ayapura, Jubi – Jhon Magal, the Director of the Indigenous People’s Institution of the Amungme Tribe (LEMASA), has requested President Joko Widodo to conduct a reevaluation of the second Environmental Impact Assessment (AMDAL) concerning underground mining and tailings of PT Freeport Indonesia. It is worth noting that the reassessment did not involve the indigenous people in the vicinity of the mining area and those affected.
In a brief message to Jubi on January 24, 2024, Magal conveyed the aspirations of the Amungme Tribe, particularly those in the Nemangkawi Region, specifically in the Waa, Tsinga, and Arwanop valleys. He highlighted the direct impact of Freeport’s operations, expressing a sense of injustice, deception, poverty, and powerlessness experienced by the local community.
Magal stated that ever since Freeport entered the ancestral land of Bumi Amungsa Nemangkawi through the First Contract of Work signed by the Indonesian government and Freeport on April 7, 1967, based on Law No. 1/1967 on Foreign Capital Investment, the sacred land of the Amungme Tribe was then destroyed, contaminated, and their sacred mountain has suffered damage.
“The damage, ranging from the highest peak to the sea, has had a significant impact on our environment as a result of mining activities,” he said.
He pointed out that since the presence of Freeport, the lives of the Amungme Tribe have been significantly affected. Though in 2018, the 51% share divestment made the Indonesian government the majority shareholder, the implications for justice and the welfare of the community remain concerning.
From 2018 to 2021, PT Freeport Indonesia conducted an AMDAL study without the participation of the directly affected community in the company’s activities. Magal criticized the management of Freeport for choosing to interact with community groups that support their business sustainability but do not represent the comprehensive layers directly impacted.
Magal emphasized that since the company’s presence in their ancestral land, the basic rights of the indigenous people have been ignored. He called on President Joko Widodo to intervene in the Freeport’s AMDAL process, ensuring a transparent reevaluation involving those directly affected.
Furthermore, Magal requested the President to consider the aspirations of the Amungme Tribe in light of the recent changes in the law regarding Special Autonomy for the Province of Papua. He urged that the social department’s aspirations of Freeport be handed over to the indigenous landowners directly affected.
In the third and final request, Magal highlighted the economic significance of the ancestral land and sacred mountain of the Amungme Tribe, which has contributed significantly to the national economy. (*)
Jayapura, Jubi – The Bishop of Jayapura, Mgr. Yanuarius Theofilus Matopai You, has expressed concerns over the deployment of Indonesian Military (TNI) and Police personnel from outside Papua to the region, stating that it instills fear and discomfort among the local residents. Bishop Yanuarius made these remarks during a discussion titled “Quo Vadis Papua Land of Peace?” organized by the Secretariat for Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation of the Franciscan Papua in Jayapura City on Monday, January 29, 2024.
“The excessive deployment of security forces causes the community to live in fear,” he said.
Bishop Yanuarius argued that the deployment of security forces to Papua, under the pretext of maintaining sovereignty, has significant implications for the lives of civilians. According to him, the people of Papua are already traumatized by the presence of the TNI and police.
“The deployment of forces is making security in Papua increasingly non-conducive. Papua is not a military emergency area. Yet the people have to leave their villages, gardens, and businesses and go elsewhere. Their lives are very difficult, and it continues,” he said.
Bishop Yanuarius emphasized that the central government should create space for dialogue. Dialogue is a wise step to discuss and find solutions to the conflicts in Papua.
“If the dialogue space is not opened, we will continue like this. What have we done wrong? What sins have we committed that the central government and the president allow us to live in this situation?” the Bishop questioned.
A report from the Democracy Alliance for Papua (AlDP) in 2023 noted that at least 10,250 TNI soldiers and 1,416 police from outside Papua were sent and stationed in the region. These thousands of security personnel are involved in various tasks, including the Cartenz Peace Operation, border security operations between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, territorial community operations, public order, security operations for PT Freeport Indonesia, and Susi Air pilot rescue.
The Director of the Secretariat for Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation of the Franciscan Papua, Alexandro Rangga OFM, emphasized the need for all parties to honestly discuss the issues in Papua. This is crucial for those with interests in Papua to take sincere actions to realize a peaceful Papua.
“We need to talk honestly about our home [Papua],” said Alexandro on Monday.
Alexandro stressed the importance of advocating for a peaceful Papua as conflicts persist in the region. He expressed concern that armed conflicts could escalate and trigger dangerous horizontal conflicts or conflicts between residents.
“If not, the slogan Papua Tanah Damai (Papua Land of Peace) that started 22 years ago will remain just a slogan. Those experiencing the lack of peace in Papua are the people themselves, regardless of the decisions made by political elites. The pressure on the people is increasing, and it is dangerous because every reaction to anarchic actions has a comprehensive effect in Papua,” he added. (*)
Separatist leader Egianus Kogoya gestures as he sits on a captured Susi Air plane in the central highlands of Indonesia’s Papua region, Feb. 7, 2023.
Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s restive Papua region on Wednesday said they would like to release a New Zealand pilot taken hostage nearly a year ago, but officials in Jakarta and Wellington were delaying negotiations for his freedom.
In response, a government spokesman said authorities did not trust the claim by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), which had initially demanded that Papua be freed from Indonesia in exchange for pilot Philip Mehrtens, and later agreed to negotiate with a third-party mediator.
Rebels in Nduga regency captured the pilot on Feb. 7, 2023, after attacking his plane and setting it on fire. Mehrtens is the longest they have held anyone captive.
“We at TPNPB headquarters agreed to release the New Zealand pilot, because he was a pilot from our neighboring country and most Australians and New Zealanders are supporters of an independent Papua,” rebel spokesman Sebby Sambom said in a statement.
“And we also detained him not as an enemy, but as a friend living with TPNPB troops.”
BenarNews contacted Sambom for details about Mehrtens’ potential release.
“We’re trying to find the best solution,” he told BenarNews.
Sambom said the group had tried to negotiate with the governments of New Zealand and Indonesia.
Indonesian military has made efforts to search for Mehrtens but has been unsuccessful.
Four Indonesian soldiers were killed last April when rebels ambushed security forces who the military said were conducting an operation to rescue the pilot.
Mehrtens, a pilot for Susi Air, a small airline operating in remote areas of Indonesia, was kidnapped after his plane landed in Paro district, Nduga regency. The rebels freed five passengers.
The Liberation Army has been seeking independence from Indonesia since 1963, when Papua, a former Dutch colony, was annexed by Jakarta. The Free Papua Movement has waged a low-level guerrilla war against Indonesian rule ever since.
Indonesia considers Papua as sovereign territory and has rejected any calls for a new referendum. It also deployed thousands of troops and police to quell unrest, which often resulted in human rights violations and civilian casualties.
No follow-up discussions
Government spokesman Bayu Suseno, who works for a military and police task force dealing with the Papua insurgency, doubted the sincerity of Sambom’s statement that the rebels would like to release the pilot.
He said the government had tasked Nduga regency’s leader Edison Gwijangge, who is related to rebel leader Egianus Kogoya, to talk to the Liberation Army, but no deal had been reached.
“We put the pilot’s welfare and safety first,” Bayu said.
Meanwhile, Papua police spokesman Benny Ady Prabowo said he was unaware of any plan to free the pilot.
Indonesian military information chief Nugraha Gumilar and presidential adviser Theo Litaay did not respond to BenarNews requests for comment.
Sambom said the rebels held a high-level meeting in April 2023 with a New Zealand delegation in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, but there have been no follow-up discussions since.
He also said rebels received a positive response from Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to a letter they sent him last May, but there was no further action.
“We think that the New Zealand government and the Indonesian government are both unable to talk with us about freeing the Kiwi pilot, and they don’t understand humanity, because for the sake of humanity we have to talk to free the New Zealand pilot,” Sambom said.
The New Zealand government has not commented on the latest statement by the rebel spokesman. Its foreign ministry previously said it was working with Indonesian authorities to secure Mehrtens’ release.
Papua issue ‘not easy to solve’
Adriana Elisabeth, a Papua researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency, said the government is more concerned about the upcoming Feb. 14 presidential election than it is about the hostage situation.
“Whoever becomes president, the Papua problem will be a challenge that is not easy to solve. The pilot case is just one aspect of the Papua conflict,” she told BenarNews.
Adriana said the release was delayed because the rebels’ demand for independence in exchange for the hostage could not be met.
She added that the only path to a solution was a political dialogue held on the condition that the hostage is freed.
“Without an agreement on this, it is hard to find a solution,” Adriana said.
Yan Christian Warinussy, spokesman for the Papua Peace Network NGO, said there had been no serious effort to free Mehrtens.
“Both sides need to be sincere,” he told BenarNews.
Jakarta — Greenpeace Indonesia says it regrets that the vice presidential debate on Sunday January 21 did not show any commitment on the part of the three presidential tickets running in the 2024 elections to overcome the climate crisis.
According to Greenpeace, the vice presidential candidates (cawapres) failed to identify the main cause of the climate crisis, namely the conversion of land and the energy sector through the massive use of coal.
“From the debate last night, we witnessed that the extractive economy still characterises the vision of the presidential and vice presidential candidate tickets”, said Greenpeace Indonesia head Leonard Simanjuntak as quoted in a press release on Monday January 22.
Simanjuntak is of the view that vice presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka — who is President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s eldest son — echoed the government’s extractive economy policy through nickel and downstream issues, while the other two candidates, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar and Security Minister Mahfud MD, also did not firmly declare a commitment to exit this pattern.
Simanjuntak said that the government’s extractive economy has triggered many problems ranging from an imbalance of control and land utilisation, which that has gave birth to agrarian conflicts by expropriating the rights of indigenous, local and coastal peoples, to damaging forests and peatlands, polluting the environment and worsening the climate crisis.
On the issue of agrarian reform, said Simanjuntak, the vice presidential candidates did not discuss a resolution to agrarian conflicts due to investments being designated as National Strategic Project (PSN).
Rakabuming Raka and Mahfud for example, limited their discussion to certification plans and land redistribution without touching the root of the problem.
Simanjuntak quoted from Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) data which revealed that there had been 42 agrarian conflicts in 2023 due to PSN, a steep rise compared with the previous year. These conflicts covered some
516,409 hectares of land and impacted on more than 85 thousand families.
“The three cawapres also promised to protect indigenous communities and indigenous areas, including by ratifying the Draft Law on Indigenous Communities. These kinds of promises are always delivered from election to election, but political reluctance by the elected president and the political parties supporting him has so far illustrated that recognising and protecting indigenous communities is nothing more than rhetoric”, he said.
“Without revoking the Job Creation Law and stopping PSNs that appropriate indigenous communities’ land, this pledge is just empty talk”, he added.
Simanjuntak added that indigenous communities’ living space continues to be eroded by land clearing and deforestation. According to Simanjuntak, Iskandar’s statement on reforestation to overcome deforestation does not answer the problem.
Forest damage due to deforestation, including what happened at the Mount Mas food estate in Central Kalimantan, cannot be all of a sudden taken care of by replanting.
“The restoration of forests that are damaged through reforestation must indeed be done. However, the most crucial thing is actually to stop the deforestation”, said Simanjuntak.
Referring to data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), between 2015 and 2022 the deforestation rate reached 3.1 million hectares. Planned deforestation also threatens the 34 million hectares of remaining natural forest in Papua (as of 2022).
Between 1992 and 2019, continued Simanjuntak, there were 72 directives on the release of forest areas in Papua issued by the KLHK. The total release of forest areas referred to cover an area of 1.5 million hectares and 1.1 million hectares including areas that are still in the form of natural forest and peatland.
In addition to this, forest and peatlands fires still occur every year.
In 2023, the figure for land and forest fires reached 1.16 million hectares. “But unfortunately this was left out in the cawapres debate discussion”, he said.
“They did indeed touch on coastal and fisher communities, but they did not spell out the agenda for mitigation and climate adaptation or how residents living in coastal areas and small islands are being increasingly squeezed by the impact of the climate crisis”, he said.
(ryn/tsa)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Greenpeace Nilai Debat Cawapres Nihil Komitmen atasi Krisis Iklim”.]
January 22, 2024 in National & International, Environment
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Author: CR-9 – Editor: Dewi Wulandari
Data on potential deforestation in Tanah Papua. – Jubi/Greenpeace Indonesia
Jayapura, Jubi – Greenpeace Indonesia estimates that around 7.5 million hectares of natural forest in Tanah Papua has the potential to be lost, along with other natural resources, which will be sacrificed to spur economic growth and regional governance in four new provinces, namely Southwest Papua, Central Papua, and Mountain Papua. , and South Papua.
This was conveyed by Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner, Nicodemus Wamafma, when met by Jubi in Jayapura City, Papua Province on Saturday (20/1/2024).
“With weak and limited fiscal support as a new autonomous region in order to finance government and regional development, the new province will focus on encouraging the presence of land-based investment in the hope that it will contribute to economic growth and regional development,” he said.
Wamafma said the four new provinces needed land for offices, development of supporting infrastructure and economic growth to strengthen regional fiscal.
“If it is not carried out with a wise and good development approach, the expansion of provinces and districts and cities will have an impact on environmental damage, including deforestation of natural forests in the Land of Papua,” he said.
Data on the area of oil palm plantations in Tanah Papua. – Jubi/Greenpeace Indonesia
Learning from Papua’s journey during 1963-2021, continued Wamafma, development and investment in the Land of Papua had more of an exploitative impact on forests and natural resources belonging to the indigenous Papuan community rather than having an impact on improving the quality of life such as improving the quality of education, health and the economy, but there were more rights conflicts. -rights to land, forests and natural resources as well as human rights violations.
“[The conflict] between the state and corporations or companies against the Papuan indigenous people has not been resolved properly until now and is still a hidden ember. “This situation will get worse after the expansion of provinces continues to be forced in the Land of Papua,” he said.
The government in the four new provinces, he said, must learn from the process that Papua and West Papua Provinces have gone through and look at the living conditions of the Papuan indigenous people where extractive and exploitative development approaches have resulted in deforestation of Papua’s natural forests, environmental damage and loss of important biodiversity. as well as the violation or loss of the rights of indigenous Papuan people to land, forests and other natural resources.
“If not, the same approach and process will be repeated and more and more of Papua’s natural forests will be sacrificed or eliminated. This results in wider environmental damage and marginalization of the rights and lives of Papuan indigenous peoples in their traditional territories. “The Papuan indigenous people will stand as silent witnesses to the loss of rights and destruction of their areas of life, identity and future,” he said.
According to Wamafma, in the last two decades Greenpeace Indonesia recorded that more than 641,400 hectares of natural forest in Tanah Papua were lost with the main focus in Merauke, Boven Digoel, Nabire, Mimika, Mappi, Fakfak, Teluk Bintuni, Sorong, Manokwari and Kaimana.
Meanwhile, in the era of the Jokowi administration, from 2014 to the present, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry under the leadership of Siti Nurbaya has released more than 296,378 hectares of natural forest for various licensing purposes including allocation for the National Strategic Food Estate Project and the Trans Papua road and bridge infrastructure project. along more than 4,600 km from Sorong to Merauke. (*)
General Soeharto who ruled Indonesia for 32 years last century used to stage a ‘Festival of Democracy’ every five years. This was export quality irony – the results were known before the poll papers were printed.
That’s not the case this year as the Republic now has an apparently independent Komisi Pemilihan Umum, (General Elections Commission, KPU) to police the process in what is supposed to be a democracy.
International authorities label it ‘flawed’ which is being kind. Local academics predict more dilution after the February election whoever wins.
The KPU is not the problem – it’s the parties. Three of the 24 contesting the presidency and a confusion of other national and regional positions have ‘democracy’ in their title. The other 21 idly pass the gift of the Greeks around in their pronouncements like a smoke with a few sucks left before it’s stubbed out.
(The global leader in grand misnomers is North Korea, officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.)
If democracy means the people have the power then none of Indonesia’s major parties nurture that essential. There are annual meetings and flash events to show that all bleatings are heard. But these displays are for the shepherd to tell the flock where it’s heading, not why.
The largest party by membership and seats is the ruling Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (Democratic Party of Struggle) led by Megawati Soekarno, 76, the daughter of first president Soekarno. She was the fifth president (2001 – 04) and now party president for life.
PDI-P is supposed to have half a million followers, but as with the first Elizabeth only the Monarch’s voice may be heard. One card-carrier is the current President Joko ’Jokowi’ Widodo, constitutionally barred from standing for more than two five-year terms.
A decade ago Mega reluctantly launched his career from Jakarta Governor to national politics. She couldn’t muster public support for a dynasty through her unpopular daughter Puan Maharani, chair of the House of Reps – Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR).
Despite Jokowi’s wins in 2014 and 2019, and an approval rating of around 80 per cent, Mega paid him no respect as the leader of 270 million people, the world’s third-largest democracy after India and the US.
She considered him a ‘minor functionary’. This year she handpicked the former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo as his successor, a man reportedly more pliant to her demands.
To revenge the slights Jokowi dropped endorsement of his party colleague and instead blessed Prabowo Subianto his bitter rival in the last two contests. Jokowi’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 36, then quit the PDI-P to join Prabowo as his vice president candidate.
It’s widely thought he’s there as Jokowi’s proxy, but the former mayor of Solo (Central Java) may yet turn out to be his own man. If so the businessman who has never been subject to military discipline will need guts to disobey the fiery-tempered absolutist Prabowo.
In the last election (2019) the PDI-P scored just under 20 per cent of the vote and 128 seats in the DPR. The Jokowi and Gibran defections will cut down these scores.
In colonial days bowing and scraping was the way to win favours; in a modern Republic, stuffed envelopes are more effective.
According to Transparency International, Indonesia ranked 110 among 180 countries measured for corruption. The score starts at 1 = most pure. Here’s where the Nordic nations and NZ cluster.
Autocrats hate critics, so Jokowi’s bloodless way to neuter opponents has been to invite minor parties to abandon their principles, join his coalition and get money-making ministries. He’s done this so well his actions only get chastised by NGOs and unions.
Golkar (Functional Groups) was the plaything of the late Soeharto. It claims 840,000 members, but that appears to be a leftover from last century when all public servants had to belong.
In 1997, the last election before he was ousted, the party had 325 of the 400 seats, now only 85. A few minor parties were allowed to give the pretence of democracy but only Mega’s mob offered any opposition and so was trashed by Soeharto’s thugs in 1996.
Five people died, 149 were injured and 23 remain missing. The party was reformed as centre-left nationalistic and added ‘struggle’ to its title. For many years it was popular through its underdog status, but that’s waned.
The hard-right Gerindra (Great Indonesia Movement) is the third-largest party with 78 seats. It’s the poodle of Prabowo, Indonesia’s version of Mussolini.
The cashiered former general and alleged human rights abuser started the party after returning from self-imposed exile in Jordan in 2008 and finding no welcome mat at Golkar.
Gerindra boasts half a million members, but that doesn’t imply they’re paid-up card holders. The money comes from Prabowo’s dollar billionaire businessman brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo.
The slightly left NasDem (Democratic Party) has 59 seats in the DPR; it’s steered by Surya Paloh who owns the 24-hour news channel Metro TV. Surya was a key figure in Golkar for 40 years before starting NasDem in 2011 and reportedly has 400,000 members.
The media tzar comes from Sumatra, a huge handicap in Java-dominated politics so has appointed other candidates, this time former Jakarta Governor Dr Anies Baswedan.
He’s not doing well in the polls, probably because he used to be an academic and takes leadership seriously. Better harken to coarse Prabowo who uses the Trump primer: Rant, lie flat out like a thirsty lizard, blame unnamed foreigners for all evils, sow fear and promise to fix everything without explaining one policy detail.
That’s because there aren’t many – and those that surface soon evaporate. Indonesian politics isn’t driven by ideas gleaned in democratic party conferences where intellects clash, but by personalities created by social media,, wrinkles smoothed by AI.
The Gerindra duo are being promoted as jolly cartoon characters as though running the world’s fourth largest nation with more Muslims than any other state is a pastime for a Blinky Bill lookalike.
As Tim Minchin sings in his Opera House tribute Play It Safe: ‘You gotta keep it simple’. Economics and foreign relations? Boor-r-r-ing. Just choose someone like the late Soeharto (Prabowo is his former son-in-law) who kept prices low and fixed dissent with gunfire. Those were the days.
In 1998 the students who helped bring in democracy reckoned they were activists, but the president said they were terrorists so good riddance. It worked last century – so why not now?
The answer is that the electorate is better educated, knows more of the world through uncensored smartphones and maybe better able to research the history they didn’t get at school. Whether their learning has reached the age of discretion will be known after 14 February.
Duncan Graham has been a journalist for more than 40 years in print, radio and TV. He is the author of People Next Door (UWA Press). He is now writing for the English language media in Indonesia from within Indonesia. Duncan Graham has an MPhil degree, a Walkley Award, two Human Rights Commission awards and other prizes for his radio, TV and print journalism in Australia. He lives
Jayapura — The Papuan people and the West Papua National Committee
(KNPB) in the Meepago area have welcomed the acquittal of Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti who were found not guilty by the East Jakarta District Court on Monday January 8.
Azhar and Maulidiyanti are human rights activists who were found not guilty in a case of defamation brought against them by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs (Menko Marves) and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.
The case began when Azhar and Maulidiyanti appeared in a YouTube podcast titled “There is Lord Luhut behind the Economic Relations-Military Operations in Intan Jaya!! There are also State Intelligence Agency Generals!! NgeHAMtam”.
“Myself along with the Papuan people in Meepago and Dogiaya, we welcome the news of the release of Haris and Fatia by the [East] Jakarta District Court which today decided to free them. We welcome this and we say this is a victory for the Papuan people, that what Haris and Fatia fought for in the conflict in Papua was something that was true”.
“Therefore this truth will continue to win anywhere and the people are together with Haris and Fatia”, said KNPB international spokesperson Victor Yeimo on Monday in South Kamu, Dogiya regency, Central Papua province.
“We convey to the government of the Republic of Indonesia, especially to Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan (Menko Marves). Stop the military businesses in Papua, especially in the Wabu Block. We convey that the people of Meepago, the people of Intan Jaya, Dogiaya and Deiyai firmly reject the Wabu Block project being developed in Papua, especially in Intan Jaya”.
Yeimo said that the Papuan people have suffered since the gold-and-copper mine PT Freeport was established in Papua.
“We, the people of Papua, have experienced suffering along with the presence of PT Freeport. Don’t let there be any more companies in the Wabu Block with military businesses that conduct massive exploitation of Meepago land”.
“We, the people of Meepago, firmly reject military projects, projects of the Oligarchic elite from Jakarta. We [stand] together with Haris and Fatia. The truth will always win out!”, Yeimo concluded.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Vonis Bebas Haris dan Fatia Disambut Rakyat Meepago dan KNPB, Victor:
The usually festive Christmas season in West Papua was marred by the death of beloved Papua Governor and Chief Lukas Enembe in an Indonesian military hospital on Boxing Day. The author personally witnessed the emotional village scenes of his burial and accuses the Indonesian authorities of driving him to his death through draconian treatment. Today is one year from when Enembe was “kidnapped” by authorities from his home and most Papuans believe the governor never received justice.
SPECIAL REPORT:By Yamin Kogoya in Jayapura
Papuans regard December as both the most sacred and toughest month of the year.
December holds great significance in West Papua for two distinct reasons. First, the date December 1 signifies a pivotal national moment for Papuans, symbolising the birth of their nationhood.
Second, on December 25, the majority of Christian Papuans celebrate the birth of Christ.
This date embodies the spirit of Christmas every year, characterised by warmth, family gatherings, and the commemoration of Jesus’ birth, which is profoundly revered among Papuans.
The festive ambiance is heightened by the overlap with the celebration of Papuan independence on December 1, creating a doubly important month for the people.
Papuans raise the Morning Star flag on December 1 every year to commemorate the birth of a new nation statehood, marked originally in 1961. The month of December is a time of celebration and hope — but it is
also tragedy and betrayal, making it psychologically and emotionally the most sensitive month for Papuans.
If there were an evil force aiming to target and disrupt the heart of Papuan collective identity, December would be the ideal time for such intentions.
Jakarta accomplished this on 26 December 2023 — Boxing Day as it is known in the West.
Instead of offering a Christmas gift of redemption and healing to the long-suffering Papuans, who have endured torment from the Indonesian elites for more than 60 years, Jakarta tragically presented them with
yet another loss — the death of their beloved leader, former Papua Governor and Chief Lukas Enembe.
Enembe died at the Indonesian military hospital in Jakarta at 10 am local time.
Chief Lukas Enembe died standing In the early hours of Tuesday, December 26, Enembe asked visiting family members to help him stand up from his hospital bed. The next thing he asked was for someone close to him to hug and embrace him.
Before taking his last breath, Enembe looked around and kissed a family member on the cheek. He died while standing and being embraced by his family.
A doctor was immediately summoned to attend Chief Enembe. Tragically, it was too late to save him. He was pronounced dead shortly after.
Since October, he had been receiving treatment at the Indonesian military hospital. He fought courageously both legally and clinically for his life after he was “kidnapped” from his home by the
Indonesian Corruption Commission (KPK) and Indonesian security forces on 10 January 2023.
During his prolonged trial, he was severely ill and in and out of courtrooms and military hospitals. Some weeks after falling in KPK’s prison bathroom, he was rushed to hospital but brought straight back to his prison cell.
Court hearings were sometimes cancelled due to his severe illness, while at other times, he briefly appeared online. At times, hearings took hours due to insufficient or lack of evidence, or the complexity of the case against him.
Eventually, Chief Judge Rianto Adam Pontoh and other judges read out the verdict on 19 October 2023, in which he was sentenced to eight years in prison and fined Rp500 million for bribery and gratification
related to infrastructure projects in Papua.
One month after the ruling became legally binding, the judge also enforced an extra fine of Rp19.69 billion.
He continued to maintain his innocence until the day he died.
Throughout the proceedings, Enembe asserted that he had never received any form of illicit payment or favour from either businessman cited in the allegations.
Enembe and his legal team emphasised that none of the testimony of the 17 witnesses called during the trial could provide evidence of their involvement in bribery or gratuities in connection with Lukas Enembe.
“During the trial, it was proven very clearly that no witness could explain that I received bribes or gratuities from Rijatono Lakka and Piton Enumbi,” Enembe said through his lawyer Pattyona during the hearing.
In addition to asking for his release, Enembe also asked the judge to unfreeze the accounts of his wife and son which had been frozen when the legal saga began. He said his wife (Yulce Wenda)
and son (Astract Bona Timoramo Enembe) needed access to their funds to cover their daily expenses.
This request remains answered until today.
Enembe asked that no party criminalise him anymore. He insisted that he had never laundered money or owned a private jet, as KPK had claimed. Enembe’s lawyer also requested that his client’s honour
be restored to prevent further false accusations from emerging.
As Enembe appealed the verdict for justice, he became seriously ill and was admitted to military hospital on October 23. He could nit secure the justice he sought, nor did he receive the medical care he persistently pleaded for.
Singaporean medical specialist tried to save him Within a week of being admitted to the military hospital, his health rapidly deteriorated.
Upon an emergency family request, Dr Francisco (a senior consultant nephrologist) and Dr Ang (a senior consultant cardiologist from Singapore Royalcare, heart, stroke and cancer) visited Chief Lukas on October 28.
Under his Singaporean doctors’ supervision, Enembe underwent successful dialysis the next day.
Enembe’s family requested a second visit on November 15 in carry out treatment for further dialysis and other complications..
A third visit was scheduled for next week after the doctors were due to return from their holidays. Doctors were in the process of requesting that the chief be transported to Singapore for a kidney transplant.
The doctors were shocked when they learned of the death of their patient — a unique and strong human being they had come to know over the years — when they returned from holiday.
In her tribute to the former governor, Levinia Michael, centre manager of the Singapore medical team, said:
“MR GOVERNOR LEFT US WITH A BROKEN HEART, BUT HE IS AT ETERNAL PEACE NOW. I THINK HE WAS TOTALLY EXHAUSTED FIGHTING THIS YEAR BATTLE WITH MEN ON EARTH.”
Requests for immediate medical treatment rejected There have been numerous letters of appeal sent from the chief himself, the chief’s family, lawyers, and his medical team in Singapore to the KPK’s office, the Indonesian president, and the Indonesian human rights
commission, all requesting that Enembe be treated before going on trial. They were simply ignored.
Before his criminalisation in 2022 and subsequent kidnapping in 2023, the torment of this esteemed Papuan leader had already begun, akin to a slow torture like that of a boiling frog.
He confided to those near him that Jakarta’s treatment was a consequence of his opposition to numerous West Papua policies. His staunch pro-Papuan stance, similar to other leaders before him, ultimately sealed his fate.
The real cause of the death of this Papuan leader and many others who died mysteriously in Jakarta will never be known, as Indonesian authorities are unlikely to allow an independent autopsy or investigative
analysis to determine the real cause of death.
This lack of accountability and lack of justice only fuels Papuan grievances and strengthens their unwavering commitment to fight for their rights.
Emotional Papuan responses On the morning of December 28, the governor’s body arrived in Port Numbay, the capital of West Papua, or Hollandia during the Dutch era. (Indonesia later renamed the city Jayapura, meaning “city of victory”.)
As the coffin of the beloved Papuan leader and governor began to exit the airport corridor, chaos erupted. Mourning and upset Papuans attacked the Papua police chief, and the acting governor of Papua, Ridwan Rumasukun’s face was smashed with rocks.
Papuan tribes of the highland village of Mamit, from where Chief Eneme originates, have asked all Indonesian settlers to pack their belongings and return home. His village’s airstrip was closed and there was a threat to burn an aircraft.
Thousands marched while burning Indonesian flags and rejecting Indonesian occupation.
Jayapura and its surroundings completely changed upon his arrival. All shops, supermarkets, malls, and offices were closed. The red-and-white Indonesian flag was flown half-mast.
The streets, usually heavily congested with traffic emptied. There were almost no Indonesian settlers visible on the streets. Armed soldiers and policemen were visible everywhere, anticipating any possible uprising, creating an eerie atmosphere of dread and uncertainty.
Despite this, thousands of Papuans commenced their solemn journey, carrying the coffin on foot from Sentani to Koya while flying high West Papua’s Morning Star flag.
Papuan mourners said goodbye to their governor with a mixture of sorrow and pride — a deep sense of sorrow for his tragic death, but also a sense of pride for what he stood for.
Papuan mothers, fathers, and youth stood along roadsides waving, holding posters, and bidding farewell. They addressed him as “goodbye son”, “goodbye father”, “good rest chief of Papuan people”, “father of development”, “father of education”, and “most honest and loved leader of Papuan people”.
The setting mirrored Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, greeted with palm leaves and resounding hosannas, only to face an unjust trial and execution on a Roman cross.
At midnight, thousands of Papuans carried the coffin by foot to the chief’s home, and the funeral continued until the next day. About 20,000 people gathered, and not a single Indonesian settler or high Indonesian
or security forces official was visible.
Hundreds of flowers, posters with condolence messages from Indonesian’s highest offices, government departments, NGOs, individual leaders, governors, regencies, ministers, and even President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo
himself flooded the chief’s home — which was displayed everywhere from the streets to the walls and fences.
Finally, on the December 29, Governor and Chief Lukas Enembe was buried next to the massive museum he had built dedicated to West Papua and Russia in honour of his favourite 19th century Russian scientist, anthropologist
and humanist, Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay, who sought to save Papuans from European racism and savagery in the Papua New Guinea north-eastern city of Madang in the 1870s.
Thousands of TikTok videos, YouTube videos, Facebook posts, and other social media outlets have been flooded with many of his courageous speeches, remarks, and other observations made during his leadership.
Papuans carry leaders’ coffins as sign of respect West Papua has had only four other Papuan leaders besides Chief Enembe who have been carried on foot by thousands of Papuans as a sign of honour and respect since Indonesian occupation began in 1963.
They were Thomas Wainggai in 1996, a prominent West Papua independence advocate; Theys Eluay (2001), killed by Indonesian special forces; Neles Tebay, a Papuan leader who actively sought a peaceful resolution of
conflict in West Papua through his Catholic faith and network; and Filep Karma, a prominent West Papuan independence leader and governor.
When Papuans carry their dead leader by foot chanting, singing, dancing with a Morning Star flag, it means these leaders understood the deepest desire and prayers for Papuans people and that desire and prayer is
freedom and independence to West Papua.
Chief Lukas Enembe’s uniqueness lies in the fact that he was the only Indonesian colonial governor to receive such honour and respect from Papuans. While the other four honoured were not governors, they were
active participants in the independence movement in West Papua.
‘Act of revenge’ by Jakarta against a courageous Papuan leader Jakarta finally accomplished what it had set out to accomplish for decades when Enembe became a threat to Jakarta’s grip on West Papua — to engineer his death.
A direct assault on Lukas Enembe posed too much risk for Jakarta. Instead, Jakarta systematically criminalised, abducted, subjected him to legal processes, and clinically tortured him until his death on December 26.
Regardless of how vile and malicious a criminal is in Western nations, if they are injured during their illegal acts, are captured alive or half alive, police, paramedics, and ambulances immediately transport
them to a hospital to be treated until they are physically and mentally capable of standing a fair trial.
This is protected under the western central legal doctrine — a person must be fit for trial.
Governor and Chief Lukas Enembe was evidently unfit for trial or imprisonment. However, the Indonesian government, using its corruption-fighting institution (KPK), detained an ailing man in prison until he died.
While Indonesians may see his death as a consequence of kidney failure, to Papuans he was tortured to death like a “boiling frog” much as Jakarta is doing to Papuans in West Papua as a whole.
In less than 20-50 years from now, indigenous Papuans will be reduced to a point where they will be unable to reclaim their land. The Papuans themselves must unite and fight for their land.
If the outside world fails to intervene, the fate of the Papuans will be like that of the original indigenous First Nation peoples of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
A door of hope for reclaiming their land is becoming narrower and narrower as Jakarta employs every trick to divide them, control them and eliminate them.
The Indonesian government is using highly sophisticated means to exterminate Papuans without the Papuans even being aware of it. Those who are aware are being eliminated.
Chief Lukas Enembe was one of the few leaders who realised Papuans may face this bleak fate.
Yamin Kogoya is a West Papuan academic who has a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University and who contributes to Asia Pacific
Report. From the Lani tribe in the Papuan Highlands, he is currently living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
January 5, 2024 14:06 GMT+700 Manokwari, W Papua (ANTARA) – The West Papua police reported that it has deployed 385 personnel to secure the distribution of election logistics to the districts of Manokwari, Manokwari Selatan, Pegunungan Arfak, Teluk Bintuni, and Teluk Wondama.
The police officers safeguarded the distribution of ballot papers and other items of election logistics from the Manokwari Port and General Elections Commission (KPU)-Manokwari warehouse to the five districts.
Head of West Papua Police’s Operational Bureau Sen. Coms. Erick Kadir Sully stated here on Thursday (January 4) that he guaranteed safe and smooth distribution of election logistics for the voting day on Feb 14.
The mission for securing the distribution of ballot papers and other items of election logistics is made effective from January 1-15.
“The election logistics for Pegunungan Arfak is scheduled on Friday,” he revealed.
Meanwhile, Muin Salewe, a commissioner at the KPU-West Papua Office, stated that ballot papers for the districts of Kaimana and Fakfak were transported from Sorong, the capital of Southwest Papua Province.
“For five other districts, the ballot papers are delivered from Manokwari,” he said, adding that a total of 394,058 ballot papers would have been distributed to seven districts in West Papua Province.
The KPU has announced that the presidential and parliamentary elections will be held simultaneously across Indonesia on February 14, 2024.
The commission has officially set a 75-day election campaign period from November 28, 2023, to February 10, 2024, for the three pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates.
All participating political parties and presidential contenders have pledged to conduct peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections.
As part of its efforts to make voters aware of the three candidate pairs’ political pledges, the commission has organized five rounds of debates ahead of the presidential election.
The first and second rounds were held on December 12 and December 22, 2023. The third and fourth rounds will take place on January 7 and January 21, 2024, and the fifth round will be held on February 4, 2024.
Three pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates are contesting the presidential election: Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar, Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka, and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD.
Baswedan and Iskandar have been nominated with the support of the NasDem Party, National Awakening Party (PKB), Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), and Ummat Party.
Meanwhile, Subianto and Raka have the backing of the Gerindra Party and a coalition of parties, including Golkar, National Mandate Party (PAN), Democratic Party, and Gelora Party.
Pranowo and Mahfud have the support of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), United Development Party, Perindo Party, and Hanura Party.
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) – The Central Papua provincial government has continued to distribute food assistance to communities in Agandugume and Lambewi in Puncak district, which are experiencing drought due to hail.
In a press release issued here on Friday, Central Papua acting governor Ribka Haluk said the food assistance includes rice, instant noodles, mineral water, sugar, coffee, tea, and other staple commodities.
“On Thursday (January 4, 2024), we distributed food using a Caravan aircraft so that it could arrive faster than through land routes,” she said.
She informed that her side has been distributing food assistance since December 26, 2023.
The provincial government, she said, is also hoping to get assistance from other parties that want to help Puncak residents.
“We have prepared a special plane that can carry foodstuffs and arrive faster,” Haluk added.
She explained that the residents’ condition in the two sub-districts of Puncak has gradually improved, although they have not resumed their normal daily activities.
“In August 2023, we formed a team to overcome the drought due to hail,” she said.
Extreme weather, including hail, has led to starvation in Agandugume and Lambewi, Puncak.
Earlier, the provincial government distributed social assistance worth Rp12.1 billion to empower people’s economy in eight districts.
The province also formed a task force to handle stunting, control inflation, and erase extreme poverty in the region.
The government has committed to handling the drought and famine in Agandugume, Lambewi, and Oneri in Puncak district, Central Papua.
The dry winter season in the region has led to crop failure as well as shortages of food and clean water.
Australia West Papua Association Adelaide 