OBITUARY: By Andreas Harsono in Jakarta
Filep Karma, a prominent Papuan activist and former political prisoner, was found dead yesterday on a beach in the Papuan city of Jayapura.
He had been on a diving trip with his brother-in-law and nephew, and apparently went diving alone after his relatives left the trip early.
Karma, 63, a master diver with three decades’ experience, was found wearing his scuba diving suit.
- READ MORE: Papuan ex-political prisoner Filep Karma found dead on Jayapura beach
- Other Filep Karma reports
His daughter said he had died because of a tragic “accident and drowning”.
I had met Karma in 2008 when I visited a Jayapura prison to interview political inmates.
Karma was clearly the leader that the other prisoners looked to for inspiration. He articulated his principles for the human rights and self-determination of the Papuan people.
We quickly became friends, discussing and debating the human rights situation in Papua.
Educated about mistreatment
Filep Karma was born in 1959 in Jayapura, the capital of Indonesia’s Papua province. Karma told me his father educated him about the mistreatment of Indigenous Papuans under Indonesian rule.
In 1998, Karma organised a protest on Biak Island, calling for independence for Papua while raising the Morning Star flag, a symbol of independence banned by Indonesia’s government.
Indonesian military forces violently broke up the protest. Karma was imprisoned, then released in 1999.
In 2004, he organised another Morning Star protest following the killing of Theys Eluai, another pro-independence leader. The authorities tried and sentenced Karma to 15 years in prison for “treason”.
In 2010, Human Rights Watch published a report on political prisoners in Papua and the Moluccas Islands, launching a global campaign to release the prisoners.
Karma’s detention a ‘violation’
In 2011, Karma’s mother, Eklefina Noriwari, petitioned the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention for Karma’s release. The working group determined Karma’s detention had violated international law, and called on the Indonesian government to release him.
The authorities only released Karma in 2015.
After his release, Karma embraced a wider agenda of political activism. He spoke about human rights and environmental protection. He campaigned for the rights of minorities. He organised help for political prisoners’ families.
Karma’s humour, integrity, and moral courage was an inspiration to many people. His death is a huge loss, not only for Papuans, but for many people across Indonesia and the Pacific who have lost a human rights hero.
Andreas Harsono is the Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch where this article was first published. Republished with the author’s permission.
By David Robie
A tragic day of mourning. Thousands thronged the West Papuan funeral cortège today and tonight as the banned Morning Star led the way in defiance of the Indonesian military.
There haven’t been so many Papuan flags flying under the noses of the security forces since the 2019 Papuan Uprising.
Filep Jacob Semuel Karma, 63, the “father” of the Papuan nation, was believed to be the one leader who could pull together the splintered factions seeking self-determination and independence.
- READ MORE: Papuan ex-political prisoner Filep Karma found dead on Jayapura beach
- Filep Karma’s death as reported in Tabloid Jubi – Bahasa Indonesian
- Papuan activist dies in ‘apparent diving incident’ in Jayapura
- Filep Karma: A Papuan human rights hero and huge loss to the Pacific
- Other Filep Karma reports
It is still shocking a day after his lifeless body in a wetsuit was found on a Jayapura beach.
Police and Filep Karma’s family say they had no reason to believe that his death resulted from foul play, report Jubi editor Victor Mambor in Jayapura and Nazarudin Latif from Jakarta for Benar News.
“I followed the post-mortem process and it was determined that my father died from drowning while diving,” Karma’s daughter, Andrefina Karma, told reporters.
But many human rights advocates and researchers aren’t so convinced.
Speculation on reasons
Some are speculating about the reasons why peaceful former political prisoner Filep Karma was perceived to be an obstruction for Jakarta’s “development” plans for the Melanesian provinces.
“There were too many strange circumstances around his death and questioning police’s influence on the family. We are not accepting this as an accident,” declared Indonesian human rights Veronica Koman in a tweet.
“He was a father of the nation in the making – similar to Theys Eluay who was assassinated in 2001,” she said.
“Indonesia would like to prevent this. An independent investigation must take place into his death.”
Koman noted that while Indonesian human rights defenders shared their condolences, there was silence from the Jakarta state establishment.
Amnesty International has also called for an independent investigation.
Tributes pour in
Tributes have poured in from many of his friends, colleagues and fellow activists across Indonesia and the Pacific.
Indonesia researcher Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch wrote: “Filep Karma’s humour, integrity, and moral courage was an inspiration to many people. His death is a huge loss, not only for Papuans, but for many people across Indonesia and the Pacific who have lost a human rights hero.”
The Diplomat’s Southeast Asia editor Sebastian Strangio wrote: “Karma trod a path that avoided the extremes of violent rebellion and acquiescence to what many Papuans view as essentially foreign rule.
“Whether this approach ever would have achieved Karma’s long-held goal of independence and autonomy for the Papuan people is unclear, but his passing will clearly leave a large vacuum.”
He was a former civil servant who, dismayed at how many Indonesian state officials treated West Papuans, spurned a good salary to dedicate his life to West Papua.
Although standing for “justice, democracy, peace and non-violent resistance, he was jailed for 11 years for raising the Morning Star flag.
One of the most comprehensive tributes to Karma was offered by Benny Wenda, leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), saying that the day was a “national day of mourning for the West Papuan people — all of us, whether in the bush, in the cities, in the refugee camps, or in exile”.
‘Great leader’
“Filep Karma was a great leader and a great man,” says Wenda.
“Across his life, he held many roles and won many accolades — he was a ULMWP Minister for Indonesian and Asian affairs, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and the longest serving peace advocate in an Indonesian jail.
“But he was first of all a frontline leader, present at every single protest, reassuring and inspiring all West Papuans who marched or prayed with him.
“Filep was there at the Biak Massacre in 1998, when 200 Papuans, many of them children, were murdered by the Indonesian military. Despite being shot several times in the leg that day, his experience of Indonesian brutality never daunted him.
“He continued to lead the struggle for liberation, whether in prison or in the streets.
“For West Papuans, Filep was equivalent to Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King.
“The history of our struggle lived within him.”
‘How did he die?’
Now Benny Wenda says: “The big question is this: how did Filep die?” (He reportedly died while surfing despite being a skilled diver.)
“Indonesia systematically eliminates West Papuans who fight against their occupation. Sometimes they will kill us in public, like Theys Eluay and Arnold Ap, who was murdered and his body dumped on the same beach Filep died on.”
But Wenda adds, it is more common for West Papuans to “die in mysterious ways” or face character assassination, as in the case of Papua Governor Lukas Ensemble.
Filip Karma was a courageous and inspirational man of peace.
However, tonight at the funeral procession in Jayapura, many have been singing:
“Because Papua wants to be free. . .
“Indonesia likes to kill people . . .
“Indonesia likes to shoot people…”
3) Wenda pays tribute to 'West Papua's Nelson Mandela'
Jayapura, Jubi – Free Papua activist Filep Karma passed away at 63 on Tuesday, November 1, 2022. Karma’s daughter Andrefina Karma confirmed that his father died in a diving accident in the waters of Base G Beach, Jayapura City.
Andrefina said she followed the external post-mortem process of Filep Karma’s body. The results showed that Filep Karma died from drowning while diving.
“To all friends of Filep Karma who know him as a Papuan nation’s figure, I am very sorry he has left us all. I have participated in the post-mortem, it is clear that he died from drowning while diving,” Andrefina Karma said on Tuesday.
Andrefina received a phone call on Tuesday morning asking her to immediately come to Base G Beach. Filep Karma was found dead at the beach at around 7 a.m. Papua time. Andrefina said her father left home to dive on Sunday. She said there was a family member who met the late Karma on Sunday morning.
“They swam together. But our family member went home alone because Filep Karma said he still wanted to swim but the tide was high so he waited,” said Andrefina.
The daughter said the family wanted the best for Filep Karma and hoped there would be no hoaxes circulating around Karma’s death. Andrefina also asked the people not to protest regarding the death of her father.
“I invite all Papuans to let Filep Karma go. There is no need for violence or demonstration against his death. Let us pray together for our father Filep Karma,” she said.
On the other hand, a number of Papuan activists have yet to accept that Filep Karma died in a diving accident. They wanted an investigation into the death of Filep Karma.
West Papua National Committee (KNPB) activist Ogram Wanimbo, who paid his respects at the funeral home in Dok 5 on Tuesday, said Filep Karma was a West Papuan figure much respected by people from Sorong to Merauke. Wanimbo hopes that Filep Karma’s family will understand if the public wants to know the chronology of Filep Karma’s death more clearly.
“The complete chronology of Fileph Karma’s death must be revealed transparently to the public. We are very dissatisfied with the post-mortem results. We need an explanation of who went to the beach with him and what exactly happened,” he said.
Papuan People’s Petition spokesperson Jefri Wenda said he was saddened by Filep Karma’s passing. He also emphasized that Filep Karma was a West Papuan national figure, therefore many parties want to know the full chronology of his death.
“We ask for a more detailed explanation. Filep Karma is the leader of the West Papuan nation from the Biak tribe. He was no ordinary person. We ask that all parties respect his struggle,” he said.
Chairman of the Papua Customary Council Dominikus Surabut said his party also did not fully believe that Filep Karma’s death was purely an accident. “The family said it was a pure accident but until now, I don’t believe it. Let there be an investigation into it,” Surabut said. (*)
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