2) Not the military’s business
3) Amnesty International asks government to probe civilian deaths in Central Papua
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1) Ministry working to ensure Papuan children have education access
July 22, 2024 20:22 GMT+700
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Bintang Puspayoga has affirmed that her ministry is continuing to coordinate with the relevant parties to ensure access to education for children in conflict-ridden areas in Papua.
After attending a dialogue on women's empowerment and child protection here on Monday, she said that the issues of women and children are of cross-sectoral concern and addressing them will require cooperation between her ministry and other ministries, agencies, and regional governments.
"These include issues in mountainous areas, related to access to education, conflict areas; we discuss them with relevant ministries and agencies," she said during the dialogue with the Papua People's Council (MRP).
She also highlighted that her ministry is continuing to work with various parties to ensure the protection of children in those areas. This is in response to several incidents of school arson perpetrated by an armed separatist group in Papua.
"The President surely pays great attention to the people in Papua," she assured.
During the discussion, the minister also touched upon several issues related to the protection and the fulfillment of the rights of children in Papua.
She underlined that realizing those two things, especially keeping an eye on children as the nation's future, needs commitment from all parties.
"When we talk about violence, the majority of the victims are vulnerable groups. Who are they? Women and children. This is what we must monitor," she said.
Related news: Minister Puspayoga to celebrate National Children's Day in Papua
Related news: TNI officers hosts study activity for Central Papua children
After attending a dialogue on women's empowerment and child protection here on Monday, she said that the issues of women and children are of cross-sectoral concern and addressing them will require cooperation between her ministry and other ministries, agencies, and regional governments.
"These include issues in mountainous areas, related to access to education, conflict areas; we discuss them with relevant ministries and agencies," she said during the dialogue with the Papua People's Council (MRP).
She also highlighted that her ministry is continuing to work with various parties to ensure the protection of children in those areas. This is in response to several incidents of school arson perpetrated by an armed separatist group in Papua.
"The President surely pays great attention to the people in Papua," she assured.
During the discussion, the minister also touched upon several issues related to the protection and the fulfillment of the rights of children in Papua.
She underlined that realizing those two things, especially keeping an eye on children as the nation's future, needs commitment from all parties.
"When we talk about violence, the majority of the victims are vulnerable groups. Who are they? Women and children. This is what we must monitor," she said.
Related news: Minister Puspayoga to celebrate National Children's Day in Papua
Related news: TNI officers hosts study activity for Central Papua children
Translator: Prisca Triferna, Raka Adji
Editor: Arie Novarina
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2) Not the military’s business
We must decline the TNI’s request to reenter the world of commerce, lest we allow thuggery to run rampant in the commercial sphere and the fear of military intervention to dictate Indonesia’s development path.
Editorial board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, July 22, 2024
Editorial board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, July 22, 2024
Make no mistake, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s move to green-light a plan to revise the 2004 Indonesian Military (TNI) Law at the last opportunity before the transition of power is controversial in several ways. Civil society groups have flagged, for instance, a provision that would allow active TNI personnel to hold any position in government.
At the moment, the military brass is limited to serving in civilian positions at just 10 different state agencies and cabinet ministries. Critics have also highlighted the proposed expansion of the TNI’s non-war operations, which include aiding the government in mitigating cyberattacks and stamping out illicit drug circulation, potentially entrenching a military presence in civilian life.
That these and other proposed changes have occupied recent public discourse on lawmaking – including a proposal that would allow the TNI commander to serve indefinitely by presidential decree – is a testament to the influence that the military wields a quarter of a century after Reformasi. And yet the most insidious proposal comes in the form of a seemingly innocent request to do away with a ban on TNI personnel from participating in commercial activities, as stipulated in Article 39 of the TNI Law.
At a recent discussion to test public opinion of the planned revisions, a TNI legal specialist suggested lifting the business ban on the argument that active soldiers should not have to face criminal charges for taking on part-time commercial activities, such as helping out with a spouse’s small business or becoming a part-time online taxi driver.
At first glance, the request seemed to take advantage of a recent controversial state decision to allow religious organizations to manage mining concessions. Perhaps the military also just wants to have its slice of the pie. But in this case, allowing the TNI to go back into business would undo 20 years’ worth of reforms that envisioned a professional, accountable and steadfast military force. Scholars seem to largely agree that military involvement in business is unprofessional and could threaten human security.
One of the hallmarks of the 2004 law was the requirement that the TNI relinquish all military businesses to the state by 2009. Yet despite concerted efforts to investigate such entities and a presidential decree designed to speed things up, a 2010 Human Rights Watch report found no actual progress. In 2019, an academic study not only offered proof that the Indonesian Army still operates its cooperatives businesses for profit with little regard for the steady rise of the state defense budget, researchers concluded that successive administrations had deemed it necessary to allow the military to secure its vested interests to maintain stability.
At first glance, the request seemed to take advantage of a recent controversial state decision to allow religious organizations to manage mining concessions. Perhaps the military also just wants to have its slice of the pie. But in this case, allowing the TNI to go back into business would undo 20 years’ worth of reforms that envisioned a professional, accountable and steadfast military force. Scholars seem to largely agree that military involvement in business is unprofessional and could threaten human security.
One of the hallmarks of the 2004 law was the requirement that the TNI relinquish all military businesses to the state by 2009. Yet despite concerted efforts to investigate such entities and a presidential decree designed to speed things up, a 2010 Human Rights Watch report found no actual progress. In 2019, an academic study not only offered proof that the Indonesian Army still operates its cooperatives businesses for profit with little regard for the steady rise of the state defense budget, researchers concluded that successive administrations had deemed it necessary to allow the military to secure its vested interests to maintain stability.
Our politicians, the study finds, have entered into a transactional dialogue with the military, leaving a cultural legacy of entrepreneurship among military leaders that has contributed to the formation of new elites and oligarchs. For one, president-elect Prabowo Subianto Prabowo Subianto Djojohadikusumo, 72, is a retired Army lieutenant general, a businessman and the incumbent Defense Minister (2019-present). Due to his proximity to power throughout his military career, he entered politics in 2004 to pursue his dream of becoming the nation’s president. is a product of this generation of new military wealth.
Before him, there was president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Behind Jokowi stands Luhut Pandjaitan, who played the role of military man, business associate, diplomat and politician. However, the greater moral hazard lies in allowing the military’s shadier side to fester unchecked, whether as security for hire, influence peddlers through regional command structures or benefactors of illegal trade.
Recent years have borne witness to the drawbacks of khaki capital. Revelations of illicit online gambling rings run by “renegades” and a graft case involving TNI-run pension fund Asabri are enough indication of what could go wrong if the military runs for-profit businesses. We must decline the TNI’s request, lest we allow thuggery to run rampant in the commercial sphere and the fear of military intervention to dictate Indonesia’s development path.
Recent years have borne witness to the drawbacks of khaki capital. Revelations of illicit online gambling rings run by “renegades” and a graft case involving TNI-run pension fund Asabri are enough indication of what could go wrong if the military runs for-profit businesses. We must decline the TNI’s request, lest we allow thuggery to run rampant in the commercial sphere and the fear of military intervention to dictate Indonesia’s development path.
A decade of true civilian rule under Jokowi is too brief a period of control in the military-civilian struggle. With a retired army general poised to once again take the reins of the country, we will need to keep our guard up to avoid making any further unnecessary concessions.
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3) Amnesty International asks government to probe civilian deaths in Central Papua
July 22, 2024. Reading Time: 2 minutes
Gusty da Costa Journalist Editor Interview
Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia Usman Hamid asks the Indonesian government and the Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) to investigate the death of three civilians in Karutabe village, Mulia District, Puncak Jaya Regency, Central Papua, on July 16, 2024.
” We ask the government to investigate transparently and independently the shooting incident that led to the death of three civilians and make sure that all the perpetrators be prosecuted. The Human Rights Commision should also investigate the incident,” Usman said in a statement on July 20, 2024.
As earlier reported, Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel shot dead three alleged Papuan armed separatist group members in Puncak Jaya regency, Central Papua, on July 16, 2024. Local residents claimed that the three people were innocent civilians.
Spokesman of Papua’s Cendrawasih Regional Military Command, Lieutenant Colonel Candra Kurniawan, said personnel of the 753rd Infantry Battalion in Puncak Jaya were engaged in gun fight upon seeing Teranus Enumbi, an identified member of the armed Free Papua Movement (OPM) along with his peers in a residential area of Karubate village, Muara District.
The separatist group members shot at the 753rd Infantry Battalion personnel who were about to arrest them at a small kiosk in the village. Three of them, identified as SW (33 years old), YW (41) and DW (36), were killed in gunfire exchanges, while Teranus Enumbi managed to flee the scene.
Violence broke out on July 17, 2024 after local people staged a protest against the killing. TNI reported that six vehicles belonging to security forces were burned by the mass during mediation following the shooting of the three alleged members of the Free Papua Organization (OPM) in Puncak Jaya, Central Papua. The mob was allegedly provoked by a group of people.
Usman Hamid said this incident is a extra judicial killing that violates human right principle, but also refelected the failure of security approach applied by Indonesian government in handling conflict in Papua.
“Such violence not only adds to the suffering of the Papuan people, but also aggravate distrust to security officers and the government,” Usman said.
He was of the opinion that security approach taken by the Indonesian government in solving Papuan conflict by deploying massive number of armed military and police has been proven as ineffective.
“Instead of creating peace and security, this approach has incited fear and trauma for the civilians and distance the indigenous Papuan from justice. Ongoing violence has shown that militaristic approach cannot solve the root of the conflict in Papua that is social, economical, and political injustice.” he said.
He said further that the government should immediately stop the security approach that prioritize violence and switch to more humanist and dialog approach with all parties in Papua.
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