Come in now Indonesian democracy, your time is up

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By Duncan Graham 

Oct 31, 2024

It took less than a week for the reality to be exposed. Even Deputy PM Richard Marles must now acknowledge that the nation next door he praises for its moderation and democracy is now a military dictatorship and a serious threat.

Proof absolute was presented on Friday, five days after his inauguration, when new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto issued orders. His 48-member ministry together with 59 vice ministers, and five heads of state agencies had to present themselves in US-style camouflage uniforms at the army’s training camp at Magelang in Central Java.

Three days of exercises, parades and marches followed as the ministers moved like confused conscripts to martial music, camped in 120 tents and shuffled into lines.

They obeyed orders screamed by swaggering officers who in a real democracy are supposed to be subservient to the voters and their elected representatives. They were flown to the site packed in the sides of a Hercules that landed at Adi Sucipto Air Force Base in Yogyakarta.

In the 1970s as a young recruit, Prabowo trained at the camp south-east of Jakarta. In a speech to the rigid ranks, he said: “I prioritise working together as a team. We will have coordination in Magelang. I think it will bring many benefits.”

Indonesia brags of its 300 ethnic and religious groups speaking 200 distinct languages and dialects spread across more than 17,000 islands but all have been dissolved into sameness with the Magelang circus.

In my-way-or-the-highway threats Prabowo has shown that although he was cashiered in 1998 for disobeying orders and his troops disappearing dissident students before fleeing to exile in Jordan, he’s now back in total charge and with the biggest bureaucracy in the Republic’s history.

Two of his predecessors – second president Soeharto (Prabowo’s previous father-in-law) and sixth president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono – were former generals but never showed such a blatant way to stamp authority and crush civilian rule.

If there was any disquiet expressed by the ministers snapping selfies of their adventures – particularly those like civilian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming who normally abhor strutters and foot-stampers – it was well hidden.

Instead, TV news footage showed the supposedly elected individuals behaving more like giggling pre-teens allowed a few days away from Mummy.

Before the ‘red and white (the colours of the Indonesian flag) retreat’ Indonesian law expert Professor Tim Lindsey of Melbourne Uni  wrote: “It is clear enough that Prabowo has no enthusiasm for democracy. He has said, for example, that it is ‘very, very tiring’ and ‘very, very messy and costly’.

“Many activists now speak openly of their fear of being targeted and intimidated by government trolls or even the intelligence agencies.”

Opposition in Parliament is negligible as Prabowo has about 80 per cent of members in his coalition.

By the weekend the regiment of polis had received drill training that had nothing to do with running departments in finance, education, health, religion and all other matters of state.

More appropriately, they got “sessions on anti-corruption, development planning, budget structuring, and bureaucratic planning.” It is not known whether these courses were delivered by soldiers trained in ethics and professional administration apart from their everyday skills in stripping down AK-47s,

Despite their uniforms, fatigues, gaiters and big combat boots – everything apart from rifles – many were too old, better used to fighting head colds and unfit to have ever been sought for military service. That included the plump president who has just turned 73.

“I am not here to make you militaristic; that’s a misconception. Many governments and corporations have adopted the military way,” he reportedly said without naming states and corporations that eschew consultation and consensus.

Russia, North Korea and Hungary come to mind.

Journalists were not allowed to ask questions. “The core values are discipline and loyalty—not to me, but to the Indonesian nation and people,” Prabowo added. Why such pledges needed the respondents to be in battledress was not explained.

In a Trump-style comment clearly at odds with the observable facts from streaming TV, Prabowo’s PR man Hasan Nasbi reportedly explained “This activity in Magelang is to galvanise the ministers – this is not militarism. This is for togetherness.”

PM Anthony Albanese’s decision to stay in Australia with his King rather than attend Prabowo’s inauguration was correct. His presence in Jakarta would have been seen as endorsing authoritarianism to the point of fascism. Sending Defence Minister Marles was the right tactic.

Duncan Graham

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 in East Java.

TNI raises five battalions for Papua food resilience program 

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 October 2, 2024 20:00 GMT+700 Jakarta (ANTARA) – Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) General Agus Subiyanto on Wednesday inaugurated five infantry battalions (Yonif) to support the government’s food resilience program in Papua region.

The battalions will be dispatched to five regions of Papua to collaborate with the Agriculture Ministry and local residents to cultivate essential crops, including rice, he said.

“These battalions are specialized in different aspects, such as construction and production. We will carry out agricultural programs in Papua with their help,” he told journalists after the inauguration in the National Monument (Monas) area, Central Jakarta.

The battalions include Yonif 801/Ksatria Yuddha Kentswuri, which will be stationed in Keerom, Papua Province; Yonif 802/Wimane Mambe Jaya, which will be posted in Sarmi, Papua; Yonif 803/Nduka Adyatma Yuddha, which will be sent to Boven Digoel, South Papua; and Yonif 804/Dharma Bhakti Asasta Yudha, which will work in Merauke, South Papua.

Meanwhile, Yonif 805/Ksatria Satya Waninggap will be based in Sorong, Southwest Papua.

Based on data obtained by ANTARA, each infantry battalion consists of 691 personnel drawn from different regional military commands (Kodam) across the country.

Kodam I/Bukit Barisan has dispatched 150 soldiers, Kodam II/Sriwijaya 150 soldiers, Kodam III/Siliwangi 450 personnel, Kodam IV/Diponegoro 400 officers, Kodam V/Brawijaya 230 personnel, and Kodam VI/Mulawarman has fielded 25 officers for the battalions.

Furthermore, Kodam IX/Udayana has contributed 306 soldiers, Kodam XII/Tanjungpura 43 officers, Kodam XIII/Merdeka 157 personnel, Kodam XIV/Hasanuddin 225 soldiers, Kodam XVI/Pattimura 294 officers, Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih 100 soldiers, and Kodam XVIII/Kasuari has sent 20 personnel.

Meanwhile, the Jaya Kodam of Jakarta and Iskandar Muda Kodam of Aceh have contributed 350 and 100 soldiers, respectively, to the special battalions. 

Indonesian Military Establishes Five New Battalions for Papua Security

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Bella Evanglista Mikaputri   

October 3, 2024 | 3:05 am

Jakarta. The Indonesian Military has established five new infantry battalions to be deployed in conflict-prone areas of Papua, Armed Forces Commander General Agus Subiyanto announced on WednesdayThe primary mission of these battalions is to maintain security and support the government’s development efforts in the eastern region of Indonesia.“We have inaugurated five battalions to be stationed in vulnerable areas of Papua. Their goal is to assist the government in accelerating development and improving the prosperity of the Papuan people,” Agus said during a press briefing in Jakarta.These ground forces will help secure major government projects, such as the food security program covering over 1,000 hectares of crops in Merauke Regency, and key road construction projects across Papua.

The newly established units are:

  • Ksatria Yuddha Kentsuwri 801st Infantry Battalion for Keerom Regency,
  • Wimane Mambe Jaya 802nd Infantry Battalion for Sarmi Regency,
  • Nduka Adyatma Yuddha 803rd Infantry Battalion for Boven Digoel Regency,
  • Dharma Bhakti Asasta Yudha 804th Infantry Battalion for Merauke Regency, and
  • Ksatria Satya Waninggap 805th Infantry Battalion for Sorong Regency.

In recent years, Papua has seen an escalation in insurgent activity, with sporadic attacks on both civilian and military targets. The Free Papua Movement (OPM) has been responsible for abductions and killings, particularly targeting construction workers involved in key infrastructure projects aimed at improving connectivity in the region.

A notable incident involved the abduction of New Zealand pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens, who was held hostage by an OPM rebel group for nearly 20 months before being released last month.

A conservation treasure is threatened by Indonesian plans for food security

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Military-led project also risks stirring resentment in the easternmost Papua region, researchers say.

Stephen Wright

 for RFA 2024.10.02 Bangkok

Indonesia’s military is taking a leading role in plans to convert more than 2 million hectares of wetlands and savannah into rice farms and sugarcane plantations in a part of conflict-prone Papua that conservationists say is an environmental treasure.

The military’s involvement has added to perceptions that it is increasingly intruding into civilian areas in Indonesia and prompted a warning that it would bring bloodshed to Merauke, a regency in South Papua province slated to become a giant food estate. 

It’s an area of easternmost Indonesia that has largely avoided violence during the decades-long armed conflict between Indonesia and indigenous Papuans seeking their own state. 

The plans are part of the government’s ambitions for the nation of 270 million people to achieve food and energy self-sufficiency. They highlight the tension globally between the push for economic development in lower-income countries and protection of the diminishing number of pristine ecosystems.

Taken together, the sugarcane and rice projects for Merauke represent at least a fifth of a 10,000-square-kilometer (38,600-square-mile) lowland known as the TransFly, which spans Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its name comes from the Fly River – a squiggle on the otherwise straight line on the map that marks the border of the two countries on New Guinea island. 

The great expanse of wetlands, grasslands and pockets of tropical rainforest in the south of the island is “globally outstanding,” said Eric Wikramanayake, a conservation biologist who wrote about its significance for a book on conservation regions in Asia.

Researchers say it is home to half of the bird species found in New Guinea including about 80 that exist nowhere else and other endemic animals such as the pig-nosed turtle and cat-like carnivorous marsupials.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has called it a “global treasure” and a proposed World Heritage listing says no other place in the region compares to it, including the famous Kakadu national park in northern Australia.  

“If you were to convert a lot of the TransFly into agriculture then it’s going to change the conservation assessment, it will make it much more threatened,” Wikramanayake said.

“There is going to be some impact and those impacts, it’s like opening the can of worms” in paving the way for further development, he said.  

For Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani, the major-general who heads Indonesia’s National Food Security Taskforce, the area targeted for development is swamps that should be converted to agriculture to realize their “extraordinary” fertile potential.

He told a 40-minute-long podcast with state broadcaster Radio Indonesia in August that the 1 million-hectare rice component of the agricultural plans was being funded by the government and overseen by the military and agriculture ministry. The sugar cane plantations and a related bioethanol industry are funded by private investors, he said.

Wearing an indigenous Papuan headdress, Ramdhani said he envisioned that Papuans would ask “Mr. TNI” – the initials of the name for the Indonesian military – for help with cultivating their customary lands. 

Sacred and conservation areas would be protected and the land would remain in the ownership of indigenous Papuans, he said.

“To the people of Papua, especially those in Merauke, there is no need to worry and doubt, there is no need to be afraid,” Ramdhani said.

In seemingly contradictory remarks, Ramdhani said the conversion to rice paddy needed to be carried out in three years to ensure food security, but rice would also be exported – to Pacific island countries and Australia because it’s too expensive to send it to Java, Indonesia’s most populated island. 

Analysis of land-use maps shows areas designated for rice overlap with conservation areas, indigenous sacred places and ancestral trails and hunting grounds, said Franky Samperante, director of Indonesian civil society organization Pusaka. 

Pusaka said in a report in September that more than 200 excavators had begun clearing wetlands, customary forests and other lands belonging to the Malind Makleuw indigenous people in Ilwayab, Merauke. 

Members of the community protested against the rice project during a Sept. 24 reception for Indonesian officials, video shows. 

Women with faces caked in white mud to symbolize grief wore cardboard signs around their necks that said “We reject the Jhonlin Group company” – an Indonesian conglomerate that is reportedly a key part of the agricultural projects.

Earlier government and military-led attempts to develop agriculture in Merauke, including in the last decade, led to land grabs and other problems.

‘Risk of resentment’

The military’s leadership of the rice program adds to perceptions it is increasingly intruding into civilian areas, according to three Indonesian security researchers.

The large agricultural projects could fuel pro-independence sentiment and grievances over environmental destruction, said military analyst Raden Mokhamad Luthfi at Al Azhar University Indonesia.

“There’s a real risk that the project could spark new resentment from OPM [Organisasi Papua Merdeka-Free Papua Movement], who may view it as further evidence of inequality, injustice, and environmental harm faced by Papuans,” he told BenarNews.

Justification for the military’s role in the Merauke project, Luthfi said, is based on the concept of food security outlined in Indonesia’s 2015 defense white paper. 

Officers at the army staff college perceived a security threat from possible food shortages in the future caused by climate change and population growth, he said. However, the white paper also said food security efforts should be led by civilian ministries.

Hipolitus Wangge, a researcher at Australian National University, said the military had silenced discontent among Papuans during a failed program last decade to make Merauke into a major center of food production.

“We should expect more discontent, even bloodshed in Merauke in the next five years,” he told Radio Free Asia.

“Human Rights in Indonesia” side event will address crises in West Papua

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WCC. 30 September 2024

A side event to the 57th UN Human Rights Council entitled “Human Rights in Indonesia,” hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and partner organizations on 1 October, will address the dire human rights situation in West Papua, with ongoing violations that include extra-judicial killings, internal displacement due to armed conflict, restrictions on civil liberties, and a growing number of cases of land grabbing.

This event will bring together grassroots representatives and experts to explore practical actions that the UN Human Rights Council and national and international actors could take to address the deepening human rights and humanitarian crises in West Papua.

The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal will also present the findings of its July 2024 public hearings, during which it examined a body of evidence on the environmental impacts of development projects and related human rights violations in the region.

In the first six months of 2024, extra-judicial killings linked to the ongoing armed conflict between the Indonesian security forces and the West Papua National Liberation Army (OPM-TPNPB) have been recorded. A surge in armed conflict has been reported in the period April-June 2024 which has continued to drive internal displacement among the Indigenous Papuan people. As of September 2024, 79,867 people are internally displaced with no access to basic necessities such as food, healthcare services and education, and limited access to employment opportunities. If they return to their villages and homes, they are confronted with a heavy security presence, and constant intimidation and surveillance.

A growing number of cases of land grabbing have been reported from the regencies of Merauke, Mimika, Deiyai, and Sorong in the period April-June 2024, reflecting a growing trend of private investors capturing land and natural resources without obtaining free, prior and informed consent from Indigenous Papuans.

There is an urgent need for the Indonesian government to immediately address the conflict and associated human rights violations, abuses, and impunity through sustainable solutions based on the principles of human rights.

Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), will moderate the discussion. 

“The Indonesian government provides very limited transparency regarding the situation in West Papua, and even less access to the region,” he said. “Accordingly, the WCC is grateful that through cooperation with its civil society partners we can bring information regarding the longstanding humanitarian and human rights crisis endured by the Indigenous Papuan people to the attention of the Human Rights Council, and to the wider international community. We continue to hope that by sharing this information, the long overdue concern of the international community may yet be galvanized.”

Join this event live , Tuesday, 1 October, 13:00 CEST 

(Meeting ID 3353 -CR25  “Human Rights in Indonesia”, Meeting number: 2744 604 7986 Password: ufTQvPJJ877) 

Yahukimo Police intimidate KNPB members in Yahukimo – House search carried out without warrant

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Cases / Indonesia, West Papua / 19 September 2024 

https://humanrightsmonitor.org/case/yahukimo-police-intimidate-knpb-members-in-yahukimo

On 14 August 2024, members of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in the Dekai District, Yahukimo Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province, experienced acts of intimidation and unauthorised search by members of the 1715 Kodim (military district command) and Brimob (mobile brigade corps). The operation was led by Yahukimo Police Chief, Commissioner Heru Hidayanto. Six KNPB members were present at their office when the security forces arrived, resulting in a tense confrontation and forceful entry into the KNPB office.

The incident began with surveillance activities on 13 August 20214, with two vehicles monitoring the KNPB office. On August 14, the surveillance intensified. At 3:20 pm, a large contingent of security forces, comprising nine vehicles including armoured cars and patrol vehicles from various units, arrived at the KNPB office. Despite attempts by KNPB members to negotiate and clarify that no demonstrations were planned for 15 August 2024, the security forces forcibly entered the office without providing a warrant. They searched the office and took photographs of the premises. The operation concluded around 3:40 pm when the forces withdrew. 

The incident raises serious concerns about respect for civil liberties, freedom of association, and the use of intimidation tactics against political activists in West Papua, Indonesia.

Security force vehicles approaching the KNPB office in the Dekai District, Yahukimo Regency, on 14 August 2024

Detailed Case Data
name of the location: Dekai (-4.874653772472966, 139.48856096842403)
administrative region: Indonesia, Papua Pegunungan Province, Yahukimo Regency, Dekai District
total number of victims: six
period of incident: 14.08.2024
perpetrator: police, other security forces
perpetrator details: 1715 Kodim and Brimob
Issues: freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, indigenous peoples, intimidation 
Sources: 
Further HRM News:

NumberName, DetailsGenderAgeGroup AffiliationViolations
6unknownunknownunknownindigenous, activistfreedom of assembly, freedom of expression, intimidation

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Expert witnesses tell court accounts ‘are clean’ in bribery case against Enembe 

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SPECIAL REPORT: By Yamin Kogoya

The Jakarta District Court heard the case of alleged bribery and gratification against suspended Papua governor Lukas Enembe on Monday with evidence from expert witnesses saying that an audit showed records

 to be “clean and accurate”.

The hearing was convened to hear the testimony of three expert witnesses on the allegations against Governor Enembe.

The panel of judges heard the testimony of two experts Dr Muhammad Rullyandi, SH, MH (a constitutional law expert and lecturer at the Faculty of Law of Jayabaya University) and 

Dr Eko Sambodo, SE, MM, Mak, CFrA (an expert in state finance and losses), and the third witness was due to be heard today.

The experts concluded that nine reports provided by the country’s state financial audit board during Enembe’s tenure as a governor did not contain any irregularities, or misreporting.

It was all “clean and accurate” within the framework of regulations and procedures, the witnesses said.

Complied with admin law
According to Dr Rullyandi (Indonesians often have single names), the state financial management complied with administrative law, which was supervised by a state institution known as the Badan 

Pemeriksa Keuangan (BPK), the State Financial Audit Board.

“The BPK is the final step in the state management process, starting with planning, implementation, and before accountability, it is under supervision,” Dr Rullyandi said.

Among the BPK’s responsibilities were the supervision of procurement and service contracting. When the BPK found criminal elements under its supervision, it reported them to the authorised agency r

equired by law, he said.

Dr Rullyandi said that this was regulated in Article 14 of Law No. 15 of 2004 concerning the Examination of State Financial Management and Responsibility.

Article 14 of Law No.15 of 2004 states:

(1) “IF CRIMINAL ELEMENTS ARE DETECTED DURING THE EXAMINATION, THE BPK SHALL MAKE AN IMMEDIATE REPORT TO THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES IN ACCORDANCE 

WITH THE APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS”.

Therefore, before the findings could be prosecuted as articles of bribery or gratification, they must first be tested by the BPK, which then reports them to law enforcement agencies.

Administrative rules
That is the correct way of thinking, said the expert witness.

Law enforcement is not permitted to enter the administrative area while it is still in the administrative process. The law states that when administrative law enforcement occurs, law enforcement should not

 enter before the BPK makes recommendations,” Dr Rullyandi continued.

The BPK audit report indicates that there were no criminal indications of financial irregularities during the term of Governor Lukas Enembe in regional financial management, including no alleged irregularities in

 procurement processes for goods and services, which indicates that the principle of legal certainty was met.

According to Dr Rullyandi, initiation of the investigation process into an alleged criminal act of corruption against Governor Lukas Enembe was not based on BPK’s recommendations.

This means, from the beginning of the investigation until it was transferred to the court, investigators ignored Law No. 15 of 2004, especially Article 14. To enforce the law of corruption, relating to criminal norms regulating 

bribery and gratification, administrative law norms must be considered.

This is accomplished by referring to Law No 1 of 2004 concerning the State Rreasury, which states in section weighing letter c that state financial administration law rules must govern state financial management and

 accountability.

According to Dr Rullyandi, there is also a provision in Law No. 15 of 2004 pertaining to the Responsibility of State Financial Inspection and Management, which regulates how state finances are handled and held 

accountable in the fight against criminal corruption.

Abuse of office allegations
“Regarding allegations of abuse of office, Dr Rullyandi said the defendant did not possess the qualifications to abuse his position through bribery and gratification as stated in Articles 11, 12A, and 12B of the Law.

Law No. 31 of 1999 concerning the Eradication of Corruption, as amended by Law No. 20 of 2001.

It was due to the authority or power associated with Enembe’s position, which allowed him to move in order to do or not do something related to the procurement of goods and services. This was given as a result of or

 caused by something he did or did not do in his position that violated his obligations.

His position as Governor and as user of the budget had been delegated and handed over to the powers of budget users and officials authorised to carry out the procurement committee for goods and services in accordance 

with Article 18 of Law No. 1 of 2004 concerning the State Treasury.

Particularly, anyone signing or certifying documents related to the letter of evidence that is the basis for the expenditure on APBN / APBD is responsible for its content and consequences.

According to Dr Eko Sambodo’s testimony, if a province [such as Papua] had been given nine times the Unqualified Fair Opinion (abbreviated WTP), administratively, all of them had been managed in accordance with 

relevant regulations, accountability, and accounting standards.

“When it comes to managing finances, it has been audited, so there are no regulatory violations,” Dr Sambobo said.

Governor Enembe’s senior lawyer, Professor OC Kaligis, asked the witness whether this opinion of the WTP could be used as evidence, that corruption did not exist in the province.

The witness replied that in auditor terms, corruption was known as irregularities. Deviation causes state losses.

It means that everything has been done according to and within regulations, including governance, compilers, and reports. It also means that expenditures have been proven, clarifications have been made, all of which

 contribute to its final report.

“This is all WTP offers,” said Dr Sambobo. Under the leadership of Governor Enembe, Papua province won the WTP opinion nine times consecutively.

Another expert opinion was due to be heard in court today.

Witness’s testimonies in Court
The court completed hearing witnesses last week (Monday, August 21), who testified to their involvement or knowledge of the alleged bribery, gratification, and corruption scandal.

Out of 184 witnesses, only 17 were brought to court, and only 1 had any connection with Governor Enembe. Sixteen of these witnesses testified as to not have any connection to Enembe.

Only one witness linked to the governor’s name, Prijatono Lakka, a pastor and Enembe’s assistant, who sent Enembe one billion rupiah (NZ$105,000) to cover medical expenses through governor’s personal funds, 

resulting in an array of allegations, his arrest, and the ongoing process.

To date, no witnesses have emerged to provide testimony or evidence concerning all the alleged wrongdoings and misconduct of Lukas.

Although the governor’s health has improved somewhat, his condition is still critical. The governor’s lawyers continues to ask the judge to detain him in the city for medical treatment and to allow medical specialists 

outside of the control of Corruption Eradication Commission (acrynomed KPK) to treat him in a free environment.

However, these requests have not been responded to. Currently, the governor is confined to the prison cells of KPK.

He is secheduled to appear in court next week on Monday to bring the final stages of this protracted legal drama to closure.

Lukas Enembe’s term as Papua’s provincial Governor will end during early September — next week.

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.

By APR editor –  August 30, 2023

Challenges ahead for Indonesia-PNG cross-border cooperation

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by Johni Korwa and Barrisen Rumabar 18 September 2024

Towards the end of Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s tenure, he and Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape stepped up cross-border cooperation between Indonesia and PNG by signing four Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), on 15 July 2024.

Two of the MoUs are particularly attention-grabbing: the agreements on Cross-Border Movement for Commercial Buses and Coaches, and on Cross-Border Transport of Goods by Motor Vehicles. They are unprecedented in the history of bilateral relations between Indonesia and PNG, overcoming a long-standing reluctance to permit public transport across the border. However, the agreements are limited to the cities of Jayapura and Vanimo, located on either side of the border in the northern part of New Guinea.

These MoUs undoubtedly pave the way for increased cooperation between the two countries, offering significant benefits to the people living in Jayapura and Vanimo, who now have access to public transport for crossing the border.

From a regional perspective, these agreements reflect Indonesian foreign policy under the Jokowi administration, which sought to strengthen ties with the Pacific community, with PNG serving as a notable example. From a local perspective, this breakthrough marks a significant step in the sister-city cooperation between Jayapura and Vanimo, which has been renewed for a second term since 2016.

While this breakthrough represents progress, several challenges remain. First, road conditions pose a challenge, particularly on the PNG side, between the Wutung border post and Vanimo city, a journey which takes approximately 1.5 hours by taxi. Several bridges along this route are susceptible to river water flowing over the upper surface — worse during the rainy season — which can make driving hazardous for those without the special skills to navigate safely.

Another important consideration is transnational crime. Local news often reports on smugglers transporting marijuana from Vanimo to Jayapura using unofficial land routes, boats, or even attempting to cross via the official border posts. While we often hear about those who are apprehended, there is concern about those who slip through. With these MoUs increasing interaction between the two communities and making cross-border public transport more frequent, security measures need to be strengthened — both before boarding public transport and at the border — to deter smugglers effectively.

The new cross-border public transport agreement will significantly increase the flow of people. An increased number of individuals from PNG will travel to Indonesia through Jayapura for various reasons, including family visits and sightseeing — though shopping will likely be the primary allure. The Skouw market at the border is already a popular destination, and this new cross-border transport option is expected to attract even more PNG visitors to Jayapura.

To ensure mutual benefits to both countries, this new transport arrangement should embrace the concept of reciprocity.  A much larger traditional market near the Wutung border post would attract more people from the Indonesian side. Additionally, there is an opportunity to develop more tourist attractions in Vanimo City to appeal to more Papuans and Indonesians, offering more than the mere purchase of items such as sausages, cornets, or Twisties.

Travel documentation is another crucial consideration, as crossing the Indonesian-PNG border requires either a type of border crossing pass — commonly known as the red and yellow cards — for individuals residing along the border, or a passport for those not classified as border residents. The border crossing pass is typically used for traditional purposes and within specific distances. However, with the new MoUs permitting commercial buses and motor vehicles to enter Jayapura or Vanimo, it is essential to establish clear immigration arrangements to manage the movement of people and goods effectively. Additionally, reducing visa fees from both countries would help facilitate this new cross-border public transport arrangement.

While these two MoUs on cross-border movement by public transport have yet to be implemented, there is no doubt that they represent a significant breakthrough in Indonesia-PNG relations. What needs to happen now is the effective implementation of these agreements, taking into account the more critical issues along with any other considerations, to ensure tangible benefits for both Jayapura and Vanimo, as well as Indonesia and PNG more generally.

West Papuan independence advocate seeks New Zealand support against ‘genocide and ecocide”

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West Papuan independence advocate Octo Mote is in Aotearoa to win support for independence for West Papua, which has been ruled by Indonesia for over 60 years.

Mote is the vice-president of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), and is being hosted in New Zealand by the Green Party, which Mote said had always been a hero for West Papua.

ULMWP president Benny Wenda has alleged more than 500,000 Papuans have been killed since the occupation, and millions of acres of ancestral forests, rivers and mountains have been destroyed or polluted for “corporate profit”.

 

The struggle for West Papuans

“Being born a West Papuan, you are already an enemy of the nation,” Mote said.

“The greatest challenge we are facing right now is we are facing the colonial power who live next to us.”

If West Papuans spoke up about what was happening, they were considered separatists, Mote said, regardless of whether they were journalists, intellectuals, public servants or even high-ranking Indonesian generals.

“When our students on the ground speak of justice, they’re beaten up, put in jail and [they – Indonesians] kill so many of them,” Mote said.

Mote is a former journalist and said, while he was working, he witnessed Indonesian forces openly fire at students who were peacefully demonstrating their rights.

“We are in a very dangerous situation right now. When our people try to defend their land, the Indonesian government ignores them and they just take the land without recognising we are landowners,” he said.

 

The ecocide of West Papua

The ecology in West Papua was being damaged by mining, deforestation, and oil and gas extraction. Mote said Indonesia wanted to “wipe them from the land and control their natural resources”.

He said he was trying to educate the world that defending West Papua meant defending the world, especially small islands in the Pacific.

West Papua is the western half of the island of New Guinea, bordering the independent nation of Papua New Guinea. New Guinea has the third-largest rainforest after the Amazon and Congo and is crucial for climate change mitigation as they sequester and store carbon.

Mote said the continued deforestation of New Guinea, which West Papuan leaders were trying to stop, would greatly impact the small island countries in the Pacific, which were among the most vulnerable to climate change.

Mote also said their customary council in West Papua had already considered the impacts of climate change on small island nations and, given West Papua’s abundance of land, they said by having sovereignty they would be able to both protect the land and support Pacific Islanders who needed to migrate from their home islands.

In 2021 West Papuan leaders pledged to make ecocide a serious crime and this week Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa submitted a court proposal to the International Criminal Court to recognise ecocide as a crime.

 

Support from local Indonesians

Mote said there were Indonesians who supported the indigenous rights movement for West Papuans. He said there were both NGOs and a Papuan Peace Network founded by West Papuan peace campaigner Neles Tebay.

“There is a movement growing among the academics and among the well-educated people who have read the realities, among those who are also victims of the capital investors, especially in Indonesia when they introduced the omnibus law.”

The omnibus law was passed in 2020 as part of the president’s goals to increase investment and industrialisation in Indonesia. The law was protested because of concerns it would be harmful for workers due to changes in working conditions, and the environment because it would allow for increased deforestation.

He said there was an “awakening” especially in the younger generations who were more open-minded and connected to the world, who could see it both as a humanitarian and an environmental issue.

 

 

The ‘transfer’ of West Papua to Indonesia

“The Dutch [traded] us like a cow,” Mote said.

The former Dutch colony was passed over to Indonesia in 1963 but ULMWP calls it an invasion.

From 1957, the Soviet Union had been supplying arms to Indonesia and, during that period, the Indonesian Communist Party had become the largest political party in the country.

The US government urged the Dutch government to give West Papua to Indonesia in an attempt to appease the communist-friendly Indonesian government as part of a US drive to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia.

The US engineered a meeting between both countries, which resulted in the New York Agreement, giving control of West Papua to the UN in 1962 and then Indonesia a year later.

The New York Agreement stipulated that the population of West Papua were entitled to an act of self-determination.

 

The ‘act of no choice’

This decolonisation agreement was titled the 1969 Act of Free Choice, which is referred to as “the act of no choice” by pro-independence activists.

Mote said they witnessed, “how the UN allowed Indonesia to cut us into pieces, and they didn’t say anything when Indonesia manipulated our right for self-determination.”

The manipulation Mote refers to is for the Act of Free Choice. Instead of a national referendum, the Indonesian military hand-picked 1,025 West Papuan “representatives” to vote on behalf of the 816,000 people. The representatives were allegedly threatened, bribed and some were held at gunpoint to ensure a unanimous vote.

Leaders of the West Papuan independence movement assert that this wasn’t a real opportunity to exercise self-determination as it was manipulated. However, it was accepted by the UN.

 

Pacific support at UN General Assembly

Mote has came to Aotearoa after the 53rd Pacific Island Leaders Forum meeting in Tonga and has come to discuss plans over the next five years. Mote hopes to gain support to take what he calls the “slow-motion genocide” of West Papua back to the UN General Assembly.

“In that meeting we formulated how we can help really push self-determination as the main issue in the Pacific Islands,” Mote said.

Mote said there was focus on self-determination of West Papua, Kanaky/New Caledonia and Tahiti. He also said the focus was on what he described as the current colonisation issue with capitalists and global powers having vested interests in the Pacific region.

The movement got it to the UN General Assembly in 2018, so Mote said it was achievable. In 2018 Pacific solidarity was shown as the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and the Republic of Vanuatu all spoke out in support of West Papua.

They affirmed the need for the matter to be returned to the United Nations, and the Solomon Islands voiced its concerns over human rights abuses and violations.

 

What needs to be done

He said in the next five years Pacific nations needed to firstly make the Indonesian government accountable for its actions in West Papua. He also said President Joko Widodo should be held accountable for his involvement.

Mote said New Zealand was the strongest Pacific nation that would be able to push for the human rights and environmental issues happening, especially as he alleged Australia always backed Indonesian policies.

He said he was looking to New Zealand to speak up about atrocities taking place in West Papua and was particularly looking for support from the Greens, Labour and Te Pāti Māori for political support.

The coalition government announced a plan of action on July 30 this year, which set a new goal of $6 billion in annual two-way trade with Indonesia by 2029.

“New Zealand is strongly committed to our partnership with Indonesia,” Foreign Affairs Minister Winston said then.

“There is much more we can and should be doing together.”

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Never mind the quality, feel the words

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By Duncan Graham Sep 4, 2024

The paperwork signing late last month by Defence Minister Richard Marles and his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto in Magelang (Central Java) is being paraded as an extraordinary advance in relationships. It’s not.

Why is this dud deal being sold like a Nobel Prize? Because scores of news outlets here and overseas are cutting-and-pasting press releases. In effect, much media has become a PR team for the government betraying voters.

Some facts to underpin this shameful assertion:

For the past two years, bureaucrats have been to-ing and fro-ing with the Australia-Indonesia Defence Cooperation Arrangement. Now ratified, it has become an “agreement”.

We, the Fourth Estate, aka chooks (as former Queensland Premier, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen called us hacks), haven’t had a peep inside the thick covers and so have to take what’s fed.

Something more nutritious may come if independent experts get the full text to decode definitions and reveal what we’ve sold to appease our huge neighbour.

Marles’ media says the deal is about complex joint activities and exercises. The two militaries can “operate from each other’s countries for mutually determined cooperative activities” and swap soldiers for education and training in science and technology, though these are not disciplines where Indonesia is internationally admired.

Much hullabaloo so the lads can don camouflage and play in the same sandpit – something they’ve done before and are doing now.

Through design or coincidence, that signing night ABC Australia telecast the 90-minute documentary Circle of Silence with Indonesian subtitles. It’s the story of the Balibo Five journalists in East Timor, killed in 1975 by Indonesian soldiers who knew the men were reporters.

Marles’ opposite number is also president-elect and will take over in October. He’s a former general with a dark past allegedly involving human rights abuses.

Researcher Pat Walsh, who was involved with the East Timor truth commission report, Chega! wrote: “As a member then a commander of Kopassus, Prabowo undertook at least four tours of duty in East Timor… (he was) anything but an innocent or bit player.

“Kopassus is the Indonesian military’s secretive ‘special operations’ force. It specialises in unconventional warfare, counter-insurgency, intelligence gathering and anti-terrorism.

“In plain English, locals are recruited and bribed to do Kopassus’s dirty work and, if necessary, to take the blame.”

(It is not suggested that Prabowo killed the Balibo Five. He has never been charged with war crimes.)

In 1998, he was cashiered for disobeying orders so he ran away to exile in Jordan. That fact has rarely been mentioned since he was convincingly elected in February with a 58% majority.

Ten days before the Magelang signing, Prabowo came to Canberra, ostensibly to approve the “arrangement”. But according to the AFR’s James Curran, his real mission was for “more Australian involvement in the Indonesian economy, especially in agriculture and countering narcotics”.

Apart from watching body language and facial expressions, why did any media bother to front the Canberra show? Journos were told “no questions”, suggesting the ministers fear inquiries and are unable to be straight with their employers, the public.

The men’s minders know any professional would ask Prabowo about blood on his hands, and his resulting fury would destroy the “arrangement”.

Transcribed texts show the two sides are not on the same page.

Marles said it was “profoundly historic” and “the deepest, the most significant agreement that our two countries have ever made”.

Profoundly nonsensical. In 1995, former prime minister Paul Keating secretly signed the Agreement on Maintaining Security with dictator and second president Soeharto.

That was a biggie, though four years later it was shredded by his successor, Bacharuddin Jusuf ‘BJ’ Habibie. He was furious the Australian-led peacekeeping force had entered Timor after the people had voted 8-2 to free themselves from Indonesian control.

Marles and Anthony Albanese said four times that their “arrangement” was about “security”. Prabowo used the word once and prefaced it with “food”. The best label he could muster was a “good neighbour agreement”.

Apart from language slippage, what’s not mentioned in diplomatic back-slaps is often more important. Absent was Australia’s new agreement with the US for their fighters, bombers and spy planes to use NT bases.

Also not in the handouts was Indonesia’s proposed law to let “active-duty personnel hold positions in civilian government ministries and agencies”.

If passed, the Republic will return to the last century dwifungsi (dual function) policy of soldiers controlling domestic departments irrespective of their skills and merits. (In most Western democracies civilian and military affairs are kept apart.)

Also ignored was the Indonesian military’s actions in West Papua, a prolonged and brutal campaign against independence seekers that’s allegedly taken thousands of lives.

Instead, Prabowo stressed that whatever subtexts might be imagined, there would be no revision of the county’s neutrality:

“As you know we are, by tradition, non-aligned. By tradition, our people do not want us to be involved in any geopolitical or military alliances or groupings. I myself, am determined to continue this policy.”

If Indonesians thought their nation was secretly sliding into the US camp through a deal with the region’s “deputy sheriff”, riots would result and Marles’ arrangement trashed.

He’s already crept close. In The Washington Post the Marles reportedly said: “We’re working together (with the US) to deter future conflict and to provide for the collective security of the region in which we live.”

While many elsewhere-based reporters parroted Marles media, The Australian’s Jakarta correspondent Amanda Hodge got her cautions buried on page four but accurately reflected the Jakarta view that the arrangement falls “well short of a mutual security guarantee” and without the weight of a “visiting forces agreement”.

Another realist was the ABC’s Stephen Dziedzic, noting Prabowo only said the two countries had made “great progress” in “ironing out legalistic details” in the arrangement. That’s the job negotiators are paid to perform.

While Marles was in Central Java about 200 Australian troops were dashing around East Java’s north coast in the two-week Super Garuda Shield exercises. Also with the Diggers are almost 2,000 US Marines, supposedly thinking about cyber threats plus toys that go bang.

In the smog of industrial Sidoarjo are sweating soldiers from NZ, Singapore, Canada, France, Thailand and the UK. Not China this time, though the PRC participated in 2009.

Before The Australian implies this means Indonesia is in the Western camp and the signings aimed at “countering growing Chinese threats”, Lachlan Murdoch should know this:

The annual fun-with-guns games have been underway since 2006; next year Beijing’s troops will be starring in yet another “bilateral training exercise”.

If this wasn’t so serious, the idea of Grunts helping Indonesia, then their Chinese equivalents doing the same thing would be a fine film plot. Title suggestion: Dancing with Demagogues.

Duncan Graham 

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 in East Java.