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Filep Karma is free!

Filep Karma released from prison

West Papuan political prisoner Filep Karma, 56, was released from prison today, having served his full sentence (minus remissions) for participating the raising of West Papua's morning star flag on December 1, 2004. He was convicted of treason in May 2015 and sentenced to 15 years. Filep and his fellow political prisoners (in West Papua and the Mulukus) several times refused presidential clemency, which involve an admission of guilt and pledges not to re-offend, instead demanding unconditional release. He insisted that raising the flag was peaceful and not a crime. Upon release, Filep joined an anniversary event of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), one of West Papua's main liberation groups, at Expo Waena, Jayapura.

ETAN is proud to have campaigned for his release (ETAN collected more than 2700 signatures on a petition initiated by Filep's daughter Audryne Karma calling for the release of her father and other Papuan political prisoners). As we celebrate Filep's freedom, we remember those still in prison and those still harassed, arrested and tortured for exercising their freedom of speech in support of West Papua's freedom and human rights.

The September 2015 of ETAN and WPAT's West Papua Report featured his case.

*UPDATE:

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Free West Papuan Political Prisoners

Photo by John M. Miller/ETAN

Free West Papua political prisoners!

Sign the petition 
to Indonesia's President SBY

Please support the appeal of Audryne Karma, daughter of West Papuan political prisoner Filep Karma, that you to instruct the government to immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners in West Papua. 

Filep Karma with his daughter

Please donate today. http://www.etan.org/etan/donate1.htm

West Papua Report - August 2012

Read the full report here

SUMMARY

Indonesian security forces have detained Papuans attempting to raise funds for medical care for Papuan political prisoners. Indonesia has long fallen short of its international obligations to provide medical care for prisoners. Meanwhile, private efforts to raise funds for medical care for Papuan political prisoner Filep Karma are progressing well. Australian researchers have noted evidence of expanding operations by Indonesia's notorious Detachment 88 which is heavily funded by the U.S. and Australian governments. An observer is raising questions about the impact of international solidarity movements aimed at helping Papuans, contending that the involvement of western-based organizations in the solidarity movement may instigate Jakarta's security approach in West Papua. WPAT invites comment on this argument. A number of international groups named in a list of OPM supporters have issued a statement rejecting the Indonesian charges, challenging the government's strategy of seeking "to blame others for problems created by the Indonesian government's and security forces' own policies and actions." An Indonesian lawmaker has charged Freeport with "arrogance" as negotiations between the U.S. mining giant and the Indonesian government fail. WPAT notes the larger tragedy that Papuans have never played a significant role in such negotiations over the exploitation of Papuan natural resources. The Asian Human Rights Commission has published an excellent article on the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE).

September 2011 West Papua Report is out

Read the latest West Papua Report here

Summary: Twenty-six members of the U.S. House of Representatives appealed to Indonesian President Yudhoyono to release Papuan prisoner of conscience Filep Karma, noting concern that "your government meet its fundamental obligations to protect the rights of its people, as respect for human rights strengthens democracy." The bipartisan letter call Karma's case "an unfortunate echo of Indonesia's pre-democratic era." Amnesty International, meanwhile, appealed for the release of another Papuan, Melkianus Bleskadit, imprisoned for peaceful dissent. The Indonesian government granted a three month remission to the sentence of Papuan political prisoner Buchtar Tabuni on the occasion of Indonesian independence day, who was then released. The leak of secret Special Forces (Kopassus) documents reveal systematic Kopassus surveillance and intimidation targeting Papuans and even international personnel seeking to document human rights concerns in West Papua. The documents label prominent international leaders including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu and dozens of members of the U.S. Congress as supporters of "separatism" in West Papua. Human Rights Watch urged that in the wake of the documents revelations that the U.S. military cease all activities in cooperation with Indonesian military units in West Papua. Papuan leaders to convene a broad congress in October. Papuan leaders write U.S. Congress to call for peacekeepers. Church leaders and ordinary civilians have called for an end to Indonesian military intimidation in the Paniai District. The Indonesian military commander has ruled out negotiations with armed separatists in West Papua, indicating the extent to which the TNI calls the shots in West Papua. In an organizational statement WPAT has called for Papuans to be afforded the internationally recognized right to self-determination.

Audryne Karma on human rights in West Papua

Audryne Karma has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today on human rights in West Papua and her father Filep Karma's case.

She writes "for many West Papuans like me, the old regime dies hard. Indonesia has yet to realize the promise of democracy and human rights for all of its citizens... Papuans who peacefully express dissent are punished with more than a decade of imprisonment."

Audryne is Filep Karma's eldest daughter. Filep was sent sentenced in 2005 to 15 years in prison "for speaking about our survival as a nation and raising the West Papuan Morning Star flag at a ceremony organized to commemorate West Papua's liberation from Dutch rule back in 1961." She then goes on to describe Filep's trial and continued persecution in prison.

 

She writes that "My father is only one of more than 130 political prisoners inIndonesia. Many have been tortured. And many are being held in violation of not only international legal standards, but also

Indonesian laws." For a description of Filep's and other cases, see the Human Rights Watch report, Prosecuting Political Aspiration: Indonesia's Political Prisoners.

 

Amnesty International's campaign to free Filep can be found here. Write the Indonesian government today!

Shine a Light on Human Rights: Free Filep Karma Rally in DC, May 19

Shine a Light on Human Rights: Free Filep Karma Rally

Amnesty International USA

Thursday, May 19, 2011, 7:00-8:30pm

DuPont Circle National Park
Washington, DC NW (on red line metro)
At 8:00 pm, we will form a candle lit procession to the Indonesian embassy (2020 Massachusetts Ave. NW). A rally will call for the release of Filep Karma and all prisoners of conscience in Indonesia, while photos of activists holding solidarity flags are projected onto the embassy.

In May 1961, Amnesty International began its global campaign for individual freedoms and human dignity. In May 2005, an Indonesian court sentenced Filep Karma to 15 years in prison on charges of treason for raising the Papua flag in a peaceful ceremony. Join us at DuPont Circle, Washington, DC on Thursday, May 19 as we commemorate 50 years of Amnesty International's global human rights activism and toast to the freedom Filep Karma and all human rights defenders. The event will include speakers, musical performances and actions!

For more information please visit: www.amnestyusa.org/filep

Please RSVP to Emilia Gutierrez at egutierrez@aiusa.org or at 202-544-0200 ext. 8141

Send a postcard demanding freedom for Filep -

Free Indonesia's Political Prisoners, Demonstrate in DC, December 1

December 1, 2010 12:30-1:30 PM

Amnesty International Raise your voices, Raise your flags Rally for Filep Free Indonesia's Political Prisoners Indonesian Embassy 2020 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC 1 block from Dupont Circle Metro Station Wednesday December 1 is the 6th anniversary of Filep Karma's arrest for peacefully raising a flag.  Join Amnesty International and ETAN in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Filep Karma and all prisoners of conscience in Indonesia!