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50 Years of Human Rights Violations in West Papua -Part Three

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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