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| illustration of human rights violations in West Papua |
50 Years of Human Rights Violations in West Papua -Part Three
March 10, 2014
Then there was the case of an attack by Brimob on the Command
Post of the Fanindi base in Manokwari in 1999 when a number of Papuan
activists were arrested, tortured and brought before a court of law in
Manokwari to face the charge of treason: a vehicle of the police mobile
brigade was destroyed during this action. [The text here is not very
clear so this is an approximation of what was meant.]
Then came the actions by Jack Wanggai and his comrades from the West
Papua National Authority, when they were protesting against presidential
decision No 77/2007 which prohibits the use of the Morning Star flag in
the Land of Papua. Jack and his friends wanted to show that whenever
Papuans get involved in political actions and unfurl the Morning Star
flag, they are bound to be charged with treason. This is what happened
when Jack and his friends unfurled the Morning Star flag during a
peaceful demonstration and as a result they were arrested and charged
with treason.
On another occasion a Papuan called Melkanius Bleskadit, the leader
of a group called 14 Stars used the occasion of the anniversary of the
Proclamation of the liberation of Melanesian State on 14 December 2010in
the district of Manokwari and were immediately arrested by the police
and declared to be suspects in a case of treason.
More recently in Aimas-Sorong, a number of civilians led by Isak
Kalibin who the police have named as the commander of the National
Liberation Army of West Papua, were gathered together on 30 April 2013
to discuss a plan to commemorate 1 May as the Day of the Annexation of
Papua [to the Republic of Indonesia] but they were attacked by a group
of members of the security forces as a result of which two of the men
were fatally shot while the others who were involved in the action were
taken to a nearby hospital where the two men died of their wounds.
Strange to say, Isak Kalaiban was arrested and subsequently brought
before a court and charged with treason.
[A few lines of text are missing from the draft received.]
This what has been happening in West Papua while in Papua, many
incidents have occurred but have not be resolved in a court of law,
although the incidents were handled by the TNI and the police. For
instance, there was an incident when a couple of foreigners who worked
as teachers at an international school in Tembagapura. This case was
subsequently taken up by the US intelligence agency, the FBI. But as a
result, it was claimed that the person who did the shooting was an
ordinary citizen even though the shooter was said to have used a weapon
which is part of the armoury used by the security forces…. [Another gap
in the text.]
The chief of police in Papua, I Made Pastika and his deputy , Raziman Tariga were subsequently replaced.
Then there was the case of the shooting of two hostages who were part
of the Lorenze Expedition who were handed over to the security forces
in Mapenduma who were at the time led by Prabowo Subianto. It was then
claimed that a group led by Kelly Kwalik was responsible although the
case has not been investigated by the police.
[Please note: Occasionally the meaning of the text is not very clear
and our translation has tried to show what may have been intended.]
Later, when Jack Wanggai and his colleagues from the West Papuan
National Authority delivered speeches to protest strongly against
Presidential Decision 77/2007 prohibiting the use of local emblems such
as the Morning Star Flag. Jack and the WPNA wanted to show to the Papuan
people that whenever they conduct any action that involves unfurling
the Morning Star Flag, they would be arrested and charged with treason.
On another occasion, Melkianus Bleskit delivered a speech on behalf
of a group set up to mark the 14 December 2010 were immediately arrested
and brought before a court and charged with treason.
And more recently in Aimas-Sorong, a number of civilians led by Isak
Kalibin who the police accused as being the commander of the National
Liberation Army of West Papua in the region of Sorong. They had gathered
together on 30 April 2013 to discuss a plan to commemorate the 1st of
May, as the Day of West Papua’s Annexation. They were attacked by some
members of the security forces and rounded up by the police. During this
incident, two Papuans were shot and taken to a hospital where two of
them died, having been charged with treason. [There appears to be a gap
in the text at this point.]
All this occurred in West Papua while in Papua there have been many
cases which have not be resolved in a court of law, but which involved
both the army and the police. And there was a case when a group of
foreigners who were teachers at the international school in Tembagapura.
During subsequent investigations, the case was taken over by the US
intelligence agency, the FBI. Subsequent investigations revealed that a
ordinary civilian had used a firearm which turns out to have been an
organic weapon of the special forces of the Indonesian army. This case
was subject to special investigations by the reserve force. This
involved the police chief in the area and his deputy, both of whom were
subsequently moved from their posts.
Then there was a shooting incident during which two people were
killed as well as members of the security forces in Mapenduma which was
under the leadership of Prabowo Subianto [son-in-law of the Indonesian
president and a candidate in forthcoming elections in Indonesia to be
held in April this year]. A group under the leadership of Kelly Kwalik
was said to be involved although the case has never been investigated.
There have been a number of other cases of shootings by the army and
the police in the District of Puncak Jaya and the nearby area which
occurred in Wamena and Nabire as well as in Paniai in the Central
Highlands. In all these cases, the operations were identical to other
cases but unfortunately the cases have not been investigated by the
police as criminal actions. On this occasion, the police declared that
the shooting was by security forces in Puncak Jaya who were described as
being a special force.
The killing of Mako Tabuni was also a grave violation of human rights
and was clearly in violation of Law 39/1999 and Law 26/2000. With
regard to this case, Komnas HAM, the National Human Rights Commission
has not said anything at all.
In Manokwari on 29 December 2013, there was a criminal case which was
perpetrated by several unidentified people against a child from
Buton-Central Sulawesi which led to the death of Siwa Maryen, a child
from Biak.
These two cases occurred at almost the same time but to this day the
police have done nothing to deal with these cases which have had an
impact on the peaceful relations between several Papuan tribes and
Nusantara tribes in living in Manokwari. This seems to have been a
horizontal conflict which occurred in the final days of 2013 and the
beginning of 2014.
[End of the third part of this translation.]
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