Unidentified gunmen fired shots at helicopter carrying two missionaries in Puncak Senyum in Puncak Jaya, Papua, on Tuesday. There were no fatalities in the incident, but two bullet holes were found in a window near the cockpit.
Amara, the director of the Papua branch of Helivida, a transportation service, told The Jakarta Post in Jayapura that the shooting took place at about 11:30 a.m. local time (9:30 a.m. Jakarta time) when the helicopter was en route from Mulia, Puncak Jaya, to Wamena, Jayawijaya.
“The front window near the cockpit had two bullet holes but luckily the shots didn’t hit the passengers sitting in the front seat. Perhaps God protected the passengers,” Amara said.
“The helicopter continued its flight to Wamena despite the attack,” he said.
The Bell 206 JetRanger helicopter with registration PK-HME was manned by a German pilot identified as Gunther. It was on a flight to pick up the two missionaries from Lumo village, a missionary post in the Papua central mountain range, before making a stop in Mulia.
“Helivida has been serving in Papua for 15 years, flying missionaries, but this is the first time we’ve been shot at. We work only for humanity and there are no other interests,” Amara said. “We hope there will be no more shootings in the future that could hamper our services in Papua.” — JP
Durian feast: Two women stand over durian by the river in Serui, Yapen Islands. February is durian season and villagers in Serui can collect ripe durian from the ground and take them to market. (JP/ Prodita Sabarini)As with many areas in Indonesia and around the world, people in Papua move from rural areas to the city. However, having lived close to their land for thousands of years their competitive streak in setting up small businesses lags behind that of migrants who have for generations had the skills to run businesses, according to Rio Pangemanan, Oxfam program manager on the Papua Enterprise Development Program.
In no corner of the town of Wamena will one see a shop that is owned or run by indigenous Papuans. Indigenous women with their noken (traditional Papuan woven bags) hanging from their heads to their backs sell sweet potatoes or vegetables on a cloth in the street markets. Young strong-limbed Papuan men push rickshaws, some even in bare feet. Others wander around the markets, intoxicated from glue-sniffing.
UK based international development organization Oxfam is currently the only international NGO that is allowed to operate in the heavily policed province. Working with local partners, Oxfam has been supporting local farmers in five regencies in Papua in developing their farms and markets.
Oxfam supports the farmers according to the local needs and potential. For example, in Yapen Island, Oxfam has supported the Wamanuam Be Kitabono Yawa (WMY) Cooperative in cultivating vanilla beans. In Jayawijaya regency, the NGO has supported the Independent Business Foundation (Yapum) in cultivating and distributing sweet potatoes. Meanwhile in Paniai and Nabire Oxfam has supported their local partners in helping coffee farmers and in Jayapura, cacao farmers.
Oxfam’s contract ends next year, but Rio hopes that the NGO will get an extension for its programs. Rio said of the vanilla program in Serui that vanilla vines needed three years to produce beans, so new farmers would only have their first harvest in 2014. Rio said that by the end of 2014, he hoped the cooperative would be able to run independently.
Meanwhile in Wamena, Rio estimates that it will take two years for their partners to be independent in terms of management. He said that if the local government could take part in transportation and distribution of the produce, Oxfam’s partners, such as Yapum, would be able to operate independently once their management capacity had been strengthened.
In his office in Serui, Apolos Mora, the head of WMY cooperative said that for years vanilla trees grew in the wild in forests in Yapen. The Dutch brought the seeds when they opened coffee and chocolate farms on the island in the 1950s. “Before they [the Dutch] could teach the local people to cultivate vanilla, there was the transfer of power to Indonesia,” Apolos said.
One day in 2008, Apolos was reading about vanilla in the bookstore and an “Aha!” moment hit him as he realized that these plants were the ones that grew wild in the forest. When Madagascar, the largest vanilla pod producer in the world, had poor harvests, the price of vanilla pods skyrocketed to Rp 3 million (US$309) per kilogram, Apolos said. Apolos then decided to cultivate vanilla vines and trained the farmers joining his cooperative to plant vanilla too. He sells the pods to Manado, where they are exported to Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand. Recently, the price for dried vanilla pods was Rp 115,000 per kilogram.
PDEP manager, Rio Pangemanan, said that Oxfam supported programs according to the characteristics of the area. The island and coastal areas are more developed than the mountain areas due to ease of access to other islands in Indonesia. The mountain areas meanwhile are more isolated. This results in a different variety of crops that can be profitable to produce. While farmers in Serui can sell their crops in Manado, in Wamena farmers can only sell locally.
In Jayawijaya, Oxfam supports farmers revitalizing their sweet potato farms. Partnering with Yapum, they have developed 20 sweet potato collecting points in Jayawijaya that will distribute the crops to the markets in Wamena. Rio said that these collecting points had become a place for farmer’s advocacy and education to motivate the community to return to their farms instead of leaving for the city.
Local NGOs such as Yapum and WMY cooperative say that it is not always easy advocating for farmers to cultivate vanilla beans or sweet potatoes. Farmers’ programs in Papua are often project-based, in which farmers are given money to open rice paddies or fishponds. Once the funds dry up, the projects become neglected.
Eli Tabuni, the secretary of one of the sweet potato collecting points was one of the farmers who questioned the program. “This [sweet potato farming] is our culture, why are you making a project out of this?” he asked Yapum and Oxfam during their visit there. He said that many of the programs were only temporary and were not really helpful.
Kiloner Wenda, Oxfam Sweet Potato project officer in Jayawijaya, answered Eli in the Lani language with another question. “Where are the young people now who will work on the farms?” he said. “If we don’t start now, then our culture will slowly disappear,” he said.
Rio said that the projects aimed to support indigenous Papuan farmers in developing their business sense and opening their access to markets. In Wamena, women carrying their sweet potatoes from their villages to the market have to pay for transportation to the market for their heavy bags.
Yapum encourages them to sell the potatoes for Rp 5,000 per kilogram, and they only need to drop their crops at the collecting points. This way, the women did not have to travel far to the markets and could save on transportation, Rio said.
In Serui, the program has managed to attract young farmers, but in Wamena, whether the program will succeed in bringing the young back to the farms is yet to be seen. For the kids that like to play in the farm, their dreams are to be pilots and teachers, they say. But they will always love eating sweet potatoes.
Government agencies and civil society in Papua and West Papua provinces are joining the global effort to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but the easternmost provinces remain the most challenging region in Indonesia in attempting to achieve them.
Papua remains Indonesia’s poorest region, with 31.11 percent of the population in 2012 living below the poverty line. More than 70 percent of its population lives off agricultural activities. However, rural areas are seeing the young moving to the cities and neglecting the fields. “A lot of young people go to the cities where they end up becoming thieves. They live there [in the cities] and many wind up dead,” said Petrus Wenda, a farmer in Piramid district, Jayawijaya
Some local farmer groups, with the help of international development agencies and regional government, are developing programs to empower farmers and support the local economy. In Serui, Yapen Islands regency, a local cooperative is training farmers to cultivate vanilla pods for export. Meanwhile, Jayawijaya Agriculture Agency head Paulus Sarira said that his office was working to make sweet potatoes a source of income as well as a key food source for local families.
To speed up development in Papua, the government established in 2011 the Papua and West Papua Development Acceleration Unit (UP4B). One of the central government’s efforts in tackling food security is the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) in the southern part of Papua province. The project aims to cover 1.2 million hectares of agricultural land by 2030. By 2014, the project is targeting more than 200,000 hectares. Activists of indigenous people’s rights, however, criticize the project for jeopardizing the traditional livelihoods of the Marind people who live there.
Development in Papua, Indonesia’s most eastern and underdeveloped province, has been hampered by extremely expensive logistics costs caused by the lack of transportation infrastructure. The Jakarta Post’s Rendi A. Witular recently traveled to several remote areas of the province to find out more. This is the first of three reports about the development in Papua.
Pegunungan Bintang, like other regencies tucked into the alpine terrain of Papua’s isolated central area, has long endured the exorbitant prices of goods and materials.
The regency, inhabited by 113,000 people, drains most of its development fund just to cover costs of airline services, which link the regency with the outside world. Around 40 percent of the regency’s budget, roughly Rp 600 billion (US$61.63 million), has been spent on subsidizing transportation costs.
As all goods have to be airlifted, the price of subsidized fuel can reach an average of Rp 70,000 per liter, and during Christmas and New Year it could top Rp 200,000. In contrast, it costs a mere Rp 4,500 in Java regardless of the holiday season.
Cement is priced between Rp 1.2 million and Rp 1.5 million per 50-kilogram bag, compared to Java where it can be bought only for as little as Rp 67,000.
“Jakarta thinks that our budget is sufficient for development. But they seem to be ignorant to the fact that most of the funds cover transportation costs,” said Pegunungan Bintang Deputy Regent Yakobus Wayam, recently.
“You can imagine how expensive infrastructure development is here when you take in to consideration that we have to airlift the machinery and materials,” he said.
In addition, the regency also has to deal with the uncertainty of flight cancellations, which delay the delivery of supplies, as airplanes are often grounded due to bad weather.
Luckily, the supply of staple food items are sufficient thanks to provisions from local farmers.
Located about a 1.5-hour flight from Papua’s capital, Jayapura, Pegunungan Bintang is flagged as one the province’s security flash points due to its proximity to Papua New Guinea (PNG), with whom it shares a border. The border areas are regularly used by Free Papua Movement (OPM) fighters to evade Indonesian security forces.
Border trespassing has often occurred at the regency’s district of Batom, located around 2 kilometers from a gold mine operated by a PNG company.
Batom’s 1000 residents, mostly children and teenagers, are among the poorest in Papua. They depend on supplies dropped regularly by the local administration from the regency’s capital, Oksibil.
Although the capital is only 30 minutes away by small plane there are no roads that connect Batom with Oksibil for motor vehicles, and so it can take up to eight-day journey through mountainous regions to reach Oksibil.
“The district has been left without doctors or teachers since Christmas last year, as they could not afford the high cost to return to the district,” said Army Sgt. Widodo, an Indonesian Military (TNI) soldier stationed to secure the district’s border area.
The timing of their absence could not been worse as Batom residents and the 20 border officers stationed there have been gripped with an outbreak of malaria.
A soldier from Bengkulu province in Sumatra died from malaria in Batom in late January. Not only could he not receive the proper medical treatment due to the absence of qualified medical practitioners, but bad weather hampered air evacuation attempts, Widodo recalled.
Despite an annual budget of more than Rp 40 trillion — the seventh-largest budget in the country — Papua’s infrastructure development remains at the bottom of the list due to colossal logistics costs despite its rich natural resources of gold, copper, coal and timber.
The province’s pervasive transportation costs drains the budget of each regency. For example, the exorbitant cost of logistics forced Tolikara regency to spend 65 percent of its budget, equivalent to Rp 700 billion, on air travel and deliveries this year.
The remaining 35 percent of the budget is far from sufficient to cover the enormous cost of constructing the much needed roads, health centers and schools, according to Tolikara Regent Usman Wanimbo.
“How can we spend the budget wisely on infrastructure if the price of goods are 100 times more expensive than any where outside Papua?” said Usman recently.
“The real value of our Rp 700 billion budget is equal to Rp 70 billion in Java,” he said.
Aside from Tolikara and Pegunungan Bintang, other regencies located within the province’s central territory, known locally as pegunungan tengah, share a similar high-cost economy that has never been resolved by the central government.
The territory also includes regencies such as Jayawijaya, Lanny Jaya, Nduga, Membrano Tengah, and Yahukimo.
According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) census in 2010, the pegunungan tengah territory, with 1.6 million of Papua’s 2.8 million people, is host to the largest concentration of the province’s population.
Due to its sluggish development, the area has become a hotbed for regular civil and separatist conflicts.
“There’s no other way to resolve the development problem in Papua than to eliminate what we call ‘Papua currency’,” said Doddy Imam Hidayat, the chief expert of the Presidential Unit to Accelerate the Development of Papua and West Papua (UP4B).
“The term means that the real value of the whopping budget for Papua is incomparable to those in other provinces because of the expensive prices there. The budget could well be spent if we could first bring down the prices of all goods,” he said, recently.
Informed by that fact, the UP4B embarked on an ambitious project to end the province’s isolation by accelerating the construction of 1,520 kilometers of roads to be completed by 2015. It is estimated that the project would cost around Rp 1.5 trillion.
As the condition in Papua is deemed “abnormal”, the agency is planning to team up with the Army’s Engineering Directorate (Zeni) to help the Public Works Ministry and local public works agencies achieve the road network expansion swiftly.
A dozen Zeni personnel were deployed to remote areas in Papua in late January to undertake terrain surveys for the planned projects.
“We’re settling the bottleneck in an ‘abnormal way’. If we take the normal way — by depending on the ministry and the local agencies to build the roads — it will take around 60 years to complete. But with the deployment of the military, we are upbeat it could be completed by 2015,” said Doddy. “We think the best way to resolve any problem in Papua is to think outside the box.”
Among the immediate projects on the horizon, according to the UP4B, is the addressing of the connection issue experienced by the pegunungan tengah. Intended new roads will link the area with a river port in Mumugu district in Asmat regency. The river could accommodate large ships that sail to and from the Arafuru Sea.
The port’s construction, spearheaded by the Transportation Ministry, has been underway since last year, and it is slated to be in operation in 2014.
The port will be equipped with a fuel depot supplied by ships and distributed by fuel trucks to the central-area regencies. Currently, barrels of fuel are transported by aircraft and helicopters from Jayapura.
“The road network expansion will not only bring down prices and end the curse of the so-called ‘Papua currency’, but will also help us expand healthcare and education services. The trickle effect will be enormous,” said Usman Wanimbo.
The stakes are high when it comes to infrastructure development work in Papua.
Aside from the pervasive threat of malaria, construction workers deployed in remote areas also put their lives on the line amid the constant threat from Free Papua Movement (OPM) separatists.
In 2010, three workers from the private construction company PT Modern were shot and killed while eight others were injured by OPM fighters while they worked on a road project in Puncak Jaya regency.
In September last year, a construction company had to pay
Rp 500 million (US$51,000) “security money” to OPM supporters or its workers risked being shot when working on a road project in Mulia, Puncak Jaya.
“Paying security money for the OPM is inevitable and has become the norm if we want the project to get up and running,” said the Public Works Ministry’s head for Puncak Jaya, Tolikara and Yahukimo regencies, Sumihar Panjaitan.
“For some projects, we even employed OPM fighters to ensure security. And it’s not surprising to see them operate excavators,” he said.
According to Tolikara Regent Usman Wanimbo, many OPM fighters and high-ranking figures usually come out of hidings once they know there is a road project in the pipeline.
“They usually want a piece of the project as a subcontractor to source workers,” he said.
“As for petty fighters, they usually come down from the mountain just to ask for rice or money to buy pigs and liquor,” he said.
An official with the Public Works Ministry, who asked for anonymity for security reasons, said that a nephew of OPM commander Goliat Tabuni even had a company in Wamena, Jaya Wijaya regency, which specialized in seeking out sub-contracting projects from the government.
“For security reasons, we usually give them some responsibility, such as sourcing workers or laboring on some road sections. The security forces know about this but they tend to turn a blind eye,” said the official.
The government has taken on the near impossible: building 1,520 kilometers of new roads in less than two years on the harsh terrain of Papua and West Papua — the nation’s least developed and isolated provinces.
As no private contractors have the ability to do the job using the allocated budget, the Presidential Unit to Accelerate the Development of Papua and West Papua (UP4B) has turned to the Indonesian Military (TNI) for help.
According to the unit, the massive infrastructure project will open the isolated provinces at a cost of Rp 1.5 trillion (US$154 million), also with the help of the Public Works Ministry and local administrations.
A presidential decree expected to be issued in the next few months authorizing the TNI to do such work inside the nation’s borders will clear the way for more than a 1,000 soldiers from the Army’s engineering detachment to get to work.
“If we depend on the ministry and local agencies to build the roads, it will take around 60 years to complete,” UP4B chief expert Doddy Imam Hidayat said. “The TNI’s deployment is aimed at speeding up the process at a relatively low cost, as it is not seeking any financial profit.”
Despite the province’s annual budget of around Rp 40 trillion, the seventh-largest in the nation, Papua remains at the bottom of the list for infrastructure development.
Officials have said that the provincial budget has been drained to cover expensive transportation costs and inflated prices resulting from a lack of roads and ports.
“Jakarta thinks that we get a big budget that is sufficient for development,” Pegunungan Bintang deputy regent Yakobus Wayam said. “They seem to be ignorant of the fact that most of the funds have been spent on transportation costs.
He added that around 40 percent of the regency’s budget went to subsidizing transportation.
With the intended road system, the UP4B wants to bring down the prices of goods and materials so that regional budgets can be spent efficiently on infrastructure development.
“The planned roads will also help accelerate the expansion of healthcare and education services for people living in the remote areas of the provinces,” Doddy said.
The plan by oil and gas giant BP to build a third liquefaction train at its Tangguh plant in Papua could be delayed for a year due to an objection from the local administration over revenue sharing from the site.
Aside from the revenue issue, environmental concerns have also become a major concern as the environmental impact analysis (Amdal) that BP submitted has not yet been approved by the local administration.
Widhyawan Prawiraatmadja, the commercial deputy at upstream oil and gas regulatory special task force SKKMigas, said the prolonged discussions on those matters could serve to potentially delay the Train 3 project.
“Basically, they [local administration officials] still hold grudges on the revenue-sharing issue at the Tangguh plant following the construction of Train 3. If they aren’t happy then it will become a problem,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Train 3, which will have a production capacity of 3.8 million metric tons per annum (MTPA), is the expansion project of the Tangguh facility, located in Teluk Bintuni, West Papua and in which BP holds a 37.16 percent stake.
The plant currently comprises two production trains that are able to produce 7.6 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year. BP started the first production for the first LNG train in February 2009 and the second one, Train 2, in July 2009.
The third train will produce an additional 3.8 million tons a year for a total combined capacity of 11.4 MTPA of LNG.
Widhyawan, formerly the planning deputy with SKKMigas, said the regulator was currently mediating discussion between the British contractor and the local administration to solve the issue, and cited that “if the situation persists the project may have to be delayed for a year”.
“One of the local administration’s concerns is that it fears the process of constructing the Train 3 facility will lower its share of revenue from Tangguh as whole. We have asked the contractor to ensure that this is not going to happen,” said the official.
The Papua administration has received a 70 percent share of state revenue from the Tangguh facility while the government has received a 30 percent share before tax, according to Widhyawan.
“Once Train 3 starts to operate, the local administration will receive even bigger revenue. It’s just a matter of perspective and we’re working on it,” he said.
Late last year, the Indonesian government approved the US$12 billion Train 3 project.
BP Asia-Pacific regional president William Lin said previously that with the approval, the final investment decision for the project might be taken in 2014, which meant the new train could begin operating in 2018.
------------------------------------------
3) Densus 88 and the (il)legality of torture
Harison Citrawan, Jakarta | Opinion | Tue, March 26 2013, 10:48 AM
A video showing excessive force by the Densus 88 counter terrorism unit as it searched for terrorist suspects in Poso, Central Sulawesi, has prompted some religious leaders to demand the dissolution of the unit. Confirmation by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) of the authenticity of the video will intensify the discussion on the handling of suspected terrorists.
This situation may prompt a debate over the (il)legality of the use of torture in terrorism cases, in particular on how should we balance preservation of national security and protection of individual’s rights and fundamental freedom?
The prohibition of torture is a given under international law. Aside from many international human rights and practices that clearly prohibit the use of torture by the state, our national legal system has laws on torture prohibition.
Legislation in 2009 on human rights in police duties categorically prohibits torture.
Torture is not specified as a crime in its own right under Indonesia’s criminal law. The 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (United Nations Convention against Torture) defines torture in terms of three criteria: intensity (infliction of severe mental or physical pain or suffering), intention (intentional or deliberate infliction of the pain), and purposefulness (pursuit of a specific purpose, such as obtaining information, punishment or intimidation).
If we take a look at the European Court of Human Rights, the court famously declared that torture should “attach a special stigma to deliberate inhuman treatment causing very serious and cruel suffering.”
In the case of Ireland versus United Kingdom for instance, the court ruled that the minimum assessment of torture is, “in the nature of things, relative; it depends on all the circumstances of the case, such as the duration of the treatment, its physical or mental effects and, in some cases, the sex, age and state of health of the victim, etc.”
Determining whether torture has taken place or not is not always simple. Law enforcement certainly has discretionary authority to choose specific coercive measures in handling a particular case. Given the fact that “uncertainty” is the ultimate weapon of terror, proponents of torture mainly rely on consequentialist arguments.
Such consequentialism, known as the “ticking bomb scenario” argument, refers to a clear and present danger, which may become a larger catastrophe if the legal institution fails to extract information from a suspect.
As the catastrophe itself is essentially uncertain, the scenario simply argues that torture could be necessary in terms of “catastrophe prevention”.
Such uncertainty, by and large, may affect the national criminal law in coping with terror.
To a certain extent there is a need for the state to violate an individual’s rights and fundamental freedom on the basis of preserving national security as a bigger interest. But how should we balance in this kind of conflict?
In the United States a four-part balancing test between national security interests versus individual freedom has been floated: first, the importance of the national interest in question, second, the extent to which the results of the torture advance the public interest, next the severity of the usurping of the citizen’s rights, and finally the purpose of the intrusion as distinct from traditional law enforcement. So despite combating terrorism requiring extraordinary measures, there are human rights principles which the state must comply with.
Nonetheless, it is widely understood that institutionalizing torture of terrorists has detrimental consequences on civil, military and legal institutions, making the costs higher than the benefits.
In other words, the institutionalization of torture cannot fulfill its purpose as a low-cost life saver in the ticking-bomb argument.
In 1999, the Israeli High Court outlawed certain interrogation methods employed by Israeli security forces, arguing that in a democracy not all methods are acceptable, and just because a practice is employed by one’s enemies does mean it can be legitimately undertaken by the state.
Although a democracy must often fight with one hand tied behind its back, it nonetheless has the upper hand. Preserving the rule of law and recognition of an individual’s liberty constitutes an important component of national security.
With no scientific finding on the effectiveness of Densus 88’s catastrophe prevention, an accountable, timely and transparent antiterrorism mechanism is required in every activity conducted by the detachment.
To conclude, national security is definitely a basis for legitimate derogation of human rights.
The enforcement of our anti-terrorism policy ought to comply with universal human rights values as mentioned by the law, so that the conflict between the protection of human rights and the preservation of national security can be reconciled.
The writer is a researcher at the Human Rights Research and Development Agency, the Law and Human Rights Ministry . The views expressed are personal.
This article will present a challenge to all who have a heart for and who are working without reward to save the ethnic people of West Papua which are now heading towards annihilation. This article will in particular consider the question as to whether there is truly annihilation occurring of the indigenous West Papuan people (The term Papua or West Papua below are taken to include both the Papuan and West Papuan Provinces).
The Papuan Traditional Council (DAP) has formed the Papuan People Mining Association as part of the council’s supervision of mining activities, the fruits of which it the DAP says often bypass Papua province's indigenous people.
“The Papuan people as the rightful owners of the province are often only treated as spectators, watching their natural resources taken somewhere else by investors,” head of the Paniai Traditional Council John Gobay, one of the association's founders, said on Saturday.
Baliem Traditional Council head Lemock Mabel said that indigenous people should be involved in mining activities regardless of their poor mastery of current technology or access to capital.
“We also urge investors to pay attention to preserving nature as part of their activities here. Don’t just pursue fortunes but then forget about preserving nature,” he said.
He said the association would push the government to insert a clause in the regional regulation that ruled out mining activities in the province. He expected the new regulation would put the Papuan people in a better position so they could prosper more from their province. (dic)
INDONESIA: Two teenagers are arrested and detained for two weeks over fabricated charges in Paniai, Papua
March 22, 2013
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-048-2013
22 March 2013
--------------------------------------------------------------------- INDONESIA: Two teenagers are arrested and detained for two weeks over fabricated charges in Paniai, Papua
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the arrest and detention of two teenagers based on fabricated charges in Paniai, Papua. The police arrested them after finding a woven bag filled with a cartridge and other materials associated with pro-independence movement, which did not belong to either of them but was left by a stranger just before the police came. The police told the media that the two teenagers are members of a pro-independence group yet the spokesperson of the group has claimed that the arrested individuals are not members.
CASE NARRATIVE:
According to a local activist, Alpons Gobay (15 year old) and Menny Gobay (18 year old) just returned from grocery shopping on 25 February 2013 when they found a stranger sitting in their house in Bobaigo Village, Enarotali, East Paniai. The stranger, who managed to get in as the house was unlocked, explained to Alpons and Menny that he was just taking a rest and would like to go fishing not far from Bobaigo Village. Convinced that the stranger would not pose any harm to them, Alpons and Menny carried on preparing meals for their lunch.
The stranger suddenly left the house as Alpons and Menny started cooking lunch. Both Alpons and Menny thought the stranger would be back as he left his noken (Papuan woven bag). However, as they were cooking at around 10am, a joint police and military force consisted of approximately 45 officers surrounded their house. The force asked Alpons and Menny to surrender themselves otherwise they would open fire. Some of the police and military officers entered the house and dragged Alpons and Menny out. The police and military officers kicked and beat Alpons and Menny. The officers also hit Alpons and Menny with their guns before taking them to Paniai District Police Station in a car. The beatings continued during the journey from Bobaigo Village to the police station as well as during the interrogation process. As a result, both victims’ forehead, lips, head and arms were wounded. Alpons and Menny also suffer from pain in their ribs.
In the interrogation, the police showed Alpons and Menny the materials inside the noken they seized from the house. However, the noken the police seized belongs to the stranger, not to Alpons or Menny. The police found a handheld transceiver, a 7.56 caliber cartridge, a mobile phone, two TPN-OPM (Free Papua Movement’s Military Wing) identity cards which do not belong to neither Alpons nor Menny, and a woven craft with Morning Star flag –a pro-independence symbol- motive in it. Both Alpons and Menny have been charged with a provision under Emergency Law No. 12 Year 1951 on Fire Arms and Explosive which carry the punishments of death sentence, life imprisonment, or temporary imprisonment for a period of 20 years.
To the media, the Indonesian National Police claimed that they have arrested two members of the Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM) on 26 February 2013. The Papua Regional Police’s Head of Community Relations I Gede Sumerta Jaya claimed the individuals they arrested, ‘AG’ and ‘PG’, were involved in a number of shootings in Paniai, the hostage of nine employees of a construction company, and the abduction as well as rape of a woman in Paniai. However, he only mentioned that ‘AG’ and ‘PG’ are criminally charged with an article on possession of fire arms and explosive materials.
The latest update received by the AHRC from a local activist reveals that Alpons and Menny were released on 11 March 2013.
Responding to the police’s statement regarding the arrest of Alpons and Menny who they claimed as to be the members of OPM, the spokesperson of TPN-OPM in Paniai, Leo Yeimo, stated that none of his members have been arrested by the police and the military. He clarified that Alpons and Menny are only civilians and not members of TPN-OPM.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
A report sent by a local activist to the AHRC reveals that during February-March 2013 only at least 12 civilians have been subject to arbitrary arrest and detention by the joint force of the Indonesian National Police and the Indonesian Military. Most of them were arrested and detained because the police suspected they were involved in the pro-independence movement.
Previously on 7 February 2013, the joint force raided Ipakiye Village and arrested six civilians on false allegation on their involvement with the OPM. In the raid, four members of the joint force molested a pregnant woman and assaulted her 18 month old baby. The day before the raid in Ipakiye Village, on 6 February 2013, a civil servant was arrested and detained for six nights at Paniai Sub-District Police station on the false allegation of his involvement in the activities of OPM. In addition to that, the report informs that a civilian was arrested by the police on 11 March 2013 for a fabricated charge on murder. The police beat him during the arrest to the point where his lips were bleeding.
The AHRC has published several cases concerning the arrest of Papuans by Indonesian law enforcement officials for unreasonable allegation on their involvement with the pro-independence group. On 27 November 2012, Frengky Uamang was arrested as the police suspected that he had provided food for the members of OPM. Frengky was severely tortured for two days so that he was not able to walk after the police released him and found out that he was not involved with the OPM. Earlier this year on 15 February 2013, the police also arrested and tortured seven civilians in Jayapura in two separate occasions on the basis of having a relationship with the pro-independence group.
Under Indonesian law, victims of arbitrary arrest and detention may submit a complaint to the District Court demanding for rehabilitation and compensation. They may also submit a complaint to the Professionalism and Security Unit (Propam), a monitoring mechanism within the police, but the proceeding is not impartial, not transparent and, at its best, will only lead to disciplinary punishment of the responsible police officers.
SUGGESTED ACTION:Please write to the listed authorities below asking them to ensure those responsible for the arbitrary arrest and detention as well as the torture of Alpons Gobay and Menny Gobay are brought to justice. Please also urge them to stop the arrest of individuals based on arbitrary allegations which have been taking place in Paniai and other parts of Papua. Both Alpons and Menny should be granted adequate compensation, including medical treatment for their injuries.
The AHRC is writing separately to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Arrest and Detention as well as the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment requesting for their intervention in this case.
To support this appeal, please click here:
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear ___________,
INDONESIA: Two teenagers are arrested and detained for two weeks over fabricated charges in Paniai, Papua
Name of victims: Alpons Gobay and Menny Gobay Names of alleged perpetrators: Members of Indonesian National Police and Indonesian Military Joint Force (Mobile Brigadiers of Papua Regional Police, Community Control Unit of Paniai District Police, TNI 753 Battalion) Date of incident: 25 February – 11 March 2013 Place of incident: Enarotali, East Paniai, Papua
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the arbitrary arrest and detention of Alpons Gobay (15 year old) and Menny Gobay (18 year old), two teenagers in Enarotali, Papua on 25 February – 11 March 2013. I was informed that their liberty was deprived as the Indonesian authorities falsely suspected them to be involved with the pro-independence group, Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM).
According to my local resource, Alpons and Menny found a stranger inside their unlocked house when they just got back from grocery shopping. As the stranger explained that he was just taking a rest and will be leaving soon to go fishing, Alpons and Menny were convinced that he would not do any harm. Yet as Alpons and Menny were preparing their lunch, the stranger left the house without taking his noken (Papuan woven bag) with him. Both Alpons and Menny thought the stranger would be back yet soon after he left the joint force of the Indonesian National Police and the Indonesian Military came and surrounded their house. The joint force consisted of approximately 45 members of Papua Regional Police’s Mobile Brigade, Community Control Unit of Paniai District Police and the 753 Battalion of the Indonesian Military.
Alpons and Menny were dragged of their house by the members of the joint force. The officers kicked, beat, and hit both of them with their guns and took Alpons and Menny to Paniai District Police station. The officers continuously beat them during the journey to the police station as well as during the course of the interrogation process. I have been told that Alpons and Menny’s forehead, lips, head and arms were wounded. They also complained that they suffer from pain in their ribs.
The police seized the noken left by the stranger in Alpons and Menny’s house as evidence against them. Inside the noken, the police found 1 unit of handheld transceiver, a 7.56 caliber cartridge, a mobile phone, two TPN-OPM (Free Papua Movement’s Military Wing) identity cards without neither Alpons’s or Menny’s name on it, and a Morning Star motive-woven craft. Based on this finding, the police charged Alpons and Menny with a provision under the Emergency Law No. 12 Year 1951 on Fire Arms and Explosive which carry the punishments of death sentence, life imprisonment, or temporary imprisonment for a period of 20 years.
After the arrest of Alpons and Menny, the police told the media that they have arrested two TPN-OPM’s members who are alleged to be involved in a series of crimes such as hostage, abduction and rape. However, the spokesperson of the TPN OPM in Paniai, Leo Yeimo, had made a statement saying that Alpons and Menny are civilians and not members of his organisation. The police appear to ‘realise’ the mistake they made only over two weeks after the arrest as on 11 March 2013 they released both Alpons and Menny.
I am extremely concerned that arbitrary arrest and detention as happened in this case is very common in Papua. I have received so many reports on how civilians have been arrested and detained on false allegations regarding their involvement with pro-independence movement, and I am disgusted to learn that most of them have even been tortured. I recall in the last UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session in May last year, the Indonesian government accepted the recommendations from various countries on improving the human rights situation in Papua. The Indonesian government also made an official statement claiming that impunity does not exist anymore in the region. What has been happening in Papua is in total contradiction with these commitments the Indonesian authorities made in the international forum. Not only human rights violations remain bitter experience the Papuans still have to deal with as of today, but those who responsible for it never been held accountable.
I am therefore calling you to halt all arbitrary operations held by the Indonesian National Police as well as the Indonesian Military in Papua. In accordance with the law in your countries and international human rights standards, individuals may be detained only in limited circumstances. Deprivation of liberty should be based on genuine suspicion that an individual has committed a crime, and such suspicion should be supported by legitimate evidence. As for the case of Alpons and Menny, I urge you to provide them with adequate rehabilitation and compensation and to punish those responsible for violating their basic rights proportionately, in accordance with international human rights standard.
I look forward for your positive and adequate response in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
----------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono President of Republic of Indonesia Jl. Veteran No. 16 Jakarta Pusat INDONESIA Tel: +62 21 386 3777, 350 3088. Fax: + 62 21 344 2223, 3483 4759 E-mail: president@ri.go.id
2. Ms. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo General Director of Human Rights Ministry of Law and Human Rights Jl. HR Rasuna Said Kav. 6-7 Kuningan, Jakarta 12940 INDONESIA Tel: +62 21 525 3006, 525 3889 Fax: +62 21 525 3095
3. Gen. Timur Pradopo Chief of the Indonesian National Police Jl. Trunojoyo No. 3 Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan 12110 INDONESIA Tel: +62 21 384 8537, 726 0306 Fax: +62 21 7220 669 E-mail: info@polri.go.id
4. Ir. Gen. Drs. Tito Karnavian Chief of Papua Regional Police Jl. Dr. Sam Ratulangi No. 8 Jayapura INDONESIA Tel: +62967 531 014, 533 396 Fax: +62967 533 763
5. Kombes Pol. Drs. Sudarsono Head of Security and Professionalism Division Papua Regional Police Jl. Dr. Sam Ratulangi No. 8 Jayapura INDONESIA Tel: +62967 536 198
6. Mr. Agus Suhartono Commander-in-Chief of the Indonesian Military Mabes TNI Cilangkap, East Jakarta INDONESIA Tel: +62 21 8459 1243 Fax: +62 21 845 6805
7. Ms. Siti Nur Laila Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission Jl. Latuharhary No.4-B, Jakarta 10310 INDONESIA Tel: +62 21 392 5227-30 Fax: +62 21 392 5227 Email: info@komnas.go.id
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
The Buddhist Tzu-Chi foundation in cooperation with Bhayangkara police hospital funded surgical procedures for 318 cataract patients between March 21 and 23. Fourteen doctors - eight eye surgeons and six general practitioners - were involved.
Dr. Ruth Atmadja, one of the doctors, revealed that the team had actually identified over 70o people in need of the surgery, however, only 318 people were eligible.
Ani, one of the patients, said she was very grateful for the free surgery.
“Both my eyes have been operated on. I am very grateful for the service because the last time I checked the operation would have cost me Rp 7 million and I couldn’t afford it,” she told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Papua police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw said that the police hospital welcomed all charitable foundations that wished to conduct community services in Papua.
“We have the same goal: to serve others,” Paulus said.
The Buddhist Tzu-Chi foundation runs community services around the archipelago. In Jakarta, it operates low cost apartments in Cengkareng, which used to be one of the city’s slums. (asw/dic)
France-based Total E&P Indonesie says it will sell 10 percent of its stake of an oil and gas field in Papua to publicly listed energy company PT Indika Energy.
The firms inked a deal to jointly develop the oil and gas field through their subsidiaries Total E&P Indonesia West Papua and PT Indika Multi Daya Energi.
Under the deal, Indika will acquire a 10 percent stake in Southwest Bird’s Head production-sharing contract (PSC) from Total. The value of the transaction was not revealed pending approval from Indonesian authorities and completion of due diligence.
“This purchase will further strengthen our energy platform,” Indika president director Arsjad Rasjid said in a statement. “It will leverage Indika Energy’s in-depth understanding of the local market context and create synergies with our activities in Papua.”
Integrated energy company Indika established Indika Multi Daya Energi in December. Indika currently has various investments, including those in coal miners PT Kideco Jaya Agung, PT Santan Batubara, PT Multi Tambangjaya Utama and PT Mitra Energi Agung.
The company also has engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts in the oil and gas sector through Tripatra; EPC mining contracts through Jakarta-listed PT Petrosea; logistics interests through Jakarta-listed coal transport and shipping firm PT Mitrabahtera Segara Sejati, PT Sea Bridge Shipping and PT Cotrans Asia, as well as a power generation company, PT Cirebon Electric Power.
Elisabeth Proust, the Total Group’s representative in Indonesia, said that Total wanted to further expand the company’s scope of business in Indonesia.
“This transaction is the first step in developing wider cooperation between Total and Indika Energy and demonstrates Total’s ability to team up with quality local partners to explore and develop Indonesian oil and gas resources,” Proust, also general manager of Total E&P Indonesia West Papua, said.
Total E&P Indonesie vice president for finance A. Noviyanto said that working with local partners has been Total’s policy.
“In the upstream oil and gas industry, particularly exploration, it’s a common thing to share the risk — and of course, the profits if there is a discovery — and then become commercial,” Noviyanto said.
However, he said that it was easier to start oil and gas projects on its own. “It is simpler to perform it on our own compared to process it after forming a consortium. That’s why we previously have held 100 percent [stakes],” he added, referring to Southwest Bird’s Head PSC.
Total was awarded the Southwest Bird’s Head PSC in August 2011 as part of the Second Round 2010 Regular Tender.
The exploration block is located in the offshore Salawati Basin in West Papua and covers 7,176 square kilometers. The first exploration well at the block is expected to open in April.
The company also has a 50 percent stake and is the operator of the Mahakam PSC in East Kalimantan.
Among its other interests, Total is the operator and holds a 100 percent participating interest in the South East Mahakam, Telen, PSC offshore East Kalimantan and the Bengkulu I-Mentawai PSC offshore West
Sumatra.
Vanuatu has a new prime minister with the Greens’ leader, Moana Carcasses Kalosil, elected this afternoon after two days of wrangling in court with the outgoing government trying to stop Parliament meeting before next Friday.
It comes after the resignation of Sato Kilman on Thursday, just minutes before the Opposition was to bring a vote of no confidence in him.
It would have been the second such vote since his re-election late last year and seventh since becoming prime minister in 2010.
After the resignation the Speaker adjourned Parliament for eight days but the Opposition believed a new leader should be chosen immediately and it successfully pleaded this case at the Supreme Court.
MPs were order back to Parliament this morning to hold a vote and Mr Carcasses was chosen by 34 of the 52 MPs.
------------------------------------------------
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/640962
4) Indonesia to ban shark, manta ray hunting
Posted on 20 March 2013 - 02:37pm Last updated on 20 March 2013 - 06:55pm
JAKARTA (March 20, 2013): Indonesia is to ban shark and manta ray hunting following the banning of the activity by a provincial administration in West Papua to conserve these sea creatures.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo said his ministry was preparing a ministerial decree to ban shark hunting, which is expected to be ready in three months.
He praised the Raja Ampat administration in West Papua for taking a major leap in fighting shark hunting by issuing a regulation banning shark and manta ray hunting.
"I really hope that the action of the Raja Ampat administration will encourage other regions to follow suit, especially areas like East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), where sharks remain under threat," Sharif was quoted as saying by the English daily, The Jakarta Post, Wednesday.
Shark hunting in waters off the eastern part of Indonesia, including the provinces of NTT, NTB, West Papua and Papua, as well as Maluku, was still taking place at an alarming rate, the minister said.
"Sharks are at the top of the food chain, and their extinction could cause serious damage to our ecosystem," he said. – Bernama
