1) Working group formed to turn Papua press-friendly
The strife-torn easternmost region in Indonesia is ranked 33 among the country's 34 provinces as per the Press Freedom Index
Independent journalist organizations and Church groups in Indonesia have formed a working group to ensure protection for media persons in the conflict-stricken Papua province.
By UCA News reporter Published: April 03, 2023 11:51 AM GMT
The Working Group for the Safety of Papuan Land Journalists was launched on April 1 in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, involving journalist organizations, indigenous people and Church organizations.
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), which formed the working group, said the initiative was sparked by concerns over cases of violence against journalists in Papua.
The Franciscans’ Secretariat for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation and the Synod of the Indonesian Christian Church in the Land of Papua are part of the group.
Other institutions are the Press Council, Press Legal Aid Institute, Papua Journalist Safety Committee, Papua Cyber Media Association, Papua Land Press Legal Aid Association, and the Democracy Alliance for Papua.
According to AJI, 11 cases of atrocities against journalists were registered in Papua between 2021 and March 2023.
In the latest case on March 13 in Sorong, southwest Papua province, a mob intimidated a local media, Teropong News, to stop reporting on illegal logging.
In a molotov cocktail attack in January, the house of Victor Mambor, a senior journalist from tabloid Jubi, was targeted. Previously, his car was damaged by unknown people.
Papua, the easternmost region in Indonesia, has seen conflict since becoming part of Indonesia in 1969 with continued resistance by armed pro-independence groups.
The province is ranked 33 among the country's 34 provinces as per the Press Freedom Index released by the Press Council in January last year.
The Indonesian government restricts foreign journalists from visiting the region.
With the formation of the working group, every form of intimidation and violence against journalists can be dealt with immediately, the AJI said in the statement.
The AJI noted that there are still Internet disruptions in Jayapura to limit journalists from reporting incidents.
Korneles Siep from the Franciscans’ Secretariat for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation said the role of journalists to independently “report information on Papua is very important in the midst of systematic attempts to cover up what is actually happening on the ground."
Father John Djonga, an activist priest, said the working group would be a guarantee for journalists to be more courageous in writing news about Papua.
"I hope this working group will also become a forum for fighting for wider access for journalists to Papua, including foreign journalists," he told UCA News.
Asep Setiawan of the Press Council said that the working group’s aim is to help journalists carry out "their duties in the context of building independence and democracy in Indonesia.”
Jayapura, Jubi – The Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) in Bali City on Saturday, April 1, 2023, failed to hold a peaceful protest after it was blocked and attacked by the Patriot Garuda Nusantara (PGN) mass organization. The PGN held them in the campus area of Udayana University.
AMP Action Coordinator Herry Meaga in a written statement said the protest was about to take place at the Jendral Sudirman Roundabout, Denpasar. “However, we were blocked by the mass organization standby at the exit of the Faculty of Tourism,” Meaga said.
According to Meaga, a number of people suspected of intelligence monitored the gathering point of the protesting students.. “The mass organization was already on standby in front of Daut Puri Klod Street, where the gathering point of our students was,” he said.
Meaga said his party had negotiated with a number of PGN coordinators in front of the Faculty of Tourism so they could continue their rally.
“We finally directed the students to retreat, because the mass organization continued to hit and pelt us with bottles, stones, and hot sauce. Some of our friends were hit in the eyes with hot sauce. We returned to the gathering point because they kept throwing stones at us students,” he said.
Meaga said a number of protesters were injured by blows. The victims included Wemi, Gabi and Yohanes (hit by a stone on their heads), Bolikam (toe injured by bamboo), Erik W (foot hit by a stone), Paman (foot hit by a stone), Kepno (leg hit by a stone and got a punch), Mote (irritation due to being thrown hot sauce), Tapo (hand bruised by a wooden punch), Ampix (back of the body bruised by a stone), Herry ((irritation due to being thrown hot sauce), and Andi (irritation due to being thrown hot sauce).
“Our posters and command ropes were also damaged, as well as our protest property in the form of a coffin that symbolizes human rights and democracy was torn up, banners were taken away,” Meaga said. (*)
3) One more expert witness declares anti-racism protest and referendum demand not treasonous
News Desk - Viktor Yeimo's Treason Trial
3 April 2023
Jayapura, Jubi – The Jayapura District Court on Friday, March 31, 2023, held another trial against International Spokesperson of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) Viktor Yeimo. In the hearing, Yiemo’s criminal expert witness Amira Paripurna said that anti-racism protests and referendum demands were not treason.
In Friday’s hearing, Viktor Yeimo’s legal counsel presented Airlangga University Faculty of Law lecturer Amira Paripurna as a criminal law expert witness. As an expert witness, Amira explained the definition of criminal acts, treason, racism, and incitement.
Amira said that anti-racism expressions and political expressions demanding a referendum could be punished with the treason article. According to Amira, expressions for self-determination are protected in national and international legal systems.
Amira said that the phrase ‘treason’ has the meaning of a threat to the security of the state, and the threat must fulfill the elements of an attack that had actually caused victims and the initial plan to carry out an evil act.
Meanwhile, said Amira, the Morning Star symbol and flag both were socio-cultural expressions and political expressions associated with the action of rejecting racism and discrimination, and those were guaranteed as a constitutional right.
“Chanting ‘Free Papua’ and demanding a referendum are part of delivering anti-racism expressions and those are protected by law. Those are the rights and obligations of citizens to fight racist discrimination, it must be protected by the state,” Amira said in court.
Amira said that even among experts and academics there were still different interpretations of the treason offense. There are a group of experts who interpret it as an attack or an act of violence and the other group interpret it as an incomplete offense of trial.
However, she elaborated while citing the Constitutional Court Decision Number 7/PUU-XV/2017 on treason, which says law enforcement officials must be careful in applying treason articles. The Constitutional Court deemed treason articles should not be a tool for law enforcement officials to act arbitrarily to silence freedom of expression in a democratic state.
“Law enforcement officials must be careful in using the treason article,” she emphasized.
According to Amira, offenses against state security were often motivated by political objectives, and each government had its own understanding and interpretation of politics. Therefore, treason articles were easily used by the ruling regime to silence political opponents of the ruling government.
The treason articles were not only used during the Old Order and New Order regimes. Recently, the treason articles have been used by the government to arrest a number of activists. “The article was used to repress political opponents by the Old Order regime, the New Order and the current government,” she said.
Amira added that a protest was not categorized as political offenses, and anti-racism protest was not a form of incitement. Amira said that the acts of incitement prohibited in Article 160 of the Criminal Code meant inciting others orally or in writing to commit a criminal offense, to commit violence against the public authority, to disobey laws and regulations, or to disobey an official order given under laws and regulations.
Thus, she said, the act of incitement contained in Article 160 of the Criminal Code was limitative, which must contain the four material acts above. “On the other hand, public expression that is not a threat but purely advocates, prevents, or fights against racism and discrimination is protected by legislation,” she concluded. (*)
4) New internal displacement in West Papua as armed clashes intensify throughout March 2023
Case, Human Rights News / Indonesia, West Papua / 30 March 2023
New armed clashes and attacks by members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) against security force personnel and civilians have caused further displacement in Yahukimo, Puncak, and Nduga Regencies. Further displacement is expected in the Puncak Jaya regency, where TPNPB members killed two security force members in the Ilu District on 25 March 2023. The Indonesian government has responded by deploying additional security forces to the conflict hotspots. According to the national media, an additional 2,355 military members were deployed to West Papua from Aceh, West Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, and South Sulawesi throughout March 2023. They will secure infrastructure projects, the PT Freeport Indonesia-owned gold- and copper mine in the Mimika Regency, and Indonesia’s easternmost land border with Papua New Guinea.
In other regencies affected by the armed conflict, security force presence continues to prevent internally displaced persons (IDPs) from returning to their villages. The IDPs fear further raids in villages, often accompanied by arbitrary arrests and torture of civilians. Many IDPs fear that the presence of security forces will provoke further armed clashes between the TPNPB and Indonesian security forces near indigenous villages. More than 60,000 Papuans reportedly remain internally displaced as of December 2022.
Armed conflict intensifies
The armed conflict has steadily worsened in recent years, and as of March there are no signs of rapprochement between the conflict parties. On the contrary, on 24 March 2023, Mr Bambang Soesatyo, the chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), called on the central government and the joint security forces, to increase the number of personnel in the Papuan provinces, and break the supply chain of the TPNPB, which the government officials commonly refer to as ‘armed criminal groups’ or ‘KKB’.
The TPNPB on the other side, appears to be increasing the frequency of attacks against security force members, but also non-Papuans and indigenous Papuans, whom they suspect of collaborating with the Indonesian police or military. A TPNPB group led by TPNPB commander Egianus Kogeya continues to hold New Zealand pilot, Captain Phillip Mark Mehrtens. The TPNPB took Mr Mehrtens hostage on 7 February 2023 at an airstrip in the Paro District, Nduga Regency. The group has refused to negotiate and has repeatedly stated they won’t release him until their demands are met. They have threatened to kill the hostage if Indonesian security force members attempted to free Mr Mehrtens by force.
Military officials have repeatedly claimed in public that they knew the approximate location of the hostage but could not free Captain Mehrtens because the New Zealand government had asked the Indonesian government not to use force. An armed encounter between Egianus Kogeya’s guerrilla unit and joint security forces reportedly took place in the Mugi District, Nduga Regency, on 23 March. The TPNPB confirmed the clash saying one of its fighters was killed and another injured in the firefight. TPNPB spokesperson, Sebby Sambom, condemned the attack insisting that the security forces had put Mehrtens’ life in danger.
The military is proceeding with the central government’s plan to increase social interaction with indigenous Papuans in remote parts of West Papua. Military personnel are targeting schools in particular, where they can make contact with the Papuan youth. Human Rights Monitor received images of such visits in the regencies Yalimo and Tolikara (see photos below, source: independent observers). Human rights defenders (HRDs) strongly criticise the presence of security forces near indigenous villages, health centres, and schools. They fear that the increased security force presence could lead to the destruction of public facilities or provoke armed attacks by the TPNBP.
Many Papuans, particularly those living in remote areas, are afraid of the military, which is responsible numerous many human rights violations throughout the past fifty years of the conflict. Many indigenous Papuans in the highlands have been directly affected by military violence or have relatives that experienced torture or killings during the military operations under Indonesia President Suharto.
As of 30 March 2023, HRM documented 29 armed clashes and attacks against civilians related to the armed conflict. This number is significantly higher than in previous years, allowing the conclusion that there will be a further deterioration of the armed conflict in 2023 without de-escalating interventions in the form of seize fires or humanitarian pauses. In 2021, the number of documented armed clashes reached 19 as of 31 March. The number in 2022 was slightly higher, with 21 armed clashes as of 31 March.
New internal displacements in the Yahukimo Regency
New armed clashes in the Dekai District of Yahukimo Regency erupted after TPNPB fighters killed an Indonesian migrant on 20 February 2023 (see photos below, source: independent HRDs). Multiple attacks against security force members followed.
TPNPB Commander, Elkius Kobak, published a video (see video below) in which he claimed responsibility for the killing of a security force member in the Seredela District on 29 February, the killing of one security force member during an attack on a security post in Dekai on 1 March 2023. Three others were injured during the attack. Two Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers were killed during a raid in Dekai Town on 2 March 2023.
More TPNPB attacks took place on 8 March 2023, costing the lives of two non-Papuans. On 11 March 2023, TPNPB members opened fire at a civilian airplane. TPNPB commander, Elkius Kobak, justified the attack claiming that military members had used the Trigana-owned civil aircraft to come to Dekai. The TPNPB continued launching attacks on public facilities. On 13 March 2023, TPNPB members burnt the Inpres (YPK) Metayona Dekai Yahukimo Elementary School, and on 16 March, the SMPN 2 Dekai Junior High School to the ground. According to a TPNPB press release, Indonesian education facilities would spread Indonesian state ideology among the Papuan youth, hampering them from developing a political consciousness of Papuan history and culture.
On 16 March 2023, security force members evacuated hundreds of non-Papuan residents from Dekai. The evacuation was likely conducted to prevent civilian fatalities as a result of armed attacks and outbreaks of horizontal mass violence, as it had happened previously in the town of Wamena in response to a security force operation. The military used a Hercules military transportation aircraft to fly the people out of Dekai (see photos below, source: independent HRDs).
Following the attacks, joint members of the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) and the 1715 Yahukimo Military command conducted raids in the district of Dekai and the surrounding area (see photos below, source: independent HRDs). The raids were accompanied by 22 arbitrary arrests of indigenous Papuans. According to information received, joint security forces arrested eight Papuans inside a residential house at Statistik Street between kilometers four and six on 11 March 2023.
Six persons were again arrested in residential houses on 12 March 2023, and four further suspects on 15 March 2023. As of 17 March 2023, the police released nineteen arrestees, while three remained in police detention (see table and photos below, source Kingmi Papua Church). It is currently not known whether the police will press charges against them. Human rights defenders said that the security force members carried out arrests and searched residential houses without showing warrants as required under the Indonesian Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) and international human rights treaties.
No
Name
Age
Date of arrest
Additional information
1
Mr Er Heluka
20 years
11.03.2023
Remained in custody as of 17 March 2023
2
Mr Natan Sigap
30 years
11.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
3
Mr Tinus Sigap
25 years
11.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
4
Mr Menase Senik
30 years
11.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
5
Mr Menius Heluka
26 years
11.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
6
Mr Naptalis Sigap
22 years
11.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
7
Mr Daud Matuan
50 years
11.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
8
Mr Antonius Heluka
19 years
11.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
9
Mr Bonius Payage
21 years
12.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
10
Mr Aminus Payage
22 years
12.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
11
Erinus Senik
15 years
12.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
12
Yemese Heluka
17 years
12.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
13
Mr Eliaser Heluka
30 years
12.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
14
Mr Pius Heluka
23 years
12.03.2023
Was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
15
Mr Edison Giban
23 years
12.03.2023
Remained in custody as of 17 March 2023
16
Natan Payage
N/A
12.03.2023
Remained in custody as of 17 March 2023
17
Mr Antois Giban
N/A
12.03.2023
Member of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
18
Mr Salos Balingga
N/A
12.03.2023
Member of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), was released on 13 March 2023, 1 pm
Table of arrestees during security force raids in Dekai
On 2 March 2023, Papuans living near Gunung Street in Dekai reportedly fled their homes. According to information collected by human rights defenders, at least 469 indigenous Papuans fled their houses, fearing security force violence and arbitrary arrest. Some temporarily moved to relatives living in neighbouring areas, while others fled into the forest. According to information received, security force members damaged and seized people’s personal belongings, including traditional weapons, tools, motorcycles, and money. One-hundred-twenty-six houses were abandoned. Over 50 domesticated animals, such as pigs and chickens, were left behind. HRDs documented six houses damaged during the armed clash and the subsequent raid (see photos below, source: independent HRDs).
Forced displacement of indigenous Papuans in Puncak Regency
Human rights defenders have reported the forced displacement of several hundreds of indigenous peoples from the districts Mage’abume and Yugumuak to the Sinak District in response to a security force raid in the village of Pamebut on 3 March 2023 (see photo to this article, source: independent HRDs). Security forces allegedly shot dead an indigenous woman during the raid. Eight other villagers, among them four minors, were injured by bullets.
According to information received from human rights defenders on the ground, the security forces forced the villagers to leave their homes without providing shelter or food. The IDPs sought refuge in villages scattered across the nearby Sinak District, Puncak Regency. The IDPs remain in their shelters without support from the local Government. The IDPs called upon the regent, the local parliament, and the Central Government to provide humanitarian support to the IDPs (see video below, source: independent HRDs).
Papuans from Koroptak District in Nduga Regency flee their homes in fear of more armed clashes
An armed clash between the TPNPB group under Egianus Kogeya and Indonesian security forces on 23 March 2023 has caused further displacements in nearby areas. Following the incident, 52 indigenous Papuans from the Koroptak District left their homes and walked for four days to seek shelter in the Nduga’s largest town of Kenyam. They fled their homes, fearing an escalation of armed violence between the TPNPB and Indonesian security forces near their villages.
IDPs in Maybrat Regency refuse to return to their homes due to heavy security force presence
Government officials have repeatedly made public statements about the security situation in the Maybrat regency and have attempted to persuade the IDPs to return to their villages. The Maybrat interim Regent, Mr Bernard Rondonuwu, has reportedly attempted to re-settle IDPs to their home villages against their will by the end of 2022. The Commissioner of the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) in the provinces Papua Barat and Papua Barat Daya, Mr Muhamad Nazil Hilmi, visited four villages in the Aifat Selatan District. After his visit, Mr Hilmi declared in an interview that he would ensure that all IDPs will return to their villages before the general election in 2024.
These statements contradict the information received from human rights defenders in the Maybrat Regency. Most IDPs in Maybrat are still reluctant to return to their villages due to the heavy security force presence. The security forces continue raiding villages and IDP shelters in Maybrat. Some IDPs have to survive in shelters in the forest, where they cannot access adequate food, public healthcare, and education services.
For the first time, Human Rights Monitor (HRM) received visual proof of a school and an office of village administration occupied by security force members. In the village of Faan Kahrio, Aifat Timur Tengah District, military members established a security checkpoint inside the YPPK Kahrio school(see photos below, source: independent HRDs). All cars passing the village must stop at the checkpoint to check their identity and report to the security force members. All school activities have stopped in Faan Kahrio since the attack on the military post in Kisor in September 2021. Another military checkpoint was established inside a village administrative office in the Sorry Village, Aifat Selatan District (see photos below, source: independent HRDs).
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