[Kabar-Irian] News: June 2-6 2006 (2)

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May 27-June 2nd 2006
KABAR IRIAN NEWS

TOPICS

* Book Review - Pico Iyer on "The Naked Tourist"
* Letter from Australia: On the tightrope of neighbourliness
* Howard to meet Yudhoyono as chill is over
* Howard to visit Indonesia in bid to end Papua row
* Torture of Papuan Refugees?
* Aids: Is Asia the next Africa
* The West Papua Report multiple articles - May 2006 (some duplicate older
articles)
* Papuan's Visa Decision Faces Reversal
* Freedom in Indonesia
* Freeport-McMoRan warns of lower Indonesia copper output
* Demonstrator demand Freeport close (Abridged translation)

---

http://www.worldhum.com/weblog/item/pico_iyer_on_the_naked_tourist_20060604/

Pico Iyer on "The Naked Tourist"

We noted that Lawrence Osborne’s The Naked Tourist: In Search of Adventure
and Beauty in the Age of the Airport Mall earned

high marks in Sunday’s New York Times. On the other coast, in the L.A.
Times, Pico Iyer also had praise for the book.

“Osborne’s premise, in short, is to chronicle a journey through the
virtual, simulacrum world that has emerged so quickly

that increasingly we can barely tell (or long to tell) one site from
another,” Iyer writes. “He decides to sample Planet

Tourism, as he calls it, and experience ‘whateverness’ by passing
gradually along ‘the Asian highway’ through a series of

ever more ersatz places until he arrives at the unadorned treehouses of
west Papua, an area kept remote by civil wars and

cannibalism. Along the way, he tells us that French playwright Antonin
Artaud based his ‘theater of cruelty’ partly upon the

intensities of Balinese dance, that boys in Thailand enjoy the legal right
to wear skirts to school, and that in Papua

pidgin, the pope is known as ‘Jesus Number One Man.’” Iyer observes that
Osborne’s writing sometimes echoes Paul Theroux’s:

“Osborne is an Englishman of the oldish school, scrupulously crotchety,
generally disenchanted and aware enough of worldly

realities not to make a fuss about them.”
Posted by Jim Benning • 6.5.

---

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Sunday/Columns/20060603171810/Article/index_html

Letter from Australia: On the tightrope of neighbourliness
03 Jun 2006
K.C. Boey

NAMES do hold meaning, Australia’s latest intervention in Timor Leste,
Operation Astute, no less. Australia has constantly

had to tread softly, softly in its involvement in the former Portuguese
colony and province of Indonesia, with an astuteness

requiring delicate handling of competing interests.

Multiple interests intersect at domestic and international levels. They go
back a long way, emotively seared in Australian

consciousness 30 years ago with the death of five TV journalists covering
Indonesia’s invasion of the then East Timor.

The lingering sense of personal loss has imbued in Australians a feeling
of moral obligation to help the Timorese struggle

for independence, reinforced by the role Australia played in Timor Leste’s
separation from Indonesia in 1999.

The latest violence and power struggle in Dili has raised broader
questions for Australians beyond Timor Leste. It comes at a

time when Australia could not have been more preoccupied — in global and
regional security, international trade and

humanitarian assistance. Australian defence forces are stretched thin with
troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the Solomon

Islands.

Even as aid organisations are helping in the rebuilding after the 2004
Boxing Day tsunami in Aceh, and juggling policing

duties and humanitarian needs in Timor Leste, the earthquake in Yogyakarta
is demanding attention.

Australian interests helped broker a plan for special autonomy in Aceh,
even as pressures for separation simmer in West

Papua. Australia had been caught in the crossfire, when 43 Papuans landed
on its shores in January and 42 were given asylum —

much to the displeasure of Jakarta.

There is a demand — domestically, in particular — for Australia to help
build institutions of government in its

neighbourhood. The astuteness comes in divining forms of government that
may be accepted in other countries, and drawing the

line between noble intention and what is seen to be imposition and
prescription.

Canberra is under critical scrutiny with the latest outbreak of violence
in Timor Leste. And it’s not for the cost, which, in

the estimation of the Government-funded Australian Strategic Policy
Institute, could amount to close to Australia’s earlier

peacekeeping operation from 1999 to 2005. That cost about A$200 million
(RM560 million).

Australia was the first to have troops on the ground when the call came
from Dili, which also asked for help from New

Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal. Media commentators have heavily criticised
Canberra for not having acted sooner on warnings

of instability brewing within the military in Dili, including a UN report
two months ago.

Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer say
Australia’s hands are tied. Timor Leste is a sovereign

nation. "We couldn’t have got involved before we were asked, otherwise, we
would have been invading (Timor Leste)" says

Howard.

"We cannot have a situation around the world and particularly in our
region where Australia is told to respect the

independence of countries and that it’s a bully boy if it seeks to express
a view or to intervene, but when something goes

wrong, Australia is criticised for not having, quote, ‘intervened earlier’."

Australia’s big brother role is a constant theme in its relations in the
region. As Howard said at the time of the Solomons’

crisis in April, in describing the need to rescue "potentially failing
states" in the South Pacific, no country had a bigger

role to play than Australia.

"What we have to remind ourselves again is that in our own part of the
world, the rest of the world expects Australia to

shoulder most of the burden," he said.

What that might involve is vigorously debated. For every suggestion of a
role to "nurture democracy", there is a counter view

on the morality of imposing a system of government that may be alien to a
foreign culture. To some, Canberra claims to

meeting expectations of obligatory assistance in Timor Leste is seen in
the light of suspicion of its claim to equitable

distribution of oil revenue in the Timor Gap.

West Papua has come in for examination. "Maybe the West Papuans should
think again about independence," one correspondent

wrote in a letter to the editor.

For Hugh White, professor of strategic studies at the Australian National
University, Australia faces a delicate task beyond

policing the peace in Timor Leste. It’s hardly a case study of tidy
strategic policymaking, he says of the Government’s

response.

"But in a sense it is not all the Government’s fault," White writes in The
Age."It is only trying to do what we expect of

it."

Most Australians now seem to accept that Australia is responsible to make
sure that its neighbours, at least the smaller

ones, are well-governed.

"There are good strategic and humanitarian reasons why we should try to
help," says White. "But as we have found in the

Solomon Islands and (Papua New Guinea), this is easier said than done.
Deep political reform is hard to impose from outside."

It calls for Operation Astute long after the troops are home.

---

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19363477-2,00.html


Howard to meet Yudhoyono as chill is over
From:
By Patrick Walters

June 05, 2006


JOHN Howard and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will meet in Indonesia later this
month, signalling the end of a two-month

diplomatic standoff over the Papua visa issue.
Mr Howard and Dr Yudhoyono held a cordial 15-minute phone conversation
last week after the Java earthquake, and both leaders

are said to be keen to put the visa issue behind them.

Indonesian Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said Dr Yudhoyono had
declined to speak to Mr Howard for several weeks after

visas were granted to 42 Papuan asylum-seekers because he had felt
personally "betrayed", particularly following his

guarantee they would not be harmed if sent home by Canberra.

"On the part of President Yudhoyono there was a sense of betrayal. He
banked so much on the personal relationship," Dr

Sudarsono said in Singapore.

"He was very disappointed. Because he had a very close rapport with Howard."

But Dr Yudhoyono now accepted Canberra's explanation of the legal basis of
the decision to grant the visas and had also

become more aware of the "internal dynamics" of Australian politics.

 "I think it's simmering down and should be resolved in the next couple of
weeks," Dr Sudarsono said.

"The President has said to me 'Presidents and Prime Ministers go but at
the end of the day these two cultures must work

together'."

The leaders are expected to meet on the Indonesian island of Batam late
this month after which Mr Howard will travel on to

China. Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Hamzah Thayeb, will return to
Canberra and a joint ministerial forum comprising

senior government ministers is expected to go ahead in Bali at the end of
the month.

Indonesia reacted angrily to an Immigration Department decision in March
granting protection visas to 42 Papuans who

travelled to Australia by boat in January, with Dr Yudhoyono calling for a
comprehensive review of bilateral relations and

recalling Mr Thayeb.

Dr Sudarsono said the Indonesian leader had declined to speak to Mr Howard
for several weeks after the visa issue blew up - a

measure of the deep disappointment he felt about Canberra's handling of
the problem.

"He wanted an acknowledgment that the reason the 43 Papuans (42 of whom
were later given visas) had left Papua was more

economic and not related to persecution on our part. That was the other
thing wanted from Australia."

Dr Sudarsono predicted that Papua would remain a constant irritant in the
bilateral relationship but the key was to make it

manageable.

"We have from time to time to manage these crises. I don't think it's
going to be resolved at all," he said.

Indonesians had to understand that for years to come there would be many
groups in Australia, North America and Europe

focusing on Papua, which was on the agenda of the global human rights
network.

He said Indonesia had a lot of "learning and relearning to do about
Australia", in the context of development problems of

smaller nations in the region.

"So far as Australia becomes a magnet for people from deprived areas in
these regions, it's going to be a constant underlying

problem for us. For Indonesians, it's important to understand that
Australia has the legal right to define its interest in

terms of this demographic shift."

Dr Sudarsono said regional development issues would play out in the
politics of human rights for a long time to come.

He acknowledged that Jakarta had to improve its governing record in Papua,
with many Papuans feeling their grievances had not

been sufficiently addressed by the central Government.

While the framework for the special autonomy package was sound, Papuans
had to feel they were part of Indonesia. Their sense

of dignity had been affronted and they felt their culture and sense of
identity had been overwhelmed by the Javanese.


---

*Sydney (ANTARA News)* - Australia's prime minister will visit Indonesia
later this month in an effort to ease tensions over his government's
decision to grant refugee visas to 42 Papuan separatists, a newspaper
reported Monday.

The Australian said John Howard was expected to meet Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Batam island, ending the worst diplomatic
standoff between the two countries since East Timor's independence vote
in 1999.

Howard's office confirmed the two men had spoken by telephone last week
in the wake of the Java earthquake and that Howard intended to meet
Yudhoyono shortly.

Relations between Jakarta and Canberra have been strained since March
when Howard's government issued temporary protection visas to 42 Papuan
refugees who had reached Australia by boat.

The move enraged Indonesia, which feared it signaled Australian support
for Papuan independence.

Separatists have campaigned for more than 30 years to split from
Indonesia, accusing Jakarta of widespread human rights abuses.

Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono told The Australian that his
president had refused to speak to Howard for several weeks after the
visas were granted because he felt personally "betrayed."

"He banked so much on the personal relationship," Sudarsono was quoted by
the newspaper as saying. "He was very disappointed because he had a very
close rapport with Howard."

The defense minister said Yudhoyono now accepted Canberra's explanation
of the legal basis for granting the visas and expected the row to be
resolved.

"I think it's simmering down and should be resolved in the next couple of
weeks," Sudarsono added. "The president has said to me: 'presidents and
prime ministers go but at the end of the day these two cultures must work
together'."

The newspaper said Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, who was withdrawn
at the height of the row, would return shortly and that a joint forum of
government ministers was expected to take place on the Indonesian island
of Bali at the end of the month.

Howard has painstakingly rebuilt ties with Jakarta after relations
plummeted following East Timorese independence. He has repeatedly
stressed his support for Indonesian sovereignty over Papua and has
annouced a series of controversial changes in the way asylum seekers are
dealt with in a bid to placate Jakarta. (*)


Jun 05 10:08

Copyright © 2006 ANTARA

---

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/06/341819.html

Indonesian government: beat and torture families of West Papua refugees

West Papuan Support Net via sam | 02.06.2006 10:57
June 1, 2006. Perth Indymedia: A West Papuan Independence supporter
currently in PNG, has just filed a report from the recion

by satelite phone. The following information was posted to the AWPA email
list... "...up to 40 people have been taken at

night in recent months / mother's of those who have fled are being
arrested, beaten and tortured for 3-4 days..." --


FROM THE REPORT:

"There are 3 militia training camps near Arso and Wendi villages. 2500
troops dressed in full combat gear and body armour are

training daily. The camps have tanks and helicopters and the troops are
bunking down with the jihadists."

"There have been waves of disappearances in the region, so-called 'ninja'
attacks where up to 40 people have been taken at

night in recent months."

There is an urgent and desperate call to support the refugees. Immediate
action by UNHCR is required...

"Only 80 of the refugees who fled following March 16 have been accounted
for. Up to 380 are lost and considered dead. There

is clear evidence of a campiagn to exterminate the people involved in
March 16."

(After police attacked a protest outside the Cendrawasih University in the
West Papuan capital Jayapura on March 16, several

police officers and an Indonesian military intelligence officer were
killed. Many students and other citizens, including a

five-year-old child, were injured in the conflict and more than 70 people
were arrested. Protesters were demanding the

closure of the giant US-owned Freeport gold and copper mine and the
withdrawal of the Indonesian military (TNI) and police

from West Papua.)

Our correspondent has heard "compelling and horrible stories. The military
are striking the villages from where the refugees

came and mother's of those who have fled are being arrested, beaten and
tortutred for 3-4 days.

He says, "there is no access to support them, no food, they are homeless
and scared shitless. All are traumatised. We need a

concerted international effort to get people out of there."

It is really important to think about what is happening in East Timor as
Indonesia seems ready to launch a cross border

offensive on refugee camps in PNG. The biggest security threat in the
region..."

---

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0700world/tm_objectid=17175427&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=aids--is-asia-the-ne

xt-africa-name_page.html

Aids: Is Asia the next AfricaJun 4 2006




icWales


WHEN HIV first escalated in Africa and the Caribbean, Asia remained
virtually untouched and unaware. But the worlds most

populous continent is catching up.

Today, 25 years into an epidemic that has claimed 25 million lives
worldwide, the Asia-Pacific region has the highest number

of infections after sub-Saharan Africa. Worldwide there are 40 million
people infected with HIV.

The big question now is: How far will it go?


I dont think it will go the African way,
 where in some areas up to a
third of the population is infected, UNAids chief Dr

Peter Piot said. But 
theres slow but steady growth and with that kind of
population denominator, the numbers are

staggering,


UNAids, the UN body leading the global war on Aids, estimated 8.3 million
people were living with the virus last year in the

Asia-Pacific region  and nearly 85 percent of those infected had no
access to antiretroviral treatment.

The disease, first identified in the United States in an announcement by
health officials on June 5, 1981, quickly went

global. In Asia, a vast, diverse and mobile population has helped spread
the virus, starting with unprotected sex and dirty

needles. It first devastated Thailands infamous sex industry, later
reached millions in India and has pushed once-isolated

communist Vietnam to the brink of an HIV explosion.


India is home to more HIV/Aids-infected people than any other country,
according to new UNAids numbers. Its estimated 5.7

million infections last year comprise more than two-thirds of all cases in
the Asia-Pacific region.


In a country of more than 1 billion people, that number shrinks to a small
fraction  0.9% of adults compared to South

Africas almost 19%. But a small percentage can cause the problem to be
neglected.



Because of this low percentage, the issue doesnt seem to be a priority
for political leaders and also for the man on the

street,
 said Dr. Shigeru Omi, the Western Pacific regional director for
the UNs World Health Organisation.


Indias epidemic is largely driven by heterosexual sex  mainly
prostitutes and their clients who do not use condoms. In the

countrys south, a recent report found, prevention campaigns targeting sex
workers have resulted in a 35% drop in new cases

among 15 to 24-year-olds.


But there has been little progress in Indias highly populated north or
drug-ridden north-east, said one of the reports

authors, Prabhat Jha of the University of Toronto.



Its too early and one wouldnt want to be the fellow on the Titanic who
said all clear because the north is 70% of the

population,
 said Jha, whos spent a decade researching Aids in India. 
If
it explodes, you can imagine what would happen.



Chandi Sayeed, 39, of Bombays gritty brothel district, said she was sold
into prostitution at age 16 when she was already a

mother of two.



The problem is most women dont use condoms with their husbands or with
customers they love,
 she said. 
They only use it

with men who arent regulars. They say, how can we use it with our lovers?
But women must think of their children and their

family first.



Another trouble spot is Papua New Guinea, which shares an island north of
Australia with Indonesias easternmost Papua

province.


The country of 5.7 million is plagued by political instability, poverty
and rampant sexual violence against women. It has the

Asia-Pacifics highest adult per capita infection rate of 1.8 percent, but
the political will to tackle the problem is

absent.



Papua New Guinea is a very, very, very serious situation,
 Omi said. It

needs some special attention, otherwise theres a

possibility that Papua New Guinea will become like Africa in the future.



In China, the Aids picture is still a bit unclear. But its sheer size 
some 1.3 billion people  is enough to worry experts.


In January, China and the United Nations lowered HIV/Aids estimates there,
saying roughly 650,000 people were infected in

2005  nearly 200,000 fewer than an earlier projection.


Injecting drug users accounted for nearly half the infections in China,
where the government was accused of being slow to

address the problem. HIV took off in China in the early 1990s when farmers
began selling blood plasma to earn extra money.


Aids activists and people infected with the virus have been harassed, but
top leaders have finally admitted publicly that a

problem exists.


In late 2004, President Hu Jintao was photographed shaking hands with
HIV-infected Zhang Hulin. It was a major step for the

communist government, but Zhang says he and his family suffered even
greater stigma and discrimination after the photos

circulated.


Still, he remains hopeful a cure will be found.



Its one of these diseases that the whole world is concerned with and
doing research on,
 said Zhang, who tested

HIV-positive in 1997. 
So maybe it can be eradicated, but its hard to say.



In Vietnam, the bulk of infections are among prostitutes and injecting
drug users. But the virus has spread to all provinces

and cities, and the country is at a very critical moment, said Omi of the
World Health Organisation.


With prevention campaigns, 
they may be able to avert transmission into
the community. But if they fail, they may end up

having widespread transmission among the general public,
 he said.


Vietnam is the only Asian nation among 15 countries selected to receive
emergency HIV/Aids funding under a £8billion

Washington plan.


Thailand and Cambodia, in contrast, have been hailed as two bright spots
in Asia. Both still have adult per capita infection

rates over 1.4%, but the governments have largely reversed
once-devastating epidemics by promoting 100% condom use among

prostitutes working in brothels.


But both countries must refocus and refresh their prevention campaigns,
said Jeanine Bardon, regional director of US-based

Family Health International.


Trends have shifted and HIV has latched on to new risk groups, including
men who have sex with men; young people with

multiple sex partners; injecting drug users; and monogamous women whose
husbands have sex outside marriage.



Its not just sex workers and their clients. Its much more complicated
now,
 she said. 
The new infections are now

occurring between the men who got infected (by prostitutes) in the 90s
and their wives.



Children are among the most tragic Aids victims. There were an estimated
1.5 million children orphaned by Aids in the

Asia-Pacific region, with more than 120,000 of them infected in 2004,
UNAids estimated.


Often, the children Aids sufferers are unwanted, said Joseph Maier, a
Catholic priest who runs Mercy Centre orphanage, school

and hospice in a Bangkok slum.



Nobodys talking about, Come on, why dont we adopt some of these kids?
Nobodys talking about, Hey, these kids are

bright, theyre geniuses, theres poets among them,
 said Maier, known to
everyone as Father Joe.


Thailand has made cheap antiretroviral drugs easily available, which has
increased life spans but not reduced the stigma and

discrimination.



We walk around to all the schools in this area here and say weve got
some kids with HIV/Aids, we want you to take them in,


Maier said. 
They wouldnt let them in.



If more isnt done to combat HIV/Aids now, Asia could surpass Africa in
the number of people living with the virus, said

Bardon. The tragedy would be all the greater because today people know how
to prevent it.



Well have lost an enormous opportunity to avert thousands of infections
and eventually millions of lives saved,
 she said.


Its not that we dont know what were doing.


---

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tapol" <tapol at gn.apc.org>
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 5:48 AM
Subject: [wp] The West Papua Report - May 2006 (Produced by the West
Papua Advocacy Team)


[Police Abuse of Papuan Detainees Claimed

In the course of proceedings against 16 Papuans accused of
involvement in
violent March 16 demonstrations outside Jayapura in which security
force
officials were killed, lawyers for the defendants charged their
clients
were routinely beaten in custody.  Lawyer for the defense Iwan Niode
said
the defendants were not safe in police custody, and that they had
been
regularly hit by officers. "I saw for myself a defendant, Patrisius
Aronggear,  hit by an officer and other defendants have said they
have been
hit, too."  The presiding Judge promised to complain about the
alleged
abuse to the chief prosecutors and the police but refused the
requests of
defense lawyers to transfer the detainees out of local police
custody.  The
judge also pledged to request the prosecutor to ensure the
defendants' ]



THE WEST PAPUA REPORT

May 2006

The May 2006 "West Papua Report" is the 27th in a series of monthly
reports
that focus on developments affecting Papuans.  This reporting series
is
produced by the West Papua Advocacy Team  (WPAT) drawing on media
accounts,
other NGO assessments and analysis and reporting from sources within
West
Papua.  Previous monthly reports have been released under the
auspices of
the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Human Rights Center.  Because of
changes at
the Center which have necessitated the cessation of a number of
country-specific programs, this and future monthly reports will be
under
the auspices of the West Papua Advocacy Team, now operating as a
non-profit
organization without affiliation to the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial
Human
Rights Center.  Questions regarding this report can be addressed to:

Edmund McWilliams (<mailto:edmcw at msn.com>edmcw at msn.com)

Summary:  The May 2006 report notes continuing efforts by the
Indonesian
Government to preclude international scrutiny of conditions in West
Papua.  The UNHCR has complained publicly that its has been barred
from
West Papua.  Meanwhile the Indonesian Government has sought to
intimidate
academic researchers and a senior Indonesian military leader has
urged
greater Indonesian intelligence agency activity targeting foreign
organizations professing concern for human rights in West Papua.
Amnesty
International's May report noted among many probelms in West Papua
that
tight restrictions on access to Papua by international human rights
monitors, as well as harassment and intimidation of local activists,
hampered independent human rights monitoring. At least two peaceful
supporters of Papuan independence were sentenced to
long jail sentences. Amnesty also noted reports of arbitrary
arrests,
torture and ill-treatment.  Finally, the Amnesty May report also
noted a
military build up underway in West Papua.  There is strong domestic
and
international condemnation of plans by the Australian Government to
toughen
its immigration policies.  The proposed changes follow the
successful
appeal for asylum by 42 Papuans who fled what they described as
"genocidal"
conditions under Indonesian rule.  A respected NGO has described
logging
operations, including a massive new Chinese initiative, as
devastating West
Papua's ecology and marginalizing Papuans.  A court has refused to
act
decisively to end police abuse of detainees in a highly public case
now
underway in Jayapura.

********************************************************************

Former Indonesian Military Chief Urges Indonesian Intel Become More
Active
in US, Europe and Australia

Indonesian State News Agency "Antara" has reported that on May 23,
former
Indonesian military chief General (ret.) Wiranto told a special
committee
of the Regional Representative Council (DPR) that groups in certain
countries such as the US, Australia and in Europe were seeking
to"internationalize" the situation in West Papua.  He contended that
such
groups used such similar "tricks" when there was a movement to
separate
East Timor province from Indonesia.

To address this purported threat, he recommended that the national
intelligence agency (BIN) sharpen its overseas operations so as to
foil
what he alleged to be efforts to cause Papua`s disintegration.

********************************************************************

Amnesty International Report Details Human Rights Problems in West
Papua

In a May report on Indonesia, Amnesty International offered the
following
update reporting on conditions in West Papua:

"In March, the military announced plans to increase troop numbers in
Papua
by15 ,000. There were concerns that this might lead to more human
rights
violations in the province. Hundreds of additional military troops
were
reportedly sent to Merauke in October.  Concerns were also expressed
that
troops withdrawn from NAD (Aceh) could be deployed in Papua.

Tight restrictions on access to Papua by international human rights
monitors, as well as harassment and intimidation of local activists,
hampered independent human rights monitoring. At least two peaceful
supporters of Papuan independence were sentenced to
long jail sentences. There were reports of arbitrary arrests,
torture and
ill-treatment.

  In April, prisoners of conscience Yusak Pakage and Filep Karma
were
sentenced to 10 and 15 years in prison respectively for having
raised the
Papuan flag in December2004 . Both were imprisoned in Jayapura,
Papua
province, and had lodged appeals to the Supreme Court by the end of
the year.


In September, two police officers were acquitted by the Human Rights
Court
in Makassar and victims were denied reparations. The officers were
charged
with command responsibility for the killing of three people and the
torture
of many others in Abepura, Papua, in2000 . The initial investigation
was
marred by allegations of witness intimidation. The trial suffered
severe
delays in both the investigation and trial stages. The victims and
their
families lodged an appeal.

----

New Refugee Policy Under Consideration in Australia Likened to
Refugee
Policy Targeting Jews in World War II Europe

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, May 26 reported that an
Australian
Senate inquiry investigating Australia's plan to send asylum seekers
to
offshore processing centers has heard comparisons to the treatment
of
Jewish refugees during the Holocaust. Former Federal Court Justice
Ronald
Merkel gave evidence today and compared offshore processing to
Switzerland
turning away Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany.  "The very
context in
which this bill has come before the Parliament, namely the West
Papuans,
has chilling reminders of what occurred in the Second World War," he
said.

Also giving evidence was Neill Wright from the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).  He stated that UNHCR "considers
the
bill to be discriminatory and inferior."  Several Coalition MPs have
already raised concerns over the changes.

The Senate Committee  heard a range of legal and human rights
arguments
against the idea. Among critics, 47 international NGOs signed a
letter to
Prime Minister Howard developed by WPAT protesting the proposed
policy (see
following item regarding this letter).  The Australian Government's
attempts to fashion a new refugee policy follows a serious
diplomatic row
with Indonesia after a group of Papuans arrived in Australia in
january and
were given protective asylum.  The Papuans had braved an five day
open
ocean voyage in an outrigger canoe to escape conditions under
Indonesian
rule which they described as "genocidal."

The inquiry is due to report next month.

********************************************************************

International NGOs Appeal to Australian Government To Adhere to
International Standards Regarding Papuan And Other Asylum Seekers

A May 11 letter to Prime Minister John Howard signed by 47 NGOs
based in
eight countries  urged the Australian government "to uphold its
obligations
under the Refugee Convention, to recognize the plight of Papuans
suffering
brutalization on your doorstep, and to adopt humane refugee policies
in
keeping with the widely recognized principles of the Australian
people."

The wide range of international organizations protested the
Australian
government's plan to amend its law to exclude refugees arriving by
boat
without visas from a fair consideration of their claim. The refugees
would
be held in conditions described by observers as "inhumane."

Among the signers are Human Rights Watch; Institute on Religion and
Public
Policy; International Immigrants Foundation; Robert F. Kennedy
Memorial
Center for Human Rights (drafter); TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights
Campaign; Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition
International;
Asia-Pacific Solidarity Coalition; Leadership Conference of Women
Religious; Great Lakes Rural Australians for Refugees; and Pax
Christi
USA.Central Government Authorized Logging Devastates Papuan Forests,
Further Marginalizes Papuans

(View the letter at the website of the East Timor and Indonesia
Action Network)

********************************************************************

Logging in West Papua Devastates Papuan Ecology, Marginalizes Papuan
People

The Newsletter published by Down to Earth for May 2006 (No. 69)
focuses on
the "future of Papuan forests.  The well researched article sounds
alarm
bells regarding the rampant devastation of Papuan forests by
corporations,
often operating illegally and under the protection of Indonesian
security
forces.

The report include the following major points:

The island of New Guinea - of which West Papua is the western part -
has
one of the largest areas of intact forest remaining on earth. These
forests
have huge biodiversity and a high proportion of the plants and
animals
found there are unique to the island.

Papuan forests are the focus of a power struggle between the
Indonesian
central government and West Papua. Legal and illegal logging are
causing
rampant deforestation, but have also disenfranchised the indigenous
population.

Papuans are increasingly aware that while their rich natural
resources -
minerals and fisheries, as well as forests - make the biggest
contribution
to state revenues, they remain in poverty. The lack of benefits from
decades of exploitation was underlined last year when the World Bank
reported that 40% of Papuans remained below the poverty line, more
than
twice the national average for Indonesia (see DTE 68:7,
<http://dte.gn.apc.org/68adb.htm>http://dte.gn.apc.org/68adb.htm).

Matters came to a head when central government launched Operation
Hutan
Lestari II to curb 'illegal logging'. All community logging licenses
were
withdrawn, leaving communities with no legal alternative to generate
income
from their forests.

An April agreement signed by the central government with a Chinese
state
firm calls for investment of over one billion dollars in a massive
timber
extraction operation.  The deal could ignite a power struggle
between
central government in Jakarta and Papua's
provincial government, which has already complained about the lack
of
decision-making power delivered under special autonomy measures
introduced
four years
ago. The investment, which can be expected to accelerate the
marginalization of indigenous Papuans in the logging zones, is also
likely
to fuel political unrest amongst a population already angry about
outsiders
profiting from Papua's natural riches.

********************************************************************

  Police Abuse of Papuan Detainees Claimed

In the course of proceedings against 16 Papuans accused of
involvement in
violent March 16 demonstrations outside Jayapura in which security
force
officials were killed, lawyers for the defendants charged their
clients
were routinely beaten in custody.  Lawyer for the defense Iwan Niode
said
the defendants were not safe in police custody, and that they had
been
regularly hit by officers. "I saw for myself a defendant, Patrisius
Aronggear,  hit by an officer and other defendants have said they
have been
hit, too."  The presiding Judge promised to complain about the
alleged
abuse to the chief prosecutors and the police but refused the
requests of
defense lawyers to transfer the detainees out of local police
custody.  The
judge also pledged to request the prosecutor to ensure the
defendants'
families had easier access to them.

*****************************************************

---

The Australian
Monday, June 5, 2006

Papuan's Visa Decision Faces Reversal

Cath Hart

THE only West Papuan refused protection in Australia among a group of 43
asylum-seekers could have the decision overturned when his visa to Japan
expires in September.

The man - believed to be David Wainggai, 29, the son of prominent West
Papuan independence campaigners - was refused protection by the Immigration
Department two weeks ago because he had a temporary visa for Japan, and had
not sought asylum there.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said at the time that Canberra was
not obliged to assess his claim for protection because Mr Wainggai had not
exhausted all other avenues for asylum.

Mr Wainggai lodged an appeal against the decision with the Refugee Review
Tribunal last week.

A further appeal against the tribunal's ruling could be made to the Federal
Magistrates Court, which could see the final arbitration on the decision
delayed until at least the end of the year.

Mr Wainggai's lawyer, David Manne, from the Refugee and Immigration Legal
Centre, said the temporary visa held by his client would expire in September,
well before all the Australian legal options had been exhausted.

"It's highly possible the tribunal would not have made a decision by that
point," Mr Manne told The Australian yesterday.

Under concessions gained by Liberal backbencher Petro Georgiou last year, the
Refugee Review Tribunal must process appeals within 90 days of receiving
departmental documents.

Mr Wainggai would have 28 days to appeal the tribunal's decision to the
Federal Magistrates Court, which could then take up to six months to hear
the case.

Mr Manne said the expiration of Mr Wainggai's visa would have a significant
effect on future decisions about the case.

"It would evaporate the Government's already baseless argument that he would
be allowed into Japan," Mr Manne said.

"The Government's denial of protection would have gone from baseless to
bizarre."

Mr Wainggai, who has no passport, was in a group of 43 West Papuans who
arrived on Cape York in January after fleeing from the Indonesian-controlled
province.

The other members of the group were granted protection visas, but the
decision sparked anger in Jakarta, which withdrew its ambassador from
Canberra in
protest.

In a move seen as an effort to appease Indonesia, the Howard Government
proposed a new immigration regime, which has yet to be voted on and is
likely to
cause tension between hardline and moderate Coalition MPs.

The most contentious element of the proposal - the decision to redraw
Australia's migration zone to exclude the mainland - would see all refugees,
including children, processed in off-shore immigration detention centres
such as Nauru.

---

The Jakarta Post
Monday, June 5, 2006

Paint around the frame, sweep under the carpet

Julia Suryakusuma, Jakarta

A few months after we got married in October last year, my husband Tim and I
decided to redecorate our house south of Jakarta to give it a new feel. We
started by just moving things around -- furniture, paintings and other
decorations. It is amazing how you can achieve a different feel by making
the simplest
changes.

When we moved a set of Papuan paintings from where they'd hung for ages, we
saw that when the wall had been repainted a few years ago, the painter had --
incredibly -- just painted around the picture frames. The result was that
there
were three squares on the wall, a lighter shade of cream to the rest of the
wall. Tim and I looked at each other in amazement. Instead of taking the
pictures down, whoever had painted the wall must have painstakingly
brushed around
them, as if using the frames as guides to paint squares on the wall.

We had to laugh, as well as shake our heads, at the stupidity, laziness,
irresponsibility, complacency and complete lack of self-respect, of
whoever it was
who undertook the task. We wondered, was this somehow a particularly
Indonesian thing?

Maybe it is. The history of this country is full of instances where the
authorities paint around the frame, sweep under the carpet, hide the
skeletons in
the closet -- anything but do the job properly. The multitude of unresolved
issues that modern Indonesia skirts around have already become
characteristic of
our history. Will it impede our ability to move forward and heal ourselves as
a nation?

The issue currently to the fore is public demand for Soeharto to finally face
trial for corruption. If - as now seems likely -the government lets the
ailing former President go again, a proper investigation of the
allegations against
him, his cronies and family that would certainly implicate many people still
in power, will be prevented. No one will be called to account for the rampant
national corruption franchise run from Jl. Cendana that we endured for
decades. We all know about it, many of us suffered due to it, but let's
all just
brush it under the carpet and pretend nothing happened, shall we?

And what about all the other, even more serious, crimes perpetrated by
Soeharto and his regime? Up to now, the killings of 1965-66 have never been
resolved, despite the fact that they are one of the greatest acts of
genocide in the
history of Southeast Asia, let alone Indonesia, a crime against humanity on a
par with the ethnic cleansing in Rwanda/Burundi and Bosnia.

If Slobodan Milosevic was tried in the international court of justice in the
Hague for abuses against the Yugoslavian people (before he died on March 11
this year) and if Saddam Hussein can face justice for what he did to the
Iraqi
people, why is that not just the Indonesian government, but also the world,
continues to turn a blind eye to the atrocities committed against so many
Indonesians?

There has been no justice for the victims of 1965, nor have their families
been rehabilitated or compensated, despite many of them being children at the
time, innocent of any political involvement or even knowledge. Many were
stripped of homes, possessions, education and dignity -- so many families
traumatized, stigmatized, criminalized and brutalized, with no recourse to
justice.

The construction of history and ideologies was a mainstay of the New Order.
Its constantly reinforced story of what happened in 1965, blaming it all on a
communist conspiracy, provided legitimacy for oppressive rule, as well as
continuing human rights abuses. That account is still widely believed,
despite
counter-versions implicating Soeharto in the events, such as the Cornell
papers
written by Ben Anderson and Ruth McVey in 1966. These have been given more
weight by the accounts given by the last prisoners from that time who were
finally
released after he resigned in 1998.

So, if reformasi is to have meaning, it must involve a deconstruction of our
history. This has started in a small way, but is nowhere near reversing the
effect of the systematic brainwashing that still prevails.

And what have we done about it, now that the New Order is itself history?
Well, Gus Dur apologized for NU's involvement in the killings. Apart from
that,
nothing really. No one has ever even been charged, let alone convicted, for
hundreds of thousands of murders, beatings, abductions and torture.

And that's the killings of 1965 and 1966, which happened 40 years ago. What
about more recent events such as the hundreds killed or abused in the May
riots
and the raping of Chinese-Indonesian women of 1998? No one has ever been
convicted of setting fire to malls full of people, or sacking Glodok and
assaulting women and children, as Soeharto's regime unraveled.

And what about all the events in between -- the shooting of Muslims in
Tanjung Priok, the well-documented atrocities of East Timor, Aceh and
Papua or even
the political murders of reformers such as Marsinah and Munir? None of these
have ever been fully addressed.

Like the lazy or stupid worker who painted my house, we've just been painting
around the frame, pretending we don't have to do anything else to really fix
the problem -- in fact, pretending there isn't even a problem at all. But
there is, there certainly is. Stop and think for a moment. Do you know
someone who
lost a family member, who died, was tortured or jailed, when Sukarno fell?
Most Indonesians do.

But no one seems to know anyone who did the killing, torturing or jailing
back then. It is as if the horrors of 1965-66 were committed by an army of
ghosts
that vanish as soon as anyone looks at them.

And the real danger is that, as someone said, we are condemned to repeat the
mistakes of the past unless we recognize them. Unless we start painting in
our
missing past, we are going to keep on killing, abusing and jailing each
other. Let's renovate our nation with a few small changes. Starting with
Soeharto.

---

Freeport-McMoRan warns of lower Indonesia copper output

By Steve James

NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. warned on
Monday that copper production at its vast Grasberg mine in Indonesia will be
about 16 percent below estimates for the second quarter, due to an unusual
amount
of
clay in the section being mined.

Analysts said the announcement, though not unusual in the inexact world of
mining, would likely spook investors and affect the company's short-term
financial results.

But they also noted that the company could also benefit from lower production
as it would likely nudge up the copper price which has slipped in the last
couple of weeks from a record high of $4.16 per pound on the COMEX in New
York.

When trading on the New York Stock Exchange began on Monday, Freeport's stock
fell $1.43, or 2.52 percent, to $55.31.

"This reminds you of the uncertainties of mining," analyst Charles Bradford,
of Bradford Research/Soleil, said, adding it would "absolutely" have a
negative impact on Freeport's stock.

But he added that the copper price might also be strengthened by lower
production.

Victor Lazarovici, of BMO Nesbitt Burns. "But it's not necessarily all
negative, it could work both ways.

"It will have an effect (on the stock price), but if production is out of the
market, they could make up for it in the (higher copper) price."

Lazarovici noted that the impact of lower production was likely to be more
significant for Freeport, because Grasberg represents the majority of its
operations.

In a press release, New Orleans-based Freeport estimated second-quarter
copper sales of 235 million pounds, compared with a prior estimate of 280
million
pounds. Gold sales are expected to be in line at around 275,000 ounces, it
said.

The company also said it would revise its mine plan in the third quarter,
deferring some high-grade ore that had been set to be mined in 2007 and
2008 to
later years.

The company said while the impact on annual sales could be significant, over
the five-year period from 2006 to 2010 total metal sales volumes should be
within 5 percent of previous projections.

"The shortfall for copper reflects operational effects associated with mining
a relatively small section of ore in the '6 North' pushback with abnormally
high clay content, which has adversely affected ore flow, mill recoveries and
concentrate grades," Freeport said.

It said its Indonesian unit, PT Freeport Indonesia (PT-FI) has updated its
mine plans to incorporate the limited presence of high clay ore in this
section
of the Grasberg open-pit mine, the world's largest.

It was taking steps to mitigate the adverse impact by blending ore from other
sections of the mine, while initiatives are under way to develop mine plans
that would enable PT-FI to offset the shortfall in the balance of the year.

PT-FI's share of sales was projected to approximate 1.3 billion pounds of
copper and 1.7 million ounces of gold in 2006 and to average approximately
1.3
billion pounds of copper and 1.9 million ounces of gold over the five-year
period from 2006-2010, the company said.

(Additional reporting by Ben Berkowitz)

---

KOMPAS, Selasa, 06 Juni 2006
Tuntutan Penutupan Berlanjut
(Continued Demands for Freeport's closure)


Jakarta, Kompas - (Abridged)


Some 40 members of the Front
Perjuangan Rakyat Papua Barat or Front Pepera-PB (The Struggle for the
People of West Papua) demonstrated Monday (5/6) in

front of PT Freeport Indonesia's offices at Plaza 89 in Jakarta. They
marched from the Wahana Lingkungan Hidup office to

Plaza 89.

The few score of demonstrators were only able to deliver speeches in fron
of Plaza 89 as the area was blocked off by Police.

The gate was also protected by barb-wire.

Several mobile water cannon units were on hand in case the situation got
out of hand.


In their speeches the main speaker, Arkilaus Baho, stated that Pepera
demanded Government get rid of Freeport because they

felt that Freeport continued to destroy the Papuans' cultural rights. They
demanded that Freeport and the Government end

oppression and indimidation as well as cancel the llegal status of Pepera
in Jayapura.


<Abridged>

---