonesian security forces. If the idea is to make the Indonesian military more professional, the behaviour of the Indonesian troops in West Papua shows it is a total failure.”
August 30 marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. United Nations human rights experts expressed serious concerns in March this year about the deteriorating human rights situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua, citing shocking abuses against indigenous Papuans, including child killings, disappearances, torture and mass displacement of people.
Collins said: "According to Canberra we have a special relationship with Indonesia. It's time for Canberra to use its good will with Indonesia to call on Jakarta to allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to be allowed into West Papua to conduct an urgent independent investigation into the human rights situation, as other Pacific leaders have done."
A team of military police investigators has placed the suspects in detention for 20 days to allow the investigation of the murder case, Chief of the Indonesian Army’s Information Service Brigadier General Tatang Subarna said in a written statement released on Tuesday.
"The suspects are being held in custody at Subdenpom (military police sub-detachment) XVII/C's detention cell in Mimika. (They will be detained) from Monday (August 29) till September 17, 2022," he informed.
The six suspects comprise a major, a captain, a chief soldier, and three first privates from the infantry brigade of the Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) 20/IJK/3.
Subarna said the army is serious about probing the case thoroughly and will impose firm and serious sanctions on the suspects in accordance with the law.
Earlier, Director of the General Crime Investigation Unit of the Papua Provincial Police Senior Commissioner Faizal Rahmadani said that the police have arrested and detained three of the suspects.
They are being held in custody at the Mimika Resort Police on the charge of murdering the residents on August 22.
The bodies of the residents were found in several places in Timika.
Three of the detained suspects have been identified by their initials as APL alias Jeck, DU, and R. They were arrested in different places.
Three of the slain Mimika residents have been identified as Arnold Lokbere, Irian Nirigi, and Leman Nirigi, while the fourth has remained unidentified.
The murder case came to light after the body of Lokbere was found on Friday (August 26) and the body of the unidentified resident was found on Saturday (August 27).
"Two other bodies have not been found, and the motive behind the sadistic murder is also still unknown," Faizal said.
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- The son of a soldier, Mbah Gimbal was once an illegal gun runner operating in various parts of Indonesia.
- After a year in jail, he embarked on a seven-year journey of spiritual enlightenment across Java on foot.
- Mbah Gimbal then migrated to Papua to start a new life, where, along with his wife and like-minded associates, he established a community education center and permaculture farm.
- Since then, he has taught hundreds of students and their parents the principles of permaculture and environmental conservation.
SORONG, Indonesia — Thriving across half a hectare in the hills of West Papua’s Mariat district are mustard greens, long beans, spinach, chilies and tomatoes. There’s also fruit such as watermelon and soursop, and tubers including taro, cassava and sweet potatoes. These bountiful crops have all been planted by Mbah Gimbal, who once sold illegal firearms but now shares the principles of permaculture in one of Indonesia’s poorest regions.
When he established the farm in 2018, on land next to a graveyard, Mbah Gimbal first planted porang, a type of tuber commonly found in the area. Since then, 2,500 porang seeds have grown into seedlings.
Originally from Malang in East Java province, Eko Task Kusno Setio, who goes by Mbah Gimbal (a nod to his prominent dreadlocks, known in Indonesian as rambut gimbal, or “messy hair”), practices permaculture, a model of farming that prioritizes balance and sustainability and is supported by patterns of permanent agriculture.
“This is the culture of our ancestors that was lost, and which must be developed again,” he said in an interview. “These days, so-called modern agriculture, modern farming, doesn’t use conservation principles. In permaculture, it is these principles that are most important.”
For Mbah Gimbal, agricultural modernization is “nonsense” and exacerbates environmental damage. Directly or indirectly, farmers are taught to depend on chemicals. That means all their needs, from seeds to fertilizers and medicines, can’t be separated from industrial production methods, Mbah Gimbal said. This, he added, all boils down to capitalist business interests.
With the concept of permaculture, farmers work with nature while maintaining ecological balance, he said.
For fertilizer, Mbah Gimbal collects organic waste such as discarded fruit and vegetables from the community, which he ferments with local microorganisms he cultures himself. While most farmers use inorganic mulch made from synthetic materials such as plastic, which over time damages the soil, Mbah Gimbal produces his own organic mulch from weeds and leaves.
“This is how we become independent farmers, not dependent on anything or anyone,” he said. “Everything is collected from nature and the environment.”
Many years before becoming a permaculture practitioner, Mbah Gimbal was a successful duck breeder in Java who owned an incubator with a capacity for 12,000 birds. The eggs were processed into salted duck eggs and purchased by traders from across East Java and as far as Bali. He also had a side business selling used cars.
Just as it did for countless others across the region, the 1998 Asian financial crisis left Mbah Gimbal bankrupt. Despite selling all his livestock assets he was unable to pay his debts, while his used car business was also unable to sustain him.
“At that time I was preparing to get married,” he said. “But it was called off because I went bankrupt. My prospective in-laws did not approve.”
It appeared to Mbah Gimbal that the only business that withstood the financial crisis and remained lucrative was the illegal firearms trade. Before his duck farming and used car businesses collapsed, he had already begun making inroads into the black market for weapons.
The son of a soldier, Mbah Gimbal was introduced to firearms when he joined the military service program in 1988. Back then, conscription was mandatory for the children of military personnel. During his training, Mbah Gimbal stood out as a sniper. Those same rifle skills later gained him membership in Perbakin, the national shooting association of Indonesia.
His fellow members in the association had impressive firearms collections, a mix of domestically produced and imported guns. Mbah Gimbal set out on his own buying and selling weapons illegally. He kept it secret from even his father.
From East Java, Mbah Gimbal’s gun running soon expanded to the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. In the latter, he caught the attention of a timber baron who requested his services as a bodyguard. But in 1999, Mbah Gimbal was arrested by police, having been on their radar too for several years.
After a year in jail, during which he vowed to leave the illegal firearms trade, he settled in Sampit, in the Bornean province of Central Kalimantan, as a place of refuge. There, he met a Sufi teacher who remains his spiritual guide to the present day. For a year, Mbah Gimbal underwent a process of spiritual cleansing, before his teacher instructed him to embark on a pilgrimage across Java, giving him not a penny but only this advice: “Ask for nothing, reject nothing, keep nothing.”
For seven years, Mbah Gimbal traversed a large part of the island on foot, meeting religious leaders and visiting the graves of those who had died. He began at the Great Mosque of Demak in Central Java, traveled to Cirebon in West Java, then along the southern coast to Banyuwangi in East Java, before returning to Demak. He walked this route three times.
“I learned that we have to be grateful for what we have, and that we shouldn’t mess around,” he said.
After completing his spiritual journey, Mbah Gimbal was invited to establish an Islamic boarding school in Jepara, Central Java. This venture only lasted a year, however, and in 2015 he migrated to Papua, in Indonesia’s far east.
He first tried his hand selling the popular meatball-and-noodles soup bakso in the city of Sorong. But the social inequality he witnessed there discomfited him. Things didn’t improve when he moved to a new location, where he witnessed many Indigenous Papuan children skipping school and sniffing glue. These conditions prompted him to establish a social association, Komunitas Peduli Papua (Papua Care Community, which goes by the portmanteau Kompipa).
Together with his wife and several like-minded associates, Mbah Gimbal opened a “nature school” and visited local villages to invite children to study. Kompipa manages donation opportunities for the school.
“Our initial target was how these 12-year-old Papuan children could achieve basic literacy and numeracy levels,” he said.
As soon as the nature school program was up and running, Mbah Gimbal’s focus shifted to the students’ parents through a “work with nature” program, with permaculture on the curriculum.
In the years since, hundreds of people have learned about permaculture from Mbah Gimbal, both at this permaculture farm and in their own villages. He continues to share natural ways of planting with permaculture patterns, helping the community meet its need for healthy food, while also preserving the environment.
This story was reported by Mongabay’s Indonesia team and first published here on our Indonesian site on July 24, 2022.
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