RELATED LINKS
Irian Jaya Home Page
Issues Home Page
THE RECORD -LINKS TO RECENT NEWS ON THE IRIAN JAYA QUEST FOR INDEPENDENCE
=======================================================
=======================================================
The Jakarta Post
December 30, 2000
PDP leaders move to Abepura penitentiary
JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): After about one month under Irian Jaya police
custody, five proindependence leaders of the Papuan Presidium Council (PDP)
were moved from the Jayapura Police cell to the Abepura penitentiary on
Friday.
They were transported in a car heavily guarded by police officers to the
penitentiary, some 15 kilometers from Jayapura Police Headquarters.
According to Syamsul Alam, the acting head of the Jayapura Prosecutors'
Office, Theys Hiyo Eluay, Thaha Al Hamid, Rev. Herman Awom, Don Flassy and
Jhon Mambor are now under the charge of the Prosecutors' Office, meaning that
the legal process was developing.
Theys, PDP chief, was arrested in November for allegedly provoking people in
the province to rally to commemorate Papuan independence.
Thaha Al Hamid, PDP secretary-general who is also a Muslim leader, was
arrested on similar charges in November.
Rev. Herman Awom, Don Flassy and John Mambor, all members of PDP, were
arrested later in December.
They were charged with violating Articles 106 and 110 of the Criminal Code,
which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a minimum sentence of
five years in jail.
The suspects' lawyers Anton Reharoson and Latifa Siregar said that they
wanted to ask the Prosecutors' Office to put their clients under city arrest.
"They will not escape, or destroy evidence," Anton assured.
Demands for independence have been mounting in the easternmost province of
Irian Jaya, and many have died in the struggle.
President Abdurrahman Wahid said when visiting Jayapura on Christmas Eve that
Irian Jaya would remain a part of the unitary state of the Republic of
Indonesia. (35/sur)
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and
East Timor, 1973-2000
**************************************************
==========================================================
also: Aceh reportedly quiet over Muslim holiday; Local papers report Aceh
shootings over Christmas, weapons amnesty; and Wahid back to bad old days of
prison for his opponents
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
December 30, 2000
Source: Koridor web site, Jakarta, in Indonesian 29 Dec 00
President said to opt for "repressive" action in Aceh, Irian Jaya
Presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar said during a press conference on
Thursday (28 December) that the problems in Irian Jaya (Papua) and Aceh would
soon be resolved by repressive rather than preventative means.
"The government will be taking a vastly different approach. Instead of
taking
preventative measures to stop incidents happening we will be taking action
after
the event or as the president terms it 'repressive' means," said Wimar quoting
the president.
Nevertheless, he added that priority would be given to a cultural approach
towards the communities in Irian Jaya and Aceh. This means that specially
trained security forces would be placed in set locations to anticipate goings
on
which looked likely to threaten the unity of Indonesia.
Wimar said that in any case, it was the president's duty both
constitutionally and institutionally to protect the unity of the nation.
According to Wimar, the president also stressed during his visit to Irian
Jaya that the people should not hesitate to use the term Papua instead of
Irian.
"This is important as it gives the community there an identity," said Witoelar
quoting the president again.
-------------
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
December 29, 2000
Source: Mandiri web site, Jakarta, in Indonesian 29 Dec 00
Aceh reportedly quiet over Muslim holiday
Jakarta: It seems that GAM [Free Aceh Movement] has honoured its pledge to
respect Lebaran [national holiday celebrating the end of the Islamic fasting
month]. A local police official said that the situation in the troubled
province
of Aceh during the two days of Lebaran [27-28 December] had been peaceful and
restrained.
Operation "Cinta Meunasah" [Cinta is Indonesian for love and Meunasah is
Acehnese for mosque - cover name for the Indonesian security forces operations
in Aceh] spokesman Superintendent Yatim Suyatmo, when contacted n Banda Aceh
on Thursday night, said that the security situation throughout Aceh was under
control.
"Up until now (28 December), I have received no reports of any incidents
and
I believe the situation has been peaceful for the last two days," he said...
-------------
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
December 29, 2000
Sources:Analisa, Medan, in Indonesian, 26 Dec 00; Serambi, Banda Aceh, in
Indonesian 26 Dec 00
Papers report Aceh shootings over Christmas, weapons amnesty
With the bombing of Christian churches across six Indonesian provinces,
violence has continued in Aceh. The 26 December Indonesian-language Internet
editions of Banda Aceh-based Serambi and Medan-based Analisa carried these
reports from the province.
Analisa reported a gun battle between security forces and GAM [Free Aceh
Movement] forces on Sunday 24 December at Peudada in Bireuen, in which two
civilians were killed. The security forces claimed the two victims were GAM
members but a GAM spokesman refuted this, saying they were innocent members
of the public gunned down hundreds of metres from the scene of the shoot out.
A Serambi article reported a grenade attack on a 327 Infantry Battalion
security post at Pantonlabu in North Aceh on Monday, in which one soldier was
slightly hurt in the explosion and a motor cycle was damaged. Police claimed
that it was a GAM attack but GAM's deputy commander for the Pase region denied
the attack, saying that the grenade was thrown by security forces under the
command of Pantonbalu Military Sector headquarters.
The same item reported an attack on the police mobile brigade post at Batee
Iliek, Samalanga in Bireuen on Monday. The local police chief said that four
ground-launched mortar shells were fired at the post, then a minibus and
ambulance carrying about 15 men armed with AK-47 rifles attacked the post. He
said that none of his men were injured in a 15-minute exchange of fire. He did
not know if any GAM personnel were hit and a GAM spokesman was not available
for comment.
The same Serambi article reported that a police paymaster from Central Aceh
was shot dead while on leave in his home at Punteut in Blang Mangat on Sunday.
The North Aceh police chief said he was in his home when a GAM gang approached
his home and demanded money for Lebaran. When he refused, he was gunned down
and his motor cycle, money and other valuables were taken.
This article also reported the discovery of two more corpses, one found at
Alue Glem in Muara Dua on Saturday and the other at Alue Bili in Baktia on
Sunday. Both had been assassinated.
A second Serambi item reported a GAM attack on Monday on B Rifle
Company/113 Infantry Battalion at Cunda, about one kilometre from the centre
of Lhokseumawe. North Aceh Military District Commander Lt-Col Suyatno
confirmed that his men came under fire from rifles and mortars at about 2145
local time but no one was hurt.
Another Serambi item reported a home-made grenade attack on a school in
South
Aceh on Monday by an unidentified assailant. The school, about 400 metres from
the police station at Lhok Beungkuang, was badly damaged.
This same item also reported the discovery of a male corpse on the edge of
the Tapaktuan-Medan road in South Aceh on Monday. The state of the body
alarmed
local villagers greatly as his throat had been cut, his left ear severed,
temple
skewered, right arm broken off at the elbow and his brain was hanging out the
back of his head.
A last Serambi item reported an announcement by Aceh Police Chief Brig-Gen
Chairul Rasyid that any GAM member who handed in his rifle would be given 30m
rupiah. The police asked the community of Aceh to hand in all weapons and
explosives in exchange for a reward by 15 January 2001 [expiry date for the
humanitarian pause in Aceh]. However, GAM deputy commander for the Pase region
Abu Sofyan Daud said that the police were dreaming if they thought GAM would
hand over any weapon for any price. "We are also an armed force just like the
TNI [Indonesian Armed Forces] and police. If you want to seize or take
possession of our weapons, then it will be through war. GAM's armed forces
will not hand over its weapons to its enemies," he said.
--------------
The Australian Financial Review
December 29, 2000
Wahid back to bad old days of prison for his opponents
Photo caption: Indonesian President, Abdurrahman Wahid, is jailing political
dissidents Soeharto-style in late 2000. In the several weeks to 28 December
2000, six independence activists in Irian Jaya and Aceh have been held in
police cells without being charged. Their "crime" is calling for independence
from Indonesian rule in the respective provinces. After being elected earlier
in 2000, Wahid ordered the release of the remaining 105 political prisoners
jailed under former President Soeharto's regime. "There will be no more
political prisoners in our country", he vowed at the time
GRAPHIC: photograph
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and
East Timor, 1973-2000
=======================================================
Subj: Heavy build-up of Indonesian troops on Papua New Guinea border
======================================================= ======================================================= Try our digest version. Info available at
=======================================================
Date: 12/5/00 12:33:09 AM Central Standard Time
Date: 12/30/00 3:43:45 PM Central Standard Time
From: plovers@gn.apc.org (Paul Barber)
To: westpapua@topica.com, u.braun@xcc.de, slliem@xs4all.nl, taylorjb@vax.sbu.ac.uk
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
also: Papua New Guinea: Warning government needs to "beef up" border presence
BBC Worldwide Monitoring
December 28, 2000
Source: Excerpt from Papua New Guinea Post-Courier web site, Port Moresby, in
English 28 Dec
Indonesia tightens controls on Papua New Guinea villagers crossing border
Indiscriminate firing of weapons by Indonesian soldiers on their side of
the
border has forced PNG villagers to follow a timetable for gardening. PNG
villagers who have traditional ties on the Indonesian side have food gardens
about 10 km inside Indonesia. They are now allowed to visit them on Tuesday,
Thursday and Friday only. They have to give their names to Indonesian troops
manning the border and cross their names off on return...
Police border operation commander Superintendent Joseph Poma said it was
true that the Indonesian soldiers were in the area, but their PNG police's
basic
role was to protect PNG citizens and prosperity along the border. He said 20
men
from Lae Mobile Squad 13 were in the area, but their role was to protect PNG
citizens and property along the border. He said the PNG government's stand was
that the problem with OPM Free Papua Movement rebels was an internal matter
for
Indonesia and the policemen had been informed of that.
So far, no clashes or incidents between OPM rebels and Indonesian troops
have occurred on the PNG side of the border. He said that border-crossers
would
be interviewed and sent back after their status had been established. He said
there was agreement between PNG and Indonesia to repatriate OPM rebels or
border-crossers, but he was not sure if it was still current...
Supt Poma said it was also important that the border liaison officers'
meeting involving PNG and Indonesia gets under way soon to discuss
strategies
and how to take the refugees back. "The quicker we can have the meeting, the
better we can find solutions on sending them back,'' he said. "We don't want
Indonesia to see us as providing shelter or launching area for the rebels."
Supt Poma said they were awaiting clear directions from Waigani central
government .
--------------
BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
December 28, 2000
Source: Papua New Guinea Post-Courier web site, Port Moresby, in English 28
Dec
00
Papua New Guinea: Warning government needs to "beef up" border presence
The lack of government presence on the PNG- Indonesia border could prove
disastrous for PNG in the long run. PNG has to beef up police, immigration and
Defence Force presence along the border on a permanent basis.
A former senior public servant, who declined to be named, said requests
had
been made to the PNG government over the past 10 years for surveillance
without
any success. He said not only had the current problems on the border
reinforced
the need for government presence, but drugs and arms were being smuggled
across
the border frequently. He said the small army force present in Vanimo was a
waste of time and should be moved to the border stations at Yapsi, Wasengla
and
all the way to the Western Province.
Reports reaching Vanimo indicate that there is a heavy build-up of
Indonesian armed forces on the other side of the border, forcing OPM Free
Papua
Movement rebels and villagers from both sides to flee further towards PNG. "We
should have that army station along the border and not sleeping in Vanimo," he
said. PNG villagers are also repeatedly as published flocking into border
stations, but this cannot be confirmed because there is no government
communication network.
The former public servant said while PNG had a good relationship with
Indonesia, it was important to protect the country's sovereignty from
rebels,
drugs and arms dealers and others who were abusing the border.
More than 300 West Papua border-crossers at the Holy Cross community
school
in Vanimo may soon be moved to the Black Water refugee camp. Catholic Bishop
of
Vanimo Cesare Bonivento said the school had to be ready for the new academic
year by 15 January...
"To my knowledge the government is working with the United Nations, even
though the government did not reach the conclusion of refugee status," he
said.
He said the situation was under control and he was in touch with the
government.
More than 130 others have reportedly crossed the border into Western
Province... The 330 people at Holy Cross Primary School in Vanimo are still
classified as border crossers and not refugees...
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and
East Timor, 1973-2000
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
To leave this list follow the instructions at the bottom of this email or
visit the above link. As a matter of policy we DO NOT handle u n s u b s c
r i b e requests except in emergencies.
-----------------------------------------------.
From Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Zurich website.
http://www.nzz.ch/english/background/background2000/background0012/bg001222w
est_papua.html
(Dec 22, 2000).
Prison, Torture and Murder in Jayapura
Twelve Days in an Indonesian Jail
Oswald Iten
A member of the NZZ editorial staff, Oswald Iten, was held in the municipal
jail of Jayapura, Irian Jaya, from 2 to 13 December. The charge: illegal
journalistic activity. Most of his fellow inmates were Papuans fighting for
West Papua's independence from Indonesia. Iten witnessed the incredible
brutality that marked the prisoners' everyday life.
When the door to the cell slammed shut behind me, the first thing I noticed
was the stench of urine and other human excreta. Then I saw, through the
dim, humidly hot air, bodies lying on the filthy concrete floor, packed one
next to the other like sardines. It was one o'clock in the morning. Someone
in the lineup of bodies handed me a cardboard box, so that I'd at least have
something clean to lay my head on.
The police had taken me into custody the previous day and grilled me for
nine hours, because on 1 December I had taken "political photos" ostensibly
not permitted by my tourist visa. That was the day on which Papuans fighting
for independence from Indonesia commemorated the day in 1961, while the
Dutch were still the colonial masters, when a declaration of West Papuan
independence was made which was acknowledged by no one else in the world.
Since then, the flag with the morning star had been their symbol of freedom,
and anyone raising that banner had had to reckon with the danger of being
shot by occupying Indonesian troops. President Wahid, who took office last
year, has issued a directive permitting limited use of the flag, but the
Indonesian security forces, who have been operating with increasing
autonomy, had declared that this year's 1 December would be the last day on
which the morning star banner would be permitted to flutter unhindered
beneath Papua's skies.
Poorly Organized Rebels
So there I was, in a cell with about 40 other prisoners. Among them were 26
members of the "Satgas Papua," a militia of the independence movement which
had established posts throughout Irian Jaya and was responsible for guarding
the freedom flag. Despite the ultimatum issued by the police, the militia's
top leaders had let themselves be taken by surprise and rounded up like
snails - which says a great deal about the Papuan rebels' level of
organization. Among the prisoners was militia chief Boy Eluay, son of Theys
Eluay, the head of the Papuan presidium (a body of selected leaders
advocating independence), and Alex Baransano, city commander of the Satgas
in Port Numbay, as the West Papuans now call Jayapura. Mixed in with the
dark-skinned Melanesian prisoners were a few Javanese who had come to Irian
Jaya under Indonesia's hated "transmigration" (that is, settlement) program
and were now accused of some violent crime or other.
The members of the Satgas Papua were physically unharmed. That could not be
said of all the prisoners. During my first night in the cell, a drunk was
hauled in, and the guards punched and kicked him in the face. Almost every
night some drunk was brought in to sober up and, this being the month of
Ramadan, was treated to special physical abuse designed to leave him with a
lasting souvenir in the form of a missing tooth or a broken nose. At first I
tried to get the guards to ease up, but they grew angry and completed their
violent work in the guardroom near the entrance to the cells. Dizzy from
both alcohol and the beating, the victims were then thrown into our cell and
released the following morning.
At 4:30 A.M. on Thursday, 7 December, noise from the guardroom penetrated
the stuffing I'd put in my ears to help me sleep. At first I thought the
guards were doing some rhythmic gymnastics, but it also sounded like blows
landing on a body. My fellow prisoners were wide awake, and they tried to
hold me back when I went to the entranceway of our cell block. The upper
part of the door was merely barred, so I had a view of the guardroom. And
what I saw there was unspeakably shocking. About half a dozen policemen were
swinging their clubs at bodies that were lying on the floor and, oddly
enough, did not cry out; at most, only soft groans issued from them. After a
few long seconds, a guard saw me looking and struck his club against the
bars of the cell block door. I quickly went back to my usual spot, from
where I could still see the clubs, staffs and split bamboo whips at their
work. Their ends were smeared with blood, and blood sprayed the walls all
the way up to the ceiling. Sometimes I saw the policemen hopping up on
benches, continuing to strike blows from there or jumping back down onto the
bodies below (which I could not see from my cell).
Thousands of Blows
Thousands of blows must have descended on what was to me an unknown number
of people. I thought: That's what it means to "thrash" somebody.
By about 5:15 A.M. things quieted down and I heard the sound of water from a
hose. But then the orgy of torture resumed, apparently with a new load of
prisoners. My fellow inmates told me that a police post had been attacked
during the night. At one point, a guard came into our cell and indicated to
me that what was going on outside was to be understood as the normal
retribution for the death of policemen. The attack had taken place at 1:30
A.M. in the suburb of Abepura, and two policemen and a private guard had
been killed in the course of it.
At 7:30 A.M. the torturers went outside for morning muster, things quieted
down and I looked over into the guardroom: the floor was covered with blood,
as in a slaughterhouse. Some of my fellow prisoners were ordered out to
clean the place up. Shortly before 10 o'clock, noise broke out again. The
cell block door was opened, and with the ends of their staffs the guards
drove about three dozen new prisoners in, whose hair had been marked with
white from a spray can, like sheep earmarked for shearing. The newcomers
were jammed into a single cell. Then the cell block door was opened again
and one body after another was tossed into our already crowded cell, some of
them more dead than alive.
Disfigured Faces, Damaged Bodies
Most of them remained motionless where they fell, either unconscious or
utterly exhausted. They must have been the men who had been tortured earlier
that morning. A mask maker would find it difficult to conjure out of his
imagination such horrifically distorted faces and damaged twisted bodies.
One of the tortured men was virtually blind and had to be led in by the hand
by another prisoner; I couldn't tell whether his eyes had been totally
destroyed or were merely swollen shut. The last one to enter was a large
man, who fell over the bodies on the floor and lay there groaning horribly.
He tried repeatedly to straighten himself up, only to fall back down again.
Now and again the faces of guards appeared at the barred window, looking
down impassively at the tangle of maltreated bodies. In the back of the big
man's head, there appeared to be a coin-sized hole through which I believed
to spot some brain tissue. After nearly an hour and a half of groaning and
spasmodic movement, his suffering visibly neared its end. About two meters
from me, his powerful body raised itself again and his head struck the wall.
A final labored breath issued from him, then his head dropped down onto the
cement floor. At last his agony was over. After a while, three lackeys came
and dragged the body out.
Later I learned that the man who had been tortured to death was named Ori
Dronggi. I saw a picture of his corpse in the newspaper Cenderawasih Pos.
The dispatch said that three dead Papuans had been brought to the morgue,
and the police stated they had "died in the fighting." I don't know how the
other two men died; one of them may have been the second man I had seen with
a hole in his head, who had wiped his blood away with the same rag my
cellmates generally used in their attempts to keep the toilet clean. I had
no longer seen him among the prisoners the following day. (All the men who
had been arrested after the attack on the police outpost were released after
36 hours.)
Ori Dronggi was one of 18 men from the highland town of Wamena, all of whom
had been arrested in a dormitory near the university in Abepura immediately
following the attack on the police post. The chances are he had had nothing
to do with the attack; the same was true of the 35 other men who had been
tortured (I had counted them the following day). A rumor went around that
the police post had been attacked because one of the men on duty there was
the one who had torn the morning star flag down on 6 October. About half a
dozen Papuans had been killed back then, and in the days after it - and
several times that many Indonesians, who fell victim to the Papuans' blind
vengeance. As a result of that chain of events, thousands of Indonesian
settlers had fled from Wamena and the Baliem Valley. The "negative" balance
of casualties was seen as a disgrace for the police; their rage at the
people of Wamena had already become legendary, so it was no surprise when,
following the attack at Abepura, they chose to take prisoners from that
group of people.
A Witness in Danger?
In the night following the orgy of torture, the guards felt that I should no
longer sleep in the cell with the other prisoners, whose number had by now
swelled to 124 and many of whom were covered with suppurating wounds. The
policemen wrinkled their noses, indicating to me that the Papuans smelled
bad. I was told I could sleep in the guardroom - but the countless
bloodstains there, even on the bench on which I lay, were a constant
reminder of what had happened the previous night. The next morning, Police
Chief Daud Sihombing, who also served as superintendant of the prison,
noticed that I had not slept in the cell. Furious, he ordered the guards to
bring me back there. He also confiscated the mosquito net one guard had
brought me. I asked Sihombing if he wanted me to contract malaria. In a
voice brooking no contradiction, he replied: "You're no different from the
other prisoners. If they get malaria, so will you." From that time on, I
feared that I had seen too much and was in danger as an incriminating
witness.
Not a hair on my head was touched. In fact, the otherwise sadistic guards
went out of their way to be nice to me. But the mistreatment of other
prisoners continued. On 11 December I again witnessed a horrible scene.
About 2:45 A.M., three new prisoners were brought in. Two of them were badly
beaten outside my field of vision. The third Papuan fell right in front of
the one-man cell to which Chief Sihombing had exiled me. A booted guard
kicked the man in the head; the prisoner's head banged loudly against my
cell door, blood spurting from it onto my leg. The guard was apparently
fascinated by the head going back and forth between his boot and the bars of
my cell door, like some outsized ping-pong ball, so he kicked it a few more
times. A second guard joined in with a swift kick to the middle of the
prisoner's face, knocking him unconscious. But that still wasn't enough. A
third guard, who had been watching the scene with rifle in hand, now struck
the butt of his weapon about five times into the senseless man's skull,
which made a horrible sound. I could hardly believe it, but the victim was
still alive the next day. He was taken away for interrogation.
"Zero Tolerance"
It was all part of the day's work in an Indonesian prison on Irian Jaya.
Superintendant Sihombing was obviously not at all disturbed that I, a
foreign journalist, should have witnessed such scenes after being arrested
for taking some harmless "political photographs." According to his logic, my
identity was as irrelevant as had been the barbaric and transparent behavior
of the Indonesian police and military after the referendum on East Timor. In
fact, by imprisoning me Sihombing was demonstrating that the policy of zero
tolerance toward the independence movement, which had gone into effect on 1
December, also applied to foreigners.
Visitors with a temporary journalist's visa are not granted the official
Indonesian permit necessary for travel to the interior of Irian Jaya. My
case could serve as a warning to other journalists not to travel to West
Papua masquerading as tourists. In his autocratic and self-righteous manner,
Sihombing gave the press almost daily briefings on my "important case." His
goal was to underscore his demonstration of power by bringing charges which
could get me a prison sentence of as much as five years. I felt like
Sihombing's hostage, my ransom value going up with each passing day. But
after 12 days, the man's calculations were upset when Jakarta issued an
order for my deportation. To save face, he presented my release to the press
as his own act of clemency in honor of the forthcoming holiday of Christmas.
The fact that I was not harmed in the prison at Jayapura was due, among
other things, to the swift arrival of Norbert Bärlocher, the deputy mission
chief of the Swiss embassy in Jakarta. He traveled 3,800 kilometers to the
capital of Irian Jaya in order to extend his protection to me until my
deportation on 16 December.
But several dozen less privileged prisoners remained back in the cell, with
the Satgas militiamen still among them. Their life in prison will doubtless
continue to be as I experienced it, marked by violence. Mornings and
evenings they hold a one-hour prayer service, conducted by three catechists
who managed to keep their Bibles with them. At the end of each service, they
all shake hands. The prisoners receive two adequate meals a day from the
police, for which they express their thanks by saying grace. And they are
allowed a one-hour family visit every afternoon. Each morning, while the
police hold their muster, a loudspeaker broadcasts the Indonesian national
anthem through the prison bars. At that point, the Papuans in their cells
join in singing their independence anthem. Indonesia can never win the
hearts of the Papuans with clubs and rifle barrels; it will simply remain
the hated occupying power.
In one of his last articles before his arrest, "High Noon in West Papua",
the author sums up the present political situation in Irian Jaya.
22 December 2000 / Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 22 December 2000
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are posted for their news/information content. They are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
To unsubscribe send an email (leave subject blank) to majordomo@irja.org
that says: unsubscribe kabar-irian - or you can also un/subscribe at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
From: plovers@gn.apc.org (Paul Barber)
To: indonesia-act@igc.apc.org, u.braun@xcc.de, slliem@xs4all.nl, jonathan.head@bbc.co.uk
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
Sydney Morning Herald
December 5, 2000
Editorial
Spears and guns
The shooting of at least nine independence supporters at the weekend in
Indonesia's remote province of Irian Jaya appears to signal a new, more
violent phase in a protracted conflict. The sight of well-armed soldiers
facing crowds of indigenous tribesmen, people clad in penis gourds and
clutching hand-made spears, will heighten concerns over human rights abuses
by Indonesian soldiers. For Canberra, the deteriorating situation in Irian
Jaya - known as West Papua - adds another troubling element to a difficult
bilateral relationship. When three senior Indonesian ministers arrive in
Canberra later this week for the Australian-Indonesian Ministerial Forum,
Australian officials will be unable to ignore the new bloodshed, despite
Australia's stated policy of publicly opposing independence movements in
Indonesia.
It is not difficult to understand the anger and confusion of the people of
Irian Jaya. The dozens of coastal and highland tribes have no ethnic,
cultural or religious ties to the Javanese-dominated government in Jakarta.
Despite its early hope for independence, the former Dutch colonial territory
was handed over to Indonesia in 1963. Under former president Soeharto, this
sparsely populated land was viewed not as a fragile ecosystem of unique
highland forests and mangroves inhabited by isolated tribes, but as a source
of new farming land and valuable natural resources. Hundreds of thousands of
mainly Muslim settlers were relocated to the province. Local and foreign
companies logged and mined the land, backed by Indonesian troops to quell
opposition from local tribes.
Hopes for demilitarisation, autonomy and even independence soared with the
fall of Soeharto in 1998, the vote for independence in East Timor in 1999 and
then President Abdurrahman Wahid's erratic but conciliatory gestures in
granting Papuans permission to fly the deeply symbolic "Morning Star"
independence flag and hold several jubilant "freedom forums". With the recent
arrival of 1,300 new troops and scores of deaths as Indonesian soldiers tore
the "Morning Star" down, the military appears to be reasserting itself,
leaving Mr Wahid's peace overtures in tatters.
It would be tempting to equate the situation in Irian Jaya now with that of
East Timor before independence and to think that Australia should call on
Jakarta to grant the West Papuans an "act of free choice". However, the
independence struggle in Irian Jaya is different. Canberra has little
influence over Jakarta. Relations between the two nations are at a very low
point, with Indonesian resentment still high over Australia's role in East
Timor. It is clear that the Wahid Government will never allow an "act of free
choice" in Irian Jaya. The East Timor referendum which led to independence
was approved by the transitional president, Dr B.J. Habibie, in the power
vacuum which followed the fall of the Soeharto regime. No such window is
likely to open for the West Papuan people in the near future. In the
international arena, too, the Papuans do not enjoy the same kind of support
the East Timorese had. The occupation of East Timor by Indonesia was never
recognised by the United Nations, but Irian Jaya's incorporation into
Indonesia was, in 1969.
In South-East Asia there are fears that the "splitting off" of any more parts
of Indonesia into unstable independent nations would jeopardise regional
security. Singapore's pro-Government The Straits Times this weekend called
the military crackdown a "helpful sign". And while the United States was
strongly critical of Indonesia's occupation of East Timor, it has other
interests to protect in Irian Jaya, notably the huge Freeport copper and gold
mine.
Meanwhile, this conflict between Indonesian troops and the Papuans is likely
to continue, with more deaths but no prospect of a decisive victor. Irian
Jaya is twice as large as Victoria, with few roads, dense forests, uncharted
mountains and remote coastal settlements. In such a country, neither
conventional troops nor jungle-based guerillas can expect to dominate. The
most Australia can do is call for restraint by the Indonesian armed forces
and emphasise that the only way forward is to redress the economic and power
imbalances in Irian Jaya. More violence will only further radicalise the
independence movement and fuel this sad battle of spears and guns.
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and
East Timor, 1973-2000
**************************************************
=======================================================
Subj: AFR comment: Irian Jaya looms as fuel to 'conspiracy' suspicion
=======================================================
Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Two shot dead in swimming pool attack in Fakfak, IrJa
======================================================= Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Situation in WePa
======================================================= Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Irian News - 12/1/00 (Part 1 of 3)
======================================================= Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Irian News - 12/1/00 (Part 2 of 3)
======================================================= Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Irian News - 12/1/00 (Part 3 of 3)
=======================================================
Subj: [wp] Police hold Papuan independence guards for insulting Indon flag
======================================================= Subj: [wp] Jakarta violence mars Irian separatist anniversary
======================================================= Subj: W Papua Independence Rally Starts Peacefully; Separatists Unfazed By Military
======================================================= Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Australia Extends Assistance To Help Preserve Lorentz
=======================================================
Subj: Indonesian police lower separatist flag in Irian Jaya Subj: [wp] NZ Greens To Fly West Papuan Independence Flag
======================================================== Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Irian Jaya-Independence Anniversary (fwd)
=======================================================
Date: 12/1/00 4:19:28 PM Central Standard Time
From: plovers@gn.apc.org (Paul Barber)
To: westpapua@topica.com, u.braun@xcc.de, slliem@xs4all.nl, taylorjb@vax.sbu.ac.uk
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
Australian Financial Review
December 2, 2000
Comment and Opinion
Irian Jaya looms as fuel to 'conspiracy' suspicion
Peter Hartcher
Potential flashpoint...Irian Jaya's campaign to eject the Javanese is only
just beginning. Photo: AFP
You and I know that Australia had two views about East Timor, in direct
conflict with each other, for 25 years. There was the view of the Australian
people, and then there was official policy.
There was perhaps no other issue in Australia where the official policy was
so diametrically opposed to the will of the people for so long. Successive
governments endorsed the Indonesian invasion of East Timor; public opinion
opposed it.
The Howard Government aligned the two by abandoning the policy of the
Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating and, for a while, Howard governments. The
public will prevailed.
But it looks different from Jakarta. In fact, Indonesia's political and
policy leaders have now persuaded themselves that the official policy was
only ever a sham, a cover for Australia's true intentions.
Australia was simply waiting for a moment of Indonesian weakness. And then it
attacked, wrenching the province out of Jakarta's grasp.
Australian governments were thought to be an ally - we were the only country
in the world formally and legally to endorse the Indonesian occupation of
East Timor. In truth, we were revealed to be an undeclared enemy.
Worse, the Indonesian political class is persuading itself that Australia is
planning to do it again. This time, Canberra is alleged to be plotting to
wrest the province of Irian Jaya, also known as West Papua or Papua, away
from Indonesia.
It is a suspicion so widely shared and deep-seated that it has emerged in the
public pronouncements of the Foreign Minister, the Defence Minister, even the
President, Abdurrahman Wahid.
This is Australia's secret long-term conspiracy against Jakarta - we lie
patiently in wait for any opportunity to break up the Republic of Indonesia,
then we swoop decisively and use all available means to split the nation. The
aim: to increase Australia's sphere of influence by shrinking Indonesia's.
You can see why Irian Jaya would be ideal as Australia's next target. It is
waging a grim struggle for independence, many of its people have some
Christian identity, and it is in one of the world's most resource-rich
regions.
Irian Jaya was a Dutch colony. Its indigenous tribal leaders made a forlorn
declaration of independence in 1961 - the anniversary of this declaration was
on Friday.
No such luck. The Dutch ceded it to Indonesia in 1963. Indonesia doctored a
vote, called it an act of free choice, and sent in the army. It's been there
ever since.
Irian Jaya has enormous natural resources but, like the local men in their
traditional attire of a penis gourd and nothing else, minimal infrastructure.
It hosts the world's biggest gold and copper mine, the American-owned
Freeport McMoRan operation, and Atlantic Richfield's giant gas field.
John Howard and Alexander Downer have said, time and again, that Australia
supports Indonesia's sovereignty over Irian Jaya and all its other provinces.
To give the policy more force and credibility, Howard asked the annual
summit
of the South Pacific Forum leaders to endorse it. They did .
None of this seems to make the least difference to Indonesian suspicions.
After all, the Australians pretended to support Jakarta's control of East
Timor for 25 years. And then in a moment of Indonesian weakness, Australia
suddenly changed policy and moved aggressively against the Indonesian
interest.
Howard suggested that Indonesia's weak and erratic transitional leader, B.J.
Habibie, allow an independence ballot. And when the killing started, Howard
leaned on Habibie to permit an Australian-led United Nations peacekeeping
force to land. Obviously, Australia is simply going to repeat the same ploy
with Irian Jaya.
It is bad enough that the Indonesians hold this suspicion. For it means
relations with Australia will remain strained, and Indonesia will continue to
block Australian ambitions in the region. This year it joined Malaysia in
vetoing Australian and New Zealand entry into the Association of South-East
Asian Nations' free trade agreement.
But worse yet is that Indonesia's suspicion eventually may appear to be
vindicated. Irian Jaya's campaign to eject the Javanese is only just
beginning. If the killing gets serious, Australian public opinion will
mobilise powerfully against the Indonesians again.
The Federal Government, whether this one or a successor, would come under a
great deal of pressure to switch sides and support the independence movement
against Jakarta. If that were to happen, it would confirm Jakarta's dark
suspicions. It would seem to be a replay of East Timor, another betrayal of
Indonesia, and confirmation of Canberra's conspiracy.
And Australia's poor relationship with Indonesia would become absolutely
poisonous.
Peter Hartcher has been appointed Washington correspondent for the AFR. Rowan
Callick will replace him as Asia-Pacific Editor.
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and
East Timor, 1973-2000
**************************************************
Date: 12/1/00 4:10:11 PM Central Standard Time
From: admin@irja.org
Sender: owner-kabar-irian@irja.org
Reply-to: admin@irja.org
To: kabar-irian@irja.org
Too much mail? Try our digest version. Info available at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
To leave this list follow the instructions at the bottom of this email or
visit the above link. As a matter of policy we DO NOT handle u n s u b s c
r i b e requests except in emergencies.
The Jakarta Post.com
Latest News
December 02, 2000
Two shot dead in swimming pool attack in Fakfak, Irian Jaya
JAKARTA (JP): Two people were shot dead in an incident in Fakfak in
Brongkendik village, Fakfak regency, Irian Jaya, Friday.
The incident began when a crowd from Timika, Mimika regency,
attacked and destroyed the Air Besar swimming pool in East Fakfak
district, Antara reported.
The two were shot dead when they tried to attack security officers,
chief of Fakfak police precinct Superintendent Totok Kasmiarto said
Friday night.
He said police were still investigating the motive behind the
attack. Police had also detained a local resident believed to be
the mastermind of the attack on the swimming pool located 15
kilometers east of Fakfak.
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are posted for their news/information content. They are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
To unsubscribe send an email (leave subject blank) to majordomo@irja.org
that says: unsubscribe kabar-irian - or you can also un/subscribe at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
Date: 12/1/00 6:06:23 AM Central Standard Time
From: admin@irja.org
Sender: owner-kabar-irian@irja.org
Reply-to: admin@irja.org
To: kabar-irian@irja.org
Too much mail? Try our digest version. Info available at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
To leave this list follow the instructions at the bottom of this email or
visit the above link. As a matter of policy we DO NOT handle u n s u b s c
r i b e requests except in emergencies.
It is now 10 pm here in WePa/IRJA. We have heard no reports yet of
anything too violent or extraordinary (luar biasa). Jayapura was tense as
was Wamena. Most Wamena folk had returned to their villages for safety.
Timika lay quiet without too many problems. As various people and agencies
report we will keep you updated.
Tuhan memberkati,
Elabo yen Kobak
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are posted for their news/information content. They are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
To unsubscribe send an email (leave subject blank) to majordomo@irja.org
that says: unsubscribe kabar-irian - or you can also un/subscribe at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
Date: 12/1/00 4:09:27 PM Central Standard Time
From: admin@irja.org
Sender: owner-kabar-irian@irja.org
Reply-to: admin@irja.org
To: kabar-irian@irja.org
Too much mail? Try our digest version. Info available at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
To leave this list follow the instructions at the bottom of this email or
visit the above link. As a matter of policy we DO NOT handle u n s u b s c
r i b e requests except in emergencies.
CNN.com
Peaceful rally packs Irian Jaya capital
December 1, 2000
Web posted at: 1:18 p.m. HKT (0518 GMT)
JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AP)
Thousands of people packed Jayapura Friday to mark the 39th
anniversary of a declaration of freedom by Indonesia's troubled
easternmost province.
Analysts feared a mass prayer rally, intended to mark the 1961
declaration of independence by Irianese tribal chiefs, could
trigger clashes between people indigenous to Irian Jaya -- also
known as West Papua -- and security forces sent in by President
Abdurahman Wahid on the eve of the rally.
Speaking from the capital, pro-independence leader Willy Mandowen
said his prayers for calm had been answered.
"It is proceeding as planned and as agreed upon with the
authorities. We prayed to the Almighty and we thanked Him. The
police chief also came up on the stage and he thanked the Irian
people who had cooperated with the security forces," Mandowen told
Reuters by telephone.
Flags allowed for a day
Nerves had been taut as Indonesian police rounded up to key
independence chiefs prior to the rally.
"We have been independent for 39 years. They just don't want to
believe it," said Theys Eluay, the head of the Papuan Presidium
Council, the main independence organization. Eluay and the group's
secretary general were arrested Wednesday and charged with
subversion. Two other council members were also arrested, Mandowen
said.
Key to the protests was the display of the separatists' Morning
Star flag, and Irian Jaya police chief Sylvanus Wenas said
authorities would only allow independence supporters to freely fly
it on Friday.
Only tribal chiefs in five of Irian Jaya's 12 districts will be
allowed to keep the flag aloft after the anniversary.
"We hoisted the flag at 6 this morning (Thursday, 2100 GMT). This
afternoon, we will lower it down," said Mandowen, a lecturer at the
local state-owned Cendrawasih University and now a member of the
pro-independence Papua Presidium Council.
"And as we have agreed to, we will not hoist it tomorrow. There
will only be five Morning Star flags flying in Irian from then."
Violence could spell end for Wahid
Before Friday, analysts had said a failure to end spiraling
bloodshed could push Wahid out of office little more than a year
after he became Indonesia's first democratically elected president
in more than four decades.
In the national capital, Jakarta, 151 lawmakers urged the
500-member Indonesian parliament to declare Wahid guilty of
violating the constitution -- a possible first step toward
impeachment.
Their petition said Wahid's alleged violations ranged from allowing
separatists in Irian Jaya to fly their flag to ignoring a
decades-old law banning communism, according to The Indonesian
Observer.
Wahid, a respected Muslim cleric who once railed against the brutal
use of military force employed by Suharto, has also faced growing
calls to quit because of several major financial scandals and his
quirky, often confusing, style.
In a televised national address Thursday, Wahid said his embattled
14-month-old government would not tolerate separatist calls in
mostly Christian Irian Jaya in the east or predominantly Muslim
Aceh in the west, where large demonstrations for independence are
expected next week.
"There should be no attempt to proclaim independence from the
unitary Republic of Indonesia," Wahid said. "All efforts toward
this end will be met by the state apparatus in line with the
Constitution and existing laws," he said.
The show of force in Jayapura, unashamedly meant to intimidate
protesters, was carried out after authorities filed subversion
charges against two jailed Irian Jaya secessionist leaders.
Both Irian Jaya and Aceh have economic and symbolic significance to
Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of 17,000 islands and 210
million people.
Economics a key issue
Irian Jaya, the nation's geographically largest province some 2,500
miles (4,020 kilometers) east from Jakarta, is home to one of the
world's biggest gold mines. Oil, gas and minerals lie beneath its
thick jungles.
Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra about 1,100 miles (1,770
kilometers) northwest of Jakarta, is a major producer of oil, and
the currently high price for crude has kept Indonesia's otherwise
desperate economy afloat. Although Indonesia is mostly Muslim, the
rebels want to introduce Islamic law and re-establish a feudal
sultanate.
Months of negotiations by Wahid and offers of greater provincial
autonomy have not stemmed the bloodshed. Thousands have been killed
in the two conflicts and in sectarian fighting in Maluku province,
just west of Irian Jaya.
Police officers display weapons seized from passing cars at a
checkpoint in Jayapura, Irian Jaya, on Thursday
At least 50 people were killed in clashes in Maluku in recent days,
according to reports Thursday.
A few hours before Wahid's address, Jayapura's police chief
addressed reinforcements sent to control protests expected to mark
the anniversary of Irian Jaya's first attempt for nationhood 39
years ago.
"If they use machetes or bows and try to hurt others we will use
our guns," Superintendent Daud Shoambing warned after ordering
security personnel not to shoot unarmed civilians.
Rally organizers shrugged off the warning.
"We will protest peacefully. If they want to kill us, let them,"
said Jusuf Kaviar, a member of a ragtag group guarding the site of
the commemoration.
Jayapura, a port city of about 840,000 people, was calm Thursday
night. Separatists staged a prayer meeting and then lowered their
movement's "Morning Star" flag at sunset.
Indonesia's government has officially banned the display of such
flags and past attempts to pull them down have resulted in
killings. In October, about 40 people died in an outlying town when
soldiers broke up a flag-raising ceremony and separatists -- armed
with bows, arrows and spears -- fought back.
Human-rights activists fear similar violence will erupt in Jayapura
and other trouble spots Friday.
-- Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
National News
Jayapura Calm On Anniversary Of Unrecognized Independence
Friday, December 01, 2000/1:31:55 PM
Jayapura, Irian Jaya, Dec 1 (ANTARA)
Irian Jaya on Friday commemorated the 39th anniversary of its
unrecognized independence peacefully.
The ceremony, which began with a mass prayer led by Rev Tonny
Infandi, was marked by the hoisting of the separatist movement`s
Morning Star flag in front of the Cultural Arts Center here, but
without the reading of any proclamation.
Some 1,000 people attended the ceremony, including deputy chairman
of the Papua Presidium Council Tom Beanal, and members, Willy
Mandowen and Beatrix Koibur.
Absent were Council chairman Theys Hiyo Eluay, Don Flassy and Thaha
Al-Hamid who have been detained by the police on charges of leading
a secessionist movement and fomenting hatred against the Indonesian
flag.
Meanwhile, Jayapura has been quiet as people halted their routine
activities.
Public transportation disappeared from the streets while markets
and shops stayed closed.
Policemen as well as members of the Papua Task Force monitored the
city.
Irian Jaya Police chief, Brig Gen SY Wenas, said the authorities
will adhere to the previous agreement that the Morning Star flag
should be lowered at 6 p.m. on Friday and will not be allowed to be
hoisted at the Cultural Arts Center building.
The office of the Papua Task Force in the same building will also
have to be closed starting Dec 2, Wenas said.
Irian Jaya is home to one of the world`s largest gold and copper
mines.
Calls for independence have escalated in the province in the past
two years amid complaints of human rights violations and unfair
division of revenues from natural resources.
Independence supporters reject the 1969 plebiscite organized by the
UN that integrated the former Dutch colony into Indonesia.
The plebiscite was conducted based on a 1962 agreement struck in
New York between the UN, Indonesia and the Netherlands.
The so-called "Act for Free Choice" plebiscite was sanctioned after
the transfer of power over the western part of New Guinea from the
Netherlands to Indonesia, through the UN, in May 1963.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: TAPOL
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
Associated Press
November 30, 2000
Indonesia's W Papua Independence Rally Starts Peacefully
JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AP)--Watched over by hundreds of heavily armed
police and troops, a pro-independence rally in the capital of Irian
Jaya, also known as West Papua, went ahead peacefully Friday with
its organizers too afraid to openly demand secession from
Indonesia.
"We are limited in what we can do and say," said one senior
activist Willy Mandowen.
Irian Jaya's previously vocal, albeit ragtag, independence movement
appeared to buckle under the heavy security.
Moreover, its main organization, the Papuan Presidium Council,
seemed in disarray with the detention of four of its top leaders by
police this week. At least two have been charged with subversion
against the Indonesian state.
More than 1,000 police and soldiers, with orders to crack down hard
on troublemakers, were posted around the city of about 840,000
people.
Even so, more than 2,000 separatist supporters, some wearing
nothing more than traditional costumes of feathers, shells and
bones, turned out for a rainy sunrise ceremony in Jayapura to mark
the 39th anniversary of Irian Jaya's first attempt to form a
nation.
Restrictions on rally organizers by Indonesian authorities were
such that on Friday they even failed to read out their
predecessors' original declaration of independence despite heated
demands from spectators.
"We can only pray and celebrate our struggle," admitted Tom Beanal,
a member of the Papuan Presidium Council, the main independence
organization whose other leaders are now in detention.
------------------
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
December 01, 2000
Source: Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 1105 gmt 29 Nov 00
Irian Jaya spokesman says Indonesian army "nurturing undercover
support"
[Presenter Sen Lam] Indonesian police have detained four members of
the West Papuan presidium, arresting and charging its
secretary-general, Thaha Mohammed Al Hamid, with crimes relating to
subversion. The other three are the president of the council, Chief
Theys Eluay, John Mambor and Don Flassy. The arrest anddetentions
come two days ahead of the anniversary of a declaration
ofindependence by traditional chiefs 39 years ago. According to
Clemens Runaweri, spokesman for the presidium, an extra 21,000
Indonesian troops, police and special branch officers are in West
Papua ahead of Friday's [1st December] commemorations. He told
Kevin McQuillan the detentions are an attempt to provoke West
Papuans into violence.
[Runaweri] We understand it that the Indonesians are scared. Well,
first of all they want to sabotage the anniversary and these are
the key leaders who will be responsible for the organization and
also ensuring that the celebration goes ahead and smoothly. So (?to
add), as I said in our statement, it is divide and rule tactic to
sabotage the celebration.
[McQuillan] How would you describe these people? Are they the
moderates of the independence movement?
[A] They are the moderate people. They are the moderates. While
Theys is very strong - he is very strong - but he is surrounded by
advisers of moderate members to ensure that the independence issue
is still on the table for discussion. But we should not do things
in such a way that - inviting violence from the other side.
[Q] So what effect will this have on other supporters of
independence in West Papua?
[A] Well that's a big question but we have been advising them and
I'm sure the majority would listen to what the presidium is trying
to address them.
[Q] And what is that message from the presidium? To stay calm?
[A] No. The message has been and will continue to be based on the
philosophy of peace, mutual respect and love. And the strategy on
this whole endeavour has been, and will continue to be, on
non-violence and peaceful engagement or negotiation. That has been
the strategy that we have been employing over the last six months
and we'll continue to do so.
[Q] We understand that there has been an influx of Indonesian
troops and military into West Papua over the last few days. What's
your understanding of that part of the situation?
[A] The military built up as of 30th, 29th September and early
October =96 they brought in an additional 21,000 personnel,
comprising of 8,000 mobile police and Kostrad, which is the army's
strategic command of 6,000 and Kopassus [Special Forces Regiment] -
7,000. So all in all you have 21,000 plus the organic strength of
14,000 - of 6,000 police and 8,000 TNI [Indonesian National
Military Forces]. Now, the question that you are raising is what is
the impact of that? Well, the impact is just for intimidatory
purposes. To intimidate the people.
[Q] We also understand that there are some pro-independence
military units of the West Papua independence movement, who are
being armed by the Indonesian military. Is that correct?
[A] The military is involved in the East Timor style of nurturing
undercover support, logistically and financially, of the unemployed
West Papuan youths, who are being lured into that kind of activity,
just similar to what they did to East Timorese.
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and East Timor,
1973-2000
**************************************************
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: AWPA
Banned symbol of West Papuan Independence flies in the face of
Government timidity
Brisbane, Friday 1st December - Australian Commonwealth Government
Offices, Ann St.
In a public display of solidarity, the Morning Star flag, the
banned symbol of West Papuan Independence, will fly over Brisbane
tomorrow, Friday, December 1st in support of celebrations planned
throughout West Papua.
Demonstration organiser Jason Mcleod, from the Brisbane Friends of
East Timor says "that The Morning Star flies in the face of the
Australian Governments timidity and fear of upsetting Indonesian
colonialism in West Papua. We are calling on ordinary Australians
to raise their voice to persuade the Government to uphold human
rights in West Papua, recognise indigenous aspirations for
self-determination and support peace processes rather than the
interests of multinationals hell-bent on plundering West Papua.
If Indonesian soldiers really cared about Indonesia's integrity and
image they should go back to their wives and families. Violence
will never win the hearts and minds of the West Papuan people. We
also appeal to hard-line elements in the West Papuan independence
movement to respect human rights and resist the urge to imitate
Indonesian military aggression.
As the Indonesian military continues to provoke conflict and
trample human rights in the troubled province the ordinary
Australian can't help but wonder whether our Government has learnt
anything from the recent bloodshed in East Timor. It appears that
the Indonesian military, including Kopassus, the same troops
accused of organising the post ballot violence in East Timor, are
orchestrating a campaign of terror and intimidation designed to
derail West Papuan aspirations for independence. We urge the public
to put pressure on the Government to find the courage and
principles to support peace processes in West Papua.
Thirty-nine years ago on December 1st 1961 the peoples of West
Papua declared independence. Ignored by the international
community, West Papua was annexed by Indonesia, which has no
legitimate cultural, historical of moral claim to West Papua. In
1969, in a pathetic and undemocratic attempt to legitimise their
colonisation Indonesian authorities handpicked 1025 tribal elders,
a fraction of one percent of the population of West Papua, to
'participate' in a fraudulent "Act of Free Choice". Overseen by the
U.N, and in words chillingly familiar, the Indonesian Army gave
those West Papuans allowed to vote a simple ultimatum '... vote for
Indonesia or be shot.'"
The Indonesian Government has dramatically increased troop numbers
in The province and said that any (re)declaration of independence
on Friday would be treated as treason.
The flag will be raised at 9 am outside the Australian Commonwealth
Government Building on Ann St.
For more information please phone Jason McLeod on (07) 3844 2287
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday, December 1 3:16 PM SGT
Police hold Papuan independence guards for insulting Indonesian
flag
JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya, Dec 1 (AFP)
Indonesian police detained four pro-independence civilian guards
for questioning here Friday, saying they had insulted the
Indonesian flag during a separatist anniversary cermony, an officer
said.
The four Papua Taskforce members were taken in immediately after
hoisting the separatist Morning Star flag at first light Friday in
front of Jayapura's Arts and Cultural Center, city police chief
Lieutenant Colonel Daud Sihombing told AFP.
The action followed the detention of four leaders of the separatist
Papua Presidium on Wednesday and Thursday on charges of subversion
through separatism.
"The Morning Star they raised this morning is more than twice the
size of the (national) Red and White flag," Sihombing said.
"What's more, they're flying at the same height."
Sihombing said the height and size of the Morning Star violated the
conditions set by President Abdurrahman Wahid one year ago when he
gave permission to native Papuans to raise the Morning Star.
"Gus Dur (Wahid's common appelation) told them they could fly it so
long as it was below the Red and White. So they've broken the
prohibitions."
Taskforce leaders here however claimed 15 of their members,
including one woman, had been arrested since the morning
flag-raising.
"Seven people who hoisted the flag were arrested here this morning,
and another eight were arrested as they left their homes,"
Taskforce secretary and commander of the Highlanders' Penis Gourd
Association, Robert Takimai, told AFP.
"I've been informed they were taken away by the police."
Takimai challenged the arrests on a day authorities had explicitly
permitted the Morning Star to be raised, for the last time, in
front of the cultural center.
"The only thing that was banned was the carrying of sharp weapons
like spears and arrows, so we want to know what they've done wrong.
Takimai demanded that those taken in for questioning be released
before a scheduled ceremony to lower the flag in front of the
center for the last time at 5 pm (0800 GMT).
The Morning Star has evolved from a nineteenth century cargo cult
symbol to become a symbol of independence aspirations among
Papuans.
Friday marks the 39th anniversary of a unrecognized declaration of
independence by Papuans in 1961, when the half-island's former
Dutch colonisers pulled out, and the final day the Morning Star can
legally fly in Jayapura.
The cultural center, the site of the 1961 declaration, is the
unofficial headquarters of the Papua Taskforce and was the focus of
commemoration ceremonies on Friday.
Some 2,000 Papuans, chewing beetlenut and brandishing bamboo poles,
prayed, sang, cheered and delivered defiant speeches in front of
the center.
Lying on the western half of New Guinea island, the moutainous
jungle-clad province, known locally as West Papua, is home to about
1.8 million Papuans spread among some 250 tribes, most of whom are
Melanesian Christians, and another half a million settlers from
other parts of Indonesia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday, December 1 1:26 PM SGT
Indonesian police fire tear gas at Irianese students in Jakarta
JAKARTA, Dec 1 (AFP)
Police on Friday fired teargas to disperse some 300 students from
Indonesia's rebellious province of Irian Jaya who staged a
pro-independence rally outside the US embassy here.
At least three students were injured as the police moved in and
started beating up students who had been waving the separatist
Morning Star flag, an AFP reporter said.
When the students refused to move, the police fired a volley of
tear gas and arrested at least seven as others fled, the reporter
said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday, December 1 6:34 PM SGT
Defiance as Irian Jayan separatist flag raised over Indonesian
troops
JAYAPURA, Indonesia, Dec 1 (AFP)
Indonesian police in Irian Jaya on Friday moved against separatist
marking the tense anniversary of an unrecognized declaration of
independence four decades ago and protesting against an imminent
ban on their flag.
Some 2,000 independence supporters gathered at dawn in the
provincial capital's Imbi Park to witness the last legal raising of
the Morning Star flag outside their headquarters.
They cheered declarations that the flag would be raised on
Saturday, when the ban takes effect.
"We will die together, live together, fight together to keep our
flag flying," yelled Robert Takimai, chief of the highlanders'
Penis Gourd Association, from a makeshift stage.
Earlier, four people were arrested for "insulting the Indonesian
flag."
Jayapura police chief Lieutenant Colonel Daud Sihombin, said the
four were brought in because their flag was more than twice the
size of the national flag, and it was flying at the same height.
Independence leaders claimed 15 people were arrested.
Irian Jayan independence supporters, in Indonesia's easternmost
province known locally as West Papua, maintain that December 1,
1961 marked the start of their sovereignty.
Jakarta, which poured 1,300 crack troop reinforcements into the
province and slapped four leading separatists in jail ahead of the
anniversary, has flatly ruled out independence.
But most the pro-independence movement was adamant as police in
full riot gear -- with shields and batons -- encircled the crowd.
Highlanders in feathered head-dresses, one wearing a penis gourd,
and bare-chested women with tooth necklaces performed a victory
dance known as the "Waitar" waving bibles, pictures of Jesus and
black caps in the air, while stamping in a whooping circle.
"The Papuan people have a commitment to keep the flag aloft ... it
can never be pulled down," Lewis, an activist from the province's
western tip, said.
The ceremony was muted by the absence of the four arrested
leaders -- Theys Eluay, the flamboyant head of the pro-independence
Papua Council Presidium, and council members Jhon Mambor, Don
Flassy and Thaha Al-Hamid.
Moderate paresidium member Tom Beneal was greeted with defiant
yells of protest when he told the crowd, he could not read a
promised political manifesto on independence.
"I am restricted by everything so I cannot say much," he said, also
urging restraint.
"We must try to avoid attacking and killing each other because that
is the behaviour of animals. It is evil. This is my only request."
Irian Jaya's police and governor have decreed that after Friday the
Morning Star can only be raised outside tribal cultural institutes
in five districts from December 2.
That means the flag is banned from the Cultural Center, the focus
of independence sentiment in Jayapura and the adopted headquarters
of the Papua Taskforce.
Leaders of the pro-independence Papua Presidium agreed to the
arrangement and are planning last ditch talks with the more
hard-line taskforce, to urge them to comply with the ban.
"I was very confident that the commemoration this morning would go
peacefully, but this time, I'm 50-50," presidium member Willy
Mandowen told AFP.
However, few in the crowd suported their moderate stance.
"No Papuan will accept this," activist Luis said. "We won't let it
come down, whatever the consequences."
Mandowen warned that conflict was possible if the flag is raised on
Saturday and police chied Sihombing concurred saying if the flag
was not lowered: "There will be consequences."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday, December 1 8:08 PM SGT
Eurphoria in Jayapura as banned flag stays aloft
JAYAPURA, Indonesia, Dec 1 (AFP)
This Irian Jaya capital erupted in euphoria late Friday as police
gave in to fierce popular demand and let the banned Morning Star
separatist flag continue flying.
Still hemmed in on three sides by scores of armed anti-riot police,
more than 1,000 supporters of independence for the Indonesian
province shouted Hallelujah, sang hymns of thanks and danced in
circles beneath the flag which was supposed to have been lowered
for the last time in Jayapura at sunset.
After an hour of tense negotiations as a 5:45 pm (O845 GMT)
deadline set by Jayapura police chief Lieutenant Colonel Daud
Sihombing, came and went, Sihommbing said he would not force the
flag to come down.
Earlier he had warned of "consequences" if it stayed aloft.
But the fervent pro-independence masses refused, declaring they
were ready to die in defence of the Morning Star -- the symbol of
the separatist movement in the remote half-island province.
Chief negotiator and evangelist preacher Tony Infandi pleaded with
the crowds to accept the police orders, but in chorus they hollered
their rejection and pledges of martyrdom.
Returning to negotiate a second time with Sihombing in the park in
front of the independence supporters' headquarters, Father Infandi
told Sihombing that he had exhausted all efforts to persuade the
independence supporters to comply.
"I've tried everything, but all of them, even women and mothers are
telling me they are ready to be slaughtered."
Sihombing replied with another warning of the consequences from
Jakarta.
"Jakarta will know instantly what's happening here. Then what's
going to happen," he said.
"First they'll have a bigger reason for dropping more troops here.
Secondly provocateurs will take advantage of the situation and
third if settlers (non-Papuans) are injured I won't be able to stop
the Laskar jihad flooding in," he said of an Indonesian armed
extremist Muslim group.
"If that happens there will be chaos here. Is that what you want."
Returning to the makeshift stage in front of the massed
independence supporters, Father Infandi announced that police would
not pull down the flag themselves.
Roaring in jubilation, the Christian independence supporters thrust
their hands upwards in prayer, and yelled "Siallon!" -- the local
term for praise be to God.
Infandri bleated "Halleluliah" on his microphone.
Men adorned in the feathers of birds of paradise beat drums and
men, women and youths, danced in circles, singing Indonesian
language thanksgiving songs.
Pro-independence Papua Council member Zamack Taime said
negotiations would continue through the night with the local
government and parliamentarians over how long the flag could stay
up.
"How long, we don't know yet, but we want it to keep flying," he
told AFP.
Taime said police had told them that "if that's what the people
want, so be it," and that the rest was up to Jakarta.
"Jakarta wants it to come down, and if it doesn't come down, they
will send troops," he said. "The police here don't want to take
action because of the people's fierce objection."
"The people want the flag still in the sky," he said, speaking in
halting English, "No more down."
Jubilant independence supporters shone a spot light on the Morning
Star, fluttering next to a frayed red and white Indonesian national
flag.
Earlier at least four flag raisers were taken in by police for
"insulting" the Indonesian flag, because it was smaller than the
Morning Star alongside it.
Watching the euphoria from a police tent in Imbi Park, Sihombing
said his decision not to pull the flag down himself, did not mean
permission to keep it flying.
"It's clear I will take action," he told AFP. "What kind of action
is up to me -- whether it is persuasive or repressive, we'll see.
It depends on the state of things."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are posted for their news/information content. They are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
To unsubscribe send an email (leave subject blank) to majordomo@irja.org
that says: unsubscribe kabar-irian - or you can also un/subscribe at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
Date: 12/1/00 4:09:42 PM Central Standard Time
From: admin@irja.org
Sender: owner-kabar-irian@irja.org
Reply-to: admin@irja.org
To: kabar-irian@irja.org
Too much mail? Try our digest version. Info available at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
To leave this list follow the instructions at the bottom of this email or
visit the above link. As a matter of policy we DO NOT handle u n s u b s c
r i b e requests except in emergencies.
Friday, December 1 10:21 PM SGT
Indonesian police lower separatist flag in Irian Jaya
JAYAPURA, Indonesia, Dec 1 (AFP)
Indonesian police late Friday lowered a separatist Morning Star
flag in the capital of rebellious Irian Jaya province, to comply
with a government mandated deadline, witnesses said.
There was no immediate resistance from a stunned crowd of some 700
in Imbia Park who had earlier vowed to defend the flying of the
flag with their lives, an AFP reporter there said.
A lone woman could be heard sobbing as the officers, marching out
of negotiations with pro-independence leaders, lowered the flag
shortly before 11:00 pm (1400 GMT) -- an hour before the deadline.
They handed the neatly-folded flag and an Indonesian national flag
to a group of women.
One of the women then took the Morning Star into the
self-proclaimed headquarters of the independence movement here, in
the center of the park.
The crowds, who had earlier been dancing and singing to celebrate
their apparent victory over police when they refused to haul down
the flag at sunset, then started fleeing in panic.
There was no apparent reason for their flight, as the hundreds of
riot police who had ringed the park throughout the day were absent,
the AFP reporter said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christian Science Monitor
Friday, December 1, 2000
World
Indonesia backs Irian Jaya separatists into a corner
-- The 39th anniversary of a declaration of independence is marked
today by Papuans.
By Dan Murphy
Special to The Christian Science Monitor
Jakarta
Through the phone from Jayapura, John Rumbiak's voice comes through
tired and small. After two weeks of urging the Indonesian
government and the people of Irian Jaya province to choose peace,
the human rights campaigner is admitting defeat.
"Jakarta has created an arena of confrontation," says Mr. Rumbiak.
"I think it's too late now to stop them from getting one." Today is
the highly anticipated anniversary of a 1961 independence
declaration that has been the source of major confrontations in the
past over Irian Jaya's right to secede.
Two days ago, flamboyant Irian Jayan pro-independence leader Theys
Eluay was jailed. Yesterday, Indonesia's military paraded tanks and
bivouacked troops near the public fields where independence flags
are traditionally raised. In Jayapura, the provincial capital,
local police chief Daud Sihombing held a public briefing for 2,000
riot police, soldiers, and marines. "Your guns aren't toys or
decorations," he said. "They must be used to defend the unity of
the Republic of Indonesia."
It is no surprise the government is determined to hold on. Irian
Jaya is Indonesia's wildest and richest possession, representing 20
percent of the nation's land. Timber conglomerates have only begun
to exploit its untracked jungles. Its glacier-capped mountains have
already yielded the world's richest gold and copper deposits, mined
by Freeport-McMoRan of Louisiana. The world's largest gas field is
being developed offshore by Atlantic Richfield Co., a subsidiary of
BP Amoco PLC. Home to just 3 million people, Irian ranks sixth in
contribution to the national economy among the country's 27
provinces, but last by measures such as infant mortality.
As Irian Jaya, which is called West Papua by its native
inhabitants, tenses in the wake of the tough talk, activists like
Rumbiak allege the Indonesian military has been secretly arming
"pro-independence" fighters in order to provide the pretext for a
crackdown.
They say voices of peace are being deliberately frozen out so that
violence, which is easier for the military to deal with in the eyes
of the international community than a peaceful struggle, rules the
day. Young pro-independence supporters in coastal towns like Biak,
Sorong, and Fak-Fak are now spoiling for a fight.
An incident a month ago provides a blueprint of what may lie ahead.
Police lowered an independence flag by force in the highland town
of Wamena. Independence supporters rampaged, turning on
economically successful migrants from distant islands. As many as
30 were killed.
"You take away people's symbols of independence, and all they're
left with is anger and frustration. They try to turn on the
military, but they can't win that fight, so they turn against the
migrants," says Rumbiak. "That's what the military is looking for,
because then they can strike." Indeed, thousands of migrants have
been pouring out of Irian in the past week, afraid of getting
caught in the middle.
The arrest of civilian independence leaders, the muscle flexing,
and increasingly belligerent rhetoric are reminiscent of Jakarta's
actions in the province of Aceh, at the far west end of the
archipelago, and its former province of East Timor. President
Abdurrahman Wahid has warned his patience is running thin.
In the town of Timika, the operational base for Freeport's mine
here, Mama Yosepa Alomang is known as a victim of military torture
and a moral voice of the independence movement. She promised to
forgo the usual independence-day flag raising, instead holding a
mass prayer to declare the area a "zone of peace." The military's
response was to park four tanks on the field were she planned to
hold the prayer and encamp a few hundred soldiers there.
"If people there want to talk about independence as some sort of
intellectual exercise, they may," says Ermaya Suradinata, director
general for national unity at the Home Affairs Ministry in Jakarta.
"But it will never be considered."
But taking back the freedom to speak out, granted only since the
fall of former President Suharto in 1998, could have disastrous
consequences. The freedom to talk had served to defuse the Papuan
voices that wanted to fight for freedom rather than negotiate, and
provided a platform for peaceful pro-independence activists. The
more open environment, and relatively fewer military abuses were
creating an avenue by which Irian's people just might be won back
into the fold.
While virtually all of Irian's native people support independence,
merdeka in Indonesian, the practical definition of that word has
remained an open question. The politically unsophisticated Papuans
feel exploited by the center and for many, merdeka means nothing so
much as a better deal.
"The irony is that Indonesia's policy is going to preclude the
chance that merdeka can mean law, justice, peace, and a world
without discrimination," says Brigham Golden, a doctoral candidate
in Columbia University's anthropology department who is studying
the independence movement. "Instead Indonesia is going to ensure
that it must mean independence."
Indonesia at large seems to view Irian - where a generation ago
some still participated in cannibalism - through a racist lens. A
fairly typical article in a Jakarta daily last month dismissed
Papuan independence leaders as "ornery natives."
"The cry for merdeka is a moral crusade. You ask people what does
freedom really mean to you? And most of the time they say it means
peace," says Mr. Golden.
Mr. Wahid's plan to win back the Papuans revolves around an offer
of special autonomy. Suradinata says Papua will be given control of
its revenues and special additional rights by May. He also promises
intensive efforts to "develop the economy for the poor."
But the government has been slow in delivering on its pledges in
the past. As in Aceh, where a separatist war has claimed 225 lives
since June, autonomy of one sort or another has been promised for
more than a decade, without being delivered.
Indonesia was given sovereignty over Irian, which was then called
West Irian, in 1969 in a classic piece of cold war realpolitik. The
Dutch government wanted to pull out and Indonesia wanted to move
in, warning it might do so by force. The United Nations allowed
Indonesia to hold an integration referendum with a public show of
hands by a few hundred hand-picked tribal leaders.
The people of the province say they're still waiting for the chance
to make their choice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
USA Today
Dec 01, 2000
Indonesia braces for instability Diplomats worry as province's
calls for independence increase
By Ian Timberlake
Special for USA TODAY
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Government reinforcements have arrived in
Irian Jaya province amid fears that radical separatists will try to
declare independence for the resource-rich Indonesian territory
today.
The latest move by one of Indonesia's provinces to break away from
the vast archipelago nation -- along with ongoing political and
economic turmoil -- is generating international concern.
Diplomats warn that the territorial integrity of Indonesia is vital
for the rest of Asia. ''Democratic government and economic
well-being are the most effective guarantors of domestic stability
anywhere,'' U.S. Ambassador Robert Gelbard said in a speech Nov. 14
in Jakarta. ''In Indonesia's case, domestic tranquility translates
into greater peace and stability in Southeast Asia and the
Asia-Pacific region as a whole.''
Independence sentiment in Irian Jaya has escalated since June, when
almost 3,000 people representing a wide section of Papuan society
met in Jayapura, the provincial capital. They stated that their
territory has been independent since Dec. 1, 1961, and rejected the
international agreements that led to Irian Jaya's formal
incorporation with Indonesia after a controversial vote among a
select group of Papuans in 1969.
Delegates to June's congress nominated a group of leaders, the
Presidium, to peacefully negotiate a solution to the territory's
problems. Some of those leaders were arrested this week, ahead of
the region's ceremonies to commemorate today's anniversary.
In scenes reminiscent of the 32-year reign of former dictator
Suharto, more than 1,000 troops and riot police paraded Thursday
through Irian Jaya's capital.
In a televised national address Thursday, Indonesian President
Abdurrahman Wahid said his 14-month-old government would not
tolerate separatist calls in Irian Jaya in the east, or Aceh in the
west, where large demonstrations for independence are expected next
week.
Observers say the Indonesian government's increasingly hard-line
approach to rising separatist sentiment in Irian Jaya, or West
Papua as local residents call it, reflects the weakened position of
Wahid, who has favored dialogue and compromise with the Papuans.
The president's management of another separatist movement in East
Timor appeared to bolster the latest provincial independence moves.
East Timor separated from Indonesia after a U.N.-administered
independence vote last year that helped boost West Papuan
independence sentiment.
The latest challenges to central authority come amid new threats of
impeachment from legislators unhappy with Wahid's handling of
corruption and other scandals.
Thursday in Jakarta, 151 lawmakers urged the 500-member Indonesian
parliament to declare Wahid guilty of violating the constitution --
a possible first step toward impeachment.
Observers here say legislators are too busy attacking the president
to rationally discuss Irian Jaya's grievances. ''Jakarta is
incapable right now of uniting the country, and if they're not
serious with West Papua, it's a serious threat to the unity of the
whole country,'' said John Rumbiak of the Els-Ham Papua Barat
human-rights monitoring group based in Jayapura. He was interviewed
during a recent visit to Jakarta.
About 1,500 miles east of Jakarta, Irian Jaya shares a land border
with Papua New Guinea and is home to the giant, U.S.-operated
Freeport-McMoRan gold and copper mine, one of Indonesia's largest
taxpayers.
Papuans have long felt they see little benefit from the mining
revenue flowing to Jakarta. They also allege years of human-rights
abuses by the Indonesian military. But Jakarta has vowed not to
allow the mineral-rich Irian Jaya province to break away.
''I can feel we are going backwards. We are not being developed,''
Denny Yomaki, 29, a human-rights worker, said from Jayapura.
''There is no reform at all in West Papua.''
Unlike Muslim Malays, who make up most of Indonesia's 210 million
people, the people of Irian Jaya are of Melanesian background, like
their Papau New Guinea neighbors, and they are Christian.
The province's vast jungles and mountains are home to more than 2
million people. At least 700,000 of those are non-Papuan migrants
from other Indonesian islands who work there as merchants and
bureaucrats.
Some of these settlers have fled since Oct. 6 when at least 30
people, mostly migrants, died in the worst outbreak of violence in
the province this year.
The unrest began when Indonesian police, who Papuans charge acted
on orders from Indonesian Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri,
pulled down a separatist Morning Star flag in Wamena village. When
independence supporters reacted by throwing stones at the police,
officers shot several Papuans dead. The deaths set off a fatal
rampage against the non-Papuan settlers.
Since then, tension has escalated. On Wednesday, police arrested
and interrogated Theys Eluay, head of the Papuan Presidium Council.
Eluay's detention followed the arrest Tuesday of the Papuan
Presidium Council's secretary-general, Thaha Al Hamid. Police said
he had been charged with subversion, a crime that carries a
potential 20-year prison sentence. On Thursday, another Presidium
Council member, Don Flassy, was arrested.
''The tension is becoming higher and higher as we approach Dec.
1,'' human-rights worker Yomaki said.
The government says it is trying to respond to the grievances of
Irian Jaya by offering a wide-ranging autonomy package next May and
by avoiding bloodshed.
''But tactically, of course, we have to maintain law and order,''
said Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a retired general who holds a key
government Cabinet post.
Willy Mandowen, the Papuan Presidium's mediator with the central
government, said that today will be a day of remembrance featuring
a mass prayer in Jayapura and a declaration that the territory
should be free of weapons.
But that isn't expected to be enough for radical separatists, who
have said they will proclaim independence, Rumbiak said. He said he
suspects some hard-liners are being manipulated by Indonesian
security forces and that further unrest could prompt a crackdown on
independence supporters. ''Things are going to get worse,'' he
warned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Koridor.com
Seven Papuan Activists Arrested
When Staging Protest at US Embassy
koridor.com [1 Dec, 19:45]
Jakarta Police arrested seven Papuan activists for alleged
disturbance of public order when they staged a demonstration in
front of US embassy in Central Jakarta this afternoon (1/12).
Senior Superintendent Harry Montolalu, chief of Jakarta Police's
detective unit, stated this in his office.
He said they were currently questioned intensively. They were
deemed to have breached article 154 of Criminal Code on public
order.
He said, they staged their rally by waving Morning Star separatist
flags and banners reading "Papua is a Peace Zone, not Military
Zone".
The seven activists were Rudolf Rumaropen, 33, from Jakarta, Leon
Viktor Wayay, 40 (West Java), Loun Wenda, 23, (Irian Jaya), Mathius
Rumbrataq, 30, (Central Java), Hans Gobay, 22, (Irian Jaya),
Janpied Henmmorin (Irian Jaya) and Yosef Wenda, 27, (West Java).
He said they actually had informed their plan to the Police but
they only mentioned banners and leaflets. In fact, said Montolalu,
they carried two Free Papua flags as well.
This action was performed in conjunction of Papuan Independence
Day, which falls on December 1, 2000. (beston / rs)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Kabar-Irian
From: James Jones
Subject: Advice to PDP / OPM/ TPN / DEMMAK / FNP et al
Advice to PDP / OPM/ TPN / DEMMAK / FNP et al
Please, please refrain from any action or threat of action against
non-Papuans in West Papua. Can we please be sensible about this:
there are 19 million unemployed young Indonesians. There are
numerous Indonesian military and security personnel in West Papua.
Total number of indigenous West Papuans estimated at just over 1
million. There are Laskar Jihad moslem warriors numbering thousands
in Ambon & Maluku. West Papua could be very easily flooded by
Indonesian military and militias to wipe-out all indigenous West
Papuans, and they could do this very easily and justify this
through any threat, implied threat, or action from indigenous West
Papuans.
Please, please, for the sake of alleviating potential conflict
which would result in the loss of indigenous West Papuan blood, do
not fall into the Indonesian trap of war-like conditions so that
they can justify mass killings of West Papuans. Please do not be so
easily antagonised. Do not give them reasons to commit mass
genocide.
Please remain sensible, peaceful, and avoid conditions which create
conflict. Can't you all see that they are trying to kill the West
Papuans off the face of the earth?
Independence will be realised through peaceful dialogue with the
support of governments internationally. The momentum is building
already. Indonesia has no leg to stand on with their claim to West
Papua.
Do not be brave but foolish. I repeat, do not be brave but foolish.
We can all fight another day, but not when there is only a few of
us left as a result of all-out war.
Issued by International Action for West Papua, United Kingdom,
30/11/2000
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Opinion
December 02, 2000
Cry freedom
The much anticipated clashes between security forces and the
pro-independence movement in Irian Jaya on Friday failed to
materialize, thanks to cool heads prevailing among leaders on both
sides.
The commemoration of the anniversary of the 1961 declaration of
independence proceeded in Jayapura and other major towns in Irian
Jaya -- or West Papua as locals prefer to call their homeland --
peacefully, albeit on a much scaled down level at the insistence of
the authorities.
Both organizers and security forces exercised restraint.
Pro-independence supporters and their leaders (minus those arrested
by the police earlier in the week) had their say and held their
prayers for peace and independence. They complied with the
authorities' request not to read the declaration of independence
and to only briefly raise the Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag,
behind which the pro-independence people have been rallying.
Security forces, including fresh reinforcements sent in
anticipation of trouble, allowed the ceremony to go ahead. Clashes
occurred instead in Jakarta on Friday, between police and
pro-independence Papuans who marched to the Dutch and U.S.
Embassies.
While we can all breathe a sigh of relief that the day passed
without a major incident, it would be a gross mistake to assume
that the problem has been resolved. Jakarta's tough talking against
the pro-independence supporters may have something to do with the
muted celebration on Friday, but the government would be wrong to
think that it has won over the hearts and minds of the Papuans, or
that it has broken their fighting spirit. All the government has
done is to defuse a potentially explosive situation. The government
should not take all the credit either, because leaders of the
pro-independence Papuans played their part in preventing violence
from erupting.
The government, however, has not addressed the problem of what to
do about the aspiration for independence in West Papua. The
aspiration is real and is probably growing stronger now after the
arrests of leaders of the Papuan Presidium Council, Jakarta's tough
talking, and the deployment of more troops in the province this
week. In the absence of any referendum, it is difficult to gauge
how prevalent is the demand for independence among West Papuans,
but we know that it is strong enough not to be easily ignored or
dismissed, as the government is trying to do now.
Supporters of an independent West Papua state have become more
assertive over the last two years in voicing their aspirations,
taking advantage of the greater political openness. They were even
allowed to hold their congress, and for a brief moment until last
month, to hoist their Morning Star flag.
The government now seems to have rolled back the carpet, and begun
to suppress independence aspirations among the Papuans once again,
resorting to old repressive practices such as deploying the
military to intimidate the participants in any activity that smacks
of separatism, from peaceful political gatherings to raising their
flags.
Deprived of formal political outlets, these aspirations will likely
manifest themselves in other forms. Going by the experience of
three decades of president Soeharto's tyrannical rule, some will
resort to armed rebellion.
Irian Jaya, like Aceh, is the litmus test of the administration's
true commitment to political reforms and democratic values, which
include freedom of expression. All that the Papuans wanted to do on
Friday was to express their independence aspirations, by peaceful
means. Yet, the government, which was elected on a reformist
platform, has now begun to suppress these aspirations, invoking the
need to preserve the territorial integrity of this unitary state.
National unity, and not democracy, has become such an infatuation
of this administration that it is even willing to deny people their
basic rights, including freedom of expression. Today it is Irian
Jaya. Next week, the government will again invoke national unity in
trying to suppress a planned political rally to call for a
referendum on self-determination in Aceh.
By the same logic, the government would suppress people's basic
rights anywhere else in Indonesia, if and when it feels it
necessary to preserve national unity and stability. That is a
scary, but now real prospect after what has happened in Irian Jaya.
By suppressing the freedom aspirations of the Papuans, the
government may have turned back the clock on the march to democracy
not only in Irian Jaya, but also the rest the country.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Australian Financial Review
Muted calls for freedom as Jayapura rally ends without violence
Dec 2
Tim Dodd in Jakarta
Thousands rallied peacefully in the Irian Jayan, or West Papuan,
capital of Jayapura on Friday to mark the anniversary of the
separatist movement, but calls for independence were muted in the
face of a heavy presence of Indonesian troops and police.
Scores of riot police armed with batons and shields surrounded the
gathering, where the Papuan Morning Star flag was raised and
moderate independence leader Mr Tom Beanal urged Papuans to pursue
their goal peacefully.
"I am restricted by everything so I cannot say much. I just want to
say 'happy anniversary' and we know that the leader in our struggle
is God," Mr Beanal said, before leading prayers.
Friday was the anniversary of the 1961 declaration of independence
by Papuan separatists, who were seeking independence from the
Dutch. But the territory was handed over to Indonesia two years
later in a UN-endorsed process.
Mr Beanal ignored angry calls from some of the crowd to read a
political statement calling for independence for Irian Jaya.
The independence organisation, the Papuan Presidium Council,
co-operated with Indonesian authorities on Friday to limit flag
raisings to specified locations and refrain from open calls for
independence. Four of the movement's leaders, including chairman Mr
Theys Eluay, were detained in Jayapura on Wednesday.
On the eve of the anniversary, the Australian Ambassador to
Indonesia, Mr John McCarthy, said
the Indonesian Government had assured Australia it was not its
policy to use violence in Irian Jaya.
Speaking to a foreign correspondents' dinner on Thursday night, Mr
McCarthy said Australia had "very definitely urged Indonesia in
very clear terms to avoid the use of violence in Irian Jaya".
"We have been assured that is not Indonesian policy," he said.
Mr McCarthy, who ends his term in Jakarta next week, also repeated
the Australian Government's position that Irian Jaya should remain
part of Indonesia.
Reports said the other major towns of Irian Jaya - Biak, Sorong and
Merauke - were also calm on Friday.
But the Irian Jayan pro-independence demonstrators in Jakarta were
tear-gassed by police after they ignored warnings to stop
displaying the Morning Star flag in a protest outside the United
States embassy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indonesian Observer
Saturday, Desember 02 - 2000
Rights groups slam arrest of Irian activists
JAKARTA (IO) =97 Several human rights groups yesterday condemned the
decision by police to arrest leaders of the Papua Presidium
Council.
The rights groups said the arrests were =93a dangerous act of
speculation=94 that may reduce public trust in the government, police
and military.
The Papua Presidium Council officials were detained prior to
yesterday=92s muted commemoration of West Papua=92s unrecognized
independence.
Leader of the Indonesian Human Rights and Legal Aid Association
(PBHI) Hendardi said the arrests were a foolish move as they will
only result in further opposition to Jakarta and greater support
for the independence movement.
=93The speculative decision [to arrest] them may disadvantage the
central government=92s efforts to win the trust of the public [in
Irian Jaya],=94 Hendardi said in a press statement.
He said the government should be more careful in dealing with the
West Papua (Irian Jaya) issue, as well as the restive province of
Aceh.
Hendardi said the arrests of Papua Presidium Council leaders Theys
Eluay and Thaha Al Hamid, as well as Aceh separatist Mohamad Nazar,
will only increase the two province=92s mistrust of the central
government.
Theys and Thaha are charged with treason. Nazar is charged with
subversion because he dared to point out that most people in Aceh
don=92t want their territory to remain part of Indonesia because the
central government exploits its wealth and the military has
allegedly killed thousands of people there with impunity.
Hendardi said the government=92s only option to resolve matters in
the two provinces is to hold talks and negotiations to achieve
peaceful solutions. =93And for that to happen, they [the jailed
separatists] have to be released,=94 he added.
The Indonesian Legal Aid Institution Foundation (YLBHI) and the
Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras),
through their officials Ikravami Hilman and Dadang Tri Sasongko,
said the arrests in Irian Jaya were wrong and unjust, and will only
succeed in worsening the situation.
According to them, the arrests are an effort from the government
effort to provoke the people of West Papua to become violent.
They said there was little political or legal basis for the
arrests.
YLBHI and Kontras said the government has never consistently
enforced the law in West Papua, especially when dealing with cases
of human rights abuse.
Another human rights group, Solidarity Without Borders (Solidamor),
also strongly criticized the arrests.
Solidamor spokesman Andriyanto said the arrests were apparently a
violation of the principles of human rights.
He said the government=92s action had yet again disgraced Indonesia
before the international community. =93If there are, for instance,
economic sanctions placed on Indonesia because of the arrests, it=92s
the government which should be blamed for that.=94
He said the government and military should stop bringing troops
into West Papua. Instead, the military should gradually withdraw
and the government should resolve the cases of human rights abuse
in the province, he added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are posted for their news/information content. They are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
To unsubscribe send an email (leave subject blank) to majordomo@irja.org
that says: unsubscribe kabar-irian - or you can also un/subscribe at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
Date: 12/1/00 4:12:59 PM Central Standard Time
From: admin@irja.org
Sender: owner-kabar-irian@irja.org
Reply-to: admin@irja.org
To: kabar-irian@irja.org
Too much mail? Try our digest version. Info available at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
To leave this list follow the instructions at the bottom of this email or
visit the above link. As a matter of policy we DO NOT handle u n s u b s c
r i b e requests except in emergencies.
International Herald Tribune
In Irian Jaya, Indonesia Faces Yet Another Violent Insurgency
Michael Richardson International Herald Tribune
Friday, December 1, 2000
TEMBAGAPURA, Indonesia Nestled in a small valley 1,850 meters above
sea level with cliffs and forest-clad mountains towering above,
this company mining town with its subsidized canteen, store, clubs
and bars is aptly called Tembagapura, or Copper City, in the
Indonesian language.
Further up the precipitous road hacked out of the jungle is a mine
that is one of the world's largest producers of gold and copper.
Its production is worth nearly $1.5 billion for the company that
runs the project, PT Freeport Indonesia.
But the mine in these remote, glacier-capped mountains of Irian
Jaya, Indonesia's easternmost province, is now caught in an
intensifying tug-of war between indigenous Papuans demanding
independence and the central government in Jakarta, which is
determined to prevent any further fragmentation of the sprawling
island-nation.
Separatist fighters operating from bases near the border with Papua
New Guinea are threatening to attack Indonesian troops and settlers
unless Jakarta agrees to give the province independence by Friday.
That is the anniversary of a declaration of sovereignty made 39
years ago, on Dec. 1, 1961, when the former colonial power, the
Netherlands, relinquished control and before Indonesia took over.
"On Dec. 1, we will have independence," said Izhak Onawame, an
evangelical priest who heads the local branch of Irian Jaya's
pro-independence organization in Timika, the main town in the
Freeport project area. "There is no turning back."
A member of the organization's armed wing, who accompanied Mr.
Onawame at a recent interview and gave his name as Major Tonchay,
said that if Indonesia refused to accept Irian Jaya's sovereignty,
there would be fighting. "We are ready to kill or be killed," he
added.
In anticipation of the deadline, the Indonesian police have
intensified their hunt for key Irian Jaya separatists. On Thursday,
they arrested a third leader of the group and said that all three,
who include the chairman of the pro-independence Papua Presidium
Council, Theys Eluay, would be charged with treason. Conviction
carries a maximum term of life in prison.
Although Freeport, which is 81 percent-owned by Freeport-McMoRan
Copper Gold Inc. of the United States, says it has spent in the
last decade alone more than $150 million to build schools, houses,
places of worship, a modern hospital and community facilities to
ensure local support, it is vulnerable to possible raids by
extremists. "Major companies could be used as pawns in Irian Jaya
in the struggle to gain independence," an executive said.
Freeport-McMoRan's share price has fallen 65 percent since January
to around $7.50, down from around $35 two and a half years ago,
when President Suharto seemed to be firmly in power. While lower
metal prices have played a role, executives and analysts said the
main reason for the slump was the perception among investors of
greatly increased political risk since Mr. Suharto, a key patron of
Freeport McMoRan's Indonesian operations, was forced to resign in
May 1998.
Both of his successors,B.J. Habibie and now Abdurrahman Wahid, have
faced increasing challenges in holding the world's fourth most
populous nation together.
The United States, Australia and other countries that want
Indonesia to remain united are concerned at the prospect of
violence. They worry that a conflict in Irian Jaya would over
stretch the Indonesian military and police forces, which are
already struggling to contain sectarian and separatist unrest and
increasing lawlessness in various parts of the country.
Separatist demands in Irian Jaya have increased this year, inspired
partly by East Timor's overwhelming vote for independence from
Indonesia in a UN plebiscite in 1999. The government of Mr. Wahid,
which initially took a conciliatory approach, has hardened its
stand under pressure from nationalists in the military and
Parliament.
Last month in Wamena, in the Irian Jaya highlands, one of the main
strongholds of pro-independence sentiment, 31 people, mainly
settlers from other parts of Indonesia, were killed in violence
that erupted after the police cut down flagpoles flying the Morning
Star, a revered symbol of the separatists.
"There will be no possibilities for Irian Jaya and Aceh to become
independent and separate from Indonesia," the coordinating minister
for political, social and security affairs, Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, a retired army general, said recently. "The unitary
state of the Republic of Indonesia is final."
Jakarta has sent 1,300 new troops from the army's Kostrad strategic
reserve command to Irian Jaya, bringing to more than 10,000 the
number of Indonesian police forces and troops reported to be
stationed in the province, including a 650-member police mobile
brigade guarding the Freeport mine.
There are also persistent reports that the military has sent to
Irian Jaya members of its Kopassus special forces, the unit blamed
for organizing the militia gangs that carried out much of the
violence and destruction in East Timor last year.
Unlike East Timor, which has few natural resources, both Irian Jaya
and Aceh are valuable assets for Indonesia. Since it began
exporting in 1972, Freeport has consistently been one of the
largest taxpayers in a country that is chronically short of tax
revenue.
But separatist leaders in Irian Jaya, like those in Aceh and other
resource rich regions, accuse Jakarta of stealing provincial
resources and giving little back in return.
The separatists also resent the large-scale settlement of people
from other parts of Indonesia, either drawn by employment and
trading opportunities or brought in by the government as part of a
now discredited transmigration policy. This program moved people to
the outer regions of Indonesia from Java and other densely
populated central islands that have long controlled political and
economic power in the country.
As a result, only about half Irian Jaya's estimated population of
two million are now Papuans. Most of the indigenous people are
Christians or animists, while many of the settlers are Muslim.
Like East Timor, a former Portuguese colony that was invaded by
Indonesia in 1975 and later annexed, Irian Jaya is underdeveloped.
It was also not part of the original Indonesia that won its
independence from the Dutch in 1947.
Even under the Dutch, Irian Jaya, then known as West Papua, had
been ruled from Jakarta only since the late 19th century. It had
few historical, ethnic, linguistic or religious links with the
Indonesian archipelago. The indigenous Papuans, like the people of
Papua New Guinea and nearby South Pacific islands, are Melanesian,
not Asian.
Advocates of independence for Irian Jaya say that an "act of free
choice" conducted by the UN in 1969, which made the former Dutch
territory part of Indonesia, was unrepresentative. Only 1,025
tribal and community leaders chosen by Indonesia took part.
The Papua People's Congress, which claims to represent the
aspirations of the overwhelming majority of Papuans in Irian Jaya,
met in June for the second time this year in the province capital,
Jayapura, and set Dec. 1 as the deadline for achieving sovereignty.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stratfor.com
Stratfor.com's Global Intelligence Update - 01 December 2000
Tensions Mount as Independence Anniversary Approaches
Summary
Some 39 years ago, Indonesian troops moved into West Papua. The
anniversary, Dec. 1, is an unofficial holiday for separatists in
what has become the mineral-rich Indonesian province of Irian Jaya.
Beginning today and through the weekend, Irian Jaya's indigenous
separatists may be prepared to escalate violence to demonstrate
just how far they are willing to go to reclaim West Papua.
Analysis
Dec. 1 marks the 39th anniversary of West Papua's declaration of
independence from the Netherlands. Seen as a holiday by local
tribes, the day will be a litmus test on just how well organized
the local separatist movement has become in the past year.
Indonesian security forces, pro-Jakarta militia groups, and the
indigenous separatist movements within what is now Irian Jaya
appear headed toward a clash this weekend. Though the area is poor
and undeveloped it is strategically significant. Between 1992 and
1997, the giant Freeport Indonesia copper and gold mine alone paid
Jakarta over $899 million in taxes and royalties.
But the coming days will demonstrate how far the Irian Jaya
separatists have come. The Indonesian military, which has
reportedly been arming pro-Jakarta militias in Irian Jaya, can
crush any unrest in the province. But the separatists may be ready
to substantially escalate violence there.
Indonesia troops moved into West Papua in 1963. Formally annexing
West Papua in 1969 in a highly questioned referendum, Indonesia
renamed the new province Irian Jaya. Since then, migrant workers
from Indonesia's more populous areas have flooded the island to the
detriment of the mostly uneducated and unskilled indigenous tribes.
Tensions between pro-Jakarta migrants and the indigenous tribes
have led to the emergence of numerous pro-independence groups vying
for supremacy. Indeed, the separatist movements in Irian Jaya have
been brewing for decades.
Last year, protests marking the Dec. 1 holiday led to at least two
deaths and dozens injured. Similar riots have occurred since 1996.
In the last year, however, the separatist movement has begun to
organize with the establishment of the pro-independence Papua
Presidium Council in February.
In June, this political arm of the separatist movement representing
245 indigenous tribal groups convened the first Papua National
Congress and called on the Indonesian government to recognize West
Papua's independence. Though still divided between moderates and
extremists, the movement has begun to coalesce into a viable
opposition to Jakarta.
As yet, the movement is no match for the Indonesian Armed Forces
(ABRI) currently stationed in Irian Jaya. In the past week, these
units were reinforced with an additional 1,200 troops from the
Kostrad, the Indonesian Army Strategic Reserve Command. This
anniversary may be a bloody one, however, if pro-independence
groups such as Operasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) and Satuan Tugas Papua
carry out their intent to declare independence and set up a
provisional government.
Last year's independence referendum in East Timor opened Pandora's
box. Since then, separatist movements throughout the Indonesian
archipelago have tried to gather strength to press their own claims
for self-determination.
Indeed, the Irian Jaya movement gained international recognition in
October with the inclusion of four OPM representatives at the 31st
Pacific Islands Forum as part of the Nauru delegation. Further
momentum can be expected next year as East Timor is formally
recognized as an independent nation, setting an example for
separatists everywhere.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has taken a more
conciliatory stance toward the separatists to encourage
negotiation. He has ruled out referendums like that in East Timor,
but he has proposed greater autonomy for provinces like Irian Jaya.
However, Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, various nationalist
political parties and the military have opposed any form of
compromise with separatist elements. They have forced Wahid to
backtrack on his proposals, fomenting further unrest.
According to Reuters, the military has begun organizing and arming
pro-Jakarta militias in Irian Jaya in an echo of similar tactics
that brought so much destruction to East Timor last year. In
October, approximately 30 people were killed when separatists
clashed with migrant workers and police in the town of Wamena over
the display of the separatist Morning Star flag.
In the past three days, two top leaders of the Papua Presidium
Council, including Chairman Theys Eluway, have been arrested and
charged with subversion. Troops have begun massing in the
provincial capital of Jayapura and in the major port cities. The
crackdown has already begun.
The next few days will show how far the separatists have come. No
doubt the Indonesian security forces can crush any unrest in the
province. However, the level of violence this weekend will indicate
just how serious the separatists are about reaching their goal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Economist.com
The strains on Indonesia
Nov 30th 2000
From The Economist Global Agenda
Since the bloody aftermath of a vote for independence in East Timor
last year, separatist pressures have intensified in a number of
Indonesian regions. But fears that Indonesia might disintegrate
like a South-East Asian Yugoslavia need not be realised=97unless the
government and army continue to blunder
THE latest part of the vast and troubled Indonesian archipelago to
attract the international spotlight is its easternmost province:
Irian Jaya (or West Papua as it is also known), which borders Papua
New Guinea. Separatist tensions there have been mounting in the
run-up to ceremonies in the provincial capital, Jayapura, on
December 1st to mark the anniversary of a declaration of
independence made by tribal chiefs in 1961.
There are good reasons to fear a confrontation. A congress held at
the end of May by thousands of people from across the province
elected a =93presidium=94, which is now due to report on progress
towards a negotiated independence. There has not been any. Rather,
there was a brutal battle on October 6th over the flag of the
independence movement, the Morning Star, the symbol of the 1961
declaration. Police in Wamena, a hill-town, and one of many places
where the flag was flying, tried to pull it down. Tribesmen fought
Indonesian soldiers with bows and arrows, and some settlers from
Java, Indonesia's most populous island, were murdered. Around 30
people died in the fighting.
To forestall trouble ahead of December 1st, the Indonesian
authorities have taken steps that seem just as likely to enflame
local resentment. Independence leaders have been detained,
including Theys Eluays, the chairman of the presidium. Two
battalions of elite troops have been brought in, and on November
30th staged a big show of force in Jayapura. The army, as in East
Timor and Aceh, has been backing =93pro-integration=94 militias, making
conflict among local people more likely.
As elsewhere in Indonesia=97notably in Aceh, at the other tip of the
island chain=97the independence movement has gathered strength since
the collapse in 1998 of the 32-year dictatorship of Suharto. It was
further encouraged by the vote for independence in East Timor,
despite the destructive response of Indonesian-sponsored militias,
which may partly have been intended as a warning to other restive
regions.
Rebels in Irian Jaya, like those in East Timor, point to history
for their claim to independence. The indigenous peoples of both
places are ethnically and culturally very different from other
Indonesians. Neither region was part of the country that formed out
of the former Dutch colonies in 1945. East Timor was a Portuguese
colony until 1975. Irian Jaya remained a Dutch possession until, in
1961, international pressure, notably from America, forced the
Netherlands to relinquish it. Indonesia swallowed up the territory
in 1963, and in 1969, through a hotly disputed, UN-supervised =93Act
of Free Will=94, among about 1,000 local chiefs, the annexation was
ratified.
Impossible dreams
But Irian Jaya and Aceh differ from East Timor in three crucial
respects, making their independence less likely. First, both are
internationally accepted as parts of Indonesia, whereas the
annexation of East Timor was never recognised by the United
Nations, which continued to regard Portugal as the =93administering
power=94. Second, and partly for that reason, there is far less
international support for the secession of other regions. Irian
Jaya does enjoy sympathy from island states in the South Pacific,
and the independence movement in Aceh, a deeply Islamic region, has
garnered support (including money and weapons) from some Muslim
countries. Generally, however, there is alarm at the prospect of
independence for Irian Jaya. Alexander Downer, Australia=92s foreign
minister, has worried aloud that Indonesia could disintegrate into
a =93bloodbath=94 if it seceded. Australia, like some South-East Asian
governments, has long fretted about the security vacuum that would
be left were Indonesia to fragment, fearing that it might be filled
by China.
The third reason why Aceh and Irian Jaya are less likely to achieve
independence is that Jakarta has much more to lose. Unlike East
Timor, they are extremely rich in natural resources. Aceh produces
much of Indonesia=92s oil and gas exports, and Irian Jaya is home to
the world=92s largest gold and copper mine (and Indonesia's biggest
taxpayer), operated by a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan, an
American firm. Aware of the feeling in these and other
resource-rich regions, such as the Riau archipelago and East
Kalimantan, the central government has devised a new fiscal deal,
leaving richer regions a greater share of revenues. This is due to
come into force on January 1st, though the IMF has warned the
government that its systems are simply not ready for the change.
But the government is right that such measures may help ease
separatist pressures. More worrying is the heavy-handed crackdown
in Irian Jaya. It suggests that parts of the civilian and
especially military leadership seem not to have learned their
lessons from East Timor: that fierce repression, coupled with
clandestine plots to foment violence, can only deepen resentment at
rule from Jakarta. In both Aceh and Irian Jaya there are historic
claims to independence, but they have been sharpened by three
decades of arbitrary and dictatorial rule, human-rights abuses and
occasional massacres. In both places, too, recent clumsy repression
has made things worse. President Wahid=92s administration ought to
seize the chance to show that belonging to Indonesia can be a
blessing as well as a curse. But that chance so far has been
squandered, thwarted by the army=92s recalcitrance, the weakness of a
fractious coalition government, and the president=92s own flip-flops
and vacillations.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Age (Melbourne)
Boiling point in Jayapura
By Lindsay Murdoch - Indonesia Correspondent
Jayapura
Saturday 2 December 2000
You can see in their eyes the intensity of the hatred by people
from vastly different cultures.
Indonesia police with riot shields, padded uniforms and automatic
weapons stare grimly at barely clothed men from the remote
mountains of West Papua in a surreal stand-off that will inevitably
lead to bloodshed.
"Merdeka, merdeka," the highlanders yell, calling for independence
as they dance in a frenzy on the streets of the seedy port town of
Jayapura, the provincial capital.
The police, most of whom are Javanese, look down on the
black-skinned Papuans, who are mostly poor and unemployed.
The police chief of Indonesia's far-eastern province, Sylvanus
Wenas, often refers to uneducated Papuans who "talk hard but have a
soft heart".
But long simmering tensions in the province, also called Irian
Jaya, are quickly coming to a head.
The supposedly democratic government in Jakarta has abandoned its
brief experiment with a more tolerant approach towards the
rebellious but resource-rich province.
"There should be no effort to proclaim (independence), secede from
the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia, be that in Irian
Jaya, or Papua, or in Aceh," President Abdurrahman Wahid said in a
statement on Thursday before rallies yesterday marking West Papua's
failed 1961 bid for independence.
Any action to secede will "certainly be halted, and will be acted
on firmly," Mr Wahid said.
In Jayapura, a commander told police and soldiers this week: "Do
not look upon your weapon as a toy."
Many Papuans are bitterly disappointed with Mr Wahid, who took
office with a reputation as a liberal reformist. He came to
Jayapura last New Year's Eve, promising the people could fly their
beloved Morning Star, the flag of the independence movement. They
could call the province Papua instead of Irian Jaya, a name imposed
on them by Suharto. They could have their political freedom, he
said, albeit within the unitary state of Indonesia. Papuans could
for the first time be treated as equals, the President promised.
All that vanished as Mr Wahid's rivals and military hardliners have
turned up the heat and he struggles for political survival.
Three of Papua's independence leaders were thrown into jail this
week for exercising free speech. It reminded people here of the
repressive Suharto decades.
Heavily armed police and soldiers, many of whom had been shipped in
over several months, now occupy the streets of Jayapura, stopping
and searching all travellers. Shops are closed and barricaded.
Thousands of settlers from other parts of Indonesia have fled the
province, fearing attack.
Mr Wahid's changing policies have dramatically increased the
possibility of violence in villages where the Morning Star is still
flying. Many Papuans have a cargo-cult type belief that when the
flag is flying they already have their independence.
By first telling people the flag could fly and then banning it, Mr
Wahid produced a state of high anxiety among the people.
"Gus Dur has made a tremendous mistake that has created confusion
and misunderstanding," Willy Mandowen, a moderate Papuan leader,
said yesterday.
The mood on Jayapura's streets is ugly.
Indonesian authorities have banned the independence militia known
as the Satgas (Taskforce) Papua from raising the Morning Star
outside its Jayapura headquarters. The stern-faced, black-clad
militia must also vacate the building by today.
But hardliners vow to continue to raise the flag each morning.
"There is no way it will not continue flying here," said Filep
Karma, a former political prisoner in the Suharto years. "It will
go up as usual. My people want to defend the flag, even if it kills
them."
During a subdued but tense ceremony marking the 1961 anniversary in
Jayapura yesterday people shouted: "The flag has got to stay."
Scores of riot police surrounded the ritual, which was marked by
prayers and defiant speeches.
"With God as our leader, what do we need to be afraid of? Nothing,"
Tom Beanal, the deputy leader of the pro-independence Papuan
Presidium Council, told the crowd of several thousand.
Police chief Wenas told reporters there would be no need to use
force to lower the flag because it would not be raised today under
agreement with the Papuan council.
"The flag will not be lowered by force because it will not be
raised in the first place," Brigadier-General Wenas said.
Police are demanding that the Morning Star fly only in five of the
province's 14 districts and then only at so-called cultural
centres. The flag has been flying for months in most villages where
there are dangerous stand-offs between authorities and separatist
supporters.
Papuans are also agitating in other Indonesian cities. In Jakarta
yesterday, police fired tear gas to disperse about 300 students
staging a noisy independence rally.
According to documents obtained by Reuters, Jakarta has been
running a secret campaign to prevent the province from breaking
away with a combination of bullying, persuasion and clandestine
operations.
Humiliated by the loss of East Timor last year, Indonesia has also
deployed more than 10,000 police and soldiers to the province.
But it has failed so far to make a detailed offer of autonomy to
the Papuans, despite repeated promises.
Mr Wahid has broken off contact with the most high profile Papuan
independence leader, Theys Eluay, who was jailed this week on
treason charges
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Financial Times (London)
Irianese seek cover as opposing forces take up positions
By Tom McCawley
Published: November 30 2000 18:24GMT | Last Updated: December 1
2000 09:13GMT
As Indonesian troops gather on the streets of Jayapura in the
province of Irian Jaya on Friday morning, many of the territory's
inhabitants will seek sanctuary in churches and pray for peace.
On Thursday, special riot police, marines and soldiers paraded
through the town with armoured cars and guns as a warning to those
campaigning for independence for the province, also known as West
Papua.
On the eve of the 39th anniversary of the first unilateral
declaration of independence for the territory that borders Papua
New Guinea, the military set up camp in the centre of town. As if
in defiance, a pro- independence gang set up its own camp nearby.
"People are afraid the police will use force. . . and that the
gangs will answer with force," said Leo Labalajar, Jayapura's Roman
Catholic bishop.
West Papuan voices are the latest in Indonesia to be heard
demanding independence.
In the western-most province of Aceh, Muslim guerrillas are seeking
a separate Islamic state. As East Timor approaches its second
Christmas as an independent state, Jakarta looks on nervously.
After coming to office in January, Indonesia's President
Abdurrahman Wahid warned of the danger of the disintegration of a
nation that straddles main sea-lanes to Japan and North Asia.
In addition to such strategic considerations, separatism adds to
the political instability of Mr Wahid's government, which already
faces the immense task of restructuring the financial sector and
much of the economy, which is only just recovering from the
economic crisis of 1997-98.
As the soldiers gathered on Thursday, there were fears that efforts
at diplomacy between moderates in West Papua and Jakarta had broken
down.
Special prayer sessions are to be held today in churches in
Jayapura, a quiet town arranged around a sparkling blue harbour
some 3,700km from Jakarta.
"Morning Star" flags will be raised in remembrance of the first
declaration of independence in 1961. "It was then West Papua was
born as a nation," says Deni Wakman, a traditional chieftain and
independence activist.
As in other separatist causes, human rights abuses and perceptions
that Jakarta has plundered the province's mineral wealth and given
little in return have fed demands for independence. In an effort to
avoid violence today, however, the leaders of a 500-member
pro-independence grouping have agreed to lower the flags in
compliance with Jakarta's orders. d3 However, they fear that the 10
hardline separatist gangs will ignore orders to do so, possibly
sparking a fight with government troops. Local anger has been fired
by the arrest this week of three independence leaders.
Church groups say that minor skirmishes have broken out around
Jayapura this week. In October, more than 40 people died when
pro-independence tribal gangs clashed with police and security in
the town of Wamena, about 240km from Jayapura. In far off Merauke,
Indonesia's eastern-most tip, government has largely broken down
with militia gangs controlling security and roads.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, senior security minister, and Megawati
Sukarnoputri, vice-president with special responsibility for the
regions, favour a heavy hand in dealing with separatism.
The leadership of the pro-independence grouping, known as Papua
Presidium, prefers a strategy of peaceful dialogue with Jakarta
while trying to involve the international community. Some of its
leaders accept that immediate independence could be disastrous for
West Papua's 3.5m people. They are negotiating with Jakarta over
plans for special autonomy to begin in mid-2001.
In cities and towns across West Papua, the slogan merdeka -
freedom - is scrawled on walls as testimony to the widespread
activism for independence.
However, John Rumbeak, a Columbia university-trained human rights
activist in Jayapura, says that West Papua's 800,000 or so tribal
peoples, many of whom lead a semi-traditional hunting and gathering
lifestyle, have little understanding of the modern nation-state.
"Our people still need a lot, a lot of education," says Mr Rumbeak.
Another problem is the long tradition of warfare between West
Papua's 250 or so tribal peoples, which could play havoc with the
co-ordination of an independence movement.
Police and military are keen to emphasise tribal differences.
"Independence would be total chaos," said Brigadier Gen Sylvanus
Yulian Wenas, Jayapura police chief.
Indigenous Irianese - only about half the population - remain
mostly poor. The rest come from around Indonesia, either drawn by
trading opportunities or brought in by the government as part of a
now-discredited policy to move people out of over- populated areas.
Irian Jaya joined Indonesia in 1963 after heavy diplomatic pressure
on the Netherlands. Six years later, a still controversial UN-run
plebiscite was held among local leaders, which resulted in a vote
to formally join Indonesia.
Last night, police warned pro-independence gangs against any
impetuous action and held last-minute talks with Presidium leaders
in an effort to avoid violence.
Meanwhile, Mr Labalajar and his congregation were turning to
prayer.
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are posted for their news/information content. They are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
To unsubscribe send an email (leave subject blank) to majordomo@irja.org
that says: unsubscribe kabar-irian - or you can also un/subscribe at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
Date: 12/1/00 4:00:01 AM Central Standard Time
From: plovers@gn.apc.org (Paul Barber)
Reply-to: plovers@gn.apc.org
To: WestPapua@topica.com, u.braun@xcc.de, slliem@xs4all.nl, taylorjb@vax.sbu.ac.uk, sg@survival-international.org, acfoahr@acfoa.asn.au, wdm@gn.apc.org, dte@gn.apc.org, cballard@coombs.anu.edu.au, dstart@wawa.source.co.uk, dannyk@igc.apc.org, tongtong@gn.apc.org, ltanggahma@unpo.nl, dtecampaign@gn.apc.org, jevans@ukonline.co.uk, pchatterjee@igc.apc.org, szoellner@t-online.de, partizans@gn.apc.org, lwithers@amnesty.org, inakai@wxs.nl, iris@rosebay.matra.com.au, aditjond@psychology.newcastle.edu.au, rubthor@hotmail.com (Ruben Thorning), wpaction@iol.ie, John.Saltford@pro.gov.uk, jevans@ukonline.co.uk, Sogaines@aol.com, slliem@xs4all.nl, nangelo1@excite.com (Nick), julierib@pangea.org, will.carey@virgin.net, silo@jayapura.wasantara.net.id, alm1000@hermes.cam.ac.uk, westpapua1@virgin.netnetscape.net, ottis-simopiaref@egroups.com
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
also: Indonesian police fire tear gas at Irianese students in Jakarta
Police hold Papuan independence guards for insulting Indonesian flag
JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya, Dec 1 (AFP) - Indonesian police detained four
pro-independence civilian guards for questioning here Friday, saying they had
insulted the Indonesian flag during a separatist anniversary cermony, an
officer said.
The four Papua Taskforce members were taken in immediately after hoisting the
separatist Morning Star flag at first light Friday in front of Jayapura's
Arts and Cultural Center, city police chief Lieutenant Colonel Daud Sihombing
told AFP.
The action followed the detention of four leaders of the separatist Papua
Presidium on Wednesday and Thursday on charges of subversion through
separatism.
"The Morning Star they raised this morning is more than twice the size of the
(national) Red and White flag," Sihombing said.
"What's more, they're flying at the same height."
Sihombing said the height and size of the Morning Star violated the
conditions set by President Abdurrahman Wahid one year ago when he gave
permission to native Papuans to raise the Morning Star.
"Gus Dur (Wahid's common appelation) told them they could fly it so long as
it was below the Red and White. So they've broken the prohibitions."
Taskforce leaders here however claimed 15 of their members, including one
woman, had been arrested since the morning flag-raising.
"Seven people who hoisted the flag were arrested here this morning, and
another eight were arrested as they left their homes," Taskforce secretary
and commander of the Highlanders' Penis Gourd Association, Robert Takimai,
told AFP.
"I've been informed they were taken away by the police."
Takimai challenged the arrests on a day authorities had explicitly permitted
the Morning Star to be raised, for the last time, in front of the cultural
center.
"The only thing that was banned was the carrying of sharp weapons like spears
and arrows, so we want to know what they've done wrong.
Takimai demanded that those taken in for questioning be released before a
scheduled ceremony to lower the flag in front of the center for the last time
at 5 pm (0800 GMT).
The Morning Star has evolved from a nineteenth century cargo cult symbol to
become a symbol of independence aspirations among Papuans.
Friday marks the 39th anniversary of a unrecognized declaration of
independence by Papuans in 1961, when the half-island's former Dutch
colonisers pulled out, and the final day the Morning Star can legally fly in
Jayapura.
The cultural center, the site of the 1961 declaration, is the unofficial
headquarters of the Papua Taskforce and was the focus of commemoration
ceremonies on Friday.
Some 2,000 Papuans, chewing beetlenut and brandishing bamboo poles, prayed,
sang, cheered and delivered defiant speeches in front of the center.
Lying on the western half of New Guinea island, the moutainous jungle-clad
province, known locally as West Papua, is home to about 1.8 million Papuans
spread among some 250 tribes, most of whom are Melanesian Christians, and
another half a million settlers from other parts of Indonesia.
---------------
Indonesian police fire tear gas at Irianese students in Jakarta
JAKARTA, Dec 1 (AFP) - Police on Friday fired teargas to disperse some 300
students from Indonesia's rebellious province of Irian Jaya who staged a
pro-independence rally outside the US embassy here.
At least three students were injured as the police moved in and started
beating up students who had been waving the separatist Morning Star flag, an
AFP reporter said.
When the students refused to move, the police fired a volley of tear gas and
arrested at least seven as others fled, the reporter said.
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and
East Timor, 1973-2000
**************************************************
___________________________________________________________
T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17
Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
Date: 12/1/00 4:19:59 PM Central Standard Time
From: plovers@gn.apc.org (Paul Barber)
Reply-to: plovers@gn.apc.org
To: indonesia-act@igc.apc.org, u.braun@xcc.de, slliem@xs4all.nl, jonathan.head@bbc.co.uk
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
Jakarta violence mars Irian separatist anniversary
By Achmad Sukarsono
JAKARTA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Thousands of people held peaceful rallies and
hoisted separatist flags on Friday in Indonesia's Irian Jaya to mark the
anniversary of a unilateral declaration of freedom in the troubled province.
But 3,700 km (2,300 miles) away in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, police
fired tear gas and beat Irianese outside the U.S. embassy when they rejected
demands to stop waving the revered "Morning Star" flag, symbol of demands for
independence in the remote and resource-rich eastern province.
Seven protesters were arrested following the clashes, witnesses said.
There was also some confusion in the Irian Jaya capital, Jayapura, over a
deadline for lowering a key flag in the city's Imbi park on Friday, which
earlier fluttered in the breeze as thousands of people prayed and chanted for
independence.
One pro-independence leader said some tribal elders did not want to lower the
flag, raising fears of violence with a hefty security force keeping watch in
Irian Jaya during the anniversary of the freedom declaration, made by tribal
chiefs in 1961.
But Colonel Kusnadi, Irian Jaya deputy police chief, said the flag did not
have to be lowered until midnight (1500 GMT), not dusk as some
pro-independence leaders had believed. He said he expected Irianese elders to
bring down the flag by then.
"The flag is still flying. Several Irianese groups do not want it to be
lowered," pro-independence leader Willy Mandowen told Reuters by telephone
from Jayapura, some 3,700 km (2,300 miles) east of Jakarta.
President Abdurrahman Wahid, his erratic one-year rule constantly under fire,
on Thursday warned the government would not tolerate attempts by separatists
in the remote and thinly populated region to break away and he threatened
firm action.
Many locals accuse Indonesia of years of human rights abuses and complain
their mountainous province has received little in return for the vast natural
wealth long exploited by Jakarta.
The Morning Star flag -- a white star on a red square next to blue and white
stripes -- was raised in Imbi park around dawn on Friday following an
agreement with local authorities.
Elsewhere, the flag was hoisted throughout Irian Jaya, at the eastern end of
the Indonesian archipelago, but there have been no reports of any violence so
far.
Police and the separatists have agreed to only let five Morning Star flags
fly in Irian after the anniversary. That does not include Imbi park.
PRAYERS FOR CALM ANSWERED
Papuans, as the indigenous Irianese like to be known, first hoisted the
Morning Star flag in 1961.
A riot erupted in the highland town of Wamena in October after police removed
such flags, leaving dozens dead.
In Wamena, hundreds of indigenous residents commemorated the anniversary in
churches. Police said the town was calm.
Speaking during the start of the rally at Imbi park, Mandowen, a lecturer at
the local state-owned Cendrawasih University and now a member of the
pro-independence Papua Presidium Council, said his prayers for calm had been
answered.
But some independence leaders have also been demanding the release of four
key separatist figures including council chairman Theys Eluay who were
arrested this week and will be charged with treason, which carries a penalty
of life in jail.
Indonesia has been running a secret campaign to keep resource-rich Irian Jaya
a part of the world's largest archipelagic state using a combination of
bullying, persuasion and clandestine operations.
Irian Jaya was incorporated into Indonesia in 1963, after heavy diplomatic
pressure on the Netherlands.
In 1969, a U.N.-run plebiscite was held among local leaders which resulted in
a vote to join Indonesia. The vote has been widely criticised as unfair.
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and
East Timor, 1973-2000
**************************************************
___________________________________________________________
T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17
Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
Date: 12/1/00 12:11:22 AM Central Standard Time
From: plovers@gn.apc.org (Paul Barber)
To: indonesia-act@igc.apc.org, u.braun@xcc.de, slliem@xs4all.nl, jonathan.head@bbc.co.uk
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
also: Separatists not fazed by the appearance of military; and Irian Jaya
spokesman says Indonesian army "nurturing undercover support"
Associated Press
November 30, 2000
Indonesia's W Papua Independence Rally Starts Peacefully
JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AP)--Watched over by hundreds of heavily armed police
and troops, a pro-independence rally in the capital of Irian Jaya, also known
as West Papua, went ahead peacefully Friday with its organizers too afraid to
openly demand secession from Indonesia.
"We are limited in what we can do and say," said one senior activist Willy
Mandowen.
Irian Jaya's previously vocal, albeit ragtag, independence movement appeared
to buckle under the heavy security.
Moreover, its main organization, the Papuan Presidium Council, seemed in
disarray with the detention of four of its top leaders by police this week.
At least two have been charged with subversion against the Indonesian state.
More than 1,000 police and soldiers, with orders to crack down hard on
troublemakers, were posted around the city of about 840,000 people.
Even so, more than 2,000 separatist supporters, some wearing nothing more
than traditional costumes of feathers, shells and bones, turned out for a
rainy sunrise ceremony in Jayapura to mark the 39th anniversary of Irian
Jaya's first attempt to form a nation.
Restrictions on rally organizers by Indonesian authorities were such that on
Friday they even failed to read out their predecessors' original declaration
of independence despite heated demands from spectators.
"We can only pray and celebrate our struggle," admitted Tom Beanal, a member
of the Papuan Presidium Council, the main independence organization whose
other leaders are now in detention.
-----------
Australian Associated Press
November 30, 2000
Separatists not fazed by the appearance of military
By Catharine Munro, South-East Asia Correspondent
JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya, Nov 30 AAP - Hard-line Papuan separatists
today vowed to continue their fight for independence for the
Indonesia province of Irian Jaya as about 1,000 police and soldiers
converged on the capital Jayapura to suppress independence
activities.
Dramatically intensifying the pressure on Papuans to drop their
campaign, the troops, including special forces and marines, staged
a show of force next to police headquarters and were ordered to
shoot anyone using machetes or arrows.
"If they are carrying machetes or arrows and then try to hurt
other people, we should use our guns," police Superintendent Daud
Shoambing told the troops before ordering them to patrol the
streets.
The troops arrived on the eve of a significant anniversary for
the anniversary of the independence movement.
Separatists are planning to commemorate an unsuccessful
declaration of independence - made a year before the province was
handed to Indonesia from Holland by the United Nations - before
their symbol, the Morning Star flag.
But Superintendent Shoambing signalled the possibility of a
bloody showdown, telling troops that the Morning Star flag would
not be raised tomorrow.
"Tomorrow we will conduct a security clampdown, there won't be
any raising of the flag tomorrow," he told the troops.
He said the only Morning Star flag that would be allowed to fly
tomorrow would be one outside the house of independence leader
Theys Eluay, about an hour outside Jayapura.
He also ordered troops to clear members of the pro-independence
militia group, Satgas Papua, from a cultural centre they had
occupied, which will be the centre of tomorrow's activities.
Today, the Morning Star flag continued to fly outside the
cultural centre and militia members were inside making banners
calling on troops not to lower their flag.
Outside, a group of about 20 militia shouted "Yes" with their
fists clenched when asked whether they would continue to raise the
flag.
Meanwhile, police continued to detain key officials including
Eluay from the more moderate Presidium independence council, which
has promised not to declare independence at tomorrow' ceremony.
Eluay was questioned for five hours yesterday before being
arrested at 7pm (2100 AEDT) over alleged subversion crimes, his
lawyers said.
Despite, the crackdown, the atmosphere in Jayapura appeared
calm, with only a peaceful demonstration at a university campus
outside Jayapura.
------------------
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts
December 01, 2000
Source: Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 1105 gmt 29 Nov 00
Irian Jaya spokesman says Indonesian army "nurturing undercover support"
[Presenter Sen Lam] Indonesian police have detained four members of the
West
Papuan presidium, arresting and charging its secretary-general, Thaha Mohammed
Al Hamid, with crimes relating to subversion. The other three are the
president
of the council, Chief Theys Eluay, John Mambor and Don Flassy. The arrest and
detentions come two days ahead of the anniversary of a declaration of
independence by traditional chiefs 39 years ago. According to Clemens
Runaweri,
spokesman for the presidium, an extra 21,000 Indonesian troops, police and
special branch officers are in West Papua ahead of Friday's [1st December]
commemorations. He told Kevin McQuillan the detentions are an attempt to
provoke West Papuans into violence.
[Runaweri] We understand it that the Indonesians are scared. Well, first of
all they want to sabotage the anniversary and these are the key leaders who
will
be responsible for the organization and also ensuring that the celebration
goes
ahead and smoothly. So (?to add), as I said in our statement, it is divide and
rule tactic to sabotage the celebration.
[McQuillan] How would you describe these people? Are they the moderates of
the independence movement?
[A] They are the moderate people. They are the moderates. While Theys is
very
strong - he is very strong - but he is surrounded by advisers of moderate
members to ensure that the independence issue is still on the table for
discussion. But we should not do things in such a way that - inviting violence
from the other side.
[Q] So what effect will this have on other supporters of independence in
West
Papua?
[A] Well that's a big question but we have been advising them and I'm sure
the majority would listen to what the presidium is trying to address them.
[Q] And what is that message from the presidium? To stay calm?
[A] No. The message has been and will continue to be based on the
philosophy
of peace, mutual respect and love. And the strategy on this whole endeavour
has
been, and will continue to be, on non-violence and peaceful engagement or
negotiation. That has been the strategy that we have been employing over the
last six months and we'll continue to do so.
[Q] We understand that there has been an influx of Indonesian troops and
military into West Papua over the last few days. What's your understanding of
that part of the situation?
[A] The military built up as of 30th, 29th September and early October -
they
brought in an additional 21,000 personnel, comprising of 8,000 mobile police
and
Kostrad, which is the army's strategic command of 6,000 and Kopassus [Special
Forces Regiment] - 7,000. So all in all you have 21,000 plus the organic
strength of 14,000 - of 6,000 police and 8,000 TNI [Indonesian National
Military
Forces]. Now, the question that you are raising is what is the impact of that?
Well, the impact is just for intimidatory purposes. To intimidate the people.
[Q] We also understand that there are some pro-independence military units
of
the West Papua independence movement, who are being armed by the Indonesian
military. Is that correct?
[A] The military is involved in the East Timor style of nurturing
undercover
support, logistically and financially, of the unemployed West Papuan youths,
who
are being lured into that kind of activity, just similar to what they did to
East Timorese.
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and
East Timor, 1973-2000
**************************************************
Date: 12/1/00 4:09:53 PM Central Standard Time
From: admin@irja.org
To: kabar-irian@irja.org
Park
Sender: owner-kabar-irian@irja.org
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: admin@irja.org
Too much mail? Try our digest version. Info available at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
To leave this list follow the instructions at the bottom of this email or
visit the above link. As a matter of policy we DO NOT handle u n s u b s c
r i b e requests except in emergencies.
National News
Australia Extends Assistance To Help Preserve Lorentz Park
Friday, December 01, 2000/3:26:20 PM
Jayapura, Irian Jaya, Dec 1 (ANTARA)
Australia`s Environment Affairs Ministry will extend a financial
assistance aimed at helping preserve the Lorentz National Park in
Indonesia`s Irian Jaya province.
Head of the provincial office of the Natural Resource Conservation
Center, Sutedja, said here Thursday that the Australian
government`s assistance, to be channeled through its AusAid
program, will be for the management of the park from 2001 to 2003.
Sutedja said the assistance was the result of an approach made by
the Indonesian delegation during the recent workshop on world
inheritance of archaeological sites, held at the Tongario National
Park in New Zealand.
The workshop was held last Oct 26-30, involving 17 Asian and West
Pacific countries.
"The assistance also aims to empower the local people in preserving
the national park and its environment," he said.
The 2,500-hectare Lorentz National Park was appointed by
Indonesia`s Forestry and Plantations Ministry in 1997 as an
archaeological site.
However, a portion of it has been handed over to PT Conoco for oil
exploration.
In 2002 and 2003, the Australian government is planning to give a
chance to those involved in the preservation of the Lorentz Park to
visit Australia to observe the Kakadu National Park, which is
mostly managed by the local people, particularly the Abrogines.
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are posted for their news/information content. They are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
To unsubscribe send an email (leave subject blank) to majordomo@irja.org
that says: unsubscribe kabar-irian - or you can also un/subscribe at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
Date: 12/1/00 4:19:35 PM Central Standard Time
From: plovers@gn.apc.org (Paul Barber)
To: indonesia-act@igc.apc.org, u.braun@xcc.de, slliem@xs4all.nl, jonathan.head@bbc.co.uk
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
Indonesian police lower separatist flag in Irian Jaya
JAYAPURA, Indonesia, Dec 1 (AFP) - Indonesian police late Friday lowered a
separatist Morning Star flag in the capital of rebellious Irian Jaya
province, to comply with a government mandated deadline, witnesses said.
There was no immediate resistance from a stunned crowd of some 700 in Imbia
Park who had earlier vowed to defend the flying of the flag with their lives,
an AFP reporter there said.
A lone woman could be heard sobbing as the officers, marching out of
negotiations with pro-independence leaders, lowered the flag shortly before
11:00 pm (1400 GMT) -- an hour before the deadline.
They handed the neatly-folded flag and an Indonesian national flag to a group
of women.
One of the women then took the Morning Star into the self-proclaimed
headquarters of the independence movement here, in the center of the park.
The crowds, who had earlier been dancing and singing to celebrate their
apparent victory over police when they refused to haul down the flag at
sunset, then started fleeing in panic.
There was no apparent reason for their flight, as the hundreds of riot police
who had ringed the park throughout the day were absent, the AFP reporter said.
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and
East Timor, 1973-2000
**************************************************
Date: 12/1/00 8:06:23 AM Central Standard Time
From: fbp@igc.org (John M.Miller)
Reply-to: fbp@igc.org
To: WestPapua@topica.com
Greens To Fly West Papuan Independence Flag
Friday, 1 December 2000, 9:42 am
Press Release: Green Party
Greens To Fly West Papuan Independence Flag And Deliver Protest Letter
Green MP Keith Locke will deliver a protest letter to the Indonesian
Embassy this morning over the arrest to two top West Papuan leaders.
Indonesia has detained the head of the Papuan Presidium Council, Theys
Eluay, and his deputy Thaha Al Hamid, accusing them of subversion.
"We must speak out now, to stop another East Timor nightmare unfolding in
West Papua," said Mr Locke, the party's foreign affairs spokesperson.
"Mr Eluay is the recognised leader of the West Papuan independence
movement, and has led negotiations with President Wahid. His release is
essential for a peaceful realisation of the West Papuan people's
aspirations for freedom," he said.
Mr Locke said keeping him in prison could provoke and escalation of violence.
"Today, December 1, will be celebrated across West Papua as national day,
the 39th anniversary of a declaration of independence from Dutch rule. On
that day, in 1961, the people first raised their 'Morning Star' national
flag which, ever since, has been a symbol of resistance."
Mr Locke said flag raising ceremonies will occur across West Papua
tomorrow. There is fear that the arrest of Mr Eluay will be a prelude to a
clampdown on these ceremonies.
"In solidarity with the Papuan people, my Green Party colleagues will be
raising several large Morning Star flags outside the Indonesian Embassy in
Wellington tomorrow.
"I will deliver a protest letter to the Indonesian Embassy (70 Glen Road)
at 11am this morning," he said.
end
etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan
John M. Miller Internet: john@etan.org
Media & Outreach Coordinator, East Timor Action Network
48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
Phone: (718)596-7668 Fax: (718)222-4097
Mobile: (917)690-4391
Web site: http://www.etan.org
Send a blank e-mail message to info@etan.org to find out how to learn
more about East Timor on the Internet
etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan
___________________________________________________________
T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17
Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
Date: 12/1/00 6:01:55 AM Central Standard Time
From: admin@irja.org
Sender: owner-kabar-irian@irja.org
Reply-to: admin@irja.org
To: kabar-irian@irja.org
Too much mail? Try our digest version. Info available at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
To leave this list follow the instructions at the bottom of this email or
visit the above link. As a matter of policy we DO NOT handle u n s u b s c
r i b e requests except in emergencies.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 21:12:11 -0600 (CST)
From: alert@stratfor.com
Stratfor.com's Global Intelligence Update - 01 December 2000
http://www.stratfor.com
___________________________________________________________________
New subscribers are already benefiting from Stratfor.com's enhanced
web site, available for only $49.95 a year.
http://www.stratfor.com/COMPANY/subscribepromo.asp
"I was happy to pay the new subscription charge for continued
access to your material given the high quality...in fact, I've
quoted you several times in a report recently published by (my
consulting firm)." - D.A.
"I teach geography and international relations at the college
level. Your site is one of the most excellent resources for
students and teachers alike. My compliments on the site." - J.B.
"I subscribe to numerous publications including the Economist, the
National Interest and Foreign Affairs, and yet not one provides
cogent analysis of today's events as well as you do." - M.U.
___________________________________________________________________
Tensions Mount as Independence Anniversary Approaches
Summary
Some 39 years ago, Indonesian troops moved into West Papua. The
anniversary, Dec. 1, is an unofficial holiday for separatists in
what has become the mineral-rich Indonesian province of Irian Jaya.
Beginning today and through the weekend, Irian Jaya's indigenous
separatists may be prepared to escalate violence to demonstrate
just how far they are willing to go to reclaim West Papua.
Analysis
Dec. 1 marks the 39th anniversary of West Papua's declaration of
independence from the Netherlands. Seen as a holiday by local
tribes, the day will be a litmus test on just how well organized
the local separatist movement has become in the past year.
Indonesian security forces, pro-Jakarta militia groups, and the
indigenous separatist movements within what is now Irian Jaya
appear headed toward a clash this weekend. Though the area is poor
and undeveloped it is strategically significant. Between 1992 and
1997, the giant Freeport Indonesia copper and gold mine alone paid
Jakarta over $899 million in taxes and royalties.
But the coming days will demonstrate how far the Irian Jaya
separatists have come. The Indonesian military, which has
reportedly been arming pro-Jakarta militias in Irian Jaya, can
crush any unrest in the province. But the separatists may be ready
to substantially escalate violence there.
Indonesia troops moved into West Papua in 1963. Formally annexing
West Papua in 1969 in a highly questioned referendum, Indonesia
renamed the new province Irian Jaya. Since then, migrant workers
from Indonesia's more populous areas have flooded the island to the
detriment of the mostly uneducated and unskilled indigenous tribes.
Tensions between pro-Jakarta migrants and the indigenous tribes
have led to the emergence of numerous pro-independence groups vying
for supremacy. Indeed, the separatist movements in Irian Jaya have
been brewing for decades.
Last year, protests marking the Dec. 1 holiday led to at least two
deaths and dozens injured. Similar riots have occurred since 1996.
In the last year, however, the separatist movement has begun to
organize with the establishment of the pro-independence Papua
Presidium Council in February.
In June, this political arm of the separatist movement representing
245 indigenous tribal groups convened the first Papua National
Congress and called on the Indonesian government to recognize West
Papua's independence. Though still divided between moderates and
extremists, the movement has begun to coalesce into a viable
opposition to Jakarta.
__________________________________________________________________
Find out what Stratfor.com subscribers already know!
http://www.stratfor.com/COMPANY/subscribepromo.asp
_____________________________________________________________
As yet, the movement is no match for the Indonesian Armed Forces
(ABRI) currently stationed in Irian Jaya. In the past week, these
units were reinforced with an additional 1,200 troops from the
Kostrad, the Indonesian Army Strategic Reserve Command. This
anniversary may be a bloody one, however, if pro-independence
groups such as Operasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) and Satuan Tugas Papua
carry out their intent to declare independence and set up a
provisional government.
Last year's independence referendum in East Timor opened Pandora's
box. Since then, separatist movements throughout the Indonesian
archipelago have tried to gather strength to press their own claims
for self-determination.
Indeed, the Irian Jaya movement gained international recognition in
October with the inclusion of four OPM representatives at the 31st
Pacific Islands Forum as part of the Nauru delegation. Further
momentum can be expected next year as East Timor is formally
recognized as an independent nation, setting an example for
separatists everywhere.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has taken a more
conciliatory stance toward the separatists to encourage
negotiation. He has ruled out referendums like that in East Timor,
but he has proposed greater autonomy for provinces like Irian Jaya.
However, Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, various nationalist
political parties and the military have opposed any form of
compromise with separatist elements. They have forced Wahid to
backtrack on his proposals, fomenting further unrest.
According to Reuters, the military has begun organizing and arming
pro-Jakarta militias in Irian Jaya in an echo of similar tactics
that brought so much destruction to East Timor last year. In
October, approximately 30 people were killed when separatists
clashed with migrant workers and police in the town of Wamena over
the display of the separatist Morning Star flag.
In the past three days, two top leaders of the Papua Presidium
Council, including Chairman Theys Eluway, have been arrested and
charged with subversion. Troops have begun massing in the
provincial capital of Jayapura and in the major port cities. The
crackdown has already begun.
The next few days will show how far the separatists have come. No
doubt the Indonesian security forces can crush any unrest in the
province. However, the level of violence this weekend will indicate
just how serious the separatists are about reaching their goal.
_______________________________________________
Ready to subscribe? Enjoy the benefits of a Stratfor.com
subscription for only $49.95 per year by clicking here.
http://www.stratfor.com/COMPANY/subscribepromo.asp
_______________________________________________
(c) 2000 Stratfor, Inc.
_______________________________________________
GET the free, daily Global Intelligence Update. Click on
http://www.stratfor.com/home/giu/subscribe.asp
YOU can stop receiving the GIU by clicking on
http://www.stratfor.com/home/giu/unsub.asp
_______________________________________________
Stratfor.com
504 Lavaca, Suite 1100 Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512-583-5000 Fax: 512-583-5025
Internet: http://www.stratfor.com/
Email: info@stratfor.com
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are posted for their news/information content. They are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
To unsubscribe send an email (leave subject blank) to majordomo@irja.org
that says: unsubscribe kabar-irian - or you can also un/subscribe at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
