[Kabar-Irian] News: Oct 9 - 19 2007
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KABAR IRIAN NEWS
Oct 9-19
TOPICS
* New dottyback mimics damsel
* Clashes near Papua mine kill four
* Forum leaders should raise West Papua with Indonesia
* Indonesia wants to be paid $5-$20 per hectare
* Papua New Guinea minister urges closer watch on Indonesian border
* Matoa fruit harvest fails to improve lot of Papuan farmers
* Tapping a gas gusher in Indonesia
* Peril in Papua
* It's just a bloody map
* Papua Update
* Written answers
* Indonesian police shootings wound five: reports
* Another Uncen student has disappeared
* Tribal fighting in Indonesia's Papua kills four
* Tribal violence kills eight in Papua
* Tribal violence kills 4 in Indonesia
* Mimika regency in Papua will hold its first direct election
* Tribal war in Mimika continues, death toll reaches eight
* Mimika police still try to stop tribal war in Papua
---
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=1421
New dottyback mimics damsel
Picture of Manonichthys jamali kindly supplied by Gerry Allen.
A new species of dottyback has been described from coastal waters off
western New Guinea.
The description of the new species, named Manonichthys jamali by Gerald
Allen and Mark Erdmann, is
published in the most recent issue of the journal Zoological Studies.
Manonichthys jamali is distinguished from other members of the genus in
having “...hyaline pectoral fins;
at least some ctenoid cheek and opercular scales; caudal-fin rounded to
truncate in young fish to
strongly emarginate or lunate in adults; 17-22 predorsal scales, extending
anteriorly to point ranging
from slightly posterior to slightly anterior to posterior interorbital
pores; and a prominent dark bar across
anterior caudal peduncle and adjacent posterior body extending onto basal
1/2 of posterior dorsal and
anal fin rays...”
This species is apparently restricted to the Fak Fak portion of the Bird's
Head (Vogelkop) Peninsula in
far western New Guinea.
The name of this species honours the memory of Jamal, a crew member who
died as a result of a
shipboard accident aboard the diving vessel during an exploratory survey
of the Fak Fak-Kaimana
region.
The colour pattern of M. jamali is thought to mimic that of the damselfish
Chromis retrofasciata.
This mimicry is thought to be aggressive, where the dottyback makes use of
its resemblance to the
damselfish to gain closer approach its prey (small fishes).
The effectiveness of this mimicry is enhanced by the close proximity with
which M. jamali swims with C.
retrofasciata.
For more information, see the paper: Allen, G.R. and M.V. Erdmann (2007) A
new species of
Manonichthys Gill, 2004 (Pisces: Pseudochromidae) from Irian Jaya Barat
Province, Indonesia.
Zoological Studies 46, pp. 541–546.
---
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7050129.stm
Clashes near Papua mine kill four
Map
At least four people have been killed in three days of tribal clashes
around a US-owned mine in
Indonesia's remote Papua region.
Dozens more were injured as rival groups in the Tembagapura district used
bows and arrows to battle
each other.
Squads of extra police have been deployed to the area in an attempt to end
the fighting, officials said.
The clashes are taking place around the giant Freeport-McMoRan gold and
copper mine, one of the
largest in the world.
A spokesman for the mine said that officials did not know what had
triggered the fighting, but it was
unrelated to the mine.
"In the morning they fight, then they stop for lunch and a rest, and then
in the afternoon they fight
again," Mindo Pangaribuan told the Associated Press news agency.
The Jakarta Post said that the clashes involved four different tribes,
three of whom had banded together
to fight against the other one.
It put the toll from the clashes as high as eight, citing a witness in the
area, while a police chief told local
radio that 45 people had been hurt.
The tribes involved had a history of clashes, reports said.
The area around the mine has also been the scene of unrest in the past.
Last year, a protest by local
people mining illegally in the area forced production to be suspended.
A month later, three policemen and a soldier were killed during protests
against the mine in the provincial
capital, Jayapura.
---
From: Anne Noonan and Joe Collins <bunyip@bigpond.net.au>
Subject: Press Release -Forum leaders should raise West Papua with Indonesia
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:15:59 +1000
Australia West Papua Association (Sydney)
Press release 15 October 2007
Forum leaders should raise West Papua with Indonesia
AWPA -Sydney urges the Pacific Islands
Forum leaders meeting in Tonga this
week to discus the gravely deteriorating situation in West Papua.
There are ongoing human rights abuses in West Papua and since last year¹s
PIF meeting, the situation
has deteriorated with increasing intimidation of
human rights defenders and church leaders to stop them
bringing to the
world¹s attention the human rights abuses being committed by the police and
military in
West Papua.
Joe Collins of AWPA said ³Because Australia has signed a treaty with
Indonesia, The Lombok Treaty, it
is to be expected that Australia will try
and keep West Papua off the agenda. However, it is hoped the
other Pacific
leaders including the New Zealand Prime Minister will raise concerns about
the human rights
situation in the territory.
It should be remembered that West Papua has always been considered part of
the Pacific Community. Netherlands New Guinea, as West Papua was then known,
was a member of the
South Pacific Commission (SPC), a forerunner to the PIF.
A West Papuan representative attended the first SPC Conference and West
Papuans continued to
participate in the SPC meetings until the Dutch ceded
their authority to the United Nations Temporary
Executive Authority (UNTEA)
in 1962.
It¹s time for West Papua to be brought back into the Pacific
community by
the Forum. West Papua sould be granted observer status as has already been
granted to
a number of non-sovereign territories, Collins said.
Indonesia attends the PIF as a post forum dialogue
partner. If the Forum
granted observer status to West Papua, the Forum could become an excellent
arena for the Indonesian and West Papuan representatives to meet and
attempt to solve the many
issues of concern in West Papua.
---
Indonesia seeks payout to save forests - official
<http://www.reutersinteractive.com/Carbon/77510>
JAKARTA, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Indonesia wants to be paid $5-$20 per hectare
not to destroy its remaining forests, the environment minister said on
Monday, for the first time giving an actual figure that he wants the
world's rich countries to pay.
Participants from 189 countries are expected to gather in Bali for
global climate talks at a U.N.-led summit in December.
They will hear a report on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation (RED) --
a new scheme that aims to make emission cuts from forest areas eligible
for global carbon trading.
But apart from carbon trading, Indonesia also wants big emitters such as
the United States and the European Union to pay the country to preserve
its pristine rainforests.
"We will ask for a compensation of $5-20 per hectare. It's not fixed; it
is open to negotiation," Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar told
reporters after a cabinet meeting at the presidential palace on Monday.
With a total forest area of 91 million ha (225 million acres), Indonesia
could receive as much as $1.8 billion for preserving its forests under
the proposal.
Indonesia will also negotiate a fixed price for other forms of
biodiversity, including coral reefs, Witoelar added.
He later told Reuters that the figure matches the amount needed for
preservation efforts and to create alternative employment for the local
communities.
However, some critics say it is not clear how the funds would be
supervised to ensure they are used properly.
Under the Kyoto Protocol's first round, which runs through 2012, about
35 rich nations are obliged to cut emissions by 5 percent below 1990
levels by 2008-12 to fight global warming.
The Bali meeting in December will initiate talks on clinching a new deal
by 2009.
Kyoto focused on reducing emissions from industry and capturing
greenhouse cases, but did not include a scheme to cut emissions from
forestry or to protect existing forests, which could reduce global
emissions by 20 percent.
The sprawling archipelago is also home to 60 percent of the world's
threatened tropical peatlands -- dense tropical swamps that release big
amounts of carbon dioxide when burnt or drained to plant crops such as
palm oil.
Indonesia is one of the world's top three carbon emitters when peat
emissions are added in, according to a report sponsored by the World
Bank and Britain's development arm.
"So far we have not received anything for what we have done," Witoelar
said. "Now that there is a price tag for preservation, the amount of
money we get will increase multifold."
(Writing by Adhityani Arga; editing by Jeremy Laurence; Reuters
Messaging sugita.katyal@reuters.com@reuters.net; +6221 384 6364)
---
BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
October 8, 2007
Papua New Guinea minister urges closer watch on Indonesian border
Source: The National website, Port Moresby, in English 8 Oct 07
Text of report by Papua New Guinea newspaper The National
website on 8 October
[by Isaac Nicholas]
The army bases in Wewak and Vanimo must be relocated to watch
the border on a 24-hour basis if the government wants to check
illegal activities and to contain security threats, member for
Vanimo Green and Forest Minister Belden Namah told parliament
last Friday [5 October].
Mr Namah said the government must take ownership of his
electorate (Vanimo Green).
"The illicit and illegal activities and security situation were
very frightening and threatening the sovereignty of our nation,"
he said.
Mr Namah said he would be making a submission to cabinet to have
both army bases in Wewak and Vanimo relocated to the hinterlands
of Vanimo Green so that the common border between PNG and
Indonesia could be monitored 24 hours, seven days a week. He
said he would also be seeking government support to relocate the
Batas just on the hills of Wutung village, which is on PNG
territory to Wara Tami. He said Wara Tami was the common natural
boundary of PNG and Indonesia.
"I want to see the Indonesian checkpoint on the other side of
the river and ours on this side of the river."
Mr Namah said successive governments had neglected the need to
make the border area conducive for trade and safe for those who
lived there.
"There seems to be a lucrative contraband trade along the border
on the Indonesian side. Cheap Indonesian goods are flooding
Vanimo and surrounding areas but PNG goods are not crossing the
border to the other side. Money laundering, sales of illegal
firearms, drugs trafficking, human smuggling and other illicit
activities were becoming common practices and seemed acceptable."
Mr Namah said law enforcement agencies were susceptible to
bribery and that they were not doing their jobs. He also
intended to set up the northern border fund to help in funding
both economic and social development activities along the
northern border.
"I will seek special budgetary allocation for this particular
fund," Mr Namah said.
---
The Jakarta Post
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Matoa fruit harvest fails to improve lot of Papuan farmers
Angela Maria Flassy, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura
Silpa and her five-month-old baby girl Anna have been sitting at
Sentani's bus terminal corridor from 5 a.m., waiting for people
to the buy six sacks of matoa fruit they brought their village
in Jayapura regency, Papua.
The 23-year-old woman said she was hopeful her sacks of matoa
fruit, a fruit indigenous to Papua, would sell so well she would
be able to buy new clothes and new kitchen utensils to replace
the broken ones at her home in Genyem hamlet.
"But no one has shown any interest in the fruit," said Silpa.
She said she had left home at 3 a.m. to reach the terminal some
40 km away, to sell her sack fruit for Rp 150,000 each.
"My husband and his brother cut the matoa and we split the
yields, then I took our share to the market," she said.
But luck was not on her side, she said.
Although the matoa fruit season reached its peak during the
fasting month of Ramadhan this year, sales have not increased.
In the past three years, a kilogram of matoa might cost Rp
30,000, but in Jayapura city, some 80 km from Silpa's village,
it sells for Rp 15,000 a kilogram.
Silpa was not alone though. At the terminal, there were around
20 other women, each carrying at least two sacks each of matoa.
Good quality matoa is now priced at Rp 150,000 a sack, much less
than the Rp 400,000 it sold for last year.
An hour later, Silpa gave in and sold her matoa for Rp 50,000 a
sack.
"If I wait any longer, more farmers will come with matoa and I'm
afraid the price might get lower and lower," she said.
Matoa comes in colors including yellow, green and a yellowish
green. Its tree can reach 47 meters high.
The fruit, which is harvested once a year, tastes like a mix of
rambutan, longan and lychee and the best matoa is known as
coconut matoa.
Fruit trader Ibrahim, who trades in front of a Mega shopping
center in the heart of Abepura, said despite the growers' bad
luck, he was having a good time.
The 30-year-old said he had just purchased some matoa at Sentani
terminal "for a very good price".
At his shop, he said he sells matoa for Rp 25,000 per kilogram
and would lower the price to Rp 15,000 a kg for those buying
more than five kilos.
"I might make Rp 300,000 profit for every sack I bought,"
Ibrahim said.
"But if the public order officers are conducting raids, I might
lose lots of money as they would confiscate my merchandise."
He said he usually bought first rate coconut matoa from Nafri
village, some 9 km from Abepura, at Rp 300,000 per sack. He
would then sell the fruit for Rp 40,000 per kg.
"A sack contains almost 18 kg."
He said he knew when traders were enjoying good sales, matoa
farmers had to work hard to earn their money.
At Nafri village in Jayapura city, the night was bright, because
most residents in the village had put up bright lamps on top of
their matoa trees.
Some villagers had placed two and three lamps on a single tree.
"We put up the lamps, as well as those cans, to get rid of
bats," resident Rosita Merahabia said.
"The clanking sounds of the cans would scare the bats."
She said the farmers had also devised ways to protect their
matoa on the plantation.
There are five to six kerosene lamps in each tree, another
resident Yan Merahabia said.
"The lamps are placed a week before harvest time, starting 9
p.m. until the morning."
Yan said in one week a farmer would use 12 liters of kerosene to
guard a single tree.
Nafri hamlet is best known for its coconut matoa, which is green
in color when young, but turns reddish when ready for harvest.
Harvest time is not easy and should be done in certain way,
farmers said.
In Papua, farmers just pick their fruit from the matoa tree if
it is part of a plantation, but if the tree is growing wild, they
would cut down tree branches to get their fruit.
The last technique, however, has been blamed for a decline in
matoa in the marketplace because many trees have been cut down.
Gerson Awie Ondoafi, a tribal leader in Nafri village, said
currently not all families owned matoa trees.
The fruit has become a rare commodity, forcing some village
residents to purchase it from their neighbors instead of growing
it themselves.
"Before, we lived on the sea, building houses with the sea under
us," Gerson said.
"At that time, the land was all plantations.
"But now, the plantations have become residential and many matoa
trees were cut down to make way for houses."
Another problem, he said, was the widespread use of matoa timber
that was illegally logged.
"If a matoa tree is being cut down, we must plant another matoa
tree again, not other trees, or we will not be able to taste
matoa again," he said.
---
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IJ11Ae02.html
Oct 11, 2007
Tapping a gas gusher in Indonesia
By Bill Guerin
JAKARTA - After a series of environmental, funding and supply contract
problems, surging regional demand has given new impetus to Indonesia's
US$6.5 billion Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which with
14 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves represents one of the largest
gas fields in all Asia.
Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said last week that the first LNG
deliveries from the plant are now expected to start by the end of next
year. The gas will help China, the second biggest investor in the
ambitious project, to meet its surging energy demand while at the same
time tap a valuable new fuel source to power Indonesia's domestic
economy.
The announcement comes amid surging global LNG prices, which have more
than doubled over the past three years. The initial output of the two
planned LNG production lines, or trains, as they are known in industry
parlance, will be a combined 7.6 million metric tons per year, an
output that has been fully contracted for the next 25 years.
The gas will flow from two unmanned offshore production platforms
through sub-sea pipelines to an LNG processing facility on the Papua
mainland. From there, super-cooled gas will be exported from a tanker
terminal directly to buyers, including a contracted 2.6 million tons to
an LNG terminal on the coast of the southeastern Chinese province of
Fujian. Another 3.7 million tons is scheduled to be sent to Sempra
Energy's Baja California terminal on the western coast of Mexico as
well as 1.1 million metric tons to South Korea to supply steelmaker
Posco and SK Power.
Industry analysts note that previous upbeat announcements about
bringing Tangguh on line have been followed by delays rather than
actual production. A supposed final decision to go ahead with the
project came in March 2005, when LNG exports were predicted to start
flowing in 2007. That timetable wasn't met due to funding and supply
contract problems.
The project's operator and biggest investor with a 37% stake is
Anglo-American energy giant BP and is run through its local Indonesian
unit, BP Indonesia, and in partnership with state-owned energy company
Pertamina. State-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) has
nearly 17% and several Japanese oil companies and trading houses hold
the remaining equity. Earlier this month Kanematsu Corp announced the
sale of 10% of its total stake in Tangguh to affiliates of Nippon Oil
and Mitsui. Nippon Oil's stake in Tangguh will rise slightly from
12.2%, to 13.5%, while Mitsui and Mitsubishi will now hold just under
10% each.
Amid the shifting ownership, the cost of the project has rocketed from
an estimated US$2 billion in 2002 to more than $5 billion at present.
The $3.5 billion funding target was finally met in August this year,
when BP announced it had secured an extra $884 million in funds from
banks in China, Japan and Europe. The $2.6 billion of funding secured
earlier included $1.2 billion from the Japan Bank for International
Cooperation, $1.1 billion secured from several other funding sources
and $350 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The China factor
China is boosting its use of gas for power generation and industry with
an eye on reducing it's current reliance on coal. The country's first
ever deal to import foreign-produced LNG, a 3.3 million ton per year
tender for southern Guangdong province, went in August 2002 to a
consortium led by Australian energy giant Woodside Petroleum Ltd.
The loss of this supply tender was at the time a major blow to BP and
Pertamina because they had jointly planned to start shipping gas from
Tangguh to Guangdong in early 2006 and could not start the plant until
the majority of its output had been contracted. The powerful Golkar
political party slammed then president Megawati Sukarnoputri's
administration for what it deemed poor judgment in sending a delegation
led by her husband, Taufik Kiemas, to Beijing to lobby for the
Guangdong contract.
CNOOC first purchased a 12.5% share in Tangguh from BP for US$275
million in February 2003. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that
Tangguh had been awarded China's second major LNG import deal, the
25-year supply contract to an LNG terminal in Fujian province. The deal
was negotiated by Indonesia's oil and gas regulator BP Migas and
Pertamina.
Some industry analysts speculate that efficiently tapping Tangguh could
return Indonesia to its position as the world's leading LNG exporter, a
claim it lost to Qatar in only recently. Pertamina pioneered and
dominated the regional LNG market for over 25 years, until its monopoly
on marketing LNG overseas was lost in 2001. The state entity then
changed tack, when in 2002 then president director Baihaki Hakim urged
a refocus on LNG production for the domestic market to avoid future
scarcities.
Indonesia is the Asia Pacific's only Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) member, yet has much larger reserves of
natural gas than oil. The government is developing the domestic gas
market to move away from its current reliance on its depleting oil
reserves as the country's main energy source. In that direction,
legislation enacted in 2004 mandated that 25% of domestic oil-and-gas
must be sold to local markets.
At the end of last year, Indonesia had total reserves of some 93
trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, according to BP
statistics. But much of its natural gas is exported by major foreign
producers under production sharing contracts (PSC). Total, Indonesia's
biggest gas producer, for example, pumps around 2.6 billion cubic feet
of gas a day from two separate fields, most of which supplies the
Bontang LNG plant in East Kalimantan.
Exports from the country's other LNG liquefaction plants, in Arun and
Bontang, have steadily declined as the dwindling production from aging
fields was diverted to meet local demand. Phillip Armand, president of
Total's Indonesian unit Total E&P Indonesie, has said the company
expects to start producing 400 million cubic feet natural gas a day, at
peak levels, from two new fields in East Kalimantan by the end of this
year, to offset lower outputs.
Questionable commitments
Shortfalls in export supplies have been met on occasion by spot market
purchases as contractual commitments to traditional markets in Japan,
South Korea and Taiwan have been threatened by local shortages. Most of
these contracts, supplied from the Bontang and Badak fields, are due to
expire in 2010. With no new additional gas sources due to come on
stream, these contracts will likely not be extended. And senior energy
officials' attitude to these still valid contracts raises questions
about the government's future commitment to LNG export markets.
Purnomo has been reported saying in the past that if current contracts
to these traditional buyers can not be renegotiated in terms of supply
volumes that Indonesia should seek out LNG supplies from other
countries for resale to these buyers to meet projected shortfalls in
2007, 2008 and 2009. The idea that Indonesia, until recently the
world's biggest LNG exporter and with several standing long-term
contractual commitments, should aim to play a broker's role, some
analysts say, sends a mixed signal to large volume LNG buyers in the
region.
Pertamina, at least, continues to move forward with its ambiguous
support for boosting supply to both domestic and overseas markets. Last
month the state-owned concern secured a 25% interest in a Qatar onshore
oil block, which will be operated by Germany's Wintershall, and which
Pertamina will invest $11 million as part of a total $47 million
exploration budget.
The Tangguh project could still face problems back in Jakarta, however.
The House of Representatives has set up a special team made up of
members of the Supreme Audit Agency, legislators and government
officials to look into its contracted LNG prices amid claims that the
average $3.5 per MMBTU (metric million British thermal units) prices
are far lower than the domestic gas price. Purnomo has been quoted in
local media as saying that this is just a free on board (FOB) price,
while delivered prices can be as much as $7 to $9 per MMBTU.
Indonesia's LNG contract prices have always been pegged to a maximum
oil price ceiling. The current administration of president Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono has already renegotiated Tangguh contract prices with
two big Korean buyers to a reported $3 to $3.5 per MMBTU, on the basis
that crude oil prices have more than trebled since the original
contracts were signed. Similar reviews of contract prices with US-based
Sempra Energy resulted in a new price of just under $6 per MMBTU,
according to industry sources.
Even the contract with CNOOC, which when brokered seemed etched in
stone, was last year renegotiated to a price level of $3.35 per MMBTU,
according to local media. Purnomo indicated in September 2002 that the
Fujian price was worth $21 billion over 25 years, although the contract
prices at the time were lower than US$3 per MMBTU.
CNOOC, meanwhile, is locked in a contract dispute of a different kind
after being sued in June by Canada's major oil-and-gas producers
Talisman Energy Inc, which has claimed right to a 44% participating
share of CNOOC's interest in Tangguh through Talisman's Fortuna
Resources. Talisman claims CNOOC failed to offer it this share,
conferred under its rights to assets in the Indonesian American
Petroleum Company drawn up almost four decades ago, and Warrior
International Corp, which eventually through acquisitions became to be
known as Talisman.
CNOOC has filed a counterclaim against another Talisman unit, Paladin
Resources, and the suit is expected to be heard in March next year.
It's still unclear if those legal troubles will impact on CNOOC's
future commitment to funding Tengguh. CNOOC has recently said it will
buy 25 million tons of LNG annually by 2010 to help meet China's huge
and growing energy demand. At the same time, Indonesia's other
traditional buyers are busy chasing new LNG contracts in Indonesia.
For instance, Japan plans a major LNG-related investment on Sulawesi
island, where Mitsubishi, along with Pertamina and publicly listed
Medco Energi, plan to build a new $1 billion LNG plant. The plant's
total output of 2 million tons per year will be exported to Japan,
according to the terms of an agreement signed in August by then
Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe during a three-day visit to
Indonesia. Construction will begin in mid-2008 and is expected to be
completed by 2010.
South Korea is currently the world's biggest LNG importer and now takes
annually around 5 million tons of the fuel from Indonesia. It's
state-owned Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) announced in April this year that it
would buy LNG from Tangguh if expansion were to go ahead. This was
agreed to during a visit by a high-powered South Korean business
delegation, of which senior KOGAS officials said they were looking to
invest in upstream activities in the Natuna field in the South China
Sea and other areas of the country.
Bill Guerin, a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000,
has been in Indonesia for more than 20 years, mostly in journalism and
editorial positions. He specializes in Indonesian political, business
and economic analysis, and hosts a weekly television political talk
show, Face to Face, broadcast on two Indonesia-based satellite
channels. He can be reached at softsell@prima.net.id .
(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about sales, syndication and republishing
---
Tempo Magazine
No. 07/VIII
October 16-22, 2007
Outreach
Peril in Papua
HIV/AIDS is a growing threat to the people
of Papua, according to official studies.
THE results of a recent Integrated Bio-Behavioral Surveillance
(IBBS) study conducted by the Health Department, national and
local AIDS commissions, and the Central Bureau of Statistics
indicate that HIV prevalence among the population in Papua is
2.4 percent higher than the average 0.2 percent among
populations in other areas of Indonesia. The report also said
that the disease has spread to all parts of Papua.
According to the National AIDS Commission, Papua has the highest
number of HIV/AIDS cases—22,210, second only to Jakarta, which
has registered 27,670 cases. UNAIDS’ country coordinator Nancy
Fee and technical capacity advisor Bryan Morris say, “We have an
epidemic, but we are not sure how high it will go.” Nafsiah
Mboi, National Commission secretary, has a similar assessment,
calling it a “low-level generalized epidemic, driven mostly by
commercial sex” and says it appears to be at its worst in Timika
and Merauke because more testing is done in those areas than
anywhere else.
A recent report from the UN-Early Warning Reports Bureau noted
that of these known HIV/AIDS cases in Papua, 74 percent were
indigenous Papuans.
However, the IBBS study says this does not mean that there is a
difference in vulnerability based on ethnicity. It is rather a
reflection of differences in the level of knowledge about
prevention and risk behavior. Based on topography, the IBBS
study shows that HIV prevalence is higher among those who live
in areas where access is difficult. In hard-to-access lowland
areas it is 3.2 percent, compared with 2.9 percent in the
highlands. In easily accessible lowland areas it falls to 1.8
percent. This is consistent with the low level of knowledge
about HIV/AIDS and low condom use in these relatively
inaccessible areas.
In general, knowledge about HIV/AIDS among the people of Papua
is still very low: 48 percent of the population had never heard
of HIV/AIDS. Population groups who never attended school or did
not complete a primary education have much lower levels of
knowledge, with 74 percent never having heard of HIV/AIDS
compared to 20 percent for those who graduated from senior high
school or university.
Misperceptions about HIV/AIDS are still widespread among the
majority of the population and are spread among those of all
educational backgrounds.
The main sources of information about HIV/AIDS are radio and TV,
reaching about 54 percent of the population, most of whom are in
the higher educated groups. Only a small portion of the
population have ever attended a meeting about HIV/AIDS—just 8
percent of the lower educated and 26 percent of those with the
highest levels of education.
Among the younger residents, many experience their first sexual
intercourse before reaching the age of 15. This trend was much
higher among females than males. The average age for a first
sexual encounter for residents of Papua is 19. Those in the
younger age group, both males and females, were found to have
more than one partner compared to those in older age groups. In
general, in the last year, at least 20 percent of male residents
and 8 percent of female residents had more than one sex partner.
About 16 percent of the population had sex with a non-permanent
partner in the previous year—25 percent of males compared to 7
percent of females. For more than half, some sort of payment was
involved.
In fact, according to the IBBS report, the percentage of
residents with symptoms of sexually transmissible infections
(STI) was higher among those who have multiple sex partners, and
among those who pay for sexual favors.
UNAIDS’ Fee and Morris say the main factor is not so much
commercial sex as what they call “transactional sex” where women
sell their bodies for everything from food to the borrowing of a
hand-phone or other simple favors. However, a significant
proportion of the population engage in multiple sexual
relationships.
Nafsiah Mboi has been encouraged by the concerned attitude of
Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu and provincial officials and says
much will depend on developing a response that includes
improving health services and information strategies. She calls
this “a window of opportunity to prevent a disaster” and adds,
“We know what to do, but the problem is getting the human
resources.” She has been spending a lot of time meeting with the
15,000 Papuan students who attend schools and universities in
Java and Sulawesi so they can take the HIV/AIDS message back to
Papua.
Access to the availability of prevention services, including
condoms, needs to be expanded throughout Papua. Additionally,
STI treatment services need to be increased. Ultimately,
according to the IBBS report, more in-depth information is
needed on the views, norms, culture and behavior of the people
of Papua before authorities can fully understand the nature of
the epidemic and can support HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in
Papua.
- -- Yuli Ismartono
---
from Richard Samuelson
<samoxen@dsl.pipex.com> -----
"Indonesia's territorial integrity"
. it's just a bloody map.
16th October 2007
Richard Samuelson, Co-Director, Free West Papua Campaign, Oxford, UK
"The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should
lie big,
and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of
looking
ridiculous." Nazi Propaganda Minister, Josef Goebbels, 1941
For nearly 40 years, a succession of Generals in Jakarta, from
Suharto to
Yudhoyono, together with their fellow conspirators in London,
Washington,
Canberra and the Hague, have told a very big lie; that the people
of West
Papua chose feely to join Indonesia in the 1969 "Act of Free
Choice". And by
repeating the lie over and over again they've hoped that people
would
eventually come to believe it.
The truth is Indonesia's greatest enemy. The Indonesian, British,
American,
Australian and Dutch governments all know the truth; In 1969
Suharto's
henchmen put their rifles to the heads of 1,026 West Papuan elders
and
threatened to blow their brains out if they voted for independence.
They all
know the truth that if the West Papuan people had been given a
genuine one
person - one vote referendum they would have voted overwhelmingly
for
independence. And they also all know the truth that the only way
Indonesia
can hold on to West Papua now is by repressing peaceful Papuan
dissenters
like Filep Karma & Yusak Pakage, jailed for 15 & 10 years for
peacefully
raising the West Papuan flag.
Indonesian embassies all over the world are spending millions of
rupiahs in
a desperate attempt to prevent the truth from coming out. But it's
money
down the drain. Indonesia is loosing the battle. However many
independence
campaigners Indonesia imprisons, tortures, intimidates or kills
inside West
Papua, all the money in the world can't stop West Papuans in
Britain, the
USA, Australia or the Netherlands from simply telling the truth.
Indonesia's big West Papua lie is now so obviously a lie that it
has become
too embarrassing for Indonesia's Western allies to repeat the lie
itself.
You won't now hear a British government Minister trying to defend
the "Act
of Free Choice". In fact the UK government now calls it "extremely
flawed"
[1] and has even officially admitted that in 1969 "a thousand hand-
picked
Papuans were largely coerced into declaring for Indonesia".[2]
But while the UK and Indonesia's other Western co-conspirators
don't now
tell the big lie themselves, they are nevertheless still trying to
protect
the lie from the truth's corrosive power. Now, when anyone (whether
an
ordinary citizen, Member of Parliament or even David Cameron,
Leader of the
Opposition in the UK Parliament [3]) asks the British Foreign
Secretary any
question about West Papua's right to self-determination, the
Foreign Office
sends up a smoke screen to try to protect Indonesia's big lie. They
say the
UK "respects Indonesia's territorial integrity".
Question: In the 1969 "Act of Free Choice", were the West Papuan
people
allowed to exercise their internationally-recognised right to
self-determination in accordance with international law?
Answer: The United Kingdom government respects the territorial
integrity of
the Republic of Indonesia.
Question: The UK has already admitted that the West Papuan people
were
"coerced" into joining Indonesia in 1969, so isn't it the logical
conclusion
that the West Papuans should now be given the chance to vote in a
free and
fair self-determination referendum?
Answer: The United Kingdom government respects the territorial
integrity of
the Republic of Indonesia.
Question: Now that Indonesia has signed up to the International
Covenant on
Civil & Political Rights, should the West Papuan people be allowed
to
campaign peacefully for independence, or is it still OK for
Indonesia to
jail them for 15 years for peacefully raising the West Papuan
"Morning Star"
flag?
Answer: The United Kingdom government respects the territorial
integrity of
the Republic of Indonesia.
"Respecting Indonesia's territorial integrity" is blatantly not an
answer to
these questions which would stand up in any court of law. The
Foreign
Office's answers would be laughable if their consequence wasn't so
serious
for the West Papuan people suffering under Indonesian oppression.
Very
sadly, it's all too clear that by repeating the "territorial
integrity"
mantra over and over again the UK and Indonesia's other Western
friends are
simply avoiding giving answers in order to protect Indonesia's big
lie . and
at the same time, of course, protect British economic interests (BP
is
collaborating with the Indonesian government on a huge natural gas
project
in West Papua. Rio Tinto has a share in one of the world's biggest
gold &
copper mines in the West Papuan highlands.)
So it's high time to prick the "territorial integrity" bubble once
and for
all by exposing what "Indonesia's territorial integrity" actually
means.
It's just a bloody map.
Indonesia claims West Papua because it says that every square mile
of the
Far East which the Dutch grabbed, Indonesia should now be allowed
to grab
too. From Sumatra to New Guinea, every island or part of an island
which
used to be coloured Dutch orange on the old maps, should now, they
claim, be
coloured Indonesian red. Indonesia's argument means that one old
Dutch
Empire should simply be replaced by a new Javanese Empire.
"Indonesia's territorial integrity" is just a bloody map. How can a
bloody
map justify the oppression of a million and a half Melanesians? How
can a
bloody map justify the Indonesian military imprisoning, torturing,
raping,
terrorising and murdering West Papuan men, women and children? How
can a
bloody map justify the use of State violence and terror to keep a
people
inside a country they simply don't want to be part of?
A generation ago, the British in India, the French in Algeria and
the Dutch
in Java were prepared to shed innocent Indian, African and
Indonesian blood
in a vain attempt to keep the map of the world coloured as they
wanted. Just
like Indonesia is now doing in West Papua, the British, French and
Dutch
Empires were prepared to use violence to keep people within their
imperial
territory against their will . to "protect their territorial
integrity".
"Indonesia's territorial integrity" is just a bloody map . and it's
a map
drenched in the blood of at least 100,000 innocent West Papuans,
murdered
during 45 years of brutal Indonesian occupation.
The big lie that the West Papuans chose freely to join Indonesia in
1969 has
now been exposed. It's so obviously a lie that democracies like the
UK are
now too ashamed to repeat it. And "Indonesia's territorial
integrity" is
just a bloody map. It's now time for the Western democracies to
admit that
people are more important than maps; that the era of using violence
to keep
people inside an Empire against their will is over.
It's time to put the people of West Papua first. At long last, it's
time to
allow the West Papuans the chance to determine their own future.
Richard Samuelson
Co-Director, Free West Papua Campaign, Oxford, UK
www.freewestpapua.org <http://www.freewestpapua.org/>
[1] Baroness Royall (UK government spokesperson), House of Lords
debate on
West Papua, 8th January 2007.
[2] Baroness Symons (UK Foreign Office Minister) House of Lords,
13th
December 2004. Confirmed in a letter from Jack Straw, UK Foreign
Secretary,
4th February 2005.
[3] On 24th August 2007, David Cameron, Leader of the Opposition in
the UK
Parliament & Leader of the Conservative Party, met Benny Wenda,
Leader of
the West Papuan independence movement in the UK. Mr Cameron
promised that he
would "probe the [UK] government on West Papua's right to
self-determination".
In reply to his "probing" so far, the UK Foreign Office has simply
repeated
to Mr Cameron that "the UK government respects Indonesia's
territorial
integrity".
---
The Communion of Churches of Indonesia (Persekutan Gereja di
Indonesia
[PGI])
Jakarta, Sept. 14, 2007
Papua Update
VICTIMS OF "SHOOT-ON-THE-SPOT" THREAT FROM HEADQUARTERS OF TNI,
JAKARTA.
Since July [2007] several Papuans were found dead, after being
tortured,
shot, or beaten. The violence increased after the middle of August,
2007. On
13 August 2007, in TNI headquarters, Jakarta, the TNI issued a
threat to
"shoot-on-the-spot" ("tembak di tempat") in response to the
Acehnese in Aceh
who had lowered the Indonesian flag in the context of Indonesian
independence celebration.
On the following day (14 August), the Papuan militia group, Pejuang
Pembebasan Irian Barat (Fighters for the Liberation of West Irian),
established in 1968 (before Pepera [1969 Act of Free Choice]) for
the
purposes of "liberating West Irian" to join Indonesia, had a
conference at
Prima Garden Restaruant (Abepura), where they expressed their
support for
the "tembak di tempat" [shoot on the spot] threat issued the
previous day.
In this context the following people were found dead, some of whom
were shot
to death and others beaten to death. The victims killed prior to
the threat
were victims of ongoing violence. 12 unaccounted deaths are
unaccounted for.
DEATH DATE
NAME
PLACE OF DEATH
REMARKS
19 July
3 Papua government employees were beaten to death
Police headquarters,
Oksibil
Buried
July
Mr. Ones Keiya
Nabire
Shot by unidentified party; found dead
2 August
Mr. Sem Kombo
Shot near the home of the Navy Chief, Dok 5, Jayapura
Heavily wounded on left shoulder; he did not die, but escaped.
6 August
Mr. Matius Bunai
Nabire
Shot dead by unidentified person
18/19 August
Mr. Obaja Adii
Expo Waena
Found dead; later identified killers from BRIMBOB.
20 August
Mr. A. Baransano
Karyawan
Asiki Village, Boven Digul
Shot dead; "mysterious killing." Unidentified killer
9 August
Mr. Martinus Degey (40 thn)
Timika Indah Road, Timika
Found dead four-five days after death; body was decomposed
Unidentified
Lorong 20 Road, Timika
Found dead; found days after his death
F. Ohee
Timika
Found dead after body was rotten; had his identity card
6 August
Mr. Lapima Hilapok
Wamena
Found dead
4 August
Mr. Majuri
Kwamki Lama Settlement, Timika
Found dead
These are only several people who became victims of continuing
violence and
the new threat to "shoot-on-the-spot." There have been several
victims of
mysterious killings and torture by unidentified parties. The
message is that
Papuans are living under terror. The threat to kill on the spot,
which was
made in Jakarta, established a framework that is being used to
engage,
intimidate, and kill Papuans in Papua. Therefore, the original
threat to
shoot on the spot those who took down the Indonesian flag is being
understood as a license among Papuan militias to do the same to
Papuans as a
form of general justice.
Just in: Sept. 24, 2007: 1,000 Papuan students are now protesting
in Wamena.
And about 1,000 Papuans in Jakarta are protesting. They are
carrying coffins
in protest of the Papuan genocide. They exclaim, "Papuans are being
poisoned
to death."
---
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2007-10-09b.156434.h>
Written answers
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Irian Jaya
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2007-10-09b.156434.h
<http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/?m=1463> Photo of John Bercow
John Bercow
(Buckingham, Conservative) | Hansard
<http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm071009
/text/71
009w0025.htm#07101056000951> source
To ask the Secretary of
<http://www.theyworkforyou.com/glossary/?gl=23>
State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
(1) what steps he is taking to facilitate dialogue between the
Indonesian
government and representatives of the West Papua
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Papua> n Freedom Movement;
(2) what assessment he has made of the prison conditions of West
Papua
independence campaigners, with particular reference to (a) Filep
Karma and
(b) Yusak Pakage;
(3) what recent assessment he has made of the situation in West
Papua;
(4) what representations he has made to the Government of Indonesia
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Indonesia> on the
humanitarian
situation in West Papua;
(5) what recent discussions he has had with the British Embassy in
Jakarta
on the situation in West Papua;
(6) what discussions he has had with the UN
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN> Special Representative, Hina
Jilani
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hina_Jilani> , following her recent
visit to
West Papua; and what recent reports he has received from the UK
Mission to
the UN following the visit;
(7) what assessment he has made of the situation for environmental
activists
in West Papua.
<http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/?m=1813> Photo of Meg Munn Meg
Munn
(Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office) |
Hansard
<http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm071009
/text/71
009w0025.htm#07101056000952> source
My right hon. Friend the Foreign
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Secretary> Secretary has not
made
representations about Papua to the Government of Indonesia
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Indonesia> .
Our embassy in Jakarta regularly discusses Papua with the Indonesian
authorities and pushes for greater EU
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU>
engagement on human rights issues including those related to Papua.
The
human rights situation in Indonesia has improved considerably in
recent
years and we assess that President Yudhoyono is sincere in his
attempts to
push through reforms, including in the security sector. The current
peace
process in Aceh is an indication of his willingness to be flexible
in trying
to address some of the long-running conflicts in Indonesia, and
success here
will make it easier for him to address the Papuan question
effectively.
We believe that the best way to resolve the complex issues in Papua
is
through promoting peaceful dialogue between Papuan groups and the
Indonesian
government. We are in contact with Papuan activist groups in the UK
and
encourage dialogue between them and the Government of Indonesia.
We are not aware of any specific issues concerning environmental
activists
in Papua.
Officials from our embassy in Jakarta have raised the cases of
Filip Karma
and Yusak Pakage with the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Affairs> Affairs. Their
defence lawyer
told embassy officials that prison conditions were adequate and the
two men
were treated reasonably.
We have urged the Government of Indonesia to uphold the rights
guaranteed
through the International Conventions on Civil and Political Rights
and
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified by Indonesia in
September
2005.
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary is aware of the visit to
Indonesia by UN <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UN> Special
Representative,
Hina Jilani <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hina_Jilani> , but has
had no
direct discussion with her on the issue of Papua. Ms Jilani has
received no
reports from the UK Mission to the UN following her visit.
The UK <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_UK> , with our EU
partners, is
working towards greater engagement with the Indonesian government
in support
of human rights defenders. The EU presidency is in the process of
discussing
the EU Guidelines on Human
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Defenders> Rights
Defenders with
the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and hopes to work with
them on
this important issue in the near future.
---
Indonesian police shootings wound five: reports
JAKARTA, Oct 16 (AFP) -- Indonesian police shot and wounded five
people in two separate incidents, reports here said Tuesday.
Three were wounded by police attempting to scatter a mob
blockading a truck on a road in the Papuan district of Memberamo
Raya late on Sunday, the province's police head Max Donald Aer
was quoted saying by Okezone news online.
Aer, who urged the public against "anarchy", said police had
opened an internal investigation into the incident, Okezone
reported.
A group of tribesmen from the local Baudi tribe, angered after
the driver of a passing truck belonging to a local logging
company refused to give them a lift, attacked the vehicle,
forcing the driver to flee.
After failing in their attempt to persuade the tribesmen to
abandon the truck, police moved in, only to be met with arrows
from the mob.
Okezone reported that police warning shots fired into the air
failed to disperse the group.
The website reported that two tribesmen and one logging company
worker were wounded in the shooting.
Attempts by AFP to reach a spokesman for Papua Police were
unsuccessful on Tuesday, a public holiday in Indonesia.
In another incident, a police post was attacked by villagers
angered by the alleged police beating of a youth in Nusa
Tenggara province's Alor island.
Two people were wounded by fire apparently from police shotguns
while 17 policemen were injured, Okezone reported.
The Alor district police could not be reached while a nurse on
duty at the general hospital in the main town on Alor island
confirmed that several civilians and policemen were being
treated for injuries.
The nurse declined to give the number injured or the type of
injuries they suffered.
---
Report From ELSHAM Papua 15 October 2007
Another Uncen student has disappeared. Chronology of the
disappearance
Not long after the kidnapping of Yane Waromi (26 September), a law
faculty
student of Cenderawasih University who has been found alive but in
a
critical condition, another Uncen student, Thresia Tenggroitou,
21, in the
fifth grade of the economics faculty has been missing since 1
October.
The chronology of her disappearance is told by her sister Maria,
23, a
member of the Martin Luther GKI church, district of Depapre, 70 kms
from
Jayapura.
(On 1 October) Maria met her mother at 1.30pm, but her sister
Thresia did
not accompany her. One hour later, Maria escorted her mother to
take a taxi
to Sentani, and then to return to her village.
At around 5.45 Maria sent an SMS to Thresia asking where she was
but
received no reply. After waiting a long time, Maria send a second
SMS then
a third SMS, but still received no reply.
At 6pm. Maria returned to her lodgings in Waena but Thresia wasn't
there,
She rang her on her mobile, and tried 32 times to contact Thresia
but made
no contact. At 8.15, Maria received a message on her mobile from
Thresia
which read: KK MIA TOLO. The words were not complete and probably
meant,
'please help me'. Maria tried to reply to the number but she
received a
reply to say that the number was out of reach. Further attempts to
contact
Thresia failed.
Maria began to feel very uneasy, thinking something must have
happened to
her sister, so she contacted her friends at their lodging to ask
about the
whereabouts of Thresia.
The friends sad that before leaving home, Thresia had told them she
had met
a young man in Sentani on 28 September, but didnt give his name.
She only
referred to him as 'brother'. (abang). She said he was from Sarmi
and a new
recruit of the TNI. The friends overheard her receiving a call from
this
'brother'. She then fetched her bag and left, wearing a pair of
jeans and a
black tee-shirt with white bands on the sleeves.
On 2 October, the family reported her disappearance to Radio
Nusantara but
the people there said that before they could broadcast the
message, there
had to be a letter to the police, but this could only be for some
below the
age of 12.
On 4 October, having failed to get the disappearance reported on
the radio,
the family paid Rp50,000 to Cenderawasih Pos to published Thresia's
photo
and news of her disappearance, but till now, the matter had not
been
reported in the newspaper.
Thresia's father has made many attempts to find his daughter, but
without
result.
When previous disappearances occurred in Papua during the month of
August,
a leaflet was circulated listing 28 reasons warning Papuans about
dangers
they could faced. Point 19 said: 'Dont board a taxi on your own,
especially at night. Try to make sure you have three or four
friends with you.'
---
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s2063511.htm
Tribal fighting in Indonesia's Papua kills four
Last Updated 18/10/2007, 22:09:38
Tribal fighting has broken out in the Indonesian province of Papua.
So far four people have been killed and nearly 50 injured.
Four tribes in Mimika district are involved in the fighting, near the
Freeport gold and copper mine.
Mimika's police chief has told the AFP newsagency that members of the four
tribes had been drinking in
the Freeport complex when security officers and police attempted to arrest
them for rowdy behaviour.
A man fell from the second floor of a building while trying to avoid
arrest and died on the way to hospital.
The police chief says the tribe of the dead man then accused the other
three tribes of provoking the
death, and fighting with bows and arrows erupted between them.
He says 140 police have been deployed to the area and are trying to
mediate between the groups.
But, he says it is difficult because tradition demands that a death should
be avenged by another death.
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20071018.A04&irec=3
Tribal violence kills eight in Papua
Markus Makur, The Jakarta Post, Timika
Eight people have been killed and 19 others injured in ongoing violence
involving four tribes in
Tembagapura district, Mimika, Papua.
The situation remained explosive Wednesday in the Banti rural
sub-district, the site of the violent
clashes.
More than 120 armed police officers have been deployed to the area to try
and bring the violence under
control.
"I can confirm that a fresh clash has taken place in Banti and I will
immediately go to the area to assist
the local authorities in defusing the volatile situation," Mimika Police
chief Adj. Sr. Comr. GC
Mansnembra said Wednesday morning.
The violence reportedly pits members of the Dani, Damal and Moni tribes
against the Amungme tribe.
The first three tribes live in Kimberly village, while the Amungme reside
in three villages: Tsinga,
Arwanop and Banti. All of the villages are near the operation site of
giant copper and gold mining
company Freeport Indonesia.
Officer Mansnembra and the speaker of the Mimika Legislative Council,
Yoseph Yopi Kilangin, arrived in
Banti on Wednesday afternoon and began contacting leaders of the feuding
tribes.
Initial police reports suggest Dani, Damal and Moni tribesmen attacked
members of the Amungme in
Banti. The ensuing battle reportedly left four people dead.
"As of Wednesday evening, the war has claimed eight lives; three from the
Amungme and five from the
other three tribes," said a source in Banti, who asked not to be identified.
He said armed police officers had cordoned off the Banti area in an
attempt to separate the tribes.
"This war was triggered by the death of Fred Magai," the source said.
Magai was the son of a Dani man and an Amungme woman. About a week ago,
Magai, under the
influence of alcohol, scaled a three-meter high outer wall at Freeport
Indonesia.
The young man fell from the wall and died the following day at the
Tembagapura hospital where he had
been taken for treatment.
"PT Freeport Indonesia provided the Magai family with an undisclosed sum
of cash. The money split the
family in two along tribal lines," the source said.
Magai was buried by his relatives from the Dani tribe. This angered
Magai's relatives from the Amungme
tribe. The Amungme tribesmen then accused the Dani of keeping all the
money from Freeport.
"The accusation obviously enraged the Dani. With anger boiling on both
sides, an open tribal war is just
a matter of time," the source said.
Tribal violence is not uncommon in the region. Violence flared a month ago
in Banti over an extramarital
affair.
---
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/18/asia/AS-GEN-Indonesia-Tribal-Violence.php
Tribal violence kills 4 in Indonesia
The Associated Press
Published: October 17, 2007
JAKARTA, Indonesia: Rival tribes armed with bows and arrows fought close
to a U.S.-owned gold mine
in Indonesia's Papua region on Thursday, the latest in a series of clashes
that have killed four people,
police and a company official said.
At least 45 others have been injured in the fighting in the remote region
since Tuesday, local police chief
Godhelp Mansnembra told el-Shinta radio.
The fighting broke out in villages bordering a giant gold and copper mine
operated by Freeport-
McMoRan Copper and Gold Mine Inc., Mansnembra and Freeport spokesman Mindo
Pangaribuan said.
Pangaribuan said the fighting was unrelated to the company's operations
and production at the mine
was not affected.
"We don't know the actual cause of the problem, but fighting has broken
out again today (Thursday)," he
said. "In the morning they fight, then they stop for lunch and a rest, and
then in the afternoon they fight
again."
The tribes in the area — 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) northeast of
Jakarta — have a history of bad
relations. Feuds can last for several weeks and normally only end when the
number of victims from
either side is equal.
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20071015.G03
- October 15, 2007
Markus Makur, The Jakarta Post, Timika
Mimika regency in Papua will hold its first direct election on March 26
next year.
The Mimika Election Commission has established election guidelines and
have familiarized all political
parties with the process.
The commission has also decided that the minimum requirement for each
candidate is 15 percent
representation by their party in the local legislative council.
"As the head of the Mimika Election Commission, I am ready to run the
regency election in Mimika. The
commission has already told all parties about the regulations," commission
head Yosephina Ana Balla
told journalists last week.
"I hope the election will go well, as it is the first time Mimika
residents will elect their leader directly," she
said.
She said the commission had prepared the election in line with current
regulations even before receiving
a letter from Mimika council about the planed election.
Balla said the success of the election would depend on the support of
Mimika's residents and political
parties. She hoped that journalists would support the effort by informing
the public of the importance of
voting.
She said she had asked the Mimika administration to support the election.
"Now, the Mimika
administration is preparing voter data," she added.
Former Mimika regent Klemen Tinal has urged residents to give their
support to the success of the
election in the region. He said he hoped the election would run peacefully.
Tinal will run as candidate for regent for the Golkar Party.
Several political parties, including the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle and Indonesia Socialist
Party, have decided to run together as the People's Voice Coalition
(Koalisi Suara Rakyat).
The coalition supports Yoseph Yopi Kilangin for regent and Yohanes Felix
Yeuyanan for deputy regent
candidate.
"We support the election running well and peacefully. We are ready to gain
as many votes as possible
and win the election," coalition head Mark Samaran said.
---
http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/10/18/tribal-war-in-mimika-continues-death-toll-reaches-eight/
National
10/18/07 13:20
Tribal war in Mimika continues, death toll reaches eight
Timika, Papua (ANTARA News) - A war between the local Amungme tribe who
live at Kampong Banti
and the Dani and Damal tribes who reside at Kampong Kimberli, Tembagapura,
Mimika District, Papua
Province, continued on Thursday with the casualty list having reached
eight dead and an unspecified
number of injured.
The tribal war which started Monday (Oct. 15) has so far killed three
members of the Amungme and five
of the Dani and Damal tribes, Yosias Lossu, head of Tembagapura Distric,
said.
In their war, the tribesmen use traditional weapons such as bows and
arrows, machetes and rocks.
"We have coordinated with the Tembagapura and Mimika police to stop the
tribal war. We have also
coordinated with Papua police to safeguard PT Preeport. However, the
tribal war has continued until now
because the conflicting parties refuse to make peace," he said.
According to Lossu, Mimika Police Chief Senior Adjunct Commissioner
Godhelp Mansnembra and
Mimika Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) Chairman Yosef Kilangin had
arrived in Tembagapura to
persuade the conflicting parties to end the fighting but they were unable
to reach the scene due to the
ongoing war.
Lossu said the war was believed to have started following the death of a
Dani tribesman identified as
Magai. The Dani tribe suspected that Magai was killed by someone from
another tribe.
The rival tribes finally resumed their war less than a month after they
agreed to call a truce in a previous
war.
The rival tribes` villages are separated only by the Kabur River and
located around 4 to 5 kilometers from
Tembagapura town. Kabur River is so far being used to transport tailings
from PT Freeport Indonesia
(PTFI) to the Mimika lowlands.
Meanwhile, Mimika Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) Chairman Yosep Yopi
Kilangin told ANTARA on
the phone that the latest clash was a continuation of the previous conflict.
Last September, residents of Banti and Kimberli were also involved in a
tribal war due to a family issue.
Kilangin believed the latest conflict was a continuation of last month`s
clash despite a peace accord that
was signed by the conflicting tribes` chiefs and prominent figures in the
third week of September 2007.
(*)
Copyright © 2007 ANTARA
---
http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/10/18/mimika-police-still-try-to-stop-tribal-war-in-papua/
National
10/18/07 09:50
Mimika police still try to stop tribal war in Papua
Jayapura, Papua Province (ANTARA News) - The Mimika police and a number of
military men here on
Thursday continued to try to stop a tribal war between members of the
Amungme tribe and the Dani and
Damal tribes which has been going on over the past few days in Mimika,
Papua Province.
Head of the Mimika Police Adjunct Senior Commissioner Godhelp C. Mansembra
told ANTARA on the
phone that the tribal war went on as the conflicting tribes refused to put
down their bows and arrows for
a peace deal.
"We and Commander of the Mimika District Military office Lt. Col. Inf. Tri
Suseno this morning
monitored the fight from a helicopter. We have noticed that they continue
to fight this morning. We have
tried various efforts to stop the tribal war and persuaded the conflicting
tribes to make a peace,"
Mansembra said.
The tribal war started on Tuesday (Oct. 16) involving the Amungme tribe
and two other tribes which have
joined each other, namely Dani and Damal tribes.
A Mimika police team led by Tembagapura police Head Inspector Rudy Hosair
had intensively
approached the conflicting tribes respectively at Kampong Banti and
Kampong Kimbeli, he said.
The Amungme tribe chief had indicated that he agreed to end the war, but
the rival tribes, Dani and
Damal, insisted to continue to fight until the number of casualties was
equal between theirs and those of
the Amungme.
Three tribal men from Dani and Damal had been killed in the war, while
Amungme`s casualty was only
one person.
The Mimika police team was allowed to enter the scene of the conflict to
give medical treatment to injured
tribesmen and evacuated the dead ones.
The four dead bodies were cremated and their ashes were buried.
The Mimika police have also strengthen security guards around PT Freeport
Indonesia (PTFI) to prevent
the tribal war from expanding to the mining area, he said. (*)
Copyright © 2007 ANTARA
---
http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/10/15/police-shoots-three-civilians-in-papua/
National
10/15/07 18:15
Police shoots three civilians in Papua
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - A policeman shot and injured three
civilians for as yet unclear
reasons in Mamberamo Tengah, Kesanoweja, Sarmi District, Papua, on Sunday
(Oct. 14).
One of the victims, Lukas Boleba, on Monday said the shooting happened at
12 am local time in
Mamberamo Tengah. The incident started with a misunderstanding between a
truck driver of
Mamberamo Alas Mandiri company and three civilians who were also employees
of the company.
The three civilians had just come out of a forest and asked the truck
driver for a lift. However, the truck
driver who did not know the three were fellow-employees was scared and
refused as they were armed.
He instead stepped on the accelerator and drove to the nearest police
station to report he had just seen
three armed civilians.
Policemen later came to spot and confronted the three armed men. As the
situation got tense, a
policeman fired his SS-1 gun at the three men and injured them.
Yohanes was injured in his right leg, Lukas in his chest and Corneles also
in his chest.
The injured men were rushed to Sarmi Regional General Hospital in Sarmi,
and later transfered to Dok
Dua Regional General Hospital in Jayapura.
Deputy head of Sarmi`s Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) Robby W
Rumansar regretted the incident
and asked the Papua police to investigate the case and take stern action
against the policeman who shot
the three civilians. (*)
Copyright © 2007 ANTARA
---
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