[Kabar-Irian] News: July 8-12 2006
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July 8 - July 12 2006
KABAR IRIAN NEWS
TOPICS
* Tremor jolts Jayapura, Papua
* Seven accused of 2002 Papua shootings due to face court this week
* Papuan activist group plans peaceful demonstration over democratic rights
* Hundreds of police personnel arrive in Papua`s Timika
* Death penalty for supplying food
* 17 Vietnamese detained in Papau
* Security job at Freeport given to police
* Indonesian citizenship law recognizes Chinese descendants as natives
* Asia: The Papua region is the HIV capital of Indonesia--but why?
* Aceh Peace Process May Help Settle Papua Conflict
* The price of Indonesian indignation
* New Himantura stingray named
Tremor jolts Jayapura, Papua
*Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News)* - A tectonic tremor measuring 4.45 on
the Richter Scale jolted Jayapura city and Jayapura District in Papua,,
Indonesia`s eastern most province, on Sunday.
The tremor's epicenter was located at the coordinates of 2.20 degrees
southern latitude and 140.97 degrees eastern longitude, around 55
kilometers northeast of Genyem, Jayapura District, Eresmus Kayadu, an
officer at the Papua Meteorological and Geophysics (BMG) office, said
here on Monday.
The tremor, which threw local residents into a panic could be felt at
the second level of Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI).
READ ALSO
Several Tremors Jolt Bandar Lampung <../seenws/?id=15906>
Aftershocks Hit Yogyakarta On Thursday <../seenws/?id=15812>
There were no reports of casualties or damage due to the tremor.
Indonesia lies in a zone known as the Pacific "ring of fire", which is
prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity. (*)
Uploaded on Jul 10 18:24
Viewed 64 times
Copyright © 2006 ANTARA
---
http://abcasiapacific.com/news/stories/asiapacific_stories_1683055.htm
Seven accused of 2002 Papua shootings due to face court this week
Seven people charged over the 2002 killings of two American nationals in
Indonesia's Papua
province are due to go on trial in Jakarta this week.
Two American teachers and an Indonesian colleague were killed in August
2002 in a shooting
spree near a gold and copper mine operated by US-owned Freeport McMoRan.
A court official has told the AFP news agency the case will open on
Tuesday at the central
Jakarta court.
However, the lawyer representing all seven suspects, Johnson Panjaitan,
says his clients are
demanding the case be heard in Timika, in Papua province, where the attack
took place.
He says he won't be attending Tuesday's hearing, at the request of his
clients.
The seven suspects include Anthonius Wamang, who was indicted by a US
grand jury in 2004 for
the attack and was allegedly a commander of the separatist Free Papua
Movement (OPM) at the
time.
Police say the other six suspects are also OPM members, but Mr Panjaitan
says they are "just
ordinary people".
---
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=25337
Radio New Zealand International
The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific
Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa
Papuan activist group plans peaceful demonstration over democratic rights
Posted at 05:02 on 11 July, 2006 UTC
A Papuan activist group is planning a peaceful demonstration about
democratic rights in the
capital of the Indonesian province, Jayapura, tomorrow.
The organiser for Front Bepera Papua Barat, Victor Yeimo, says they’re
tired of being denied
the right to demonstrate and what he describes as intimidation by
Indonesian security
forces.
Several members of the Front Bepera are in police custody, facing charges
in connection with
a violent demonstration against mining giant Freeport’s presence in Papua
in March.
16 Papuans are charged with a variety of offences, including inciting the
violence which led
to the killing of six people, including four Indonesian police officers.
Mr Yeimo says few of those charged had anything to do with the violence...
“There’s no more intimidation and there’s no more others like that. So
we are regrouping
for our friends who have had so much intimidation in prison. So we want to
say to the public
that you have the right for making your aspirations. We demand the right
to demonstrate in
this country.”
Victor Yeimo
---
http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=15950
Hundreds of police personnel arrive in Papua`s Timika
*Timika, Papua (ANTARA News)* - On board the Indonesian warship KRI
Tanjung Kabaina, around 600 Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police personnel
from Jakarta arrived at Timika port in Papua on Sunday to safeguard PT
Freeport in Timika, a vital object in Mimika district.
ANTARA News reported that the 600 police personnel under the command of
Adjunct Senior Commissioner Siswo replaced Army personnel in
safeguarding the giant gold mining company, PT Freeport, for about six
months.
Arriving at Timika port, they were welcomed with traditional dances of
the Kamoro tribe and received by the commander of the Papua Police
Mobile Brigade Senior Commissioner Irwanto.
On Monday, the responsibility to safeguard PT Freeport would be
officially transferred from the army to the police.
However, Papua police spokesman Senior Commissioner Kartono said the
police would still be assisted by the army.
Kartono said that prior to the transfer of responsibility on Monday, the
600 Mobile Brigade personnel would be given special directives about the
culture of Papua people to prevent misunderstanding when performing
their duty.
"After the directives are given, the Mobile Brigade personnel in
carrying out their job in Papua are expected to be able to understand
the culture and tradition of the local people," Kartono said.(*)
Uploaded on Jul 09 22:45
Viewed 99 times
Copyright © 2006 ANTARA
---
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/death-penalty-for-supplying-food/2006/07/11/1152383741851.h
tml
Death penalty for supplying food
Marianne Kearney in Jakarta
July 12, 2006
A
SIX of the seven Papuans charged with the premeditated murder of three
teachers at the
Freeport mine in 2002 are facing the death penalty merely for supplying
the attackers with
coffee and sugar, says one of their lawyers.
The trial of the Papuans opened yesterday. They are accused of murdering
two Americans and
one Indonesian, and of torturing several other Freeport employees in the
2002 shooting
attack on a convoy of vehicles within the vast copper and gold mine in
Timika, Papua.
The accused include Anthonius Wamang, a member of the separatist group
Operation Free Papua,
who admits he took part in the attack, but says he shot at the vehicles
thinking it was an
Indonesian military convoy.
But the other six are civilians, who face death sentences for allegedly
supplying food and
camping supplies to Wamang and 11 other men who took part in the attack,
says David Sitorus,
one of a team of lawyers defending the Papuans.
"How can giving coffee and sugar to someone be the same as premeditated
murder? These six …
are just the scapegoats while the real killers remain free," he said.
None of the suspects knew Wamang was planning an attack on Freeport, Mr
Sitorus said.
One, Reverend Ishak Onawame, said he regularly gave food handouts: "Sugar,
coffee and other
foods to all Papuans, not just Wamang, as part of a social service for the
community".
The state prosecutor Payaman defended the charges against the six
logistics suppliers.
"We developed the charges based on police investigation, it was legal
evidence," he said
outside the court.
Wamang claims that after he began shooting he was joined by masked gunmen,
who fired the
fatal shots, his lawyer says.
"Who killed the Americans? We don't know because the police and
prosecutors have just made
up a story," Mr Sitorus said, adding that only Freeport employees,
government employees and
Indonesian military could enter the mine.
All seven suspects refused to appear at the hearing in the Central Jakarta
Court yesterday,
arguing that under Indonesian law the trial should be heard in Timika, the
city where they
were arrested in January.
The presiding judge, Andriani Nurdin, ruled that the seven must appear at
the next court
session in Jakarta on July 18.
Six hundred Indonesian police officers from Jakarta arrived in Timika on
Sunday to
officially take over responsibility from the military for protecting the
Freeport mine. The
mine employs 628 security staff.
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20060711151824&irec=3
17 Vietnamese detained in Papau
JAYAPURA, Papua (Antara): Papuan immigration officials arrested 17
Vietnamese and are
searching for two more for violating immigration regulations, an official
says.
The head of the Jayapura Immigration Office, Giri Hariyanto, did not
elaborate on the
alleged violations of the Vietnamese, who arrived in Papua on July 8. Nor
did he say why
they were in the province.
He said 13 of the Vietnamese nationals were picked up at Ratna Hotel in
Sentani, some 40
kilometers west of the provincial capital, late Monday. Four others were
arrested the
previousdays.
According to Giri, the Vietnamese arrived at Ngurah Rai airport in Bali on
July 3. They then
flew from Bali to Sentani airport in Papua on July 8.
Giri said his office had also received report from the hotel and several
restaurants that
the Vietnamese had outstanding bills totaling some Rp 3 million (US$323). (**
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20060711.G01&irec=0
Security job at Freeport given to police
Nethy Dharma Somba and Markus Makur, The Jakarta Post, Timika
The Indonesian Military (TNI) formally handed over the responsibility of
securing giant
mines operated by PT Freeport Indonesia to the National Police in the
Papuan regency of
Mimika on Monday.
The handover was signed and endorsed by Trikora Military Commander Maj.
Gen. George
Toisutta, Papuan Police chief Insp. Gen. Tommy Jacobus, Frank D Reuneker,
executive vice
president of security at PT Freeport Indonesia and Rear Adm. Djoko
Sumaryono, an assistant
to the coordinating minister of political, legal and security affairs, in
Timika, the
capital of Mimika.
The handover was carried out in line with Presidential Instruction No.
63/2004 on
maintaining security at vital national objects. PT Freeport is included in
the
classification through a 2004 decree issued by the Energy and Mineral
Resources Ministry on
vital objects.
Up to 350 personnel from the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad),
who have been
stationed there over the last 11 months, were replaced by 600 Mobile
Brigade police officers
from Kalapa Dua in Jakarta, who had just arrived in Timika on Sunday.
Despite the withdrawal of the TNI soldiers, up to 350 others will still
assist the police.
"Even though formally the responsibility has been entrusted to the police,
it doesn't mean
there will not be TNI involvement. The duty and challenges faced there
would still
necessitate assistance from the TNI, hence 350 soldiers will be assigned,"
Djoko said.
PT Freeport, Djoko said, will have to improve its own capacity in
safeguarding its own
properties.
Reuneker of PT Freeport said that his company actually had 628 security
officers, but they
were not capable of handling various problems that have arisen so that the
presence of the
police and TNI members was still needed. "Like a baby, PT Freeport has to
thank the
government for the security assistance it provides," he said.
As a company, which is 9.34 percent owned by the government and employs
over 19,000 workers,
the capital intensive investment company, which contributes greatly to the
gross domestic
regional product in Mimika regency, constitutes a vital object which
should be protected by
all concerned parties, he said.
When asked about the funds earmarked by PT Freeport for security purposes,
Reuneker declined
to give details, explaining that he had just assumed his post two months ago.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Mimika chapter of the Human Rights and
Antiviolence Foundation,
Yosepha Alomang, said he hoped the police officers to be stationed at PT
Freeport would be
able to understand the local customs so as to help empower the local people.
"Possibly both the local people and security officers are wrong...but
let's forgive each
other to help achieve a better future," Yosepha said.
Out of the 27 national vital objects, PT Freeport is the last to hand over
security
protection to the police from the TNI due to the difficult terrain and the
complexity of
specific challenges necessitated adjustments in stages.
Djoko denied accusations that the delay in the handover was caused by a
bloody shooting
incident in August 2003, in which two American citizens and an Indonesian
were killed.
A member of the Papuan Legislative Council, Albert Yogi, said that the
handover of the
security management constituted the government's response to the people's
aspirations.
He urged the Papuan legislature to invite the Papuan Police chief to make
a kind of
presentation on security management at PT Freeport's mines, including the
number of
personnel, weapons and ammunition used.
---
Indonesian citizenship law recognizes Chinese descendants as natives
July 11 (Kyodo) -- Indonesia's House of Representatives on Tuesday enacted a
law on citizenship that recognizes Chinese-Indonesians as "indigenous"
Indonesians.
"To create brotherhood and strong nationalism as the Indonesian nation,
citizens
of Chinese descent in particular and Arabian, Indian and other ethnic groups
(in general) have become 'indigenous Indonesians' like other Indonesians from
Java, Papua, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Kalimantan, etc.," said Lukman Hakim
Saifuddin, a lawmaker who joined a team to formulate the law.
"The definition of an 'indigenous Indonesian' is an Indonesian who has been
an Indonesian citizen since birth and has never purposely assumed foreign
citizenship," the law stipulates.
Indonesians of foreign descent have long been regarded as "nonindigenous."
Compared to others of foreign descent, however, Chinese-Indonesians, who
dominate 70 percent of the country's economy, always receive discriminatory
treatment.
Government officials have been widely reported as forcing
Chinese-Indonesians, including poor ones, to pay much higher fees than
others when applying
for
documents such as birth certificates, identification cards and passports.
The law imposes punishment of up to three years in jail against government
officials who hamper the citizenship process.
Cyprianus Aoer, a legislator who also joined the formulating team, called the
enactment of the law "revolutionary" progress toward eradicating
discrimination in Indonesia.
But he questioned government readiness to implement the law as discrimination
against Chinese-Indonesians is deeply rooted in Indonesia's bureaucracy.
Recognizing Chinese-Indonesians as "indigenous" citizens, according to
lawmakers, also means they need not show their "Letter of Evidence of
Indonesian
Citizenship" when applying for documents.
The regulation obligating them to show the letter of evidence was lifted
during the administration of former President Suharto.
But officials still ask for the letter when Chinese-Indonesians apply for
documents.
The law also allows dual citizenship for children of transnational marriages,
and for children of Indonesian couples born in countries that apply the
principle of "ius soli," until they reach the age of 18. The children will
then be
required to choose their citizenship.
"Ius soli," or "right of the territory," means birthright citizenship -- the
right of an individual born in a country's territory to be recognized as a
national or citizen of that country.
Canada and the United States, among other countries, employ the principle,
automatically conferring citizenship on anyone born in their territory.
Indonesia employs the principle of "ius sanguinis," or "right of blood,"
meaning that children born in the country receive the citizenship of their
father.
Indonesian women married to foreign nationals are barred from passing their
citizenship to their children, leading to considerable cost in immigration
processing.
The new law is also intended to protect children born of extramarital affairs
between Indonesian mothers and foreign fathers.
Saifuddin said the law "is to provide protection and legal certainty in
citizenship to the children, not to legalize extramarital sex."
"Children are the future generation who can't choose the place where they are
born and the parents who give them birth, so they must receive protection and
certainty in their citizenship," Saifuddin said.
---
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200607120139.html
Asia: The Papua region is the HIV capital of Indonesia--but why?
07/12/2006
BY TAKESHI FUJITANI, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
JAYAPURA, Indonesia--In the evenings volunteers gather at Siti Nurdjaya's
house in Jayapura,
Papua province. They are here because they want to do something about the
Papua region's
AIDS problem: with 49.06 per 100,000 people diagnosed as having AIDS or as
HIV carriers, the
rate of disease is by far the worst in the country.
Siti, 37, is a nurse. She and the other volunteers work in a variety of
AIDS-related roles
such as accompanying patients to medical appointments, giving lectures at
local meetings and
at schools to promote a better understanding of AIDS, and lobbying local
politicians to
fight for increased measures against the disease. Her home has also become
a sort of
temporary shelter for AIDS patients and HIV carriers.
Siti first became involved in AIDS activities when she worked with AIDS
patients and their
families in 1998 as a hospital nurse. Then, in 2003, she opened up her
house to AIDS
patients and HIV carriers.
"Once people are known to be HIV positive, they are isolated within the
community, even by
their families. We want them to use this house as a temporary shelter,"
said Robert
Sihombing, 44, a member of the group and junior high school teacher.
So far, about 20 people have stayed at the house. Sihombing and other
group members have
also worked hard to ensure families and neighbors of those infected are
accurately informed
about the disease in order to create an environment where it is possible
for HIV carriers
and AIDS sufferers to return home and live as part of the community.
However, there are few support groups of this kind in Papua province or
West Irian Jaya
province (now separate from Papua province), which make up the Papua
region. The reality is
that the number of those infected with HIV is growing in the region, and
will continue to do
so while no effective measures are being taken.
The number of people recognized as being infected with HIV in the region
is 18.5 times the
national average of 2.65. It also far outranks the next two worst hit
areas--the Jakarta
special capital region has a ration of 23.15 per 100,000, and Bali
province, 7.19.
According to the provincial AIDS committee, the problem has escalated
dramatically in recent
years: Since 2003, 1,263 people have been diagnosed as being HIV positive
in the region,
with 414 of them being in the last year. Those diagnosed over the last
three years account
for half the 2,163 HIV-infected people reported in the region since 1992.
What is it about the Papua region that makes the problem so bad?
Some cite political instability: The central government's influence is
greatly diminished in
areas with a strong independence movement, such as Papua.
Others claim that the independence movement has also led to the government
restricting
foreign nongovernmental organizations' (NGOs) access, thus limiting the
effectiveness of NGO
support activities in those areas.
But there are more localized issues, too.
"In the Papua region, there are many villages hidden away, deep in the
mountains, that it
takes several days to get to from the towns," Franky Ifakdalam, a member
of the provincial
AIDS committee, explains. "People in remote villages don't know much about
AIDS, so many
cases went unreported."
In part, Ifakdalam points out, the rapid increase in the number of
diagnosed cases reported
to the committee is because the villagers finally started taking HIV tests.
Another factor is what Ifakdalam describes as locals' "loose sexual mores."
According to a United Nations official, infection in big cities such as
Jakarta is mainly
spread through people who have worked in the sex industry. However, in the
Papua region,
this is not the case.
The official also said that HIV is claiming younger victims in the Papua
region, including
some as young as elementary school age.
Still others attribute the delay in anti-AIDS measures to peculiarities
within Papuan
society, which is made up of many different tribes.
"There are more than 200 tribal languages spoken in the Papua region," an
official from the
Papua provincial government pointed out. "Therefore, it is difficult to
provide sufficient
assistance to all of those tribes."
The other problem is that when help does get through, it isn't always
appreciated.
Six years ago, the provincial AIDS committee launched an HIV prevention
campaign. In
cooperation with local soccer teams, the committee gave out condoms to
young people who were
playing or watching the games.
The campaign met with some resistance. The ratio of indigenous Papuan
people to the total
population of Papua region has decreased due to the increased arrival of
migrants from other
parts of Indonesia. Some tribal leaders suspected that the anti-AIDS
campaign was actually
aimed at controlling the indigenous Papuan population.(IHT/Asahi: July
12,2006)
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060710.B05
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia finished second to host Cambodia during its debut at the
inaugural Asian Rugby
Championships in Phnom Penh recently.
Competing in the Asian Division 6 Championships, the country's 28-man
squad was downed by
eventual winner Cambodia (7-30) in its first match on June 27, before
bouncing back to win
against Laos (34-12) on June 29 and Brunei Darussalam (32-20) on July 1.
All teams played three full XVs matches in the competition.
A release from the Indonesian Rugby Football Union (IRFU) on Sunday said
the team received a
mounting support from Indonesians living in Cambodia, including Ambassador
Nurrachman Oerip,
during the five-day matches at Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium. The organizers
said the support
for Indonesia team "was immeasurable".
The ambassador also honored the squad with a formal reception at the embassy.
"It was an absolute honor to stand arm-in-arm prior to each match as the
national anthem
Indonesia Raya was heard and then go out onto the pitch wearing the
national strip," said
Fikri Al-Azhar from Jakarta.
"This is just the start for Indonesian rugby," said Steve Barber, IRFU
vice-president and
one of eight expatriates in the squad. "It's an experience I will always
cherish as much as
it was to earn an International Test Cap for Indonesia. There's a great
future for rugby in
Indonesia."
The Indonesian squad came from right across the archipelago and included
Kirk Arundale, who
traveled from England to join the team, and Dwikie Pinontoan from Dubai.
Strong performances
from Niko Alfius-Imerson and Daniel Kobak (West Papua); Daniel Nugroho and
Fikri Al-Azhar
(Jakarta); Markus Lahunde, Fentje Lala and Iksan Robo (Halmahera) proved
Indonesia has the
depth to make its mark on the international rugby arena.
Barber said it was also great to see some stalwarts of Indonesian Rugby,
David Keefe, Rod
Bridges, Warren Wilcox and Andries Smallberger lead the way for their
Indonesian
counterparts and pass on rugby knowledge to their younger teammates.
French coach Nico de Ribas led his team well and it was his call to
reposition key players
after the first round loss to Cambodia that proved vital in the team's
wins against Laos and
Brunei.
The team thanked sponsors -- Thiess Indonesia, Standard Chartered Bank,
Digital 1, PAC and
Canggu Club -- for making the tour possible. Barber said the continued
development of junior
and schools rugby in Indonesia would ensure the potential shown in
Cambodia will continue to
grow.
---
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4200
Aceh Peace Process May Help Settle Papua Conflict
Michael Renner – July 11, 2006 – 5:25am
Damien Kingsbury, a former advisor to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), writes
that the outcome
of the Aceh peace process has important implications for reaching a
satisfactory settlement
in Papua, where calls for independence from Indonesia may trigger a
violent backlash from
the Indonesian military and nationalist legislators in Jakarta who are
determined not to
allow Papua to secede.
Like Aceh’s peace agreement, a successful negotiated settlement will
require an outside
mediator and outside powers (such as Australia, the United States, or the
European Union)
acting as guarantors of an agreement.
If the governing law for Aceh, which is currently being discussed in the
Indonesian
parliament, is passed in such a manner as to reaffirm the key provisions
of the peace
agreement with GAM, then it can serve as an important precedent for a
negotiated settlement
in Papua. If the law is rejected, or passed in diluted form, it may be
have negative
repercussions for Papua as well.
GAM and other leaders of Aceh’s civil society recently affirmed their
commitment to a
peaceful and democratic Aceh. There is an expectation that any
shortcomings in the governing
law could be referred to the Crisis Management Initiative in Helsinki (the
facilitator of
the 2005 peace agreement) and the European Union for mediation.
Related Links:
Damien Kingsbury, “The Trouble with Territory’s Future,” The Australian,
15 April 2006.
Link: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,18814644,00.html
---
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=4587
The price of Indonesian indignation
By Klaus Neumann -
Historians are often fond of telling and retelling stories. So let me
begin with a story. It
was told by an Australian sub-collector of customs stationed on Thursday
Island. He in turn
recounted the words of a certain Alexander Toembay, a young man from the
village of Sabon in
the Indonesian-controlled western half of the island of New Guinea.
On 6 [January] ... we left ... and walked towards southern coast of West
Irian. We built
bamboo raft with palm leaf sails and sailed down Bensbach river reaching
mouth on 13 January
... We sailed southeast. After four or five days reached Deliverance
Island ... After one
week ... left island. Wind drove us back towards West Irian and
frightened. After few more
days, all meat and water gone. Ate turtle eggs only. Very dry. Drank sea
water in order to
swallow food - turtle eggs. After further six days Gandewa’s leg had
swollen up badly ... He
died at 4pm. At 7am next morning we put body of Gandewa over side.
Continue to drink salt
water and each man have three raw eggs each day. Ears plop and all men
weak. Two days later
had big storm in afternoon and filled bottles with water. One week after
storm we see Badu
Island in distance but tide take us away. Next day ... managed to get raft
ashore.
You may have guessed - correctly - that the man telling this story is a
West Papuan refugee.
But you could be forgiven for assuming - incorrectly - that the journey
described here took
place in 2006. It didn’t. Alexander Toembay and eight companions set out
for Australia in
January 1969 from what is now the Indonesian province of Papua but was
then called West
Irian.
The refugees, all of them associated with the West Papuan independence
movement, told of
Indonesian atrocities, including the bombing of villages. One said he
witnessed two of his
companions being beaten to death by Indonesian soldiers.
An Australian immigration official, who interviewed the eight survivors on
Thursday Island,
threatened them with deportation to Indonesia unless they agreed to be
removed to Papua and
New Guinea. There they applied for permits to stay in the Australian
territory.
The territory administrator recommended against the granting of such
permits with the
argument that “it is only because of their continued anti-Indonesian
attitudes,
unwillingness to adapt to the regime there, that their future may be
compromised”. On May
19, the responsible minister approved of the recommendation that, “The
group be returned to
West Irian if no arrangements are made for their transfer to the
Netherlands within one
month”, and that the "Indonesian Government be informed by the Embassy in
Djakarta of the
decision prior to their return”.
This is an unusual story. The vast majority of people who fled
Indonesian-controlled Western
New Guinea in the 1960s crossed into the Australian territory of Papua and
New Guinea,
rather than risked the journey to Australia. Between 1963 and 1973,
thousands of West
Papuans fled to Papua and New Guinea.
That alternative had been rejected by Toembay and his companions: “No good
crossing the
Papuan border because Australian and Papuan patrols have orders to send
all refugees back to
West Irian and people sent back to West Irian after trying to escape are
put in prisons,”
they told the Australians interviewing them.
Australian officials sent many West Papuans back across the border. Some
were not refugees.
Others were, and some of these were imprisoned or even killed after their
return to West
Irian. Those allowed to stay were issued with five-year permissive
residence visas (the
forerunners of today’s temporary protection visas, TPVs). They had to sign
an undertaking
not to engage in anti-Indonesian political activity. Some West Papuan
permissive residents
were made to live in a camp on Manus Island - as far removed from the
sensitive border area
as possible.
Then, the government was as much concerned about refugees using Australia
as a “staging
post” as it has been in recent months. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the
Indonesians
complained repeatedly about West Papuan exiles. They were particularly
concerned about
refugees like Toembay who were hoping to be able to interest their host
societies in their
campaign for West Papuan autonomy or independence.
Toembay told Australian officials: “I hope that Australian people give us
political asylum
protection and allow us to live in peace. But I also hope that people of
Australia help us
to get independence that was promised in the United Nations for people of
West Irian.”
He was wrong: no such promise had ever been made. But the West Papuans
were told that they
would be able to have a say in their country’s destiny. In 1969, they were
invited to take
part in the so-called Act of Free Choice. It was sanctioned by the United
Nations and by
those countries who had supported the Indonesian stance since 1962,
including the United
States and Australia - but turned out to be a sham nevertheless.
Historians are often fond of telling stories and some of them are very
good at it. Many
historians are also good at remembering dates. I am not. But in relation
to the issues we
are discussing there are two dates that I do remember - December 1, 1973
and December 2,
1973.
On December 1, Papua New Guinea (formerly the Australian territory of
Papua and New Guinea)
was granted self-government. The next day, Australia became a signatory to
the 1967 Protocol
Relating to the Status of Refugees. This protocol removed the time and
geographical
limitations of the 1951 Refugee Convention (to which Australia had acceded
in 1954).
By signing the protocol, the government committed itself to applying the
criteria laid down
in the convention to anybody seeking Australia’s protection, regardless of
their
nationality, colour or creed. After December 2, 1973, Australia allowed
international law to
govern its response to asylum seekers and refugees.
The legislation currently before Federal Parliament (pdf file 293KB) would
effectively
return Australia to its position before December 2, 1973, when the
government dealt with
asylum seekers as it saw fit, without being constrained by international
legal obligations,
and without the UNHCR’s involvement.
In one sense, the draft legislation is already taking us back 33 years.
The authors of the
senate report tabled last Tuesday (pdf file 303KB) bemoan the
“contradictory and sophist
nature of some of the information provided by the department”. The
offender here is the
Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. It shouldn’t come as
a surprise that
that department was unable to furnish information about the Bill and its
implications to the
extent required by the senators.
The Bill currently before parliament is likely to have been the brainchild
of the Department
of Foreign Affairs. Foreign Affairs staff and their minister are not meant
to be responsibly
involved in the administration of Australia’s refugee and asylum seeker
policies (except
when somebody seeks political asylum, as the Chinese diplomat Chen Yonglin
(pdf file 1.17MB)
did last year). They once were. Between 1963 and 1973, the foreign
minister dealt with
applications from West Papuans for temporary permissive residence. In
fact, he, rather than
the immigration minister, decided about all asylum requests in Australia
and its
territories.
Over the past few years, I have repeatedly argued that the immigration
department should be
relieved of its responsibility for the administration of Australia’s
refugee and asylum
seeker policies. I did not mean to call for a return to the days when
refugee and asylum
seeker issues were considered to be a foreign policy matter.
History could teach us to see the proposed legislation in a wider context.
It could alert us
to the fact that most West Papuan refugees have not fled to Australia but
to Papua New
Guinea, both before and after 1973. Papua New Guinea currently hosts more
than 8,000 West
Papuan refugees. According to UNHCR statistics about the relative burden
of providing
protection, it carries a refugee load that is more than five times as
heavy as Australia’s.
What signal would Australia’s new policy send to PNG and other countries
in our region?
History could also alert us to the circumstances under which Indonesia
acquired the western
half of New Guinea. The Australian Government has consistently condoned
Indonesia’s approach
and downplayed its knowledge of human rights violations in Papua. Because
of this history,
Australia has a particular responsibility towards West Papuan refugees.
Finally, the fate of those West Papuans who came to harm after being
returned by Australian
officials to Indonesian territory in the 1960s and early 1970s ought to
remind us how
important close attention to the rule of law and natural justice, and an
unwavering
commitment to international refugee law and human rights instruments are,
even if such
attention and commitment came at the price of Indonesian indignation.
This is the text of a contribution by Klaus Neumann to the public forum
Shutting the Door?,
held at the University of Melbourne on June 15, 2006.
---
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=976
(update on previous article)
New Himantura stingray named
Himantura horleti is a relative of H. oxyrhyncha (pictured).
A new species of stingray from the Himantura genus has been described from
Irian Jaya in
Indonesia.
Himantura horleti, which is a member of the family Dasyatidae, was
discovered in marine and
brackish water estuarine habitats in Arafura Sea off Irian Jaya and has
just been described
in a paper by Peter Last, Patricia Kailola and Mabel Manjaji-Matsumoto in
the journal
Zootaxa.
The species is said to be moderately large for a Himantura, with a disc
size of around
70cm/27" and a total length of 2.4m/7.9' including the long tail. It is
one of 17 Himantura
species found in the area, which is a biodiversity hotspot for members of
the dasyatid
family.
The authors state that H. horleti can be distinguished from others in the
genus by its
narrower, heart-shaped disc with a very long angular snout, very small
eyes, yellow
underside and non-protrusible mouth.
The tropical fish is believed to be a member of the uarnacoides species
complex and is named
in honour of the biological consultant Kent Hortle who discovered the new
ray in 1997 off
the southern coast of Irian Jaya.
The Himantura genus contains more than 26 species, which occur mainly in
the Indo Pacific
area. The Cambodian whipray, Himantura oxyrhyncha, a freshwater species,
is sometimes
imported for the aquarium trade along with other similar-looking species.
For more details on the new stingray species see the paper: Last P,
Manjaji-Matsumoto M and
P Kailola (2006) - Himantura horleti n. sp., a new species of whipray
(Myliobatiformes:
Dasyatidae) from Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Zootaxa 1239: 19-34 (2006).
---
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