[Kabar-Irian] Irian News - 12/12/05
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- Govt send aid to Papua as famine kills 55
- Govt Aid for Famine Victims to be Delivered in Wamena
- Relief aid reaches starving Papuans in remote regency
- Food aid rushed to Papua's remote regency
- Papua Police admit to HIV/AIDS cases
- Army resumes Kopassus ties
- Govt pays insufficient attention to human rights
- Papuan workers left stranded, unpaid
- Australia in fishing awareness campaign
- Danusiri's 'Lukas' Moment' has homeland premiere
- BP's silent complicity with Indonesian oppression of West Papua
*****************************
The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
December 10, 2005
Govt send aid to Papua as famine kills 55
The Jakarta Post, Jayapura/Jakarta
Stunned by reports of famine in a remote Papua district that has left 55
people dead, the government dispatched a military cargo plane on Friday
night to carry food aid to the stricken area.
The effort came amid criticism from Papuan leaders that the central and
regional governments had neglected their own people, leading to the
disaster.
The military aircraft was carrying basic necessities needed by starving
Papuans living in Yahukimo regency, such as instant noodles, baby food and
medicines, said Rizal Mallarangeng, an aide to the Coordinating Minister
for People's Welfare, Aburizal Bakrie.
Other government officials vowed earlier in the day to lend a hand to
Papuans suffering from lack of food, with Minister of Social Affairs
Bachtiar Chamsyah promising to send rice to the famine-affected areas
while Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari vowed to send two teams of
doctors.
The statement came after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the
officials to take concerted measures to alleviate the suffering in Papua.
"We must save them first," said the President, who reportedly first head
about the famine on Thursday from the news ticker on a local television
station.
Before attending a function -- ironically celebrating food security -- at
the State Palace on Thursday, the President ordered Aburizal to
investigate the famine and tackle the problem. He also demanded
accountability from Papuan leaders and vowed that once he found who was
responsible, heads would roll.
The President admitted to experiencing mixed feelings as he presented food
security awards to groups of people during the function, while at the same
time Papuans were starving to death.
News of the famine became public after Yahukimo Regent Ones Pahabol told
the media that at least 55 people had died from malnutrition and 112
others had fallen sick from related illnesses since November in Yahukimo.
The failure of the sweet potato crop was to blame. The regency has a
population of 55,000 people, who are currently having to do without their
staple foodstuff, sweet potatoes.
The mountainous regency was originally part of Jayawijaya regency before
it was hived off as a separate entity, and is located some 800 kilometers
from Jayapura, the Papua capital. It can only be reached by plane.
Separately, a religious leader condemned the government for ignoring the
people of people. The Rev. Socrates Sofyan Yoman said that development in
Papua had been solely focused on projects and that the people in general
had been neglected. The projects only benefited government officials and
not the people, said Sofyan, the chairman of the Injili Church Synod in
Papua. He said the government should have sought the participation of the
churches in Papuan development as they were part of Papuan society and
understood the people's needs.
Papua opposition figure Fadel Al Hamid said the famine showed that the
government had failed to properly implement regional autonomy in
Indonesia's easternmost province. "The funds transferred as part of
regional autonomy are huge, but still there is famine," said Fadel, the
secretary of the Papuan Tribal Council.
Fadel said that most of the autonomy funds had been looted by the Papuan
elite, and had failed to improve the lot of the ordinary people. "This is
ironic. Papua is rich in natural resources and yet people still die of
famine. It's like mice dying of hunger inside a rice barn," said Fadel.
In Jakarta, legislators took turns to call on the government to
immediately take concrete and comprehensive action to prevent such a
tragedy occurring in other parts of the country.
House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono said the government had
failed to institute an early detection system to prevent such disasters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Antara
Dec 10 22:21
Govt Aid for Famine Victims to be Delivered in Wamena
Jakarta (Antara News) - Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare
Aburizal Bakrie may not be able to reach famine-stricken Yahokimo district
to deliver a relief assistance package but only travel up to Wamena
district where he would hand over the aid, Papua Governor JP Solossa said
at Sentani airport in Jayapura on Saturday.
"The assistance is likely to be handed over in Wamena on Saturday
afternoon. The minister and his entourage may not transit in Jayapura but
in Biak and from Biak fly directly to Wamena. The minister is not likely
to come to Yahoukimo district," Solossa said.
He said there were seven famine locations in Yahokimo where 55 people have
already died and 112 others are in critical condition.
The government dispatched a military cargo plane on Friday night to carry
food aid to the stricken area. However, the plane had yet to arrive in the
district due to bad weather.
The plane was carrying basic necessaries such as instant noodles, baby
food and medicine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
December 12, 2005
Relief aid reaches starving Papuans in remote regency
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura
Aid began arriving in a remote area of Papua on Sunday after bad weather
prevented food and medicine from reaching starving Papuans on Saturday,
while the health minister denied any cases of malnutrition had been
detected in Yahukimo regency.
Carried aboard Army helicopters, the aid was unloaded in Sumantanto, the
capital of Yahukimo regency. The operation was overseen by Coordinating
Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie and other ministers, Antara
news agency reported.
Meanwhile in the city of Wamena, several Cessna aircraft belonging to
missionary groups and two helicopters belonging to the Army and PT
Freeport Indonesia have been deployed to carry food, medical supplies and
health workers to famine-stricken areas in Yahukimo.
The failure of the recent sweet potato crop has been blamed for the spread
of famine in the mountainous regency of 55,000 people. The regency can
only be reached by aircraft and food aid, medicine and blankets have been
stranded in Wamena, the nearest large town to Yahukimo, for the last
several days.
But Papuan leaders have blamed the local and central governments for
ignoring their people, leading to the famine. They say this tragedy is
evidence the huge sums of money flowing into the province under regional
autonomy have only benefited the elite of Papua.
Yahukimo Regent Ones Pahabol, who made news of the famine public by
alerting the media that at least 55 people in the regency had died of
malnutrition and 112 others had fallen sick from related illnesses since
November, declined to answer questions on Sunday.
According to the head of Yahukimo's health office, Jacobus Mari, most
residents in famine-affected areas were showing symptoms of malnutrition,
as well as suffering from tuberculosis, malaria and skin conditions.
He said a medical team of 10 doctors was scheduled for deployment to
Yahukimo from neighboring regencies. "The medical team will be leaving on
Monday, if the weather permits," he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered officials on Friday to ensure
the immediate disbursement of food and medicine to the regency, ordering
Aburizal to investigate the causes of the famine and determine what needed
to be done to help the people of Yahukimo. He also warned local leaders in
Papua that they would be held accountable for allowing this tragedy to
occur.
Meanwhile, contrary to previous reports and despite the ongoing aid
efforts, Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said there were no signs
of starvation in Yahukimo and no evidence that 55 people had died of
malnutrition in the regency.
Speaking in Jombang, East Java, on Sunday, she said a medical team had
been deployed to the regency but found no evidence of starvation, Antara
reported.
"There are sick children but not because of starvation. The 55 people who
(reportedly) died, maybe that was an accumulative figure," she said during
a ceremony to mark the opening of the Nahdlatul Ulama Sayyid Abdurrahman
Medical Center in Mojoagung, Jombang.
She said there were people in Yahukimo who were sick, but they were not
suffering from malnutrition. She added that the people who were ill were
receiving treatment at a hospital in Wamena.
Apart from medicine, she said the ministry had also provided food and
drinks for the people being treated at the Wamena hospital, as well as
sending medical supplies to Yahukimo.
"We have been monitoring the situation for the last six months because if
we waited for local government there might be more victims," she said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
December 13, 2005
Food aid rushed to Papua's remote regency
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Wamena
Food aid and medical supplies continued to arrive in Papua's remote
Yahukimo regency on Monday where at least 55 residents have reportedly
died in a famine, despite a denial by the health minister of any
malnutrition problems in the regency.
At the coordination post at the airport in Wamena, the closest large city
to the regency, rice, instant noodles, medical supplies, blankets and cash
continued to arrive on Monday from donors across the country, including
First Lady Kristiani Herawati.
More aid was piled in a military and police warehouse in Wamena, waiting
to be distributed to nine of the most badly affected areas in Yahukimo
regency, some 800 kilometers from the Papua capital Jayapura.
"Today (Monday), we were planning to deliver food aid to three areas but
bad weather forced the Army helicopter to turn around and return to
Wamena," said the commander of the Jayawijaya military district command,
Lt. Col. Sarjono.
The famine in the geographically isolated regency first came to the
nation's attention when Yahukimo Regent Ones Pahabol alerted local and
national media that 55 people had died and 112 others had fallen
critically ill since November due to starvation, which he blamed on
harvest failure. The regent based his figures on reports he received from
local churches.
According to data from the coordination post in Wamena, 49 residents of
eight villages in the regency -- Soba, Lolat, Koropun, Sela, Duram, Dagi,
Nalca and Wam -- have died of various illnesses since November, while
another 104 people had fallen seriously ill. However, the coordination
post did not specify whether the deaths were caused by starvation.
Bernard Yaahole, head of the local government's representative office in
the Holuwun area of Yahukimo regency, said residents were surviving on one
meal a day, leaving them vulnerable to diseases such as malaria and
tuberculosis.
On Sunday, Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said a team from the
ministry had found no cases of starvation in the regency. Speaking in East
Java, she said there were a number of ill people in the regency but they
were not suffering from malnutrition.
According to Ev Menas Mirin, chairman of the Yalenang People's Empowerment
Foundation, which has worked for the last five years with people in the
regency, the deaths and illnesses in Yahukimo could have been prevented
because the first signs of an impending famine emerged as far back as
August.
He said it was already evident in August that the crops of sweet potato,
which is a staple food in the regency, had been destroyed by heavy rains
the previous months.
"The residents planted their crops late and when the rains came before the
harvest the crops were destroyed," Menas said.
"Most residents are now surviving on leaves and fruits they gather from
the forest," he said.
Meanwhile, Regent Ones Pahabol reiterated on Monday that the people of the
regency were in desperate need of assistance. He also expressed gratitude
for the donations that had already begun to arrive in the regency.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
National News
December 11, 2005
Papua Police admit to HIV/AIDS cases
The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Jakarta
A few days after the military admitted a dozen deaths due to AIDS-related
causes, four policemen have reportedly died of AIDS in Papua over the past
five years and at least eight others now living with HIV.
The Trikora Military Command overseeing Papua earlier this week revealed
48 of its soldiers in the area had contracted the virus, with 12 of them
passing away.
Papua Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comm. Kartono said on Saturday the four
deaths were recorded in the Timika, Merauke, Jayapura and Kota Jayapura
regencies.
"That's what we know so far, but I'm certain that there are many more
police living with HIV/AIDS in other areas that we have yet to discover,"
he told The Jakarta Post.
He declined to disclose the identities of the four officers, nor did he
attempt to speculate when asked whether the 12 policemen had contracted
the virus through unprotected sex or intravenous drug use.
An activist with the Papuan Support Group, Robert Sihombing, however,
claimed that two of the victims, aged 38 and 40, had contracted the virus
from sexual activities.
"One of them had been married, while the other one was single. I knew
them, but I didn't have the chance to personally support them," he said.
Gunawan Ingkokusumo, a doctor with the Papuan Action To Stop AIDS
movement, said a select number of local police and Indonesian Military
(TNI) soldiers had been provided in 2004 with training programs and
consultation on HIV/AIDS.
"I don't know the extent of the follow-up of the program, but the purpose
of it was to help those participating in the program share their knowledge
and information with the other members," he said.
In response to the condition, Kartono said the Papua Police department was
launching an intensified region-wide education campaign on HIV/AIDS.
He stressed that the police officers that were stationed in the province
"were expected to refrain from activities that could put them at risk,
such as unprotected sex with multiple partners."
A remote province of rugged mountains and jungles, Papua has a much higher
rate of HIV/AIDS infection -- around 19 times -- than the national
average. Government officials and local media have often claimed that the
high rate in the province was due to limited education and general
promiscuity.
The government estimates the figure of people living with HIV/AIDS in the
country at between 90,000 to 130,000, while activists say it is already
over 500,000.
In Jakarta, TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto stated that the military
brass was not of the opinion that the condition was threatening.
"We don't think it's a threat against our forces, although we are taking
it quite seriously," he said.
While having unprotected sex was not justifiable, the general said he
understood very well the desire of the soldiers to be actively engaged in
sex with multiple partners.
"They have no other source of entertainment in such remote areas and away
from their families," he rationalized.
Endriartono said no specific policies had been conceived to address the
situation, but asserted that soldiers living with HIV/AIDS were still
allowed to serve in their units although a forced early retirement was
possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Australian News Network
Army resumes Kopassus ties
December 11, 2005
Australian and Indonesian special forces will train together for the first
time in seven years when the government lifts a ban on cooperation between
the elite troops.
Australia cut ties with Indonesia's Kopassus unit after militia trained by
the troops killed East Timorese in the lead up to the country's
independence in 1999.
The unit will train with Australia's Special Air Service Regiment on a
joint counter-terrorism exercise, called Dawn Kookaburra, in Perth early
next year.
Despite past human rights abuses by the Indonesian unit, Defence Minister
Robert Hill defended the decision to resume cooperation, saying it could
help save Australian lives.
"In this era of heightened terrorist threats it is in Australia's
interests to engage with regional special forces, such as Kopassus, to
safeguard the lives of Australians and Australian interests abroad," he
said in a statement.
"The bombings in Bali in October 2005 further highlighted the need for
regional countries to work together in combating this common threat.
"Kopassus Unit 81 has the most effective capability to respond to a
counter hijack or hostage recovery threat in Indonesia.
"In the event of a terrorist incident, the safety of Australians in
Indonesia could well rest on the effective cooperation between TNI
(Indonesia's armed forces) and the ADF (Australian Defence Force)."
Kopassus Unit 81 is the Indonesian special forces' counter-terrorism team.
Exercise Dawn Kookaburra will focus on resolving hijack and hostage
situations.
It will be the first exercise of its kind involving the two countries
since 1997.
Australian defence ties with Indonesia grew through the 1980s and 1990s,
mainly between Kopassus and the Perth-based SAS.
But they ended abruptly in 1999 when Australia led the international
mission to East Timor.
Any links with Kopassus are controversial because of long-running
accusations of human rights violations in East Timor and the Indonesian
provinces of Aceh and West Papua.
A report released a year ago found Kopassus had not reformed and urged the
ADF not to renew ties.
The paper, by the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian
National University, said much of Kopassus' role would continue to be
viewed in Australia and elsewhere as profoundly inappropriate, morally and
legally unacceptable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
December 10, 2005
Govt pays insufficient attention to human rights
As the world community prepared to commemorate International Human Rights
Day on Dec. 10, human rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis shared on
Thursday his observations on the advancement of human rights in the
country over the past year with The Jakarta Post's Ridwan Max Sijabat.
Question: How do you rate the promotion and protection of human rights
under President Susilo's administration?
Anwer: The game the government is playing is hunting down big embezzlers.
Our main agenda, or the central issue, is the war on corruption, causing
the government to pay less attention to human rights issues. There are no
concerted measures to settle gross human right abuses. I'm disappointed
with the Attorney General's Office and the court, which are busy trying
only corruption cases and with the print media, which has given more space
to issues on terrorism, corruption and the implementation of the
memorandum of understanding in Aceh.
Could you give examples of the challenges facing the human rights movement
in Indonesia?
The government has not yet carried out a thorough investigation into the
premeditated assassination of human rights campaigner Munir, nor the
shooting of three female Christian students in Poso. Indonesia's image has
been tarnished by the acquittal of a police official who is believed to be
involved in the Abepura shooting case and by the unresolved human rights
abuses during the Trisakti and Semanggi tragedies. The government has
remained silent on the controversial trial of human rights perpetrators in
East Timor. No human rights perpetrators in the cases have been sent to
jail. So far, no trials have been conducted to bring to justice human
rights perpetrators in Aceh and Papua.
President Susilo must fulfill the pledge he made during his presidential
campaign last year to investigate thoroughly human rights abuses. To
repair Indonesia's tarnished image in the international community, all the
unresolved human rights abuses must be brought to court.
The trial of gross human right abuses will never make up for the suffering
of victims and their relatives but it could reduce their burden, bring
justice to perpetrators and create a better human rights culture in the
country.
How about religious freedom?
This year was also one marked by violations of religious freedom, which
the government has failed to take harsh action against. Security
authorities did not take the appropriate action against a certain group
that damaged the property of Muslim organization Ahmadiyah, nor against
those who forcibly closed down houses of worship in Bandung and Bekasi,
West Java.
We witnessed this year the erosion of religious freedom. It is really a
setback in human rights protection since religious freedom is guaranteed
by the 1945 Constitution. Unfortunately, we have become victims of the
Osama syndrome, whereby radical groups have manipulated the public fear of
radicalism to intimidate minority groups.
What is your comment on the ongoing trial of the Munir case?
It's most regrettable that the trial will apparently stop at Pollycarpus.
Pollycarpus is not the ultimate offender. He is only a minor player. The
Attorney General's Office and the court should go deeply into the case
until they arrest the masterminds behind Pollycarpus.
If the government is committed to human rights protection, the trial of
the Munir case should be a good time to settle all the unresolved gross
human rights violations. The prosecution of only Pollycarpus means that
the government is not committed and has made a compromise with the
anti-human rights sides and it is a huge debt that the President has with
human rights advocates.
The government's weak commitment is shown in President Susilo's reluctance
to expose to the public the results of the fact-finding team's
investigation into the case. The President is apparently trapped between
the two conflicting sides. He has promised Munir's wife Suciwati a
thorough investigation into the case but, on the other side, he has made a
compromise with the anti-human rights side.
Do you think the investigation should be taken up by the National
Intelligence Agency (BIN)?
Yes, the investigation must continue until the masterminds are arrested.
If the investigation ended with the arrest of BIN personnel, the President
would need to ensure there was no damage to the reputation of the
intelligence agency.
Do we have the necessary laws to uphold human rights in Indonesia?
The prevailing laws have been sufficient. We have Law No. 39/1999 on human
rights protection, Law No. 20/2000 on the ad hoc trial of human rights
abuses, the law of freedom of expression and the law on freedom to
unionize. The government recently ratified the United Nations Covenant on
Civilian Political Rights and the United Nations Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights. These laws need to be consistently enforced.
Which laws hinder human rights protection?
The Criminal Code and the revised bill on the criminal code, the bill on
intelligence, the law on state defense and the law on terrorism still have
contentious chapters that could endanger human rights protection in the
country.
The Criminal Code threatens press freedom while the law on ad hoc human
rights trials carries the death penalty, which is against human rights.
Regarding the intelligence bill, BIN has potential to abuse its power if
it is given the authority to arrest terrorist suspects within three days.
I can understand BIN's needs but the arrest must be supported with strong
evidence and made under tight supervision.
The bill must stipulate the circumstances in which intelligence agents are
authorized to make an arrest and sanctions for those who make wrongful
arrests.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Greater Jakarta
December 10, 2005
Papuan workers left stranded, unpaid
Tangerang: As many as 163 workers of PT Prabu Alaska, a plywood producer
in Tanjung Purkadi, East Pakpak district in Papua, who have been living
for over a month in Karawaci and are now facing starvation as they have
run out of money.
"We are waiting for our former employer who still has our money," said
Jerry, one of the workers, who claimed to represent a total of 1,400
workers of the company who were laid off in July.
They are now staying at the occupied house of PT Prabu Alaska director Po
Suwandi in Permata Milenium housing complex in Karawaci, Tangerang.
Suwandi, they allege had not paid their salaries for nine months,
including severance pay amounting to Rp 21 billion.
They found Suwandi's Karawaci house on Oct. 27. Since Suwandi had left the
house, the workers decided they would occupy it.
"Each of the workers paid for their own trip by boat, a journey of three
days from Pakpak," Jerry said.
"We won't leave this place until we get our money," he added.
-- JP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Age (Melbourne)
Australia in fishing awareness campaign
December 10, 2005 - 7:44PM
Australia plans to hold meetings in fishing villages from Sulawesi to
Papua in a bid to convince Indonesian poachers to stay out of Australian
waters.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia would spend $300,000 on a
campaign to raise awareness in Indonesia on the impacts and consequences
of fishing illegally.
The announcement followed a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Nur
Hassan Wirayuda in Kuala Lumpur.
The campaign, to be run jointly with Indonesian authorities, would target
villages where poachers were based.
It would explain "illegal fishing brings with it risks of imprisonment and
the destruction of the boats that have been involved", Mr Downer said.
A recent crackdown on illegal fishing by Australia has resulted in the
detention of more than 1,700 crew on 240 foreign vessels, mostly
Indonesian.
The boats are mostly fishing for shark fin - a delicacy in Asia which can
earn impoverished crew up to $200 a kilo.
Mr Downer said Australia and Indonesia would establish a joint fisheries
surveillance forum to explore ways of monitoring illegal fishing.
"We also agreed to put in place a system of communication by which
Indonesian authorities will be notified of the apprehension of Indonesian
vessels by Australian authorities," he said.
He also said Australia would fund research the reasons why poaching was on
the rise.
Mr Downer said many boats captured by navy and fisheries patrols were
commercial vessels with satellite positioning systems, radar and
ice-packed holds.
Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald will visit Jakarta on December 19 for
further talks on the initiatives.
Mr Downer is in Kuala Lumpur for a meeting of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations.
-- © 2005 AAP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
Features
December 10, 2005
Danusiri's 'Lukas' Moment' has homeland premiere
Nelden Djakababa, Contributor/Jakarta
Not too many of us are aware that this year, a 60-minute documentary film
by an Indonesian has been screened at six film festivals in Europe.
Festivals in Amsterdam, Stockholm, Berlin, Finland and Norway have all
included Lukas' Moment: A Journey Between Hope and Desperation (2005) on
their official selection list.
The film, set in Payum, Merauke, West Papua, received the Best Student
Award at the Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival in Oxford, UK.
Fortunately for us here, Moment will have its Indonesian premiere at
Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest). And like most documentaries
screened at the festival, it can be viewed for free.
So why the minimal publicity in Indonesia so far?
"Maybe it's because I've just recently returned home," says film-maker
Aryo Danusiri with a laugh. Having finished his undergraduate studies at
University of Indonesia's Department of Anthropology, he furthered his
studies for a master's in Tromso, Norway. Moment is part of his final
assignment at the program, along with a written thesis.
There is some noticeable departure of theme and approach between Moment
and Aryo's earlier works. In his documentaries on Aceh, made in 1999, 2000
and 2003, for example, the underlying frame of the stories was the
prolonged conflict in Aceh, and the human-rights abuse that laces it.
In Moment, however, Danusiri chooses to follow young Marind fisherman
Lukas Gebze, 20, who lives in Payum, near Merauke, and is struggling to
become an entrepreneur.
"My main interest is to portray minority and under-represented groups, be
it in Aceh or Papua, or anywhere else," Danusiri explains. He admits,
however, that there is a conscious shift in how he chooses to frame the
stories.
In his previous Aceh documentaries, he tried to show the impact of gross
human-rights violations. "But in doing so, I've inadvertently reproduced
that violence in the (film) images."
In Moment, Danusiri aims to capture the complexities faced by Lukas and
those around him, in their everyday life. You will not find any
stereotypical references to the horror of the conflict in Papua here.
"I have to say that this is more challenging for me, and definitely more
difficult to secure funding for such project, compared to films with
themes like gross human-rights violations," he chuckles.
"I was lucky to be able to do this project, because it was part of my
(master program) final assignment. I had a scholarship to do this."
Another noticeable difference between Moment and his previous projects was
the way he approached the characters and the stories they told. Previous
films were packed with interviews, with scenes of daily life serving only
as transitions between them, or as backdrops.
In contrast, Moment does not present too many direct interviews. Rather,
it includes several prolonged scenes set in a single space, and thus
viewers may witness the story, complete with its surprising twists,
gradually unfolding as it occurs in real-life pace, instead of being given
too much explanation.
Some critics might see this as a liability if this film is to be presented
to cinema audiences that are generally assumed to have a short attention
span.
Interestingly, though, this approach has managed to maintain the suspense
level as the plot unravels, without overdramatization. Thus, it becomes
difficult not to care what happens to Lukas and the other characters.
"After this piece, I'd like to use a similar approach to tackle the issues
of women, and of Islam in Indonesia. These are also underrepresented
groups I'm interested in.
"So far, I've observed that their portrayal tends to be oversimplified,"
concludes Danusiri, without being too specific about his plans for future
projects.
Lukas' Moment will be filmed at JiFFest at Teater Kecil-TIM (Taman Ismail
Marzuki) on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 7.00 p.m.; Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 2.00 p.m.;
and on Friday, Dec. 16 at 9.30 p.m. For complete information on JiFFest,
visit www.jiffest.org or contact the hotline on 3192 5115.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Samuelson
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 6:40 AM
Subject: FWPC letter re BP's silent complicity with Indonesian oppression
of West Papua
Mr John Hughes,
BP p.l.c.
1 St James's Square
London SW1Y 4PD
9th December 2005
Dear Mr Hughes,
Thank you for your e-mail of 5th December (copied below) regarding BP's
refusal to allow me or any representative of the Free West Papua Campaign
into the foyer of your St James's Square office (even with a Police
escort) to deliver our letter to Lord Browne, in stark contrast to our
treatment by both Rio Tinto and even by the Indonesian Embassy.
The West Papua Independence Day demonstration in London on 1st December
was the first of many peaceful demonstrations which FWPC will organise
outside BP's offices and other premises across the UK to protest against
BP's silent complicity with the Indonesian regime in the oppression of the
West Papuan people and the illegal occupation of their Country.
As you may know from your colleagues Gary Dirks, Ann Drinkwater, Graham
Baxter, Emma Delaney, Rikard Scouf, David Rice and others, over the past
two years FWPC has entered into a genuine dialogue with BP to raise our
serious concerns about BP's policy towards its operations in West Papua.
We tried to engage with BP concerning Tangguh's human rights context in
which BP is dealing with the Indonesian State which:
1) Illegally occupied West Papua in 1963 (without the agreement of the
indigenous population), illegally annexed West Papua in 1969 by the
fraudulent Act of NO Choice and continues to deny the West Papuan people
the opportunity to exercise their internationally recognised right to
self-determination.
2) Has since 1963, murdered approximately 300,000 West Papuan men, women
and children (one third of the Papuan population) in a systematic process
of ethnic cleansing and handed over their land to Indonesian settlers.
3) Continues to this day to murder, torture, rape, starve and intimidate
innocent West Papuans.
4) Continues to this day to deny the West Papuans their fundamental rights
to freedom of speech, expression and assembly and assassinates or
imprisons Papuan leaders who campaign peacefully for independence.
5) Continues to this day to deny free access to West Papua to foreign
parliamentarians, academics, human rights observers, humanitarian agencies
and journalists.
When with respect and courtesy we raised these issues with BP, I very much
regret to say that we were met by a smokescreen of subterfuge,
diversionary tactics and false excuses.
We are not so naive to swallow the BP line that it is "just an oil
company" with no involvement in politics I only need to mention BP's past
and present involvement in the internal politics of apartheid South
Africa, Sudan, Colombia and Azerbaijan to dispel this excuse at a stroke.
Neither are we so naive to swallow the BP line that a company's decisions
(as opposed to an individual person's actions) are somehow amoral. BP's
decision to collude with General Suharto and his successors in the
Presidential Palace in Jakarta was and is a pre-meditated decision taken
by members of the BP board to deal with mass murderers. I once asked
Rikard Scouf whether given the chance, BP would be prepared to deal with
Nazi Germany. When he replied that BP would not operate in a country like
Nazi Germany he at once dispelled the BP line that its decisions are taken
in a moral vacuum.
Every time we sought to engage with BP on the wider context in which the
company is operating in West Papua, BP has tried to fob us off with
statements about the important, but totally different subject of social
projects (housing, education, health etc) within the few square kilometres
of the Tangguh project area.
In September 2005 we invited BP to send a representative to debate BP's
presence in West Papua with the respected author and journalist, George
Monbiot at a properly moderated event at Oxford University. Very
regrettably, BP chose not to take part.
Our experience of dialogue with the Tangguh Independent Advisory Panel
(TIAP) has been equally unproductive. At a meeting with the Panel's
counsel, Gary Klein in February 2005, we asked the direct question of
whether TIAP accepts that there are serious and continuing human rights
abuses being committed by the Indonesian authorities in West Papua. Mr
Klein refused to answer the question.
We can only presume from BP's complete refusal to engage with us on the
wider West Papuan context that BP is deliberately staying silent about the
illegal Indonesian occupation of West Papua and the continuing Indonesian
atrocities and other abuses of human rights in West Papua in order to
protect its commercial interests with Jakarta.
In other words, BP has taken the immoral decision to put BP's profits and
the West's desire for more natural gas, before the very survival of a
million and a half indigenous Papuans.
FWPC entered into dialogue with BP in the interests of the people of West
Papua as a whole (not only for the people of the Tangguh project area or
the people of the illegally established 'West Irian Jaya province') as
part of the search for a non-violent, sustainable and just solution to the
West Papua conflict. Reaching such a resolution, as we have repeated many
times to BP, is of course very much in BP's interests if it wants a long
term sustainable relationship with the West Papuan people and their
natural resources.
I am however very sorry to say that FWPC's two years' of dialogue with BP
has produced no discernable results towards such a peaceful resolution and
that consequently I and all my colleagues are withdrawing from this
dialogue with immediate effect. We will also be suggesting that other
activist groups with an interest in Tangguh may choose to do likewise.
>From now on, FWPC will seek to expose BP's silent complicity with the
Indonesian oppression of the West Papuan people through media coverage and
by holding demonstrations and other awareness raising events across the
UK.
Our sincere hope is that over the coming months, BP will show by its words
and actions that it is genuinely committed to playing a constructive part
in the search for a just peace in West Papua, at which time we will be
pleased to review our decision to withdraw from dialogue with BP.
When human beings in any part of our World are suffering, we are all
called upon to act to bring an end to their suffering -- simply because we
are fellow members of the same human race. However, that call to action is
even stronger when the people who are suffering are our immediate
neighbours or if we are somehow profiting from their suffering.
We are waiting and watching to see whether BP (or in other words all the
individual human beings who together make up BP) will choose to take the
ethical decision of using its considerable influence on the global stage
to help bring an end, once and for all, to the suffering of the West
Papuan people … or whether BP will continue to walk by on the other side
of the road.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Samuelson
On behalf of Free West Papua Campaign, Oxford, UK.
******************
Subj: RE: Delivery of Free West Papua Campaign letter to BP
Date: 05/12/2005 13:11:16 GMT Standard Time
From: john.hughes@uk.bp.com
To: Samuelson
Dear Mr Samuelson,
I am sorry that I was not there to receive your letter personally. As I
described to John O'Reilly I was not aware what time you were planning to
arrive and had to leave for another engagement. I am pleased that the
letter, nonetheless, quickly found its way to me.
Thank you for your attention - I look forward to meeting in due course.
Yours sincerely,
John Hughes
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
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