1) From social media to the Supreme Court: The battle to save Papua’s forests

2) Peaceful demonstration led by Papua Bali Student Community met with police repression in Denpasar – five arrested and at least five injured

3) IDP Update June 2024: Urgent call for humanitarian access to conflict areas

4) Australia should seek a trilateral partnership with Indonesia and PNG

5) Tyranny of proximity

-----------------------------------

Human Rights Monitor 

https://humanrightsmonitor.org/news/from-social-media-to-the-supreme-court-the-battle-to-save-papuas-forests/

1) From social media to the Supreme Court: The battle to save Papua’s forests

Human Rights News / Indonesia, West Papua / 12 June 2024 

The recent slogan “All Eyes on Papua” emerged in response to the viral “All Eyes on Rafah” campaign on Instagram. Indigenous communities and the youth in Papua hope that this movement will foster real solidarity with Papuan issues. The first post, shared more than three million times, called for support for the Awyu people in Boven Digoel, who are battling deforestation caused by the palm oil company PT Indo Asiana Lestari.

The fight for customary land

The Awyu tribe is striving to protect 36,094 hectares of customary land from palm oil expansion. The campaign, initially focused on agrarian conflicts, has now broadened to address issues such as education, health, hunger, and armed conflicts in Papua. These issues have led to numerous deaths and displacements over the decades.

Hendrikus Franky Woro, a representative of the Awyu Tribe, has become a central figure in this movement, despite not using social media. He recently expressed gratitude for the support from netizens and emphasized the tribe’s reliance on the Supreme Court to fairly resolve their lawsuit against PT Indo Asiana Lestari.

Broader socio-political issues

The campaign gained traction after the Awyu representatives held a protest in front of the Supreme Court office in Jakarta on 27 May 2024. They performed traditional dances and chants, displaying posters with messages like “Save Papua’s Customary Forests” and “Papua is Not Empty Land.”

The “All Eyes on Papua” slogan went viral shortly after this protest. The campaign was bolstered by public figures, including Indonesian national footballer Sandy Walsh, and it drew significant attention to the extensive deforestation in Papua, documented by Yayasan Pusaka Bentala Rakyat. This deforestation, notably in Boven Digoel, threatens the livelihoods and heritage of indigenous communities.

The movement has highlighted not only environmental but also socio-political issues in Papua. Campaigners, such as Greenpeace’s Sekar Banjaran Aji, stress the importance of public support in pressuring the Supreme Court to protect the forests. The campaign also seeks to raise awareness about the broader challenges faced by indigenous Papuans, including economic, health, and human rights issues.

Government response and criticism

The Indonesian government has responded with mixed signals. Presidential special staff Billy Mambrasar claimed to have recommended a review of the company permits to President Joko Widodo. However, this claim was questioned by researchers and activists who pointed out the government’s historical neglect of indigenous rights and environmental concerns.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) criticised the Indonesian government for ignoring long-standing conflicts and human rights abuses in Papua while condemning international conflicts like those in Palestine. They argue that the Indonesian government’s approach has resulted in slow-motion genocide, ethnocide, and ecocide in Papua.

The legal battle continues

The legal battle for the Awyu and Moi tribes continues, with hopes pinned on the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision. Despite setbacks in lower courts, the tribes remain determined to defend their customary lands. Their struggle represents not only a fight for environmental justice but also a broader call for recognition and protection of indigenous rights in Indonesia.

The “All Eyes on Papua” campaign serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing struggles in Papua and the urgent need for solidarity and action to protect the region’s people and environment. The movement urges the public to educate themselves about Papuan issues and support the indigenous communities’ efforts to secure their rights and heritage.

---------------------------------

Human Rights Monitor 

https://humanrightsmonitor.org/case/peaceful-demonstration-led-by-papua-bali-student-community-met-with-police-repression-in-denpasar-five-arrested-and-at-least-five-injured/

2) Peaceful demonstration led by Papua Bali Student Community met with police repression in Denpasar – five arrested and at least five injured

Cases, Human Rights News / Indonesia, West Papua / 13 June 2024 

On 10 June 2024, the Papua Bali Student Community Student Association, in collaboration with IMMAPPA Bali and AMP KK Bali, organised a peaceful demonstration in Denpasar to support the indigenous Awyu and Moi tribes in their struggle to protect their customary lands and forests. The event was marked by a series of significant confrontations with local police forces.

At 09:30, demonstrators gathered at the East Renon Parking Gathering Point. The coordination team, led by the “Korlap,” organized the protesters into a neat formation, displaying banners and posters advocating for indigenous rights.

Confrontation with police and arrested

Shortly after, the group proceeded towards the Renon roundabout, a location strategically chosen for its visibility, being in front of the US Consulate. However, the procession was halted en route by a heavy police presence, with around 200 officers, 2 Dalmas cars, and 1 command car forming a blockade. The police cited the presence of a counter-demonstration by the PGN mass organization as the reason for the obstruction.

For almost four hours, the demonstrators maintained their position, engaging in political speeches and poetry readings. Despite their peaceful stance, the police refused to allow them to move to the designated action point.

Tensions escalated when the Korlap decided to lead the protesters through the police barricade towards the police station. The police responded with force, using water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Several demonstrators were beaten and kicked while in handcuffs and transported to Renon Police Station. Among the injured were individuals identified by their initials: HM, SG, MA, LM, and IK.

Additionally, four protesters and one member of LBH Bali, an allied legal aid organisation, were forcibly handcuffed and taken into custody. The individuals taken to the police station were identified as AM, MK, MA, HM, and one unnamed friend from LBH Bali.

Approximately 40 minutes later, a group of protesters arrived at the Renon police station to demand the release of their detained colleagues. Following pressure from the demonstrators, the police released all detainees. The group then reconvened at the Putra Papua rented house, where they read a formal statement of attitude.

Statement by Papuan the Community and Student Association (IMMAPA) Bali and Bali City Committee

On 11 June 2024 the Papuan Community and Student Association (IMMAPA) Bali and Bali City Committee issued a statement of attitude containing the following main issues and demands: 

Revoke Company Licenses:

• Urges President Joko Widodo and the Supreme Court to revoke licenses of companies operating on Awyu and Moi tribal lands.

Protection of Customary Lands:

• Emphasizes the need to save the forests of the Awyu and Moi tribes from the encroachment of palm oil companies.
• Highlights lawsuits filed by the tribes against government-issued permits to companies like PT Indo Asiana Lestari (IAL), PT Kartika Cipta Pratama, PT Megakarya Jaya Raya, and PT Sorong Agro Sawitindo (SAS).

Environmental and Cultural Impact:

• Points out that the activities of these companies threaten the indigenous forests, which are vital for the tribes’ livelihood, culture, and biodiversity.
• Notes the potential release of 25 million tons of CO2e due to deforestation, exacerbating the climate crisis.

Legal Battles and Government Inaction:

• Details the complicated legal journey of the Awyu and Moi tribes, including lawsuits that have been dismissed or are pending in higher courts.
• Calls for the Supreme Court to issue a ruling that favors environmental protection and indigenous rights.

Broader Context of Exploitation and Rights Violations:

• Describes other instances of land grabbing, illegal operations, and environmental destruction across Papua, including:
  • The MIFEE project in Merauke.
  • Petroleum exploration in Timika Agimuga.
  • Illegal gold mining in Deiyai and Yalimo.
  • The construction of government and military facilities on customary lands without consent.

Human Rights Concerns:

• Highlights ongoing human rights abuses, including criminalization, intimidation, and violence against indigenous people.
• Mentions specific cases of police and military repression, such as the shooting of civilians in Yahukimo and large-scale evacuations due to conflicts.

Specific Demands:

• Calls for the Supreme Court to prioritize environmental and climate justice.
• Demands the revocation of all permits in Awyu and Moi lands.
• Urges the Indonesian government to stop criminalizing indigenous peoples and to withdraw military forces from Papua.
• Appeals for public support for the Awyu and Moi tribes’ struggle and for the preservation of Papuan forests.
• Requests open access for national and international journalists to West Papua.
• Advocates for the right to self-determination for the West Papuan nation as a democratic solution.

The statement underscores the urgent need for legal and governmental action to protect the rights and lands of the Awyu and Moi tribes. It highlights the broader issue of environmental and human rights abuses in Papua and calls for solidarity and support from the public and international community to address these injustices. The statement portrays the struggle of the indigenous tribes as a crucial effort not only for their survival but for the broader fight against climate change and the preservation of cultural heritage.

Photos of protestors injured on 10 June in Bali

———————————————————

Human Rights Monitor 

3) IDP Update June 2024: Urgent call for humanitarian access to conflict areas

Human Rights News, Reports / Indonesia, West Papua / 12 June 2024 

As of June 2024, over 76,919 people in West Papua[1], predominantly indigenous Papuans, remain internally displaced due to the armed conflict in the region. While around two to three thousand people in the Maybrat Regency have reportedly returned home, new internal displacements have occurred. These arose from the assassination of a military member in the Paniai Regency on 11 April 2024 and new outbreaks of armed violence in the Intan Jaya Regency in early May 2024.

Human Rights Monitor has not received updated information on the condition and numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Pegunungan Bintang and Puncak regencies in the past eight months. Many of these IDPs are believed to still reside in towns like Nabire, Wamena, Jayapura and other locations across West Papua. These areas remain extremely isolated from media coverage and human rights reporting due to heavy security force presence and ongoing clashes between security forces and the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB). Information from local informants suggests entire villages and districts have been abandoned, such as Suru-Suru District in Yahukimo Regency. Villagers there continue to live in the forest or have relocated to villages in the neighbouring Asmath Regency. The health and education facilities in Suru-Suru have been devastated by security force members and remain inoperative.

The government continues to disregard the humanitarian crisis in West Papua, leaving IDPs without access to humanitarian assistance from national or international organisations.  …………...

https://humanrightsmonitor.org/news/idp-update-june-2024-urgent-call-for-humanitarian-access-to-conflict-areas/

------------------------------------------------------------

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/australia-should-seek-a-trilateral-partnership-with-indonesia-and-png/

4) Australia should seek a trilateral partnership with Indonesia and PNG

13 Jun 2024|Ridvan Kilic

With relations between Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) strong, the time is right for Australia to advocate for a high-level Australia–Indonesia–PNG trilateral strategic partnership.

Australia’s 2016 Defence White Paper identified the Pacific and Southeast Asia as Australia’s second strategic defence interest, behind a secure and resilient Australia itself. Geography makes Indonesia and PNG the most important neighbours to Australia. They (and East Timor) are the closest. They also stand between Australia and China. At the same time, Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest country, and PNG is the largest Pacific Island nation.

While the strengthening of the set of three bilateral ties is welcome, a trilateral arrangement would be even better. Through it, the three countries could collectively address shared challenges. Achieving this would certainly be in Australia’s interest.

As part of such an arrangement, annual trilateral leaders’ and ministerial-level summits should be held. The partnership should also reaffirm the territorial sovereignty of all three countries, including unwavering support for freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific, and reinforce the need for the peaceful resolution of regional maritime disputes in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The partners could focus on areas of shared interests and concerns and promote cooperation in traditional security issues such as border security, maritime security, defence infrastructure development, and policing. For instance, they could together increase their maritime security capabilities by running regular maritime patrols, holding annual joint military exercises and training, and sharing critical information about maritime safety.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing continues to pose a direct threat to all three neighbours’ maritime resources and borders. For example, PNG is losing 1 billion kina (US$260 million) annually due to IUU fishing, while Indonesia’s losses are US$23 billion a year. Meanwhile, Australia has the world’s third-largest exclusive economic zone and is therefore wary of the growing IUU fishing threat. In the trilateral partnership, an Australia–Indonesia–PNG hotline could be established to prevent illegal vessels from sailing from one country’s territorial waters to another’s.

The partnership should also collaborate on non-traditional security areas such as climate change, critical infrastructure, cybersecurity, health security, disaster risk reduction and transnational crime. Climate change, in particular, remains a major environmental security threat for Indonesia, Australia and PNG. Through the trilateral partnership, the neighbours could deepen their climate cooperation and strengthen the climate adaptation and infrastructure capacities of each of them.

Despite Indonesia’s and PNG’s geostrategic importance, Australia’s 2023 Defence Strategic Review failed to mention them. Canberra has deepened its two bilateral security relationships with them but has made scant efforts to advance a trilateral partnership.

In 2020, Canberra and Port Moresby elevated their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership (CSP), and last year the two countries signed a historic security agreement. Since 2020, through the Lombrum Joint Initiative, Australia has also been supporting PNG in its efforts to redevelop the Lombrum Naval Base on Manus Island, north of the mainland. Last year, Australia gave four Guardian-class patrol boats to PNG, helping it to guard territorial waters from transnational crime and IUU fishing.

With Indonesia, Australia shares the world’s longest maritime boundary. The two countries upgraded their strategic ties to a CSP in 2018. In recent years, the bilateral relationship has been further boosted by the graduation of Indonesian military cadets for the first time from the Royal Australian Military College, Duntroon. The two neighbours are also planning to sign a new treaty-level defence cooperation agreement this year. In the Australia–Indonesia CSP, they committed to working together in the Pacific in trilateral cooperation with an unnamed third country from the Pacific.

Indonesia–PNG relations improved in 2023 when they ratified an agreement governing their border, which is sometimes crossed by insurgents opposed to Indonesian possession of West Papua. PNG unequivocally recognises Indonesia’s sovereignty over West Papua.

This year Jakarta and Port Moresby ratified and expanded their defence cooperation agreement. PNG hopes that the new deal will expand bilateral security cooperation in the areas of ‘joint border patrols, and military exercises’.

Ultimately, amid growing unpredictability in the Indo-Pacific, a solid Australia–Indonesia–PNG trilateral partnership would contribute to greater stability in Australia’s immediate region.

Ridvan Kilic is a recent graduate of the Master of International Relations course at La Trobe University. His main focus is on Australia, Indonesia, Southeast Asian regionalism and the Indo-Pacific. Image of PNG Prime Minister James Marape: Hilary Wardhaugh/AFP via Getty Images.

————————————————

https://johnmenadue.com/tyranny-of-proximity-link-out-answer/

5) Tyranny of proximity

By Duncan Graham

Jun 14, 2024

The pundits are already in a tizz: What’ll happen to defence, AUKUS, trade and other relationships should Trump win in November? More pressing and certain is how we’ll cope when Indonesia’s President-elect Prabowo Subianto takes office in October.

Next door there’ll be a leader “with demonstrated disregard for the rule of law …seen by many as a war criminal” and not the person most voters wanted in the February poll.

Proof is that two earlier stabs at the Presidency and one at the VP job by the disgraced and aging former general were all been trashed by the electorate.

Prabowo only won this year when coupled with Gibran Rakabuming son of the current and popular President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo with voters hoping the lad will be Dad Version Two.

It’s widely accepted that the youngster’s presence on the ticket has put right-wing Prabowo in power.

But for how long? The life expectancy for Indonesian men is 68. Prabowo will be 73 when inaugurated. About half the population of the world’s fourth-largest nation is under 30.

Should plump, reportedly hot-tempered Prabowo become too unwell to govern, Vice President-elect, Gibran, 36, will be the youngest leader in Indonesian history – and probably the world.

He’s a Singapore-educated businessman from the regional city of Solo where he’s been mayor. His wife accountant Selvi Ananda was a Catholic but had to convert to Islam to marry. He has no military background and is not known for religiosity.

Prabowo is the Republic’s version of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin or Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. There’s little Indonesian material online to back that slander of fascism; most comes from Australian researchers.

Instead, locals get details of Prabowo’s massive electoral victory – 55.5 per cent in a three-man contest – won through playing the role of an avuncular and caring statesman. Cartoon images contrived through his PR team have whitewashed his alleged villainy.

Missing are at-length interviews with independent Western journalists for Prabowo is afraid. Not from misunderstanding questions in English, a language in which he’s fluent from schooling in London, but because he’s – let’s be careful here – a stranger to frank talk with a free press.

He knows he’ll be asked about his past; however much he spins his sins of yesteryear and tries to push them away as unproved and unimportant, all the while claiming the future is the only thing that matters. A pub-test fail.

For an oversight of the man who’ll lead the world’s fourth most populous nation with more Muslims than any other country – and our neighbour – the best analysis is a 12-page background briefing here.

It comes from Australian writer and human rights activist Pat Walsh who was seconded by the UN to help establish and advise the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CAVR) after the 1999 East Timor referendum.

It’s a damning document that should have provoked legal challenges, but wasn’t on TikTok so passed with little notice. It’s also possible Prabowo wasn’t keen to fuel international publicity.

A shortened version was published ahead of the February election in the prestigious magazine Inside Indonesia with the heading: Is Prabowo fit and proper to be Indonesia’s next president?

This is Walsh’s answer [personal communication]:

“Until he is cleared of allegations of wrongdoing, Prabowo is not fit and proper to serve as the president of this great nation.

“If Prabowo is elected a dark cloud will settle over Indonesia. Indonesia will be perceived as regressive, prepared to forget rather than remember and learn, and to tolerate impunity when, in fact, it could be a beacon of democracy and champion of the rule of law in a much-troubled region and world.”

Corrosive, but the reality is that this is the man Canberra will have to deal with for the next five years.

Some of Walsh’s analysis is based on evidence given to CAVR; this concluded that the commando Kopassus Special Forces “were responsible for committing crimes against humanity and war crimes during Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor, 1975-1999.

“As a member and then a commander of Kopassus, Prabowo undertook at least four tours of duty in East Timor…They show (he was) anything but an innocent or bit player.”

Walsh’s voice is not isolated. Tim Lindsey, professor of Asian Law at Melbourne Uni has written:

“There are claims of human rights abuses against him (including alleged kidnappings, forced disappearances and war crimes by troops under his command); and his campaign was marred by accusations of unethical conduct and collusion.

“Prabowo has been very clear in the past that he thinks the democratic reforms that followed the fall of Soeharto in 1998, should be wound back.

“…as he settles into office, a further gradual dismantling of democratic checks and balances, institutions and individual freedoms is very likely. Critics of Prabowo have good reason to be concerned.”

After he was cashiered for disobeying orders, and his marriage with President Soeharto’s daughter Siti hit the rocks, Prabowo fled to exile in Jordan.

He returned years later as a businessman backed by his billionaire younger brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo who helped bankroll his third campaign.

Since the poll, Jokowi has restored Prabowo’s rank as a four-star general. He’d earlier made him Minister for Defence.

So how does Walsh feel now?

“I am shocked by the ease with which Prabowo won,” he told your correspondent. “That he pulled it off in one round against credible alternative candidates and despite his obvious unsuitability is stunning.

“That his military failures and dismissals, violations of human rights and the rule of law, international pariah status (declared persona non grata by three US presidents and Australia), age, lack of legislative and government experience and previous electoral failures, were ignored, beggars belief.”

International diplomacy protocols ensure Prabowo will be treated with respect by PM Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong whatever they feel personally. Indonesia is too big, too close and too important to snub.

Should he come to Australia he’ll be shielded from physical harm, but don’t expect any open media conferences.

Duncan Graham

Duncan Graham has been a journalist for more than 40 years in print, radio and TV. He is the author of People Next Door (UWA Press). He is now writing for the English language media in Indonesia from within Indonesia.
Duncan Graham has an MPhil degree, a Walkley Award, two Human Rights Commission awards and other prizes for his radio, TV and print journalism in Australia. He lives in East Java.

------------------------------