Police ordered Papuan praying congregation to disperse, accusing them of separatism

Nethy Dharma Somba and Evi Mariani The Jakarta Post

Jakarta | Mon, November 21, 2016 | 07:23 am

Papuans hold a self-determination rally on Wednesday in Sentani, Papua, demanding that the government conducts an independence referendum for the eastern province. (KNPB/Exclusive)

Sorong Police in West Papua province confirmed they ordered a group of people praying on SPG Sorong field on Saturday to disperse and accused the congregation of separatism because the police claim the congregation yelled, demanding independence.

The event was organized by West Papua National Committee (KNPB) to celebrate their eighth anniversary by organizing an event to pray together.

KNPB said the police took all 106 people at the event to Sorong Police office for questioning. Later, they released 99 people and detained the other seven: Agustinus Kossay, Arnoldus Kocu, Jack Badii, Kantius Heselo, Mika Giban, Oskar Solossa and Yance Assem.

KNPB said the police accused the seven of treason and provocation.

Sorong Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Edfrie Maith said they only detained seven of them for 24 hours, in compliance with the procedure.

“It’s our duty to question them within 24 hours. After we questioned them, we released them,” Edfrie said.

Veronica Koman, a public interest lawyer with Papua Itu Kita, who often helped KNPB with legal advocacy, said the seven were released on Sunday, but they had to report to the police daily.

Edfrie said the police ordered the event to disperse because in the event notification letter from KNPB, the organization used a symbol that is not an Indonesian symbol. “Of course we didn’t let them organize it, they refuse to acknowledge the Republic of Indonesia,” he said on Sunday.

Veronica said KNPB produced a notification letter about the event using the KNPB logo, which was the usual procedure for any other organization. “The stamp resembles the Morning Star flag, but I think that’s beside the point. This is an attempt to muffle freedom of expression in Papua,” she said.

Gema Demokrasi, a Jakarta-based network of 75 civil society organizations, criticized Edfrie’s statement in which he made a deal with Sorong journalists not to publish the story. “Sorong journalists and I have agreed not to make news of the event. They intentionally made such an event to get some outside exposure to be acknowledged,” Edfrie said as quoted in tabloidjubi.com.

Gema Demokrasi said Edfrie’s attempt was a violation of the 1945 Constitution on freedom of expression.

KNPB is an organization promoting self-determination for Papuan people.

ari

The $100bn gold mine and the West Papuans who say they are counting the cost

Grasberg mine in the Indonesian province has been a source of untold wealth for its owners, but local communities say it has brought poverty and oppression

The delta of West Papua’s Aikwa river, on Kamoro tribe land. Papuans claim tailing sediment from the mine has suffocated the fish and shrimp on which their diet and economy are based. All photographs: Susan Schulman

Global development is supported by About this content

Susan Schulman in Timika

Wednesday 2 November 2016 11.05 AEDT Last modified on Wednesday 2 November 2016 11.15 AEDT

In 1936, Dutch geologist Jean Jacques Dozy climbed the world’s highest island peak: the forbidding Mount Carstensz, a snow-covered silver crag on what was then known as Dutch New Guinea. During the 4,800-metre ascent, Dozy noticed an unusual rock outcrop veined with green streaks. Samples he brought back confirmed exceptionally rich gold and copper deposits.

Today, these remote, sharp-edged mountains are part of West Papua, Indonesia’s largest province, and home to the Grasberg mine, one of the biggest gold mines – and third largest copper mine – in the world. Majority-owned by the American mining firm Freeport McMoRan, Grasberg is now Indonesia’s biggest taxpayer, with reserves worth an estimated $100bn (£80bn).

But a recent fact-finding mission (by the Brisbane Archdiocese’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission) described a “slow-motion genocide” (pdf) taking place in West Papua, warning that its indigenous population is at risk of becoming “an anthropological museum exhibit of a bygone culture”.
Since the Suharto dictatorship annexed the region in a 1969 UN referendum largely seen as a fixed land grab, an estimated 500,000 West Papuans have been killed in their fight for self-rule. Decades of military and police oppression, kidnapping and torture have created a long-standing culture of fear. Local and foreign journalists are routinely banned, detained, beaten and forced to face trial on trumped-up charges. Undercover police regularly trail indigenous religious, social and political leaders. And children still in primary school have been jailed for taking part in demonstrations calling for independence from Indonesia.

“There is no justice in this country,” whispered one indigenous villager on condition of anonymity, looking over his shoulder fearfully. “It is an island without law.”

****

Dozy had not set out to find gold in 1936; his goal was to scale the region’s highest glacial peak. But his discovery sparked the interest of Freeport Sulphur – later to become Freeport Minerals Company and then, through a 1981 merger with the McMoRan Oil and Gas Company, Freeport McMoRan – whose board of directors included the well-connected Godfrey Rockefeller (serving from 1931 until the early 1980s) and Henry Kissinger (1988-1995).

Today, indigenous tribes such as the Kamoro and the Amungme claim their communities have been racked with poverty, disease, oppression and environmental degradation since the mine began operations in 1973.

To read the full article click on the link below

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Referendum demand grows as govt’s Papua resolve wanes

• Margareth S. AritonangThe Jakarta Post