[Kabar-Irian] News: Nov 9-10 2006

[Admin-Editors Kabar-Irian]

KABAR IRIAN NEWS

Nov 9-10

TOPICS

* INDONESIA: Wife of murdered American at Freeport speaks out
* INDONESIA: PAPUAN CLERIC FEARFUL OF SECURITY PACT WITH CANBERRA
* Concerns over secrecy of Australia's security treaty with Indonesia
* Allan Gyngell: Unlikely neighbours need to work at getting along
* Widow sees spouse's killers get justice, another waits
* RI to sign security pact with Australia
* Security treaty with Indonesia premature
* Aust, Indonesia to sign new security pact
* Proposed Indon Treaty A Human Rights Sellout
* WWF names Papua districts as centers of forest management pilot project



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http://www.abc.net.au/ra/asiapac/programs/s1784188.htm

Last Updated 8/11/2006 8:38:19 PM

INDONESIA: Wife of murdered American at Freeport speaks out

The wife of an American man murdered in Indonesia's troubled Papua
province four years ago says she's satisfied justice has

been done in the trial which ended this week. Patsy Spier lost her husband
Ricky and two close friends in the 2002 attack.

The highly politicised case raised questions over the possible involvement
of Indonesia's military.


Presenter/Interviewer: Karon Snowdon
Speakers: Patsy Spier, who's husband Rick died in the Timika ambush at
Freeport

SNOWDON: The leader of the gang on trial for the attack at Timika,
Antonius Wamang, a former member of the Free Papua

Movement, received a life sentence. Six accomplices received lesser terms
ranging from 18 months to seven years. They were

found guilty of the murders of 3 teachers and the serious wounding of 4
other people in the shooting ambush on the road to

the Freeport gold and copper mine in 2002.

Accusations had swirled around the case from the outset, that the
Indonesian military had ordered the attack to bolster their

role in security for the mine. Or alternatively that armed Papuan
separatists mistook the convoy of trucks for one belonging

to the military. Patsy Spier was present at the trial and believes the
right people were convicted.

SPIER: Absolutely yes. On the evidence that was presented in court,
absolutely.

SNOWDON: Does this case leave any questions unanswered for you though?

SPIER: The defence had their opportunity to bring any counter information
that was with the evidence and they didn't do it,

so no there aren't any other unanswered questions for these seven defendants.

SNOWDON: And do you think all the questions around the case have been are
answered satisfactorily? Of course it was shrouded

in controversy when there were accusations made that the Indonesian
military was involved either directly or indirectly.

What's your view of that?

SPIER: That's why I pursued this so intensely from the beginning was to
find out who was responsible for this, that was the

job of the investigators. And we brought it to the court and if there was
information out there on anyone being involved in

this ambush this was the time to bring it. Everything possible was done to
the letter of the law here and the defence team

and the defendants chose not to particpate, that was their choice.

SNOWDON: As our reporter Geoff Thompson reported from outside the court,
the accused and their lawyers, including Janses

Sihaloho, boycotted much of the trial stayed away when the verdicts were
read out.

SIHALOHO (translation): They are scapegoat victims of American and
Indonesian Governments. On one side the American

Government was pressured by their Congress and Senate" .. "And on the
other side the Indonesian Government wanted to

reactivate military ties with the United States, so once they could say
the perpetrators are civilians and not the Indonesian

military, the military ties are back on track".

SNOWDON: At first unhappy with the Indonesian investigation, Patsy Spier
was instrumental in getting the FBI involved and in

delaying the renewal of military links between the US and Indonesia, which
eventually resumed last year.

SPIER: I'm very aware of the documented atrocities the Indonesian military
are accused of and that's why it was so important

for me to be here to be an advocate for both the defendants and the
victims of this crime to make sure that this was a

transparent and credible trial.

SNOWDON: And you're completely happy with that even given the military's
reputation for silencing witnesses through threat

and intimidation ?

SPIER: That was not happening in that courtroom. These were individuals
who chose to open fire into five vehicles and there

was no return fire at all none of us had weapons.

SNOWDON: And do have a better understanding now of why this happened of
why this attack took place?

SPIER: We were not the intended target.

SNOWDON: Who was?

SPIER: According to Antonius Wamang he thought he was shooting into the
Indonesian military vehicles. But then we became the

inrtended targets because he continued to shoot into our vehicles for 35
minutes. What happened to us was not the fault of

the Papuans or Indonesians. It was individuals who made a choice that day
and Antonius Wamang is being held accountable for

that.

SNOWDON: Do you have a point of view pof the struggle that led to this
unfortunate incident, I gueSs is one way to put it?

SPIER: I'm very aware of the Papuan struggle, yes.

SNOWDON: And what's your view of it?

SPIER: I hope that more information can come out of what is happening in
Papua. I have no doubt that the Papuan people wanted

justice to happen from this case. This has to be focussed on, this is a
murder case if there was more to this story it was

the responsibility of the defence team to bring it out, they chose not to
and I have to believe that there was nothing else.

---

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.358195522&par=0

INDONESIA: PAPUAN CLERIC FEARFUL OF SECURITY PACT WITH CANBERRA


Jakarta, 9 Nov. (AKI) - The head of the Baptist Church in the Indonesian
province of Papua has expressed concern about the

bilateral security agreement due to be signed next Monday by the
governements of Jakarta and Canberra. "This agreement is

very dangerous for our lives. The Australian governement is basically
giving the green light to the Indonesian army to keep

on terrorise us, torture us and kill us", Reverend Socrates Sofyan Yoman
told Adnkronos International (AKI). At present,

Canberra supports the groups who fight for the independence of Papua after
its 1969 controversial annexation to Indonesia.

The broad-ranging agreement will replace the previous 1995 one, which was
secretly concluded between the Australian Prime

Minister Paul Keating and the former Indonesian dictator Haji Mohammed
Suharto, and broken by Jakarta after Australia

intervention in support of the then Indonesian province of East Timor in
1999.

The new 'Framework for Security Cooperation', due to be signed by
Australian and Indonesian Foreign Ministers Alexander

Downer and Hassan Wirajuda after a two-year long negotiation, prevents the
two countries from supporting each other's

separatist causes - a key demand from Jakarta, after Canberra hosted 43
Papuan refugees in January 2006.

Article 2 of the document commits the signatories to "not in any manner
support or participate in activities by any person or

entity which constitutes a threat to the stability, sovereignty, or
territorial integrity of the other party", consistent

with their respective domestic laws and international obligations.

This includes those who use the countries' territory for "encouraging or
committing such activities, including separatism, in

the territory of the other party". This will effectively rule out any
further Australian support to groups such as the Free

Papua Movement, active in the fight for independence from Jakarta.

"In this way, Jakarta can say it has international backing and in
particular that of Australia", commented Reverend Yoman,

even though "Australia is a democratic country, Australians are democratic
people", he added. For these reasons, the Papuan

Baptist leader hopes "they will continue to apply pressure on their
governement so that it does not abandon Papua".

In effect, according to a recent Australian survey 76% of those polled
supported Papua's right to self-determination. The

far-eastern province of the Indonesian archipelago, located very close to
Australia, has always been a factor of

destabilisation in the relationship between the two countries.

An August 2006 dossier by Sydney University, called "Genocide in West
Papua", collects evidence that abuses by the Indonesian

army (TNI) over the mainly-peaceful pro-independence Papuan movements
still goes on. Some rights groups say this repression

cost up to 100,000 lives to date

Furthermore, a clause of the treaty will tie the parties to "do everything
possible, individually and jointly, to eradicate

international terrorism and extremism", including rapid, practical and
effective responses to terrorist attacks. Under the

new pact Australia will also help Indonesia in establishing its first
nuclear plant within 2015.

In the history of Indonesia, a Non-Aligned Movement country (over 100
states considering themselves not formally aligned with

major powers blocs), such bilateral treaties are a rarity.

The accord must be approved by both the Indonesian and Australian
parliaments.

(Fsc/Aki)

Nov-09-06 15:01

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http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/bulletins/rnzi/200611091639/concerns_over_secrecy_of_australias_security_treaty_with_indonesia


Concerns over secrecy of Australia's security treaty with Indonesia

Posted at 4:39pm on 09 Nov 2006

The Australia West Papua Association is expressing concern at the new
security treaty with Indonesia claiming it's been

veiled in secrecy in order to push it through.

The first security treaty was scrapped after the Australian government
agreed that it had not been subject to public debate.

But Joe Collins from the Association says there have been no calls for
submissions on the current treaty, which he believes

is due to be signed next week.

Mr Collins says the Australian government is acting in haste in order to
heal the rift with Indonesia, which was angered by a

decision to accept 40 asylum seekers from Papua.

He says whilst the full contents of the treaty are not yet known, it
contain clauses that could affect free speech in

Australia.

    "There are clauses that commits us to suppress Papuan independence
supporters and activists. Are they saying that West

Papuans here in Australia, particularly the asylum seekers, will not be
allowed to speak out? Or are they talking about NGO

groups working on human rights issues on West Papua could also be
targetted? I mean, this is a very ambiguous statement and

actually an attack on free speech for anybody in Australia that wants to
speak on the issue of West Papua"

Spokesman for the Australia West Papua Association, Joe Collins

Copyright © 2006 Radio New Zealand International

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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20730838-7583,00.html

Allan Gyngell: Unlikely neighbours need to work at getting along
The new framework agreement on security co-operation with Indonesia is not
an end but another useful step on a long path
November 10, 2006
THE Australian's Patrick Walters has seen more of the proposed new
security agreement between Australia and Indonesia than

the rest of us, so any comments on it must be tentative.

All will be revealed on Monday when we can study its reported seven pages
of text.

But even from what has been leaked so far it is clear that the new
agreement makes an interesting comparison with its 1995

predecessor, the Agreement on Maintaining Security. It is more traditional
in form, less ambitious in aim and more

bilaterally focused. It bears the rough marks of a bruising period in
Australia's relations with our largest neighbour and is

a reminder of the important changes that have shaken up Australia's
regional environment during the past 10 years. During

that period, a democratic Indonesia emerged from the authoritarian rule of
president Suharto while our bilateral relationship

was battered by the violent circumstances of East Timor's independence,
the Bali bombings and, more recently, serious

disagreement over Papuan asylum-seekers.

An Indonesian embassy spokesman told Reuters the new agreement "basically
summarises Australia's agreed position on

separatism and formalises arrangements already in place". There is more to
it than that: the new agreement seems to have

elements of a traditional non-aggression pact, in which both sides agree,
as this one reportedly does, to "refrain from the

use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence
of the other, in accordance with the UN charter".

Such an attack seems highly unlikely in either direction, but this wording
presumably reflects residual Indonesian concern

about John Howard's comments that Australia has the right to pre-empt
terrorist attacks in the region.

The commitment that the two sides will "not in any manner support or
participate in the activities by any person or entity

which constitutes a threat to the stability, sovereignty or territorial
integrity of the other party" goes beyond the

longstanding position of both main political parties in Australia to
support Indonesia's established borders. It clearly

reflects the lingering after-effects of the Papua asylum debate and
Indonesian suspicion that Australia is trying to prise

its province away. But the clause would seem to offer Australia as much
scope to press Indonesia on Jemaah Islamiah and other

terrorist groups as for Indonesia to pressure Australia on Papua. Either
way, though, it stores up rich political problems

for the future.

Otherwise, the agreement reportedly covers existing bilateral co-operation
in 10 key areas including defence, law

enforcement, fisheries, counter-terrorism and so on.

"This is just codifying all the principles that we have agreed upon and
putting in a document the co-operation that we have

been doing so far, which is positive," ambassador Hamzah Thayeb says.

This is useful. You can use such high-level agreements as umbrellas under
whose ambit more specialist sectoral agreements can

be negotiated or you can draw such sectoral agreements together in omnibus
fashion. This new treaty seems to take the latter

approach. Either way, it reflects the expanding field of security
co-operation between Australia and Indonesia.

In the negotiation of the 1995 agreement, the Indonesian side suggested
the replacement of the original draft's "external

threats" with the phrase "adverse challenges". It wanted to make it clear
that the pact was not directed against some

invasive threat but at a broader notion of security. This was accepted by
Australia and turned out to be prescient. Within a

few years non-traditional challenges such as terrorism, people smuggling
and piracy had inserted themselves at the core of

the security relationship between the countries.

The main difference between the new framework agreement and its
predecessor seems to lie in its ambition. The 1995 treaty was

externally focused: the two sides agreed to "consult each other in the
case of adverse challenges to either party or to their

common security interests and, if appropriate, consider measures which
might be taken either individually or jointly and in

accordance with the processes of each party". In other words, to act
together to address challenges that might threaten us

both. The new agreement is much more concerned with the bilateral
relationship.

The sense of the countries identifying common external interests and
acting together to pursue them seems much less prominent

(apart, perhaps, from in the counter-terrorism area, where this is already
an established part of the security language

between the two countries). Still, the new agreement underlines the
commitment of both governments to work together to build

closer ties and it reflects a dialogue on these subjects that is
broadening out well beyond the two defence forces.

One of the most persistent criticisms of the earlier agreement is that it
did not endure because it was not based on solid

public consensus in both countries on what the bilateral security
relationship should be; that is, it was not sustainable, in

Alexander Downer's words earlier in the week. I don't buy the view that
international agreements must necessarily codify

established positions or conform with existing public views. (One wonders
whether this one will.) Instead, one of their roles

is precisely to help change norms and behaviour; not just to reflect the
status quo but to identify a destination we want to

reach. The 1995 treaty fell victim to a particularly tense period in
Australia-Indonesia relations. It was not in existence

long enough to become institutionalised as part of the relationship
between the two countries. And, most important, the

leadership changed in both countries, so when the crunch came at the time
of East Timor's independence neither of the

principals had a political interest tied to its success.

Let's see what's in the new agreement on Monday, but it looks like a
welcome addition to the deepening of relations between

two very different countries that must live and work together. But the
destination to which we are heading is still not

clear. The framework agreement on security is not an end but another
useful step on a long path.

Allan Gyngell is executive director of the Lowy Institute. As
international adviser to prime minister Paul Keating from 1993

to 1996, he helped negotiate the 1995 security agreement.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20061109.A04&irec=3

Widow sees spouse's killers get justice, another waits

Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Patsy Spier and Suciwati Munir both lost their husbands to brutal killers.
Both Spier, an American, and Suciwati, an

Indonesian, are undoubtedly brave women who have never given up their
pursuit of justice, in Suciwati's case despite

receiving death threats.

For one of these women, a bit of closure has finally been reached. After
four years of struggle to unravel the truth,

including tireless travels and exhaustive lobbying of officials in the
White House and State Department, Spier on Tuesday

received an answer as to who killed her husband, teacher Ricky Lynn Spier,
on Aug. 31, 2002, in Timika, Papua.

Suciwati is still searching for answers about who poisoned her human
rights activist husband aboard a Garuda flight from

Jakarta to Amsterdam in September 2004. The Supreme Court last month
quashed the murder conviction of Garuda pilot

Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, the only person so far tried for the murder.

On Tuesday, the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Papuan Anthonius
Wamang to life in prison for leading the ambush

that led to the deaths of two American teachers, Ricky Spier, 44, and
Edwin Leon, 71, and an Indonesian, FX Bambang Riwanto.

Several other people were injured in the attack, including Patsy who was
shot twice. All of the victims were employees of

copper and gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia.

Six other Papuans were sentenced to between 18 months and seven years in
prison for their parts in the ambush.

"I am gratified that the Indonesian court, after due consideration of all
the evidence and facts, determined that Anthonius

Wamang and other defendants are guilty. I am convinced that these verdicts
are correct," Patsy said in a letter to The

Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

We are happy that Spier's tireless struggle has finally borne fruit. Some
questions, however, remain: Who were the

masterminds -- if any -- of the Freeport attack? Were these seven Papuans
the only ones responsible for the killings? What

about the rumors -- hopefully untrue -- that they were only the muscle,
sent out to kill by a dalang (puppet muster) who

remains free.

And what about Suciwati? Like Spier, she has traveled to Washington and
other cities in search of support for her campaign to

bring her husband's murderers to justice.

Both Spier and Suciwati succeeded in persuading the U.S. Congress to
pressure the U.S. and Indonesian governments to take

concrete measures to find those responsible for the deaths of their husbands.

Some Indonesian officials, like Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda and
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono, are so nationalistic

they strongly oppose any foreign pressure in the Munir case. The two
ministers, however, have failed to criticize their boss,

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for not daring to take on a small
group of powerful people who know much about Munir's

death.

"This is not just about Munir. It's about the human rights situation in
this country," Suciwati once said.

But no one knows when she will be able to tell Spier, "I also have found
the killer of my husband." Her children, Soultan

Alif Allende and Diva, probably will have to wait for years before they
know for sure who took their father.

The National Police initially suspected the Army's elite Special Forces
(Kopassus) might have been involved in the killing of

the Freeport employees. The U.S. government reportedly also shared this
suspicion in the beginning. In Munir's case, the

police reportedly thought the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) was involved
in the killing.

Many Indonesians wondered why U.S. President George W. Bush was rather
quiet for months after the fatal ambush in Papua that

left two Americans dead, and why the FBI took such a low profile during
the investigation. It had pretty much been standard

procedure for Washington to issue a harsh statement every time an American
citizen was killed in a foreign country. But not

in this case. It was relatively mute for months.

Some speculated it was because Freeport is too lucrative to be ignored,
while according to others President Bush did not want

to offend the Indonesian government, including the Indonesian Military,
which has been very supportive of his war on terror.

Patsy Spier and Suciwati Munir have shown us that if we want justice,
sometimes we have to depend on our own efforts,

particularly when the political elite have an interest in covering up the
crime.

Suciwati said: "We cannot tire in our search for justice." Hopefully these
words, and the actions of these two women, can

inspire others who have suffered an injustice.

The writer can be contacted at purba at thejakartapost.com.

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20061109.@01&irec=0

RI to sign security pact with Australia

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda and his Australian counterpart Alexander
Downer are set to sign a new bilateral security

framework Monday in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

"The agreement includes Indonesia's demand that Australia do not support
any Indonesian separatist movements or accommodate

any separatist groups from Indonesia in its territory," Indonesian Foreign
Ministry director general for Asia, Pacific and

Africa Primo Alui Joelianto told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

An article in the new agreement states that neither government will "in
any manner support or participate in activities by

any person or entity which constitutes a threat to the stability,
sovereignty, or territorial integrity of the other party".

The two countries signed their first bilateral Agreement on Maintaining
Security in 1995, with both nations pledging to meet

regularly on defense issues.

However, an angry Jakarta rescinded the treaty in 1999 after Australian
military involvement in the former province of East

Timor during and after its referendum for independence.

The new agreement has been touted since the beginning of the year but many
observers believed it would be left in limbo after

Canberra granted provisional refugee status to Papuan asylum seekers in
April, causing another hostile reaction from Jakarta.

The new seven-page agreement covers bilateral co-operation in 10 areas,
including defense, counter-terrorism, law

enforcement, weapons of mass destruction, intelligence sharing, and
maritime and aviation security.

Also included are steps to battle transnational crime and cooperate in
nuclear research.

Although Jakarta has one understanding of the agreement, statements coming
out of Canberra seemed to suggest a different

interpretation.

"It's a treaty between the governments, not a treaty involving all 20
million Australians," Downer was quoted as saying by

Reuters in Canberra on Wednesday.

Downer said while the new document was significant a step in relations
between the two countries, it did not mean Australia

would bar future Papua asylum seekers from entering its territory, or that
Papua independence groups in Australia would be

banned.

"It's an over-arching framework agreement to enhance security between our
two countries in a modern context," Downer said.

On nuclear cooperation, Downer said the two countries are considering
shifting to nuclear power generation to meet surging

domestic demand.

"We do have, both of us, nuclear research activities, nuclear medicine and
so on, that we would obviously cooperate (in). If

we were to sell uranium to Indonesia, we would negotiate a nuclear
safeguards agreement," he said.

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Australia West Papua Association  (Sydney)



Press release 9 November 2006

Security treaty with Indonesia premature




The Australia West Papua Association spokesperson Joe Collins expressed
grave concerns at the  new security treaty with

Indonesia.

AWPA is concerned that  there is too much secrecy surrounding  this
security treaty. We do not know the full  terms of this

agreement or what the government is committing us to.

AWPA is particularly concerned that the treaty contains clauses that
commits us to suppress Papuan independence supporters

and activists What does this actually mean? And in conducting joint border
protection patrols with Indonesia do we turn back

West Papuan asylum seekers fleeing persecution? Collins said.

Mr Downer implies  that  the first security treaty with Indonesia failed
because  the  agreement had not been subject to  any

public debate and had not proved to be a sustainable document.  In
discussing the proposed treaty last June,  Mr Downer

stressed that "there will be no secret treaty" -"This whole process will
be very transparent," and "People will be able to

make public submissions long before this treaty is formally ratified.

Yet we have not seen any call for submissions concerning this treaty. If
the government is so sure of the publics support why

not publish the full seven pages of the treaty?

A Newspoll commissioned on the treaty by businessman Ian Melrose and
released yesterday, showed 64 per cent of Australians

supported a clause  which guaranteed access to foreign journalists to
areas of Indonesia such as West Papua and 72 per cent

of respondents supported free access for human rights monitors.

“The West Papuan people have a right to choose their own future and
Australia appears to  deny this right to the West Papuan

people. While human rights abuses continue in West Papua,  Australia 
should not be negotiating a security agreement which

will restore military relations with Indonesia in any form”.

Further information. Joe Collins Mob. 04077 857 97

---

http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2006/s1784284.htm

Aust, Indonesia to sign new security pact

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 08/11/2006

Reporter: Greg Jennett

The Indonesian Ambassador in Australia says the proposed security pact
between the two countries is a sign of their

strengthening relationship.
Transcript
TONY JONES: Indonesia's ambassador says a new security agreement with
Australia will strengthen links between the two

countries. The pact is being signed next week bringing to a close two
years of negotiations, but critics are worried it's all

come in a rush without enough thought at its consequences. Greg Jennett
reports.

GREG JENNETT: Friends again with the piece of paper to prove it. The new
security agreement locks in cooperation on defence,

counter terrorism, intelligence and border security, replacing the Keating
government's deal, shredded in East Timor’s surge

to independence seven years ago.

JOHN HOWARD: It does show that our relationship has moved on.

GREG JENNETT: Both countries will pledge to recognise each other's
territorial integrity, a crucial clause as far as Jakarta

is concerned after it became convinced Australia's acceptance of 43 Papuan
asylum seekers gave tacit support to separatism.

HAMZAH THAYEB: That's of course for the Australian Government to deal
with. They have their own laws, but we would not expect

this to happen again.

GREG JENNETT: Critics of the pact say it could turn Australia into an
accomplice in the suppression of human rights.

BOB BROWN: You have an obsequious concession from Canberra to Jakarta.

JOHN DOWD: There hasn't been a public debate about this and I think a lot
of Australians are very concerned.

GREG JENNETT: Alexander Downer, who will sign the seven page document on
Lombok next week, says such fears are misplaced.

ALEXANDER DOWNER: This has got no negative implications for human rights.

GREG JENNETT: Labor supports those parts of the document that tackle
terrorism, but is reserving judgment on the rest.

KEVIN RUDD: We need to best our terrorism efforts in the region through
efforts and initiatives like this. On the rest of the

package, we are still to be briefed, so the position we take on assuming
office will be based on that briefing from DFAT and

the Indonesians.

GREG JENNETT: The pact also lays the foundation for nuclear cooperation,
although both countries stress it's only for energy

supply and only under strict safeguards.

HAMZAH THAYEB: I think for peaceful purposes is always allowed.

GREG JENNETT: The treaty won't be ratified until Parliament reviews it.

---

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0611/S00164.htm

Proposed Indon Treaty A Human Rights Sellout
Thursday, 9 November 2006, 5:31 pm
Press Release: Free West Papua Campaign

Proposed Indon Treaty A Human Rights Sellout

*Free West Papua Campaign: Press Statement*

Having conceded to Indonesian demands, the Howard Government has
squandered an unprecedented opportunity to push for overdue

reform in West Papua.

The proposed security agreement is nothing more than a cynical handshake
with the Indonesian military, a recognised source of

instability within our region.

The Howard government has chosen instead to stifle legitimate voices of
dissent which are calling for basic human rights

including self-determination. In so doing, it is expressing its tacit
support of the continued atrocities perpetrated against

indigenous West Papuans.

This government has missed its chance to set reasonable pre-conditions in
the new security treaty, such as international

media access or ensuring that foreign aid is not channelled through the
Indonesian military.

“Instead, it has used the joint security agreement to once again put
short-sighted political strategy above human dignity.

West Papuans are still being killed for peacefully expressing their
political opinions,” said a spokesperson for the Free

West Papua Campaign.

The Howard government talks about values and a structured narrative to
history. This treaty should serve as an ominous

warning to the Australian people about the types of values we are now
exporting to the world.

ends

---

http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=22980

WWF names Papua districts as centers of forest management pilot project

Jayapura (ANTARA News) - World Wide Fund (WWF) Indonesia, Sahul Region,
named Jayapura and Merauke districts as centers of

customary people for sustainable natural forest management programs, a
spokesperson said.

WWF Indonesia, therefore, held a two-day workshop here to determine the
standards of forest conservation, director Benja V.

Bambay said here Wednesday.

Unurumguay subdistrict in Jayapura district was chosen for the
implementation of the natural forest certification pilot

project.

The workshop agreed that WWF Indonesia had a target for achievements in
customary people-based forestry management project

which must be carried out outside a protected forests until 2008, Bambay
said.

The wind of change in forestry policy blew stronger in Papua lately as the
local administration had given the local people a

larger portion to manage the forests, he said.

The workshop, he said, tried to give guidance to customary people in less
developed Papua on how to manage the forests in a

sustainable way.

WWF Indonesia, however, has yet to chose a location in Merauke district
for a natural forest certification pilot project.

The workshop was attended by Papua forestry officials, customary village
leaders of Unurumguay subdistrict, academicians,

scientists and other related officials. (*)

Copyright © 2006 ANTARA

November 9, 2006

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