West Papua Report
September 2006
This is the 31st in a series of monthly reports that focuses
on developments affecting Papuans. This reporting series is produced
by the West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts,
other NGO assessments and analysis and reporting from sources within
West Papua. The West Papua Advocacy Team is a non-profit
organization.
SUMMARY/CONTENTS:
Growing International Concern over
Failed Development in West Papua
In an unprecedented show of concern, over 40 representatives of
international donors traveled to West Papua in September in an
effort to address Jakarta's decades of failed development policy in
West Papua. The group, which included representatives of the World
Bank, told media that such visits in the past had been virtually
impossible because of constraints imposed by Jakarta. The Australian
Financial Review, in a September 29 report on the delegation's
visit, noted that West Papua had long been a "no-go area" for such
international visits. For many years Jakarta has required
international visitors to obtain a "surat jalan" or travel
permit which was extremely difficult to obtain and which, if
obtained, imposed severe restrictions on movement within West Papua.
It remains to be seen whether international assistance for the
Papuans might still be blocked by Jakarta's resistance to follow-up
teams of international donors seeking to develop assistance
programs.
Journalist Details Difficulties of
Reporting From West Papua
Contradicting recent claims by the International Crisis Group
that conditions in West Papua are not as onerous as claimed by the
great majority of human rights advocates, the Australian
Broadcasting Company's Geoff Thompson who recently managed to enter
West Papua, described the environment there as that of a "police
state." In addition to intrusive intelligence monitoring of his
legitimate journalistic work Thompson observed that he was not
allowed to speak to human rights groups.
Jakarta's efforts to prevent international monitoring of human
rights abuse which has also included denial of visa requests by
special UN human rights rapporteurs among many others appears to
have succeeded in persuading some that human rights abuses which do
not receive international coverage, simply do not exist.
Papuans and Their Supporters Campaign Against
Indonesian-Australian Security Treaty
Australians and Papuans are appealing to the Australian
government not to sign a security treaty with Indonesia which, at
Indonesian insistence, demands that Canberra does not support calls
for Papuan self-determination and especially any course that might
lead to its independence.
For many years, Canberra maintained a highly-isolated position
with regards to East Timor. It officially accepted the Jakarta
version of the Indonesian aggression against East Timor and the
subsequent 24 years of brutal Indonesian repression of the East
Timorese. Canberra was able to extract, in exchange for its
diplomatic help, a highly beneficial off-shore resource development
arrangement from Indonesia in a corrupt bargain that sullied
Australia's reputation. Speculation ranges widely over the likely
Indonesian quid pro quo to be offered Australia on this occasion.
Papuan Detainees Receive Tough
Sentences
Papuan students accused of failing to obey police orders during
the March 16 demonstrations in Abepura continued to receive harsh
sentences in court decisions handed down during September. All but
two of the 23 detainees have been sentenced, with the great majority
receiving sentences of between four and five years in jail. The
penalties are seen by observers as too harsh given the relatively
minor nature of the charged offense, i.e., "failing to obey police
orders." Several of the detainees' "confessions" to having also
thrown stones at security officials are questionable given the
defendants claims that they were beaten and otherwise coerced into
making the "confessions." Complaints of abuse are supported by
eyewitness accounts of police attacks on the defendants, resulting
in the hospitalization of one defendant.
Observers also recall that special forces (Kopassus) personnel
convicted of what the judge in the case described as the 2001
"torture-murder" of Papuan rights defender Theys Eluay received
sentences entailing a maximum of three and one half years in jail.
The Indonesian army Chief of Staff at the time publicly described
the convicted murderers as "Indonesian heroes."
Growing Tension on the West Papuan - Papua New Guinea
Border
Australia has quietly deployed approximately 200 troops to the
border between West Papua and Papua New Guinea. A Papuan source with
contacts in Australia reports to WPAT that four Australian military
colonels have joined approximately 200 troops in Papua New Guinea,
including approximately 120 in Vanimo, in the wake of developments
along the border that have given rise to security concerns. The
troops include Australian intelligence units. The Australian
deployment reportedly reflects Canberra's concern about potential
chaos in the border area resulting in instability in West Papua, but
also growing concern about Indonesian military/intelligence
activities in the border area. Australian media accounts, in reports
denied by Jakarta, claim that PNG forces have intercepted two naval
intrusions in the Vanimo area recently. Other reports claim
extensive involvement of the Indonesian military in logging and
other illegal activities in the PNG.
Adding to the confusion in the border area are claims of ongoing
human rights abuse. Nick Chesterfield, an Australian who recently
returned from the border area has told the Australian Broadcasting
Company that in the border region there is "strong evidence" that
Indonesian security elements are forming "death squads" which, he
claimed are "randomly targeting Papuans, not on the basis of any
political affiliation, but on the basis of race." He explained that
"in the Asa and Wembi areas we interviewed many survivors from some
of these operations."
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