[Kabar-Irian] News: Oct 25-31 06
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KABAR IRIAN NEWS
October 25-31 2006
TOPICS
* West Papua - still calling for its freedom
* Press release: The Forum Failed to address key Demand
* Fourm Supports Continuing Papua Colonisation
* AWPA (Sydney) is shocked...
* World Cup for Minorities
* Call for Forum mission to Indonesia's Papua province
* The forgotten people
* Boat Arrivals
* Indonesia: Praises for govt's handling of unrest
* It's not always the fittest who survive
* China signs MOU with Indonesia to diversify energy supply
* Muslims to create peaceful zone in Papua
---
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=5049
West Papua - still calling for its freedom
By Andrew Johnson - posted Thursday, 26 October 2006
West Papuans have good reason, a desire for freedom, to risk coming to our
Commonwealth to seek refugee status. They have
good reason, to stop the genocide of their people, to call for the United
Nations and world to acknowledge that they are
refugees forced to flee their beloved West Papua - West New Guinea which
is still calling for its freedom.
Amanda Vanstone and anyone trying to gag the call for freedom should be
ashamed of themselves and perhaps charged as
accomplices to criminal theft and murder. Especially here in the
Commonwealth of Australia we should understand that colonial
claims to foreign nations involve theft of resources and the mass murder
of the Indigenous people and their rights.
Colonisation can be almost benign as when European diseases probably wiped
out 90 per cent of our own Indigenous population
before some settlers and arrogant officials nearly completed the task. Or
colonisation can be brutal vicious affairs
involving aerial bombing and naval shelling of townships such as
reportedly happen in West Papua during the 1960s and 1970s
as local people were “cleared” from the areas desired for mines and
settler townships. Or colonisation can involve allowing
jihadist militia the freedom to terrify the people and burn townships to
the ground which we began hearing of in May 2003.
In any event, colonisation is the brutal act of a colonial power raping
the resources or people of another region such as the
Australian Pacific nation of West Papua.
Some Australians seem to believe Jakarta's Government or US corporate
business partners are better able to “manage” West
Papua, and that Papua should never be allowed into the hands of the West
Papuan people. I do not.
Unlike other parts of Melanesia, the West Papuan people had been adapting
western concepts to their needs since 1865 and it
was the West Papuan people themselves who decided in the 1930s to create a
single unified Pan-Papuan identity which would
then allow them to create a West Papuan government to protect their
various cultural assets from external powers. Some 800
communities speaking 300 languages agreed and in early 1961 they elected a
national parliament, and it was that parliament
which selected the nation's new titled of “West Papua” and its “Morning
Star” flag.
Why would I have more faith in a West Papua Government than in PNG?
Because West Papua is the product of a hundred years'
work by the people to produce something they wanted; where as PNG is a
state which the Australian Government wanted and took
tens years to bless the people of Eastern Papua with. Without any regard
for the social effects of dumping a European
business, political and government model on a group of Melanesian
cultures, is it any wonder that PNG has serious problems?
During World War II people saw Nazi Germany try to colonise Europe and
Africa while imperial Japan sought to colonise Asia
and the Pacific with its own puppet rulers and governments to rule these
provinces. The people who created the United Nations
sought to put an end to such war and gave the concept of “decolonisation”
substance by writing it into the United Nations
Charter.
It took 15 years, but in November 1960 the UN passed two General Assembly
resolutions to end the colonial era, 1514
established an absolute requirement that any colony be allowed
“self-determination” without any delay, while 1541 defined
what “self-determination” meant and how to determine if a territory is a
colony when the administrating power attempts to
deny the colonial status of that territory.
The case of West Papua is even more simple, Indonesia has already signed
the 1962 New York Agreement in which it agreed West
New Guinea was a colony and that it required “self-determination”.
Although the New York Agreement contract specified that an act of
self-determination was to take place before or by the end
of 1969, that event never took place. Instead an event historically titled
the “Act of Free Choice” took place, organised by
the Indonesian military, and commented on by the United Nations in UN GA
Resolution 2504; it was not self-determination.
The United Nations, and Australia and Indonesia as members of the UN, have
a moral obligation to resume the UN decolonisation
process as per 1514 and 1541 and allow West Papua to have an act of
self-determination as Indonesia had already agreed to in
the New York Agreement.
Until self-determination happens, West Papuans should certainly be
planning to seek refuge here in our Commonwealth section
of the Australian continent.
Refugees are meant to be fleeing long-term persecution, and unlike
economic migrants they are meant to tell the outside world
of the problems they are fleeing from so that we can help end the abuse
affecting our region.
Not only are West Papuans entitled to free speech, but they are morally
required to tell us and the world why they are here.
It is a shame that PNG, in understandable fear of Indonesia, has refused
to give refugee status to the tens of thousands of
West Papuan survivors waiting to go home once the Indonesian military
leaves West Papua. It is a shame that the UN has been
allowed to pretend that there is no problem and that West Papua is not a
colony.
Will Australians call on our government to ask the UN to resume its
decolonisation obligations, or will we turn our back on
our neighbours in fear of Indonesian colonial rule. I hope Australians
will stand up to the challenge.
Andrew Johnson is a human rights advocate for West Papua. He has been
researching West Papua's history and those exploiting
it for the last several years.
Creative Commons License
---
From: John Ondawame
Press Release
25th October 2006
The Forum Failed to address key Demand
More than 200 delegates from 16 countries in Pacific attended 37th Pacific
Islands Forum in Nadi, Fiji, which was started
from 23rd October to 29th October 2006 and discussed various issue that
affected Pacific development. In this opportunity,
leaders approved the application of New Caledonia and French Polynesia for
associated membership of the Forum and the issue
of West Papua was also raised by Prime Minister of Vanuatu, the Right Hon.
Ham Lini, which got positive respond from the
participants.
“On behalf of the OPM and West Papua Representative People ‘s Office in
Vanuatu, we would like to congratulate Prime Minister
of the Government of Vanuatu, the Right Hon. Ham, for raising the issue of
West Papua once again at the 37th Pacific Islands
Forum-meeting in Nadi, Fiji today, and congratulated all members of PIF,
particularly Prime Minister of New Zeeland, the
Right Hon. Helen Clark, for their unanimous support for the issue of West
Papua once again at leaders retreated. However, we
were disappointed because the Forum did not address the key demand,
granting Observer status to West Papua, said Dr. Otto
Ondawame, representative of the West Papua People’s Representative Office
who also attended the meeting.
The issue of West Papua on the sport light again despite there is still
unfinished business. In a careful formulation, the
leaders said: “welcome the establishment of the Papuan Peoples Assembly
(MRP), expressed concern about reports of violence
in Papua, called on all parties to protect and uphold the human rights of
all residents, work to address the root cause of
the conflict by peaceful means and then urged the Indonesian authorities
to bring to justice the perpetrators of serious
crimes in the province of Papua”.
Despite this steadily progress, a Fijian support group criticized the
Forum decision. According to the leader of Nationalist
Vanua Tako Lavo Party, Mr. Iliesa Duvuloco, “This is a shameful decision
because the leaders failed to address those key
issues that concerned the Papuans – an independent West Papua, Grant
Observer Status and send fact finding mission to West
Papua. Why the Forum gives opportunity to Kanaky (New Caledonia) and
France Polynesia as associated members and observers
status of the PIF to East Timor, Tokelau, but not to West Papua”
Further information, please contact: John Ondawame (678 23614), Andy
Ayamiseba (678 4080). Alternatively: Rex Rumakiek
(679) 9344436 and Ileisa Dovoloco, (679) 9978186 (see photo below)
---
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0610/S00504.htm
Fourm Supports Continuing Papua Colonisation
Wednesday, 25 October 2006, 10:08 am
Press Release: Australia West Papua Association
Media Release
Australia West Papua Association-WA
The Australia West Papua Association-WA is surprised and disappointed that
the THIRTY-SEVENTH PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM supports
the continuing colonisation of West Papua by Indonesia through the 2001
Special Autonomy Law.
A West Papuan majority rejected the Indonesian autonomy policy during a
peaceful mass demonstration as recently as August 12,
2005. The Indonesian government did not take into account the desires and
needs of the West Papuans when drafting the Law,
nor has it implemented its own proposals for the improvement of the West
Papuan's living standards.
It is also regrettable that the Forum's concern about reports of violence
seems not to make the connection between violence
and the continuing colonial exploitation of West Papua by various
corporations and the Indonesian army who are the
instigators of continuing human rights abuses and supression of the West
Papuan people.
It is positive that the Forum urges the Indonesian authorities to bring to
justice the perpetrators of serious crimes in West
Papua, but the failure of the first test case in the new Human Rights
Court in Makassar to bring those responsible to justice
would suggest a more fundamental approach to Indonesia is needed.
The recent national gathering of the Australian Coalition of West Papua
Support Groups called on the Pacific Island Forum to
seek support from the Indonesian Government for a Forum fact finding
mission ; and to assist in creating a framework for
ongoing dialogue between the West Papua leadership and the Indonesia governme
---
From: D. <d...@optushome.com.au>
M E D I A R E L E A S E
25 October 2006
The Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
AWPA (Sydney) is shocked that a communique of the Pacific Islands
Forum endorses colonial subjugation of West Papua and disregards
West Papua's heroic rejection of the Special Autonomy package on
12th August 2005. AWPA (Sydney) asks the United Nations members
at the Pacific Islands Forum to respect UN General Assembly
Resolution 1514 by supporting West Papua's right to Self-determination
and Decolonisation.
Joe Collins said "Given the Forum's talk of cooperation and enhancing
social well-being that it is greatly disappointing the Forum has refused
observer status for the people of West Papua at this gathering".
(Info. Joe Collins Mob. 04 0778 5797)
(Colonisation Info. A Johnson Mb 04 3400 3131)
--
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/sports/article1508756.ece
Normark to lead Sami team
Soccer trainer Ivar Morten Normark has been named coach of the Sami team
in the World Cup for minorities and indigenous
peoples.
The team has accepted a spot in the first VIVA World Cup for nations not
affiliated with world football federation FIFA. Six
teams will compete in the event to be staged in Hyeres, France, where
Occitan is spoken.
The participants will be: Group A: Monaco, Southern Cameroons, Samiland
(Sami), and Group B: Rom, Occitania, West Papua and
the event will take place from 19-25 November.
Normark lost his job as head coach of Norwegian top division club Tromsø
after the team seemed doomed to relegation, and was
previously fired from the head coaching position for Aalesund after they
were relegated from the top division last season.
"He knows the team leaders, the assistant trainer and most of the players,
this makes things less complicated for us," Leif
Isak Nilut, head of the Sami Football Federation, told NRK (Norwegian
Broadcasting).
---
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/bulletins/rnzi/200610261753/call_for_forum_mission_to_indonesias_papua_province
Call for Forum mission to Indonesia's Papua province
Posted at 5:53pm on 26 Oct 2006
There's a call for the Pacific Islands Forum to send a fact finding
mission to Indonesia's Papua province.
In the communique at this week's summit, Pacific leaders welcomed progress
towards autonomy in Papua but raised concerns at
violence and called for the root causes of conflict to be addressed by
peaceful means.
Fiji's Nationalist Vanua Lavo Tako party has been backing the self-
determination movement and its leader, Iliesa Duvuloco,
says they are happy Papua has not been ignored, but wanted a stronger
statement.
He says a mission compromised of Forum leaders could determine the truth
of reports about military brutality.
"A team to go there to assess, locally, on the spot, on the ground the
actual - you know they can interview the people,
the nation, or the West Papuan leaders and the people about what exactly
is happening, rather than receiving all the
conflicting information, you know."
Copyright © 2006 Radio New Zealand International
---
http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/the-forgotten-people/2006/10/26/1161749256708.html
The forgotten people
October 27, 2006
They are the too-hard cases — asylum seekers shipped off to Christmas
Island or living in limbo on the mainland. Andra
Jackson traces their stories.
THE doors of the high security Baxter detention centre in South Australia
may have closed for the last time on asylum
seekers, but this doesn’t mean their claims have been recognised or their
futures settled.
For one man at least, the end of the line was not Baxter. His dark journey
continued to a psychiatric hospital and then
community detention. The 33-year-old Bangladeshi fled to Australia by boat
at the height of the asylum seeker arrivals.
Now Australia’s longest serving detainee, he has been waiting seven years
for his status to be resolved — at least six of
those years spent under lock and key and a period in a psychiatric ward.
His transfer to a "residential determination" — community-based detention
— in South Australia still leaves him in a
precarious position, according to refugee workers in a Red Cross-provided
house. He has no right to work and no right to stay
in Australia. "He is in limbo," one refugee worker said.
The stateless man — the subject of a failed deportation attempt by the
Immigration Department last year — is part of the unfi
nished story of Australia’s "boat people" era, which at its height fi ve
years ago involved 4137 asylum seekers taking this
perilous route to Australia.
He is one of 19 asylum seekers who, according to Immigration Department
figures supplied last week, arrived in Australia by
boat and remain in various forms of detention.
He is among the "too-hard" cases that remain hidden from public glare, or
in the case of newer arrivals, no longer kept in
mainland detention centres. They are instead sent to Christmas Island, or
if they failed to reach Australian shores, to
Nauru.
As the Immigration Department acknowledges on its website: "Historically,
the Australian examples of people smuggling, which
attract most media attention, have been by boat. However, the majority of
smuggling into Australia and other countries occurs
by air."
Under a push led by Liberal backbenchers last year over the prolonged stay
in detention of asylum seekers — mostly boat
arrivals — long-term detainees in Baxter found themselves suddenly handed
a bus fare to Adelaide and shown the door.
It was a process hastened by recommendations by the Commonwealth Ombudsman
who was charged with reporting on the cases of all
detainees held for more than two years.
Most were given temporary protection visas or, in the much-publicised case
of stateless Peter Qasim who was detained for more
than six years, put on return pending visas. While the department retains
the option of "removing" them if a country can be
found that will accept them, people in this category can at least start to
get on with their lives. Qasim has thrown himself
into study.
The Immigration Department has since slowly been clearing up the backlog
of "too-hard" cases. But it still has not cleared
all the asylum claims stemming from what it terms unauthorised boat arrivals.
In a sign that asylum-seeking boat arrivals understood that the department
was under a political imperative to deplete their
ranks, a number of escapees decided it was the right time to hand
themselves in.
Three longterm escapees from Port Hedland and Woomera — the Woomera
detainees having escaped when protesters pulled over part
of a fence during a demonstration on March 30, 2002 — have handed
themselves in over the past year, leaving the department
with the dilemma of how to respond to their claims.
Two remain in Sydney’s Villawood detention centre seven months after
turning themselves in and two have been placed in
community detention in NSW.
Another group "left behind" when detention centres were emptied were those
suffering the psychological impact of long-term
detention — three "broken" asylum seekers now in community detention but
with their visa status unresolved.
Others are new arrivals whose presence in Australian detention centres
would be a reminder that the issue of desperate people
who take to the seas in a bid to fi nd sanctuary in Australia has not gone
away. They are kept on Christmas Island.
There is no offi cial acknowledgement that another three asylum seekers
were able to breach Australia’s security, arriving by
boat just two weeks ago, according to Western Australia refugee advocate
Kaye Bernard.
The two middle-aged Vietnamese men and the Indonesian captain of their
boat have joined, on Christmas Island, a group of
asylum seekers from West Timor, East Timor and Palestine who arrived by boat.
The two Vietnamese men who were accorded United Nations refugee agency
refugee status after escaping from Vietnam in the
1970s, have been living in refugee camps along the Thai border. After
waiting more than 30 years in the queue — the
Government’s offshore humanitarian program — they decided to jump the
queue and get to Australia by any means.
While the number of people who seek asylum after fl ying into Australia on
either false or short-term visas does not seem to
have changed over time, The Age has noticed what may be another trend
indicating the increasing desperation of asylum seekers
to find a country to take them in — a return to stowing away or jumping ship.
Refugee advocates cited present detainee cases that included three
Tanzanians, two Moroccans, a number of other Africans
including a man from Zimbawe who is in a psychiatric ward.
Pamela Curr, co-ordinator of the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre, said in
one case of three Angolans stowaways, one died on
board ship and the crew initially threatened to throw the other two
overboard.
The refugee community was also preparing for increased pressure for
sanctuary in Australia from the Iraqis, she said.
The number of Iraqi refugees has been underestimated — with 6 million
worldwide. They are now building up in Jordan, Turkey
and Syria where they are awaiting UNHCR assessment.
The Immigration Department was asked on Tuesday for information on its own
fi gure of 19 remaining boat arrivals in
detention. Over three days it failed to adequately supply the information.
The information in this report has been compiled
form refugee advocate sources and present and former detainees.
IN VILLAWOOD DETENTION CENTRE
1. A 32-year-old man from Afghanistan. Arrived by boat in 2000. A member
of the Hazara minority, he fl ed after his brother
was taken by the Taliban. Initially detained in Woomera detention centre,
escaped in 2002; turned himself in seven months
ago. Department will not consider granting him a temporary protection visa
until Kabul confirms his identity.
2. A 30-year-old Afghan man, also a Hazara. The Immigration Department is
also waiting for his identity to be confi rmed by
authorities in Kabul.
3. A 43-year-old man from China. Arrived August 1992 and was placed in
Port Hedland detention centre. Released on a bridging
visa in 1995 while application was appealed. When that visa expired, he
was taken back into custody on February 3, 2003, and
placed in Villawood detention centre.
COMMUNITY BASED DETENTION IN NSW
4. A man who fled Iran after his family were harassed and he was shot.
Sent to Woomera, he escaped in 2002. He handed himself
in 10 months ago. He was moved from Villawood to a psychiatric hospital.
Has been granted a temporary protection visa pending
ASIO clearance.
5. An Iranian man, arrived by boat in 2000, and placed in Curtin detention
centre. Went on a hunger strike to protest against
the conditions, and was admitted to hospital. Escaped from hospital and
eventually surrendered to immigration officials three
months ago. In community detention in the Blue Mountains.
6. "Said", an Iranian longterm detainee who was transferred from Baxter to
Glenside psychiatric hosptial and later to a
private psychiatric hospital in Brisbane. Now in community detention.
COMMUNITY BASED DETENTION IN SA
7. A 33-year-old Bangladeshi man not recognised by that country. Held in
detention for six years. Diagnosed as suffering a
major depressive illness, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Removed to psychiatric hospital until the Immigration
Department tried unsuccessfully to deport him last year. He still has no
visa status.
8. Mustafa Ridwan, 23. A Muslim from Alor in West Timor, he says that he,
two brothers and a nephew fl ed Indonesia last year
because they did not want to be enlisted in anti-Christian campaigns. They
claim they had been pressured into carrying out
attacks against Christians in their village.
COMMUNITY BASED DETENTION ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND
9. Mahmud Ridwan, 30, claims to have faced religious pressure.
10. Jamal, an 18-year-old West Timorese man who is Mahmud’s nephew. Claims
to be fl eeing religious pressure.
11. Farida Ridwan, 25, wife of Mahmud.
12. Byrant Ridwan, 3, from West Timor, son of Mahmud.
13. Taufaq Ridwan, 2, from West Timor, son of Mahmud.
14. Manuel, an East Timorese man from Maliana, aged 40, who travelled to
West Papua and undertook the crossing to Australia
from there by canoe. Unable to speak English.
15. Yusef, a Palestinian man who travelled by boat to the Torres Strait
and was picked up by immigration officials on March
17.
16. A Vietnamese man, one of the most recent boat arrivals. Granted UNHCR
refugee status in the 1970s. He had reportedly been
living in a refugee camp near the Thai border since then.
17. A Vietnamese man, also with UNHCR refugee status, who spent more than
30 years living in a refugee camp near the Thai
border.
18. An Indonesian man, captain of the boat that brought the two Vietnamese
men to Australia.
IN BRISBANE
19. An Iraqi man, Mohammad Faisal, spent four years on Nauru, was accepted
as a refugee but refused a visa on security
grounds. He became suicidal and was evacuated several weeks ago to a
Brisbane psychiatric hospital.
---
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/boat-arrivals-drop/2006/10/22/1161455608882.html
Andra Jackson
October 23, 2006
THE number of asylum seekers in detention who have arrived in Australia by
boat has dwindled but the legacy of the Federal
Government's response to them is still a concern, refugee advocates say.
Only 19 asylum seekers who arrived by boat are in detention, compared with
327 about nine years ago.
The Government detention centre at Baxter, South Australia, now stands
mostly deserted with about 44 detainees, including
some who arrived by boat.
At the start of Refugee Week yesterday, the Refugee Council of Australia's
president John Gibson said: "The fact that numbers
have dwindled doesn't make mandatory detention any less reprehensible."
Mr Gibson said the council was still concerned with the continuation of
offshore processing on Nauru.
The co-ordinator of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Pamela Curr, said
about five detainees too mentally ill to stay in
detention centres were in psychiatric hospitals and two were in a hotel or
flat.
This year, the Government, through the Immigration Department, tried to
give almost 4000 people on temporary protection visas
permanency, but another 1400 were on temporary protection or humanitarian
visas with reduced rights and an uncertain future,
Ms Curr said.
Of concern to refugee groups are the 57 children who are held in places
such as community accommodation, sometimes under
guard.
Overall, there are 628 detainees, including people who have arrived by
boat, in immigration detention around Australia
including 75 in residential housing.
A quarter are illegal fishermen (mainly Indonesian) while the rest are
held for visa violations, including some who have
criminal convictions.
This was similar to the number of detainees in June 1997, but then almost
half the asylum seekers who arrived by boat, were
fleeing from unstable Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran.
At its height, the number of boat arrivals reached 4137 in 2000-01, but
dropped to zero in 2004-05.
The Government took this as proof its tougher border control stance and
its 2001 Pacific solution were acting as a deterrent.
But in the 12 months to June there was a resurgence — 56 refugees took to
boats, with 50 making it to the mainland and six
pulling ashore at excised islands off Australia.
They included asylum seekers from West Papua and Burma, showing policies
did not deter them from undertaking the risky voyage
and that refugees came from new source countries.
At the same time, Australia's offshore humanitarian refugee program has
undergone a big shift from 2001 when the largest
grouping of the 7640 placed came mainly from Africa and the former
Yugoslavia.
An Immigration Department spokeswoman said the past year marked a shift in
visa grants to the Middle East and Asia.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that over the past
five years, the world's refugee population had
fallen by a third to 8.4 million and was the lowest since 1980.
"One reason for this is that a total of 1.1 million refugees went home
voluntarily in 2005, including 752,000 to Afghanistan
and 70,000 to Liberia. Another reason … is that only 136,000 new refugees
fled to neighbouring states in 2005," a UNHCR
report said.
---
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idCategory=33&idsub=122&id=6307&t=Indonesia%
3A+Praises+for+govt's+handling+of+unrest
World: Asia
Indonesia: Praises for govt's handling of unrest
On Tuesday, Muslim vigilantes attacked police, resulting in a conflict
in which a young Muslim was killed.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
by Adrian Morgan
Poso in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, has been the scene of Muslim and
Christian sectarian conflict which was at its worst between the end of
1998 and May 2002. During that period, 1,000 people were killed. We
presented an analysis of the background of the conflict, and also noted
how sporadic incidents of violence have continued since. There have
been peaks in violence, such as at the end of Ramadan in 2005, and
again this year.
On Tuesday, Muslim vigilantes attacked police, resulting in a conflict
in which a young Muslim was killed. The Eklesia church in Gebangrejo
village in Poso had survived a bomb attack on September 30 but before 1
am on Tuesday, this church was subjected to an arson attack. The roof
was demolished, and the interior gutted. The building had been attacked
by twenty individuals on motorcycles, who had thrown molotov cocktails
and improvised explosive devices to cause the blaze.
Associated Press via the International Herald Tribune reports that
earlier today, two houses which were rented by police officers were set
alight. Rudy Sufahriadi, the police officer in charge of Poso, reported
that all national troops staying in private residences had been moved
to barracks for their safety.
Muslim leaders have demanded that troops be withdrawn from Poso
regency, or else they will paralyze the local administration and
economy.
Today, Antara News reports, the head of the 7th or Wirabuana Military
Command, Major General Arief Budi Sampurno, said that there would be no
withdrawals of its personnel from Poso. He said that their number may
even be increased.
Sampurno was speaking after a meeting with security officials and
religious figures. These included the head of the National Intelligence
Agency (BIN), Syamsir Siregar, as well as several high-ranking
officials from the military (TNI) and the Police Headquarters.
He claimed that the general situation in Poso remained peaceful. He
said: "There are no obvious signs of unrest." He blamed any movements
of dissent upon people who "are not satisfied because local security
has been tightened." Sampurno added that next month, a platoon of army
engineers would be arriving to assist in the rebuilding of 1,000 homes
which were damaged in earlier violence.
Yesterday. AKI reported on an interview with Adnan Arsal, a Muslim
leader, who claimed that police were biased towards Christians. Arsal's
group Komite Perjuangan Muslim Poso ( KPMP or Committee for the Islamic
Struggle in Poso) had been involved in the massacres of Christians on
Poso in the 1998-2002 conflict. He had also supported the executions of
three Christians, who were shot by firing squad on September 20 for
their alleged role in the violence.
Today, AKI writes of an interview it held with the founder and leader
of the now-disbanded militant group Laskar Jihad (army of holy battle).
This individual, Jafar Umar Thalib (pictured), had sent his Laskar
Jihad militias to Poso in August 2001, significantly increasing the
conflict's casualties.
He had also been responsible for much of the violence of the Moluccan
War, which took the lives of 9,000 people and will be described below.
45-year old Thalib said to AKI that "The government is on the right
path and the situation is under control." He said there was no need to
reinstate Laskar Jihad, which had voluntarily disbanded in October
2002. He said: "The decision to disband Laskar Jihad in 2002 came about
not because of external pressure but through our belief that the
government's good faith and efforts were helping to end the conflict."
Jafar Umar Thalib is an enigmatic character, but despite his history of
helping to propagate was and conflict, he is widely respected in the
Indonesian Muslim community. He has been arrested and imprisoned on
several occasions, but not once has he received any conviction for his
activities.
Thalib was born in Malang in East Java province in 1961. He is of
Yemeni and Madurese parentage. For the most part, his early life had
been spent as a teacher of Arabic and Islamic sciences in pesantren
(Islamic boarding schools) which were funded by the Al-Irsyad
Foundation. Al-Irsyad is made up mainly of Indonesians of Arabic
origin, like Thalib. The religious outlook of the pesantren schools
they sponsor is, like Thalib's, of the Wahhabist persuasion. Thalib had
studied in Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabist fundamentalism began and still
flourishes.
Already a supporter of extreme and fundamental Islamism, Jafar Umar
Thalib had gone to Afghanistan in 1988 to become a Mujahideen against
the Soviets. He went here after he had been studying at the Maududi
Institute in Lahore, Pakistan, which had been funded by the extremist
Sayyid Abul a'la Maududi (1903 - 1979). Maududi's Islamism gave rise to
the Jamaat-e-Islami parties in Pakistan and Bangladesh, which wish to
destroy democratic laws and establish sharia rule in both countries.
Jafar Umar Thalib had been taking advanced Islamic studies at the
Maududi Institute but dropped out, and moved to Afghanistan.
Like many "mujahideen" who fought in Afghanistan at this time, Thalib
claims that he met Osama bin Laden during his stay in the country.
Thalib returned to Indonesia in 1989, where he helped to run the
Al-Irsyad network of pesantren.
Thalib, like the Wahhabists, bin Laden, the followers of Maududi and
most of the Al-Irsyad, believes that nations should be under sharia
rule. Certain figures in the Indonesian political establishment feel
similarly. Thalib is said to have links to figures in the army. When he
established Laskar Jihad, he is reputed to have done so with the
backing of politicians. It appears that Thalib's "connections" have
allowed him to never receive any punishments for the horrific
atrocities carried out by his militias.
Unlike the Jemaah Islamiyah and other militant groups, Thalib believes
in Indonesia as a political entity, and his aim to establish sharia is
framed within national terms, rather than as a pan-southeast Asian
Caliphate. One major obstacle to the establishment of Sharia is the
fact that Indonesia, which has the highest number of Muslims of all
nations, is still only 85% Muslim. In Sulawesi and the Moluccas
(Malaku), a large portion of the Christian population live. In Central
Sulawesi and many of the Moluccas, the populations are split almost
evenly between Muslims and Christians.
The Moluccas were formerly the only regions where the valuable spices
of nutmeg and cloves were to be found growing on a commercial scale,
and from the 16th century onwards, Dutch, Portugese and English traders
made inroads to these islands, and they bequeathed much of their own
religious traditions to these islands. The Dutch, who controlled the
Moluccas and neighboring West Papua until the 1940s, had trained and
educated many Moluccan natives, particularly from one island, Ambon.
Indonesia came into being in 1949 under Sukharno, and as the Dutch had
virtually abandoned their colonies the Moluccas became incorporated
into the Indonesian archipelago. In 1969, the UN gave West Papua (Irian
Jaya) to Indonesia.
On Ambon, there had long been hopes for independence from Indonesia.
Under Suharto, who ruled for 21 years from 1967, discussion of
religious and ethnic differences was firmly suppressed. When Suharto
was forced to resign in 1998, the desires for independence resurfaced
in places like Ambon. Under Suharto, the ethnic and religious divisions
had been avoided on the island, via a process known as "Pela Gandung",
which encouraged alliances between villages of different faiths. This
system had been employed in the rest of Indonesia and incorporated
within the political system under the title "Pancasila", encouraging
pluralism.
The removal of Suharto from power in May 1998 unleashed the hopes of
separatist movements, such as the OPM in Irian Jaya, and in the
Moluccas, the FKM movement, led by Dr Alex Manuputty which aimed to
establish South-Moluccas Independence (RMS). In Java, this period saw
the birth of extremist Islamist groups, such as the Front Pembela Islam
(Islamic Defender's Front), which was founded in August 1998 by an
Arab-Indonesian, Habib Rizieq Shihab (aka Muhammad Rizieq).
Another Islamist group was founded in this year, the Forum Komunikasi
Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah or FKAWJ. This Sunni hardline organization
aimed to promote "true Islamic values" and rejects democracy. One its
main members was Jafar Umar Thalib. The FKAWJ rejects popular Muslim
groups (Muhammadiya and Nahdlatul Ulama), as their tolerance of
democracy and other faiths makes them heretical. It also does not allow
women positions of power. Thalib believes that its duties to women are
"to educate them and then marry them to pious men who are capable of
preventing them from falling into sin. Men's role is to supervise women
and ensure that their behaviour is properly Islamic."
Thalib has three wives, all wearing black shrouds, hijabs (headscarfs)
and niqabs (face-veils). He now has 14 children by his wives.
Ramadan came to an end in January 1999, and with it came the stability
of Ambon in the Moluccas, under their system of "Pela Gandung". It has
been argued that this outbreak of sectarian conflict had been
instigated by the military, who hoped that the weak government of
Halibi would collapse under such conflict, and could be used as an
excuse to introduce martial law.
Laskar Jihad was officially founded on January 30 2000 in Yogyakarta
(some say 1999) as the paramilitary division of the FKAWJ. Thalib
claimed that the LJ was formed after it was learned that in Malaku
province (the Moluccas), there were plans by Protestant Christians to
form a Christian state, independent of Indonesia. This was, as Thalib
perceived it, to include North Sulawesi, the Moluccas and Papua (Irian
Jaya). Thalib claimed that the Christian separatists intended to wage
war on the Muslims and drive them out in a process of "ethnic
cleansing".
While Laskar Jihad was being formed, in January 2000, an Acehnese
Islamist called Al-Chaidar organised a large Muslim rally in National
Monument Park, Jakarta, where he called for a holy war against the
Christians in Ambon. Al-Chadair has also been implicated in
anti-Christian riots which took place on Lombok (adjoining Bali) on
January 17, 2000.
FKAWJ announced that the Christians of Malaku were "kafir harbi" or
"warlike infidels", and it was Islamically justifiable to kill them. It
also said that 2000 would be the "Year of Jihad". Thalib set up Laskar
Jihad and claimed that the government of Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid
("Gus Dur", who was president from 1999 to 2001 and head of the
Nahdlatul Ulama from 1984 to 1999) was "unable or unwilling to protect
the Islamic community. If the state can't protect us then we must do it
ourselves." Wahid was the first ever elected president, but his
moderate version of Islam was viewed by Thalib as heretical. Thalib
said of his government: "It is positioned to oppress Muslim interests
and protect those of the infidels."
On April 26, 2000, Thalib and his lieutenants bragged that they had a
special relationship with the head of the TNI, Admiral Widodo. (Widodo
was charged to carry out the investigation into the Poso conflict at
the end of last year. This was challenged by Gus Dur).
Laskar Jihad, whose members wear distinctive white robes like those of
karate practitioners, became involved in a mass campaign of attack
against the Christians of the Moluccas, and are said to have forcibly
converted 3,928 Christians on six islands. During their first year they
attracted numerous new recruits, and were helped in this aim by their
publication of a magazine called "Salafy".
They were particularly active on Ambon in the Moluccas, but they also
had groups established in Papua. One trait of the Indonesian government
under Suharto had been to enforce a policy called euphemistically
"transmigration". Part of the reason for the first outbreak of
sectarian violence in the Moluccas had happened as a result of
Suharto's policies of "transmigration", where untold Muslim immgrants
had been forced onto the Moluccan communities. Many Christians (and
Muslims) had been "transmigrated" to West Papua from islands such as
Flores in East Nusa Tenherra province. Laskar Jihad also went to
Central Sulawesi. In August 2001, Thalib sent a large force of Laskar
Jihad to Poso.
But the most intense operations of Laskar Jihad were focused on Ambon,
and against the Christians who until then had lived in harmony with
their Muslim neighbours.
By April 2002, things had reached the worst point in ethnic relations
on Ambon. Dr Alex Manuputty, head of the FKM, one of the independence
groups, lived on this island.
Manuputty and his followers threatened to hoist banned flags on
Thursday, 25 April 2002, to commemorate a battle for independence which
happened on that day, 52 years earlier. Such a trivial action was
regarded by both the government and Laskar Jihad as a treasonous act.
Before the innocuous raising of flags could be made, Manaputty was
arrested on April 17, 2002, for "promoting separatism". He was later
charged with treason, and on 28 January 2003, he and his deputy Semmy
Waeleruny were given three-year jail sentences.
On Friday, April 26, after evening prayers, Jafar Umar Thalib addressed
a gathering of 5,000 Muslims outside the Al-Fatah Mosque in Ambon,
urging them to fight a holy war against the Christians. He said: "From
today, we will no longer talk about reconciliation. Our... focus now
must be preparing for war - ready your guns, spears and daggers."
On Sunday 28, militia of Laskar Jihad, also accompanied by what
appeared to be members of the army, entered the small village of Soya
on Ambon. I have seen a video of shat ensued, produced by Islamists,
and we even had it linked from Western Resistance. 21 people died, with
small children and women hacked at with machetes and decapitated, and
men beaten to death with staves, beheaded, and burned alive in their
homes. The video showed men being beaten to death, and members of the
Laskar Jihad and apparent military holding up severed heads. Children
in hospital were shown with machete wounds to their faces and arms.
Following this atrocity, Thalib was arrested on May 4, 2002, at the
town of Surabaya, the capital of East Java. He was then taken to
Jakarta to remain in custody until Thursday July 25 2002on bail. Thalib
had been charged with inciting the Soya massacre, and also insulting
President Megawati Sukarnoputri. On 30 January, 2003, Jafar Umar Thalib
was acquitted.
Early in October 2002, before his trial, Laskar Jihad was voluntarily
disbanded. It is gone, but is still a presence which could be
reactivated.
Thalib at one stage had been involved in the stoning to death of an
alleged rapist in 2001. Magazine reports had said that he had cast the
first stone. Though arrested for this act, he was never prosecuted. He
fancies himself as an Islamic intellectual, but his main role is as an
agitator and as a fighter. In 2002 in Jakarta, he was engaged in a
public debate with Nurcholish Madjid, one of Indonesia's leading
Islamic scholars. He was not able to match Madjid's intellectual
strength.
In January this year, Thalib and hundreds of his former Laskar Jihad
fighters were brought to the Al-Fatah mosque in Ambon. Here they were
given a lecture by imam and author Luqman Ba'abduh. The imam told them
over a period of two days about the Khawarij, also called the
Kharjites, a Salafist group which emerged in 657 AD in the western part
of North Africa. Members of this group slaughtered early associates of
Mohammed, such as Umar bin Khattab, Usman bin Affan and Ali bin Abi
Thalib. Their actions have been used by modern-day Salafists and others
to justify acts of terrorism.
Ironically, after the events of 9/11, Jafar Umar Thalib had condemned
his former mentor, Osama bin Laden, along with Al-Qaeda, as a
"khawarij".
---
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1933971,00.html
It's not always the fittest who survive
Benedict Allen's Into the Abyss suggests that even explorers are unaware
of their motivations, says Rebecca Seal
Sunday October 29, 2006
The Observer
Into the Abyss by Benedict Allen
Buy Into the Abyss at the Guardian bookshop
Into the Abyss: Explorers on the Edge of Survival
by Benedict Allen
Faber £17.99, pp255
For many of us, it's all but impossible to understand the drive that some
people have to traipse about in the world's most
remote and inhospitable places. Benedict Allen started exploring when he
was just 22 and from this latest book, you get the
impression that, although he's been doing it for more than two decades,
even he doesn't entirely understand what forces him
or any other explorer consciously and frequently to put themselves in
danger of death.
His intention here is to understand not the why but rather the how of
survival. Into the Abyss is really a rumination on the
nature of survival, and not simply that of explorers such as Shackleton or
Amundsen. Allen is just as interested in how
people manage to live in extreme environments that explorers merely visit.
On one of his first major expeditions Allen found himself on a trek
through West Papua, fleeing a tribe at war with the
tribesmen guiding him. Once he returned to safety, he wrote himself a 'how
to survive' list for future expeditions, of which
the first item was 'remember the importance of having a way out'.
This book is the culmination of years of thinking about this list, which
has travelled with him on all his treks, and while
it's not a how-to manual for explorers, it is a fascinating collection of
ideas about how we manage when life gets extreme.
It is riddled with information - from the history of the Chukchi people in
Siberia to excerpts from other explorers' diaries,
Geoffrey Moorhouse and Chris Bonnington among them, to the pack behaviour
of dogs and the second law of thermodynamics.
There is also an account of his last 'adventure' as he tried to cross the
Bering Straits between Siberia and Alaska, single-
handed and with nothing except a dog team: no radio, GPS or even a camera.
His description of the journey is extremely
evocative but also very wry, perhaps unusually for a man who confesses to
unswerving self-belief. Allen is perfectly aware of
the ludicrousness of this particular trip - nobody is on record as having
succeeded and, as Arctic temperatures rise year on
year, the ice he wants to cross is less and less likely to support his
weight. On the first part of the trek, he travels with
two local guides and his translator, Ivan, who quickly and aggressively
succumbs to the local habit of using vodka as a
survival tool. Once he's alone and with no communication equipment, Allen
is completely dependent on his dogs, a pack he has
borrowed from a Chukchi man who has kept his A-listers for himself,
sending Allen out into the ice-blasted tundra with the B
-team.
It is here that Allen's survival list seems at odds with his own
behaviour, which is one of the things that makes this book
so interesting. Why, if you can see the importance of having a way out,
wouldn't you attach a sealskin canoe to your sledge
to stop you from sinking if the ice breaks? Why would you travel with no
means of communication in a terrain you haven't even
slightly explored and which changes every day? Why would you manage to
lose your dogs when trying to find a better view of
the ice fields? Time and again, Allen is confronted with reasons not to
continue yet ploughs on regardless, even when he gets
frostbite in all his fingers.
This is the paradox that runs through the book - Allen doesn't seem to
know why he is doing what he is doing and he is as
scared as any of the rest of us would be by the prospect of polar bears in
the ice or of being trapped in a snow storm. And
although he is concentrating on not revisiting past mistakes, and on
following the rules in his list, he does seem to manage
to make a lot of new and inventive mistakes. Fortunately, he writes his
confusion beautifully, so even though, in the end,
you're not much clearer on how humans survive extremes, you are at least
clear, that, like Allen, we seem to have an enormous
capacity to do so.
---
http://www.mineweb.net/int_beat/344903.htm
International Beat
China signs MOU with Indonesia to diversify energy supply
By: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: '30-OCT-06 08:00' GMT © Mineweb 1997-2006
RENO, NV (Mineweb.com) --China and Indonesia Saturday signed a memorandum
of understanding to expand bilateral cooperation in
the energy and mineral sectors.
Indonesian President Susilo Yudhoyono and Chinese Vice Premier Huang Ju
attended the signing ceremony in Shanghai at the
second Sino-Indonesia energy forum.
Earlier this year, China and Indonesia agreed that Indonesia’s Tangguh gas
field will provide liquefied natural gas (LNG)
yearly to southeastern China’s Fujian Province from 2009 to 2034.
Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of LNG. A Chinese
commitment to purchase gas supplies could generate $50 million to $80
billion in revenues over the long run, according to
industry experts.
The China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has drafted framework
agreements to purchase LNG from three foreign energy
suppliers to diversify China’s energy supply and relieve its heavy
dependence on coal and oil, particularly oil from the
Middle East. China also hopes to find a replacement for the 70% of the
coal mined energy now being consumed by the nation.
CNOOC plans to build as many as seven LNG terminals in six provinces and
municipalities.
The Tangguh natural gas field lies in Bintuni Bay in the province of West
Irian Jaya. It is being developed by a consortium
of international companies, including BP, CNOOC and Mitsubishi. Production
is planned to begin in the second half of 2008.
Natural gas from the field will be liquefied and transported to customers
in China, Japan, and South Korea.
Huang said that “win-win economic cooperation is the foundation” of the
partnership between Indonesia and China. However, the
contents of the agreement were not made public.
---
http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=22172
Muslims to create peaceful zone in Papua
Jayapura (ANTARA News) - Muslims in Indonesia`s easternmost porvince of
Papua are committed to turning the province into a peaceful zone, local
Muslim figures said here on Tuesday.
After performing Idul Fitri prayer at Jayapura Grand Mosque here, Hi
Ridwan and Hi Udin said the Muslims in Papua, especially in capital
Jayapura, were committed to maintainig religious harmony in the province.
The made the statement in a bid to uphold a declaration made by the
leaders of five major religions in Papua to make the province a peaceful
zone in the country.
Both Hi Ridwan and Hi Udin also called on the Muslims and the people in
other parts across the country not to be easily provoked by irresponsible
parties or groups who intentionally create disorder in the community.
"If ever a party or a group of people who dare to create chaos in Papua,
the Muslims here will arrest them and bring them to court to undergo
existing legal process in the country," Ridwan and Udin noted.
The prayer that started at 7 a.m. local time was led by Adrus Al-Hamid,
chief of provincial religious affairs ministry office.
Meanwhile in his sermon, Moh Habib, the dean of Jayapura Al-Fatah State
Islamic College, called on the Muslims in the city to coexist in perfect
harmony with people of other faiths. (*)
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