The Lombok Treaty came into force on Thursday 7th January at a ceremony in Perth which was attended by the foreign ministers of Australia and Indonesia. We should be still concerned about the ties with the Indonesian military that this Treaty commits us too.
The Lombok Treaty came into force on Thursday 7th January at a ceremony in Perth which was attended by the foreign ministers of Australia and Indonesia. We should be still concerned about the ties with the Indonesian military that this Treaty commits us too. Hopefully the recommendation by the treaties committee that there be “an increase in transparency in defence cooperation agreements to provide assurance that Australian resources do not directly or indirectly support human rights abuses in Indonesia” will be put into practice.
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More provinces proposed
The proposal to split West Papua into more provinces is part of Jakarta's continuing divide-and-rule approach to West Papua. It only proves to the West Papuan people that Jakarta is not interested in listening to their aspirations. All the divisions of West Papua have contradicted Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for West Papua. It proves to the West Papuan people that the Indonesian Government was never really committed to Special Autonomy, and it is one of the reasons that Special Autonomy has been rejected by the West Papuan people". More provinces mean more military and more police in an already over militarized West Papua. It also means more bureaucrats and more migrants. The only people who will not benefit from these proposed provinces are the West Papuan people. Its time Jakarta dialogued with the West Papuan leadership to sort out the many issues of concern in the territory.
Background to divisions
Although the West Papuan people call the whole of the Western half of the island of New Guinea," West Papua", at the present time West Papua is divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua. In 2003 President Megawati issued a law to divide West Papua into three separate provinces. West Irian Jaya, Central Irian Jaya and Papua. In 2004, the Indonesian Constitutional Court overturned the controversial law that would have divided Papua into three provinces, but ruled that one of the new provinces (West Irian Jaya ) would remain intact. In 2007 West Irian Jaya had a name change to West Papua.
With the four new proposed provinces (which would exclude the province of Papua), there would be a total number of five provinces in the western half of the Island of New Guinea, Papua, West Papua, Southwest Papua, Central Papua, and South Papua.
However, at this stage President Yudhoyono has postponed (not cancelled) the formation of the new provinces.
The Former Indonesian President, Suharto died on the 27 January. He was responsible for the deaths of over a half a million Indonesians in 1965, 200,000 in East Timor during Indonesia's illegal occupation of it, and up to a 100,000 in West Papua since Indonesian took over control of that territory in 1963.
Contents
1) PNG government vows to look after Papua refugees
2) RI, China to conduct joint military training
3) Freeport pays Indonesia 1.8 billion dlrs in 2007
4) Villager shot dead by military patrol
5) Call for consultation over Jakarta’s plan to further split Papua
6) New Solution Needed for Papua
7) Activist denounces Papua Governor over Morning Star ban
8) Morning Star flag ban stands, says Papua Governor
9) Shackling Papuan Intellectuals
10) Deputy Governor on the Extremely Backward Situation in Papua
11) Papua condom week fights AIDS
1) PNG government vows to look after Papua refugees
ABC Radio Australia 11/1/08
Papua New Guinea says it will not deport a group of refugees from the Indonesian province of Papua, but will look after them. Our reporter in Port Moresby, Firmin Nanol, reports that PNG's Acting Prime Minister says the government has found land in the capital and will help them resettle. Dr Puka Temu says they were given permissive residency status and they could not claim asylum in a third country. The more than 100 refugees, including women and children, have been living at PNG's Boroko police station-following the death of a PNG court magistrate - who was allegedly killed by two of the refugees last October. The PNG government has urged them to move out of the police station.
2) RI, China to conduct joint military training
Jakarta Post 16/1/08JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and China have agreed to work together on military training and military vehicle production, a move in line with the two countries' 2007 agreement on defense cooperations. After welcoming Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan on Wednesday, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono told reporters both countries would conduct joint military training and exercises for their defense forces. "We will also create a strategic partnership in joint financing and defense industry, which will concentrate on producing military vehicles, aircraft and vessel carriers," said Juwono, who visited Beijing last November to sign the Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral defense cooperations. He said the finance and national development ministers of both countries would discuss the amount of investment needed for the defense industry, in which state-owned aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia and state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL would beinvolved.
Minister Cao is scheduled to leave the country on Sunday after a five-day visit. (lln)
3) Freeport pays Indonesia 1.8 billion dlrs in 2007
3/2/08
JAKARTA (AFP) — The local Indonesian unit of US mining giant Freeport said Monday that it paid the government here 1.8 billion dollars in 2007 amid soaring commodity prices and solid production. Freeport said that besides the amount paid for corporate income tax, employee income tax, regional taxes and levies, it also paid 216 million in dividends and 164 million dollars in royalties to the government.
The annual amount was 12.5 percent up on the 1.6 billion dollars the company, which is believed to be Indonesia's most significant taxpayer, paid in 2006, it said in a statement. The payment amount fluctuates due to changes in commodity prices, sales and metal production levels. Freeport said it had paid a total of 6.9 billion dollars to Jakarta from 1992 to 2007, in line with fulfilling its financial obligations under a 1991 contract with the Indonesian government.
"In the past two years our production has been good and commodity prices have also skyrocketed," Mindo Pangaribuan, a Freeport spokesman, told AFP.
Freeport Indonesia is 81 percent owned by US-based Freeport McMoRan. The remaining stakes are shared equally between the Indonesian government and company Indocopper Investama. Freeport operates a huge gold and copper mine in Indonesia's easternmost Papua province.Environmentalists have accused the mine of polluting the World Heritage-listed Lorenz National Park and dumping copper-rich ore around the edge of its operations. The firm disputes the claims.
4) Villager shot dead by military patrol
The Jakarta Post 2/2/08
JAYAPURA, Papua: A Papuan villager was shot and killed by soldiers on a routine military patrol in Wamena on Thursday. Chief of the Puncak Jaya Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Kris Rihulay, said here Friday that Omenggan Wonda was shot by a soldier from the 756th Infantry Battalion in Wamena after he emerged from a house carrying a machete. The officer said the victim was inside a house with about 16 other young people. He said the patrolling soldiers went to investigate the gathering, ordering those inside the house to open the windows. When they refused the order, soldiers fired three warning shots. "We don't know what the young villagers were doing in the house and we have sent two officers to investigate the case," he said. The spokesman for the Cendrawasih Military Command in Papua, Lt. Col. Imam Santosa, said the soldier who fired the fatal shots would be prosecuted in a military court if the shooting was found to have violated military procedure.
The spokesman asked residents to remain calm and give theauthorities time to conduct a thorough investigation of the shooting. --JP
5) Call for consultation over Jakarta’s plan to further split Papua
RNZI 28 January, 2008 UTC
A religious leader in Indonesia’s Papua has called for Jakarta lawmakers to consult with Papuans before going ahead with their plan to split their region into four new provinces Last week, Indonesia’s House of Representatives endorsed its own plan to create eight new provinces, including adding four provinces to the two in its Papua region. The move has caused an outcry among many analysts and religious leaders who describe it as part of a "divide and rule" tactic by Jakarta. Now the House has agreed to delay the split for a few months while the government evaluates whether the new provinces would be of benefit to the local people.
Father Neles Tebay of the Jayapura Catholic Diocese says there must be discussion of how the split relates to Papua’s Special Autonomy status. “A comprehensive evaluation by both the central government and the Papuan people. I think this is the one step that can be taken by both parties. Otherwise it will create more problems in West Papua.” Father Neles Tebay says that as it stands, neither the Papuan People’s Assembly and Papuan Legislative Council has given approval for the planned split.
He says that going ahead with that split without that approval would be a violation of Special Autonomy law.
6) New Solution Needed for Papua
The Jakarta Post 8/2/08 Op-Ed
Neles Tebay, Abepura, Papua
The House of Representative issued on Jan. 22, 2008 some 21 drafts of bills around the creation of 21 new regions in Indonesia, including the formation of four new provinces in Papua. The new provinces include South Papua, Central Papua, South West Papua and West Papua. In December 2007, the House also issued drafts of bills on the formation of new regencies, including six new regencies in Papua
province. While respecting the House's right to take the initiative to propose new drafts of bills, the question should be: Who is going to benefit from the creation of new four provinces in Papua? Are the four new provinces created for the sake of the
indigenous Papuans? Is the creation of new provinces to address problems in Papua?
The reality in Papua speaks that some 1.5 to 2 million indigenous Papuans have not been able to fulfill available jobs created by newly created regencies. They lack skillful people due to the poor quality of education service in Papua and many jobs are vacant in all regencies across Papua. In order to run government services, the local government accepts non-Papuans coming from elsewhere in Indonesia. Many migrants have been prioritized in job promotions. So the migrants are now administratively qualified to occupy a strategic position in government offices in all regencies. Meanwhile, many Papuans working as public servants in all government offices are not administratively qualified to occupy the jobs. It means all jobs in the government offices will be occupied by the non-Papuans. In such a situation, the House decided to create four new provinces in Papua. My question, then, is: For whom have the new provinces been created? It is not for the Indigenous Papuans.
The non-Papuans coming from other Indonesian provinces will certainly occupy the jobs. The creation of new provinces, in turn, will withdraw more migrants to come to Papua. It will change Papua demographics. The number of migrants will increase very quickly. Indigenous Papuans will become the minority in their own land. So new provinces are created by Jakarta in order to marginalize native Papuans. The formation of new provinces has nothing to do with the problems in Papua. Papua has a vertical conflict between the Indonesian government and the indigenous Papuans. There are also horizontal conflicts between the Papuan tribes and between the Papuans and the migrants. Other problems in Papua include poverty, illegal logging,
deforestation, environmental destruction, poor quality of education and health care services and the spread of HIV/AIDS. The House should know the lack of provinces is not the root cause of all these problems. That's why these problems cannot be settled through the formation of new provinces. For example, Papuans' poverty will be settled through establishing new provinces. As is happening now in the newly created regencies, the government will spend a large amount of money to build new
houses and offices, to buy new cars for the officials, and to pay for official and unofficial trips for government officials to all the new provinces. Although Jakarta will form 10 to 20 new provinces in the Western half of the Island of New Guinea, the problems in Papua will remain unsettled. The creation of new provinces is not the proper solution to Papua's problems -- but serves to address Jakarta's interests. The Papuans know the problems in Papua have already been accommodated in Law no. 21/2001 on the special autonomy for Papua Province.
So the proper way of addressing the problems is not by creating more provinces but by implementing consistently the autonomy law. Papuans, then, cannot continue relying much on the implementation of the autonomy law. Therefore, only one
possibility remains -- to look for new solutions to Papua's problems. And the new solution should be jointly discovered in a genuine dialogue between the government of Indonesia and the representative of Papuan People, with the help of a third
neutral party as facilitator. The writer is a lecturer at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and Theology in Abepura, Papua.
7) Activist denounces Papua Governor over Morning Star ban
RNZI 18 January, 2008
A London-based Papuan activist has criticised the Governor of Indonesia’s Papua for upholding a ban on the Morning Star Flag. Governor Barnabas Suebu is demanding compliance with a new government regulation that bans the use of separatist attributes as regional symbols. He says the provincial legislature will discuss a more suitable regional symbol than the Morning Star, which is associated with Papuan separatists.
In 2005 a man was jailed for 15 years for raising the flag. And this week, police in Jayapura arrested two women who were trading souvenirs carrying the Morning Star logo. Activist Benny Wenda says this makes a mockery of provisions under Papua’s Special Autonomy. “Because Indonesia promised that the Morning Star is like a cultural symbol, and this is what the Autonomy package already promised. Then why now have they banned all people making handbags with the Morning Star and printing tee-shirts, and any sort of identity and now the ban. There is not any freedom in West Papua.” . Benny Wenda
8) Morning Star flag ban stands, says Papua Governor
RNZI 18 January, 2008
The Governor of Indonesia’s Papua says the province must uphold a newly issued government regulation that bans the use of separatist attributes as regional symbols.
The Cenderawasih Post reports that Barnabas Suebu says the ban on the use of flags like the Morning Star is in line with Papua’s status as part of the unitary state of Indonesia. The provincial government and legislature will discuss a more suitable regional symbol than the Morning Star, which is associated with Free Papua Movement rebels. This week, police in the provincial capital Jayapura arrested two women who were trading souvenirs carrying the Morning Star logo.
They were released after being told of the ban. Later on, a group of women street vendors rallied at the provincial legislature to protest against the ban. In 2005, two Papuans, former public servant Filep Karma and student Yusak Pakage, were handed prison sentences of 15 and 10 years respectively after raising the Morning Star flag.
Since the fall of Soeharto's regime, Indonesia has apparently begun to move toward democracy. Indonesian citizens have found space to exercise their rights and duties without fear, pressure and intimidation from the state. Indigenous Papuans, for their part, have taken advantage of the democratic atmosphere to express their opinions by writing books on some aspects of Papua. Although there are only a few Papuan authors, it should be recognized that the publication of such books has encouraged more Papuans to exercise their freedom of opinion and expression through writing.
However, the central government has not always regarded the new developments as good news. Instead of being proud to see Papuans, who were once illiterate and relied on oral tradition to tell their stories, expressing their ideas in written form, the government considers the exercise of Papuans' intellectual creativity something suspicious if not dangerous.
Many books on Papua, particularly those authored by indigenous Papuans, are censored under certain criteria set by the government or are banned entirely. The latest book to be outlawed by the government is Tenggelamnya Rumpun Melanesia: Pertarungan Politik NKRI di Papua Barat (The Sinking of the Melanesian race: The Unitary State of Indonesia's Political Struggle in West Papua), written by young author Papuan Sendius Wonda, and published by Deiyai, a Jayapura-based publishing house. The introduction of the book is written by Rev. Socrates Sofyan Yoman, the chairperson of the Fellowship of the Baptist Churches in Papua. According to the chief of Jayapura prosecutor's office, Sri Agung Putra, Wonda's 247-page book contains some elements that "discredit the government", "disturb public order", and "endanger national unity". Police seized the book from shelves immediately after the ban was announced on Dec. 14, and ordered those in possession of the book to give it up to the prosecutors. Wonda's work is the second book on Papua on which the government has slapped a ban, after Peristiwa penculikan dan pembunuhan
Theys H Eluay 10 November 2001 (The Abduction and Assassination of Theys H Eluay on November 10, 2001) by Benny Giay, a Papuan anthropologist, in 2002.
Like Wonda's book, the book on Theys was considered dangerous to national unity.
Theys was a Papuan pro-independence charismatic leader who chaired the Papuan Presidium Council, a body formed by the second Papuan congress in 2000 to lead the peaceful struggle for the creation of an independent state of West Papua. He was
abducted and assassinated by the Army's Special force. It seems that the same criteria will be applied by the Attorney General's Office to screen and ban any books on Papua, more particularly those written by Papuans, in the future simply by saying the books contain elements categorized as dangerous to the Indonesian government and state. However, everyone knows the Attorney General's Office has never clearly explained how the books endanger national unity, discredit the government, or disrupt public order. By banning Papuan books based on unclear criteria, the central government shows its undemocratic face, despite its persistent self-promotion as a champion of democracy. The undemocratic aspect of the government has been and is being manifested through its inability to face Papuans' dissenting opinions. Instead of producing more books to encounter the content of the banned books, the government has abused its power to stifle Papuans' intellectual creativity and freedom of opinion and expression.
After decades nothing has changed in the way the government ignores Papuans' freedom of expression and their intellectual freedom. It remains restrictive in determining which books are appropriate or not for Papuans to read. The presence of the Indonesian government in Papua, then, is very suspicious for it seems to exist not to protect the Papuans in exercising their intellectual creativity but to treat them
cruelly. The banning of books does not apparently constitute an isolated action. Rather, it reflects the government's policy of threatening Papuans' intellectual freedom. The writer is a lecturer at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and Theology in Abepura, Papua.
10) Deputy Governor on the Extremely Backward Situation in Papua
Cenderawasih Pos, 4 January 2008
Jayapura: The data made public by the Department for the Development of Backward Regions which referred to Papua as being an extremely backward region is a fact that cannot be denied by the provincial government. Deputy governor Alex Hesegam SE said that in fact this applies not only to the five districts mentioned in the report but to virtually the whole of the province. 'Papua needs to be developed by everyone, by every single department whose activities extend to Papua. They must have programmes that reach down to the kampungs and give support to the development programme being promoted by the governor, in all the cities and kampungs,' he said.
As previously reported, (see posting of Cepos news item on 3 January), the backward regions mentioned were Paniai, Puncak Jaya, Yahukimo, Asmat, Tolikara and Star Mountain (Pegunungan Bintang). He said the condition extended beyond the districts mentioned and was caused by the appalling state of transportation into the regions.. 'It's not only transportation but everything is very undeveloped and all
officials need to pay attention to this question. They need to be encouraged to implement development and to empower the people living in the kampungs. And the programmes have to be implemented.' The vice-governor said that the provincial government had granted Rp 100 million to every kampung; it was essential for all officials to provide the necessary finances, human resources and ideas to develop their kampungs. 'It's not enough to talk about it, they must take action.'
The state of backwardness goes back many years. 'Since the time when Papua became a part of Indonesia, no roads have been built linking the coastal areas to the mountainous interior. This is the reason why we are so backward. Transportation by air is extremely expensive. Efforts have been made but it is far from enough,' said the vice-governor.
Comment from TAPOL on huge revenues received by Jakarta from Papua
This failure to develop West Papua should be seen against the background of the enormous revenues the Indonesian government has received for many years from the exploitation of West Papua's abundant natural resources. AFP reported on 12 November 2007 that Freeport, the US company which operates the copper-and-gold mine in West Papua, paid $434 million in taxes, royalties and dividends to Indonesia in the third quarter of 2007. In the first nine months of 2007, Indonesia received a total of $1.4 billion from Freeport. In the period from 1992 till 2007, the total amount
received from Freeport was $6.7 billion. (TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign)
11) Papua condom week fights AIDS
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - The AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA) for
Papua Province is holding Papua Condom Week (PKP) 2008 in some strategic
places throughout the province to combat the sharp rise in HIV/AIDS cases there.
The campaign runs from 2 to 16 Feb and aims to provide HIV/AIDS education
and socialization to the people of Papua. The main message is to practice safe sex in order prevent sexually transmitted disease (STDs) which can trigger infection. "The program is completed with film presentations, and public discussion at Sentani Airport, Phraa market and Sentani terminal as well as on PT.Pelni ship which sails to strategic areas," Dewi Wulandari, Public Relations officer of KPA Papua, said on Friday. Dewi said, the HIV/AIDS education team from Non-Government-Organization for AIDS Prevention and Care as well as KPA Papua staff will be organizing a return trip for PT.Pelni ship traveling from Jayapura to Manokwari to
educate the ship staffs and passengers about condoms.
The level of HIV/AIDS infection in Papua rapidly rose during 2007. Papua Health Institute recorded 1,964 positive HIV cases as well as 1,470 AIDS cases. Of these cases 9,38 percent resulted in death. Of most concern is that the highest rate of infection occurs in the child-bearing age group, 15-39 year olds. HIV has already affected the broader Papua population which is mainly due to unsafe sexual activities. The use of condoms is due known as the best way to prevent STDs as well as HIV/AIDS, yet, low condom usage rate is critical in Indonesia, especially Papua.
The Papua Health Institute said this phenomenon is closely linked to the unsupportive environment in implementing safe sex with condoms, and lack of community awareness of these issues. By taking part in the program, people will eventually improve their knowledge in the use of condoms to prevent STDs and the practice of sex. On the AIDS day ceremony in Entrop Jayapura on 1 Dec 2007, Papua Governor,
Barnabas Suebu declared Papua Condom Week as part of the National Condom
Week program to commemorate World AIDS Day. (*)
