Last week’s acquittal of Maj. (ret) Isak Sattu of all charges in the December 2014 fatal shooting of civilians in the Papuan regency of Paniai came as no surprise. From the very beginning, observers had doubted that justice could be served by the Makassar Human Rights Court in South Sulawesi, partially because Isak was the only person the prosecutors had indicted in the case.
As one Papuan human rights activist put it after the five justices delivered their three-to-two verdict on Dec. 8, the trial was designed to fail. Isak was only a liaison officer with the Paniai Military Command (Kodim) at the time of the shootings, which killed five people and injured 21 others.
The bench, nonetheless, agreed that the incident, dubbed Bloody Paniai, constituted a gross human rights violation. Security forces had opened fire into a crowd of demonstrators protesting the alleged beating of a young person the previous day by Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel.
But the fact that only Isak went to trial shows that the proceedings were no more than a formality, especially after early this year President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo formed a team to settle past crimes against humanity first and foremost through “non-judicial measures”.
Following its investigation into the Paniai shooting, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) recommended that rank-and-file soldiers and their superiors should shoulder the blame for the tragedy. The commission interviewed two dozen witnesses, analyzed documents and visited the scene to determine to what extent the TNI had been involved in the incident.
The failure of the Attorney General’s Office to bring all the alleged perpetrators of the Paniai shooting to justice is more than just a technical problem. There is an acute lack of political will on the part of not only law enforcement but the government as a whole to resolve past human rights violations.
The Paniai shooting is only the fourth gross human rights crime to be heard in court in the country, after the 1999 East Timor atrocities, the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre and the 2000 Abepura, Papua, incident. In all the cases, all the defendants – military, police and civilians – were acquitted of all charges, either by the ad hoc Human Rights Court or the Supreme Court.
There are many more cases the state is reluctant to address, despite repeated calls from Komnas HAM. The rights body’s list includes the 1965-1966 communist purge, the 1998 Trisakti shooting and ensuing Jakarta riots, the Semanggi I incident in 1998 and Semanggi II in 1999. The commission has also recorded a number of crimes against humanity in Papua, apart from the Paniai and Abepura incidents.
The not guilty verdict for Isak in the Paniai shooting is a grim reminder of the daunting challenges the nation faces in upholding human rights as mandated by the Constitution. The acquittal has sent the message, loud and clear, that impunity will persist for years to come unless the AGO takes bold measures – first by challenging the verdict and then by bringing everyone responsible for the tragedy to justice.
Jayapura, Jubi – Head of Sinak District Petrus Kogoya informed about a shooting allegedly carried out by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) led by Kalenak Murib against an employee of the Sinak Branch Office of the Papua Regional Development Bank (BPD) named Darius Yumame. The victim died of a gunshot wound to the head.
“On Tuesday, December 13, 2022, at 09:30 Papua time, at the Sinak Traditional Market (53M) in Gigobak Village, TPNPB troops led by Kalenak Murib shot Darius Yumame,” he told Jubi in a phone call on Tuesday, December 13, 2022.
Kogoya said the victim had been evacuated to the Sinak Health Center and his party was still coordinating with the Indonesian Military (TNI) and Police.
“It is still raining heavily in Sinak, therefore the evacuation process is constrained by the weather. The residents are in their homes standing by,” he said.
Papua Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ahmad Musthofa Kamal confirmed the shooting that occurred in Sinak Market, Puncak Regency, Central Papua Province on December 13. According to him, a bank employee in Sinak, Darius Julius Yumame (32) died on the spot with a gunshot wound to the head.
“The incident is true. The Puncak Police are currently handling the case,” Kamal said.
According to him, Yumame’s body has been evacuated by a joint TNI and Police team to the Sinak Health Center, Puncak Regency. The joint forces with the Cartenz Peace Operation Task Force are now investigating the case and pursuing the shooters.
Community members gathered on December 1 to raise the West Papuan flag in the lobby of weapons company Thales’ Brisbane office. The action was held to protest Thales’ weapons exports to Indonesia and call upon the company to recall its weapons from West Papua, where they are used by Indonesian forces to contain the movement for independence.
“Thales Bushmasters have been spotted in West Papua. Our friends over there send us photos of pieces of exploded Thales missiles that they find on the ground,” said activist Lilli Barto.
“This company has blood on its hands. They need to stop arming regimes that violate human rights, no matter how profitable the practice may be.
“They are fueling genocide and dispossession; they are implicated in the war crimes committed by their customers.”
Less than 1300 kilometres from Darwin, West Papua has been struggling for self-determination since it was a Dutch colony. Formally, it is a region of Indonesia – the result of a United Nations agreement brokered by the United States in the 1960s.
Thales is one of many companies that manufacture weapons in Australia for sale to the Indonesian forces. Others include BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, Electro Optic Systems and Rheinmetall Defence.
Indonesian security forces have a long record of human rights violations and have been condemned by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Asian Human Rights Commission. These include widespread rape, torture, political assassinations, razing of villages, imprisonment of West Papuan community leaders, severe curtailment of freedom of expression, and denial of access to journalists and human rights observers.
It is considered an act of treason to raise the West Papuan morning star flag.
“We have regular contact with West Papuans in Australia and on the ground in the region, they tell us what is going on there,” said Bartolo. “Logging companies are buying up the forests where people live, then they send the army in to drive people off the land so that it can be logged. Then when the forest is gone, they turn it into palm oil plantations.
“The military protects the property rights of the companies at the expense of the human rights of the people.”
Peace In Papua, which coordinated the protest, has vowed to continue to peacefully disrupt businesses that they say fuel the conflict in West Papua. They describe their strategic goal as “ending all weapons exports and transfers from Australia to Indonesia, as one part of a broader struggle for disarmament, demilitarisation, and decolonisation across the world”.
Jayapura, Jubi – Spokesperson for the Papua Peace Network (JDP) Cristian Yan Warinussy said he was concerned about the arson of 53 kiosks in Waghete Market, Deiyai Regency, Central Papua Province on Monday, December 12, 2022. He hopes that residents will not be easily provoked by unclear issues.
On Monday, a group of people set fire to a kiosk in Waghete Market, allegedly triggered by a dispute between local residents and one of the sellers in the market.
Watinussy urged the public not to resort to violence and prioritize law enforcement in resolving disputes by reporting to the police. He said it would prevent disputes from escalating into new conflicts. “The police can conduct investigations to find the truth in the dispute,” he said.
Warinussy said the Papua Peace Network always encouraged a dialogue approach as a way to resolve socio-political conflicts in the Land of Papua. His party also encouraged the Deiyai regent and the Deiyai People’s Council along with religious leaders in Deiyai to seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute that occurred in Waghete.
The Papua Peace Network also urged local law enforcement officials to take legal steps to protect everyone in Deiyai by processing the people allegedly involved in the arson with the Criminal Procedure Code. (*)
The activity is aimed at improving human resource development, especially in disadvantaged areas, an expert at the ministry, Benhur Tomi Mona, said in a written statement received here on Wednesday.
"This is a directive from the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, to Social Affairs Minister Rismaharini that she must pay attention to Papua," Mona added.
The event, which has been organized in collaboration with a sewing instructor team from Surabaya and Batik instructors from the Yogyakarta Giriloyo Batik Center, is being hosted at the Asana Biak Hotel.
The Center for Education, Training, and Professional Development of the Social Affairs Ministry has conducted the training since December 5, 2022, and it will last until December 16.
Thirty participants are taking part in the training that uses a life skills training approach, which could be used to improve the family economy.
Participants were initially challenged to produce three pieces of batik per person, but many of them produced up to seven pieces each.
In fact, one piece of batik has to go through a long production process, starting from making patterns on the cloth, cutting the patterned cloth, coloring it three times, removing substances, to drying the cloth. However, through this lengthy process are born batik works of high artistic value.
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The participants were very creative in terms of design, creating patterns that incorporated the Mangrove Fruit motif, the Mambruk Bird design iconic to Papua, and even combined written batik with jumputan batik.
Sewing training was no less interesting. The participants were introduced to sewing tools and the machine’s disassembling process, were taught about sewing patterns, details of cuts, and types of stitches.
The training was held because of the aspirations of one of the participants from Biak Numfor district, Merci Yolanda Sroyer, who said that she also wanted to know how to disassemble a sewing machine.
Mona was impressed by the participants’ enthusiasm, who he said he believed can produce great works. The training is expected to improve the family economy.
"With utmost intents, enthusiasm and commitment from Mama, Papa, fellows who take part in this training, it is hoped that it will be able to improve the family economy and overcome extreme poverty in Papua," he said.
Assistant II for economic affairs and governance of the Biak Numfor District Regional Secretariat, Lot L. Yensenem, voiced the same expectation.
"In collaboration with the Social Affairs Ministry, this batik and sewing training is very important to host because it offers good opportunities if it is pursued properly. This will help increase family and community income, as well as motivate and improve the skills of the participants," he noted.
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