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Otsus is accelerating Papuan extermination

Source
Tabloid JUBI - April 6, 2011

A priest in Nabire has described the special autonomy law, known as OTSUS, as being a move by the Indonesian government that was intended to accelerate the extermination of the indigenous Papuan people.

The Rev. Daud Auwe said that "the intention is clear from the systematic and violent killings which have taken place up to now." He mentioned in particular the case of the Rev. Kindeman Gire in Puncak Jaya, and the shooting of Melkias Agapa and Abetnego Keiya in Nabire. He was speaking at a demonstration of several hundred people outside the office of the Nabire provincial legislative assembly.

There was also the case of the mysterious killing of ten people in Nabire [no time mentioned] and the killings of 1,435 people that occurred during the four years from 2006 to 2010.

Another speaker, Yones Douw spoke about the culture of dependency and the destruction of the people's economy, the appalling condition of education and healthcare facilities for Papuan people, all of which were the result of OTSUS. "294 people in Dogiyai died of diarrhoea in 2008, 42 people died of malaria and 41 people died of starvation in the district of Nduga."

Other factors were the destruction of Papuan culture, the uncontrolled increase in the number of inhabitants that has been occurring annually, all of which has led to a lack of protection for indigenous Papuan people.

Yones also condemned the government's UP4B programme which is now being promoted by the central government, which he described as a public cover-up for the failures of OTSUS. "While there is no legal basis for the UP4B programme, the OTSUS law which is within the legal framework has not been properly implemented by the government."

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