Referendum demand grows as govt’s Papua resolve wanes

• Margareth S. AritonangThe Jakarta Post

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/10/25/government-still-lacks-protection-rights-activists.html

 Government still lacks in protection of rights activists

Jakarta | Tue, October 25 2016 | 08:40 am

Rights activists have urged the government to increase the protection of rights defenders amid mounting violence against them.

Activists of the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi), Protection International (PI) and Arus Pelangi said their fellow activists across the country had experienced various abuses when fighting for people’s rights.

“Activists are always abused because they are at the forefront of human rights conflicts, so the opposing side always wants to shut them down,” PI activist Cahyadi told The Jakarta Post, adding the government should protect activists.

However, according to a survey from the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the UK-based University of York, the government is the most common violator against human rights activists. The survey stated that the “government” included the police, the military and regional government officers.

Companies, particularly those related to environment and labor rights issues, come second, while fundamental religious organizations rank third, according to the survey.

The survey was conducted earlier this year on 87 human rights activists of various issues like the environment, LGBTs, women’s rights and religious freedom. The activists originated from Jakarta, Surabaya, Ambon, Aceh, Palu and Manokwari.

The survey also found that activists received various types of abuse, most commonly threats through phone calls and text messages. They also experienced assault, became subject to investigations and criminal charges and faced defamation in the media. As many as 90 percent of the respondents said they were worried about their safety.

Protection of activists is recognized in the United Nation’s 1998 Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. The protection of privacy rights also appears in several laws, including Article 32 of Law No. 39/1999 on human rights.

The laws recognize the legitimacy of human rights activities and that those who carry it out have to be protected.

Many expected President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to suppress violence in his two years of rule, but activists recently said that he had failed to do so, highlighting the growing violence that the President had been unable to manage.

Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar said human rights could not be enforced in Indonesia if Jokowi still gave strategic positions to people who had been involved in human rights violations.

“The violations against human rights increased in Jokowi’s era,” he said earlier this year as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Haris said that Kontras recorded at least 300 human rights violations in 2015, higher than the previous year, or when former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was still in office.

Walhi activist Khalisah Khalid cited two human rights defenders, Salim Kancil and Yanes Balubun, who were allegedly assassinated in the past year.

In September last year, Salim was beaten to death by a group of people in Selok Awar-Awar subdistrict, Pasirian district, East Java. Salim had co-arranged a protest against invasive sand-mining in his village, which was conducted by companies.

Meanwhile, Yanes was a coordinator for the Ambon-based environmental group Humanum and the Indigenous Peoples Alliance. He passed away in April after a vehicle accident, but fellow activists argued that Yanes’ death was premeditated by parties that opposed his stance in Maluku. (adt)

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Anticipation Builds as Pacific CSOs Await Indonesia Response

Saturday, 15 October 2016, 9:45 pm
Press Release: PIANGO

Anticipation Builds as Pacific CSOs Await Indonesia Response to UN

Date: 14 October 2016
Suva – The request made by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) to Indonesia to formally respond to allegations of racial violence and discrimination against Papuans by November is a sign that the attitude of the UN to West Papua’s case is beginning to change.

Pacific Islands Association of NGOs executive director, Emele Duituturaga expressed these sentiments following UN CERD chair, Anastasia Crickley’s notification to Indonesia’s UN Permanent Representative, Triyono Wibowo that the committee’s recent session had considered allegations of killings and violence of indigenous Papuans in West Papua.

“I write to inform you that in the course of its 90th session, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered, under its early warning and urgent action procedure, allegations of excessive use of force, arrests, killings and torture of persons belonging to the Papuan indigenous people in West Papua, Indonesia, and allegations of discrimination against this people, that have been brought to its attention by a non-governmental organization,” Ms Crickley stated in the October 3rd dated correspondence.

“Reportedly, between April 2013 and December 2014, security forces killed 22 persons during demonstrations and a number of persons have also been killed or injured since January 2016. It is alleged that, in May 2014, more than 470 persons belonging to the Papuan indigenous people were arrested in cities of West Papua during demonstrations against extraction and plantation activities.”

The letter stated, “… Such arrests have reportedly increased since the beginning of 2016 amounting to 4000 between April and June 2016 and have included human rights activists and journalists. Such acts have reportedly never been investigated and those responsible have gone unpunished.”

“The submission claims that repression of persons belonging to the Papuan indigenous people is the result of a misinterpretation and lack of a correct implementation of the Special Autonomy Law by local and national authorities of Indonesia. The submission also claims that actions by security forces constitute violations of the rights of freedom of assembly and association.”

Duituturaga said the committee’s specific requests for information indicates how seriously it is treating the allegations made by civil societies to the UN about the treatment of indigenous West Papuans by the Indonesian government.

“CERD has given Indonesia until 14 November to provide information on its response to the allegations, the status of implementation of the Special Autonomy Law in West Papua, measures taken to ensure the effective protection of indigenous people in West Papua from arbitrary arrests and detentions as well as deprivation of life,” she said.

Indonesia has also been requested to report on measures taken to ensure that indigenous people from West Papua effectively enjoy their rights to freedom of assembly and association including persons with dissenting opinions, measures taken to investigate allegations of excessive use of force by security forces including killings and steps taken to improve access to education of Papuan children in West Papua in particular those living in very remote areas by the UN CERD.

“Indonesia is not only the third largest democracy in the world, they are an emerging economic powerhouse but their inability to apply democratic principles in West Papua threatens their credibility with the international community.”

“The ball is in their court now and Pacific civil societies are eagerly awaitingNovember 14 alongside UN CERD to read their response,” Duituturaga said.
ENDS

A Historic Choice: West Papua, Human Rights and Pacific Diplomacy at the Pacific Island Forum and Melanesian Spearhead Group

This report analyses political developments and human rights violations in West Papua by the Indonesian state in response to the West Papuan people’s aspirations for self-determination. It covers the period between January 2014, when a delegation of Melanesian Spearhead Group Foreign Ministers’ visited the territory, and 15 July 2016, the day after Melanesian Spearhead Group Special Leaders meet in Honiara and decided to defer a decision on the United Liberation Movement for West Papua’s application for full membership. That decision will now be made by MSG leaders in Port Vila, Vanuatu before September. The purpose of the report is to provide political decision makers in the Pacific – both at the Melanesian Spearhead Group and the Pacific Island Forum as well as civil society leaders in the Pacific, Non-Government Organisations, the Churches and solidarity groups in particular – with accurate, detailed and timely information about political developments and the human rights situation inside the country, a region that few manage to visit, let alone for any extended period. The authors hope that this information will assist them in their deliberations over the ULMWP’s application for full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group as well as the request before the Pacific Island Forum for an international human rights fact finding mission. In light of the worsening human rights situation, a rapidly approaching demographic catastrophe and the Indonesian government’s failure to protect West Papuans this report underscores the need for international remedies. The most obvious and powerful is to take the issue to the United Nations, including to re-list West Papua on the United Nations Committee for Decolonisation and to formally include the ULMWP in regional and sub-regional fora. As a priority the ULMWP should be granted full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. West Papuans need to have a seat at the table, to be the ones making decisions about their own future. Amongst other things, West Papuans need sub-regional and regional leaders to demand that the territory to be opened up to foreign media and international human rights observers. What emerges from the findings is a detailed picture of human rights violations, carried out largely, but not exclusively, by the Indonesian police. Abuses are both systemic and systematic,

please click on link below for full report

wp_pif_msg_report_online_rlr

http://dailypost.vu/opinion/pif-fle/article_9b8fca02-2707-55f4-aeb4-325bcbe5d91b.html

By Dan McGarry  5 hrs ago

Photo Alex Zuccarelli

At least the Kave was good.

The Pacific Islands Forum has come and gone, and people here in Vanuatu could not care less. There are few Pacific conclaves that generate less interest than this meeting.

In principle, nobody particularly disapproves of getting all Pacific leaders together once a year for a bit of a chat and maybe some minor course correction.

In practice, it seems clear that not all leaders are equal in the eyes of the Forum.

This year more than ever, the final communiqué simply side-stepped any views that didn’t suit the developed nation members.

The event might more accurately be described as the McCully/Bishop Forum.

The region-wide movement to disown PACER Plus was simply ignored in the final language. If Vanuatu needed any other excuse to walk away from this one-sided deal, their treatment in Pohnpei provided one. Scuttlebutt from the venue has it that France’s inclusion in the Forum was anything but a unanimous decision. Prime Minister Charlot Salwai exercised characteristic tact and diplomacy when asked about it, but it doesn’t take a crystal ball to imagine how Vanuatu, one of the staunchest supporters of decolonisation in the Pacific, felt about bringing France into the Forum fold.

France was excluded from the Forum specifically because of its refusal to discuss issues of decolonialisation when the organisation was formed in the 1970s.

West Papua is perhaps the only topic that could dampen Vanuatu’s joy following its under-20 football team winning their way to a World Cup berth. And once again, the Forum has gone to excruciating lengths to make least possible effort to stop the ‘slow motion genocide’ under way in PNG’s eastern neighbour.

In their wrap-up of the Forum, Tess Newton Cain and Matt Dornan write, “of the 48 regional policy public submissions that were received, 13 concerned West Papua.”

With admirable restraint, they continue: “last year’s measured statement announcing the establishment of an independent fact-finding mission looks positively assertive when compared to this year’s communiqué, which simply states that leaders ‘recognised the political sensitivities of the issue of West Papua (Papua) and agreed the issue of alleged human rights violations in West Papua (Papua) should remain on their agenda’ (while also agreeing ‘on the importance of an open and constructive dialogue with Indonesia’). The influence of the larger Forum members was likely at play here, including that of Australia, New Zealand, PNG and Fiji.”

But the silence was even more deafening—if such a thing were possible—where climate change is concerned.

One would think that a post-Paris meeting of the most at-risk countries in the world might feature some meaningful language concerning the single greatest existential threat the globe faces today.

One would be wrong.

If last year’s betrayal of the 1.5 degree global temperature rise limit wasn’t enough, this year we saw effectively no effort to slow the now-inevitable rise in global temperatures.

The closest we came to progress was to kick the Strategy for Resilient Development—an attempt to integrate climate change mitigation and disaster risk management—down the road.

An earlier version of the plan was rejected last year because it failed to cut the mustard last year, largely because of tepid Loss and Damage commitments.

This year, Cain and Dornan tell us the plan is back. The “voluntary nature of the framework agreed this year was no doubt helpful in securing leaders’ agreement.”

No doubt, indeed.

Some day, the bigger global fish are going to realise that they aren’t so big, and the small fry aren’t so small. We are all minnows in an increasingly crowded pond.

And when the sun begins to dry it, there’s no use in pretending the water’s only evaporating from someone else’s part of the pool.

Of course, the PIF wasn’t piffle for everyone concerned. Indonesia can take comfort that Australia, Fiji, PNG and New Zealand are still willing to carry their water, even in the face of a rising groundswell of protest over their continued occupation of West Papua.

Australia’s mining sector can hold their heads high at their ability to hold back a rising tide.

Fiji’s ruling regime danced through the meeting with characteristic aplomb, even as rumours of state-sponsored execution attempts circulate, and Opposition leaders are carted off to the clink.

If nothing else, the Vanuatu delegation got to visit the country with the second-most potent kava in the world. On an island so nice it looks like one of ours. That’s not nothing.

Sort of.

The online version of this article has been slightly edited from the print version.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/08/18/wiranto-and-low-trust-papua.html

 Wiranto and low trust in Papua

Hipolitus Yolisandry Ringgi Wangge

Jakarta | Thu, August 18 2016 | 07:34 am

Trust is the most crucial factor for a state dealing with regional dissatisfactions that turn to conflict. And the absence of this vital prerequisite for constructive engagement is clear to see when there have been no truly genuine and consistent efforts to build it.

Trust, or the lack thereof, is a significant challenge faced by the newly appointed coordinating political,
legal and security affairs minister, Wiranto.

Since President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo selected the former New Order general Wiranto to replace another retired general, Luhut B. Pandjaitan, as chief security minister, one long overdue matter to
be immediately addressed is the Papua problem.

Two prominent issues so far are the internationalization of the Papua issue across the South Pacific under the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG); and the unresolved human rights issues and serious underdevelopment in Papua.

Those two issues were addressed by Luhut during the past two years, but there are no obvious signs that results have been forthcoming. A key concern is that Wiranto will take the same stance as his predecessor. Continue reading →

Indonesia shows off peaceful Papua

Indonesia shows off peaceful Papua

Nethy Dharma Somba | The Jakarta Post | Jayapura
Fri, August 12 2016 | 07:18 am

For Indonesia: Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto hands over a Red-and-White flag to Kampung Mosso head Stenly Tanfa Chilong at the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border on Thursday. People at the border area received 1,945 flags as a token of their pledged commitment to defend Indonesia.(Antara/Indrayadi)

Having been accused of frequent abuses of human rights in Papua, the Indonesian government took a couple of senior Australian officials on a tour of the easternmost region on Thursday to see the peaceful state of the region.

Australia’s Attorney General George Brandis and Ambassador to Indonesia Paul Grigson joined Indonesia’s Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto and Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan on a trip to observe the construction of the Skouw-Wutung border post on the border between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) and other developments. The entourage left together from Nusa Dua, Bali, where they participated in a counterterrorism seminar.

Wiranto said he had invited the high-ranking Australian officials to Papua to see conditions in Papua firsthand, to counter what he called misleading information about the region’s security situation. “They will personally see the condition of the region and people of Papua. A lot of information from outside does not match reality. They can also see firsthand that Indonesia is serious about paying special attention to Papua,” he added.

Indonesia has been accused of neglecting development and security in the resource-rich region, leaving it mired in conflict and human rights abuses.

A separatist group, the Free Papua Movement (OPM), has a degree of popular support and is occasionally involved in armed exchanges with members of the security forces.

Protests demanding freedom for the region have also occurred in other parts of the country. The latest was a demonstration in Yogyakarta by students who staged a rally to show support for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua’s (ULMWP) bid for membership in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) last month.

The police detained seven students and raided the Papuan students’ dormitory.

There has also been a number of human rights violations recorded in the region over the decades.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) recorded that among the cases is the Biak massacre in 1998 during which civilians were tortured and killed in West Papua.

The Indonesian government has previously said it is examining 22 human rights violations in Papua, of which it hopes to complete three by the end of this year.

Thursday’s trip also saw the officials visiting local administration offices and meeting local bureaucrats and community leaders.

Brandis said it was the first time he had visited Papua. “I see pride in the people in their country Indonesia. The government is also focusing on infrastructure development in Papua, especially at the Indonesian-Papua New Guinean border,” he said.

While talking to Papuan residents, Wiranto called on the people of Papua and local administrations to create a peaceful situation in the province because no development would ever bear fruit if people lived in conflict.

“President [Joko “Jokowi” Widodo] really wants to build Papua in order for it to catch up with other regions. The President wishes to have heart-to-heart dialogue, listen to complaints and seek solutions, so with these good intentions it is expected that the Papuan people will build peace in Papua. How can we progress if there is no peace and live in constant conflict and disharmony with each other?” said Wiranto, who, as a former military commander, has also been accused of human rights abuses during the conflict leading to the independence of Timor Leste.

Jayapura’s Cenderawasih University Students’ Executive Body chairman Goni Gobay said development, sought by the Indonesian government in Papua, would not be achieved if it failed to resolve the many cases of human rights violations.

“How can we accept development while there are still wounds that have not healed? Papuans will not open their hearts to development if cases of human rights violations have not been resolved,” he said.

Goni agreed that peace was important in building Papua, so the government should also invite the brothers in the forests and strive to build Papua together.

Papuan religious leader Rev. Herman Saud acknowledged that the central government was open to Papua and had carried out many progressive development projects in Papua.

“President Jokowi has paid very close attention to advancing Papua. This is an opportunity that should be taken advantage of by local authorities to carry out large-scale development to boost the prosperity of the people,” he said.

Stop Military business and respect the rights of indigenous Papuans.

https://awasmifee.potager.org/?p=1440

Translation of a Press Release from a Coalition of Civil Society Organisations

On 16th July 2016 soldiers from the sub-district military command in Muting, Merauke Regency, came to look for Agustinus Dayo Mahuze, the chair of the Mahuze clan in Muting village, at his house. Their intention was to invite him to meet with the bosses of oil palm company PT Agriprima Cipta Persada (ACP) at the plantation site, and also to deliver a notice signed by the chair of the Kartika Setya Jaya co-operative, a military business linked to the District Military Comand

1707 in Merauke. The letter was dated 11th July 2016 and with reference number 8/16/VII/2016, and it gave notice of a permit of a work contract to clear land for oil palm in PT ACP’s concession..

The soldiers from the sub-district military command met Agustinus Dayo Mahuze away from his house, on the road towards Mbilanggo village, that afternoon, and stated the purpose of their visit. When the military officers told Agustinus Dayo about the plans between the co-operative and the company he felt threatened, afraid and anxious.

PT ACP’s has often involved the military and police in support of its business interests, and they have participated in activities related to obtaining the right to use land and in clearing land. This work has been accompanied by intimidation and threats of violence, generating nervousness and tension between the local community and the company, government and police and military personnel. Evidence for this are the letters the community repeatedly sent to the government, the police and military and the National Human Rights Commission between January and July 2015, to which they received no meaningful response.

Before that, the community had already made their feelings clear to the government and company by erecting notices around their ancestral land that read “the greater Mahuze clan’s land is not to be used for oil palm”. The community are also hoping to resolve the problem of a few members of the clan who have yet to repay money which had been given to a them as land compensation and which is being considered as proof of the transfer of land title, despite the fact that the clan members who accepted it did so without the general agreement of the whole greater Mahuze clan.

The involvement of the state security apparatus in providing security for PT ACP’s business interests, and even taking a direct role in the enterprise by clearing company land which is still disputed, and the way this creates a feeling amongst the community that they are not safe and facing injustice, represents a violation of the constitution and the law. The actions of these military personnel are also in contradiction to the military’s national commander to reform military institutions, including placing curbs on military businesses.

Because of this, we demand:

(1) The Coordinating Minister for Law and Human Rights, National Military Commander and Chief of Police should put a halt to military business, in which the military provides security for or expedites corporate business activities in ways which violate the law and do not support local communities;

(2) The National Military Commander and Police Chief should give harsh penalties to police or military personnel found to be involved in such businesses which lie outside their institutional remit and cause anxiety in local communities;

(3) The Agriculture Minister and Bupati of Merauke Regency should undertake a social and environmental audit, and a review of permits for work being carried out by oil palm company PT Agriprima Cipta Persada in Muting, Merauke.

We support reforms police and military institutions in such a way that they can provide protection and service for citizens, and we also hope that all parties will show respect for the rights of Papuan indigenous peoples.

Jakarta 22 July 2016

Coalition of Civil Society Organisations PUSAKA, Yayasan Satu Keadilan, ELSAM, Konsorsium Pembaruan Agraria, SKP Keuskupan Merauke, SKP KC Fransiskan Jayapura, LBH Jakarta, Perkumpulan JUBI, debtwatch Indonesia, Epistema Institute, GRAIN International, Sekretariat Bina Desa, Koalisi Rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan, Indonesian Human Rights Committee for Social Justice, WALHI, Perkumpulan Bantuan Hukum Kalimantan, Institut Global Justice, Solidaritas Perempuan, SAMPAN Kalimantan, HUMA, JKMA Aceh, JERAT Papua, Yayasan Anak Dusun Papua, AURIGA, Institute Ecosoc, KONTRAS, Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia, GARDA Papua, FIM Papua. Individual supporters: Rahma Mary, Idham Arsyad, Dede Shineba, Budi Hernawan, Teguh Surya.

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http://devpolicy.org/west-papuan-refugees-papua-new-guinea-way-citizenship-20160719/

4) West Papuan refugees in Papua New Guinea: on the way to citizenship?

By Jenny Munro on July 19, 2016

At Rainbow settlement in Port Moresby, 38 families of West Papuan heritage live in a drainage ditch approximately 100 metres wide by 200 metres long. To one side, the neighbours’ retaining wall contains pipes which direct runoff water and rain directly into the settlement. On the other side of the settlement is a construction site that doubles as a soccer field for Rainbow’s children. The houses are small structures built with a patchwork of materials that reveals the recent history of external engagement — tarps from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), plywood from a church fundraiser, plastic chairs from a West Papuan who lives outside the settlement. In the context of increasing efforts from Papua New Guinea (PNG) authorities to register West Papuan refugees and provide citizenship status, this post flags some of the relevant historical context and reflects on current challenges. As Papua New Guineans including Oro Province Governor Gary Juffa have suggested, citizenship is not sufficient to improve West Papuan refugees’ living conditions.

Over 100 West Papuan refugees have been living in Rainbow for the past eight years, since being evicted from 9 Mile settlement. According to one community leader, 22 babies were born to refugee families in the settlement in 2015. The children are entitled to access public school education and health services though their residency status remains ambiguous. But like other urban residents in Port Moresby’s settlements, many children do not attend school because their parents struggle to afford sufficient food, clean clothes, transport or extra costs associated with school. Continue reading →

Papuan students in Yogyakarta endure racist insults, multiple arrests in two day siege

CNN Indonesia – July 17, 2016

Anggi Kusumadewi, Jakarta — Animal names and racist insults could be heard shouted at midday on Friday July 15. The shouts originated from members of mass organisations besieging the Kamasan I Papua student dormitory on Jalan Kusumanegara in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta.

Four mass organisations arrived at the Papuan dormitories, namely the Indonesian Veterans’ Children (FKPPI), the Pancasila Youth (PP), the Paksi Katon [which sees itself as a guardian of Javanese culture and the Yogyakarta sultanate — JB] and the Yogyakarta Militia (Laskar Jogja). In total they numbered around 100 or more people.

Upon hearing the sudden string of animal names and racist insults, the Papuan students inside the student dormitory were startled. One of the students said, “They really said that, the shouts from out front, I have eyes and ears, at us Papuan students, Papuan people”, they said angrily and with a sickened heart.

According to the Papuan students, the police officers on guard around the dormitory just ignored the racist behaviour. At the time there were just as many police officers. Yogyakarta resident Kindarto Boti said that police had deployed the officers in three or four trucks. Another resident said that the police arrive fully armed as if they were going to arrest terrorists.

And it was not just the police that were armed — members of the mass organisations also carried weapons. “They brought wooden [clubs], crowbars and other sharp objects”, one Papuan student who did not wish to be named for security reasons told CNN Indonesia on Saturday July 16.

Papuan students in Yogyakarta had been receiving racist insults since Thursday July 14 through SMS messages which were sent to those who were members of the People’s Union for West Papua Freedom (PRPPB).

The PRPPB had earlier planned to hold a long-march from the Papuan student dormitories to the zero kilometre point on Jl. Panembahan Senopati. This location is a strategic intersection and a tourist attraction in Yogyakarta and often used for protest actions.

The Long march, which should have taken place at 9am on Friday morning, was part of a peaceful action supporting the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) becoming a full member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) — an inter-government organisation in the South Pacific comprising four Melanesian countries, namely Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

However before the scheduled 9am march could begin, police officers surrounded the Papuan student dormitory. Scuffles broke out between the students and police with the Papuan students being forced back inside the dormitories.

The main road in front of the dormitory was then closed, the front gate blockaded and the rear gate blocked with a police truck. All access in or out of the dormitories was prevented. “Our friends who arrived at the dormitories were intercepted and arrested by police”, said a Papuan student inside the dormitory.

They described how two Papuan colleagues who arrived on a motorcycle via the rear gate were stopped. The motorcycle was confiscated resulting in a scuffle with police who then fired warning shots and arrested the pair.

Another colleague from the group Student Struggle for Democracy who tried to enter the dormitory was also arrested. Seven others were likewise arrested as they returned home from buying sweet potatoes from the Giwangan market.

A local resident asked the police why all the Papuan students had been ordered back into the dormitory. The police replied that they had information that several mass organisations would arrive and it would be extremely difficult to stop them if they decided to attack the students in an open location.

As the clock showed 9am it was clear that students from the PRPPB would not be able to realise their plans for a long-march. Around an hour later they began giving political speeches on the dormitory grounds.

In the hours that followed there was uproar when a number of mass organisations arrived and began shouting insults. The siege continued until the 150 or so Papuan students inside the dormitory began to grow hungry. But the sweet potatoes they were to eat had being seized by police when they arrested the seven students.

Calls for solidarity actions and requests for logistical assistance were made to comrades outside. Yogyakarta residents responded by thronging to gather food for the Papuan students that was channeled through the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI). However the PMI ambulance carrying the food failed to drop of the logistics after it was intercepted by police.

Food was only able to be delivered to the dormitory at 9pm. “I sent it towards midnight because it wasn’t possible in the afternoon, the security was still tight because there were several members of mass organisations there”, said Yogyakarta resident Darto.

Darto, who had been monitoring the dormitory over night, related how difficult it was to send food to the Papuan students. He had to be circumspect.

“I arrived at around 8pm wanting to send food in but wasn’t able to. A plastic bag filled with food was entrusted to a local resident whose house is near the dormitory. I wasn’t able to enter the dormitory, [I] waited until it was dark, changing location, intelligence agents arrived, asking a lot of questions, it gave me the creeps. So I moved away from the dormitory, they checked and approached again, moved away again. Finally I went home at 8am [the next morning] when the situation had calmed down”.

The Yogyakarta regional police say that that officers would continue to guard and monitor the Papuan student dormitories until the situation is considered secure.

“The police hope that the situation will become favourable. We’re on guard so as to prevent something undesirable happening. Because they (the Papuan students) were planning to hold a protest action supporting separatism, Papuan independence, and there were social organisations who didn’t agree”, said Yogyakarta regional police public relations chief Assistant Superintendent Any Pudjiastuti.

The Papuan students wanting to hold a separatist action, according to Pudjiastuti, were not just those studying in Yogyakarta. Protesters arrived from Semarang and Solo in Central Java and the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya. Yogyakarta was the centre for the action.

The arrested Papuan students have now been released with the exception of one who according to Pudjiastuti, “Was proven to have resisted [arrest] and assaulted an officer with a sharp weapon resulting a head injury and the harming of a police official”.

“So we are not detaining them. We secured six people for questioning. Of the six, five were found to be not guilty, one person committed a crime and is being processed”, said Pudjiastuti.

Currently there are still 30 people inside the dormitory while the others have returned to their respective boarding houses. Those from out of town have returned home.

One of the student who remained inside the dormitory said they felt traumatised. “The Papuan student dormitory is still under military siege, but we are now able to continue activities, unlike yesterday on Friday. On Friday, it was dangerous for us to even go out. We were hungry because we couldn’t leave the dormitory to get food”, they said.

The mass organisations that wanted to attack the Papuan students, they said, were not just patrolling in front of the dormitory, but also on Jl. Timoho, Malioboro and Glagahsari. They conducted sweeps for Papuans. Not surprisingly, all of this has made Papuan residents in Yogyakarta feel threatened and intimidated (agk)

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was “Kisah Mahasiswa Papua di Yogya Dua Hari Terkurung di Asrama”.]

Source: http://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20160717064356-20-145189/kisah-mahasiswa-papua-di-yogya-dua-hari-terkurung-di-asrama/

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