[Kabar-Irian] News: July 13-24 2006

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July 18 - July 24 2006
KABAR IRIAN NEWS

TOPICS

* Trial begins over killing of two US teachers in Papua
* Seven face death for murder of Americans in Papua
* Papuan Trials Open Despite Protest
* Papuan defendants say statements elicited under pressure
* Australia has 'opened PNG door to JI'
* Filing Resolutions at Mutual Funds: The Next Frontier for Shareowner
Activism?
* National investor explores coal deposits in Bintuni
* Tsunami expert: most of Indonesia`s coasts prone to tsunami
* A profile of the internal displacement situation n Indonesia
* Tribal War in Timika
* West Papuan Guerrillas Unify at Meeting in PNG
* Civil servants rally over Papua election dispute
* The complex journey of stolen timber
* Logging operation suspects not convicted
* Freeport-McMoRan profit rises, shares up


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http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/07/18/2003319352

Trial begins over killing of two US teachers in Papua

AP , JAKARTA
Tuesday, Jul 18, 2006,Page 5

A trial opens today for seven men accused in the 2002 slayings of two
American teachers who worked for a massive US gold mine

in Indonesia's easternmost province, a court official said.

But the suspects, all alleged Papuan separatists, insisted they would have
to be dragged to court and that they had been

tricked into surrendering by US intelligence officers, said their lawyer,
Johnson Panjaitan.

"They feel they were lied to by the FBI," he said.

Yani Witra, a court clerk at the Central Jakarta District Court, said a
judge had ordered the defendants to appear today for

hearings after a two-week delay.

The attack on a convoy of Americans working for New Orleans-based
Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Mine in Papua initially

complicated ties between Jakarta and Washington amid suspicions that
Indonesian security forces were involved.

Rickey Lynn Spier, 44, of Littleton, Colorado, and Leon Edwin Burgon, 71,
of Sun River, Oregon, were killed in the ambush, as

was an Indonesian teacher. Eight other employees of the mine were
seriously hurt.

The seven suspects claim they turned themselves in last January after FBI
agents had promised that they would be tried in the

US and allowed to promote their independence struggle, Panjaitan said.

But they were instead arrested by Indonesian police and charged in the
shootings, he said, adding his clients vowed to

"resist all attempts to bring them to trial" in Indonesia.

---

http://today.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-07-

18T082531Z_01_JAK204948_RTRIDST_0_INDONESIA-PAPUA-PICTURE.XML&rpc=66

Seven face death for murder of Americans in Papua
Tue Jul 18, 2006 4:25am ET162

 By Asikin Nurrachmad

JAKARTA, July 18 (Reuters) - Seven Papuan men went on trial on Tuesday for
the murder of two Americans and an Indonesian four

years ago near a controversial mine run by a unit of U.S.-based
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.

Ties between Indonesia and the United States were strained by the incident
and only improved after they agreed to collaborate

in solving the case, which initially sparked suspicions the Indonesian
military was involved.

After previous failed attempts to bring lead defendant Antonius Wamang to
court in recent weeks, prosecutors indicted him for

premeditated murder, a felony carrying a possible death sentence.

Trials on similar charges began separately for six accused accomplices of
Wamang, a Papuan separatist.

The prosecution said he and other gunmen were near Freeport's Grasberg
mine in late August 2002, under orders from Papuan

separatist commander Kelly Kwalik to attack Indonesian soldiers who were
part of the mine's security detail.

The mine is believed to hold the world's third-largest copper reserves and
one of the biggest gold deposits. Its copper

output in 2005 was 793,000 tonnes, with gold production at 3.55 million
ounces.

The Grasberg mining operation has been a lightning rod for controversy of
many kinds.

Environmentalists, with recent support from the government, say the
company has not done all it could to protect forests and

rivers. Other activists object to payments for security made to
Indonesia's military.

 Prosecutor Anita Asterida told the Central Jakarta court that Wamang
thought white cars passing through the mining area

carried troops and decided to open fire. In fact, the two vehicles were
transporting Americans and Indonesians who worked for

a Freeport-run school.

Three people were killed in the shooting and four others were seriously
injured, Asterida said.

She said the gunmen then shot at three trucks, wounding the drivers of
each vehicle.

Wamang had "committed acts with intent and premeditation that robbed other
people's lives", Asterida said.

Wamang was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in 2004 on two counts of
murder and several counts of attempted murder over

the killings.

The seven defendants refused to obey two previous court summons, arguing
they should be tried in Papua not in the Indonesian

capital, and last week judges had to order the prosecutors to present them
to court using all means necessary.

On Tuesday, Wamang first told the court: "I don't want to be tried in
Jakarta but am willing to go on trial in Papua." He

then joined around 20 of his supporters sitting in the gallery.

However, police escorted him back to the defendant's chair where he sat
silent until the end of the session.

A defence lawyer told Reuters Wamang was involved in the incident although
felt no guilt while the rest were innocent

 The shootings prompted Washington to demand Jakarta prosecute the people
behind the Papua killings if Indonesia wanted the

resumption of military ties. Those relations were severed in reaction to
Indonesian military actions in East Timor in the

1990s when Jakarta occupied the tiny territory.

Last November, Washington restored military ties with Indonesia, the
world's most populous Muslim nation, as a reward for its

help in the U.S.-led war on terrorism and after expressing satisfaction
with cooperation in the Papua case.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

---

The Jakarta Post
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060719.D07
Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Papuan Trials Open Despite Protest

Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Central Jakarta District Court opened the trial Tuesday of seven
Papuans charged with the 2002 murders of two American

teachers and an Indonesian who worked for PT Freeport Indonesia in Timika,
Papua.

The suspects were forcibly brought to trial by police after twice refusing
to appear. The defendants demanded that the trial

be held in Timika.

"It's useless to hold the trial here. We won't talk," defendant Ishak
Onawame, 54, told presiding judge Andriani Nurdin. The

judge was questioning Antonius Wamang, who remained silent.

Antonius, 30, who is accused of orchestrating the killings, is being tried
separately from the other six defendants: Ishak,

Agustinus Anggaibak, 23, Yulianus Deikme, 26, Esau Onawame, 23, Hardi
Sugumol, 34, and Yairus Kiwak, 52.
The seven Papuans insisted they would stand trial only in Timika, where
the alleged crimes took place.

"Don't force us!," cried another of the accused, while Papuan supporters
attending the session applauded. Antonius, who was

seated in front of the judges, returned to the visitors' seats to join the
other defendants in protest of the proceedings.

"I want this trial closed now!" cried Ishak.
Judge Andriani pleaded with them to agree to stand trial but failed. The
situation was exacerbated by the absence of the

defendants' lawyers, who are from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human
Rights Association. They had been asked by the Papuans

not to attend.

The police finally forced Antonius to return to his seat so that the
indictments could be read. "You may file your objection

in a written statement in your defense later," Andriani said, adding that
the trial must go on.

In the indictment, prosecutors alleged that Antonius was a member of the
Free Papua Movement (OPM) and was ordered by OPM

leader Kelly Kwalik to sabotage Jalan Tembagapura in Timika and to attack
Indonesian Military (TNI) troops that passed along

the road near the Freeport mine.

"Antonius Wamang recruited 11 people to launch the attack," the indictment
said. "In his action, he was backed by preacher

Ishak Onawame who gave him two sacks of rice and a tent ..."

The indictment claims that on August 31, Antonius and the rest of the
attackers, using M-16, SS-1 and Mauser rifles, ambushed

the vehicle carrying five Americans and an Indonesian, which they believed
was also carrying TNI soldiers.
U.S. nationals Ricky Lynn Spier, 44, and Edwin Leon Burgen, 71, and an
Indonesian, FX Bambang Riwanto, died in the attack.

During the session, a Papuan woman kept yelling that the seven defendants
were innocent. "They are just farmers. Farmers

don't have guns, soldiers do!"
The defendants are charged with premeditated murder and weapons
possession, for which they could face the death sentence.

Prosecutor Anita Asterida said the Timika District Court and the Papuan
provincial prosecutor's office had pleaded with the

Supreme Court to move the trial to Jakarta for security reasons.

"It is exactly as stipulated in the Criminal Procedures Code," she told
The Jakarta Post.
The trial was adjourned until August 1, when the defendants and their
lawyers will present their pleas.

---

Papuan defendants say statements elicited under
pressure

Kompas - July 20, 2006

Jayapura -- During the reading of defense speeches
at the Jayapura District Court on Wednesday July 19,
four of the defendants charged over the Abepura
riots that resulted in the death of four police
officers and an Indonesian airforce officer have
retracted the statements made in their interrogation
reports. They retracted the statements on the
grounds that the information was provided under
pressure from police investigators.

On the same day, the panel of judges presided over
by Morris SH also postponed the hearing of the
verdicts against the four other defendants. The four
defendants, who are facing the same charges, are
Markus Kayame, Patrisius Aronggear, Thomas Ukago and
Fenius Waker. The defendants that retracted their
statements were Othen Dapyal, Elkana Lokobal, Musa
Asso and Moses Lokobal.

Monjefri Pawika also declared that he was retracting
his statement in a defense speech read out by his
lawyer from the Papua Land of Peace advocacy team.

Another defendant in the Abepura case who is being
tried separately, Elyas Tamaka, also said in his
defense speech that he was retracting his statement
on the grounds that the information was elicited
under pressure.

In another separate hearing, the defense attorney
for Aris Mandowen in presenting his demurrer to the
court also retracted his interrogation report on the
same grounds.

In his dense speech, the secretary general of the
West Papua Peoples United Struggle Front (Pepera)
Selfius Bobii questioned the procedures used in
breaking up the demonstration at the Cenderawasih
University on March 16. He also refuted the
testimonies of a number of witnesses that stated he
had given a speech in which he ordered the
protesters to attack police.

Bobii also questioned why police did not break up
the smaller mass action earlier in the day when
protesters blockaded the highway between Jayapura
and the Sentani Airport. Bobii said he believes that
police allowed them to continue demonstrating and
provoked the demonstrators into committing violence
against police.

"There was a game by security forces in the
blockading of the road that ended in the clash. On
the night of March 15, there were a number of
intelligence agents who joined the protesters. On
that night there were only 50 people. If the
blockading of the road was indeed against the law,
why didn't police break up the demonstration on that
night", said Bobii.

In a separate defense speech, Bobii's defense
attorney questioned an expert language witness (who
is also a police officer) who stated that a press
release issued by Bobii incited the demonstrators to
blockade the road. Bobii's defense lawyer said that
the blockade had been in place since March 15 while
Bobii only distributed the press release at 1pm.

"The capacity of the expert language witness who
concluded that the press release incited the
protesters is also unclear. Moreover the expert
witness failed to appear in court", said Bobii's
defense attorney Anum Siregar in reading the defense
speech.

Following the hearing, Morris declared that when
witnesses provide information under oath to
investigators, the information can be used even
though they are not present in court. "On this
question (the rebuttal against the competence of the
expert witness) it may well be that the defense
attorney considers this the case. We can also make a
consideration, including in relation to the
information from the witnesses and our own
convictions", he said. (row)

[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.

E-mail: jamesbalowski at yahoo.com

---

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19840036-1702,00.html

Australia has 'opened PNG door to JI'
By Lloyd Jones in Port Moresby
July 19, 2006
INDONESIAN terrorists have an open door into PNG to target Australians and
their mining and energy interests thanks to

Canberra's push to slash the size of PNG's military, says the force's
former commander.

Retired Major-General Jerry Singirok, who in 1997 defied PNG's government
and ousted Sandline mercenaries deployed to crush

Bougainville secessionists, said the downsizing of the PNG military from
more than 5000 troops to 2000 had crippled it.

Security on the border with the Indonesian province of Papua was already
severely compromised with few or no PNG Defence

Force (PNGDF) soldiers in place where full companies should patrol, he said.

The Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) posed a huge threat to
Australia and PNG when the porous 760km border

allowed illegal and suspicious migrants to cross with ease, Maj-Gen
Singirok said.

"They would certainly target Australia's major investments in Papua New
Guinea.

"As we have seen with the calls by Osama Bin Laden and his cohorts, they
group Australia together with America and England as

their enemy."

Major resource targets such as the Hides gas project, the proposed gas
pipeline to Australia, the Ok Tedi and Porgera gold

and copper mines, and oil installations in the Gulf of Papua were
potential targets, he said.

"Any terrorist with intention (to do harm) would obviously strike where
there's no defence, no security systems in place.

"If they cannot hit Australia on its home soil, they're going to hit
Australia where it hurts.

"There's billions of dollars of Australian investment in PNG and there's a
relatively significant population of Australians."

The downsizing of the PNGDF, with soldier payouts funded by Australia, was
"humiliating" and "a major security blunder" that

compromised PNG, Australian and regional security, he said.

Maj-Gen Singirok said Australia constantly accused the PNGDF of being a
destabilising factor though the force had never

threatened to take over the government.

"My challenge to Australia is it should not see us a destabilising force,
it should strengthen us, give us equal training and

the same standards as the Australian Defence Force because we can be a
major force of deterrence in the region."

An Australian-backed program to destroy around 3000 surplus PNGDF weapons
also compromised the force's capability, Maj-Gen

Singirok said.

---

http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/2062.html

July 21, 2006

Filing Resolutions at Mutual Funds: The Next Frontier for Shareowner
Activism?
    by Bill Baue

Eight years after the Northwest Corporate Accountability Project first
filed an environmental shareowner resolution, it will

finally go to vote at the Merrill Lynch Global Allocation Fund.

SocialFunds.com -- It has been a long time coming for David Ortman,
executive director of the Northwest Corporate

Accountability Project, but the shareholder resolution he first filed in
1998 at the Merrill Lynch Global Allocation Fund

(ticker: MDLOX) is finally on the proxy and going to vote August 15. The
resolution asks the fund to divest from Freeport

McMoRan (FCX) due to concerns over environmental damage due to discharge
of tailings from its Grasberg mine into the Irian

Jaya rivers in Indonesia. While resolution-filing on environmental,
social, and governance (ESG) issues at companies is

commonplace, the tactic is very rarely used at mutual funds.

Visit the Prospectus Ordering Center"Unlike companies, which must have
annual meetings, mutual funds are only required to

have shareholder meeting when making major changes, so you never know when
your resolution may appear," Mr. Ortman told

SocialFunds.com. "Still, I think filing resolutions at funds is a viable
tactic as another front for addressing social and

environmental issues."

Michelle Chan-Fishel, program manager for the green investments project at
Friends of the Earth (FoE) and shareowner activism

coordinator, agrees.

"Filing shareholder resolutions may prove to be an interesting way to
mainstream responsible investment practices into

traditional mutual funds," Ms. Chan-Fishel told SocialFunds.com. "Such
resolutions may not win majority votes, but they could

focus funds' attention on issues such as better fund governance or
enhanced engagement with investee companies, allowing

funds to make improvements while staying true to what they promised
shareholders in the prospectus."

Mr. Ortman started out on the primary front, filing resolutions directly
with Freeport through the Seattle Mennonite Church.

"Freeport investors were, shall we say, disinterested in the environmental
and social aspects of what their corporation was

doing because they invest to profit from gold mining," he explained. "We
were getting low-percentage votes, so we decided to

branch out."

In addition to filing at the Merrill Lynch fund, Mr. Ortman's wife filed
the same Freeport divestment resolution at TIAA-

CREF, which earned 17 percent support from participants in 1999.

"The trouble is, the next year TIAA-CREF went to the SEC and had their
lawyers fight bitterly, arguing that you could not ask

a mutual fund to divest of a specific company, because of the 'ordinary
business' rule preventing micromanagement, and the

SEC issued a no-action letter allowing TIAA-CREF to leave the resolution
off their proxy," Mr. Ortman explained.

Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch issued a proxy in June 2000 with no mention of
the resolution. Merrill told Mr. Ortman it no longer

held Freeport stock, but their April 2000 semi-annual report said
otherwise--while it no longer held Freeport common stock,

it retained preferred stock. Merrill settled an "Understanding and
Agreement" with Mr. Ortman to divest from the preferred

shares if they hit a target price by 2002, which didn't happen, and so a
provision called for including the resolution on the

next proxy. In the absence of this settlement, Merrill probably could have
successfully petitioned the SEC for a "no-action"

letter allowing it to omit the proposal from its proxy, based on the
TIAA-CREF "ordinary business" precedent.

The proxy does not include a rebuttal statement from Merrill, though it
does ask shareholders to vote against the resolution.

Merrill spokesperson Jessica Oppenheim did not respond to
SocialFunds.com's request for an explanation why Merrill recommends

opposing the resolution.

"I'm not aware of anybody else who is doing this, but I do know of many
efforts to get mutual funds to be more active," said

Mr. Ortman.

For example, a recent study by Ceres reveals that Vanguard, Fidelity, and
American Funds did not support a single climate

change resolution in 2005.

"Now that mutual funds have to publish their proxy voting policies and
votes, shareholders could advocate for the creation of

thoughtful proxy voting policies that address environmental and social
issues," Ms. Chan-Fishel of FoE points out.

Mercer Bullard, founding president of Fund Democracy, a nonprofit that
advocates for mutual fund shareholder rights, sees

resolution-filing at mutual funds as a potentially effective strategy to
enhance corporate democracy.

"Getting fund shareholders to vote on a particular company or issue sure
looks like a pretty good way to put a bull's eye on

the forehead of that company in the eyes of the public," Mr. Bullard told
SocialFunds.com, "and even more so with an issue

because then the legitimacy of seeking to change the fund's strategy is
stronger than if you're targeting a particular

company."

Mr. Bullard, an assistant professor at the University of Mississippi
School of Law and former assistant chief counsel in the

SEC's Division of Investment Management, draws an analogy to the argument
against the "Wall Street walk." Conventional wisdom

used to hold that shareholders with qualms about the environmental,
social, or governance practices of a company should "vote

with their feet" by selling the stock. However, institutional investors
now hold such large tracts of shares across entire

markets as to preclude divestment as an economical option and favor
shareowner engagement advocating for change at portfolio

companies.

"Take Nike for example--it's the biggest shoemaker in the world, so if
we're going to improve factory conditions in Asia, our

only option is to engage with Nike," said Mr. Bullard. "Similarly, the
argument would go, if we are going to ensure capital

is allocated in socially conscious ways, our only option is to engage with
Vanguard and Fidelity."

---

http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=16837

National investor explores coal deposits in Bintuni

Jayapura (ANTARA News) - A national investor based in Jakarta "PT Asoka
Abadi" is currently performing exploration of coal

deposits in Horna district, Teluk Bintuni regency, West Irian Jaya
province, Markus Sraum of the Bintuni Mining Service said

here Friday.

The administration of Teluk Bintuni regency has asked the management of PT
Asoka Abadi to really strive for the development

of the coal mine if the company discovers coal deposits so as to enhance
local community`s standard of living and support the

development of the region.

Asoka Abadi Managing Director Soeharto met with Bintuni administration
recently and disclosed that the company had sent an

exploration team to Horna district to examine the potential of coal
deposits in that area.

The management of PT Asoka Abadi is interested in exploring and exploiting
coal deposits in Bintuni after noticing the

availability of potential coal reserves in the regency displayed by Teluk
Bintuni Mining Service in an exhibition at a hotel

in Jakarta not long ago.(*)

COPYRIGHT © 2006 ANTARA

---

http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=16749

July 21, 2006

Tsunami expert: most of Indonesia`s coasts prone to tsunami

Bandung, W. Java (ANTARA News) - An expert on earthquakes and tsunamis of
the Geotechnological Research Center of the

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Dr Danny Hilman Natawidjadja,
said most of coastal areas in Indonesia were prone to

quakes and tsunamis.

"An earthquake and tsunami could anytime happen in Sumatra, Java, Maluku
and Irian Jaya," he told the press here on Thursday.

According to historical records, so many quakes and tsunamis had attacked
parts of the country, like the earthquake which hit

Yogyakarta back in 1867, Pangandaran in 1921, and in 1857 in Maluku to Bali.

"In view of this condition, serious attention should be given to areas
like Mentawai islands in West Sumatra, as it has been

scientifically proven that those islands have the potentials to be struck
by a quake and tsunami in the near future," he

said.

According to him, his side will have to study the quake and tsunami which
hit Pangandaran area and Ciamis district and

hopefully he will be able to predict a tsunami attack in such regions.

Asked why is Sumatra is more prone to tsunami attacks than Java, he said
it may have something to do with the fact that Java

is much higher than Sumatra. Therefore Java is less prone to quake or
tsunami attacks, but as Java is so densely populated,

it would still to stay alert agaist natural disasters.

A lesson can be drawn from the experience of the quake and tsunami which
hit Pangandaran recently, namely that the government

should give more serious attention to mitigation efforts in the future, as
so far the government acted only after the

disasters struck, like handling the victims, an lacked anticipation.

Indonesia, which has more than 17,000 islands, large and small, is prone
to earthquakes. On Monday (Jun 17), over 360 people

were killed and thousands of others injured in a quake and subsequent
tsunami which hit the southern coastal areas of Java

island.

On May 27 this year, a strong earhquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale
rocked Yogyakarta and its surroundings, and

Central Java towns, killing at least 5,800 people.

In December 2004, a powerful earthquake and subsequent tsunamis killed
about 200,000 people in Aceh Province and tens of

thousands in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and other areas around the
perimeter of the Indian Ocean.(*)

COPYRIGHT © 2006 ANTARA

---

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/HMYT-6RUKYE?OpenDocument

Date: 19 Jul 2006

Indonesia: Support needed for return and re-integration of displaced
Acehnese following peace agreement

A profile of the internal displacement situation

This Internal Displacement Profile is automatically generated from the
online IDP database of the Internal Displacement

Monitoring Centre (IDMC). It includes an overview of the internal
displacement situation in the country prepared by the IDMC,

followed by a compilation of excerpts from relevant reports by a variety
of different sources. All headlines as well as the

bullet point summaries at the beginning of each chapter were added by the
IDMC to facilitate navigation through the Profile.

Where dates in brackets are added to headlines, they indicate the
publication date of the most recent source used in the

respective chapter. The views expressed in the reports compiled in this
Profile are not necessarily shared by the Internal

Displacement Monitoring Centre. The Profile is also available online at
www.internal-displacement.org.

OVERVIEW

In the wake of the peace agreement signed in August 2005 between Acehnese
separatist rebels and the government, putting an

end to 30 years of conflict in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh,
thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) who

were forced to leave their homes during the conflict started returning.
Most of these returns have taken place to former

conflict-affected areas spared by the tsunami of December 2004 but where
years of fighting and lack of development have

disrupted the livelihoods of all civilians. Assessments conducted by the
World Bank in the past months among conflict-

affected communities have revealed pressing needs with regard to housing,
food, health care and livelihood assistance. Also,

while the assessments concluded that it was important that assistance be
provided in these areas to benefit the community as

a whole, those who have been made more vulnerable by the conflict, such as
IDPs, should be provided with compensation for

conflict-related destruction and loss. With little money available for
non-tsunami-related aid programmes and many conflict-

affected areas not accessible to foreign organisations until after the
signing of the peace agreement in August 2005, most

aid agencies have only recently started working in these areas where tens
of thousands of people are still displaced and have

seen little of government assistance in the past years. Ensuring a fair
distribution of the assistance between all regions of

Aceh and between all who have suffered from the conflict will help prevent
jealousies and tensions between communities and

contribute to the success of the peace process.

Tension in Papua province has remained high throughout the first half of
2006 with occasional clashes between security forces

and armed groups, but also protests turning violent and causing limited
displacement in the province capital, Jayapura. A ban

on foreign media and NGOs has since 2003 prevented any independent
monitoring of the human rights situation, which is feared

to have deteriorated in the context of an increased military presence
during 2005 and heightened tensions between the local

population and settlers. Elsewhere in Indonesia, former hotspots such as
Maluku, Central Sulawesi and Central Kalimantan have

been in a post-conflict recovery phase since 2003 with no significant new
displacement recorded in the past two years.

Although there are officially no conflict-IDPs left in the country since
the government’s reclassification of the remaining

displaced people as “vulnerable” in January 2004, it is estimated that
between 200,000 and 350,000 people remain displaced or

living in situations akin to displacement. Tens of thousands of people,
mainly in Maluku province and Central Sulawesi, were

reportedly still waiting for a government termination or empowerment grant
in early 2006, nearly seven years after being

displaced. Return to Central Kalimantan is still reported as problematic
for Madurese IDPs living in east Java, mainly

because of the continued hostility of the local population.

Background and main causes of displacement

Large-scale displacement of population is a recurrent feature in
Indonesia’s recent history. Mainly caused by natural

disasters, such as the December 2004 tsunami or more recently by the May
2006 Java earthquake, forced displacement is also

often the direct or indirect consequence of development projects. While
the exploitation of natural resources has a direct

impact on the daily lives of many indigenous groups throughout the
country, forcing many to abandon their land and way of

life, the demographic and political consequences of other development
programmes took longer to materialise as they planted

the seeds of future conflicts.

In the wake of the financial crisis that hit Indonesia in 1998 and the
fall of the Suharto regime the same year, religious

and ethnic violence started to spread throughout the country. Against a
backdrop of economic recession, widespread political

discontent fuelled separatist aspirations. The resulting unrest saw more
than 1.4 million people displaced between 1999 and

2002 throughout the country. The collapse of the Suharto regime triggered
a process of political transition and democratic

opening-up that resulted in a more participatory and open electoral
process and an increased level of political participation

from the civil society. In October 2004, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono became
Indonesia’s fourth president since Suharto.

The root causes of most conflicts and displacement in Indonesia come from
transmigration programmes undertaken under

Suharto's rule with the stated aim of reducing demographic disparities
between different regions. The relocation of large

groups of people, often from Java to less populated areas, led to growing
ethnic imbalance and an increasing number of

disputes over land and resources. These deepening tensions broke out into
open conflicts when the political vacuum created by

Suharto's fall triggered new local political aspirations and power
struggles. In Central Sulawesi and Maluku province, these

struggles led to conflicts, which followed religious lines, whereas ethnic
identities were the dividing streak in Central

Kalimantan.

Separatist struggles in Aceh on the north-western tip of the island of
Sumatra and in Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) are rooted

in the impoverishment of the local population and their perceived or real
exploitation by local elites closely linked to the

central government. However, transmigration programmes have also played a
role in both conflicts, in particular in Papua

where the transfer of an estimated 800,000 settlers from Java and Sulawesi
with a different ethnic and religious background

has created strong resentment among the local population.

The Indonesian army (TNI), traditionally a key political player in
Indonesia, has been both an important stabilising force in

the various conflicts which have affected the country, such as in Central
Sulawesi or Maluku province, as well as a major

agent of displacement in vertical struggles opposing the government to
insurgents groups, such as in Aceh or Papua province.

The TNI has vested interests in both provinces, which have for years
provided the army with important sources of income,

mostly through illegal activities, such as drug trafficking, prostitution
or illegal mining and logging (HRW, 14 March 2005).

>From an estimated 1.4 million in mid-2002, the total number of displaced
fell by almost 50 per cent to around 500,000 at the

end of 2003. This significant reduction was mainly the result of more
favourable conditions for return with many conflicts

ending, but also of a more effective implementation of the government's
IDP policy issued in September 2001. Since 2004, the

government has considered its IDP problem largely solved, in spite of the
challenges remaining for those who have returned as

well as for those who have been unable to do so. Some returns did not take
place because of the continued hostility of

ethnic/religious groups, others because the promised termination or
empowerment grant has not been disbursed yet. There are

currently no reliable estimates available on the number of people
displaced by conflict in the country. Information reviewed

for this update suggests that this number could range from 200,000 to
350,000.

---

http://www.suaramerdeka.com/cybernews/harian/0607/23/nas8.htm


Tribal War in Timika (translated by KI and slightly abridged)


Three are reported killed and 11 injured in a trbal conflict n Kwamki
Lama, Mimika, Papua sunday the 23.

Timka sources report that sunday afternoon the conflict erupted between
Dani and Damal tribespeople in Timika resulting in

the deaths of  Arbinus Gogoya (26), Yohanes Gogoya (23) and Jhony.

According to our sources a number of the wounded are receiving medical
attention at the MITRA Hospital in Timika.

Kapolres Mimika AKBP Jimmy Tuilan admitted to ANTARA that the situation
has concerned local residents. He stated that at this

time both parties are getting together to make peace. The situation in
Kwamki Lama is now under control with guards in place.
( ant/cn05 )

---

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0607/S00414.htm

West Papuan Guerrillas Unify at Meeting in PNG
Monday, 24 July 2006, 10:22 am
Press Release:
Media Alert

West Papuan Guerrillas
Unify at Historic Land of Peace Meeting in PNG

Press Conference Monday 24th July 2006

Madang, Papua New Guinea

Today, Monday 24th of July 2006 West Papuan commanders and their
representatives from all six commands of the West Papuan

National Army (Tentara Pembebasan Nasional) will hold a press conference
today in Madang, Papua New Guinea.

The commanders met to discuss unifying their command structure and to
affirm their commitment to support West Papua as a land

of peace. At the historic meeting all TPN commanders and their
representatives pledged to continue their struggle for a free

West Papua through nonviolent means.

Commanders and their representatives from Biak, Sorong, Manokwari, Wamena,
Paniai, Fak Fak, and the northern and southern

border regions were all present at the meeting.

This meeting continues the work of the West Papua Coalition for National
Liberation to bring together all West Papuan

resistance groups under one umbrella organisation.

ENDS

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060718.G01

Civil servants rally over Papua election dispute

National News - July 18, 2006

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

Due to the prolonged delay in the inauguration of Papuan governor-elect
Barnabas Suebu, who won the March regional elections,

the Papuan Civil Servants Forum threatened Monday to go on strike to
demand he be installed immediately.

The threat was issued by forum chairman Ruben Marey in a demonstration in
front of the Papuan gubernatorial office in

Jayapura.

"Inaugurate the governor-elect as soon as possible, it (his inauguration)
should be given the importance it deserves...there

must be a compromise to settle the dispute over the most important issue
in Papua. Therefore I urge all civil servants to

strike starting today until there is an inauguration," Marey said.

The ongoing dispute between the Papuan Legislative Council and the Papuan
chapter of the General Elections Commission (KPUD

Papua) over procedures in the handover of election results has prevented
Suebu from taking office.

KPUD representatives say they have handed over the election results,
whereas legislators assert that the handover was not

done in accordance with the correct procedures.

The current Papuan provincial administration, Marey asserted, was running
without a legal basis because acting Papuan

governor Sodjuangon Situmorang should have been interim governor for a
period of only six months from Jan. 9, 2006. As

Sodjuangon, who is a director general at the Home Ministry, should have
ended his tenure as acting governor on June 9, any

spending ordered by him is illegal, Marey said.

"We ask those in the finance section to reject illegal instructions by
refusing to disburse funds. If they disburse the

funds, the Civil Servants Forum will report them to the police," he said.

Marey said that any spending of the province's budget had to be approved
by the legitimate governor, therefore, it would have

to wait.

Marey criticized the use of the budget funds by the acting governor after
the expiration of his tenure, especially travel

expenses, which he asserted reached Rp 2 billion (US$210,526) per month.

Meanwhile, Sodjuangon said at a press conference that when he was
installed as acting governor, it was not stipulated that

his tenure would expire after six months, but rather when the elected
governor was appointed. "In the decree on my

appointment, it is written that my tenure will continue until the
appointment of the new governor," he said.

Sodjuangon was installed as acting Papuan governor on Jan. 9 based on a
presidential decree issued on Dec. 21, 2005.

Commenting on the disbursement of the funds from the regional budget,
Sodjuangon said that it was discussed by both the

executive government and the legislature and was therefore legal.

He said the figure of Rp 2 billion cited by Marey was exaggerated.

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060718.R02

The complex journey of stolen timber

Features - July 18, 2006

The illegal logging and smuggling of merbau timber from Papua involves a
complex web of international middlemen, timber

barons and financial backers, who cooperate with senior Indonesian
government officials, environmental activists say.

"China and India are the main destinations for illegal Merbau logs. But
before the logs get there, they have to travel to

several other countries to be 'laundered' -- to have their ports of origin
changed," Telapak forest researcher and campaigner

Yayat Afianto told The Jakarta Post.

A recent Telapak/Environmental Investigation Agency report shows that the
smuggling of Merbau logs involves international

syndicates working in Papua, Jakarta and Surabaya and in the neighboring
countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and

Vietnam. These networks often collaborate to ship the timber to China and
India where it is processed and sold across North

America and Europe.

And not all of the wood is illegally felled -- although an estimated 70 to
90 percent of it is. Corrupt officials in Papua

have persuaded and sometimes forced Papuan loggers to sell the wood in
legal forest concessions for around US$10 per cubic

meter, when the logs can fetch more than 20 times that on international
markets, the report says. And this legal logging then

serves as a front for the much larger illegal industry.

Papua's legal forestry concessions date from 1999, when the government
issued a decree permitting the allocation of small-

scale local concessions of 100 hectare community plots as part of special
autonomy for the region. According to Forest Watch

Indonesia, about 300 community units now hold almost 240,000 hectares of
forest concessions in the province.

Representatives of timber barons then went to the concession areas,
promising to help villagers develop their resources, with

developers sometimes building roads and churches for the residents in
exchange for the valuable timber on their land. More

often than not, the value of the wood taken from these areas far exceeded
the value of the projects, the report says.

Several Jakarta and Surabaya middlemen then found buyers for the merbau
wood and guaranteed delivery of the timber to the

agreed destinations, Telapak report said.

These brokers, who have close ties with high ranking government and
security officials here, work with several Malaysian

companies, which are already logging in Papua, using their heavy equipment
transported from neighboring Papua New Guinea and

Sarawak, Malaysia.

With the involvement of the Malaysians, only a fraction of the wood was
sourced legally from the community programs.

"The problem is that the authorities in Sarawak and on the Malaysian
peninsular seem to have different policies on logging.

While environmentalists have successfully persuaded the Malaysian
government to help Indonesia combat illegal logging, the

Sarawak administration seems to have no obligation to follow this
commitment," Yayat said.

Telapak coordinator Arbi Valentinus said logs were often taken to Papua
New Guinea to have their papers faked, with officials

there "certifying" them with them false documents and changing their
places of origin.

Often timber illegally cut in PNG is also given false documentation
stating it is Indonesian, Arbi said.

In one example, the documents said the ship was carrying a timber
subspecies that could only grow in Indonesian Papua, he

said.

Illegally cut merbau wood was also being increasingly transported to
Vietnam and given forged documents of origin there,

Yayat said.

Vietnam had become a popular destination for the illegal wood since 2002,
when after international pressure the Malaysian

government slapped an import ban on all logs from Indonesia, he said.
Vietnam still allows timber imports from Indonesia.

"In recent years, Papuan timber has been sent to Vietnam before it is
shipped to China. We have evidence to believe that

these new Vietnamese companies are owned by Malaysians," he said.

The wood was also taken to Hong Kong and Singapore, Yayat added.

The report says brokers in Hong Kong act as a vital bridge to the Chinese
mainland, establishing connections with buyers

there. Meanwhile, Singaporeans brokered deals with Indian buyers,
chartering cargo vessels and barges to transport the

contraband timber to destinations on the subcontinent.

"Many of the financial transactions for the merbau logs flow through
Singapore's banks, including the opening of letters of

credit between buyers and suppliers," the group report said.

As for the routes to India, Yayat believed the smuggling took place
through the Philippines.

"We think that they may also adding to their loads there, by picking up
Philippines timber," he said.

The Greenpeace's Philippine office, however, doubted illegal loggers took
more wood from the country.

"The Philippines has no more forests. I believe the smugglers just use our
country as a transfer point," the group's campaign

director, Von Hernandez, told the Post.

After being processed in China, the timber products are then sold in North
America and Europe. "Meanwhile, merbau that

manufactured in India is sold to Japan," Arbi said.

The Telapak report notes the wood products are sold through international
home improvement chain stores, such as the Home

Depot and Lowe's that have thousands of stores in the US and Europe.

The report says more wood flooring was sold in 2004 than ever before, with
Europe and the U.S. consuming an estimated 189.5

million square meters -- enough to floor all of Washington DC.

(Tb. Arie Rukmantara)

---

http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060718.R03

Logging operation suspects not convicted

Features - July 18, 2006

No one caught in last year's Operation Hutan Lestari has been convicted of
illegal logging because conflicting regulations

are making it difficult for law enforcement agencies to fight the crime,
the police say.

However, environmental groups have also blamed graft in law enforcement
agencies, including the police, prosecutors and the

country's notorious courts, for illegal loggers being let off the hook.

In 2005, police launched the second Operation Hutan Lestari and uncovered
137 cases of illegal logging in Papua.

However, 52 of these cases never went to trial, while 13 others were later
dropped because of a lack of evidence.

Another 18 cases proceeded to trials but all of the defendants were
acquitted.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Bambang Kuncoko said the 1999 Forestry
Law, which gives the forestry minister authority

to issue logging permits, conflicted with regional autonomy laws, which
gives regents the rights to issue permits for small

community-based projects.

Environmental groups say regional permits are being manipulated by
unscrupulous officials, including regents and members of

the military and police, who are working with local middle men and foreign
logging companies to illegally extract the wood.

"Due to this regulation, there have been various interpretations among
authorities in determining whether a log is legal or

not," Bambang said.

In a 2005 police raid in Papua, three foreign nationals were detained for
logging in the province. However, due to what

police said was a lack of evidence, these men were set free.

Police also said they had difficulties guarding and securing evidence.

"The cost of detaining a ship is huge plus there are the security costs of
guarding evidence in remote places," Bambang said.

"These conditions means some evidence gets damaged or lost, is not able to
be presented in trials," he said.

The police have urged the Attorney General's Office to speed up the trial
process to help the police.

Former AGO spokesmen Mashyudi Ridwan said prosecutors had done their best
to process the cases.

Regarding the 18 cases in which defendants had been acquitted, Mashyudi
said the verdicts were the judges' final decisions.

"We have brought serious charges against them but the verdicts were the
judges'," he said.

He said that the office was appealing the 18 acquittals made in the local
Papua district courts.

Telapak researcher Rizman Azmi Aziz said prosecutors could charge illegal
loggers with a series of crimes under the Criminal

Code, conservation and antigraft laws. Illegal logging because of its
scale was hard to conceal, and a single photograph

could be damming evidence, he said.

Taufik Alimi of the Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute, which promotes
certification for Indonesian timber products, said the

state should be prosecuting foreign logging companies under money
laundering laws.

"I believe this would create a deterrent effect, especially regarding
foreign nationals, because money laundering involves

Interpol," he said.

(Ika Krismantari and Tb. Arie Rukmantara)

---

Freeport-McMoRan profit rises, shares up (via Joyo News)

NEW YORK, July 18 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
Inc. on Tuesday posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, as
higher metals prices overshadowed a shortfall in copper production
at its vast Grasberg mine in Indonesia.

The company, whose shares rose 1.6 percent, said its second quarter
profit doubled to $367.3 million, or $1.74 per share, from $175
million, or 91 cents per share, a year earlier, the New Orleans-based
company said.

Excluding a gain from the sale of land, Freeport would have earned
about $1.70 a share in the quarter. On that basis, analysts on average
expected a profit of $1.38 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenues jumped 58 percent to $1.43 billion in the quarter, up from
$902.9 million, reflecting skyrocketing copper and gold prices over
the last year.

Shares of Freeport rose 79 cents to $52.36 in early trading on the New
York Stock Exchange.

"Costs that were much lower than we forecast, primarily in the
smelting and refining parts of the business," BMO Nesbitt Burns
analyst Victor Lazarivici said.

He said the dip in costs "might be reversed in the future" because as
the company's copper production recovers, its smelting costs will
increase.

In June, Freeport said copper production at Grasberg would be below
estimates because of an unusual amount of clay in the section being
mined.

Sales from the company's Indonesian mining unit, PT Freeport
Indonesia, fell to 220.1 million pounds of copper and 278,000 ounces
of gold in the quarter, from 313.7 million pounds of copper and
616,400 ounces of gold in the year-earlier period.

The company now expects annual sales of 1.2 billion pounds of copper
from its Indonesian unit in 2006, down from its previous projection of
1.3 billion pounds. It still expects annual sales of 1.7 million
ounces of gold.

The reduction mainly reflects the operational issues in the quarter
and the impact of mine plan revisions to include geotechnical data,
the company said. It said it is trying to improve productivity to
increase mining rates and speed up metal production.

At the Grasberg mine, the sequencing in mining areas with different
ore grades causes fluctuations in the timing of ore production,
resulting in varying quarterly and annual sales of copper and gold,
Freeport said.

The company also reduced sales projections for the period from 2006 to
2010. It said it now expects copper sales of 6.2 billion pounds, 4.6
percent lower than previously projected, and gold sales of 9.3 million
ounces of gold, a 3.1 percent reduction from its earlier forecast.

Realized copper prices more than doubled to an average of $3.33 per
pound in the second quarter from $1.53 per pound a year earlier.


---