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Calls for non-violent response to tensions in Mulia
TAPOL Press Statement - December 30, 2006
According to reports from the Puncak Jaya region of West Papua, several thousand extra troops from the Indonesian Army (TNI) have been deployed to the region this month in response to flag-raising incidents and the killing of two army officers on 9 December.
The reports suggest that as many as 3,000 extra troops have been deployed in the operation. One report claims that some of the troops were flown into the area by helicopters supplied by Freeport-Indonesia, the company which operates the highly profitable copper-and-gold mine in nearby Timika and Tembagapura.
Announcing the deployment of additional troops, the Indonesian military commander, Marshall Djoko Suyanto said on 12 December 2006 that human rights should not be made an issue. This would appear to give free rein to the troops in their behaviour towards the local population.
The troop deployment is concentrated in the town of Mulia, in Puncak Jaya where members of the army have reportedly been checking the identity cards of all Papuan inhabitants. These so-called 'sweepings' have had the effect of intimidating people and disrupting day-to-day activities in the markets, shops and offices.
The two soldiers who were killed on 9 December were both sergeants and have been named Joko Susanto and Tobias Sirken. Reports also suggest that two more army personnel were killed on or about 26 December near Mulia.
The leading Papuan human rights organisation, ELSHAM, has reported that the Indonesian military is running what is described as a "closed operation" in an attempt to conceal their activities in the area. This strategy is facilitated by the fact that international observers have been denied access to most parts of West Papua for many years.
While some reports suggest that the soldiers were killed by members of a local unit of the TPN-WP, the West Papuan guerrilla army, others cast doubt on this claim. Tragic incidents of this nature inevitably trigger military operations which bear down heavily on the civilian community, which is what has happened in the past few weeks in Mulia.
Paula Makabory, speaking on behalf of ELSHAM, has described the present situation as "very tense and dangerous". In a statement on 28 December, she said:
"I am very concerned that the traditional warriors who are armed with a few rifles and their traditional weapons, which are bows and arrows and spears, will be in conflict with the Indonesian army which is armed with modern weapons.This conflict will cause major casualties among the local traditional warriors and members of the local community. The situation is very tense and dangerous."
As she has also pointed out, flag-raising represents a highly political expression of Papuan resentment of what they see as the unlawful occupation of their homeland.
Events in West Papua over the past few years have reinforced these sentiments among the Papuans. There has been a steady influx of migrants from Indonesia who now account for an more than forty per cent of the population, bringing ever closer the time when the Papuans will become a minority. Many of the Indonesian migrants control trade and commercial activities in all the main cities and towns, which is marginalising the Papuans.
The Indonesian government has also pressed ahead with the partition of West Papua, in violation of the Special Autonomy Law introduced in 2001. According to this law, the Papuan representative body, the MRP, should first be consulted before such major administrative changes are introduced. At present, West Papua has already been divided into two provinces, Papua and Irian Jaya Barat, while there are reports that a third province is due to be created in the far western region of Papua early next year.
This is the context in which recent acts of defiance in Mulia should be seen.
For the past eight years, Papuan leaders have been stressing the need for their homeland to become a Land of Peace, and have rejected the use of violence to achieve their political aim for a free West Papua. They have also been calling for dialogue with the Indonesian government to discuss the current situation in Papua and to consider the historic and political circumstances that resulted in Papua's integration into Indonesia in 1969.While President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has stated his intention of seeking a solution for Papua, he has never responded to the Papuan call for dialogue.
TAPOL is deeply concerned at the recent build-up of troops in Puncak Jaya. This can only exacerbate tensions and could lead to many casualties among the Papuans. It also puts at risk the lives of more Indonesian soldiers and could lead to further acts of revenge against the local population.
TAPOL calls for restraint by all parties involved in recent incidents and for the non-violent resolution of the problems in and around Mulia. The government in Jakarta should acknowledge that the call for dialogue represents the best way to respond to the growing tensions in West Papua.
In August 2005, the Indonesian government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the resistance movement, GAM, in Aceh, bringing an end to decades of repression and violence in Indonesia's most westerly province. This is clearly a precedent for a possible solution in Papua.
The current situation in Mulia calls for a number of responses from the Indonesian government:
1. The immediate withdrawal of troops from Mulia and the surrounding area and the cessation of all military operations, including an end to sweepings among the civilian population.
2. An agreement to allow independent observers to enter the area and investigate recent incidents, including the killing of the Indonesian soldiers.
3. Full, unfettered access to Mulia and the rest of West Papua, so as to enable international observers to investigate reports of human rights violations.
4. The government in Jakarta should immediately respond to the call by Papuan leaders for a dialogue, as the peaceful way to resolving the Papuan question.
TAPOL also calls on the international community, especially the UN and countries that have close ties with Indonesia, to become directly involved in promoting peace and monitoring human rights in West Papua.
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human
Rights Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton
Heath, Croydon CR7 8HW, UK.
tel +44 (0)20 8771 2904
fax +44 (0)20 8653 0322
tapol@gn.apc.org http://tapol.gn.apc.org
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