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Letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair on coming visit to Indonesia

TAPOL - March 26, 2006

Tony Blair MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA

26 March 2006

Dear Prime Minister,

Your visit to Indonesia: Concerns about West Papua

We are pleased to hear that you will be visiting Indonesia this week and meeting President Yudhoyono. We hope that you will have the opportunity to raise human rights concerns with the President, especially in relation to the conflict in West Papua.

We understand that one of the purposes of your visit is to encourage Indonesian support for the international fight against terrorism. As you know, terrorism takes many different forms and is committed by both state and non-state actors. Just last week an editorial in The Jakarta Post newspaper, referring to violent clashes on 16 March between Papuan student demonstrators and the Indonesian police, suggested that the Papuans:

'...felt cheated by the government and no longer trusted it. They decided to confront state-sanctioned violence and terrorism, risking their lives in the process. If the Papuan students lose all trust and hope in the central government, then the situation could become much more dangerous'.

The situation in West Papua is indeed in danger of escalating.

Regrettably, four policemen and an air force officer were killed and a number of civilians were seriously injured during the violence on 16 March in Abepura, near to West Papua's capital, Jayapura. A Papuan student, Jeni Isage, died as a result of torture inflicted on him in police custody.

Up to 1,200 students are now reported to be hiding without food and access to medical care, fearful of revenge attacks by members of the Indonesian Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob).

Human rights in West Papua

The gravity of the general human rights situation in West Papua is indicated by the US State Department Country Report on Indonesia for 2005.

'Security forces continued to commit unlawful killings of rebels, suspected rebels, and civilians in areas of separatist activity,' while the government 'largely failed to hold soldiers and police accountable for such killings and other serious human rights abuses,' it says. At the same time, 'Security forces continued to employ torture and other forms of abuse', and 'police frequently and arbitrarily detained persons without warrants, charges or court proceedings'. They also used 'excessive force in controlling demonstrations'.

It is not unreasonable to conclude from this report that, despite democratic advances in Indonesia and the achievement of peace in Aceh, the security forces are still the main perpetrators of terror. That is an intolerable state of affairs for a country which aspires to genuine democracy. We ask you to bear this in mind in your discussions about terrorism with the President.

Response to Abepura violence

Unfortunately, the climate of impunity that exists in Papua encourages a response by the security forces that involves arbitrary reprisals against local people. As well as being responsible for the death of a Papuan student in custody, the police have shot at student dormitories around the university and beaten Papuans they have detained.

The state intelligence agency, BIN, is accusing local human rights organisations of being behind the violence making it difficult for them to carry out their work.

The Foreign Office minister, Ian Pearson, has undertaken to ask the UK embassy in Jakarta to monitor the situation in West Papua closely and to urge the Indonesian authorities to exercise restraint. We have asked him to explore the possibility of an EU Ambassadorial mission to West Papua and an immediate visit by UK embassy officials to inquire into the underlying causes of the violence. We urge you to kindly follow up on these matters.

We would also ask you to press the Indonesian government: not to allow arbitrary arrests and detentions of Papuan students and others; to fully respect the rights of detainees, including their right of access to a lawyer; to ensure that arbitrary reprisals are not taken against the students currently in hiding and to take steps to ensure their safe return to their residences; to ensure that local human rights organisations are able to carry out their normal activities free from threats and intimidation; to lift any restrictions and other obstacles in the way of unhindered access to West Papua by journalists, human rights monitors and non-governmental organisations; to set up a Independent Commission, comprising human rights experts, to investigate the cause of the violence.

Freeport

The demonstration on 16 March was one of several in recent weeks against the US-owned Freeport McMoran copper-and-gold mine in West Papua.

Papuan anger about Freeport, its destruction of the local ecology, its close association with the abusive military, and its generation of huge profits for the government in contrast to local poverty, has been mounting for some time. The British company Rio Tinto is a joint venture partner with the company so is also implicated in these problems.

We ask you to encourage the Indonesian government to enter into urgent dialogue with representatives of the demonstrators and those affected by the Freeport operations so that the situation can be resolved as soon as possible by peaceful means.

BP Tangguh project

We are concerned that similar problems affecting the rights and livelihoods of local people could arise in relation to BP's new liquefied natural gas project in Bintuni Bay, especially if the military becomes involved in providing security. We would ask you to convey to the President that the UK government will monitor this situation very closely.

West Irian Jaya, special autonomy and the MRP

Another key reason for the Papuans lack of trust in the government, is Jakarta's failure to implement its own law on special autonomy and its insistence on creating a new province of West Irian Jaya in contravention of that law. The new province has been established despite widespread popular opposition articulated by the newly-formed Papuan People's Assembly (Majelis Rakyat Papua MRP). The MRP was itself set up as the centerpiece of the special autonomy arrangement to represent the interests of indigenous Papuans, but is now being ignored by the government with potentially disastrous consequences. Many Papuans already regard the autonomy package as useless and an empty promise.

A report published last week by the International Crisis Group, Papua: The Dangers of Shutting Down Dialogue, warns that the marginalisation of the MRP could fatally damage the institution, special autonomy, and the prospects for genuine dialogue between the government and Papuan representatives. Dialogue is key to the resolution of the problems of West Papua.

We urge you to press Indonesia to enter into all-inclusive dialogue with the MRP and other Papuan representatives to determine the future political arrangements for the territory. Please also explore the possibility of offering the services of the EU as a third-party mediator.

Militarisation

The prospects for dialogue and a political solution to the West Papua conflict are also being undermined by a substantial build-up of troops and the creation of new territorial commands. There is no military justification for these measures, which are likely to lead to increasing tensions and a further deterioration in the human rights situation.

We urge you to encourage the President to halt the military build-up and to withdraw all non-organic troops currently based in West Papua.

In this connection, we remain deeply concerned about the deployment of British-supplied water cannon vehicles to West Papua. They are being used in a highly volatile political situation in which human rights are routinely violated, and in which the security forces regularly enforce public order with heavy-handed tactics and excessive force. We ask you to press for the immediate withdrawal of the water cannons from West Papua.

Freedom of expression and assembly

It is common practice for Papuan activists to be imprisoned for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly, in particular by raising the West Papuan 'Morning Star' flag. Last year two Papuans, Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage were sentenced to 15 and 10 years imprisonment respectively for organizing peaceful celebrations of West Papua's national day on 1 December 2004 and for raising the flag. We urge you to press for the release of the two Papuans and others imprisoned for their political beliefs and activities.

We are grateful to you for considering these matters and we trust that you will be able to contribute to the promotion of human rights in West Papua during your visit.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Barber

Cc:

Jack Straw MP, Foreign Secretary
Ian Pearson MP, Foreign Office Minister
Grace Cassy, Private Secretary, Prime Minister's Office
Margaret Tongue, Head of Indonesia and Timor-Leste team, Foreign Office

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