This is the 58th in a
series of monthly reports that focus on developments
affecting Papuans. This series is produced by the non-profit
West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts,
other NGO assessments, and analysis and reporting from
sources within West Papua. This report is co-published with
the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) Back
issues are posted online at
http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm Questions
regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams
at
edmcw@msn.com.
Summary
The US State Department's just-published
Annual Human Rights Report for Indonesia candidly describes
repression of Papuan rights including security force murder,
beatings and torture of peaceful dissenters and security
force collusion in people trafficking and theft of Papuans'
traditional lands. Notwithstanding her Department's strong
report, Secretary of State Clinton failed to discuss human
rights or not meet with Papuans. Her failure to publicly
raise human rights concerns prompts concern that the Obama
administration may proceed with Bush Administration plans to
pursue ties with Indonesian Special Forces and intelligence
agencies notwithstanding their egregious human rights
records. An ETAN spokesperson urged the Obama
administration to utilize its leverage to spur reform of the
Indonesian military. Buchtar Tabuni faces charges of
subversion because of his peaceful dissent. An Indonesian
Human Rights Commission official has accused the Yudhoyono
government of failure to prosecute Indonesian military
officers for "widespread abuses in Papua." A Jakarta human
rights official has criticized Jakarta's "Special Autonomy"
as failing to make a difference in the lives of Papuans. A
Papuan, also commenting on "Special Autonomy" observed that
funds intended to be made available to assist Papuans have
been used to "build the military" and spur migrant
displacement of Papuans.
Contents
-
US State Department Reports Repression
of Papuan Rights in Annual Human Rights Report
-
Secretary Clinton in Jakarta Generally
Ignores Human Rights Issues, Fails to Meet with Papuans
-
Human Rights Group Urges US to Use Its
Leverage to Spur Reform of Indonesian Military
-
Buchtar Tabuni Charged Under Repressive
Criminal Code Statues
-
Indonesian Government Human Rights
Commission Accuses Government of Failing to Prosecute
-
Human Rights Crimes in West Papua and Elsewhere
-
Boiling Rocks in West Papua
-
Papuan Official Rejects "Special Autonomy"
State Department Human Rights Report Describes Brutal
Human Rights Environment in West Papua
The US Department of State's
Human Rights Report for
Indonesia in 2008 (released 2/26) depicts the stark reality
of repression and discrimination in West Papua. The report
notes that "at least 30" Papuans, including one 16 year old boy, are
incarcerated for peaceful dissent, specifically, for raising the morning
star flag. The report notes repeated incidents in which Papuans suffered
beatings and even murder at the hands of Indonesian military and police in
retaliation for peaceful protest. The report cites the UN conclusion that
torture is
systematic in Indonesian prisons. It also details the
killing of some of these Papuans by security forces who act
with impunity.
The report also describes extensive illegal activity by
security forces in West Papua: "military and police were
often complicit in trafficking (of persons) and in
protecting brothels." The report also notes that NGOs and
human rights advocates suffered monitoring of their
activities as well as threats and intimidation.
The report is unflinching in its description of the
repressive environment in West Papua: "During the year
indigenous people, most notably in Papua, remained subject
to widespread discrimination and there was little
improvement in respect for their traditional land rights. The Government failed to prevent domestic and multinational
companies, often in collusion with the local military and
police, from encroaching on indigenous people's land."
See also
Comments
on the U.S. Department of State Country reports on Human
Rights Practices for 2008
Secretary Clinton in Jakarta Generally Ignores Human
Rights Issues, Fails to Meet with Papuans
Secretary Clinton failed to meet with any Papuans during her
visit to Indonesia. As in her visit to China, the Secretary
largely ignored human rights issues or the long-standing
violations and record of impunity of the rogue Indonesian
military. These omissions raised concern among human rights
organizations that the Obama administration was prepared to
set aside human rights as an impediment to bilateral
cooperation on economic, financial and security issues.
While a member of the Secretary's staff did meet with a
Papuan in the course of a large public event, the Secretary
herself, except for one important meeting with the widow of slain human
rights advocate Munir, avoided contact with human rights advocates or
victims and did not reference concern about these issues in her public
remarks despite at least one appeal from a prominent member of the US
Congress that she do so.
"Secretary Clinton's willingness to largely ignore both
human rights concerns and the failure of the Indonesian
military to reform suggests that Obama policy vis-a-vis
Indonesia is on auto pilot form the Bush era" said Ed
McWilliams of the West Papua Advocacy Team. He added
specifically, "we need to be concerned that the Obama
administration will now move forward with Bush
administration plans to begin cooperation with the criminal
Indonesian Special Forces (KOPASSUS) and Intelligence
agencies, crossing a red line that extends back over a
decade."
Human Rights Group Urges US to Use Its Leverage to Spur
TNI Reform
On the eve of Secretary of State Clinton's visit to
Indonesia John M. Miller, National Coordinator of the East
Timor and Indonesia Action Network,
publicly called on the
Secretary to "break with the Bush administration's failed
policy of engagement with the TNI." He urged that US "once
again use military assistance as leverage to promote reform
and human rights."
Miller observed that the Bush Administrations decision to
resume military-to-military cooperation with the TNI "did
not end the entrenched impunity of Indonesia's security
forces for crimes against humanity and other serious
violations committed in East Timor, West Papua and
elsewhere." He observed that the TNI "continues to resist
civilian control and emphasize internal security" and that
"it resists attempts to dismantle its "territorial command"
system which enables its continued involvement in business
and politics." "The implementation of a law meant to end
military involvement in business" he noted "has degenerated
into farce, and its units are accused of involvement in a
variety of illegal enterprises, including logging and
narcotics trade."
Miller also warned against US collaboration with the
security elements with the worst records of human rights
abuse:
"In its last years, the Bush administration sought to train
members of Kopassus, Indonesia's Special Forces, which was
responsible for some of the worst human rights violations
throughout the archipelago. U.S. assistance to Kopassus is
currently on hold, and the new administration will have to
decide whether or not to cooperate with the notorious unit.
The U.S. should also avoid Indonesia's main military and
civilian intelligence agencies (BAIS and BIN) which have
long records of repressing human rights activists and other
critics. Retired senior military officials working in
Indonesia's State Intelligence Agency (BIN) are suspected of
planning and ordering the 2004 assassination of Munir Said
Thalib, Indonesia's leading human-rights advocate."
Miller cited several Indonesian human rights advocates as
well as East Timor's official Commission for Reception,
Truth and Reconciliation as calling on the US to employ
military cooperation and assistance as "leverage" to spur
real reforms in the Indonesian security structure. Miller
concluded by urging Secretary Clinton to "open a new chapter
in U.S. relations by making clear that future support for
the Indonesian military is contingent upon real reform and
genuine accountability for human rights crimes." [see
Buchtar Tabuni Charged Under Repressive Criminal Code
Statutes
The trial of Buchtar Tabuni for subversion got underway
February 18 with Suharto-era trappings represented by
hundreds of heavily armed military-police (BRIMOB).
Approximately 300 Tabuni supporters demonstrated outside the
Jayapura courtroom. Buchtar was accompanied at the hearing
by 25 of the 53 lawyers listed as his legal advisers.
The prosecutor accused Tabuni, 29 and deputy secretary of
the Central Mountain Papua Indonesia Students Alliance (AMPTPI),
of coordinating formation of the London-based "International
Parliamentarians for West Papua" (IPWP). The IPWP is an
international assemblage of parliamentarians launched in
London in October 2008. The prosecutor also alleged that Tabuni had twice coordinated mass demonstrations at the
University of Cenderawasih and had delivered political
speeches that were deemed to be a threat to Indonesian
sovereignty. The prosecutor also referred to banners
displayed at the rallies which was written slogans such as
'Referendum Yes, Otonomi Khusus (Special Autonomy) No',
'West Papua Problem is not Indonesia Problem', 'We want to
International dialog.'
On the basis of these alleged activities Tabuni was charged
under Articles 106, 160 and 212 of the Criminal Code for
state subversion and for resisting personnel of the state
(the armed policemen and military). This law dates back to
the Dutch colonial era and was utilized extensively during
the Suharto dictatorship. It has been widely condemned by
human rights advocates inside and outside Indonesia as in
contravention of Indonesia's international obligations to
protect the free exercise of peaceful political speech. If
found guilty, Tabuni, who is also accused of instigation
and resisting arrest, could face 20 years in prison.
Government Human Right Commission Accuses Indonesian
Government of Failure to Prosecute Human Rights Crimes in
West Papua and Elsewhere
The
Jakarta Globe, February 19, highlighted an accusation
by the Indonesian Commission for Human Rights (Komnas Ham)
that the Attorney General had failed in his duties to
prosecute human rights violations. The Commission also
accused President Yudhoyono of helping to shelter senior
Indonesian military officers from prosecution. Saharuddin
Daming, a Komnas Ham commissioner, among other things, noted
that the Indonesian government had failed to successfully
prosecute officials guilty of "widespread TNI abuses in
Papua." Komnas HAM, he said, uncovered human rights
violations by the military in Papua between 1963 to 2002.
According to the 2000 Law on Human Rights Courts,
Komnas-HAM, the AGO, and the ad hoc Human Rights Court were
to share responsibility for handling human rights cases, he
said, with Komnas HAM conducting investigations, the AGO
handling prosecutions and the court trying and deciding
cases.
"Most people blame [Komnas HAM] for the unresolved cases,"
he said. "They should ask the attorney general to clear up
these issues, as all the BAP [investigation reports] have
been handed to them."
Ultimately, however, the problems with finding justice for
human rights victims lay not only with the AGO, but with
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Saharuddin said,
suggesting that the former general had helped shelter TNI
officials accused of human rights violations.
AGO spokesman Jasman Pandjaitan called some of Komnas HAM's
reports, "incomplete," offering only that additional
investigations were needed to look into the unresolved
cases. He declined to comment, however, on which cases
remained incomplete and any plans the AGO might have to
reinvigorate investigations into some of the nation's darker
periods.
"Boiling Rocks" In West Papua
The Indonesian daily, Kompas, February 14, carried a
report that underscores the failed implementation of
"special autonomy" in West Papua. Citing Indonesian Human
Rights Watch (Imparsial)'s Poengky Indarti, the report noted
the rights' advocate as stating that "between 2005 and 2009
Papua's human development index has been in 33rd position
out of the 33 provinces in Indonesia, notwithstanding the
fact that every year funds are poured into Papua in amounts
reaching the trillions of rupiah."
The article noted that data gathered by Franciscan
International demonstrated that that as many as 80 percent
of the indigenous Papuan population was living in poverty.
In addition to this, as many as 36.1 percent of the
population have no access to healthcare facilities.
The article pointed out, "the massive exploitation of
Papua's natural resources has not had any significant impact
on the progress or prosperity of the Papuan people. Moreover, it added, "human rights violations against the
Papuan people that are yet to be resolved." Quoting from a
statement by a Papuan figure, Indarti said, 'Waiting for
justice to come from the central government is like boiling
a rock."
Papuan Official Rejects "Special Autonomy" as Aimed at
Increasing the Migrant Population/Building the Military/Appropriating
Papuan Land
The Secretary of the Papua Customary Council in Sorong, Yoab
Syatfle, issued a February statement from Sorong broadly
rejecting Jakarta's "Special Autonomy" policy as a failure. He said in part: "after eight years the government has
completely failed to properly implement the law (Special
Autonomy Law No. 21/2001) and address the issues of concern
to Papua's indigenous people. In fact, they have used (the
law) to tighten their grip on West Papua by misusing
'special autonomy' funds to increase the migrant population,
build up the military, and push a development model that is
based on appropriating land from indigenous West Papuans for
economic exploitation by the migrant community."
In his statement he accused the central government of
attempting to divide West Papua into up to four separate
provinces "to tighten their grip on West Papua's natural
resources."
Back issues of
West Papua
Report