Military
and Police Block Peaceful Papuan Student
Protests; Ignore Protests Outside West Papua
On April 22, 300 heavily armed
military and police units blocked a student
protest in Abepura. Seven demonstrators who were
initially arrested were subsequently released.
The security forces acted before the
demonstration had even begun, seizing three
trucks of would-be demonstrators near Jayapura
city.
The security force action
followed police refusal to issue a permit for
the demonstration and, according to the police,
targeted students who had "given political
speeches in front of a crowd in Abepura."
The police refusal to issue a
permit purportedly was on the basis of law
number 9 that specifically ban protests that are
deemed to "undermine the Unitary State of the
Republic of Indonesia."
A spokesperson for the
demonstrators said that the peaceful
demonstration and a call for a national civil
strike was intended to protest the governments
of Indonesia, the Netherlands, the United States
and the United Nations. The protest was to have
called on these governments and the UN to
restore Papuan sovereignty which was denied to
Papuans by the 1969 fraudulent "Act of Free
Choice" under which Indonesia annexed West
Papua.
Security forces did not
interfere with identical, simultaneous peaceful
demonstrations in Jakarta, Yogjakarta and Bali.
However, the authorities did break up a separate
demonstration in Manokwari in West Papua,
clearly indicating a more restrictive posture
toward demonstrators in West Papua.
In the Bali demonstrations West
Papuan students from the United West Papua
Popular Struggle Front (Pepera) demonstrated
against special autonomy for West Papua. They
also called for a referendum to be held in West
Papua on Papuans' political future. Some of
these demonstrators also called for closure of
Freeport McMoran, the giant copper and gold
mine. In his speech, action coordinator Wens
Papua noted that the Papuans had become the
victims of capitalist exploitation.
Rio Tinto
Confronts Serious Question at Annual General
Meeting
On April 24 the Rio Tinto board
which controls a major portion of the Freeport
McMoran Gold and Cooper mine faced difficult
questions at its Annual General Meeting in
Brisbane. Carmel Budiarjo, a deeply respected
human rights crusader of Tapol, underscored the
wealth flowing to the company in contrast to the
unrelenting poverty and suffering of the people
who live in the mine's shadow. She noted that
the Mimika Statistics Agency recently reported
that 28,000 of the 45,000 families in the
vicinity of the mine are living below the
poverty line and lack access to basic health
care. The Agency noted that 'Mimika is one of
the biggest mining areas in the world but its
people are still categorized as poor.'
Budiarjo also noted that
HIV/AIDS is widespread in the area, largely
because of the presence of workers at the mine.
Papua now has the highest incidence of the
disease in Indonesia.
Budiarjo demanded to know: "What
has Rio Tinto done to address the serious
problem of pollution affecting local rivers and
water sources, and what had it done to improve
medical services to deal with grave health
problems afflicting local communities?
In the same April 24 meeting,
Rio Tinto's Paul Skinner claimed that mine
tailings dumped into the Ajqua river system from
the Freeport McMoran mine were not toxic. The
claim flies in the face of numerous highly
regarded government studies and ignores the
decision by the Norwegian Government Pension
fund to disinvest in the company because of the
severe environmental damage caused by the
practice of riverine tailings disposal.
One study completed by the
Indonesian environmental and human rights
organization Walhi in partnership with Friends
of The Earth noted that "Freshwater aquatic life
has been largely destroyed through pollution and
habitat destruction in the watercourses which
receive tailings. This report is available at
http://www.eng.walhi.or.id/kampanye/tambang/frpt-report-may-06/
.
A member of the West Papua
Advocacy Team who trekked across the miles wide
and miles long tailings delta that had built up
for decades in the Ajkwa basin found a desert in
the middle of pristine rain forest. Only one
type of grass grew on the beach sand-like
tailings. There were no birds or insects and
various stretches were made treacherous by
quicksand.
Security Forces Hold Scores of Peaceful Papuan
Protesters as Common Criminals
A prominent Australian Human
Rights Activist, Nick Chesterfield, reports that
the Indonesian security forces continue to round
up and incarcerate peaceful Papuan political
protesters as common criminals. Their offenses,
as noted in the April West Papua Report, include
raising of the Papuan "morning star flag."
Chesterfield observed that treating these
peaceful political protesters as common
criminals exposes them to severe health and
safety risks. A UN report in 2007 noted frequent
use of torture and beatings in Indonesian jails,
notably those in West Papua. Chesterfield also
notes that in some cases families of those
detained have also been singled out for
intimidation and abuse.
Papuans Hold Unit
Summit in Vanuatu
Papuans representing a number of
West Papuan political organizations met in
Vanuatu in April to participate in a convening
of the West Papua National Coalition for
Liberation. The spokesman for the Vanuatu-based
West Papuan People’s Representative Office, John
Ondawame, said the meeting was to organize a
unified leadership and to begin a new diplomatic
struggle for self-determination for the West
Papuan people. (See following report for details
on the outcome of the meeting.)
The delegates held meeting with
most of the senior officials of Vanuatu. The
Foreign Minister of Vanuatu assured the
delegates that he planned to raise the West
Papuan struggle for self-determination at the
upcoming Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). He
added that it was his hope that West Papua would
eventually achieve "observer status" at the MSG
and at the Pacific Islands Forum.
"West Papuan National
Coalition for Liberation" Formed
In an April 29 press statement,
Papuan activists have announced the formation of
the "West Papua National Coalition for
Liberation." The announcement followed a meeting
held in Port Vila, Vanuatu during April 2008,
The West Papua National Coalition for Liberation
elected Richard Yoweni of the National
Liberation Army of West Papua (TPN PB) as
Chairman, Dr. John Otto Ondawame as Vice
Chairman and Mr. Rex Rumakiek as the Secretary
General. The Secretariat for the WPNCL will be
established at the West Papuan Peoples
Representative Office in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
Spokesperson for the group
Runawery commented that "Indonesian Government
control over West Papua for the past 45 years
and the implementation of its so-called 'Special
Autonomy' package in the past 5 years has
grossly failed the West Papuan people." Runawery
went on to say, "Under Special Autonomy there
has been very poor administration leading to the
rapid deterioration of health and education of
Papuan people, an ever increasing wave of the
HIV/AIDS and huge profiteering from the
exploitation of West Papuan natural resources
and rainforests.”
He added: There is now a
disastrous situation where West Papua people are
on the brink of becoming a minority in their own
land."
"International support for
Special Autonomy has been a success for
international investors, including BP at the
Tangguh gas project & RTZ at the Freeport copper
mine. These investments have effectively
underwritten the occupation of West Papua by the
Indonesian security forces.”
Indonesian is in a phase of
business expansion in West Papua and that means
the abuse of human rights of indigenous West
Papuans, the restriction of political freedom
and tightening military control. The expansion
of Indonesian Government backed businesses and
economic interests is at the expense of the
people of West Papua."
"WPNCL is now seeking Observer
Status with the Melanesian Spearhead Group and
the Pacific Islands Forum as a platform for the
people of West Papua within the United Nations
and other international forums."
"The WPNCL will seek to reverse
the so-called Act of Free Choice of 1969 and
re-inscribe West Papua on UN Decolonization
Committee in so that the people of West Papua
are given the due process of
'self-determination'."
The WPNCL will continue to seek
internationally mediated negotiation with the
Republic of Indonesia as the best way of
resolving the ongoing armed conflict promoted by
the Indonesian security forces and reversing the
disastrous human rights and spiraling health
situation of the West Papuan people.”
Indonesian Military and
Militias Pose Threat to
Papuans
A revealing series of comments
by a senior Indonesian military official and an
official from one of its allied militias point
to the threat posed to peaceful Papuan
demonstrators.
On April 24 the website of the
Indonesian daily Kompas reported that Commander
of the 1703 Military District, Lieutenant
Colonel Irham Waroihan, in Manokwari, West Papua
stated that the OPM (the small armed resistance
force fighting for Papuan independence) were
"issuing orders for demonstrators" such as those
detained in peaceful political demonstrations in
recent months in West Papua. He claimed that the
OPM used "fictitious names in order to escape
being traced."
Separately, the same report
cites the "Deputy Chairperson of the Red and
White Indonesia Movement in Manokwari, Siti
Fatimah Tahir" in comments chastising the
student demonstrators, describing them inter
alia as "lazy."
The unsubstantiated contention
by Lt. Colonel Waroihan that the students were
following OPM orders could gravely complicated
their legal status placing them in far greater
jeopardy. Public reference to the "Red and White
Indonesian Movement in Manokwari is ominously
reminiscent of the military-run "Red and White"
militias that terrorized East Timorese civilians
in the 1998-99 period.
Papua
crackdown overshadows BP project 31 March 2008
Amid increasing concern about
Indonesia’s harsh treatment of peaceful
protestors in West Papua,
more than 30 human rights groups and individuals
worldwide, including ETAN and WPAT, are warning
BP that its new $US6 billion Tangguh natural
gas project is a potential source of instability
in the troubled region. In a letter to the
British company’s Chief Executive, Tony Hayward,
the organizations highlight the pressing need
for independent external scrutiny of the BP
operation, highlighting reports of increased
activity by the Indonesian military (TNI) in the
area of the project. The TNI’s past record
suggests that it is likely to adopt a highly
intimidatory approach, giving rise to possible
conflicts with the local and wider Papuan
community,’ they say. In their letter, the
organizations point out that the project is
regarded by some Papuans as an obstacle to the
realization of their wider political
aspirations. BP is seen by them as a
collaborator with Jakarta’s exploitation of West
Papua’s natural resources.
The letter is prompted by BP’s
decision not to extend the mandate of the
Tangguh Independent Advisory Panel (TIAP). It
was sent in the wake of a wave of arrests of
Papuans peacefully protesting a ban on regional
symbols such as the Papuan Morning Star flag.
Most of the arrests took place in Manokwari, the
capital of the province in which Tangguh is
located. The letter also lists concerns relating
to the social and environmental impacts of the
project.
Two weeks ago, The Guardian
newspaper reported on a letter from Papuan
leaders complaining that BP has reneged on
agreements and is ‘taking sides with the
Indonesian government, as they are bypassed from
all lasting benefits.' Earlier a large number of
troops were deployed to the area to provide
security for a visit to the project by Prince
Andrew, the UK government’s business envoy.
