TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud Md explained the reason why the government refused international assistance to release New Zealand pilot Captain Philips Max Mehrtens who is being held hostage by the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Organization (TPNPB-OPM).
The involvement of international institutions, he argued, will only make the case worse. “We will handle it internally. Our policy is not to involve other countries and this is internal issues. And we can do it whatever the stakes are. International communities are not allowed to join the case,” Mahfud said when met in South Jakarta on Monday, May 29, 2023.
If the government receives assistance from international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), then other international institutions will intervene in the case, including even the United Nations (UN).
“So, we reject any attempts of international interference offered by NGOs, by international NGOs,” Mahfud underlined.
OPM threatens to shoot Susi Air Pilot in two months
On Friday, May 27, TPNPB-OPM spokesperson Sebby Sambom sent a video showing a “visibly emaciated” Mehrtens surrounded by Egianus Kogoya and his fighters. Mehrtens said the rebel group will shoot him if other countries did not urge Indonesia to recognize Papua's independence.
In the same video, Kogoya threatens to shoot the New Zealander if Indonesia does not recognize Papua's independence within two months.
The Papuan separatist group has been holding Mehrtens hostage since February 7, 2023, right after the latter landed the Susi Air aircraft with flight number SI 9368 at Paro Airport, Nduga Regency, Pegunungan Papua Province. They ambushed the plane and set it on fire. After releasing the passengers, they took Mehrtens hostage.
The government dispatched the Damai Cartenz Task Force to carry out an operation to rescue the Susi Air pilot. However, the effort came to no avail to date. In April, Mahfud stated that the rescue operation was hampered because the TPNPB-OPM made Philips Max Mehrtens, women, and children as human shields.
M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH | EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA
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There are parallels between Indonesia’s Aceh where an Ozzie surfer faced a flogging, and Papua where a Kiwi pilot is facing death. Both provinces have fought brutal guerrilla wars for independence. One has been settled through foreign peacekeepers. The other still rages as outsiders fear intervention.
There were ten stories in a Google Alert media feed last week for ‘Indonesia-Australia’.
One covered illegal fishing in the Indo-Pacific claiming economic losses of more than US $6 billion a year – important indeed.
Another was an update on the plight of NZ pilot Philip Mehrtens, held hostage since February by the Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat (TPNPB West Papua National Liberation Army).
This is the armed wing of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka, (OPM Free Papua Organisation) that’s been pushing its cause since the 1970s.
A major story by any measure. The Indonesian military’s inability to find and safely secure the Kiwi has the potential to cause serious diplomatic rifts and great harm to all parties.
There have been unverified reports of bombs dropped from helicopters on jungle camps where the pilot may have been held with uninvolved civilians.
The other eight stories were about Queenslander Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones who’d been arrested in April for allegedly going on a nude drunken rampage and bashing a local in Indonesian Aceh.
Had the 23-year-old surfer been a fool in his home country the yarn would have been a yawn. Such stupidities are commonplace.
But because he chose to be a slob in the strictly Muslim province of Aceh and is facing up to five years jail plus a public flogging, his plight opened the issue of cultural differences and tourist arrogance. Small news, but legitimate.
He’s now reportedly done a $25,000 deal to buy his way out of charges and pay restitution to his victim. This shows a flexible social and legal system displaying tolerance – which is how Christians are supposed to behave.
All noteworthy, easy to grasp. But more important than the threatened execution of an innocent victim of circumstances caught in a complex dispute that needs detailed explanations to understand?
Mehrtens landed a commercial company’s plane as part of his job flying people and goods into isolated airstrips when he was grabbed by armed men desperate to get Jakarta to pay attention to their grievances.
Ironically, Aceh where Risby-Jones got himself into strife, had also fought for independence and won. Like West Papua, it’s resource-rich so essential for the central government’s economy.
A vicious on-off war between the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, (GAM – Free Aceh Movement) and the Indonesian military started in 1976 and reportedly took up to 30,000 lives across the following three decades.
It only ended when the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami killed 160,000 and former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was elected president and revived peace talks. Other countries became involved, including the European Union and Finland where the Helsinki Agreement was signed.
Both sides bent. GAM leaders abandoned their demands for independence, settling for ‘self-government’ within the Indonesian state, while soldiers were withdrawn. The bombings have stopped but at the cost of personal freedoms and angering human rights advocates.
Freed from Jakarta’s control, the province passed strict Shariah laws. These include public floggings for homosexual acts, drinking booze and being close to an opposite sex person who’s not a relative. Morality Police patrols prowl shady spots, alert to any signs of affection.
Australian academic and former journalist Damien Kingsbury was also instrumental in getting GAM and Jakarta to talk. He was involved with the Papua standoff earlier this year but NZ is now using its own to negotiate.
Kingsbury told the ABC the situation in Papua is at a stalemate with neither Wellington nor Jakarta willing to make concessions. The Indonesian electorate has no truck for separatists so wants a bang-bang fix. NZ urges a softly-slowly approach.
A TPNPB spokesperson told the BBC: ‘The Indonesian government has to be bold and sit with us at a negotiation table and not [deploy] military and police to search for the pilot.’
The 2005 Aceh resolution means the Papua fighters have a strong model of what’s possible when other countries intervene. So far it seems none have dared, fearing the wrath of nationalists who believe Western states, and particularly Australia, are trying to ‘Balkanise’ the ‘unitary state’ and plunder its riches.
This theory was given energy when Australia supported the 1999 East Timor referendum which led to the province splitting from Indonesia and becoming a separate nation.
Should Australia try to act as a go-between in the Papua conflict, we’d be dragged into the upcoming Presidential election campaign with outraged candidates thumping lecterns claiming outside interference. That’s something no one wants but sitting on hands won’t help Mehrtens.
In the meantime, Risby-Jones, whose boorish behaviour has confirmed Indonesian prejudices about Oz oafs, is expected to be deported.
Mehrtens will only get to tell his tale if the Indonesian government shows the forbearance displayed by the family of Edi Ron. The Aceh fisherman needed 50 stitches and copped broken bones and an infected foot from his Aussie encounter, but still shook hands.
After weeks in a cell the surfer has shown contrition and apologised. Australian ‘proceedings of crime’ lawsshould prevent him earning from his ordeal.
If the Kiwi pilot does get out alive, he deserves the media attention lavished on the Australian. This might shift international interest from a zonked twit to the issue of Papua’s independence and remind diplomats that if Jakarta could bend in the far west of the archipelago, why not in the far east?
Lest Indonesians forget: Around 100,000 revolutionaries died during the four-year war against the returning colonial Dutch after Soekarno proclaimed independence in 1945. The Hollanders only retreated after external pressure from the US and Australia.
As the committee head, Amin urged the members to oversee the implementation of programs outlined in the Papua Development Acceleration Master Plan (RIPPP) and Papua Development Acceleration Action Plan (RAPPP) programs.
"I hope that the members of BP3OKP will truly oversee the completion of the programs outlined in the RIPPP and RAPPP as five-year action plans," the VP noted.
According to Amin, BP3OKP is tasked with conducting synchronization, harmonization, and evaluation in addition to coordinating the implementation of special autonomy as well as conducting development in Papua.
On the occasion, he also urged committee members to escort three grand missions -- Healthy Papua, Smart Papua, and Productive Papua -- for accelerating Papua's development.
The appointment of the BP3OKP aligns with Presidential Decree Number15/M of 2013. Each member represents a province on Papua Island.
The six appointed members are Papua Province representative Alberth Yoku, West Papua representative Irene Manibuy, South Papua representative Yoseph Yanowo Yolmen, Central Papua representative Pietrus Waine, Papua Highland representative Hantor Matuan, and Southwest Papua representative Otto Ihalauw.
"You all here are selected based on your ability and commitment to advancing Papua. You now carry a great responsibility in bringing progress and prosperity to the people of Papua," the VP stated.
VP Amin called on all parties, including the BP3OKP members, to work in synergy, respect diversity, and develop Papua within the scope of the principles of justice, equality, and sustainability.
Addressing the BP3OKP members, Amin outlined four directives for developing Papua. To begin with, he called on the members to pay close attention to Papua people's aspirations and needs and be more heedful of the people's voices to enable the government to formulate policies that are in line with the reality on the ground and are able to match up to the Papua people's expectations and meet their needs.
Secondly, he pushed the members to immediately work in synergy, take strategic measures, and implement various policies within the framework of accelerating development of Papua's special autonomy development.
Under the third grand mission, he underscored the need to establish coordination and synergy with ministers, heads of agencies, regional leaders, and all related stakeholders in order to lay down a strong foundation for developing Papua and tackling issues on the island.
The final directive concerns the urgency to continue to maintain integrity by not committing corrupt acts or abusing power and authority for the sake of personal or group interests.
"On this occasion, I would like to invite you all to strengthen our bonds of solidarity and unity. You have a crucial mission in contributing to the government's efforts to create a safe and peaceful Papua. Let us build a better Papua with the spirit of togetherness and unity," the VP pointed out.
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