https://en.jubi.id/bloody-wasior-survivors-ask-for-the-case-to-be-resolved-through-the-human-rights-court/
1) Bloody Wasior survivors ask for the case to be resolved through the Human Rights Court
Bloody Wasior Human Rights Violation - News Desk
Jayapura, Jubi – The Manokwari Institute for Research, Assessment and Development of Legal Aid (LP3BH Manokwari) on October 17 and 18, 2022 met with survivors, families of victims, and witnesses of the alleged 2001 Bloody Wasior gross human rights violations in Wondama Bay Regency. The survivor and families of victims asked the government to resolve the case through the Human Rights Court.
“The survivors and families of victims do not wish it to be resolved through a non-judicial channel. It must go through the Human Rights Court,” said Executive Director of LP3BH Manokwari Cristian Yan Warinussy when contacted by Jubi via WhatsApp message service on Wednesday, October 19, 2022.
The meeting was held by LP3BH Manokwari following the issuance of Presidential Decree No. 17/2022 on the Establishment of a Team for the Non-Judicial Resolution of Past Gross Human Rights Violations. Warinussy said the survivors and victims’ families rejected it because many victims had been revictimized by being made suspects, arrested, detained, persecuted, brought to court, and convicted as guilty people even though they were not involved in the attack on June 13, 2001, that killed five mobile brigade members.
“In addition, the case files have been submitted by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to the Attorney General’s Office, and there has never been a termination of the investigation. The families of victims also fear that with the non-judicial resolution, they will be forced to accept a settlement outside of legal channels. They do not want it,” Warinussy said.
He emphasized that in the Wasior case, it was suspected that gross human rights violations had occurred in the form of crimes that tend to lead to genocide as stipulated in Articles 7, 8, and 9 of Law No. 26/2000 on Human Rights Courts.
“This is implied by the Komnas HAM’s Investigation Report on the Wasior tragedy in 2006. The investigation was done from December 17, 2003, to March 17, 2004,” he said.
Warinussy said President Joko Widodo should take legal steps to ensure that Komnas HAM and the AGO carry out the legal process of the Bloody Wasior. He said the criminals against humanity in the incident are still alive and must be tried in the Human Rights Court.
A member of elite Special Forces Commandos (Kopassus) leads other soldiers as they march during an Armed Forces Day parade commemorating the 77th anniversary of the Indonesian military at the main business district in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 5, 2022 [Tatan Syuflana/AP]
Melbourne, Australia – Australia says it will continue to provide military training, conduct joint exercises and export weapons to Indonesia despite increased violence and allegations of human rights abuses in West Papua, in the far east of the archipelago, where conflict has been rumbling for decades.
The Australian Department of Defence confirmed in a statement to Al Jazeera that Anthony Albanese’s government, which was elected in May, would continue to supply arms to Indonesian forces and provide them with military training.
“Indonesia is one of Australia’s most important partners. Australia will continue to conduct joint exercises, provide military and policy training, and – consistent with appropriate legislation – export military equipment to Indonesia,” the statement said.
Despite some rocky patches, Australia has had a longstanding military relationship with Indonesia, including joint training and weapons supply, with Thales Australia selling three Bushmaster troop carriers to Kopassus, Indonesia’s elite forces, in 2014.
Military units, such as Kopassus, conduct joint training exercises with the Australian SAS, the country’s special forces, while Detachment 88 — also known as Densus 88, a counterterrorism force set up in the wake of the 2002 Bali Bombings — gets funding and training from both Australia and the United States.
Such initiatives have been credited with reducing the threat from hardline groups, but Indonesian forces remain under scrutiny over allegations of serious human rights abuses in West Papua, where Indigenous people have been fighting for independence for 50 years.
Amid armed resistance from West Papuan independence fighters such as the Free Papua Movement, or Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM), which reportedly targeted Indonesian civilians, more military and special forces units were sent to the area.
Although the area was relatively peaceful during the presidency of Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian military engagement has remained during the administrations of other presidents, including President Joko Widodo, who is now in his second term.
A recent plan to create three new administrative regions in the area triggered peaceful protests in June where some 44 people were arrested. Amnesty International said the police responded with “an excessive use of force”.
Access limited
Even during the pandemic, Papua continued to rumble.
In 2020, an independent report published by UN experts found that at least 50,000 people had been displaced in the province due to violence. It cited allegations of the use of excessive force, torture and killings against Indigenous West Papuans by the police or military.
In the first six months of 2021, more than 6,000 people were forced to leave their homes due to ongoing violence between armed fighters from the pro-independent West Papuan groups and the Indonesian military, according to Amnesty.
Over the same period, 188 Papuan university students were arrested for staging peaceful protests, according to Amnesty. As of July 2022, at least 13 Papuan activists remain behind bars for “exercising their right to express political views”, including prominent independence activist Victor Yeimo who has been charged with treason.
Indonesian-based Human Rights Watch researcher Andreas Harsono told Al Jazeera that while “to some degree, the use of force in Papua is justified”, the rights of peaceful protesters and civilians were also being abused.
Harsono noted incidents of “extra-judicial killing, disappearances, kidnapping of Indigenous Papuan children, stealing, sexual violence against Papuan women [and] land grabbing” had taken place.
“Even wearing the Morning Star flag [the symbol of West Papuan independence] might see them prosecuted and jailed,” he said, noting that the refusal to allow outsiders access to the region meant such abuses went largely unreported.
Harsono argued Australia should be obligated to address such human rights issues in its joint training with Indonesian forces, accusing officials of “closing their eyes” to the abuses.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty say Indonesian operations against West Papuans are increasingly referred to as “anti-terrorism” activities to justify brutal crackdowns, with Amnesty reporting that “military and police personnel often justify the killing of Papuan residents by claiming that they were members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) or ‘armed criminal groups’ without any clear evidence”.
Benny Wenda, exiled West Papuan interim president of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua Provisional Government, accuses Indonesian forces of being the “terrorists”.
“Indonesia is committing terrorism against my people through their illegal occupation,” Wenda told Al Jazeera from his base in the United Kingdom: “We do not fight Indonesian people in Jakarta, in Java, but Indonesia comes to my land and terrorises my people. They are conducting an illegal war through their military forces in West Papua.”
Wenda said Australia has a “moral obligation to support West Papua”.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence spokesperson Dahnil Azhar Simanjuntak was contacted by Al Jazeera for this article but did not respond to questions.
Papuan refugees
Albanese made Indonesia his first international port of call after taking office.
He was seen cycling with Widodo through the grounds of the Presidential Palace and pledged closer economic ties.
Also on the trip was Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong — who addressed students in Jakarta in Bahasa — and one of the first-ever Muslim Australian federal ministers, Ed Husic, who has the industry and science portfolio.
Albanese was also accompanied by 12 executives representing industries from agriculture to commodities, including Chris Jenkins, CEO of the Australian division of Thales.
Despite the displays of goodwill, Australia’s relationship with its populous northern neighbour has often proved challenging, a situation underlined by Australia’s support for an independent East Timor in 1999.
In 2006, Australia also accepted 43 West Papuan political refugees, in a decision that threatened to sever ties altogether.
Adolf Mora was one of them.
“At that time, I was politically a student activist on the ground in West Papua,” he told Al Jazeera.
“We believe as Indigenous [West Papuans] we should have the right to self-determination and to have independence in West Papua.”
Mora told Al Jazeera that he and fellow student activists were forced to flee because of attacks by Indonesian security forces.
“It was very scary. The military powers and the intelligence, the police and the army itself came to the university. They were shooting at student activists who were actively doing the protest against the government.”
The group arrived in Australia in a traditional long-boat canoe.
“The last option was to leave West Papua and come across to Australia. We [thought] by reaching out to the international community our voice could be heard,” he said.
“We need[ed] protection — not just protection but to clarify that there are injustices still happening in West Papua, that people are being killed in every corner in West Papua in the villages.”
The 43 Papuans were granted refugee status in Australia and, amid the diplomatic fallout, a new treaty between the two countries was drafted.
The Lombok Treaty outlined a new agreement between the two countries, strengthening bilateral commitments to cooperate on “defence, law enforcement, counterterrorism, maritime security, and on emergency management and response”.
The Treaty also entailed a commitment to “strong support for each country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, including Indonesia’s sovereignty over Papua”.
In a statement to Al Jazeera, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Albanese government would continue to uphold the Lombok Treaty and support Indonesia’s claims of sovereignty over West Papua.
“Australia recognises Indonesia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its Papua provinces, as underlined in the 2006 Lombok Treaty,” the statement said.
Camellia Webb-Gannon, a lecturer and coordinator of the West Papua Project at the University of Wollongong and author of Morning Star Rising: The Politics of Decolonization in West Papua, told Al Jazeera the Lombok Treaty was “essentially a gag”.
“Each country agreed not to support or participate in activities that would challenge the territorial integrity or sovereignty of either country,” she said.
“Essentially that was Indonesia trying to say to Australia ‘you won’t say anything further about West Papuans or about human rights abuses’.”
Webb-Ganon argues Australia should take a more robust approach as it did in East Timor, but the geopolitical situation in the region has changed significantly in the past 20 years.
Not least China’s growing influence in the South China Sea and its testy relationshipwith Canberra.
Professor Tim Lindsey, director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the Melbourne University Law School, told Al Jazeera Australia needed the close ties with its northern neighbour outlined in the Lombok Treaty for security reasons.
“Indonesia would be extremely important strategically in the event of real conflict in the South China Sea,” he said. “What it is, is Australia’s shield.”
Sentani, Jubi – The contingent of the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) of North Sulawesi is bringing various vegetables to the sixth Congress of the Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (KMAN VI) to be held in Papua’s Tabi Customary Area on October 24-30, 2022.
Rikson Karundeng, an indigenous school activist from Tomohon, says it is a tradition named “rukup” or “rurup” that is done as a form of appreciation and respect for the indigenous people of Papua and the organizing committee.
“In Minahasa, there is a rukup tradition. This tradition is a spontaneous, voluntary, and heartfelt action from the community when there are joyful events, sorrow, and other activities in the community that need help from the collective,” said Rikson in a press release received by Jubi on Wednesday, October 19, 2022.
“For this congress, the North Sulawesi AMAN contingent will do that. We have collected vegetables and kitchen spices and are bringing them to Papua,” he continued.
The newly elected chair of the North Sulawesi AMAN Regional Committee, Kharisma Kurama, hopes that this rukup can be accepted and be useful in congress activities.
“We know the Land of Papua is very rich and can feed all participants from across the archipelago who will attend the congress. But we do this as a form of solidarity and respect for the Papuan people and the hard-working committee, who surely will receive us with full sincerity,” said Kharisma, who said he was now at the Port of Sorong, West Papua, on a sea journey to Jayapura.
“The indigenous people of Papua and all indigenous people in the archipelago who will be present at the congress are our families. So we think we can present this tradition at the congress,” he added.
Meanwhile, deputy chair of the Indigenous Youth Council of the Archipelago Omega Pantow, who is also a participant in the North Sulawesi contingent heading to Jayapura and a representation of the Tonsea indigenous youth, said even though they did not bring that many vegetables, they were nonetheless a symbol of solidarity and respect.
“We bring eight sacks of cabbage, five sacks of carrots, three sacks of potatoes, five sacks of chayote, five sacks of tomatoes, two sacks of green onions, and 30 kg of ginger,” Omega said. “These are agricultural products in Minahasa. In Papua, the price is many times higher,” Omega added.
According to Omega, the spirit of the indigenous youth from North Sulawesi to attend the congress was contained in the ‘souvenirs’ that were on their way to Papua.
“Our spirits are shown in the way we prepare ourselves to help the committee, prepare the stage performance, as well as when we harvest our vegetables and carry them in the ship. These vegetables are not much but there is the spirit of us indigenous youth in them that we will bring to the Land of Papua,” he said. (*)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.