The presumed appointment by President-elect Barack Obama of retired Admiral Dennis C. Blair as his new Director of National Intelligence is being greeted with cheers by the national media, who hail his experience, bureaucratic infighting skills and comparatively moderate views on national security issues.

The New York Times, in a recent profile, seemed much impressed by the fact that the 34-year Navy veteran once water skied behind an aircraft carrier, in addition to his stints with the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Institute for Defense Analysis (from which he resigned in 2006 over conflict of interest charges involving the F-22 raptor).

But human rights supporters are right to be worried that Dennis Blair will hardly lead the charge for reform in the nation’s intelligence community after the Bush Administration’s embrace of torture, rendition and other crimes. For in the period leading up to and following East Timor’s August 1999 referendum on independence from Indonesia Blair, from his perch as US Commander in Chief of the Pacific (CINCPAC) from February 1999 to May 2000, ran interference for the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) as they and their militia proxies committed crimes against humanity on an awesome scale.

Following the ouster of long-time dictator Suharto in 1998, Indonesian president B.J. Habibie signaled that Indonesia would be willing to allow East Timor an up or down referendum on independence following 24 years of brutal Indonesian occupation. The Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), hoping to sway the vote in Jakarta’s favor, launched a campaign of terror and intimidation led by the Army, Police and local militia proxies in which they killed hundreds of people displaced tens of thousands, most infamously on April 6, 1999, when militia forces massacred 57 Timorese in a church at Liquica on the outskirts of the capitol Dili.

As readers of the Nation will recall from the reporting of Alan Nairn, two days after the massacre the Pentagon dispatched Blair two days later to meet with Wiranto and demand that he disband the militias and allow a fair vote in East Timor. Instead, Blair offered assurances of continued US support for the TNI and invited Wiranto to Pacific Command Headquarters in Hawaii as his personal guest. According to top secret CIA intelligence summary issued after the massacre, however (and recently declassified by the author through a Freedom of Information Act request), “Indonesian military had colluded with pro-Jakarta militia forces in events preceding the attack and were present in some numbers at the time of the killings.”

A Top Secret Senior Executive Intelligence Brief from April 20, 1999 stated plainly that “to restore stability, the Indonesian security forces must stop supporting the militias and adopt a neutral posture.” A Top Secret CIA Intelligence Report dated May 10, 1999 reported that “local commanders would have required at least tacit approval from headquarters in Jakarta to allow the militias the blatant free hand they have enjoyed.” Blair’s performance, which prompted a rebuke by the State Department, was part of a fierce bureaucratic struggle between the Pentagon and State Department and Embassy officers seeking to reign in the TNI’s terror.

Immediately after the August 30, 1999 referendum, in which nearly 80% of Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia, TNI forces and their militia proxies launched a murderous scorched earth campaign, killing nearly 1,500 Timorese, forcing a third of the population from their homes and destroying most of the territory’s infrastructure. Following a global outcry and enormous pressure from Congress and grassroots activists, President Clinton finally severed military ties on September 8, with Dennis Blair personally conveying news of the cutoff to General Wiranto.

By this point the TNI’s – and by extension Wironto’s – control of the terror operations in East Timor was being widely acknowledged internally by both State Department and CIA sources. On September 10 the US Embassy in Canberra, Australia dispatched a secret telegram to Washington reporting in the subject line that that the TNI was “controlling and assisting militia” in East Timor. Yet in Pentagon news briefing two weeks later Blair continued publicly to push the ‘bad apple’ line – characterizing the TNI’s deliberate destruction of East Timor and murder of hundreds of people as “a bad breakdown of order with some elements of TNI contributing to it and not helping it.”

He went on to insist that US training of the Indonesian Armed Forces had paid dividends, with “many of those officers who did have training and education in the United States … are leading a very strong reform movement within TNI.” As Dana Priest of the /Washington Post/ later reported, however, fully one third of the Indonesian officers indicted by Indonesia’s national human rights commission for “crimes against humanity” committed in East Timor in 1999 were US trained. Wiranto, also indicted, is now considering a run at the Indonesian presidency in 2009. The clear links between US training and TNI terror clearly did not trouble Blair, who spent much of his remaining time as CINCPAC fighting to restore the military ties to his allies in Jakarta that grassroots activists and their Congressional allies had worked since 1992 to sever, finally winning their resumption in 2002.

Blair’s apologetics for murder and torture by the Indonesian armed forces in East Timor, and his opposition to trials, international or otherwise, for the high level perpetrators of mass violence, offers a sobering indication of the positions he is likely to take as Director of National Intelligence. President-elect Obama’s choice suggests that he will resist – as Blair almost certainly will – demands for the prosecution of high-ranking Bush Administration officials, much less lower level employees in the Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency, for torture, rendition and other crimes carried out in the name of the so-called War on Terror.

Bradley Simpson is assistant professor of history and international affairs at Princeton University and a research fellow at the National Security Archive in Washington, DC, where he directs the Indonesia and East Timor Documentation Project. He is the author of Economists With Guns: Authoritarian Development and U.S.-Indonesian Relations, 1960-1968.

        

The military wing of the Free Papua Movement, or OPM, has control over some remote parts of Papua. The international media and many NGOs are banned from Papua, but that did not stop young film-maker Dominic Brown from visiting and capturing rare video images of some OPM military camps.

Presenter: Jeff Waters
Speaker: Dominic Brown, film-maker; Professor Peter King, Convener, West Papua Project, Peace and Conflict Centre, Sydney University

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Source: radioaustralia.net.au

        

Some say, all these factors amount to a “slow-motion genocide” of local West Papuans. But is this being too dramatic?

Presenter: Sen Lam
Speakers: Jim Elmslie, co-convenor, Papua Project, University of Sydney; Stuart Upton, University of New South Wales.

LAM: Jim, if I may start with you. You have written what’s happened in Papua is a “slow motion genocide.” Is that too emotional term, do you think?

ELMSLIE: Well, I have quoted somebody saying that. And the reason I have, is that many Papuan people believe that they are suffering genocide under the control of the Indonesian Government since its takeover in 1963. So the purpose of my research is to try and see how much validity or otherwise, is in that claim. And one of the factors that gives a foundation to this belief is the massive democratic changes that have occurred in Papua since the Indonesian takeover. For instance, in 1971, there was 96 per cent of the population was Melanesian, and four per cent were outsiders. While from the recent census and other figures, the migrant population is now between 32 per cent by some terms and others who believe it is now in the majority. So you have had this massive change. You have also many serious human rights violations, the impunity of the police, persistent rumours of police involvement in prostitution, which leads to the spread of Aids, et cetera. All of which give rise to the feeling on the part of many Papuans, that they are suffering a “genocide” which I believe should be taken seriously and examined.

LAM: Well, the Papuans may have been swamped by newcomers, by outsiders, but does that necessary translate into a systemic genocide, if you like by the centre in Jakarta?

ELMSLIE: No, it doesn’t, it doesn’t, but it deserves investigation. By definition, a genocide is when there are mass killings and targetted killings of a particular racial or ethnic group, with the intention of the government or authorities, that is not just a random event. The situation is disastrous in Papua, but we don’t know if it’s genocide. What I am saying is the calls, the claims that it is genocide are quite valid, for people to make those claims and it then becomes incumbent on other people to try and determine whether these claims are true or not.

LAM: Stuart Upton, from the University of New South Wales. You’ve heard what Jim Elmslie has to say. What’s your reply?

UPTON: Yeah, I think that Jim makes some good points. There has been a massive democratic shift in Papua in the last 30 or 40 years, but I think you can also see that happening in other areas of eastern Indonesia. If you look at East Kalimantan, for example, that’s got a large number of migrants come in there and I think what is missing is a systemic aim of moving all these migrants.

Of course during the 1980s and 1990s, the trans migration programme itself was quite influential in moving people to Papua, but that stopped in 2000 .. and … actually for most of the migrants that have come to Papua, most of them, may be two thirds or something like that or economic migrants. They come from eastern Indonesia, also from Java, but mostly people, economic migrants moving to areas of eastern Indonesia as other areas of Indonesia, eastern Indonesia as they do. The same going to Papua. I cannot see that that makes a genocide. Otherwise we would call all these genocides in other areas of eastern Indonesia genocide as well.

LAM: But one might argue though, that the Melanesian culture is very distinct from the rest of Indonesia, and certainly from Javanese culture?

UPTON: Certainly from Javanese culture, but there are other areas of eastern Indonesia where there are Melanesian people living in certain areas of Timor, for example, other areas around there. It’s often put as an issue of religion, but if we look at the migrants who are going to this area, well, a third of them are also Christians as well as the Papuans, so I don’t see that as a big issue either.

LAM: Well, before we continue this discussion, let’s remind our listeners at this point that West Papua was forcibly incorporated into the Republic of Indonesia in 1963 through military aggression and some diplomatic manoeuvring. Stuart Upton, do you deny the ‘Tibetisation’, if you like, of Papua, that locals are being swamped by newcomers, comparable to what’s happening in Tibet – the migration of Han Chinese into Tibet?

UPTON: Absolutely, I think there’s definitely a marginalisation of people in this area. I mean if we look at the cities in this area, they are almost mostly controlled and the demographic shows that the cities in the urban areas are mostly migrants who are living there and if you look at employment, that sort of thing, indigenous people are really concentrated still in agriculture. And non-indigenous people are controlling almost all of the employment, something like 16 times more likely to be involved in trade, seven times more in manufacturing. So what we have got is a sort of divided province where the urban areas are really dominated by migrants, and rural areas are still the indigenous people living there. And that obviously creates a lot of frustration for indigenous people. They are not able to improve their lives and give better education to their children and so on, and so in that way, it’s a desperate situation for these people.

LAM: On Radio Australia and the world radio network, this is Connect Asia this morning looking at the troubled Indonesian Province of Papua, and whether there is a so-called “slow genocide” of the local Papuan population and our guests are Jim Elmslie, who argues yes and Stuart Upton who says there is no genocidal master plan.

ANNOUNCER : On Radio Australia, this is Connect Asia with Sen Lam.

LAM: Jim Elmslie, internal migration to Papua, both state sponsored and private, means that in about 15 years you say, West Papuans will be a minority in their own land. What will that mean in real terms, do you think?

ELMSLIE: Well, the provincial government statistics indicate that overall that they are already a minority, in the sense that more than 50 per cent of the population is now non-Melanesian. As Stuart pointed out, there is a big divide between the populations in urban areas and rural areas, so the urban areas are now overwhelmingly 70 percent-plus migrant population and in the rural areas, they are overwhelmingly Melanesian. Now this puts into place a sort of Guatemala-type situation, where there seems to be ongoing military operations against separatists or separatist supporters – people trying to break West Papua away from Indonesia – which sort of has become institutionalised and a structural part of the way the province runs. Besides the terror that this inflicts on the village people, it also does no good at all for Indonesia, because the great problem with Indonesia for the last quarter or prior to releasing East Timor was that dragged Indonesia down as a very important Muslim country in the world. Now, if you are getting this entrenched military system going on in West Papua as it is now, which inevitably creates human rights abuses and suffering and environmental catastrophe, which is associated with illegal logging, it has the potential to really harm Indonesia itself, so the problem does go back very much to Indonesia, to try and address the situation directly and resolve it and particularly to hear and sit down seriously with the Papuan leaders, to try to mitigate or resolve these massive problems they face.

LAM: But where the people movement is concerned, what sort of data do we have to work with?

ELMSLIE: Well, the most in depth data comes from the 2000 Indonesian census which identified ethnic groups or where people came from. And it was interrupted, because in 2000, there was a so-called “Papuan Spring” occurring which was in the aftermath of the Suharto regime collapse, where there was a huge movement for independence in West Papua and there were some areas that obviously the census was not conducted in properly. Those figures are also disputed by many Papuans who tend not to believe anything coming from the Indonesian Government and the Papuan Provincial Administration uses its own figures which indicate a much higher percentage of the migrant population. But I’d say all figures from remote areas must be taken with a certain grain of salt, just because the country has some very remote areas that are hard to properly gauge.

LAM: Well, figures are often difficult to grasp. But Stuart Upton, Papuans of course suffer the poorest health standards of Indonesian citizens. Is there some deliberate neglect there do you think, if not under the present government, certainly under the New Order regime of Suharto, who had the backing of the military in the 1980s and 90s?

UPTON: I think it is very hard to tell exactly. I mean I think the health services in the remote areas are very poor, but in a lot of these areas there is very little government control of these areas, government presence at all in a lot of these areas is very slight. I mean, the missions control a lot of the flights, for example, around in the Highland areas and a lot of the education in these areas is run by mission activity. And outside some of the areas where there are military presence, there are very limited government services whatsoever. I am not sure that I see that as a deliberate policy. I think that corruption plays a large role in that. If you look at schooling, for example, a lot of the teachers who are supposed to be teaching in these Highland schools are actually sitting in Jayapura, while still getting paid for their work and I think that’s one of the issues that goes along with … I think there is a bit more.

LAM: But surely the fact that the Indonesian military, the TNI, seize ownership of the region’s natural resources, that in itself is not a healthy thing?

UPTON: No, absolutely. And I think the military have a lot to answer for in terms of how these situations … I think that local military activity has been very important in terms of creating local problems. Military activity has done is the relationship with the indigenous people, there has been obviously there has been human rights abuses by the military, people in different situations and this sort of thing has prevented any trust by indigenous people in the government. Well, I see it as a more local issue between particular interest groups in the military and .. rather than a deliberate overall plan.

LAM: Jim Elmslie, some may argue that forced cultural change might be offensive to the locals, than politics. I take, for instance, the Iban and the Kadazans in East Malaysia. Now they seem, to have peacefully accepted federal rule from Kuala Lumpur. Why not the Papuans, why do you think Jakarta has difficulty winning the trust of the Papuans?

ELMSLIE: I think, this is obviously a huge question and it’s perhaps too simplistic to say that independence is at the bottom of it all. But the response I have got from many people is that the Indonesian Government and military have always treated the Papuans as an enemy, as not to be trusted, because of the historical fact that the rest of Indonesia became independent in 1949, there is a 12 year lag before Indonesia managed to gain control over West Papua and the West Papuans were clearly preparing themselves and wanting independence. And so, the relationship if you like, between modern Indonesia and modern Papua started as a military operation and to some extent it has continued as such and the mentality from what I can gather within the military and within the high echelons of the Indonesian government is still to view Papua as a threat and Papuans as potentially, enemies and traders who want to leave. So that is a very negative way to have a foundation of the relationship.

LAM: Stuart Upton, if I may give you the final word, just very briefly. What do you think needs to be done for there to be a peaceful solution?

UPTON: I think the military is part of the problem and I think the more we can give take away reasons for the military to be there, I think that is a very important thing. And the land and peace issue has been an important issue in terms of not providing any reason for a rational for the military to be there. I think there need to be a programme to be set up in terms of providing some sort of way forward for Papuans to turn education and employment, so they have a future in this sense and being able to live in the Papuan urban areas of Papua.

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Source: radioaustralia.net.au

        

Posted in memory of Arnold Ap and Eddie Mofu, who were killed this day twenty years ago; and in memory of Sam Kapissa and Chief Yafet Yelamaken, two great songmen who both recently died in mysterious circumstances; and in tribute to the spirit of a new generation of poets and musicians in the Land of the Morning Star.

Singing for Life

Twenty years after the killing of Arnold Ap, music is still a potent source of cultural resistance in West Papua Just before he was murdered by Kopassus Indonesias notorious special forces — renowned West Papuan musician and anthropologist, Arnold Ap wrote his last song. Ap, leader of the cultural music group Mambesak was living on borrowed time. He knew that the military wanted to kill him. Sitting beside an old portable tape recorder in his prison cell, guitar in hand, Ap lovingly recorded. The Mystery of Life. Then he wrapped the cassette up, stuffed it into an envelope with words of consolation and sent it to his wife, who had fled to a refugee camp in Papua New Guinea. The only thing I desire and am waiting for, Ap sung in the closing words of the song, is nothing else but freedom. Like his music and life, the words came from the heart, and gave voice to a desire that was at once personal and political, particular to his situation, but shared by all West Papuans.

Together with fellow musician Eddie Mofu, Arnold Ap was languishing in jail suspected by the Indonesian military of having sympathy with the West Papuan resistance movement, the OPM. West Papua had been occupied by the Indonesian military since the early sixties, and the movement for self-determination had taken root deep in the hearts of West Papuans. In a place where contested identities have become a site of struggle; music, song and dance became weapons. Mofu and Ap’s real crime was singing and dancing the traditional songs of his people, promoting pride in Papuan culture.

Each song is infused with this pride in being Papua. To see it you almost need to get inside the song itself. And to do that is to begin to understand something of West Papua. Through song, culture was uplifted, and people’s lives dignified. Lyrics and tunes celebrate the mystery and natural beauty of Papua, retell traditional legends, impart knowledge and wisdom, lament, laugh, rage, speak about the ordinariness of daily life, and the struggles and joys of relationships. They function as the glue that invokes soul, animates spirit, and reinforces identity through the
medium of oral traditions.

One Mambesak song, Awin Sup Ine sung in the Biak language is translated as follows: At twilight, the rays of the sun paint beautiful skyscapes, stirring the eye and heart. At these times, the lyrics continue, one cannot help but recall sweet moments from the past and feel again the bonds of love that bind one to the land.

Other songs sound clear warning bells, and evoke strong emotions. Muman Minggil is sung in the Auyi language from Arso, a region concentrated with security forces and ravaged by logging and oil palm plantations.

A catchy tune and a fast rhythm, but a sobering message: Times are changing rapidly, and the signs of the heritage left to us by our ancestors are disappearing from view; Remaining only are the ruins of our settlement, the villages no longer maintained, abandoned like orphaned children.

Many songs also have sophisticated double meanings. One such song, Nit Pughuluok En, crafted by Dani songman and widely respected elder, Chief Yafet Yelamaken, tells of the departure of a friend.

Who knows when you will be coming back, the song goes. My only hope is to pray that we shall meet again. Travel safely. However, the friend, Chief Yelamaken’s daughter explains to me, can also be read as the Indonesian government, who ultimately will leave West Papua. Tragically Chief Yelamaken died in a spate of fatal poisonings that felled many West Papuan cultural and civil society leaders. Although it has never been proven, many West Papuans feel certain it was a political assassination organised by the Indonesian military.

Nanen Babe from Sarmi on the north coast of Papua also has layers of meaning: The Morning Star appears in the east and will soon be followed by the sun. The beauty of the sky brings back memories of home. The last star in the inky darkness before the dawn, the light that guides fisherman safely home: little wonder the Morning Star has became a symbol of freedom, a representation of independence, a longing to be at home in ones own land. The song also invokes the creation story of Kumeseri the Morning Star — in Biak language. Legend has it that Manarmakeri, a humble village man caught Kumeseri as the heavenly light descended to earth to drink palm wine. Manarmakeri struck a bargain with the star, receiving the gift of peace and renewal in return for letting Kumeseri go.

Refusing to keep the secrets for his tribe alone, Manarmakeri left West Papua on a journey to garner support to herald in a new age of freedom, peace, and justice. For Jakob Rumbiak, a West Papuan friend who endured ten years in Indonesia’s dungeons, once sharing a cell with Xanana Gusmao and now living in Melbourne, the story continues to have fresh meaning. Maybe Manarmakeri came to Australia? he asks.Maybe he wants you to join him to help free West Papua? And so the story continues. And so the power grows.

When Arnold Ap first began his work, however, many failed to understand his true purpose. “Maybe you think what I am doing is stupid, he once said, but it is what I think I should do for my people before I die”. Yet Arnold Ap knew something of the animating spirit of Papua that shaped and inspired his people. Mambesak=92s simple underlying truth was that we are Melanesians and this is our land; a powerful message now taken up by rising West Papuan music and cultural sensation, Black Paradise.

History and identity in West Papua
To understand the power of music in West Papua one needs to understand the struggle for identity and the way this has become entwined with the struggle for self-determination. When Indonesia became independent the Dutch retained control of West Papua, arguing that the territory had no political or cultural links with the rest of the archipelago. Indonesia was affronted. Nationalist president Sukarno felt that the struggle for liberation against the Dutch would not be completed until West Papua was returned to the fold of the motherland. A master strategist, Sukarno would do anything to win the territory from the Dutch. It was the cold war. Indonesia sought Russian aid to wrest West Papua from the Dutch control and a small-scale military invasion was launched to back up diplomatic efforts. The international community, fearful of Indonesia sliding into communism, felt West Papua was a price worth paying to secure the allegiance of a pro-Western Indonesia. The sham referendum — The Act of Free Choice — was organised in 1969 to give the barest semblance of legitimacy. 1,022 tribal elders, less than 1% of the population, were rounded up and cajoled to participate in the exercise. Then bribed or intimidated by acts of outright violence, they were forced to vote for integration with Indonesia. In reality there was no vote. An Indonesian general spoke. This was followed by a few rehearsed speeches welcoming Indonesia. Finally every single participant raised his hands in support, before the whole sorry stage-managed circus moved on to the next venue.

West Papuans, bristling with righteous indignation, call it the Act of No Choice. Tragically the fact that their fundamental democratic and human rights were violated, still appears to be of little concern to international elites. One British diplomat at the time summed up the betrayal of the international community with the words: cannot imagine the U.S, Japanese, Dutch, or Australian governments, putting at risk their economic and political relations with Indonesia over matter of principle involving a relatively small number of very primitive people.

In this context Mambesak celebrated being Papuan, an identity the Indonesian government had tried to erase. All words that referred to West Papua or West Papuans were banned. The name of the territory was changed from West Papua to Irian Jaya. Irian, a Biak word meaning hot land was co-opted by Indonesian nationalists as an acronym, Ikut Republik Indonesia Anti Nederland, meaning, Join the Republic of Indonesia against the Netherlands. Jaya translates as victorious, and was seen as a fitting description for Indonesia’s triumphant victory: wrestling the territory from the Dutch. Indonesian nationalists viewed the notion of self-determination for West Papuans, as a colonial fantasy of the Dutch, a cynical attempt to fan the embers of their dying empire. In Irian Jaya, the Indonesian government asserted, there can be no West Papuans, only loyal Irianese. The fact that Irianese was a fictitious and imposed identity did not escape West Papuans. In a few short years being Papuan went from something that was promoted by the Dutch to something that was criminalised by the Indonesian government.

Black Paradise
Twenty years have passed since Ap and Mofu=92s murder yet music and the legacy of Arnold Ap retains its potency in the troubled territory. I am in West Papua meeting some of the new generation of musicians to follow In the legacy of Mambesak. Ferry Marisan, works for Elsham — The Institute for the Study and Advocacy of Human Rights in West Papua — a widely respected human rights organisation. His job is to investigate and monitor human rights violations in his violence-ridden homeland. Mr. Marisan, also a graduate in anthropology from the University of Cendrawasih, is the leader of the West Papuan cultural music group, Black Paradise. When I first met him, Ferry was wearing a t-shirt with a picture of Arnold Ap sitting down with guitar in hand, singing, with the words Spirit of Mambesak emblazoned at the top of the shirt. Arnold Ap’s motto, says Ferry Marisan, was to sing for life. Yesterday, today and tomorrow. The people of West Papua, recounts Marisan, dearly loved Arnold Clemens Ap. He helped transform our consciousness from the tribal to the national.

Black Paradise is continuing what Mambesak began: nurturing cultures battered by militarism, undermined by Christianity, and exploited by commerce. Most of the group are also human rights activists who work for Elsham. The work of defending human rights cannot be separated from their music. Recently a few band members traveled to Timika, the frontier town located in the shadow of a gargantuan copper and gold mine. Freeport, the controversial military backed Mining Corporation that owns the mine, has caused massive environmental damage and created enormous social unrest. While in Timika, investigating human rights violations, they also collected songs. One such song, Akai Mbipae recounts the suffering of the indigenous Amungme as a result of the mine: A mother is weeping because people, especially Freeport, have destroyed the environment.

Black Paradise has a simple message. “We are here to show that West Papuan culture is still alive,” says Marisan. “We are a distinct and separate people. We want the Indonesian Government to stop the violence and let us be.”

Not all the music is overtly political, however. Aye Nanawe, one of the bands signature tunes, is a sexy, funny and upbeat hip-swinging number about one of songwriters most popular themes: unrequited love.

No matter what the music is about, though, it affirms the dignity and identity of the Papuan people. We the young generation of Papua have to care for our culture says Marisan. West Papuan culture could be dead within 10 years if the people do not find ways to protect, promote and revive their indigenous traditions. With the deterioration of the political situation, and increasing repression by the military and government, this need is becoming increasingly urgent.

Recently the band travelled to Australia for the Morning Star Concert for West Papua, a showcase of Australian talent organised by Melbourne musician David Bridie, which put the spotlight on what was happening a few short miles from Australian shores.

Start by telling them where West Papua is=94 the late Silas Rumboirusi, Elsham’s Accountant and Black Paradise vocalist, always said to me whenever I had the pleasure of introducing them. Although the band was often amazed by the welcome they received around Australia, they quickly noticed that most Australians didn’t even know where West Papua is. Rather than being downcast at the lack of awareness, however, the band felt that their performances had touched people, and hopefully inspired them to learn lore about West Papua. Notable human rights defender John Rumbiak says that the tour was a great opportunity for Australians to be really educated about what is going on in West Papua. He felt that just by Black Paradise coming here performing, and appearing in papers and radio, many more Australians have learnt about Papuans as a people; that they have a culture and the problems they are facing. Culture, says Rumbiak, is a good way of to communicate and inspire closer solidarity between neighbours. Australia is one of the countries that has benefited politically and economically from what is going on in West Papua. The struggle is not the struggle of Papuans alone, says Rumbiak. This is a struggle for everyone, no matter where they are in the world, who believes in respect for other human beings and their cultures, and for the beautiful planet upon which we all depend for life.

Having tasted success in Australia, Black Paradise is now formulating plans it wouldn’t have dreamed of just over a year ago when it first came together. A CD is has been recorded on Bridie’s label Blunt, which the band hopes to follow up with a video compact disc; a speaking and music tour around West Papua; starting up a recording studio; and opening a centre to preserve and promote indigenous culture throughout West Papua.

A Dangerous Job
It is nearly 20 years since Arnold Ap and Eddy Mofu’s bloated corpses were found washed up on a beach, their bodies showing signs of torture. But writing, uncovering, cultivating and promoting Papuan music and culture are still dangerous activities. Two years ago, ex-Mambesak member Sam Kapissa, cultural activist, respected elder, and mentor to Black Paradise, was found dead. Kapissa was another victim of the mysterious spate of poisonings.

Marisan has honoured Sam Kapissa and Arnold Ap by writing a moving tribute in his — and their– native Biak language. The song, entitled Mambruk ma Manyouri, tells the story of the two men, both of them from Biak Numfor, who are represented in the song as the Mambruk and Nuri bird. Arnold Clemens Ap and Sam Kapissa were two leaders who strove to unite the Papuan people, through their creations in song, dance and music. But the powers-that-be viewed their struggle as a political one that endangered the country, so in the end, they were killed says Ferry. It is stories like this that are often recounted to me as I travel throughout West Papua. And with each passing day, seduced by beauty and suffering, I find the land and people entering more deeply into my heart.

Although people in West Papua are still afraid to sell Mambesak recordings in the market for fear of recriminations by the Indonesian state, the music is everywhere. Scratchy songs are handed down from parents to children. In the cloud veiled jungles and mountains of West Papua several days walk outside of the nearest town, I witnessed weather beaten copies carried in on foot to remote villages and played on ancient cassette players. Villages where women sell sweet potatoes and garden produce just to afford the batteries to play the tapes on ancient cassette players.

And when Black Paradise gears up for one of there not to be missed cultural performances people stream in, eager to soak up the sounds and dance to the beats of their land.

In West Papua music is everywhere. In so many ways it represents the irrepressible desire for life. Every evening, as the sun goes down and the jungle erupts in a cacophony of insects backed up by a syncopating base line of frogs; and every morning, when the air is still, you hear the sound of music. Songs of struggle, haunting laments, musical delights in the natural beauty of the land of their ancestors, and sultry love songs puncture the tropical heat. Ukulele, guitar, snakeskin drums, and the distinct four-part soaring harmonies of the Melanesian Pacific work there way inwards, shaping identity, weaving stories, and strengthening the courage of a people determined to be free.

Soon the music of Black Paradise, recorded during their recent visit to Melbourne, will be circulating throughout West Papua and around the world. Their first CD is a powerful affirmation that in the Land of the Morning Star songs for life are stronger than ever.@

        

Stakeholders even pre-empt any Presidential initiative by  proposing that the issue be resolved through peaceful dialogue.

Leaders in the country are queuing in Jakarta with much anticipation.  They even dare to hope that SBY will actually deliver despite his  past failure. Members of the independence movement who are part of  the WPNCL however, proposed that any genuine and credible negotiation must be facilitated through international mediation.

Meanwhile violence and suppression of activism continued.  Individuals had been routinely picked up for interrogation because of  mere suspicion. The latest to be detained is Mr. Jonah Wenda an  activist of WPNCL who is also the Spokesperson for the Military  Council of the Independence movement. The Secretary General of WPNCL,  Mr. Rex Rumakiek viewed this as a serious challenge by Jakarta to the  peace efforts promoted by the Coalition. Mr. Jonah Wenda was  instrumental in making sure that the Military Council remains  committed to the peaceful efforts promoted by WPNCL and Stakeholders  of West Papua in general. It is a clear indication that Jakarta never  wanted peace in West Papua. The removal of the Red Cross from West  Papua recently gave the Military and its Militias a free hand to  commit more violence in the Territory. What is happening in West  Papua up until now is a very clear policy of Colonial occupation and  subjugation. WPNCL will do every thing to expose it in the free world  Mr. Rumakiek said.

Mr. Rex Rumakiek appeals to the Australian government, New Zealand  government and the other members of the Pacific Islands Forum to call  on Indonesia to stop the violence; stop the intimidation and  detention of human rights and peace activists. He also calls on  President Elect, Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to order a moratorium  on Military activity in West Papua and take immediate steps to  dialogue with West Papuan leaders to resolve this Decades long issue.

Mr. Rumakiek stated that development should not be held hostage  because of ultra pseudo nationalism. How could people who are already  traumatised for years participate in development when they live in  fear all the time?

He further calls on the President Elect to  conclude his first term in office and show his good will by releasing  Political Prisoners in West Papua.

Secretariat:  c/o: WPPRO, P.O. Box 1571, Port Vila, Republic of Vanuatu,
Phone: + 678 40808 or 60651.  +61 414247468, +678 439759026, E-mails:
rexruma@hotmail.com; awulkeweng@yahoo.com; morningstar@vanuatu.com.vu

        

Inside Indonesia presents the first of two different views on the question of demographic change in Indonesian Papua. For many years, critics – both inside and outside Papua – have accused the Indonesian government of pursuing genocidal policies in the territory, in part by swamping it with migrants from other parts of Indonesia. We invited two writers to present their analyses of the situation. In this piece, Jim Elmslie argues that the accusations of genocide deserve serious consideration. For a very different take on the issue, see the article by Stuart Upton.

What is happening in West Papua is a matter of profound disagreement. Nobody who deserves to be taken seriously can deny that many human rights abuses have occurred there since West Papua was forcibly incorporated into the Republic of Indonesia in 1962 by a mixture of military aggression and diplomatic manoeuvering. But the nature and extent of these abuses, the character of the Indonesian military occupation, and the implications of the influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants into the territory raise even more serious possibilities.

Demographic catastropheMany West Papuans, such as Reverend Sofyan Yoman, head of the Baptist Church in Papua and an outspoken critic
of the Indonesian government, believe that West Papuans are suffering genocide at the hands of the Indonesian state. Other observers, particularly the Indonesian government itself, dismiss this possibility out of hand.

Who is right?
Part of the answer lies in looking at the demographic transition of the population. This is more complicated than merely glancing at the latest Indonesian census figures (2000). The census figures give the ethnic
breakdown of the province (which then included both Papua and the new province of West Papua – I refer to them collectively as ‘West Papua’) as being 32 per cent non-Papuan migrants (708,425) and 68 per cent Papuan
(1,505,405) with a total population of 2,213,831 (the latest projected population for the province(s) is 2.65 million in 2005). However, many Papuans do not believe these figures. After decades of lies and abuse from the
Indonesian government, Jakarta has little credibility on the ground and many Papuans view any government statistics with scant regard, considering them to have been manipulated.

After decades of lies and abuse from the Indonesian government, Jakarta has little credibility on the ground and many Papuans view any government statistics with scant regard, considering them to have been manipulated

There is some evidence that West Papuans have good grounds for being doubtful of the 2000 census figures. There were only 1,697,984 responses to the census; a further 306,743 were ‘enumerated’ and there were 209,104
‘non-responses’ to make up the total population of 2,213,831. Thus, nearly a quarter of the census was derived from extrapolation. During the collection of the census data in 2000, West Papua was in a state of political upheaval. This was the period referred to as the ‘Papuan Spring’ following the downfall of President Suharto, when long repressed feelings of West Papuan nationalism surfaced spectacularly. Mass gatherings of West Papuans advocated and planned for independence under the more lenient presidency of Abdurrahman Wahid. In this situation collection of data was affected; some areas were considered unsafe to enter and many people viewed the exercise with skepticism or hostility and refused to participate. Nonetheess, most analysts take these figures at face value.

However, key Papuan observers ignore the Indonesian 2000 census figures. Leading intellectuals, such as Leo Laba Ladjar and Neles Tebay, perhaps Papua’s most respected contemporary social critics of Indonesian policy,
quote figures from the Papuan Provincial Administration showing that non-Papuans in 2002 numbered 1,145,965 out of a total population of 2,387,427 or 48 per cent. In these figures Papuans make up only 52 per cent of the population at 1,241,462. I have been unable to independently verify these alternate figures but refer to them here as well-informed West Papuan commentators, like Tebay, use them and therefore believe them to be accurate.

This in itself shows the level of distrust, and even disconnect, between the debate over demographics coming out of Jakarta and Jayapura. These are substantially different figures from the official Indonesian census, but add weight to claims that the West Papuans are being swamped – so much so that a ‘slow motion genocide’, in the words Clements Runawery, an early proponent of West Papuan independence, is underway.

Regardless of which set of population figures one believes, the same trends are evident. A demographic catastrophe is happening in West Papua and this is the basis for the genocide claim. In the 1971 census there were 887,000 indigenous Papuans (‘Irian born’) out of a total population of 923,000 – or 96 per cent. Migrants made up just four per cent of the population, yet only three decades later they comprised 48 per cent (or 32 per cent if we believe the census figures). Most of this increase is from inward migration from the rest of Indonesia.

Demographic swamping does not constitute genocide, but it does lay the foundations for it As this trend continues it is quite obvious that Papuans will be a shrinking minority in their own land; they are already a minority in urban areas. In fact the inward flow of migrants seems to be increasing as up to six large passenger ships now arrive each week in Jayapura, the province’s capital city, to deliver thousands more migrants. Demographic swamping does not constitute genocide, but it does lay the foundations for it.
Genocidal rule

Papuans claim that the way Indonesia has ruled over them since 1962 constitutes genocide. Using the 2000 Indonesian census figure for the Papuan population of some 1.5 million represents an annual population growth rate since the 1971 census (887,000) of about 1.83 per cent. This is actually higher than the Indonesian overall population growth rate of 1.18 per cent, but Papua New Guinea, a comparable Melanesian society on the
eastern half of the island, has an annual average population growth rate of 2.6 per cent per annum. If that rate had been experienced in West Papua the Papuan population would have been 1,867,226 in 2000. There are some
362,000 Papuans ‘missing’ from the Melanesian population if it had grown in step with its cousin next door in PNG. This is using the Indonesian government figures; if the Papuan Provincial Administration figures are used
there are even less Papuans and an even lower growth rate.

What has happened to cause this decline in fertility? There are many factors that may have influenced the fertility rate in West Papua, including widespread contraceptive programs, a poor general standard of health,
and the disruption caused by military operations and resource extraction industries.

In West Papua, as in other parts of Indonesia, the government (with the backing of the UN and other international agencies) has for decades implemented family planning programs that try to limit population
growth. In West Papua, however, these programs have been conducted with minimal explanation by authorities or understanding by recipients, and with little other health services provided.

In the Baliem Valley, the heavily populated region in the mountainous interior of the country, people have suffered for years from high rates of sexually transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhea and chlamydia, both of
which cause infertility if left untreated. Yet, even today, under the contraceptive program, these diseases are not treated, but sufferers are instead given long lasting contraceptive injections, such as Depo Provera or
Norplant. Together, these two factors dramatically lower fertility.

West Papuans suffer the poorest health standards of any Indonesian citizens and receive the lowest level of health care. In the highlands, with a population of over 400,000 people there is only one hospital with 70
beds. There are only 15 other health centres where a doctor is supposedly in attendance. Infant mortality rates, as reported by AusAid, are 98 per 100,000 in the highlands region (compared to the Indonesian average of
40 per 100,000), although other reports have put this figure as high as 250 per 100,000. The life expectancy of women is only 50.3 years compared to an Indonesian national average of 62.7 years. A relatively new looming
problem for the Papuans is HIV/AIDS. For example the combined HIV/AIDS rate in 2002 was 40 times higher than the Indonesian average. A recent AusAid study found that, on current projections, over seven per cent of West
Papuans will have the disease by 2025. The health and fertility challenges that West Papuans face are only growing worse.

Since the Indonesian takeover in 1962 West Papuans have also had to contend with ongoing military operations against ‘separatists’. Up until today Indonesian troops have conducted ‘sweeping operations’ in pursuit of
separatists, burning villages, destroying gardens and shooting pigs in the process. Troops have also shot, tortured and raped many villagers. A death toll of 100,000 is routinely quoted, although some commentators put
the figure much higher. Nobody knows for sure what the true figures are as the research has never been done.

Village populations are forced to live as refugees in their own land with little food and inadequate shelter in the cold mountains. Much traditional land has also been destroyed by widespread logging and mineral extraction operations, as well as loss of land appropriated by incoming migrants. This has made life for many Papuans much more difficult and led to higher mortality rates and a lower level of natural increase.

It is the obligation of the signatories of the UN Convention on Genocide to investigate claims of genocide – an obligation that signatories of the convention have yet to honour in the case of West Papua Does all this amount to genocide? The 1948 United Nations Convention on Genocide defines the crime of genocide as the ‘intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group’ by acts directed at that group which include: killings, causing serious mental or physical harm; deliberately
inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about destruction of a group, and imposing measures to prevent births. It is hard to argue that these acts have not occurred in West Papua. The defence offered by those who deny that genocide has occurred is that the above acts have not been intentional, that is, part of official Indonesian government policy. It is impossible to know if the above acts have come about through official government intention, or through poor government and maladministration, but the claims of West Papuans should be taken seriously until disproved. It is the obligation of the signatories of the UN Convention on Genocide to investigate claims of genocide – an obligation that signatories of the convention have yet to honour in the case of West Papua.

Future trends
Besides the difficulty in ascertaining population statistics that are widely agreed upon, and the impossibility of proving whether or not genocide has occurred in West Papua without further investigation, the demographic
figures do clearly point to more trouble ahead. The cities and urban areas of West Papua are now predominantly Asian communities peopled by recent migrants from other parts of Indonesia. The Indonesian census showed that
66 per cent of the urban population is non-Papuan; anecdotal and personal observation would confirm it as self-evident that West Papuan towns are now dominated by outsiders. But the situation is completely reversed in
the rural areas of the territory. This is where 86 per cent of the Melanesian Papuan population lives; they are the overwhelming majority throughout the mountainous highland regions and in the swamplands to the north and
south of the island’s central spine. It really is a tale of two countries; two very different countries.

In the urban environment West Papuans are already very much a minority. The reality is that the towns are Indonesian with a smattering of black faces. But out in the bush the West Papuans live in villages on their traditional lands, speak their own languages and still follow many of their ancient ways: it is Melanesia. To these West Papuans the Indonesians are an occupying force, and they dream of freedom in the form of independence. This dream has not diminished with time but actually seems to have strengthened. No meaningful opinion poll has ever been undertaken – how could it? – but any observer who has travelled through the region and talked with West Papuans cannot be left with any doubt of their wishes: independence is a sentiment that is universally and openly expressed, even if the achievement of that dream might seem almost impossible.

In the towns the Indonesian migrants focus on personal and family advancement. The Melanesians in the bush might live on another planet except for the souvenirs dangling from the awnings of the market stalls. For the Indonesian town-dwellers, proponents of independence are ‘separatists’ and viewed with the animosity befitting ‘traitors’. The military and police wage a continual program of suppression and surveillance, monitoring the
West Papuans with a vast network of spies and intelligence operatives. Periodic military operations in the interior keep the province in a constant state of military alertness, almost on a war footing: the enemy is the West Papuans.

This stark chasm between the Indonesian towns and the Melanesian bush provide a profound dilemma for Indonesia.

The schism between the two populations, indigenous and migrant, fuels conflict and military repression. The military remain unaccountable and largely autonomous from civilian control. Human rights abuses are common. As more troops are brought in and more command posts established, conflict only escalates. This process has a momentum of its own and has the potential to destroy Indonesia’s international standing. Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country and the largest Muslim nation. It is widely lauded as an emerging democracy which has made great gains in the rule of law and respect for human rights, but this is clearly not happening in West Papua. Just as East Timor blocked Indonesia’s emergence onto the world stage for 24 years, the growing crisis in West Papua may block Indonesia’s current transition and has the potential, like East Timor did, to dominate the international image of Indonesia.

It is impossible to prove that what is happening in West Papua is genocide without further investigation. To really know the answer, teams of investigators would need to comb through official records, interview ordinary people and search for evidence in the bush. None of that is going to happen while Indonesia remains in charge.

Certainly many West Papuans, people living under Indonesian control, feel and think that what is happening to them is genocide. It is an obligation for signatories of the UN genocide convention to investigate these claims, and Indonesia should allow this to happen. Without major changes to government policy over West Papua, Indonesia faces an open-ended military occupation that threatens to poison the country’s own development and
sabotage its international image at a crucial stage in Indonesian history.

Jim Elmslie (jelmslie@ozemail.com.au) is co-convenor of the West Papua Project at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney. His Ph.D. thesis, “Irian Jaya Under the Gun: Indonesian Economic Development versus West Papuan Nationalism” was published by the University of Hawaii Press.

Source: Inside Indonesia

        

“A dialogue between the central government and the people of Papua would be a peaceful and effective way to stop violence and bloodshed in Papua,” Neles Tebay of the Jayapura Archdiocese said on Saturday.

The calls came after repeated attacks targeting US-based gold mine operator PT Freeport Indonesia in Mimika regency. A group of gunmen opened fire on a company bus on Saturday morning, injuring two men. It was the latest incident since armed attacks on the mine claimed three lives in July.

“The shooting incidents near Freeport gold mine I think have been perpetrated by a group of people who do not know how to address their problems,” Neles said, adding that frustration would easily trigger people to acts of violence.

A group of Papuan leaders, led by West Papua legislative council speaker Jimmy Demianus Ijie, asked Vice President Jusuf Kalla to mediate a dialogue between Jakarta and Papua to solve long-standing problems facing Papuan people.

The Papuan figures deemed Kalla suited to the job, thanks to his key role in restoring peace in Maluku, Poso in Central Sulawesi and in Aceh.

Neles said such a dialogue had been sought ever since Papuan leaders concluded in a congress in 2000 the need for a meeting between central government officials and Papuan representatives to cope with wide-ranging problems facing the local people.

The government enacted a law on special autonomy for Papua in 2001, which many considered a breakthrough to silence demands for separation from Indonesia. Eight years on, however, the separatist movement is still active and poverty and illiteracy remain a cause for concern, despite the impressive Rp 30 trillion in special autonomy funds that has poured into the province.

Neles said Papuan people insisted on a direct dialogue with the central government as they deemed the provincial government to represent Jakarta.

“The governor does what the central government tells him,” he said.

Neles suggested that the separatist group OPM be invited to the dialogue in order to reach a true peace, similar to what happened in Aceh in 2005.

National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) member Yosep Stanley Adi Prasetyo said the rights body agreed to a plan to hold a national dialogue on Papua and would like to facilitate it.

“Various Papuan society groups have asked the Komnas to facilitate a dialogue,” he said, adding the commission had lobbied the vice presidential office to arrange the dialogue.

“But Jusuf Kalla will soon relinquish his post as the vice president and I heard the vice presidential office will be dissolved,” so he expressed pessimism on the prospects for dialogue.

Stanley said the Papuan leaders demanded a direct dialogue with the central government because they were disappointed with the regional administration.

“No one doubts the capability and experience of Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu. Yet, he has not initiated a legal reform as mandated by the Special Autonomy Law,” he said. (mrs)

Source: The Jakarta Post

        

Mr Wenda was detained in Sele District, Sorong Regency, in the western part of West Papua, on 6 September, and was formally arrested on 11 September on the grounds of being investigated for subversion (makar) at Papua Regional Police (POLDA) in Jayapura, Papua.

Mr Wenda is a spokesperson for the military wing of the West Papua liberation movement, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-PB, or Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat, formerly known as TPN/OPM).

However, despite working for peace, Mr Wenda is now being held pending being charged with undermining the Security of the State (subversion) .

Australian-based spokesperson for the WPPWG (West Papua Peace Working Group, formerly known as West Papua Peace Task Force), Ms Paula Makabory (footnote 1) , described the arrest of Mr Wenda as a serious set-back to finding a peaceful resolution to the continuing troubles in West Papua. She said: ‘Mr Wenda has been working for the past three years with the West Papua Peace Working group to bring about a cessation of hostilities between the forces of the Republic of Indonesian and the indigenous people of West Papua’.

Paula Makabory said: ‘To this end, the West Papua Peace Working Group and Jonah Wenda have facilitated the formation of unified West Papuan political and civil society umbrella organisation called the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation (WPNCL).

’The WPNCL, which includes representatives of the TPN-PB, has expressly sought to commence peaceful dialogue with the Indonesian President and the Republic of Indonesian over issues of the political control and administration of West Papua as a remedy to the impacts of Indonesian Government policies on the West Papuan people.”

”Jonah Wenda has been acting for past two years as ‘media spokesperson’ for the TPN-PB in West Papua. In this role he has meet with the TPN-PB military commanders throughout West Papua to gain support for peaceful negotiation with the Republic of Indonesia. Jonah Wenda plays an important part of the movement to unite West Papuan resistance groups and support them to pursue a strategy of non-violent political change. “he TPN-PB (or as the TPN/OPM) has been fighting a war of succession in West Papua since Indonesia took control of the territory in 1963.

West Papuan grievances include, disputing the way the territory was incorporated into the Republic of Indonesia during the 1960s, traditional land rights and resource rights and control; widespread killings, human rights violations and abuse by the security forces; unregulated migration; impacts of large scale resource

exploitation particularly mining, logging and plantation establishment; economic disadvantage through a development and civil policy that does not benefit indigenous land owners; environmental destruction; political repression, institutional racism and discrimination.

After East Timor achieved independence in 1999 and the conflict in Aceh was resolved through an international peace accord in 2005, West Papua remains Indonesia’s largest unresolved territorial dispute.

For further information, please contact:

Paula Makabory on +61(0)402547517;

Steve Waramory/Defense Lawyer on (+62) (0)85254831555;

Chris Warinussy/Defense Lawyer on (+62) (0) 81344694500

Photo available at http://ipahr. wordpress. com/2009/ 09/14/jonah- wenda/

INSTITUTE FOR PAPUAN ADVOCACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS (IPAHR)
PO Box 1805
Byron Bay, NSW 2481
Australia
Tel Matthew Jamieson +61 (0) 418291998

1/ Paula Makabory is a board member of Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights and is spokesperson for West Papua Peace Working Group and the Human Rights organisation Els-ham West Papua.

        

“We ask all state officials to speak in accordance with their position. Do not make confusing statements by accusing a certain group without clear reason in the terror acts that have happened in the PT Freeport area since July to September this year,” Komnas HAM spokesman Nur Cholis said here on Monday.

He said Komnas HAM at present was collecting data and evidence from various elements about what has been really happening since July 8, 2009 in the Freeport mining area.

According to him, the disclosure of the real perpetrators behind the terror at Freeport was fully the responsibility of the police based on the legal facts discovered at the scene.

“If all parties make any statement as they wish about the incident, it will obscure the real legal facts and hamper the police and Komnas HAM tasks to investigate into the matters,” Nur Cholis said.

Meanwhile, Amungme Tribal`s Traditional Consultative Assembly (Lemasa) Executive Director Nerius Katagame said

the accusation addressed to certain party as the terror actors at the Freeport area would uncertainly proven to be true.

Nerius said it was an impossibility that the repeated shooting incidents at the Freeport area in Timika were perpetrated by ordinary people who knew nothing about the use of sophisticated firearms.

Therefore, Amungme community figure Karel Beanal has asked the police to immediately uncover the mystery behind the incident so that the people of Mimika could breath a sigh of relieve.

“We ask Mimika Police chief to calm down the people of Mimika by immediately disclosing the real actors of the terror at Freeport whether they are of Keli Kwalik group or other,” Karel said at a meeting with Papua Police chief Insp Gen FX Bagus Ekodanto here recently.(*)

Source: Antara.com

        

The Committee’s spokesperson Maire Leadbeater says she’s deeply concerned the Indonesian authorities now say

the Red Cross has no mandate to re-open a branch office in the province.

Ms Leadbeater says in recent months there has been an alarming escalation in human rights violation in Papua, including killings and displacement of communities.

The Committee is also urging Mr McCully to prevail on the Indonesian government to ensure medical treatment is

given to one of Papua’s most high-profile political prisoners, Filep Karma, who was jailed for 15 years in 2004 for his involvement in a flag-raising event.

She says there are reports Mr Karma has been very ill but medical treatment to him has been delayed.

Source: rnzi.com