3) Papua advocates slams police violence, sexual harassment at US Embassy rally
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua is known for its stunning nature both in the ocean and on the land. Wasur National Park is one of the tourist attractions the region has to offer. The conservation site is home to hundreds of unique Papuan endemic fauna species.
One of the famous ones is kangaroo. There are various endemic species of kangaroos there, including tree kangaroo which became the inspiration for the mascot of 2021 National Games Week in the region, or PON XX Papua. The character, called Kangpho, is described as a tree kangaroo that wears a tassel made of bark on its waist and a typical Papuan carving.
Wasur National Park also has wetlands that are essential for waterbirds in Indonesia and migratory birds to and from Australia and New Zealand. Usually, many of these migratory birds migrate to Wasur National Park in October to seek warmth.
Not only birds, various of fishes can also be found in Wasur National Park, such as banded archerfish, yellow snapper, and many others. As for reptiles, there are crocodiles, monitor lizards, Irian long neck turtles, chameleons, and many more.
In addition to the diverse fauna, it also offers a number of tourist activities. For example, bathing in the Biras Bathing Pool, camping at the Wasur National Park Campground, enjoying the sunset while boating or swimming at Ndalir Beach, fishing in Rawa Biru and buying handicrafts in Wasur and Yanggandur villages.
In terms of local wisdom, Wasur National Park offers cultural tourism of 4 indigenous tribes, namely Marori Men-Gey, Kanume, Yeinan and Malind Imbuti. The locals will perform dances and serve traditional dishes.
With a land area of 304,000 hectares, Wasur National Park is included in 4 sub-districts in Merauke Regency, Papua. It can be reached in about 30 minutes from the city center.
Read: Ujung Kulon National Park Off-Limits for Tourists for 14 Days
Ninis Chairunnisa | Maudey K. Setyakusuma
President Joko Widodo prepares to inaugurate the XX PON at the Lukas Enembe Stadium, Papua, on Saturday (October 2, 2021). (ANTARA PHOTO/Nova Wahyudi/wsj)
"Huwe foi, onomi rehmay, wa wa wa. Cheers to sports!" he said while delivering his speech at the ceremony, which took place at the Lukas Enembe Stadium, Harapan village, East Sentani sub-district, Jayapura District on Saturday evening local time.
As witnessed by ANTARA, President Widodo's use of the native phrases generated a huge applause from the audience, whose numbers were restricted to 25 percent of the total capacity of the stadium due to COVID-19.
The three phrases are spoken often by people living in the eastern region of Indonesia.
Related news: President Widodo officially opens PON XX in Papua
Coordinator of Papuan Youth Cross-Organizational Forum and the 20th PON Festival, Otniel Deda, told ANTARA here on Saturday that he appreciated and was proud of President Jokowi's greeting.
"I am proud that President Joko Widodo can greet the people in one of our language," he remarked.
Related news: Legendary Papuan athletes carry PON flag at opening ceremony
He said his forum hopes that in future more people will be able to understand the distinctive languages of Papua.
Meanwhile, in his speech, the President also expressed his pride for officially inaugurating the PON hosted for the first time by the province.
The first match of the national sporting event took place on September 22. The event will run until October 15, 2021. Currently, the Jakarta contingent stands at the top of the PON medal standings.
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3) Papua advocates slams police violence, sexual harassment at US Embassy rally
Kompas.com – October 1, 2021
Arrested Papuan activists protest as they are taken away in police vehicle – September 30, 2021 (CNN
Rahel Narda Chaterine, Jakarta – The Papua Advocacy Team says that the police committed acts of violence and sexual harassment when they broke up a protest action and arrested 17 people in front of the US Embassy in Jakarta on Thursday September 30.
The team said that that the protest action was forcibly broken up by police without legal grounds. "During the dispersal of the rally, there were protesters who were hit in the eye, trampled on, kicked, and a Papuan woman was sexually harassed", wrote the team in a press release on Thursday.
Based on the advocacy team's release, the protesters from the Papua Student Alliance (AMP) and several other civil society organisations arrived at the US Embassy at around 11 am.
The action was to demand the annulment of the 1962 New York Agreement which paved the way for Papua's integration into Indonesia, the release of all Papuan political prisoners and the withdrawal of the military from Papua.
As they began conveying their demands the police immediately ordered then to disperse on the grounds of Covid-19 social restrictions. According to the advocacy team, teargas was fired at the site of the demonstration when police broke up the action.
"One of the protesters who couldn't stand the teargas was thrown out of a vehicle by police and injured their foot. Other protesters meanwhile were packed into a [police detention] vehicle because they door was locked from the outside", the group said.
According to the advocacy team, these incidents were a violation of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Law Number 39/1999 on Human Rights and Law Number 9/1998 on the Freedom to Express and Opinion in Public.
The advocacy team also believes that the police's actions were a violation of freedom of expression and opinion which is guaranteed under the 1945 Constitution.
The Papua Advocacy Team is made up of Michael Himan representing the group Papua This is Us, Citra Referandum from the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), Nixon Randy from the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH Masyarakat) and Abimanyu Septiadji from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).
The group is therefore strongly urging Indonesian police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to take action against the officers and to apologise.
"To take firm action in terms of ethical, disciplinary and criminal [sanctions] for the violations and the physical, psychological and sexual violence by the Central Jakarta Metro Jaya district police against the protesters", the group said.
As has been reported, on Thursday police broke up a rally in front of the US Embassy in Central Jakarta and arrested 17 Papuan activists.
One of the protesters, former political prisoner Ambrosius Mulait, said that 17 demonstrators were forcibly taken away by police as soon as they arrived at the US Embassy. They were only released on Friday October 1 after being questioned for 18 hours.
"It was only this morning at 7.45 am that they were released without any kind of status, none were declared suspects [charged]", said Citra Referandum who took part in advocating for the arrested activists.
Notes
In a separate article on the same day Kompas.com reported the Papua Advocacy Team as saying that two Papuan activists had also been arrested by police at the Jakarta LBH despite the fact that they did not even take part in the US Embassy rally.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Tim Advokasi Papua: Ada Massa Ditendang hingga Alami Pelecehan Seksual Saat Pembubaran Demo di Kedubes AS".]
Ihsanuddin, Jakarta – The police forcibly broke up a protest action marking the 1962 Rome Agreement in front of the United States Embassy in Central Jakarta on the afternoon of Thursday September 30 and arrested 17 Papuan activists.
One of the demonstrators, former political prisoner Ambrosius Mulait, said that the 17 arrested protesters were forcibly taken away by police as soon as they arrived at the US Embassy.
"We hadn't even started the action at all and were forced to get into crowd control vehicles", said Mulait when sought for confirmation on Thursday.
Mulait also said that police acted repressively when they were arresting the protesters by firing teargas until a physical clash broke out between demonstrators and police. "Some of our comrades were assaulted by the police", he said.
Central Jakarta district police chief Senior Commissioner Hengki Hariyadi confirmed that 17 Papuan activists were arrested.
Hariyadi said that they did not allow the protest action because Jakarta is currently under a Level 3 Enforcement of Restrictions on Public Activities (PPKM) in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
"So essentially during a Level 3 PPKM all activities which have the potential to create crowds are prohibited, in this case they did not have a permit to express an opinion in pubic, so it was without a recommendation from the security forces", said Hariyadi.
The protest action by the Papuan activists conveyed six demands:
- [The right to hold] an action in the context of commemorating the 59th anniversary of the Rome Agreement.
- Urging President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to withdraw all TNI (Indonesian military) and Polri (Indonesian police) from Papua because they are making the situation for the Papuan people uncomfortable.
- The release political prisoner Victor Yeimo who is currently in ill health and is being detained at the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) command headquarters in Jayapura.
- Rejecting the extension of Special Autonomy for Papua which has failed to bring prosperity to the Papuan people.
- Giving Papuans the right to self-determination (a referendum)
- Rejecting racism and fully resolved human rights violations in Papua.
Notes
The Rome Agreement was signed by Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United States in Rome on September 30, 1962. The agreement provided for a postponement of a referendum on West Papua's status which had been scheduled to be held in 1969 under the New York Agreement signed on August 15, 1962, that the referendum would use a consultative process, that the UN's report on the implementation of the referendum would be accepted without open debate and on US commitments to invest in resource exploration and provide funds for development programs in West Papua.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Polisi Tangkap 17 Aktivis Papua yang Akan Demo di Depan Kedubes AS".]
Papua is home to hundreds of tribes, diverse arts, and cultures that encompass five indigenous areas. The traditional dance performance affirmed the pride of Papua and Indonesia.
Tabi Manta, one of the indigenous territories, was shown as a land of diversity and historical value from where the sun rises in gratitude for blessings from the creator of nature.
Another indigenous territory, Saereri, was portrayed as a ritual imagination of starting a prayer, representing a world of beautiful coasts, sea admirals who are brave in challenging waves and oceans while conserving nature and culture.
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Then, the indigenous territory of La Pago was showcased as a land where tough knights were born. The knights were shown to have a strong fighting spirit for keeping tolerance and uniting the land of Papua.
The fourth territory, Mee Pago, was shown as a land of compassion, engulfed in the warmth of nature, full of love, as it protects the natural wealth of Papua.
Finally, the indigenous territory of Anim Ha was depicted as a land full of blessings, with true human beings upholding every life custom to maintain harmony, nature, culture, and people.
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The opening ceremony of PON Papua continued with Lea Simanjuntak and Joanita Wakum singing the song "Indonesia Pusaka" written by Ismail Marzuki.
The Oyandi Voice Choir performed "Muman Minggil" by Wilem Gilyar.
Singer Albert Fakdawer performed "Amapondo" , a song written by David Rumagesang. Through "Akabipamare", the Band "Papua Original" also joined the performance to show the spirit of young Papuans.
Meanwhile, Edo Kondologit, Michael Jakarimilena, and Nowela Elizabeth Auparay sang "Tanah Papua" written by Yance Rumbino together at the start of the opening ceremony.
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The opening ceremony of the PON XX told the story of the past, present, and future of Papua.
The creative and cultural performances successfully delivered the message that the future of Papuan children is bright.
The sporting event is expected to encourage Papua youths to rise and become champions in sports.
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Chief of the public relations section of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, Senior Commissioner Yusri Yunus, confirmed the arrest of DPRD Papua member, identified by his initials as TS.
“It’s true,” he said.
Yunus said the police seized an ecstasy pill as evidence while arresting him.
TS tested positive for consuming drugs based on the result of a urine test, he informed.
Yunus said TS was arrested last Monday. He is undergoing rehabilitation at the Drug Addiction Hospital (RSKO) in Cibubur, East Jakarta, he added.
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