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2 minute readApril 20, 20231:35 AM GMT+10Last Updated 6 hours ago
1) Indonesia says 3 troops missing since rebel ambush found dead
The military said the bodies of those soldiers and another earlier confirmed dead had been airlifted from the area. Five wounded troops who were found the previous day had also been evacuated.
Indonesia's military chief on Tuesday dismissed a claim by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) that 15 troops were killed in the attack on a group of 36 soldiers searching for where Susi Air pilot Philip Mehrtens was being held.
"Currently the four soldiers who died have been evacuated," a military spokesperson in Papua, Herman Taryaman said in the statement.
The abduction in February of Mehrtens has intensified conflict between rebels and Indonesia's security forces in the remote, resource-rich region, which came under Indonesian control after a 1969 referendum that followed the end of Dutch colonial rule.
TPNPB on Wednesday said it had pictures and video evidence to show its version of Saturday's events was accurate. Spokesperson Sebby Sambom said those images would be later shared as proof.
The rebels say they attacked the soldiers because Indonesia had not responded to its request for peaceful negotiations.
Reporting by Bernadette Christina; Editing by Martin Petty
Nabire, Jubi – The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) claimed to have killed 13 Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers in a firefight in Mugi District, Nduga Regency, Mountainous Papua Province.
TPNPB spokesman Sebby Sambom in a written statement on Monday, April 17, 2023, said he received reports from TPNPB troops in Mugi District led by Perek Jelas Kogoya. “We received a report that they managed to attack a TNI post in Mugi District and shot dead 13 TNI soldiers,” Sambom wrote in his press statement.
He said TPNPB troops also seized firearms and ammunition from the soldiers. According to Sambom, a total of 12 bodies have not been evacuated by security forces.
“The TNI announced only one member died because they managed to evacuate only one body. Meanwhile, 12 bodies have not been evacuated,” Sambom said.
Sambom said nine soldiers were also captured by TPNPB on Saturday, and were executed on Sunday. “The number has been confirmed by TPNPB leader of Ndugama Derakma,” Sambom said.
Previously, TPNPB group led by Egianus Kogoya burned a Susi Air plane that landed and dropped off passengers at Paro Airstrip on February 7, 2023. They also took pilot Philip Marh Mehrtens hostage. Since then, the TNI and police have been carrying out operations to free Mehrtens, and a firefight broke out in Mugi on Saturday.
On Sunday, TNI said that only one soldier named First Pvt. Miftahul Arifin died in a firefight in Mugi. The TNI also admitted that the whereabouts of a number of soldiers had not been known since Saturday.
Sentani, Jubi – Emanuel Gobay, the coordinator of the Papua Law and Human Rights Coalition and legal counsel to Viktor Yeimo, said there was often discrimination by the security forces when guarding the trial against Yeimo at the Jayapura District Court.
Gobay said that in every trial, his client was always escorted by hundreds of security forces with combat equipment. This does not happen in other trials at the Jayapura District Court.
“This is disturbing our client mentally,” Gobay told Jubi in Sentani, Monday, April 17, 2023.
According to Gobay, the presence of an excessive number of security forces was because the Court requested them to secure the trial process. However, this is not the case in other trials. Therefore, Gobay deemed law enforcement officials discriminated against Viktor Yeimo, an Indigenous Papuan.
“The police and judges are not professional in carrying out their duties in accordance with Law No. 39/1999 on human rights,” he added,
He further questioned the security standards of the Court, “Inside the courtroom there should be no firearms or sharp weapons. But the reality is, there are hundreds of troops, carrying guns and other security support facilities, this means we are in bad condition,” said Gobay.
From these conditions, Gobay and his team have written to the Judicial Commission and the Prosecutor’s Commission to monitor the entire trial. “As a legal counsel, in conditions like this, it also weakens our perspective. The focus is divided, because there are additional facts about legal protection for the people affected by the entire trial process that occurs,” he said. (*)
"I express my deepest gratitude to President Jokowi who has paid great attention to young Papuans. PYCH reflects the President's commitment to promoting the welfare and progress of young Papuans," he remarked in a statement released in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Mambrasar, who is also one of the founders of PYCH, lauded the President for his commitment to empowering Papuan youth.
The construction of PYCH was a follow-up to a meeting between the President and a number of young Papuans under the Inspiring Young Papua (PMI) movement, he informed.
At the meeting, which took place at the State Palace in September 2019, the youths expressed their aspirations to improve the quality of human resources in Papua, he added.
"We are very grateful because today PYCH has been truly realized, and it has been almost one month since it was inaugurated by President Jokowi on March 21 (2023),” he added.
To support the President's vision for developing human resources, Mambrasar said that he will consistently carry out programs and initiatives in the field of education and young talent development.
During the inauguration of PYCH, Mambrasar and a team from the Change-Maker (Baper) movement also committed to focusing on the National Youth Talent Management Movement (MANTAP).
President Jokowi inaugurated PYCH, which is located in Abepura, Jayapura, Papua, in March this year.
According to Mambrasar, the PYCH building has been designed as a creative economic center to support the empowerment of Papuan youths.
The building has several rooms with different functions, such as function rooms, religious rooms, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) development rooms, podcast studios, music studios, photography studios, and cafes.
During the inauguration of PYCH, the president also expressed his pride over PYCH's presence in Jayapura.
He requested that Youth Creative Hubs like PYCH be built in other provinces in Indonesia. This would be in line with the goal of developing the potential of the younger generation in their respective regions.
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