3) Government accused of contradicting reality at UN rights hearing
Jayapura, Jubi- The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) shot down a helicopter in Baya Biru District, Paniai Regency on Wednesday (20/3/2024), claiming that the helicopter was carrying mining logistics operating in Baya Biru. The mine is suspected to be illegal.
TPNPB spokesperson Sebby Sambom, relaying a statement from one of TPNPB leaders Aibon Kogoya, stated that the helicopter also carried Indonesian military personnel. “We managed to shoot down the helicopter that regularly transports logistics for mining and Indonesian military personnel to Baya Biru, Degeuwo,” said Sambom
According to Sambom, the helicopter shot down by Aibon Kogoya’s group also frequently allegedly transported sex workers for the miners. In the statement, Sambom also conveyed Aibon Kogoya’s demand regarding the presence of mines in Baya Biru, which was deemed as negatively impacting the lives of residents in Baya Biru.
“We demand the immediate closure of mining operations disguised as militarism and investments that harm the indigenous people of Baya Biru. Send the sex workers back to Java, as they are a source of diseases [AIDS and HIV transmission] to kill Papuans,” he said.
Sambom’s press statement also included demands for all mining permits in Papua to be revoked. “We demand that all companies cease operations. If they continue to exploit our resources, they will be shot dead,” he said.
In Jayapura, the Papua Police announced that two police officers died in an attack carried out by the TPNPB in Baya Biru District. The attack occurred on Wednesday at around 8a.m. Papua time.
Papua Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ignatius Benny Ady Prabowo stated that the two police officers killed in the attack were Second Brig. Arnaldobert Yawan and Second Brig. Sandi Defrit Sayuri.
Benny stated that the police was currently investigating the attack, which also resulted in the loss of two AK-47 rifles. “The case is currently under investigation,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Paniai Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Abdus Syukur Felani stated that the attack occurred while personnel were securing Helipad 99 in Baya Baru District. “The incident started when our personnel were securing Helipad 99. Suddenly, several gunshots were heard from the east, causing us to lose two personnel and two AK-47 rifles were stolen,” Abdus said via WhatsApp.
Abdus stated that they are currently conducting a sweep and investigation into the case. He affirmed that the police will take firm action against the individuals or groups responsible for the attack. “We will pursue the perpetrators or groups responsible for this action. They will be prosecuted according to the law. We are also currently increasing security at all points in Paniai Regency to prevent any unwanted incidents,” he emphasized. (*)
Jayapura, Jubi – The Papua Office of the National Human Rights Commission(Komnas HAM Papua) has urged the Papua Police and Yahukimo Police to uncover the perpetrators of murder and rape against two female refugees in Yahukimo, IS and AK, on October 11, 2023. Police must ensure the complete enforcement of the law and hold the perpetrators accountable.
Melky Weruin, Komnas HAM Papua’s Chairman of the Enforcement and Promotion Team for Human Rights, stated there was no excuse for not uncovering this case. “It is the police’s responsibility. They must find ways to uncover the perpetrators,” Weruin told Jubi on Tuesday (19/3/2024).
Weruin explained that there are indeed formal requirements that must be met to continue investigations, such as conducting autopsies to determine the weapons used in the murder, whether they were sharp or blunt objects; whether they were knives or machetes, and whether the victims were slashed or stabbed, among other details. The purpose is to understand the nature of the wounds to conclude whether an autopsy is necessary. However, this was not done for the two female victims in Yahukimo.
He added that the Komnas HAM Papua would soon request information on the progress of handling the sexual violence case from the Papua Police and the Yahukimo Police.
On October 26, 2023, Komnas HAM Papua sent a letter to the Papua Police chief regarding the alleged sexual violence, suspected to have been perpetrated by security forces. “We sent a letter with attached complaint documents to the police, asking for clarification on the extent of the handling of this case,” Melky said.
On November 27, 2023, Komnas HAM Papua received a response from the Papua Police chief stating that the investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Yahukimo Police had been optimal. However, as of now, the unit has not made any arrests or detentions due to the lack of two valid pieces of evidence.
According to Weruin, based on the response letter from the Papua Police Chief, the obstacles encountered in the investigation include the absence of witnesses who saw the assaults on IS and the murder of AK.
“Witness Welson Payage, the son of IS, does not know the perpetrators of the assault on his mother, and autopsies were not conducted on the victims due to the lack of autopsy equipment at the hospital. These are the efforts they have made in terms of law enforcement,” Weruin said. (*)
https://www.indoleft.org/news/2024-03-18/government-accused-of-contradicting-reality-at-un-rights-hearing.html
3) Government accused of contradicting reality at UN rights hearing
Jakarta – A number of groups that make up the civil society coalition consider the Indonesian government through its delegation provided contradictory information on the state of Indonesia's human rights at an International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) hearing in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday March 12.
They are the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), Asian Justice and Rights, Amnesty InternationalIndonesia, Transmen Indonesia, the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), FORUM-ASIAand Kontras Aceh.
Kontras Coordinator Dimas Bagus Arya for example believes that the Indonesian delegation did not provide a complete statement related to cases of past gross human rights violations such as the 2004 assassination of renewed human rights defender Munir Said Thalib or the case of human rights activists Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti.
"The Indonesian government again and again in every international forum projects an image as if there is already a compliance with the norms of fulfilling the upholding of human rights protections, particularly in the context of political civil rights", said Arya during an online event on Monday March 18.
In the Munir case that was questioned by the ICCPR committee, according to Arya, the Indonesian government claimed that coordination was still taking place between the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) and the Attorney General's Office (AGO) in accordance with Presidential Instruction Number 2/2003.
Yet according to Arya, the government should refer to Law Number 26/2000 on Human Rights Courts to push the AGO to investigate and prosecute cases of gross human rights violations.
"At that time the ICCPR committee was asking critically and in a complementary or comprehensive manner in relation to gross human rights violations that occurred in the past", he said.
Then regarding the defamation case brought against Azhar and Maulidiyanti by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the ICCPR committee raised the case as a form of criminalisation of human rights defenders who were indicted under the Information and Electronic Transaction (ITE) Law.
The Indonesian government, according to Arya, actually claimed that the case has been fully resolved because Azhar and Maulidiyanti were declared not guilty by the courts and released on all charges. But in fact, the verdict is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court.
"So we highlighted the facts that were indeed conveyed as a counter-narrative or contradicting the reality and the implementation that should be an evaluation", Arya said.
Similarly, Amnesty International is of the view that the Indonesian government gave inadequate responses and even tended to minimise the facts about the human rights situation in Indonesia at the forum.
"The quite critical questions given by the committee to the Indonesian delegation, and some of the answers from members of the Indonesian delegation actually left us scratching our heads and a little disappointed", said Amnesty International Deputy Director Wirya Adiweda.
Adiweda said that what was conveyed was not in accordance with the facts of the human rights situation in Indonesia and the answers conveyed by the Indonesian delegation were just the same old answers or in other words there was no change.
In the context of past gross human rights violations, he said, one thing that emerged in the 2023 review by the ICCPR committee was the existence of a deadlock between the AGO and the Komnas HAM regarding the investigation of past violations.
In relation to extrajudicial killings, torture and other inhuman treatment, the Indonesian government claims to have policies that do not tolerate impunity.
According to Adiweda, the Indonesian delegation argued that the number of extrajudicial killings by security forces was relatively less than those committed by armed civilian groups.
Conversely, Amnesty International noted that from January 2018 to May 2023, there were around 65 cases of extrajudicial killings involving 106 victims.
"This is not an answer that is worthy of being conveyed by the state, which should take responsibility for protecting its citizens", he said.
Then in relation to the situation in Papua, the Indonesian delegation said that internal refugees in Papua only occur due to three things.
First, natural disasters, or droughts. Second, due to horizontal conflicts, and third due to violence by armed criminal groups, without mentioning the consequences of a massive security forces presence in Papua.
"Things like this make us wonder and feel that there is a lack of commitment by the state to [address] the problems conveyed by members of the UN Human Rights Committee. Answers that are always the same show that the human rights problems in Indonesia have never been thoroughly resolved", said Adiweda. (khr/dna)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Pemerintah Dinilai Kontradiktif Soal Kondisi HAM RI di Sidang PBB".]
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