[Kabar-Irian] News: Oct 12-13 06
Admin-Editors Kabar-Irian
editors at kabar-irian.com
Thu Oct 12 19:59:42 MDT 2006
Oct 9-12 2006
KABAR IRIAN NEWS
TOPICS
* C4 goes undercover to lift lid on unreported West Papua conflict
* Three Malaysians arrested in Papua
* Australian Senate unanimously passed Condolences (WZ)
* Ayamiseba wins deportation case (Issue 1845)
* Three Malaysians arrested in Jayapura
* Papuan independence to be raised at Forum
* Myths v realities in Papua (blog spot)
* MSG moves for Papua
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http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/article/121006/c4_west_papua_documentary
C4 goes undercover to lift lid on unreported West Papua conflict
story picture
By Zoe Smith
Thursday, 12 October 2006
A Channel 4 journalist has gained exclusive access to the island of West
Papua, despite a ban by the government on journalists freely accessing the
territory.
Evan Williams uncovered rare documentation of a bloody conflict between
islanders and the Indonesian government in the documentary, West Papua:
Rainforest Warriors, to be broadcast next week as part of the Unreported
World series.
Williams and director Siobhan Sinnerton filmed clandestinely, working
undercover, and met tribal warriors who claim that thousands of islanders
have been killed in a campaign that could potentially wipe out their ethnic
group.
Williams told Press Gazette: "We wanted to investigate the use of violence
against anybody who stands up and asks for more rights, more autonomy or a
better deal. The fact that it is so spectacular, so isolated and difficult to
get to made it very appealing to get under the wire from the official
Indonesian side."
The Indonesian government has a stated policy of not wanting foreign
journalists to go into Papua as they say they could be a vehicle for pro-
independence sentiments. On the rare occasions that journalists are given
access, there is a lengthy wait for permits and they are very closely watched
and scrutinised at all times.
Williams and Sinnerton entered the island as tourists using an annual
festival on the island as a cover for the trip. He said: "We played the
tourist most of the time to travel around the countryside and to meet people
— we had pre-arranged individuals that we wanted to meet who had personal
testimony of loss and abuse. We went and saw them as much as we could on the
side."
West Papua, home to the world's biggest copper and gold mine, was annexed to
Indonesia in 1969. Since then, thousands of Indonesians, who control most of
the commerce, have received subsidies to settle on the island, resulting in
tension and conflict between the two groups.
In one village, buried deep in ancient forests, the journalists met
inhabitants crying and wearing mud as a sign of mourning for children who had
allegedly been killed by the security forces. Some mothers were so
heartbroken that they had mutilated themselves by cutting off their own
fingers.
Williams said that the programme could have two immediate impacts. "It could
make the government crack down on anyone who was working with us and also
possibly anybody who is pro-independence," he said.
"However, in an era of greater transparency and pro-democratic leaning inside
the Indonesian government, it could also help lead to pressure on the
military not to use violence as arbitrarily as they have in the past."
Unreported World — West Papua: Rainforest Warriors will be screened on
Channel 4 on 20 October at 7.35pm.
---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillgen.asp?fileid=20061012163302&irec=1
Three Malaysians arrested in Papua
JAYAPURA, Papua (Antara): The Jayapura immigration office in Papua province
has arrested three Malaysian nationals for allegedly violating immigration
regulations, an immigration official said Thursday.
Immigration office head Giri Haryanto said that the Malaysians did not report
their arrivals in the province to the immigration office after they arrived
in the province from Vanimo in Papua New Guinea (PGN) on Oct 10.
Giri said that the Malaysians were believed to be timber businessmen after he
observed a number of pictures kept in their cameras.
The Malaysians are Ding Doung Hiueng, 49, and Teo Siak Kui, 44, and Lee Uang
Kai, 40.
Giri, however, could not say when the Malaysians would be deported. (**)
---
Australian Senate unanimously passed Condolence motion: Wim Zonggonou
W: Wim Zongonou
The Australian Senate unanimously passed the following motion
this morning - Thursday 12 October 2006
Condolence motion: Wim Zonggonou
The Senate notes the recent death of West Papuan politician
Willem Zonggonou while visiting Australia. Mr Zonggonou was
a member of the Papuan legislature and Indonesian upper house
in the 1960s. Living in exile in Papua New Guinea he worked
tirelessly for freedom and peace in West Papua.
The Senate expresses its condolences to the Mr Zonggonou's
family and friends, and people of West Papua for their loss.
---
Ayamiseba wins deportation case (Issue 1845)
Compiled by Royson Willie - Vanuatu Daily Post, updated: 2006-10-10 12:56:19
The Removal Order by the Minister of Internal Affairs, George Wells, against
Mr Andy Ayamiseba on February 9 this year has been quashed by the Court of
Appeal.
This decision was handed down yesterday over the appeal case, which was
between Andy Ayamiseba as the Appellant and the Attorney General as the First
Respondent along with the Principal immigration Officer as the second
respondent. Initially Ayamiseba had appealed against orders made in the
Supreme Court on April 7 also this year when the Court refused to quash the
removal order made against him by the Minister of Immigration, Mr George
Wells.
The Supreme Court had ruled at that time that the Removal Order dated 9
February 2006 was not unconstitutional and that the Order was made pursuant
to section 17A of the Immigration Act. The April ruling of the Supreme Court
also stated that Section 17A imposes restriction on non-citizens from
enjoying the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed to every person in
the specific circumstances specified in subsection (1) (a) and (b) of the
Act.
Also the Supreme Court ruled that Article 5 (1) of the Constitution permits a
law to place restriction on non-citizens from enjoying the fundamental rights
and freedoms guaranteed to an individual under that article; that Section 17A
of the Immigration Act is not inconsistent or in conflict with section 17 of
the Act; and that Section 17A prohibits a non-citizen caught under subsection
(1) from being accorded natural justice.
The appeal was made based on the basis that the finding of the judge that the
constitutional rights had not been breached and that the decision by the
Minister was not unreasonable, is unsustainable in fact and law. Ayamiseba
was deported on board an Air Vanuatu flight departing for the Solomon Islands
at 11pm on February 9. One hour before he was put on board the plane,
immigration officers and police had been to Andy Ayamiseba’s home at Second
Lagoon where he lives with his wife and 4-year-old son.
There they served him with the removal order that was dated February 9 and
signed by the Minister of Internal Affairs. The Appeal Court ruled that “as
became apparent in the course of the hearing, the Section 17A regime does not
in terms “prohibit” or “prevent” the minister from giving notice or affording
to a non-citizens the rights of natural justice, it merely empowers the
minister to decide whether he needs to in the particular case”.
“It is quite wrong to say that the provision explicitly removes rights to
prior notice to which a non-citizen might otherwise be entitled.
“It merely enables or empowers a minister to decide whether he needs to give
notice,” the judgement stated.
The ruling further stated that there is no evidence that the Minister turned
his mind to whether he needed to give notice for the removal of Mr Ayamiseba.
The Appeal Court then pointed out issues that the Minister “inevitably had to
weigh before he could decide that he should take the extraordinary step of
denying any person a right to be heard before he exercised a power to the
detriment of that person”. One of the examples used in Court of the issues
that the minister did not weigh before making the order related to the
obligations that Vanuatu undertook when it became a signatory on December 6,
1992 to the Convention to the Rights of the Child, since Mr Ayamiseba is in a
permanent relationship in the nature of a marriage and is the father of a
child who is a citizen of Vanuatu.
The Court also pointed out that there was recent evidence that in his
political activities (and those with who he as associated), there had been
proper recognition of the rule of law in a democratic process in terms of an
application for a permit to demonstrate and it did not go ahead when this was
declined. “This is a simple question of statutory interpretation.
“The Minister had to reach a rational decision on an objective analysis
undertaken with integrity that there was no need for him to give notice.
“That is what the Act requires. “There seems to have been a misapprehension
that notice was unnecessary. Not so. He had to decide if, in this case, it
was indeed.
“There is no evidence to suggest that this important second inquiry was
undertaken at all.
“Therefore the exercise of power and the deportation which followed are
unsustainable in law. “In a case like this the jurisdiction of the Court is
limited to ensuring that the processes undertaken in the issuance of the
removal order are lawful. “Having reached that conclusion, it is unnecessary
for us to consider whether the evidence adduced was sufficient for the
Minister to have formed the opinion that the activities of Mr Ayamiseba were
detrimental to national security or public order under section 17A (1) (a).
“It is enquiry which is unnecessary and therefore it is inappropriate for
this Court to enter into any consideration of the point.
“The Court being satisfied that the deportation order was made without proper
compliance with the statute it is therefore declared to be a nullity.” The
presiding Appeal Court Judges who heard the case were Chief Justice Vincent
Lunabek, Justice Bruce Robertson, Justice John von Doussa, Justice Daniel
Fatiaki, Justice Oliver Saksak, and Justice Christopher Tuohy.
---
http://www.antara.co.id/en/seenws/?id=21564
Three Malaysians arrested in Jayapura
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - The Jayapura immigration office in
Indonesia`s Papua province on Wednesday night arrested three Malaysian
nationals for allegedly staying illegally in the country, the office`s head,
Giri Haryanto, told newsmen here Thursday.
Haryanto said the three Malaysians arrived in Jayapura on Tuesday (Oct 10)
via Vanimo, Papua New Guinea (PNG), but they did not report their arrival to
the Jayapura Immigration Office.
The Malaysians once spent the night at a hotel in Jayapura, he said, adding
that they were believed to be financiers of a timber business judging by
pictures kept in their cameras, like those on forest survey activities in
Vanimo, PNG.
The arrested Malaysians are Ding Doung Hiueng (49) holding a passport No. K
13354076, Teo Siak Kui (44) with passport No. K 13663335 and Lee Uang Kai
(40) with passport No. K 15677340.
Haryanto said the three Malaysians had allegedly committed immigration rule
violations according to Article 20 in connection with Article 42, Article 40,
Article 48, Article 53 subsidiary to Article 62 of Law No. 9/1992 on
immigration.
"We however cannot yet confirm the time when they will be deported to their
country of origin through Jakarta`s Soekarno-Hatta airport," he said. (*)
Copyright © 2006 ANTARA
October 12, 2006
---
http://abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s1759388.htm
Last Updated 10/10/2006
PAPUA: Papuan independence to be raised at Forum
A pro-independence activist from the Indonesian province of Papua is likely
to attend the Pacific islands Forum later this month. That's according to
Andy Ayamiseba, one of the two members of the Free Papua Movement based in
the Vanuatu capital, Port Vila. He says the Vanuatu government is likely to
bring his colleague, Dr John Ondowame, to the Forum in Fiji as an official in
their delegation.
Presenter/Interviewer: Bruce Hill
Speakers: Iliesa Duvuloco, President of the Fijian nationalist Vanua Tako
Lavo Party
HILL: Although the Forum has taken the official position that Papua is an
internal matter for Indonesia alone, there's widespread sympathy for the
mainly Christian Melanesian inhabitants of the province in the Pacific,
especially from Melanesia.
But Vanuatu has a history of getting West Papua representatives into the
Forum summit as part of their delegation, which enables the Free Papua
Movement the OPM, to put their case directly to Pacific leaders without
technically breaking any rules.
OPM representative in Vanuatu, Andy Ayamiseba, says they're just waiting for
the final confirmation from Port Vila, but the same thing will happen again
this year.
AYAMISEBA: Normal practice is that a representative of our office always
accompany the Vanuatu delegation to that meeting. As I understood, my
colleague, Dr John, is now in Sydney waiting for the confirmation from the
Director of Foreign Affairs, who will include him in the delegation to go to
the Forum.
HILL: So in fact West Papuan overseas office gets to go the Forum, but only
under the cover of being part of the Vanuatu delegation?
AYAMISEBA: That is correct, yes.
HILL: Obviously this wouldn't impress Indonesia very much, which is a post
Forum dialogue partner?
AYAMISEBA: Nothing much we could do about it. We are not here to please the
Indonesians.
HILL: I understand that you've actually received a bit of support in Fiji at
the third Melanesian Arts Festival. One of the Fijian nationalist groups, the
Vanua Tako Lavo Party, staged a bit of a demonstration with placards calling
for West Papuan independence. What do you think about that?
AYAMISEBA: We are very appreciative. However, we already having good
relation, long time relation with the Labour Party, who strongly support our
cause back in the days of late prime minister [Timoci] Bavadra. What I'm
saying with the Labour Party, even the Indians there they consider themselves
as Melanesians. So if you are born in that place, they consider you as a
local inhabitant, means you are a Melanesian from the Indian origin.
Originally, our support come from the Melanesians, but however we appreciate
that the Labour Party who have an Indian background as well supporting our
cause.
HILL: Meanwhile, at the Melanesian Arts Festival in Suva, the Fijian
nationalist Vanua Tako Lavo Party has staged a show of support for West
Papuan independence and the president of the party, IIiesa Duvuloco, has
vowed to repeat the demonstration at the Forum later this month.
Mr Duvuloco, the party president says Melanesian people don't support
Indonesians ruling over Melanesians in Papua, and they want to get that
message through to Pacific leaders.
DUVULOCO: Yes, gladly we will do it. We want to repeat the same thing in as
many forums as we can where international people are coming together for
meetings and this kind of thing. As you know, yesterday was only the
beginning and I hope this week we'll have to sign perhaps a petition of some
sort, signed by the Melanesian people gathered here in Fiji now and we send
it to the ambassador of Indonesia just to express our concern and our support
for the independence of West Papua.
HILL: Is there much support for the West Papuan independence cause in Fiji?
DUVULOCO: Yes, yes.
HILL: One of the West Papuan officials based in Port Vila, Andy Ayamiseba,
says that while they appreciate the support from the Fijian Nationalists,
they also get support from the Fiji Labour Party and Indo-Fijians and he said
that they get wide spread support.
DUVULOCO: Well, I think it's any kind of help, any kind of support from
anybody. You know the old saying that beggars can't be choosers. Whatever the
support, whatever the people. It doesn't matter what divides them, whether
its race or politics or I think this about, politics about race. I think it's
just a matter of decency and consciousness, international consciousness. It
doesn't matter where the support they get from, whether from Australia or
even from Indonesia itself. I think we should try to engage as much support
they can eh? But the ultimate thing, I think the main thing if they can get
their independence away from Indonesia.
---
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/
The only one on Papua @
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/index.php/theaustralian/commen
ts/myths_v_realities_in_papua/
Letters | Myths v realities in Papua
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
PAUL Kelly ("A new diplomacy over Papua?, Inquirer, 7-8/10) takes me and
other supporters of the West Papuan cause to task for perpetuating six myths
that have allegedly misled Australian opinion on Papua. Let me demythologise
a couple.
Myth one: Indonesia has engaged in genocide in Papua.
Faced with systematic human rights abuses and discrimination over 43 years at
the hands of the Indonesian government and security forces, plunder of their
resources and enduring poverty, Papuans are now on the brink of being
overwhelmed by non-Papuan immigrants. They are convinced they face social,
cultural and political extinction (think Australian Aborigines), a slow but
deliberate genocide, as they put it, unless urgent remedies are found.
Myth two: that Australia?s policy is dominated by a Jakarta lobby intent on
appeasing Indonesia.
Although the East Timor intervention was forced on a reluctant government by
public opinion, the lobby remains in charge. For realists who place a high
priority on understanding power relationships and avoiding crises, the lobby
is strangely dense in grasping two points. First, the East Timor case shows
how an Australian government supporting peace, justice and self-determination
in one Indonesian province can, when push comes to shove, get the upper hand
against the Jakarta elite without destroying the bilateral relationship.
Second, that human rights, democracy and demilitarisation in Indonesia, whose
absence in Papua threatens to create chaos and destroy Indonesia?s long-term
relationship with Australia, will be best served in the long term by
Jakarta?s complete disengagement from Papua.
Peter King
Convener, West Papua Project
Centre for Peace and Conflict
Studies
University of Sydney
---
(Sent anonymously - source unknown)
MSG moves for Papua
THE Melanesian Spearhead Group may consider a move to help West Papua
Province gain independence from Indonesia. Although this topic was not
discussed further it has been listed by Melanesian countries attending the
third Melanesian arts and cultural festival in Suva, Fiji, as one of the
recommendations for the MSG. This recommendation was noted at the end of a
week-long symposium that covered cultural issues affecting Melanesian
countries.
There were also talks within the Melanesian circle to have a common regional
language for communication. Several academics and researchers from various
Melanesian countries on Thursday suggested for the common language to be
widely spoken by all Melanesian countries. Under the topic ?Education-status
of arts and language policies, this was raised and listed down as one of the
many recommendations.
Former Papua New Guinea ambassador to the UN, Peter Donigi who is a senior
lecturer in the diplomacy program at the University of South Pacific also
called for the common language for all Melanesian countries.
---
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