|
|
The West Papua Report
March 2006
The following is the 25th in a series of regular reports
prepared by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights (CHR)-West
Papua Advocacy Team providing updates on developments in West Papua.
The CHR has monitored and reported on the human rights situation in
West Papua since 1993 when Indonesian lawyer Bambang Widjojanto
received the annual RFK Human Rights Award.
March Overview:
Violence in Jayapura, including police reprisals against Papuan
students, a diplomatic row over Australia's decision to accept
Papuan refugee claims of genocide under Indonesian rule, and
Jakarta's violation of special autonomy rules with the holding of
elections in the pseudo-province of "West Irian Jaya" gravely
destabilized West Papua in March. US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega
publicly appealed to the conscience of the Indonesian people,
underscoring concern about abuse of human rights and denial of
self-determination there. A new US Congressional research agency
report faults the Act of Free Choice, is critical of the UN for
failing in its mission to afford Papuans a genuine act of
self-determination, and notes that some see the consequences in West
Papua as the opening of a chapter of "Asiatic colonial policy." US
mining firm Freeport has been severely criticized by an Indonesian
government environmental team that uncovered extensive
Freeport-caused pollution. Meanwhile, a mine accident killed three
workers and injured 31. Demonstrators gathered at the Indonesian
Embassy in Washington, DC to protest incarceration of prisoners of
conscience and to call for the demilitarization of West Papua.
Contents
• Police Attacking Demonstrators Suffer Five Dead; They Respond with
Brutal Reprisals
• Australia Grants Asylum to Papuans Fleeing "Genocide"
• US Congressman Issues Appeal to Conscience by Addressing
Indonesian People
• Congressional Research Service Speaks Candidly Regarding "Act of
Free Choice" & "Asiatic Colonial Policy"
• Indonesian Government Presses Ahead with Elections in
Pseudo-Province of “West Irian Jaya”
• Indonesian Government Finds Freeport in Violation of Contract But
Equivocates on Penalties
• Amnesty International Organizes Demonstration at Indonesian
Embassy in Washington, DC
Police Attacking Demonstrators Suffer Five Dead; They
Respond with Brutal Reprisals
On 16 March, Indonesian police ("BRIMOB") attacked a student
demonstration protesting the practices of US mining firm
Freeport-McMoRan and calling for the demilitarization of West Papua.
Media accounts and one Australian eye witness claimed that students
blocking the highway near Cenderawasih University had negotiated
with police to open one lane to traffic but that the police had
attacked anyway. The melee left four police, one Air Force
intelligence officer, and one demonstrator dead. Final casualty
figures for students were unknown as many of the wounded were taken
into custody and held incommunicado. The police responded to the
incident with reprisal attacks against students and others, wounding
a number of uninvolved Papuans, including a 10-year-old girl. Police
units rampaged through Cenderawasih University destroying property
and intimidating faculty and students. Many students have reportedly
gone into hiding and at least three have sought political asylum in
Papua New Guinea. Media reports indicate that the Australian
government has strengthened naval patrols off the Queensland coast
to preclude the flight of Papuans seeking asylum in Australia.
Human Rights Watch called on the National Human Rights Commission
(Komnas Ham) to investigate the March 16th incident and reiterated
its call for an end to restrictions on access to West Papua by
journalists, researchers, and others. The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial
Center for Human Rights, in a letter to US Secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice on 27 March, called on the US government to press
the Indonesian government to end the police "rampage of reprisals."
(The letter is available at
http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/1993_2006lettertorice/).
Australia Grants Asylum to Papuans Fleeing "Genocide"
The Australian government has granted three-year "protection visas"
to 42 of 43 Papuans who fled to Australia in search of asylum in
January. A decision on the 43rd would-be asylee is pending. The
decision came in the face of repeated senior-level Indonesian
government warnings that a decision to accept the Papuan claims of
genocide would damage relations. In the wake of the decision, the
Indonesian government withdrew its Ambassador from Canberra and
postponed formalizing of an Australian-Indonesian agreement on
fighting bird flu. Demonstrators assaulted the Australian embassy in
Jakarta. Australia media accounts reported that Australian officials
had found the Papuan claims of torture in Indonesian custody to be
"consistent and genuine."
In February, 10 US Members of Congress wrote to Australian Prime
Minister Howard to note the deteriorating human rights environment
in West Papua and to appeal to the Australians to extend full
consideration to the Papuans' appeals. (See February 2006 West Papua
Report for text of letter and additional reporting on the refugees.)
US Congressman Issues Appeal to Conscience by Addressing
Indonesian People
Congressman Eni Faleomavaega (Democrat - American Samoa) issued an
appeal to the conscience of the Indonesian people regarding the
suffering of Papuans. The Congressman described the deteriorating
human rights environment in West Papua, the failure to fulfill the
central government’s Special Autonomy promises, and the dispatch of
increasing numbers of troops to West Papua where, in 2004, thousands
of people were displaced by TNI operations. He appealed for an end
to discrimination against Papuans and urged that they be allowed to
determine for themselves their own political destiny.
Congressional Research Service Speaks Candidly Regarding
"Act of Free Choice" & "Asiatic Colonial Policy"
A report produced by the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) on
19 January speaks candidly of the unrepresentative nature of the
so-called "Act of Free Choice" through which the people of West
Papua were brought under Indonesian government control absent their
consent. The report, prepared in response to a request from
unidentified members of the US Congress, also describes the
annexation of West Papua by Indonesia as seen "by some" to be an era
in which "western colonial policy was coming to an end . . . [and] a
new chapter of Asiatic colonial policy was opening." The portion of
the report dealing with the "Act of Free Choice" follows:
"The Act of Free Choice is generally not considered to have been
representative of the will of all Papuans. A broad-based referendum
on Indonesian control over West Papua was not held. Instead, a group
of 1,025 local officials voted in favor of merger with Indonesia.
The UN is generally considered to have failed in its mission to give
the people of Papua an opportunity for self-determination. To some,
while western colonial policy was coming to an end - a new chapter
of Asiatic colonial policy was opening."
Indonesian Government Presses Ahead with Elections in
Pseudo-Province of “West Irian Jaya”
In direct violation of the "Special Autonomy" law for West Papua,
the Indonesian government conducted gubernatorial elections in the
widely disputed new "West Irian Jaya" province on 10 March.
According to the Special Autonomy law, the Papuan Peoples Assembly (MRP)
is required to approve candidates. The MRP, along with the West
Papua provincial assembly (DPRD) and many civil society
organizations, vehemently objected to the elections. Results of the
elections are in dispute and announcement of the outcome has been
delayed until 3 April. In simultaneous (legal) gubernatorial
elections in West Papua, former West Papuan Governor and diplomat
Barnebus Suebu holds a narrow lead over his nearest challenger Lukas
Enembe.
Indonesian Government Finds Freeport in Violation of
Contract But Equivocates on Penalties
A 24-member team from the government's Department of the
Environment, in the wake of a two-week field evaluation, concluded
that Freeport McMoRan was in violation of its contract of work. The
team cited extensive environmental contamination including a failure
to adequately manage acid drainage from the mine. Tailings being
dumped into the Ajkwa River system exceed by 400 to 600 percent the
amount of particulate matter allowed. Rather than take the firm to
court, however, the Department of Environment said it would give
Freeport time to make improvements.
In a development that also drew criticism, the local police have
deferred to Freeport officials to investigate themselves in the case
of a landslide on 23 March at the mine site that killed three
workers and injured 31. Critics complained that Freeport should not
be in a position to assess the extent of its own liability in the
incident.
Amnesty International Organizes Demonstration at
Indonesian Embassy in Washington, DC
Amnesty International (AI) organized a demonstration on 16 March at
the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, DC to protest the continued
incarceration of two Papuan prisoners of conscience in Indonesia,
Filip Karma and Yusak Pakage. Several score protesters, including
representatives of the East Timor and Indonesia
Action
Network and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Human Rights Center,
joined in a noisy but peaceful demonstration that also called for an
end to military repression in West Papua.
Back issues of
West Papua
Report
|
