Friday, October 2, 2015

1) Indigenous Communities and Biodiversity


2) Remembering Indonesia’s Bloody Coup

3) Pacific News Minute: Unrest in West Papua After Police Shooting

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http://thediplomat.com/2015/10/indigenous-communities-and-biodiversity/

1) Indigenous Communities and Biodiversity

Indigenous peoples often play a vital role in preserving biodiversity, something that is often forgotten.
By 
Conservationists and Indigenous communities share the aim of preserving biodiversity, even if their incentives differ. That creates a grim irony when tribal peoples are estranged from the environment they have safeguarded, for the sake of safeguarding the environment.
New research on how Indigenous communities in Papua province, Indonesia conserve the forest resources they rely on concludes, “The potential tragedy of the unseen sentinels is that so much may be lost simply because we failed to open our eyes to look.” Working closely with three communities to examine their conservation practices, a team of scientists associated with the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) discovered each has a system for monitoring resources and responding to threats. Challenging assumptions that Indigenous communities damage forest resources, the research feeds into a growing body of evidence that “natural resource management by local communities can be more effective and cost-efficient for large-scale conservation than government-sanctioned protected areas.”
To contextualise this study, let us first consider the conservation contradiction that exists.
This contradiction has been unfolding around the world, much to the detriment of traditional custodians like the Wanniyala-Aetto of Sri Lanka, the Karen of Thailand, the Baka of Cameroon and the Kalahari Bushmen of Botswana. Tribal peoples are being booted from their customary forests and ancestral lands not only to make way for agricultural, mining and logging concessions (land grabs that are widespread and have been well documented) but also in the name of “wilderness,” to keep forests pristine and away from the pilfering hands of human exploitation. On the surface, the creation and expansion of inviolate zones, in the form of national parks and sanctuaries, are a win for environmental aims; however, communities that call these forests home and rely on their resources for survival become “conservation refugees.”
Disenfranchised, they are cast as conservation opponents, accused of damaging natural resources; they are marginalized to resettlement areas on the fringes of reserves, forced to eke out an existence on government handouts, by begging or “stealing” from their former forest home to survive.
This is a serious problem, as a 2014 Survival International report, Parks Need Peoples explains. “Overnight, resources that have sustained the tribe since time immemorial are out of bounds. If they hunt in the park they are accused of ‘poaching’. If they are caught gathering, they can be fined or imprisoned.” For example, since the Wanniyala-Aetto peoples in Sri Lanka were disenfranchised for the Maduru Oya National Park in 1983, they have reportedly been killed, beaten and arrested for subsistence hunting on their ancestral land. In Cameroon, eco-guards, partially funded by WWF and the German Government, are accused of human rights abuses and torture against the Indigenous Baka.
Survival International Director, Stephen Corry said, in a Guardian piece, that the expulsion of Indigenous communities from their customary territories “is based on unscientific assumptions that tribal peoples are incapable of managing their lands, that they overhunt, overgraze and overuse the resources on their lands.”
“It’s no coincidence that 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity is found on the lands of tribal peoples and that the vast majority of the 200 most biodiverse places on Earth are tribal peoples’ territories,” Survival International reports, “By developing ways to live sustainably on the land they cherish, tribal peoples have often contributed – sometimes over millennia – towards the high diversity of species around them.”
At the Asia Regional Conservation Forum in Thailand last month, a Karen leader appealed to the Thai Government to be more considerate of Indigenous peoples whose customary land had been turned into official conservation zones. “We are not the destroyers of the forest. We have nurtured our natural environment through our ‘use and conserve’ practice, which is part of our simple lifestyle and culture. The forest we manage, including our practice of shifting cultivation that provides us food security, are better conserved and enriched with biodiversity.”
American professor and philosopher, J Baird Callicott criticizes the idea of “wilderness” as environments that are free from human habitation as an ethnocentric concept with foundations in Western discourse. He notes the name “wilderness” constructs landscapes in a way not shared by all social groups; indeed, there is no translation for the word in many languages. Soon after the world’s first national park – Yellowstone — was created in the United States in the 19th century, the local Native American tribes were expelled from their traditional lands to conserve the wilderness.
The paradox here is that Indigenous peoples, as CIFOR studies have shown, are actually stewards of the forests – their very survival depends on fostering sustainable relationships with surrounding ecosystems.
Conservation Friends Not Foes
CIFOR’s new study, Unseen Sentinels: local monitoring and control in conservation’s blind spots, is significant because it reveals how Indigenous peoples are protecting vast natural areas. Co-author, Senior Associate at CIFOR and scientist based at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Douglas Sheil said effective local protection is undermined, not because these local systems are invisible, but “because no one recognizes what they see.”
“For conservationists pushing for the expansion of protected areas, the study highlights the potential dangers of alienating people from their environment, and represents a neglected opportunity to support them doing what they already do,” Sheil said.
Territories of the three Papuan communities studied – Kay, Metaweja and Yoke — overlap with the Mamberamo-Foja Wildlife Reserve, a conservation zone spanning two million hectares and brimming with biodiversity. While being aware of the park’s protected status for the past decade, the communities maintain their traditional land claims, customs and tribal systems. They hunt crocodiles, catch fish and collect forests resources in their territories. Rather than revealing a pattern of over-exploitation, the study found “respected individuals or groups have a recognized responsibility for protecting key resource-rich areas.”
Illustrating this, in Kay, hereditary stewards called “Ijabait” live at strategic points along the Tariku River. In Yoke a family controls access to the most valuable fishing area, Lake Tabaresia. And in Metaweja the responsibility of safeguarding the region was shared around, with people regularly camping out at critical locations. These actors, the paper states, prove a powerful deterrent for anyone wishing to encroach on customary areas to exploit natural resources.
Along with deterring outsiders, independent monitoring is used to ensure healthy ecosystems are maintained. In Kay, crocodiles are a critical resource, hunted for their skin and meat; assessing the number and size of the animals, villagers stop or reduce harvesting when stocks appear low. In Metaweja, survey and discussion is used to decide if a resource needs time to recover and replenish. When a wild pig is caught, for example, details of the location, ease of the catch, and the animal’s condition are considered to determine areas that should be set a side until the following rainy season. The report notes that monitoring was an innate part of people’s “lives, livelihoods, and cultures.”
Study co-author Sheil points out that with poorly funded official protection mechanisms, recognizing local monitoring practices in and around parks and reserves is vital to understanding how Indigenous communities are “filling the gaps.”
“One serious implication [of expelling tribal people] is that effective indigenous conservation systems may be replaced by formally protected areas that are inadequately managed by overstretched government authorities,” Sheil said.
Highlighting how thinly conservation authorities are spread, in 2009, about 140 staff was in charge of overseeing more than 4.6 million hectares of sanctuaries and parks across Papua province. That’s about 33,000 hectares, or roughly the size of the Maldives, per person. Underfunded, overstretched park management leaves forests vulnerable to unchecked poaching, logging and unlawful plantation expansion. Additionally, when protected areas are created, alienated communities stripped of their stewardship roles may lose their incentives for sustainable forest product use, intensifying threats to biodiversity and ramping up conservation costs. The CIFOR report states, “Such outcomes appear tragic and ironic when adversaries had previously shared similar goals: to safeguard the environment and its resources from uncontrolled use.”
Indonesia’s “Conservation Refugees”
There are both old and emerging cases of “conservation refugees” in Indonesia.
In Southeast Sulawesi, the Moronene people were made to leave their ancestral land after the Rawa Aopa Watumohai National Park was created in 1989. Reportedly, for at least six generations they had cultivated seasonal crops on small rotational plots, while also relying on edible forest products. Their struggle, and cycle of eviction and return, continued for decades until an NGO stepped in to represent them, arguing the park’s ecosystem contains plants, animals, and people too. Finally, the rights of the Moronene were recognized.
Another case is now unfolding in West Papua province, which sits beside Papua province together forming the Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea. A Mongabay article notes how the Demaisi people have a system of sanctuaries and family agricultural rotation that has sustained them, and maintained the forest’s abundance, for as long as anyone can remember. Families rotate through a handful of small garden plots, using a patch for one to three years depending on soil health, and then leaving it to recover for up to six years. They are forbidden from hunting and gathering in the core protected area called the “bahamti” but are allowed to hunt, with proper permissions, in the heavily forested area between their gardens and the bahamti.
However, a newly developed spatial plan for the regency that includes a proposal for an 83,000-hectare nature reserve in the Arfak Mountains looms over the Demaisi peoples’ traditional way of life. In the Mongabay piece, George Dedaida from the NGO Papuan Conservation comments, “The government needs to consider the existence of Indigenous peoples, because their lives depend on nature. For them the forests are the Mother who provides everything.”
Survival International’s Asia Campaigner, Sophie Grig told The Diplomat that sadly, the situation facing the Demaisi in the Arfak Mountains is all too familiar.
“Tribal peoples, who have sustainably managed, nurtured and protected their forests for generations, suddenly find themselves barred from their lands because outsiders decide that they should be ‘protected.’ The irony is, studies have shown that the best way to protect forest cover and biodiversity is to recognize indigenous land rights. Tragically too many conservation initiatives, like this one, seek to expel the very people who have protected the forest for for so long. It’s time for a new sort of conservation, one that puts indigenous land rights at its heart.”
Indonesia did not fare well in a recent report comparing Indigenous forest rights in several countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The study, by the World Resource Institute and the Rights and Resources Initiative, states that forest covers more than half of Indonesia’s land area and of its extensive forest estate community rights were officially recognized in just one percent (compared to 97 percent recognition in Papua New Guinea and 49 percent in Nepal). According to AMAN, an alliance of Indigenous Peoples from across Indonesia, up to 40 million hectares of what the government claims as national forest is actually managed by local and Indigenous communities.
Fortunately, this legacy of ignoring customary tenure is starting to change, catalyzed by a landmark ruling in 2013. Indonesia’s Constitutional Court declared that customary forests should not be classified as “State Forest Areas.” Efforts are underway to gazette the country’s forest zone, clarify land boundaries and recognize community-managed forests.
Legal recognition of Indigenous land rights could lead to increased protection against deforestation in Indonesia. Figures from last year show community managed forests had an average deforestation rate 11 times lower than land outside their borders. Andy White from the Rights and Resources Initiative said that when the rights of communities are respected, they are far more effective than governments or the private sector in protecting forests.
CIFOR’s study calls for greater attention to autonomous monitoring. It suggests case-by-case examination to understand the extent and efficiency of community activities and consideration of how these systems may be supported.
“Whether autonomous monitoring is widespread and effective, or rare and ineffective, we need to recognize not only when local people are willing to champion environmental causes, but also when they are already doing so.”
Gemima Harvey (@Gemima_Harvey) is a freelance journalist and photographer.
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2) Remembering Indonesia’s Bloody Coup
Fifty years ago this week Indonesia experienced one of the 20th century’s darkest moments.
By 

                                                        Image Credit: REUTERS photographer

In the heart of Medan, Indonesia third largest city and the setting for much of Joshua Oppenheimer’s Oscar-nominated documentary The Act of Killing, is a meticulously maintained, but quiet memorial. From a distance it looks similar to the war memorials scattered throughout Western countries.
What it commemorates, though, is one of the 20th century’s darkest moments. The Monumen Perjuangan 66 has on its white-plastered sides visual depictions of the military-led crackdown that resulted in the deaths of an estimated 500,000 to 2 million Indonesians.
This week saw the 50th anniversary of the aborted coup that led to the mass killings, which have been depicted as an act of heroism on the Medan memorial. Killings for which, today, few have been held responsible and which remain a rarely discussed and barely understood topic in now democratic Indonesia.
“The world has to understand that this was genocide, and the world has to take responsibility,” said Saskia E. Wieringa, professor at the University of Amsterdam and Chair of the International People’s Tribunal 1965.
A Misunderstood History
On September 30, 1965, in what remain murky circumstances, six top generals were killed by a group allegedly consisting of left-wing Indonesians. This allowed a previously little-known military leader, General Suharto, to assume power and launch a nationwide campaign against the perpetrators of the killing, which, according to him, were the Indonesia Communist Party (PKI) and its left-wing allies. Within two years, Suharto was in firm control of the country, the PKI had been completely destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of Indonesians were dead.
Indonesia’s mass killings rank alongside some of the bloodiest events in post-World War II history. The estimated death toll puts this event alongside the Korean War, or the Rwandan genocide in terms of bloodshed. Yet, unlike those two events, it receives little attention globally. Within Indonesia itself, the situation is worse.
“The younger generation has grown up with very little knowledge of anything about this period of time, unlike their parents who had swallowed government propaganda for years,” said Tom Pepinsky, associate director of the Cornell University Modern Indonesia Project.
Democratic Indonesia’s Blind Spot
Throughout the Suharto era, which ran from 1965 to 1998, on October 1 each year, a controversial documentary, Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (The Treason of the September 30 Movement and the Indonesian Communist Party), was aired on television and shown in school. It greatly exaggerated the threat of a takeover by the PKI and honored the militias and military leaders who organized the mass killings.
Today, the documentary is no longer shown and the holiday celebrating the killings no longer celebrated, but teachings of the event take on either a strong nationalistic tone, or are completely ignored. Only in a few elite universities, such as Univeritas Indonesia, are students able to learn openly about what really happened in the 1960s.
This is part of the progress made since Suharto fell from power in 1998, during the Asian Financial Crisis. Then, Indonesia quickly moved to build a democracy that, contrary to the expectations of many, has survived and thrived. One thing it did not do, however, was create a space for victims of Suharto’s three-decade long rule to gain justice.
“When Suharto fell, a bunch of people, shall we say, ‘switched sides,’ which narrowed those who would be held responsible,” said National Coordinator East Timor & Indonesia Action Network (ETAN). “There really was no thorough accounting of the Suharto years, or a cleaning of house”
In fact, democratic Indonesia is run by many of the same people or families who ran Suharto’s New Order regime. Sometimes, the connections are so close as to be comedic. Former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was a general who served numerous terms in East Timor, where more than 200,000 died during Indonesia’s bloody, Suharto-led invasion and occupation. Prabowo Subianto, who ran for president in a tight race against eventual winner and current President Joko Widodo last year, was Suharto’s son-in-law. Marrying into his family allowed Prabowo to become head of the 27,000-strong Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) in 1998, where his subordinates were accused of torturing pro-democracy advocates. Amazingly, his close connection to Suharto and alleged involvement in human rights abuses in East Timor did not stop him from being just a few percentage points short of becoming Indonesia’s seventh president.
“This is why there is enormous corruption in Indonesia,” said Wieringa. “Power is still unchecked, corruption is still going on, and it is impossible for Indonesia to make progress on human rights or in checking corruptions if these people still remain in power.”
In fact, SBY and Prabowo are just the tip of the iceberg, as Indonesia’s political, business, and civil service ranks are dominated by Suharto supporters and those who took part in, or at least supported, the mass killings of the 1960s. They, Wieringa believes, are the ones holding back a true accounting of Indonesia’s past.
“Although we now have democracy, and lots of things have improved, still the old power holders are there, and they prevent closure of this kind of history,” said Wieringa.
The West’s Role
Responsibility for what happened is not Indonesia’s alone. Many Western countries strongly supported Suharto’s rule in the name of anti-communism during the cold war, most notably the United States.
“The U.S. was Suharto’s main international patron,” said Miller. “America wanted to keep Suharto happy as it was their big ally in the region.” This included turning a blind eye as the killings were taking place across the archipelago. Miller’s organization, ETAN, is calling on the United States to release files showing the full extent of its cooperation with Indonesia
Today, world leaders often cite Indonesia as an example of civic democracy, both for Asia and the Islamic world. Last year, the world was enthralled with the election of Joko Widodo to the presidency. He was a true break from the past, Indonesia’s first president not tied to Suharto, and without the blood of the old regime on his hands. However, his record over the past year, tarnished by an inability to move his party or the government, shows just how much power the old regime still holds in Indonesia.
“Jokowi is not tainted [by Suharto regime] directly, but is at the mercy of many connected to the events of 1965,” said Miller.
Jokowi has made hints that it might release an apology for the killings, a landmark admission that would have repercussions throughout Indonesian society. If it happens, it would be just the first step towards a belated, but needed, healing process.
“Coming to grips with Indonesia’s older wounds will be a long-term project that will require generational changes and efforts by elites and regular citizens at every level,” said Gregory Poling, an Indonesia expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
On the 50th anniversary of one of the worst atrocities of the last century, Indonesia has an opportunity to take another step towards reconciliation and furthering the cause of its democratic progress. Someday soon, perhaps the monument in Medan will no longer memorialize the killers, but pay homage to the innocent victims of Indonesia’s darkest era. Then, perhaps, the country can be a true model for the world.
Nithin Coca is a freelance writer and journalist who focuses on cultural, economic, and environmental issues in developing countries. Follow him on Twitter @excinit.


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3) Pacific News Minute: Unrest in West Papua After Police Shooting
By  • 10 HOURS AGO
Protests in West Papua this week, after Indonesian Police shot two 17 year old boys - one of whom died. This is the fifth time this year that civilians have been fired on by soldiers or police in the restive province, with now eight reported killed.  We have more from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute.
According to reports, Indonesian police pursued two seventeen year old high school students near a market on Monday and opened fire.  Kaleb Bogau was hit in the chest and died on the scene.  Efrando Sabarofek was wounded in the chest and leg and was reported in critical condition.  As yet, there's been no public statement by police, but Kaleb Bogau's family described the shooting as a political assassination and reportedly refused an apology sent by text message from Paulus Waterpau, the regional chief of police.
The dead boy's father, the Reverend Obed Bogau, is active in a West Papuan independence group. Reports say he asked police to investigate both this case and an incident last month in the same area:  Timika, when soldiers fired into a group of ethnic Kamoros at a traditional celebration and killed two.  Shortly afterwards, an Indonesian Military Spokesman said the soldiers had been attacked by a mob and fired in self-defense, but the Regional commander, Brigadier General Supartidi, told the Jakarta Post that two officers were drunk when they fired into the crowd and had been arrested.
Last month, West Papuan activists appealed to the Pacific Islands Forum to send a team into West Papua to investigate human rights abuses.  The Indonesian representative bluntly told the Forum to "stay out of our business, and not to meddle in the internal affairs of a sovereign state".  There was no move to establish a fact finding mission.

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Thursday, October 1, 2015

1) Papua now on Pacific radar

2) West Papuan teenager beaten, tortured and electrocuted by the Indonesian police

3) SKP HAM Urges Immediate Papua Police Investigate Cases Completed Timika
4) TV report-Residents of Sorong Sleep Outdoors for Fears of Aftershocks

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/09/29/papua-now-pacific-radar.html

1) Papua now on Pacific radar
Neles Tebay, Jayapura, Papua | Opinion | Tue, September 29 2015, 4:35 PM -

The conflict between the government and indigenous Papuans, particularly those Papuans involved with the Free Papua Movement (OPM), has long been considered an Indonesian domestic affair. The government has rejected the involvement of any foreign parties in the settlement of issues faced in Papua.

Respecting Indonesia’s sovereignty, no foreign country has raised the Papua issue at regional or international forums. No country supports the OPM’s struggle for separating Papua from Indonesia.

Nevertheless, as Indonesia celebrates 70 years of independence and 52 years since Papua’s integration into the republic this year, there have been some new developments involving the Papua issue in the Pacific region.

The new developments began with the formation of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) in December 2014. Three organizations under the umbrella of the OPM gathered in Port Villa.

With the help of Vanuatu, they established the ULMWP to coordinate activities and represent the resistance movement in collaboration with external parties. Since then the OPM has appeared as a more united force with a united voice.

Representing the various Papuan resistance groups, the ULMWP officially applied for full membership at the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), a sub-regional grouping in the Pacific, in February 2015. The MSG comprises Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia.

The application was supported by representatives from all countries in Melanesia. They have called the people of Papua their “Melanesian brothers and sisters of West Papua” and have declared the Papua issue a Melanesian issue.

Instead of granting the ULMWP full membership, the Melanesian leaders at the 20th MSG summit held in June 2015 in the Solomon Islands decided to offer the group observer status. It was the first political recognition of the OPM.

As an observer, the ULMWP began introducing the Papua issue to all the countries of the Pacific. Within two months, the issue was drawing wider attention — and the OPM was stronger support from Pacific countries.

Such was the support from around the Pacific region, in August 2015 it was decided that the Papua issue would be one of five main agenda items at the 46th summit of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in PNG in mid-September.

On Sept. 1 and 2, the Pacific Islands Association of Non-Government Organizations gathered in Port Moresby for a civil society partnership forum. The organizations offered a collective public apology to Papuans for their past ignorance and neglect of their suffering.

They jointly called for Pacific leaders “to send a high-level PIF delegation, including civil society organizations [CSOs] and church leaders, on a fact-finding mission to West Papua” and urged for “the re-inscription of West Papua on the UN [Non-Self-Governing Territories] list as an important step toward an independent and free West Papua”.

The leaders of 16 Pacific countries gathered in Port Moresby for the 46th PIF summit, from Sept. 7 to 11.

They communicated their collective position on Papua in the PIF’s communiqué, explicitly expressing respect for and recognition of Indonesia’s sovereignty over Papua, while raising their concern regarding human rights violations in the province.

The Pacific leaders requested that the Prime Minister of PNG consult with the Indonesian government on the establishment of a fact-finding mission to Papua.

The mission is meant to assess the human rights situation in Papua and West Papua provinces. Consequently, the Papua issue is now a Pacific issue. Its settlement will and should involve Indonesia, all Pacific countries and the Papuans.

Pacific CSOs and leaders of Pacific countries will now be following the situation closely, particularly possible human rights violations in the western half of New Guinea.

Pacific leaders may now raise the Papua issue at sub-regional, regional and even international forums, as 52 years on from West Papua’s integration into Indonesia, and after the resulting deaths of thousands of Papuans, the case remains unsettled.

It is necessary for the government to prevent Papua from becoming an international issue. It cannot and will not be settled by deploying more troops to Papua and West Papua and establishing more military commands there.

For five decades now the security approach has failed. The government is strongly urged to explore peaceful means to address the situation.

Given these new developments, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo should appoint a high-level government official, such as a minister, to be in charge of the case. That person could be assisted by a small team of non-Papuans who are fully trusted and respected by Papuans, who could maintain close communications with all parties concerned.

Such communication is badly needed to prepare the way for peace talks between representatives of the government and the Papuan resistance groups represented by the ULMWP. This could help to settle the Papua issue through peaceful means.
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The writer is a lecturer at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and the Coordinator of the Papua Peace Network in Abepura. In 2013 he was awarded the Tji Hak-son Justice and Peace Award in Seou—————————————————————————————

http://freewestpapua.org/2015/09/30/west-papuan-teenager-beaten-tortured-and-electrocuted-by-the-indonesian-police/

2) West Papuan teenager beaten, tortured and electrocuted by the Indonesian police

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
We have just received an urgent comprehensive human rights report from the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) that on Monday 28th Levi Gebze a 16 year old West Papuan boy was arrested and tortured by the Indonesian police in Merauke.

According to the report, at 13:30 Levi was on the way home on the Muli Road. He was suddenly followed by an Avanza car with 4 members of Indonesian police/intelligence inside. He was stopped and forced to get inside the car and with no questions asked was beaten by the police. He was apparently beaten and mugged with a pistol. He was then brought to the police station where he was interrogated and tortured again. He was beaten and also electrocuted. The police arrested him under charges of stealing a bag and laptop on the Yobar beach but when he denied the charge the police continued to beat and electrocute him.
Levi was then told to get into a car and was brought by 4 police officers to the local Junior High School to get information related to the case. Witnesses testified that he was still in the car and still being beaten. He was then taken on the road and the police even threatened to kill him, saying “You don’t scream again. If you scream again we will kill you.” The Human Rights report stated that he was then returned to the police station where the persecution and electrocution continued, even though he was innocent of theft.
It is not yet known what happened afterwards but at 16:00, the family of the victim arrived and took him home.
Levi is still suffering the effects of this brutal torture and there has been no investigation into the actions of the police whatsoever. This attack came on the same day 1 West Papuan teenager was killed and another shot by the Indonesian police in the town of Timika. It also comes less than 3 weeks after Douglas Nasyok, another West Papuan teenager was beaten and tortured by the Indonesian police in Merauke, the same town as Levi.
These events are further evidence of the deteriorating human rights situation spoken of by Dame Meg Taylor, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum recently. The people of West Papua continue to call for a Fact Finding Mission to be sent West Papua and we welcome and encourage efforts by the Pacific Islands Forum to help this happen.
West Papua remains an emergency zone under illegal Indonesian occupation and we continue to appeal to people all around the world including the world’s media, parliamentarians, organisations and others to please spread the word and Take Action to help the people of West Papua finally be free in their own nation.
Photo and human rights information from the West Papua National Committee (KNPB).
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A google translate of article in suarapapua.com. Be-aware google translate can be a bit erratic.
Original bahasa link at
3) SKP HAM Urges Immediate Papua Police Investigate Cases Completed Timika
By: Aaron Rumbarar | Thursday, October 1, 2015 - 18:09 pm | Viewed: 73 times
JAYAPURA, SUARAPAPUA.com — Solidarity Victims of Human Rights Violations (SKP HAM) Papua urged Papua police immediately investigate shootings in Timika, killing Caleb Bagau (18) and Efrando IS Sabarofek (17) is still critical in Mimika District Hospital. This unequivocal statement delivered at a press conference in the office of some Papuans, Thursday (01/10/2015).
"In Papua's security forces have been very able to guarantee the freedom of the Papuans. Therefore, the facts from the beginning until today, the authorities always perform inhumane acts, torturing, beating, shooting dead up to a lot of victims died from bullets, “said Peneas Lokbere. According Lokbere, the public was looking at the situation in Papua is currently a kind of a race going on shooting by the military and police. Shooting targets, he said, the people of Papua.
"The shooting was carried out by the authorities openly. But the perpetrators were never prosecuted, this impunity shown during this state and its apparatus. There are a lot of state intervention and military businesses very solid in Papua, "he said.
He also presented a number of cases of human rights violations committed by the security forces. "Let cases of past human rights, the case that just could not be revealed, as in this case 2015 Yakuhimo March 8, 2015, June 26, 2015 Dogiyai case, Tolikara events of July 17, 2015, shooting of two people Timika August 28th."
"And the most horrendous is the case of 28 September 2015 which killed one student in the name of Caleb Bagau and Efrando Sabarofek that while still critical in hospitals Timika," said Lokbere.
Terrible fact that, according to the Secretary of KNPB, Suhuniap Ones, showed the Indonesia state does not give a sense of comfort to the people of Papua, even leading to eradication.
"There have been many acts of violence by Indonesian security forces. So far, the case has not been completed, they are doing more new cases. This fact, as if Papua is a land of hunting or bloody conflict, "said Ones.
Further it also regretted the Papua Police statement. "We are very disappointed with the statement that Papua Police said that shooting in Timika is an effort to protect themselves. Did the brothers who are victims of the shooting a gun then? Nonsense, the police has been found guilty, "said Ones.
And the military commander and the Papua Police, he said, should immediately act decisively members who commit human rights violations in Papua.
"Kira with a word of apology can heal wounds the victim's family? I think this would not be possible. The state already confiscate the wealth of Papua, why is also depriving the lives of the people of West Papua again? Enough already, "he said during a press conference that.
SKP HAM Papua consists of BUK Papua, Papua KontraS, the Independent Student Forum (FIM), KNPB, ICT Network, Franciscans SKPKC Papua and Papua Guard.
Editor: Mary
HARUN Rumbarar


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4) TV report-Residents of Sorong Sleep Outdoors for Fears of Aftershocks

By : BeritaSatu English | on 3:20 AM October 02, 2015
Category : Multimedia, Indonesia Highlights, National News, BeritaSatu English, TV
The Social Affairs Minister, Khofifah Indar Parawansa has come under fire on a visit to the area for the government’s slow response to the earthquake.
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1) Human Rights Activist Urges Troop Pullout from Papua

2) There is No Justification for Senseless Murders Like in Timika
3) Legislator Says Wamena Prosecutor Made Right Decision in Tolikara Case
4) Autopsy Only to Delay Paniai Case Resolution
5) Mobile Brigade Personnel Allegedly Involved in Illegal Car Sale Syndicate
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1) Human Rights Activist Urges Troop Pullout from Papua
POSTED BY: ADMIN SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
Semarang, Jubi – A Papuan human rights activist, Yones Douw, urged the central government to withdraw troops from Papua.
He said he was very disappointed with a series of attacks against civilians in Papua, such as the shooting in Timika last August, the shooting in Paniai in December 2014 and the shooting of two vocational school students in Timika on Monday night , 28 September 2015 at around 19:00 pm.
“The actions of security forces were very inhumane. It caused one person, named Kaleb Zera Bagau (18) died and Efrando Sabarofek (17) badly injured and now in the hospital. The character of law enforcement officials, especially the police and Task Forces (TNI) lately showed their misbehavior. I as observers and human rights activists in Papua condemned the perpetrators, ” said Yones when contacting Jubi, on Tuesday (09/29/2015).
“We, Papuans continue to be killed and we are like animal in the eyes of Indonesia. I demand President Jokowi to pull out the military from Papua because there is no benefit at all for Papua,” he said.
Member of Papua Legislative Council, Laurenzus Kadepa to Jubi said, It seems like military and police officials in Papua are racing to kill Papuans.
” Military and police are in a race to kill Papuan people like a hunted animal. Last time two military members shot two Kamoro people in Koperapoka, Timika. And then the police shot two vocational school students in Timika. The shooting of two students was happening at Gorong – Gorong market in Timika, Papua, ” said Kadepa. (Arnold Belau/ Tina)
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2) There is No Justification for Senseless Murders Like in Timika

POSTED BY: ADMIN OCTOBER 1, 2015
Jayapura, Jubi – The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) condemns the shooting of two high school students in Timika on Monday the 28 September by the Indonesian security forces. The incident occurred around 19.30hrs on Monday (28/9/2015)
Caleb Bagau aged 18 died while his friend Efrando Sabarofek aged 17 was wounded in the chest and legs. He is receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Mimika, Papua. The family, local community and religious leaders have condemned the shootings.
At approximately 19.00hrs while the students were sitting in a market culvert with their school friends, dozens of police officers armed with weapons and cars surrounded the area.
Because they were afraid the two students ran however the police shot in their direction killing Caleb Bagau and wounding Elfrando who was shot in the chest and leg.
One report said the reason the police arrived was that it was because the students were reported for making a noise. Another report indicated they were pursued by the police because their fathers are reported to be members of the OPM.
Joe Collins of AWPA said “The shooting of the two students by the security forces shows yet again that the Indonesian security forces can act with impunity in West Papua. AWPA believes that the Indonesian President should ensure that not only is this incident investigated but that all cases of human rights violations committed by the security forces in West Papua are investigated and those found guilty of human rights abuses prosecuted”.
Minority Rights Group International (MRG) urged Indonesia’s Government to conduct an investigation for this shooting.
MRG, as quoted by rappler.com said perpetrators must be held accountable.
“There is no justification for these senseless murders and the Indonesian government must urgently establish an independent inquiry to hold perpetrators to account,” said Claire Thomas, Deputy Director at MRG. “Extrajudicial killings in West Papua have reached unacceptable proportions, with the indigenous population living in daily fear of security forces and for their lives.”
MRG added, “This week’s shooting resurrects concerns about extrajudicial killings and impunity in the conflict-torn region, despite a pledge by Indonesian President Joko Widodo to address human rights concerns in West Papua.”
“It is not enough for President Joko Widodo to make bold promises about promoting human rights in Papua unless it is followed up with concrete action,” said Thomas. “This must include addressing the underlying causes of violence and insecurity in West Papua, including endemic impunity for state-sponsored violence and the disregard for minority and indigenous rights.”
The police chief, Inspector General (Pol) Paul Waterpauw apologised and admitted the incident but tried to claim the shooting was in self-defense. But the Families of the students rejected the apology from the Chief of Police Papua, Inspector General (Pol) Paul Waterpauw. (Victor Mambor)

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3) Legislator Says Wamena Prosecutor Made Right Decision in Tolikara Case
POSTED BY: ADMIN OCTOBER 1, 2015
Jayapura, Jubi – The decision by Wamena chief prosecutor to release on bail two Tolikara incident suspects, JW and AK, was the right one, said Orwan Tolli Wone, Papua legislator from the Tolikara electoral district.
He said although the legal process still continues, it is a wise and right decision to reduce tensions.
“Tolikara people are highly expecting this. We thank to all parties, especially the Papua Police and Prosecutor Office, who have released on bail the two suspects. Although the legal process still continues, at least it could recover the situation,” he said on Monday (28/9/2015).
However, he hope charges against the two suspects could be dropped since there is an agreement between two sides to settle this case peacefully.
“I am hoping this case could be discontinued, moreover if later it was proven not guilty. I suspect there is certain parties attempting to disturb security in Tolikara by letting it happened. It wasn’t the intention of people or local government as well as church authority in Tolikara. But it’s certain parties’ desire. It seems full of political interest, and they scarify people,” he said.
He asked Tolikara people to stay calm and not being provoked. He said the interfaith relation in Tolikara must not change like in previous years. “I am also grateful that the current Cenderawasih Regional Military Commander knows what’s Papuan need. Even he said no need to deploy extra security forces in Tolikara. He knows the situation in Tolikara is secured. There’s no problem there. And myself, I do not want any troop deployment either,” he said.
Earlier, Wamena prosecutor chief has released on bail two suspects of Tolikara incident to change their status of police’s detention to city’s detention. “We approved the request on bail because there is guarantee from many parties. But the legal process is still on going. It’s only to change their status. This suspension would be applied till 7 October, after that it need to be extended,” Wamena Prosecutor Chief Nurcahyo said on last week. (Arjuna Pademme/rom)
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4) Autopsy Only to Delay Paniai Case Resolution
POSTED BY: ADMIN SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
Jayapura, Jubi – A request by the Indonesian Human Right Commission for the approval from the victims’ family of Paniai Blood Case (08/12/2104) for autopsy over four dead students allegedly shot by military force personnel has raised a confusion among many parties.
Local Customary Council is still questioning the clearance of its Decree (SK).
Paniai Customary Council Chief John NR. Gobai told Jubi in Jayapura on Monday (28/09/2015) that he questions whether the Ad Hoc team of Komnas HAM has involved the community in their task. “Komnas HAM RI asked us to speak with the victims’ family for autopsy. But I am confused whether they have involved the community? Secondly, we need a clearance on the Decree because this is a big issue,” Gobai said.
According to him, it is fine if the commission want to do autopsy based on the State’s request, though the evidences are already there. Now, how to persuade the family to approve the autopsy. “Because open the grave is violating the customary law. The customary law comes first and the government comes later in Paniai. What we asked for is the independent must be enforced, and we refused the autopsy at the first place. For us the data and evidences are sufficient. For instance, there are bullets, projectiles, and witnesses of the survivals, doctor’s statement, and video as well. So what’s else?” Gobai said.
He further said the case settlement becomes vague because three team members, namely Budi Hernawan, Rika Korain and Yan Warinussi, have not seen the copy of decree from Komnas HAM RI until now. “So, the team’s name should be clear first, whether they would be called as Ad Hock team or so on. It’s important to predict the direction of case settlement, whether it refers to the Regulation No.26/2000 or other regulation. “It’s not independence because people are not involved. So how do people to believe it? Please be honest. Is it hurt for being honest?” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Papua Student Independent Forum, Teko Kogoya told reporter in Abepura on Monday (14/09/2015) that the Ad Hoc team of Komnas HAM RI do not execute their task as mandated in the plenary meeting of Komnas HAM RI. “We stated the Ad Hoc team was not executing their former task because the State has not provided fund for human right enforcement in this country. Komnas HAM RI is the biggest and highest State’s institution of human right advocacy and settlement of human right violation cases. But, if they said they have no financial resource, it’s totally a mistake,” said Kogoya.
Moreover, according to him, after the establishment of Ad Hoc team, the Indonesian government was able to provide 20 billion rupiahs to help other countries, namely Fiji, Solomon Islands and PNG. “It means the government intentionally muted the Paniai Blood Case and other human right violation cases in Papua. Well, both Komnas HAM RI and Indonesian Government should able to distinguish between criminal and human right violation cases,” said Kogoya. (Abeth You/rom)
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5) Mobile Brigade Personnel Allegedly Involved in Illegal Car Sale Syndicate
POSTED BY: ADMIN SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
Jayapura, Jubi – A Mobile Brigade police personnel in Papua was allegedly involved in a group stealing rented cars.
A rent car owner, Maria Duwitau, said she becomes a victim of this alleged syndicate. It started when a businessman agreed to rent her car for ten days, but until the specified time he didn’t return it. So, she reported this case to the police.
“Despite to report this case to the police, I also try to find out my car. After some times, I got information that WK was arrested in Abepura Police Station. So I came to meet and ask him about my car. He said he gave it to a Mobile Brigade personnel identified as EF who sold my car to I, a police officer in Keerom for 50 million rupiahs,” Maria Duwitau said on Monday (29/9/2015).
According to Duwitau who’s a member of Papua Legislative Council, after getting information from WK, she did a searching and found her car at I’s house in poor condition that its front bumper is damaged as if it got a crash.
“The point is they took my car for 29 days and sold to a police officer. Now WK has been detained by the police and I was confirmed that he is now in Papua Police’s detention. However, both police officers who sold and bought my car have not yet arrested. But I have not reported it to the Papua Police because I could not meet with the Papua Police Chief until now. I don’t want making a report to police’s provost because I don’t believe it. I want to report it directly to the Papua Police Chief,” she said.
She further said it’s not just her becoming the victim. There are 30 rent cars reportedly sold by the officer. She also thought the officer who bought her car should also be questioned. “The culprit sells the cars among security force members. If the officer I was found not guilty, so it should be questioned. Whatever is the reason, he is the police officer, he should know that the car has no complete documents. Why did he buy it? This syndicate must be uncovered,” she said.
She further said both Papua Police Chief and Regional Military Commander must take action on their naughty members. She said if they want running a business, they should resign as police or military personnel.
Another member of Papua Legislative Council, Thomas Sondegau, similarly said this syndicate should be dismantled for not disturbing people. Police and Military leaders in Papua have to crack down their personnel who act against the rules and disgrace the institution’s name. (Arjuna Pademme/rom)
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