ETAN Calls for an End to Indonesia's Silencing of West Papuan Protesters

ETAN Calls for an End to Indonesia's Silencing of West Papuan Protesters

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) condemns ongoing violations of the rights of West Papuans to freedom of expression and calls for an end to Indonesia's attacks against Papuan protesters.
 

Peaceful demonstration in Jayapura in support of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua. Photo: Tabloid Jubi

"Indonesia's continued repression of West Papuan protests is unacceptable," said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. "Indonesia must end the arrests, provide permits for demonstrations, and -- most importantly -- respond positively to the protesters' demands for self-determination."


On Monday, May 30, in a pre-emptive move, Indonesian police rounded up hundreds of West Papuans as they prepared to protest in Jayapura. Dozens of others were also seized in Wamena and in the Northern Sulawesi city of Manado. On May 2, 1724 were arrested as they marched or prepared to march in towns throughout the region. Police have made clear that they will continue to suppress pro-independence expression in West Papua.

Read the rest here: http://etan.org/news/2016/06wpapua.htm 

Response to Sidney Jones' argument to apply Indonesia's anti-terrorism law in West Papua

Excerpts from Ed McWilliams responds to Sidney Jones' argument to apply Indonesia's anti-terrorism law in West Papua

"In a December 5, 2012 lecture at Stanford University's International Policy Studies program (revised January 22, 2013), the respected Southeast Asia analyst Sidney Jones discussed the Indonesian government's unwillingness, thus far, to categorize the Papuan "ethno-nationalists/separatists" as "terrorists." 

...

Jones summarily credits recent violent acts in West Papua to the "ethno-nationalists and separatists." This is surprising insofar as Jones is a highly regarded observer of the Indonesian political scene with a deep human rights background. She knows, or should know, that the authors of violence in the Indonesian archipelago -- especially violence with complex motives -- are never so clear cut as her lecture implies. This is especially true of West Papua where police-military rivalries over access to resources and sources of extortion monies is well known. Jones should know also that military, police and intelligence agencies, have long played the role of provocateur, orchestrating acts of violence which advance agendas that are invariably obscure

....

Jones also fails to acknowledge the reality, widely noted in international and local human rights circles, that the Indonesian government has long sought to smear peaceful dissent in West Papua as "separatist." Jakarta, through the aegis of a corrupt court system and often criminal state security forces, has repeatedly employed the "separatist" label to arrest and prosecute or detain peaceful political dissenters, such as those who display the Papuan morning star flag. Courts regularly resort to charges of treason that date to the Dutch colonial era and widely used by the Suharto dictatorship to intimidate dissidents. Jones' call for Indonesia to define "separatism" as "terrorism" would deepen Jakarta's targeting of peaceful dissent and the intimidation of Papuans generally.  

...

Employing the "terrorist" label against "ethno-nationalist and separatist" groups and individuals in West Papua could have direct legal implications for international solidarity movements. In the U.S., groups or individuals who advocate on behalf of groups designated by the U.S. government as "terrorists" are subject to criminal prosecution. 

Indonesia's 'anti-terror" Detachment 88

Read in full here

Read full report here

SUMMARY The West Papua Advocacy Team gives its annual John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award to Anne Noonan and Joe Collins and the Australia West Papua Association (Sydney). Detachment 88 forces gunned down leading Papuan activist Mako Tabuni in what witness describe as an extrajudicial killing. Tabuni was a key official of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), an organization pressing for a referendum on West Papua's status. Indonesia's security forces and Detachment 88, a purportedly anti-terror unit supported by the U.S. and Australian governments, are ratcheting up pressure on KNPB and other Papuan groups at a time of growing tension in the territory. That tension derives in part from an early June assault on the village of Honai Lama by Indonesian military personnel which led to the death of at least one Papuan civilian, the beating of others, and destruction of villagers' homes. The Asian Legal Resource Center warned the UN Human Rights Council of "escalating violence" in West Papua and the failure of Indonesian authorities to arrest the perpetrators of this violence. WPAT urges the U.S. government to suspend support for Detachment 88. WPAT also endorses a Human Right Watch call for the Indonesian government to admit the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions.

Mako Tabuni. West Papua Media Alerts.