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Plea for New Zealand to promote peace dialogue for West Papua
Indonesia Human Rights Committee Media Release - January 2, 2007
The Indonesia Human Rights Committee is calling on the New Zealand Government to offer to facilitate dialogue between West Papuan representatives and the Government of Indonesia. New Zealand should also call on Indonesia to open up West Papua to the entry of human rights monitors and international media. IHRC makes this urgent call in the context of rising tension and fears of violent conflict in the remote Highlands area of Puncak Jaya.
"When the West Papuan people demonstrate their desire for freedom and raise the banned Morning Star flag the Indonesian Government sends in more crack troops. West Papuan leaders are calling for dialogue but Indonesia fails to respond. New Zealand could be a catalyst for peaceful change, but there is little time for delay as the situation appears to be deteriorating rapidly."
Letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Acting Minister over the holiday period are attached.
For further information contact Maire Leadbeater 09-815-9000 or 0274-436-957
Indonesia Human Rights Committee
PO Box 68419 Auckland
Hon Trevor Mallard,
Duty Minister,
Parliament Buildings,
Wellington
Rt Hon Winston Peters,
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Parliament Buildings,
Wellington.
2 January, 2007
Dear Ministers,
The Indonesia Human Rights Committee is deeply concerned about the many recent reports of rising tension and military deployments in the Puncak Jaya region of West Papua.
We understand that several thousand extra troops from the Indonesian Army (TNI) were sent to Bolakme, West of Wamena near Mulia in December in response to flag-raising incidents and the killing of two army sergeants (Joko Susanto and Tobias Sirken) on 9 December. 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 at Timika, close to the troubled Puncak Jaya region.
We are especially concerned about the reported statement made by the military commander, Marshall Djoko Suyanto on 12 December 2006 as he announced the new deployment, to the effect that human rights should not be made an issue. This would appear to give the soldiers a carte blanche to act as they please towards the local population.
While some reports suggest that the soldiers were killed by members of a local unit of the OPM (Free Papua Movement) other local observers doubt that this is the case. The Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman, head of the Baptist churches in Papua who visited New Zealand a few months ago, believes that the tragic deaths did not take place at the hands of OPM members of the Goliat Tabuni tribe. Instead he fears that the deaths are being used to justify a troop build-up and to support the establishment of a new province in the Highlands.
In the town of Mulia, 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.
We are also concerned about the repressive actions of the Jayapura police who forcibly occupied the Synod Office of the Kingmi Church injuring two clergy, Rev. Seblum Karubaba and Rev. Noakh Nawipa, in the process. The occupation ended after a peaceful protest demonstration of some 400 members of the church and Papuan students outside the Church Synod Office in Jayapura on 30th of December 2006.
The Indonesian police have since made claims which apparently implicate the Church with being involved with the OPM and even suggest that two members of the Kingmi clergy were involved in the armed attack which resulted in the deaths of one Indonesian and two US teachers in August 2002.
This build up of tensions takes place in the context of an ongoing steady influx of migrants from Indonesia. The population balance is now such that the indigenous Papuans fear the prospect that they may become a minority in their own land. The trade and commercial activities are largely in the hands of migrants and Papuans see themselves pushed to the fringes of society. The Indonesian government has also pressed ahead with the partition of West Papua, in violation of the Special Autonomy Law introduced in 2001. 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.
Papuan leaders of all sectors have been calling for their homeland to become a Land of Peace, and have rejected the use of violence to achieve the political aim of a free West Papua. They ask for dialogue with the Indonesian government to work towards a peaceful resolution of the current conflict and the many problems that beset West Papua, but President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has never responded to this call.
We urge you to appeal to the Indonesian Government for 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. The Indonesian Government should now permit independent observers to enter the area to investigate recent incidents, including the killing of the Indonesian soldiers.
New Zealand should call for free access to West Papua for media representatives, for UN human rights monitors and for international humanitarian aid workers.
We also advocate that New Zealand should offer to facilitate a process of dialogue between the Indonesian Government and the recognised representatives of the Papuan people including Church leaders, representatives from the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP), OPM and tribal leaders.
We believe that New Zealand's past experience with facilitating dialogue between Bougainvillian and Papua New Guinea Government representatives should help to ensure a successful outcome to such a dialogue. This is the least we should do for our West Papuan neighbours.
Yours sincerely,
Maire Leadbeater (for the Indonesia Human Rights Committee)
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