Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-014-2009

Dear Friends,

Jakarta – The slow pace of development in Papua 12 years after the implementation of special autonomy has lead observers to believe that a reevaluation of the special autonomy law is needed. They believe that the stipulations enacted in the 2001 law have lost their spirit, namely bringing prosperity to the Papuan people.

Four people have been named suspects and face more than five years in jail over a violent clash between protesters and police in Indonesia's sensitive Papua Province, police said on Thursday.

Amnesty International is urging the Indonesian government to investigate the dispersal of a demonstration in Nabire, Papua Province, on Jan. 27, saying the police possibly used excessive force against the protesters and had denied the injured medical treatment afterward.

Jakarta – The Papua regional police said Wednesday they have yet to identify who was behind two mortar bombs set off in a concession area run by PT Freeport Indonesia in September last year, despite having evidence in hand.

Timika, Papua – Six members of the Forensic Laboratory of Makassar, South Sulawesi, and detectives from the Papua Police examined the shooting scene of Simon Fader at the Queen Bar in Kodok, Timika, on Thursday. The officers have not found any projectiles at the scene.

AI Index: ASA 21/001/2009

Timika – Four people were wounded Tuesday when Indonesian police opened fire on hundreds of people in Papua province during a protest against alleged police violence.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Manokwari – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited West Papua on Thursday, pouring hundreds of billion of rupiah in projects around the province.

Her Excellency
The Secretary of State
Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton

Dear Secretary Clinton:

Markus Makur, Timika – PT Freeport Indonesia (FI), a gold and copper mining company operating in Mimika regency, Papua, is cutting costs despite a workers union protest in response to the global economic crisis and the falling price of copper.

The Papua Customary Council, which represents tribal interests in the Indonesian province of Papua, says some 500 Indonesian police burnt down 30 houses and killed 32 pigs at Tingginere village on Sunday.

The wave of destruction began after police shot dead a local man during a clash with an armed group outside the village two days earlier.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Security officials in Papua have claimed that a clash on Friday between a police unit and members of the Free Papua Movement, or OPM, in Tingginambut, Puncak Jaya district, confirmed the continued presence of armed separatists in the province.

Merauke – Five Australians were sentenced Thursday to two to three years' jail for illegally landing a light plane in Indonesia's sensitive Papua province, thinking they could get visas on arrival.

Pilot William Scott-Bloxam was given three years while his four passengers received two years and were fined IDR25 million ($2,237) each.

Amnesty International called today for the immediate and unconditional release of 11 Papuan protestors facing three years or more in prison merely because they displayed a banned flag.

The organization urged the Indonesian government to withdraw the 2007 government regulation that bans the display of separatist flags.

Five Australians detained for illegally entering Indonesia's Papua province will find out on Thursday if they face extended jail terms.

Merauke District Court will hand down its decision following separate trials for pilot William Scott-Bloxam and his four Queensland passengers.

The authorities in West Papua are making strenuous efforts to persuade a group of Papuans who launched a raid on a police post in Tingginambuh to return the weapons along with ammunition which they seized during the raid. Tingginambuh is located Poncak Jaya, in the Central Highlands.

The Hon Stephen Smith MP
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra
ACT 2600

12 January 2009

Dear Mr Smith,

The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) is calling on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to initiate a dialogue with his Indonesian counterpart in response to fresh evidence that the suppression of civil, political and human rights in West Papua continues with full Indonesian Government support.

Jakarta – Police in Indonesia's Papua province said on Friday they were hunting suspected separatist rebels who raided a police post and stabbed the wife of an officer before making off with four guns and ammunition.

Jakarta – A court in Indonesia's remote Papua region has jailed 11 activists for "subversion" after they raised the region's banned independence flag, a lawyer said on Friday.

Prominent activist Jack Wanggai was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison and 10 others were given three years over peaceful protests in March 2007, lawyer Yan Christian Warinussy said.

The Police shooting season over the New Year period major concern for upcoming Indonesian general elections

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua's provincial legislative council has decided to postpone the endorsement of the Papua HIV/AIDS Handling bylaw planned for approval this Monday, after the provincial administration deemed it would violate human rights.

Buktar Tabuni (arrested) and Mr. Yosias Syet (murdered)

To: Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President, Republic of Indonesia
Mr. Andi Matalatta, Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Republic of Indonesia
Mr. Hendarman Supandji, Attorney General, Republic of Indonesia
Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, Chief of National Police, Republic of Indonesia

A demonstration in Jayapura which was organised by the Students Anti-Violence Alliance (AMAK) under its leader Zacharias Horoto, included among its demands the call for three of Papua's leading personalities to be arrested: Tom Beanal, chairman of the Papuan Presidium Caouncil (PDP), Forkorus Yaboisembut, chairman of the Papuan Traditional Council (DAP) and Thaha al Hamid, secretary

Just days before International Human Rights Day, Indonesian police including Brimob attacked Papuan members of the GKIP church (Gereja Kemah Injil Papua/(Tabernacle Bible Church of Papua) in Nabire West Papua. 12 members were beaten, 5 students shot and wounded

Oxford, England – The worldwide campaign for justice and freedom for Indonesian-occupied West Papua received a strong boost today with news that a former U.K.

Aubrey Belford, Kurulu – Wearing nothing but feathers and a long, tapering gourd jutting from his groin, Papuan tribesman Suroba says the Indonesian government cannot force him to wear pants.

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has obtained information that Yosias Syet was found dead in his house on 17 October 2008. The autopsy confirmed that he had been murdered and it is alleged that the murder was designed to threaten the Head of the Papuan Customary Council, Fokorus Yaboisembut, since Yosias Syet was in charge of his security.

Jayapura, Papua – Some 50 Papuan human rights activists staged a rally outside Papua Provincial Police headquarters on Wednesday, demanding the release of pro-independence leader Buchtar Tabuni. Police arrested Buchtar for organizing an Oct. 16 rally demanding Papua's independence.

Tom Allard – Yunus Wainggai and his daughter Anike – two of the 43 Papuans granted asylum in Australia in 2006 – returned to Jakarta last night, ending a two week saga which followed the disappearance of the independence activist and his seven-year old child from their Melbourne home.

Aubrey Belford, Wamena – Gaunt and covered in sores, 20-year-old Christina Mabele is a rarity in the ballooning AIDS crisis that has hit the remote Papua region in eastern Indonesia: she knows why she is sick.

Sitting in a hospice in this highlands town, which much of the time is only accessible to the outside world by plane, Mabele might get treatment in time.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The special autonomy law has been in force for seven years in resource-rich Papua, but has made little difference to the socio-economic and political conditions of its indigenous people, a seminar concluded here Wednesday.

Jakarta – Papua Police has reiterated warnings over any attempt to raise the morning star flag, a symbol of the Free Papua Organization (OPM) separatist movement, to commemorate the movement's anniversary which falls on Dec. 1.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua AIDS Commission (KPA) on Tuesday submitted a letter rejecting a controversial draft bylaw that would require people living with HIV/AIDS to be implanted with a microchip.

The letter, sent to the governor, stated the proposal was against the nature of HIV/AIDS prevention and human rights.

Two more Papuans from a group who landed in Cape York two years ago are said to be seeking to return to Indonesia.

In January 2006, 43 Papuans landed a boat in Cape York and claimed asylum. All were eventually granted temporary protection visas. The incident sparked an intense diplomatic stoush, peaking with Indonesia's recall of its ambassador to Canberra.

Sarah Boseley, health editor – People with HIV in Papua, Indonesia, who are deemed to be "sexually aggressive" may be microchipped to enable the authorities to identify, track and punish those who deliberately infect others under a plan which has the backing of the provincial parliament.

Angel Flassy, Papua – Amid protests from Papuans and NGOs, the Papua provincial legislative council is set to pass a bylaw on HIV/AIDS that includes a controversial article requiring certain people living with the disease to be implanted with a microchip.

Angela Flassy, Jayapura – The return home from Australia of two Papuan asylum seekers was due to legal problems arising from the couples ongoing incidence of domestic violence – and nothing else, Alfons Adadikam, chairman of the Melbourne based Victoria West Papua Association (VIWPA) said.

Setyo Budi – West Papuan man Opinus Tabuni was shot and killed by the Indonesian military during a celebration of the UN World Indigenous People Day in the highland city of Wamena in August. The murder aimed to strengthen the presence of the Indonesian security apparatus in the province, according to a recent finding of the Indonesian Human Rights Commission.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – On Wednesday some 100 people, calling themselves the Papua Human Rights Awareness Coalition, commemorated the seventh anniversary of the death of Theys Hiyo Eluay, leader of the Papua Presidium Council, who was killed by government forces on Nov. 10, 2002.

Edison Waromi LLB, Executive President of West Papua National Authority (WPNA) has called on the Indonesian Government to withdraw all its military forces from West Papua and release all political prisoners to show its genuine intention for peace and human rights.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Anyone who thinks the discussion on Papuan independence is over should listen to Hans Gebze and other young Papuans.

The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) calls on the Australian Government to raise the human rights situation in West Papua with the Indonesian Foreign Minister.

The Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda is leading a delegation to the 9th meeting of the Australia-Indonesia Ministerial Forum to be held in Canberra on November the 11th and 12th.

Martin Lundqvist, Hong Kong, China – "Witch hunting" has historically been, and still is, a common phenomenon in Papua among the indigenous people. Although different local communities have different interpretations of the practice, the basic tenets are the same: people are blamed for the things that go wrong in life.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Papua – Around 100 protesters from the International Parliament for West Papua (IPWP) staged a rally Monday against an alleged increase in militarism in Papua outside the Provincial Legislative Council building.

Muhammad Nur Abdurrahman, Makassar – Scores of students from Papua demonstrated in front of the Mandala monument on Jl. Jenderal Sudirman in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar on November 3.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Nine Christian leaders in Papua have suggested the government hold a dialogue with the Papuan people to find the best solution for the ongoing dispute over the 1965 people's self-determination vote (Pepera).

Jakarta – Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal stated here on Tuesday that no country supported separatism in Papua.

"Not a single member country of the United Nations supports separatism in Papua so that Indonesia's position in the matter is solid," he said at the president's office.

The West Sepik provincial police commander Sakawar Kasieng yesterday warned people in Vanimo and border villages not to travel to Jayapura in the Papua Province of Indonesia because of current unrest there.