Dari Inggris, Bucthar Tabuni Serukan Perlawanan Damai

Jayapura, Jubi – Mantan ketua Umum Komite Nasional Papua Barat (KNPB), Bucthar Tabuni menyeruhkan rakyat Papua bersama KNPB sebagai media perlawanan melakukan gerakan damai di dalam kota-kota di tanah West Papua.

“Kita percaya, tidak perlu emosi dan anarkis,”ungkap Tabuni dari Inggris melalui sambungan telepon genggam yang dihubungkan ke pengeras suara kepada ribuan massa KNPB yang menghadiri ibadah sekaligus pengumuman deklarasi IPWP di anjungan Expo Waena, Kota Jayapura, Papua, Rabu (11/05/2016)

Kata dia, dirinya baru saja menhadiri pertemuan International Palementarian for West Papua (IPWP) pada 3 Me lalu. Pertemuan itu dihadiri sejumlah anggota parlemen dari berbagai negara, pemipin pemerintahm, termasuk pemimpin oposisi Inggris, Jeremy Corbyn menyatakan dukungan penentuan nasib sediri bagi rakyat West Papua.

“Pimpinan Partai Buruh, pemimpin oposisi, Jeremy Corbyn mendukung kita. Langkah selanjutnya kita umumkan dimana-mana melalui gerakan damai,”harapnya.

Kata, ketika semakin banyak dukungan, pemerintah Indonesia sedang melakukan provokasi terhadap rakyat Papua. Tetapi, ajak dia, Rakyat Papua harus mengambil pelajaran dari provokasi yang dikobarkan pemerintah Indonesia. Rakyat Papua harus semakin dewasa dalam perjuangan menentukan nasib sendiri.

“Kita harus belajar dari pengalaman. Kita harus semakin maju dari satu tahap ke tahap yang lebih maju dalam perlawanan,”ungkap pria yang masih berstatus Daftar Pencaharian Orang Polda Papua terkait demo 26 November 2013.

Kata dia, perlawanan damai itu demi menghindari pertumpahan darah. Tabuni tidak mau lagi ada korban dari pihak rakyat Papua. “Kita tidak mau ada gerakan penembakan lagi,”tegasnya.

Filep Karma yang turut mengahadiri ibadat itu menyuguhkan perjuangan Papua merdeka tidak boleh melalui pertumpahan darah. Pertumbahan darah hanya melahirkan kehidupan bangsa yang buruk bila Papua Merdeka.

“Kita tidak boleh merdeka dengan darah-darah,”ungkap pria mantan tahanan Politik Papua Merdeka ini orasi pendidikan politiknya di hadapan ribuan masa.

Ia mencontohkan kehidupan bangsa Indonesia yang pernah menempuh perjuangan berdarah. Indonesia berjuang dengan membunuh penjajah, orang Cina, orang Belanda, orang Jepang berdampak pada kehidupan bangsa tidak menentu.

“Perjuangan berdarah-darah itu hanya melahirkan kehidupan bangsa yang buruk,”tegasnya.(*)

May 12, 2016 0

They need our help Will we let West Papuans lose everything?

Padre James Bhagwan, Fiji Times Online, Wednesday, May 11, 2016

LAST week I ended my column drawing a correlation between the writing of JW Burton, Totaram Sandhya and CF Andrews on the indenture system and the recent report of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Brisbane on the injustice and human rights abuse in West Papua.

Titled, “We Will Lose Everything: A Report On A Human Rights Fact Finding Mission To West Papua”, this document seeks to present the voice of the people of West Papua as accurately as possible. The delegation’s program, while in West Papua, was determined by Papuans who worked closely with them throughout the two-week visit.

Beginning with the dealings by international powers which enabled the Indonesian Government to occupy West Papua in the 1960s without the free consent of the people, the report highlights the violence and marginalisation endured by the Papuan people. Below are extracts from the report which can be read in full at: https://cjpcbrisbane.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/we-will-lose-everything-may-2016.pdf

The commission’s delegation to West Papua in February 2016 found no improvement in the human rights situation. Reports of human rights violations by members of Indonesian security forces had not declined and the economic and social status of Papuans has not improved. The Indonesian legal and political system is unwilling and unable to address human rights violations in West Papua.

A meeting with Papuan families living in a compound in Kuala Censana exemplifies why the fear among Papuans of security forces intimidation, harassment and violence has not declined at all in recent times.

The families met by the delegation are Dani people who support the West Papua National Committee (KNPB). They related an incident which occurred on February 5, 2016, a public holiday to mark the coming of Christian missionaries to West Papua. The local KNPB branch had organised a meeting on an oval to celebrate the holiday, but also to present awards for a recent sporting competition and to inform people about the organisation’s campaign for a referendum on independence in West Papua.

In a report on arrests of political prisoners in West Papua between 2012 and 2014, Papuans behind Bars reported that 1341 Papuans were arrested in the two-year period and 98 per cent of those arrested were not armed. (See http://www.papuansbehindbars.org/ and for a comprehensive coverage of human rights violations in West Papua in 2015, see the International Coalition for Papua’s 2015 Human Rights Report at http://www.humanrightspapua.org/hrreport/2015/ ).

The delegation heard people do not go out at night for fear they will be taken by members of the security forces and will be beaten or killed. Their fears are not imaginary. They reported two men had been found dead in the town in the past year — one was found dead in the street with his scooter helmet still strapped to his head and another was a young man who is the son of a prominent pastor who is a strong advocate of the rights of the Papuan people.

They also reported that out-of-uniform soldiers would sometimes ride motorcycles into the stalls of Papuan women in the local markets to destroy their capacity to make a living.

In April 2016, the co-ordinator of the prominent Indonesian human rights organisation, the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KONTRAS), Haris Azhar, asserted that human rights violations in West Papua had continued to worsen since the election of President Widodo in September 2014. He referred to data on his organisation’s records indicating there had been over 1200 incidents of harassment, beatings, torture and killings of Papuans by Indonesian security forces in the past year.

Everywhere the delegation went in West Papua, soldiers, police and intelligence operatives were clearly visible. At one of the towns our delegation visited, the priest who hosted their visit was asked to attend the police station to answer questions on the reasons for the delegation’s presence in the community.

In several places, Papuans reported that significant numbers of military personnel being brought into the area ostensibly for non-military purposes such as undertaking audits of places of cultural significance, but locals believe their presence is intended to reinforce the capacity to monitor and control the activities of those promoting independence.

Information from various parts of West Papua assert the security forces are often involved in businesses such as brothels and logging. If not involved as owners, they obtain income by providing security for these businesses. They also supplement their income by compelling local government authorities to employ soldiers as security or drivers.

According to KNPB leaders with whom the delegation spoke in 2016 and with whom members of the 2015 pilgrimage also spoke, 28 KNPB members have been summarily executed by Indonesian security forces between 2012 and 2016.

A report provided to the commission by a Catholic seminarian indicates that, on April 5, the Timika Branch of KNPB held a prayer meeting to pray for the granting to the ULMWP of full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. The prayer meeting took place in the Golgota GKI Church. A group of soldiers, police and members of Detachment 88 arrived at the meeting and removed some KNPB material and destroyed a stage constructed for the gathering.

“When they arrived, the KNPB leader in Timika, Steven Itlay, said the prayer meeting would continue. However, the contingent of soldiers and police decided to break up the meeting. They beat members of the community and arrested Steven Itlay and eight other KNPB members. They were kicked and beaten with rifle butts during the arrests.”

The report highlighted that West Papuans are just as much concerned about their growing economic and social marginalisation as they are about the violence of the security forces. Without a doubt, the single most important factor for them in this regard is the rapid demographic changes which have resulted from the extremely high rate of migration into West Papua from Java, Sumatra, Flores, West Timor and other Indonesian islands.

As visitors, the dramatic demographic shift is readily observable.

Indonesian faces are as common as Melanesian faces, if not the majority, in many places the delegation visited in West Papua. In the main towns we visited — Port Numbay (Jayapura), Timika, Sorong and Merauke — they are already the majority.

Along with the influx of Indonesian migrants have come changes in language, food, dress, religion, music, art and much more. Papuans have seen themselves pushed to one side by often more aggressive Indonesian migrants who have taken over land, the economy and cultural spaces.

Dr James Elmslie’s demographic projections for Melanesian people in West Papua present a stark picture. Since 1971, he estimates the Melanesian proportion of the population in West Papua has declined from around 96 per cent to a present day minority of 48.73 per cent; and he projects the proportion will decline to 28.99 per cent in four short years in 2020.

It is no wonder that Papuans, seeing the rapid changes around them, believe their situation is desperate. It is also the reason why the ULMWP leadership claims that “We will lose everything!” unless there is a dramatic shift in the political situation in West Papua in the next few years.

In the light of the delegation’s findings, the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Brisbane made a number of recommendations, including that:

& Governments in the Pacific, including the Australian Government, should seek intervention at the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United Nations General Assembly to initiate a credible, independent investigation into human rights violations in West Papua;

& Governments in the Pacific should also pressure the Indonesian Government directly and seek the intervention of the United Nations to establish a dialogue between the Indonesian Government and the acknowledged leaders of the people of West Papua, the United Liberation Movement for West Papua in order to identify a credible pathway towards genuine self-determination for the people of West Papua;

& Churches and civil society organisations in the Pacific should continue to build a network of solidarity with their counterparts in West Papua in order to support advocacy and action on human rights violations and the pursuit of self-determination by the people of West Papua and their leaders, the United Liberation Movement for West Papua; and

& The Australian Government should urgently consider the mounting evidence of involvement in human rights violations in West Papua by members of the Indonesian military, police force, including Detachment 88, and intelligence service. Based on this investigation, it should review any support, training and funding of any units involved in human rights violations in West Papua with a view to suspending such support until policy changes to end violations are implemented by the Indonesian Government.

There is much more in the report than which I have shared. One reader of the report shared his hope and prayer that we in Fiji realise that while we may be suffering there are others in our midst who are suffering more. My thoughts and prayers are with our brothers and sisters in West Papua and I pray that sooner rather than later, I will see the day when an international or regional peacekeeping, peace building force is deployed to West Papua.

Simplicity, serenity, spontaneity.

* Reverend James Bhagwan is an ordained Methodist minister and a citizen journalist. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Methodist Church in Fiji or this newspaper.

May 11, 2016 0

Foreign journalists will still need permits and be subjected to ‘screening’ in Papuan provinces

By Indonesia correspondent George Roberts

ABC News, Posted 12 May 2015, 3:55pm

Foreign journalists will still need permits to report from Papuan provinces, according to Indonesia’s chief security minister, despite president Joko Widodo’s claims the region is now unrestricted.

Mr Widodo announced last weekend that foreign media were free to report from the provinces of Papua and West Papua.

However, his co-ordinating minister for politics, law and security, Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno, said journalists would still need permits and be subjected to “screening”.

He told government-owned newswire Antara the requirements were to stop the government being blamed if journalists went into “forbidden areas”.

There are reportedly other preconditions, including that reporters are not allowed to do anything to “discredit” Indonesia.

Earlier this week, Mr Widodo announced he had lifted the restrictions that previously prevented foreign journalists from travelling to the country’s restive Papuan provinces.

Independence activists in Papua and West Papua often clash with Indonesian military, but the country is determined to hold onto the resource-rich area and had largely blocked foreign media from covering the region.

Last year, two French journalists were arrested in Papua province for reporting while on tourist visas and spent months in detention before being sent back to France

May 11, 2016 0

International Pressure Building on Jakarta over Papua

4:02 pm on 10 May 2016, Radio NZ

The International Parliamentarians for West Papua has called for an internationally-supervised vote on independence in West Papua and is preparing to build pressure on Indonesia over the issue.

Listen (duration 6′ :16″)
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Transcript

The International Parliamentarians for West Papua has called for an internationally-supervised vote on independence in West Papua

This group of politicians from around the world, who support self-determination for West Papuans and are concerned about ongoing human rights abuses against Papuans, held a summit in London last week.

Also present were members of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua which was last year granted observer status at the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

One of those in attendance was the Vanuatu government minister Ralph Regenvanu who spoke to Johnny Blades about the IPWP’s strategy.

RALPH REGENVANU:There is also a need for the whole process of the vote of self-determination to be revisited, in light of the fact that the UN-supervised vote when it happened back in the 1960s (The Act of Free Choice) was very questionable, basically a sham. So that needs to happen again because the people of West Papua haven’t been given an opportunity to decide on their future. And it’s really a decolonisation issue. It’s not a secession issue or anything like that. It’s a decolonisation issue. For that to go forward we basically need the support of many more countries so that it can be addressed at the level of the UN General Assembly. one of the strategies that Vanuatu for example will be actively participating in, and has been, as well as the other countries that were at the meeting, is to get more countries in support of seeking an internationally-supervised vote on self-determination again in West Papua.

JOHNNY BLADES: In the wake of that meeting in London, the Indonesian House of Representatives has condemned it and called it a “reflection of colonial acts”. What do you say to that, because they’re also said it’s a stunt, trying to disrupt the unitary state of Indonesia?

RR: Well, unfortunately, according to international law, that self-determination issue has never been addressed by a proper vote in West Papua, and that’s been recognised at a number of levels, a number of forums. Decolonisation never happened and in fact this colony was simply passed from one colonial power, being the Dutch, to another colonial power which is Indonesia which continues to colonise the territory to this day.”

JB: Now that strategy you told me about, in terms of through the MSG forum, we’ve seen divisions come up around this issue. Do you have faith in the MSG to be able to wrestle with this properly, to be able to get Indonesia to the table?

RR: Well, the point is that we are going down all avenues to address this issue. Through the MSG, we’re trying to bring Indonesia to the table to talk. The (Pacific) Forum has asked for consultation regarding getting a proper human rights assessment done. We’ve got the International Parliamentarians for West Papua calling for a supervised vote. So there are a number of efforts happening at different levels to try and address the issue in a range of ways. And so if Indonesia doesn’t want to… it hasn’t actually responded to any of those. It hasn’t responded to the Forum, it hasn’t responded to the MSG, so basically we’ll just take it to the next level. We’re trying to do it at the levels we can. If there’s no response, we go to the next level and we continue to address it at a higher level and ultimately the UN is going to have to take it on.

JB: Indonesia is obviously sensitive to this pressure. It wants to engage with Pacific countries. But your government wants Indonesia to be stripped of its associate member status at the MSG, right, how does that stack up with being able to dialogue with them?

RR: Well you have said that Indonesia wants to engage with the Pacific, ok. Unfortunately, the call by the MSG to sit at the same table has been ignored. And in fact they rebuffed the prime minister of the Solomon Islands (Manasseh Sogavare who is the current MSG chair). There’s been no resonse to the letter from the prime minister of Papua New Guinea as the chair of the Pacific Islands Forum to them asking for some sort of human rights assessment to be done. The question is: do they really want to engage or not? Vanuatu will be happy for Indonesia to stay in as an associate member of the MSG if it comes to the table. But if it’s not coming to the table, then why are they in the MSG? For Vanuatu the reason Indonesia is in the MSG is to be able to talk about this issue with the United Liberation Movement for West Papua. If they don’t want to talk about that issue, then why are they there?

JB: And the United Liberation Movement is – depending on which MSG leader you speak to, some say they’re just a technical group or a group outside of the region representing the interests of exiled West Papuans; I’m talking about comments coming from Suva or Port Moresby – but in fact we see in the demonstrations in the past few weeks in Papua that there is huge support for the United Liberation Movement and for the MSG, right?

RR: The United Liberation Movement for West Papua is recognised mostly within West Papua. It’s only because the leaders within West Papua can’t get out and get in these forums that we have people who are outside of the country actively engaging, people like the secretary-general Octo Mote, people like international spokesman Benny Wenda. These are all people who escaped as refugees in fear of their lives. People inside Indonesia, they’re getting arrested in mass amounts, they’re getting killed, they’re getting tortured. So they can’t be at the forefront of anywhere the ULMWP goes to talk about this issue. But of course they are part of it, they are intrinsic members of the movement and support it. So anyone who says that the ULMWP doesn’t represent the movement in West papua only has to see what’s happening in country. Every time the ULMWP does anything, for example the mass protests in support of membership in the MSG, that’s thousands and thousands of people in West Papua. Mass demonstrations in support of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua in London, the largest arrests in the history of West Papua (took place) because of that London meeting that we attended. So at that London meeting also, we had representatives who basically snuck out fro the territory to be there. So I don’t think there’s any substance to the claims that the ULMWP doesn’t represent the majority of the Movement.

JB: What do you and other people in the parliamentarians group make of the Indonesian government’s efforts to foster economic development in Papua, with more participation by the Melanesian population?

RR: We received reports from… there were a few universities who presented assessments of what’s happening. And while there are development efforts going ahead, there’s a huge disparity on all indicators between the indigenous West Papuan population and the Javanese population that’s been moved by transmigration to the territory. And in fact what we heard from one of the International Lawyers for West Papua who is based at Oxford University is that if you look at all those indicators and if you look at the historical development in the province, what’s been happening, basically under international law, under the genocide convention, Indonesia is committing genocide.

May 10, 2016 0

Vanuatu minister rejects Jakarta’s West Papua claims

International Parliamentarians for West Papua meet in London, May 2016. Photo: IPWP

A member of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua has dismissed claims by Indonesia that its deliberations on Papuan self-determination are a ‘publicity stunt’.

The Vanuatu government minister Ralph Regenvanu was one of dozens of MPs and leaders from the wider Pacific, Europe and Britain, who attended last week’s IPWP summit in London.

The summit resulted in a declaration calling for an internationally-supervised vote on independence in West Papua.

Jakarta condemned the London meeting, calling it a ‘reflection of colonial acts’ and affirming that Indonesian control of Papua is ‘final’.

But Mr Regenvanu said there was growing international support to address a clearly unresolved decolonisation issue.

“According to international law, that self-determination issue has never been addressed by a proper vote in West Papua, and that’s been recognised at a number of levels, a number of forums. Decolonisation never happened and in fact this colony was simply passed from one colonial power, being the Dutch, to another colonial power which is Indonesia which continues to colonise the territory to this day.”

May 9, 2016 0

International surge on West Papua amid mass demos

Radio NZ – More mass demonstrations are expected in Indonesia’s Papua region amid growing international interest in West Papuan self-determination aspirations.

West Papuans demonstrate support for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua’s bid to be a full member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. Photo: Tabloid Jubi

Last week’s demonstrations in cities across Papua region and other Indonesian cities came three weeks after similar public mobilisations, and resulted in mass arrests.

It’s traditional for West Papuans to demonstrate around May the 1st. This date is the anniversary of transfer of administration in the former Dutch New Guinea to Indonesia in 1963, a process in which Papuans were not consulted.

But this year they were also demonstrating their support for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua’s bid to be a full member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, as well as the International Parliamentarians for West Papua.

London summit

The IPWP, a network of politicians from around the world who support self-determination for West Papuans and are concerned about ongoing human rights abuses against Papuans, held a summit in London last week.

One of the IPWP’s founders is the British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn who said at the summit that he wanted support for West Papuan self-determination, and recognition of the human rights issues, to become central to policy in his Labour Party.

Jeremy Corbyn described West Papuans as “people who did not enjoy their rights during a period of decolonisation, did not enjoy the rights bestowed to them by the UN charter and by the statutes on decolonisation”. Photo: AFP / PRU

Attended by MPs from the wider Pacific, Europe and Britain, as well as Liberation Movement leaders such as Benny Wenda, the summit resulted in a declaration calling for an internationally-supervised vote on independence in West Papua.

The West Papua-based journalist Victor Mambor said people demonstrating last week in Papua’s main centres supported this call.

“They want a referendum, they want the right to self-determination. As far as I know the authorities never talk about that, they didn’t want to talk about that,” he said.

However Jakarta insists that there is no going back on the what it calls the ‘final’ incorporation of West Papua into the republic, and has been swift to condemn the London meeting.

In a series of posts on Twitter, the Indonesian embassy in Australia called the meeting a publicity stunt organised by a ‘small group of Papuan separatists and sympathisers.’

Jakarta said the United Nations and international community already recognised Papua as part of Indonesia, saying the region already has self-determination through special autonomy, elections and education.

However, the 1969 referendum by which West Papua was formally incorporated into Indonesia, named the Act of Free Choice, is widely regarded as having been stage-managed.

A leading Vanuatu government minister who attended the London summit, Ralph Regenvanu, said there was growing international support to address what remained an unresolved decolonisation issue.

“According to international law, that self-determination issue has never been addressed by a proper vote in West Papua, and that’s been recognised at a number of forums,” said Mr Regenvanu.

“Decolonisation never happened and in fact this colony was simply passed from one colonial power, being the Dutch, to another colonial power which is Indonesia which continues to colonise the territory to this day.”

Jokowi’s Papua drive

The demonstrations came just a day after Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo visited Papua region to open a major port facility and preside over a new market construction designed to assist Papuans.

Less than two years since taking office, President Widodo, or ‘Jokowi’ as he is known, has already visited Papua several times – more than any previous Indonesian president.

Jokowi has promised to apply special focus to improving living conditions there. Photo: AFP

Jokowi has embarked on a major development drive in Papua, including plans for an 800-kilometre Papuan highway and an ambitious 1,390-km railway project.

“Within the first one-and-a-half years of Jokowi’s administration, eastern Indonesia’s economic growth has surpassed that of the western part of the country,” according to a statement from Indonesia’s House of Representatives following last week’s London summit.

The president’s focus on economic development in Papua has been welcomed but for many West Papuans has not addressed the self-determination issue, nor ongoing human rights abuses.

The Jokowi administration appears limited in its ability to rein in the military and police forces who run Papua; gains in living conditions for Papuans have yet to eventuate.

Indonesian police deployed to control the Jayapura demonstration in support of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua. Photo: Tabloid Jubi

Indonesia’s leading human rights body said last month that abuses in Papua, generally by security forces, remained as rampant as they were under previous governments.

Furthermore, health and education outcomes in Papua are typically Indonesia’s worst – for instance, Papua region has a rate of HIV/AIDS which is 20 times the national average.

Marginalised

Indonesian police said that the West Papua National Committee (which is part of the Liberation Movement) requested permission to hold the demonstrations and failed to meet the requirements. They proceeded anyway.

The demonstrations have gone wider, spreading even to Indonesian cities outside Papua, including Semarang and Makassar, with significant West Papuan populations.

A Papuan who works with political prisoners, Ruth Ogetay, said there was a common theme among the demonstrators.

“All over our land, West Papua, in cities like Wamena, Jayapura, the expression of West Papuans has been in support of independence,” she said.

While there was a more restrained conduct of police forces in handling last week’s demonstrations compared with past rallies, the number of arrests was massive.

Some local media reports had the number of arrests as high as 1700.

While the vast majority of those detained have since been released, images of hundreds of Papuans being held semi-naked in the midday sun at paramilitary police headquarters have caught international attention.

Indonesian security forces hold demonstrators Photo: Tabloid Jubi

In the wake of the arrests, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully, not for the first time, was pressed about the rights situation in West Papua.

“The government is concerned about these matters,” he told parliament, “and the government wants to see an improvement in the situation in that part of the world.

“The government does not believe that megaphone diplomacy will serve that objective.”

Politicians in Australia have frequently claimed that the economic and social plight of the indigenous people of Indonesia’s West Papua region was improving.

But a new report called ‘We will Lose Everything’, based on a fact finding mission the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission in Brisbane, concludes otherwise.

The Papua provincial capital Jayapura is a bustling city where economic activity and culture is increasingly dominated by non-Papuans. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades

Some Papuans say life in their region has improved significantly, compared to the years under the rule of Indonesia’s President Suharto who fell in 1998.

Yet the proportion of West Papuans to the overall population of their region is declining quickly as non-Papuan migrants stream in on a regular basis, via the state-facilitated transmigration system.

As a result, in their homeland Papuans are increasingly marginalised, in terms of culture and economic activity.

International pressure

The internationalisation of the West Papua issue continues, despite Jakarta’s insistence that it is a domestic matter.

As Tonga’s prime minister Akilisi Pohiva said following his attendance at the London summit, United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals were ‘impossible to achieve without the full support for the human rights of all people living in areas of conflict throughout the world and in the peaceful Pacific region.’

Grassroots support for governmental action on West Papua is steadily growing in the Pacific Islands region, particularly Melanesia.

The Melanesian Spearhead Group’s decision last year to grant the Liberation Movement observer status within the group was a recognition of that.

The secretary-general of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, Octo Mote (centre) talks to New Zealand MPs, including Steffan Browning (right). Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades

Concurrently, Indonesia with its claims to a large Melanesian population, became an associate member of the MSG in 2015.

The changing shape of the MSG – whose full members are Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia’s Kanak peoples – has become a divisive issue.

Ralph Regenvanu said Indonesian inclusion in the MSG was supposed to have opened the way for dialogue about West Papua. But he said that unfortunately the MSG’s call for Jakarta to dialogue had been ignored.

“And in fact they rebuffed the prime minister of the Solomons (Manasseh Sogavare who is the current MSG chair). There’s been no response to the letter from the prime minister of Papua New Guinea as the chair of the Pacific Islands Forum to them, asking for some sort of human rights assessment to be done,” said Mr Regenvanu.

“The question is: do they really want to engage or not? If it (Jakarta) is not coming to the table, then why are they in the MSG?”

The MSG is expected to have a leaders summit before the end of June in Port Vila where the full members are due to discuss the Liberation Movement’s bid for full membership.

As this draws near, more West Papuan demonstrations are likely.

May 9, 2016 0

Papua di Era Media Sosial

Penulis Amiruddin al-Alrahab – Minggu, 8 Mei 2016, geotimes.co.id

Segala hal mengenai Papua kini telah mendunia. Melampaui imajinasi di era yang sudah-sudah. Tidak ada lagi yang bisa disembunyikan, sekalipun “borok” sebagaimana yang pernah disampaikan oleh seorang anggota legislatif Indonesia. Itu berkat kemajuan teknologi komunikasi dan dunia media sosial.

Simaklah halaman-halaman dunia maya, di situ Anda dengan mudah menemukan berbagai isu mengenai politik, hak asasi manusia, dan sekaligus perkembangan sosial-ekonomi Papua.

Era media sosial memasuki Papua bersamaan dengan munculnya generasi Y. Generasi Y di Papua adalah generasi anak kandung reformasi. Mereka bertumbuh dalam alam demokrasi yang mulai mekar di Indonesia. Demokrasi itu juga dinikmati oleh generasi Y Papua, meskipun dalam kekurangan di sana-sini.
CRV iklan baner GT

Singkatnya, sekarang ini dan ke masa depan, generasi Y Papua dengan perangkat digital di tangan tersebutlah yang akan mengendalikan opini dan persepsi mengenai Papua di semua level. Ibarat kata, generasi media sosial itulah yang sedang dan akan menjadi legiun laga informasi di berbagai palagan wacana tentang Papua.

Cobalah luangkan waktu dan simak dunia maya sejenak untuk menyimak perkembangan wacana terkini mengenai Papua. Anda akan dengan mudah menemukan gambar, foto, dan opini-opini yang sangat berbeda dari yang berkembang di media-media arus utama Jakarta.

Sekadar contoh, begitu banyak wacana mengenai United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) dan Melanesia Spearhead Group (MSG) berkembang di dunia maya tanpa media-media umum Jakarta mampu menandingi. Bahkan kini dengan mudah pula ditemukan foto-foto orang-orang membentangkan bendera Bintang Kejora dari berbagai belahan dunia. Bukan itu saja, juga ada foto-foto dengan latar berbagai orang Papua dengan bendera tersebut.

Dengan menyimak foto-foto tersebut, tampak dua hal. Pertama, untuk mengibarkan bendera Bintang Kejora kini tidak diperlukan lagi tiang dan lokasi, cukup dengan sekali klik telepon genggam pintar, kemudian unduh ke Twitter, Facebook, dan Instagram, maka menyebarlah ia. Kedua, ketika foto-foto itu menyebar, tidak ada satu pun tangan hamba wet yang bisa menjangkaunya.

Melalui media sosial itu pula para generasi Y Papua dari berbagai belahan dunia berkomunikasi, berdebat, dan bersepakat. Tidak mengherankan lagi, perjalanan Benny Wenda ke Ghana, bisa dalam hitungan detik disimak di Wamena. Begitu pula yang terjadi di Tolikara, dalam hitungan detik bisa diketahui di Belanda.

Bukan itu saja. Di media sosial, segala kritik kepada kebijakan pemerintah tentang Papua juga ditemukan. Kritik itu disampaikan secara keras, gamblang, dan dengan gaya Papua pula. Segala perkembangan dunia kini juga mudah menjangkau anak-anak muda Papua. Dalam hitungan detik, peristiwa di London bisa diketahui oleh orang-orang di Wamena.

Begitu pula segala bentuk solidaritas internasional dari berbagai belahan dunia segera bisa diketahui oleh orang di pelosok Papua. Selama ada sinyal dan telepon pintar di tangannya. Singkatnya, dunia kini sudah menciut!

Artinya, kini permasalahan Papua memasuki era baru, yaitu era media sosial, era yang begitu egaliter dengan segala macam gagasan. Dunia yang egaliter itu pemainnya pun kini anak-anak muda Papua sendiri. Melalui media sosial, orang muda di Papua dengan cepat membagi dan menerima informasi. Era instruksi tunggal sudah tidak ada tempat lagi.

Nah, dalam perkembangan sedemikian itu, respons Jakarta atas perkembangan Papua tampaknya masih tertatih-tatih. Padahal dunia informasi telah berlari cepat dengan media sosial kendaraannya.

Menyembunyikan Papua dari mata dunia, atau menyembunyikan perkembangan dunia dari Papua, adalah kesia-siaan. Saya rasa Jakarta perlu bergegas. Jika tak mau tergilas di Papua. Semoga.

May 8, 2016 1

Hampir 2.000 Orang Ditangkap, LBH : Rakyat Papua Tidak Sendirian

MAY 3, 2016/ VICTOR MAMBO

Jayapura, Jubi – Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH) Jakarta mengecam keras penangkapan 1.724 aktivis dalam demonstrasi damai yang dilaksanakan serempak di Jayapura, Sorong, Merauke, Fakfak, Wamena, Semarang dan Makassar. Beberapa hari sebelumnya, 52 orang juga sudah ditangkap menjelang aksi hari ini.

Aksi hari ini dilakukan dalam rangka mendukung United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) masuk menjadi anggota penuh Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), sebuah forum diplomatik di Pasifik Selatan. Selain itu, juga untuk protes memperingati 1 Mei 1963 di mana hari bergabungnya Papua ke Indonesia. Aksi ini juga dilakukan untuk mendukung pertemuan International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP) yang akan dilakukan di London besok, 3 Mei 2016, yang akan membahas tentang referendum untuk Papua.

“Ada dua orang yang ditangkap di Merauke ketika menyerahkan surat pemberitahuan aksi ke kantor polisi. Ini pasal macam apa yang bisa dipakai untuk menangkap orang yang sedang menyerahkan surat pemberitahuan aksi? 41 orang yang ditangkap di Jayapura hanya karena menyebarkan selebaran ajakan aksi. Jelas ini perbuatan semena-mena yang inkonstitusional,” kecam Veronica Koman, pengacara publik LBH Jakarta.

Berikut adalah data jumlah orang yang ditangkap hari ini di masing-masing wilayah yang berhasil LBH Jakarta kumpulkan dari narasumber kami di Papua: 1449 orang di Jayapura, 118 orang di Merauke, 45 orang di Semarang, 42 orang di Makassar, 29 orang di Fakfak, 27 orang di Sorong, 14 orang di Wamena. Total yang ditangkap hari ini ada 1.724 orang. Sebagian besar sudah dilepas, namun masih ada belasan yang ditahan di Merauke, Fakfak dan Wamena.

Sedangkan pada 25 April 2016 ada juga dua orang ditangkap di Merauke, tanggal 30 April 41 orang ditangkap di Jayapura. 1 Mei ada empat orang di Wamena dan 5 orang di Merauke yang ditangkap.

“Total ada 1.839 orang Papua yang ditangkap sejak April 2016 hingga hari ini. Percuma saja Jokowi sering ke Papua kalau di Papua kerjanya hanya seremonial. Pendekatan pembangunan bukanlah yang dicari oleh rakyat Papua, Jokowi harus lebih jeli mendengarkan tuntutan mereka,” tambah Veronica.

Perbuatan kepolisian tersebut melanggar konstitusi Indonesia pasal 28 dan Undang-undang Nomor 9 Tahun 1998 tentang Kemerdekaan Menyampaikan Pendapat di Muka Umum. “Sekalipun tuntutannya adalah untuk referendum, selama orang Papua masih warga negara Indonesia, hak konstitusional mereka untuk berpendapat harus selalu dijaga. Gelarlah dialog, bukan merepresi aspirasi mereka,” tegas Alghiffari Aqsa, direktur LBH Jakarta.

Untuk itu, LBH Jakarta menuntut kepada Jokowi untuk menindak Kapolri, Kapolda Papua dan Kapolda Papua Barat yang telah mencoreng hak konstitusional rakyat Papua, serta segera melepaskan mereka yang masih ditahan. .

“Kami serukan bahwa Rabat Papua tidal Sendirian. Teruskanlah aspirasi kalian!” tutup Alghiffari. (*)

May 7, 2016 1

Pater John: Jayawijaya Darurat Kemanusiaan

MAY 16, 2016/ISLAMI ADISUBRATA

Wamena, Jubi – Pastor penerima Yap Thiam Yien Award 2009, Pater John Djonga menilai kondisi yang terjadi di Kabupaten Jayawijaya, Papua belakangan ini sebagai situasi darurat kemanusiaan.

Hal itu dikatakannya menanggapi demo yang dilakukan para bidan dan tenaga medis lainnya di Wamena, Jumat (13/5/2016).

Aksi itu dilakukan untuk mendesak Pemerintah dan Polres Jayawijaya agar segera menjamin keamanan bagi tenaga medis saat bekerja sebab mereka rentan menjadi korban pelecehan seksual dan pemerkosaan.

Pater John pun meminta agar kejadian tersebut segera disikapi Pemkab dan Polres Jayawijaya.

“Apa yang mereka (baca: para bidan) lakukan, saya salut dan mendukung,” katanya kepada Jubi di Wamena, Jayawijaya, Senin (16/5/2016).

Ia menyebutkan setidaknya 37 kasus pelecehan seksual dan kekerasan terhadap tenaga medis yang bekerja di kampung-kampung. Polisi, masyarakat adat dan gereja bahkan memilih diam terhadap persoalan ini.

“Saat ini situasi di Jayawijaya sudah darurat kemanusiaan. Para pekerja yang memperhatikan soal-soal kemanusiaan, seperti perawat, bidan atau guru dan lainnya merasa terancam hidupnya,” katanya.

Menurut dia ancaman pemerkosaan hingga pembunuhan terhadap para medis menandakan pihak berwajib tidak mampu melindungi masyarakatnya.

“Kalau bidan tidak ada, suasana atau angka kematian ibu dan anak pasti lebih tinggi lagi. Itu pun kepunahan orang Papua terancam. Jadi, saya harapkan masyarakat adat, orang tua supaya melindungi semua petugas-petugas kesehatan, tenaga pendidik dan para penggiat kemanusiaan lainnya,” katanya.

Ia mengatakan jika mau membatasi kematian ibu dan anak, maka harus melindung petugas yang bertugas. Begitu pula dengan pendidikan; guru-guru harus dilindungi.

“Tidak ada lagi kelakuan-kelakuan yang pura-pura mabuk atau juga melakukan tindakan-tindakan ancaman kekerasan atau bahkan sampai membunuh,” katanya.

Wakapolres Jayawijaya, Kompol Fransiskus Elosak mengatakan pihaknya sudah memanggil para kepala distrik terkait kejadian percobaan pemerkosaan yang dialami seorang bidan di Distrik Libarek, Pisugi dan Witawaya. Para kepala distrik itu lalu ditugaskan untuk membantu kepolisian dalam mengungkap kasus tersebut dengan melaporkan pelakunya kepada polisi.

“Kalau mereka memang tidak menghadapkan pelaku ke polisi, maka harus memberikan informasi kepada kita. Kami pun sudah siap untuk menangkap pelaku,” kata Kompol Fransiskus.

Ia mengatakan jumlah personil polisi di Polres Jayawijaya terbatas meski ada program Polri ‘satu polisi satu desa’ sehingga jaminan keamanan belum dipenuhi. Oleh karena itu, ia mengharapkan agar penempatan tenaga medis perlu ditinjau kembali dan dikoordinasikan dengan kepala distrik, kepala kampung dan tokoh masyarakat agar mendapatkan perlindungan dan jaminan keamanan dari masyarakat lokal. (*)

May 7, 2016 1

Inilah Peluang dan Tantangan Jika Papua Merdeka

Jayapura, Jubi – Saat berbicara dalam pertemuan International Parliamentarian for West Papua di London, Selasa (3/5/2016), Jeremy Corbyn, pemimpin oposisi dan ketua partai Buruh Inggris meluncurkan sebuah laporan yang diterbitkan oleh Universitas Warwick. Laporan ini merekomendasikan pemulihan aktivitas LSM di Papua, pembebasan tahanan politik, dan pengiriman delegasi anggota parlemen ke Papua.

Dokumen yang diluncurkan oleh Corbyn ini adalah hasil penilaian terhadap konflik di Tanah Papua. Dokumen ini berjudul “An Overview of The Issues and Recomendations for The UK and International Community”. Penilaian ini merupakan proyek dari departemen Politik dan Studi Internasional Universitas Warwick di Inggris.

Tim proyek ini terdiri dari Keith Hyams, Marinella Capriati, Emma Piercy, Lisa Tilley, Connor Woodman, and Ryan McKay. Proyek ini didanai oleh Universitas Warwick dan ESRC Impact Accelerator Account.

Keith Hyams, kepada Jubi melalui surat elektronik yang diterima Jubi, Jumat (6/5/2016), mengatakan laporan ini sudah dipublikasikan sejak bulan April 2016. Ia menyebutkan tantangan abadi di Papua adalah bagaimana menyelesaikan konflik dan bagaimana mengatasi hambatan politik dan ekonomi untuk pembangunan.

“Tujuan kami adalah untuk memberikan informasi analisis akademis yang ketat yang dapat membantu semua pihak bergerak lebih dekat ke resolusi damai dan berkelanjutan,” kata Hyams.

Ia juga mengatakan laporan ini untuk membantu membangun institusi yang mendukung pembangunan di Papua Barat.

“Untuk tujuan ini, proyek memiliki fokus praktis yang kuat, terlibat erat dengan anggota parlemen Inggris dan Internasional dan pembuat kebijakan lainnya untuk memberikan informasi terbaik dalam pengambilan keputusan di masa yang akan datang dalam masalah ini,” ujar Hyams.

Hyams menjelaskan hasil penilaian Universitas Warwick ini selain memberikan rekomendasi, juga membuka peluang dan tantangan jika Papua berdiri sendiri menjadi satu negara baru yang merdeka.

Peluang dan tantangan tersebut adalah :

Peluang

1. Wilayah (Papua) tidak lagi berada di bawah kendali pasukan Indonesia yang sudah sangat lama melakukan tindakan kekerasan terhadap penduduk asli Papua. Tingkat kekerasan di Timor Timur turun setelah pasukan Indonesia meninggalkan wilayah itu, sehingga sangat wajar untuk mengharapkan hal yang sama akan terjadi di Papua Barat yang merdeka.
Beberapa pertanyaan selama ini mempertanyakan apakah masalah Papua Barat akan bisa benar-benar diselesaikan selama militer Indonesia hadir di Papua.

2. Papua akan memiliki kontrol atas pembangunan ekonomi mereka sendiri, termasuk pendapatan dari sumber daya alam, yang bisa disalurkan kepada proyek-proyek pembangunan akar rumput.

Tantangan

1. Divisi Sosial.

Negara Papua yang baru terbentuk akan dan harus berurusan dengan perpecahan antara migran dan penduduk asli Papua. Peristiwa baru-baru ini mengkonfirmasi adanya peningkatan ketegangan antara penduduk asli Papua dan pendatang. Hal ini sangat mengkhawatirkan karena, seperti yang disorot di atas, migran sekarang merupakan sekitar setengah dari penduduk Papua Barat, dan mengendalikan sebagian besar kehidupan ekonomi di Papua. Selain itu, pemekaran provinsi dan kabupaten baru telah meningkatkan persaingan antara kelompok masyarakat adat yang berbeda sehingga menciptakan ancaman baru bagi stabilitas Papua yang independen dan merdeka. Sebuah rencana transisi yang jelas dengan dukungan luas di basis dan persatuan pemerintah yang kuat dengan dukungan internasional diperlukan untuk menjamin stabilitas negara yang baru terbentuk.

2. Kapasitas Administratif.

Otonomi Khusus 2001 meningkatkan jumlah orang Papua dalam posisi kepemimpinan, tetapi tidak memberikan pelatihan yang sepadan dan pendidikan dalam rangka memastikan bahwa penunjukan seseorang mampu berfungsi secara efektif. Peningkatan sumber daya yang mengalir melalui anggaran internal tanpa perhitungan yang tepat hanya memperburuk masalah.

Agar berhasil, Papua yang merdeka sangat membutuhakn dukungan internasional untuk mengembangkan administrasi yang efektif dan terlatih.

3. Kurangnya Infrastruktur.

Wilayah Papua Barat memiliki infrastruktur dasar yang sangat miskin, termasuk fasilitas kesehatan dan kekurangan pendidikan. Mengingat situasi yang menantang, menetapkan ketentuan kesejahteraan dasar mungkin salah satu tantangan yang paling mendesak untuk Papua yang merdeka.

4. Keamanan Internal.

Militer dan polisi Indonesia saat ini bertanggung jawab untuk memastikan keamanan internal. Sebagaimana dicatat, kehadiran militer dan polisi Indonesia di Papua dan tindak kekerasan yang telah mereka lakukan terhadap penduduk asli Papua berada di inti konflik saat ini. Jika layanan keamanan Indonesia keluar dari Papua, menjadi penting untuk memastikan bahwa kepolisian yang terlatih baik yang bertanggungjawab kepada pemerintah Papua bisa cepat mengambil alih peran keamanan sebelumnya, untuk memastikan keamanan internal dan untuk mencegah gangguan dalam hukum dan ketertiban, dan kekerasan etnis. Pengalaman internasional menunjukkan bahwa ini sering menjadi tantangan utama bagi negara-negara yang baru merdeka. (*)

May 6, 2016 0

Author: melanesianews