Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)

PO Box 28, Spit Junction, NSW 2088

AWPA update. July 2010

The 41st Pacific Islands Forum will be held in Port Vila, Vanuatu between 3-6 August. A number of organizations including AWPA have called on the PIF leaders to put West Papuan on the agenda and raise concerns about the human rights situation in West Papua with the Indonesian government (press releases/letters below).

Thousands of West Papuans attend marched in a rally in Jayapura on July 8th urging the provincial parliament to demand a referendum on self-determination and rejecting the special autonomy package http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/thousands-rally-for-independence-referendum-in-indonesias-papua/384834

Political prisoners.Yusak Pakage has been released from prison in Sentani where he had been serving a ten-year sentence for his role in a peaceful demonstration in December 2004 during which the Morning Star flag, was raised. This is welcome however a large number of political prisoners still remain in jail.

Another high-profile prisoner Filip Karma, who was sentenced to 15 years jail for flag raising (and who had been denied medical treatment for almost a year), was returned to prison after surgery for a potentially life-threatening prostate ailment. He said that many other prisoners also urgently need medical care and reiterated allegations that many had been abused in prisons.

Victor Yeimo, a leading figure in the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) was charged with rebellion (makar) under Article 106 of the Criminal Code for allegedly seeking secession. The prosecutors charge that in a speech at a peaceful rally on March 10, 2009, Yeimo "demanded independence for West Papua, rejected special autonomy, called for a referendum, and a review of the 1969 Act of Free Choice.
During a recent hearing of the trial, the prosecution called for the defendant to be sentenced to a term of three years. It has been reported that he has received a sentence of one year in prison for 'provocation'.

Govt eyes Papua as pulp and paper production base

The Jakarta Post 07/21/2010

The Industry Ministry said Tuesday that the government planned to expand the pulp and paper industry to eastern Indonesia, including Papua, because of its vast tracts of forest. “Currently, only western Indonesia has pulp and paper factories,” Industry Minister MS Hidayat said after opening the April Technology Center (ATC) in Pelalawan, Riau. “In future, we plan to expand the development of the pulp and paper industry to eastern Indonesia,” he said, adding that the expansion would to help Indonesia increase pulp and paper exports. “Currently, PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper [RAPP] exports 2.24 million tons of pulp worth US$867,364 and 4.09 million tons of paper valued at $3.06 million per year,” he said. At the event, Hidayat urged pulp and paper producers not to damage forests to avoid criticism by foreign NGOs.

“The government will help all pulp and paper producers as long as they do not damage forests as foreign NGOs have claimed,” he said. “We will help pulp and paper companies as long as their production processes run properly.” Hidayat also asked stakeholders not to be influenced by critical factual reports by NGOs that could affect the investment climate and weaken the competitiveness of the local industry.
He said Indonesia, as one of the world’s biggest pulp and paper producers, should defend its positions against negative campaigns by foreign NGOs. Indonesia is the ninth-largest pulp producer and the eleventh-largest paper producer in the world.
Indonesia has 14 pulp manufacturers with a total annual capacity to produce 7.9 million tons and 81 paper manufacturers with a total production capacity of 12.17 million tons. Pulp production reached 6.52 million tons and paper production 9.31 million tons in 2009. Hidayat said the pulp and paper industry faced a few challenges this year, such as a lack of adequate industrial plantation forests and technology. (map)

Extract from a JP article

Papua lowest on clean water supply

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar | Mon, 07/05/2010
Papua has been declared the least effective province in reaching Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on clean water supply and sanitation, while South Kalimantan has been named the highest, an official says. Public Works Ministry’s Cipta Karya director general Budi Yuwono said South Kalimantan reached more than 70 percent in achieving clean water and sanitation from the national target of 60.3 percent. Papua is at 34 percent, under the national average 47.6 percent. He said several challenges hampered Papua from achieving clean water. The challenging factors are, among others, the province being remote, and its poor infrastructure and management of the local state-run tap water company PDAM. “Many customers don’t have water meter instruments. It shows that Papua PDAM still performs unfavorably,” Budi said at a technical meeting in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
The MDGs eye 60.3 percent of clean water supply nationwide by 2015. A survey showed that Indonesians’ have achieved 47.6 percent of clean water on average in 2009. Meanwhile, on sanitation, most city residents gained 69 percent of adequate access last year, considered “secured” as compared to the 78 percent target by 2015.
Budi said the meeting required the Papua water company to improve its management and install water meter instruments for all its customers as well as improve services. Apart from Papua, he said many tap water companies in eastern Indonesia were poorly managed, resulting in poor service.

Papua’s education still far from picture perfect
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar 07/05/2010
The dilapidated building of YPPGI Kopo elementary school in Paniai regency in Papua speaks loud on the little attention given to the education sector in the country’s resource-rich province. The building, with its frail wooden pillars and dry-leaved roof, was the learning place for the school’s first to fourth graders. The school’s principal Yahya Nawipa said that the building was not a decent place for the students to study but they could not do much about it. He said he had written to the administration and the National Education Office in Paniai but there had been no response on his request for a renovation. “A new building has been built, yes, but only for fifth and six graders,” he told The Jakarta Post, who was in Paniai on invitation from Oxfam and the Community Welfare Development Foundation (Yapkema) in Paniai to look at the Raising Her Voice program. Nawipa said the elementary school had 208 students and the school was badly in need of repair to ensure the safety of both students and the teachers. Poor facilities were also disclosed by another school principal, Barnabas Jeimo of SD YPPGI Enarotali. He said the school, which teaches 345 students, had limited teaching facilities such as school textbooks.

Many teachers, he said, were also restless, waiting for certainty on their promotion and others were questioning the decision on their teaching certification from Papua province’s National Education Office. “I hope to receive a reply from the office in charge to deal with teaching certification for our teachers who passed [the tests teacher qualification tests],” he said. School principal Paulus Agapa of the state run SD Inpres Maiyubutu also faced lack of school textbooks as well as tables and chairs for the classrooms. However, he raised concern on the lack of teachers in the regency’s remote villages, where it is common for a school to only have one teacher.
“My school is in the center of Paniai regency but it is still lack of facilities,” he said, adding that the regency has 116 elementary schools. Lack of teachers was blamed for declining education quality in Paniai regency, according to school principal Tomuara Tanjung from SD Inpres Enarotali. The principal, who has been teaching since 1990, also raised concern of lack of encouragement from parents to send their children to school. “Children here in Paniai have a strong wish to go to school, but parents’ role in sending their children to attend school is very low,” Tomuara said.
Some existing teachers, she said, were lacked discipline in teaching.

“Many teachers assigned in Paniai are not professional as they have not received training from the government. The education system has a long way to go,” she said.
She said everyone in Paniai regency should work together to achieve better education.
Teachers alone, she added, could not work provide better education without the support from both the provincial and regency administration in providing better facilities. Former supervising coordinator for elementary to senior high schools in Paniai regency, Sirylus Magay, said many elementary schools in the regency, especially in remote areas, still lagged behind their counterparts in other regions.
“I taught for six years in an elementary school in Bibida district,” he said. “I taught first to sixth graders because there were not enough teachers.”
He urged the government to pay more attention to improve teachers’ welfare, from providing decent housing and healthcare to access to electricity, such as providing solar cell assistance. He said that many teachers in Paniai used candles for lighting, and that this impacted on their ability to prepare lessons. “Many teachers also do not receive health assistance from the government. How can they pay attention to teaching [when they are sick],” he said. “I hope the Paniai regency administration pays attention to the teachers’ welfare so they stay in the job.”

Australian Academics Warn Violence Might Break Out in Papua

Jakarta Globe July 14, 2010 Nivell Rayda
A report published by an Australian university this month warns that massacres such as those alleged to have occurred in East Timor are likely to occur in Papua. The report, prepared by the University of Sydney’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies highlighted that the majority of the Papuan people feel that the special autonomy in Papua had failed to bring prosperity to the province and paved the way to corruption. The special autonomy status which was granted by the central government in 2001 was meant to suppress calls for independence after the fall of former president Suharto in 1998. The autonomy gave larger economic independence and meant that a large portion of the royalties received from logging and mining industries were channeled back to the province. ”Money supposed to be allocated to health and education expenditure was swallowed up in public servants wages, in buildings and even in funding local military operations. Health and education services have declined in many areas,” the report says. “Special Autonomy led to a fall in people’s living standards. It also failed to empower the Papuans politically.” Jim Elmslie and Camellia Webb Gannon, the authors of the report, urge a peaceful dialog between Jakarta and the Papuan people. The Papuan Parliament, or MRP, and leading Papuan intellectuals called for a referendum of independence on June 18. A massive rally took place in the province capital, Jayapura, just a day later. 10,000 people are estimated to have participated in the demonstration during which members of the crowd symbolically handed back the special autonomy status to the central government. The academics warn that unless a peaceful talk is staged soon there is likely to be an escalation in violence in the province. “The real danger in Papua is that all of the events discussed in this report will lead to even larger-scale demonstrations that run the risk of increasingly violent military responses,” the authors wrote. Elmslie and Gannon predicted that a repeat of the 1991 alleged massacre in Santa Cruz, East Timor, is likely to occur.

NGO calls for Forum leaders to press Indonesia over Papua
RNZI 19 July, 2010
The Australia West Papua Association has written to the leaders of Pacific Islands Forum countries, asking that they put the issue of human rights in the Indonesian region of Papua on the agenda for their summit next month. The NGO says Papua has to be treated as a regional issue of concern. It says the Forum should send a fact finding mission to the region.It also says the Forum can play an important role in helping facilitate dialogue between the Papuan leadership and the Indonesian Government.

Prejudice and distrust’ leave Papua roadmap in limbo

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 07/29/2010
|A planned dialogue between the central government and Papua to seek a comprehensive settlement to long-standing problems is in limbo because both sides still deeply distrust one another, researchers say. “Jakarta and Papua no longer share mutual trust or common ground .... Both sides bear prejudices. Papuans accuse Jakarta of ignorance and militarism, while Jakarta accuses Papua of secessionism,” Muridan S. Widjojo said Monday. His team at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) was assigned by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2005 to identify the most serious problems in Papua. The team produced the Papua Roadmap, which was published as a book earlier this year. However, so far all attempts to meet the President or his officials have failed, Muridan said. Last month Papuan leaders and civil society groups gathering in Jayapura concluded that nine years of special autonomy had “failed”. They demanded among others “a dialogue with neutral international mediation”, and a “referendum on political freedom”. The summary of the June 9-10 gathering, attended by 450 representatives and leaders, will be submitted to the President pending approval from the governors of Papua and West Papua.

The delegates cited continued problems including poverty of “81.52 percent”, or more than 391,000 households; 70 percent of residents with HIV/AIDS are indigenous Papuans; and 95 percent of local budget funds “are spent outside Papua.” “Special autonomy does not mean money,” said religious leader Benny Giay, who joined the June talks. “It has only enriched local elites, while most indigenous people have been marginalized by immigrants or remain isolated in the jungle.” Jakarta has declined to draft regulations that would allow the Papuan People’s Council (MRP) and the provincial legislature to issue regulations, including affirmative action for indigenous people and the settlement of human rights abuses, MRP spokesman Agus Alua said. Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi blamed the disappointment on rampant graft and dissatisfaction with local elites in Papua and West Papua. “If the special autonomy program has become corrupted and stagnant, the people should seek accountability from their elites,” Gamawan said. He added that he did not see problems with political stability in either of the two provinces. The Free Papua Movement has been the main reason for the presence of the troops in Papua, despite human rights groups reporting regular cases of military abuse against civilians.
The new Papua monitoring team at the legislature is discussing the situation with high-level officials. Muridan said Jakarta should learn from now independent Timor Leste and the peace talks ending the war with separatists in Aceh. In Timor Leste, “we relied too much on the Indonesian Military and the National Intelligence Agency.” Neles Tebay, rector of the Fajar Timur Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Abepura, urged Yudhoyono to capitalize on the proposed dialogue as a timely opportunity to resolve outstanding issues and strengthen national unity.
“The people will likely regain confidence in Jakarta if the President holds the dialogue and listens to the people’s aspirations,” Neles said.

Two Papuans on trial for rebellion
From Tapol Abridged in translation
Bntang Papua, 21 July 2010
Two Papuans, Semuel Yaru and Luther Wrait are on trial for taking part in a flag flying event recently outside the office of the MRP, Majelis Rakyat Papua. Both men have been charged with rebellion. At the court hearing yesterday, the prosecutor presented his demand for sentencing the accused. He called on the court to sentence Sem Taru to three years and to sentence Luther Wrait to eighteen months. He said that the sentence for Sem Yaru should be higher because this is his second offence. Lawyers acting for the defendants said that proposed verdicts were unacceptable - he called them 'crazy and misguided' - because the two men had not demanded secession from Indonesia. 'As so often happens in demonstrations, there are speeches, flags are flown and other things that generally occur during a demonstration.' The lawyer Iwan Niode said that what the men had been saying was that special autonomy for Papua had been a failure and had not been beneficial for the people. The prosecutor said the men should be sentenced under article 106 of the Criminal Code (on rebellion) and articles 56 and 110 of the Criminal Code. He was referring to an incident on 10 November 2009 when the two men, along with Alex Mebri and about fifty other people took part in a demonstration outside the MRP office, when they handed out leaflets and unfurled the Morning Star flag. While holding the flag aloft, Sem Yaru had called special autonomy a failure and said that the people had enjoyed no benefits and that, since special autonomy had failed, it would be better to be independent. The other people in the demonstration responded with calls for 'merdeka' He said there were no mitigating circumstances for the two men, one of whom should be sentenced to three years and the other to 18 months.

Press releases/reports/opinion/etc.

New Book by John Ondawame
One People, One Soul' West Papuan Nationalism and the OPM
Indonesian colonisation of West Papua and the lack of a democratic tradition have been the main root causes of the current political problems in this area, triggering the emergence of an increasingly strong Papuan nationalism that finds its expression in a resistance movement, led by the OPM, seeking self-determination and independence. These problems have continued over many years, having serious social, political, economic, and environmental effects for West Papua but, despite the widespread local resistance, the OPM has so far been unable to end the colonial domination and practices.
http://www.crawfordhouse.com.au/catalogue.php?isbn=1863332227

Papuans worried about Indonesian real intentions as crisis deepens
July 29, 2010
Neles Tebay raises the question: Why should the Papuans be deliberately left with political uncertainty? (Photo sourced from another-green-world.blogspot.com.)
Pacific Scoop:?Analysis – By Neles Tebay in Jayapura.
Political Crisis In Papua As Papua is far from the Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta, the central government might not follow closely the political situation in Papua.
Or the government perhaps is not getting the full picture about the present political development in the Western half of the Island of New Guinea.
As any political change in Papua will demand a response from the central government, it is necessary for the government to be informed that a political crisis is now happening in Papua. Read more »
http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2010/07/papuans-worried-about-indonesian-real-intentions-as-crisis-deepens/

Get up, stand up: West Papua stands up for its rights
A rebuttal of the March 2010 ICG report Radicalisation and Dialogue in Papua.
http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/docs/events/2010/Online_version.pdf
http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/research/west_papua_project.shtml

West Papua advocates urge Pacific leaders to act on human rights abuses
July 19th, 2010
Press release: Australia West Papua Association (Sydney).
AWPA calls on the PIF countries to put West Papua on its agenda as a regional issue of concern The 41st Pacific Islands Forum will be held in Port Vila, Vanuatu between 3-6 August.
http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2010/07/west-papua-advocates-urge-pacific-leaders-to-act-on-human-rights-abuses/#more-9426

Open Letter From Indonesia Human Rights Committee: 41st Pacific Island Forum
http://www.fpcn-global.org/content/Open-Letter-Indonesia-Human-Rights-Committee-41st-Pacific-Island-Forum

ILWP Letter to Pasific Island Forum
International Lawyers for West Papua
Jul 29, 2010, 03:49
http://www.infopapua.org/artman/publish/article_2263.shtml

West Papua seeks new way forward with Indonesia
Produced by Shevonne Hunt
While Australians are prepare to exercise their democratic freedom to vote in the upcoming election, one of our closest neighbours is still struggling to determine their own political destiny. West Papua has been a province of Indonesia since the controversial “act of free choice” in 1969. Since then numerous human rights reports, including two this year, one from Amnesty International and another from Human Rights Watch - site abuses by the Indonesian military. Over the years since the original occupation there has been a consistent call from many Papuans for independence. Now, the Pacific Islands Forum could be the key to giving West Papua the platform to discuss its grievances with Indonesia. Featured in story: Joe Collins from the Australian West Papua Association and Professor Damien Kingsbury, School of Political and International studies at Deakin University.
http://www.thewire.org.au/daydetail.aspx?SearchDay=2010-07-19

Two book reviews from Inside Indonesia
Perempuan Papua
http://www.insideindonesia.org/stories/perempuan-papua-27061328
An act of free choice: Decolonisation and the right to self-determination in West Papua
http://www.insideindonesia.org/stories/who-s-to-blame-for-papua-s-tragedy-27061309
Inside Indonesia
http://www.insideindonesia.org/

The Papua Question
Neles Tebay Jakarta Globe July 05, 2010
Last Friday indigenous Papuans — through the provincial legislative council — symbolically handed back the 2001 Law on Special Autonomy to the Indonesian government. The act should neither be dismissed as irrational, nor should it lead to the conclusion that referendum and independence are the ultimate goals of those dissatisfied with the current situation in Papua. It is rather a cry to be taken seriously: Papuans are waiting for dialogue to negotiate a new solution to the their governance………..
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/the-papua-question/384341

West Papua advocates urge Pacific leaders to act on human rights abuses
July 19th, 2010
Press release: Australia West Papua Association (Sydney).
AWPA calls on the PIF countries to put West Papua on its agenda as a regional issue of concern The 41st Pacific Islands Forum will be held in Port Vila, Vanuatu between 3-6 August.
http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2010/07/west-papua-advocates-urge-pacific-leaders-to-act-on-human-rights-abuses/#more-9426

Group urges NZ Govt to act against ‘humanitarian crisis’ in West Papua
June 17th, 2010
Pacific Scoop:?Report – By PMC Newsdesk.
A New Zealand-based NGO Indonesia Human Rights Committee has urged the Government to act with urgency to help stop violence and killing in West Papua.
Indonesia Human Rights Committee spokesperson Maire Leadbeater has written to New Zealand’s foreign minister Murray McCully stating: “New Zealand should act urgently on behalf of its Melanesian neighbours to avert further bloodshed.” In her letter, Ms Leadbetter writes: “Local people report that they now hear gunfire everyday and cannot continue with their daily pursuits. A curfew is in place and the local roads are patrolled by the army and the Brimob paramilitary police who have set up check points where everyone is interrogated and asked to show ID.”
http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2010/06/group-urges-nz-govt-to-act-against-humanitarian-crisis-in-west-papua/#more-9221

US moves to give support to Indonesia’s Kopassus special force.
July 23rd, 2010
Kopassus: The elite Indonesian commando force used against indigenous peoples of Timor Leste and West Papua. (Photo by Kopassus.)
Report – By PMC Newsdesk.
The United States has decided to re-engage with Indonesia’s elite commandos the Kopassus at a time when the special force is allegedly committing oppression, human rights abuses, and killings against West Papua’s indigenous peoples.
The Obama Administration this week agreed to “gradual and limited” engagement with Kopassus ending a ten year moratorium that prevented the US from giving assistance to the organisation.
http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2010/07/us-moves-to-give-support-to-indonesias-kopassus-special-force/#more-9444

Online Graphic Novel about West Papua
From the author. The Illustrator and I have chosen to release the first three chapters (60 pages) now, given the urgency of the content but also because we can update and add to this "flip book" over time. (Try your scroll wheel to flip pages.)
If you enjoy the beautiful illustrations in this book and you come to appreciate the global significance and dire urgency of its story, please tell others about papuanvoices.com.
www.papuanvoices.com.

Papuan struggle enters new phase
Jason MacLeod, 26 July 2010
The Papuan movement is acting with a new strategic maturity in its quest for autonomy, argues Jason MacLeod.
Protest in Papua is nothing new. Since Suharto was overthrown more than twelve years ago, every week there are demonstrations in Jayapura and in other cities of Indonesia’s restive Pacific periphery. There is no freedom of expression in West Papua………….
http://www.opendemocracy.net/jason-macleod/papuan-struggle-enters-new-phase

Dialogue a must for Papua
TAPOL press release
9 July 2010: Papua is in a state of heightened tension following a series of events that culminated in a mass rally yesterday by thousands of Papuans at the provincial parliament, the DPRP, in Jayapura. The demonstration and similar actions in other locations across the territory were intended to increase pressure on the DPRP to support a recommendation by the Papuan People's Assembly, the MRP, to 'return' Papua's 2001 special autonomy law to the central government in Jakarta. A large number of Papuans continued the peaceful protest by staying outside the DPRP overnight. They intended to remain until a plenary meeting of the DPRP is convened to consider the MRP recommendation, but reports today indicate they have been forced by the police to disperse. So far there has been no formal response by the DPRP.

TAPOL believes that this political crisis can be resolved only by genuine dialogue between the Indonesian government and Papuan representatives that addresses all the Papuan grievances and aspirations. Unless a meaningful process is instigated without delay, serious unrest could ensue. The authorities should also respond seriously to the MRP's specific demands to demilitarise the territory, release political prisoners, halt transmigration policies, and impose strict limits on the inflow of migrants from outside Papua, says TAPOL. It urges the security forces to exercise restraint in responding to actions in support of the MRP initiative. At a landmark two-day meeting from 9-10 June to evaluate special autonomy, the MRP, in consultation with indigenous community groups, concluded that the implementation of special autonomy had failed and that the law should be 'returned' to the Indonesian government. The MRP called for dialogue with neutral international mediation.
Also included in the 11 recommendations issued by the MRP were demands for a referendum on independence, an embargo on international aid for special autonomy, the postponement of forthcoming local elections, and the closure of the Freeport copper-and-gold mine.

The outcome of the meeting reflected widespread frustration that the living conditions and human rights of the Papuans have not improved since the introduction of special autonomy and that their situation is worsening as a result of the economic exploitation of their land and resources aligned with a process of marginalisation that will soon leave them a minority in their own homeland. The MRP recommendations were delivered to the DPRP on 18 June following a mass march from the MRP assembly building in nearby Kotaraja. ENDS
Contact Carmel Budiardjo on +44 208 771 2904 or Paul Barber on +44 1420 80153 or +44 774 730 1739

How Sinar Mas is pulping the planet
A new investigative report from Greenpeace, 'How Sinar Mas is Pulping the Planet', shows how major brands like Walmart, Auchan and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) are fueling climate change and pushing Sumatran tigers and orang-utans towards the brink of extinction.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/SinarMas-APP/
Download the full report