This is the 39th in a series of monthly reports that focus 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
- Despite an April court ruling in its
favor, the Kingmi Church in West Papua
continues to face violent acts by Indonesian security forces
over its control of church facilities in Jayapura.
- A
prominent international human rights organization has called
for an end to the imprisonment
of human rights defenders on the basis of a law that the
Indonesian Constitutional Court has found to be
unconstitutional. The law, formulated during colonial rule
and used extensively by the Soeharto dictatorship, remains
on the books and has been used by the Yudhoyono
administration to repress Papuans and others exercising free
speech.
- Papuan human rights defenders have warned against
Indonesian military efforts to create
pro-Jakarta militias in programs ominously similar to those
employed by the Indonesian military in East Timor to deadly
effect. Military training exercises that intimidate
local people and threats to individual Papuans, including
religious leaders, underscore the growing tension generated
by Indonesian security forces.
- Indonesian observers point
out that "special autonomy" continues to fail the Papuan
people.
- Underscoring that reality, separate reports note
Jakarta's continuing failure to
address critical health issues in West Papua, including
rising instances of death among women in childbirth, anemia
among pregnant women due to poor nutrition, and a
much-belated government response, just
getting underway to address the explosion of HIV-AIDS in
West Papua.
- Meanwhile, international calls continue for
Jakarta to remove from West Papua a
military commander indicted for crimes against humanity.
Indonesian Police and Military Resume Assault on
Papuan Church
The Indonesian police resumed its pressure on the
independent Papuan "Kingmi Church" with a violent assault on
the central church office staged on July 30. Three members
of the Kingmi Church in West Papua were hospitalized and two
others were wounded in an attack by the Indonesian security
forces. Three other Church members were arrested by police
and have now been released. In addition, reporting from West
Papua to the West Papua Advocacy Team notes recent death
threats against two prominent church officials. (As of
publication of this report, new reporting from West Papua
indicates that security forces continue to either sponsor or
permit violence against the Church by its rivals.)
According to eyewitnesses, personnel from the mobile
paramilitary police brigade, Brimob, supported by members of
the TNI (Indonesian military) forcibly entered the Kingmi
Church Synod office and ransacked the offices, smashing
windows and damaging church equipment. property.
The police and military actions followed a confrontation
between members of the Kingmi Church and a group reportedly
from the Indonesian Tabernacle Bible Church who want to gain
control of the Kingmi Church assets. The Indonesian
Tabernacle Bible Church's claim to Kingmi had been supported
by police action, notwithstanding a court verdict in April
2007 that recognized the Kingmi Synod's right to maintain
control of its assets in West Papua.
This is the third time that Indonesian police have
occupied the Kingmi Church Synod office. Police first
occupied the church in December last year, then again in May
2007. Both times they used excessive force to evict pastors
and church workers.
The conflict appears to stem from a decision by the
Kingmi Church in 2006 to reestablish an independent Synod in
West Papua as well as its own advocacy work undertaken in
relation to human rights in West Papua.
Paula Makabory from the Institute for Papuan Advocacy and
Human Rights said "the situation in West Papua appears to be
rapidly deteriorating. The Indonesian police and military
appear to be taking more repressive action against
community-based organizations in West Papua.
"These repressive actions by the security forces follow
statements by Col. Siagian and other senior Indonesian
military personnel threatening and justifying the use of
state violence against civilians, including those engaged in
peaceful protest."
"The attack on the Kingmi Church follows threatening
action by the police against Rev. Sofyan Yoman, President of
the Fellowship of Baptist Churches in West Papua who had a
gun pointed at him by Indonesian police on Sunday."
International Call for An End to
Unconstitutional Imprisonment
of Rights Defenders
The respected UK-Indonesian Human Rights Organization,
Tapol, on July 20 issued a public call for the release of
Papuan prisoners jailed under Indonesia's "hate-sowing"
laws. The laws date back to Indonesia's colonial era and
were used extensively by the Soeharto dictatorship to
repress dissent. Tapol based its appeal on the July 17
decision of the Indonesian Constitutional Court, which
declared the "hate-sowing" laws (articles 154 and 155 of
Indonesia's Criminal Code) to be unconstitutional because
they violate the freedom of speech as guaranteed by the
Indonesian Constitution.
The Tapol press release observed: "The injustice of using
penal provisions to criminalize opposition to Jakarta and
criticism of government policy is keenly felt in West
Papua." The Tapol appeal noted in particular the continued
detention of Papuans Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage who were
sentenced to 15 and 10 years imprisonment, respectively, for
organizing peaceful celebrations of West Papua's national
day and flying the Papuan Morning Star flag on December 1,
2004. They were charged under Article 154 and other
provisions.
"The continued detention of the two men should not be
tolerated in a democratic country," said Carnel Budiardjo,
long-time campaigner for human rights in Indonesia and
director of Tapol. Tapol concluded its statement by urging
that Indonesian authorities release all prisoners jailed for
their peaceful political views and activities and, in the
spirit of the Constitutional Court ruling, to review all
other outdated penal provisions that violate fundamental
freedoms.
(TAPOL's website is tapol@gn.apc.org http://tapol.gn.apc.org .)
Growth of Military-Sponsored
Militias Worry Papuan Human Rights Defenders
The Institute for Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights (IPAHR)
on July 26 issued a statement calling attention to the
growth of militias in West Papua under the direction of an
Indonesian military officer indicted for crimes against
humanity. In its statement IPAHR said:
"The Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights (IPAHR)
is extremely concerned at the increasing activity of
pro-Indonesian militias in West Papua. That the regional
commander Col. Burhanuddin Siagian has publicly threatened
'separatists' in the past few weeks in West Papua is
alarming considering that he and other senior military and
police are actively meeting with nationalist civilian
militias."
In support of its contentions, IPAHR provided reports
from its sources in West Papua, which pointed to an increase
in meetings by nationalist militia groups throughout West
Papua organized by the Indonesian military.
IPAHR noted that pro-Indonesian nationalist and militia
groups met on July 6, 2007 at the Military (KOREM 172)
Auditorium in Jayapura, West Papua. Col. Siagian, who has
been indicted for crimes against humanity in East Timor
where he was involved with similar militia groups,
reportedly addressed the meeting which was attended by
approximately 500 people. IPAHR noted that additional
militia meetings followed elsewhere in West Papua over the
next three weeks. Siagian recently made public threats
against Papuans pressing for their political and other civil
rights (see West Papua Report - July 2007 and the final item
in this report).
IPAHR and other human rights organizations have drawn
attention to the Indonesian military's modus operandi in
East Timor and elsewhere in the Indonesian archipelago where
it organized, trained and armed militias which were used to
terrorize local civilians. These militias have specifically
targeted civilians seeking to assert their legitimate
rights.
IPAHR concluded its public statement by a warning from
Makabory, who said: "These new reports signal that the
Indonesian military and police appear to have started a
program to actively promote and support militias across West
Papua."
In addition to these IPAHR concerns, other Papuan sources
report military training operations have been launched in
populated areas, causing apprehension among the local
people.
"Special Autonomy"
Continues to Fail The Papuan People
The Jakarta Post reported on July 28 that an advocacy team
of independent NGOs, the Papua Working Group in Jakarta, has
concluded that a government-prepared revision of the Papua
Special Autonomy Law is insignificant and that Papuan
officials still need a solid and transparent plan to
prioritize development and channel funds properly. At a July
27 public discussion Papua Working Group in Jakarta member
and spokesperson Amiruddin Al Rahab said that prior to
designing the blueprint, the government should assess the
progress of Papua's autonomy, which is just five-years-old.
According to the working group, trillions of rupiah
(hundreds of millions of US dollars) have been allocated
over five years but that physical developments were scant.
He said the expansion of regencies (districts) in the
area added a complexity to the local administration's job.
(See following article which notes a severe deterioration of
health services as a consequence of new political unit
created, which has diluted already thin government
services.) "Their aspirations for freedom can be achieved
within this republic if they receive adequate educational
and health support, including ample stocks of medicine" said
Amiruddin.
Separately, Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator
Teten Masduki said that in preventing corruption or solving
human rights issues, Papua still needed external assistance.
"Local elites have benefited from budget misallocation," he
said. Teten called for the Corruption Eradication Commission
(KPK) to form regional branch offices in Papua in order to
address the chronic misallocation problem.
Political Manipulation Blamed for Rapid
Deterioration of Health Services
A Tapol press release has highlighted the continuing,
rapid deterioration of health services in West Papua and the
dire implications for the Papuan people. In Merauke the
death rate of mothers in childbirth has risen again. In
2005, the rate was 464 per 1,000,000 births and rose to 499
in 2006. In previous years, the numbers had been declining.
In 2001 the figure was 1,071, and 529 in 2003, and fell to
202 in 2004.
The dearth of health services, resulting from a race by
the Jakarta government to create new districts that
overtaxed limited health services, appears to be the reason
for this negative trend. The new districts provide sinecures
for pro-Jakarta elites to access new funds flowing through
"special autonomy" programs and also provide a basis for the
expansion of the Indonesian military presence.
According to Tapol, an official of the Merauke health
service said the reason for the increase in deaths among
mothers was that many health workers who work in the
villages have been transferred to other districts following
the creation of more district administrations, resulting in
the shortage of staff in the villages. Another reason was
that many health workers abandoned their posts. The official
said that people had either been transferred or they had
left of their own will.
In Biak, anemia is a big problem among pregnant mothers,
according to the head of the local health service. It is
estimated that between 60 and 70 percent of pregnant women
are anemic. He said the reason was that pregnant women were
not eating enough nutritious food. This was a danger to the
unborn child as well as to the child-bearing woman. He said
that the incidence of anemia among pregnant women has
increased in the past three years. The condition was caused,
he said, by the lack of funds to keep local health centers
operating, which means that pregnant women not being
properly monitored during their pregnancy. The lack of
nutritious food could lead to the child being stillborn and
also endangers the life of the mother. The lack of adequate
nutritious food for babies and children is also a problem.
Indonesia Slow to Address
Explosion of HIV-AIDS in West Papua
An International Herald Tribune report on July 20 noted
that Indonesia will increase government funding to fight
HIV-AIDS by 75 percent over the next three years, with the
major focus on West Papua where the disease is most
virulent. The report notes that health authorities believe
that a failure to take prompt action in areas like Papua —
where infections are 15 times the national average — could
result in 1 million people infected with HIV within a few
years.
Notwithstanding the far more severe incidence of the
disease in West Papua than anywhere else in the archipelago,
the Herald Tribune report points out that West Papua
receives only four percent of the money budgeted to fight
HIV-AIDS.
Failure of Jakarta authorities hitherto to adequately
address HIV-AIDS in West Papua is all the more tragic given
the level of government health services in West Papua, which
ranks at the bottom among Indonesian provinces.
Among the key sources of HIV-AIDS infection in West Papua
is prostitution, an industry protected and in some cases
organized by the security forces, in particular, by the
Indonesian military.
Continuing Calls for Removal of
Commander in West Papua Indicted for Crimes Against
Humanity
The Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC), a regional
solidarity organization that campaigns on issues affecting
the peoples of the region, in a July 18 press release
expressed its "gravest concern over the continued presence
of Col. Burhanuddin Siagian as commander of the Jayapura
sub-regional military command (Korem 172) in West Papua. The
APSOC appeal was one of many by international human rights
organizations in recent weeks (see West Papua Report -
July).
The APSOC release observed that "Siagian's presence is
not only a threat to legitimate human rights defenders and
political activists in West Papua but it is also indicative
of the Indonesian government's insincerity in its avowed
commitment to justice and the long overdue military
reforms." Gus Miclat, the regional coordinator of APSOC,
said: "It is beyond comprehension that a government who
promised military reforms would appoint an officer indicted
twice of crimes against humanity to command a post in
Jayapura."
APSOC points out that the U.N.-backed Special Panel for
Serious Crimes of Dili, the capital of Timor Leste, indicted
Siagian on February 3, 2003 ('the Cailaco indictment) and on
July 10, 2003 ('the Maliana indictment'). He is charged for
the following crimes against humanity: torture, murder,
persecution, and deportation or forcible transfer of a
civilian population. The creation of the Bobonaro militia
system that became one of the most repressive in the whole
of East Timor was also attributed to him.
The concluding paragraphs of the APSOC statement provided
important historical context and perspective for the
international calls for Siagian's removal and are quoted in
their entirety below:
Observers fear that the international community may
see a replay of mass slaughter in Papua with the assignment
of Siagian in the area. As reported, Siagian last May
allegedly threatened to "destroy" anyone who "betrays"
Indonesia in response to the Papuan activists who demanded a
review of their history. The statement is reminiscent of
Col. Siagian's statement in Maliana as military commander of
the Bobonaro district of East Timor. As commander of the
Bobonaro District Military Command (Kodim 1636), Maliana in
pre-independence East Timor, Col. Siagian was quoted to have
threatened to kill East Timorese independence supporters,
which appeared to have directly led to a number of deaths
among Timorese civilians.
To date, Siagian is just one of the military officers
accused of serious crimes in East Timor, who continue to
serve in important and sensitive positions in the Indonesian
military. In 2003, Timbul Silaen was appointed chief of
police in Papua despite being indicted on charges arising
from his occupation of the same position in East Timor in
1999. For his part, Major-General Adam Damiri, former
military commander of the East Timor region, was involved in
military operations in Aceh. Last April, Major General Noer
Muis, the former military commander in Timor Leste,
co-directed the controversial joint military training with
the United States.
Reacting to the call by various civil society
organizations for Indonesia to extradite Siagian to East
Timor, the spokesperson for the Indonesian Embassy in
Canberra, Dino Kusnadi, told Australian media that the
"indictment has no jurisdiction over Indonesia." If this is
how the Indonesian government appreciates the situation, it
is well to remind them that the charges against Siagian and
others are under the jurisdiction of the U.N.-backed Special
Panel for Serious Crimes and, therefore, classified as
crimes of universal jurisdiction by which no amount of alibi
can neither disprove or hide the crime.
It is disheartening to know that Indonesia has
displayed its lack of respect for the rule of law and has
instead the tendency to perpetuate the cycle of impunity.
The litmus test of the Indonesian government's commitment to
justice and military reforms is whether it has the political
will to recall the highly controversial Siagian from
Jayapura and extradite him to East Timor to face trial.
"The Indonesian government must move with dispatch and
act on the demands of the Papuans and the international
community to recall the highly-controversial Col. Siagian
from Jayapura and extradite him to East Timor to face
trial," APSOC said, adding that "failure to do so will only
expose its insincerity in keeping its promises of military
reforms and its avowed commitment to justice."