[Kabar-Irian] News: June 1-6 2007
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KABAR IRIAN NEWS
June 1-6 (Plus some missed from may)
TOPICS
* PDI-P to visit U.S. Democrats
* Papua’s Tangguh LNG plant on track for 2008 opening
* Navy plane overshoots runway
* A commitment to human rights?
* Right on cue, Bible-based ordinances appear
* Papua sets up anti-graft forum
* Indonesian Kangaroos to Gain Freedom
* Indonesia's rainforest could be gone by 2022
* Indonesia offers LNG supplies to Japan, RoK
* Rare pygmy kangaroos to return to Papua
* Papua governor heads out on ambitious 2,600-kampong tour
* Papua churches powerful source for preventing HIV and AIDS
* A pagan passion for the wilderness
* Separatist groups keep eye on Kosovo
* INDONESIA: U.N. REPRESENTATIVE VISITS TO CHECK HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION
* A Lobbying Bonanza
* Intelligence operation to fight NGOs campaign in Papua
* Freeport-McMoRan Exec Sells Shares
* BIAK TO BECOME AN INDONESIAN MILITARY BASE EI
* OTSUS has failed
* MILITARY OPERATIONS IN WEST PAPUA...
* Vanuatu West Papuan office raises concern over alleged repatriation
collaboration
* Tangguh Independent Advisory Panel
* Legislators commend intelligence campaign
* Tangguh - adapting to the West Papuan context?
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070531.H06&irec=5
PDI-P to visit U.S. Democrats
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) will send a delegation
to the United States to
discuss with U.S. Democrats Indonesia's territorial sovereignty and
international issues such as Iran, Iraq
and Palestine.
Pramono Anung Wibowo, PDI-P secretary general, said in a press conference
Wednesday at party
headquarters in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta, that he and senior party
figure Taufik Kiemas would lead
the eight-member delegation to the U.S. from June 1-10.
The delegates are scheduled to meet several outspoken Democrats from the
U.S. Senate as well as the
UN Security Council to discuss Indonesia's sovereignty over the troubled
provinces of Papua and Aceh
and the controversial UN resolution imposing sanctions on Iran.
"The issue on Papua will be discussed with Senator Barack Obama,
opposition leader Harry Reid and
other senators such as Richard Lugar, Kit Bond and Daniel Inouye," Pramono
said. "We will also
evaluate the operation of giant copper and gold mining company PT Freeport
McMoran Indonesia, which
has contributed less to Papuan people."
Pramono said the delegation would also work to convince the Democrats of
Indonesia's full support for
the establishment of a Palestinian state, in addition to Indonesia's
strong endorsement of U.S.-led troop
withdrawals from Iraq and Iran's right to develop nuclear technology for
its people.
"Like in other nations, Palestinian people have their own rights to have
their independent state and this
should be taken as a central issue and a preliminary requirement for a
comprehensive solution to the
Middle East issue.
"We also want to convince the Democratic senators that the presence of
foreign forces in Iraq has
brought no peace there and that Washington cannot use force through the UN
resolution to have Iran
open up over its nuclear technology," he said.
Budiman Sudjatmiko, who accompanied Pramono at the press conference, said
the delegation would also
lobby the Democratic Party to press American companies such as Freeport,
Chevron and ExxonMobil to
pay greater attention to the environment and the empowerment of locals at
their mining sites in Indonesia.
Andreas Parera, a PDI-P legislator with the House of Representatives
Commission I for defense and
foreign affairs, said his delegation would share information with
Democratic senators and legislators on
pro-poor budgetary policies and other social problems Indonesia has
prioritized. (JP/Ridwan Max Sijabat)
---
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=32654
Radio New Zealand International
The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific
Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa
Papua’s Tangguh LNG plant on track for 2008 opening
Posted at 22:27 on 30 May, 2007 UTC
Papua’s Tangguh liquefied natural gas plant that has reserves of more than
14 trillion cubic feet of LNG,
is entering the final phase of construction and is on track for operations
to commence in late 2008.
The Jakarta Post reports construction of the plant, to be operated by a
consortium led by BP Indonesia,
was over 70-percent complete already.
It also said drilling operations were scheduled to commence in late May.
BP Indonesia president director, John Minge, said the company would start
drilling the first of 15 planned
wells, to be completed within the next 18 months in early June.
He also said the company was in discussions with a group of investors to
complete the building of the
complex.
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070531.G10&irec=9
Navy plane overshoots runway
JAYAPURA, Papua: A Navy aircraft overshot the runway as it landed at
Oksibil Airport in Pegunungan
Bintang regency, in Papua, on Wednesday morning.
The Cassa 212 pilot, First Lt. Hidayat Marpaung, and co-pilot First Lt.
Sahid B. landed the plane at the
300-meter mark of the 900-meter runway and then overshot it by 20 meters.
The plane was carrying one ton of food supplies for soldiers from the
521st Company of the East Java
Brawijaya Military Command. Two mechanics were also on the plane.
"There were no casualties but the plane has incurred damage to its front
wheel and left wing...repairs are
needed before it can fly again," Pegunungan Bintang Transportation Office
head J. Duma Roni told The
Jakarta Post by phone from Jayapura. - JP
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20070531.E04&irec=3
A commitment to human rights?
Atnike Nova Sigiro, London
During a recent UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Indonesia was
re-elected a member for
the period 2007-2010, receiving the second most number of votes. In terms
of international human rights
diplomacy, this was a moment of success for the government.
Indonesia has gained international recognition for the ability to
transform itself into a democratic nation,
following the fall of Soeharto in 1998, who ruled the country with an
iron-fist for more than 32 years.
After 1998, Indonesia adopted and ratified international covenants and
this played an important role in
creating a good image for the government in gaining international praise.
It is worth noting that in the
years following the Bill of Rights, the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
were also adopted by
Indonesia's government.
These initiatives added Indonesia to the list of nations committed to
upholding human rights, through the
adoption of international human rights norms by its national political
system.
However, this "progress" ended up in direct opposition to the reality of
the fulfillment of human rights
protection and respect at the national level. Evidence that indicates a
lack of quality in the Indonesian
human rights ad hoc court on East Timor has been acknowledged by the UN
Commission of Experts in
their report, which was authorized by the previous UN secretary-general,
Kofi Annan, in 2005.
Instead of improving the quality of the legal system, Indonesia chose to
settle bilateral initiatives with East
Timor through the establishment of the Commission of Truth and Friendship
(CTF). The CTF initiative was
regarded by several international human rights organizations as
jeopardizing international human rights
standards, especially since Indonesia, as a member of the UN Human Rights
Council, supported the
international mechanism on human rights.
A lack of commitment also appears to have stagnated various proceedings on
domestic human rights
cases. There is quite a long list of unresolved cases, including the human
rights ad hoc court on Tanjung
Priok; Abepura's human rights court; the Trisakti and Semanggi cases; the
human rights investigation
team on disappearances; neglect of the Talangsari case; and human rights
violations of 1965.
The human rights agenda, which was previously open for debate, seems to
have disappeared somewhat
from government commitments. Following the abolishment of law no. 27,
2004, on the establishment of the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) by the Constitutional Court in
2006, there have been no
significant indications of the consequences from the government.
It is clear that the cancellation of this law will cause much anguish for
victims of past human rights
violations. It also impedes a previous commitment to set up a TRC for Aceh
and Papua.
The worst possible result is that expectations for institutional reform of
the political and militaristic system
-- that has seen the dignity of so many victims sacrificed and caused
segregation in society -- have
become less promising.
Although Indonesia has ratified several international human rights
covenants, the commitment to
implement these covenants is still disputable.
Human rights protection is not merely the adoption of a covenant, but most
importantly is the initiative to
implement it. Government commitments for the implementation of the ICESCR
are still questionable. For
example, what has the government done to support the victims and
communities whose lives have been
devastated by the Sidoarjo disaster?
Furthermore, does the government have any specific plan to provide social
rights to their citizens? The
implementation of the ICESCR relies much on the gradual and positive
action of the state.
In conclusion, the re-election of Indonesia as a member of the UN Human
Rights Council does not
automatically mean that Indonesia is a success story. It should be seen as
a means by which to re-
question how the government should handle human rights violations in the
national system.
Human rights is not about the international recognition that Indonesia
receives by signing covenants, nor
is it a means by which to gain an important position at the international
level. It is about making every
effort possible to implement human rights values in our daily social and
political agenda as a nation, and
finishing the work left over by the legacy of human rights violations that
occurred during the period of
authoritarian rule.
The writer is a member of staff at the Institute for Policy Research and
Advocacy (ELSAM), in Jakarta.
He is currently studying for his master's degree in social policy and
development at the London School of
Economics and Political Science (LSE), in London.
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20070602.A04&irec=3
Right on cue, Bible-based ordinances appear
Pandaya, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
What people have long feared about a chain reaction from the government's
failure to respond to sharia
bylaws in regencies and cities is becoming a reality, starting with the
predominantly Christian regency of
Manokwari.
Local politicians in the West Papuan capital are working on an ordinance
based on the Bible, braving
protests and objections from all quarters, including the highest church
authorities in Jakarta.
Among the hottest issues in the draft ordinance is a public ban on
non-Christian religious clothing, a
clause that has understandably provoked anger from Muslim leaders. This
reaction is particularly
interesting because in other regions where sharia-based bylaws prevail,
such as in Aceh and West
Sumatra, non-Muslim women are tacitly required to wear Muslim dress for
the sake of mutual respect.
The Papuan politicians' determination sounds facetious because
Christianity has long abandoned the
idea of mixing up religion and politics. It's frivolous to think that
modern Manokwari politicians are not
aware of that. And if they do know it, why do they risk being a butt of
jokes and condemnation?
If you asked the politicians, the likely answer would be that Manokwari is
"predominantly Christian". So
why not adopt Bible-based ordinances, exactly the way many
predominantly-Muslim areas are embracing
sharia-styled bylaws?
In fact, a predominantly Christian area adopting such a Bible-inspired
bylaw has long been anticipated
with fear ever since more and more localities began introducing morality
regulations on the grounds that
the bulk of their population is Muslim. Despite all the warnings that
religious-inspired bylaws could trigger
civil conflicts leading to the country's breakup, the central government
has been turning a blind eye to the
controversial trend.
The Manokwari council's plan has met with rejection from the Indonesian
Bishops Conference and
Communion of Indonesian Churches for obvious reasons, but there has been
no formal, public response
from the Home Affairs Ministry, the highest authority in public
administration. Perhaps the minister is
unsure what to say. If Muslim politicians are free to draft sharia bylaws,
why should Christians, and
probably later Hindus, be treated differently?
Until it's proven otherwise, let's take the Manokwari politicians'
proposal as a completely serious plan.
What else is more serious than politics?
In this light, the Manokwari legal draft is just the latest example of how
religious extremism combined with
political fanaticism is threatening the multi-ethnic, multi-religious and
multi-cultural fabric of this nation.
Without a doubt, Indonesia's state philosophy of Pancasila recognizes the
beauty of pluralism as the
state driving force in nurturing unity.
Religious leaders in favor of religious-based laws cleverly argue that the
introduction of sharia ordinances
is simply a correct implementation of the first of Pancasila's five
tenets, belief in God the Almighty. They
have been playing down the long-term consequences of applying a
religiously uniform norm, denying the
minority of their basic rights.
Religious extremism has been flourishing since the fall of strongman
Soeharto in 1998, exploiting the
weak leadership of his successors. At the national level, Islamic
political parties are pushing for an anti-
pornography law, which has been shelved for the moment due to widespread
protests from women and
pro-democracy activists.
Some devout people say the morality ordinances are necessary because of
what they see as declining
morality in the face of globalization. But it's strange, again, that those
preaching morality do not target
issues of common concern, such as the corruption and banditry that plague
government and society.
At the height of the debate over the pornography bill last year, a
well-known dangdut singer notorious for
polygamy and dumping his older wives for a younger ones left his audience
speechless -- not knowing if
they should laugh or cry -- when he preached at House of Representatives
legislators about how
important the bill would be in safeguarding the nation's morality.
The central government's inaction against the politicization of religion
is undoubtedly dangerous. The
proposed Bible-based bylaw in Manokwari and a host of sharia-inspired
ordinances elsewhere are ticking
like time bombs amid the simmering sectarian conflicts in Ambon and Poso
and smaller-scale tensions in
other areas.
It was alarming to hear that the Constitutional Court had rejected
activists' plea for a review of sharia-
based bylaws in Tangerang, arguing that the ordinances were not in
conflict with the Constitution or any
other law. It seems that someday, when it's too late, the state will be
guilty by omission.
While waiting for the Ten Commandments to make their way into the secular
legal system and Ave Maria
to be sung in formal ceremonies in place of Indonesia Raya in Manokwari,
I'm also wondering whether
Manado and Maluku Christian politicians will follow suit, or whether
predominantly Hindu Bali will pursue
its own religious bylaws.
The writer can be reached at pandaya@thejakartapost.com
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070604.G09&irec=8
Papua sets up anti-graft forum
JAYAPURA, Papua: The provincial administration here has set up a body to
prevent corruption and
prosecute those involved in the practice.
Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu publicly announced the establishment of the
Corruption Prevention and
Eradication Communication Forum, or Cetastopikorda, during a breakfast
meeting at Gedung Negara in
Jayapura on Thursday.
Suebu said the new body would coordinate between law enforcement agencies
in following up on graft
cases investigated by the Development Finance Comptroller, or on graft
reports filed by the public.
Suebu will act as an adviser to the forum, the deputy governor will be on
the board of executives and the
provincial police chief will head the forum.
Funding for the body will come from the provincial budget. One of its jobs
will be to familiarize the public
with corruption laws in an effort to help prevent the practice.
"Instead of wasting our energy chasing corruption offenders, we must make
an effort to minimize the
number of offenders," said Suebu.
The forum also will set up facilities to allow members of the public to
send in graft reports. -- JP
---
http://www.townhall.com/News/NewsArticle.aspx?contentGUID=61d55bbc-546c-4607-b560-643ddf92ab92
Indonesian Kangaroos to Gain Freedom
Monday, June 4, 2007
Indonesia is returning 17 rare pygmy kangaroos to the Papuan rain forest
after rescuing and acquiring
them in recent years from illegal traders and private zoos, officials said
Monday. It is unknown how many
of the mammals, which can grow up to a yard long and weigh 26 pounds,
still survive in the wild.
The 17 animals being released were born to six males and females cared for
by the Cikananga Animal
Rescue Center on West Java where they have been reared to survive in their
natural habitat, said
spokesman Resit Sozer.
Two Dusky Pademelons, a miniature species of kangaroo, sit in a cage
before being repatriated to West
Papua Monday June 4, 2007 in Jakarta, Indonesia. 17 of the protected
animals were found being kept as
pets or by illegal wildlife traders in Jakarta and will be sent back to
their native environment in heavily
jungled West Papua.(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
They will gain their freedom on Tuesday, but will face predators such as
giant pythons and local
poachers who eat their meat or sell their hides.
The World Conservation Union has placed the species in its "vulnerable"
category, meaning they face a
high risk of extinction in the medium-term. The organization has not
specified the estimated time period.
The trade in rare and exotic animals from Papua and other areas of
Indonesia is rampant, due largely to
poor law enforcement. Rapid deforestation and commercial development also
threaten species such as
the Sumatran tiger, elephant, rhino and orangutan.
"Illegal trade can't be stopped without the cooperation of buyers and
neighboring countries. If the buying
continues, we will never be able to stop it," said Adi Susmianto, a senior
official at the Forest Ministry.
Little is known about the kangaroos, known as dusky pademelons, or
Thylogale brunii. They belong to a
family of seven kangaroo-like mammals. The Indonesian kangaroos are
generally found in forests in the
southeastern coast of the island of Papua, split between Indonesia's West
Papua and Papua New
Guinea.
---
http://www.plentymag.com/news/2007/06/indonesias_rainforest_could_be.php
Jun 4, 2007)
Indonesia's rainforest could be gone by 2022
By Mita Valina Liem
>From Reuters
JAKARTA (Reuters) - It's one of the few countries that still has vast
swathes of tropical rainforests left.
But conservationists say maybe not for long.
Indonesia's rainforests -- especially those on Borneo island -- are being
stripped so rapidly because of
illegal logging and palm oil plantations for bio-fuels, they could be
wiped out altogether within the next 15
years, some environmentalists say.
"Sixty percent of the protected and conservation areas are already badly
damaged due to illegal logging
and palm oil plantations," Rully Sumada, a forestry expert with Indonesian
environmental group Walhi,
told Reuters.
"The deforestation speed is 2.8 million hectares a year. At this rate, by
2012 the forests in Sumatra,
Borneo and Sulawesi will be gone, only the forests in Papua will be left.
And if cutting of trees carries on,
no forest will be left by 2022."
Indonesia has a total forest area of more than 225 million acres, or about
10 percent of the world's
remaining tropical forest, according to Rainforestweb.org, a portal on
rainforests
(www.rainforestweb.org).
But the tropical Southeast Asian country -- whose forests are a treasure
trove of plant and animal species
including the endangered orangutans -- has already lost an estimated 72
percent of its original frontier
forest.
The biggest threat to the forests of Borneo, and also Aceh on the
northernmost tip of Sumatra island, is
from illegal logging.
A recent report by the Environmental Investigation Agency and
Indonesia-based Telapak said that
Malaysia and China were major recipients of stolen Indonesian timber and
that shipping companies from
Singapore carried such wood overseas.
CHINA INDUSTRY COMPLICIT
Greenpeace's China office said China's timber industry was complicit in
the illegal felling of Indonesia
and Papua New Guinea's merbau trees, with logs then smuggled to China and
processed and exported
as floorboards and high-end furnishings to the United States, Canada,
Australia and Europe.
Merbau is a resilient red hardwood, one of the most valuable in Southeast
Asia.
China's Foreign Ministry brushed away accusations that the country's
demand for timber was hastening
the destruction of Southeast Asian forests, saying it had a strict system
of supervision and management
of timber and timber product imports."
"The effects of deforestation are crystal clear. Bio-diversity will be
destroyed," Masnellyarti Hilman, a
deputy minister in Indonesia's environment ministry, told Reuters.
"Not to mention floods, landslides. We see them as a result of massive
deforestation by people who do
not care about its impact. Although they actually know that one of the
conditions to fulfill before cutting
trees down is to re-plant, some do, some don't."
ORANGUTANS IN PERIL
Environmentalists say Indonesia has also lost vast amounts of forest land
to feed growing global demand
for bio-fuels as an alternative source of energy.
The world's second largest palm oil producer already has around 5 million
hectares of land planted with
oil palm and the government aims to develop between 2-3 million hectares
more of oil plantations
nationwide by 2010.
Environmentalists say the slash-and-burn technique used to speed up the
clearing of land for plantations
sends huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and is also
destroying several endangered
species such as the orangutan and the Sumatran tiger.
According to a recent U.N report compiled using new satellite images and
Indonesian government data,
orangutan habitat is being lost 30 percent quicker than was previously
feared.
It was estimated in 2002 about 60,000 of the shaggy ginger primates were
left in the jungles of Borneo
and Sumatra. Some ecologists say the number has now been halved and others
say the species could be
extinct in 20 years.
Indonesia says government policy is to preserve virgin forest and expand
palm plantations on degraded
and abandoned land that has already been cleared.
Indonesia's government has deployed the military on at least three
occasions in recent years to
confiscate timber and chase loggers out of its parks -- and has begun
training quick response ranger
teams to police protected areas.
But experts say the new units remain crippled by a lack of funds,
vehicles, weapons and equipment, and
face a huge threat from ruthless loggers.
"We allow people to open palm oil plantations as long as they replant.
Palm oil plantations open a wide
range of jobs but they must not do that in conservation areas," Hilman said.
The palm oil industry defends itself and its methods.
"If there are some endangered species in the area or an area is of high
conservation value, then it will
not be opened for plantations," Derom Bangun, executive chairman of the
Indonesian Palm Oil Producers
Association, told Reuters.
"The government has classified areas and has rules and we obey them. It is
not what people from outside
think that we just come, clear land and burn."
(c) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of
Reuters content, including by
caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the
prior written consent of Reuters.
Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and
trademarks of the Reuters group of
companies around the world.
Posted on Jun 4, 2007 at 8:28 AM
---
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200706050390.htm
Indonesia offers LNG supplies to Japan, RoK
JAKARTA, June 5 (Xinhua): Indonesia is offering liquefied natural gas
(LNG) supplies to Japan and
South Korea from its largest natural gas field of Tanggguh in Papua
province, local press said Monday.
LNG supplies to the two countries will consume half of the production in
Tangguh, reported leading
economic daily Bisnis Indonesia.
The move came amid intense talks between Japan and Indonesia on the
continuation of LNG supplies as
most supply contracts with Japanese firms expire between 2010 and 2015.
Japan agreed to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in exchange
for the LNG supplies, the
daily said.
"We need investment from (Japan), they need our energy source,"
Vice-President, Jusuf Kalla, was
quoted as saying recently.
Indonesia is the largest LNG supplier to Japan with export reaching 15.5
million tons a year.
---
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=271133
Rare pygmy kangaroos to return to Papua
Monday Jun 4 22:54 AEST
AP - Indonesia is returning 17 rare pygmy kangaroos to the Papuan rain
forest after rescuing and
acquiring them in recent years from illegal traders and private zoos,
officials say.
It is unknown how many of the mammals, which can grow up to a metre long
and weigh 12 kilograms, still
survive in the wild.
The 17 animals being released were born to six males and females cared for
by the Cikananga Animal
Rescue Centre on West Java where they have been reared to survive in their
natural habitat, said
spokesman Resit Sozer.
They will gain their freedom on Tuesday, but will face predators such as
giant pythons and local
poachers who eat their meat or sell their hides.
The World Conservation Union has placed the species in its "vulnerable"
category, meaning they face a
high risk of extinction in the medium-term. The organisation has not
specified the estimated time period.
The trade in rare and exotic animals from Papua and other areas of
Indonesia is rampant, due largely to
poor law enforcement. Rapid deforestation and commercial development also
threaten species such as
the Sumatran tiger, elephant, rhino and orangutan.
"Illegal trade can't be stopped without the cooperation of buyers and
neighbouring countries. If the buying
continues, we will never be able to stop it," said Adi Susmianto, a senior
official at the Forest Ministry.
Little is known about the kangaroos, known as dusky pademelons, or
Thylogale brunii. They belong to a
family of seven kangaroo-like mammals. The Indonesian kangaroos are
generally found in forests in the
southeastern coast of the island of Papua, split between Indonesia's West
Papua and Papua New
Guinea.
©AAP 2007
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20070605.G03&irec=2
Papua governor heads out on ambitious 2,600-kampong tour
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post/Jayapura
Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu was in Bosnik kampong in Biak Numfor regency
on Monday as part of
a planned tour of 2,600 kampongs in Papua to discuss a new grassroots
financing plan.
A similar tour is being undertaken by West Papua Governor Abraham O.
Atururi, who will visit 1,700
kampongs in the new province.
Suebu will be unable to visit every kampong in Papua, but the governor
says he will attempt to organize
meetings with representatives of those kampongs not on his itinerary.
The governor has arranged the tour to discuss his administration's plan to
disburse Rp 100 million
(US$11,100) to each kampong.
At each stop Suebu will be accompanied by local regents and officials of
government agencies, who will
offer information on the money and how kampongs are expected to manage the
funds.
Governor Suebu is scheduled to make his last visit July 15 at Skouw
kampong, near the border with
Papua New Guinea, not far from the Papua provincial capital of Jayapura.
Deputy Governor Alex Hesegem will then take over, visiting kampongs
through the end of August.
Suebu began realigning the provincial budget earlier this, allocating a
large portion of the budget for
grassroots empowerment programs.
Only a small portion of the budget has been earmarked to fund the
operation of government offices.
This is a complete reversal from previous budgets, where much of the money
went to funding the state
apparatus.
Papua passed a Rp 5.3 trillion budget for 2007, with Rp 3.2 trillion of
that money special autonomy funds
from the central government.
Forty-five percent of the budget has been earmarked for people empowerment
programs, 28 percent for
the development of infrastructure and the remaining 27 percent for funding
the state apparatus.
"Such a spending balance is a first for Papua province," Suebu said.
--
http://www.mcc.org/news/news/article.html?id=191
Papua churches powerful source for preventing HIV and AIDS
Julie DeLuca
June 5, 2007
Traveling door to door or just talking to people they meet along the
street, HIV and AIDS trainers Ibu Lis
and Ibu Yohanna have an important message for friends and strangers.
According to UNAIDS, the tropical province of Papua in Indonesia faces one
of the most serious HIV
epidemics in the entire Asia–Pacific region.
These women are on a vital quest to educate their communities, holding the
belief that the church is a
potentially powerful source to help prevent the spread of HIV.
“Sometimes we have to journey a long way. The transportation is difficult
and the roads aren’t very good.
[But] I feel very wrong if I don’t share what I’ve learned,” says Ibu
Yohanna.
MCC’s partner Bethesda Health Organization began Sexual Health training in
Papua for provincial church
leaders in 2006. Previously, Bethesda worked hard to inform people about
AIDS. Today they address
AIDS in the context of broad issues including sexuality and healthy
relationships.
A District Liaison Officer for the program helps to adjust training
materials to avoid offending local
sensitivities. Their goal is to respect local cultures as they inform them
about relationships, HIV and
AIDS.
Six months after the training, 40 pastors and lay leaders gathered to
discuss their experiences of
teaching sexual health, HIV and AIDS in their congregations. One leader
expressed her concern for
speaking on sexual health from the pulpit. “Even if we want to, our
congregations would protest,” she said.
Pak Benn, a trainer from Bethesda, inspired the leaders to extend the
mission beyond their church walls.
He said, “We are the church. Everything that we do, every day, is the
church. If you can't talk about this
on Sundays, talk about it with your neighbors, your friends, your men's
meetings, your youth meetings,
when you go the market, in the bus!”
Ibu Lis and Ibu Yohanna, who attended the training, do that by acting as
field workers for the program.
“We as teachers for the young people in our churches and in our families
can come alongside them with
the word of God. I hope to spread the information … so that [what] we gain
is not in vain,” Ibu Lis says.
Both women stress the message to be careful. According to Ibu Yohanna, the
women she educates are
often afraid because they do not understand the causes of HIV. Teaching
them about HIV and AIDS and
healthy relationships increases their courage to make good choices.
“I tell them to be careful,” says Ibu Yohanna. “We are very thankful
because we have received the
training which allows us to bring this experience to people. This training
and information has been very
important for me.”
MCC in Indonesia
Julie DeLuca is a writer for Mennonite Central Committee.
---
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/05/31/bogri27.xml
A pagan passion for the wilderness
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 31/05/2007
Jeremy Seal reviews Wild: An Elemental Journey by Jay Griffiths
Jay Griffiths' remarkable book explores the relationship between the
world's great wildernesses and the
wildness within the human spirit, each as precious as the other but both
under sustained assault from
'civilised society'.
An impassioned meditation and world-roving travelogue, Wild is at once
exhilarating, exasperating and
occasionally plain wonky, with a style quite as out there as its subject.
That much is clear from page two,
where Griffiths appeals to the 'feral angel' she sees lurking in all of
us. 'Feral', as she explains with
characteristic candour, 'in pheromone and intuition, feral in our sweat
and fear, feral in tongue and
language, feral in c--- and c---'.
advertisement
That kind of feral, then. Wild is certainly high-risk stuff, thrumming
with unbridled erotic charge and
exuberant to the point of self-indulgence. But it is also learned and
poetically pagan, its every sense
(particularly sight and hearing, and most definitely touch) alive to the
natural world.
The book not only sustains with remarkable conviction and descriptive
energy its central assertion, that
nature is 'the longest love affair we humans have ever known', but also
delivers a blistering critique of
Western cultural presumption. For what Griffiths calls 'the settled, in
their suburbs, steeped in that
stagnant and tepid sink', living what she mercilessly describes as 'an
index-linked nap between two
sleeps', this book may prove a landmark wake-up call.
Wild is as much a stray in its mongrel composition, with nature-writing,
memoir, anthropology, folklore,
etymology, full-blooded feminist censure and anti-establishment rage also
spilling from its pages. It maps
a geographical and emotional journey of extraordinary range, one which
Griffiths orders, at least
notionally, by planning her travels according to the four classical
elements - 'earth, air, fire and water, but
adding ice as if it were an element in its own right'.
'Earth' takes Griffiths to the Peruvian Amazon where her experiences
include drinking hallucinogenic
ayahuasca with shamans; 'Ice' to the Canadian Arctic where she hunts
beluga whales and seals with the
Inuit. 'Air', set in the mountain uplands of West Papua (Irian Jaya), has
her rage against the murderous
Indonesian occupation while the desert landscapes of Central Australia's
MacDonnell Ranges bring her,
quite literally, to orgasmic exultation.
These characteristic giddy swoops - from ecstatic, kit-off moments in the
wilderness to unsparing
cameos on the plight of the world's dispossessed, often drink-sodden
indigenous peoples - frame a
powerful polemic against Colonialism, Christianity and Consumerism; the
'white lawmakers' who have
brought cultural trauma to the Inuit communities of Nunavut, with their
'chronic gas sniffers' and suicide
rates five times the national average; the missionaries with their
ridiculous cultural and sexual strictures -
hence the 'missionary position' - who have destroyed the 'gentle, deep
knowledge' of the Amazon's
Aguaruna people; the rapacious loggers, mining companies, pharmaceutical
companies and the golf-
course developers; and even the hapless fellow-trekker with whom the
author falls out on a punishing hike
in West Papua.
Even so, it's linguistic brio even more than political passion which
really distinguishes Wild. Griffiths
writes quite wonderfully of 'the most rapturous delight our species has
ever known, as we leapt into
language and realised that we could make the air ring with the sound of
our inner minds', and the way
she pursues words to their revealing origins is a particular pleasure.
She shows how the roots of 'wild' itself lie in the idea of self-will,
which in turn inspires a typically
felicitous word-play reminiscent of Gerard Manley Hopkins: 'What is wild
is not tilled. Self-willed land does
what it likes, untilled, untold, while tilled land is told what to do.'
Verbal reworkings include 'destoryed' to
evoke the way the very meaning of the songline-strewn Aboriginal lands was
destroyed 'by removing or
exterminating the people who knew the story and sang it'.
She coins 'phlagpole' to evoke the subtext - sexual conquest - which she
not surprisingly divines behind
the planting on mountain tops of national colours. She refers,
witheringly, to the 'inauspices of the United
Nations'. ( What surprised me, after all this and in this paean to
instinct, was that the Inuit never got to
intuit.)
Wild is sure to irk readers. The sexual analogy may strike some as
relentless, even downright strained
when bush fire is described as 'f-----g all the tinder in sight,
pants-down, leg-over, hot-humping
branches'. I also wonder how many would back Griffiths's claim that the
'ship, addressed as "she", is the
perfect female to the misogynist mind; obedient, silent, never answers
back' against an alternative at once
more generous and convincing; that what most of us see as 'female' in
ships is that they are beautiful and
we men lose our their hearts to them.
Even so, nobody can fail to be enriched by this book's wealth of
observation and description, from the
igloo windows made from the 'intestines of the bearded seal' to the sun as
'the founding fire of all life,
lighting quiet green candles of chlorophyll the world over'.
But more than anything Wild is a memorable appeal to live for the now, and
in the fullness of the senses.
And to recognise, as Griffiths does, that nothing nourishes human beings
like their 'knowledge of how the
land lies and where they stand within it'.
---
http://www.serbianna.com/news/2007/01768.shtml
Separatist groups keep eye on Kosovo
BRUSSELS (AP) -- From the jungles of Indonesia to Spain's Basque country,
separatist movements
around the world are drawing hope from a proposal before the U.N. Security
Council that would give
Kosovo functional independence from Serbia.
"The Kosovo precedent will be important for us," said Igor Smirnov, leader
of the Trans-Dniester region
that seeks to break away from Moldova, a small country wedged between
Romania and Ukraine. He
maintains that his tiny enclave has an even better case for independence
than Kosovo.
Another hopeful Kosovo-watcher is the Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq.
Serbs from Kosovo expelled by Muslim Albanians who seek to establish
ethnically and a religiously pure
Muslim Albanian province.
"It's important that Kosovo achieves independence through a U.N. Security
Council resolution, because
that will establish a legal principle which will also some day apply to
Kurdistan," said Mahmoud Othman, a
senior Kurdish member of the Iraqi parliament.
The United States and European Union, which are backing a proposal by
Finnish envoy Martti Ahtisaari
to grant "supervised independence" to the predominantly ethnic-Albanian
province of Serbia, dismiss
suggestions that it would encourage separatist movements elsewhere.
But the Ahtisaari plan is strongly opposed by both Serbia and Russia, its
traditional ally, which argue that
the province is sovereign Serbian territory and cannot be taken away
without Belgrade's consent. Russia
has sharply criticized the plan, but has not revealed whether it is
willing to use its Security Council veto to
kill it.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in February that independence for
Kosovo would be taken as a
precedent by others, including pro-Russian breakaway enclaves in the
former Soviet republics of
Georgia and Moldova.
The Kosovo issue has become a major irritant in the already strained
relations between the West and a
resurgent Russia.
The latest attempt to defuse tensions foundered last week after Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice and
Mr. Putin failed to find common ground. Kosovo's fate also figures in
Russia's wider dispute with the
European Union, jeopardizing plans to create a "strategic partnership"
between Moscow and Brussels.
Mr. Ahtisaari, a former president of Finland, said he did not think a
precedent would be set by granting
the province independence.
"No two problem areas are the same," he said.
But in some of the four dozen territories around the world aspiring to
break free, Kosovo's future looks set
to have far-reaching effects -- especially if separation is engineered
through a Security Council
resolution.
"Kosovo's independence would certainly have broad and destabilizing
consequences for many other
secessionist conflicts," warned Bruno Coppieters, head of the political
science department at Brussels
Free University.
In Indonesia, it could have a powerful effect on the two separatist-minded
provinces of Aceh and West
Papua, said Damien Kingsbury, a key adviser to the separatist Free Aceh
Movement.
Indonesia, which has already lost East Timor, "is always sensitive about
issues affecting territorial
integrity, so it will be very worried," Mr. Kingsbury said.
The United States and the European Union insist that Kosovo is a special
case because it has been a
ward of the international community since a U.N. administration was set up
in 1999. That followed a brief
aerial war during which NATO ejected Serbian forces accused of mounting a
campaign of ethnic
cleansing against the province's 2 million Albanian inhabitants.
"A new Security Council resolution would clearly specify that this was a
unique case not applicable to
other regions," Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian
Affairs Daniel Fried said in a recent
interview.
Mr. Fried said the Bush administration intends to sponsor the new
resolution, based on Mr. Ahtisaari's
plan.
"Kosovo will be independent, one way or the other," he said.
Although the European Union also insists that Kosovo is no precedent, some
of its member states have
their own restive regions to contend with -- Catalonia and the Basque
country in Spain, Flanders in
Belgium, Hungarian nationalists in Slovakia and Cyprus' breakaway Turkish
Republic. Analysts note that
even Mr. Putin's Russia has separatist movements within its borders that
could take Kosovo as an
inspiration.
A parliamentary spokesman for the Basque Nationalist Party, the main party
in the regional government
of northern Spain's Basque region, sees the Kosovo plan as "a very
positive development."
"We think this could be a very good precedent, and someday we could aspire
to something similar," said
Josu Erkoreka.
Mr. Othman, the Iraqi Kurd, said it is inaccurate to argue Kosovo is
somehow special.
"Just like Kosovo, Iraqi Kurdistan has also been under international
protection [since the 1991 Gulf War].
There is no difference," he said in a telephone interview from Baghdad.
Any move by Iraq's Kurdish provinces to break free would create a major
political headache for
Washington and invite armed intervention from neighboring Turkey, which
has its own restless Kurdish
minority.
Tim Judah, a London-based Balkans analyst and author, said the Security
Council ideally should grant
Kosovo independence but simultaneously repudiate unilateral secessions
elsewhere.
But he expects that "whatever the Security Council does may nonetheless
encourage some secessionist
groups somewhere."
---
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.421672881&par=
INDONESIA: U.N. REPRESENTATIVE VISITS TO CHECK HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION
Jakarta, 5 June (AKI) - The Special Representative of UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon on the
situation of Human Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani, arrived Tuesday in
Jakarta for a week-long visit aimed
at assessing the situation of human rights defenders and to examine the
legal framework and the
environment in which they operate. Hina Jilani, who is an advocate at the
Supreme Court of Pakistan,
was appointed to her current position in 2000, is scheduled to meet
Indonesian ministers, police officials,
lawyers and rights activists.
She is scheduled to visit Jakarta, Aceh, and West Papua.
After the visit, a report containing her findings and recommendations will
be published and presented to
the United Nations Human Rights Council. The visit is at the request of
the Indonesian government.
---
http://www.publicintegrity.org/MilitaryAid/report.aspx?aid=880
A Lobbying Bonanza
Indonesia hired well-connected firms to restore U.S. funding cut off after
1991 massacre
By Andreas Harsono
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
WASHINGTON — A long string of human rights abuses had put Indonesia in a
deep hole with the United
States, but then the September 11 terrorists struck. Suddenly the hole got
shallower.
Related Story
*
Jakarta's Intelligence Service Hires Washington Lobbyists
No country has more Muslims than Indonesia, and it is the world's fourth
most populous country after
China, India and the United States, with almost twice as many people as
Japan. So in the emerging post
-9/11 world of Islamist terrorism, Indonesia's importance to the U.S.
suddenly increased.
The island nation had inaugurated a new president just months before the
9/11 attacks and, by chance,
the White House had issued an invitation for her to visit on September 19.
As it turned out, the new
president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, was one of the first state visitors to
the White House after the terrorists
struck — and the timing couldn't have been more propitious.
For President Bush, it was an occasion to make friendly overtures to a
huge nation that could be a
crucial ally in dealing with terrorists.
INDONESIA
Country Map
The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency
U.S. Military Aid Rank Amount
Three Years Before 9/11 (1999-2001) 12 $78.1 M
Three Years After 9/11 (2002-'04) 15 $184.9 M
Spending on Influence (FARA)
1999-2004 $6.7 M
Human Rights Violations
Ethnic/Minority/Refugee Oppression
Violence Against/Oppression of Women
Threats to Civil Liberties
Child Exploitation
Religious Persecution
Judicial/Prison Abuses
Sources: Center for Public Integrity analysis of U.S. Defense Department,
U.S. Justice Department and
U.S. State Department records
For President Megawati, it was an opportunity to advance a public
relations campaign so relentless that
private sources politically connected to the Indonesian government spent
more than $1 million to hire a
team of Washington lobbyists led by Bob Dole, the former Senate Republican
leader and 1996
presidential nominee. Indonesia's lobbying goals included the resumption
of controversial military aid that
had been cut off after its troops massacred more than 100 demonstrators in
East Timor in 1991.
The relentlessness paid off:
* In the three years after the 9/11 attacks, Indonesian forces
benefited from training in
counterterrorism techniques and skills worth more than $5 million under
the Pentagon's new post-9/11
Regional Defense Counterterrorism Fellowship Program (CTFP) — even though
for much of that time
other similar U.S. military assistance was embargoed because of
Indonesia's human rights record. An
analysis of foreign military training and assistance conducted by the
International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) found that Indonesia received more CTFP
training than any other country
— twice as much as the second-place nation, the Philippines (see separate
story).
* In February 2005, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared
the Indonesian military
sufficiently reformed to warrant resumption of aid under the International
Military Education and Training
(IMET) program, despite skepticism from Congress and human rights
organizations about the extent of
reform.
* In November 2005, just over four years after Megawati visited the
White House, the last restriction on
U.S. military aid was lifted. The State Department announced that aid
would resume under the Foreign
Military Financing program (FMF) with the goals of modernizing Indonesia's
military and supporting U.S.
-Indonesia counterterrorism cooperation. The program provides funds for
foreign militaries' purchases of
U.S. military goods, services and training.
* In March 2006 Rice visited Jakarta and announced that the U.S. would
increase military cooperation
and boost the training budget. "A reformed and effective Indonesian
military is in the interest of everyone
in this region, because threats to our common security have not
disappeared," she said. "We look for
continued progress toward greater accountability and complete reform."
Indonesia was out of its hole, and U.S. military aid was flowing again.
Around the time of the FMF
announcement, according to lobbying records, the country ended its
relationship with Richard L. Collins
& Co., which had succeeded Dole's team as one of Indonesia's primary
lobbyists in Washington. But
questions remain over who exactly paid for the lobbying.
President's supporters steered contract to Dole
Indonesia spreads over five major islands and more than 17,000 smaller
ones in archipelagoes between
Malaysia and Singapore. It stretches almost to Australia and across such
exotic locations as Bali,
Borneo, Java, New Guinea and Sumatra as well as the ancient Spice Islands
(now called the Moluccas),
where nutmeg originated. Its government is struggling to establish itself
as a democracy after the brutal
and corrupt 32-year dictatorship of Suharto, who, like many Javanese, uses
only one name. During
Suharto's reign, the military was reported to have killed as many as 3
million Communists and other
dissidents on the outer islands; estimates of Suharto's reportedly
embezzled fortune start at $15 billion.
The nation's politics in the decade since Suharto stepped down in 1998
have been tangled and shadowy,
with almost continuous insurgencies on the country's different islands and
the military still playing a
powerful role in politics. So perhaps it is little wonder that Indonesia's
three Washington lobbying
contracts were signed, successively and respectively, by a politically
connected Indonesian
businessman, a man claiming to be authorized to sign on behalf of a
foundation started by a former
president who is a moderate Muslim cleric, and the government's
intelligence agency.
Indonesia held its first direct presidential election in 2004, and
international monitors declared it well run.
In it, Megawati — the daughter of Sukarno, Indonesia's first president
after independence following
World War II — was defeated by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a retired
three-star general who had been
her chief security minister and ran as a reformer. Foreign Agents
Registration Act (FARA) records on
file with the Department of Justice in Washington show that the lobbying
contract with Dole's firm, Alston
& Bird, was terminated immediately after Yudhoyono was inaugurated.
The Alston & Bird contract had been negotiated by a powerful group of
Megawati supporters after she
became president, and it was signed by one of them, Yohannes Hardian
Widjonarko, then the treasurer
of the Kawula Alit Nusantara Foundation, an organization led by Megawati's
husband Taufik Kiemas.
Taufik is also a leader of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle. Its executive director is
Tjahjo Kumolo, who heads the party's faction in the Parliament.
The one-year contract was signed on December 1, 2003, by Frank (Rusty)
Conner III, the partner in
charge at Alston & Bird LLP, and Widjonarko. The contract was also signed
by Dole and specifically
indicated that he would coordinate Alston & Bird's lobbying efforts for
Widjonarko and his "designated
representatives." The contract called for payment of $200,000 per month
and laid out 12 lobbying
objectives, including increasing trade between America and Indonesia;
seeking a resumption of the
military assistance; and providing counsel to the Indonesian government
regarding business, legal and
financial issues. In addition to the retainer, the contract allowed the
firm to charge up to $2,500 per
month for travel, meals and administrative costs such as photocopying and
computerized research.
The engagement specified that Dole was to "actively participate in and
supervise our day-to-day work
under this agreement. All work will be coordinated from his office." And
there was much to supervise: the
work of nine other Alston & Bird lobbyists assigned to work on Indonesia's
behalf, including two other
partners, Jonathan Winer, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for
international law enforcement,
and Thomas Boyd, who headed the Office of Policy Development in the
Department of Justice under
President George H.W. Bush. Others working on the account (some of whom
have since left the firm)
included Michael Marshall, a former spokesman for Dole; John Schall, a
former policy adviser to the
senior Bush; Cameron Lynch, a former aide to Sen. John Ashcroft; plus
Atiqua Hashem, a lawyer then
working out of Alston & Bird's Atlanta office.
The agreement had a follow-up detail three weeks later that brought
Indonesia's government directly into
the arrangement, through a December 18, 2003, letter from Laksamana
Sukardi, Indonesia's minister for
state enterprises. Records show that Sukardi, whose office controlled more
than 150 companies ranging
from oil exploration to shipping to telecommunications, asked Dole to
advocate personally for the state-
owned oil company Pertamina in a multimillion-dollar legal case.
FARA records show that the Dole team called and met with then-Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge
as well as Karen Brooks, then the Asian affairs director for the National
Security Council. They also met
with U.S. Agency for International Development officials, including its
Jakarta director, William Frej, and
lobbied officials of the United States-Indonesia Society.
Those records further show that they made contact with the offices of
then-National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice; Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state; and Cofer
Black, the State Department's
counterterrorism coordinator and former head of the CIA's counterterrorism
center. The records show
that the lobbyists called or met with State Department officials 12 times,
including Ralph Boyce, the U.S.
ambassador to Indonesia.
According to listings of the firm's expense accounts filed with its
Department of Justice FARA papers,
Dole and Atiqua Hashem traveled to Jakarta in December 2003 and again in
March 2004 (a trip on which
Winer joined them). The same records show Hashem traveled extensively
between Atlanta and
Washington to work with Dole.
On Capitol Hill, Dole's team made contact with the offices of Sens.
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and John Kerry,
D-Mass., and with many other members of Congress and their staffs,
promoting not only the resumption
of military aid but also Indonesia's status as the biggest Muslim
democracy and an ally in the Bush
administration's war on terror.
The total cost for all this, according to FARA records, was $1,044,147.
>From November 1, 2003, to April
30, 2004, Alston & Bird reported $846,163 in income from Widjonarko. From
May 1, 2004, until October
20, 2004, the reported income was $197,984.
Where did all the money come from? It depends on whom you ask.
Alston & Bird's Jonathan Winer wrote in a FARA document that Widjonarko
"is responsible for financing
and controlling this engagement. … Although this engagement may from time
to time also be directed by
individuals in the government of Indonesia, to my best knowledge, Mr.
Widjonarko is not supervised,
owned, controlled, financed, or subsidized by a foreign government,
foreign political party, or other
foreign principal."
In an interview with ICIJ, Muhamad S. Zulkarnaen, another member of the
group of Megawati supporters
who coalesced around her husband, declined to comment about who
contributed to the Alston & Bird
payments. He denied that Sukardi's ministry of state enterprises funded
the lobbying campaign, directly
or indirectly, instead characterizing the funding as "political
donations." When asked by ICIJ who
contributed those "political donations," he responded that, "Well, you
don't keep that kind of list."
The FARA documents, however, mentioned the name of "P. Sondakh," an
apparent reference to Peter
Sondakh, a powerful businessman who controls the Rajawali Group, whose
interests range from cigarette
to cement productions. Winer sent Sondakh a package in June 2004,
according to the firm's FARA
filings that year and two other sources, a Rajawali Group executive and an
Indonesian diplomat in
Washington, D.C., speaking with ICIJ on condition of anonymity, confirmed
that Taufik, Megawati's
husband, had asked the Rajawali Group for financial contributions.
So what did all of this lobbying accomplish? When the contract was
terminated after Yudhoyono became
president in October 2004, the U.S. embargo on IMET and FMF funds was
still in place and the
Pertamina case had not been resolved. In a phone call with ICIJ, Winer
said that the firm has a policy of
not commenting on its work for clients unless authorized by the client;
Widjonarko did not respond to
repeated requests for an interview by an ICIJ reporter in Indonesia.
Zulkarnaen told ICIJ that the
lobbying accomplished almost nothing.
After the Dole team had left the field, in February 2005, Condoleezza
Rice, who had become secretary of
state a month earlier, announced that reform of Indonesia's military was
sufficient to justify resumption of
IMET funding.
Military, intelligence agency linked to abuses
Military reform in Indonesia is a major challenge. Suharto's military
conducted massacres on an all but
unimaginable scale. Today many of the officers of that era are still
serving in the military or are retired
but engaged in politics.
Indonesia's military has long operated with unusual independence; the
International Relations Center
quotes experts who estimate that only 25 to 30 percent of the military's
funding comes from the
government's budget, "with the rest coming from 'taxes' on natural
resource extraction, bribes, and other
forms of 'informal' financing."
Further, Indonesia's military is deeply engaged in the country's various
conflicts. Suharto had used the
military to force outlying parts of the islands to become part of
Indonesia against their will and, as a
result, troops were routinely engaged with separatist insurgencies,
notably in East Timor, Papua and
Aceh provinces.
East Timor, which is predominantly Catholic and Portuguese-speaking,
became an autonomous nation
after a United Nations-supervised referendum in 1999, but even after the
referendum Indonesian troops
and militia groups launched attacks there. At other far reaches of the
archipelago, the special region of
Aceh and province of Papua have achieved ceasefires and negotiated greater
autonomy. Charges of
repression and gross human rights violations, once common, continue at
lesser volume in both Aceh and
the predominantly Christian Papua.
In November 2001, Papua leader Theys Eluai was assassinated. An
investigative commission concluded
that a unit of Koppasus, the army's special forces, was involved in
planning and executing the murder.
In August 2002, gunmen attacked cars passing on a mountainous road to a
copper mine in Papua that's
operated by Freeport-McMoRan, now the world's largest publicly traded
copper company. Two American
teachers and one Indonesian teacher at Freeport's school were killed in
the ambush. The attack alarmed
Washington.
John Otto Ondawame, spokesman for the Free Papua Movement, which is known
by the initials OPM,
issued a statement alleging that the attack may have been "orchestrated by
the Indonesian military." The
Papua police and Elsham Papua, a human rights group, also said they
suspected the military.
Indonesia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa countered that
"there are indications the act
was committed by elements of OPM." In November 2006, a Papuan guerilla
fighter, Antonius Wamang,
was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, and six other defendants
received lesser sentences. But
human rights advocates insist that Kopassus officers played a part and
that a police officer supplied the
bullets Wamang used.
Indonesia's intelligence agency, Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN), has also
long been linked to human rights
violations, including the 2004 assassination of human rights campaigner
Munir Thalib.
According to Central Jakarta district court documents, Munir was poisoned
with arsenic sprayed on his
fried noodles during a Garuda Indonesia flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam
on September 7, 2004. In
December 2005, the court sentenced a Garuda pilot, Pollycarpus Budihari
Priyanto, to 14 years in prison
for poisoning Munir and for carrying forged travel documents. His
conviction was overturned by
Indonesia's Supreme Court, and in April 2007 two new suspects were named
by Indonesia authorities.
The court documents note that Pollycarpus had no personal motive to kill
Munir; the proceedings also
brought to light 41 telephone conversations between Pollycarpus and a
mobile phone number, 0811-
900978, before and after Munir's assassination. The mobile phone was
registered to Maj. Gen. Muchdi
Purwopranjono, a deputy director at BIN and a friend of Widjonarko, the
businessman who signed the
Alston & Bird lobbying contract.
In his court testimony, Purwopranjono confirmed that 0811-900978 was his
mobile phone number but he
said it was frequently used by his driver and aides. He denied ordering
Munir's assassination or having
ever met Pollycarpus. Purwopranjono, who was the commander of the
notorious Koppasus special forces
in the Suharto era and retired from the military in 1999, confirmed that
Widjonarko is his friend. BIN
didn't respond when contacted several times to comment for this article.
Second lobbying effort pays off
Indonesia's lobbying campaign in Washington resumed in May 2005 with the
hiring of Richard L. Collins
& Co., a smaller boutique firm. This time, BIN, the Indonesian
intelligence agency implicated in the Munir
assassination, was paying the bills.
Its selection of the firm was no coincidence: Collins & Co. didn't have a
Bob Dole on its roster, but its
vice president for international business at the time, Eric Newsom, was a
former assistant secretary of
state for political-military affairs in charge of running the IMET and FMF
military aid programs — the very
programs Indonesia wanted restored. He was also a former top aide to Sen.
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a key
figure in the Senate on human rights issues and U.S.-Indonesia policy.
BIN initially lobbied from the shadows, hiding behind a former Indonesian
president's charitable
foundation. But the connection between BIN and the charitable foundation ,
the Gus Dur Foundation, is
documented in papers Collins & Co. filed in compliance with FARA. The
foundation was established by
former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, who goes by the nickname
Gus Dur and is known for
his moderate politics and support for human rights.
Gus Dur retained Collins & Co. for $30,000 a month to lobby to "remove
legislative and policy restrictions
on security cooperation with Indonesia," according to a copy of a signed
initial contract. But in FARA
forms that accompany the contract the firm noted, "For the purposes of
this contract, the Gus Dur
Foundation's activities are directed and funded by the [BIN]. The nature
of the activities carried out under
this contract were defined in consultation with representatives from the
[BIN] and the [BIN] provides the
funding. . . ."
The FARA documents show that on July 31, 2005, the contract between
Collins & Co. and the Gus Dur
Foundation was terminated and, effective September 1, a new contract for
the same monthly amount was
executed directly between Collins & Co. and BIN. Collins & Co. lobbyists
did not return repeated calls
requesting comment.
The initial contract defines Collins & Co.'s mission in the context of
Indonesia's "obstacles to a more
cooperative relationship with the United States, particularly in the area
of military cooperation . . . the
image of Indonesia, especially in the United States Congress, remains
highly negative and colored by
events in East Timor and other disturbed areas like Papua and Aceh."
The FARA filings also reflect the fact that part of Collins & Co.'s charge
was to assuage congressional
concerns over the in-flight assassination of Munir, the Indonesian human
rights campaigner. In the U.S.
Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2000, Congress made
the resumption of military aid
contingent on reform of the Indonesian military and prosecution of major
human rights offenders.
The FARA records show that between June and October of 2005, Collins & Co.
lobbyists, sometimes
accompanied by BIN officials, met with several key members of Congress and
their staffs. Among them
were Sen. Leahy, and Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Sen. Lisa Murkowski,
R-Alaska, as well Rep.
Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill. and an aide to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill..
Newsom accompanied BIN officials As'ad Said Ali and Burhan Mohammed to a
meeting with Sen. Leahy
and a key aide just off the Senate floor on July 21, 2005.
According to Tim Reiser, Sen. Leahy's top aide on the Senate
Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee
for State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (whose annual funding
bill finances the IMET and
FMF programs), Sen. Leahy agreed to the 15-minute meeting so he could
express his opposition to the
resumption of full military assistance to Indonesia. Sen. Leahy told As'ad
that he didn't think sufficient
reform had taken place.
The lobbyists from Collins & Co. also met with American Samoa's
representative, Eni Faleomavaega, to
discuss West Papua. Faleomavaega, a Democrat, is the most important, if
not the only, champion of the
Papuan cause on Capitol Hill. He has spoken about Indonesia "slaughtering"
100,000 people since its
takeover of West Papua in 1969.
The lobbying campaign was certainly not the only reason military
assistance was eventually resumed; in
fact, the push for reinstating IMET and FMF for Indonesia began shortly
after the Bush administration
took office in 2001. The administration and Republican allies in Congress
say the previous policy of
punishing Indonesia for human rights violations had not paid dividends;
the much-hoped-for reform of the
Indonesian military and security apparatus had not occurred.
In November 2005, the FMF restriction was lifted — and, the FARA records
show, Indonesia's contract
with Collins & Co. came to an end.
In an interview with the Inter Press Service news agency, Sen. Leahy
called the decision "premature and
unfortunate," saying resumption of a military training program for Jakarta
"will be seen by the Indonesian
military authorities who have tried to obstruct justice as a friendly pat
on the back."
Sen. Leahy inserted a provision in the Senate version of the fiscal 2007
Foreign Operations
Appropriations Bill (not yet passed by Congress) that would require the
Secretary of State to submit a
report to the Senate and House Appropriations committees detailing "the
status of the investigation of the
murder of Munir Said Thalib, including efforts by the Government of
Indonesia to arrest any individuals
who ordered or carried out that crime and any other actions taken by the
Government of Indonesia
(including the Indonesian judiciary, police and the State Intelligence
Agency [BIN]), to bring the
individuals responsible to justice."
How did Gus Dur find his name attached to lobbying paid for by BIN?
Muhyiddin Aruhusman, a close
associate of Gus Dur's, signed the original Collins & Co. contract on
behalf of the Gus Dur Foundation.
Ikhsan Abdullah, the foundation's secretary, told ICIJ that Aruhusman, a
member of Parliament, had no
official position at the foundation.Asked whether he was authorized to
sign on behalf of the foundation or
whether Gus Dur himself knew about the contract, Aruhusman said, "I can't
discuss more. I have to bear
in mind Gus Dur's good name. He didn't know."
In a September 2006 news conference, following inquiries by ICIJ on the
matter, Gus Dur acknowledged
letting BIN use his foundation, saying that it was done "for the sake of
the nation."
"Neither the Gus Dur Foundation nor I have ever made any deal with BIN nor
hired a U.S. company to
seek resumption of the military training program," Gus Dur told the media.
He told reporters in Jakarta
that BIN deputy chief As'ad Said Ali and several other intelligence agents
had met with him one day in
2004, asking him if it was okay to make use of his name for the national
interest. "Upon hearing the
words 'for the sake of the nation,' I replied: 'Please do.' And I had no
idea this conditional permission
would be misused to lobby for the lifting of the military embargo," he said.
Counterterrorism efforts offset by tensions
What did the United States get in return for opening the military aid
spigot to Indonesia?
The island nation became an early, if somewhat reluctant, partner in U.S.
counterterrorism efforts. After
9/11, President Megawati was careful about cracking down on suspected
militants for fear of inflaming
the country's vast Muslim majority. The U.S., well aware of this dynamic,
also took an early kid-glove
approach, declining initially to include Indonesian extremist groups such
as Laskar Jihad and Jemaah
Islamiyah (JI) on its list of terrorist organizations, despite the fact
that JI's founder, Riduan Isamuddin, an
Indonesian national better known as Hambali, was a known associate of Al
Qaeda.
But over the years, the Indonesian government quietly stepped up its
pressure on homegrown militants,
arresting and prosecuting hundreds of terrorist suspects, many of them in
connection with the 2002 Bali
nightclub bombings, which killed 202 people and injured 209, largely
Australian tourists. A steady
drumbeat of attacks has continued since: a 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing
that killed 12; a 2004 bombing of
the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, which killed 10; and 2005 suicide
bombings in Bali that killed 19.
In late 2006, in a visit with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf,
President Yudhoyono pledged to
increase anti-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan, signaling the
convergence of two of America's key
counterterrorism allies. Indonesia is also now part of the State
Department's Regional Strategic Initiative,
an effort to link key governments in a particular area — in this case,
Indonesia, Malaysia and the
Philippines — to combat terrorism. All three countries are combating local
insurgencies that at times have
been linked to Islamist extremists.
But tension continues over whether BIN, which hired the lobbyists who
helped push a resumption of
military aid, was responsible for the assassination of a human rights
advocate. Tension also exists over
whether the Indonesian military, which benefits from the military aid, was
behind the Freeport mine
ambush that killed two Americans.
---
Abbreviated and translated by unknown
Cenderawasih Pos June 6, 2007
Intelligence operation to fight NGOs campaign in Papua
The National Intelligence Body (BIN) is stepping up its clandestine
operation to counter foreign non-
governmental organizations’ campaign in Papua.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Commission I
for defense and foreign affairs Theo Sambuaga said after a closed-door
meeting with BIN top officials on
Monday the House supported the move but rejected the use of special
(military) operation to stamp out
separatism in the province.
“Papua separatist groups are seeking funds and support from foreign NGOs,”
Sambuaga said. The intelligence operation involves not only local
intelligence officials but also community
figures and pro-Indonesia Papuans.
---
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/06/05/ap3789579.html?partner=alerts
Associated Press
Freeport-McMoRan Exec Sells Shares
Associated Press 06.05.07, 11:15 AM ET
The chief administrative officer and executive vice president of copper
producer Freeport McMoRan
Copper & Gold Inc. exercised options for 46,036 shares of common stock,
according to a Securities and
Exchange Commission filing.
In a Form 4 filed with the SEC Monday, Michael J. Arnold reported he
exercised options for 46,036
shares Friday for $37.04 apiece, and then sold all of them the same day
for $80 apiece.
Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their
companies' shares. Open market
purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the
transaction.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold is based in New Orleans.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press.
---
STATEMENT BY ELSHAM-BIAK
ELSHAM - Institute for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy for Papua, Biak
BIAK TO BECOME AN INDONESIAN MILITARY BASE FOR EASTERN INDONESIA
(Abridged translation by TAPOL)
I. INTRODUCTION
The district of Biak Numfor is strategically located, being near the
Pacific Ocean while the northern tip is close to The Philippines.
Its inhabitants are able to engage in trade with the Philippines, while
fishing vessels operate in nearby waters from The Philippines, Thailand and
Singapore.
In terms of security, it is strategically located for a military base,
being close to Asia and the Pacific. Three islands, Mapia, Tandjung Barari
and Pantai Korem, are frequently visited by foreign warships docking here
to monitor the activities of the Indonesian army.
The US army once indicated that it was interested in purchasing Mapia
island for use as a US military base in the war against terrorism, but when
the Indonesian government became aware of this, they took steps to prevent
it, fearing that it would enable the US to monitor violations in Indonesia.
Jakarta also feared that the issue of an Independent Papua would become
more widely known.
Eventually this did not materialise because BIN, the Indonesian
intelligence agency, and senior army officers took preventative action,
dispatching army ships and a police patrol boat to dock in Mapia and
several other locations which might be visited by foreign ships.
Another reason for establishing patrol posts on the Mapia group of islands
was to prevent Papuans from using this route to flee from Indonesia and
seek asylum in neighbouring countries, as did the 43 Papuans who managed to
flee aboard traditional boats and seek asylum in Australia.
In view of the above, the Indonesian air force and army have taken special
measures to protect the territory of Papua, providing themselves the
possibility of doing whatever they like against activities by Papuans to
separate from Indonesia.
II. BACKGROUND
The following efforts have been made by Indonesia to ensure that the Papuan
people remain within the Indonesian Republic (NKRI):
* Giving training in National Defence to all sectors of the population,
traditional leaders, religious leaders, women, NGOs, students and others,
organised by the Badan Pertahanan Nasional (National Defence Agency)
Jakarta, the aim being to Indonesianise the Papuans. The Agency has
recruited Papuans who are willing to work with the army, to disseminate
their information and spy on those Papuans who are engaged in activities
within civil society. These are people who have already worked as spies for
the TNI. These recruits are given financial rewards and provided with
equipment such as tape recorders, hand phones, etc. Such activities are
intended to engender a sense of mutual fear and suspicion and promote
horizontal and vertical conflicts.
* Papuans in all parts of the territory have rejected Special Autonomy
(OTSUS) because it has failed to bring prosperity. What they want is
independence. The Jakarta authorities try to create the impression that
only a handful of Papuans support independence.
These developments have prompted the military to do everything possible to
preserve NKRI (Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia) by dispatching
military forces. These men are disguised as street vendors or they work in
offices or as shoeshine boys in hotels or work alongside senior government
officials. The people have become much more afraid and feel threatened and
ignored.
Economic situation
It was hoped that OTSUS would improve the economic conditions of the
Papuans, that they would get work in companies and that the division of the
territory into several provinces would provide employment for Papuans.
Research has shown however that the people continue to suffer while nothing
is heard about the billions of rupiahs that have been budgeted to fund OTSUS.
It is the newcomers who are given priority; the rich are getting richer and
the poor are getting poorer.
The military are deeply involved in all this, with the result that people
are afraid to criticise these developments and defend their basic rights
for fear of confronting the security forces.
Conditions in the countryside
a) Instead of enjoying the benefits of OTSUS money which was granted by
the central government with the approval of the European Union, social
conditions of people in the villages have not improved, and they are
enjoying none of the benefits of development. No houses have been built to
replace traditional housing in need of repair and nothing has been done to
improve the infrastructure. All moves to construct housing in the kampungs
need military approval.
b) The local military are involved in all construction projects; the
projects are controlled by the military. This is especially so in areas
where the OPM is strong, such as villages in West Biak which have received
no serious attention from the authorities. As a result, people in villages
who might expect to get jobs have been overlooked while other people have
been given work.
c) There is a military presence in every office and in all the
development projects, where they monitor the activities of NGO activists.
They also intercept and read correspondence within the various departments.
d) The local form of transport (ojek) is used throughout Biak Numfor;
in the sub-district of Supiori , military personnel have got work as ojek
drivers in the Old Market, in Mandouw, Yafdas, Sorido and elsewhere.
e) From our research, it has become clear that photocopying centres are
often checked by the military.
f) Papuans who want to develop their talents in cultural affairs find
that they face similar problems to Arnold Ap (the anthropologist who was
murdered by the military in 1984).
g) Military personnel also work in internet centres so as to keep an
eye on human rights activists who may want to send information abroad.
h) Military personnel also work in bars and karaoke centres to watch
out for troublemakers; in fact it is usually the military who get drunk and
cause trouble.
i) Military personnel guard the betting shops and gambling halls but
a lot of these activities enjoy the backing of the military.
Health conditions
Mother and child mortality is high and there are many traffic accidents
that result in people getting injured. However, health care in hospitals
for Papuans is inadequate. Most Papuans cannot afford to pay for the
medication they need or to pay for hospital treatment.
There are very few specialists in the hospitals and hardly any specialist
equipment despite all the money that has been budgeted for OTSUS.
Cultural conditions
Very little attention is given to fostering cultural activities.
Governance
The Biak Numfor administration is still largely run in accordance with
central government instructions with little being done to implement the
provisions of OTSUS. The government has a negative attitude towards local
NGOs which could do much to promote regional development. This is happening
not only in Biak Numfor but throughout Papua. District chiefs who ignore
instructions from central government will be denied the necessary funding
for local projects and will fail to secure recognition for promotion
because they are seen as being in opposition to central government policy.
As a result, district chiefs are very wary about helping kampungs whose
inhabitants are suspected of being pro-OPM. They are wary of doing anything
to help community organisations or human rights NGOs and devote more
attention to activities that involve the military.
Development Programme
In 2006, the Biak Numfor administration received a proposal to set up a
radar installation. Working in collaboration with the Russian government,
this would lead to the launching of a satellite from Biak Numfor. The local
government worked hard to realise this project; they promised the local
people that living conditions would improve, that young people would
receive training and compensation would be paid for the land used for the
project. However, these turned out to be empty promises.
The Biak Traditional Council convened a meeting of tribal elders at which
this programme was explained. But local people came to the conclusion that
the programme contained several aspects that would jeopardise their
interests:
Workforce
Local people are not able to compete with people coming from outside who
are employed because they have the necessary skills. There is little chance
of Papuans getting anything more than working as office cleaners or serving
coffee to the rest of the staff who are all people from outside Papua.
Economic aspects
The Russian personnel are not likely to eat local foods so provisions are
supplied by outside commercial interests. As a result, the project is not
helping to increase the earnings of local people.
Although there is a lot of investment, this is not being used in accordance
with the provisions of the OTSUS law and according to the advice of the
Papuan People's Council, the MRP. We fear that all the benefits from these
investments will be enjoyed by the central government with very little left
over for the district administration and the local community.
Health conditions
Many Papuans have already died from HIV/ADS and they now face new dangers
from the chemicals used in connection with the guided missiles to be
launched by Russian Antonov aircraft from Biak. No investigation has been
undertaken into the effect of all this on the lives of the local people. We
fear that this will have very harmful effects on the people of Biak and
also on the people of Papua in general.
III. GUIDED MISSILE PROJECT
In implementation of the TNI-AU's guided missile project, the security
forces have undertaken a number of activities in Biak Numfor:
* A Section Command of TNI-AU has been set up with facilities funded by
the central and regional governments.
* Houses have been built for air force pilots who will be employed to
fly the jets. This has resulted in the seizure of land without anything
being said about compensation for the traditional land owners. On the
contrary, the land has been declared to be the property of the TNI-AU or
the state.
* An underground petroleum depot has been built to supply fuel for
TNI-AU aircraft, located at the TNI-AU airfield in Manuhua. The purpose of
this base is to facilitate raids against groups resisting the TNI-AU. The
existence of this depot means that aircraft don't need to return to Jakarta
to refuel which facilitates operations against the Papuan people.
* The satellite to be installed at Tanjung Barari in East Biak is close
to the Pacific and thus able to keep a watch-out for Papuans who may want
to smuggle weapons from the Pacific as well as being on the lookout for
Papuans wishing to seek asylum abroad. No compensation has been paid to the
land owners.
* An ocean harbour is being built. This is also a project in the
district of Biak Numfor which the Biak Customary Council considers as
having been badly thought out. Why? In 2002, the central government
approved the establishment of KAPET, a Comprehensive Economic Development
Project. As a result, the administration of Desa Samber relinquished their
land for this ocean harbour. However, to this day nothing has happened.
Then suddenly, the newly elected district chief, Melianus Yusuf Maryen
switched the project to East Biak. We fear that land belonging to the local
people will be sold off without any compensation for the villagers who have
meanwhile lost their livelihoods because of the location of the project.
Following his election, the new district chief announced that the project
would be re-located to East Biak. But the local people have already lost
their land and gardens because the area is now under the control of the
government and is being surrounded by walls and fences. This will separate
people from their kampungs. We are also concerned about this ocean harbour
because it represents a bargaining chip between the central government and
the Biak administration. It paves the way for (a base from which) the
military can conduct military operations in Eastern Indonesia. And
investors wishing to invest in Indonesia and specifically in Biak will be
from countries of interest to the US, such as China and Singapore.
* Mapia Island is to become a base for the TNI-AD (army), the TNI-AU
(air force), the TNI-AL (navy) and POLRI (police). The island of Mapia is
very remote from Biak district and is rarely visited by the security
forces. Foreign ships (Thai, Chinese, American and Australian) often sail
in these parts. The military are not happy about the presence of these
ships, and believes that they are monitoring Indonesian activities in
Papua. This anxiety intensified following the flight of 43 Papuans to
Australia which occurred without the knowledge of the Indonesian
authorities. This resulted in the Indonesians intensifying their efforts to
monitor Papuan movements and keep an eye on foreign vessels sailing in the
area.
* The Frans Kaisiepo airfield in Biak has become a military airfield.
From 2002-2004, this airfield was extensively used for flights between
Honolulu, Biak and Den Pasar by foreign tourists visiting Biak. There was
little attention at the time from the authorities. But then, the Indonesian
government faced new problems when the US Congress expressed support for
the Papuan people in their struggle for independence, with statements from
Congressmen Faleomavaega and Payne. This shocked the Indonesian authorities
into undertaking their own lobbying of Congress to thwart support for the
Papuan people. As a result they overhauled their strategy and identified
the airfields and naval bases as being 'vital'. The military have been
deployed as spies, with some of them working as porters, taxi drivers or
street cleaners, in order to keep control of the airfields. This has
resulted in the local people being afraid to travel to Jayapura, Nabire,
Timika and Serui. Papuans confront armed air force personnel wherever they
go. Yet people from outside Papua can move around freely without
obstruction by the military. Papuan youths who were formerly employed as
security guards have been dismissed and their jobs have been taken over by
military personnel who are on duty everywhere in the airfields.
* Not satisfied with this control, three or four military personnel are
employed as guards twenty-four hours a day. Local people are prohibited
from going anywhere near the airfield or riding their motorbikes through
the area, and are prevented from going anywhere near, which they would need
to do to work on their gardens.
IV. CONCLUSION
The military presence reminds the Papuan people of our Memori Pasionaris
back in 1961 when the Dutch were still in control of Papua and the
Indonesians seized Papua from the Dutch in pursuit of their economic and
political interests. Our people have been marginalized and are powerless
to defend their land rights because the military have taken over our lands
and destroyed the prosperity of the Papuan people. The military have
forcibly destroyed our homes to make way for homes for air force
personnel. We have been removed from our lands without compensation and we
are fearful of going anywhere because of the military presence everywhere.
As a result of all this, the military are in control everywhere in Papua
and especially in Biak Numfor. We are powerless because Biak is being
prepared to become a military base for Eastern Indonesia.
ELSHAM Papua, the Institute for Human Rights Studies and Advocacy, Biak
branch, undertook an investigation into this situation in order to report
the situation to the UN Human Rights Commission and to solidarity
organisations in Europe and Asia. We call upon them to pay serious
attention to the situation in Biak because we fear that a time will come
when there will be bloodshed or conflict between the local community and
the military as our people lose patience and their self-confidence is
destroyed.
ENDS
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon CR7 8HW, UK.
tel +44 (0)20 8771 2904 fax +44 (0)20 8653 0322
tapol@gn.apc.org http://tapol.gn.apc.org
---
Cendrawasih Pos, 30 May 2007
Summary only
The Papuan people have every right to be screaming with complaints that
OTSUS has failed because it now appears that of the billions of rupiahs
budgeted by the central government for OTSUS, most has been used for the
bureaucracy and not for the people.
Barnabas Suebu, governor of the province of Papua said that so far, 90 per
cent of the money has been used for the bureaucracy. He did not however
explained how the money had been spent.
He said that in future , there will be greater focus on development in the
kampungs, where it will be used to raise the level of people's welfare. He
asserted that people would be able to make greater use of natural resources
and other potentials, as the way to improve their economic circumstances.
He said that it would not be possible to end poverty without economic
development, and this will require investments; Lobbying had, he said,
secured the support of international organisations such as Unicef, UNDP and
the ILO.
He said the Papuan people must be prepared to overcome their backwardness
and take advantage of technological progress.
As a start, each kampung will be given Rp. 100 million, which will increase
in the coming years.. He also hoped that the nutritional conditions in the
kampungs would improve especially for mothers and children.
[Comment: It should not be forgotten that the OTSUS law was enacted six
years ago, so the governor's assurances would seem to be too little, too
late. Nor does he refer to the scourge of corruption which is known to be
widespread among people in positions of power throughout the province.]
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign
111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Croydon CR7 8HW, UK.
tel +44 (0)20 8771 2904 fax +44 (0)20 8653 0322
tapol@gn.apc.org http://tapol.gn.apc.org
---
MILITARY OPERATIONS IN WEST PAPUA DURING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SPECIAL
AUTONOMY LAW NO 21 YEAR 2001
Reported by Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman
President of the Fellowship of West Papuan Baptist Churches
West Papua, 28th May 2007
1.. During the implementation of the Special Autonomy law no 21, 2001 in
West Papua, the Indonesian
government, military, and the state police reported to the international
community that the security
situation in West Papua was safe, conducive, and under control. And during
that time the international
community has been fed with false information and unjustified reports. The
information was not based on
the reality in West Papua.
2.. The truth was that during the implementation of the Special Autonomy
law in West Papua, the
[apparently stable] security situation was enforced. It did not happen
naturally. Indonesian military, police
and courts created the security condition through force, oppression,
terror and intimidation. Thus, the
security that was created by the Indonesian military, the Indonesian
police and the Indonesian courts
was a fake security. It was not a natural security condition and it was
only for a temporary time.
3.. Indonesian soldiers who have previously served in East Timor and
Aceh are now stationed in West
Papua. This is proven by the fact that military bases are now being built
everywhere in all parts of West
Papua. The heavy military presence is out of all proportion when compared
with the local native
populations. Faces of soldiers in uniform and in disguise are everywhere.
The military operation in West
Papua is still continuing in order to maintain the integrity of the
Unitary State of the Republic of
Indonesia. Indonesia doesn't care if it has to sacrifice human rights,
human dignity, justice, democracy
and peace in order to achieve it.
4.. The Military operation in West Papua during the Special Autonomy era
has been the most
frightening one up till now. Military faces are everywhere in many forms
of disguises. There is no
freedom for the native West Papuans. The military has built its bases
along the land border and sea
border and also in the transmigration areas. They have also built up a
military presence such as
battalions in almost all parts of West Papua. Everyday we can see military
trucks full of soldiers. The
soldiers are walking around the towns of West Papua and they usually stand
in front of shopping centers.
The native West Papuans are facing faces intended to terrorize them.
Open and hidden intimidation
happens everywhere.
5.. It is very clear that the military operations in Pucak Jaya regency
were paid for out of Special
Autonomy fund. This fund has been used to kill the native West Papuans
through military operations. As
the President of the Fellowship of West Papuan Baptist Churches, I found
the evidence that an amount of
Rp. 2,500,000,000,00 (two billion, five hundred million rupiahs) has been
used to support military
operations.
The Papuan Provincial House of Parliament found the evidence that Rp.
3,000,000,000,00 (three billion
rupiahs) were used for the military operation.
The regional government of Puncak Jaya allocated Rp. 19,000,000,000,00
(nineteen billion rupiahs) for
food and medicines for refugees. There is no evidence that the money was
given to the refugees and the
money was simply lost.
6.. The establishment of the West Irian Jaya province which was based on
President Megawati Sukarno
Putri's decree no 213 year 2003 was part of the military operations to
secure Indonesia's political and
economic interests. The establishment of the West Irian Jaya province was
designed and fully supported
by the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).
7.. Racial discrimination on the 16th March 2006 Abepura incident. On
that day the Indonesian military,
mobile brigade, intelligence agents and the Indonesian state police shot
and tortured any black skinned
and curly haired Papuans. The native West Papuans experienced extreme
anxiety and fear and escaped
to their hiding places. However, in extreme contrast, the straight haired
Indonesians were walking freely,
opening their shops and restaurants or doing any activities without any
fear or anxiety.
At the time the Indonesian intelligence agents killed Denny Hisage, a
22-year old man. They cut his ribs
and threw him into a vegetable pond. I was told by a health officer at
10.00pm in the evening that a native
West Papuan had been killed and his body was at the mortuary in the
Abepura hospital. Having heard the
news, I immediately went to the hospital with one of my staff to see the
dead man's body. The next day I
contacted the family and relatives of Denny Hisage. However, all his
family, his parents and his wife were
very frightened to come and take his body to be buried. Because they were
so frightened, I therefore
asked for their permission to bury him. The family agreed and allowed me
to bury him.
I gave instructions to my staff; one member of staff guarded the dead
body, one went out to find the
money to buy a coffin, and two other staff went to dig a grave for the
burial. I then called Mr Agus Alua
(Chairman of the Papuan People's Assembly [MRP]) to help me buy the
coffin. Mr Alua. through his
treasurer, gave me Rp. 3,000,000 (three million) to buy a coffin from PT
Thomas Entrop Jayapura.
Seven of us took the coffin to Abepura General Cemetery and buried Denny
Hisage in the Abepura
General Cemetery.
These facts gave us a strong conclusion that the Indonesian military and
police are stationed in West
Papua only to protect and guard the Indonesian people (the straight haired
people) who live in West
Papua. The Indonesian military and police chased, arrested, tortured,
kidnapped, killed, raped and
destroyed the native West Papuans. This situation occurred because the
Indonesian interests in West
Papua are only concerned about the economy, politics, security, land and
natural resources.
8.. Indonesian intelligence agents are in disguise everywhere in almost
all corners of towns in West
Papua. They dress and act as motor cycle riders, shop assistants, street
traders, voucher salesmen,
hotel and restaurant waiters, hotel and airport drivers, public transport
drivers, students, civil servants and
collectors of scrap metal. Their task is to watch Papuans in places such
as supermarkets and any roads
used by the native West Papuans.
9.. At Sentani Airport in Jayapura, in Timika, Biak, Nabire, Serui,
Sorong, Merauke, Manokwari, the
ticketing officers, the security guards, the airport staff, airport
workers, airport taxi drivers and the people
walking around as motor cycle riders are Indonesian soldiers and police in
disguise.
10.. The Indonesian intelligence agents monitor and even terrorize any
native West Papuan. The future
of the native West Papuans under the Special Autonomy law is even more
dangerous because of terror,
intimidation and violence. This has directly and indirectly become a
serious threat.
11.. The expansion of Indonesian military units and their establishment
in various places in West Papua
such as the battalions in Wamena, Timika and Merauke in 2004, and in 2006
the establishment of Navy
headquarters in Sorong and Manokwari and the establishment of Air Force
headquarter in Biak. Beside
the Air Force headquarters in Biak, military posts had been installed in
remote areas of Biak such as
Mapia Island, Barari Gulf, and Korem beach. The Indonesian Air Force also
has cooperated with Russia
to use Biak as a place to test their ballistic weapons. The installment of
military posts and headquarters
has not only created fear among the native West Papuans, but they have
also created an injustice for the
people because most of the land taken for building military posts was not
fairly compensated for. In other
words, the people did not have a fair payment for their traditional right
to the land that has been taken
away.
12.. Terror and open intimidation from the air:
On 1st May 2007, four Indonesian Air Force planes were flown over the West
Papuan land. This was part
of the terror operations and open intimidation towards native West Papuans.
13.. On 17th April 2007 in the village of Kwel, Eligobel district, near
the border of Merauke regency ,
the regional military XVII/TRIKORA bought 2 hectares of traditional
customary lands from Okto Kwamaljai
for Rp. 10,000,000 (ten million rupiahs). The land will be used for a new
military base. Along the border
region between Papua New Guinea and southern part of Papua province, the
Indonesian military has
posts which are guarded by soldiers from Siliwangi Kala Hitam, West Java.
In every post, there are 25
personnel. The distance between the military post and the village of the
native West Papuan is 5 km.
14.. On Friday, May 4th 2007 at 08.00am in the KUWERA office and in the
evening at 20.00pm in front
of Papua Post office, two Indonesian intelligence officers named Charles
Telabanua and Frans
Sembiring visited two Papuan men, Musa Tipogauw and Napan Yoman. They
questioned Musa and
Napan on their involvement in a struggle to defend traditional rights of
the UGIMBA tribe over the areas
where PT Freeport Indonesia is doing its mining explorations in
Tembagapura. The officers asked to see
the letters of recommendation from government, customary and religious
leaders that support the struggle
of the native UGIMBA tribe. They said that the purpose of their request
was that they had an intention to
help the UGIMBA tribe in their struggle. One of their questions was
whether the UGIMBA's struggle to
defend their traditional land rights related to West Papuan independence.
The two West Papuans replied
"NO" "Our struggle for our traditional land rights does not relate to
West Papuan independence".
15.. Terror and open intimidation: On Friday, 11th May 2007 at 10.30am,
a man named Brigadier-
General Albert who introduced himself as the co-ordinator of the State
Intelligence Agency (BIN) for
Papua region came to my house. Two days earlier he phoned me and invited
me to go out and have a
meeting and lunch. I refused his invitation and said that I had already
had other appointments. The
purpose of his visit was to invite me to speak to the Strategic Research
Board of the State Intelligence
Agency in Jakarta in the middle of June 2007. I questioned Albert's full
name and requested his name
card but he said his name was Albert only and he did not have a name card.
I asked Albert what issues
need to be addressed in Jakarta and what Papua problems need to be
presented. Albert asked me to
mention names of important people in Jakarta whom he could also invite to
speak to the Strategic
Research Board.
I got an SMS (Short Message Service) from Brigadier Albert that said
"Shalom Mr Socrates, I am
Brigadier General Albert. Based on our conversation about the Strategic
Research Board of the State
Intelligence Agency's panel discussion on the solutions to Papuan
problems, you are scheduled for 11th
June 2007 at 09.00am. We hope that you could come. An invitation will be
sent to you later. Thank you.
God bless you".
I replied "Good afternoon Brigadier General Albert. Thank you for giving
me the opportunity to give a talk
about the situation in West Papua to our friends at the Strategic Research
Board of the State Intelligence
Agency. I appreciate the invitation, but I will be very busy from June to
December 2007 preparing a
special convention and the 16th Conference of the Fellowship of West
Papuan Baptist churches. As the
church leader I am responsible to all church events. I am willing to send
my presentation in writing. Thank
you and may the Lord Jesus Christ bless you Mr Albert. (from: Rev Socrates
Sofyan Yoman, President
of the Fellowship of West Papuan Baptist Churches).
16.. On the same day, 11th May 2007, two intelligence agents went to
Cahaya Papua, a small bookshop
in Jayapura. The two intelligence agents questioned the shop assistant
on many things about West
Papua and about myself. Feeling a bit suspicious, the shop assistant told
them not to ask questions about
West Papua but if they wanted to know about West Papua and about Mr
Socratez Sofyan Yoman, they
could buy the books about West Papua. The two officers apologized and
left the shop.
17.. Terror and open intimidation: On the 12th May 2007, the regional
military commander of 172/PWY
Colonel Kav Burhanuddin Siagian made a statement that traitors of the
nation must be destroyed. The
commander said "if I meet any individual who has enjoyed the sate
facilities but who still betrays the
nation, honestly, I will destroy him. Do not do any demonstrations or
actions which are not useful. Do not
try to dig up past history." His comments were published in Cenderawasih
Post newspaper in Jayapura
in response to demands of the native West Papuans for a review of the 1969
Act of Free Choice and the
human rights abuses during the past 44 years in West Papua and for a
national and an international
dialogue.
18.. The implementation of the Special Autonomy law no 21 2001 did not
protect any native West
Papuans from terror, intimidation, and human rights abuses in West Papua.
What seems to be the most
prominent thing under Special Autonomy has been the addition of more
Indonesian military troops, police
personnel, intelligence officers in their many different forms of
disguises, and the increase of migrants
(new comers).The native West Papuans are living under fear and are not
enjoying freedom in their own
native land. The native West Papuans are oppressed and are marginalized in
all aspects of life. The
Special Autonomy law no 21 2001 has brought disasters which are destroying
the life and the future of
the native West Papuans.
19.. Open and secret military operations have indicated strongly that a
genocide process has
systematically been executed in West Papua since 1st May 1963 until this
year 2007 when the Special
Autonomy law no 21 is being implemented.
Our deepest concern is supported by Mr Juan Mendez, a special adviser to
the UN Secretary-General on
the Commission for the prevention of mass killing of native people, who
made statement on 26th January
2006 that "West Papua is a region in great danger because its native
people are becoming extinct
because of the genocide; Indonesia prohibits experts or human rights
observers and researchers from
monitoring the human rights situation which has been very worrying in West
Papua. There is evidence
that human rights violence has been committed in West Papua since 1963.
The deepest concern about the genocide threat in West Papua has been
raised in the research of Yale
University, USA released on 10th December, 2003 and the research report
released by the Centre for
Peace and Conflict Studies, Sydney University, Australia on 18thAugust
2005 which indicated very
strongly that a systematic ethnic genocide of the native West Papuans is
taking place.
Recommendations and Solutions:
1. An honest and peaceful dialogue, the same as in Aceh's case, with
a neutral third party, requested
and agreed by both the native West Papuans and the government of Indonesia
to mediate the dialogue.
2. All aid and funding from donor countries such as the USA, European
Union, Australia, New
Zealand and other countries for the implementation of Special Autonomy
needs to be frozen until the
government of Indonesia opens itself for a dialogue with the native West
Papuans.
3. The international community must put pressure on the government of
Indonesia to open access for
human right workers from the United Nations (a UN Special Rapporteur [on
the killings and torture]),
foreign journalists, researchers from abroad, and human rights and peace
NGOs to visit West Papua. If
the government of Indonesia does not allow the international community to
visit West Papua, then, we
have to question it. What are the Indonesians trying to hide in West
Papua? What are they doing to the
native West Papuans?
4. The governments of USA, European Union, Australia, and other
independent states in the
international world must NOT to use the slogan "supporting and maintaining
the integrity of the Unitary
State of the Republic of Indonesia". Such statements have justified and
supported the impunity of the
government of Indonesia toward the native West Papuans.
5. The churches in West Papua must push the government of Indonesia
to recognize West Papua as
a LAND OF PEACE. That recognition must be followed by real actions such as
the withdrawal of non-
organic military forces, stopping all installations of military posts,
stopping the addition of members of
battalions, stopping the militia groups and stopping business carried out
by the Indonesian military (legal
and illegal) in West Papua.
Blessed are those who bring peace, for they will be called children of
God. (Matthew 5:9).
Reverend Socrates Sofyan Yoman
President of the Fellowships of West Papuan Baptist Churches
E-mail: socratezyoman_90@hotmail.com
Mobile: 08124888458
Office: 62-967-583462
---
Vanuatu DAILY POST
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Vanuatu West Papuan office raises concern over alleged repatriation
collaboration
THE WEST PAPUAN representative in Vanuatu, Dr Otto Ondawame has raised
concern over a recent
incident in Port Moresby claiming the PNG government was allegedly
working in collaboration with the
Indonesian Embassy in PNG and pro-special autonomy groups led by France
Albert Yoku to force the
West Papuan refugees in 9-Mile refugee camp to repatriate to West Papua.
Dr Ondawame said the action on the West Papuan refugees there was done
against their own will.
"This is a violation against the fundamental human rights and
international laws.
"You cannot force people against their own will.
"They have been living there for more than 20 years.
"Why does UNHCR keep silent on this matter?" the West Papuan peoples'
representative in Vanuatu Dr
Otto Ondawame stated referring to the United Nations refugee agency.
The West Papuan People's Representative Office in Vanuatu stated that the
community of over 200 West
Papuan political refugees living at 9-mile in Port Moresby, recently
demanded deportation following an
'unannounced and unwelcome visit to the refugee camp, by Indonesian
officials and Kopassus Military
who were escorted to the Settlement by the PNG Police Force and more
recently an eviction notice
demanding they vacate the settlement.
Secretary of the 9 Mile Settlement, Samuel Imggamer explained in a
statement through the West
Papuan Peoples Representative office in Vanuatu stated, "The Indonesians
came without permission or
warning taking photos of our homes and people. The vehicles had
diplomatic number plates from the
Indonesian Embassy and two of the Kopassus Military were dressed in
civilian c1othes.
Ms Wallaya Pura, UNHCR Head in Port Moresby, had stated at that time that
she was aware of
Indonesia's efforts to repatriate the refugees back along with Indonesia's
efforts to coerce the PNG
government to support the programme. Regarding the unannounced visit by
the Indonesian delegation to
the Refugee Settlement at 9 Mile she stated "(The Indonesians) shouldn't
even think about going there".
According to the West Papuan Office in Vanuatu, the 9-Mile refugees chased
the delegation out of their
settlement damaging 2 vehicles in the process. One, of the refugees Martha
Bonggoibo spat in the face
of the officials and told the PNG police escorting the delegation "you
should know that these people are
our enemies".
"We are an enemy of Indonesia so we cannot accept the visit by the
Indonesian delegation" said Samuel
Imggamer. "Nobody sought permission and when they came they stayed in
their cars and left the
engines running".
Mr Imggamar stated, "We all have a price on our head. For example Colonel
Simon Imbiri (an old
veteran of TPN/OPM Freedom Fighters living at the Settlement) has a US
$19,000 price on his head if he
can be returned to West Papua. [The price ]only for one motive- to put an
end to the West Papuan
struggle for independence".
It was after this incident a week later the 9-Mile Community received an
eviction notice saying they must
vacate the land that they have occupied for more than 20 years.
---
Tangguh Independent Advisory Panel
Senator George J. Mitchell,
Washington DC,
USA.
May 25, 2007
Dear Mr Wenda,
Thank you for your letter dated April 17, 2007, expressing the position of
the Free West Papua
Campaign toward the Indonesian government and BP. As the Chairman of the
Tangguh Independent
Advisory Panel, I appreciate your views and am sorry that you did not
participate in our public session
with interested parties in London. It is our expressed goal to seek
information from all parties with an
interest in Tangguh.
I understand that you and others with similar feelings believe that BP's
Tangguh project in Bintuni Bay is
not in the interest of the people of Papua. However, that is not the
feeling of most Papuans with whom our
Panel met on five separate trips to the province over the past five years.
It is also not the view of the
democratically elected leaders in the province with whom we have met.
Rather, the Panel has found that as construction of BP's liquefied natural
gas facility nears completion,
and the beginning of operations draws near, support is growing stronger,
largely because of the
recognition of the substantial economic and social benefits that are and
will be flowing to the Papuan
people. It is our experience that support increases as one gets closer
geographically to the Tangguh
site. This is likely because the Tangguh project has already brought many
benefits to the people of
Papua, particularl the people of Bintuni Bay, especially in areas of
health, clean water and education. It
is our goal and purpose to ensure that substantial benefits continue to
flow to the people of this region for
the duration of the project.
The Panel appreciates your deeply felt views and will continue to monitor
the situation on our future visits
to Papua.
Sincerely,
Senator George Mitchell
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17th April 2007
Senator George J. Mitchell
Dear Senator Mitchell,
Some years ago, an armed robber took over my home by force, killed most of
my family, raped my
mother, my sisters and my aunts and tied me up together with the rest of
my family.
We cried for help from our neighbours, but nobody answered our call. They
all wanted to make friends
with the robber. Our neighbours pretended they hadn't noticed that the
robber's hands were covered in
our blood. And they just told us to accept that the robber now owns
everything that was once ours.
Now the robber is selling off the contents of my home to the highest bidder.
The only condition is that the customer must turn a blind eye to the piles
of corpses which litter my home.
My home is West Papua. Indonesia is the armed robber. You are one of my
neighbours. The robber's
willing customer is BP.
But one day, sooner than he thinks, the robber will be thrown out of my
home by the police. He will be
punished for his crimes according to the law. Then the original owners of
the house, I and all my fellow
survivors, will return to start re-building our home and our lives.
And then we will decide if we still want to sell to the robber's former
customer.
Sir, you are our neighbour. We, the people of West Papua, need you to hear
our cry for help and to
take action. We need you to open your eyes to the suffering of my people.
We need you to stand up for
the principles of justice, democracy and freedom which we know you
cherish. We need you to stand up
for the rule of law, not accept the victory of violence.
And when we are free, we want to invite you back to our home as our good
neighbour and as our friend.
Yours sincerely,
Benny Wenda
---
=================^==================================
I N D O L E F T - News service > >
=================^==================================
Legislators commend intelligence campaign to counter
'erroneous' information about Papua
Detik.com - June 4, 2007
M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta -- The House of
Representatives (DPR) Commission I on foreign
affairs has commended the measures being taken by
the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) in conducting
a counter campaign against foreign parties linked to
the issue of West Papua. These measures are
essential to straighten out overseas opinions about
Papua.
"We have agreed to commend what BIN is doing
overseas to straighten out erroneous opinions
overseas about Papua", said Commission I Chairperson
Theo L. Sambuaga following a closed hearing with BIN
at the DPR building in Senayan, South Jakarta on
Monday June 4.
The reason added Sambuaga, is because elements such
as the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) and its
sympathisers, which were mentioned by BIN, continue
to conduct negative campaigns against Indonesia,
especially about West Papua.
These elements continue to garners support through
various non-government organisations in overseas
countries such as the United States, the Netherlands
and Australia. In order to combat this kind of
information, BIN has undertaken various types of
endeavors or counter campaigns. "We commend this",
he asserted.
Sambuaga said that the Commission I has also asked
that in carrying out the counter campaign, BIN
continue to use as a point of reference the basic
principles on resolving the Papua issue, that is the
principle of empowering the Papuan people,
respecting [their] rights, upholding democracy,
implementing special autonomy, combating separatism
and building Papua in the framework of the Unitary
State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).
BIN has also been asked to seek cooperation with all
parties in Papua such as the Papua Provisional
Government, the Papuan People's Council (MRP), the
Papuan House of Representatives (DPRP) and Papuan
social figures. (umi/sss)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
****************************************************
The INDOLEFT news service is produced by the
Institute of Liberation, Media and Social Studies
(LPMIS) and Action in Solidarity with Asia and the
Pacific.
INDOLEFT News Service
Jl. Tebet Timur Dalam VIII No. 6A
Jakarta Selatan 12820
Indonesia
E-mail: jamesbalowski@yahoo.com
****************************************************
---
http://dte.gn.apc.org/73tan.htm
Down to Earth No. 73, May 2007
Tangguh - adapting to the West Papuan context?
It has been two years since Down to Earth's last detailed report on BP's
huge Tangguh gas project in
Bintuni Bay, West Papua. Surprisingly little has changed.
>From BP's point of view much has changed at Tangguh - the project is now
well into its construction
phase (70% complete as of March 2007) and is due to go 'onstream' in 2008.
However, the same issues,
the same concerns, the same doubts keep surfacing. How can this
mega-project possibly fit into the
realities of West Papuan life? How can it not result eventually in major
environmental degradation? What
real chance is there for Papuan communities to feel they are part of the
project? What real chance is
there for Papuans to benefit - and feel that they are benefiting - from
the profits of this enterprise?
These issues can be summed up with the following words: incongruity,
degradation, disempowerment and
degeneration. 'Incongruity' because there is little to no chance that this
21st century production site will
sit easily alongside the lives of those whose fishing and
agriculture-based livelihoods have remained
relatively unchanged for hundreds of years. 'Degradation' because, apart
from local Papuans' perception
that the land, their inheritance, is being sucked out from under them, it
is unlikely that the comings and
goings of LNG tankers and other vessels at the newly constructed dock, or
the projected pumping of
significant quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere, to name just two
issues, will result in good news for the
environment. 'Disempowerment' because, no matter how many consultations
and studies are done,
Papuans know that they are not in control of this enterprise.
'Degeneration' because the quality of life of
those people living in the immediate vicinity of the Tangguh 'facilities',
when considered holistically,
cannot be said to have improved with the arrival of BP.
While Tangguh's promoters point to community support, development schemes,
economic growth and tax
revenues, there are continuing signs from the ground that the project is
creating discontent among at
least part of the local population. Revenues from the Tangguh project will
no doubt bring development to
Indonesia and West Papua, but at what cost? And is it really the
development that local people want and
need? The fact remains that BP's Tangguh project is now well on the way to
becoming a reality, and a
significant one, in the life of West Papua, Indonesia and the region. It
is important to recognise this
reality, to monitor developments at Tangguh as closely as possible and to
ensure that critical views are
not drowned in the flood of pro-project information put out by BP and its
backers both in and outside
Indonesia.
Papuan and Indonesian civil society - attitudes to Tangguh At the Tangguh
Independent Advisory Panel
(TIAP) meeting in London in April 2007, panel member Senator George
Mitchell maintained that local
support for the project was strong, that there was greater support now
than five years ago and that the
"further away from the project, the greater the protest". This view, by
the chair of a body set up by BP,
shows that perceptions of attitudes towards Tangguh vary according to what
information is received and -
in Senator Mitchell's case perhaps, what people want to hear. Down to
Earth continues to receive a
different message from the communities that are affected by and/or have an
interest in this project: one
of increasing discomfort and growing disillusionment. Indeed, not all
members of TIAP, were so fulsome
in their assertions about BP's reception in Bintuni Bay. Reverend Herman
Saud, the panel's only Papuan
member, talked about jealousies amongst the local people, the risk of
those feelings being exploited by
outside parties, creating divisions and resentment.
Two Manokwari-based NGOs have spoken out recently on this issue: Perdu on
claims by communities
living on the northern shore of Bintuni Bay relating to ownership of gas
resources, recognition of
customary rights, profit sharing and supervision; and LP3BH on the
increased militarisation of the region.
BP's efforts to implement a significant social programme - based around
health and education - in the
Bintuni Bay area appear to be reaping some rewards. There is also a
significant number of local
Papuans currently employed during the construction phase of the project.
Both these factors have no
doubt increased some local community incomes in the short term, but
persistent underlying problems are
revealed when the project is looked at in the wider and longer-term
perspective.
One outspoken critic of the Tangguh project is the Rev. Socratez Sofyan
Yoman, President of the Union
of Baptist churches in Papua. He has repeatedly criticised BP and Tangguh,
placing the project firmly in
the context of the wider political aspirations of ethnic Papuans. Such
public criticism is remarkable, given
the difficulties and risks associated with speaking out against a system
of government that is perceived
by many in Papua to be unfair, discriminatory and imposed from afar.