Indonesia: The Deepening Impasse in Papua
Am 15. Juni, gegen 09:00 Uhr, war es auf dem Gelände des Militärkommandoposten Kodim 1705 zu einer Demonstration von Zivilsten gekommen. Sie protestierten gegen das brutale Vorgehen von fünf Militärangehörigen, die am 14. Mai den indigenen Papua Derek Adii getötet haben sollen.
Familienangehörige und Freunde des Ermordeten forderten bei dem Protest eine Aufklärung des Verbrechens und die strafrechtliche Verfolgung der Täter. Dabei kam es zu gewalttätigen Übergriffen zunächst von Seiten der...
Papua Road Map
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT
Papuan activist Melkianus Bleskadit has been imprisoned in West Papua province for his involvement in a peaceful protest and for raising an independence flag. His sentence highlights the continuing use of repressive legislation to criminalize peaceful political activities in the province. Amnesty International calls for his immediate and unconditional release. On 14 December 2010 a group of activists including students took part in a peaceful march in Manokwari, West Papua province, protesting...
West Papua Report - September 2011
This is the 89th 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...
Indonesia: Authorities refuse Prisoner medical care
URGENT ACTION AUTHORITIES REFUSE PRISONER MEDICAL CARE
Papuan political prisoner Kimanus Wenda is in urgent need of medical treatment. He has a tumour in his stomach, and needs to be transferred to a hospital to undergo an operation. Prison authorities have refused to pay for his transport and medical costs. Kimanus Wenda is being held at the Nabire prison in Papua province, Indonesia. He has a tumour in his stomach and is constantly vomiting. Prison doctors have confirmed that he needs an...
Kontras condemns police shooting of Freeport workers
Kontras (translated by TAPOL) Kontras, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence has condemned the shooting of Freeport workers who were seeking negotiations with the management of the company. Since the commencement of the strike on 15 September there has been no sign that the management is seeking to provide the space for dialogue which could accommodate the interests of the two sides.
During an action on 10 October, the workers protested against the company for recruiting...
CSW URGES INDONESIA TO RELEASE WEST PAPUAN POLITICAL PRISONER FILEP KARMA AND BEGIN DIALOGUE WITH PAPUAN REPRESENTATIVES
A CSW delegation returned from a three-week visit to Indonesia last week, which included three days in West Papua. CSW requested permission to visit Filep Karma in Abepura prison, but access was refused. Mr. Karma, 51, has been in jail since 2004, after he raised the West Papuan flag known as the 'Morning Star', a symbol of independence.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to sources close to Mr. Karma who spoke to CSW, he is in poor health due to lack of nutrition, and his...
Jayapura city district police and military arbitrarily torture and arrest Papuan civilians
CASE NARRATIVE:
According to information received from Persekutuan Gereja-Gereja Baptis Papua (The Fellowship of Baptist Churches of Papua), Koalisi Masyarakat Sipil Untuk Penegakan Hukum dan HAM di Papua (Civil Society Coalition to Uphold Law and Human Rights in Papua) and other activists, on 31 August 2011 at 5am, around 115 members of a joint team of Jayapura city district police (POLRESTA) and Cenderawasih military area command raided Papuan villagers in Horas Skyline village, Abepura...
UN wants to send Special Rapporteur to Indonesia for MIFEE
In the first place, to agree to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights to visit Indonesia in connection with MIFEE, the Merauke Integrated Energy and Food Project in West Papua.
In the second place to hold talks with CERD for this matter to be discussed at the forthcoming meeting of the Committee in Geneva from 13 February - 13 March 2012.
And thirdly, to to make available comprehensive information regarding all the matters contained in the afore-mentioned latter. This was made...
Aide-Mémoire, October 2011 Indonesia
Am 19. Oktober, gegen 14 Uhr, hatte der Kongress eine neue Papuaführung bestimmt und eine Erklärung zur Selbstbestimmung des Papuavolkes vorgelegt. Die indonesischen Sicherheitskräfte reagierten daraufhin mit repressiver Gewalt. Sie feuerten Warnschüsse ab, setzten Tränengas ein und schlugen mit Knüppeln auf Kongressteilnehmer ein. Augenzeugen berichten von hunderten von Schüssen, die bis gegen 18 Uhr angehalten haben sollen.
Die indonesischen Sicherheitskräfte drangen auf der Suche nach...
Police and army chiefs must be held responsible for attacks on Papuan Congress participants
The attack by members of the Indonesian Police/Polri and the Indonesian Army against partiipants at the Third Papuan People's Congress on 19 October was a gross violations of human rights because it was perpetrated against ordinary civilians who were unarmed and were not involved in any acts of resistance.
This is abundantly clear from video which I and the LP3BH-Manokwari have in our possession and which have been shown to government officials and members of the European Parliament as well...
Human Rights in Papua 2010/2011
Amnesty International - The Indonesian government must immediately act on the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission's (Komnas HAM) findings that human rights violations were committed by Indonesian security forces at the Third Papuan Peoples' Congress on 19 October 2011.
The Komnas HAM investigation team found a range of human rights violations allegedly committed by the Indonesian security forces, including opening fire on participants of the peaceful gathering and beating and kicking...
CSW CALLS FOR DIALOGUE ON PAPUA QUESTION
Migration from other parts of Indonesia has had a major impact on Papuan society, and experts fear that Papuans could become a marginalised minority in the near future. Key jobs and business opportunities appear to be taken by migrants, while Papuans face discrimination.
Pressure is growing in Papua itself for a solution, as Papuans increasingly feel frustrated with the current situation. Indonesia took control of West Papua from the Netherlands in 1962, without the consent of the Papuan...
Neles Tebay welcomes the readiness of the government to enter into dialogue with Papua
´We Papuan people should welcome the constructive communications being offered by the government, as the way to resolve all the crucial problems in Papua. Even though it is not entirely clear, the willingness to communicate with the Papuan people is a sign of good will and means that the government is very concerned about Papua.´
However, he said that the government must explain to the Papuan people what it means by constructive communications, and what form the government intends this to...
Thousands of West Papuans march for independence
ABC News - On 14. November, the people, many in traditional dresses or painted in the colours of the Morningstar-flag, walked the 13 kilometres from Abepura to Jayapura, where they met with local MPs and call for a referendum on self-determination. One of the participants said, that the people of West Papua want freedom: "Indonesia kills many people of West Papua. West Papua have been victims from their country."
The demonstration was largely peaceful, although there are reports that the police...
Amnesty International: 'Slap on the wrist' for police violence in Papua is accountability failure
Amnesty International, 23/11/2011 - The fact that eight Indonesian police officers involved in a violent crackdown on a peaceful gathering that left three dead have only been given written warnings, is a failure of human rights accountability, Amnesty International said today.
The warnings were given after an internal disciplinary hearing on 22 November found that the officers violated the police Disciplinary Code. On the afternoon of 19 October 2011, police and military units violently...
Der Bericht schildert die grausame Realität von Verletzungen ziviler und politischer Menschenrechte sowie wirtschaftlicher, sozialer und kultureller Rechte in Papua in den Jahren 2010 und 2011. Der Bericht soll auf die Menschenrechtssituation in Papua aufmerksam machen und helfen, in Papua ein "Land des Friedens" zu schaffen.
Konkret lenkt der Bericht die Aufmerksamkeit auf die schwierige Situation von nationalen und internationalen zivilgesellschaftlichen Gruppen und...
Strike at Freeport settled, even as mine's scars linger
The workers' union settled for a 40 percent wage increase over two years, as well as additional housing and other benefits. The workers will also receive wages lost during the strike in the guise of a one-time three month "signing bonus." Prior to the strike, which began on September 15, workers at Grasburg were the lowest paid at any Freeport facility. The company also has mines in the U.S., South America and the Congo. (A two-month strike at Freeport's Cerro Verde mine in Peru was suspended...
Papuan Church Leaders request dialogue during meeting with Indonesian President
The meeting was initiated by the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (Persekutuan Gereja-gereja di Indonesia) whose board members also took part in the meeting: Rev. Andreas Yewangoe (chairman), Rev. Gomar Gultom (secretary general) and Rev. Phil Erari (deputy chairman). The church leaders handed over a seven-page letter to President Yudhoyono, asking the Indonesian government to have a dialogue with the people of Papua.
They also asked Yudhoyono stopping the Matoa Operation in Paniai, Papua...
The Land of Papua: a continuing struggle for land and livelihoods
Recent events in Papua - the violence at the Freeport-Rio Tinto mine, the brutal clamp-down against freedom of expression in Abepura - show that Papuans continue to face extreme forms of exploitation and human rights violations.
Meanwhile the steady advance of large-scale investment projects continues to marginalise and impoverish Papuans, village by village. Gold, copper, gas, palm oil, and timber are prized more highly, it seems, by the business and political elites than are the communities...