1) In West Papua, thousands upon thousands of displaced people lack basic life-giving services

2) Talking Indonesia: acknowledging past rights violations  

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https://www.oikoumene.org/news/in-west-papua-thousands-upon-thousands-of-displaced-people-lack-basic-life-giving-services

World Council of Churches   02 February 2023

1) In West Papua, thousands upon thousands of displaced people lack basic life-giving services

A Human Rights Monitor report has found that more than 60,000 internally displaced persons in West Papua remain without government aid.

When the villages of Kiwi and Kiwirok - in Pegunungan Bintang Regency, near the PNG border - were attacked by helicopters and mortar fire from the Indonesian Army and Special Forces, many houses and building were destroyed or damaged and the inhabitants fled into the surrounding jungle for safety. Alut Bakon is one of the jungle areas where Internally Displaced People have taken refuge. There is no education and no health service and there is no access for humanitarian organisations or support.  Photo:   Photo supplied

People from Nduga, Puncak, Intan Jaya, Maybrat, Pegunungan Bintang, and Yahukimo are suffering while the armed conflict between the West Papua National Liberation Army and Indonesian security forces in these areas is ongoing.

Many internally displaced people have little choice but to live in remote shelters in the forest, where they lack access to food, sanitation, medical treatment, and education. Local human rights defenders and churches, managing to access some of these shelters, have documented extremely poor living conditions.

In Maybrat, for example, people are reluctant to return to their villages as military deployments and security force raids continue. According to data received from church informants, the total number of internally displaced persons from Maybrat has reached 1,836 persons, some of whom testified that the local government distributed rice and other food supplies. However, the funds used for the aid were deducted from the funds the village administration receives regularly.

Internally displaced persons in Pegunungan Bintang had to deal with extreme weather conditions in the central highlands. Almost all from the Kiwirok District continue to live in forest shelters, although an estimated 200 people—many of them women and children—crossed the border to Papua New Guinea, where they live in a refugee camp in the town of Tumorbil. The displaced people’s food and supplies come from small gardens and hunting in the forest. Their informal camps are often located in remote areas in the forest which can only be accessed through small mountain trails.

Church workers visiting such camps documented many health issues, as well as the danger of Indonesian military attacks and snipers. 

Human Rights Monitor is an EU-based international group promoting human rights through documentation and advocacy. The group works in collaboration with the World Council of Churches on situations of conflict and human rights violations in West Papua.

Read the full report of the Human Rights Monitor: IDP Update 2022

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https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/talking-indonesia-past-human-rights-violations/

2) Talking Indonesia: acknowledging past rights violations  

BY JEMMA PURDEY

2 FEBRUARY 2023

On 11 January, President Joko Widodo gave a national address in which he acknowledged gross violations of human rights had occurred in Indonesia and expressed his regret and sympathy for the victims.

He referred to 12 incidents involving historical violations, including the 1965-66 killings, the extrajudicial killings of criminals in the 1980s (known as Petrus), kidnappings and disappearances of students and activists in the late 1990s, the Talangsari incident in Lampung in 1989, and a small number of events in Aceh and Papua.

Jokowi made the statement at an event where he accepted the recommendations of a team he had assembled in 2022 to consider non-judicial resolution of past violations of human rights. The presidential statement included a commitment to recovery and restoration of the rights of victims, and to ensuring that such events do not happen again.

What is the significance of Jokowi’s acknowledgement and why did he choose to make it now? How has it been received by victims, their relatives and the human rights community in Indonesia? And does it signal a step towards further processes of truth seeking and accountability for past human rights violations?

In this week’s episode of Talking Indonesia, Dr Jemma Purdey speaks to Dr Sri Lestari Wahyuningroem, author of Transitional Justice from State to Civil Society Democratization in Indonesia. She is Fulbright Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School, and director of the Center for Citizenship and Human Rights Studies, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional.

In 2023, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Dave McRae from the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, and Tito Ambyo from RMIT.

Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight. Catch up on previous episodes here, subscribe via Apple Podcasts or listen via your favourite podcasting app.

Talking Indonesia   Dr Sri Lestari Wahyuningroem - Acknowledging Past Rights Violations

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