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Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Military controls log trading
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Subj: [wp] SCMP: 'Shadowy' Kopassus Unit Blamed for Conflicts
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Subj: AWSJ: Indonesian Tribes Sign Freeport-McMoRan Deal
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Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Irian rebels threaten war in Indonesia
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Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Gus Dur hopeful of halting separatism
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Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Health, a specter for Irian Jaya
Date: 8/21/00 7:21:17 PM Central Daylight Time
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The Jakarta Post.com
Across the Archipelago
August 22, 2000
Military controls log trading
JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: Local forestry guards have complained that
their duty of controlling log trading has been taken over by the
military without any official authorization.
Forestry Security Task Force (Jagawana) coordinator Freddy Wanda
said military personnel from the Abepura Military District office
had established a new post in Nafri village and force log owners to
pay levies. Freddy insisted his office had been given authority to
supervise the flow of logs and forestry products in the regency, not
the military.
"Each truck loading with logs is required to pay up to Rp 200,000.
When the owner refuses, they (the military) seize the logs and sell
them to other buyers," Antara quoted Freddy as saying.
Head of local ministry of forestry and plantation, Noack Samber,
said he had reported the case to Jayapura Mayor M.R. Kambu. (prb)
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
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Date: 8/21/00 3:26:53 AM Central Standard Time
From: tapol@gn.apc.org (TAPOL)
Reply-to: tapol@gn.apc.org
To: indonesia-act@igc.apc.org, WestPapua@topica.com
CC: slliem@xs4all.nl, taylorjb@vax.sbu.ac.uk
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
South China Morning Post
Monday, August 21, 2000
INDONESIA
'Shadowy' unit blamed for conflicts
VAUDINE ENGLAND in Jakarta
The upsurge in fighting on the border between East and West Timor is the
latest sign that the Indonesian military's special forces remain outside the
control of the Government, Jakarta-based diplomats say.
Amid rising concern at the concessions to the military granted in last week's
constitutional amendments, Western diplomats and political analysts admit
their hopes for military reform and good behaviour regarding East Timor are
being frustrated. At the same time, they note that Jakarta's recent promises
to close refugee camps in West Timor are vague and misdirected.
It is now clear, diplomatic sources say, that the military's Kopassus special
forces unit is acting as dangerously and independently as ever, stoking
conflicts from one end of the country to the other.
"We know they are operating in Irian Jaya, the Maluku Islands and Aceh, as
well as interfering in East Timor from West Timor," said a diplomat with
intelligence duties. "There is obviously a plan afoot, look at the map. As to
who exactly is involved, that's easy. The current heads of Kopassus units in
these places are [working with] retired generals who were in those places
before."
Reports from the separatist-inclined province of Irian Jaya say fresh numbers
of Kopassus men have arrived there, sparking fears of new conflict.
Kopassus-backed militia activity inside East Timor - which next week
celebrates a year outside Indonesian sovereignty - has provoked the sharpest
international condemnation. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has
again called on Indonesia to stand by its word to pull its men out and help
return those East Timorese trapped in militia-run camps.
The United States Ambassador to Indonesia, Robert Gelbard, is outraged by the
militia activity. "[It] demonstrates to my Government that the Indonesian
Government is still not prepared to take control of the situation. That is
something Indonesia must do if it is to achieve the necessary long-term
support for its own situation."
Other diplomats support his position, and say they are caught in the same
bind as a year ago regarding whether the military's top brass in Jakarta is
aware, able or willing to tackle the problem. "Jakarta doesn't seem to
realise that this issue alone has stalled improvements in relations across
the board with all of us," said a Western diplomatic source. "This goes to
the highest level in Jakarta."
The anger of diplomats who have long supported Indonesia reached a new pitch
following the killing of two peacekeepers from New Zealand and Nepal in East
Timor. Up to 300 rounds of ammunition were fired by the attackers in the
incident in which the Nepali died, indicating a level of arms and ability
attributable to the involvement of the shadowy Kopassus, sources say.
The militias are operating out of refugee camps for East Timorese in West
Timor, which Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab has promised will close
soon.
Craig Sanders, head of UN High Commissioner for Refugees operations in West
Timor, believes that if force is used to close the refugee camps "we could
see a meltdown". He added: "It could also spark a reaction by the militia . .
. the thugs have proven that they can unleash violence."
Kopassus numbers about 6,000 soldiers. Its missions include anti-guerilla
activities and intelligence gathering. Its members were involved in the
assassinations of dissident activists and leaders of East Timor's
independence movement during the Suharto era. Kopassus is regularly blamed
for abductions, torture and unexplained acts of violence in Aceh, Irian Jaya
and the Malukus.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath,
Surrey CR7 8HW, UK
Phone: 020 8771-2904 Fax: 020 8653-0322
email: tapol@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Campaigning to expose human rights violations in
Indonesia, West Papua and Aceh
26 years - and still going strong
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
___________________________________________________________
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Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
Date: 8/21/00 3:26:17 AM Central Standard Time
From: tapol@gn.apc.org (TAPOL)
To: westpapua@topica.com, indonesia-act@igc.apc.org
CC: dtecampaign@gn.apc.org, dte@gn.apc.org
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
Asian Wall Street Journal
August 20, 2000
AWSJ: Indonesian Tribes Sign Freeport-McMoRan Deal
By CHIP CUMMINS
Staff Reporter
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. said it signed an agreement it hopes will
improve strained relations with indigenous tribes living near the company's
vast mining operations in Indonesia's remote West Papua province.
The New Orleans concern said a new memorandum of understanding between its
local affiliate and the Amungme and Kamoro tribes will provide a framework
for more detailed agreements on human rights, land rights, environmental
standards and "socioeconomic resources" -- issues that have long plagued
Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg mine. Tensions flared anew in May after four
workers died in a landslide at one of the mine's waste-rock facilities.
"We really think our relations with the local people now are better than they
ever have been," said a Freeport-McMoRan spokesman.
Freeport-McMoRan signed an initial land-rights agreement with local tribesmen
in 1974 and has been working on details of the new memorandum since 1995.
The agreement's terms extend for the duration of Freeport-McMoRan's mining
operations in the area and will serve as the "foundation for a series of
subsequent contractual agreements" between the company and the tribes,
Freeport-McMoRan said.
The agreement doesn't affect Freeport-McMoRan's longstanding contract with
the Indonesian government. That contract calls for Freeport-McMoRan to pay
taxes, royalties and dividends and contribute to regional development in
exchange for the right to mine the rich copper and gold deposits in West
Papau, a remote province also known as Irian Jaya. Freeport-McMoRan mined
39.2 billion grams of copper and 67.2 million grams of gold at its Grasberg
operations last year. Its current contract of work with Jakarta doesn't
expire until 2041.
Freeport-McMoRan said as part of the new agreement, it will help establish a
levee-maintenance and construction joint venture with local tribesmen. The
new company, to be partly owned by the Amungme tribe, will employ local
Papuans. The agreement also calls for a farming-development and training
project and the construction of tribal offices and housing.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath,
Surrey CR7 8HW, UK
Phone: 020 8771-2904 Fax: 020 8653-0322
email: tapol@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Campaigning to expose human rights violations in
Indonesia, West Papua and Aceh
26 years - and still going strong
Date: 8/21/00 7:21:20 PM Central Daylight Time
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Monday, August 21 6:19 PM SGT
Irian rebels threaten war in Indonesia
JAKARTA, Aug 21 (AFP)
Separatist leaders in Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya
on Monday threatened to wage all out war against Jakarta if their
calls for independence remained unheeded.
Theys Eluay, chairman of the pro-independence Presidium of the
People of Papua, condemned the Indonesian national assembly for
recommending the government not tolerate separatism in Irian Jaya
and ban the raising of the separatist flag.
The incorporation of Irian Jaya, which is also increasingly known as
Papua, into Indonesia was done by military force and a fraudulent
vote, Eluay said in a statement read to AFP by a church official in
the Irian Jayan provincial capital Jayapura over the telephone.
"The legislature has pushed the government into developing a scheme
which will lead to the termination of the Papuan people," Eluay said
in the statement, co-signed and read out by vice-chairman Tom Beanal
before some 1,500 pro-independence activists in Timika district
earlier Monday.
"We and all the Papuan people are ready to wage war against
Indonesian militarism to the last drop of our blood," the statement
said.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid pledged at an annual session
of the People's Consultative Assembly, which ended on August 18, not
to tolerate separatism in the vast archipelago.
He said that he was convinced that the calls for separatism in Aceh
and Irian Jaya provinces were not supported by the majority of the
populations there.
Wahid was answering criticisms by legislators who accused him of
condoning separatism in Irian Jaya by allowing pro-independence
activists to fly the Morning Star secessionist flag.
Eluay in turn threatened to pull down all Indonesian flags in the
province.
"If the Morning Star flags are taken down it is only fair that we,
regrettably, also take down all the red and white flags which have
flown for 37 years on the land of Papua," he said.
Separatists in Irian Jaya are demanding Jakarta recognise its
independence, claiming a United Nations-conducted "act of free
choice" in 1969, which led to the former Dutch territory becoming
part of Indonesia, was unrepresentative.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Your Letters
August 22, 2000
U.S. does not support Papua
I was deeply disappointed to read the assertion in The Jakarta Post,
Aug. 16 feature U.S. supports Papuan struggle, says Beanal, that the
United States government supports Papuan independence. As I have
made clear in two meetings with Mr. Beanal, the U.S. government does
not support independence for Papua, while recognizing that the
legitimate grievances of the Papuan people need to be resolved
within the framework of a stable, democratic and united Indonesia.
This embassy issued a public statement on June 5 expressing our
opposition to Papuan independence.
The U.S. position has not changed since we issued this statement,
not as a result of Mr. Beanal's recent travels in the U.S. Despite
the impression created in the Post article, Mr. Beanal did not meet
with President Clinton and did not obtain expression of support for
Papuan independence from the Clinton administration.
The same article contains another inaccurate statement, attributing
to Mr. Beanal the comment that Papua "was robbed of (its opportunity
for independence) ... by the United States and United Nations". This
is a gross distortion of the constructive role played by the United
States in averting conflict between Indonesia and the Netherlands
when Papua was under Dutch administration.
ROBERT S. GELBARD
Ambassador
U.S. Embassy, Jakarta
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
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Date: 8/20/00 5:49:54 PM Central Daylight Time
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Indonesian Observer
Monday, August 21 - 2000
Gus Dur hopeful of halting separatism
JAKARTA (IO) — President Abdurrahman Wahid has pledged to abide by a
decree from the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) ordering him to
take serious measures to resolve separatist movements in a number of
Indonesian regions.
“I hope I will be able to resolve the problem of separatism, so we
can maintain the national unity that was demanded by our founding
fathers,” he said at the opening of National Cultural Week and
National Unity Exhibition at Senayan Stadium in South Jakarta on
Saturday.
Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, admitted that keeping the sprawling
archipelago together will not be an easy task, because there is so
much diversity in terms of cultures, customs, languages and ethnic
backgrounds.
Gus Dur said he faces challenges similar to those dealt with by
founding president Soekarno after he united the diverse nation on
August 17, 1945.
“Because of the great diversity in society, it is not easy to build
national unity,” said Wahid, who is the former leader of the nation’
s largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama.
The MPR this month has expressed considerable concern over
separatist movements in Irian Jaya (West Papua) and Aceh, and wants
Wahid to make sure the provinces do not secede.
Unlike his predecessor Soeharto, Gus Dur has decided not to use
murder and torture to deal with separatist movements. Instead, he
has encouraged dialogs and reconciliation.
The government has signed a ceasefire agreement with the Free Aceh
Movement in a bid to end violence in the province, but sporadic
clashes and killings continue.
In West Papua, Wahid encouraged tribal leaders and separatists to
hold the Papua People’s Congress, which in June declared the region
had never been a part of Indonesia.
Although Wahid could never officially accept the result of the
congress, he had provided funds for it. The president has allowed
separatists there to fly the Morning Star rebel flag and agrees with
their demand to change the name of Irian Jaya into West Papua.
However, the president has said the separatists must never attempt
to make their region to secede.
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
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Date: 8/20/00 5:49:55 PM Central Daylight Time
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The Jakarta Post.com
National News
August 21, 2000
Health, a specter for Irian Jaya
By Hera Diani
JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): "There are five noted figures in every
village. The teacher, head of the village, religious leader, doctor
and agriculture instructor," Irian Jaya Deputy Governor of People's
Welfare Bram Ataruri said here recently.
If Irian villagers were asked which one of those figures was God,
Bram added, they would no doubt choose the doctor.
A joke, of course, but his remark was not an over exaggeration as
health problems remain a dilemma for over two million people living
in outlying Irian Jaya.
A combination of natural conditions and education have put health
care development in the province behind that of other provinces.
The ratio of all doctors -- general practitioners, specialists and
dentists -- to the population is a staggering 1:10,000.
The province also does not have a medical school, and only now is
the government making preparations to open one, with expectations
that it can be set up in the next decade.
To help curb this divergence, the government has had to resort to
hasty short-term programs while it continues with a larger blueprint
to develop better health care services in the province.
It was during a two-day health workshop to launch one of these
programs that Bram made his analogy.
At the workshop, which was also attended by Minister of Health
Achmad Sujudi and Ministry of National Education's Director General
of Higher Education Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro, is part of Health
Ministry's intensive health care program which started on Friday
last week.
It is aimed at improving community health in Indonesia's easternmost
province, which is below the national standard.
The government has allocated some Rp 18 billion (US$2.25 million)
for the program.
It includes providing medicine and medical equipment, a polio
immunization campaign and distributing high dosages of vitamin A to
some 292,000 infants below 5 years of age.
Director General of Communicable Disease Control and Environmental
Health Umar Fahmi said vitamin A was needed to prevent pneumonia,
which is the leading cause of death among infants below 5 years in
Indonesia.
"The prevalence of death caused by pneumonia among infants in Irian
Jaya and the eastern provinces is high," Umar announced earlier this
month.
Umar noted that in eastern provinces, like West Nusa Tenggara and
Irian Jaya, 70 out of every 1,000 infants less than a week old die
from pneumonia. This number is much higher compared to other
provinces which only have a rate of about 45 out of every 1,000.
Pneumonia is also the most common health concern among adults in
Irian Jaya.
But the most common disease here is malaria, with a prevalence of
47.53 percent, followed by respiratory infections, 16.39 percent;
infectious skin diseases, 5.43 percent; diarrhea, 5.23 percent; and
other diseases.
As for polio, Umar said that immunization was conducted in
anticipation of the rainy season because the higher the rainfall,
the more likely the humid conditions would help the polio virus to
spread.
Another major health concern is that Irian Jaya tops statistics with
the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in Indonesia.
The spread of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which causes
the deadly Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has shown a
steady rise.
Official statistics show that since 1996, there have been 393 cases
of HIV/AIDS recorded in Irian Jaya.
But health activists say this number could be just the tip of the
iceberg as many cases remain undocumented.
Resources
The main cause of the poor health conditions, according to
officials, is a classic case of a lack of qualified human resources
and medical facilities. In the case of Irian Jaya, limited
accessibility due to the formidable natural terrain is also an
equally arduous challenge that cannot be overlooked.
Covering an area of 421,981 square kilometers, Irian Jaya is three
times larger than Java, with a population of 2,098,310.
Eighty-five percent of the people live in rural areas which are
difficult to reach.
"To reach these people, we have to use helicopters. But it costs Rp
700,000 (US$87.5) for each person to go back and forth while to
visit an area we need at least four medical staff," said Jozep
Oyong, the director of Mitra Masyarakat Hospital in Timika, a
one-hour flight from Jayapura.
"Sometimes, a two- to three-day trek has to be added to the
helicopter trip to reach the desired location"
Therefore, the Ministry of Health has also included cooperation with
the Navy and Missionary Aviation to reach rural areas.
According to the ministry, there are only 21 hospitals and 1,034
community health centers (puskesmas) throughout the province.
Doctors are also few and far between with only 200 general
practitioners, 40 specialists and 58 dentists. They are assisted by
7,508 other medical staff.
"The turnover of doctors here is very high. For this year alone, 61
will finish their three-year period as nonpermanent employees
(stationed in the province)," said the head of Ministry of Health's
provincial office, W.E. Kalalo.
"Only 10 out of 60 will stay longer, while there are only 11 doctors
due to come here," he added.
Kalalo said most doctors were reluctant to work in rural areas in
Irian Jaya, especially because their salaries were low.
A specialist, for example, would earn about Rp 500,000 (US$55.5) a
month. The 1,034 puskesmas, which form the backbone of health
services in the province, are supported by just 128 doctors. These
clinics are mostly buttressed by medical staffers and some 2,214
midwives.
"That's why we decided to open a medical school, to increase the
number of doctors. Hopefully, more locals can become doctors,"
Achmad said, adding that the ministry had recruited nine more
specialists to be placed here.
But talk of Irian Jaya's first medical school is still premature.
"Maybe it will take at least 10 years to be realized. But it's a
start; we have to be optimistic," Achmad said.
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
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